Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. I also thank her for her interview—on Sky, I think it was—where the member blamed me for the fact that two people were appointed in her portfolio without letting her know, while she was the Minister for Home Affairs. But I say to the member: hang in there. You never know what might happen.

I say in terms of interest rates and the cost of living, which the member asked about, that I know that she's very loyal to the Leader of the Opposition, so I'll quote him:

… nobody wants to see interest rates go up, but it's a reality of a world where there's inflation. I think Australians understand that … there's a lot of pressure—upward pressure—on interest rates at the moment.

That's what the Leader of the Opposition had to say when he was a minister. I think he was the only minister in his portfolio at that point in time, so obviously he had the confidence of the Prime Minister at that point in time. On that occasion he was right, in a moment of honest reflection, as to what was happening in the economy. We understand that there are pressures on the cost of living. We understand that, which is why the member for McPherson should have voted for energy price relief, should have supported the Fee Free TAFE plan, should have supported the cut to pharmaceutical costs and should be supporting the measures that this government is doing in order to take pressure off the cost of living.

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