Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How is the Albanese Labor government's responsible economic management helping in the fight against inflation and with the cost of living? And, Treasurer, what economic approaches would leave Australians worse off?

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

Thanks to the member for Tangney for being an outstanding local member from the west and a great colleague and for his important question. When we came to office almost three years ago, inflation was much higher and rising, and real wages and living standards were falling. That's why our priority right from the beginning has been the fight against inflation and helping Australians with the cost of living. Together, Australians have made very substantial and now sustained progress when it comes to inflation. Inflation is now almost a third of what we inherited from those opposite. The headline measure is in the mid twos, underlying is in the low threes, and both are falling. This week, Westpac and ANZ both substantially lowered their forecasts for inflation for the first half of this year.

Inflation is falling in Australia, but it is rising in other parts of the world. Overnight, we heard that in the US inflation rose again, so their measure of both underlying and headline inflation is higher there than it is here. What makes the Australian experience different to what we're seeing around the world is that we've made this progress together on inflation at the same time that average unemployment has been lower under this Prime Minister than under any Prime Minister in the last 50 years. That means that, at the same time, the economy—while growth is soft—has been growing while two-thirds of the OECD have gone backwards at least once. We've delivered back-to-back surpluses for the first time in almost two decades and lowered debt by $177 billion. So inflation is down, and wages are up. Unemployment is low, and the budget is in much better nick.

Even as we've made this progress together as Australians, we acknowledge that growth in the economy is weak and people are under pressure. That's why our cost-of-living help is so important. Getting wages moving, tax cuts, energy bill relief, cheaper early childhood education, cheaper medicines and free TAFE—the Leader of the Opposition has opposed all of this. He says he'll make big cuts, but he won't tell Australians what those cuts are until after the election. The reason this will make people worse off is he can't find that $350 billion in cuts or the $600 billion he needs for nuclear reactors without going after Medicare again, without going after pension indexation or housing or veterans or disaster relief or wages. That's why the choice of the election later this year is such a stark one for the Australian people: the Leader of the Opposition, who will make people worse off, who opposed our cost-of-living help and who will take Australia backwards, or this Prime Minister and his government, helping Australians with the cost of living, making progress in the fight against inflation, strengthening Medicare and building Australia's future.