Tim Wilson
Goldstein · Liberal Party · Australia
“Now, we see even more immoral leadership as the Prime Minister and his ministers refuse to audit whether federal money has found its way into the hands of organised crime through the CFMEU Labor cartel.”
“The silence that we heard from our prime minister and our national leaders every step of the way led to horrific incidents like, on 10 November, the protests at the front of Central Shule in Caulfield South in the Goldstein electorate. It led eventually to the most horrific terrorist incident on our most famous national beach.”
“The idea that you would put the social solidarity of the most marginalised section of our community on a ballot paper knowing it would fail is an abrogation of leadership and responsibility and something I do not think this prime minister will ever be able to shake.”
“I've recently been spending a lot of time thinking about what moral government is and what type of government seeks to divide citizens, feed corruption and break trust within the community. The short and sharp of it is that it's an immoral government.”
“But to engage in citizenship stacking, where they deliberately went around and targeted electorates and got people to become Australian citizens on the eve of a national poll, is absolutely disgraceful.”
“There is hope. We can have a moral government again that's focused on uniting Australians and building trust and taking Australia forward together. But the only way we can do that is by seeing a change of government and the end of the Albanese government.”
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“The Treasury Laws Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance and Other Measures) Bill 2025 is incredibly important legislation. It is a baseline test for whether or not we want an Australia that is free from discrimination based on people's life circumstances and, because we have life insurance policies, whether they make judgement calls about people based on their genetic make-up. It's actually quite a straightforward bill in one sense. The oddity is: why did it take this long? This is not a new issue. It is not one that has not been raised in parliament before. It is not one that has not been raised as a consequence of the design of financial products. We have known for a long time that there has been a question about genetic testing and the impact it has on people's capacity to access life insurance policies.”
“There's plenty of petrol around for the inflation fire, just not for motorists or farmers. Instead of restraining spending and taking pressure off inflation, he keeps fuelling the very problem that's pushing up interest rates and making sure Australians pay more. While Australians are paying the price for this inflation fire, what are they getting in return apart from platitudes, empty rhetoric, obfuscation and an absence of responsibility? Australians deserve better. They deserve a government that is going to deliver economic management to build the future of the country while taming inflation so that Australians can get ahead, not go backwards.”
“I don't think there has ever been a time where Australians are more mindful and nervous about their future. But don't worry, the Treasurer is on his way to save us. He has turned the inflation corner almost like it is a magical trick Australians have now had 13 interest rate rises and the average Australian mortgage holder is spending $23,000 a year more on interest. But don't worry, it's all under control. We've turned the corner and now revealed we have, potentially, an interest rate rise in March as well as in May. Australians were told that this was not going to be the case, but now they know the truth. Worse than that, they're having to live the consequences of the Albanese government. This government keeps pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire.”
“My question is to the Treasurer. After 13 interest rate rises under Labor, the average Australian mortgage holder is paying more than $23,000 more a year in interest than when the coalition left office. With National Australia Bank now predicting the 14th rate rise under Labor next week and the 15th when they meet again in May, will the Treasurer apologise to struggling mortgage holders for the pressures he is imposing on them?”
“You've got the Liberal Party, the National Party, the Mining and Energy Union, the Minerals Council, the Australian Industry Group and the government all in one big group hug in favour of workers. How about that?”
“This is not about shifting costs onto other coal producers or compliant employers. Their levy rates are unaffected. The integrity of the scheme remains intact. Industry has worked closely with government to design these arrangements. The Australian Industry Group, which has been heavily involved, has been very clear that many businesses faced hardship or insolvency without some model of reform. That would impact, of course, thousands of jobs and needlessly put them at risk. The Minerals Council of Australia has also welcomed the bill as a positive step in resolving commercial and financial uncertainty, and I note the Mining and Energy Union has also expressed support. So there you go.”
“The bill strikes the right balance because it upholds the principle that lawful levies must be paid. It ensures workers' entitlements are protected, and it recognises that imposing immediate full repayment of historical debts arising from legal uncertainty could cause disproportionate harm, including insolvencies and job losses. The staged repayment model ensures that employers contribute the overwhelming majority of what is owed, where the conditional waiver recognises the exceptional circumstances and incentivises compliance. Crucially, the fund itself will absorb any shortfall arising from the waiver, and advice before the parliament makes clear that, given the limited number of anticipated arrangements and the front-loaded nature of repayments, there is no material risk to the scheme's financial viability.”
“It's now about how we get them to maintain and honour their obligations. Large miners will be able to do it, and for smaller miners it will be more challenging. It wasn't the companies doing the wrong thing. They were given one bit of advice. Courts have decided otherwise. It's now about how we get them to maintain and honour their obligations. Large miners will be able to do it. For smaller miners, it will be more challenging. They were not cases of deliberate noncompliance. They were cases where the law was unclear, the boundaries of coverage were contested and businesses structured their operations based on reasonable interpretations that were only resolved years later by litigation. The result was the real prospect of large, immediate liabilities that posed genuine risks to business viability, employment and investment.”
“As of June 2025, the scheme holds more than 71 million hours of long service leave on behalf of 160,000 workers, including around 65,000 currently active employees. That is a significant trust for these critical workers and is one that this parliament has a responsibility to safeguard. However, over recent years, serious uncertainty has emerged regarding the coverage of the scheme, particularly for employers providing specialised maintenance and services on coalmine sites. Companies have found themselves unexpectedly exposed to substantial historical levies and levy debts, going back many years following Federal Court decisions that clarified eligibility. It wasn't the companies doing the wrong thing—they were given one bit of advice and the courts have decided otherwise.”
“It provides a single national system of long service leave for black-coal miners, recognising the unique nature of work in the industry and the mobility of its workforce. In the context of Goldstein, we don't have many people, but I have spoken to lots of colleagues around the country, including those who have FIFO workers who deal with the realities of this scheme. The scheme is funded by a mandatory levy of 2.7 per cent on eligible wages paid to eligible employees. That levy is paid by employers, not deducted from workers' wages, and coal LSL manages the fund to ensure it can meet all the obligations and entitlements while withstanding market and industry fluctuations—something that present moments would remind us of.”
“Importantly, once an employer enters into such an arrangement, no further penalties or enforcement actions apply. This is not a write-off. It's not an amnesty. It's a simple, structured, conditional and time-limited mechanism to deal with historic liabilities in a way that protects workers, that, hopefully, avoids business failures, that maintains confidence in the system, and that also gives a pathway forward. Despite the temptation, I'm really looking forward to the minister in question time railing that we were against this, even though I've made it very clear we're supporting it, because we support workers, and we support people working hard and hard work paying off. The long service leave scheme has a proud history. It was established in 1949 and underpinned by a Commonwealth legislation since 1992.”
“It's also a reminder that good industrial relations legislation comes from cooperation, consultation and common sense, not mad ideology or confrontation. The purpose of this bill is actually shockingly straightforward. It establishes a voluntary pathway for certain employers to repay historical levy debts owed under the coalmining industry long service leave scheme—debts which are legally payable, overdue and would be subject to penalties but which arose from a genuine uncertainty about coverage under the scheme. Under the bill, eligible employers may enter into repayment arrangements over six years once 80 per cent of the debt has been paid. The remaining 20 per cent associated with the LSL scheme is then waived owing to surplus funds available to it.”
“I rise to speak on the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. From the outset, I make it clear that the opposition will be supporting this bill because it's both noncontroversial and pragmatic. It resolves longstanding uncertainty and provides fairness to employers who have acted in good faith, and preserves the integrity of the coal long service leave scheme for the workers who rely on it. It's quite straightforward. The legislation exists to facilitate employers who were advised previously they were not part of a scheme to now be part of a scheme and provide a pathway forward. I welcome the government's frankly pragmatic approach on this legislation as a consequence of a series of court decisions.”
“It's quite simple. The legislative framework sitting around parliamentary practices should be designed to maximise parliamentarians fulfilling their duties for their communities and in pursuit of the best interests of Australia. The current legislative framework can, of course, always be improved as any legislative framework can be improved, but the question is whether the work has been done sufficient to make sure that we get the best things forward for our country. One of the biggest limitations now on our democracy has been the deliberate acts of this government to limit the capacity of the opposition and crossbench to scrutinise the government, which only entrenches the government's position and power and undermines accountability in our democracy.”
“We note that, despite the promises of transparency and accountability by this government, we have seen the complete opposite, and stripping the opposition of experienced staff impacts our ability to scrutinise the government effectively and responsibly, which is fundamental to the functioning of our democracy so that it can be sustained for future generations. So, while we support the review of the systems and frameworks that govern parliamentary workplaces, I urge the government to urgently progress the implementation of outstanding recommendations from the resourcing review and consider returning to the bipartisan resourcing of the parliament. Finally, I understand the government is committed to consulting closely with the opposition and crossbench throughout the review period, and that is something that we ultimately welcome.”
“We've seen this also, of course, in their attempts to shut down freedom of information laws, as they have done recently. Of course, thankfully, that has now been shelved after sanity prevailed in the Senate despite every single member of the government on the other side of this chamber being tainted with attempts to shut down freedom of information through legislation. It was a particularly vindictive move from this Prime Minister, who wants to entrench his control rather than actually advance the best interests of Australians and our democracy.”
“The review found that parliamentarians offices are under increasing workload pressure and that current resourcing is often not sufficient to meet the modern demands of busy electorate offices. The government agreed in principle to all 10 recommendations from the review, but, as is often the case with Labor, you have to look not at what they say but at what they ultimately do. And what did they do? Shortly after the review was released, they trashed the conventions of this parliament and sacked hardworking opposition staff, heaping more pressure on workplaces already struggling with a lack of resources. So we know full well that, despite the rhetoric of trying to support parliamentarians in their duty and upholding democratic accountability, the response from the government has been the reverse.”
“At times it can be a complex system to navigate, with MPs, senators and staff having to deal with multiple agencies and departments in the operation of our day-to-day workplaces. We understand the government has a view to simplify the current frameworks and systems that govern how MPs and senators work, and this is something the coalition is supportive of. It makes sense to bring forward these three statutory reviews so they can be considered as part of the government's review of the parliamentary ecosystem. It is worth noting, however, that this process follows several reviews in recent years that the government has implemented in part or are yet to be responded to. This includes the independent review of resourcing in parliamentarians' offices.”
“The MOP(S) Act provides the legislative framework for the employment of staff by members of parliament and senators, including advisers and electorate staff. It sets out the authority of parliamentarians to employ staff and governs the terms, conditions and administration of those employment arrangements. And the PBR Act establishes a framework for the provision and use of public resources to support parliamentarians in carrying out their parliamentary duties. It sets out the rules for entitlements such as office expenses, travel, staff support and other resources and establishes oversight and administration arrangements through the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority. Of course all members of this parliament are familiar with those pieces of legislation and the roles they play on workplaces, staff and resources.”
“The Parliamentary Frameworks Legislation Amendment (Reviews) Bill 2026 is, for the most part, a relatively straightforward piece of legislation that seeks to address some other components of legislation, including the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Bill 2023, or the PWSS Act; the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984, or the MOP(S) Act; and the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017. The legislation seeks to ensure that these pieces of legislation work in a correct and proper fashion, sufficient with the objectives designed for their purpose. The PWSS was established in 2023 and provides independent support, complaints handling and human resources advice for parliamentarians, their staff and other parliamentary workplace participants.”
“If you listen to the government during question time, what you will hear is that Australians have never had it so good—'Australians are doing great; Australia is doing great.' Well, to be fair, some people are doing well. Organised crime is doing well. We have them using illegal tobacco as a pathway to profiteer, to undermine tax revenue and to finance terrorism. Organised crime is doing really well. Organised crime, through cartel kickbacks and public money given through the CFMEU Labor cartel, are doing really well.”
“Shortly after question time, the Treasurer scurried out from the chamber. I can understand why, because, while he feels shame, Australians desperately need hope. They need hope for the future. They need ambition for our country. And they need economic leadership that is, sadly, missing right now. You just need to look at the Treasurer and what his legacy has been. Do you remember when George Bush went onto the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared 'mission accomplished'? That's what the Treasurer did in saying that Australia had turned the inflation corner. That would certainly be news to millions of Australians who are living with the consequences of him continuing to pour debt petrol on the inflation fire.”
“My question is to the Treasurer. Yesterday's data confirms that, in the final quarter of 2025, public demand grew faster than private demand. At the same time, inflation started resurging. Does the Treasurer still deny the link between government spending and driving inflation higher?”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that, according to yesterday's data, population growth driven by immigration has grown by 1.9 million since 2022? At the same time, Labor has missed its housing targets by tens of thousands of homes.”
“This bill might seem anodyne to a lot of the members, who wax lyrical about harmonisation of standards and doing something good for the planet, but I can tell you what it comes at the consequence of: it comes at the consequence of thousands of Australians whose small businesses will be taken from the marginal line of profitability to insolvency. That's why we had record small-business insolvencies last year and that's why, tragically, we're going to have record insolvencies in the year to come. With that is going to be a decline in the standard of living for many Australians, but, secretly, I think that's what this Labor government wants.”
“If they go to the self-checkout line, they'll be able to return the products without the feeling of humiliation or judgement from the person at the cashier. This is not a dignified country when we behave in this way. This is not a dignified protection of our way of life, or restoring our way of life, under this government; it's quite the reverse. It's a complete trashing of the Australian way of life. The only answer that this government has is to impose more costs, more burdens and more regulations on small businesses and drive them further to the wall.”
“This morning, the Leader of the Opposition and I were out at a small business in Canberra, and we heard directly about how electricity bills have gone up 50 per cent and how industrial relations regulation has meant not that people are getting paid more, which was the Labor government's intention, but actually that fewer shifts are being offered, because there is no other way they can make ends meet. More importantly, the costs then get passed on to consumers. So what are consumers doing? They're consuming less. In fact, I hear more and more stories about mums that go to the self-checkout line at a supermarket because they look at what's in their basket and they're afraid it's going to get to a total that they can't afford.”
“This is a bill designed to capture regulatory standards around ESG compliance and climate disclosure compliance and ram them down the throats of small businesses so they cannot stay alive. They will not be able to breathe, and they will not be in a situation where they'll have confidence in the future. For this government to do that, in an environment of record small-business insolvencies, is, to be frank, a kind of sickness. It also goes to the heart of this government's understanding of small business. They don't understand it. They don't understand what it means to back yourself, to take risks, to employ people and, more importantly, to be able to do it in an environment where there's already a cost-of-small-business crisis.”
“It may seem that abolishing the Financial Reporting Council, the Australian Accounting Standards Board and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and replacing them with a new body called External Reporting Australia may actually have some efficiency dividend. What we know—we've seen this consistently with this government—is that it leads to regulatory capture. They get a small number of people in these organisations and they just drive up the cost on small business, which continues to get hit hard. It doesn't deliver any environmental, social or climate benefit, but it does make sure that all those small businesses just teetering on the brink—with heart, sweat and tears and finances keeping them going—are sent to the wall. And that is what is so damaging and dangerous about this bill.”
“So, of course, the cost structures of it would go dramatically up for small businesses, who are already struggling to keep a profit; there's already a small-business cost crisis in this nation. What's the response of the Labor government? It's, 'Well, we've got a small-business cost crisis in Australia right now, so let's just hit it with speed.' That's where we're currently going under this legislation I congratulate the Shadow Assistant Treasurer for his efforts in the carriage of this bill, to get it to this point. He's highlighted dramatically the consequences of what will happen if it continues to go forward, how Australians and, particularly, Australian small businesses will be crushed by the consequences of it. Of course, it may seem simple.”
“One of the problems with the Labor government is that they are not satisfied with putting increased big-business IR law on small business, they're not satisfied with imposing big-business tax laws on small business, and they're not satisfied with imposing big-business regulation on small business. They now want to impose the climate accountability and climate disclosure standards that apply to big business onto small business. There are two fundamental problems with this. The first problem is that, for a lot of these businesses, this type of regulation or disclosure is far beyond their capacity. It's not within their remit, both in terms of their core purpose and their function. They struggle enough as it is; they're drowning in regulation. The second problem is that there aren't the skills in the economy to provide it.”
“They just want to grow their business, be successful and support themselves and their families. Because of this mad approach to regulation and taxation, we've had record small-business insolvencies—41,000 since the Labor government was elected and just over 14,000 last year—and we are on track, in this financial year, to see record small-business insolvencies, in excess of last year. I would be embarrassed if I were part of a government that had overseen record small-business insolvencies. But we know the response from the federal minister; her accusation was that they were dodgy. We've seen all of those livelihoods taken away and a small-business minister who draws a tin ear to any concerns from small business.”
“The Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Reporting System Reform) Bill 2026 may, on one level, seem to many Australians to be a mundane piece of legislation, administrative in its nature. But, of course, sitting behind it is a much more significant purpose. Australian small businesses are struggling right now with increasing costs—regulations and industrial relations costs et cetera—across the entire economy. The problem with this Labor government is they design all law on the basis that every small business, every corner store and every wonderful, hardworking Australian who wants to set up a home business has, sitting behind them, an HR department, a tax and legal department and a regulatory compliance department when, in fact, they don't. They just want to get on with their lives.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Under Labor, Australia is the only advanced economy where living standards have gone backwards. Australia's inflation rate is higher than South Africa. the United Kingdom, the United States, India, the Netherlands, France, Canada, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain. After four years of Australians going backwards under Labor, will the Prime Minister finally accept the buck stops with him and that Labor's policies are fuelling inflation?”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Under Labor, Australia is the only advanced economy where living standards have gone backwards. Real wages are now 2.1 per cent lower than four years ago, and the Reserve Bank forecasts they will continue to fall this year. After four years of Australians going backwards under Labor, when will the Prime Minister finally accept the buck stops with him?”
“The national accounts have now confirmed what Australians are living. They're going to the supermarket and having to put items back because real wages are going backwards while prices are rising. This treasurer has been out there avoiding responsibility, but his own data shows that public sector growth is twice that of the private sector. Australia has experienced the largest collapse in living standards among all developed countries. We weren't diagnosed with this problem on Sunday. The problem is the Treasurer keeps pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire, and he's been fuelling it for four years. You know, there's a Billy Joel song that sounds kind of relevant: 'The Treasurer did start the inflation fire. The inflation is burning while the Treasurer is squirming. The Treasurer did start inflation fire.”
“My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer rule out a single taxpayer dollar being spent on extremist Islamic prayer groups and places of worship who have been mourning the death of Iran's brutal dictator, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?”
“Under Labor you pay multiple times over. You pay through higher costs and higher inflation, which means you live a lower standard of living. You pay because they're paying through debt, which means that that's tomorrow's taxes. And you pay because your children and your grandchildren are going to live with the legacy of this Labor government. With cockiness and hubris, the Treasurer struts around thinking he has all of this under control, and the gaggle of Labor members get up and spin their message in the hope that somehow their constituents will be fooled. Their constituents are now living the consequences of Labor's inflation agenda. It's an active inflation agenda to pour debt petrol on the inflation fire. Australians won't stand for it, and I can assure you at the next election we are going to show you the door.”
“After nearly four years of Labor's complete recklessness and mismanagement, pouring petrol on the inflation fire, Australians are paying more for almost everything. Insurance is up 39 per cent, energy is up 38 per cent, rents are up 22 per cent, health is up 18 per cent, education is up 17 per cent and food is up 16 per cent. But do you know what's really up? It's the return on investment that the CFMEU made to the Labor Party. They made a $1.5 million donation in Victoria and they got a 10,000-fold return through $15 billion of public money, which then went through to organised crime. Every single member on the Labor side is tainted by that legacy, and they should be ashamed of themselves. That's public money. That's taxpayers' money. More importantly, that money is borrowed from the future and is fuelling inflation today.”
“They did then take money from the taxpayer and give it back to Australians, to the level of $300, so they could claim that electricity bills had gone down by $300 and they'd delivered on their promise, but what did they do? They borrowed from the future and fuelled inflation. They keep pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire in this country, and that's why Australians are paying higher costs and higher rents. And it's not just households; it's also small businesses. The jig is up. The Reserve Bank has made it clear that public expenditure is driving private demand. As a consequence, we now have a problem where inflation is letting rip through the Australian economy, and Australians are within its trajectory. You just need to look at some simple stats.”
“That's how challenging the lived reality of inflation in Australia is today—rising rents and rising bills, particularly at the supermarket checkout—and they have a tone-deaf government. When a small-business owner is struggling to make ends meet, what does the small-business minister say to that former small-business owner? 'Maybe you were dodgy.' This is the most despicable and arrogant government I've ever seen. They pull tricks left, right and centre. You just need to look at what they did with their trickster approach to energy subsidies before the last election, where they promised that they would cut electricity bills by $275. Nobody believes that anymore.”
“That is not in dispute, so I'm happy to answer this question any day of the week. But this just goes to the rotten heart of the Albanese government's approach to managing the problems of inflation. Think about the reality of so many Australians: only a few years ago, they might have paid a couple of hundred bucks at the supermarket and walked out with a full trolley; now, increasingly, they're not even filling a red basket. Increasingly, when I speak to people, I hear how people go deliberately to the self-service checkouts because they know that, if they go to the self-service checkout and they can't afford everything, they can reverse the system without having to talk to a person.”
“The last speaker started with a question: 'What is it that you want to cut out of the federal budget?' No. 1: the $15 billion that the Labor Party gave to organised crime through the CFMEU-Labor cartel. I absolutely want to get rid of public money being given to organised crime. That should not be up for debate, but under the Albanese Labor government, they just keep doling out the cash to organise crime through the CFMEU-Labor cartel, and the reason they do it is that they actually get a little bit on the side. The second thing is NDIS corruption. That program is there to support the most vulnerable in the community, who in many cases cannot stand up for themselves. The NDIA themselves have identified that up to 10 per cent of the $50 billion program goes towards fraud. I absolutely want to cut out the heart of that corruption.”
“We already have 41,000 small businesses that have gone insolvent under the Albanese government and a record number last year, and we're on track to have another record more. Now is the time where we need change to stop e-shoplifting through chargeback theft. But we need Australians' help. We need them not just to not engage in the practice but to stand up and speak out against it. That can be done by going to standwithsmall.org and signing the petition against e-shoplifting and chargeback theft.”
“E-shoplifting through chargeback theft hurts everybody. Consumers have to pay higher prices for the cost of e-shoplifting. Small businesses that are already struggling get punished because of e-shoplifting and chargeback theft. No-one wins except criminals. This is why e-shoplifting through chargeback theft is such a problem. Small businesses around the country are getting smashed. People order products online. They then receive the products and then contact their banks. They say it's been stolen and demand that they get a refund. The money is refunded by the banks, and the small business misses out. Consumers pay more, and the small business gets punished—all for doing what is decent and what is right.”
“Small businesses get hit; customers get hit, because somebody has to pick up the bill. It's no different from e-shoplifting. E-shoplifting through chargeback theft, where people buy products online and then try and reclaim the money, is just another form of theft. Samantha Kemp from the shop Sare is but one of thousands—”
“I move: That this House: (1) notes that small and family businesses are being harmed by a rise in e-shoplifting, or chargeback theft, where goods are delivered but the big banks are illegitimately processing refunds; (2) calls: (a) on the Government and the big banks to urgently examine chargeback theft and its impact on small businesses; (b) for the establishment of an urgent parliamentary inquiry into e-shoplifting through chargebacks; and (c) on the Minister for Small Business to demonstrate action the Government has taken to support small and family businesses; and (3) recognises the need for banks, card schemes and payment platforms to introduce fair, evidence-based chargeback processes that protect small businesses from chargeback theft. When there is shoplifting, Australians pay higher prices.”
“They are living higher interest rates, higher inflation, higher rents and, of course, higher costs at the supermarket checkout, and they are going to continue to be punished until this government is honest with the Australian people that its solutions are actually the drivers of the problem.”
“To his credit, the Prime Minister has now turned around and betrayed the Treasurer, saying to his various ministers: 'You have to get spending out of your portfolios, because the government is now contributing to the inflation pressure that Australians are living.' The Prime Minister now has his thumb once again on the Treasurer, who simply seems unwilling or unable to act to do his job, both to keep inflation down and to drive the competitive reforms that Australia needs. But the people who are experiencing the consequences of this are the Australian people.”
“Every time the government says, 'Oh, it's just private demand; it's got nothing to do with us,' it's actually the government pouring debt petrol onto the inflation fire. They're doing it through things like public sector employment, or indirect public sector employment. Eight out of 10 jobs are being created by direct and indirect public expenditure, while there's a complete crisis in private sector employment. This denial is not the act of a responsible government. It is not the act of a government that understands what it's doing, and it's certainly not the act of a Treasurer who is in charge of his portfolio.”