Save now, spend later

Jim Chalmers was true to his word this week. He kept his foot firmly on the spending brake at MYEFO. Some stretched voters might want a helping hand right now, but the government knows splashing more cash will only make things worse by pushing up inflation.

Chalmers held his nerve in the face of some nervous Labor backbenchers who wanted additional cost-of-living measures in MYEFO after two months of falling polls following the defeated Voice referendum.

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There’s been a noticeable communications effort lately from Chalmers, and from Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock, to express considerable empathy for Australians struggling with the rising cost of living.

The breathing room gained from this rhetoric may be short-lived though. Because voters are likely to feel even more of a pinch next year.