Bill Stress Index

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (16:40): I rise today to speak about the 2024 Bill Stress Index, which collects data on the stress levels of Australians when it comes to paying their bills. Cost-of-living pressures are mounting on us all, and the anxiety is building, according to the Compare Club's 2024 Bill Stress Index. The Bill Stress Index is a nationwide snapshot of not just the financial situation of millions of households but also how they feel about that situation.

I am sure honourable members will not be surprised at the findings. The index found that Australians are hurting, as they are facing enormous pressure, and the resulting stress and anxiety is mounting on virtually all sectors of Australian society. Turn on the news and we are greeted by headlines condemning high inflation, rising interest rates, soaring power bills and the price of groceries.

Households right across the nation are under increasing financial stress, struggling to make ends meet, and it seems to be affecting all age groups. Overall, Australians as a whole are pretty worried about not being able to meet their financial obligations, with more than 80 per cent of all respondents reporting high levels of bill stress.

The Malinauskas Labor government has just handed down its third budget, and the question every South Australian has to ask themselves is: are they better off now than they were in 2022? The answer is a resounding no. The typical South Australian family is more than $20,000 a year worse off under Labor's cost-of-living crisis, hit hard by higher mortgages and rents, skyrocketing energy bills and the increased cost of household essentials like groceries.

South Australia has record ambulance ramping, despite Peter Malinauskas' promise to fix it; some of the highest electricity prices in the world; the highest unemployment and inflation rates in the country; a housing crisis; and skyrocketing crime. Described in the media as a 'spend now, pay later budget', the recent state budget sees an eye-watering increase to our state debt but next to no relief for households and businesses facing ever-increasing costs of living and doing business.

State debt will balloon to $44 billion over the forward estimates, which means that the interest servicing repayments alone will reach more than $5 million a day. The average South Australian household is more than $20,000 a year worse off under Labor and faces increasingly tough times, with higher mortgage rates and rents, skyrocketing energy bills and the highest inflation and unemployment rates in the nation.

The cost of essentials like groceries and fuel continues to climb, and the cost-of-living relief publicised in the budget is just a drop in the ocean compared to the stresses and financial strains families are facing each day. Despite a big spending and big taxing budget, Labor is not doing enough to address these very real issues facing each and every South Australian.

Small businesses are a big loser in this budget, with next to no new measures to address the current cost of doing business crisis. Businesses have also found no relief in Labor's budget, with next to no new measures to lower costs for South Australian small and family businesses.

Every day, we read a new story of hospitality and other businesses being forced to close their doors due to increasing business costs and reduced customer spending. Since Labor was elected in 2022, businesses have battled significant increases in power prices, the burden of higher interest rates, rising rents and increases in wages and the costs of goods and services.

Yet Labor has chosen to cut energy bill rebates worth $650 for small businesses and ignored calls from the opposition and the SA Business Chamber to reform payroll tax. Payroll tax has a deep impact on a business's ability to operate and grow. That is why the South Australian Liberal Party wants to lift the current payroll tax threshold from $1.5 million to $2.1 million to save small businesses tens of thousands of dollars a year.

Also, exempting apprentices and trainees from payroll tax would encourage small businesses to increase much-needed skills across our workforce. The Labor government's decision to charge payroll tax for general practitioners is shameful. It will see South Australian patients pay more to see their doctors from 1 July. We call for sensible reforms that would take pressure off our small and family businesses, but these have been ignored. The Malinauskas government's failure to address tax reforms just further highlights that this government and its budget is anti-business.