Tania Lawrence:
I’m Tania Lawrence, the Member for Hasluck. I’m joined today by Trish Cook, the candidate for the seat of Bullwinkel. And with the boundary changes, Trish is going to be representing a very large workforce of this area that is directly employed by the CFC and Centurion, which I’ll come back to in a moment.
But importantly, I welcome the Treasurer Jim Chalmers to our electorate of Hasluck. Hasluck has one of the highest mortgage belts in the country. The growth corridor from Guildford through to Midland, Dayton, Brabham out to Ellenbrook. So, around 52 per cent of my electorate are mortgage holders and they are greatly relieved about the interest rate cut that we’ve seen this week. In contrast with Peter Dutton calling on the RBA to not be pressured to reduce interest rates, an absolute slap in the face to people in my electorate, who are welcoming this cut as a consequence of very good governance, a sensible government of Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese to ensure that we’ve kept that steady pace and slayed the inflation dragon.
Now, we are here on the wonderful business of Phil Cardaci with CFC and Centurion. Just for context, Centurion literally keeps Australia moving. With the cyclones we’ve seen up north, and the flood‑impacted regions, the workforce here, which is 600 just in this precinct alone and 3,000 people across the country, kept the corridors of food and supplies open into our remote and regional communities, trucking from Adelaide through Alice Springs up to Kununurra. This is what makes Australia work and keeps the Australian economy moving. So, we’re deeply grateful to be able to be hosted by Centurion and CFC today and to be able to showcase to the Treasurer just exactly how the Western Australia economy is underpinning the national economy, and to that end, I’ll throw to Jim.
Jim Chalmers:
Absolutely delighted to be here with 2 of the best, Tania Lawrence, my colleague, Member for Hasluck and Trish Cook, who I hope to be our colleague in the national parliament, Labor’s candidate for Bullwinkel. I wanted to thank Phil and his team for welcoming us here in a wonderful part of industrial Perth. Western Australia is a massive part of the national economy, it’s a big part of the Albanese Labor government’s economic strategy, and it’s a big beneficiary of the progress that we are making together.
The reason I’m in the west today, the reason I was in South Australia yesterday, is right around Australia, together we are making progress on our big economic challenges. Inflation is down, wages are up, unemployment is low, debt is down and now interest rates have started to be cut as well.
It’s been an absolutely massive week in the national economy. On Tuesday, an interest rate cut. On Wednesday, wages data showed that real wages have been growing in our economy now for 5 consecutive quarters. And yesterday we got those very encouraging jobs numbers which show that unemployment is still low. Forty‑four thousand jobs were created in January alone, and that means that more Australians are working, more Australians are earning more and more Australians are getting more of what they earn because of Labor’s economic strategy. So, it’s been a massive week in the national economy, and Western Australia will be a big beneficiary of the progress that we’re making together.
Now we know that growth is still slow in our economy, we know that people are still under pressure, but we have started to see some very welcome and some very encouraging progress. We are delivering that lower inflation and higher wages and low unemployment. We know that there’s more work to do. But together, as Australians who can share in all of the credit of the progress that we’ve made as a country the last couple of years, we are making substantial and now sustained progress on all of those fronts.
If you look around the world, there’s not a lot of countries who’ve got that combination of inflation coming down, real wages going up, unemployment historically low, debt coming down, and interest rates starting to be cut as well.
I wanted to acknowledge Tania’s good work with the Labor colleagues on the committee this morning speaking with Reserve Bank Governor Bullock. I’m not going to second guess the decisions that the Reserve Bank takes independently, but in relation to the commentary around the timing, first of interest rate hikes and now of interest rate cuts, I’ll make this simple point.
When Labor came to office, inflation and interest rates were going up. Now, inflation and interest rates are both coming down, and that’s a very good thing.
What we saw with this interest rate decision is this is the rate relief that Australians need and deserve after all the progress they’ve made together on inflation. It is very welcome relief for people who are doing it tough. The Reserve Bank is doing its bit, cutting interest rates. The Albanese Labor government is doing our bit, providing responsible cost‑of‑living help in the form of tax cuts, energy bill rebates, cheaper medicines, cheaper early childhood education, rent assistance, Fee‑Free TAFE, and getting wages moving again in our economy.
If you think about what that means for WA, the average mortgage holder in WA will be something like $1,100 a year better off because of this rate cut. For a new loan, an average new loan in WA, it’s more like $1,600 a year in benefits from the rate cut. And if you think about those wages numbers yesterday, what they show is that the average full‑time worker in WA is now earning $12,100 more since this Albanese government came to office.
These are not accidental outcomes. They’re deliberate outcomes. They are the consequences of the responsible economic management which has been a defining feature of this Albanese Labor government. Happy to take some questions.
Journalist:
Michele Bullock has this morning played down –
Chalmers:
Did you practice that before we got here?
Journalist:
Great minds think alike. Michele Bullock has this morning played down the chances of more rate cuts anytime soon, suggesting that the RBA does [inaudible].
Chalmers:
A few things about that. First of all, I have resisted seeing Tuesday’s rate cut through a political lens. The decision that they took on Tuesday was a decision based on the economics, not the politics. I know that there will be a whole bunch of political commentary about that, but we’re focused on the economics. We’re focused on the rate relief that Australians need and deserve after all of this progress that we’ve made together on inflation.
I think it’s a very good thing that Governor Bullock makes herself available after the rates decision on Tuesday, again today before the parliament. Tania and her colleagues did a wonderful job talking through the issues with her.
What the Reserve Bank Governor has made very clear in a statement on Tuesday and again today is that we have made very substantial progress and now sustained progress in the fight against inflation. The statement on Tuesday pointed out that progress has been better and faster than anticipated, and that’s why they revised down their forecast for inflation.
Now you talk about underlying inflation, it’s been coming down considerably already in the low threes and heading south. In the Reserve Bank’s new forecast, they have underlying trimmed mean inflation in the Reserve Bank target band and that’s a good thing. Whether it’s the Reserve Bank’s forecast or the private sector’s forecast, what we have seen is people lowering their expectations for inflation. That’s because of the substantial progress that we’ve made in the fight against inflation.
Journalist:
The politics and the economics go hand in hand. That’s your job. Is it too little, too late? Do you think voters give you any credit after years of your words being smashed by high rates?
Chalmers:
Again, I think for good reason I don’t want to apply a political lens to a decision taken independently about interest rates on Tuesday. I know that there will be political commentary about it, I’m not naive about that, but our job is to focus on the main game which is on our part of this – to roll out cost‑of‑living relief in the most responsible way we can. The Governor has made this point on a number of occasions, including today.
Governor Bullock and I have the same objectives to get inflation down, keep unemployment low, but we’ve got different responsibilities and I’m focused on my responsibility which is to roll out cost‑of‑living help in all the responsible ways that I can. That has helped Australians, as will this interest rate cut announced on Tuesday. I genuinely believe that if you make the right economic decisions for the right economic reasons, the politics will take care of itself.
Journalist:
She also said that a strong jobs market would delay or degrade efforts to bring down inflation. Can we have [inaudible]?
Chalmers:
Well, we’ve shown that we can, and one of the things that makes Australia exceptional is that we’ve got inflation down considerably at the same time as we’ve maintained extremely low unemployment in our economy, that makes us unusual around the world and it makes us unusual in a historical context as well. And so, if you look at the way that inflation’s come down from its peak, from 7.8 in 2022 to 2.4 in the most recent numbers, we’ve done that without sacrificing the gains we’ve made in the labour market. And again, that’s deliberate.
The Reserve Bank has 2 responsibilities: to get on top of inflation and to maintain full employment. And together, whether it’s the Reserve Bank, the government, the Australian people more broadly, Australia has shown itself to be spectacularly successful at getting inflation down without sacrificing that low unemployment rate. The unemployment rate in Australia under this government on average is the lowest it’s been under any government for 50 years.
And it’s very unusual around the world and through history that we have got inflation with a 2 in front of it, unemployment at 4 per cent flat, we’ve got real wages growing, we’re getting the debt down, interest rates are being cut – those are our objectives and it’s pleasing to see the progress that we’re making but we know there’s much more work to do.
Journalist:
Governor Bullock also said this morning that rentals have actually been the hardest hit by rates. Would you be urging landlords to pass any rate savings on?
Chalmers:
I made the point earlier in the week that when there are changes to interest rates, we want to see landlords factor that in when it comes to rent. But we’re helping renters in other ways as well. Two rounds of rent assistance, when we rewrote the tax cuts, we wanted to make sure that renters and people on low and middle incomes got a fairer go in those tax cuts which began in July.
A whole range of our cost‑of‑living help is motivated by the fact that we understand people with a mortgage have been under pressure because of interest rates but people who are renting too. And so if you look at the most recent inflation data, what it says, what it shows is that we’ve been able to take some of the edge off those higher rents and we’re also providing cost‑of‑living help in other ways because we recognise it’s not just people with a mortgage who’ve been under the pump.
Journalist:
Is there any benefit to a pre‑election Budget, or is it a big risk?
Chalmers:
I see what you’re doing there. Look, we’re working towards a Budget towards the end of March and the Prime Minister will decide the timing of the election in consultation with his senior colleagues. But we’re working very hard to put that Budget together. We’ve spent hours and hours in the Cabinet room at the start of this week making decisions to feed into that Budget. But we will be ready for whatever scenario when the Prime Minister calls the election at some point in the next couple of months.
Journalist:
So, is there cost‑of‑living relief in that Budget?
Chalmers:
We made it clear that if we can do more on the cost of living in a responsible way, of course we consider that. We haven’t taken final decisions for that March 25 Budget. The cost of living, as you know, is our number one focus. And so, as we go through the economic conditions, the circumstances in the budget, the pressures that people are feeling right around Australia, cost‑of‑living help has been a defining feature of this government, delivered in the most responsible way that we can. So, if you want a hint about the fourth Budget under this government, it will be like the first 3, very responsible, doing what we can to help people with the cost of living, if that’s affordable.
Journalist:
Michele Bullock’s also said [inaudible] in response to rising inflation [inaudible]. Has the government [inaudible]?
Chalmers:
Again, I don’t second guess the decisions taken by the Reserve Bank Governor and her board. I do welcome the Governor’s candour and frankness and we see that repeatedly. The opportunity to explain to Australians how the Reserve Bank is coming at our economic challenges, I think that’s a really good thing. But I’m not going to parse or second guess the commentary that she makes. I’ll just make this simple point again. When Labor came to office, inflation was going up fast, interest rates were already rising, and both interest rates and inflation are now coming down under Labor.
Journalist:
Mortgage belt seats in WA, Tangney, Hasluck. It’s going to be a tight contest. Do you acknowledge that in WA?
Journalist:
What’s your exit strategy [inaudible].
Chalmers:
We’ve made it clear we’re prepared to support the administration of the steelworks. We’re prepared to contribute money to support the supply chains, and we’re prepared to play a role when it comes to the green iron fund as well. We believe there’s a future for steel and manufacturing, and Whyalla. Our responsible investments reflect that. There’s a process to happen now. We wanted to make sure that we were there shoulder to shoulder with Premier Malinauskas to support the workers and industries of Whyalla. Now there will be a process undertaken to make sure that we secure that future, that local people and the broader national economy deserve.
Journalist:
Former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry says he’s disappointed Australia is at a point where we have to prop up manufacturing [inaudible].
Chalmers:
No.
Journalist:
Every time you’re in WA, GST?
Chalmers:
Our position on the GST deal for WA, hasn’t changed. We’re not changing it. We’re not changing the position that we’ve taken on the GST deal for WA. We believe very enthusiastically that WA makes a huge contribution to the national economy and to the national budget. That will always be reflected in the GST deal that we’re sticking to under this Albanese Labor government. We are huge believers in the WA economy, communities, the people, the employers, the industries of WA, and you will always see that reflected in the GST arrangements.
Journalist:
Therefore is $1.5 million to hire 3 GST fighters a waste of taxpayer money, if they’re not necessary?
Chalmers:
I’m not going to get into that. My job is to make sure that the deal that we did with the good people and the great government of WA is stuck to and I give you that assurance on this occasion, just as I’ve given you that assurance on all of the other times I’ve been to WA in the last few years. Thanks very much.