LARA VELLA:
With the PM and Federal Cabinet in Perth this week, there has been a lot on the agenda in WA, including plans for naval shipbuilding, the arrival of an asylum seeker boat off the coast and tax cuts. For more on this, we are joined this morning by Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
Good morning to you, Treasurer.
JIM CHALMERS:
Good morning, Lara.
VELLA:
All right, so let's start with these tax cuts for West Australians from the 1 July. So, who's going to benefit here? And do you think they go far enough to ease the cost‑of‑living pressures, given that some only equate to around $42 a week?
CHALMERS:
Well, our tax cuts mean that every single taxpayer in WA gets a tax cut, but more than eight in ten local taxpayers get a bigger tax cut because of the changes that we announced. This is all about ensuring that the workers of WA can earn more and keep more of what they earn. And we recognise that the average income is a little bit higher in the West and that means that the average tax cut is higher in the West as well. This will make a meaningful difference to the cost‑of‑living pressures that people are under. We know that no one thing can completely solve the issues that people are confronting in their household budgets. But by making this important change, it means more help for more people with the cost of living.
VELLA:
All right, Treasurer. Also this morning, there are reports that a major border security funding package will be unveiled in the May budget following the arrival of an asylum seeker boat. Now, yesterday, WA's Premier said a greater presence is needed along the WA coastline. So, does this infer the government isn't doing enough when it comes to border surveillance?
CHALMERS:
First of all, we had a good discussion with Premier Roger Cook, who came to our cabinet meeting yesterday, and a range of issues were discussed, including this one. I think it's important to remember that we're already increasing funding for border security. Something like 470 million extra dollars [indistinct] fund border security and national security more broadly. Unfortunately, you hear a lot of lies told about funding in this area. The Opposition Leader was at it again, lying about funding for border security. Border security funding has already gone up 470 million extra dollars for this because it's an important priority for the government. Obviously, in future budgets, whether it's this one or subsequent ones, we'll consider funding, but we want to make sure that we give our people in the border force the resources and the funding that they need. That's what we've been doing to hear. Don't believe some of the lies that are being told about it.
VELLA:
All right. A restructure of the Australian navy is going to be unveiled today, including plans for continuous naval shipbuilding in WA, as a $20 billion funding hole is exposed in a review. Treasurer, is this just a costly exercise to shore up votes in WA?
CHALMERS:
Of course not. No, this is a really exciting day for Western Australia when we more than double the surface fleet, as we will be announcing today, Western Australia will get a big slice of the action when it comes to these billions of dollars in extra investment, and it will mean continuous shipbuilding at Henderson with all of the jobs and industry and technology and certainty that that brings. So, this announcement today is really good for WA. It's really good for our navy, our national security and our economy more broadly. And we are really pleased and really proud to be able to be making this key investment at Henderson, which will benefit Western Australia and benefit the nation and its national security as well.
VELLA:
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers on what is going to be a very busy day in politics, and also a very busy day on the water behind you, too. Thank you so much for your time this morning.