Doorstop interview, Press Gallery, Canberra
JIM CHALMERS:
Every day is a great day to be a Queenslander but especially today. I wanted to congratulate Billy and Daly and everyone associated with another absolutely stunning victory for the good guys in the State of Origin and I wanted to wish the Queensland women all the very best for their big clash tonight as well. This is another really quite remarkable outcome for Queensland. Every day is a great day to be a Queenslander but especially today. Queensland hearts are full and we thank the guys for delivering another outstanding victory.
JOURNALIST:
Treasurer, a very scathing bipartisan report on the PwC tax leak scandal but is this just a verbal slap on the wrist? What are the consequences for the firm? Is it your expectation that they will name the people involved?
CHALMERS:
Well, we've seen a trashing of the consultation process and it's been deeply disappointing and completely unacceptable and I commend the work of Deb O'Neill and her committee doing its best to get to the bottom of what's happened here. The two recommendations of the committee, first of all, is that PwC should cooperate with the authorities and secondly, that we need transparency in order to get to the bottom of what's happened here and to try and prevent it from happening again. In addition to the committee process, we've also got the Treasury referral to the AFP, Katy Gallagher has done a heap of work tightening up procurement, I'm working on reforming the Tax Practitioners Board and all of this is about getting to the bottom of what's happened and making sure it doesn't happen again. It was completely unacceptable and the Australian people have got every right to be absolutely filthy about what's happened.
JOURNALIST:
Should PwC release the names of the people involved?
CHALMERS:
I'll leave that to Deb and the committee but obviously we need more transparency and we need to make sure that that happens consistent with the AFP and other processes. But we've said all along we want to see more transparency, of course, we want to get to the bottom of what's happened here and people should be accountable for their actions.
JOURNALIST:
Final week before the mid‑winter break. How disappointing is it that you couldn't get the housing bill through?
CHALMERS:
Well, it's disappointing that the Greens put politics before people once again. The Greens had an opportunity not just to talk about social housing, but to actually vote for it, and they voted against it. The Greens teamed up with Peter Dutton, with the Liberals and Nationals to vote against 30,000 new social and affordable homes for vulnerable people who desperately need those homes and I think that's what the record will show. It will also show the Housing Australia Future Fund is a really important part of our agenda but it's not the only part of our agenda and we're getting on with the job of building more social housing and more affordable properties even in the absence of support from the Greens.
Tomorrow I'll be convening a meeting of state and territory treasurers which will be about a range of things ‑ skills and productivity and place‑based disadvantage ‑ but the main game tomorrow in my meeting with the states and territories is how we advance the Housing Accord, how we make sure that in addition to the billions of dollars of Commonwealth investment and the money invested by the states themselves, that we get the planning and zoning developments that we need, we rope in the industry and investors.
We want to work with people, we want to bring people together to build more homes in this country for people who desperately need them. It is deeply disappointing that the Greens would rather put the politics of product differentiation ahead of building more homes for vulnerable people who desperately need them.
JOURNALIST:
A quick one on tax ‑ obviously tax time is coming up. The cost‑of‑living crisis has seen a lot more people have side hustles you know ‑ Uber driving, Airbnb ‑ and the tax office is sort of focusing in on them now. I guess that's the reality ‑ if you've earned more, you have to pay more tax, don't you?
CHALMERS:
We want to make sure that people pay the tax that they are supposed to and that's an important way of making sure that others don't pay more than they need to. And so, the tax office, with our support, obviously, make sure that they've got the right compliance programs in place. We understand people are under the pump, we understand that people are more likely to be working multiple jobs or to have, as you say, side hustles to try and make ends meet. We support that but we also need to make sure people are meeting their obligations to the ATO.
JOURNALIST:
You're going to be busy over the break. When will you announce the next RBA governor?
CHALMERS:
Well, my intention is to come to a concluded view on the RBA Governor and announce that in July, but certainly before the Parliament returns ‑ that's always been our intention. The current term of the RBA Governor ends in September. We've said for some time that we'll consider that appointment around the middle of the year, it's now around the middle of the year. I'm in the process of consulting with my Cabinet colleagues and with others. This is a big job and so it's a big call. And so, we'll work through it in the usual methodical and considered way. My intention is to come to a view in the coming weeks, ideally to announce the outcome of that in July, but certainly before the Parliament returns.
Thank you.
