Thursday, 29 October 2026

Topics: inflation; interest rates; spending; productivity; fuel excise.

E&OE……………………..

Jason Matthews: Now Australia's inflation rate rose more than expected in September, raising expectations of an interest rate hike next week. I don't know how many more I can take. Honestly, you're hearing more and more from everyday Aussies going, "I have to sell my home." I know I've had these discussions with Carla. She talked about it on air, our drive announcer. I have friends who are in the same situation. I don't know how much more they can take, but it's likely Melbourne Cup Day we'll get another interest rate hike. The Consumer Price Index rose to 0.8% in the month from 0.4% in August, taking annual inflation to 4.3%, up from 4% a month earlier. This is all from the ABS. Housing was the largest contributor to annual inflation in September, rising by 5.2%. Transport also drove annual inflation higher, largely due to higher fuel prices, which rose 9.4% in September. Joining us now is the Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson. Good morning, Tim.

Tim Wilson: Good morning.

Jason Matthews: Mate, I don't know how much more mortgage holders can take. There's more pain likely on the way next week for us mortgage holders. Jim Chalmers blames Iran, which does play a part, we've got to admit, but government spending is still out of control.

Tim Wilson: It is government spending. We've had the government spending the most of any government in the past 40 years outside of the pandemic. Every time you've got a deficit budget, which is what we've consistently had, you're going to be pumping more money into the economy and stoking inflation and higher rates. And the worst thing is this government has projected 40 years of deficit spending into the future. If you don't pull in the belt, if the government doesn't pull in the belt, it's asking Australians to do so. And your point is right, Australians are screaming, small businesses are screaming, they can't take it anymore.

Jason Matthews: Yeah, it's incredible. You know what I'm not hearing, and I'll get your opinion on what you would do to fix inflation, but you know what I'm not hearing? I'm not hearing, "You know what? This is a massive problem. We're going to sink our teeth into productivity in Australia. We're going to get building stuff again to get us out of this," because productivity is flat, if not going backwards at the rate of knots. Where's the long-term vision?

Tim Wilson: Under this government, there's no long-term vision. Their only vision is to keep themselves in office. Basically, the problem we've got is that government and the public sector is growing faster than the private sector. And when you're seeing that, what you're doing is borrowing from tomorrow to feed today, and you're not actually having economic growth which keeps pressure up on inflation. If you want to address it, you've got to fix the problem around government spending, but you've actually got to back in the private sector to grow the wealth of the country. This government's doing the exact opposite of that, and particularly in their last federal budget where they've been targeting and punishing, particularly the small businesses of this country who drive that productivity.

Jason Matthews: So Tim, let’s imagine that you are the Treasurer tomorrow. What is the first area of government waste that you would cut, and how would a Coalition government lift productivity?

Tim Wilson: Well, on Monday we released $31.3 billion worth of savings specifically to address this problem, because we've got climate bureaucracies that don't cut emissions, housing bureaucracies that don't even build homes. We've got problems where too much money is going out in welfare, and at the moment we need to, and we've made a commitment to stop welfare for future non-citizens, because we have to make sure that the budget sticks within its means, just like we expect households to. If we go through, it adds up to $31.3 billion worth of savings, and we're going to have more because we are determined to defeat Jim Chalmers's inflation.

Jason Matthews: A report in the Courier-Mail today suggests that the federal government is raking in an additional $350 million per month in GST revenue because of the higher fuel costs. Couldn't we use some of that to reduce the excise tax? I do like what you guys have put forward, if oil stays at $100 per barrel for two weeks or more, you'll cut the excise. Surely, they could look at that suggestion and maybe use some of this additional revenue they're getting from GST to help Aussie motorists out, and not only just motorists, but help out our transport industry?

Tim Wilson: Well, this is the thing. We announced our fuel price shield, as you described, where we cut excise by half if the price of Brent crude is above $100 US dollars for two weeks. So that would be in place now. People would be getting relief on their petrol bills. We're the biggest consumer per capita of diesel in the world, and that goes through to our farmers and the diesel they use, the freight to get food from the farmer to the supermarket. So, this is why there's such a big onflow of inflation. And the government sits there and collects the higher taxes off the back of that, as the report in the Courier Mail correctly identifies. And so, the problem is the government sees inflation as a windfall of tax revenue for them because they can't kick their spending addiction.

Jason Matthews: Shouldn't we just go back to making our own fuel in this country?

Tim Wilson: That's got to be part of the conversation, and making sure that we have the refining capacity and, of course, also having access to the fuels we need. But that's not going to be solved in the next few weeks. The government could be acting right now by cutting fuel excise and taking pressure off households, small businesses, and our farmers, and of course, the freight across the country, which would get prices down at the supermarket. We all know what it's like going to the supermarket now. You go, and once upon a time you'd spend $100 and you get a certain amount, and now you're barely getting one layer of a red basket. You go into the supermarket and paying more and you're getting less.

Jason Matthews: Tim Wilson, Shadow Treasurer, joining us on the program this morning. Thanks for your time.

Tim Wilson: Thank you.

[ENDS]