Treasurer Jim Chalmers says inflation has been lower under Labor, ahead of the release of monthly inflation figures later on Wednesday.
At a press conference at Parliament House, Chalmers was asked if he was expecting inflation to go up or down.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers during a doorstop at Parliament House in Canberra on November 26, 2025. Dominic Lorrimer
“We’ll see what the numbers say later today, but certainly economists expect the headline number to tick up a little bit as a consequence of the end of some of those state energy rebates,” he said.
“For that reason, a lot of economists I think will focus more on the underlying figure today.”
Chalmers went on to defend Labor’s economic record since inflation peaked in 2022.
“Whatever the number says today, it will be extremely clear that inflation is very substantially lower than what we inherited from the Coalition,” he said.
“When the Coalition left office, inflation was north of 6 per cent and skyrocketing. We’ve been able to get it down substantially since then. And because of our responsible economic management and because of the progress that Australians have made together on inflation, that’s given the Reserve Bank the confidence to cut interest rates three times already, and that’s providing some welcome relief to millions of Australians with a mortgage.”
