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

AGHER (—) (): I thank Senator Sheldon for the question. The government understand that Australians are doing it tough and that household budgets are under real pressure. The independent Reserve Bank has just announced its decision to increase interest rates by another 50 basis points to bring the cash rate to 2.35 per cent. This had been widely predicted, but we know that doesn't make it any easier for homeowners We know this means that families will have to make more hard decisions about how to make ends meet. What it means for an average homeowner owing $330,000 is that they will have to find about $95 extra a month for repayments, on top of the $310 extra in repayments since early May. For Australians with a typical $500,000 mortgage it's about an extra $145 a month, in addition to the extra $475 they've had to find since early May.

We know that interest rate rises mean that families have to make those hard decisions about how to make ends meet. But, as the Senate knows, it's not the job of the government to interfere with the independent decisions of the Reserve Bank. The Albanese government's plan is about steering the economy through this difficult period and building that better future that the Australian people deserve. We'll do this by investing in the productive capacity of the economy and making those sensible and considered policy decisions and investments that won't add to inflationary pressures. We will look, in particular, at the areas we focused on in the Jobs and Skills Summit around accessing cheaper and more affordable child care, cutting the price of medicines, fast-tracking those fee-free TAFE places, bringing forward to next year the increase that we would have seen in pensions, allowances and rent assistance and, of course, legislation— (Time expired)