Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Minister, Westpac, in its October CPI indicator report, said, 'Government policies are holding down inflation.' Can the minister tell us how the government's comprehensive cost-of-living package is delivering tangible benefits for Australians while also tackling inflation? How are the government's rent assistance package and electricity bill price relief making life easier for Australians, while also not adding to inflation?

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

I thank Senator Green for the question. We are working hard—and I support the remarks made by our leader to a question earlier—to support Australians with cost-of-living relief without adding to the inflation challenge.

The latest ABS data has shown some good moderation, month-to-month, from 5.6 to 4.9 per cent. Westpac, in its CPI indicator report released today, said, 'Government policies are holding down inflation,' while the Deloitte Access Economics Budget Monitor of November 2023 on the fiscal responsibility of the Albanese Labor government said:

The Government took the option to bank most of the additional cash at the time of the 2023-24 Budget in May, which was good for the country's fiscal position and didn't add significantly to inflation.

Government policy, including rent assistance and the Energy Price Relief Plan, has taken some of the pressure off, but we acknowledge that households are doing it tough while inflation remains higher than we would like for longer than we would like. The OECD economic outlook for November has stated:

The Commonwealth Government's Energy Price Relief Plan, which set a cap on wholesale coal and gas prices—

They didn't insert there that you'd voted against it, but I'll add that in—

and provided targeted energy bill relief, is expected to reduce headline inflation by ¾ of a percentage point by the second quarter of 2024.

With all of these results coming in, you can see that the decisions we have taken are helping to alleviate cost-of-living pressures on households while also not making the inflation challenge harder. Our policies, including cheaper child care, reducing medicine costs, boosting wages, ensuring good minimum wage increases and fair pay for aged-care workers, creating more than 600,000 jobs— (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Green, a first supplementary?

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government is delivering significant investment in cost-of-living relief, including the $23 billion package delivered by the government. With government policies holding down inflation, can the minister also provide further details on how specific initiatives like cheaper medicines are easing the financial pressures on families, while also delivering lasting social reform?

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

I thank Senator Green for the question. She is right to draw attention to the cost-of-living package that has a number of elements, including the energy bill relief, medicines, cheaper child care, our housing policies, increasing rent assistance, fee-free TAFE—which has been incredibly positive and well taken up—getting wages moving again—something that those opposite hate. There have been more jobs created under this government in the first 18 months than under any previous first-term government, and I know you probably don't like that either. We've got participation rates at a record high, the gender pay gap coming down, business investment up, industrial disputes down. We've got a surplus. We didn't just print the mugs; we actually delivered the surplus. We've banked the revenue, so our budget's in better shape so that we can find room for cost-of-living relief where we can.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Green, a second supplementary?

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The OECD has recognised that the Albanese government's budget settings and cost-of-living measures are helping to fight against inflation. How does the Albanese government's economic agenda align with key OECD recommendations for advanced economies, including investing in people and their skills, broadening and deepening Australia's industrial base, and embracing the opportunities of the net zero transformation and digitalisation?

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

Well done, Senator Green—very well delivered. Again, Senator Green is right to draw our attention to not only the cost-of-living relief and the fact that we are managing the budget responsibly—and our spending restraint is assisting with the inflation challenge—but, at the same time, we're managing the budget better. We're investing in cost-of-living relief. We're also investing in the productive side of our economy, doing the long-term investments that will drive economic growth across our economy in skills, in the clean energy transition, in our housing policies. All of these areas are so important to the future of this country, areas that weren't addressed under the former government, where we saw a decade of delay. Perhaps the energy transition is the starkest example of that. But the housing shortage is also a stark reminder of what happens when those opposite in government do nothing and fail the national interests of this country.