Jim Chalmers 2022

JIM CHALMERS:

Thank you very much again for having me here today, and I look forward to taking some of your questions.

TIM CHURCH:

HAIDI STROUD‑WATTS:

Treasurer, it’s such a pleasure to have you with us.

JIM CHALMERS:

Thanks.

STROUD‑WATTS:

Thanks Tim for the introduction; to you and Richard and your team at Morgan Stanley in Australia; and to your colleagues here from around the world.

Can I just say how grateful I am for the opportunity to speak to such a big and well‑informed crowd on Gadigal country today.

I acknowledge elders, customs and custodians and I thank you all for being here.

JIM CHALMERS:

Well, thanks for coming out to join us today. I’m here with Shayne Neumann, the Federal Member for Blair, and Linus Power, the State Member for Logan, and you’ll hear from both of them shortly but I’ll just kick things off.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Jim Chalmers is the Treasurer and he joins us this morning. Treasurer, welcome.

JIM CHALMERS:

Thanks very much, Patricia.

KARVELAS:

You’ve said that you think we can avoid a recession. Why?

CHALMERS:

SARAH FERGUSON:

Treasurer, welcome to 7.30.

JIM CHALMERS:

Thanks very much, Sarah.

FERGUSON:

Now the economy is barely growing, as we can see. It barely has a pulse. We’re flirting with recession. What do you hope that’s telling the Reserve Bank?

CHALMERS:

KARL STEFANOVIC:

Treasurer, good morning to you. We shan’t gloat about Origin last night, shall we?

JIM CHALMERS:

Oh, we shall.

STEFANOVIC:

We’ll do it later; we’ll do it later. First up, some worrying signs in the economy. Are we heading into recession?

CHALMERS:

JIM CHALMERS:

Today’s National Accounts confirm growth in the Australian economy was flat in the first three months of the year.

The primary cause of this very weak growth was higher interest rates, combined with moderating but persistent inflation and ongoing global uncertainty.

These new numbers show we got the Budget right.

The Albanese Labor Government is working to boost the construction of rental housing as part of our comprehensive $32 billion Homes for Australia plan.

Today we have introduced legislation to deliver new tax incentives to encourage investment and construction in the build‑to‑rent sector.