JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
SOUNDS OF THE MOUNTAINS
TUESDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2021
SUBJECTS: Kristy McBain; First responders and essential workers; Morrison Government’s slow booster rollout; Mid-year budget update silent on the costs of living and stagnant wages; Liberals and Nationals doubling-down on secret slush funds before the election, and secret cuts after the election; Pandemic highlights the need for a future made in Australia; natural disaster season; AdBlue shortage and trucking industry; Labor’s positive policies and priorities in the economy; Federal election.
DAVE EISENHAUER, HOST: We speak each fortnight with Kristy McBain. This morning we're very fortunate to have Jim Chalmers, the federal Member for Rankin and Shadow Treasurer joining us. Mr Chalmers, very good morning to you.
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks for having me on your show, Dave.
EISENHAUER: I really appreciate it, and look big thanks to Kristy as well too. We spoke with Kristy there last week, and said look it's the last week before Christmas. She was in Queanbeyan or somewhere, you don't know where Kristy is she's all over the countryside!
(LAUGHTER)
CHALMERS: As we were saying off air Dave, Kristy's got a lot of sway in our show. So if she says can you come on this show and talk to Dave, then we instantly say yes.
EISENHAUER: She does a great job. And look, this is her first run in federal politics and she's done a terrific job there. And really, really keeping people up to date. So many different community meetings, and we get lots of good feedback Jim around the region. Would be the same with your electorate Rankin, and of course all our areas. Politicians have a huge job, people underestimate sometimes the amount of work that goes in, and the amount of travel that goes on around the district. And it's all mostly with four tyres on a road.
CHALMERS: Kristy's probably the gold standard when it comes to that. I think she told you last week she’s driven something like 70,000 kilometres this term. The key to Kristy is she's the real deal. She's got a big heart for her community. And when you think about all that your communities have been through the last couple of years in particular, you couldn't do better than having Kristy McBain in your corner.
EISENHAUER: Absolutely. It's a well-earned break for all politicians around the region. You may have a break from sitting in Canberra, but I mean you've been on the road, you were out through the Southside of Brisbane there just yesterday I noticed, out and about. The life of politician doesn't sleep, even Christmas Day even, there's obviously 365 days of the year.
CHALMERS: I think it's going to get pretty intense too next year, Dave. I think everyone's going to have a very, very, brief breather and then back into the fray because we've got the election in probably March or May next year. I think it's going to be one of those really intense years in federal politics.
EISENHAUER: That's something we're going to chat about this morning too Jim, is what's your thoughts? We're looking at the New Year, we've only got about a week and a bit to go and we'll be into 2022. Your thoughts on what's going to be happening through 2022? It's going to be a fairly busy year, it's starting off as a very busy ending to the year. We're looking at our COVID rules and regs and what's happening there. There's a lot to get your head around.
CHALMERS: Disaster season is obviously a big part of our thinking now, whether it's what you guys have been through the last couple of years or up in my home state of Queensland, up north, cyclone season. Obviously, this part of the year is a very happy time of year, but also a dangerous time of year in lots of our parts of the world. So a big shout out to the firies and the essential workers for whom Christmas is a stressful time keeping us safe.
I think next year is going to be a huge year, it'll be a big year in the economy - and my job for our team is to is to keep an eye on the economy - and also in politics. In politics, obviously, the election will really start to heat up, I think from the beginning of January. There'll only be three or five months until the election. In the economy, the big thing to keep an eye on, we've seen what the virus can do to the economy and we've seen what happens if you get things wrong like the original vaccine rollout or purpose-built quarantine.
So I think the big thing to watch in the next month or two is whether or not the Morrison Government can get the booster program back on track. We're supposed to have about 4 million boosters in people's arms by the end of this year - so the end of next week - and we've only done I think about a million in the last six weeks. So there's a bit of an orange, if not red, flashing light about that. Because if the Government gets the vaccine rollout wrong again then that could have big consequences for our communities and for local economies as well. That's the main thing in the start of the year, the main priority.
Beyond that, we've got a lot of issues in the economy that have been hanging around - not just the last couple of years, but for the last eight years or so. Stagnant wages obviously, the skyrocketing costs of living including childcare, rent, petrol, at the same time as people's real wages are going backwards. There's a lot going on in the economy as well. Hopefully, with the change of government - an Albanese Labor Government - hopefully we can get a government which is a bit more focused on those things that people in communities around Australia are focused on themselves.
EISENHAUER: It's an interesting time. You mentioned that the cost of living and the prices there, and it's not just in regional areas of New South Wales and Queensland, it's in the metropolitan areas as well. And that big issue that hanging over the heads, particularly in this district Jim, is the AdBlue and the concerns there with a lot of the transport companies. This is a timber industry, lots and lots of trucks around. And of course Snowy 2.0. There's a huge amount of transport only an hour and a half away from Tumut town itself up the hills there coming in from Cooma. That's a real issue at the moment for a lot of our operations around the region.
CHALMERS: Absolutely, I think the pandemic really told us a couple of things. First of all, just how important our drivers are and our logistics chains are. I've got a big industry here in the area that I represent because I'm right where three big arterial roads cross over in South East Queensland. The trucking industry, the drivers, logistics more broadly, absolutely crucial. I think we realised that during the pandemic. When - the economists call them supply chains - when the supply chains have got pinch points in them, like we discovered during the pandemic, then things like AdBlue add blue, they are harder and harder to get. For some months now we've known this problem's emerging. The Government says that they're doing something about it. I hope that that's right, because people have discovered - even non-drivers have discovered - that this is a really essential additive to the fuel of trucks right around Australia. So we need to get it sorted.
It's a good example of why we need to be more self-sufficient. That's why Anthony Albanese, and Kristy McBain, and myself, are always talking about a future made in Australia. We need to work out what we can produce here more effectively, not just for when times are difficult and those supply chains are under pressure, but because there's jobs and opportunities in that. If we can become more self-sufficient, if we can create new jobs and new industries, then we can revitalise the regions. And that's one of our highest priorities.
EISENHAUER: And very much so. And you talk families, the integral part of every community in Australia. And of course you highlighted this when you were speaking last Friday I think. I was watching one of the news services - I think it might have been Sky - but the mid-year budget update that you highlighted there, and the risks that families take as they come through. One of the interesting ones there was the cuts to come after the election, that was a bit of an eye-opener.
CHALMERS: Yeah, for sure. You've got the big Budget, usually in May. This coming year, it's going to be in March. So the first half of the year, you've got the big Budget. And then closer to Christmas, you've got what's called the mid-year Budget update or MYEFO.
EISENHAUER: Yep.
CHALMERS: And most people, I think, would have been sitting there thinking, okay there's a lot going on in the economy, we've been through a lot together, we're told the economy's recovering, so let's work out what are we going to do about skill shortages? What are we going to do about costs of living? What are we going to do about all these issues, the trillion dollars in debt that we have there with not enough to show for it?
Instead, the mid-year budget update, remarkably, was about, I think, two things. There was another big secret slush fund for election commitments, and we know the Government's got form spraying money around to serve their political interests rather than the interests of communities. That's the first defining feature of the mid-year update. And the second one as you say, they were asked what are you going to do about this trillion dollars in debt and what are you going to do about all of this? And they said, oh yeah, yeah, there'll be a time to fix the budget but not yet. What that's code for is that there will be cuts after the election, but they won't tell us what they are before the election. And we know in 2013 and 2014 and at other times, when they don't tell us where the cuts are coming from, typically that means the cuts are going to be things like Medicare and other essential services that we really rely on. I think there is something substantial to worry about there.
EISENHAUER: And of course, we go back to that fact of the cost of living. The amazing, the astronomical, amount of money that people are paying back in home loans and things like that. We look in the regional areas, and the same where you are there, the cost of housing has gone up a hell of a lot. You know, it's hard to get into the market, but in the metropolitan areas, that cost of houses, the repayments that some of these families are facing, how do some of these people afford to eat?
CHALMERS: Yeah, I know. It's mortgages but also rent.
EISENHAUER: Yep.
CHALMERS: And then you think about childcare. We've got a big policy there to make childcare cheaper. Then you think about petrol. One of the really easy ways to understand this, is on average people are paying $900 a year extra this year on petrol, but their real wages have gone backwards. $700. So from our point of view, the skyrocketing costs of living are a big part of the story, but it's actually the fact that people aren't earning enough to keep up with those rising costs that really kind of turbocharges that concern. What the mid-year budget update said last week, if you can believe it, is after eight years now of wages being really stagnant, the Government says in their own Budget, that there'll be another year of real wages going backwards. What that means, is that people's living costs are growing faster than their wages are and so they're falling behind.
EISENHAUER: Look, I know it's Christmas, New Year, happy thoughts, but we need to look forward, and we need to plan ahead. Particularly as we come into the New Year, with that election looming. As Shadow Treasurer these are the things that must you must lie in bed at night thinking, right what's the next step? It's a big job, Jim.
CHALMERS: Yeah, but I think that the key to it is - and I've been thinking about it for a long time - I think the key is not to try and do everything at once.
EISENHAUER: Yeah.
CHALMERS: If there are 100 problems in the economy, you can't fix everything overnight, so work out what you really care about. Wages and costs of living, obviously. The skills shortage, that's why we've got a policy for free TAFE in areas where there are skill shortages, that's a big priority for us. We've got a National Reconstruction Fund, which is all about partnering with business and industry to ensure we have that future made in Australia. These are our initial priorities, because you've got to work out where you can make the most difference. You can't undo all the damage of a decade-long government overnight or in a first Budget of a Labor Government, so you've got to work out where you're going to start. And I think once you do that, it makes it easier to think about these big challenges that we might inherit if the government changes hands.
EISENHAUER: Indeed. Now look, we could chat - and I'm hoping Jim, you and I will be able to chat in the New Year because there's lots of things we can cover as we get into a fresh New Year with some really positive thoughts coming through, like we do with Kristy and with Albo from time to time as well - but from the Chalmers household, how's Christmas looking?
CHALMERS: Today is the last day of work for me for a week.
EISENHAUER: Just for a week?
(LAUGHTER)
CHALMERS: That's right. Tomorrow we head down to Adelaide, where my in-laws are. We stay at the beach at Adelaide there for a week.
EISENHAUER: That's beautiful.
CHALMERS: But as I said before, pretty quickly back into the fray this year. I don't think many people in my line of work will be taking an extended break this Summer.
EISENHAUER: No, that's certainly not going to happen. And as you mentioned, as we started our chat today, with their emergency services, let's hope it's a very quiet time. I know that's a word that I'd like to use, but it's a word like to reinforce there, that it is a nice relaxing time for them. They've had their fair share of, even in the last few week, there's been storms and things happening. The Northern Beaches in Sydney, around our region as well. Be nice to think that our emergency services, along with their politicians, get a bit of a break. A weeks not a very long time, but I suppose it's better than waking up the next day and heading off to work straight away. The family would appreciate it no doubt, Jim?
CHALMERS: Yeah, it's a magic time of year.
EISENHAUER: Yeah.
CHALMERS: I've got little kids - a six year old, a four year old, and a two year old.
EISENHAUER: Yeah.
CHALMERS: And so for them, it's just an absolutely magic time of year. It's lovely. I think about those emergency services workers, you know when the phone rings on Christmas Day or Boxing Day or something like that.
EISENHAUER: Yep.
CHALMERS: It must be just incredibly stressful. Once again, big, big, big, shoutout to them. I know a lot of your listeners would be associated with the firies and emergency services and the other service providers in one way or another. So I just want to convey to them just how much we appreciate them and the sacrifices they make on our behalf.
EISENHAUER: Absolutely. Look to you and the family Jim, all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. We will be talking in the New Year no doubt about that. I know Albo will be cruising through the district at some stage. And Kristy will be keeping us up to date. Really appreciate your time joining us on the station today, and many happy returns for the season and best wishes for 2022.
CHALMERS: Merry Christmas to you Dave, and to your loved ones, and all of your listeners.
EISENHAUER: Thanks very much Jim Chalmers, all the best.
CHALMERS: All the best.
ENDS
