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

I thank the senator for the question, and no, I was not wrong in those comments; they are outlined in the budget. I would just say that we are talking about the budget that kicks in on 1 July 2024. The measures I was speaking about relate to that period, and the budget papers are very clear about the forecasts or the estimates that Treasury have attached to those measures that put downward pressure on inflation. They are the energy bill relief, which will kick in from 1 July, and the Commonwealth rent assistance, an additional payment in the 2024-25 financial year.

But it's very clear, even from the data today—the monthly data, which moves around a bit—that the measures we have already put in place, the energy bill relief and the work that we did on Commonwealth rent assistance last year, have reduced the increases that people would have otherwise experienced. Those opposite voted against them and they criticised them, and in a continued attack on the budget they say it was unnecessary spending. We don't agree with that. We think those measures were targeted and appropriate, and that's why we're building on them in the next budget. They will come into effect on 1 July, in conjunction with the tax cuts that we have reshaped so that they better meet the needs right across the income brackets and, indeed, in particular cohorts like low-paid workers and women, who will get those tax cuts from 1 July. I completely stand by the budget that the Treasurer delivered and the forecast, which is outlined in the budget papers, that those measures will reduce the impact on inflation.