Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

The thought that is top of mind for every Australian today is not the welfare of Julian Assange, not the performance of President Joe Biden in his most recent presidential debate. After tomorrow, it won't even be Senator Fatima Payman from Western Australia. The matter that is top of mind for every Australian at the moment is the cost of living. And Australians who voted for Prime Minister Albanese and who voted for Dr Jim Chalmers, the Treasurer, are asking themselves: Why is it that Labor is making them poorer? Why is it that Labor is hurting working families like theirs? And why is it that the government can only offer up excuses when asked to explain why interest rates are crippling household budgets, why inflation hasn't come under control and why the prices of households' weekly and monthly family shopping lists have got greater and greater? The answer to those questions is very simple. When the RBA meets, it sits down and asks itself one question: is the government managing the economy well? And if the RBA decides that the government is not managing the economy well, what does the RBA do? It puts up interest rates.

Over the two-and-a-bit years since May 2022, when the RBA has met, sat down and judged the performance of the government in managing the economy, it has said the government is doing a bad job, and interest rates have gone up, not once but 12 times. That's the cumulative impact that is now weighing heavily on the minds of Australian households. There are only two dates in the next six weeks that Australians need to think about and prepare themselves for. The first date is 31 July. That is when the June-quarter inflation rate gets revealed. Jim Chalmers boldly said on the eve of the budget that he would bring down inflation. Well, we'll soon know whether or not Dr Chalmers has been able to do that, on 31 July. What is the second date that is most important?

It's 6 August—thank you very much, Senator Ayres. You should have that etched in your diary, because that is the next date when the RBA will judge the performance of the government. It's 6 August. There's a third date, and what is that? That date will probably be 30 November or 7 December, when Anthony Albanese will take this country to an election, asking them to vote on his performance as an economic manager. Anthony Albanese is not going to let Australians—