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

Thank you for the question. I guess we should expect that kind of divisive question from those opposite that seek to divide Australia as opposed to unite it. If the senator had read the budget papers, they would have seen that we are predicting that inflation comes down considerably over the next financial year before heading back to the target range. I would remind those opposite that interest rates began rising under them.

Op position senators interjecting—

Because you lost the election, mate. You lost the election. That's why. We have been in a period of tightening of monetary policy since that time, and that's why the budget has been carefully crafted to not add to the inflation challenge in the economy.

Here is a list of things where we have our focus on all Australians. This is a budget that seeks to make investments that benefit all Australians, no matter how much you try to divide different groups across our community. In terms of wages growth, who do you reckon that helps? For the first time in a decade, by overturning your policy to deliberately withhold wage increases from working people, we are going to see real wages growth. Part of the reason we have significant upward revisions in this budget is that we are seeing wages growth. Our investment in Medicare and the tripling of the bulk billing rate supports all families across the country. We're putting downward pressure on inflation to tackle the cost of living. On energy bills, the gas energy caps that we put in place, which you voted against—have a look in the budget at what that says. The fact is that people will be paying less on their bills as a direct result of— (Time expired)