Gerard and Anne – thank you for hosting me today at the Sydney Institute.

And it’s great to have the Sydney Institute’s Chair, Jacquelynne, and Board Members, Mike and George, with us today.

A special acknowledgement to Peter Costello – one of Australia’s finest Treasurers.

Thank you to all my colleagues here today.

And to everyone here, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your time.

INTRODUCTION

Australia is in an economic crisis.

This might not be immediately obvious – as in prior economic crises like the GFC and pandemic.

But the crisis is unmistakable when you consider our living standards.

At a time when living standards should be rising, they’ve fallen catastrophically – worse than anywhere in the developed world.

What truly distinguishes this crisis is that, rather than government acting to protect Australians from harm, this government is the primary cause of harm.

Today’s economic crisis is of the Albanese Government’s making.

It’s a tragedy for Australians suffering through it.

And it’s a stain on this Labor Government that should disqualify it from re-election.

As someone who has worked my entire life nurturing enterprise and turning economic hardship into success, what this government is doing to our nation breaks my heart.

It doesn’t need to be like this.

Australia should be thriving – not failing.

And our current decline only steels my resolve to do what’s needed to save Australia.

The central message of my speech today is this:

Only the Coalition has the strong plan and direction, strong team, and strong leadership to save Australia – to turn tough times into better times.

We’ve done it before.

We will do it again.

We will protect our way of life.

We will restore our standard of living.

AN ECONOMIC CRISIS OF THE ALBANESE GOVERNMENT’S MAKING

The greatest myth perpetuated by Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers is that they’re victims of circumstance.

After four years in government and eight budget updates, their refusal to take responsibility has worn thin.

Jim Chalmers frequently tells a revealing lie.

The Treasurer takes credit for having brought government spending as a share of GDP down from over a third to around a quarter.

The only problem is this happened before he even took office.

I won’t rehash our pandemic experience at length.

No one wants to relive that period.

But a point must be made:

Faced with the greatest economic shock since the Great Depression, the Coalition intervened to save businesses and jobs – even though it grated against our economic instincts.

The economic interventions were intended to be targeted and temporary – so the deficits unwound rapidly as the crisis passed.

Of course, there was relentless pressure from Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers to spend $81 billion more – to keep the money flowing for longer.

And the claim that government spending grew permanently is debunked by the numbers.

In the financial year after the borders reopened, government spending had, in fact, fallen to 24.3 percent of GDP – lower than before the pandemic.

So emergency levels of government spending receded quickly.

Unwittingly, though, the Coalition had laid the fertile eggs from which Labor’s Leviathan would hatch.

Many Australians became reliant on government during the pandemic – understandably.

But that dependency fed a mistaken expectation that government could be the solution to every problem.

And that expectation was seized upon by Anthony Albanese.

Anthony Albanese inherited a government that was smaller than before the pandemic – one as small as in the mid-2000s.

But in just two years, he grew government to its largest in 40 years, outside the pandemic.

And in each of the two subsequent years, he has grown it even larger.

Big government is at the root of all of our problems.

Problems that will not be solved without addressing their root cause.

LABOR’S ECONOMIC DEATH LOOP

Since coming to power, the Albanese Government has initiated a radical restructuring of Australian society:

Away from free enterprise and towards a command-and-control system.

Labor’s agenda does not serve our national interest.

It’s a political program to centralise and consolidate power.

Power that Labor wields to serve constituencies that further entrench its power.

The NDIS now costs taxpayers $3,000 a year on average.

But billions in waste and fraud have created a powerful constituency that protects the status quo.

Under Labor, the “care economy” workforce has exploded.

At one point it was responsible for 80 per cent of new hours worked despite accounting for just 30 per cent of pre-existing hours.

Segments of this disproportionately unionised workforce have been awarded hefty pay increases by Labor’s Fair Work Commission.

Which Labor has then backed with billions in additional taxpayer funds.

Naturally, Australians expect and deserve the highest-quality services.

The workers providing those services expect and deserve to be well paid.

No reasonable person could deny this.

But even Labor, in its belated commitment to reign in the NDIS, has admitted the trajectory is unsustainable.

The Coalition has highlighted the unsustainability of the NDIS for many years, noting it will ultimately be to the detriment of those who need it most.

And the Treasury Secretary belled the cat recently when she said, “revenue needs to be raised from somewhere.”

Labor expands government, which slows the economy, reducing revenue.

So it levies new taxes on investment, saving, and aspiration.

And this slows the economy further, reducing revenue further still.

Which taxes will Labor raise next?

Labor has put our economy into a death loop.

A problem arises.

Government steps in, gets bigger, and spends big.

Spending fuels inflation.

Prices rise, household budgets shrink, and costs for businesses go up.

Confidence erodes and investment falls.

Government needs to spend more to deal with the problems it has created.

It raises taxes on Australians today.

Meanwhile, debt gets bigger for Australians tomorrow.

And around and around the death loop we go.

But here’s the thing:

Despite all the spending and intervention – despite bigger government and more bureaucracy – our problems have not been solved.

Rather, things are even worse than when we started.

Ronald Reagan spoke about what he considered to be the nine most terrifying words in the English language.

I think there’s ten:

“I’m from the Albanese Government, and I’m here to help.”

BIGGER GOVERNMENT IS MAKING AUSTRALIANS POORER

Make no mistake:

This big government agenda has been devastating for Australians’ living standards.

Coalition analysis of the National Accounts and Labour Account paints a stark picture.

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Liberal Party of Australia

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