Natalie Barr:
Well, returning to our top story now. And Sydney has narrowly avoided a potential mass casualty event. That’s what they’re calling it after a police discovered that caravan laden with explosives in the city’s north‑west. Also inside, a note with the addresses of key Jewish targets across Sydney.
Let’s bring in federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers now. So, Israel’s Ambassador to Australia says this plot, if executed, would likely have resulted in the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil. Should everyday Aussies be concerned for their safety?
Jim Chalmers:
Good morning, Nat. This is obviously a terrifying development. What it shows is that the fears that a lot of Australians in the Jewish community have are not always unfounded. The view of the joint counterterrorism teams is that this did have the potential to be a mass casualty event, as you said a moment ago and as the Ambassador said, and this is why it’s so important that we work closer than ever – and we are – with the police and the other authorities because there is absolutely no place for violence or antisemitism in a country like ours. We thank and pay tribute to the police and the authorities for containing this particular threat and making these arrests. But obviously we need to continue to be vigilant.
Matt Shirvington:
Yes, certainly. Let’s talk about the economy now. And Aussies are finally within reach of desperately needed mortgage rate relief with a rate cut on the cards next month, potentially. Inflation is falling, of course, we saw that yesterday. Unemployment, steady wage growth is easing. Would you be surprised if the RBA didn’t cut rates?
Chalmers:
I think no matter how people ask me this question – I understand the interest in it – I try not to make predictions or preempt the decision that the Reserve Bank will take independently. I’m focused on my job. And you’ve touched on some of the things that I care most about: the very encouraging progress that we made on inflation in those numbers yesterday. Wages are growing, unemployment is low. Actually the lowest average unemployment of any government the last 50 years. And that combination is the combination that we are looking for. We are becoming increasingly confident that the soft landing in our economy which we seek is more and more likely. But we understand and we’re not getting carried away by those inflation numbers because we know that people are still under pressure. We know that these cost‑of‑living pressures haven’t disappeared, but they have eased. And that’s what we saw in the numbers yesterday.
Barr:
Yeah, you mentioned unemployment. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are being created, most of them by you, isn’t it? By the government. The private sector is pretty dead. Three‑quarters of the jobs that have been created have been created by the government. So, what are you going to do to lift the private sector? Are interest rates going to cut it?
Chalmers:
First of all, Nat, 4 in every 5 of the jobs created under this government have been in the private sector, not the public sector. Our political opponents and others draw a different distinction because they want to diminish what Australians have achieved together. But there have been 1.1 million jobs created under the life of this Albanese Labor government. Four out of every 5 of those have been in the private sector. But we do acknowledge that as we go from a period of very soft growth, as we deal with this inflation challenge and try and get on top of it, increasingly into the future, we want our growth to be predominantly private sector led, as it is in a healthy economy. There are good reasons why we’ve struck the right balances to keep the economy ticking over, to keep unemployment low, to get on top of inflation and to get wages growing. But into the future, ideally, and obviously, the best kind of sustainable economic growth is private sector‑led.
Shirvington:
If we do see a rate cut, will it lead to an early election? April 12th. That’s been bandied about at the moment. Is that the key date?
Chalmers:
That’s a decision that the Prime Minister takes. No doubt he’ll discuss it with his colleagues, but that’s a decision for him. And I try not to attach political analysis to a decision that the Reserve Bank will take independently. You know, they’ve got their job to do, I’ve got my job to do. We are encouraged by the progress that we’re making together because what we saw in those inflation numbers was headline inflation is in the lower half of the Reserve Bank’s target band. Underlying inflation is coming down as well. It’s the lowest inflation that we’ve seen for years in our economy, but it’s not mission accomplished because people are still under pressure for all of the reasons that Nat and I usually discuss on the program.
Barr:
Yes, you seem in a better mood this week. Thank you very much, Treasurer. Very happy.
Chalmers:
Thanks, Nat.