SABRA LANE:
The federal Treasurer joins me now on the phone. Jim Chalmers, welcome.
JIM CHALMERS:
Thanks very much, Sabra.
LANE:
By forecasting a second surplus in a row, is that a fiscal monkey off Labor’s back?
CHALMERS:
Well, we see it as an important demonstration of the responsible economic management which has been a defining feature of the Albanese Government but it’s not an end in itself. What we’ve shown is an ability to get the Budget in much better nick at the same time as we deliver on our major priorities which is easing the cost of living and investing in the future.
LANE:
But following this financial year, the forecasts are for a sea of red ink and no more surpluses in the years ahead. That’s not comforting for many Australians.
CHALMERS:
Those Australians who are doing it tough, I want to assure them that they are front and centre in this Budget. We know people are doing it tough and that’s why more help is on the way tonight.
It’s a responsible budget which eases cost‑of‑living pressures and fights inflation and invests in a Future Made in Australia and it does all of those things because it recognises that people are under the pump.
Every Australian taxpayer will get a tax cut in this Budget, there will be additional cost‑of‑living relief as well, there will be more of our efforts to ensure that people earn more and keep more of what they earn, and all of that together demonstrates, I think, that in addition to getting the Budget in much better nick, in addition to investing in the future, we’re putting people front and centre and that means helping them with the cost of living.
LANE:
If inflation fails to fall and match the Treasury forecast by the end of this year, it’s unlikely that Reserve Bank will cut official interest rates. A million people, as we just heard, are now working multiple jobs to make ends meet. How forgiving do you think they’ll be, and mortgage holders will be in 12 months’ time when an election’s due?
CHALMERS:
My message to a lot of Australians who are doing it tough is that we understand but more than that, there will be more help in the Budget for you – a tax cut and additional cost‑of‑living help as well in the context of a budget which is designed to put downward pressure on inflation, not upward pressure on inflation.
LANE:
What about bracket creep? In the years ahead, are you going to tackle that?
CHALMERS:
Well, one of the primary motivations of these tax cuts for every taxpayer is to return bracket creep to get those average tax rates down but to make sure that every taxpayer gets a tax cut, not just some, which would have been the case under the previous government.
So every taxpayer – because of the Budget tonight – will get a tax cut and that will be the main part of the cost‑of‑living relief but not the only part of the cost‑of‑living relief.
The major focus in the Budget tonight is to help people doing it tough. There is more help on the way but we have been able to do that in a responsible way that means we can also get the Budget in much better nick, particularly shooting for this second surplus – which would be the first back‑to‑back surplus in almost 2 decades – and investing in the future as well.
LANE:
Have you got some surprises still stashed up your sleeve there? We’re expecting some kind of relief on power bills, maybe an extension of what you did last year, Commonwealth Rent Relief, you were criticised on that particular measure last year for being too stingy.
CHALMERS:
Oh, there are always a lot of opinions and there are always a lot of people who’d like you to spend more or less on a particular policy, I think that just comes with the job.
What people can expect to see tonight, in addition to that primary focus on cost of living and a focus on investing in the future and fighting inflation, is there will be important investments in more homes for Australians, there will be big investments in Medicare and the care economy, in universities and skills, and in the industries and jobs which will power the future.
LANE:
Just on that point about housing, 12,500 homes were approved in March. At a year rate, that’s 150,000, not the 240,000 which is what the government’s banking on. How are you going to turn that around quickly when an alarming number of construction companies are collapsing and local councils are finding all sorts of reasons to say no to housing developments?
CHALMERS:
These are the challenges, Sabra, but they’re not insurmountable, and what you’ll see in the Budget tonight is in total $32 billion worth of investment in building more homes for Australians, including billions of dollars in new money in that total and that’s because we recognise the housing pipeline’s not what it needs to be. We need more skilled workers, we need to work closely with the states and territories to build these 1.2 million extra homes in the 5 years from July – this is a very high priority in the Budget. Rent and housing supply are big parts of our inflation challenge and our cost‑of‑living challenge, we’ve recognised that and we’re doing something about it tonight.
LANE:
Labor’s going through a rough patch – High Court rulings that haven’t gone your way, ministers responsible for those portfolios being criticised for being in hiding, the PM’s reaction before a family violence rally. Is the Budget and voters’ reaction to it an opportunity for the party to right itself before perceptions with voters become concrete?
CHALMERS:
Look, my job is to get the economics right and I’m confident that we have in this Budget and our job as a government is to put the people front and centre and that’s precisely what we’ve done as we’ve put this Budget together.
I think if you make the right decisions for the right reasons and you concentrate on the economic cycle not the political cycle, the politics and the pundits will take care of themselves.
LANE:
Treasurer Jim Chalmers, thanks for joining AM.
CHALMERS:
Thanks so much Sabra.