Australians are living through the worst collapse in living standards on record, with a per-capita or ‘family’ recession for seven consecutive quarters – the longest on record, Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster said after Wednesday’s budget update by the Federal Treasurer.

“Labor is now spending $12 for every $1 saved. In the next year alone, Government spending will increase by 5.7 per cent.  Labor is on a $347 billion spend‐a‐thon since the election – equivalent to $33,000 of extra spending for every household.  Put another way, Labor is pushing government spending as a share of the economy to 27.2 per cent – one of the highest levels on record, outside of the pandemic. As the Reserve Bank has warned, high spending means high inflation,” Dr Webster said.

“As Mallee residents prepare for Christmas they face the shock at the supermarket checkout, on their power bills and across the retail sector that their hard-earned income doesn’t go as far as it used to, thanks to Labor’s globally unique, home-grown inflation crisis.”

“There is nothing in Treasurer Chalmers’ budget update that will restore what Australians have lost under Labor.”

Wednesday’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) update shows a $109.6 billion increase in taxes and confirms the Albanese Government is the biggest spending government outside of wartime or crisis.

MYEFO confirms that on Treasurer Chalmers’ watch, while government debt will pass $1 trillion, a new person also arrives in Australia every 46 seconds. 

In Albanese Labor’s first term there have been 1.3 million migrants, with another 700,000 proposed in Labor’s next term – the equivalent of Adelaide and the Gold Coast combined added to Australia’s population in just 6 years.  

Australia’s population growth is 1.13 per cent, well ahead of New Zealand (0.95), Ireland (0.93), India (0.72), Canada (0.71), the USA (0.67), the UK (0.45), China (0.23), South Korea (0.21), France (0.2), Spain (0.12) and Germany (-0.12) (CIA World Factbook estimates).

“Labor has no plan for the housing and infrastructure Australia needs.  The Coalition has committed to $5 billion in enabling infrastructure for housing, including $1.5 billion for regional Australia. 

“Under Labor, Australia will face a decade of deficits.  Furthermore, Labor has no plan to turn it around except with higher taxes, higher debt, or higher inflation,” Dr Webster said.

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