Not So – Here Are the Facts
By Andrew Paul Klein and Sera Elizabeth Klein
Long‑standing colleagues and co‑authors
“One year since the election, we’ve been focused every day on helping with the cost of living.” (Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP), 3 May 2026).
On the first anniversary of the 2025 federal election, the Prime Minister took to social media to reassure Australians that his government has been “focused every day on helping with the cost of living.” The claim is warm, confident, and politically convenient.
It is also demonstrably false.
Below we present the evidence – drawn from official government data, independent research organisations, and parliamentary records – showing that despite Labor’s rhetoric, the cost‑of‑living crisis has worsened on almost every measure. Inflation is at a 2½‑year high. Petrol is projected to hit $2.46 a litre. Grocery bills are crushing household budgets. Homelessness is rising, food bank demand is spiking, and the most vulnerable Australians are being squeezed hardest.
This is not an opinion. It is the data.
Inflation at a 2½‑Year High
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 4.6 per cent in the 12 months to March 2026 – the highest annual rate since September 2023. In the March quarter alone, the CPI jumped 1.1 per cent, driven largely by the war in Iran.
The largest annual contributors were Housing (+6.5 per cent), Transport (+8.9 per cent) and Food and non‑alcoholic beverages (+3.1 per cent). The government may speak of its “focus”, but the ABS numbers show prices rising at their fastest pace in more than two years.
Fuel Prices: A Primary Driver of Pain
From February to March 2026, fuel prices rose as much as 41 per cent in some capital cities. Average regular unleaded petrol jumped 33 per cent, from 171 c/L to 228 c/L. Diesel touched $2.50 a litre.
Even after a temporary halving of the fuel excise (worth 26.3 c/L), economists warn that unleaded petrol is projected to peak at $2.46 per litre in late May. When the excise cut expires, a further 26 c/L increase is expected. Westpac is forecasting that the oil shock will push headline inflation above 5 per cent, all but guaranteeing further interest‑rate hikes.
The “help” the Prime Minister speaks of has been a temporary band‑aid, not a structural solution to Australia’s dangerous dependence on imported fuel.
Grocery Prices and Household Budgets
Woolworths has warned that fruit, vegetables, milk and bread will continue rising over the next 3 to 12 months. Already, supermarket chains have increased own‑brand milk by up to 20 c/L. Lamb rose 15.5 per cent in 2025, while beef and veal rose 11.8 per cent. Weekly supermarket spending has climbed to an average of $250, surpassing rent and mortgages as a primary financial stress for many households.
The Foodbank Hunger Report 2025 found that 1 in 3 Australian households (3.5 million households) experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months – a slight increase on the previous year. For low‑income households, the figure approaches half. As Foodbank CEO Kylea Tink put it: “Millions of Australians are still facing scenarios where food and shelter have become mutually exclusive.”
Homelessness: The Hidden Crisis
Anglicare Australia’s 2026 Rental Affordability Snapshot surveyed nearly 49,000 rental listings across the country. The results are devastating:
- Just 1 rental (0 %) was affordable for a person on JobSeeker.
- 0 rentals (0 %) were affordable for a person on Youth Allowance.
- Only 0.2 % of rentals were affordable for a single Age Pensioner.
- A full‑time minimum‑wage worker could afford just 0.5 % of listings.
- A couple with two minimum‑wage incomes could afford only 14.8 % of rentals.
More than 122,000 people are homeless on any given night. Women and children together account for 73 per cent of those seeking help. Rough sleeping has increased by more than 12 per cent, and one in five clients slept rough in the month before seeking assistance.
Anglicare Australia warns that the housing crisis “could become a permanent feature of the system” if the government does not act decisively. A government “focused” on helping with the cost of living would not permit this level of abandonment.
Food Banks: Success Signals of State Failure
Foodbank now sources 252,000 meals a day and supports over a million people each month. Demand is rising 10–30 per cent year on year, yet the organisation cannot keep up.
Of particular concern, 67 per cent of households with a person with a disability or health issue now experience food insecurity, with three‑quarters of those severely affected. Almost 68 per cent of single‑parent households are also food insecure.
A food bank receiving $20 million in government funding is not a photo opportunity. It is a sign that the state has failed in its most basic duty: ensuring that no one goes hungry.
Unemployment: The Hidden Cracks
Headline unemployment remains low on paper – 4.3 per cent in March 2026. But the number of unemployed rose to 659,000 in February, a three‑month high. Full‑time employment fell by about 30,000 in February. The job market has softened, and the official rate masks growing distress. Meanwhile, job vacancies in February 2026 were 28.6 per cent lower than their May 2022 peak.
Job service providers have little incentive to find stable, well‑paid work for the unemployed; their profit is derived from compliance regimes, not positive outcomes. This is not cost‑of‑living relief. This is cost‑of‑living management through coercion.
NDIS and AUKUS: A Cruel Trade‑Off
The government has committed to capping the growth of NDIS spending, aiming to reduce average participant plan costs from $31,000 to $26,000 – back to 2023 levels. Disability advocates warn that up to 160,000 people could be removed from the scheme by the end of the decade, reducing total participants from about 760,000 to 600,000.
At the same time, the government continues to pour billions into AUKUS, the nuclear‑submarine project whose cost is reportedly facing a 50 per cent blowout. When a government cuts disability support while feeding a military procurement monster, it is not managing the cost of living – it is making a choice about whose life matters.
Traffic and Parking Fines: A Regressive Tax
State governments have quietly used fines as a revenue source, hitting struggling families hardest:
- Parking fines for disability‑bay misuse rose from $333 to $667.
- Illegal parking fines jumped 65 per cent to $789 in 2025.
- Some traffic infractions now attract penalties of up to $2,000.
- New 40 km/h school zones have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
Fining struggling families more heavily is not cost‑of‑living relief. It is a regressive funding measure dressed up as road safety.
Age Pensioners and Disability Support Pensioners
The Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index (PBLCI) rose 4.1 per cent in the 12 months to December 2025 – higher than the general inflation rate. Age pensioner households recorded a 4.2 per cent rise in living costs.
The cost of a “comfortable” retirement for a single aged 65 or over rose 3.6 per cent over the same period. Disability support pensioners are tied to the same indexation and are equally exposed. With proposed cuts to the NDIS, their support networks are under threat.
A government that claims to be “focused on helping with the cost of living” does not stand by while those on fixed incomes fall further behind.
Reputational Damage and the War on Gaza
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that it was “plausible” that Israel’s acts in Gaza amount to genocide. The ICJ ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocidal acts, and in May 2024 ordered it to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah. Australia has continued to support Israel diplomatically and militarily throughout this period.
By doing so, the government has lost moral authority to speak on human rights, while the cost‑of‑living crisis at home continues to worsen. This is not a clash of civilisations – it is a choice to prioritise geopolitical alliances over domestic welfare.
The Prime Minister’s Claim – Examined
Let us list what the government’s “focus” has produced:
Indicator The Evidence
- Inflation 4.6 % – highest since September 2023
- Petrol prices Up 33 % in one month; projected $2.46/L in May
- Wheat planting 10–12 % drop forecast due to fertiliser and diesel costs
- Grocery spending $250/week average, surpassing rent/mortgages
- Food insecurity 3.5 million households – 1 in 3
- Food bank demand Up 10–30 % year on year
- Homelessness 120,000+ people; women and children 73 % of those seeking help
- Rental affordability 0 % for JobSeeker/Youth Allowance; 0.2 % for Age Pension
- NDIS Up to 160,000 participants face removal while AUKUS blows out
- Pensioners Living costs up 4.1–4.2 %, higher than general inflation
- Fines Increased up to 65 %, targeting the car‑dependent poor
The Prime Minister says he is “focused every day on helping with the cost of living.” The evidence shows the opposite. Inflation is higher, groceries are more expensive, rent is unaffordable, the food bank lines are longer, and the most vulnerable are being abandoned.
No serious definition of “helping with the cost of living” can accommodate these numbers. The claim is not merely incomplete – it is demonstrably false.
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Read it and weep, government inactions, opposition notably useless, records poor all round, fringe groups stirring the kindykids, despair.
Tinkering around the edges isn’t going to cut it, Albanese. Every year you become more adept at spouting a load of rot.
I don’t think Dr Klein wrote this lightly.
What would take to awaken Labor politicians out of their slumber before it becomes too late again?
I call bullshit on Albanese’s claim. The man who used to have a spine seems to have lost it in that Faustian pact with the devil per his ascension to power. Nowadays, he seems like a bureaucrat, efficient at some things, but ineffectual where it matters.
Sad. I quit my ALP party membership after the AUKUS endorsement, still get emails asking me to chuck a few bucks in their direction.
Now in it’s second term, wtf has Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albappeasey actually done with Labor’s historic 94-seat majority? As little as humanly possible!
Our boy Abalone has just embarked on a PR exercise to tell us how much he cares about us, in the lead up to the looming budget.It will be a stinker ,some out of their control, which we will be beaten around the head with, and a lot that they haven’t got the balls to deal with, including their continuing capture by vested interests and the mining lobby.
The truth is, neither Albanese nor most of his weak kneed pals are up to the task required in these difficult times.Bullshit excuses just won’t cut it.Four years for little result tells us everything we need to know.NEXT.
At anytime 1/3 of population has cost of living issues especially young, students, renters and new families, but middle class also complain by glibly repeating RW MSM talking points eg ‘cost of living crisis’.
Me thinks ‘cost of living’, repeated often in media and narratives, is about conditioning the public to accept cuts to government services, budgets and PS delivery, and encourage tax cuts; Kochiaj ‘segregation economics’.
Two anecdotes about Australians in Europe first complaining about energy prices to realise their Australian energy was cheaper; sudden realisation ‘listen to us, swanning around Europe, complaining about cost of living’…..
The other, a French sociologist on walking tour Portugal, met lots of Australian retirees etc. complaining about ‘cost of living crisis in Australia’, to then state how they were looking for second properties in Europe…….his response like many towards Australians, was an eye roll….
what is the lie about ‘“One year since the election, we’ve been focused every day on helping with the cost of living…”‘?
USUKA was scummo’s promise after giving france over half a billion compensation. How much would it cost to pay off the septics and the pome????????????
Dr Klein could stick with a ‘benevolent xstian’ god, he is a real lie:
The bit where Moses parts the Red Sea. He does that to escape Egyptians that are chasing him.
The Bible says that the Egyptians saw the miracle and recognized the danger, but God “hardened their hearts with hatred” so they would continue to chase him onto the dry sea bed (and they were promptly crushed to death by the closing waters).
So this benevolent god removes people’s free will in order to make them do hateful things, and then murders them for it.
ps Beauty Andrew!
It would be an absolute tragedy if the Reserve Bank decide at their Tuesday meeting to increase interest rates.
The RBA tell us that they want to ‘dampen’ spending in the economy, evidently we are spending too much at a time when global petroleum costs are surging and impacting every aspect of our economy – most expenditure being beyond our control. The RBA say they have only one tool in their toolbox to tackle inflation and that is to increase interest rates which, as we know will filter through to every area of the economy.
If the RBA were able to segregate or isolate housing from their interest rate increases this, at least would take away some of the pain in a mortgage market where banks are reluctant to offer long term fixed rate home loans, contrasted to the USA where eighty percent of home loans are fixed rate for thirty years.
RBA keep your toolbox in the shed!
I join the chorus of dissent about this publicity release lie from PM All-Bull-Only. Somebody needs to inject him with Whitlam’s zeal for improving the best interests of Australian voters by exiting the Scummo’s USUKA sub debacle and the consequent vassal state payments to the USA (Undemocratic Sewer of Apartheid), impose at least a 25% tax on CSG exports and encouraging by increasing funding to Australian research.
Remember NO R&D means NO ECONOMIC FUTURE
So with supermarkets reporting huge profits, that must surely mean that the profit margins and selling SOPs are too high, similarly for the high profits reported by banks.
The scam of ”cost of living” is loaded against family voters having regulated & controlled wages/salaries while prices are unrestricted in any way, executive salary packages are exorbitant and taxation favours the wealthy and corporations.
My good mate Blind Freddie says that he can see that the workers are being screwed by corporations with the assistance of our government, regardless of the political party.
Albanese has become renowned for a lot of things, h the crap referred to in this story, his tin-eared response to such things as the appointment of Segal and invitation to Herzog, but to my mind it’s his willingness to flip flop on decisions – ruling something out categorically then changing his mind that stands out. So, Albo, some advice – change your mind on the 25% gas tax, it will bring you into line with the vast majority of Australians including Ken Henry and David Pocock, to name just two. At the moment you can kiss the next election goodbye.
That’s some pair of rose-coloured glasses that PM Albanese wears!
Has an income of $500,00+, living away from home allowances and resides at The Lodge tax payer funded, has investment properties that earns income x 4 with all the benefits to NG and taxation as well as CGT benefits, superannuation funded by the taxpayers, lunches and dinners funded by the taxpayers, yeah, he’s focused on everyday living costs for himself!
He’s a tightwad and probably only pays for his coffee and the occasional tank of petrol.
Probably has no idea of the cost of utilities, insurance for H & C & MV, council rates, MV maintenance, registration costs, healthcare and wellbeing, let alone the cost of food and any other refreshments that he cares to consume.
Being the age that I am and on a fixed pension, I’ve had to forgo all of the above, and the last time I had a holiday was 2003.
RBA: Inflation is too high. Yes, we know it’s primarily due to profiteering and a pointless war some pustulent cockwart started but we can’t touch them, so we’re going to fix it by making credit more expensive.
the deafening thud you just heard was a collective headdesk by everyone in the country who isn’t totally in thrall to the neolib mindset *
“Pustulent Cockwart?”Phrase of the month…go to the top of the class, leefe.