Jim Chalmers defended by Andrew Charlton after RBA rate hike and inflation surge pile pressure on Labor economy
After a bruising week for Australian households, a senior Labor minister has mounted a striking defence of Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
One of Anthony Albanese’s most trusted ministers has defended Treasurer Jim Chalmers after a rate hike and uptick in inflation delivered a bruising blow to Labor’s economic credentials this week.
Mr Chalmers put Australia’s inflation persistently high core inflation and climbing headline inflation down to higher fuel prices due to conflict in the Middle East.
It ignored Reserve Bank and economists’ concerns about public spending, which accounts for about 27 per cent of Australia’s GDP.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.But despite the fresh blow to mortgage holders, Cabinet Secretary Andrew Charlton on Sunday defended Mr Chalmers, saying the Treasurer “is doing an extraordinary job in very difficult global circumstances”.
“He has shown a willingness to take on the big challenges facing Australia, including challenges in the housing market with difficult reforms, he’s delivered significant cost of living relief to Australians at a time when that’s been very important,” Mr Charlton told News24’s Sunday Agenda.
“And as I said earlier, he is managing one of the few comparable economies in the world that has dealt with these big global challenges of inflation and low productivity without going into a recession that would have caused a lot of pain.
“As a Labor government, that is a big priority for us to make sure that we don’t go into a recession that drives a lot of people into unemployment.”
Data released this week showed headline inflation in the year to August jumped to 4 per cent from 3.5 per cent.
The measure includes items that bounce around in price, such as food and fuel.
The fresh data also showed core inflation, which strips out volatile items, held steady at 3.6 per cent.
But that figure, the RBA’s preferred measure, remained well above the bank’s 2-3 per cent target band, suggesting there were other factors at play than just fuel price pressures spurred by the re-escalation of fighting between the US and Iran.
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Explaining its decision hike rates to a 15-year high this week, the RBA board acknowledged “conflict in the Middle East has broadened and global energy prices are now much higher than had been assumed in the August forecasts”.
But it also named artificial intelligence-related demand and ongoing “pressures on domestic capacity” as key factors.
More to come...
Originally published as ‘Extraordinary job’: Andrew Charlton defends Jim Chalmers amid inflation jump and rate hikes
