JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC RADIO BUDGET SPECIAL
TUESDAY, 7 MAY 2021

SUBJECTS: Budget 2021.

LINDA MOTTRAM, HOST: Let's look at this Budget, though, from the Opposition's point of view, and the commentary in the lead up to this has been about the Government stealing traditional Labor’s thunder. Well, the Shadow Treasurer is Jim Chalmers. Jim, welcome to the program. The overall economic picture is very good, is it not? The Government spending to shore it up, but many Australians are now in jobs that they weren't in a while back. Do you give them credit for that?

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Well, the economy is recovering and that's a good thing, but that's not because the Government's done an especially good job, it's because the people of Australia have done an especially good job limiting the spread of the virus. Even with that recovery, which is welcome, and in some ways inevitable coming out of such a deep recession, we've still got almost two million people either unemployed or unable to find enough hours to support their loved ones. So, it's a patchy recovery. It's hostage to the Prime Minister's debacle on getting the vaccines out the door. There are some pleasing developments in the economy, but still a lot of work to do, and that's why it's disappointing that this Budget is just all about more marketing, mismanagement and missed opportunities. There's a series of political fixes in here, not a genuine plan to get people back into secure, well paid jobs. And the evidence for that is the Government spent almost a hundred billion and racked up a trillion dollars in debt but still, in their own Budget, they've got real wages going backwards, they haven't responded to all the recommendations of the Aged Care Royal Commission, and they haven't undone all of the damage from eight long years in government.

MOTTRAM: Okay, let's wind back a little bit. We're expecting another 250,000 jobs by 2022-23. On top of the bounce back that you attribute to Australians, the Government claims some credit in that. I mean, the Government did put in place JobKeeper, increased JobSeeker, that was important government activity in terms of shoring up the economy, wasn't it?

CHALMERS: That's why we called for it, Linda, and that's why we were disappointed initially when the Government rejected our suggestions and why we were pleased when they had a change of heart and implemented JobKeeper, in particular. That has been an important thing which has kept people attached to their employers. We've supported that all along. There's been issues with the implementation of it, there’s been some waste in it, but overwhelmingly, that's been a good program. And the thing about the 250,000 jobs that the Treasurer is talking about tonight, you can't believe a word they say about these job projections. In the last Budget, the centrepiece was a JobMaker program they said would create 450,000 jobs. It created 1000 jobs; one four hundred and fiftieth of what they claimed, and that just goes to the problem this Government has, not announcing things, there's lots of announcements, lots of promises made, but actually delivering them. That's where they fall over.

MOTTRAM: The deficit this year is lower than was expected just over six months ago, net debt 30 per cent of GDP this year, peaking at 40.9 in June 2025, about half of where the UK, US, and about a third of Japan's status at this point, as the Treasurer points out, in a once-in-a-generation global health crisis. This is way better than could have been hoped, isn't it?

CHALMERS: Well, first of all, we're still talking about a $161 billion deficit this year, and the best it gets is to a $57 billion deficit. You'll recall, the Government for the best part of a decade has been describing outcomes much better than that as some kind of disaster and now they pretend everything's sensible and prudent and manageable. So, we've been consistent all along. We've said when the economy's weak, there's a role to step in as Labor did during the Global Financial Crisis with Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan. We've been consistent ever since and said there are times when you need to step in and protect people's jobs. The Government's argument for much of the last decade is absolutely shredded, as is their credibility. They now say that debt, which is many multiples of what they inherited, is fine, but when it was a fraction of that it was a disaster. They have to explain why they've been so inconsistent and why much of what they've said about the economy for the last decade has been a complete sham.

MOTTRAM: Yeah, the thing that's happened is a pandemic. It's changed everything for everyone. Doesn't this just highlight the difficulty that you are going to face as an Opposition? How do you differentiate yourself when the Government seize the moment and eaten your lunch, basically?

CHALMERS: Well, I think there are still important differences between the parties. I mean, the Government's heart is not in some of these initiatives. They're trying to perform some kind of pale imitation of Labor to get them through the election before they start cutting the Budget again, and for us, there are still some important differences when it comes to cleaner and cheaper energy, when it comes to social housing, when it comes to secure work with decent pay and fair conditions. There are still big differences between the parties despite the Government's best efforts with the series of cobbled together political fixes to try and eliminate the differences between Labor and Liberal. I think people understand that when the Government's talking about aged care or childcare and all the rest of it, their heart's not really in it and if they get through this election, they'll revert to type.

MOTTRAM: If the Government gets everybody who wants to be vaccinated, vaccinated by the end of the year, if borders start to reopen, international students start to come back as the Treasurer has spoken of, we start to get more migrants back next year, that will make your political task much more difficult, wont it?

CHALMERS: Well, the recovery is hostage to the absolute mess the Prime Minister has made of the vaccinations program. The Budget doesn't come clean on the costs and consequences of that debacle. The last Budget talked about the upside of getting the vaccinations out quicker. This Budget doesn't talk about the downside of him making a mess of it. Australians still don't know when they'll be vaccinated. There's a plan to have a plan in the Budget. It's all vague language and nobody's any the wiser on when this might happen. But what people do understand is if the Prime Minister continues to bungle the vaccinations program that will compromise the recovery. The economy is recovering, but the recovery would be stronger if the Prime Minister wasn't making a mess of vaccines and quarantine, and the Budget would be stronger, too, if it wasn't riddled with all of these rorts and weighed down with all of this waste. There's more in the Budget tonight. Something like 21 slush funds, either new or topped up, with billions of dollars popped in there to get the Government through an election. We know how this goes with this Coalition Government. There will be more rorts and more waste, and debt is higher than it needs to be.

MOTTRAM: Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers, thank you for joining us.

CHALMERS: Thanks for your time. I appreciate it.

ENDS