E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS FIRST EDITION
THURSDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2020
SUBJECTS: Recession; Tax cuts; The Morrison Government’s lack of a jobs plan; State borders; JobKeeper; Energy.
PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Let's go live to Canberra now. Joining me is the Shadow Treasurer and Queenslander Jim Chalmers. Jim, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us. Let's start there. There's the argument going on at the moment between Annastacia Palaszczuk and everyone else it would seem - is she guilty of double standards here?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Good morning, Pete. No doubt Annastacia Palaszczuk will be asked about this through the course of the day. My understanding is that there are existing protocols in place for AFL players and officials. My assumption is that what happened yesterday was consistent with that but that's a matter for the state government in Queensland. Josh Frydenberg's enthusiastic criticism about this is really about one thing; it's about distracting people from his own failures in the economy which are costing jobs and the Government's values on aged care which are costing lives. All week, Pete, Josh Frydenberg is trying to point the finger and shift the blame onto everybody else. We're in the worst recession for almost a century, we've got a million unemployed people. It would be best if Josh Frydenberg was focused on that.
STEFANOVIC: You must admit, though, when it comes to yesterday's AFL announcement, it wasn't a good look when you got people needing emergency surgery and then you've got the AFL executives and their families heading across the border very easily.
CHALMERS: We care deeply about people who are doing it tough and obviously these restrictions are very difficult in lots of ways. There are medical exemptions for people and access to those exemptions is a matter for the state government. The reason Josh Frydenberg is so focused on this is because he's desperate to talk about that, not his own failures on jobs which mean there are a million unemployed and 400,000 more to come.
STEFANOVIC: Onto the economy, you can't blame Josh Frydenberg for the pandemic and the recession can you?
CHALMERS: We've always acknowledged, Pete and I think I've acknowledged on your program before, that obviously this diabolical health crisis is having devastating impacts on the economy. The recession is deeper than it needs to be and the unemployment queues are longer than they need to be because the Government have got some things wrong; they've excluded too many people from JobKeeper and now they're in too big a rush to withdraw support from the economy while unemployment is still rising. That means that some of the people who are in the unemployment queues need not be there - and that's on the Government.
STEFANOVIC: Labor has called for JobKeeper to remain at $1,500 for six months and to extend it to casuals and to temporary visa holders as well. What is the cost of doing that?
CHALMERS: Even earlier today when the Treasurer was on your program, he said that the support for the economy should be relevant to the conditions in the economy - that's the point that we've been making. It needs to be tailored to what's happening. Since the Government announced that reduction in JobKeeper and JobSeeker things have gotten worse in the jobs market. We've said they should reconsider those reductions. It makes no sense whatsoever when unemployment rising for government support for the economy to be falling, especially when there isn't a jobs plan to replace it. They need to be smart about it. The rate and eligibility of JobKeeper is entirely the preserve of the Treasurer; he gets to set the rate and the eligibility. We urge him to reconsider winding that back because the economy is still in all sorts of trouble.
STEFANOVIC: Has Labor done its own costings for keeping those measures as they were?
CHALMERS: The Government has costings for the existing $1,500 rate. We're calling on them to reconsider the reduction in that rate. It depends how much they reduce it by, how much it costs. But the point the Government, Deloitte Access Economics, and we have made is that if you don't do the right thing by people now and don’t do what you can to protect the economy, protect jobs and create jobs then the problems in the budget will be that much worse in the medium-term anyway.
STEFANOVIC: But you can't have a crack at government spending if you don't have your own costings?
CHALMERS: I don't accept that, Pete. We're talking about the Government maintaining their existing program for which we have existing costings. What they’re doing so far is about $100 billion. They're in a rush to withdraw that support from the economy. Most Australians are scratching their heads and wondering, when we're in the teeth of the worst recession in our lifetime, a million unemployed, 400,000 to come by Christmas, why the Government's in such a rush to withdraw that support. It's not about the costings of maintaining that program. The issue here is maintaining jobs. Josh Frydenberg was on the show talking about jobs a moment ago. He doesn't have a jobs plan and he's in a rush to withdraw support for jobs in the economy. That's a recipe for a deeper recession, a longer recession and higher unemployment for longer.
STEFANOVIC: If Labor was in power, would Australia be in a recession now?
CHALMERS: As I said before, the pandemic has done a lot of damage to the economy that would have happened under a government of either persuasion. The most important thing is how governments respond to that. The Government's response has made this recession deeper than it needs to be and the unemployment queues longer. They've excluded too many people from JobKeeper. They're withdrawing support too soon. That will have consequences for the economy, for jobs, for people, for businesses, for workers and for communities.
STEFANOVIC: Do you think we're likely to see three quarters of negative growth?
CHALMERS: I'm not in the prediction game Pete but certainly most of the economists think that the next quarter will either be a little bit negative or perhaps flat. The Treasurer has said that as well; that's what the Treasurer is expecting. We'll wait and see. Regardless of whether it's a little bit negative, a little bit flat or a little bit positive, the economy is going to be weak for some time now. And not just the economy in the abstract. What really matters here is what's happening to unemployment and underemployment. The Reserve Bank said that unemployment will be seven per cent or so for another two years. That's why we're really passionate about making sure the Government isn't in a rush to withdraw support for the economy without a plan for jobs to replace it.
STEFANOVIC: You've called for the Government to bring forward stage two of tax cuts. What is Labor's position when it comes to the stage three tax cuts?
CHALMERS: We've said before the pandemic there was a case for some of stage two to be brought forward and that stage three, which wouldn't come in until 2024, should be examined closer to the date. We're obviously conscious of that yesterday, and I think today on your show, the Government has said that they're having a look at what they might do with those tax cuts. They haven't announced anything yet. If they come forward with something specific we'll engage with that. We'll discuss it at our end, and we'll announce our response then. But if they were to do that, that wouldn't be a substitute for a comprehensive jobs plan. It wouldn't be a substitute for doing the right thing in the care economy, social housing, energy policy, or with a local jobs programs. All of these things would be sensible parts of a proper comprehensive plan for jobs. It wouldn't be a substitute for that. Yesterday, Frydenberg jumped up and he said the economy is really bad and people said, we understand that, but what are you going to do about it? He didn't have much to say. He started getting asked about tax cuts and he said, yeah we might do tax cuts. That's no substitute for the kind of vision that we need and the jobs plan that we need to get out of this in a way that doesn't consign a whole generation of workers to the scrap heap.
STEFANOVIC: Will Labor repeal those stage three tax cuts?
CHALMERS: We haven't seen what the Government's proposing. We don't know if they'll bring it forward. We've said many times, probably hundreds of times through the course of last year, that we'd examined stage three closer to the date. The Government has said that they might recalibrate or reshuffle or bring forward some of those tax cuts. Let's see what they propose.
STEFANOVIC: It makes sense to get money back into the system right? It makes sense.
CHALMERS: It depends what it comes at the cost of, Pete, to be honest. I mean if it's instead of some other things which might be more important, and which might create more jobs in the in the economy, then we need to weigh all of those things up. Let's see what they propose. They haven't proposed anything. It's a bit of a thought bubble at the moment. If they come to us with something concrete we will engage with that responsibly and constructively as we have throughout this crisis.
STEFANOVIC: Does Labor still have a fiscal position to fully offset all new spending?
CHALMERS: That's the intention but in times like these, as the Government has found with the spectacular implosion of their promise to get the budget back in black, at times like these the priority has to be protecting jobs and creating new jobs. If we don't do that, then the budget will be in all sorts of trouble for longer and so the priority now is jobs, that comes with a price tag. We will announce our position on the budget closer to the election, but it needs to take into account the most pressing needs right now and that's a jobs plan.
STEFANOVIC: What's the silver bullet? What's the one thing if you were Treasurer right now - we'll close with this - if you were Treasurer right now what's the one thing that you would do, or the one policy change that you would make?
CHALMERS: I would get some energy policy certainly in the system, Pete, because we saw in yesterday's numbers that business investment is very weak. It's was weak for a long time before the crisis. Business tells me what they need to invest again is some certainly around energy policy. Then they could invest with confidence. Investment is good because it means growth and growth is good because it means jobs.
STEFANOVIC: Alright, Shadow Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for joining us.
CHALMERS: Thank you Pete.
ENDS
