The annual rate of inflation has soared to its highest level since 2001, fuelled by rising petrol prices and higher dwelling construction costs.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the consumer price index for the March quarter surged 2.1 per cent for an annual inflation rate of 5.1 per cent, up from 3.5 per cent previously.
"The CPI recorded its largest quarterly and annual rises since the introduction of the goods and services tax," ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said on Wednesday.
