E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, PRESS GALLERY
WEDNESDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2019

SUBJECTS: IMF downgrades Australia’s growth forecast; Unemployment; The economy is floundering on the Liberals’ watch.

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: These new numbers from the IMF absolutely torpedo whatever was left of the Government's economic credibility. The Australian economy is floundering because Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg don't have a plan to turn things around. These weakening economic growth figures are the inevitable consequence of a Liberal Government with a political strategy but not an economic policy. These downgrades are very serious. The Government cannot continue to sit on its hands and do nothing. Josh Frydenberg doesn't have a clue what he's doing and so he's doing nothing to boost an economy which is floundering on his watch.

JOURNALIST: Is it not on Australians to spend their personal income tax cuts?

CHALMERS: Australians will make their own decisions about the tax cuts that they received this year. Clearly whatever help those tax cuts are providing the economy, it's not enough. The interest rate cuts are not enough. The Government needs to be contemplating doing more. The Government needs a plan to turn the economy around. The reason that the economy is floundering on the Liberals' watch is because Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg don't have a plan. We call on the Government to bring forward additional infrastructure investment, to bring forward their tax cuts, to increase Newstart, or come up with a wages policy, or a tax incentive for business investment, or a proper settled energy policy. The absence of all of those policies has been a brake on growth for too long. These IMF numbers ring the alarm bell on the Australian economy but Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg are too out of touch to hear them.

JOURNALIST: Jim, in terms of stimulus can Australia afford more stimulus and protect the budget surplus? Are you sure about that?

CHALMERS: The Government doesn't have to choose between maintaining the surplus that they've promised for this year and doing something responsible to boost the economy. We're not now at that fork in the road where it's one or the other. The Government wants to pretend that it is but they have a $7 billion surplus for this year, $11 billion next year. They have options, they're just not willing to take them. It's time for the Government to bring forward a proper economic plan in a mid-year update so the Australian economy can get the boost which it clearly needs.

JOURNALIST: One of the Government's complaints was that there's capacity constraints in the economy with the amount of skilled workers available, and if you brought forward infrastructure it would just blow out and not get done on time. What do you say to that?

CHALMERS: The Government's always looking for an excuse to do nothing on the economy. The Government's always looking for an excuse not to have a plan for the economy. They're always looking to blame-shift and point the finger. There are skills shortages in the Australian economy at the same time as we have wage stagnation which is remarkable of itself. It's still possible for the Government to bring forward infrastructure investment. Others like Ernst and Young and the Reserve Bank have pointed out that they could engage in infrastructure maintenance. There would be plenty of jobs and economic stimulus in doing that. The Government has been unwilling or unable to do that. It's time for them to get off their hands and do something about this economy which is floundering on their watch. 

JOURNALIST: What do you think of the unemployment figures, expected to hover around 5.1 per cent?

CHALMERS: The unemployment rate has been rising. We'll see tomorrow what the updated number is. Almost two million Australians are either looking for work or looking for more work. Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg want to pretend that everything is hunky dory in the economy at the same time as almost two million Australians are looking for work or more work. The Government is underperforming when it comes to employment. That's because we do have the slowest economic growth in this country that we've had for 10 years. We do have declining productivity and record household debt. All of these things point to an economy which is floundering on the Liberals' watch. The Government needs to bring forward a plan to deal with it. Thanks for that.

ENDS