Community
28 November, 2024
Tehan voices concern on cost of living crisis
MEMBER for Wannon Dan Tehan has raised concerns after a Senate Cost of Living Committee found Australians are poorer than they were two and a half years ago.
Mr Tehan said the committee held more than twenty hearings across Australia and received more than 1500 submissions and responses to its community survey throughout its inquiry into the cost of living crisis.
The report found cost of living had been the number one issue impacting Australian households and businesses, and there was a steady increase in the number of Australians enduring financial pressure.
The final report made nine recommendations across four areas: economic and fiscal policy, supermarket regulation, housing and construction, and charities and not-for-profits.
This notably included a recommendation for the Australian Government to increase the asset write-off threshold for small businesses to $30,000, and the introduction of divestiture powers as a last resort to manage poor corporate behaviour and address supermarket price-gouging.
The final report hit out at the Federal Government, stating domestic factors were driving inflation and creating a “per-capita recession” in which “a return to economic equilibrium” requires “prudent economic management and sensible spending decisions”.
“Unfortunately, the current Government has not demonstrated that it is capable of making sensible economic decisions, nor of managing the economy,” the report states.
Mr Tehan called on the Albanese Labor Government to adopt the recommendations of the report as a matter of priority.
“This report spells out clearly that Labor’s policies are making the cost of living crisis worse and this is something that our community knows all too well,” he said.
“Despite the Prime Minister’s promise that Australians would be better off under Labor, everyone is feeling poorer because of high inflation, high interest rates and high energy bills.
“Everywhere I go constituents are telling me that the cost of living is the number one issue and now we have the evidence to show that Labor is making the problem worse.
“The people of Wannon have been abandoned by Labor in this cost of living crisis and it’s high time we saw some action from the Albanese Government in providing sustainable cost of living relief.”
However, the report itself was lashed by Labor within the dissenting report – pointing out inflation had been at 6.1 per cent and worsening among record debt under the former Coalition Government, but had since steadied to 2.8 per cent under the Albanese Labor Government while adding more than one million jobs and ending “the era of relentless rate hikes”.
“From July 1, 2024, every taxpayer received a tax cut under the Government’s cost of living tax cuts, putting more money back into the pockets of everyday Australians,” the report states.
“Every household will see help with energy bills throughout 2024, while childcare and healthcare are now more accessible and affordable, and rent assistance has been increased.
“Bulk-billed GP appointments are on the rise, essential medications are cheaper, and Australians are seeing the impact of policies that make a genuine difference.
“Despite these substantial achievements, the conduct of this inquiry has fallen far short of Senate standards.
“Rather than a constructive investigation into the real cost-of-living pressures facing Australians, this inquiry has served as a partisan platform for the Coalition’s views.”
The full report is available via the Parliament of Australia website.
Read More: local