In short:
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has defended the government's track record on inflation on the eve of an anticipated rate hike.
asserted
Chalmers → defend → hike
The government has celebrated a deficit $6 billion lower than the May forecast but warned there are tough times ahead for households.
What's next?
uncertain
What → celebrate → households
The Reserve Bank is anticipated to increase the cash rate to its highest level since 2011 on Tuesday.
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Bank → anticipate → Tuesday
On the eve of a widely anticipated rate hike that would push interest rates to their highest level in 15 years, the treasurer has defended the government's track record on inflation, saying high petrol prices are to blame rather than government spending.
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prices → anticipate → spending
Treasurer Jim Chalmers confirmed the budget deficit for last financial year was $6 billion better than the $28.3 billion forecast in May.
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deficit → confirm → May
He said that showed the government had been "limiting spending growth" and doing the work to curb inflation ahead of the Reserve Bank's looming decision on Tuesday whether to again hikes the official cash rate to a possible 4.6 per cent.
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government → say → cent
The last time the cash rate was around this level was October to November 2011, meaning anyone who has purchased their first home since that time has never had to service a higher borrowing level on their loan.
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who → mean → loan
Mr Chalmers revealed the projected national debt was lower than forecast in the May budget, with health costs and other payments down $1.4 billion and revenue up $4.6 billion more than expected.
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debt → reveal → costs
The increased tax was driven by better-than-expected returns on superannuation investments, rather than a higher take from wage earners or mining revenue, the latter which came in short on budget forecasts.
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which → increase → forecasts
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher credited the budget savings to less spending across aged care, childcare and the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS).
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Gallagher → credit → care
Households brace for interest rate hike
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Households → brace → hike
The treasurer pushed back on suggestions the government could do more to help households, pointing to global economic pressure and the Iran-US war as "absolutely disastrous" for family budgets in Australia.
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government → push → Australia
While Mr Chalmers celebrated an improvement for the budget, he conceded that there would be "difficult months" ahead.
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he → celebrate → budget
He insisted other countries were in a "far worse position" than Australia, and said anybody who had watched recent developments in global debt and bond markets would understand they were having a "very serious pressure" on borrowing costs.
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they → insist → costs
The figures released on Monday showed government spending had risen from 26.6 per cent to 26.9 per cent of GDP, largely reflecting the weaker economic growth of the Australian economy.
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spending → release → economy
Mr Chalmers insisted the war in the Middle East, not government spending, was to blame for increasing inflation.
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war → insist → inflation
"Any objective observer of what's happening in our economy and particularly what's happening with inflation, will conclude that a big driver of the inflation we're seeing in our economy right now comes from the Middle East,"he said.
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we → happen → East,"he
But Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson said the announcement was a "desperate attempt to distract Australians from the prospect of three more interest rate rises".
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announcement → say → rises
He said the hike would push many families and small businesses "over the edge," and blamed "Jim Chalmers's addiction to spending".
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hike → say → spending
Pushed on whether the government could do more to meet the inflation challenge, Mr Chalmers conceded it had existed before the war in the Middle East.
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it → push → East
"The best way to describe the inflation challenge right now is that we have an inflation challenge in our economy, made much worse by the war," he said.
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he → describe → war
He said while the government was committed to working on productivity gains, the benefits would "unfortunately" be felt in the "coming years, not necessarily the coming days and weeks".
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benefits → say → years
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also blamed global inflation as the primary issue driving up interest rates, and acknowledged some people were "doing it tough".
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people → blame → it
"We'll continue to take work such as the $6 billion deficit compared with what was anticipated in our May budget," he said.
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he → continue → budget
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is due to release the inflation figures for August on Wednesday.
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Bureau → release → Wednesday
The Aporia
