ANDREW CLENNELL:
Treasurer, thanks for joining us. A small uptick in the unemployment figures. What do you make of it?
JIM CHALMERS:
We've been expecting for a little while now that the unemployment rate will tick up a bit, but still 3.7 per cent when we've got all of this coming at us from around the world, that's still a pretty remarkable position that we're in. We've said for some time, I've said to you on other occasions when we've spoken, that we think the unemployment rate will rise a little bit. We've seen some of that in the numbers today. You never like to see the unemployment rate go up, but I think it's something that people have been expecting for some time.
CLENNELL:
Does it get to four and a half?
CHALMERS:
Well, it remains to be seen. Certainly, the Treasury forecasts think that unemployment will get to somewhere closer to the middle fours, but the labour market's been incredibly resilient. It's one of the big things we've got going for us. The fact that unemployment has been really extraordinarily low for some time. We've created more jobs in the first year of the Albanese Government than any new government on record. And another number that came out today, which is very pleasing, is that on average Australians are earning about $68 a week more than they were when we came to office, and so that's encouraging too.
CLENNELL:
The shared equity scheme, this has taken a while to deliver. Why did it need the agreement of the states before you could go ahead with it?
CHALMERS:
One of the things that became very clear was that we need the states to refer the powers to us. Whenever there's some ambiguity about the relative powers of the states and the Commonwealth, it makes sense for there to be an abundance of caution, and so we needed the states to refer those powers. That will actually take a little bit of time as well now that there's been an agreement with the states that they refer power. So, we'll see that in the coming months. We'll get this scheme up and running next year.
CLENNELL:
The PM speech – cost of living, cost of living, cost of living. You personally have been so disciplined in that message because it really is all that Australians care about at the moment.
CHALMERS:
Absolutely. It's the number one pressure that people are facing and so it's the number one priority of the Albanese Government. The Prime Minister said that, myself, Katy Gallagher said that this morning, and we mean it, because what we're able to do is we can show that we can have our number one priority to roll out billions of dollars in cost of living relief at the same time as we campaign for the Voice, at the same time as we lay the foundations for a stronger economy into the future as well. We're capable of doing all of these things at once but priority number one is taking some of the edge off these cost-of-living pressures without adding to inflation.
CLENNELL:
Are you a bit apologetic that because of inflation you can't do more for cost of living, which some of your members here, some of the delegates, would like to see from you?
CHALMERS:
Well, it comes from a good place. It comes from a good place, and we help Australians as much as we can within the boundaries and the confines of responsible and methodical economic management. We are the party of responsible economic management. We've demonstrated that over the course of the last 15 months or so, and one of the ways that we've done that is we've been able to deliver the first surplus in 15 years, not at the expense of doing more for people, but at the same time as we're rolling out billions of dollars in cost-of-living assistance. There will always be calls to do more. I think typically they come from a pretty good place, but we've got to manage the Budget in a responsible way at the same time as we take some of the edge off these pressures.
CLENNELL:
And will inflation come down enough for stage three tax cuts to not have too deleterious an effect on the economy and relieve people?
CHALMERS:
It remains to be seen what the economy looks like when those tax cuts come in in the middle of next year. Our position on the tax cuts hasn't changed. Inflation is moderating in welcome ways. We'd like to see it moderate quicker, but it has been coming off that peak around Christmas time and the quarterly peak before the election. That's a good thing. Inflation is moderating. Wages are growing in meaningful ways. Unemployment still has a three in front of it. We've got the Budget in surplus for the first time in 15 years. And all of these things will make us more resilient to the challenges ahead.
CLENNELL:
You’re here at the national Labor conference in your home state. When you see Albanese on stage, do you think about a future Jim Chalmers as Prime Minister on stage at such a conference?
CHALMERS:
Not for one second. No, I'll tell you why. I am so proud of Prime Minister Albanese and the fact that he has brought this whole shebang to Queensland, a state where we need to do much better, frankly. And from the Prime Minister right down, there's a recognition that Queensland is a big priority for us. And so I was sitting there, I was just talking to Katy Gallagher about it, I thought that was an absolutely brilliant speech. I thought it was absolutely bang on. And for him to deliver it to the faithful for the first time in 50 years here in Queensland fills this Queensland heart with pride.
CLENNELL:
And just finally, you don't expect any surprises from the conference? I imagine that you believe the membership will back the Government's policies or could we see something tomorrow, for example?
CHALMERS:
I don't want to pre-empt the debate at the conference, but people have been remarkably constructive. They've been terrific, frankly. And that's because they recognise that in order for us to lock down and be a long-term Labor government then we need to sequence our priorities, we need to make progress over time. I think there is a broad recognition of that. There will always be people who want us to do more and they want us to move quicker. I think that's a good thing. One of the things I like about the Labor Party base is they keep us up to the mark when it comes to reform. That's overwhelmingly a good thing. At the end of the day, the Cabinet makes decisions about the Government's policy, but we take gatherings like this very seriously.
CLENNELL:
Treasurer Jim Chalmers, thanks so much for your time.