Angus Taylor Accuses Labor Government of “Missing in Action” On Inflation

In late September of 2023 Shadow Treasurer and former Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction, Angus Taylor, accused the Federal Labor government of “missing in action on the fight against inflation,” and of making “a bad situation worse.”

Mr. Taylor made the comments in a media release in response to the monthly Consumer Price Index, which he stated was representative of Australian household budgets “being squeezed at every possible angle under Labor.”

Mr. Taylor has also responded to the government’s Working Future white paper by accusing Labor of undermining a “low inflation economy” and suggesting that the goal to drive down the unemployment rate and keep inflation low was in conflict with its proposed industrial relations reforms, such as the Closing Loopholes bill:

“You’ve got a treasurer that says that the NAIRU, which is the rate of unemployment that’s achievable without driving up inflation, is a ‘technical assumption…The government should be focusing on bringing down the level of unemployment where we get low inflation, making sure we’ve got policies that give us the combination of low inflation and low unemployment.

The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, stated that Mr. Taylor “was so bereft of ideas and credibility that his only response to the white paper was to make false claims about the government’s policies.”

Mr. Chalmers went on to reaffirm the government’s commitment to an inflation target of 2-3%:

“That was never in question and Angus Taylor knows this all too well…A central objective of Working Future, our employment white paper, is to ensure everyone who wants a job should be able to find one without searching for too long.”

Sources & Further Reading

https://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2023/09/27/nothing-technical-about-inflation-pain

https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/jobs-and-low-inflation-goal-clashes-with-workplace-changes-20230926-p5e7n5

https://www.friendlyjordies.com/post/close-loopholes-bill

https://www.rba.gov.au/education/resources/explainers/nairu.html