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

My question is addressed to the Treasurer. I refer to the Treasurer’s media statement of 5 March, which referred to the household final consumption expenditure chain price index. Would the Treasurer explain to the House why this index is widely considered a broader measure of inflation than the headline CPI? Will the Treasurer confirm that the national accounts showed the index of household final consumption expenditure increased by 0.4 per cent in the quarter, the second lowest quarterly rise in 2½ years? Given that the national accounts showed this measure of consumer price inflation moderating, does he now regret egging the Reserve Bank on to hike interest rates with his intemperate remark, ‘The inflation genie is out of the bottle’?

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