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

I'm sure that Senator Dean Smith is very interested to know that the latest inflation figures show that headline inflation is the lowest it has been in almost four years. When we came to office, it was much higher and it was rising, at 6.1 per cent. Now it's 2.8 per cent. We also know that inflation is now at half of what we inherited and about a third of its peak. All of us in this place should welcome that, because that means that the prices people are paying are less than what we inherited when we came to government, when inflation was rising under you and interest rates were rising as well.

Our budget strategy—and I know you continue to misquote the RBA in all of your questions, when they have said that our surplus budgeting is helping in the fight against inflation. We've delivered the first two surpluses—something that you were not able to do in your entire time in government—in 15 years. (Time expired)