SARAH ABO:
For more, we are joined now by the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers in Perth this morning. Good morning to you, Treasurer. Forecasts are expecting the GDP to slump yet again. Are you trying to deflect the blame here?
JIM CHALMERS:
Of course not, we work well and closely with the Governor of the Reserve Bank. We’ve got different responsibilities, but we’ve got the same objective and our objective is to get on top of this inflation challenge, without smashing an economy which is already weak. We will get those new numbers tomorrow. We’ll wait and see what they say. But most economists expect that growth in our economy is really soft and subdued right now – interest rates are part of the story there, so is global economic uncertainty, and so are all these price pressures in the economy and that’s why our number one focus is rolling out our cost‑of‑living help in the most responsible way so that we can get on top of this inflation problem in our economy. But recognising at the same time that the economy is pretty soft at the moment.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Jim, I’m a bit worried about you. I’ve been away for a couple of weeks and since I’ve got back, it looks like you’ve been picking fights with everyone. The headlines screaming – Treasurer tries to pass the buck, Treasurer plays the blame game, Treasurer makes RBA threats. It looks to me like the Treasury is looking to offload a little bit of the government’s responsibilities.
CHALMERS:
First of all Karl, I’ve missed you while you’ve been away, and I’m not convinced about those chorizo pies that you were spruiking a couple of minutes ago. But look, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to the way that we’re assessing the economy. I’ve made some of these points about interest rates for some months now. What I said on the weekend wasn’t actually a new comment from me, I’ve been saying it for ages. And I think it would be strange really, if the Treasurer of Australia couldn’t say to the Australian people our economy is slowing and here are some of the reasons why it’s slowing, including higher interest rates. And also, I don’t think your viewers necessarily need reminding that these interest rate rises put pressure on people and they slow our economy. I think that’s self‑evident –
STEFANOVIC:
– yeah but Treasurer –
CHALMERS:
– I don’t think it’s a particularly controversial point to make.
STEFANOVIC:
It is when you say, when you say things like, they are smashing Australians, the Assistant Immigration Minister didn’t hold back either, on the economy. I’m not sure why he was diving into the economy but anyway, he says we wouldn’t want to see the Reserve Bank go too far. I mean, that sounds like a proper threat.
CHALMERS:
No, I don’t think so. And he was asked about it, in his defence, he was asked about it, and that’s his view. And it’s consistent with something that I’ve said before, which is whether it’s the Reserve Bank Governor or the government, our job is to make sure that we’re fighting inflation, getting the budget in better nick, helping people who are doing it tough, and making sure that all of our decisions recognise the pressures that people are already under. As I said before, the Reserve Bank and the government have got the same objective here, we’re trying to get inflation down in our economy, that’s our primary focus and as we go about doing that, we’ve got to make sure that we recognise the economy is already soft and subdued and people are already under pressure. These are some of the sorts of balances that you and I and Sarah have been talking about all year. These are the sorts of conditions that we anticipated in the Budget. We’ve got to get the balance right and I believe that we are.
ABO:
Well, this is the thing, though, Treasurer, you’re right to say Australians are under pressure. You, of course, as the Treasurer of this country, are also under pressure to help alleviate some of that stress that we’re all feeling at the moment. At the last election, we saw that the rates came up, you blamed the Coalition then, suddenly it’s not your fault now that you’re in government?
CHALMERS:
No, the point that I was making then was about Scott Morrison saying that interest rates would only go up under Labor, and then they went up under the Liberals –
ABO:
– but you’re politicking and at the end of the day Australians aren’t better off.
CHALMERS:
You asked me about it, Sarah. My primary focus is on rolling out the cost‑of‑living relief. I leave it to our opponents to divide people and play politics. My focus is on these tax cuts we’ve talked about before, energy bill relief, cheaper early childhood education, cheaper medicines, getting wages moving again, that’s the primary focus of the government. We know that people are doing it tough and that’s why cost of living is our primary focus when it comes to the things we’re doing as a government.
STEFANOVIC:
Look, I can hear you’ve got people screaming at you over there in Perth as well. But realistically, there won’t be a rate cut until after the election, perhaps. How does that play out for you at the election? How damaging is that?
CHALMERS:
First of all that’s a matter for the independent Reserve Bank. As you know, I don’t make commentary or try and pre‑empt decisions that they may take in the future. My job is to focus on what I’m responsible for and I’m doing that. And I’m responsible for the budget, for the cost‑of‑living help, for the 2 surpluses that we’ve rolled out. These are the things that I’m doing to help people and to help in the fight against inflation. I recognise that the Reserve Bank Governor has got the same objective but different responsibilities. And the Governor has the opportunity to explain how she’s going about it. I’m taking the opportunity to speak with you about how I’m going about it. I’m trying to speak plainly about the economy. It’s one of the reasons I like coming on your show, is to tell people what’s happening and what we’re doing about it.
STEFANOVIC:
All right, we’ll let you run, but there’s still a bit of heat in this one. Good on you. Thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.
ABO:
Thank you, Treasurer.