Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Treasurer. The Treasurer and the Minister for Finance and Deregulation have said again and again that spending by the federal government is inflationary and that reducing spending by the federal government will reduce aggregate demand and will reduce inflation, and this is part of their anti-inflation plan. Yet, when asked what the inflationary impact of state government borrowings is—which of course funds spending by state governments—the Treasurer is unable to say. Is it the Treasurer’s contention that it is only spending by coalition governments that contributes to inflation?

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