“They’ve come up with very few policies that have an immediate effect,that help people today,and moreover they’re implementing policies that are having exactly the opposite effects on the cost of living,” she said.
“Certainly energy is a hot topic. We know that before the election,Labour promised to reduce energy bills by $275. That’s a broken promise.”
In its first hearings this week,the inquiry will hear from the Reserve Bank’s economic analysis team,as well as housing groups and food and farming interests.
The inquiry will also hear from the Australian Energy Market Operator,the Australian Energy Regulator and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,as well as energy peak organisations.
The inquiry’s first hearings come against as inflation reached 7.8 per cent in December,its highest level since 1990,and ahead of the Reserve Bank’s first meeting of the year at which the board is widely expected to continue lifting the cash rate beyond its current 10-year high of 3.1 per cent.
In its next budget in May,Treasurer Jim Chalmers must tackle these economic headwinds as hundreds of thousands brace for the mid-year “mortgage cliff” as they come off fixed-rate deals.
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