Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. In May last year, in response to a single rate rise, the Prime Minister said Australians were facing a full-blown cost-of-living crisis. Given that the RBA has lifted rates eight times since May, will the Prime Minister now accept responsibility for a cost-of-living crisis on his watch? Why do Australian families always pay more under Labor?

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

I thank the member for his question. I agree with the bloke who said, 'It's very clear the world has changed dramatically, even in the past few months. We've seen a rapid shift to an inflationary environment. Interest rates are bucking decades of downward trends.' He said that in September. I agree with my predecessor. He said, 'There's not a lot we can do about things that are happening overseas that are impacting on our economy.' And his leader currently said, 'Nobody wants to see interest rates go up but it's the 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 happened when interest rates started to go up, which was on their watch.