Topics: US Presidential Election, CrowdStrike outage, CFMEU, Labor’s homegrown inflation 

 

E&OE   

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

Let's go live to Goulburn in New South Wales, the Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor joins me. A lot to talk about on the domestic front but on the US, the Trump-Biden developments, this is our closest ally, the United States. What do you make of what we're seeing unfold right now? 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well first of all, can I say, Kieran, I mean obviously what we've seen over the course of the last week or so, has been something we don't want to see, which is a descent into political violence. And of course, democracy is about resolving disputes at the ballot box, not resolving disputes through political violence. And so that is something we don't want in America. We certainly don't want it in Australia. But what we've also seen, I just think even in what we heard in that rally, is that the colour of American democracy at its best, it's resilient, it's robust and we should celebrate it because democracy ultimately gives us the best possible outcomes. It can be messy, but it should never descend into political violence. 

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

Yep, exactly. Well said. Now, JD Vance is Donald Trump's running mate. This is an interesting development, I think, in the context of if we look at the parallels with our nation and I just want to ask you, is this essentially what the Coalition is trying to do in terms of targeting that blue collar vote? Because that's what JD Vance is seen as, the support for Trump to win the Midwest, the Rust Belt, is this the sort of the view that the Coalition takes here, that conservative parties can win over the blue collar vote? 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well absolutely, but I'd go a step further than that and say that his nomination as the Vice Presidential candidate is all about reviving the American dream. And I don't think our dream here is so different. It is about being able to get ahead, being able to come from nothing, and to be able to create opportunities from life. It shows you the power of personal responsibility and the power of someone who wants to really have a go. And that's what we believe in as the Liberal Party here in Australia, and we do want to see more of that in Australia, not less. We've seen Australians going backwards badly in the last two years, we've seen young Australians losing hope for the great Australian dream, which is to own a home, to be able to raise your family in your own home, and to be able to get ahead. And I think there are strong parallels, and it's certainly something that we are absolutely focused on. How do we help young Australians who are trying to get ahead, all Australians including working Australians, working class Australians, to be able to make the best of what is a truly wonderful country. And so I do think it was an inspired choice by Donald Trump and his team. And I do think there are strong parallels here in Australia. 

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

Let's turn now to things at home. Although this was a global phenomenon, the CrowdStrike outage, the tech outage, does this flawed software update that basically brought down such a big part of the economy globally, does this show, does it highlight the vulnerability of our tech supply chain? 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well, what it certainly shows us is that our enemies in this space, it's getting, well our challenges in this space, enemies and challenges more broadly, they are hard, and we've got to be continually at the best, at our best. We've got to be continually looking at ways of managing these risks. It's very clear that this is global, of course, it's also very clear that government and businesses have got to get smarter and better at being able to deal with these situations. That might mean having redundancy, it might mean ensuring that you've got alternatives, it certainly might mean not having one organisation or one company with too much market share. I should also say that we need to be aware of scammers who get into the act when these things happen. We've certainly seen that in the last 24 hours and every Australian should be beware of those scammers. 

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

Yeah, indeed. And in terms of those, you mentioned the enemies, that they would be looking to this episode and it was put to me by a national security expert that if that was to be the case that this was a malicious act, which it wasn't in this case, it was a mess up with the software update of that major company, but if it was malicious, this would be a whole heap worse than this scenario. That's obviously what our agencies will be looking at closely over coming days, isn't it? 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Yeah, we've got to be continually looking at weaknesses and vulnerabilities, whether they're caused by mistake or whether they're caused by our enemies. Either way, and that is, look the thing about this whole cybersecurity area is you've got to be continually evolving, because our enemies are continually evolving and the challenges are continually evolving. And that is the key. And there are, I'm sure, things that will be learned from this and we need to make sure that we learn them, adapt, respond, and try to preempt any kind of incident like this again in the future. 

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

On to the CFMEU, Labor has moved to cut ties and suspend the donations from the CFMEU amid this scandal in its construction branch. The ALP clearly knows it needs to move decisively on this. But it does appear it's going to be an issue heading into the next election as well. Is that your intention? 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:  

Well, it's absolutely half hearted. I mean, we see that in Queensland, Western Australia in the ACT, the CFMEU can continue to give donations. It's not, it's not deregistering the CFMEU. This organisation is clearly rotten to the core. It is a cartel being enforced by criminal underworld figures, and others like bikies, and every Australian is paying the tax for this cartel. We're paying it as taxpayers, we're paying it as house buyers, and the Prime Minister and the Labor Party needs to take strong and decisive action against this cartel and against this kind of behavior. But they haven't. We have a weak Prime Minister who has absolutely failed to really take this seriously. And you know, the contrast is really stark on this one. Bob Hawke, who was a serious Prime Minister, who showed strength and he deregistered the BLF. Well, Anthony Albanese is no Bob Hawke, that is very clear. And he has absolutely failed to take the strong and decisive action he could have. He absolutely should be registered this organisation, he should reestablish the ABCC, the strong cop on the beat, and he should declare not only that the Labor Party will no longer take any donations from the CFMEU, but it will hand back donations that have been given in the past. 

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

The Prime Minister has said that deregistration would result in the Union still being able to operate but without being regulated properly. That's why they haven't gone down the deregistration route. He says it's important that we stamp out corruption and that this way, suspension and administration is the way to do that effectively. 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

What absolute nonsense. I mean, this is a weak Prime Minister who can't take on an organisation that is running the construction industry and parts of the construction industry in particular, like a cartel. I mean, it is just extraordinary. He should deregister the CFMEU, allow other organisations to step up and compete to represent workers. Competition is a great disinfectant Kieran, but this Prime Minister is beholden to the CFMEU. He's taken over $6 million from them. And so he's not prepared to challenge them. But what we've read in the last week or so on this is just truly extraordinary. I mean, this is an organisation that has been run like a cartel, it is using as its enforcement arm, according to these allegations, bikies and criminal underworld figures, and the Prime Minister is too weak to be able to take serious action against it. 

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

The unemployment number was up during the week. You've said that it's simply population growth that we're seeing with the jobs creation that we've seen alongside the unemployment rate ticking up, albeit slightly in the last survey. But it's more than just population growth, isn't it because this labour market remains incredibly strong. 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well, we are seeing a strong labour market, there's no question about that. Australians are having to work extra hours to be able to make ends meet because their real disposable incomes, their standard of living, has been absolutely smashed in the last two years under this Labor government as they've faced higher prices, they've obviously faced 12 interest rate increases. It's clear now that interest rates will stay higher for longer, and they're also paying a very significant increase in their personal income taxes despite the personal income tax cuts. So Australians are having to work extra hours just to make ends meet. They're having to cut back on much of the expenditure they'd like to be able to make. And they're digging deep into their savings Kieran. I mean, savings have almost disappeared now in our economy because Australians are digging deep, so deep, in order to be able to make ends meet. So this is a disastrous situation for Australian household budgets. It's a disastrous situation for Australian households. Look, I was at a major food bank in southeastern Queensland, just in the last few days, and what we are seeing there is people turning up needing help to make ends meet, to be able to put food on the table, who would never have had to look out for help or ask for help two years ago, but we are seeing extraordinary situations right now, with Australians finding that they're going backwards. The purchasing power of what's in their bank accounts, what's in their pay packets is going backwards sharply under this Labor government and there's no end in sight. 

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

The criticism that you and your colleagues have said of the government is that they haven't dealt with the inflation problem effectively, that they're spending too much. Will you articulate what spending you won't proceed with over coming months ahead of the next election? 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well, you're absolutely right, this is homegrown inflation. And so we need homegrown solutions to it. And we're not seeing this from the Labor government. That does mean getting back to basics, that means not spending money that doesn't need to be spent, like 400, $500 million we find now, on a failed referendum. On grants to the CFMEU, on $45 billion of off budget spending that this government has committed to that we've opposed in the parliament Kieran. You ask about things we're opposed to, we've been very clear on those issues and we'll continue to highlight areas... 

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

But off budget spending... 

 

ANGU TAYLOR: 

But there's been significant, I've just, the referendum was absolutely on budget Kieran, $500 million on budget, and that failed referendum was spending that was not necessary at this time, just as grants to the CFMEU are not necessary. Just as setting up a spin unit inside the Treasurer's department because he can't actually get the substance of his policies right so he actually has to try and spin it. I mean, this is the sort of spending that is absolutely unnecessary. It adds fuel to the inflationary fire. Every single Australian pays a price for it. And this government has completely failed in three failed budgets to deal with the inflationary pressures and the cost of living pressures and the broader disposable income pressures that Australians are facing. This is homegrown inflation. We are at the back of the pack in dealing with this and this is the most galling thing. We are we are dealing with this worse than any other major country in the world, advanced country in the world. We've seen inflation increasing since last December in Australia and there's no other advanced country in the world since December last year where that's been the case. I mean, we are absolutely at the back of the pack in dealing with this situation and we're paying a high price for it.  

 

KIERAN GILBERT: 

Angus Taylor Shadow Treasurer, thank you as always. Appreciate you making the time this Sunday. 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Good on you, thanks Kieran. 

 

ENDS.