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

I'm getting to the question. I too would be angry if I had presided over a 2.1 per cent increase. The largest quarterly increase was in March 2022. That was the highest. The highest inflation this century was on their watch, and their response after that quarter in March was to massively increase spending in the vain hope that they would be re-elected in the May 2022 election. That is just a fact. It is a fact that on that budget day they, of course, had a whole lot of new spending but no savings. It's also a fact that we produced two budgets that have produced $40 billion of savings. It's also a fact that we overwhelmingly returned the increase in revenue to the bottom line to take pressure off inflation. That is why Philip Lowe, Governor of the Reserve Bank, said, on 2 May, 'Inflation in Australia has passed its peak'. That's why all the ratings agencies, including Fitch Ratings, have said that it is not likely to contribute to inflationary pressures in the economy. That's why Westpac's Bill Evans said, 'I don't expect them to put upward pressure on interest rates.' (Time expired)

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