JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2SM BREAKFAST
WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2022
SUBJECTS: Federal Budget; Brisbane Broncos.
RICHARD KING, HOST: Good morning, Jim.
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Good morning, Richard. Thanks for having me on your show.
KING: Thanks for having a chat. It's obviously Budget night, a long night for you. I mean, a lot of it was leaked beforehand, but interestingly, Josh Frydenberg, Treasurer, he started and finished his Budget speech last night by saying that our recovery leads the world. Do you agree with that?
CHALMERS: Not necessarily, but we should be doing better than the rest of the world. We've got some big national advantages here, including our people. So I think Australians hear that and they think well, yeah, but where's the plan for the future in this Budget? You know, we had this kind of near-term cash splash in the Budget, but almost nothing in terms of the future beyond the May election, and I think a lot of people will see through this Budget like they see through this Prime Minister.
KING: Well, a number of people have commented it's a bit more like a Labor Budget than a Coalition Budget.
CHALMERS: Certainly it turns on its head all of the ridiculous rhetoric that we heard from the Government when Labor was last in office. When debt was $280 billion they said it was a debt and deficit disaster, now it's a trillion dollars and they say it's all fine and it's all manageable. I think that's one of the reasons why people are pretty sceptical about this Government, pretty cynical about this Government, because they know it's woken up and realised at some point they've got to call an election in the next couple of weeks, so they better pretend to care about cost of living pressures. So what they do, is they push all of the problems in the economy from this side of the election to the next side of the election, but nothing that was in the Budget last night makes up for a decade of attacks on wages and job security and pensions and Medicare.
KING: Yes, but I mean, there are a few sweeteners there. And again, I'm talking about commentators last night saying, everyone's a winner. Obviously, you disagree with that. You don't think everybody is a winner?
CHALMERS: I think that there's some cost of living relief for a lot of people and we will support that through the parliament. We've made that clear for some time. The problem with the Budget is that it doesn't have anything beyond that. There's no plan beyond the May election, and I think people will see this as a political ploy when the country needed a plan. We should have Budgets which reflect the confidence, and the possibilities, and the opportunities, that we want our people to be able to grab. Instead, we get this sort of short term political pamphlet, which has a shelf life of about six or seven weeks, and I think people deserve better than that.
KING: You're saying there's a number of temporary fixes but no permanent solutions. For instance, what would you have done if you were delivering the Budget last night, for a permanent solution or something to do with a long term plan?
CHALMERS: Thanks, Richard, that's the way we should be thinking about it, right. There should be a plan for the economy- to grow it the right way - so that the recovery in the economy works for everyone. So we should be thinking about things like being more ambitious on cleaner and cheaper energy to get people's power bills down. We should make childcare cheaper and more accessible so more people can work more if they choose to. We should have fee-free TAFE in areas where there are skill shortages, because skill shortages are holding the economy back. We should be investing in the NBN and the digital economy. We should have a future made in Australia by investing properly in advanced manufacturing. There are a whole range of things which the Government is almost silent on because they are temperamentally incapable of seeing beyond the May election
KING: Alright. I mean, there's a lot in here though - TAFE, apprenticeships. There's quite a bit there re: tradies. It would appear there's quite a lot there to help jobs.
CHALMERS: I think that the Australian people would think if this Government cared about training or the cost of living, they wouldn't have spent a decade now hacking away at the training Budget. They wouldn't have spent a decade now hacking away at wages and job security. You know, I think people are smart, Richard. People understand what's going on here. They know that the election has to be called in the next week or two, so the Government's got the shovel out. They will see through that just like they've worked out and see through the Prime Minister
KING: Spending on defence is going to grow. Do you support that, all that extra defence expenditure?
CHALMERS: We do, Richard. It is an uncertain world and we do have demands on us including when it comes to cybersecurity. We'll go through that big spend last night to make sure we're getting maximum bang for buck. The level of defence spending is not contested in this country. What is contested is the fact that the Government has wasted a lot of money in the defence budget. They haven't got the decisions right and it's cost Australians billions of dollars. We'll go through what's being proposed but we support strong investment in defence, including cyber defence. We want to make sure that the Government gets value for money for those billions of dollars.
KING: Do you support the cut in the fuel excise?
CHALMERS: We do, Richard. We've said for some time that there is the case - given real wages are going backwards in this country - there is a case for some cost of living relief. We expect that to be before the parliament today and tomorrow, and we will be supportive of it.
KING: How do we know though it's got to be passed on? I mean, the Treasurer last night said the ACCC will keep a handle on that. But, I mean, they've been trying to keep a handle on it for decades now?
CHALMERS: I think that's right and I understand people's concern about that. The Treasurer did say that he's asked the ACCC, but we've seen this movie before, haven't we? All of the petrol stations need to make sure that they pass this on. It's on the Government to make sure that that happens.
KING: Aright. Small Business. It would appear there's quite a bit there for small business, investing in staff, also those embracing digital technologies. They're obviously going to benefit from last night's Budget.
CHALMERS: There are some measures there to encourage investment in the digitisation of small business and also some training measures. Again, we go through all of that to make sure that it's above board and we're getting value for money, but we've been really constructive when it comes to support for small business. In lots of ways, we've been the party of small business throughout the pandemic - making sure that they get the support that they need to get through a difficult period. We are likely to be positive about those announcements, but we only saw them last night, so we'll make sure that we get it right.
KING: Okay, and in summary, what are you most critical of in last night's Budget?
CHALMERS: I think three aspects really. There's not enough to show for this trillion dollars in debt that the Government's racked up. Secondly, our real wages are going backwards. So an average family is about $26 a week worse off when it comes to their wages. And thirdly, no plan for the future - no vision beyond the May election - which is something the Government's got form on. This Government lives kind of week to week. We've got an election in May, they want to pretend they care about cost of living pressures in the hope that people won't realise and remember a decade of attacks on people's living standards.
KING: Alright, and again, if you were Josh the Treasurer last night and you had the magic wand, what's one thing you would have done?
CHALMERS: They should have funded the National Anti-Corruption Commission for starters. If you want to end the rorts and waste and corruption that's been in the Budget, then you need to end this Government and you need to have a National Anti-Corruption Commission. The Government's gone slow on it deliberately. That's a very specific example, but really some of those other things I ran through before, which constitute a decent plan for the future, that's what was missing.
KING: And on a much lighter note, I know you're a Broncos fan. Not a bad start to the season for Brisbane this year?
CHALMERS: We got towelled up by the Cows on Sunday.
KING: Yeah, I know.
CHALMERS: I wasn't certain that we would win, but I'm surprised by the score line. It was a tough day at the office for the Broncs but we've got, I think, the Warriors this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that.
KING: Two to three is not a bad start. Alright, thanks for your time this morning.
CHALMERS: Appreciate it, Richard. All the best.
KING: Thank you.
ENDS
