TL;DR: economists are still stuck in the idea of the market as a perfect force for reaching optimal outcomes. They’re ignoring the simple fact that businesses are putting prices up purely to increase profits. And that they can do this because the economic ideal of perfect competition (where many small firms compete with near-identical products) does not exist. We have a small number of very powerful businesses—oligopolies—in nearly every market for consumer-facing goods.
I’d love to spend less money on groceries and every day costs but it’s just not possible with the prices of everything going through the roof like you said. People are still spending more because they have to.
The government seems clueless on what to do. Their only action is for the RBA to increase the interest rate and then hold onto their butts and pray.