Doorstop interview, Press Gallery, Parliament House
JOURNALIST:
You have money for paid parental leave, money for child care. What more are you going to do about women's wages?
JIM CHALMERS:
Australian women are absolutely front and centre in this Budget that we handed down this week. And today we'll be saying more about the Women's Budget Statement. We'll have an opportunity this morning to talk more about all of the ways that we are supporting Australian women in this Budget. One of the most important conclusions from the Jobs and Skills Summit is that we need to do more to support the full participation of Australian women in the economy. That's why we're so proud of the steps that we've taken and the investments that we made in the Budget in early childhood education and in paid parental leave. In a tight Budget, we still made room to support Australian women.
JOURNALIST:
Treasurer, you've talked about your options in addressing gas prices of what you could do and what's on the table. Dan Walton from the AWU is saying they want to see action from January 1 or else businesses might go under especially in manufacturing. Do you think you'll have something by the end of the year or could this have to wait until May?
CHALMERS:
We've made it really clear that we want to engage in this important work in a collaborative way. We want to get to a good, sensible, responsible outcome, which recognises the points that Dan has been making. Australian industry is under extreme pressure from high energy prices brought about by the war in Ukraine and we take that challenge seriously. Chris Bowen, the relevant minister, has already done a heap of work with the state and territory counterparts, Madeleine King, has done a heap of good work ensuring more supply into the market. But we've been flagging for a little while now that we think that there is more work to do. For me, what I've done is I've asked the ACCC for more input, not just for more monitoring, but to help us with some of the policy thinking here. There are no easy answers when it comes to this market but we do recognise, we do get it that Australian industry is under pressure. If there's more that we can do in a sensible and responsible way, of course we'll consider it.
JOURNALIST:
Just following up Rachel's question the domestic family violence sector is disappointed there wasn't more in the Budget to back in the national plan then what your election promises were? Is that only the first instalment - will we see more once we get the action plans?
CHALMERS:
We've made ending domestic and family violence a top priority in the national plan that the relevant ministers released and in the Budget that I released on Tuesday night, a substantial investment here. We all know the scourge of domestic and family violence that's why substantial resources are flowing into dealing with it. It's why Amanda Rishworth and Katy Gallagher and other ministers have made it such a top priority. And again, you'll hear more about that later this morning. Thanks very much.
