Yesterday’s CPI figures showed what an extraordinary load of rubbish this “cost of living” campaign focus is from both sides.

You could tell from the reaction from both Wayne Swan and Joe Hockey.

It’s hard to take Joe Hockey seriously as Shadow Treasurer but he sounded even sillier than usual responding to a CPI number dramatically lower than everyone had forecast. “The everyday costs of living of everyday Australians… have gone up dramatically,” he insisted.

Presumably Hockey is saying the ABS got it completely wrong. Or perhaps they’ve been politicised and are doctoring the numbers to suit Labor? Joe should be calling for a judicial inquiry into the ABS.

The number must have been gutting for the Opposition. Their entire economic policy is based on convincing voters the Government is spending too much money and forcing up interest rates.

But Swan, too, was incredulous about the figure. You’d think Wayne Swan would have been shouting from the rooftops about what an amazing economy he presides over, with strong growth, the developed world’s lowest unemployment, a rapid return to surplus – and doing it all with low inflation.

Nosirree. Swan was having none of it. The Government has based a key component of its election strategy around telling voters how much it gets that they face financial difficulties. “We understand that many families are still finding it tough to make ends meet,” Swan said.

Well, not because of inflation they’re not.

If you don’t smoke, you missed out on the only truly big price increase over the last quarter. If you like fruit and veg, you got a windfall from falling prices. Food overall was flat and food prices have risen well below the headline inflation rate over the last 12 months. Clothing was flat — i.e. costs fell in real terms. And what about those utility prices that Joe Hockey insists are the Federal Government’s responsibility (presumably Joe wants a Commonwealth takeover of state utilities?).

Yes, state Labor governments (and WA) have driven those a lot higher over the last 12 months. But they were flat in the June quarter. Electricity prices actually fell slightly.

Even petrol rose below the headline rate of inflation. Education costs were flat too.

If you’re having difficulty making ends meet, either you face genuine poverty — and you’ll be invisible in the election campaign — or your consumption is too high for your income. It’s nothing to do with “the cost of living”. But no politician would ever tell a voter that.

Just how low would the figure needed to have been for Hockey to given Wayne Swan permission to say inflation was under control? Just how low does inflation have to be before Labor stops telling voters about how difficult things are? Do they want deflation?