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

The good people of Moore elected an absolute champion as their local member in this place. I appreciate his question. Inflation last week and rates this week were important reminders of the challenges in our economy, despite all of the progress that has been made together. Inflation at the end of the year didn't come in much higher than we expected, but it came in higher than we would like. Some of that inflation is temporary; some of it is more persistent. It's nowhere near the peaks that we saw in 2022 under those opposite, but all of it adds to the pressure that people feel around the country, and the Reserve Bank's decision will add to that pressure as well. We understand that inflation is too high in our economy. We acknowledge that; we get that, and that's why we're acting on it. We are acting on it with cost-of-living help that those opposite oppose. We are acting on it with tax cuts that those opposite oppose and want to repeal. We are acting on it with budget repair that those opposite were completely incapable of.

Inflation is one of three major challenges, but it is the most pressing challenge in our economy in the near term. We've also got a longer standing challenge with productivity, and both of those are set against the backdrop of global economic uncertainty. But we need to remember, as we confront all of this together, we also have big advantages. As the Reserve Bank governor said on Tuesday:

We are actually in a really good position.

This goes, I think, to those opposite—

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