SBS News · Monday 30 March 2026
Economists warn that cutting fuel excise could push inflation higher and trigger RBA rate hikes, meaning the cost-of-living relief may cost households more than it saves.
Cutting fuel excise to ease the cost of living while the Reserve Bank watches inflation like a hawk with a migraine — it's the policy equivalent of taking a painkiller with a glass of whiskey. You feel better for twenty minutes, then the headache's worse and now you've got a new problem. Bowen's defending it because the hip pocket is the only organ this government knows how to scan. The mortgage holders paying for this relief won't find it very relieving.