Inflation rose to 3.8% in the year to October, up from 3.6% the month before, when Jim Chalmers indicated he could announce further subsidies on household energy bills in the next half-year budget.
Electricity prices were 37% higher in the year to October, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics said was largely due to the end of state government energy bill rebates.
The ABS published its first ‘full’ monthly consumer price index, a milestone that will eventually see the more frequent inflation rate exceed the quarterly rate.
It confirmed an unwanted rise in price pressures, which has dampened hopes for more rate cuts from the Reserve Bank, and even increased the likelihood of another move higher.
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Underlying inflation, which removes the impact of large, temporary price swings such as electricity prices, rose to 3.3% in the year to October from 3.2% in September.
With the cost of living still the main issue facing voters, Chalmers said before the release of the latest inflation figures that the government would decide “in the coming weeks” whether to extend household energy bill cuts beyond the end of this year.
The treasurer has openly said there will be no major policy announcements in the half-year budget, due around December 17, but opened the door to further electricity subsidies in a television interview with Sky.
With the Coalition using Parliamentary Question Time to hammer the government on energy prices, Chalmers said: “We have been very clear and frank for some time: this electricity bill relief is really important.”
“It takes some of the energy costs off for families, retirees and people in our communities across Australia.”
He repeated his mantra that energy cuts “will not be a permanent part of the budget”, but left the door open to extending the measures beyond December.
“We will make a decision on this within a few weeks.”
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The March budget extended the Commonwealth’s energy bill relief fund for six months, giving a further $150 to all households and around 1 million small businesses, split into two quarterly tranches.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, repeatedly dodged questions in an interview on Wednesday morning about whether the coalition supported the extension of energy bill subsidies.
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