TOM ELLIOTT:
Our next guest is the Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers. Good morning.
JIM CHALMERS:
Good morning, Tom. How are you?
ELLIOTT:
Well, good. So, is Rex going to keep flying, do we think?
CHALMERS:
They’re certainly going to do those regional routes, by the sounds of the statement that the administrators have released this morning, and that’s really important. I think that’s a relief, frankly, because we know how important those regional services are to regional communities and to regional economies. And we know that it’s been a horrible week for Rex, for its workers and for its customers. And so I think there’s some element of reassurance in that statement that the regional routes will continue. We’re also working with the other airlines, via our Minister, Catherine King, from down your neck of the woods to make sure that where people can be re employed and redeployed in the other airlines, that we try and save as many jobs as we can.
ELLIOTT:
Was it a mistake for Rex to try and take on the likes of Virgin and Qantas flying the east coast capital city routes, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane?
CHALMERS:
I mean, I think it’s self evident that it hasn’t gone as they had hoped and it’s for the administrators to kind of comb through that and work out what’s gone wrong here. From a government point of view, as we’ve said, I think the PM said yesterday, Premier of NSW, the Minister, myself and others, we’ve all said that the big priority for Rex, for its customers and workers and for its communities is to make sure that it continues to fly those regional routes which would otherwise be either unserviced or underserviced by the other airlines. There will be a lot of commentary, a lot of people will go through what’s happened here and come to a conclusion about those other routes between the big cities, but our priority has always been those regional services.
ELLIOTT:
I’ve read this morning that Rex might need fresh capital to the tune of $200 to $300 million, would the government consider contributing some of that.
CHALMERS:
We are prepared to play a constructive role here, but the nature of that is yet to be determined. Obviously, in her characteristically diligent way, the Minister’s been working through some of these issues and we’ve had some discussions, but we thought it was important that the administrator make the statement that they’re making this morning, giving people that assurance about those regional services I keep coming back to and giving people a sense of what happens next. We also wanted to make sure that people can rebook on the other airlines. And I welcome the fact that Virgin first and then Qantas came to the table with flights and also trying to employ people where they can. So, all those things are important. We are prepared to consider other responsible steps that we might be able to take. But as I said, you know, for me personally, I think for the government, the main thing is to get those, make sure those regional routes are continuing, make sure the workers are looked after, make sure that people can get home if they’re at risk of being stranded. Some of the other issues will work through in good time.
ELLIOTT:
Do we need to accept, and I mean, I’ve watched this over 40 years now, that every time we have more than 2 airlines in Australia, someone seems to go broke.
CHALMERS:
It’s a tough industry. I think that’s self-evident too. My dad used to drive for Ansett air services, for example, and that was a long time ago. But we have seen, unfortunately, in this difficult part of the economy, difficult sector, we have seen third players and fourth players come and go. And when that happens, we get less competition and we get less services. And for Australia, which is as big as it is, as important as air travel is for regional communities, but also for the national economy. We want to make sure that the sector is as competitive as it can be and we want to make sure that players can succeed. Unfortunately, in this case, it’s been a horrible week for Rex and not the first time that we’ve seen airlines get into difficulty. And that’s because it’s a tough industry. We want to make it as competitive as we can be. We want to make sure that people can access flights and services, and that’s our focus.
ELLIOTT:
On a separate issue. In about 2 and a half hours time, the latest inflation figures come out. Are you nervous about those?
CHALMERS:
I think there’s a pretty broad expectation amongst the economists and the experts that those numbers later this morning will be a bit sticky and a bit stubborn and more persistent than we’d like. And, you know, that would be unwelcome news, but also in some respects unsurprising news, because we’ve got some domestic factors, including temporary factors around fruit and vegetables and travel costs. We’ve got issues around rent and insurance, and we’ve also got some global pressures playing out, too. And we see that in the price that people pay at the bowser. The petrol price has gone up about 10 per cent, I think, since this time last year. And so, all of that together means inflation is likely to be a bit more persistent than any of us would like to see. But it has come down a heap in the last 2 years since we were elected. It was higher than 6 per cent when we came to office. It’s come off a heap since then. But what we’ve seen around the world is as it comes down, it very rarely comes down in a perfectly straight line. It zigs and zags on the way down. And I think we’re a chance to see some of that play out in those numbers at 11:30.
ELLIOTT:
Well, if you’re right, do you think the Reserve Bank might raise interest rates again next week?
CHALMERS:
I try not to make predictions about that. I try not to pre‑empt these decisions that they take independently, appropriately. And I try and focus on my role, and my role here has been to turn those big Liberal deficits into big Labor surpluses. And we know from the Reserve Bank Governor that that’s helping in the fight against inflation. And also as we roll out this cost‑of‑living relief, a tax cut for every taxpayer, energy bill relief for every household, cheaper medicines, rent assistance, that we do that in a substantial way, a meaningful way, but also in a really responsible way that helps take some of the edge off these cost‑of‑living pressures rather than add to them. Those are my responsibilities. I take those responsibilities very seriously and I try not to give free advice to the Reserve Bank on the way through.
ELLIOTT:
You’re obviously pretty busy at the moment. Are you getting much time to watch the Olympics?
CHALMERS:
I’ve seen a bunch of the Olympics, actually. Usually working through briefing folders and emails and the like. I saw the Boomers, unfortunately, going out to Canada late last night, and I watched a bit of the swimming earlier this morning. It’s terrific to see Australia perform on the world stage the way that we are.
ELLIOTT:
Indeed. We’ll leave it there. Jim Chalmers, Federal Treasurer. Thank you for your time.
CHALMERS:
I really appreciate the chat, Tom, all the best.