NATALIE BARR:
Joining us now is the Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Good morning to you. Jim, should Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil keep their jobs over this?
JIM CHALMERS:
Yes, in short. They are working very hard to deal with some of the legacy issues in the system but also to respond to this High Court decision, and if the Opposition were serious about finding a solution here they'd be part of the solution rather than playing their usual nasty and negative politics.
BARR:
So in this case the board, the Community Protection Board that was set up I understand by the Home Affairs Minister, wouldn't put an ankle bracelet on this guy, didn't think it was needed, and the Commonwealth opposed bail. Does that change your mind?
CHALMERS:
I've got the same view, Nat, that I just expressed. We're dealing with some legacy issues in the system, including from when Peter Dutton was the Minister. We're dealing with the High Court decision.
BARR:
That's not a legacy issue though, that's related to this person.
CHALMERS:
Yes, but what I mean by the legacy issues is there's a whole bunch of cleaning up of the system that we're engaged in. We're trying to do that in the parliament. We need the support of the parliament to do that. We're cleaning up some legacy issues.
We've got a High Court decision that we didn't want that we had to respond to. Any government would have to respond to that and part of that is trying to make sure that we get the regime as tight as we can and that's what the ministers are doing.
BARR:
But see, Treasurer, Australia is sitting there and watching a 73-year-old cancer sufferer beaten up in her own home, where a police minister says she will never be the same. We're showing her face on TV. And nobody, but nobody, is taking responsibility. Do you see the problem here?
CHALMERS:
Well, I think there's 2 things here. First of all, people are reluctant to comment on an ongoing case. I think that's just the usual. But in terms of the victim here, you know, this was absolutely horrific. Absolutely horrific. And nobody should have to go through what she went through.
What we're trying to do is we're trying to make sure the system is as robust as it can be to prevent this kind of thing happening. And that involves a lot of work to clean up the system and to respond to the High Court case so that people aren't in this unacceptable position.
BARR:
Okay. Let's move on to your portfolio. We're a fortnight away from the Budget of course being handed down. Inflation still remains above the Reserve Bank's target. There are only so many levers you can pull. What will you be doing to rein in spending?
CHALMERS:
First of all we'll try and land a second surplus in this Budget. That's an important way to put downward pressure on inflation. It's part of the reason, that first surplus that we delivered is part of the reason why inflation has moderated because of the responsible way that we're managing the Budget.
So, we'll continue to run a tight ship, particularly in the near term when those pressures are most acute. Inflation is almost half what we inherited but we want it to moderate further and faster, and the Budget will be an important part of that effort.
BARR:
So, Westpac is saying that government spending has stayed high since COVID, and we've now got the money market having a 50/50 bet each way on interest rates going up. That's not sounding too crash hot, is it?
CHALMERS:
As I said, inflation's almost halved since we've come to office. It's come off quite substantially. We'd like it to come off more, and that's a big reason why inflation will be a primary focus of the Budget, not the sole focus of the Budget.
We know that your viewers, Nat, are under substantial cost-of-living pressure. There'll be cost-of-living support in the Budget. We'll design it so that it helps with inflation rather than makes the problem worse. We'll continue to run a tight ship. We hope to be able to land a second surplus in the Budget as well as a demonstration of the tight ship that we are running in the Budget.
What we have shown in the first 2 Budgets and we'll show again in the third is that the fight against inflation is the primary fight that we're engaged in, at the same time as we invest in the future of our economy and also make sure that we've got a bigger emphasis in this Budget on economic security.
BARR:
Also calls this morning from leading economists to boost JobSeeker and Youth Allowance. Are you considering that?
CHALMERS:
The Budget will focus on other ways to provide help for people who are doing it especially tough. We did budget in the last Budget for a $40 a fortnight increase in JobSeeker. JobSeeker has gone up around $125 a fortnight since we came to office but the Budget will focus on other ways that we can help people doing it tough.
We do acknowledge that even with the best efforts in those first 2 Budgets to give people a bit more help that we can do more. We can do that in a responsible and a meaningful way and people will see that on Budget night.
BARR:
Okay. Treasurer, thank you for your time today.
CHALMERS:
Appreciate it, Nat.