Federal Labor says it would welcome an election fight on the cost of living, saying the cost of petrol alone to the average family was gobbling up any real wages growth.
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had been “lying” about the economy and that this has had “real consequences” for families.
“If [Mr Morrison] wants to have an election on the fact that petrol prices have gone up, on average, over the last year something like $900 for an average family with an average car, at the same time as real wages have gone backwards $700 over the last year, then we say: ‘Bring it on’,” Mr Chalmers told ABC’s Insiders program.
“Under the Morrison government, petrol prices are skyrocketing, real wages are going down and working families are going backwards, and I think that should be central to an election about the economy, about living standards and about the Prime Minister’s failures on economic management.”
Last Monday, the PM sought to frame next year’s election in the context of which side of politics is best-placed to handle the post-pandemic recovery.
“Australia’s economic recovery has to be secured by people who have a track record of economic management,” he said.
“Otherwise, you’re going to see petrol prices go up. You’re going to see electricity prices go up. You’re going to see interest rates go up more than they would need to.”
Petrol prices have soared across capital cities this year, with many reaching record highs.
Hitting back at Mr Chalmers’ comments, Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar said the government was already acting to bring prices down.
“The government always expects that, in a competitive market, we have as-low-as-possible fuel prices,” Mr Sukkar said.
“We’ve indeed put in place the fuel security strategy which puts downward pressure on fuel prices.
“We’ve also ensured that the [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission] has all the resources they need to continue to monitor prices.”
However, Mr Sukkar said there were other factors at play driving prices up that were outside the government’s control.
“We also accept that global factors, like exchange rates, like the cost of crude oil — which is determined at a global level — [are] obviously a big component of what people, and what Australians, pay at the bowser.”
‘Worse than Craig Kelly’
As the government and opposition prepare for the last sitting fortnight of the year, it’s not just petrol prices that are proving to be a headache for the Coalition.
Government Senators Gerard Rennick and Alex Antic are threatening to withhold their votes in the Upper House unless the federal government intervenes in state-imposed vaccine mandates.
Senator Rennick — who frequently posts misinformation about vaccinations on social media — said state premiers needed to stop trying to impose such mandates.
“It’s about time [state premiers] respected the civil liberties of Australian citizens,” he said.
According to Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration “the protective benefits of vaccination against COVID-19 far outweigh the potential risks of vaccination”.
Speaking with Sky News, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the Prime Minister needed to stand up to anti-vaccination sentiment within the Coalition.
“Gerard Rennick is a anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist, who is worse than Craig Kelly was,” Mr Bowen said.
“Scott Morrison and his ministers dare to criticise Queensland and Queenslanders for having lower vaccination rates than some other states, when they’ve got one of [their] own senators with a strong Facebook reach and a strong social media reach, daily engaging in anti-vaccine rhetoric and conspiracy theories.
“It’s not on. Scott Morrison’s got to take control.”
Mr Sukkar called on Senator Rennick and Senator Antic to consider legislation put before the Senate on its merits, rather than withholding their votes.
“They’re great colleagues. They’re trusted colleagues of mine,” he said.
“I would be encouraging them, publicly and privately, to look at every issue on its merits as they are entitled to as members of the government and support the government’s agenda because particularly in this final sitting fortnight there is a lot of important things that the government is trying to do to improve the lives of Australians.”
“I am very confident that in the end they’ll make wise decisions about all of those issues when it comes time to vote in the senate.”
Mr Sukkar said the government can’t override vaccination mandates imposed by the states and encouraged Australians to get their vaccinations.
“My advice and my understanding is that the Commonwealth doesn’t have the ability to do that,” he said.
“More than 90 per cent of Australians are very happy to voluntarily be vaccinated and we think that is a great credit to Australians.”
“I’m double vaccinated, I encourage everyone to get a vaccination but we do believe it should be voluntary.”
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