JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AFTERNOON AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, 20 APRIL 2022

SUBJECTS: Budget; Election; Election debate

KIERAN GILBERT: I've got Jim Chalmers the Shadow Treasurer, key part of this Labor campaign as well. And a key night tonight for the Opposition Leader, isn't it - after a rocky start looks like he's found a bit of momentum the last couple of days. He'd want to solidify that this evening.

JIM CHALMERS: Well, Anthony is looking forward to tonight, I think it is an opportunity for him to lay out his case for the Australian people in here and this wonderful ground here at the Gabba. Anthony welcomes the kind of scrutiny that Scott Morrison runs away from. And tonight, is an opportunity to lay out the choice between a better future under Anthony and Labor or another three years of attacks on take home pay and Medicare and another three years of mistakes. And the big contrast that people will see tonight is Anthony is the type of leader who shows up and takes responsibility and will work every day to bring people together. You can't say any of those things about Scott Morrison.

GILBERT: We were talking about some of the challenge for incumbents, because when people have difficulties in their lives, whether it be cost of living pressures or whatever else, it's the incumbent that cops the flack. But when you look as Shadow Treasurer at the overall story, it's a pretty good story to tell for the Government, isn't it and we've come through this pandemic, better than nearly any other comparable nation.

CHALMERS: Well, I think Australians have done the right thing by each other. And to the extent that we've had some success as a country, The credit belongs overwhelmingly to people who've done the right thing by each other and made sacrifices to get through a really difficult period. And it's also worth acknowledging that the economy is starting to recover in welcome ways. But what today's pre-election fiscal outlook showed, it told us what we already knew about the economy. And that is we've got cost of living going through the roof. We've got real wages going backwards, and we've got a trillion dollars of debt, with almost nothing to show for it. That's what the pre-election fiscal outlook said today. And that goes to the Government's record. Now the Prime Minister doesn't want to talk about his record, because it is a trillion dollars of debt, everything going up except people's take home pay. And that is one of the issues, one set of issues at play this election. But so is a better future. And Anthony will have an opportunity tonight to lay out a better future for Australia powered by cleaner and cheaper energy and a better trained workforce and a future made in Australia. Contrast that with a Government which has no plan beyond the election.

GILBERT: When you talk about a trillion dollars in debt, nothing to show for it - the big thing to show for it, though, is the low unemployment rate record low unemployment rate nudging below 4 per cent. Now, that's an extraordinary achievement, with what we've been through.

CHALMERS: Even with the unemployment rate coming down in welcome ways, we haven't seen real wages moving sufficiently to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living. And we talk about that trillion dollars of debt. The budget is absolutely chock full of rorts and waste and mistakes and mismanagement that the Government should be accountable for. There should be more to show for all of that debt that the Government has racked up. Obviously, there has been a need for Government spending through a recession and a downturn even since the recession. But it's the quality of spending which has been missing. This is the most wasteful Government since Federation, this Government has actually taxed more, borrowed more, and spent more than the last Labor Government but delivered less.
GILBERT: When you look at the outlook, it’s deficits for the…into the medium term and its debt at a third of national income is where it peaks, either side of politics, whoever forms government will have to look at this budget repair notion, won't they?

CHALMERS: Well, that's the legacy of this Government. So, cost of living going through the roof, real wages falling and a trillion dollars in debt, the most debt ever taken to an election by any Government a trillion dollars in record debt. So, whoever wins this election will inherit that situation plus interest rates on the rise as well, no matter who wins the election so -

GILBERT: It has to be on the table doesn't it?

CHALMERS: Yeah, challenging set of circumstances. The first step when it comes to budget repair is in improving the quality of the spend in the budget, you get much more bang for buck from our responsible investments, which coss a fraction of what the Government has rorted and wasted.

GILBERT: When you talk about that, though, that's peripheral, when you look at the overall numbers that you mentioned, the better spend and, end the rorts and so on, but it's not, it's not a massive amount of reform here, you're probably going to have to look more broadly than that aren’t you?

CHALMERS: We've got a four part plan to repair the budget and to make sure that we are getting more bang for buck. So first of all, grow the economy in a way that deals with this debt legacy. Secondly, go for quality, not just quantity of spending. Thirdly, deal with this legacy of rorts and waste and mismanagement. And fourthly, there's an opportunity to tax multinational corporations more fairly. Those are four ways that we can begin to improve the budget, but we shouldn't be under any illusions here Kieran. This is a trillion dollars in debt, deficits as far as the eye can see in the intergenerational report. This is a big challenge, but not the only challenge. We've also got inflation through the roof and we've got real wages falling. And that's why Australian working families are falling further and further behind.

GILBERT: The beauty of tonight's forum is that it's the people in the audience the 100 undecideds that really drive where the night goes and what's asked and how it's asked. It's a challenge for the leaders isn't it to be aggressive to have a crack if they want to return serve at something said by the other leader, but still look Prime Ministerial - it's a fine line, isn't it?

CHALMERS: Obviously, you've got a balanced critique of your opponent with your plans for the future. Unfortunately, Scott Morrison only has the critique part. You know, he's got the lies, he's got the scare campaigns, he's got the sledges. And he's done three of these kinds of debates before. Anthony Albanese has got a critique of the Government's record, the mistakes that Scott Morrison has made, which have been so costly for people, but he's also got a plan for a better future around cleaner and cheaper energy and cheaper childcare. More skills for Australians, a future made in Australia. And so, it is Anthony's opportunity to lay out that plan for a better future but also to remind people of the costs and consequences of Scott Morrison's mistakes.

GILBERT: On that one element. You mentioned there the cleaner and cheaper energy. Do you think that Labor is starting to win that battle? Because Queensland notoriously has been a tough one when it comes to the issue of climate change, particularly Central Queensland where coal remains a big industry?

CHALMERS: Yes, I do. I think we're comprehensively winning that debate. And that argument, because people understand that doing something meaningful to get emissions down means cleaner and cheaper energy, so power bills come down. It means new investment in new industries and new jobs in areas of traditional strength. It means more than six hundred thousand jobs modelled for our policy, five out of six of those are in the regions and Queensland is obviously a very decentralised state. So, I do think we're winning the argument on climate change and energy, cleaner and cheaper energy. The business community is on our side. The investment community is our side the global community is on our side. The only people who are holding back are the Liberals and Nationals under Scott Morrison. That's because they've got Barnaby Joyce's climate change policy. And that's why the Josh Frydenberg's of the world are having so much trouble in their own seats.

GILBERT: And finally, what will you be saying to Anthony Albanese in the green room before he comes out here tonight?

CHALMERS: Well, he's pretty relaxed. And I don't think he needs a lot of encouragement from me. He's looking forward to it. He's got the right attitude to it, the right approach to it. Big opportunity to lay out a better future and an alternative. A better future requires a better government. We'll hear all about that from Anthony.

GILBERT: Jim Chalmers. Thank you
 
ENDS