LISA MILLAR:
Well, for many, it may be all about hearts and flowers today, but it seems the world of romance and dating remains a lucrative one for scammers. It's estimated Australians lost $40 million to romance scams last year. For more, we're joined by the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones from Parliament House. Minister, good morning. Welcome to News Breakfast.
STEPHEN JONES:
Good to be with you, Lisa.
MILLAR:
As if love isn't tough enough, we've got these scams. What's going on?
JONES:
Look, we want Valentine's Day to be a day for romantics, not a payday for the scammers, so just a message to people out there, particularly if you're using dating apps or social media; this is a channel that scammers are using to gain confidence, to gain contacts and eventually gain access to people's bank accounts. So, just a message to beware - 8 per cent increase over the last 12 months. It's the second biggest category of scams after investment scams. Don't want to be the ones who are warning people on such a special day as Valentine's Day, but consumers, particularly people using online and dating apps, have to be aware that these criminals are out there and they're operating.
MILLAR:
Okay, well, we've sent everyone the notes, so hopefully they'll just be a little more alert today. Hey lots of other stuff going on in Parliament this week and a lot of attention on the RBA and the Governor, Philip Lowe. The headlines today suggesting that the RBA is sending SOS distress calls to the government saying, "well, you've got to hold up your end of the bargain, you've got to help here. How much pressure is there on the government to be bringing down inflation?
JONES:
From the first day of office, we've had inflation in our sights. That's why our message, our plan is all about restraint in spending. It's about Budget repair and it's about ensuring that we can manage the economy in a way which puts downward pressure on interest rates and not make the Governor's - the Reserve Bank's job even tougher, not making a bad situation even worse. We know that most of the inflationary pressures are being imported from overseas, but they're being impacted on households and businesses, which is why fiscal policy, monetary policy, have got to work hand in hand, and it's why this Budget won't be a big spending Budget, it won't be one around handouts, it'll be around a responsible, restrained Budget which is repairing supply chains, repairing the Budget and ensuring that we can see the economy through the very narrow path to recovery that we have set our strategy on.
MILLAR:
We had KPMG on the program just a moment ago because they're suggesting this - mortgage holders - ones that have mortgages that are looking at this $16,500 cliff when they go off the fixed rates and that there will be an impact of $20 billion on household consumption, that there will be a punch to the economy and that the Reserve Bank is underestimating that. Are we talking about the right kind of figures here? Do you believe that there's going to be a $20 billion punch to the economy?
JONES:
We know there's around 800,000 mortgage holders who haven't yet felt the full brunt of the interest rate increases that are already in the system. They don't start to cycle off until midyear, which is why we think that there's already a fair bit of pressure in the system and we're hoping that we don't see further interest rate increases, and we're, from our part, saying Budget restraint will be delivered, Budget repair will be delivered, and doing our bit to ensure that we can firm up those supply chains that are also adding inflationary pressures into the Australian economy. The Australian Government will do its bit to ensure that we are bringing down the pressure on inflation, which is why we hope the Reserve Bank Board can see its way clear to ensuring that we aren't lifting interest rates any further than they absolutely need to be to tame the inflation dragon.
MILLAR:
Do you think that Philip Lowe is doing a good job?
JONES:
Look, Philip Lowe's got a very tough job.
MILLAR:
Yes, that's the line we heard from the Treasurer on Sunday.
JONES:
There's no end of Australians who've got an opinion on the job that he's doing -
MILLAR:
Yes, but you're the Assistant Treasurer -
JONES:
He's got a tough job but so have Australians, so have the Australians who are trying to manage their cost of living and their budgets. I don't think it helps if the Treasurer, the Assistant Treasurer or any of the other senior ministers of government are taking potshots at the Reserve Bank or providing assessments of their performance. There's a regular process for these things. Monetary policy has its role. The government has its role. We're going to have them working hand in hand and in cooperation.
MILLAR:
Okay. Just finally, there's not a lot of love for some of your policies. The Opposition this morning is set to announce it's opposing the $10 billion housing fund. The Greens have said they want a whole lot of different elements to it - more remote Aboriginal community housing. How much are you prepared to bend now to get your platform through?
JONES:
Well, the Opposition is basically defining itself as a party which is opposed to everything. The National Reconstruction Fund, which is about kickstarting manufacturing in this country and having more things made in Australia, seems to me to be a no-brainer. Who could be against that? Peter Dutton. Our housing fund is about ensuring we build more houses in the middle of a housing crisis and provide more social and affordable housing for people struggling and for people who are homeless. It really beggars belief that any politician in the country, let alone a major political party, could be threatening to block a fund which will put more houses into the market, more roofs over the head of people doing it tough. It beggars belief, which is why we're calling on the Opposition, the Crossbench, the Green, and, in fact, all the members and supporters of those parties to send a message to them to say: don't block the housing fund; don't block the Rebuilding Australia Fund; made in Australia, and more roofs over people's heads. Who could be against that?
MILLAR:
Minister, we have to leave it there. Thank you for your time.