Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Everyone knows that the answer to this question is no: is your life better off under Labor? The answer is no—higher energy prices, fewer houses, higher inflation, falling living standards, a trillion dollars worth of debt and higher interest rates. Unfortunately for Australian families and businesses, bad is about to get worse. The discussion today about fuel security is today's challenge—today's crisis—but it will lead to the challenge of tomorrow and next week and next month: rising inflation and rising interest rates. So the precarious situation we are in today is not just for a brief moment; it is for a long time. Higher petrol prices lead to higher inflation, which leads to higher interest rates, and Australian families and businesses will pay for it.

You don't have to believe coalition senators. Listen to what the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia has said today and listen to what the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia was saying on the eve of this Middle East conflict. The Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank has said today that fuel prices will lead to inflation being above the 4.2 per cent that the RBA has already forecast. A crisis in fuel and a lack of preparedness on the government's part are pushing up fuel prices that will put inflation beyond the RBA's forecast. Interest rates will lead to higher pain for Australian businesses and families. The government has left Australians and the economy dangerously unprepared. The deputy governor said that rising inflation is 'toxic' and that high inflation is 'bad for everyone'.

Before the Middle East conflict, the government had let inflation run out of control in this country because it was lazy about restraining government spending. Unfortunately, 2026 is going to be a very difficult year for Australian families. The Governor of the RBA herself said, on the eve of this Middle East conflict:

High inflation imposes real costs on people and the economy. It puts pressure on household budgets, which means people need to spend more time searching for the lowest prices and working out how to make ends meet.

That's the Governor of the Reserve Bank. She also said:

High inflation also makes it harder for businesses to plan.

She said that, when businesses have to spend more time managing rising costs, they have less time to plan how they can grow their business and how they can find productivity improvements.

Today the conversation has been about petrol prices. Next week and next month the discussion will be about higher inflation and higher interest rates because the government has failed for four years to be responsible—to restrain government spending in order to keep a lid on inflation and a lid on interest rates. I started with a question: is your life better under Labor? The answer today is no, and the answer tomorrow and next week and next month will also be no. (Time expired)