NATASHA EXELBY:

Treasurer, a very busy day for you so thank you for your time. There is a lot riding on what transpires over the next two days. What are you hoping to achieve and what’s your yardstick on whether you have achieved it?

JIM CHALMERS:

Good morning, Tash, and thanks for the opportunity. Look, I’ve been really energised, encouraged and heartened by the progress that’s already been made as we kick off this Jobs and Skills Summit. People have got a real willingness to come together around some of our big economic challenges, whether they be stagnant wages or labour and skills shortages or some of the other issues in our economy. And so, what I would like to do is to try and ensure that there’s sufficient common ground at the end of this summit to move forward in areas like skills, like industrial relations, potentially migration, and in a handful of other areas ‑ some steps that we can take this year and then perhaps some other issues that require some further work.

But I wish I could convey to your viewers just the spirit that is in this room, people who are genuinely looking for that common ground in the national economic interest, and I find that very heartening, very encouraging. I’m cautiously optimistic about the next couple of days. I’m realistic that some things will be contentious but I’m looking forward to the discussion.

EXELBY:

Well, speaking of which, if you would like to convey it to our viewers, for people who are watching and possibly not knowing a lot about the summit or what it involves, what is in it for them?

CHALMERS:

I just missed the end of your question there, Tash.

EXELBY:

I was just saying for people who are aren’t familiar with the summit or exactly what you’re hoping to achieve, what is in it for the average Australian?

CHALMERS:

I think most importantly we’ve had this decade now of really stagnant pay and some job insecurity. And so, what we would like to do is to get the employers and the unions and the community groups around this big table and to see how we can get wages growing strongly again so that there is a link re‑established between the economy going well and ordinary Australians going well as well, being able to provide for their loved ones. I think over time that link between the economy going well or perhaps our businesses going well and working people going well has been severed, and I want to reattach that. What I mean by that is, if we work together, we find common ground, we strengthen our economy in the right way, then we can get those wages moving again and people can have a much better chance of keeping up with the skyrocketing costs of living.

EXELBY:

Two notable no shows today will be Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor. They’ve pretty much labelled it a union gathering, which I just heard you tell the delightful Lisa Millar on ABC Breakfast is far from the case. Were more conservative business groups also invited to this, Treasurer?

CHALMERS:

There is a heap of business groups, a heap of employer groups and CEOs here. There is, in fact, more representatives of the business community than of the union movement. When it comes to Angus Taylor, he demanded an invite and then didn’t show up. Peter Dutton is more interested in throwing rocks at it than actually finding solutions, which shows he’s learned nothing from the last decade of needless conflict and needless division, and proving himself to be even worse than Scott Morrison. We’re pleased that David Littleproud is here. We’re pleased that the cross benchers are here. This room will be full of people who are looking to have a go and not have a whinge and unfortunately Peter Dutton and the Liberals are just looking to have a whinge.

EXELBY:

Speaking of David Littleproud, the Nationals are calling for the agricultural visa to be reinstated to bring more workers to regional and rural areas. Is that on the agenda?

CHALMERS:

Certainly, we’re looking for ways to fill the labour shortages on our farms and in our regional areas. That’s a really key concern. My colleague Murray Watt has been working on that. We welcome David Littleproud’s attendance here, but we need to point out he was the Minister in this area until not that long ago. So any of the issues that are currently there in the labour market out in the bush, he had some years to deal with. But let’s hear what he has to say. Let’s be as constructive as we possibly can. There is an issue in the bush, and particularly on our farms, and we want to work with unions, employer groups, the NFF and others, to see if we can find some common ground there as well.

EXELBY:

Do you think that David Littleproud is doing a better job than his Coalition partners in the Liberal Party?

CHALMERS:

Obviously, he’s prepared to show up which is a start. I think the fact that Peter Dutton said nobody from the Coalition would attend and David Littleproud said yes, he would, was a humiliation for Peter Dutton. But I’m generally not focused on that stuff, Tash. We’ve got a lot of work to do over the next couple of days and beyond that as well. We’ll be handing down a budget before long. I don’t really have much time for Peter Dutton hidden away in an office somewhere dashing off press releases. This Jobs Summit is about people who are prepared to have a go, not people who are prepared to have a whinge.

EXELBY:

Speaking of jobs, let’s talk about yours. Your approval ratings are very high and so is your boss, Anthony Albanese, but I’ve got to ask you, Treasurer, do you ever have an interest in being Prime Minister?

CHALMERS:

No, I’ve got the job I want, Tash. I’m really excited about this opportunity that Anthony has given me. I always wanted to be a Treasurer in a good Labor Government and we’re working around the clock to make sure it is a good government and part of that is governing differently. We genuinely want to bring people together around our big economic challenges. We want to put an end to this decade of needless division and needless conflict which has weakened our economy and made our people poorer, and so we want to govern differently. I want to be a big part of that in Anthony’s team.

EXELBY:

Well, that sounds excellent, but let’s not forget that there was a pandemic, which sometimes the Government, when you talk about the trillion‑dollar debt, is casually forgetting, which has certainly helped build up that debt that we have ‑ is that a fair statement?

CHALMERS:

Look, we recognise that COVID has had an impact on the budget, but they need to recognise that they racked up a large chunk of that debt before anyone had even heard of coronavirus. They had more than doubled the debt before the pandemic hit, and so they need to be up‑front about that as well. We’ve inherited a budget which is heaving with a trillion dollars in Liberal debt. That has constrained some of our choices. We need to be up‑front about that. There are a lot of the good ideas out there. There will be some good ideas pitched up at this summit. We won’t be able to fund all of them and that’s just the reality of the situation that we’re in.

EXELBY:

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, you have a very busy two days ahead of you, and for the sake of all Australians, we are wishing you all the very best of luck with it. Thank you so much for your time this morning.

CHALMERS:

That’s very kind of you, Tash. Thanks so much.