Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Sheldon for the supplementary. There are a number of factors contributing to higher prices and increasing inflation. Obviously, some of these are international, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine hitting grain and oil prices and China's COVID suppression strategy hitting supply chains. Any of us who have engaged with business or indeed tried to engage business in the last year understand the impacts that those supply chain issues are having.

There are domestic pressures, though, as well—for example, natural disasters like floods and the new COVID waves here in Australia. All of this is having an impact. Those are really unavoidable to a certain degree, but there are other areas where nine years of policy failure from the previous government has left us exposed.