Treasurer Chalmers admits record immigration has lifted inflation

Last week, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor, Michele Bullock, tied herself in knots in an attempt to play down the impact of record immigration levels on CPI inflation.

Bullock admitted that record immigration had driven up housing inflation, but that this was partly offset by immigration lowering wage growth. Therefore, immigration hasn’t “added dramatically to inflation”:

New migrants add to demand and there’s been that element of it. They are certainly adding to pressure on the housing market. We know that. But on the other hand, they’ve added to labour supply”…