JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO HOBART
WEDNESDAY, 10 MARCH 2021

SUBJECTS: JobKeeper cuts in Tasmania; OECD warning about withdrawing support too quickly; Reserve Bank confirms JobKeeper cuts will lead to job losses; Budget riddled with rorts
LUCY BREADEN, HOST: If you're an employee who relies on the JobKeeper subsidy each fortnight, you are almost certainly dreading the end of this month. The JobKeeper support package is due to end in just a couple of weeks‘ time and the government has firmly stated that it won't be extended. Some research that I saw today estimates that up to 110,000 people could lose their jobs when it expires. However, the government is in the process of finalising details of what kind of new and targeted support it's going to give to the ailing tourism sector that's still struggling due to Australia's COVID-19 international border restrictions.
I caught up with Jim Chalmers, the federal Shadow Treasurer, to talk about JobKeeper, because he's very much, and quite keen, to see JobKeeper extended beyond the end of March. Jim Chalmers, the government has made it clear that it's not extending the JobKeeper program. Why do you think it should?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Well, I think that's very disappointing for the 14,000 Tasmanian workers and 4,500 Tasmanian businesses that are still relying on JobKeeper. And you hear talk from the government that makes it sound like everything's rosy for everyone. The economy is recovering, but for some workers and businesses, they're at risk of being left behind. And so, what we'd like to see, is a responsible and temporary extension of the JobKeeper payments, so that we don't have thousands of Tasmanian workers and businesses left behind.
BREADEN: Well, the government says it's not doing that and it may look at, maybe, interest free loans instead. Is that good enough?
CHALMERS: It’s no substitute for the JobKeeper payment. I mean, we'll obviously look at whatever they announce - whether it's loans, or grants, or some other type of programs. We've been constructive all along. Our priority here is to get a good outcome for the local workers and small businesses, so we'll be constructive about whatever the government comes forward with. But it's no substitute for JobKeeper.
And I think there's a bit of scepticism in the community, moving around speaking with employers, and industry groups, and the like, that sometimes the government makes these big announcements about grant programs and then doesn't follow through, and the money doesn't actually flow through local economies, so we'll keep an eye out for that as well.
BREADEN: This is costing the government, this is costing taxpayers, billions and billions of dollars. What would Labor do in this instance?
CHALMERS: Well, I think there's a case to recognise - as the OECD did overnight and the Reserve Bank did this morning - to recognise that if you pull support out of the economy too soon, it can cruel the recovery. The economy is recovering in some places, but other places are still weak, and some companies and workers are still struggling. So, we need to recognise it's not cheap to extend JobKeeper. We know that. But in a budget which is riddled with rorts we think that that money would be better spent on supporting jobs than on sports rorts, or executive bonuses, or all these other sorts of things that the government has engaged in.
BREADEN: Well, you talk about some research, there's been some analysis by CommBank, and they predict that the withdrawal of JobKeeper will only have a short-lived impact on the overall jobs market that seems pretty positive?
CHALMERS: They also said, I think, I'll have to remember the number, but I think almost 200,000 jobs are expected, by them, to be lost. The Commonwealth Treasury says something like 100,000 jobs. The Reserve Bank today said there will be jobs lost when JobKeeper is cut by Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg. I don't think those are small numbers. I think particularly in the kinds of communities that I've been visiting in Tasmania, job losses are devastating for the individual worker, and their family, but also for the economy more broadly. We want to see money circulating in local communities and local economies, we want to see jobs and opportunities created. And that means making sure that where there's a case to extend government support for a little bit longer, than that should happen.
BREADEN: Yeah, you've been on the road in Tasmania for the past couple of days. What are people telling you? What are workers and employers telling you?
CHALMERS: Well, I think the story is a real mixed bag, you know, there are some pleasing aspects about the recovery here, but some troubling aspects as well. If you think about those tourism businesses, for example, which rely on international visitors. You think about the travel agents we met with this morning. There are a whole range of businesses for whom this is still a very difficult time. And all we really are calling on the government to do, is to acknowledge that and recognise that. Speak to the employers in communities like in Launceston, and yesterday, in Hobart, and to do the right thing by them. There is a case for government support to continue for a little bit longer because we don't want these people left in the lurch. And we don't want to lose the skills, and jobs, and opportunities, and experience from communities like Launceston, because it's very hard to get that back once it's lost.
BREADEN: It's Lucy Breaden with you on Drive and the federal Shadow Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is my guest. We're talking about JobKeeper, which the government says it will not be extending at the end of the month. How are you feeling about that? Are you an employee or an employer who relies on JobKeeper to keep your business going to keep your employees employed? 1300 222 936, or you can text me with your own experiences, 0438922936. How much longer should the government extend JobKeeper for, in your view?
CHALMERS: Well, we're trying not to be too prescriptive about it because our argument is that it needs to be flexible, and it needs to be responsive to what's happening on the ground. And if we see a broader, more inclusive recovery, then obviously at some point then the JobKeeper payments will end. Nobody's saying they should go on forever. We recognise they have to end at some point. Every dollar is borrowed. There's a trillion dollars in debt. So they need to get bang for buck. We think there's real bang for the buck in extending it for a little while yet. Temporary, responsible, targeted, to those businesses still doing it tough. I think if we did that, we'd get a return in terms of jobs and opportunities in local communities.
BREADEN: Is it fair on the taxpayer though, to expect them to fork that money out?
CHALMERS: I think it is important to recognise that every dollar we're talking about here, as the Treasurer repeatedly says, is borrowed. And these programs don't come cheap. And there's already more than a trillion dollars of debt in the Liberal government's budget. So, all those things are important. What we would say is, if the government wasn't wasting money on executive bonuses, or flying Mathias Cormann around Europe, or spending money on advertising and market research, or sports rorts and dodgy land deals, then there'd be more money available to support workers and small businesses in communities around Tasmania, and around Australia. That would be a far better way to invest the public's money than how this government's going about it.
BREADEN: So, it is reasonable to ask the taxpayer to just see this through, JobKeeper, for another few months?
CHALMERS: I think the people of Australia recognise that there is genuine value in supporting each other, and their jobs, when times are tough. As they are. I don't think anybody wants to see some kind of free for all go on forever. But there's a case for responsible, and targeted, and temporary extension of programs like JobKeeper, because people understand, I think, certainly the people I speak to as I move around the country understand, that we want to keep people in work. If people are dislocated, if they lose their jobs, and they can't provide for their loved ones, than that brings all kinds of other issues, which are more expensive in the long term to solve.
BREADEN: Jim Chalmers, just finally, when do we need to have an announcement from the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg regarding JobKeeper, and what's happening post-JobKeeper?
CHALMERS: Yesterday, to be honest. I mean, people have been left in the lurch for too long. He's been to places like Cairns, and he's gone there empty-handed. He said that there'll be some other programs to replace JobKeeper. All we know, so far, is they've got some kind of hiring subsidy, which excludes every worker over 35-years-old, leaves them behind. So, we need to hear urgently what the government intends to do.
Ideally, an extension of JobKeeper. If that's not going to happen, then let's hear what they are intending to do instead. We hear whispers that that might be coming in the coming days. We've known for some time that businesses are still doing it tough. The government should get its skates on and support local workers and local businesses who are still doing it tough, even as the economy recovers.
BREADEN: Jim Chalmers, thanks for coming on Drive.
CHALMERS: Thanks for having me on your show.
BREADEN: Jim Chalmers, federal Labor's Shadow Treasurer there, talking about JobKeeper, which will end at the end of this month. The federal government says it will not be extending it, but Jim Chalmers, Shadow Treasurer, says that's not good enough and it needs to be continued for a little bit, while people find their feet and things still kind of get back to normal.
ENDS