Topics: JobSeeker, inflation, migration, The Voice, Minister for Trade visit to China

E&OE

KIERAN GILBERT: Angus Taylor, thanks for your time. You heard what the Minister said there that the Coalition's proposal to allow those on JobSeeker to earn double the amount before they lose their benefits. Amanda Rishworth described that as a thought bubble, without any substantive analysis behind it. What's your response?

ANGUS TAYLOR: That’s rot, and you would expect that from a government that doesn't seem to be focused on the things that are really going to help all Australians to put downward pressure on inflation, getting people into work. The analysis is simple Kieran, we've got over 430,000 job vacancies almost double what we've ever seen before. If there was ever an opportunity to get people into work, it's now. If you get people into work, they get many times what they would get from this JobSeeker increase. So, it's great for them. It puts downward pressure on inflation, because putting more people into work helps the supply side of the economy. So, it's good for Australians, it's good for those people who get a job, it's good for all of us. So, it’s simple and I would highlight here, we made a similar point about the pension soon after the election and that getting more pensioners into work was a good idea. By giving them a work bonus, Labor did go with a half-baked version of this and accepted that analysis was correct. So, look, we'd like to work with Labor on this, we think there's a sensible way forward, we think it's good for everybody, but they've got to put away their ideological prejudices and recognise that getting people into work and working is the best way to improve somebody's life.

KIERAN GILBERT: Do you stand by the costings as well? The Minister questioned those.

ANGUS TAYLOR: They’ve done none and they don't like ours. If they've got better costings then they should come out with them, if they've got a better way of doing this, they should bring it forward. So that's a matter for them. Labor’s just knee-jerk reaction to asking people to get into work, because it's good for them and good for everybody tells you a lot about the modern Labor Party.

KIERAN GILBERT: Mr. Dutton with that policy, obviously, that’s your preferred approach. If it doesn't secure enough support, will you allow that other modest increase of $40 a fortnight to go through. Will you support it?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, we haven't gotten to that point yet Kieran. We’re living in hope that a very common-sense proposal will be taken over by the party, that we will be able to work with them on it. So, we'll see. I'm not going to speculate on what happens if they don't? You know, I think it is commonsense, out in main streets of towns and regions across Australia, the suburbs across Australia, people will see the sense of this. That it is a really good way to solve our underlying challenges. Look, you can't walk into a small business or any business around Australia right now without them telling you about the challenges of finding workers, finding employees. There's work sheets or demands for workers in every business you go to, and this is something we desperately need to address, it will help to put downward pressure on inflation. Labor claims that this is their top priority and yet this was a budget that completely missed the opportunity to put downward pressure on inflation and of course, that is the pain that Australians are feeling right now and inflationary pressures everywhere you look and this is one of a number of ways that Labor could help to address that.

KIERAN GILBERT: I do want to drill into that issue in a moment on the inflationary issues around the budget, the economy, but just on the JobSeeker increase, it sounds like you're still open to it. Do you accept the argument from many in the welfare sector that a lot of those on that benefit are living in poverty?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, the best way to help someone who's going through, is in a very vulnerable spot, and is struggling to make ends meet, is to get them into work Kieran. I mean, the increase in their income from working is many times more than the increase that's being talked about by Labor and so, you know, I just it's such common sense at a time of over 430,000 job vacancies. Now, the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed is unprecedented in our lifetimes, right now. This is an extraordinary situation and yet the emphasis for Labor is not to get people into work. Yeah, they talk, and they say we'd like to get people into work, but let's get on with it. Here is a way to say to people, instead of losing 50 cents in the dollar, when you take on work, you don't lose 50 cents in the dollar. If anyone can tell me that's not going to be an incentive to get into work, you know, that's pretty strange economics, I have to say.  It is common sense, it is obvious. Labor has accepted it in other contexts. I think in mainstream Australia, this will be seen as common sense, because it is the right thing for Australia and Australians, and the right thing for those looking for jobs.

KIERAN GILBERT: On the inflationary impact or otherwise, of the budget, economists have mixed views on this. It is a disputed analysis; some say it is, some say it's not. The RBA has indicated already that more rate rises are likely. So then how do you pin the blame on the Government for any subsequent rate rises given as I said, the central bank has already indicated more are coming.

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well Kieran, let me be very clear about this. It's hard to find economists who think that this budget is putting downward pressure on inflation. There's a debate about whether it's making it worse or it's neutral, but there's very few saying this is putting downward pressure on inflation and that's because there's two dollars of extra spending for every extra dollar of revenue and people like, economists like Chris Richardson said, well that is inflationary. Now, what we needed and what Jim Chalmers promised, is a budget that was going to put downward pressure on inflation. He said that was the Government's top priority. He hasn't delivered, that is very, very clear. Whether interest rates go up or not, that will be up to the Reserve Bank. What's very clear, though, is they’ve failed to put that downward pressure that's required and what ends up happening is you end up with a situation where the Reserve Bank has the foot on the brake, at exactly the time when the Government has the foot on the accelerator. Of course, when you do that, you wreck the engine. Now that is the sad reality of what we've seen in this budget, and that will hurt middle Australia. Let's be clear about that. In mainstream Australia, right now we're seeing enormous pain. A typical family with a mortgage $25,000 a year worse off than they were a year ago when Labor got into government. We need to see a government that treats this, genuinely treats this as its top priority, it doesn't just talk about it. There’s a lot of talk in Labor, but not the action that is needed to put that downward pressure on inflation. The truth is, inflation is coming from Canberra now, not from the Kremlin, not from the Kremlin and Canberra needs to deal with it and that's what they failed to do in this budget.

KIERAN GILBERT: Well, the Government's response to that would be, as we've heard earlier from the Minister, that they've banked 87 per cent of the upgraded revenue stream that they've seen from the October budget, and the budget here last week. Is that not a fair way to try and put some downward pressure on inflation?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Except that's not right. So, they've added $185 billion of spending, about $140 of that they've kind of forgotten in that analysis, they've ignored. When you add $185 billion of spending, you're not putting downward pressure on inflation that is the truth of the matter and when there's two dollars of extra spending initiatives for every saving initiative, you're not putting downward pressure on inflation and that's why so many economists have said this is not a budget putting downward pressure on inflation. And look, the real missed opportunity here was there was a chance for Labor to deliver a budget that was good for every Australian. When you can get downward pressure on prices, on energy prices, on groceries, on everything across the board, then you help everybody, but right now inflation is hurting everybody and is across almost every good and service and so they missed that opportunity. So, instead of dealing with the source of the problem, they're now dealing with the symptoms. They're putting a band aid on a bullet wound and that's not where they needed, they needed to be and sadly all Australians are paying a very high price for it. They're feeling that pain, because this government is not taking responsibility.

KIERAN GILBERT: The Opposition Leader also picked up on the increase in net migration. Isn't it the time to try and back efforts to try and build more housing. Should the Coalition have a rethink on the Government's Housing Future Fund?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, let me say that the Government's done many things in his budget that is inflationary. They're adding taxes to truckies, we've talked about the failure to have a fiscal policy that's putting downward pressure on prices, energy policy prices are going up, not down, no matter how the Government tries to spin it. And of course, the point you were just making is we've got migration added in the budget. 1.5 million people without a plan. So, we all want to see a successful continuation of our successful immigration, that has been true for Australia for a long, long time, of course, and it's been hugely enriching for the country. But it doesn't work without an appropriate plan, without the right management and housing is one part of that, infrastructure is another part of it working with the states. That's why I as Cities Minister drove the first of the city deals across Australia, including where the Western Sydney Airport is now. This is all about making sure you have managed migration. Now there's no plan for that in this budget, there’s no plan. And the result of that is it is likely to be inflationary, it is likely to result in a situation where our communities are underserved, they haven't got the infrastructure they need and I can tell you, that causes enormous pain Kieran. It is the wrong answer for Australia if that's where we end up, but that seems to me to be where the plans are going.

KIERAN GILBERT: Isn't it disingenuous for the Opposition to target this issue given when in government your forecasts were for a higher population sooner?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, you know, we never saw this level of migration when we were in government. This is higher. So, let's be clear about that, but the bigger issue is this. It's not about the number. It's about the unmanaged nature of it and that's the key, that is the key. If you don't have the appropriate complimentary initiatives and plans, then you don't get a good outcome. You know, people across Australia accept levels of migration that we've seen, if they believe that there are the appropriate complementary initiatives around infrastructure, around services, around housing. I mean, Labor's housing policy will make almost no relevant contribution to the numbers required here of houses over the coming years. It's tiny, and the whole program is a Ponzi scheme, which, frankly, is not going to deliver what is needed to deal with this issue. So, we need a proper plan, a managed approach to immigration. That is not what was offered in this budget.

KIERAN GILBERT: A couple of issues before you go. What did you think of what the Minister said to Andrew Clennell a bit earlier about the prospect of The Voice being consulted on things like JobSeeker?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, I mean, you know our position on The Voice and it certainly hasn't changed as a result of what came out of the parliamentary committee, which was, I think, unfortunate that so many of the very good representations that were made and arguments that were made during the course of that committee were not incorporated in the final report that came out. The dissenting report did of course, include many of them, but the truth of the matter is that The Voice as it is currently conceived, will be able to give advice on issues right across the board, including something like JobSeeker, and it's built into our Constitution. I mean, this is the important point. They're building it in, in an inflexible way to our founding document and, and that is a step well beyond what we think is appropriate and necessary. We do think local voices are the right way to go. We do think there is a way to address these issues, these governance issues, in particular, at the local level, which will make a really positive difference, but that's not what's been proposed here.

KIERAN GILBERT: And finally, the trade minister Don Farrell wrapped up a couple of days in Beijing, he said that he's invited his Chinese counterpart to visit Australia, that's going to happen over coming months. Do you welcome the ongoing thawing relations between Australia and China?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, we certainly want to see those trade relationships strengthening over the coming months, but Labor talks a lot, we want to see results and it needs to be done in a way which maintains the integrity of our values, and is consistent with what we believe in. But we certainly would like to see a reopening of some of trade opportunities, but we'll see if Labor can deliver.

KIERAN GILBERT: Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor, thanks for your time. We'll talk to you soon.

ENDS.