Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Canavan very helpfully asked the RBA governor the following question today: 'Just on the energy side of things, how much has the disruption in energy flows resulting from the war in Ukraine contributed to inflation over the past year?' The governor said this: 'Substantially. At one point the price of petrol, at the annual rate, was up 30 per cent. That makes a big difference. The sky-high prices of gas and coal in Europe flowed back into our domestic market. That's been a first-order issue. But it hasn't just been energy; it has been food and a lot of the supply chains. It's worked its way through. The more positive story here is that we're through the worst of that.'

Those opposite who are opposing positive plans like the National Reconstruction Fund—and the governor has also spoken about how supply chain issues were contributing to inflation—are standing in the way of solutions to these issues. It's just extraordinary. The same opposition came when we brought forward our energy price relief plan to this parliament in December. Those opposite voted against $1½ billion in relief that was designed in a way, in partnership with and with advice from Treasury, to make sure—

See this speech in context