Sarah Abo:
Angus Taylor is wasting no time going on the offensive, the Liberal Party’s new leader already branding Labor’s management of the economy a ‘disaster.’ Treasurer Jim Chalmers joins us live now from Logan to discuss. Good morning to you, Treasurer.
Jim Chalmers:
Good morning, Sarah.
Abo:
Your former counterpart, Angus Taylor is now the leader. Are you shaking in your boots?
Chalmers:
No, not at all. Angus Taylor is the architect of the Liberal Party’s policy for higher taxes on workers, bigger deficits and more debt. He is precisely the last person that anybody should be taking lectures from or advice from when it comes to the state of the budget. He talked a big game on Friday. He said it was the Liberal Party’s change or die moment.
It turns out all he had in mind really was to write a strongly worded letter to Anthony. We remember his performance as Shadow Treasurer. He should not be allowed anywhere near a budget after the way that he failed in his time in the Shadow Treasury role.
Abo:
What do you really think of him, though, Jim? No, I’m joking. I mean, it’s all a moot point, though, isn’t it? You’re in government, they’re not.
Chalmers:
Yes, he’s not our focus. This kind of rolling chaos in the Liberal Party is not the government’s focus. The government’s focused on cost of living and housing, the economy more broadly. We got a very powerful endorsement of the government’s economic plan overnight from the International Monetary Fund. Those are the things that we are focused on.
We won’t be distracted by this kind of daily Coalition chaos. But you asked me about Angus Taylor and his record. He is the guy that went to the election with a policy for higher taxes on workers, bigger deficits and more debt. Now he’s written this letter. It’s just another predictable stunt from the same old Liberal Party, which hasn’t changed and hasn’t learned a thing.
Abo:
Alright, so it’s not just Angus Taylor who’s levelling criticism at you. It comes from perhaps a higher authority, which is the RBA, of course, Michele Bullock highlighting the government’s spend‑a‑thon, tying it to their recent rate hike. I mean, she said government spending is putting pressure on inflation. What’s your response to that?
Chalmers:
Well, first of all, I’d encourage you not to do what the Coalition does, which is to routinely verbal the Reserve Bank Governor. The Reserve Bank Governor’s made–
Abo:
It’s what she said, Treasurer.
Chalmers:
Well, the Reserve Bank Governor’s made 2 points, and I agree with both of them. The first one, which is not contested is that public demand is part of aggregate demand. She’s made that point, and I’ve agreed with that point in the parliament and elsewhere.
The other point which is always left out when our opponents talk about this and our critics talk about this, which is she made it very clear on Thursday, the Friday before that, the Tuesday before that, that the big thing that changed in the economy last year and put this additional upward pressure on inflation was actually a big recovery in the private sector.
The public sector, the public demand, actually started to take a step back, the private economy grew faster than they were anticipating, and the Governor has gone out of her way on multiple occasions now to point that out.
Abo:
But isn’t it your job, Treasurer, as the government and as the Treasurer to be on top of that? I mean, you know, you’re ridiculing Angus Taylor for writing a letter to Anthony Albanese about this proposed bipartisan task force to tackle high spending. But what is wrong with that? I mean, the Fin Review says the last time there was a whole‑of‑system government spending review was back in 2014 under Tony Abbott. Why won’t you make them regular, those reviews? I mean, it’s been recommended by the OECD.
Chalmers:
Well, a couple of things about that. First of all, the Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison government’s failed on the budget after that spending review. They promised a surplus every year and never delivered one. We’ve delivered 2 already, and we’ve only been in office for 3 and a half years–
Abo:
But you’re in a whole lot of trouble now, Treasurer, and you know that.
Chalmers:
Well, let’s not forget, Sarah, that we have actually made very substantial positive progress in the budget. We’ve helped engineer the biggest actual positive improvement in the budget since Federation in nominal terms, delivered those 2 surpluses, we’ve got the Liberal debt down by $176 billion. That’s saving Australians $60 billion in interest.
Abo:
So, are you saying that you’re comfortable with government spending? That you think it’s fair that Australian taxpayers are dishing out for all this additional spending on your behalf?
Chalmers:
I’m saying that there’s more work to do, Sarah, but we have made progress together. We’ve got spending as a share of the economy down from up near a third of the economy under our predecessors to closer to a quarter. More work to do, including more work to do in the budget. I’ve been up front about that all along as well. But let’s not lightly dismiss the progress that has been made in the budget over the course of the last 3 and a half years. We know that there is more work to be done, and we take responsibility for doing that in the budget and beyond.
Abo:
Will capital gains tax be one way that you do it?
Chalmers:
We haven’t changed our tax policies. Our tax policy is focused on cutting income taxes for all 14 million workers. Those are the tax cuts that Angus Taylor opposed at the last election. That’s our big focus, but also implementing a standard deduction, cracking down on multinational tax evasion, making the superannuation system fairer from top to bottom, including by boosting the low‑income super tax offset.
That’s our tax policy, and we know that there are intergenerational issues in our economy and in our budget. We’re dealing with them in other ways – building more homes, making it easier to save a deposit – at the same time as we cut income taxes for every single one of the taxpaying workers in this country.
Abo:
Alright, well, a lot of that still needs work. We’ll see what the May Budget holds for us all. Treasurer, thanks for joining us today.
Chalmers:
Thanks, Sarah.