Wednesday 18 February 2026

Transcript – Press Conference – Adelaide

Topics: Wage Price Index, Labor’s inflation agenda

E&OE

Tim Wilson MP: Today confirms for Australians what they are living under the Albanese government and their wrong economic settings. Tragically we've had confirmed today that inflation continues annualised to outstrip wages, where Australians are feeling the pain in the hip pocket. That's because inflation is exceeding anything in their wages while costs continue to rise and Australians are falling further behind and hard work is not paying off.

Question: What do you make of the Treasurer's comments? They're going out hard on their track record of wages and do you think that the data today, the reports out today are a bit of cold comfort for those at home?

Tim Wilson MP: The Treasurer is engaging in a form of demand denial about his responsibility to drive inflation exceeding wages. The government has a very bad track record on making sure they're keeping inflation down. They said the economy had turned the corner, it clearly has not. Jim Chalmers needs to end his denial about what's driving inflation and eating into the incomes and household savings of Australia.

Question: What about the comments from former Governor Philip Lowe this morning in the AFR, citing that it's purely on the government's spending habits that it is driving this machine?

Tim Wilson MP: It's clear the government is the key driver of inflation which is eating into household incomes and savings. The government keeps pump priming the economy and putting debt onto an inflation fire. Now is the time for the government to show responsibility and leadership and make sure they restrain the spending. The first place they could start is stop handing money to organised crime through the CFMEU-Labor cartel. There are so many ways this government could show responsibility, reduce inflation, take the pressure off households and make sure we build a better nation. Instead Jim Chalmers is a passenger in his portfolio, simply watching the inflation bonfire fuel and when it starts to flicker he pours more debt onto the bonfire and lets it rage.

Question: This isn't really news for households, it's something that they've been feeling for a while. What is going to be done now to give them relief?

Tim Wilson MP: What's clear now is households are having what they know confirmed. What they're living, confirmed in the official data. And so the only choice for the government is to stop fuelling inflation, stop tipping debt on the inflation bonfire so that real wages can catch up and that eventually we see a change where households get ahead and hard work pays off.

Question: What would a Taylor Liberal government do in this situation right now to, as you say, put out the fire? What are the easy measures that a Liberal-Taylor government would do?

Tim Wilson MP: The first thing that a tailored coalition government would do is stop handing taxpayers' money to organise crime through the CFMEU Labor cartel, which would take pressure off inflation and reduce the cost of construction. Housing costs are the biggest component of inflation data. And it would enable Australian households to get a hit, but also in the corruption and the patronage network sits through so many of the Albanese government's programs, particularly the corruption in the NDIS, which is harming the community's most vulnerable. While at the same time contributing to inflation and harming Australian households and their savings.

Question: And what's your tactics with health insurance premiums as well going up above inflation too? What's the tactic there?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, Australians know and have now had confirmed in the inflation data and the cost of health insurance that while inflation outstrips wages, costs are outstripping households even further. So there's a double whammy of the inflation bonfire that Jim Chalmers is pouring petrol onto. The way we address that is by being prudent and responsible and making sure that the government is part of the solution not part of a problem.

ENDS