Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry
Emma Rebellato:
The federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, joins us now from Parliament House. Treasurer, good morning. Welcome to News Breakfast.
Jim Chalmers:
Thanks very much, Emma.
Rebellato:
If interest rates do go up today, will you and your government accept responsibility for that?
Chalmers:
Well, first of all, I’m not going to make a prediction about what the Reserve Bank will decide independently today. No doubt they’ll discuss that through the course of today and they’ll make the announcement this afternoon. I take responsibility for all parts of my job, including playing a helpful role in the fight against inflation.
My job and my focus is on rolling out this cost‑of‑living help, rolling out 2 more tax cuts at the same time as we pay down more of the Liberal debt and getting the budget in better condition. At the budget update in December, Katy Gallagher and I found another $20 billion in savings, we improved the budget position in every year of the forward estimates, but we know that there’s always more work to do, particularly when some of these inflationary pressures are more persistent than anyone would like.
Rebellato:
Well, this is the thing that’s affecting people, isn’t it? They’re going, they’re paying their bills, they’re going to the supermarket, they’re seeing fruit and veg go up, coffee going up, meat prices going up. What will you do about those things? How will you try and rein in inflation here?
Chalmers:
There are a couple of important ways that we’re taking action when it comes to this inflation, which is, as we’ve said for a little while now, higher than we would like. We do understand that people are under pressure, but more than acknowledge that we’re taking action, we’re acting on that – so the tax cuts which are rolling out already and then 2 more tax cuts to come this year and next year that will help people with the cost of living, cheaper medicines, more bulk billing, student debt relief.
There are a whole number of ways that we are helping with the cost of living in the most responsible way that we can. And part of that is making sure that we continue to get the budget into better condition. We’ve improved the budget by $233 billion since we came to office, we’ve paid down more than $170 billion in Liberal debt, we’ve delivered a couple of surpluses and some smaller deficits, we’ve got real spending growth down, we’ve got spending as a share of the economy down from almost a third to something which is a bit closer to a quarter.
But we do know and acknowledge there is almost always more work to do to deliver this responsible economic management and to roll out this cost‑of‑living relief because we know that people are still under pressure.
Rebellato:
Well, what are you looking at doing at this May Budget though? Will you look at making further, rein in spending even further by the government? Because obviously that’s contributing to things.
Chalmers:
Well, first of all, the main driver of this inflation that we saw in the most recent data, the tick up was more about things like holiday spending, the withdrawal of the energy bill rebates.
Rebellato:
But government spending is contributing a lot to, to inflation overall.
Chalmers:
I’ll come to that in a minute, Emma. But first of all, the tick up that we saw in the most recent data was not about government spending, it was about holiday spending, the withdrawal of the energy rebates, it was about some persistent pressures in housing. Some of that pressure was temporary, some of it more persistent than anyone would like. Now, when it comes to government spending, really the main story of the economy last year was public demand took a big step back. It was around, I think, less than a third of what it was the year before and private demand really gathered pace.
And so, when we’re seeing this extra demand in our economy and some of these inflationary pressures in our economy, that is primarily because of private demand recovering and that’s not always acknowledged in the commentary. A lot of that commentary is motivated by politics and not grounded in facts. We know that we’ve got a contribution to make to helping get on top of this inflation challenge, but public spending has not been the primary determinant, certainly in that most recent inflation data that we saw last week.
Rebellato:
Treasurer, some other figures that we’ve been looking at, certainly over the past couple of weeks and another one yesterday, was another poll out showing that there’s more support for One Nation, the Coalition or the Liberals and the Nats are obviously looking at that, and they’re worried. Is the government worried about that, too? Because isn’t that saying that voters just aren’t happy with things right now?
Chalmers:
Well, it says that we now have 3 divisive parties of the far right in Australia and we’ve got one mainstream government which is focused on the things which really matter to people. So, the parties of the right in Australia are a mess, but they are not our focus. They are divided, they are divisive, they are in disarray. But we won’t be distracted. We’re focused on some of these other things you’ve been asking me about, like the cost of living, like the economy, like housing and other important things.
Rebellato:
But what about the voters who are voting for that? Isn’t this something? Doesn’t it say something that they’re not listening to the government, that they’re upset with the whole status quo?
Chalmers:
I think it says that the right of politics is splintering. You can see that in some of that analysis that others have written. It’s really not for me to analyse the polls. I’m focused on a whole different set of numbers, as people would expect the Treasurer of Australia would be. I think it’s self‑evident that the right of politics can’t sort itself out.
But again, we’re not distracted by that, by the division in our opponents. Frankly, I couldn’t care less where our opponents sit in the parliament and where they’ll be sitting next week when it all changes. My focus is on the cost of living and housing, the economy more broadly, the government’s focus as well, because those are the things which matter to real people in real communities.
Rebellato:
Treasurer Jim Chalmers, thanks for joining us this morning.
Chalmers:
Thanks, Emma.