JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS FIRST EDITION 
FRIDAY, 12 NOVEMBER 2021

SUBJECTS: Hundreds of thousands of Australians losing their jobs in the last few months; Patchy and uncertain recovery risks leaving too many Australians behind; Judge Scott Morrison on the last eight years of climate obstruction not the last eight days; Wages not keeping up with costs of living; Migration; Federal election debates; Challenging Josh Frydenberg to multiple election debates on wages, waste and the economy.
 

PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Let's head up to Brisbane now, and joining us live is Jim Chalmers the Shadow Treasurer. Jim, good to see you. Thanks for your time this morning. So we've seen some pretty interesting numbers that emerged yesterday, unemployment surged to 5.2%. It was at the end of lockdowns though so are you expecting that to be as bad as it gets?

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER:  Well, I hope it is Pete. Good morning. I think yesterday's unemployment number was a pretty brutal reminder that this recovery that Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg talk about is not a recovery for everyone. 46,000 people lost their job in the last month, 141,000 the month before that.

That is a brutal reminder that this recovery, that we all want to see - we all want to see the economy get better, we all want to see the jobs market get better - but for a couple of hundred thousand Australians in the last couple of months alone, the reality is a very different and very brutal one.

STEFANOVIC: Yeah. And you talk about those job losses but the bit that surprises me the most Jim, is that businesses, at least the ones I'm talking to at the moment, they can't get staff. So it's not like there aren't jobs out there?

CHALMERS: Yeah, there's a real double-whammy in the jobs market at the moment. I speak to a lot of employers right around the country. I was in Mount Isa and Cairns during the week and if there's one kind of defining failure, one defining symbol of the last eight years of economic mismanagement, it's that we've got around two million Australians who can't find a job or can't find enough work, at the same time as we've got all of these skill shortages and these jobs going begging around Australia. There is a real mismatch and it's a reminder once again that the recovery will be patchy, it will be different for different people, it will be uncertain. That's why in the Prime Minister and the Treasurer's rush to give themselves a big pat on the back, we want to make sure that those hundreds of thousands of Australians who have just lost their job aren't forgotten.

STEFANOVIC: "Can do capitalism". What do you think?

CHALMERS: It's just one slogan after another, it's becoming this kind of pathetic parody of itself. One day after another a new slogan as the Prime Minister tries to slither out of this quite pathetic persona that he's created for himself. For eight years now, for example, he's been one of the key obstacles to doing something meaningful about cleaner and cheaper energy. So all those jobs and opportunities and all of that investment’s gone begging in the meantime. Judge him on the last eight years of being an obstacle to meaningful climate action, not the last eight days of pretending that he cares about all of these sorts of things.

STEFANOVIC: You got some company in the kitchen there, Jim?

CHALMERS: I'm sorry about that, Pete.

(LAUGHTER)

CHALMERS: They're watching The Lion King, and it's getting a bit rowdy.

(LAUGHTER)

STEFANOVIC: It's not a problem! I do want to ask you about inflation, these staggering numbers that are coming out of the US - 31 year highs, 6% alone in the US. We're not doing too badly here, just about 2% at the moment, but do you fear that a storm is coming? And if so, how much longer can we hold on?

CHALMERS: I wouldn't describe it in those terms. You talk to a lot of economists around the place and they're keeping an eye on inflation. The big question on inflation is, is this a temporary thing - which is about a kind of pressure on the supply chains that businesses rely on to create their goods and services - or is it something more enduring and something more damaging?

I think the other thing to understand - and working families understand this as well as anyone - is that two of the big pressures are actually petrol prices, people are getting absolutely smashed at the bowser - and construction costs, if you're trying to get a reno down or something like that. Those are the pressures that working families feel.

The other most important thing I think, inflation is obviously a crucial measure in the economy but what actually matters is whether people's wages can keep up with that inflation. The Government in its own Budget says that real wages will go backwards, that the price of everything will continue to rise and wages won't rise as quickly. That's why working families in this country are falling behind under this Government.

STEFANOVIC: Something that would help is migration. Obviously, as you know, it's dropped to zero because of the pandemic. So do you believe that there needs to be a bigger priority, a faster priority, placed on getting skilled migrants and getting international students out here as soon as possible? And what level would you like to see that?

CHALMERS: I think now's our big opportunity to think about the best version of our migration program. While the tap's been turned off we should be spending this time working out what's the optimal number of students, what's the optimal number of skilled migrants, and all the rest of it. Again, the Government's had eight years to fill some of these skills shortages. It kind of beggars belief in lots of ways that we haven't trained enough Australians for enough of these vacancies.

Migration will always play a part in that story. I'm a supporter of migration. We need more people here in this country, but we need to make sure that we're training our people for the vacancies as well, and the Government hasn't done that. So when the tap does get turned back on and when the migration program does get back towards full tilt, we need to make sure it's the best version of that. We're doing a lot of thinking about that behind the scenes, Kristina Keneally and others. It's one of the most important things that we need to get right as we emerge from this pandemic.

STEFANOVIC: Okay, just finally, my colleague, Jono Lea, he's been reporting this morning the Government wants to form a bipartisan Debates Commission ahead of the next election. I mean, Labor would be desperate I'm sure to do as many debates as possible to get your message out there, so you'd be supporting this wouldn't you, Jim?

CHALMERS: We want the public to see the contrast between these leaders as much as possible. So we will work with the Government in a bipartisan way. We've proposed this independent commission before. We want to see it work. We haven't seen that letter that's found its way to Jono yet, but when we do we'll work through it and we'll engage constructively. 

But I say this as well, Pete: from my kitchen in Logan City, I challenge Josh Frydenberg to multiple debates about the economy, the future of the economy and his appalling record and this Government's appalling record over the last eight years of wage stagnation and insecure work. The Treasurer and the alternative Treasurer should also have multiple debates. I will debate him wherever we can, whenever we can.

We want the economy to be central to this contest, and he should have to defend eight years of economic mismanagement and the fact that if this Government is re-elected there will be more attacks on wages, and super, and Medicare, and renewables, and all of the rest. That should be central to the campaign. The Treasurer and the alternative Treasurer should also have multiple debates.

STEFANOVIC: Okay, there you go. The challenge for the Treasurer too. Jim Chalmers live for us from Logan City this morning. Appreciate that, Jim. Thank you, we'll talk to you soon.

 
ENDS