Today's news around inflation is devastating for Australian families. So many families are already going into the supermarket, and they're getting to the end, where they're scanning the items through into their red basket or their trolley, and they're having to put items back on the shelf. They're looking at the bill and how much they're paying, and they're paying more and getting less. This is the legacy of the active inflation agenda of the Albanese government. Not only are they experiencing it at the supermarket; across every single bill in their lives, nothing is going down—insurance, basic goods, electricity prices and, of course, what is always the biggest chunk of most families' household budgets, their mortgage. In fact, we now know that there's been an increase in the average mortgage of $30,000 over an entire year.

When they look to this parliament and they look to this government and see whether there's any empathy, whether there's any understanding about the pressure and the pain that families or small businesses are experiencing—well, we just heard it in question time. Not only couldn't the Prime Minister and the Treasurer give two hoots about the consequences of inflation on Australian households; more importantly, they couldn't even care about the consequences of what is driving it. We saw this from the Prime Minister, who loved to quote the Reserve Bank governor in his remarks. There's just one thing. He forgot some of the other details that came out of the Reserve Bank governor's statement to the Senate estimates process. The Reserve Bank governor said—importantly, though, it is a cherrypicking festival of quotes from the Reserve Bank governor. She said:

Importantly though, it's not just these global pressures that are driving inflation in Australia—

Oh my gosh!

While they are certainly compounding the inflation problem, we still see inflation arising from domestic capacity pressures …

She continued:

… continued weak productivity growth means the economy cannot grow strongly without putting pressure on inflation. This is a fundamental challenge for the Australian economy and for everyone's real spending power over the next few years.

We know that in response to inquiries from the House of Representatives Economics Committee the Reserve Bank governor said, 'Yes, government spending is a key driver of why Australians are experiencing higher inflation'—and of course therefore experiencing higher interest rates and paying more at the supermarket and getting less.

You just need to look at the international comparisons, which is one of the things the Prime Minister and the Treasurer like to refer to. They look to like look at the global picture and say, 'We're no different; it's all international pressure, and so many other countries are experiencing the same pain.' There's just one problem: the government actively stoked inflation by spending too much in the lead-up to an international crisis. That's why they've left Australia exposed and vulnerable. And they have not just left our nation exposed and vulnerable; they have left Australian households exposed and vulnerable and left small businesses exposed and vulnerable. And their answer to those families who can't afford to put food on their table: let them eat inflation. And what's their answer to the small businesses that can't afford to keep their doors open? Let them eat taxes. This government has no empathy, no interest.

The compounding of these factors shows when you look at international comparisons: Japan's headline inflation rate, 2.1 per cent; their underlying inflation rate, 2.1 per cent. What's Australia's? Headline inflation: 4.3 per cent—more than double Japan's. What's our underlying inflation rate? It is 3.6 per cent. Let's look at France. They've got riots on the street, with people saying that their futures have been sold away by their government and they cannot afford basic services or a decent standard of living. Their headline inflation rate: 3.1 percent. We've got 4.3. Their underlying inflation rate: 1½ per cent. Australia's, under this Prime Minister and this Treasurer, is 3.6. The UK: headline, 3.45; underlying, 2.8. The US: headline, 3.7; underlying, 2.6—while we remain at 4.3 and 3.6.

This is the problem. The government has no empathy and no understanding of the contribution they are making. This government is spending more than any government over the past 40 years excluding the pandemic years. And their solution is to project out into the future 40 years of deficit spending, making sure we're borrowing from tomorrow to feed today and contributing to inflation pressure that Australians will continue to endure. The reality and the consequences of that are real. Not only have we crossed the threshold of $1 trillion of debt but taxpayers are now forking out a record $27 billion a year to pay the interest on that very debt—