Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been accused of mismanaging the economy, with a Nationals senator demanding he “resign in disgrace”, as mortgage holders brace for the first interest rate rise in more than two years.
Economists have flagged concerns the Albanese government’s public spending has directly contributed to inflationary pressures – which resulted in the higher-than-expected inflation data released last week – but Mr Chalmers has repeatedly rejected this claim.
On Tuesday, he described this type of commentary as being “motivated by politics” rather than “founded in facts”, before adding economists rarely shared a “unanimous view” on fiscal policy.
“I do believe that some of this, some of the commentary, is motivated in some of the newspapers by politics rather than economics,” he said.
Jim Chalmers has brushed off a bold call for him to resign. Source: AAP
“But I listen respectfully to a whole range, the whole gamut, the whole spectrum of economic views, and I try and read as much of the economic commentary that I can.”
Aside from experts, Mr Chalmers has also been subject to criticism from politicians, including Nationals senator Matt Canavan who called for the federal treasurer’s resignation ahead of the RBA’s announcement.
Referencing the Albanese government’s battery subsidy scheme – which is plagued by claims its $2.3bn budget has been spent in six months – Senator Canavan asked on Tuesday: “How has (Mr Chalmers) possibly allowed a situation to emerge where things like a battery scheme can blow out more than $10bn in six months?”
“They costed a billion dollars. It’s now approaching $12bn in cost in just six months,” he told Sky News.
“How can Jim get his maths so wrong and still hold the position of treasurer?
“I mean, he should resign in disgrace because we’ve never seen anything like this.”
In response, Mr Chalmers declared he could not “care less” about Mr Canavan’s opinion.
“I listen to a lot of different voices, but (Mr Canavan’s) not a sort of a respected contributor to these sorts of things,” he told Sky News.
– NewsWire