Topics: Living standard collapse under Labor; economy; election timing

 

E&OE   

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

Well, it looks like the election campaign is under way. What's the number one issue for you when you go to vote in a couple months time? For me, it'll be cost living, and I'd suggest for most of us, it's the pinch we are feeling in the back pocket. New analysis from the Opposition paints a grim picture. It shows that Australians may not see any meaningful recovery for our living standards until 2030. So five years away. Based on the analysis the opposition's released today, since Labor took office, living standards have fallen by more than 8% and despite the government's promise to help pressure, ease pressure on the cost of living, it doesn't look like there's going to be significant relief anytime soon. According to projections that were released in the mid-year budget and this is some new analysis of the information that was released just before Christmas, by June 2025, so June this year, living standards will be 7% behind where they were in May 2022. The Shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor, is sounding the alarm and he joins us on the program. Happy New Year, Angus. Or is it a happy new year?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well happy New Year to you but for most Australians, it's been a tough year that we've just finished, and making ends meet has continued to be a challenge throughout the year, and of course, going into Christmas and the point about this analysis is on the government's own numbers. These are not our numbers. They’re the government's numbers. Not only have we seen a reduction of over 8% in Australian standard of living since Labor came to power, that's not expected to be restored until 2030 at the earliest. So the truth is, this will be a lost decade for most Australian households as they struggle to make ends meet, and there is nothing in Labor's plan that is going to get us back to where we need to be, which is a restoration of the standards of living we had when Labor came to power.

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

Angus, in a really simple way, can you explain to us what that actually means. When we say that our standard of living is not what it was say, three, four years ago? How is that measured?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Yeah, in very practical terms it's measured as what your income after paying tax, can buy. So it takes account of the rising prices of everything we've been buying,

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

So inflation …

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Yeah inflation on electricity, on insurance, on everything else you buy. Also takes account of higher interest rates and so it's effectively saying, this is the disposable income, the income you have to buy the goods and services you want to live your life, taking into account of price rises and so we've got a very good measure in Australian standards of living and the bad news is it's gone sharply backwards since Labor came to power. What it means in practice, Clinton is so many Australians are having to work extra hours, take on a second job, crack open the piggy bank to dig deep into savings to get by. None of it's sustainable, of course, and the result is we're now in a position where Australians are living, in many cases, an unsustainable life to try and make ends meet and now what we see in the government's own plan, this is certainly not our plan, the government's own numbers and forecasts, that's not going to get back to where it was just a short two and a half years ago until 2030 so it truly will be a lost decade for Australians, and it's why, I think the big question for Australians as they go to the polling booth in the coming months will be, can you afford another three years of Labor?

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

So our real wages effectively aren't what they were. But in fairness, over your time in government, wage rises were also pretty low.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Yeah, but we didn't have an 8% hit to disposable incomes with the reduction in real wages that goes with that and to put this into perspective, we've never seen a hit like this before in our history. We've got numbers going back to the 1950s. We've never seen this before, not in the early 70s under Whitlam, not in the ‘recession we had to have’ in the early 90s, not in the global financial crisis. We've never seen this before. This is worse than anything we've seen before, and importantly, it's unparalleled around the world. None of our peer countries have seen a hit to standard of living like this, not in the UK, not in Canada, not in the United States, not elsewhere.

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

So these are the figures that were released but just before Christmas and it was probably lost in the Christmas rush when we're trying to look at good things. But I think the critical point now is going to be, you're going to present a plan to us in the next couple of weeks about what you guys are going to do if you win the election. Albo’s out there doing the same thing. Well, give us the scoop now, Angus, you're the Treasurer in a couple of months’ time, how do you fix it?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, the scoop is that the number one focus has to be on getting inflation down, bringing down interest rates with it, not adding to taxes like unrealised capital gains on superannuation, and indeed, bringing them down where we can and most importantly, getting our business sector going so that it can employ, it can create wealth which can be shared with workers, rising real wages, raise productivity, all of those things. None of it comes from record levels of spending on government or by government, which is what we've been seeing in recent times, and we were at, at the moment and that means going back to back to basics, Clinton, you know, we know how to solve a problem like this because, albeit not as extreme as we've got now, we have seen huge challenges with inflation and interest rates in the past. We saw it in the early 70s going into the 80s, and we know what the answer is, and that means getting back to basics. But it's the opposite of what we're seeing from Labor that's decided to spend more of taxpayers’ money, decided to clog up businesses more with more regulation and more red tape and green tape. That's exactly the opposite of what you need to do if you want to see a restoration of Australians’ standard of living.

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

There's a trillion dollars of government debt. That obviously attracts interest payments. The higher the interest rate, the more we're paying in interest payments. That's all a drag on us as well. Do you have a legitimate plan to start pulling down that trillion dollars of debt?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, it's more than a plan. We've been doing it. I mean, we've opposed over $100 billion of spending from this government in the last two and a half years, $100 billion. Most of that in votes in the parliament. I mean, they've added well over 20,000 public servants already and on their way to 36,000 new bureaucrats based out of Canberra. This is not frontline bureaucrats. This is mostly bureaucrats in Canberra who are adding to the red tape and green tape that businesses are having to wade their way through to get things done. This is not how you solve the problem Clinton, and it's why we have opposed power lines criss crossing the country, because they're not prepared to make commitments to base load zero emissions power stations that we think are the way forward. They haven't been committed to making sure we get enough gas into the system to put downward pressure on prices and to avoid building all of those new power lines. I mean, these are the simple steps that can be taken. Labor's decided to go a different pathway. We're seeing the results of it and frankly, I don't think Australians can afford another three years of it.

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

I’m getting quite a few text messages with a bit of a theme here, Angus and it's all talking about population levels. Bill says, what about lowering migration levels? Anthony says, Why is Angus against minor changes to international student numbers? Now, population, overpopulation, this is contributing to the problem, isn't it? Absolutely numbers,

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Absolutely.

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

Are you guys committed to cutting student numbers?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

In fact, we think that what Labor's proposed to do hasn't gone far enough. We've been very clear that immigration numbers have been too high. I mean, over half a million a year at the rate Labor has been going at, which is over double what we've seen in the past. The numbers are too high, way too high and we've already announced very significant policies to reduce those numbers, including a reduction in the permanent immigration numbers, a reduction in the humanitarian visa numbers – still would make Australia one of the most generous countries in the world. The imposition of genuine student caps that are going to make sure we don't see the rapid rate of growth of international students we've seen in recent times, which we want to see an international education sector but these numbers have just been stupendous and way beyond what Australia can cope with. So I completely agree with your listeners in saying these numbers have been too high, and it has been part of the problem. There's no question about it.

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

The biggest issues on the mind of our listeners, no doubt, Angus is cost of living and migration at the moment. Just while I've got you, the Prime Minister, effectively has launched the election campaign today with promises on the Bruce Highway in Queensland. He's then visiting the Northern Territory. WA. When do you believe the election will be?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, the Prime Minister will call the election at a time that suits him, because that's how he does everything. It'll be driven by politics, not by what's right …

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

… and all PM’s to be fair, do that. That's their call.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, I mean, but that's what he's going to do. So I think you're agreeing with me.

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

Yeah, yeah.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

That is what he's going to do. And so I don’t know. I can’t …

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

So is there any talk … I know you guys haven't been in Canberra for the last few weeks. Is there any talk in political circles about what the most likely outcome is going to be?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

The most likely outcome of the election?

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

No, when it's going to be? Like, it's not going to be May 17 so …

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Look again, I mean, I'm speculating, and I'm not going to get into speculation. It's got to be by May this year, so we know it's going to be soon, and we know the number one question will be, can you afford another three years of Labor? And of course, my view on that is very strong, and my job in the coming weeks and months is to convince Australians that we can't afford another three years of Labor because Australians are poorer than they were two and a half years ago, and that's because Labor has had the wrong priorities and made the wrong decisions.

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

No doubt we'll be talking a lot during the campaign. Thank you, Angus.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Good on you. Thanks for having me.

 

CLINTON MAYNARD:

The Shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor.

 

ENDS.