Senator Dean Smith
Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury
Liberal Senator for Western Australia
TRANSCRIPT – INTERVIEW WITH MONIKA KOS, NINE NEWS PERTH
9 December 2024
TOPICS: Cost of living; Perth inflation, Labor’s economic mismanagement
E&OE
MONIKA KOS:
Western Australian household costs are surging, with Perth residents paying more for 40 everyday goods and services than any other state. WA Liberal Senator Dean Smith has been comparing the numbers that includes housing, rent, childcare, insurance and food. He joins us this afternoon. Thanks for your time, Senator.
DEAN SMITH:
It’s good to be with you.
MONIKA KOS:
Talk us through some of the biggest differences. What have you found?
DEAN SMITH:
The first part of the exercise that I did is that, you know, we often hear across the Western Australian community, people talking about the cost of living issues that are affecting them and their families. I thought it was important to go and have a look at what the data was telling us. And, of course, the data reveals that the cost of living pressures for West Australian families are very real, and they are greater than many of the pressures being felt by families in other Australian capital cities. So, for example, we know that insurance costs are 49.9% higher in Western Australia. We also know that something as simple as bread and milk costs have increased by 25%. So, as you said, across those 40 goods and services, West Australians are having to pay more for those products than other families in other Australian capital cities.
MONIKA KOS:
Are we paying more?
DEAN SMITH:
This is a very good question. I believe that the inflation challenge in our country is a direct result of the poor economic management of the Albanese and Chalmers Labor Government. We know that the Reserve Bank of Australia has had to increase interest rates 12 times in an effort to keep inflation under control. The Government often says that inflation is its highest economic priority, but this data produced by the ABS, independently verified by the Parliamentary Library, demonstrates that the inflation challenge is not under control. And it’s particularly not under control in Western Australia, where families are having to pay the consequences of higher prices. Cost of living pressures will be a hot election topic.
MONIKA KOS:
What is the Liberal Government promising voters?
DEAN SMITH:
Well, we believe that it’s time to get back to basics. So, what’s very important for us is that we believe that budget discipline is very important. There must be a restraint on government spending if we are going to reduce the inflationary pressures in the economy. But more than that, we also have to have a conversation about improving productivity so that the GDP declines that we’ve seen in our economy are turned into improvements.
MONIKA KOS:
Dean Smith, thanks for being with us.
DEAN SMITH:
It’s good to be with you. Thank you.
ENDS