Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Each warning from the RBA was ignored and so the inflationary pressures have slowly increased to produce the highest rate of inflation in 16 years. That is the Howard-Costello legacy. Inflation is our most pressing domestic challenge. It hurts working families and businesses, eats away at savings and threatens our national prosperity, and puts pressure on interest rates. The December CPI data released in January showed underlying inflation at 3.6 per cent, the highest rate for 16 years. Figures like that steel the government’s determination to win the war on inflation. This government will not sit back and watch inflationary pressures rise until they overflow. We did not create this problem, but we do take responsibility for it.