A no-nonsense Australian woman has criticized the government over the cost of living crisis and said not enough is being done to help the middle class.
Gayle Hardiman, an audience member on ABC’s Q+A, expressed concern about the growing cost of living burden during Monday night’s episode.
‘My husband and I have cut back on our expenses. We won’t be dining out, we won’t be using toll roads, we won’t be drinking numerous cups of coffee a day,” Ms Hardiman said.
“We’re really thinking about how we can save money, because it’s really hurting everyone.”
Ms Hardiman asked the Q&A panel what immediate measures the government could put in place to ease cost of living pressure.
Jo Masters, chief economist at Barrenjoey, explained that inflation is the main reason why many people are experiencing financial difficulties.
“The truth is the best thing we can do to help all Australians is to reduce inflation,” Ms Masters said.
‘That means we need the government not to spend too much in this economy. “We don’t want them to fuel more inflation.”
ABC Q&A audience member Gayle Hardiman has called on the government to take immediate action to ease the cost of living crisis for millions of Australians.
Masters said the government had already introduced some measures to ease the cost of living, such as tax cuts and subsidized electricity, and suggested further relief could be considered.
“They still offer some relief policies for Australians who are the most vulnerable, but what we know from history is that relief has to be timely, it has to be temporary and, most importantly, it has to be targeted. “.
However, Hardiman responded to the suggestion and said action needed to be taken immediately.
‘What about dental insurance, medical insurance, home insurance, automobile insurance, registration insurance, toll insurance, gasoline insurance, grocery insurance? I mean the list goes on,” Ms Hardiman said.
‘Most middle and lower class people don’t know how they manage day to day. Seriously, I don’t.
‘Think of the people who don’t go to the dentist now because they don’t have enough money. “There are so many aspects of what we are talking about here that need immediate attention.”
He explained that the cost of living crisis was causing people to lose hope for a better quality of life.
“My husband and I’s grocery store is just amazing,” Mrs. Hardiman said.
Barrenjoey chief economist Jo Masters said the government knows Australians are “suffering”
‘I know several people who are homeless and pay rent every week.
‘And if they have a couple of kids, how do they pay for rent, all those high tolls, huge grocery bills, education, I mean healthcare, and the list goes on?’
“People are reaching a point where they have lost all hope that there is a better way of life than the one they experience now.”
He also criticized the government over toll roads, arguing that the cost to motorists continues to rise, and many are forced to spend a significant amount of money just to get to work.
Warwick McKibbin, a former Reserve Bank board member, warns that high government spending is keeping inflation high for longer.
“It’s not just high immigration, but also excess demand from state and federal governments; they are still pumping money into the economy, which is not necessarily a problem if there is productivity growth,” he explained.
‘The problem is that we don’t have any productivity growth.
‘There is too much government demand in the economy; you don’t have enough effective workers in the right sectors.
Hardiman said she and her husband had reduced their expenses, but were still suffering from staggering grocery costs.
“It is a comprehensive and multifaceted set of policy errors that is causing inflation to run above the central bank’s target.”
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock has spoken of the prospect of another rate hike, fearing a further rise in inflation.
“The reason we’re not ruling out anything in or out is that we think there are still some risks to the upside,” he said earlier this month.
‘We talked in the statement about some of the downside risks, but the underlying inflation we are experiencing is still around 5 per cent, which is still a significant amount.
“And what this suggests is that demand is still ahead of supply, which we talked about before, and we still have a labor market that looks tight.”
Q&A Host Patricia Karvelas
Another 25 basis point increase would take the RBA cash rate to a 13-year high of 4.6 per cent and add $100 to monthly payments on an average $600,000 mortgage.
Bullock, who has some level of independence from the government, didn’t mince words when he blamed high population growth for keeping inflation high.
“What keeps aggregate demand – even though it’s not growing much – what keeps it high is population growth,” he told reporters half an hour after the Melbourne Cup.
“Aggregate demand is still above the supply capacity of the economy; although it is not growing, it is still above aggregate supply.”