Anne Webster
Mallee · National Party · Australia
“The government's first duty is to protect its citizens and, arguably, its most vulnerable citizens—in this case, children. Today that duty extends into a digital world, where the playground has actually moved online and where too often it is unpoliced and unsafe.”
“We know that, despite the ban, large numbers of children are still accessing these platforms because enforcement has been weak and the regulator has not been given the tools it needs.”
“They worry about exposure to violent content; harmful algorithms; cyberbullying; scams; predatory, paedophilic behaviour; and the relentless pressure that social media can place on young people's mental health. These concerns are real, and they deserve to be taken seriously.”
“For many young Australians, social media is where they access news, educational content and creative learning. It's where they stay connected with friends and family. It is where they participate in their communities and engage in public debate.”
“My constituent asks that there be some sort of agency or protocol where these accounts can be collated, investigated and closed where applicable.”
“Labor rejected it and then, in the 2024 budget, accepted it. We pledged in June 2024 that we would deliver the under-16s social media ban, which Labor, thankfully, copied.”
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“The medical fee changes in this bill follow on from the former coalition government's Medical Costs Finder, which was implemented after the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Out-of-Pocket Costs investigation, to help patients make informed decisions before seeing a specialist. We, the coalition, created the Medical Costs Finder to prevent bill shock when seeing a medical specialist. The former coalition government implemented the Medical Costs Finder in 2019 for stakeholders to use on a voluntary basis. This bill makes that program compulsory. Regrettably, by December 2022, 85 per cent of participants in an Australia's Health Panel survey had not heard of Medical Costs Finder. I note that we are now being asked to make it mandatory, four years into this government's term.”
“This bill, the Health Legislation Amendment (Improving Choice and Transparency for Private Health Consumers) Bill 2026, addresses two key concerns: phoenixing products in private health care and transparency on medical fees by medical practitioners. I am the shadow minister for regional health and, as I said in my maiden speech in 2019, your postcode should not determine your health status. Sadly and, at times, tragically, it still does today. I regularly survey my constituents and my latest survey revealed only 40 per cent of Mallee residents feel they have adequate private health insurance. Of those that actually hold private health insurance, about a quarter believe it is inadequate for their needs. It may well be worse now.”
“They rattle off increases of export levels to the European Union but don't say how far they've sold Australian farmers short in this deal. But it gets worse. Australian Forest Products Association chief executive officer Diana Hallam is quoted as saying: We echo the concerns raised by many other agriculture peak bodies today about the lack of opportunities arising from the deal for Australia's forest industries. … … … Australia's domestic timber production is already under extreme pressure, including from surging timber imports, a stagnant housing market and rising domestic costs such as energy, insurance, labour, transport and fuel—and this trade deal will further undermine the competitiveness of Australian timber. This trade deal is very political.”
“Australian Meat Industry Council CEO Tim Ryan told Sky News today that the deal is a massive missed opportunity and a 'kick in the guts' at a time when we can focus on new opportunities to expand. Victorian Farmers Federation President Brett Hosking from my electorate said: At a time when farmers are getting smashed by devastating water buybacks and skyrocketing fuel and fertiliser costs, we've been hung out to dry for the sake of getting the deal done. National Farmers' Federation president Hamish McIntyre said today that it is a very disappointing day for agriculture generally. Labor's chest beating in parliament today about how good this deal is actually shows how little they understand about agriculture and regional Australia.”
“Mallee grain and livestock producer Andrew Weidemann said that the deal is exactly what he thought might happen, that it's trading away their right to farm and that they as grain growers and livestock producers will just be taxed more to meet the green economy. He says that this is a joke and that when the EU brings in the annexure 9 legislation to stop using edible crops in fuel—no market either. What a mess. Farmers are intelligent. They are switched on, and they are watching the Albanese Labor government very closely. Time after time, Labor has thrown Mallee farmers under the bus for political expediency on transmission lines, wind turbines, solar panel installations and mining projects.”
“Australian-EU Red Meat Market Access Taskforce chair Andrew MacDonald said that Australia's 25,000 tonnes stands in stark contrast to New Zealand's access of 163,000 tonnes, which is an outrageous discrepancy. In my electorate of Mallee, Thomas Foods International in Stawell is processing around 2.3 million sheep and lambs annually, contributing to Victoria's 314,000 tonnes per annum of sheep meat—almost half of Australia's total sheep meat output. I note at least two-thirds of Australia's sheep meat is exported, but to date very little has gone to the European Union—around one to two per cent. To say Mallee sheep producers are disappointed with this EU deal is an understatement.”
“Labor thought they were very clever today. The factual gymnastics were all on display in question time—claiming that the European Union and Australia free trade agreement was a good deal for farmers. I can assure you that I don't know one farmer who thinks it is a good deal. The farming sector have come out fighting today, standing up for their sector and saying that this is a very bad deal for farmers and that we will wear it into the future. I want to begin by talking about sheep growers, which the Prime Minister claimed benefited from the deal. The sheep meat sector wanted a minimum of 67,000 tonnes into the EU, duty free. But what did they get? Twenty-five thousand tonnes—after seven years. The PM claimed it's a great deal on sheep meat, but Sheep Producers Australia CEO Bonnie Skinner said that sheep producers have been sold out.”
“Through the NAIF, the former coalition government also funded the Water Corporation's seawater scheme to the tune of $95 million, to underpin the industrial precinct in the area—including Yara Pilbara, which I visited in my former capacity as shadow minister for regional development in October. One million tonnes per annum of urea, meeting almost all of our demand—that's what the Nationals, as a party of government in coalition, deliver for regional Australia and for our productivity into the future. We have a fuel supply and price emergency in Australia, particularly in regional Australia right now. Without fuel, Australian farmers won't produce the food we need. The last things we need during Labor's homegrown cost-of-living crisis are fuel and food price spikes that further reduce the value of Australian wages.”
“Perdaman will produce around two million tonnes per year of urea, starting in less than a year's time—2027—and estimated to reach full production in June 2027. You're welcome. One million tonnes of that output, about half, has been earmarked for the Australian market, which would meet about 96 per cent of our total domestic demand, with Incitec Pivot—through Macquarie Group—to manage all of the offtake from that project. The coalition supported Perdaman through the NAIF and the Export Finance Authority. Some $744 million in support has been provided for the $6 billion Perdaman project, largely through NAIF loans, to support the ports and water supply elements that Perdaman needs to be successful.”
“The former coalition government bolstered diesel supplies by increasing our storages by 40 per cent when we were in government. Great farmgate returns are one thing, but huge spikes in input costs are another. One of my Mallee constituents saw fuel prices at his local bowser go up 10c per day. Fertiliser is another major input cost, and the conflict blocking the Strait of Hormuz is impacting around two-thirds of Australia's annual urea imports. Prices have gone up from around $840 per tonne to about $1,400 per tonne, higher than the spike we experienced when Russia invaded Ukraine. The coalition understand urea supply, which is why we funded the Perdaman urea project—through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility—which we gave major project status.”
“How refreshing it is to hear Labor talking about productivity and agriculture! Farmers know very well about supply and demand, but, unfortunately, Labor doesn't. Energy Minister Chris Bowen claims there's no fuel supply issue, but we now know six supply ships have been cancelled or delayed so far. In Mallee, fuel is running out. Farmers can't sow the seed, spray the weeds, dry out their wet crops after unseasonal rain or harvest without diesel. If farmers don't plant a crop, or lose a crop, or lose yields, or are downgraded on quality because they don't have fuel, guess what? The export returns that the member for Paterson talks about will simply evaporate. Labor doesn't understand supply or demand and certainly doesn't understand regional Australia.”
“This government must stop the excuses and act decisively, prioritise allocation to regional independents and farming areas, expedite bulk diesel to high-need electorates like Mallee and build real resilience so we're not this vulnerable again. It's not just access to fuel that's the problem. People around the country are now starting to feel the impact of surging fuel prices. Shane from Donald said he watched in horror as the price of diesel increased by 10c a day. And it's not only fuel in areas like Mallee but other liquid-fuel-reliant products, like urea. Farmers face crippling costs, and families across Australia will inevitably pay the price at supermarket check-outs.”
“While the Prime Minister and the minister for energy have been at pains to assure us there is as much fuel in Australia as there was before the crisis began, Nathan had no qualms assuring the country there has been no panic buying in Robinvale and this indeed is a supply issue. To the Prime Minister, Nathan said: 'Stop lying to your country. All we're asking for is transparency.' I echo those sentiments. We have now learnt that some six shipments expected to arrive in Australia in mid-April have been cancelled, contrary to the assurances the Albanese Labor government has been giving us. This government still insists no national shortage exists, yet towns like Robinvale, Wedderburn and Bonnie Doon—all in regional Victoria—are living the reality of empty bowsers and delayed or uncertain deliveries.”
“I rise today to speak about the severe fuel crisis gripping regional Australia. Nowhere is it hitting harder than in my electorate of Mallee. Just a week ago, the town of Robinvale became one of the first in Victoria to run completely dry of fuel over the weekend of 14-15 March. Nathan Falvo, owner of the Happy Valley Store in Robinvale, has been front and centre in the media this week—and well done to him—telling the unvarnished truth about what our people are facing every day. In over 25 years of running his store and servo, he's never seen anything like this: farmers pulling up with empty tanks, workers unable to reach orchards or almond blocks and fruit left unpicked because machinery can't run. Nathan described the whole town, one of Australia's key fruit bowls, as being effectively dry of fuel.”
“I am grateful—on behalf of all Australians, but especially regional Australians—that this bill is now before us, and I look forward to seeing the passage and implementation of this legislation in practice. In closing, schedule 1 of this bill represents a long-awaited and profoundly important step towards safeguarding Australians from genetic discrimination, ensuring that individuals can seek life-saving genetic information without fear or penalty. For too long, the threat of insurance consequences has acted as a barrier to preventive health care, limiting the potential of modern genomics to reduce illness, improve wellbeing and save lives.”
“The government's commitment was a landmark step towards ensuring equitable access to genomic health care for all Australians, offering security to individuals and families undergoing genetic testing. There has long been broad agreement and support for this ban on life insurers using genetic testing to refuse cover, and it is disappointing that Australians have faced delays due to the incompetence of this government. This is an egregious example of the Albanese government's focus on announcements and grandstanding rather than the follow-through. Dr Jane Tiller from Monash University has been campaigning for a ban for almost a decade. With strong bipartisan support and no opposition, there is no reason why this legislation should not have been introduced to parliament sooner, as promised by the government.”
“It has taken too long for the Albanese Labor government to bring this legislation to the parliament. They shamefully abandoned their promise to protect Australians from genetic discrimination in life insurance in the previous term of their government, breaking a historic commitment made in September 2024. The pledge, publicly announced by the Assistant Treasurer, was a sign of hope for any Australian with a hereditary disease and was widely celebrated by clinicians, advocates, researchers and organisations across the country. Genetic life insurance discrimination discourages individuals from seeking vital genetic testing, denying them access to potentially life-saving information and treatment.”
“This bill will end that discrimination and that fear and enable Australians to make decisions about genetic testing and genetic research without worrying about life insurance. This legislation will address the most significant barrier to testing for Australians and will pave the way for greater investment into preventive genomic screening. The DNA Screen study hopes to expand its testing to 100,000 people. This would identify thousands more at-risk people, who will not have to worry about life insurance discrimination, and move towards a screening program to use genomics to prevent disease. We must move into an era of using genomics to prevent and get ahead of disease. Published modelling indicates that this screening is cost effective, with associated productivity gains in the billions of dollars. This makes very good economic sense.”
“Young Australians want preventive genetic information, too. The DNA Screen study was extremely popular, with tens of thousands of young people registering their interest in participating in the study. In my electorate of Mallee, at least 36 young people participated in the study. One young person was found to be at high genetic risk of bowel cancer and has now been able to access preventive health care. The main reason that people who signed up for DNA Screen decided not to participate was genetic discrimination in life insurance. For decades this has been a significant ethical concern for Australians who have had to choose between genetic testing that could save their life and potential financial implications for their life insurance.”
“Vast distances, higher costs, challenges in recruiting and keeping the required workforce, and inadequate government investment—these factors all contribute. Regional people are well known to present to hospital with later stage illnesses, sicker than their city counterparts, often being hospitalised for conditions that were in fact preventable or could have been managed in primary care by a GP or nurse practitioner. With this in mind, it's not hard to see why I'm a strong advocate for interventions like preventive genetic testing, with the potential to identify risk factors for disease before they become life threatening, and encourage people to seek the care they need before it's too late. Interestingly, it's not just older people who are interested in accessing genetic screening.”
“The rate of cancer is highest in inner and outer regional parts of the country, at 512 cases per 100,000 people, which is higher than in major cities. Shockingly, the rate of survival with a cancer diagnosis reduces with geographic remoteness. Given the impact of cancer and heart disease in regional Australia is far greater than in our cities, it is essential we progress measures to reduce that risk by preventing disease where possible. Prevention and delay of chronic conditions increases quality years of life and decreases costs to the healthcare system. Most notably, prevention saves the precious lives of dads, mums, sons and daughters—children. The loss of life is always tragic, but preventable loss is even more so. In regional Australia, access to healthcare services is a challenge.”
“The Wesfarmers health index 2025, based on 3.6 million real time SiSU Health Station checks from July 2024 to June 2025, ranks my electorate of Mallee as the most at-risk federal electorate in Victoria for cardiometabolic conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risks like heart attack and stroke. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in regional Australia. This is not the case in major cities, where dementia is the leading cause. The holistic burden of disease due to coronary heart disease—this means not just the impact of people dying, but of years spent living with illness—increases with geographic remoteness from 9.5 disability adjusted life years in major cities per thousand people to 21.3 in remote and very remote areas.”
“Genetic testing can enable prevention of disease in very high risk people, and there are more of them than most people realise. The DNA Screen study at Monash University tested 10,000 people aged 18 to 40 years for high genetic risk of preventable cancer and heart disease, finding one in 50—two per cent—cent at high risk. That is a lot of Australians. Monash's DNA Screen study found that those people were able to access preventative measures such as surgery, surveillance and medication. Regional people are especially burdened by the types of disease that genetic testing can help prevent.”
“'Protected genetic information' generally refers to results from predictive genetic tests—for example, for hereditary disease risks like BRCA mutations—but family history or already diagnosed conditions may still be usable. A related amendment to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 aligns antidiscrimination protections with this ban to ensure consistency. The change aims to encourage Australians to undergo genetic testing for health or medical reasons without fear of being denied insurance or copping a loading on their insurance, which addresses a longstanding discrimination concern. It is essential to see the provisions of schedule 1 of this bill pass both houses of parliament to remove disincentives that discourage Australians seeking preventative genetic testing, and that is because genetic testing saves lives.”
“I acknowledge the tireless work of Dr Jane Tiller and her team at DNA Screen, Monash University, Melbourne, in this area. Dr Tiller is project co-lead at DNA Screen, a lawyer and genetic counsellor with a keen interest in the regulatory and ethical aspects of genomics and public health. What does this bill do? The 'genetic testing protections in life insurance' schedule of this bill amends the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 to insert a new division banning life insurers from using or requiring protected genetic information when deciding whether to offer life insurance cover. This includes trauma, total and permanent disability or income protection policies often bundled with life cover.”
“This is an issue close to my heart, and I have advocated in this space over a period of time, working with Dr Jane Tiller of Monash University, particularly in my past role in the shadow ministry in regional health—a role that I'm honoured to hold again as the shadow minister for regional health and regional communications. I've long been interested in the benefits of predictive genetic testing for prevention and removal of discriminatory use of this health information. I've spoken on this issue in parliament previously. I am regularly contacted by constituents from my electorate of Mallee who are concerned about discrimination in the life insurance industry based on genetic information and who laud the benefits of genetic testing for preventive health interventions.”
“One of my constituents, from Kaniva, told me recently she had to cancel a health appointment in Horsham because her local service station was out of fuel. Labor has let that woman down. She couldn't access health care—so spare me the posturing about women's health. Labor is not doing enough to help regional women access the health care they need. I note this is an omnibus bill with amendments across several unrelated areas of law—what a shock! I intend to speak today to schedule 1 of the bill, on genetic protections in life insurance.”
“DNA screening found hundreds of people at high risk of cancer and heart disease who can now take action to prevent disease. They published health economic modelling that indicated it would be cost-effective to offer high-risk DNA screening to the whole Australian adult population. This sort of evidence for policy decision-making should not be ignored. I am speaking today amid a fuel crisis in regional Australia, and I'm very concerned that regional Australians will postpone or cancel a visit to their doctor if they can't afford or even source the fuel to get to the doctor. It is high time the Albanese Labor government thought about policy for regional Australians, not just for metropolitan Australians, that considers their poorer health status.”
“The Australian health system does not prioritise prevention as it should, or in the way other countries do, with only two per cent of the Australian health budget targeted at prevention or public health. Other nations with similar health systems spent in excess of five per cent of their budget on prevention. We know in regional Australia how important primary and preventive health care is. As in many rural towns and localities, it is the only health care close to where you live. We don't have the urgent care clinics that Labor like to get up and thump their chests about. We don't even have the doctors; they vanished into metropolitan areas under rule changes Labor made as soon as they came to office in 2022. Increasing funding for prevention via genetic testing is an important step.”
“I rise this afternoon to speak to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance and Other Measures) Bill 2025. I will come to the bill in a moment; I want to first, as the shadow minister for regional health, talk about the importance of primary and preventive care. Halting genetic discrimination in the life insurance industry is a good start on better health care. It's just the beginning. We are at a fork in the road when it comes to health care in this country, particularly in regional Australia, with an ageing population and burgeoning rates of chronic disease. Our health services are struggling to keep up in the cities, let alone in the regions. We cannot afford to continue investing in acute hospital based care if we are not adequately investing in preventive health care and primary health care.”
“This is an absolute shame on the Albanese Labor government—that the people of Australia, particularly regional Australia, are bearing the cost of the failures of this government. There is no excuse. We hear from the government every day '10 years of neglect'—no, four years in government. What have they got to show for it? The fact is that the farmers out in my electorate are suffering, and the people of Australia will not be able to get the food that they need on supermarket shelves if this continues.”
“This government is failing the people of Australia. There is no question about that. There's a cost-of-living crisis, and now we have a fuel crisis, which is not being managed, as we've just heard from the member for Casey—it's not being managed at all. A letter was sent by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. We need far more than that. I have farmers in my electorate—Trevor and Dave come to my mind. Horsham, Rainbow—out there in the bush, they can't get fuel. They're trying to spray their crops. They're trying to seed crops. I also have horticulturalists, almond growers, who are absolutely stressed by the fact that they cannot get fuel, and they don't know when they're going to be able to get fuel.”
“Economics 101—supply and demand: believe it or not, a demand spike, whether warranted or not, creates supply issues. So what's driving Labor's behaviour here? Why pretend there's nothing to be concerned about, nothing to see here? When in doubt, look at Labor's form: raiding regions to buy votes in the cities. How does that happen? Are city motorists' concerns being put first, not our food security and fuel security? Are big businesses, large metropolitan operators, being prioritised under Labor? It's like the old Irish riddle, if a tree falls in a forest and no-one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Here's a Labor version: if voters suffer in regional Australia, has anyone suffered at all? We here in the Nationals are elected to be a voice for our farmers and regional communities. Fuel security is food security.”
“There is no problem with supply.' All of those who live out in the regions know, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is a problem with supply. If the minister who is responsible does not open up the supply, that is on him. This very tricky Albanese Labor government, indeed, the same minister, time after time fed Australians a pork sandwich—not pork pies, just a sandwich full of porkies. On one side of the sandwich, they are blaming the war in Ukraine for their failure to deliver the $275 energy bill relief. Every Australian remembers that promise. It was promised 97 times yet failed to be delivered. On the other side of this pork sandwich, they are saying now, in March 2026, that there's no supply issue; it's demand that's the problem.”
“That says something about supply and demand. I noted in question time that the minister said that Mildura had had a demand spike of 100 per cent. Really? So where is the fuel to fill those fuel bowsers so that the people of Mildura can get the petrol that they need, whether it's diesel or otherwise? It's not actually managing the situation when the supply is falling short. Orders are not being filled, independent distributors are having their supplies cut back or cancelled and depots are unable to source fuel. In one report to my office, as I said, a distributor was turned away in Melbourne. In regional Australia, fuel stations are running out of fuel and what does the minister say? He says, 'There's no problem.”
“He wants to be a real boy—no, a real climate champion, Australia's part-time energy minister and president of the COP climate conference. Pinocchio's lies made his nose grow longer. This morning we saw the minister saying he has empathy for farmers worried about diesel supplies. But then he said, 'We are managing a spike in demand, not impact on supply.' Last time I checked, supply and demand are kind of the same equation. If you don't have enough supply, there is a problem. If demand grows, supply has to grow with it or there is no good outcome. Out in my electorate in Mallee I have spoken to farmer after farmer after farmer who has said that their wholesale distributors are at risk of no supply. Some distributors in Mallee, when they've gone to their base distribution point in Melbourne, have been turned away.”
“Let me set the scene for you: ' Labor , the musical '. We are so fortunate to have our very own, the very talented Mr Ripley, who is described as a con artist who pretends to be many things, and, in the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the star of Labor, the musical is basically a one-man cast. 'Labor, the musical' has this incredible chorus line. It really is quite the performance, with a whole cast of those opposite singing, 'We care about those who are experiencing the cost of living.' They sing it with such caring and sincere faces. Another of Minister Bowen's roles in 'Labor, the musical' is playing the green superhero Captain Planet and, believe it or not, the energy minister also plays the part of Pinocchio.”
“This was a deliberate, dishonest repackaging of an existing promise designed to deceive regional families during an election campaign.”
“Some families are even travelling 200 kilometres a day to access child care. Victorian Labor promised to build a new child care in Wedderburn, in Loddon shire, in 2023. Please remember that year. But, then, the day before the May 2025 federal election, Labor's candidate for Mallee promised new $5 million funding for new child care in Loddon. We learned this week, and Loddon Shire Council and residents are furious about this, that the $5 million wasn't for a new child care. It was for Wedderburn, which is as good as built already because it was promised in 2023 under the Victorian government. So it's just kind of like, 'Let us shovel it away, and let us pretend that didn't happen.' The residents of Loddon shire absolutely know it happened.”
“Households have burnt through all the fat they might have had in their budgets, and they're cutting back on anything extra for their kids: music lessons, sport and any other extracurricular activities and going out for a meal, and that's if they can continue to service their mortgage or rental property at all. I did hear our previous Labor speaker speaking about child care. It's just tough if you happen to live in childcare deserts, which a lot of Mallee is. Under Labor, out-of-pocket childcare costs are up 11 per cent in the last year alone. But it gets worse. Labor have added insult to injury in Mallee. We have childcare deserts. It's no more pronounced than in Boort, in the Loddon shire, and in Inglewood, which needs child care too, and I could name several other towns in my electorate.”
“Data consistently shows elevated energy costs create cascading effects, from immediate household strains to long-term growth impediments. After nearly four years in government, insurance is up 39 per cent, and that's before the hikes we are now hearing about due to the latest conflict in the Middle East. Some farmers are doing it so tough in my electorate from fires and floods that they are under-insuring their farms, which creates a 'higher risk business' environment. Rents are up, health care is up, food costs are up—basically, whatever we talk about has gone up.”
“Inflation is higher than any major advanced economy. It's higher than the USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, France and Japan. On this side of the House, we are committed to restoring Australians standard of living and protecting their way of life. Under Labor, electricity prices are up 32 per cent in the past year alone. Think about that—a third of your bill gone up again in one year. Energy is the economy. We are saying it over and over again because, if we don't understand it, then businesses can't thrive and homes can't keep their lights on, keep their gas heaters on and keep their air conditioners going. Energy powers industry. It drives transport and makes small businesses not die—forty-one thousand under this government. When energy is affordable and reliable, living standards rise and societies prosper.”
“Once again we have seen, during question time today, the Albanese Labor government failing to take responsibility for the pain people all around Australia are feeling due to the ever increasing cost-of-living pressures. Such is Labor's disconnect from real people in the real world. This government is forever playing with the numbers, switching them around for their own political gain, and that is a theme I will come back to. It is disgraceful and not lost on everyday mums and dads, who cannot escape their grocery bills, mortgage, rent payments, energy bills and now fuel bills, and the list goes on. People know that it is this incompetent government at work. Under the watchful eye of the Treasurer, Australia has undergone the biggest fall in living standards anywhere in the developed world.”
“Former RBA governor Philip Lowe made clear that inflation has lasted longer in Australia because of Labor's spending spree. IFM Investors' chief economist, Alex Joiner, said that the fiscal guardrails have come off. Instead of tackling spending, Labor's answer is to increase taxes on your super, your savings, your housing and your small business. Every minute, we are paying $50,000— or $72 million a day—just on interest on Labor's debt. Every dollar that pays interest is a dollar we can't spend on Medicare, schools, hospitals, NDIS, aged care or tax relief. We cannot put unsustainable spending on the national credit card for our kids to pay back tomorrow through Labor's higher taxes.”
“I suspect the article was submitted before the bombs fell on the ayatollah in Iran. Mr Pearl writes: We have seen a return of intense great-power rivalry, reflected in rising military tensions, the fracturing of the world's trading and financial systems, and the collapse in global support for net zero. What we had of a rules-based order (the concept was always overstated by the Davos mob) is under genuine threat, with serious implications for small, trading economies such as Australia. It is high time the emperor was called out for wearing no clothes. It's time for the delusions to end and for the Albanese Labor government to stop the fiction and be truthful with the Australian people in the May budget. Labor's spending has blown out to 27 per cent of GDP, the highest level outside of a recession in nearly 40 years.”
“They assume that across the next decade, federal spending will remain stable at close to 27 per cent of GDP—despite the expected rapid growth in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, our interest bill and other programs—because, get this, the cost of the public service is assumed to fall significantly. As the Parliamentary Budget Office has found, if we are more realistic about the latter, spending could be underestimated by as much as 3 per cent of GDP, resulting in much higher deficits and debts. Thirdly, Mr Pearl rightly says: Our third delusion is our inability to accept the world has changed fundamentally during the past five years. Labor have been in government for four of those. Events in the Middle East on the weekend have only underscored that comment.”
“Mr Powell says of the second delusion about our public finances: … too few of us are prepared to admit that the budget's forward estimates and projections are a complete fiction. Not unreliable and inaccurate, as critics typically maintain, but completely divorced from reality. They show that future deficits will remain small in economic terms and virtually disappear by 2035-36, with net debt remaining stable at 20 per cent of GDP—a result that virtually every other developed economy would kill for. But the assumptions they rely on are deeply flawed.”
“Not by a little bit but, as its whole-of-economy ill-effects compound across time, by a great deal. He continues: In the 1990s, this growth trade-off was considered a truism by conventional economists, who opposed heavily front-loaded emissions cuts for that reason. Yet today Canberra's conventional wisdom is that emissions cuts not only carry no costs but—in the words of Productivity Commission chairwoman Danielle Woods—are an economic prize, relying on the fantasy that wind and solar are the cheapest form of power. I say 'Hear, hear!' Those opposite should be uncomfortable in their seats, especially those that like to preach about being on the right side of history.”
“Mr Pearl writes, accurately: … we are … in a long-term economic decline … the largest drop in living standards of any OECD country since the … pandemic … little real wages growth since 2011 and labour productivity stuck at its 2015 year level. That's over 10 years ago. The first false assumption Mr Pearl calls out in his expose of what he calls 'economic fantasies and delusions' is that cutting carbon dioxide emissions will somehow improve productivity. He writes: … too many of us refuse to accept—or even consider as a remote possibility—that any policy of rapidly cutting carbon dioxide emissions must necessarily lower growth, hurt productivity and lower living standards (while having no effect on the climate, absent similar commitments from the big economic powers).”
“In my electorate of Mallee, emergency food relief charities are experiencing unprecedented demand, and even then I'm having to fight for them to get their funding reinstated, such as for the Horsham Christian Emergency Food Centre and the Stawell Interchurch Council Cottage, as Labor, as they're want to do, apply a desktop modelling approach and fail to understand the distances between towns in my electorate, thereby cutting funding. Fortunately, the minister has heard my cries. I have met with her, and she has reinstated partial funding for those services. It's not enough in a cost-of-living crisis, when people are hurting day after day. Spending in the current budget—and, I predict, in the upcoming May budget—is based on heroic assumptions, as former Treasury assistant secretary David Pearl wrote on Saturday 28 February.”