Arabic version: تصريحات مينز بشأن الإنفاق تزيد الضغط على ألبانيزي

According to ABC News, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced pressure over another interest rate rise and inflation news as NSW Premier Chris Minns commented on government spending. Minns said his government had been careful with public money, particularly the growth in public money, and would continue that approach if re-elected next March.

Albanese and Minns have downplayed reports of a falling-out, following reported tensions connected to the Bondi terror attack, tobacco tax excise, the GST carve-up and hospital bed funding. Minns did not defend Treasurer Jim Chalmers and distanced himself from federal Labor as headline inflation rose to 4 per cent and the cash rate was lifted to a 15-year high of 4.6 per cent.

Albanese and Chalmers said the Middle East war, rather than government spending, was driving inflation. Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock declined to join a blame game, but said inflation had been too high before the war and that domestic capacity measures had added to it. She also said sluggish productivity was doing nothing to help.

Chalmers said the government had acted responsibly on spending and accepted there was always more work to do. Albanese flagged further cost-of-living relief in the mid-year budget update in December, though its form has not been disclosed. Chalmers said it would not be another fuel excise cut.

The Coalition has sought to focus on spending, with leader Angus Taylor arguing Chalmers had lost control of the economy. But the opposition has also proposed indexing tax brackets to inflation, reducing tobacco excise and cutting fuel excise when the two-week average global oil price exceeds US$100 a barrel. It says those measures would be offset elsewhere, with further offsets to be outlined closer to the 2028 election.