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

I thank the member for Flinders for her question. When it comes to pressure on inflation one of the things that a government can do is make sure that when it hands down a budget it is fiscally responsible. Tonight you'll see the response of the government that I'm proud to lead. To be fair to the member for Flinders, she wasn't here to see, quite frankly, the debacle that occurred towards the end of the long office of the Morrison, Abbott and Turnbull governments where we saw the law of diminishing returns—to use an economic term for the benefit of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. We saw that in place—absolutely.

Today the cash rate is 3.85 per cent. When this bloke was the Assistant Treasurer it was 6.75 per cent. What's larger—6.75 or 3.85? You don't need an economics degree to work that out.

I'll tell you what my government is doing on inflation. Those opposite of course poured fuel on the inflation fire in last year's budget. I remind the member for Flinders that inflation's highest jump this century was in the last quarter of March 2022. I say to the member for Flinders—I'll give the member for Flinders some unsolicited advice—just say: 'I wasn't here. It wasn't my fault that it all went wrong.'

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