JOURNALIST:
Treasurer, on the Population Statement, what are the biggest challenges faced by this country according to this report?
JIM CHALMERS:
The Population Statement that we're releasing today is full of really fascinating insights which will help us plan for a better future. One of the big conclusions of this statement is that COVID has had a bigger impact on population growth than anything else in the last century or so. Population growth is a really important source of dynamism in our community, in our society and in our economy but it needs to be well managed and this population statement will help us do that.
JOURNALIST:
How big a challenge is the ageing population?
CHALMERS:
Our population is getting a bit older - that challenge has been with us for some time, but it's been exacerbated by what we saw during the last couple of years of the pandemic. And so our job is to make sure that we build a workforce which is capable of supporting a population, which is getting a little bit older. This is all about the ways that our population is growing and changing and ageing, and the sorts of things that we need to do as a government and as a country to respond to those challenges, but also grab those opportunities.
JOURNALIST:
How big a concern is the ageing population? What sort of impact does that have and how do you deal with it?
CHALMERS:
What it means is when our population is getting a little bit older, we need to build the kind of workforce that can support that population as it ages. That's why our focus is on training more Australians for local opportunities; cheaper childcare to make it easier for people to work more and earn more; and migration can be an important part of the story too, but not as a substitute for those two other things.
JOURNALIST:
What impact will the ageing population have on productivity and the workforce?
CHALMERS:
The implications of a changing population are felt right across our community and right across our economy. One of the pressures which comes from an ageing population is that it means fewer and fewer people are able to support the kinds of services and health care and pensions and payments that we want to provide older Australians in particular. The economic consequences of our population changing and growing and ageing are profound, and so too need to be the responses that governments and communities and a country like ours puts in place.
JOURNALIST:
The report finds that nearly 80 per cent of COVID deaths happened last year - is that a surprise?
CHALMERS:
There are a number of surprising elements to the data that we released today in this population statement. For example, the fertility rate came up a little bit after the last couple of years of COVID, and many people were expecting there to be more growth in the fertility rate before that. Obviously, there's a lot of focus on the fatality rate as well, particularly as it comes from COVID. The reason we put these numbers out into the public domain is because we want people to discuss things like the implications of COVID, the implications of ageing, the right kind of fertility rate to support decent population growth, and of course to put in place a proper migration program, which recognises migration can be a real source of strength, but it needs to be well managed. My colleague Clare O'Neil is doing a review of our migration settings for exactly that reason.
JOURNALIST:
Why do you think so many COVID deaths happened last year?
CHALMERS:
I'll leave that to the health experts but what the numbers released today by the Treasury and the Centre for Population show is that there are a number of conclusions to be drawn from the way that COVID impacted our health and our society and our population more broadly. I think the stunning conclusion from this report is that COVID had a bigger impact on population growth than anything else for the last 100 years. There are a number of elements to that, of course, health elements are part of the story, and no doubt the health experts will pore over this data as we want them to.
JOURNALIST:
On China, we're hearing reports from the resources sector that China is showing interest in buying Australian coal again, what is your response to that? Do you think trade is about to resume?
CHALMERS:
We haven't seen any confirmation of that but that would be an incredibly welcome development were it to occur. We've said for some time that we want to see these trade restrictions lifted, that would be a good outcome for our businesses, for our employers, our industries, our exporters and our workers. It would be in the interests of both countries to see these trade restrictions lifted. The point that we've made for some time is this: we give ourselves the best chance of progress here if we engage in a genuine way with our counterparts in China. We have put a lot of effort into stabilising this relationship. It's an absolutely crucial relationship for Australia when it comes to our economy and more broadly as well. We have committed to even more dialogue when it comes to these trade restrictions. If these trade restrictions were lifted, it would be a really welcome development. It would be good for our workers and industries and our economy more broadly. It would be in the mutual economic interests of both countries. We haven't seen these developments confirmed by any official channels. We're obviously aware of some of these reports. If this was to eventuate, it would be a very good outcome.
JOURNALIST:
What impact has this [inaudible] had on the economy?
CHALMERS:
The trade restrictions imposed by the Chinese in recent years impact tens of billions of dollars of Australian exports. At a time when we want to make sure that we're selling our world class products to the world, we want to make sure that we're taking maximum advantage of the opportunities that exist in trade. So obviously there have been consequences for our exporters, for our industries and for our workers. Tens of billions of dollars in value have been tied up in these trade restrictions. We've said repeatedly, publicly and privately, that it would be a good thing to see these trade restrictions lifted by the Chinese. It would be in the interests of both countries, and more broadly we intend to engage where we can, disagree where we must, as we manage what is a very complex relationship, but one which has such important relevance to our economy in particular.
JOURNALIST:
If it is the case that China is about to start buying our coal again, is that an encouraging sign for other industries affected by China's trade sanctions?
CHALMERS:
We'd like to see all of the trade restrictions lifted and that's the point that we've made repeatedly, publicly and privately. Obviously, a lot of the other industries which are impacted by these trade restrictions will be watching very closely what if anything happens when it comes to coal. Now, we would like to see the trade restrictions come off. We haven't seen these reports confirmed in any official way. We're obviously aware that this is being reported but we haven't seen it officially confirmed. If the Chinese to go down this path, it would be a very welcome development, particularly for our miners, but more broadly as well.