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

I thank the member for Lingiari for her question. Australians know that inflation is a global challenge and that the surge in energy prices and supply chain issues has affected people and economies worldwide. It's no secret that we inherited some tough circumstances—$1 trillion in debt, wages going backwards, productivity flatlining and inflation with a 'six' in front of it and rising. But we have had a clear plan and we have stuck to it—bringing costs down, getting wages up and getting inflation back to where it should be.

Today, we have made even more progress. Monthly inflation remained at 2.1 per cent compared with the 'six' it had in front of it when we took office. But we are also bringing costs down. Today, we are introducing a bill to ensure that supermarkets face multimillion-dollar penalties for harmful breaches of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, with fines of up to $10 million for price gouging. These are serious penalties, the highest corporate penalties under any industry code. That's because people trying hard to find good prices don't deserve to be ripped off. Shoppers deserve fair prices, not dodgy discounts. Day to day, unfair prices make life hard. Over the course of a year, they really add up. That's why we're cracking down on supermarkets and making sure that the regulators have the teeth that they need to make sure that supermarkets are doing the right thing.

But we are also concerned with getting wages up. Last night, through the Senate, we passed a 15 per cent pay increase for early childhood workers. Importantly, it's tied to keeping fees down for families.

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