Jim Chalmers 2022

G’day to everyone in Sydney, and Kia Ora to our great friends from New Zealand.

I want to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation where you are gathering today – and their elders, culture and customs.

I appreciate the opportunity you have given me, to send a quick message from Ngunnawal and Ngambri country, in Canberra.

G’day everybody, welcome to Parliament House and to the National Early Years Summit – and a big thank you to Amanda and Anne for getting you all together.

I’m really pleased that you’re doing this, because it’s so important for our agenda as a government and as a country.

Getting the early years right is the foundation for so much else in life.

JIM CHALMERS:

JIM CHALMERS:

DAVID SPEERS:

Jim Chalmers, welcome to the program.

JIM CHALMERS:

Thanks very much, David.

SPEERS:

So last year when you were Shadow Treasurer and inflation hit 5.1 per cent, you called it a full‑blown cost‑of‑living crisis. What would you call it now?

CHALMERS:

JIM CHALMERS:

The independent Reserve Bank has today confirmed that the Albanese Government’s energy plan is helping moderate inflation in our economy.

The RBA says our energy plan will do exactly what the economy needs it to do and exactly what Australian households and businesses need it to do: take some of the sting out of high power prices.

Australians don’t need to be told there’s a cost-of-living challenge in the economy right now.

You see it and feel it every time you visit the supermarket and every time you pay a bill. It hits homeowners every time the mortgage payment is due, and it’s hurting renters too. Household budgets are feeling the strain.

This week we saw the independent Reserve Bank raise interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.35 per cent. It continued the cycle of increases that began before the election, following the highest quarter for inflation in 2022 – the March quarter. The strong expectation of the market was for another increase and homeowners were expecting it as well.

The Australian Government is taking the next step in considering how to build an affordable, accessible, high quality, universal early education system.

Today the Government has announced that Professor Emerita Deborah Brennan AM will co‑lead a Productivity Commission inquiry into Australia’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) system.