00:00As you know, the Reserve Bank decided to increase interest rates to 4.1 per cent today.
00:07You can see in the statement that it was a close vote and it was a close call and I
00:11think
00:11that reflects the uncertainty that we're seeing in the global economy and the statement refers
00:16to risks in both directions in that regard.
00:20This is obviously not the decision that lots of Australians were hoping for.
00:24It's not a surprising decision but that doesn't make it any easier for millions of Australians
00:31with a mortgage.
00:33We've got an inflation challenge in our economy already and developments in the Middle East
00:38are making that worse.
00:41The impacts of what we're seeing in that part of the world are already substantial but we
00:47don't know yet how enduring those very substantial economic pressures will be.
00:53It depends very heavily on how long the conflict in the Middle East continues for.
01:00At a time of great uncertainty, this will put additional pressure on people.
01:06We're not just acknowledging that, we're not just acknowledging those pressures, we're
01:11acting on them as well.
01:12We're working very hard on the issues in fuel markets and questions of resilience more broadly.
01:18We're cutting taxes and rolling out cost of living health to take some of the pressure
01:22off people where we can.
01:24We've strengthened the budget over the course of the last three and a half years and there
01:28will be more of that in May.
01:31These global risks are very substantial.
01:34We're not immune from them but we are better placed than most to deal with them.
01:38And I'll have a bit more to say about that in the main pre-budget speech that I'm giving
01:44on Thursday in Melbourne.
01:46But the main point from this decision is that we know we had an inflation challenge already
01:53in our economy.
01:54Developments in the Middle East are already making that challenge harder rather than easier.
01:59And the Reserve Bank Board has taken this decision independently today to increase interest rates
02:05in the face of those pressures but also this very substantial global economic volatility and
02:12uncertainty.
02:14I wanted to just say something about the ACCC meeting today and then happy to take your
02:19questions.
02:20The suppliers and the retailers have been hauled in today by the ACCC to explain themselves and
02:26that's a good thing.
02:27I spoke to the Chair of the ACCC this afternoon after the meeting.
02:32They have or they are about to issue their own statement about the discussions and so I would
02:38refer you to that statement for a detailed summary of the discussions that Gina led with the
02:44suppliers and the retailers and the automotive groups as well.
02:48The ACCC has the powers that they need to crack down on any dodgy behaviour in these markets.
02:55We have increased surveillance.
02:57We will be increasing penalties in the legislation that I look to introduce to the Parliament next
03:03week once we get the agreement of the States.
03:07We are also making it easier to coordinate fuel for regional communities in particular.
03:12Our message, once again, is very simple.
03:16Suppliers and retailers must not treat motorists as mugs.
03:21They are on notice.
03:23If they do the wrong thing, the ACCC will throw the book at them.
03:27Another important part of the conversations today with the ACCC was around supply, which is
03:33obviously a big focus of the Government and the Government's work as well.
03:37There was around the table, I'm told, confidence that ships are en route and ships are arriving,
03:48that the supply is there and there's a lot of work going into coordinating efforts in the
03:54regions in particular.
03:56It's also really important that the big players in the fuel markets don't treat this as a chance to
04:03mess with the independents who play a really important role in the bush.
04:09And so there's effort here, whether it's the ACCC with the Government's support, to make sure that
04:15the major suppliers can coordinate their efforts for the time being while there are these pressures,
04:20particularly in regional areas.
04:22But we want to make sure that they don't see that as an opportunity to shut out the smaller
04:26players or the independents.
04:28Those smaller players and independents play a crucial role, particularly in the regions,
04:33but not just in the regions, and we want to make sure that they are treated fairly as we go
04:37about this important work as well.
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