Treasurer Jim Chalmers has welcomed the latest inflation data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Oct. 30, revealing a drop in inflation to 2.8 percent, the lowest level recorded in almost four years.
Chalmers stated, “We are making welcome and encouraging progress in the fight against inflation, but we know that Australians are still doing it tough.”
He highlighted that the government is tackling inflation from multiple angles and noted the significant decline in underlying inflation, which is now at its lowest in nearly three years.
“Trimmed mean inflation was 3.5 percent over the year to the September quarter, down from a revised 4.0 percent in the June quarter,” he added.
He recalled that inflation was at 6.1 percent during the last election and has now dropped to 2.8 percent.
Chalmers attributed part of the improvement to government policies, including energy rebates, but acknowledged that these measures alone do not account for all of the moderation in the latest figures.
Latest Numbers Signal Economic Failure: Shadow Treasurer
However, the government’s optimistic outlook has been met with criticism from Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor“After two and a half years of this government, Australians are poorer under Labor,” he said.
Taylor noted that core inflation rose by 0.8 percent in the September quarter, bringing the annual increase to 3.5 percent, which remains significantly above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target range.
Taylor contended that rising prices, taxes, and mortgage repayments are impacting Australians due to what he termed “homegrown inflation.”
He drew attention to the disparity between homegrown and imported inflation, noting that domestic inflation is nearly seven times higher.
He also contrasted Australia’s economic struggles with other countries, where interest rates have decreased, suggesting that essential goods have surged in price under Labor.
Chalmers Points to Global Inflation Fluctuations
When asked about predictions of inflation potentially peaking again when the effect of subsidies may subside, Chalmers said, “What we’ve seen in other countries is that inflation doesn’t always moderate in a perfectly straight line. In fact, in the U.S., their core inflation has gone up, not down, I think, in the most recent data.”He added that while there may be “zigs and zags” on the way down, “the direction of travel is very heartening, particularly the underlying number.”
Meanwhile, Taylor said that Australia is at “the back of the pack” in dealing with this persistent inflation.
“Our core inflation is higher than the Euro area, Sweden, Norway, Japan, New Zealand, and Canada. And we see right across the world, interest rates coming down, but not in Australia. Interest rates are coming down in the United States, the UK, New Zealand, Canada, and Europe, but not in Australia.”
