Sally Sara:
Rising tension between Israel and Iran is seeing a growing number of Australians reaching out for help to leave the Middle East as the escalating conflict also fuels concerns about potential worldwide economic impacts.
Meanwhile, in Canberra, the Treasurer is preparing for his first major public address since Labor’s election victory, with further details of the government’s second term economic agenda to be revealed in an address to the National Press Club.
Jim Chalmers joins me now. Treasurer, welcome back to Radio National Breakfast.
Jim Chalmers:
Thanks very much, Sally, good to be back.
Sara:
Let’s start in the Middle East. So what’s the latest information the government has on Australians who are seeking to leave the region right now?
Chalmers:
I’m told by the colleagues that there are more than a thousand Australians and family members in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories who have registered with us who want to get out of that part of the world. And then another 870 or so in Iran – so we’re obviously working very closely with those Australians via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
We’re monitoring developments in that very dangerous part of the world very closely. Obviously our major focus is on the human cost of this escalating conflict. There are economic costs as well. We’re monitoring both of those things and I’ll be briefed on all of that in the next hour or so.
Sara:
And what’s the Australian Government’s view, is there concern that the United States could get involved more directly in the conflict?
Chalmers:
Well I think everybody’s watching very closely and monitoring very closely the statements being made by President Trump and others. The US President has signalled that he wants a deal. I think there is broad international support for a return to dialogue and diplomacy.
We’re monitoring those statements closely. We’ve made it clear what our preferences are here and our focus in an immediate sense is working with those almost 2,000 Australians who have indicated that they want to get out of that very perilous, very dangerous part of the world right now.
Sara:
So when you’re talking about the government’s preference, is that for de‑escalation, is that what you mean?
Chalmers:
Yeah, we’ve made that clear via Penny Wong’s statements and others. Obviously we recognise Israel’s right to defend itself. We have a preference here for dialogue and de‑escalation. I think Penny Wong has made that clear on a number of occasions, and other international leaders have as well. There is broad international support for a return to dialogue and diplomacy and that’s consistent with the Australian position.
Sara:
What would all that mean for Australia do you think?
Chalmers:
Obviously the most pressing consequences are for the people caught in that dangerous part of the world. We’ve talked about that already.
There are also economic consequences of course, the spike in the oil price that we saw last Friday and the volatility in the oil price since then is the most obvious way to understand the possible impact on our own economy, but the global economy as well.
It’s a perilous place, the Middle East right now, it’s a perilous time for the global economy. The oil price is one indication of that. There is a lot of concern about what it means primarily in human terms but also in economic terms, and obviously we stay right across that.
Sara:
On the Prime Minister’s cancelled meeting with Donald Trump at the G7, how much of a missed opportunity is this for Australia given the 2 leaders haven’t met face‑to‑face since the election?
Chalmers:
They have had 3 conversations though since President Trump’s re‑election. There will be other opportunities to engage. I don’t think it’s especially surprising that President Trump left the G7 early. He missed meetings with a number of world leaders, including the leader of India, so not just Prime Minister Albanese. There’ll be other opportunities to engage.
I also think it’s important to remember, as Luke just reminded us in the news summary, is that Prime Minister Albanese has had the opportunity to meet with the German Chancellor, the Prime Ministers of Japan and the UK and others. So this has been a really important opportunity for the Prime Minister of Australia to engage with world leaders at the G7 in Canada. There will be other opportunities to engage with President Trump.
Sara:
The so‑called Liberation Day tariffs, they’re due to kick in in July. Are you worried that we’ve potentially lost the opportunity now to secure a tariff exemption before that time?
Chalmers:
No, this engagement’s ongoing. These exchanges between Australia and the US are ongoing, they’ve been going on for some months now and they will continue.
We will continue to speak up for and stand up for Australian workers and businesses and investors and interests, as we have done so far. There’ll be other ways that we can do that, other opportunities to do that. I don’t think it’s especially surprising in this instance that the meeting wasn’t able to go ahead.
Sara:
Back home, and in a matter of hours you’ll be addressing the National Press Club here in Canberra. What clarity will you be aiming to provide to Australians in respect to economic reform in this term?
Chalmers:
The speech I’ll give at the National Press Club is all about how we reform our economy together to make it more productive, more dynamic, more competitive, more resilient in the face of all of this global economic uncertainty.
I acknowledge, Sally, that people listening to your show – they might be tucking into their cereal or contemplating a second cup of coffee or looking for the other school shoe. People don’t always talk about productivity or think about productivity, but productivity is really about how we make more opportunities in our economy. It’s about how we lift living standards over time, it’s how we invest in people, our ability to adapt and adopt technology.
I’ll be talking about productivity, I’ll be talking about economic reform and how we make our economy stronger, our budget stronger and more sustainable in the face of all of this volatility we’re seeing around the world.
Sara:
Will the Shadow Treasurer Ted O’Brien and the Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, will they be invited to this roundtable?
Chalmers:
We’re still finalising the invitations for the reform roundtable, it’ll be in the third week of August in the Cabinet room. It will be quite a small group, as you can imagine, in the Cabinet room in Parliament House in Canberra. And it won’t be the only opportunity for people to feed in their ideas.
So we’ll finalise the invitation list. It will be a pretty small, pretty tight and targeted list of people in the Cabinet room. But if people are willing to be constructive there will be lots of opportunities for them to feed in their views.
Sara:
But that sounds a lot like a no, Treasurer.
Chalmers:
I’m being upfront with you, Sally, we haven’t finished the invitation list, and there’ll be opportunities for everyone to feed in their ideas about making our economy more productive, our budget more sustainable.
If they’re prepared to take a constructive approach there will be more than enough opportunities for them to demonstrate that constructive approach, as we work out how we reform our economy together to make it stronger now and into the future.
Sara:
Let’s look at the issue of work from home briefly. I was speaking earlier with Innes Willox from the Australian Industry Group, and we were talking about the issue of penalty rates for those who are working at home. If a worker has a 9‑to‑5 job but they want to split their working hours throughout the day at home, should that employee be paid overtime or penalty rates in your view?
Chalmers:
I think Innes was right to say that it shouldn’t be beyond us to work through some of these issues. Our approach to work from home is that it’s a really important part of ensuring people have the flexibility they need to participate in work.
One of the things we’re proudest of over the last 3 years is keeping unemployment low, have been labour force participation very high. And one of the reasons for that is work from home, the ability to have these kinds of flexible arrangements.
This is primarily the domain of my wonderful colleague Amanda Rishworth, the Minister for Workplace Relations, but we’ve made it clear we support work from home. We think that there should be a way through, our unions and businesses and governments working together to make sure that these welcome, flexible arrangements that so many families rely on in particular are part of our workforce going into the future.
Sara:
Just finally and briefly, have you had any further discussions with the Greens about proposed changes to tax on higher balances for superannuation?
Chalmers:
Not yet but I will. I’m looking forward to engaging with the other colleagues in the Senate between now and the return of parliament. They’ve indicated a willingness to be constructive about it, which I welcome. And we’ve got time to have those conversations before the parliament comes back but they haven’t begun yet.
Sara:
Treasurer, thank you for your time on Breakfast this morning.
Chalmers:
Thanks for your time, Sally, all the best.
Sara:
That’s Jim Chalmers, the federal Treasurer there.