Topics: Donation reforms; Core inflation rises under Labor; living standards collapsing under Labor; energy subsidies; nuclear energy

 

E&OE   

 

EMMA REBELLATO:

First to Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor. Angus, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:        

Good to be with you.

 

EMMA REBELLATO:

Okay, let's start with the electoral reforms. We are reporting that these reforms are in jeopardy. The Coalition's not happy. So what's wrong?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well we want to see, continue to see fair and transparent elections in Australia. I think that's one of the things as a country, we've done better than almost any other country in the world. So this legislation is important and needs to be done well, and the balance needs to be struck, which is the right balance, the right balance between making sure we have that transparency that I think is so important, but also making sure small businesses and others can get on and do what they want to do, and that balance is incredibly important. We'll continue to work constructively with the government. We have been doing that over recent weeks and look to get an outcome but ultimately the government makes the decision as to what they want.

 

EMMA REBELLATO:

So is that the sticking point, though you mentioned small business, is that the sticking point that you're worried about the donations … the level?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Look, one of them is making sure we're not imposing an unnecessary administrative burden on individual Australians or small businesses. I mean, obviously big businesses can deal with things when they make bigger donations. That's up to them and the same with the unions and others, but we don't want to create unnecessary administrative burden. On the other hand, we do want to see reasonable levels of transparency. These things are always about balance, and reasonable people can have reasonable different views on what the right balance is, and we are certainly taking a view on that and will continue to work with the government in a constructive way.

 

EMMA REBELLATO:

Okay, let's talk about inflation. The headline inflation figure yesterday came out, it stayed steady at 2.1% annually. That's a good thing, isn't it?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well, unfortunately, the preferred measure of the Reserve Bank and the best measure of underlying inflation, core inflation has gone up. Now, it's important to understand what this means, of course, not only are prices going up, but they're going up faster. The underlying prices are going up faster and of course, that is not what anyone wanted to see. To see core inflation rising. The government is in denial about it. The Prime Minister refused to confirm yesterday that that was the case. Well, it is the case. Underlying inflation is going up, and that means we've got more pain continuing. We've got this persistent inflation. We've got the highest level of core inflation of any of our major peer countries around the world and this government has failed to deal with the inflationary pressures that are raging across Australia and hurting Australian households, businesses, and the result is we've seen the largest fall in the standard of living of any of our peer countries, OECD countries over the last two and a half years since Labor has been in power.

 

EMMA REBELLATO:

Look, with these inflation figures. One of the things that was mentioned was the energy rebate. If the Coalition wins government and is elected, will you consider keeping the rebate?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well what we'll do is bring down energy prices. I mean, that's got to be the number one focus. You know, you can't subsidise your way out of an inflation crisis. You can't subsidise your way out of a cost of living crisis. We know from history, if you keep throwing money at a cost of living crisis you only make it worse. So you have to get to the underlying inflation, bring it down. It's going up, and that is exactly the opposite of what this country needs right now. We're seeing reckless spending from this government. Now is not the time to be adding $5 billion of cost in Canberra public servants and you know, many Canberra public servants do a very, very good job, but we don't need an extra $5 billion of spending on it per year. That's what we're seeing. So we need to take measures to get inflation down that benefits everybody, right across Australia, small businesses, households, everyone is benefited by that. That has to be the focus. This government's approach has failed and we saw that in the numbers yesterday.

 

EMMA REBELLATO:

Angus Taylor, you mentioned transparency, we've mentioned electricity and energy. So when will the government detail its costings for its nuclear plan?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well, as you know, we've laid out a significant part of that policy already. We'll continue to lay out the remaining parts of the policy in the coming weeks and months in advance of the election, as oppositions always do. But what I can assure you is the focus will be on bringing down prices in the short, medium and longer term, and making sure we also bring down emissions over time. I should point out that we've seen emissions go up under this government. That is not where any of us want to see it and it's crucial that we put the policies in place, both over the short, medium and long term, to bring down prices and emissions and we think nuclear should be part of that mix.

 

EMMA REBELLATO:

Angus Taylor – and I just need to correct myself because I misspoke and said the government's nuclear plan. Of course, it's not. It is the Coalition's nuclear plan. So you've said that we're going to find out details before Christmas. When exactly are we going to find out?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

No, I didn't say that. I said in advance of the election.

 

EMMA REBELLATO:

Okay but your colleagues have said that we'll find out before Christmas.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well we will announce the remaining policies before then. I'm not going to make the to make the announcement on your program this morning, much as you might want me to, but what I can absolutely assure you of is that our plan will be lower cost than what we're seeing from the government, and you only have to look at your electricity bills to see how the government's electricity policies and energy policies more generally are going. Indeed, and we're seeing real challenges with reliability, even in the last 24 hours. We need to make sure we sure up the grid. We need to make sure we have medium- and longer-term solutions that give us that low emission, affordable trajectory that this country needs. We're not seeing that from this government, and you will see more policies in that direction from us in the coming weeks and months.

 

EMMA REBELLATO:

Angus Taylor, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Good to be with you.

 

ENDS.