Kellie Sloane
Leader of the Opposition
NSW Liberal Leader
Scott Farlow
Shadow Treasurer
Shadow Minister for the Hunter
Families with mortgages and small businesses across NSW are doing it even tougher today following the Reserve Bank’s decision to lift interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.85%, after the CPI Index rose to 3.7% in NSW last week.
The rate rise will immediately increase mortgage repayments, make it harder for young people to get in the property market and for families to make ends meet.
The pressure on NSW families is underscored by an economy at the back of the pack, where general utilities have risen 12.4% over the past year and businesses in NSW are already struggling with 6,200 businesses collapsing into insolvency in 2025.
Under the Minns Labor Government, state taxes are up by 30%, employment is falling, and NSW has the slowest Gross State Product growth in the nation at 0.9%
NSW Liberal Leader Kellie Sloane said today’s RBA decision would be devastating for NSW families who have already been pushed to the edge.
“This is a hard day for many families, one that many have been dreading,” Ms Sloane said.
“Household budgets are already stretched to breaking point, and now families are being asked to find even more money that simply isn’t there.
“People are no longer cutting back on extras, they’re making impossible choices between essentials like groceries, power bills and fuel for the family car.”
“This is the cost of wall-to-wall Labor Governments our country and right here in NSW.”
Shadow Treasurer, Scott Farlow, said the rate rise was the direct result of inflation being kept higher for longer with Labor’s economic record leaving households exposed at the worst possible time.
“This rate rise is the consequence of bad economic decisions,” Mr Farlow said.
“When governments lose control of spending, inflation surges and families and businesses get punished for it.”
“Ratings agencies are watching NSW’s spending closely.”
“The distinct lack of fiscal discipline under Labor makes the impact of today’s rate rise harder for every household to bear.”
“Labor’s election promise that its industrial relations changes would be paid for using productivity gains have been shown to be blatant fiction.”
Under Labor, families were promised cost of living improvements, but what they’re getting are higher costs for essentials and more businesses going insolvent by the day with little relief on the horizon.