Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says there is a “deep level of denial and contempt” in Labor’s approach to economic management after the Reserve Bank lifted interest rates to a 15-year-high this week and inflation increased through August.
McKenzie accused the Albanese government of failing to accept responsibility for its role in driving up inflation through high levels of government spending.
“Everyone watching this has seen real wages go backwards, the largest drop in living standards in the developed world, and highest interest rates of industrial countries other than Iceland. They are the real economic indicators of the level of incompetence of this Labor government,” she told Nine’s Today show this morning.
Appearing alongside the Victorian senator on a regular panel was Environment Minister Murray Watt, who noted Labor reported a lower deficit in its final budget outcome than it had inherited when it came to office.
“It’s also far lower than was predicted when we first came to office, so that’s the result of the changes that we’ve been making and the savings that we’ve made,” he said.
“The great bulk of spending that is happening in the economy at the moment is not from government; it’s actually coming from the private sector, and that is because we are continuing to reduce government spending.”
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