Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury – Opinion Piece – Life harder under Albanese
SENATOR DEAN SMITH SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA OPINION PIECE – THE WEST AUSTRALIAN 1 August 2024 LIFE HARDER UNDER ALBANESE Anthony Albanese lauded the “stability” of his government over the weekend, when he announced his first major cabinet reshuffle in more than two years. If I have learnt one thing in politics after many years, it’s this: the vast majority of the Australian public couldn’t give two figs about some musical chairs – which is all about union factional power games, anyway – being played out on the east coast. This is particularly the case in Western Australia, which continues to have just one Minister at the cabinet table, a sure sign if any was needed about the low regard this Government holds our state in. But if Anthony Albanese thinks it’s “stability” that will endear him to the voters of WA, then he could well be in for a nasty surprise. WA voters want competence, and they want honesty. But on both measures they are being let down. Badly. Let me give you some examples. Before the election Anthony Albanese promised to build more homes and increase the housing supply, which is desperately needed in Perth and regional WA. After more than two years, that promise isn’t just not stacking up, it’s beginning to look downright laughable. The average price of a rental in Perth has exploded under Labor – in March this year it was $710, an increase of 15% in less than nine months. Perth has one of the tightest rental markets in the country, and employers who are desperately needed to work in our schools, hospitals and construction sectors are being put off because of the lack of housing options. Nor is life any easier if you own a home. Thanks to the soaring (and, according to the RBA, home-grown) inflation crisis, interest rates have increased 12 times under Labor’s watch. According to an analysis done earlier this year by my office, 100,000 WA families are hurtling towards a mortgage cliff. This could spell disaster. Already, WA has the second-highest rates of mortgage holders in 90-day arrears in the country – behind only the Northern Territory. Instead of helping people get a foot on the property ladder, Anthony Albanese has kicked them off it and tossed the ladder away: the average home loan in Perth is now $537,000, up by more than $60,000 in a year. And what about the economy more broadly? Even in WA, the workhouse of the national economy, Labor is failing. Thanks to its reliance on the Greens to pass legislation in the Senate, Labor has refused to rule out a ‘climate trigger’ for new mining approvals, while continuing their funding of the discredited Environmental Defenders Office. Because of policies like these, nickel mining has collapsed in WA, while companies like Santos have laid off hundreds of workers thanks to what they described as unworkable mining approval processes. Anthony Albanese needs to get out to the Pilbara, where 30% of Australia’s exports come from, and which needs at least 50,000 new workers over the next decade. But instead of touching down in real Australia, and learning about its problems, like a real Prime Minister should do, Anthony Albanese is doing everything he can to make sure those jobs don’t exist, and that those exports are produced in Africa, rather than Australia. And have we mentioned live exports yet? Here’s one thing Anthony Albanese won’t be telling the people of WA: the minister responsible for banning live sheep exports, and killing off an industry worth more than $100 million dollars to the state – Murray Watt – just got a promotion. Talk about adding insult to injury. Then we come to energy. Labor’s renewables-only energy policy has been a failure everywhere in the world it has been attempted. The reason for this isn’t difficult to grasp: advanced economies need 24/7, reliable, baseload power. Renewables, by their very nature, are unable to provide this. There is only one zero-emissions energy source that can provide cheap and reliable baseload power, and that is nuclear. That’s why everyone – from US Democrats to UK Labour, from Justin Trudeau to Emmanuel Macron, not to mention every single G20 economy except Australia – are using or building nuclear power reactors. Despite promising to lead a mature government, Anthony Albanese and his ministers have used cartoons of three-eyed fish to discredit Peter Dutton’s plans for moving Australia in line with the rest of the developed world. Under Labor, we will be stuck with a second-rate energy policy that sends jobs overseas and small businesses in Australia broke because the government refuses to budge from its ideological approach. One term of Albanese has set the country back. But two would be a national disaster. The next election will be critical to Australia – but particularly WA, who Labor continues to fail. So it’s time we helped Anthony Albanese with his next reshuffle. My idea: let’s shuffle the lot of them to Opposition.