4 March 2026

“Today’s national accounts confirm what Australian’s are living: Jim Chalmers’ inflation is outstripping wages, while prices at the checkout are rising,” said Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson.

“Inflation remains persistent because the Treasurer keeps pouring debt petrol on his inflation fire.”

“The Treasurer has built an economy on a house of credit cards.”

"Jim Chalmers’ claim inflation is being driven by private sector demand is in tatters, when public sector growth has more than doubled private sector growth.”

Today’s data shows the public sector grew twice as fast as the private sector in the December quarter.

This is the second quarter in a row in which growth in the public sector outpaced that in the private sector.

The public sector is at an all-time-record share of the economy - 29 per cent of GDP.

Scores of independent economists have been clear in light of these figures: the public sector is leaving less room for the private sector, pushing up inflation and interest rates.

Australian households, on a per-capita basis, remain poorer than when Labor came to power.

Under Labor, Australia has seen the largest collapse in living standards in the developed world.

Based on the latest OECD data, Australia has made no progress in living standards against the OECD average, remaining down 10 percentage points.

Weak productivity growth and high inflation is pushing real wages down.

Real wages are more than 2 per cent lower today than when Labor took office - and falling.

And the RBA expects real wages to continue to fall through the remainder of 2026.

Labor’s economic mismanagement has left Australia exposed to international crises.

Even before the Iran conflict, inflation and interest rates were rising and forecast to rise further.

The impact of the Iran crisis will no doubt compound the economic catastrophe unleashed under Labor.

Labor’s reckless spending has left us exposed.

Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson said Australians are paying the price for Jim Chalmers’ refusal to take responsibility for the inflation he has helped create.

“Inflation in Australia is not bad luck and it is not imported. It is home-grown and it has Jim Chalmers’ fingerprints all over it,” Mr Wilson said.

“Every time the Treasurer opens the chequebook to paper over a problem, he adds more fuel to the inflation fire.”

“The Treasurer is quick to blame global conditions, the previous government or anyone else he can find, but slow to accept that his own spending decisions have kept inflation higher for longer.”

“When you pump debt spending into the economy and run up close to a trillion dollars of debt, you should expect prices to stay higher for longer and interest rates to follow.”

Other comparable economies have seen inflation ease more decisively. In Australia, it has lingered because the Treasurer has refused to rein in his spending.

“For Australian families, the question is simple, are you better off than you were four years ago? For most Australians, the answer is no,” Mr Wilson said.

Higher prices, higher interest rates and falling living standards are the direct result of a Treasurer who keeps pouring fuel on the inflation fire.

“Until Jim Chalmers changes course, restores discipline to the budget and stops crowding out the private sector, Australians will keep paying the price,” Mr Wilson said.