Ms BYRNES (Cunningham) (14:40): My question is to the Treasurer. In light of today's monthly consumer price index, how is the Albanese Labor government responding to the inflation challenge in the economy?
Dr CHALMERS (Rankin—Treasurer) (14:41): Thanks to the wonderful member for Cunningham for her question. As the Prime Minister said a moment ago, the ABS has released the monthly inflation gauge which shows that consumer prices rose 6.8 per cent in the 12 months to February, which is down from 7.4 per cent in last month's figures. As I have said before, we do need to be careful about this new measure of inflation which will be volatile month to month, but on the face of it this is a very encouraging sign. It's also a sign of the economic times around the world that a number with a six in front of it is still seen as welcome news. This is more evidence that inflation is moderating in our economy but it remains unacceptably high. It's more evidence that inflation peaked at the end of last year and it's moderating this year, but it will be higher than we would like for longer than we would like.
We do understand that Australians are under the pump with cost-of-living pressures, and that's why inflation is still the primary focus of our three-part economic plan and a major influence on the budget that I will hand down from this dispatch box in just under six weeks. It's why it is so important that our strategy has three parts: relief, repair and restraint. Cost-of-living relief where it's affordable, where it's responsible and where there is an economic dividend, whether it's cheaper early childhood education, cheaper medicines, getting wages moving again or providing some relief from higher power bills, which is a measure that those opposite voted against; repairing busted supply chains, a really important reason why it was so important that the parliament did pass the National Reconstruction Fund earlier today; and restraint so that we are getting genuine value for money for our investments in our economy and in our people, and cleaning up the mess that those opposite left behind when they left office.
The Leader of the Opposition can hide from the voters of Aston, but he can't hide from his record as a central part, a central figure in the Morrison government which left programs unfunded and had nowhere near enough to show for a trillion dollars in Liberal Party debt. He can't hide from the fact that the worst quarter for inflation last year was the—
Mr FLETCHER (Bradfield): A point of order on relevance. Mr Speaker, you have, in the past, directed the Treasurer and others back to the terms of the question, which had nothing about the Leader of the Opposition's record. He should return to the subject matter of the question.
THE SPEAKER: I’m going to draw the Treasurer back to the question. He has had a compare and contrast. I'm bringing him back to the question.
Dr CHALMERS: The question was inflation—the worst quarter for inflation was the March quarter last year when the member for Dickson was a member of the Expenditure Review Committee in the Morrison government. He can't hide from that. Australians understand that a lot of these inflationary pressures come at us from around the world but some of them are homegrown as well, and a decade of economic mismanagement has made people more vulnerable to these shocks. This is why we are working, in a methodical and responsible way, to put together a budget that takes some of the pressure off people who are dealing with cost-of-living pressures, even as inflation moderates in our economy in welcome ways.
