JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC SOUTH EAST NSW
MONDAY, 28 MARCH 2022
SUBJECTS: Labor’s Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme; Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund; Budget 2022; Fuel excise; Infrastructure funding; Kristy McBain and Fiona Phillips.
SIMON LAUDER, HOST: As you will expect the rising cost of living is shaping up as a big election issue and it's one the Government will address in tomorrow night's federal Budget. Comments from the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, indicate motorists are likely to be given relief at the petrol pump, possibly with a temporary cut to the fuel excise. This morning we learned that the federal Government is expanding its home guarantee schemes. It comes after the Opposition Labor Party announced on Friday that it would create a standalone Regional First Home Buyers Support Scheme. To discuss this we are joined by the Shadow Treasurer, Jim Chalmers this morning. Good morning.
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks for having me on your show, Simon.
LAUDER: Thanks very much for joining us. What's the difference between what the Government has announced today with the extension of its Home Guarantee Scheme and Labor's Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme?
CHALMERS: Nothing, as far as I can tell. It looks like a carbon copy of what Labor has already announced when it comes to regional first time buyers in particular. That's a good thing, that's welcome, that they want to implement our policy. That of course is a big part of the story when you think about prices in the regions, that homes jumped, I think, 26% last year. So it's a big problem, a problem that we have long understood. If the Government's coming to the party now after we announced our policy, then so be it that's a good thing.
LAUDER: From what I can tell the Labor Party scheme involves $600,000 caps in terms of the limit on the cost of the property it applies to, and it does only apply in the regions. So is the Government's scheme more widespread, less limited?
CHALMERS: The same amount of homes in the regions, under their policy and under our policy. I think that's the main similarity. We've also got other housing policies out there. We've got a Housing Australia Future Fund which is all about building tens of thousands of social and affordable homes as well, and we'll have more to say about housing between now and the election. This is one of the big cost of living pressures, as you and your listeners would understand. Whether it's rent, whether it's the fact that the Reserve Bank has flagged that interest rates will be on the way up no matter who wins the election. This is a big piece in the cost of living puzzle, it's something that we have been talking about addressing for some time. The Government wants to pretend now on the eve of an election that they understand and care about these cost of living pressures. If they cared about cost of living pressures, they wouldn't have spent the best part of a decade going after people's wages and job security and things like Medicare.
LAUDER: Would a Labor Government increase commitments of funding under the National Affordable Housing Agreement?
CHALMERS: We've got more to say about housing. Our initial priority as I said is the Future Fund, which will deliver tens of thousands of new homes in terms of social housing and also so that essential workers can live more closely to where they work, and some of these other challenges. We've also had, as I said before, this policy out for regional first homebuyers, but we'll have more to say between now and the election. We do understand that there is a significant role for the Commonwealth in housing, which is what that partnership that you just referred to is all about. I think if people wander into the ballot box on the 14th of May - or the 7th, or the 21st - and they care about a decent housing policy in Australia, we'll have a better offering than the Government.
LAUDER: Well, economists say one way to make a deep and lasting difference on the cost of housing is to curb negative gearing, which is a policy Labor took to the last election. Why did you walk away from that?
CHALMERS: Well, it was clear that there wasn't broad enough support for that policy and because we've got other priorities in the housing market. We think that there are other things that should be done to help Australians with what is a housing crisis. I listen a lot to what Kristy McBain down your way, and Fiona Phillips, have been telling us about how hard it is to get a toehold in a market, how expensive rents are in your part of the world. It's a genuine housing crisis and we think that there are other ways to go about it. We won't be proceeding with negative gearing changes, we've made that clear for some time. But we do have a bold and ambitious agenda for housing, we've announced some parts of it already and we'll have more to say about it.
LAUDER: And what about for those who need help the most, is Labor going to increase the amount of the Newstart allowance?
CHALMERS: We haven't come to a concluded view on that Simon. We think that's the appropriate job for government, but in every Labor Budget we'll be more attentive to the needs of the vulnerable and the least secure in our society. We need to think about poverty more broadly. The income support payments are crucial of course, but there are other issues as well. Housing is a big part of the story. Generating decent opportunities for people - particularly in the regions - is a big part of the story, and in every Budget Labor we’ll be more attentive to the vulnerable than our opponents.
LAUDER: And I know we'll probably hear more about this tomorrow night in the Treasurer's speech and possibly Thursday night with Labor's response, but how much do you think it is appropriate to cut the fuel excise? And what's a good time frame to lower that before it returns to normal?
CHALMERS: Obviously Australians need cost of living relief because petrol has been going through the roof. Again, petrol is a big part of the story, but it's not the whole part of the story. Child care is incredibly expensive, health care is getting incredibly expensive, rent I've talked about, groceries, building supplies, and all of that. So we do need to provide cost of living pressures - not because it's on the eve of an election, which is the Government's approach - but because a lot of people are doing it incredibly tough. Let's see what they announce on petrol excise, we'll be constructive about it if we can, we'll be responsible about it. We're unlikely to stand in the way of cost of living relief for families, but I think beyond that we need to think about the Budget as an opportunity to lock-in a better future for people in the regions and around Australia, not just an opportunity to lock-in a fourth term for this Government. They're just pretending now to care about cost of living pressures because they have to call the election in the next couple of weeks. Nothing that they announce on Tuesday night will change the fact or make up for the fact that for much of the last decade the Government's gone after people's wages, gone after their job security, gone after Medicare, and in a whole range of ways made life harder not easier for working families in South East New South Wales.
LAUDER: Do you think there's any doubt that cost of living pressures are going to be the number one election issue? National security would have to be a contender for that spot at the moment too, don't you think?
CHALMERS: I think it will be a cost of living election. The Government wants to pretend that petrol just started going up because Russia invaded Ukraine. The costs of living pressures didn't begin then, they began with those attacks on wages and job security. I think that the election will be about the cost of living, and that means it'll be an election about wages - years of wage stagnation, the fact that real wages are actually going backwards right now even in a recovering economy, so working families are falling further behind. I think that will be the central issue in the campaign. I hope it is. Because we can't have a situation where the economy is recovering on paper but people are faring worse because the costs of living are skyrocketing, real wages are going backwards, and people are falling further behind.
LAUDER: Talking about the quality of regional roads as well this morning. Jim Chalmers, do you think the federal funding for roads and the funding model is working?
CHALMERS: I think it has the capacity to. We should be budgeting substantially for not just new infrastructure projects - as important as that is - but also maintenance. I've been listening to your reporting this morning. I know that the rain hasn't helped when it's come to the state of your roads in the last few weeks in particular. We want to make sure that a big chunk of the infrastructure spending is for maintenance. Because road safety is absolutely crucial, particularly when you consider the long distances that many of your listeners travel, whether it's to work or for other reasons, including you on the weekend by the sounds. So we want to make sure that we don't forget that maintenance is a crucial part of the task. We would make sure that a substantial portion of the infrastructure spend is about making sure we keep our roads safe.
LAUDER: And a question here from Jordan on the text line for you Jim Chalmers, wanting me to ask you what the Labor Party would do to reduce debt, given how much the is being spent by the Coalition at the moment.
CHALMERS: Thanks, Jordan. As listeners probably know, we've got a trillion dollars in debt. The debt had already multiplied even before the pandemic under this Government and I think a lot of people are concerned that we don't have enough to show for it. So what would we do about it? Part of the story is growing the economy fast enough that revenue comes up and we're paying fewer unemployment benefits. Both sides of politics have talked about that, that's the most important way. Beyond that, we should be looking at ways to make sure that some of these big multinationals pay their fair share of tax in Australia where they make their profits. We should be looking at cracking down on some of the egregious waste, and mismanagement, and rorting that's gone on in the Budget. We need to go through the Budget line by line and make sure that all the spending that's in there delivers maximum benefits for your communities, and for local families, and for the economy. What's been missing the last decade is the Government's racked-up this trillion dollars in debt, they've been spraying money around on all these politically motivated rorts and waste, and been sprung for it again and again and again. As a consequence, because of all this rorting and all of this waste, there isn't as much room as we would like to provide some of this cost of living relief for families. If the Government hadn't wasted so much money, there'd be more room to do the right thing by working families.
LAUDER: Look, I don't know if austerity is a dirty word, but you're talking funding cuts, obviously?
CHALMERS: We don't believe the time is right for austerity. What we've said is that there should be some trimming. For example, the Commonwealth pays an extraordinary amount on labour hire, and contractors, and consultants. There's an opportunity there to be more reasonable and more responsible about it and make a saving, and there might be other areas as well. Trimming the Budget is part of making sure that we are getting maximum bang for buck, that every dollar that we spend, that we cherish, invests in a stronger economy, and stronger communities, and stronger families. At the moment we've got billions of dollars spraying around for political purposes. We've got a trillion dollars in debt and not enough to show for it. The Government's made $70 billion in commitments just since the December Budget update, so only in a few months. We want to be more responsible than the Government, and that's not just about the quantity of the spending it's also the quality of the spending, and whether or not we've actually got something to show for it as a country.
LAUDER: And Jim Chalmers, you mentioned Kristy McBain, the Member for Eden-Monaro. Labor currently doesn't have an opponent to run against in that seat. We've heard the news overnight, the Liberal Party federal executive has voted to intervene and allow the Prime Minister and the Premier to take over the selection of Liberal candidates in crucial seat, including Eden-Monaro. What do you think of that?
CHALMERS: It's a mess on the Liberal side and they're running scared from Kristy, because Kristy has only been here a little while and she's already proven to be one of the most effective local Members in the whole parliament. Kristy is an absolutely extraordinary local Member.
LAUDER: People in glasshouses, though. I mean, Labor's copped some criticism for parachuting a candidate into Parramatta without a rank and file vote as well?
CHALMERS: We've got an agreed process, it'll be settled in the next day or two. We're not in the courts over it like the Government is when it comes to that Parramatta preselection. I think we'll have our candidate resolved there. The Liberals and Nationals are all at sea when it comes to Eden-Monaro. If they couldn't get around to picking a candidate, I think it shows the lack of prioritisation of your region. We've got Kristy there, we've got Fiona Phillips next door in Gilmore, two of the absolute best contributors to their communities and to this parliament, and I hope that they're reelected no matter who their opponents are. Particularly when it comes to the way they've stood up for the communities during the bushfires, I think holds them in good stead in their communities.
LAUDER: Thank you very much for your time this morning.
CHALMERS: Appreciate it Simon, thank you.
LAUDER: Jim Chalmers is the Shadow Treasurer with the Labor Party of course.
ENDS
