QandA pensioner asks Treasurer Jim Chalmers how to survive inflationary cost-of-living crunch

A benefit recipient with just $20 to her name, the treasurer has struggled to offer hope about when her grim struggle for survival might abate.

Fiona, who was in the ABC studio audience for Jim Chalmers’ post-budget solo performance on QandA, said the rising prices had drained her bank account and she now faces impossible choices between food and medicine.

While retirees with age, caregiver, and disability benefits will see an increase of $38.90 every two weeks for singles and $58.80 for couples, Fiona pointed out that it still isn’t enough to keep up with rising inflation.

“Employees like me are meant to be thankful for that increase, what essentials should I cut my budget on?” she asked Dr Chalmers.

Fiona (pictured) asked treasurer Jim Chalmers what essentials she could be missing out as her retirement is eaten away by skyrocketing prices

The treasurer replied by saying that Australia’s biggest challenge is “the cost of living is going through the roof” and disproportionately affects the most vulnerable.

He conceded that the automatic measures of paying benefit recipients extra to help inflation would provide only a small relief.

“I know that’s not always enough, I know that often isn’t enough,” said Dr Chalmers.

‘We have to try to figure out how to absorb those living costs in a responsible way.

“How do we make sure people get money without making the inflation problem worse, that’s really my main concern.”

dr. Chalmers said the country’s biggest challenge was getting inflation under control

Short-term inflation forecasts have been blown out of the water with a shocking rise in the annual price hike rate to 7.3 percent, well above market expectations.

It was Australia’s highest inflation since 1990 and meant prices skyrocketed at nearly three times the pace of wage growth, also boosting forecasts for the expected inflation peak from 7.75 percent to 8 percent.

The quarterly rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a basket of the goods and services of a typical household, rose 1.8 percent for the quarter, above the market forecast of 1.6 percent.

Fiona said the additional indexed retirement benefits she would receive “are still catching up and still falling behind.”

She revealed that having an eye scan meant she couldn’t afford to go to the GP as he no longer charged high bills.

The cost of everyday items is skyrocketing and inflation is at its highest annual rate since 1990

“Tomorrow is retirement day, I got $20 because it came in late for some reason,” Fiona said.

“20 dollars in the bank account for retirement day tomorrow and we work a lot and shuffle from week to week.”

When asked when things would get better for Fiona, the treasurer struggled to offer much hope.

“I don’t want to pretend that Fiona or anyone else in Fiona’s position that the budget solved all these challenges nine nights ago,” said Dr. Chalmers.

He said the budget provided some cost-of-living relief in areas such as medicine, health care, childcare, parental leave and that the government had a policy of ‘getting wages moving’.

The consumer price index in the June quarter rose at the fastest pace since mid-2001

However, he said things would get worse before they got better.

“The Reserve Bank and Treasury expect inflation to get a little worse until the end of the year and then moderate,” he said.

dr. Chalmers said he took “responsibility” for the role he played.

“For too long we’ve had people in roles like mine pretending they have nothing to do with it,” he said.

“I accept responsibility in the budgets I make and the most important thing I can do for Fiona and the people of Australia is let this inflation spiral out of control.”