Jim Chalmers:
One year ago today the Labor government announced our decision on tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer.
It was a contentious decision at the time, but it was the right call made for the right reasons.
The big call that we made on tax a year ago made sure that every taxpayer got help with the cost of living and not just some.
These tax cuts happened because of the Labor government and despite the opposition from the Coalition.
These tax cuts ensured that Australians could earn more and keep more of what they earn to help with the cost of living. That is in many ways an encapsulation of this government’s economic record.
Inflation is down, wages are up, unemployment is low, and there are tax cuts flowing in our economy right now because of the decision that we took a year ago.
The choice in this election year is clear and it’s getting clearer. Tax cuts and decent pay for workers under Labor, or tax breaks for golf days and long lunches for bosses under the Coalition. That is the choice, and that choice is getting clearer and clearer every day.
Because of our policies, because of the decisions that we have made. Australians are earning more and keeping more of what they earn, and that is a deliberate design feature of our economic policy.
Our opponents want Australians working longer for less. They want wages to be lower and they tried to prevent these tax cuts flowing into the pockets of every Australian taxpayer.
Peter Dutton a year ago called for an election to try to prevent these tax cuts. Angus Taylor said that there was no ambiguity when it came to his opposition to these tax cuts. Sussan Ley said – almost a bit over a year ago now – Sussan Ley said when she was asked would the Coalition roll back these tax cuts, she said that was absolutely their position.
Decent pay and tax cuts for workers are not safe under the Coalition. If Peter Dutton had his way Australian workers would be worse off, and they’ll be worse off still if he wins.
This is one of the most important elements in this election year. Labor helping with the cost of living and building Australian’s future, versus Peter Dutton and the Coalition who will make you worse off and take Australia backwards. That is the choice before the Australian people this year.
The reason why Peter Dutton picks needless fights and stokes division in our society is because he doesn’t have any answers on the cost of living or the economy. He is almost 3 years now into his time as Opposition Leader and he still has no costed, coherent or credible policies on the economy. The best that they’ve been able to do after 3 years is tax breaks for long lunches for bosses and this nuclear insanity which will push up electricity prices for every Australian household.
We’re told that Peter Dutton will be reshuffling his front bench this weekend, and I think the question is why has it taken him so long? Why has it taken him so long to reshuffle his front bench? Part of the reason is because he’s got slim pickings. Part of the reason is because that there is a huge barney going on behind the scenes when it comes to the Liberal and National Party front bench.
But the overriding, the overwhelming reason is this: Peter Dutton is a very divisive leader, and he leads a very divided party. That’s why this reshuffle has taken so long.
He can reshuffle his front bench, but he can’t reshuffle his record on Medicare or wages. He can reshuffle his front bench, but he can’t rewrite or reshuffle the risk that he poses to household budgets and to Australian workers.
His opposition to the tax cuts which are helping Australian workers with the cost of living is only part of the story. He opposed cost‑of‑living relief when it comes to electricity bills and cheaper medicines, cheaper early childhood education, student debt relief, Fee Free TAFE and getting wages moving again.
Peter Dutton would have made Australians much worse off in the last couple of years if he had his way.
He’ll make Australians much worse off if he wins the next election. That is becoming clearer and clearer.
He is focussed on stoking division, and he’s focussed on internal fights in the Coalition. This Labor government under Anthony Albanese is focussed on the cost of living and that’s why this anniversary of the tax cuts decision being announced is so important.
Under Labor inflation is down, wages are up, unemployment is low, and tax cuts are flowing, and that means that even though Australians are still doing it quite tough, they would be doing it tougher under the alternative.
On Wednesday we will get an important reminder of the progress that we’ve made together when it comes to inflation. On Wednesday we get the quarterly inflation data for the end of last year.
This will be an important reminder of the progress that we’ve made when it comes to inflation. When we came to office inflation had a 6 in front of it and it was rising under our predecessors. It now has a 2 in front of it. Monthly inflation has been in the Reserve Bank’s target band for 4 consecutive months.
What we expect to see on Wednesday is a reminder of the progress we’ve made together. What we’ve been able to do is roll out cost‑of‑living help, roll out the tax cuts, get inflation down, get wages up and keep unemployment low.
A lot of other countries have had to pay for this kind of progress on inflation with much higher employment or with negative quarters of economic growth. What we’ve been able to do is to keep the economy ticking over, preserve the gains that we’ve made in the Labor market, at the same time as we’ve taken something like 5 percentage points off quarterly inflation.
We’ll learn more about that on Wednesday, I’m not going to make a prediction about the number or pre‑empt that important data.
What we already know is this: Australians have made a lot of progress together in our economy, we’ve got inflation down, we’ve got the budget in better nick, kept the economy ticking over, kept the unemployment rate low, created 1.1 million jobs, and the alternative to that would have been Australians under much more pressure under Peter Dutton. We know that because of what he said about the tax cuts a year ago today.
Happy to take some questions.
Journalist:
Treasurer, do you think Labor’s tax cuts and its other cost‑of‑living measures is enough to win at the election this year?
Chalmers:
Primarily the cost‑of‑living help that we’re rolling out is motivated by our understanding that Australians have been and continue to be under financial pressure. The primary motivation for that cost‑of‑living help is economic.
We know that household budgets are under pressure. When we came to office real wages were falling, inflation was rising, real incomes were falling, living standards were falling. We’ve been working very hard to turn that around. We’re confident that we’re making progress but we’re not complacent about it because we know that people are still under pressure. That’s why the cost‑of‑living help that Peter Dutton opposes is so important, that’s why it’s such an important part of the choice.
We know that Australians have got a lot of ground to make up in their household budgets. We are trying to be part of the solution to that problem, Peter Dutton continues to be part of the problem.
Journalist:
You said with the inflation data that comes out on Wednesday you expect that to reflect progress. Does that mean you expect it to go down and, if so, what are your expectations in terms of that?
Chalmers:
The numbers we see on Wednesday will be clearer at 11:30 then. I don’t want to make predictions about the numbers. There are a whole bunch of expectations and predictions made by economists and by the market and I refer you to those.
What we expect to see is that inflation that had a 6 in front of it and was rising a couple of years ago will have a 2 in front of it. Any outcome that has a 2 in front of it when it comes to headline inflation will show just how much progress that we’ve been able to make.
We know from the monthly data for 4 consecutive months now that inflation’s been in the Reserve Bank’s targeting band. We know that across the board on every measure of inflation, it’s come down since we came to office.
The remarkable thing about the progress we’ve made on inflation is we’ve been able to get inflation down at the same time as we’ve got wages up and kept unemployment low. That has been a deliberate objective of our government.
If I refer you to the piece written today by John Hewson, the former Liberal leader, he has pointed out that the sorts of things that we have been hoping for in our economy, the soft landing that we have been seeking with our policies is looking more and more likely.
One of the reasons we’re more confident about 2025 than 2024 but not complacent about it is because we have made good progress together as Australians and that progress is at risk if there’s a change of government.
Journalist:
Just one more question, so there are also reports today that leadership members from the Queensland University of Technology could be called in front of a parliamentary inquiry into anti‑Semitism after that picture about Dutton’s Jew in a presentation this week. Is that something you would welcome?
Chalmers:
I’m not sure about the parliamentary processes, I refer you to the other colleagues on that, but I am sure of this: there is absolutely no place for anti‑Semitism anywhere in our communities and in our universities. There is no place for anti‑Semitism in our universities or in any part of Australia’s society. We make that very clear. The Education Minister has made that very clear to the Vice‑Chancellor of QUT, and as I understand it the Vice‑Chancellor has issued an apology.
It was obviously and clearly unacceptable. There will be processes at the university level no doubt. The parliamentary processes I’ll leave to the colleagues in the Senate and elsewhere.
Okay, happy to go over to the phone. Who would like to go first on the phone?
Journalist:
It’s Lucy Gray from Channel 10. Has the federal government offered the Victorian state government funding for the airport rail on the condition it puts the Suburban Rail Loop project on ice?
Chalmers:
We consider those 2 projects to be separate, and we talk to state governments, including the Victorian government, about infrastructure projects all the time, and I don’t have anything to add or announce in that regard today.
Journalist:
Anthony Koutoufides is running a federal election after losing the City of Melbourne Lord Mayor election. He’ll be up against Adam Bandt. What’s your reaction to that, a footballer with no political experience trying to become a federal politician? Does that say something about the state of politics in Victoria?
Chalmers:
I haven’t given it a moment’s thought if I’m honest with you. I’ve seen those reports today about who’s put their hand up to run in the federal electorate of Melbourne. My mind’s been focussed on the cost of living and on other matters.
Journalist:
Treasurer, just on the suburban rail again in Victoria, when do you expect that a decision will be made on that funding?
Chalmers:
We’ve made it clear for some time that we’ve made some funding available subject to the relevant and appropriate processes when it comes to suburban rail. We’ve made that clear for some time now and spoken about it publicly on a number of occasions.
We’re in discussions with all of the states and territories about the infrastructure pipeline. My terrific colleague Catherine King is more or less permanently engaged with her colleagues about the pipeline.
We don’t necessarily see those 2 projects that are being talked about in the media today as linked. Beyond that I don’t have anything to add.
Journalist:
Treasurer, it’s Amanda from Channel 9, thanks for chatting to us. Just 2 questions quickly on Australia Day. Obviously Australia Day for a lot of people is a time of celebration but there’s lots of people who are struggling with the cost of living as we go into this year. What’s your message to them on Australia Day?
Chalmers:
The government maintains a primary focus on the cost of living and that’s why our tax cuts, our efforts on wages and the other cost‑of‑living relief is so important.
Overwhelmingly the primary focus of this government is the cost of living, and again there’s a bit of a contrast with our political opponents.
Peter Dutton always wants to pick fights and stoke divisions and start culture wars. The government maintains a focus on the cost of living and that’s because it’s the thing that people care most about.
If you ask me about Australia Day, if you ask me about our political opponents, there’s something seriously wrong with a so‑called leader always looking to pick needless fights about things and to stoke division in our society.
If you think about Peter Dutton, whether it’s household budgets or divisions and disagreements that might exist in our society, he always tries to make them worse, not better, and that’s because he thinks he benefits politically from that.
He didn’t want the tax cuts to flow because he thought that would help him politically. He wants to start these fights and culture wars about Australia Day and all the rest of it because he thinks it will help him politically.
Peter Dutton’s trying to wreck Australia Day with conflict and culture wars. We want Australia Day to be full of barbecues and beaches and backyard cricket. That’s really the difference.
I believe that we can celebrate Australia Day, as I will be, in a respectful way, acknowledging that there’s a range of views about Australia Day, and acknowledging that Australia’s history didn’t begin a couple of hundred years ago. The history of this beautiful place that we live began 65,000 years ago.
I’ll be marking Australia Day as I have for some years now, amongst the eucalypts here in Daisy Hill forest at some point, at an aged care centre, presiding over a citizenship ceremony, speaking at festivals, getting amongst the food trucks in our local community.
I believe that we can celebrate Australia Day and we should, but we can do in a respectful way and we can do that without taking Peter Dutton’s approach, which is to pick these needless fights to try and distract from the fact that he’s got no answers on the cost of living.
We’re focussed on the cost of living, he’s focussed on culture wars.
Journalist:
You mentioned division and culture wars there, Treasurer. There are nationwide protests planned for Australia Day over people who perhaps disagree with the date of it or what it represents. Do you think that that’s the right thing to be doing on Australia Day?
Chalmers:
I won’t be doing that on Australia Day. I’ll be celebrating, like a lot of Australians, all of the wonderful things about our country. But I believe we can do that respectfully and acknowledging that there are a range of views about Australia Day.
Our job as leaders is to try not to stoke those divisions, not to try to wreck Australia Day with the sort of culture wars that Peter Dutton is into, recognise people have got a range of views, even as we celebrate Australia Day for all the right reasons, and get out and about in our own community, recognising this is a wonderful country.
Journalist:
Just one more on inflation. Are you expecting the RBA’s preferred measure of trimmed mean inflation will have a 2 in front of it in the quarterly data?
Chalmers:
That’s not the expectations of the forecasts that have been released by the market economists, but it remains to be seen. We’ve seen underlying inflation, trimmed mean inflation come down substantially. They’ve been some of the more welcome developments, including in the monthly data that we’ve seen in recent times.
But I don’t want to make a prediction about that. What matters is the direction of travel. What matters is that the inflation which peaked a couple of years ago and was rising under our predecessors, we have been able to get down quite substantially and in a sustained way.
The worst of the inflation challenge is behind us a couple of years ago. We’ve made really quite remarkable and sustained progress on inflation together as Australians, and I expect Wednesday to be another reminder of that.
Journalist:
On the World Health Organisation, President Trump is withdrawing from that. The US is the biggest financial backer of the WHO. Does that concern you? What might it mean for the future of the World Health Organisation?
Chalmers:
I speak for the Australian position, and the Australian position is that we are enthusiastic participants in multinational forums like the World Health Organisation and other international forums. What we believe as Australians is that you achieve more by engaging with the world.
We’re not going to engage in a running commentary on decisions taken by the new administration in the US. When there’s a new administration in the US, you expect new policies. We are confident in our ability to navigate the new agenda coming out of Washington. We are well placed and well prepared when it comes to our economic relationship with American friends. It’s a mutually beneficial one.
But when it comes to participation in multinational forums like the World Health Organisation, we do that enthusiastically because we believe that you get more by engaging with the world rather than retreating.
Thanks very much, appreciate it. Thank you.