Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. When I think of working families in Australia dealing with mortgage rate pressure, they have one thing and one thing only in mind: 11 consecutive interest rate rises in a row as a response to the economic policy settings put in place by those opposite. Working families across Australia are struggling to make ends meet. They have been dealing with the mortgage pressures which they have been confronted with—11 increases in a row—on the back of mounting inflation pressures in the economy and an inflation genie let out of the bottle by those opposite.

I would have thought that those opposite, if they were serious about dealing with the long-term economic challenges of Australia, would accept that we have an inflation problem. I do not hear any recognition from those opposite that we have one at present—none whatsoever. Six months ago the member for Higgins said, ‘It’s just fine and dandy.’ We have had the member for Wentworth saying, ‘It’s all just a fairytale.’ Is there an inflation problem? If you do not recognise that there is an inflation problem, how can we embrace a common set of policy undertakings in this place to deal with an inflation problem? For example, what do we then do when it comes to eliminating unnecessary waste and expenditure through government departments and through the razor gang exercise that we have embarked upon? Because, when it came to the waste of government funds, the growth in government outlays in the last financial year was, I am advised—

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