ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT - MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE - COST OF LIVING

Methinks the member for Fenner watches far too much television when, as the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, he should be doing more for those portfolio areas than watching Monty Python. His speech reminds me a little bit of Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time, because that's what he's spent the last 10 minutes doing: wasting everyone's time.

Mr Gorman: You'll only waste five minutes.

Mr McCORMACK: Hilarious. You should be in a comedy sketch too.

In 12 months of Labor in government, cost of living has gone up. In 12 months, unemployment has gone up, interest rates have gone up and power prices have gone up. We have higher core inflation than any G7 country, and, in 12 months, it's gone up as well. Yet Labor comes in here and quotes comedy sketches. It's no laughing matter. People in middle Australia, who were referred to by the member for Fenner, ain't laughing. They are deadly worried. Real wages have gone down. Regional funding has gone down. The government have taken away the regional funding, the infrastructure investment in regional Australia. Regional Australia—I am sure the member for Wannon will agree with me here—carried Australia during COVID, through agriculture and resources—two sectors which were not looked after in the recent budget. In fact, mining has been demonised by this Treasurer. He talks about the things we sell overseas but can't bring himself to say the things are coal and gas and iron ore. He can't bring himself to name those vital industries. And let me tell you, mining workers are worried. They are worried about their jobs. Farmers are worried about the additional taxes which are being imposed upon them by this unfriendly-to-regional-Australia government.

Families' budgets are stretched to the limit. The shadow Treasurer, the member for Hume, said, 'Ask your constituents if they are better off now than they were 12 months ago. The resounding answer you get back is, "No, we are not."'

Our pharmacists are very concerned. And whilst I appreciate that those on the opposite side believe they have the mandate to do what they want to do, they really need to look at the situation with our country chemists in particular. In many rural, regional and—particularly; especially—remote areas it's the friendly pharmacist who is the only frontline health professional in town. Take away their ability to make money, take away their ability to operate, and you take away the only health professional in town. When they go, who's going to do the compression stocking tests for free? Who's going to do the blood pressure tests for free? Who's going to do all of that work putting in place the blister medicine packs and all the rest that pharmacists do for absolutely nothing—the after-hours care, the deliveries that they do. They are very concerned.

Infrastructure projects and programs are all on hold, and that is also causing nervousness right across the country. That is also placing pressure, particularly on our regional communities. The member for Fenner waxed lyrical about how terrible the coalition is. I just might remind him how, in the last five elections, the National Party retained every seat. I might also remind him that the percentage that Labor got of first preference votes was very low. In fact, it was one of the lowest first preference votes since the early 1900s. It wasn't at all a good result, and the quirks of our electoral system—yes, it means Labor is in government—and good luck to them—but good luck also needs good management, and we're not seeing good management at the moment.

Real wages have gone down. They spruik a big deal. They talk themselves up. All we've seen this week is the hubris and also the feigned indignation about what we did in the nine years we were in government.

Mr Gorman interjecting—

Mr McCORMACK: We did do something. I'll tell what you we did do during COVID: we kept people in a job. We kept their business doors open. But more importantly than that, to the member who interjects, the member for Perth, we kept Australians alive. And if there was one thing we did that we should always be remembered for, and acknowledged for, it was actually keeping Australians alive during COVID.