Government Defends Sluggish GDP Numbers in Parliament

On day one of Parliament Treasurer Jim Chalmers was challenged by the opposition for saying “global factors” were responsible for the nation’s sluggish growth numbers. Liberal-National MPs said countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand had begun to see slowing inflation, but Australia was still struggling with the problem. In response, Chalmers said those countries had higher unemployment, and higher interest rates than Australia, while also saying their inflation had peaked higher and earlier. Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the lowest GDP growth numbers since the 1991-92 financial year, as households cut back on spending and individual productivity dropped....