LISA MILLAR:
Well, the federal government is urging people to be vigilant with their personal information as scams become more frequent around tax time. Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones joins us now from Parliament House in Canberra. Good morning to you. This is just an increasingly difficult problem, isn't it?
STEPHEN JONES:
Look, it really is. And we know that scammers target things that are going on more broadly in our community. Tax time is an obvious target for them because they know that people will be focused on the tax returns and thinking about getting their lodgment in. A common trick of the scammers at this time of year is to reach out via an SMS message or by a social media post. We're just asking Australians to be on notice. Be aware if something looks or sounds dodgy, it probably is. The Tax Office will never send you an SMS asking you to click a link to receive your refund. That's just not how it works.
MILLAR:
Okay, what things are you seeing? We've already shown our viewers this morning a text that Mads' dad got yesterday. There it is, up on the screen. Looks legit. He's been doing his ‑ getting his papers together ahead of the end of the financial year. What else are you hearing that people are trying to get away with?
JONES:
Yeah, lots of stuff just like this. Me and my colleagues were sitting in Parliament House on budget night and we were getting SMSs telling us tax giveaways that were being announced in the Budget that night, which was news to me because we put the Budget together and there was no such thing that was being proposed. So, it's just an example of how they tap into things that are going on and try and confuse people. SMS messages like the one that you've just described with a link in them. If your listeners just take one thing away from this segment this morning, can it be, don't press the blue link? Legitimate businesses, government agencies, don't send an SMS out to you offering tax refunds or money or trying to get you to upload your information by an SMS or a social media post asking you to click a blue link. We just don't do it that way.
MILLAR:
Just on another subject, as Assistant Treasurer, we're all standing by waiting for the RBA decision later today. How are Australians going to feel if they get another increase?
JONES:
Look, we know that households and businesses are doing it tough. Cost of living is a big impact on every household around the country. It's why the government in its Budget was trying to walk that very fine line between providing some targeted relief but not making the inflation situation worse. The Reserve Bank will make its decision. It operates independently from the government. It'll make its decision this morning.
MILLAR:
Yeah. We had Angus Taylor on the program, the Shadow Treasurer, earlier this morning. He says this government has now passed the time where you can blame global events for inflation and in fact, you've just got the wrong mix of policies to bring it down.
JONES:
Look, you can just contrast what Angus Taylor is saying with the words of the Reserve Bank Governor himself, who has said that the Budget that the government handed down two weeks ago, three weeks ago, was not inflationary. So, I think I prefer the Reserve Bank Governor's opinion over Angus Taylor's opinion when it comes to inflation and interest rates, that's the one that matters.
MILLAR:
Stephen Jones, thanks for your time this morning.
JONES:
Good to be with you.