BEN FORDHAM:
Okay, let's go live to Canberra right now, because the Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is on the line. We've only got limited time with him, because he's got a busy morning. So hopefully he'll keep his answers brief, and we'll get through as many of your questions as we can.
The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is on the line. Treasurer, good morning to you.
JIM CHALMERS:
Good morning to you, Ben.
FORDHAM:
Thank you very much for joining us. Can we clear something up on power bills, first of all. I'm trying to work my way through some of these questions that I'm getting from listeners. So you promised that bills would come down by $275, that was before the election; we know they've gone up. So you're now offering energy rebates to more than five million households. Can you confirm, who's getting the relief, and for how long?
CHALMERS:
Yeah, thanks Ben. Depending on where you live in Australia, it is up to 500 bucks, and it comes off your winter bill, and there are different arrangements in different states. But what that means is, when you get your bill, if you're in a state where you get the 500 bucks, the bill will be $500 lower than it would otherwise be.
It goes to people largely on pensions and payments, but also Family Tax Benefit, depending again on where you are in Australia, the different eligibility. But we've tried to provide that energy bill help to people who are doing it tough, as we understand people are under the pump, and electricity is a big part of that.
FORDHAM:
Okay. So how long's it in place for?
CHALMERS:
It's a one‑off, or in some parts it's two payments, but largely around Australia it's a one‑off payment for the winter bill this year.
FORDHAM:
And for the Aussies who work and don't receive a cent in government support, they don't get the $500 off their power bills?
CHALMERS:
Well, some families get Family Tax Benefit, but there are other measures in the Budget for people who aren't on pensions and payments. Because we've had to be so responsible, we've prioritised the most vulnerable people, but there's a lot in there for middle Australia as well; the changes in Medicare, for example, bulk billing, big part of it; changes in early childhood education, to make that cheaper. There's a bunch of stuff in there for middle Australia too.
FORDHAM:
Just on the bulk billing, we spoke to Dr Nick Coatsworth earlier. He said under this policy 11.6 million Australians are eligible for this incentive, which means it's still up to the GP whether to bulk bill or charge some on the gap. He says not every GP will take this up.
CHALMERS:
Yeah, what it does is it increases the incentive for doctors to bulk bill. And I know a lot of your listeners, Ben, certainly a lot of the people I talk to in communities around the country, they're worried about finding a bulk billing doctor, and so by tripling the bulk billing incentive, which was a big new initiative in the Budget last night, we're trying to encourage more doctors to bulk bill so that people can find the healthcare that they need, and make the most of the Medicare system.
FORDHAM:
How confident are you that they'll take up that incentive when they can make more by not taking it up?
CHALMERS:
Oh, I'm confident it will make a difference; otherwise we wouldn't have spent $3.5 billion on it in the Budget last night, one of the big new centrepieces. I'm confident it will make a difference. We want to incentivise more doctors to bulk bill. You know, for a while now, I think people have found it too hard to find a bulk billing doctor. We didn't want to stand by and let that happen, so we're making this big investment, and I'm confident it will work.
FORDHAM:
Let's talk about welfare. We have 435,000 jobs available right now, more than a million people on unemployment benefits: that's JobSeeker and Youth Allowance. You've just lifted their welfare payments and their rent assistance, so aren't you making it easier for some people to choose welfare over work?
CHALMERS:
I think it's important that we recognise that when you want people to get back into work, you need to provide an adequate standard of living; it's actually a barrier to work if people can't do the basics in life in order to go and find a job when a job is available and they're able to do it.
So what we've tried to do here ‑ and this question's a good example of this, a lot of people wanted us to do much more; some people wanted us to not increase the base rate of JobSeeker at all ‑ we tried to find a good balance, which is to provide a bit of help for people without blowing the Budget.
And when it comes to these vacancies and opportunities in the economy more broadly, there's a heap of stuff in the Budget to try and encourage people into work, to make it easier. The child care policy, for example, is about making it easier for parents to work more and earn more if they want to, so that we can fill some of these skill shortages in our economy. There's a whole training agenda, there's a heap of stuff in the Budget which is about trying to make sure that when we've got unemployment at three and a half per cent, and when we've got opportunities in the economy, that people are equipped to grab them.
FORDHAM:
We're talking to Jim Chalmers, the Federal Treasurer. Just back to the workers, because they're the engine room of the economy, and you'll soon collect $300 billion from personal income tax, which is a record. So working Aussies have been taxed through the eyeballs. But many of them are saying, look, we walked away last night with very little. You've heavily focussed on the people who are already receiving taxpayers' money.
So let me ask on behalf of our listeners, what is in it for the workers out there?
CHALMERS:
Well, there's a bunch of stuff in there for working people. One of the key achievements of the first year of this government is that we've got wages moving again, and people are earning more. That's one of the reasons why the Budget's improving, but more importantly, it's why we're expecting to get this real wages growth sooner in this Budget than we were earlier anticipating, because inflation's coming off and wages are growing, and growing wages is a good thing. There's the bulk billing incentive for working people that we were just talking about, there's cheaper medicine for people, working people, there's the loans to make it easier to make your home energy efficient, there's a whole training agenda - there's a whole bunch of stuff. We are the Labor Party - workers are front and centre in our policies, and that's the case in the Budget too.
FORDHAM:
Okay. So don't scrap the stage three tax cuts. They're due to start on July 1 next year, don't bow to pressure. You've spoken about wages. Make sure that people can keep more of the money that they've worked so hard for. So are you committing absolutely in black and white to keep those stage three tax cuts?
CHALMERS:
We understand in those stage three tax cuts, they kick in at 45 grand, and they go right up the income scale, and we think it is important that when the Budget can afford it that we provide tax relief, particularly for people on lower and middle incomes, and that's why we haven't changed our position on stage three. They're in the Budget that I handed down last night, and we didn't consider changing them in this Budget.
FORDHAM:
Okay. So they will kick in July 1 next year?
CHALMERS:
They're in the Budget for 1 July, they're legislated, and –
FORDHAM:
Well, why are you reluctant to say that they are going to be coming in?
CHALMERS:
Well, I've said that they're in the Budget and they're legislated, so they're coming in on 1 July 2024.
FORDHAM:
And then nothing's going to stand in the way of that, there's nothing else outstanding, because I noticed last night you were flagging that they're soon going to cost $69 billion. So it sounds like you're preparing us for some bad news on that front?
CHALMERS:
No, I was just asked in the press conference, Ben, how much they cost, and because there's another year of them in the forward estimates of the Budget, it's a different number, and the number's now $69 billion. I wasn't trying to make any point other than to provide the information that the journalist asked me for.
FORDHAM:
Okay. So they're coming in July 1 next year?
CHALMERS:
They're in the Budget for 1 July, yeah.
FORDHAM:
But why can't you just say yes?
CHALMERS:
Well, I think I just did. They're in the Budget for 1 July, that means they're slated to come in on 1 July. We haven't talked about changing them, we haven't changed our position on them.
FORDHAM:
Okay. You seem reluctant just to say, "yes, they're coming in."
CHALMERS:
Well, I've got my own way to say it and the way that I say it is that they're in the Budget, they've been legislated, they were legislated some time ago, we haven't changed our position on them.
FORDHAM:
Okay. You're being accused of introducing a fresh food tax. Why are you taxing farmers to cover the cost of biosecurity controls for companies overseas, and why not make the importers pay?
CHALMERS:
Because the biosecurity system that we inherited is an absolute mess and one of the most important things that we can do to keep food prices down or to not see them increase as much as they otherwise would is to protect the integrity and the biosecurity of the industry and because the system wasn't sufficiently funded, because it was a bit of a mess when Murray Watt took it over as the new Minister almost 12 months ago, we've got to resource it, and –
FORDHAM:
Okay, you want to fix it, but why would you get farmers to help out their international competitors?
CHALMERS:
They've got an interest in protecting the integrity of the system and we've got to resource it, and to us this seems the best way to go about it.
FORDHAM:
On the National Disability Insurance Scheme, it's the fastest growing element of the Budget, $32 million a day. You've set a goal to reduce the growth of the NDIS, but you haven't made the tough decisions around what can and can't be claimed through the scheme. So it seems like you're planning to get the costs under control based on hope?
CHALMERS:
I obviously don't agree with that, Ben. What we want to do with the NDIS is to make sure that every dollar goes to the people it's designed to help, and in order to do that, we've got to get the costs under control. There are actually a substantial amount of improvements - sustainability measures in the Budget we handed down last night, and then you're right to say that there's a growth target after that of around eight per cent, which is still substantial growth. And what Bill Shorten will do, the Minister, and what the government will do is to work with the agency to make sure that we can get a handle on these rising costs, and so that we can secure the future of the NDIS for the people it was designed to help.
FORDHAM:
All right. We'll chat to Bill Shorten about that soon. Just one last one. You are forecasting a Budget surplus, and that's largely off the back of record coal and iron ore prices. The Nationals Senator, Matt Canavan, reckons you owe a few people a thank you.
[Excerpt]
MATT CANAVAN:
This Budget surplus is all on the back of our mining industry and coal, and the record coal prices we've got. The test for the Treasurer tonight is though that, will he thank the coal industry?
[End of excerpt]
FORDHAM:
So, Treasurer, do you want to say thank you to the mining and coal industry?
CHALMERS:
I use my own words, Ben, and that is to recognise, as I do frequently, privately and publicly, that the resources industry is absolutely crucial to our economy and to our Budget. I'd have no reservations in expressing that, I do that frequently, as I said. Matt Canavan's a kind of a professional stuntman, smearing his face with coal dust from time to time and pretending he's some kind of coal miner.
We recognise the central importance of resources to the economy and to the Budget. It's also not quite true that the improvement in the Budget is built on commodity price changes, it's about a fifth of it, which is important. A much bigger part of it is the fact that the labour market is strong, and people are earning more. That's making twice the contribution that the resources sector is, but the contribution from resources is really important. We are grateful for it, we recognise and acknowledge it.
FORDHAM:
We know you've got a busy morning. We appreciate you jumping on the line.
CHALMERS:
Thanks for the chat, Ben, all the best.
FORDHAM:
Good on you, Jim Chalmers, the Federal Treasurer.