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

Australians know their money is not going far enough. They know that it doesn't go as far as it used to. They know that groceries costs more, power costs are going up, insurance costs more and mortgages are increasing. But Dr Jim Chalmers, the Labor Treasurer, insists on trading in false hope to these Australian families that are struggling.

In the Perth suburbs of Byford, Landsdale, Harrisdale and Aveley, they feel the pain more than anyone in Western Australia. They are the names of the suburbs that have the highest proportion of mortgages. They feel interest rate pressures. Jim Chalmers on the weekend said that the government has made good progress when it comes to tackling inflation, but that's not what the data says. The data says that inflationary pressures are pushing up housing and rental costs. They are concerningly high for Australian families.

We also know that Australia is now suffering from stagnant productivity growth. That just makes the inflationary challenge more urgent. And what have we heard today from the RBA? The Reserve Bank of Australia has made it very clear it will push up interest rates if the government doesn't do more to tackle inflation. This is not the time for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Dr Jim Chalmers to get lazy when it comes to tackling inflation in the economy.

Of course, there's more bad news. Consumer confidence in this country has fallen by almost three per cent to levels that are now amongst the lowest they have ever been in its 50 year record. That's a sign that Australian families have less confidence in their economic future and less economic security as they start to plan ahead. These are troubling times for the Australian economy, but Labor insists on punishing people.