Interview with Karl Stefanovic, Today, Channel 9

KARL STEFANOVIC:

Good morning to you, Jim. Nice to have you with us this morning on this Monday morning. Look, there's been a lot of name calling but have you actually achieved anything yet in stopping more information getting out?

JIM CHALMERS:

Good morning, Karl. I think it's really important to begin by acknowledging that a lot of Medibank customers are doing it tough right now. It is a stressful time when you contemplate perhaps some of your most sensitive health information being out in the public domain and these people responsible are absolute grubs and we are working with our international partners to try and bring them to justice. And in addition to that, we've got the Australian Federal Police and the Signals Directorate working around the clock on their efforts to disrupt and interfere and to try and prevent this kind of behaviour. Obviously it's a bit of a wake up call for corporate Australia and to the extent that government can play a bigger role as well, we're obviously prepared to play it.

STEFANOVIC:

It's not working though yet, is it?

CHALMERS:

Obviously, we need to have better defences. It's not possible to defend against every single outcome in the cyber world the way that it evolves so quickly but I think we have had, unfortunately, a period of inaction and so we're playing catch up a bit when it comes to building these cyber defences. But my colleague, Clare O'Neil, in the Ministry is doing a heap of work with other colleagues as well to make sure that we've got the best possible defences. We've got great people working on this in our agencies - our Commonwealth agencies - they are genuinely working around the clock to try and prevent this kind of behaviour and to try and catch the grubs that are responsible for it but we can always do better and so we'll always be looking for ways to bolster our defences against this kind of activity.

STEFANOVIC:

Fighting words from the PM yesterday on industrial relations but in reality that won't get done before Christmas, will it?

CHALMERS:

I think we're a chance, Karl. Obviously we don't take any outcome for granted in the Senate. The Senate can be an unpredictable place sometimes but I think there's good will in the Senate, certainly we're trying to engage in a meaningful and respectful way with the crossbench, in particular, because we want to see these laws passed. This is the Parliament's big opportunity to get wages growing properly again. We need to fix the bargaining system in order to do that and so we're having a heap of conversations with the business community, the union movement, the crossbench and others with an interest here to try and pass it before the Parliament rises for Christmas.

STEFANOVIC:

David Pocock's no at the moment and why are you rushing it?

CHALMERS:

I don't see it that way. I wouldn't characterise it that way, Karl, I think people know that we have shown an interest in getting wages moving again and you can't do that without fixing this bargaining system which has delivered a decade now of stagnant wages. We've got a different view to our predecessors - we want wages growing strongly in a sustainable way and in order to do that, you've got to fix bargaining, you've also got to pay particular attention to the low paid and to industries which are dominated by women and that's what we're trying to do.

STEFANOVIC:

What percentage chance do you reckon of getting it done by Christmas?

CHALMERS:

I'm not going to help you with a punt here, Karl.

STEFANOVIC:

On the lower end of the scale?

CHALMERS:

Oh, look, I think we're a chance because there is -

STEFANOVIC:

You're raising gambling, not me. All right, let's move on - COP27 climate conference has agreed to pay poorer nations for climate change damage which applies to a lot of our neighbours in the Pacific. Now how much are Australian taxpayers going to have to spend up to prop up some of these countries?

CHALMERS:

A couple of things about that, Karl. First of all, it's not a compensation fund, it's not about reparations, or compensation, it's based on a pretty simple principle that I think a lot of Australians would agree with and that is that the developed world has a role to play in helping the developing world deal with the impact of climate change. I think particularly for Australians, we do have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters in the Pacific, in particular, to see what we can do to help. Now, this fund that was agreed at the COP conference, it's been agreed in concept, it's the beginning of the conversation, not the end of the conversation - the design of the fund, the contribution of the fund, that will all be subject to further conversations.

STEFANOVIC:

Just finally, have we heard any more information - Aussie exporters are pretty keen to hear if there was any tangible results from the talks with China last week - anything at all to add? Any further meetings scheduled?

CHALMERS:

I spend a lot of time with the big employers and big exporters of this country and they know and we know as a government that our interests are best served by a more stable relationship with China which is what that engagement was all about, also about stability and security and peace and prosperity in our region. And we don't kid ourselves that all of the substantial differences that we have between ourselves and China, particularly when it comes to some of those restrictive trade practices - we don't pretend that that can be fixed with one meeting but it was a really important meeting because we believe that the more engagement you do with countries in the region, the more chance you give yourselves, or more jobs and more opportunities here at home. So that's what that engagement is about. Again, one conversation is not the end of the matter. It's about engaging in a respectful way trying to stabilise that relationship and our employers and exporters will be the ultimate beneficiaries of that.

STEFANOVIC:

Okay, so a couple of meetings next week, or?

CHALMERS:

I wouldn't have thought so Karl, but a good start - really important meeting.

STEFANOVIC:

Treasurer, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

CHALMERS:

Thanks for your time, Karl. Cheers.