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

My question is to the Treasurer. Last week's national accounts revealed the true impact of Labor's economic failures. KPMG Chief Economist Dr Brendan Rynne says the government 'has its foot on the accelerator and the Reserve Bank's foot is on the brake—it's stalling the economy'. Why is the government fighting the Reserve Bank and leaving Australian families going backwards?

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

When it comes to government spending, we have turned two very big Liberal deficits into two big Labor surpluses, and the Governor of the Reserve Bank has made it clear that those two surpluses are helping in the fight against inflation. We have found almost $80 billion in savings, and those opposite found none in their last budget. We've banked almost all of the upward revision to revenue in our budgets; those opposite used to spend most of the upward revisions to revenue in the budgets. We've been managing the budget in a very responsible way, getting the budget in much better nick and cleaning up the mess that we inherited from those opposite at the same time as we roll out cost-of-living relief—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for O'Connor is now warned.

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

fight inflation and invest in a future made in Australia and in the future of our economy.

I'm asked about the government's position and the Reserve Bank's position. Honourable members and the public beyond should be aware that the Governor of the Reserve Bank has herself said that we are completely aligned when it comes to the focus on inflation and being concerned about maintaining the gains in the labour market. The governor said on 16 August, 'We are completely aligned on this.' Governor Bullock also said on 5 June:

… I think fiscal policy has been running a surplus for the last couple of years, so I'd say that has been helping the homegrown inflation situation, if anything, in that circumstance.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. The member for Hume is just going to cease interjecting. He's had a good go right throughout question time. I'm sure he wishes to stay, so he can help me stay—well, himself as well! The Treasurer has the call.

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

There's another very similar point that Governor Bullock has made, and I'm surprised, given she said it twice, that the shadow Treasurer didn't notice it. On 16 August Governor Bullock said:

Public demand is not, as I said, the main game here. It's not the thing we are focusing on.

On 5 September she said, 'Government spending is not actually the main game here.' So, if they don't want to take my word for it, they can take the word of the Governor of the Reserve Bank. The Governor of the Reserve Bank has made it very clear that we are aligned when it comes to the fight against inflation. It's one of the reasons we've got inflation down from something that had a six in front of it when they were in office to something that has a three in front of it right now. We know that these price pressures are more persistent than we would like, and that's why it requires ongoing effort. Our primary focus is the fight against inflation, as is the Reserve Bank's. We know that we need to do that without ignoring the risks to growth and the pressures that people are already under.

If those opposite were in office, we'd be in recession right now. They'd be running huge deficits, rather than a couple of big surpluses, and that would have implications. We're managing the budget responsibly. It's the third year of a three-year parliamentary term, and they don't have any policies.