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

I thank Senator Stewart for the question. During question time today, the Reserve Bank board has decided to pause interest rates, keeping the official cash rate at 4.1 per cent. This is welcome news and confirms that our efforts to get on top of the inflation challenge in our economy are starting to work.

The government's primary focus is addressing the inflation challenge. Our economic plan includes targeted, responsible cost-of-living measures that won't make the job of the Reserve Bank harder than it needs to be. This includes energy rebates, cheaper child care, affordable medicines and reduced bulk-billing costs. Our Energy Price Relief Plan is delivering up to $500 in energy bill relief to five million households on their winter bills and up to $650 to a million small businesses. This not only eases the burden for families and businesses but also contributes to our fight against inflation.

Treasury forecasts indicate that our energy relief package will directly will reduce inflation by three quarters of a percentage point in 2023-24.

We're also repairing the budget to alleviate inflationary pressures, including returning 87 per cent of upward revenue revisions to the budget, compared to 40 per cent under our predecessors and 30 per cent under the Howard government; limiting average annual real spending growth to less than one per cent, which is seven times lower than the coalition; and making $40 billion worth of savings and reprioritisations across both budgets, compared to zero new expenditure savings measures in the coalition's last budget. The Reserve Bank governor confirmed that our budget is reducing, not adding to, inflation, telling estimates:

I don't think that the budget is adding to inflation; it's actually reducing inflation …

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