Create solutions, not problems

When I am out and about talking to people in the electorate, many different issues are raised with me depending on who I am talking to, where they live and what stage of life they are at. What matters to a retiree on Bribie is different to what matters to a young family in Narangba or a farmer in Wamuran.

I must say recently the number one item is cost of living. As the world normalises after the pandemic and we face challenges in areas such as energy supply going through a transition, the war in the Ukraine affecting oil supply and costs, interest rates rising, workplace shortages, supply chain issues and unheard-of inflation rates, this is when governments at all levels need to step up and lead.

I am often asked if I believe that governments can really have an impact on cost of living when most factors that impact this are outside forces like the war in the Ukraine and international issues outside of Australia’s direct control. The simple answer is absolutely and I would say this is the very job of the governments of the day – to put in place policies and legislation that soften the blow and mitigate the impacts on the Australian people.

Most average Aussies could get up and state the facts on what the current issues are and the reasons for them. People don’t want to hear about problems from governments, they want to hear solutions.

Real leadership takes the cards we are dealt as a nation, find solutions and implements them so the Australian people’s lives are less affected or not affected at all by these outside factors.

In the last term of government, the Coalition government had to deal with a little thing called the COVID pandemic. When faced with this real threat to our standard of living, we analysed and tried to predict what these impacts would be and found solutions for these issues either in advance or when they arose.

We implemented JobKeeper to keep thousands of small businesses afloat and employees and employers connected. To ensure the construction industry didn’t collapse, we introduced the $25,000 Home Builder grant for first home buyers which actually created a boom during a global pandemic. The fuel excise was halved when the war in the Ukraine started, to ease prices at the bowser by 22 cents a litre, which has been discontinued since the change of government. There were worker shortages as we had no backpackers and seasonal workers for farms, so we introduced the PALM program to give easier access to workers for the agricultural industry.

The results of these measures? Lowest credit card debt per capita, lowest interest rates, lowest unemployment rate, highest household savings in decades and low inflation rates.

So yes, the Australian people’s standard of living is directly tied to the government of the day and they should always be judged and held accountable on this.

Again, I say, true leadership doesn’t blame others or outside influences, it doesn’t whinge about the facts or circumstances of the day, true leadership takes the cards they are dealt and goes about finding and implementing solutions. At the moment, this type of leadership in this country and state appears to be sadly lacking. So, I encourage the governments at state and federal level, don’t complain and blame, just lead and provide solutions to keep our country moving towards a nation of prosperity and strength. The Australian people who elected you rightly expect and deserve it.

• Terry Young, Member for Longman