QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Dr CHALMERS (Rankin—Treasurer) (14:10): Nothing darkens their mood like another fall in inflation, and that's what we saw in the figures today. For the second consecutive month we saw inflation go down in our economy, which is terribly inconvenient to those opposite but a welcome outcome nonetheless. There are inflationary pressures in our economy, and they're made worse by the war in the Middle East, and this is a point that was endorsed by the shadow Treasurer on social media this morning.

The shadow Treasurer, in agreeing that there are inflationary pressures out there—and obviously we're not complacent about the inflationary pressures that are still in our economy—conceded on social media today that the war in the Middle East has made our inflation challenge worse. I'm told that he agreed with that on social media today. But, more than that, in his typically helpful way, the shadow Treasurer pointed out on social media this morning that inflation has come down substantially, and he attributes that to the budget settings.

I'm not saying he does that deliberately; he does it accidentally. But he says that the war in Iran has pushed up inflation in our economy. He points out that it has come down substantially; that's also true.

And, in his usual ham-fisted way, he attributes that to my budget settings. I'm not sure if that was the point he was trying to make, but it is very kind of him nonetheless. I appreciate him every day but particularly today, for making that point.

The second point I'd make is that if the shadow Treasurer wants to conflate inflationary pressures in our economy— Mr Tehan: Mr Speaker— Mr Matt Smith interjecting— The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Leichhardt, the manager is entitled to— Mr Repacholi interjecting— The SPEAKER: Member for Hunter! When I'm speaking, do not interject.

The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order. Mr Tehan: It goes to relevance. Core inflation has risen from three per cent to 3.6 per cent in the last 12 months.

That's what the question was about. The SPEAKER: I'll hear from the Leader of the House. Mr Burke: Just in case the Manager of Opposition missed the question, it referred to core inflation, to interest rates, to the entire budget and to inflation again.

The SPEAKER: The question did contain interest rates, the rising cost of a mortgage and also the Treasurer's budget and tax. So there was quite a little bit more in that question than just what the Manager of Opposition Business had indicated to the House. But the Treasurer was just about to talk about inflation, so I'm going to listen carefully to make sure that, if he's talking about inflation, he's talking about the question he was asked, not another topic.

The Treasurer has the call. Dr CHALMERS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I'm asked about inflation and budget settings.

I've pointed out that inflation came down again today for the second consecutive month, and I ran through all the other figures in a press conference earlier today. If the shadow Treasurer wants to say that all the inflationary pressures in our economy are about government spending then, by his own admission, the extra $110 billion in commitments that they have made over the next four years would mean higher inflation and higher interest rates.

So he has to choose. The final point I'd make is this. Yesterday I said that one of the reasons the Liberal Party is dying in the arms of the opposition leader is that he's trying to out-One-Nation One Nation, and that's increasingly the perspective.

To be fair to him, there is a second reason the Liberal Party is dying in his arms, and that's the member for Goldstein. Mr Dreyfus interjecting— Mr Abdo interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Isaacs and the member for Calwell are now warned. I'm trying to give the call to the member for Bean, and you're not helping.