Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

If the shadow Treasurer wants to be accurate—it would be the first time, but if he wants to be accurate then he should acknowledge in this place that the Reserve Bank yesterday released new forecasts for inflation where they lowered their forecasts for inflation. Inflation is already back in the target band for the first time since 2021, and the Reserve Bank made it clear with their new forecasts that they expect inflation to be lower than what they had earlier anticipated, and not just in a headline sense but also when it comes to underlying inflation.

I say to the shadow Treasurer, who appears to be chirping away in some kind of incoherent way from over there, that if he's dark about inflation at 2.8 per cent he must have been absolutely furious when he was in office and inflation was 6.1 per cent. Most people in Australia understand, even if the shadow Treasurer doesn't, that 2.8 is smaller than 6.1. Inflation's a bit like golf; you want a lower number, not a higher number. When we came to office, inflation was more than double what it is now. It was much higher and rising; now it is lower and falling, and that's because, as the Reserve Bank governor rightly acknowledged in her comments yesterday, the fight against inflation is our No. 1 priority.

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