No-one on this side of the House denies that, like people all around the world, Australians are under financial pressure. The inflation data published yesterday reflects that reality. While it might not be convenient for some members of this place, we must recognise that Australian workers are facing the consequences of events occurring around the world, including ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, which are pushing up global oil prices. People in our communities didn't ask for these wars, but they are paying the price. We saw in the figures reported yesterday that petrol prices rose by 9.4 per cent, which, given the rise in oil prices, is not surprising. The promising sign beyond the headline figure, though, is that trimmed mean inflation, which removes major spikes and shocks in the economy to give a better picture of the broader health of the economy, continued to be steady, at 3.6 per cent for a fourth consecutive month. The principal driver of inflation in the Australian economy is higher global oil prices. It is not a uniquely Australian phenomenon, with inflation increasing in comparable economies including the United States, the UK and much of the eurozone. Indeed, the IMF's most recent outlook projects global inflation at 4.7 per cent.

None of this is to say that Australians aren't doing it tough, but in this environment it is important that our deliberations in this place are grounded in reality, not politics. Let's look at what experts think of Australia's economic performance. S&P Global, Moody's and Fitch have all recently reaffirmed the Australian government's triple-A credit rating, with S&P saying that 'Australia's fiscal performance is sound' and with Moody's identifying that the government's fiscal strategy is 'supported by expenditure reforms and a record of conservative budgeting'. These are not the words of politicians; these are the assessments of the world's leading global credit rating agencies. Australia is one of nine countries with a triple-A credit rating from all three of these institutions.

In estimates earlier this week, we saw the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party spend time having the RBA governor confirm that public spending is part of aggregate demand. No-one could deny that basic economics concept. However, in a statement that the RBA made last year they said they saw private demand overtaking public demand, which was backed up by statements earlier this year highlighting that private demand was stronger than forecast, and, just yesterday, that fuel costs and private investments were the primary drivers. Indeed, over the last week in estimates the RBA governor has recognised that private sector activity, global pressures and productivity are the primary drivers of the inflation increase. That is not to say that government doesn't have a role to play, which is why, in every budget and budget update, this government has found savings, including a record $60 billion in this year's budget alone, which has led to us improving the budget bottom line over the last four years by nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars and has allowed us to fund $17 billion of targeted cost-of-living relief to everyday Australians in the last financial year.

As I stated earlier this week during private members' business, members opposite should remember that, when they left office, inflation was soaring past six per cent and still rising. Gross debt was projected to be $600 billion higher by 2030. Despite this outlook, they did not do a single thing to increase savings in their final budget.