JOURNALIST:
As a matter of principle, would it be a good show to the Reserve Bank, that your Government is serious about spending restraint if we see a surplus?
JIM CHALMERS:
Well, a couple of things about that. Obviously, one of the important tasks of the Budget is to make sure that we can provide cost‑of‑living relief without adding substantially to the inflationary pressures in our economy. And one of the difficult judgments that we have to make, as we put the finishing touches on this Budget, is how to provide that cost‑of‑living relief that people need. How do we target it at the most vulnerable Australians, at the same time as we show restraint elsewhere in the Budget. And what people will see on Tuesday night is a Budget which provides cost‑of‑living relief in the most responsible way, at the same time as we lay the foundations for future growth, and make our economy and our Budget and our communities more resilient, at a time of substantial global uncertainty.
JOURNALIST:
But wouldn't a surplus help that message that you are serious about restraint?
CHALMERS:
Well, we've shown that we're serious about spending restraint. In the October Budget, we banked 99 per cent of the upward revision in revenue. Our predecessors used to spend most of it, and we bank most of it. And there's an important reason for that, and that is because we need to clean up the mess that we inherited from our predecessors. That will take more than one budget, it will take more than two budgets. We will show the necessary restraint in the Budget at the same time as we provide cost‑of‑living relief targeted at the most vulnerable Australians. That's the balance that we intend to strike on Tuesday night.
JOURNALIST:
You're saying the cost‑of‑living relief is going to be targeted at the most vulnerable, how do you determine who is the most vulnerable? What's the measure for that?
CHALMERS:
Well, you'll see on Tuesday night, how we've gone about it. And what we've tried to do is to provide cost‑of‑living relief in a number of areas. So that we can make things a little bit easier for people dealing with the substantial cost‑of‑living pressures. Cheaper child care will make life easier for a lot of families in a way that doesn't add substantially to the inflation challenge in our economy. We're making medicines cheaper, we're going to provide assistance for people with their energy bills to take some of the sting out of these electricity price rises that people are dealing with. And there'll be other elements of our cost‑of‑living relief plan on Tuesday night as well. And so what we hope to do, is to provide help for people at a difficult time, at the same time as we set the economy up for the future.
JOURNALIST:
Yesterday's decision clearly took the market by surprise, did it take you and your Government by surprise, especially as you are putting these finishing touches on the Budget?
CHALMERS:
We don't make predictions about decisions taken independently by the Reserve Bank and its board. Our job is to focus on putting together this Budget, putting the finishing touches on this Budget. The Reserve Bank takes its decisions independently. We don't pre‑empt them, we don't second guess them. We've got our own job to do and that's my focus.
JOURNALIST:
Given your role through the FIRB, when it comes to Chinese investment especially in our resources sector, is an over‑reliance on China, something that's worrying you at the moment and has that led to your decisions through the FIRB?
CHALMERS:
Every decision that I take through the FIRB processes is about making sure that we are an attractive destination for investment, and at the same time as we ensure that investment is in our national interest. And our FIRB arrangements are non‑discriminatory, they ensure that we balance the need for investment with the need to safeguard our national interests. And I approach every single bid that comes across my desk in that way.
JOURNALIST:
Don Farrell's heading to China in the coming weeks. Are you hopeful that we'll see movement on barley tariffs by the end of next month?
CHALMERS:
We've said repeatedly and for some time, we think it's in the interest of both countries to see those trade restrictions lifted. I pay tribute to Don Farrell and Penny Wong and other colleagues, who have done so much work and are doing so much work to try and stabilise that relationship. It's a key economic relationship for us. A lot of exporters are big employers here in Australia. We want to see those trade restrictions lifted in the interests of our people but also in the interests of a peaceful, prosperous, stable and secure region.
JOURNALIST:
Have you already touched on cheaper child care?
CHALMERS:
Cheaper early childhood education is a key plank in our plan to provide cost‑of‑living relief for Australian families. This is the perfect combination of good economic policy which is good for families at the same time. We will make child care cheaper so that people can work more and earn more if they want to. We will see the fruits of that in coming years. On the first of July, cheaper child care comes into place, and that will provide important cost‑of‑living relief with an economic dividend.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think that Australian people would buy Phil Lowe's argument that he understands the pain that they're going through? He doesn't have a mortgage, he sits there in the abstract and can dole out these rate rises to people. Does he really understand that pain?
CHALMERS:
I think you can confidently predict that I'm not coming at that question, Trudy, but I will say this; the Government understands that people are under the pump right now, and that's why the Budget will be focused on a package of cost‑of‑living relief.
JOURNALIST:
A rent freeze, what are your thoughts?
CHALMERS:
I think if you want to get pressure off the rental market, you've got to build more homes. And that's why it beggars belief that this very strange Coalition of the Liberals, Nationals and Greens want to vote against $10 billion worth of housing supply, to take some of the pressure off the rental market. Now what we'll see in the Budget is that there is substantial upward pressure on rents. Vacancy rates are low, rents are growing faster than we would like, there's an opportunity for the parliament to build more rental properties. We've also said, coming out of National Cabinet - I'm really proud of this policy - that we will make some changes to the tax system to encourage more investment in Build to Rent. The best thing we can do when it comes to rent is to build more homes. That's what the Housing Australia Future Fund is about - it beggars belief that the parliament has indicated it won't be supporting that. But it's also one of the important motivations for our policies on Build to Rent, which I was really pleased to see come out of National Cabinet.
JOURNALIST:
But on the HAFF, can you just clarify, it's the interest of 10 million dollars, up to 500 million -
CHALMERS:
It's a 10 billion dollar fund –
JOURNALIST:
But it's not 10 billion dollars of direct investment into housing.
CHALMERS:
Let me finish the answer. It's a 10 billion dollar fund from which the income stream will build thousands of new properties - social and affordable properties - particularly for women fleeing domestic violence and for other priority areas. It beggars belief that with a 10 billion dollar fund on the table, the Greens, the Liberals and the Nationals are indicating that they want to vote against that. If they really cared about the rental market in this country, they would vote for anything that means more supply of rental properties. It's incredibly disappointing that they've indicated that they don't want to do that.
Can I just say briefly - overnight, we lost Izabella Nash. Izabella Nash was a firefighter in our local community who lost her life, fighting a fire in Slacks Creek in my neighbourhood two nights ago. I was in touch with the local area commanders and managers yesterday – we were incredibly concerned about her. And the news has come through this morning that Izabella Nash lost her life protecting our community, there in that horrible fire at Slacks Creek. This is another reminder of the courage, the selflessness and the commitment of people who are first responders. That fire two nights ago was a dangerous fire. We've lost really an incredible young woman - selfless, committed and courageous. Her loved ones and her workmates will be incredibly sad today and our community is heartbroken for you.