SARAH ABO:
Thanks for your time this morning. Do you anticipate the Fair Work Commission will lift the minimum wage?
JIM CHALMERS:
Certainly the expectation is that the minimum wage will be lifted. What we're trying to ensure is that people on the lowest pay in our economy and in our country don't go backwards. This is all about ensuring that people can earn more, and our tax cuts are all about them keeping more of what they earn as well. And that's because we recognise that these cost‑of‑living pressures do fall disproportionately on the lowest paid in our workplaces. We are an enthusiastic champion of the low paid in this country. Our submission on Thursday to the Fair Work Commission will reflect that.
ABO:
I guess you've got to balance this as you know, Treasurer, obviously with the risk of making inflation worse. I mean, especially when you consider those jobs figures from last week.
CHALMERS:
Obviously, inflation is still a challenge in our economy, even though it's moderated substantially from its peaks in 2022. We'll get a monthly inflation figure later this week, and that monthly figure bounces around, but overall the direction of travel is pretty clear. Inflation is coming off a fair bit in our economy but it's not mission accomplished yet. We don't have this inflation challenge in our economy because the lowest paid Australians are earning too much. I think that's really clear.
ABO:
But wouldn't an interest rate cut help the lowest paid Australians?
CHALMERS:
Obviously, if rates were cut, it would help people with a mortgage but what we're seeing right now is a really welcome trifecta in our economy. Inflation has been coming off, unemployment went down in the figures last week at the same time as we got real wages growth in our economy for the first time in years. And one of the reasons we've got that, one of the reasons why wages are moving again in our economy in welcome and encouraging ways is because of the way that the Fair Work Commission has granted a couple of decent pay rises for the low paid, and we want to see that again.
ABO:
Treasurer, you would have seen more than 500 households have fallen into electricity hardship each week since your government was elected. What does that say about Labor's $3 billion power relief? It hasn't happened and people need more help.
CHALMERS:
What it says about our power relief is that things would have been much, much worse without it. And don't forget, the Liberals and Nationals voted against giving people hundreds of dollars off their electricity bills when they voted against our energy plan. I'll give you one quick set of numbers, Sarah. Since the middle of last year, electricity has gone up about three and a half per cent. Without our energy plan, it would have gone up more than 18 per cent. And so what that shows is we recognise people are under pressure. We know that energy bills are a big part of the story but without the steps that we've taken and the billions of dollars that we've invested, this pressure would be that much worse. And that's why it beggars belief, frankly, that the Liberals and Nationals voted against helping people with their electricity bills. That's what they did in the parliament, they need to explain that. We've been prepared to provide some assistance to people to take some of the sting out of these electricity bill pressures.
ABO:
It's clearly not enough though, you've got 117,000 households across the country in hardship right now.
CHALMERS:
Obviously, there are a lot of families under a lot of pressure, and electricity is part of the story. And that's why we've been rolling out these this energy bill relief, we're rolling out cost‑of‑living help, there's a tax cut for every taxpayer coming in the middle of the year, we're getting wages moving again in our country. All of these things are about not just acknowledging the pressure that people are under but actually doing something about it.
ABO:
Maybe all that's not enough Treasurer. The Newspoll released today shows a slump in primary support for the Labor Party, the lowest since the election sitting at 32 per cent. Perhaps the challenges Australian households are facing is biting the government now.
CHALMERS:
We understand people under pressure. The highest priority, not just in my portfolio and the Treasury, but across the government is trying to take some of the edge off these cost‑of‑living pressures without adding to inflation in our economy. We frame our budgets and we frame our economic policy based on the economic conditions, not the political conditions. What we've been able to show in recent months is taking some hard decisions to provide a bit of extra help for people including those tax cuts for every taxpayer which we'll roll out in middle of the year.
ABO:
Hopefully it's enough to keep you in the hunt at the next election, Treasurer. Thanks for your time this morning.