KIERAN GILBERT:
Let’s return now to that inflation number today. The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers joins us. Are some of the commentators on that inflation number misreading it, do you think, in your view, when they’re saying it’s all about the energy rebate? When I heard in your news conference you pointed out the ABS is saying the Commonwealth rebate only has shown up this month in WA and Queensland.
JIM CHALMERS:
Quite right, Kieran. I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding and unfortunately with your earlier guest from the Liberal Party, a deliberate misrepresentation of the figures. First of all, there’s nothing artificial about trying to help people with their electricity bills and our opponents don’t support that, that’s fine, but we’re providing this energy bill relief proudly and for good reason and that’s because people are under pressure. Unfortunately, our political opponents don’t understand that, they are horrendously out of touch when it comes to the pressures that people are under. But you’re quite right to point out that the ABS said today in their statement, that when it comes to the Commonwealth part of these energy rebates in the month of July, they were only rolling out in WA and Queensland, of course, there were some state rebates in there as well, but from a federal point of view, more help is on the way, but in this monthly data, only WA and Queensland.
But I think the other really important point that some of the commentators and Coalition figures are missing is that underlying inflation also went down in the month of July. So, headline inflation went down, underlying inflation went down, non‑tradable inflation went down. Our policies are helping in the fight against inflation, but some of the commentary about the energy bill rebates unfortunately has been wide of the mark.
GILBERT:
So, you sound quite optimistic, then, about this trajectory. Do you still, do you think it’s a chance that we might, I mean, I know you don’t comment on rate reductions, but is there still a chance that the rate cycle is heading in that direction this year as opposed to next?
CHALMERS:
You’re quite right to pre‑empt my answer on the future movements in interest rates. The independent Reserve Bank will determine that and explain their thinking on that. I think this is a welcome, encouraging result in this monthly inflation data – headline, underlying, non‑tradable, some really welcome developments. But we understand that people are still under pressure and that’s why our cost‑of‑living help is so important, whether it be the tax cuts, the energy bill relief, cheaper early childhood education, cheaper medicines, rent assistance, getting wages moving again, all of these things are our primary focus because we know that even as inflation comes off in welcome and encouraging ways once again in the monthly data today, we know people are still under pressure and that’s why they’re our focus.
GILBERT:
When you look at the polls at the moment, the economic management disparity, Coalition’s still well in front. What do you put that down to? Is it the fact that we’ve seen a dozen rate hikes and people are copping it and hurting?
CHALMERS:
I think we don’t need opinion polls to tell us that people are under pressure and sometimes that is reflected in the way that they think about politics and we understand, and we acknowledge in a respectful way that people are under the pump. And that’s why I want to assure people that our primary focus is on rolling out cost‑of‑living help that our political opponents don’t support and doing that in the most responsible way and as the data shows today, our policies are helping in the fight against inflation, and that’s deliberate. But also, we’re getting the budget in much better nick. All of the things that our opponents were incapable of when they were in office, getting the budget in better nick, inflation was 6.1 per cent when we came to office it’s 3.5 per cent in today’s data, so making that progress, making the right economic decisions for the right reasons, the politics will take care of themselves.
GILBERT:
The Greens are calling for this Robin Hood tax, $500 billion on big business. Your opponents are saying this is where it’s heading in a minority government. Can you rule that out? Any such super tax that the Greens are suggesting today?
CHALMERS:
Yeah, that’s a Greens policy it’s not our policy and our intention is to govern as a majority. Our objective is to govern as a majority after the next election. The Greens, their primary task is to make up numbers and put out press releases, we actually have to run the place, run the economy and run the country and that means taking a responsible and methodical approach to policy. And if the Greens really cared about more fairness in the tax system, they would support unequivocally our efforts to make multinational corporations pay their fair share of tax, our efforts to make the taxes on people with more than $3 million in superannuation fairer, to fund paying the superannuation guarantee on paid parental leave and for other priorities. And so, we’ve got an agenda on tax which we’ve rolled out, which we are trying to legislate, if the Greens want to make the tax system fairer then they should support us in the Senate.
GILBERT:
Yeah, and, but on that super tax idea. That’s something you would rule out as counterproductive.
CHALMERS:
Of course, that’s not our policy, that’s a Greens policy designed to get attention. Our job is a bit different, which is to make the budget add up in a methodical and a responsible way and our priority is multinational taxes, fairness in superannuation taxes and the PRRT changes that we bedded down recently.
GILBERT:
You’ve been called hypocritical for calling Peter Dutton divisive. At the same time, you’re having a crack at him. What do you say to those, those assessments?
CHALMERS:
Our focus is on cost‑of‑living and the fight against inflation and Peter Dutton’s focus is on dividing people and that’s because that’s all he knows and it’s all he does. And in my view, Peter Dutton’s divisiveness is his defining and disqualifying characteristic. Now he’s too divisive to be the Prime Minister of this country, it’s that simple. And I don’t regret for one second pointing that out to people. Now, in the speech I gave on Monday night, 90 per cent of that speech was about the economy and about John Curtin’s legacy, I think I mentioned John Curtin 5 times as many times by name as I mentioned Peter Dutton by name. But I think it’s really important we call his strategy out, which is to pick needless and unnecessary fights on national security in the hope that nobody notices he’s got no costed economic policies and no economic credibility. That’s what he’s trying to do here and I think it’s important that we understand his strategy. We’re in the third year of a 3 year parliamentary term, he still has no costed policies, he still has no economic credibility and he hopes by being more and more divisive that that will distract from the fact that he doesn’t have any of that economic policy or economic credibility that people should have in the third year of a 3 year parliamentary term. So, if you’re asking me do I stand by the comments I made on Monday, absolutely I do, 100 per cent I do because Peter Dutton is the most divisive leader we’ve seen in politics, I think, in the modern history of this country. It’s all he knows, it’s all he does and that should disqualify him from the Prime Ministership.
GILBERT:
Treasurer Jim Chalmers, thanks.