THE HON JIM CHALMERS MP
TREASURER

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
TUESDAY 5, SEPTEMBER 2022

SUBJECTS: welfare payments, indexation, fuel excise cuts, childcare, Budget

JOURNALIST:

Treasurer, welfare payments are increasing with indexation, but there are calls for that to be further increased, as recipients haven't seen substantial increases in payments for some time. What do you say to that?

JIM CHALMERS:

First of all, there's been an increase in JobSeeker quite recently. But we do think it's really important that the indexation keeps up with the cost of living when it comes to our pensioners. We know that people will still be doing it tough even after this increase in pensions and payments. But it's important that the indexation kicks in twice a year, the whole reason for that is so that we can make it a little bit easier for people to make ends meet. But we're under no illusions about how tough people are doing it.

JOURNALIST:

There are calls though to further increase that, would you be open to that?

CHALMERS:

We obviously listen respectfully to the various stakeholder groups who are making those calls. We've got a Budget which is heaving with a trillion dollars in Liberal Party debt. And so we've got to work out what we can responsibly fund. We're up for providing targeted cost‑of‑living relief in some areas, but it's not possible to fund every idea that's put to us. But we listen respectfully, we obviously want to make life easier for people where that's possible, and where that's responsible, given our budget constraints.

JOURNALIST:

The cut to the fuel excise is ending at the end of this month, you've obviously made it quite clear that that's not going to be extended, but there are calls for other potential cost‑of‑living measures to be introduced to ease some of that burden. What's on the table?

CHALMERS:

A key part of the Budget that I hand down in October will be targeted cost‑of‑living relief in areas like childcare, like medicine, so we're also doing our best to get wages moving again. We understand that people are under extreme cost‑of‑living pressure. We'll do what we responsibly can, but part of that is being upfront with people. It's not possible to fund every idea that's put to us. We'll provide cost‑of‑living relief where we can, where it's consistent with managing the Budget responsibly.

JOURNALIST:

Just on that childcare, that's coming into force in July next year, why not bring it forward to January?

CHALMERS:

This will be a game‑changing investment in childcare for Australian parents, Australian kids, and particularly Australian mums, and we're really proud of it. And what we've said is that this game‑changing investment will come in, in July. It's not that much difference between January and July next year. It's the biggest commitment, on‑budget commitment that we're making in the October Budget, and we're proud of it because it will make a big difference. It will ease the cost‑of‑living pressures on Australian parents, at the same time it delivers an economic dividend, and that's why we're proud to bring it in.

JOURNALIST:

You say that there's not much difference between January and July, then why not bring it forward to January while people are feeling the pressure now?

CHALMERS:

There's a couple of reasons for that. We have to be responsible with the Budget, it comes with a substantial cost bringing it forward, and at the same time as others have raised concerns, about the ability to deliver it by January. So obviously we listened to those concerns. Obviously, we've got some pretty serious budget constraints at the same time. But this will be a game‑changing investment in childcare, in parents, in kids, with an economic dividend. It will be budgeted for in my first Budget and it will come in in July.