Sabra Lane:
The federal Treasurer joins us now, Jim Chalmers, welcome.
Jim Chalmers:
Thanks very much, Sabra.
Lane:
Are there any surprises left tonight?
Chalmers:
Oh, you’ll see how it all comes together tonight and that’s really what the Budget will do, it will bring together the progress that we’ve made together as Australians with the plan for the future from here. It will be a responsible budget, it will help with the cost of living, strengthen Medicare and build Australia’s future.
Lane:
The government is continuing to hand out energy rebates to ease the cost‑of‑living pressures. How likely is it that a payment like that will become a permanent feature of future budgets to protect households from the ongoing cost of the transition to low‑emissions power?
Chalmers:
First of all, I think as Evelyn said in the package that you just ran, cost of living is front of mind for most Australians and it’s absolutely front and centre in the Budget and the energy bill rebates are an important part of that.
We have to make sure that everything we’re doing with the cost of living is responsible. We’ve extended those energy rebates for another 6 months, not because we see them as a permanent feature in the Budget, but because we know that people are still under pressure.
We’ve made a lot of progress together as Australians in our economy, the economy is turning a corner, but we know we’ve got more work to do because people are still under the pump and there’s all of this global economic uncertainty. So whether it’s the energy bill rebates or the other cost‑of‑living relief in the Budget, to strengthen Medicare and make medicines cheaper, we’re doing it in the most responsible way that we can and that 6‑month extension reflects that.
Lane:
Okay. So not a permanent feature if you’re re‑elected, there may not be further support in 2026?
Chalmers:
What we’ve said really at every budget is from budget to budget we do what we can to help with the cost of living subject to those budget constraints and subject to that responsible economic management which has helped engineer a pretty stunning turnaround in the budget and got that Liberal debt down so that we’re avoiding all those interest costs. So we’ve made good progress in the budget. From budget to budget, we review the cost‑of‑living policies to make sure that we’re doing what we meaningfully can to help people in the most responsible way.
Lane:
Collectively, all that help that you’ve given for cost‑of‑living relief tallies now to I think $6.8 billion. Would that money have been better spent putting solar panels and heat pumps on the homes of vulnerable Australians that would have delivered ongoing relief from power bills.
Chalmers:
Well, first of all, there are investments in the Budget to help people with cleaner and cheaper energy. We’ve been investing enthusiastically in renewables throughout the life of this government and we’ll continue to do that, that’s very clear.
Secondly, some of the announcements that we’ve made over the course of recent weeks and months were already provisioned for in the Budget, including those energy rebates on Sunday.
And thirdly, what we’re trying to do here is to strike the right balance – cost‑of‑living help right now but also building Australia’s future and we see cleaner and cheaper energy as absolutely central to the future economy that we’re building.
Lane:
Australia will need more gas in the transition to a low carbon emissions future. Where will that come from?
Chalmers:
We’ve made it clear that even as we go for cleaner and cheaper sources of energy that to build the future economy and create jobs and opportunities we know that there is a role for gas, whether it’s in firming or manufacturing or in other ways and so we are working very hard to ensure that there’s the necessary gas supply to make sure that we can get this energy transformation right and I’m confident that we will.
Lane:
My colleague Jacob Greber reports that the Coalition’s on the cusp of announcing a Gas Reservation Policy. The government has also apparently been considering such an idea. Are you tempted to do that now?
Chalmers:
Well, we’ve made it very clear with our Future Gas Strategy that we’re striking the right balance here and making sure that there’s enough gas at the same time as we invest in cleaner and cheaper sources of energy into the future. So we’ve got our own policies and plans, and my colleague, Madeleine King, is doing a great job working –
Lane:
So no future plans for a reservation policy?
Chalmers:
Well, obviously we keep under constant review the different elements of the gas industry to make sure that it’s supplying the gas that Australians need at the same time as we invest in energy more broadly. So my colleague, Madeleine King’s doing a great job on that.
Lane:
Sure. But you’re not ruling it out.
Chalmers:
Well, we’ve got a Future Gas Strategy already and we work through as that evolves and as we get extra information from the ACCC and elsewhere, we make sure that our policies and plans keep up with the way that the sector and the market’s evolving and that’s what Madeleine’s doing.
Lane:
It’s Liberation Day on April 2, next week, that’s what the Trump administration is calling it. Have you tucked away extra money in the Budget to possibly help Australian companies that might be harmed with reciprocal tariffs that might come and the job that might go as a consequence?
Chalmers:
Well, really one of the major themes of the Budget is making our economy more resilient in the face of all of this global economic uncertainty. We have expressed on multiple occasions, and I will again today, our concern about these escalating trade tensions. We’re a very trade‑exposed country. We’re not uniquely impacted by these tariffs out of Washington DC, but we’ve got a lot of skin in the game.
And so what the Budget will be about in addition to helping with the cost of living and strengthening Medicare, it will also be about making us more resilient to these external shocks. There will be a little bit of funding to promote ‘Buy Australian’ in Australia but also more broadly the billions of dollars that we’re investing in things like green metals making sure that we are reliable parts of global supply chains as they change in response to these US tariffs. That’s a big defining feature of the Budget.
Lane:
And a contingency, just in case?
Chalmers:
Our contingency is to make our economy more resilient. When we talk about building Australia’s future, what we’re really talking about is making our economy more competitive and dynamic and productive but also more resilient. Now this is a new world of uncertainty, and the Budget will be a platform for prosperity in that new global context. A lot of the investments that we’re making in our Future Made in Australia are all about that.
Lane:
And as you point out, we’ve seen a lot of uncertainty. Many people are very worried about the future, their kids, technology, what we’re seeing in world affairs as well as the pace of that change. Being boring might actually have some strong voter appeal.
Chalmers:
Well, we’ll see, we’ll see. I think what we’re trying to do here is to make the right economic decisions for the right reasons and I say to people who are worried about these global developments, the Australian economy has genuinely turned a corner. We’ve got inflation down and wages up, unemployment’s low, we’ve got the debt down, interest rates have started coming down, and growth is rebounding solidly in our economy as well.
And so we’re doing better than most countries in this new world of uncertainty and the Budget is about building on that momentum in the interests of middle Australia.
Lane:
Jim Chalmers, thanks for joining AM this morning.
Chalmers:
Thanks so much, Sabra.