Finance minister Katy Gallagher says it is the government’s job to minimise pressure on households following the Reserve Bank’s decision to lift interest rates.
Speaking on ABC News Breakfast, Gallagher said the government understood the impact the rate rise would have on families already under strain.
She said the government’s role was to continue delivering cost-of-living relief in the upcoming budget while managing finances responsibly.
Gallagher said the Reserve Bank had made clear inflation pressures were being driven largely by private sector demand rather than government spending.
She pointed to the governor’s statement and the statement on monetary policy, which cited stronger-than-expected private demand as a key factor.
Gallagher said managing inflation while protecting households would remain a central focus for the government.
Asked whether the budget would include bold economic reforms, Gallagher stopped short of specifics.
She said economic reform was part of the government’s ongoing budget thinking, pointing to an economic reform roundtable held early in Labor’s term and saying those ideas continued to inform the budget process.
