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

The position that Mr Kohler puts and that is supported, presumably, by Senator Davey is not the advice to government. You've seen that reflected in the budget papers in the Treasury advice on the forecasts for CPI, on what they expect. They make a forecast or an assumption about what the cash rate will be. All of the advice to government does not support the argument that Senator Davey is putting.

We have been very restrained with our spending. We have been cleaning up the mess, dealing with terminating measures, paying down debt, delivering surpluses, restraining real spending growth and saying no to more things than we say yes to in this budget. What we've tried to do is to find a balance between short-term cost-of-living relief that doesn't add to inflation—in fact, it puts downward pressure on inflation and knocks off half a percentage point—and, at the same time, looking forward, as growth slows because of those interest rate increases and global challenges, at how we drive future economic prosperity. (Time expired)