Karl Stefanovic:
Jim, good morning. Nice to see you. Looks like you just got out of the shower my man.
Jim Chalmers:
A couple of hours ago, Karl. Good morning. How are you?
Stefanovic:
The Coalition is taking a bath this morning. I mean, could you get more lucky?
Chalmers:
It’s obviously a mess on the former Coalition side of the parliament, but it’s really not our focus. As you said in your introduction, we saw interest rates cut yesterday for the second time in 3 months. We’re getting inflation down, we’re getting wages up, we’re keeping unemployment low. And that’s because our focus will continue to be on providing stable, responsible, considered, methodical economic leadership. And we saw some of the dividends of that yesterday when rates were cut again.
Stefanovic:
You’re restraining yourself from talking about it. I see that in your eyes, Jim. I’m sure it’s the scuttlebutt around town. Look, the makeup of the parliament we looked at it this morning, you guys weren’t that bloody good.
Chalmers:
We’re very grateful for the magnitude of the victory that we saw a few Saturdays ago. We’ve made it really clear we’re grateful for the support that was shown by the Australian community. I think they did go for that stability and that responsible economic management. We’ll hear more about that later today when our campaign director fronts the National Press Club.
But we don’t want to waste the day. We’re grateful for the opportunity. We know that a second term is an opportunity to build more homes and roll out more renewables, make our economy more productive, get on top of this inflation challenge, help with the cost of living. And so that’s been our focus, really, throughout the first term, throughout the campaign, and it will be the major focus of our second term too.
Stefanovic:
Have you spoken to the PM about the Coalition dramas? I mean, as Phil Coorey points out this morning: the Prime Minister may as well do another couple of laps of the sun.
Chalmers:
I haven’t spoken to him about the Coalition. Obviously, we’ve had some interactions while he’s been overseas, but not about that. And on the second part of your question, I genuinely believe that things change quickly in politics. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves. Our working assumption is that elections are typically close in this country. The last one, notwithstanding, was a better result than what most people were anticipating. But we don’t underestimate our political opponents, and we don’t focus on them.
Yesterday was a big event, it was a shambles, it was a mess, but it wasn’t our focus. My focus yesterday was on this interest rates decision which will provide welcome relief for millions of Australian families. We’ll continue to focus on the things that really matter to people, even while our political opponents continue to focus on themselves.
Stefanovic:
You’re expecting more mortgage relief later in the year. There are – plenty of speculation this morning that’s going to drive prices through the roof. How much of a concern is that?
Chalmers:
I don’t make predictions about future decisions taken by the independent Reserve Bank. Certainly the market and the economists expect that there will be more interest rate cuts to come and that won’t be the only factor when it comes to house prices. House prices are usually a combination of a whole range of factors. And so our focus is on continuing to put this downward pressure on inflation, keep unemployment low, get wages growing again, roll out our cost‑of‑living help and also build more homes because we want people to be able to access more affordable options.
Stefanovic:
All right. Finally, we now know Australia’s biggest super funds asked you to reconsider the super tax. They’ve had no luck with that. You’re staying stubborn on that, you will not change it?
Chalmers:
First of all, they said that publicly a couple of years ago. They made a public submission to, when we did one of the 3 rounds of consultation we did on these changes. We haven’t changed our policy that we took to the election. The policy that we announced a couple of years ago. I listen respectfully when people have got a range of views about this policy or indeed any policy, but we’ve made it clear what our priority is here and that’s how we intend to progress.
Stefanovic:
Can you fix the train network in Sydney this morning for us just before we go?
Chalmers:
I just saw that story on your news a bit earlier on. I hope people can get safely to work and that those issues can be resolved as quickly as possible.
Stefanovic:
Good on you, Jim. Always good to talk to you.
Chalmers:
Thanks Karl, you too.