‘People are hurting’: Peter Dutton criticises Australian budget

Opposition leader Peter Dutton outlined Australians' cost-of-living pressures and critiqued the Labor government’s budget.

Transcript

00:00 Today, millions of Australians are struggling to pay their bills.

00:05 Even going to the supermarket and petrol station has become stressful for so many.

00:11 Prime Minister, Australians are genuinely hurting under your government.

00:15 Electricity bills haven't gone down by $275, as was pledged on 97 occasions.

00:20 They've skyrocketed.

00:22 The Treasurer will give you a $300 rebate, but he knows full well that your annual electricity

00:28 bills have increased, in some cases by up to $1,000, since Labor formed government.

00:35 Interest rates have gone up on 12 occasions under Labor, and a typical Australian household

00:40 with a mortgage is $35,000 worse off.

00:45 And that's if you're lucky enough to own a home.

00:48 Under this Prime Minister, the great Australian dream of home ownership has turned into a

00:52 nightmare.

00:54 Even finding somewhere to rent is near impossible.

00:57 Last year, Australians suffered the biggest increase in average tax rates of any citizens

01:02 in the developed world.

01:04 There's been double-digit increases for your essentials like electricity, gas, milk, bread

01:10 and rent.

01:11 And, tragically, so many more Australians are living in cars and tents.

01:16 And because of spending in this budget, the economic outlook is one of deficits as far

01:20 as the eye can see.

01:22 To alleviate cost-of-living pressures, we need to get inflation down, to get our economy

01:26 back on track, we need a back-to-basics economic plan.

01:31 And that's what a coalition government will deliver.

01:33 First, we will rein in inflationary spending to take the pressure off inflation.

01:39 As a start, we will not spend $13.7 billion on corporate welfare for green hydrogen and

01:45 critical minerals.

01:47 These projects should stand up on their own without the need for taxpayers' money, if

01:50 they're worth the investment.

01:52 Second, we will wind back Labor's intervention and remove regulatory roadblocks which are

01:57 suffocating the economy and stopping businesses from getting ahead.

02:01 For example, we will not force large firms to spend more than $1 billion a year policing

02:07 the emissions of every small business they deal with, as Labor is trying to do.

02:12 We will condense approval processes and cut back on Labor's red tape, which is killing

02:17 mining, jobs and entrepreneurialism.

02:20 [BLANK_AUDIO]