Who Aussies blame for hip pocket blow and where they are cutting back

More than half of Australians blame the federal government for the cash rate reaching a 15-year high as persistent inflation forces many to cut down on spending, according to an exclusive nine.com.au reader survey.

A nine.com.au survey of 977 readers found 66 per cent pointed the finger at Labor for the independent Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to raise rates to 4.6 per cent in September as inflation came in at 4 per cent in the year to August.

A further 19 per cent blamed the ongoing war in Iran, while 8 per cent blamed the RBA.

Asked how the latest rise has impacted their pockets, 36 per cent said they have decreased discretionary spending while 15 per cent have cut back on essentials.

It comes as the big four banks all passed on the 0.25 per cent rate increase to mortgage holders, bringing up the cost of monthly repayments.

Australia has had sticky above-target inflation since July 2025. Since then, it has risen from 3 per cent to as high as 4.6 per cent in March.

The RBA said the fourth rate hike of the year, which is the second-highest in the advanced world, was due to higher-than-expected inflation and global oil supply disruptions and high fuel prices.

It warned that further tightening could be necessary to bring inflation down to the 2 to 3 per cent range.

Critics and political opponents have also attributed some of the blame to federal government spending and trillion-dollar public debt.

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Former RBA governor Philip Lowe told a podcast on September 30 that the Labor government should be running budget surpluses rather than “sizeable” deficits.

The 2025-26 final deficit came in at $22.3 billion, up from the $10 billion from the year before.

The results ended the Labor’s first two years of surpluses.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said the September rate hike was a result of the government’s actions and was entirely avoidable.

“Now we know that this is a government that is spending too much. We also know it’s an economy that is not working and that drives up inflation and it drives up interest rates,” he said at the time.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has rejected the assertion that the government has helped drive up inflation and instead blamed the global impacts.

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“It is clear and self-evident that the war in the Middle East is putting substantial upward pressure on inflation here in Australia and, indeed, around the world,” he said on September 30.

In the International Monetary Fund’s assessment of Australia’s economic position, it advised the government to consolidate rising spending and public debt among the federal and state governments to support disinflation.

It also advised the RBA to “stand ready” to hike rates as needed.

“Inflationary pressures reemerged since the second half of 2025 as a rebound in economic activity, supported by an accommodative policy mix, ran up against persistent capacity constraints and higher global oil prices,” it said in September.

“This occurred against a backdrop of repeated external shocks and weak productivity growth, which complicated the return of inflation to target and weighed on living standards.”

The nine.com.au poll, which runs once a fortnight, canvases the views of the Nine audience on Idea Xchange, which is an online community of our readers and viewers. Learn more and sign up here.