Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan says Labor is ‘asleep at the wheel’ on cost of living issues as RBA set to announce new rate rise

Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Dan Tehan said the Federal Government was “asleep at the wheel” at addressing the cost of living pressures, as he hit out at its current inflation and energy policies. 

Speaking to Sky News Australia host Peter Stefanovic on First Edition on Monday, Mr Tehan said the government was not doing enough to put “downwards pressure” on interest rates. 

The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to lift interest rates by 25 basis points on Tuesday when the board meets for the first time in 2023. 

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The cash rate was lifted eight consecutive times in 2022, reaching 3.10 per cent in December.

Stefanovic asked Mr Tehan whether the government’s current policies were working, considering mortgage owners were facing another “supersized” rate hike in coming months. 

Mr Tehan believed it was an indication that the government “doesn’t have its priorities right”. 

“The Treasurer spent his summer writing a 6,000 word thesis that no one can really understand or comprehend,” Mr Tehan said.

“Meanwhile it looks like interest rates are going up and we know that energy prices continue to go up, so their whole energy policy has been a failure.

“They’re not doing anything to put downward pressure on interest rates.”

The RBA is expecting to nudge rates even higher in March by a final 25 basis points. 

“Households have seen hits to their wallets every single day… and the government is basically asleep at the wheel at trying to address cost of living pressures,” Mr Tehan said. 

“They need to get down and do some serious work and do it now because we get an interest rate rise again tomorrow that is going to hurt families.”

The inflation rate is currently 7.8 per cent, with household inflation rising to 1.9 per cent in the last quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 

Mr Tehan described Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s election promise of putting downward pressure on interest rates as a “complete and utter furphy”. 

Barrenjoey Chief Economist Jo Masters previously told Sky News Australia in January that fixed rate mortgages were expected to pick up steam in May, June and July, with households facing a potential 50 per cent increase in mortgage rates. 

The Reserve Bank of Australia Board will meet on Tuesday at 2.30pm AEDT to decide the cash rate.