Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party won the election four months ago; you could have even cast your vote for them.
Your electricity bill would be reduced by $275, your salary would increase faster than inflation, and the prime minister claimed to have a strategy to lower your cost of living.
It is simple to understand how some Australians came to modify their vote.
But only weeks before the first Budget of this Labor Government, salaries aren’t keeping up with rising prices, huge power bills are beginning to show up, and home values have suffered their greatest decline in years as a result of rising mortgage payments.
Homeowners were recently smacked with yet another increase in interest rates, placing even more strain on already thin family budgets.
A homeowner with a $750,000 mortgage now pays about $1,030 more in monthly payments than they did in May.
We warned that life would be difficult under Albanese during the election. We received a flak for this assertion.
Sadly, that assertion is now being confirmed in Australia. The phrase is used repeatedly.
Australians struggle with everything from the grocery store to the bowser to that renovation to the mortgage.
These cost-of-living increases are painful as families begin to put their Christmas plans together.
Following two years of COVID-Christmases, it is a harsh blow.
The issue is that this Labor Government, which was elected on a platform that they would improve everything, doesn’t appear to be making any progress.
Labor seems to have forgotten that it is the government, not the opposition, that it is in.
Their responsibility is to take action; it is not to assign blame or voice complaints.
Be more resilient, Jim Chalmers counsels Australian homes.
This is the same individual who, when serving as Shadow Treasurer, promised to give you as many RATs as you like at no cost and who also announced plans to provide $6 billion in vaccination incentive payments to those who had already had their shots.
You must question what has changed.
Anthony Albanese seems less like a guy with a plan and more like the dog that grabbed the automobile.
In fact, Labor took over an economy that was more robust than that of practically any other country.
Yes, we made record-breaking investments to maintain small enterprises and the livelihoods of employees.
Imagine if we had allowed those enterprises to collapse instead of making that costly but important effort.
At Centrelink, the wait times would have been months long.
Labor backed every dollar of the investment because of this.
They bemoan the amount of the debt while ignoring the fact that it would have increased under their leadership.
Labor spent an additional $18 billion above budget and an additional $45 billion over budget in the run-up to the election.
We once again saw evidence that our strategy was effective last week when Labor adjusted their projections.
Between 2020–21 and 2021–22, Australia’s deficit decreased by more than $100 billion, or 5 percentage points of GDP.
The largest budget turnaround has ever occurred.
It wasn’t a mistake.
Tax revenues are rising, with income tax revenues particularly high.
That entails workers who support the economy and pay taxes.
The goal was to steer our economy through the epidemic and towards a solid recovery.
Although the economy is healthy, rising prices at the register and at the gas pump are nevertheless difficult to bear.
We also realize that many of the problems are caused by global shocks.
However, having national governments is necessary for coping with global shocks.
It follows that the fact that many Australians are curious about the Albanese government’s strategy for handling this crisis is not surprising.
For this Labor Government, this is the crucial point.
They assured the Australian populace that they had a strategy to cope with rising living expenses.
We must observe it.
Before Christmas, we need to examine how they plan to assist your family in coping with the sorrow.
We must see the strategy that was promised to us all during the last election.
This Labor-led government has spoken more than it has done over the last four months.
They are escalating a dire situation.
Labor has all but certain that building prices would rise by weakening the authority of the tough policeman on construction sites, the Australian Building Construction Commission.
Labor has all but ensured that products and commodities at our ports will take longer to clear and cost more to transport by empowering unions.
Labor has all but ensured that willing employees won’t be able to fill those additional hours this Christmas by refusing to adopt our Pension and Veteran Workforce Boost proposal.
And right now, Labor is looking for ways to tax their way out, which will make it much more difficult to advance.
Even though the Labor government has only been in office for four months, Australians are hurting.
Anthony Albanese is absent from the scene while Australians struggle with yet another increase to their mortgage payments.
Prior to the election, Labor made a number of promises but hasn’t followed through on them.
Your Christmas present from Mr. Albanese will be a large pail of regret over your purchase.