Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks to the member for her question about the cost of living. I think we all appreciate and understand that Australians in every corner of our country are doing it especially tough right now—that the cost-of-living pressures are acute and the cost of some of the essentials that Australians just can't do without is going through the roof. Obviously, part of this is about global pressures, particularly on energy markets and food security. Clearly there are some domestic attributes there. Some of the supply chain issues, which were a feature of the discussion at the Jobs and Skills Summit last week, are part of the challenge as well. I think that there is an expectation right across the board that rising interest rates are set to be an even bigger part of the pain that people confront. Tomorrow the Reserve Bank board will meet again. We don't pre-empt or interfere in any way with their independent decisions, but the market expectations are for another increase, and that will be an additional cost on people who are paying off a mortgage.

The task for our government is to do what we responsibly can to help people through these shorter-term challenges but to also deal with the issues in supply chains, to deal with cost of living where we can and build an economy that grows wages and improves living standards over time. That's why it's so important that the payments that the Minister mentioned a moment ago will increase this month in line with inflation. It's why we successfully argued for an increase in the minimum wage in line with inflation, despite the howls of opposition from those opposite.

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