Families to Be Thousands of Dollars Worse Off: Australian Opposition Leader

A shopper holds money to make a purchase of fruit and vegetable produce at Paddy's Market in Sydney, Australia on Oct. 22, 2022. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has warned that Australian families will be thousands of dollars worse off under the federal Labor government’s new budget.

Speaking to ABC radio on Oct. 26 Dutton said that Treasurer Jim Chalmers had handed down a “grim budget” saying Australians struggle with the financial impact of mortgage interest rate rises, and electricity and gas price increases.

“This is a grim budget for Australian families and for pensioners,” Dutton said. “Australian families will be $2,000 worse off by Christmas under this Labor budget, and that’s not what they were promised.”

Newly elected leader of the traditionally centre-right Liberal Party, Peter Dutton, speaks to the media after a party room meeting at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on May 30, 2022. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

“They’ve put forward a plan last night, and it’s clear that they haven’t got a solution for increased energy prices. But that is just one element of this budget. There are many inputs, many pressures that are going to mount on families and people on fixed incomes, including pensioners,” he said.

“There is a lot there in the budget papers that you didn’t hear Jim Chalmers talk about last night. He didn’t say in his speech that electricity was going up by 56 percent, didn’t say in his speech that gas prices were going up by 40 percent. ”

Labor Government Struggles with Cost-of Living, Renewable Energy Pursuit

However, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has said that while the government is focused on trying to help Australians deal with the rising costs of living issues, as the government pursues net zero.

“There’s obviously some domestic issues here after a decade of failure to deliver an energy policy,” she said. “We know these costs are hitting households, but that Rewiring the Nation, Powering the Regions, our Powering Australia Plan becomes even more urgent.

Gallagher said that the Albanese government was absolutely committed to “putting those downward pressures on energy prices going forward” and was consulting with experts about how we manage some of these challenges.

“We are extremely mindful of the pressure on households. But in this budget, as I said, it’s about implementing some of our election commitments and getting, in relation to energy, getting started on the Powering Australia Plan, which is really about making sure our energy systems are up to standard,” Gallagher said.

Government Looking to Intervene in the Market

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has flagged possible intervention in the market to control the cost of energy.

“We understand the pressures that are on here,” he told ABC radio on Oct. 26.

“The ACCC has an important role to play here, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, to ensure that we don’t see any price gouging that we’re not seeing any companies taking advantage of the international circumstances which are there,” Albanese said.

“We will be prepared to take the advice of the ACCC, the regulatory body, but also of our departments for any further action that can be taken.”