Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

The inflation thief might be gone but it lurks in the corner and if you’re not careful, it happily leaps out and steals your wages. Last week we spoke about the fact their inflation’s running hot - almost 4%.  They’re now world leaders, with the highest rate in the developed world. More than the UK, US, Germany, Japan, Canada, Spain, and France. Not something Albo or anyone in Canberra should be proud of. So yesterday the Reserve Bank of Australia did what central banks do when things are getting too spicy - they hike rates.  They’ve just done a quarter of a percent. They’re likely to do another one next month. Labor has a very generous system that gets Aussies into houses. First home buyers can get in with 10%, there’s cash at the ready.  Housing costs are partly driving this inflation. No such thing as a free lunch. The subsidies are also helping to drive house prices, which in places like Sydney, Melbourne, and even Brisbane are completely out of reach and not even comparable to our big citi