Emma Rebellato:
The nation’s leaders will be locked in crisis talks today as National Cabinet comes together for an urgent meeting over the growing fuel woes.
With hundreds of service stations reporting shortages of petrol and diesel, state and territory leaders want a national approach to any potential response to the crisis.
James Glenday:
They’re expected to discuss a range of moves, including working from home recommendations. Victoria and Tasmania are already going their own way, making public transport free.
The federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers joins us now from Canberra. Treasurer, welcome back to the program.
Jim Chalmers:
Thanks very much, James.
Glenday:
I think a lot of families will be wondering at the moment should they be cancelling their Easter plans. Is that something you’d recommend?
Chalmers:
Oh, not necessarily, James, but what we’ll have the opportunity to do today is to meet with the states, because the best way to get through this is to get through it together, to work through these issues in a coordinated and ideally consistent way around the country.
And the best way to avoid the kind of harsher COVID‑style measures is to do that work, and the better we do at the front end of this challenge that we have in our economy, the more likely we are to avoid some of those harsher measures and restrictions down the track.
Glenday:
So if people have got a road trip planned, if they’re going interstate to see family, they’ve got the car full of fuel and they can afford it, should they be going?
Chalmers:
Well people will make their own decisions about that. Obviously we want people to use fuel responsibly, we want to make sure that we avoid big spikes in demand, big unnecessary spikes in demand. People will make their own decisions.
Now one of the reasons why the Prime Minister has brought the states and territories together today is because we want to avoid harsh restrictions, we want to avoid those kind of heavy‑handed COVID interventions, and to make sure that people are doing the most responsible thing they can.
They’ll make their own decisions about holidays. Obviously the price pressures on their own are enough to make people think again a little bit about some of their travel, but people should continue to behave in a responsible way.
Glenday:
Yeah, we’ve been hearing from some viewers this morning about that exact point. Where are things at with working from home? Do you think that’s – is that going to be mandated or is this just something you’re going to gently encourage?
Chalmers:
Well once again we’re trying to avoid those kind of heavier handed COVID interventions, but work from home in a number of instances makes a lot of sense. The Prime Minister has indicated more of a willingness to go down the voluntary path than the compulsory path, and again this is one of the reasons why this meeting today is so important with the states and territories.
These issues will be worked through in a coordinated way, a cooperative way, ideally a consistent way around the country. Work from home makes a lot of sense in some instances. But what we’re trying to do here is to keep the country moving. To keep the country moving without some of the heavier handed COVID‑style interventions that we’ve seen in the past, and in order to do that we need to continue making sensible decisions at the government level, governments, but also at the household level and when it comes to workplaces.
Glenday:
We’ll be joined in a moment by the Victorian Premier who is making public transport free. Just to an area that you have responsibility for. Fuel excise, is cutting fuel excise a good idea or are you worried this could actually see demand for fuel increase and potentially spike inflation?
Chalmers:
Well a couple of things about that. I mean, first of all, I really wanted to commend Premier Allan and also the Tasmanian government for the steps that they’ve taken on public transport. We need everyone doing their bit here and the Victorian and Tasmanian governments have indicated a willingness to do their bit when it comes to public transport.
For our part, the focus has been on securing supply, getting the distribution to regional areas, cracking down on rip‑offs, and also providing cost‑of‑living relief in other ways, including another couple of tax cuts to come.
But obviously, we have a range of contingencies beyond that, and we keep them under more or less constant review. This is a government which does the best it responsibly can to help people with these cost‑of‑living pressures which we know are being accelerated by this war in the Middle East.
Glenday:
You had some big plans for this federal Budget, things like a road user charge potentially for EVs had been floated. Of course, changes to the capital gains discount as well had been widely discussed. Are you going to have to put some of those big changes on hold if this war doesn’t end soon?
Chalmers:
Well, first of all, I mean every budget is calibrated for the economic conditions that we confront. Yes, there is more than the usual amount of global economic uncertainty this time around, and as those conditions deteriorate and evolve, so will our strategy. I mean that’s just common sense.
But there will still be reform in this budget. The Budget will be about resilience and reform. The Budget will be about helping deal with the pressures of the here and now and balancing that against our intergenerational obligations and demands imposed on us by the future.
And so I’m still looking to deliver a very ambitious budget, but it will be a budget which recognises the pressures that people are facing right now as a consequence of this war in the Middle East.
Glenday:
It must be hard to put together given how much uncertainty there is. Just briefly before I let you go; the US has moved troops into the Middle East. Would a ground invasion or ground operations in Iran be a good idea?
Chalmers:
Oh, look, these are concerning developments when it comes to the potential escalation of the war in the Middle East. You know, from a purely economic point of view the end of the war in the Middle East can’t come soon enough. And we’re seeing some quite extreme damage done to the global economy by this war, and Australians are paying the price for that at the bowser. And so some of these developments are quite concerning. The longer that this war drags out the harsher the consequences for Australians, and so we view it in that light.
Glenday:
Jim Chalmers, thanks for joining us this morning.
Chalmers:
Thank you, James.