NATALIE BARR:
Exploding global demand for critical minerals amid concerns over a decline in the nation's manufacturing. The Treasurer will today release the Intergenerational Report which will show the nation's minerals sector will be crucial in the world's transition to net zero with demand increasing by 350 per cent. However, the report will also reveal Australia's economic output could take a $423 billion hit if global temperatures continue to rise over the next four decades. Joining us now is Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Good morning to you Treasurer. Tell us ‑ how are you going to reduce the impact of global warming on our economic output?
JIM CHALMERS:
Good morning, Nat. Great introduction ‑ those are a couple of the big issues that we'll be talking about in the Intergenerational Report today and climate change is a big part of the story of the next 40 years. It's one of the big shifts that we are anticipating in our economy and it will have consequences for all of us. The report tries to come at this in two ways ‑ first of all, to recognise that if we don't act collectively around the world and here in Australia to limit the impact of climate change then we put our industries and our people and our communities at risk, that's the first part of it but the glass half full version of this Nat is that there are vast economic and industrial and employment opportunities which come from cleaner and cheaper, more reliable and increasingly renewable energy and so the focus of the Intergenerational Report will be on those opportunities as well. More broadly, there are no shortage of challenges in our economy right now, we're focused on them, but also over the course of the next 40 years the big opportunities, big chances for Australia as well and we need to grab them.
BARR:
Yeah, so we've got a lot of critical minerals which I guess is lithium and copper ‑ the things that we need for batteries and mobile phones and stuff. So how do you justify supporting the mining of those things when you don't support the mining of coal?
CHALMERS:
First of all, when it comes to coal, there'll be a role for coal, and particularly when it comes to our export offering but the composition of our resources base will change over time ‑ I think the industry themselves understand that ‑ I've spent a lot of time in the resources sector as does my wonderful colleague Madeleine King and there is an understanding ‑ I met with a chair of one of our biggest miners yesterday, talking about the way that demand for our resources will change over time, the composition of that demand will change. Critical minerals are the opportunity of a century for Australia, there is no net zero transformation without Australia's critical minerals and so that is a huge opportunity for us and we need to make the most of it.
BARR:
Okay, the report will also reveal that the aged care, health, NDIS, defence and servicing government debt is going to be the biggest strain on the Budget over the next 40 years. We are an ageing population, how are we going to afford to pay for all these things that an ageing population is going to need more than ever?
CHALMERS:
It is the case ‑ and we've done this part of it for a little while now ‑ that Australians are living longer lives, they're healthier for longer and that does change the way that we need to provide services and care for our people in our communities and there's an opportunity there as well when it comes to what we think will be the spectacular growth of the care economy, the care and support economy. Aged care, NDIS, health care, as you rightly identified ‑ these are big pressures on the Budget, but big opportunities for Australia too. If we train the workers, we can be world's best at putting care at the core of what we do and also at the core of our industrial base. In terms of how we fund that ‑
BARR:
Can we Treasurer? Because we can't get enough aged care workers, we can't fund the NDIS, it's a disaster right now, you know that. We can't afford to pay for the NDIS and the health sector ‑ ask anyone ‑ so how are we going to do that in the future when we can't do that right now?
CHALMERS:
Well, we need to train the workers.
BARR:
Where are we going to get them from?
CHALMERS:
Well, we need to train them, and we know ‑
BARR:
But where are we going to get them from?
CHALMERS:
Well, we're going to train them in our communities and migration will play a part as well but primarily, one of the reasons why I'm putting out this Intergenerational Report, one of the reasons why I'm trying to tell people how we see our economy and our society evolving is because it challenges us to make sure that we can find the workers and train the workers to make sure that we can fund these services and already over the course of our first two Budgets, we've made substantial progress in getting the Budget in much better nick so that we can fund the things that we really value as a society into the future. In lots of ways, these questions that you're asking ‑ important questions about the Intergenerational Report are the whole point of the Intergenerational Report ‑ we know where the world is headed, we want to make Australians beneficiaries not victims of a world of churn and change and that's what today's about.
BARR:
Okay Treasurer, we thank you for your time.
CHALMERS:
Thanks Nat.