Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the Coalition appreciates the growing cost-of-living pressures as he hedges his bets on a possible fuel excise cut.
In Perth to announce a $4.3 billion spending program on a dry dock facility at Henderson, Morrison has defended his government’s economic management as the war in Ukraine puts further pressure on household budgets.
“We’re very conscious of what these cost of living impacts are, and particularly at the bowser and, as Australians know, that’s been caused by what’s appearing with the invasion of Ukraine,” he told 6PR radio.
Morrison was pressed on additional steps Australia would use to tighten the screws on Russia as part of Western sanctions, but declined to go into details for “security reasons”.
“But I’ve spoken to President (Volodymyr) Zelensky, I’ve been speaking to other European leaders constantly over the course of this crisis. And we’re continuing to extend our sanctions to more and more individuals,” he said.
The PM estimated that more than 2000 Ukrainian visa requests had been processed by Australian officials.
“Most of those Ukrainians will be coming to Australia and getting residency here … or some of them are coming on temporary skilled visas, which means they can have safe haven here,” he said.
But Morrison believed most of those people would want to return to Ukraine when it was safe.
