The Albanese government came to power promising lower electricity prices, lower inflation, and higher wages.

One year on, we have sky-high electricity prices, sky-high inflation, and much lower real wages.

Get used to it, because most of the policies of the Albanese government are inflationary, driving your cost of living up.

The only tool being used to address inflation’s wealth-sapping effect is the blunt instrument of the Reserve Bank’s interest rate rises.

And Australia’s 3.3 million mortgage holders yesterday copped their 12th rise in 13 months.

It’s not good enough that the RBA is the only player on the inflation-fighting field.

The burden of bringing this under control must be shared by more than people with home loans.

RBA Governor Philip Lowe has repeatedly warned that high immigration, lack of land supply, and government spending were key inputs into the board’s decision-making on interest rates.

But the government takes no notice and Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers is out of the blocks shifting blame from the government to the RBA.

The reality is that whether it’s budget spending, energy, or housing policy – it is Albanese government action – not the war in Ukraine, that is throwing petrol on the dumpster fire that is Australia’s 7 per cent inflation figure.

Australia’s cost of living crisis is entirely the creation of its political class – from both sides.

Labor is just making it worse quicker. It will get the blame at the ballot box and risks being a one-term government.

Here’s why it is hurting you.

Let’s start with the housing affordability crisis. Basic economics of supply and demand tells us that a lack of supply – in this case, land for development and houses for sale or rent – will result in high prices.

And they have.

Instead of making things better by working with state and local governments to cut red tape and fast-track land release, the government will bring 315,000 migrants in the next twelve months with more to come the following year. There’s nowhere in Sydney and Melbourne for these people to live, get healthcare and drive cars.

The way to ease the housing affordability crisis is not to pull a public policy lever that makes less housing available. But here we are.

No wonder kids can’t buy a home and have little hope as their rent keeps rising.

Immigration is no bad thing. But we must plan, and that is not happening.

Like the housing crisis, the electricity price crisis is entirely politician-caused.

A good way to bring inflation down would be to bring down the cost of electricity.

But both sides have demonised coal and gas, banned uranium, subsidised windmills and solar panels, and forgotten to make sure we had a backup plan for the nighttime and windless days.

It seems that every week an energy expert warns the east coast is facing blackouts and further price hikes.

This week it was the turn of the head of Energy Australia, Mark Collette. He said the power grid on the east coast was ‘precarious’.

Is anyone awake?

Over 20 years of Liberal and Labor government, we have squandered our competitive advantage as a resource-rich superpower for no environmental gain but increasing economic pain as climate catastrophism has driven public policy.

Now the people in the suburbs are paying for elite virtue signalling.

There are many accelerants that can make a flame roar, and nothing feeds the inflation fire more than government hand-outs, as much as we all like free stuff, and $702 billion of debt.

It’s unfair to keep blaming the Reserve Bank Governor for doing his part when the Treasurer Chalmers throws $14 billion in borrowed money at households to help them pay for the cost-of-living crisis successive governments’ climate policies are causing.

A year into the Albanese government and spending remains unsustainable and there’s no serious attempt to tackle the debt.

The 2.4 million low-paid workers who won a 5.75 per cent wage rise from the Fair Work Commission on Friday will have this and more gobbled up in higher rents, higher mortgage repayments, higher electricity costs, and higher inflation.

It is unjust. Families are hurting for no good reason.

We have wealth for toil but our politicians are foolish.

If the government allowed coal, gas, and uranium to be used until viable, cost-effective energy alternatives were found, a major driver of inflation would be fixed quickly.

The trifecta would be completed if government worked on land release and curtailing its spending.

Sadly, our government can’t understand basic biology to define a woman. It is not going to understand the basics of economics – supply and demand.

Instead, blind climate ideology drives uncosted and uninvented energy systems. Corporate Australia’s lust for cheap labour and the government’s addiction to the sugar hit to GDP drives our immigration policy.

There’s a lack of will and courage to address the land supply issues and there’s no discipline on the spending front.

Like Gough Whitlam and Kevin Rudd before him, Labor’s Albanese has not learned the lessons of economic reality or history.

As the pain heightens, so does the chance this will be a one-term government.

Lyle Shelton is National Director of the Family First Party.

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