Jim Chalmers 2022

HAMISH MACDONALD:

MATT DORAN:

Joining me now is Treasurer and acting PM, Jim Chalmers, who's in Byron Bay ahead of a tour of the flood-affected regions. Treasurer, thank you so much for being with us. In your October Budget, you said inflation was set to peak at the end of 2022. What's your view now? Is that still on track or are prices going to keep going up?

West Australians know, as I do, that mining matters. It matters for the strength of our economy, the position of the budget, for the successful transition of our energy market, and for the jobs of the future. And as fresh analysis from the Commonwealth Treasury makes clear, mining matters for economic and social mobility too.

It’s no secret to any Queenslander that the resources sector has made a big contribution to our economy in recent decades – it’s helped to drive long‑term growth and created thousands of jobs for Queenslanders. Now, new Treasury analysis tells us that the resources sector has improved our state’s economic mobility as well.

For Australia to prosper and grow through the 2020s and beyond we need to learn the right lessons and draw the right conclusions from this year’s fortieth anniversary of the election of the Hawke‑Keating Government.

As we head into 2023, we should be optimistic about the future of our economy and our country but realistic about the prospect of another global downturn and what that means for us in Australia.

TOM ORITI:

MICHAEL ROWLAND:

Jim Chalmers joins us now from Brisbane. Treasurer, good morning to you.

JIM CHALMERS:

Good morning Michael.

ROWLAND:

JOURNALIST:

Treasurer, on the Population Statement, what are the biggest challenges faced by this country according to this report?

JIM CHALMERS:

CATHIE SCHNITZERLING: