Press conference, Springwood Park
JIM CHALMERS: First of all, a massive congratulations to the Jillaroos and the Kangaroos - world champions overnight in the UK. Big congratulations in particular to captain James Tedesco - player of the match, co‑captain Ali Brigginshaw - also player of the match. So much to be proud of with our two Australian teams, both of them world champions in convincing fashion overnight, but also well played to the Kiwis and the Samoans, deserving runners up in both competitions and in this community here in Logan City it means a lot, particularly to our big, wonderful Samoan community that they were able to get so deep into the tournament - again, lots to be proud of there and for the New Zealand women's team as well. A great tournament, it's been going for some weeks now. Big, big congratulations to the Kangaroos and the Jillaroos - world champions once again.
The Prime Minister returned today from what has been an incredibly successful series of engagements in our region at ASEAN, at the East Asia Summit, the G20 and also, of course, APEC. These have been really important meetings at a really important time. The Prime Minister has been able to engage calmly and deliberately and in a considered way in the service of our national interest, and engagement with the world and with the region is a key part of our economic plan because the more engagement that we can do, the more jobs and opportunities can flow from that. Every Australian has an interest in a more peaceful, more prosperous, more secure, and stable region. That's what this engagement was all about. We are very pleased with the progress that the Prime Minister was able to make with key partners around the region and around the world in the service of our national interests. That's what the meeting with President Xi was all about, it's what the meeting with all of the world leaders that Prime Minister Albanese was able to engage with was about - a very successful round of international engagements.
The progress that the Prime Minister was able to make at these key summits capped off what has been a very productive six months for this Albanese Labor Government. The six month anniversary of the election is tomorrow. This is a government which hit the ground running right from the very start and we're very pleased and proud that already in those six months, we've been able to legislate progress on climate change and aged care, we've been able to support and secure wage rises when it comes to the minimum wage and aged care workers and we've been able to hand down a budget which is all about responsible cost‑of‑living relief, investing in economic growth and putting the budget on a more sustainable footing as well.
So it's been six months packed full of progress, packed full of achievements when it comes to those wage cases and the budget and aged care and climate change and in other areas as well but there is even more progress within reach in the upcoming parliamentary fortnight. The Parliament has a big opportunity to progress the government's agenda even further when it comes to some crucial issues. Before the Parliament in the next fortnight alone we've got the opportunity to legislate cheaper childcare, national Anti‑Corruption Commission, the disaster fund, defence housing, more progress for older people who want to work more and of course, an opportunity for the Parliament to pass the government's industrial relations laws. These industrial relations laws before the Parliament are the Parliament's big chance to get wages moving properly again in this country. For too long wages have been stagnant. For too long the previous government pursued wage stagnation and wage suppression as a deliberate design feature of their economic policy. Getting wages moving again is a deliberate design feature of this Albanese Labor Government's policy and the policies and proposals that we have before the Parliament - these are all about more agreement, they're all about more wages growth and not more conflict. They recognise that after a decade of wage stagnation, we need to fix the bargaining system, particularly for the low paid and in industries dominated by women and that's why we put these proposals before the Parliament. We take no outcome for granted in the Senate, we will continue to engage in a meaningful way and in a respectful way with colleagues in the Senate, particularly the crossbench because this is the Parliament's big chance to get wages moving properly again. We can't do that without fixing a broken bargaining system and that's what our industrial relations changes are all about. Our political opponents take a completely different approach to wages growth, as I said. Nothing would make Peter Dutton and the Liberals and Nationals happier than another decade of wage stagnation - they've made that clear with their comments today and in recent weeks. We take a different approach to encourage our colleagues on the crossbench in the Senate to support Labor's efforts to get wages moving again in a meaningful and a sustainable way.
There is no shortage of challenges in our economy and in our society right now and real wages are very, very high on the list. With the high inflation brought about from challenges around the world and around the country, it is the case that real wages are going backwards in unacceptable ways and that's why it's so important that we try and get wages moving again. That's why it's so important that the budget was focused on this inflation problem in our economy. Australians are paying a price for Russian aggression, and coalition incompetence when it comes to the energy market, in particular. We do have high and rising prices for energy in this country, primarily as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, but also because we've had a decade of denial and dysfunction and disarray when it comes to energy markets and that's made our energy markets less resilient to these sorts of international shocks that we're seeing right now. And at the same time as we've got this inflation in our economy, we've also got a lot of Australians in flood‑affected communities doing it especially tough. Australians are there for each other when natural disasters hit, and the government will be there for them as well. And whether it's natural disasters, or wages growth, or energy markets, the government will continue to do whatever it can to take the sting out of some of these pressures that Australians are feeling right around Australia. We know that these pressures come at us from around the world, but they're felt around the kitchen table and this is a government which is committed to working through the challenges and pressures that Australians face in a calm, meaningful, deliberate, considered way because after a decade of missed opportunities, and messed‑up priorities, there's a lot of mess to clean up. We've spent six months making a good start on that but you can't clean up a decade's worth of mess in six months. We will continue to work hard for the Australian people in the service of the national interest - whether it's engaging overseas or working hard here at home on some of the challenges, particularly the cost‑of‑living challenges that Australians face. Over to you.
JOURNALIST: Treasurer, will there be a government intervention to lower power prices by Christmas?
CHALMERS: We've made it clear that we are prepared to consider a range of options when it comes to high energy prices in an energy market which is putting a lot of pressure on Australians and on Australian industry and we have been working closely with the relevant ministers and with the Prime Minister to see if there is a meaningful, temporary, impactful, responsible, sensible intervention that we can make in this energy market. The energy markets aren't as resilient as we need them to be when it comes to these big international shocks brought about by the war in Ukraine and so what we need to do is to build the long term resilience in the energy market, and we've been doing that by investing in new sources of cleaner, cheaper energy, we need to empower our regulators which we've been doing with new funding in the budget but we are prepared to consider further steps as well. We said that our priority there is on the regulation side rather than on the taxation side but there's a lot of complexity in this market, there's a lot of mess that's been made over the course of the last decade and so we'll go about it in a thoughtful and considered way and if there's a meaningful and responsible intervention that we can make in this market to try and take some of the sting out of these high and rising prices, then obviously, we will contemplate that.
JOURNALIST: Treasurer, could that intervention involve a windfall profit tax?
CHALMERS: It's not our preference to go down that path, as we have said before. Our preference is to see if there's a regulatory solution - beginning of course with the code of conduct in the gas market, we've said we'd like to make that mandatory and we'd like to introduce the price considerations into that code of conduct, so that's the best place to start. And that is an indication really of our preference for regulatory changes rather than taxation changes but at this stage of the process, it makes no sense to take options off the table until or unless we can make progress on the regulatory side. We have been working very hard for some weeks now on this key question but there is a lot of complexity involved here. We are conscious of our international relationships, we are conscious of investment in the industry. There's been good progress made on supply, now we need to make progress on price as well. The best place to start is the gas code of conduct - making that mandatory and making it meaningful.
JOURNALIST: I guess the main thing is will consumers see a reduction in prices?
CHALMERS: As it stands right now, as a consequence of Russian aggression and Coalition incompetence, the Budget is forecasting high and rising energy prices over the next little while. And we've made it clear that if there are steps that can be taken to take some of the sting out of that, then obviously we are prepared to take them. I think right around the world, energy prices are going up because of Russian aggression. And here in Australia, we've got the additional complexity brought about by a former government which took more energy out of the system and more capacity out of the system than they put in - and that's made us more vulnerable to these international shocks. Our intention is to see if we can deal with at least some of these pressures in the energy market. We'll make it clear when we make an announcement before Christmas what we expect the impact of that intervention to be.
JOURNALIST: Quick question: the industrial relations bill, obviously, you're probably going to face an uphill battle to get it through the Senate. Senators, the crossbench are calling for extra time. Are you willing to add extra sitting days if there's a chance of getting this through before Christmas?
CHALMERS: We take no outcome for granted in the Senate when it comes to our engagement with the crossbench. But we are very appreciative of the way that crossbench senators have engaged with us in good faith. There's a lot of goodwill in the Senate, I believe, but we take no outcome for granted and that's because we are working around the clock engaging in a meaningful and respectful way with crossbench colleagues. This is the Senate's big chance to get wages moving again and fix a broken bargaining system. If that requires a little extra time in the Senate, then obviously we'd be prepared to consider that. The Prime Minister has made it clear, even this morning, that our priority is to get this legislation passed before the Parliament rises for the year. If that means a little bit of extra time for Senate colleagues to work their way through the detail then obviously we are prepared to contemplate that. We think the interests of this country and the interests of Australian workers are best served by fixing a broken bargaining system. We want to pass this legislation this year if we can, and we are engaging in a meaningful and respectful way. And part of that means if it's necessary to take a little bit of extra time, then we're prepared to do that.
JOURNALIST: Would you split the bill as there's bipartisan support for some of the elements?
CHALMERS: Our preference is to pass all of the IR changes this year but we've also shown a willingness in recent weeks to make amendments based on the meaningful consultation that we've been doing with the business community, with the union movement, with crossbenchers and with other interested parties. We've shown a willingness to sit down in good faith and to negotiate these bills through the Senate. We will continue to take that approach. We will make amendments through the course of the parliamentary consideration over the course of the next parliamentary fortnight. But our intention, our preference is to pass all of these changes before the Parliament rises.
JOURNALIST: How confident are you that you will get that legislation through in this sitting period? Also, just one on the Medibank cyber‑attack: the hackers behind the Medibank attack have released more private health information overnight. This dump relates to alcohol and sexual health issues. Can I get your response to that and how concerned are you for the victims?
CHALMERS: First of all on prospects in the Senate, I'm not going to be presumptuous. I'm not going to take any outcomes for granted. I think there is a willingness in the Parliament to see our broken bargaining system fixed and to see wages growing again in a strong and sustainable way in this country. But crossbenchers will raise issues, particularly Senator Pocock - someone I engage with quite a bit on other matters as well - and that's appropriate. I'm not going to take any outcomes for granted in the Senate. I'm confident that there is a willingness to engage with the Government on these important objectives on behalf of Australian workers and we'll see over the course of the next fortnight or so, whether or not we've been able to convince them to support the industrial relations package.
On the Medibank hack, these people are complete grubs - pure and simple. It is despicable that people are prepared to release the sorts of information that we've seen released in recent days. It is well beyond the pale to see this kind of private, sensitive information released into the public domain. I pay tribute to Minister Clare O'Neil and other colleagues who are working so hard to bolster our cyber defences after a period of neglect. I think whether it's the Medibank hack or the Optus hack, these are wake‑up calls not just for governments, but also for the private sector. We need to rebuild our buffers against these kinds of grubby acts, these kinds of despicable acts. The Government is prepared to do its bit. I'm confident the private sector is prepared to do its bit as well. We've all got an interest in stamping out this despicable, despicable, grubby act of the kind that we've seen overnight.
JOURNALIST: On the National Anti‑Corruption Commission, how optimistic are you you'll be able to get that through this sitting fortnight? It looks like there's broad support across the parliament.
CHALMERS: I welcome the broad support which has been shown for the National Anti‑Corruption Commission. Again, I don't like to declare victory before the siren has sounded but we have been heartened and encouraged by the willingness of the Parliament, both houses of the Parliament, to engage with Mark Dreyfus and others. This is a really important opportunity to make sure that we have a National Anti‑Corruption Commission, that dealings at the Commonwealth level are above board, to restore some integrity into the politics. This is a really full agenda when it comes to this last parliamentary sitting fortnight or so, whether it's a National Anti‑Corruption Commission, industrial relations, child care, defence, housing, electric vehicles, support for older workers. There is so much progress to be made in the course of this final period of parliamentary sitting, more progress is within reach. It's been a very busy and very productive six months but the next couple of weeks will be absolutely crucial to advancing some of the issues and agendas and policies and legislation, which is so important to keeping faith with the Australian people.
JOURNALIST: Jacinda Ardern is planning a trade visit to China. Would you like to see an Australian delegation as well travel?
CHALMERS: One step at a time. This meeting between President Xi and Prime Minister Albanese was a crucial opportunity to begin to stabilise a relationship which has been incredibly difficult in recent years. We don't pretend that there aren't still major differences between our countries but this Government believes that you give yourself a better chance of dealing with or addressing some of these issues if you are prepared to engage in a genuine way. And I think the progress that Prime Minister Albanese was able to make at these really important meetings at a really important time is all about serving our national interests, speaking up for our national interest, engaging where we can, and recognising that every Australian has an interest in a peaceful, prosperous, stable and secure region. That's what that meeting was about. The trip by Prime Minister Ardern to China is a matter for the New Zealanders. I think there has been substantial progress made in the China relationship in recent days, and I welcome that but one step at a time. Future visits will be a matter for the leaders of both countries.
JOURNALIST: Did the Prime Minister misspeak when he spoke about Taiwan joining the CP Trans‑Pacific Partnership?
CHALMERS: No, I don't believe he did and he's made it very clear that our position on CPTPP hasn't changed. It's for member countries to decide who joins the ranks of that agreement and their current focus is on the United Kingdom's application and that's appropriate. We maintain a really important trading relationship with Taiwan. It's very important to both economies that we do that and we're able to do that consistent with the bipartisan approach that we've taken to China policy as well and that will continue.
