Pauline Hanson has demanded Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ resignation after the Reserve Bank raised interest rates again, accusing the Albanese Government of failing to bring inflation under control.
The RBA board unanimously increased the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.6 per cent on Tuesday, taking borrowing costs to their highest level since 2011.
In a video released after the decision, the One Nation leader said the rate rise highlighted what she described as broken promises from the Albanese Government and would intensify financial pressure on Australian households.
‘Labor has wrecked our economy and it needs to be fixed,’ she said.
‘Jim Chalmers said rates were coming down, but today Australians have been hit with another interest rate rise.’
Hanson accused the Treasurer of avoiding responsibility for the rising cost of living and the heavier repayment burden facing borrowers.
‘Another Labor lie. And yet again, Jim Chalmers blames everyone but himself,’ she said.
The senator renewed her attack on Wednesday morning, declaring: ‘Treasurer Jim Chalmers has failed Australians. He should resign.’
Pauline Hanson (pictured) called for Jim Chalmers to resign after the RBA increased interest rates
Hanson also urged the government to provide immediate relief for households under pressure and renewed One Nation’s call for its proposed ‘super pay boost’ policy.
Under the proposal, Australians would be able to take up to 25 per cent of their compulsory future superannuation contributions as income for as long as three years, with the money intended to help cover mortgage repayments or rent.
‘It won’t fix Labor’s mess, but it could give a working family about $82 more a week after tax,’ she said.
Hanson said Chalmers should adopt the proposal immediately before deciding whether to remain in office.
‘Labor is running this country into the ground,’ she said.
‘The best thing Jim Chalmers could do today is implement One Nation’s super pay boost, then he should resign.’
Her comments followed Chalmers’ defence of the government’s economic performance after the Reserve Bank announced its latest rate decision.
Speaking on Tuesday, the Treasurer said the government was tackling inflation through careful budget management and by slowing the growth of public spending.
Jim Chalmers (pictured) said he took ‘responsibility’ for his part in the fight against inflation
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‘We take responsibility for our part of the fight against inflation,’ Chalmers said.
‘That’s why we’ve been managing the budget responsibly. It’s why we’ve been delivering a couple of surpluses and then much smaller deficits. It’s why we’ve made sure that public demand in our economy has slowed rather than gathered pace.’
Chalmers said the private sector was now the dominant source of demand in the economy.
‘If you look at public demand in our economy versus private demand, over the last year or so, for every five dollars of demand in our economy, four of those have been private demand and one has been public demand,’ he said.
‘And we saw public demand growth halve compared to the year before.’
The Treasurer also pointed to international factors, particularly conflict in the Middle East, as a key contributor to inflation.
‘As I said, we do have serious challenges in our economy,’ Chalmers said.
‘Our inflation challenge is being turbocharged by a war on the other side of the world. Australians are paying a very hefty price for that war in the Middle East. And today that price became a bit steeper with this decision from the independent Reserve Bank.’
Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bullock (pictured) said public and private sector spending was contributing to inflation
Chalmers’ comments came as Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bullock confirmed both government and private sector spending were contributing to inflation.
Asked by the Daily Mail whether public sector spending was adding to aggregate demand and making it more difficult to bring down inflation, Bullock said demand was driven by both public and private activity.
‘I’ve made this point a number of times before: aggregate demand is made up of both public demand and private demand,’ Bullock said.
‘They both contribute to aggregate demand.’
While Bullock declined to blame any single source for inflation, she said demand was still exceeding the economy’s ability to supply goods and services.
‘The fact is that we’re observing demand growing a bit too quickly relative to supply,’ she said.
‘It’s slowed now, but it’s still running ahead of supply, and that’s what we’re trying to address.’
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