DAVID KOCH:
Treasurer, morning to you ‑ a bit to get through. Before we get on to the Jobs Summit, this change in the isolation period. First up, was it in order to get people back to work sooner?
JIM CHALMERS:
It’s an important step which reflects the health advice that the premiers, chief ministers and the Prime Minister received yesterday. That’s the system working as it should be: health officials, health experts briefing the leaders of our states and territories and the leader of the Commonwealth, and making sure that our settings are appropriate for the stage of the pandemic in which we find ourselves.
KOCH:
Health authorities have advised this, but you’ve got the AMA saying: “Hey, this is likely to see a bigger spread of COVID.” Do you have any issues there?
CHALMERS:
I think, inevitably, and on every occasion when you get this health advice, you’ve got to strike the right balance between what’s right by people’s health, what’s right by the broader community. I’m confident that they’ve been able to do that here.
KOCH:
Let’s turn our attention to the Jobs Summit. The economy is in a situation where there are more job vacancies than people looking for work. We’re seeing it everywhere: cafes, workplaces, airports. How are you going to solve that at this summit?
CHALMERS:
We want to make sure that those opportunities are within reach of more people. We do have an issue right now, a welcome issue, where we’ve got a relatively strong labour market at the national level, but we’ve still got people who are locked out of these opportunities, and we’ve got these skills and labour shortages right around the country. So, what this Jobs and Skills Summit is all about is bringing people together around some of those big economic challenges, whether it be stagnant wages, labour shortages and skills shortages, an economy which has been weaker on the productivity front than we would like. All of these challenges, I think that are broadly accepted and broadly agreed by everyone participating today and tomorrow at this Jobs and Skills Summit.
Our task is to bring people together to see what we can achieve by working together by seeking that common ground in the national economic interests. And I’ve been really heartened, Kochie, I’ve been absolutely heartened and energised by people’s willingness to try and find that common ground, and so I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll make progress.
KOCH:
Will we get any decisions out of this summit because Peter Dutton is saying it’s just a talkfest, we don’t need talk, we just need action, clear policies?
CHALMERS:
First of all, we invited Peter Dutton and he threw his toys out the cot and didn’t want to come. So the room will be full of people who want to have a go and not just have a whinge. Peter Dutton just wants to have a whinge, so I think he’s made himself irrelevant to all of this. But, yes, there will be areas agreed at this summit where the Government can move forward more or less immediately this year if there is sufficient common ground. We’re hoping to find some common ground on some immediate issues. Inevitably, there’ll be some other things that require some more work, but I’m cautiously optimistic. My expectations are tempered, but I’m cautious and optimistic that we’ll make some genuine progress.
KOCH:
No brainers seem to be increased migration and also allowing retirees to work and not affect their pension ‑ will you be looking at that?
CHALMERS:
Certainly, the summit will be looking at both of those things. I think there is a case for more sensible migration settings so long as increased migration is not a substitute for training more Australians for more of these opportunities, and so long as we can find ways to boost housing stock and other important issues that are associated with that. When it comes to older workers, I think as you and I might have discussed before, I do have an open mind to doing something in this area, but we’ve got to make sure that we get value for money for any policies that we put forward. I’m looking forward to discussing the plight of older workers in this summit. I think it’s a really important thing for us to focus on.
KOCH:
Okay. All the best with the summit. Thanks for your time.
CHALMERS:
Appreciate it, Kochie, all the best.