Interview with Kathryn Robinson, ABC News

KATHRYN ROBINSON:

Good morning to you, Treasurer.

JIM CHALMERS:

Good morning, Kath. Thanks for having me on.

ROBINSON:

Not at all. Now you're obviously out there with your candidate Letitia del Fabbro but the Liberal Party does have a 10 per cent majority up there. How confident are you of a swing?

CHALMERS:

lt's a super safe, blue ribbon, LNP seat and this hasn't exactly been Labor heartland for us at the federal level here on the northern Gold Coast. But we've put forward this really quite magnificent local champion in Letitia del Fabbro, a nurse educator from this part of the Gold Coast, a wonderful, wonderful candidate. And we're focused on the things that matter most to people on the northern Gold Coast and around Australia: these cost‑of‑living pressures that we're providing assistance with and also trying to clean up the mess left behind by Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison and the LNP. So we're focused on the right issues, we've got a wonderful candidate, but we've got realistic expectations about a double digit LNP seat in what has been a blue ribbon area for them.

ROBINSON:

If we can just talk about other matters now. Yesterday, you announced the new Governor of the Reserve Bank in Michele Bullock, not extending Dr Philip Lowe's tenure there in the role as governor. You head off to India tomorrow to meet with finance ministers from the G20 with Dr Lowe. Will that be awkward at all or impact on any of the meetings that you'll be having over there?

CHALMERS:

No, not for one second, and we've had a number of conversations about this trip. And one of the really wonderful things frankly about how this appointment has been made is the very, very supportive way that Phil Lowe has backed in our choice of Michele Bullock to succeed him at the Reserve Bank. Phil Lowe has our respect. He has our gratitude, and he's behaving in an impeccable, dignified way, and I think that's really terrific, and we work really well together. Phil Lowe and I will be going overseas to represent Australia's interests in India but also make a contribution to the conversation about the global fight against inflation. We are both professional people. I work closely with him. I have a high regard for him, and he is highly regarded on the international stage as well. We've chosen Michele Bullock to take the bank forward into the future but that in no way diminishes the dedication and commitment of Phil Lowe.

ROBINSON:

One of the other aspects I believe you'll be speaking to your G20 finance minister counterparts over there is rewriting the global tax rules and setting ‑ or at least negotiating or trying to set ‑ a minimum corporate tax rate. How confident are you of achieving that deal on the two‑pillar plan?

CHALMERS:

There's been progress made over the years and we want to advance that progress further. This is a really important opportunity to make sure that we get the multinational tax arrangements right so that companies pay tax where they make their profits so that we can fund services in countries like ours. And so we've said for some time in our tax reform efforts that multinationals are a really important part of that. And part of making sure that that is successful is engaging with the world. There's a program from the OECD ‑ governments of both persuasions here in Australia have participated in that. And ideally, at these G20 meetings of economic ministers and central bank governors, ideally, we will advance that agenda a bit further.

ROBINSON:

If that two‑pillar deal is struck, it could deliver US$220 billion to those participating countries. If successful, what could it mean for Australia's bottom line in the budget?

CHALMERS:

First of all, the two pillars of the OECD proposal are proceeding at different paces. And what we've said in our most recent budget is we've put in place the necessary parts of the domestic agenda to facilitate that international agreement. We cost and we update our multinational tax proposals as they evolve. And hopefully, this meeting in India in the first half of next week, we can progress these matters in the interests of the Australian people. There will be a benefit for Australia, obviously not the whole slice of that US$220 billion that you quoted, but countries like ours stand to be beneficiaries and that's why we want to be part of it.

ROBINSON:

Just on some of the other conversations that you'll be having while you're over there, Treasurer, obviously inflation, I imagine will dominate a lot of the discussion there. We're seeing varying trends for inflation, whether it's sticky or not, coming down, that core inflation for some countries. Where do you think the globe is at with respect to getting a handle on inflation?

CHALMERS:

Inflation is still the defining challenge in the global economy even as we get news from the US and elsewhere that it is moderating. It's moderating in Australia as well but it'll be higher than we'd like for longer than we'd like. And that's why cost‑of‑living pressures are still our primary focus in our economic plan, it's why we're providing cost‑of‑living relief. It's why we're getting the budget in much better nick and making savings where we can. But at the global level, inflation is real and higher interest rates is really what is forcing a lot of advanced economies into some pretty difficult territory. Europe is in recession, New Zealand and others, and so that will obviously have implications for us. It's why it's so important that Governor Lowe and I engage on the world stage so that there can be coordinated global efforts to get on top of this inflation challenge, which is doing such damage to our people.

ROBINSON:

Just on PwC, Treasurer, we know that there is an investigation by the AFP, ongoing parliamentary inquiries, and a new review by the Tax Practitioners Board. We have seen partners shown the door and investigations internally there at PwC. Are you pleased with how that's all progressing?

CHALMERS:

I'm obviously not pleased that we have to progress a lot of those measures. Obviously, this has been a deplorable, unforgivable, disgraceful episode, which compromises our ability to do the kinds of consultation we need to do to get policies right. But in terms of the work that we're doing, we're doing that in a decisive but methodical and considered way across all of those areas that you identified. We need to get this right. We need to make sure that this doesn't happen again because it's a direct threat to good government, a direct threat to consultation that we want to see when it comes to developing our policies. So whether it's the legal process, the committee process in the parliament, the work that my great colleague Katy Gallagher is doing on procurement, the work that I'm doing with Stephen Jones on the Tax Practitioners Board, it is comprehensive, considered and methodical, and it's all about trying to make sure this doesn't happen again.

ROBINSON:

Would you like to see more partners shown the door?

CHALMERS:

I need to be careful about the legal processes that are underway, but we've made it clear that we want to make sure that there are consequences for people who do the wrong thing.

ROBINSON:

Treasurer, we will let you get back to it in the electorate of Fadden. Thank you very much for joining us here on Weekend Breakfast.

CHALMERS:

Appreciate your time, Kath. Thank you.