JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SBS NEWS BUDGET SPECIAL
TUESDAY, 29 MARCH 2022
SUBJECT: Federal Budget
ANNA HENDERSON, HOST: Firstly, you've been railing about cost of living for many months. You must be celebrating tonight's news.
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Well, no, because the real wages number in this budget shows that real wages are falling behind even further than the government had earlier anticipated. There's two sides of the coin when it comes to cost of living; skyrocketing costs that people are dealing with right now and falling real wages. That's why ordinary working families are falling further and further behind.
HENDERSON: Let's get to wages in a moment. Firstly, just in terms of the measures that have been announced. Will Labor support and does Labor support the cut in the fuel excise for the next six months?
CHALMERS: We do. We foreshadowed for some time that we won't stand in the way of any cost of living relief for people who are dealing with those falling real wages, dealing in lots of ways with a decade of stagnant wages. But nothing in this budget makes up for almost a decade now, the tax on people's wages, job security, pensions and Medicare.
HENDERSON: Millions of Australians are learning tonight that they will be getting cash bonuses, essentially. So, in terms of the one-off payment for pensioners and concession card holders, will Labor waive that through?
CHALMERS: Yeah, we won't be holding any of that up in the Parliament, again, for the same reasons. You know, people are doing it incredibly tough and we won't stand in the way of genuine cost of living relief. But what this government has done is they've got a six or seven week plan to get them through to the May election. They are incapable of seeing beyond that. So, the difference between the parties, as there will be cost of living relief no matter who wins the election in May, the difference will be that we have a plan for the future beyond that, the government doesn't.
HENDERSON: With the changes to the low and middle income tax offset, does Labor support ending it and providing this bonus? And would you honour that in government?
CHALMERS: Oh, we certainly will be providing the bonus. I suspect that will be legislated before we leave this building this week. Beyond that, obviously, we'd have to weigh up all of the various priorities. It will be very difficult, whether it's the fuel excise or the low and middle income tax offset, it will be very difficult to be able to afford to extend these things indefinitely. We've made that clear for some time. We want to be really responsible with the budget and only promise what we can afford. We'll see what kind of budget we inherit from the government, if the government changes hands.
HENDERSON: You've heard a lot from Labor about the need to see people get a pay rise effectively. What's the measure that you'd take immediately if you were elected into government to change that?
CHALMERS: Well, first of all, I think one of the defining failures of the last decade is the fact that real wages are going backwards even as the economy is recovering and that's why people are under so much pressure. So, we've said you've got to grow the economy the right way so the recovery works for everyone. You've got to train people so they can grab those higher skilled, higher wage opportunities. You've got to make childcare cheaper and more accessible so that people can work more and earn more if they want to. And you've got to deal as well with things like labor hire which is undercutting wages. You've got to regulate in some way the gig economy. You've got to empower the Fair Work Commission to turn casual, insecure work into more secure work. There is a range of things that we should be doing. The government has deliberately gone after people's wages. They've said it's a deliberate design feature of their economic policy. We would take a different approach.
HENDERSON: And Labor has gone hard in terms of supporting parents in what you promised if you were to win government. Tonight, a fairly substantial announcement from the government on that paid parental leave. Would Labor support that measure and implement it in government?
CHALMERS: Look, I'm inclined to, but I want to have a conversation with Tanya Plibersek and Linda Burney and our shadow cabinet to see what they think about it. Our inclination is to support it, but let's have a proper look at it, go through the details and come to a concluded view.
HENDERSON: One of the sticking points has been on superannuation. Would Labor pay superannuation to parents while they are on leave?
CHALMERS: We don't have a concluded view on that, we've be consulting stakeholders as you've probably read in the newspapers, that's just the normal course of events. We need to find a way to only promise what we can afford. We're weighing up all of our priorities, including that one. Our policies will be clear between now and the next election.
HENDERSON: How hard is it for you to win the election now?
CHALMERS: I'm quietly confident about the election, but not complacent about it. We don't take the outcome for granted. This is a tired, complacent, panicked, desperate government. They've delivered what I think is a desperate and panicked budget tonight but the future of the government is in the voters hands. The government has handed down what is effectively an election pamphlet rather than a plan for the future. We'll be presenting a plan for the future and the voters can decide.
HENDERSON: Jim Chalmers, thanks for your time.
CHALMERS: Thanks for your time, Anna.
ENDS
