Forget the mortgage belt: Gamers are getting smashed and Chalmers should worry

October 28, 2026 — 12:51pm

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Put aside your pity for those with a mortgage or people struggling to put food on the table. It’s the gamers who are being hit by inflation.

And as gamers deal with huge spikes in the prices of their consoles, the policy problems facing the Reserve Bank, Jim Chalmers and the phalanx of state and territory treasurers follow.

The latest monthly inflation figures from the bureau of statistics all-but guaranteed that the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee will inflict another rate rise on the economy on Melbourne Cup Day.

The 4.3 per cent headline inflation rate for September, and 3.6 per cent for the key underlying measure were, as the bank’s deputy governor Andrew Hauser said, too high.

As Hauser and governor Michele Bullock have often reminded Australians, the RBA has only one tool to deal with inflation. Hence its four rate rises this year, with the big chance of another that will push the cash rate to an 18-year high of 4.85 per cent next Tuesday.

By lifting rates, the........

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