MICHAEL ROWLAND:
The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, joins us now. Treasurer, a very good morning to you.
JIM CHALMERS:
Good morning, Michael.
ROWLAND:
Firstly, I want to ask you, what do you make of Fatima Payman speaking to the so‑called preference whisperer, Glenn Druery.
CHALMERS:
I’ve obviously seen that report, Michael, but I don’t know if it’s accurate or not. I think what we do know is Fatima Payman has chosen to put herself outside the obligations on the rest of us.
That’s a path chosen by her, not for her. And I think it’s really unfortunate, because we are a party of progress, not protest. We believe that you get more done when you act collectively rather than individually, and we believe that peace in the Middle East is achieved by elected governments doing hard work not by Greens motions on the floor of the Senate.
Now we’d rather Fatima Payman be part of the effort in the Middle East and in our policy agenda here in Australia. She’s chosen for the time being a different path. We’d rather she be back in the fold and meeting the obligations that all of us signed up to as Labor members.
ROWLAND:
Glenn Druery has told the ABC he’s also having informal conversations with concerned Muslim Australians who are thinking of running campaigns against your colleagues, sitting Labor MPs, at the next election.
What do you make of Fatima Payman speaking to people who could be taking on your party at the next election?
CHALMERS:
Well again Fatima Payman can explain the conversations she is or isn’t having with various groups. I do acknowledge that there is a lot of hurt in our communities, our Muslim communities, also our Jewish communities, because of the horrendous and horrific events in the Middle East.
And so, it’s no surprise in the broader community that people are expressing a view. For my part, I represent a community which has a large Muslim population, I represent them proudly, I engage with them. I know that there’s a lot of hurt in that community and in other communities as well.
I’m not focused on the political elements of this. I would prefer, as I said before, I think we would all prefer Fatima Payman be in the fold subject to the constraints that we all sign up to and the obligations we all sign up to, because I believe that Labor’s policy is the right one.
I believe that we make progress in the Middle East when we act collectively, not individually, and that’s because foreign policy, as I said before, is made by good governments acting diligently and methodically and working hard to achieve their objectives, not achieved individually when people put themselves outside the obligations of the party. And again, that’s a path that has been chosen by her, not for her. I would like to think that there is a place for Fatima Payman in the future of the Labor party.
ROWLAND:
It’s pretty clear to everybody watching things are going to get worse on this front, possibly as early as today the Greens talking about possibly bringing back that motion calling for Palestinian statehood. If Fatima Payman does, as she has vowed to do, cross the floor again to support that motion, what happens then?
CHALMERS:
I’m not going to pre‑empt that, I’m not going to assume that or engage in that particular hypothetical –
ROWLAND:
– well, expulsion’s the clear option, isn’t it, for the government?
CHALMERS:
Well, I’m not going to get into that hypothetical situation. I don’t know if that motion will come before the Senate today, and I don’t know what will happen if it does.
What I’ve said is that we have a policy here, I think it’s the right one, and we should get behind it collectively because we are a much better chance as a good, progressive government, a government of progress, not protest, we’re a much better chance of achieving our objectives when we work collectively rather than individually.
ROWLAND:
Okay. Moving on to matters economic, one of the big things we chatted about on that very chilly morning after Budget night in Canberra was the Future Made in Australia initiative. Legislation facilitating that is being brought into parliament today. Cost‑of‑living crunch out there suffered by so many Australians. The big question is how will this move to renewable energy under this bill bring down power prices?
CHALMERS:
Well, you’ve mentioned, Michael, in your question the 2 big priorities of the government. Rolling out substantial, meaningful and responsible cost‑of‑living relief this week, at the same time as we build a Future Made in Australia. And a Future Made in Australia is all about good, secure, well‑paid jobs, it’s all about imposing in this Act, this bill, the rigour and robustness we need on the public funding which is required to leverage much more private investment, and to make sure that when that private investment flows that it benefits our workers and communities.
That’s what the Future Made in Australia Act is all about. I’ll be proudly introducing that later today, and what it demonstrates is that we’ve got an agenda right now to deal with the cost‑of‑living pressures that people are under; tax cuts, energy bill relief, cheaper medicines, pay rises for people on awards, extra paid parental leave, but we’ve also got our eye on the future, on the industries and jobs which will power our future in the context of a global net zero transformation, and that’s what the bill that I introduce to the parliament today will be all about.
ROWLAND:
Speaking of cost of living, you’ve spoken already about how the existing interest rate rises in the system are putting a lot of pressure on people, your words. What would an extra possible rate rise do to people?
CHALMERS:
First of all, I’m not going to pre‑empt decisions taken independently by the Reserve Bank. You and I talk about these issues a lot, Michael, you know that I don’t do that.
But I do understand that the rate rises already in the system, since rates started rising before the election, that has put people under a lot of pressure, and it’s put our economy under pressure too. It’s hammering discretionary consumption, for example, it’s slowing our economy; we saw that in the first 3 months of the year.
So my job is to focus on my part of this, which is the fight against inflation, turning 2 big Liberal deficits into Labor surpluses is part of that effort, and the Reserve Bank Governor says that’s helping, but also rolling out this cost‑of‑living relief in the most responsible way that we can so that we’re putting downward pressure on energy bills and rents rather than putting upward pressure on inflation.
ROWLAND:
Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, as always appreciate your time. Thank you.
CHALMERS:
Thanks so much, Michael.