Today’s ABS December quarter inflation figures show that Labor’s excessive spending continues to put pressure on the cost of living for renters and homeowners, with rents and utility costs rising well above the general rate of inflation in 2010.
“Rents rose by 4.2 per cent in 2010, well above the 2.7 per cent general rate of inflation,” Senator Payne said Senator Payne said homeowners were also not spared, with electricity and water and sewerage charges rising by more than four times the annual inflation rate at 12.5 per cent and 12.8 per cent respectively.
“Homeowners and renters are already struggling with the rising cost of living, but Labor continues its wasteful spending unabated and is now considering slugging Australians with a new tax to meet the costs of the Queensland flood cleanup,” Senator Payne said.
“No government could predict the devastation that these floods have caused but the fact is the Gillard Government has left nothing in the bank for emergencies.
“Australians have already donated generously to the cleanup and reconstruction effort but they won’t cop being asked to bail out a government that stubbornly refuses to curb its extravagant spending programs.”
