Treasurer Jim Chalmers is confident his third budget will put downwards pressure on inflation, even with $7.8 billion in cost-of-living relief on the way for Australian households.
Delivering a second surplus in a row tonight, Chalmers was keen to stress that even with energy bill rebates, a freeze on the cost of medicines and further rent assistance, his budget would fight inflation, not make it worse.
Speaking to 9News chief political editor Charles Croucher, the treasurer pitched his new financial document as a “responsible way to deliver some substantial cost of living relief”.
But he wouldn’t be drawn on whether it would be enough to “artificially put pressure on the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates” through the reduction in the Consumer Price Index predicted to be caused by giving every household $300 off their energy bills.
“You’ll have to ask the Reserve Bank, but our intention here, our objective – I think we will be successful – is to put downward pressure on inflation with this budget,” he told.
“The way we’ve designed our cost of living help will do that particularly when it comes to energy and rent relief, but also the responsible approach that we’ve taken.
“A second surplus, the first back-to-back surpluses in almost two decades, the spending restraint that we’ve shown, the savings that we found elsewhere in the budget.”
Chalmers said it wasn’t up to him whether the power rebate would end up “baked in” to budgets to come and left Australians with a big promise.
“People will find it a little bit easier to pay their energy bills, a little bit easier to pay their rent,” Chalmers said.
