Topics: Labor’s homegrown inflation crisis, Federal Budget

E&OE

SABRA LANE:

Angus Taylor, welcome to AM.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Good to be with you Sabra.

SABRA LANE:

What credit do you give the government for a second surplus in a row? It's the first time that's happened in 20 years.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well look, what we need to see is a structural surplus, not a windfall surplus. We of course, have got very high commodity prices, we've seen a big increase in personal income taxes being paid. So rivers of revenues that are unsustainable. But what we need to beat inflation is a structural surplus.

SABRA LANE:

And what you mean by that is cuts.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well no it means ongoing balance. And the key to achieving ongoing balance is to make sure that your economy is growing faster than your spending. That's what we did between 2013 and 2019. The government is benefiting from that being done during that time period. And that ensures that you can get back to structural balance. Well, the reporting we're seeing today is that it's a sea of red. And we'll see, we haven't seen the final numbers, but that's not what we need. If you want to tame inflation, you've got to get the budget back into balance, you've got to make sure that there's restraint in the sense of ensuring that the economy is growing faster than spending. So far, we haven't seen that from Labor budgets, $209 billion of additional spending in their past budgets, that's $20,000 for an average Australian household. And I bet there's not many Australian families out there who are feeling the benefit from that.

SABRA LANE:

Yeah. For decades, the Coalition mocked Labor for not being able to deliver a surplus, and now they've got, they could have back to back - it's a forecast. That just might woo some voters over to supporting them in 12 months time, consider that they'll get tax relief in July and they might think, okay, give them another go.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, I think what Australians want to see in this budget, and from this government, is the taming of the homegrown inflation that's been raging so much across this country. That's the overwhelming issue we see as we get out there.

SABRA LANE:

You say raging, but it's actually come down. It did have a six in front of it when they came to office.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well it's still well above target. They promised that they were going to beat it. There's no sign of that yet. It's nowhere near the target range. And of course, the Reserve Bank just in the last week or so has set off the warning bells telling us that this is a very serious problem right now. It is not beaten. And yet the Treasury is saying everybody's overreacting. Well, I'll tell you, Australians aren't overreacting to the pressures they're feeling right now. They've seen a slashing of their real disposable income, 7.5% since Labor came to power. I mean, people are poorer than they were two years ago.

SABRA LANE:

Okay. We are potentially 12 months away or less to a Federal Election. Peter Dutton has previously said that you will not be a small target. Are we going to see some of those big policy ideas with details, Thursday in the budget in reply?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, Peter will give the budget reply not me as you know, but the fact of the matter is, we haven't been a small target as an Opposition. I mean, as a first term Opposition goes, we took on the referendum, the Voice, when public opinion was very much the other way. And we won that debate. We are we are taking forward energy policies and we've been very clear about where we're going on this. I mean, this is one of the most monumental changes in energy policy we've seen in this country in a generation, which we're working our way through, and we're talking about, and we will continue to. We're also making very clear that we need to see restraint and fiscal rules re-established that ensure that we tame the inflation we're seeing right now. $45 billion of spending through the parliament we've opposed.

SABRA LANE:

So, will we see that detail? I mean, you are the Shadow Treasurer surely he talks with you about what he's going to deliver on Thursday night.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

And we've seen a lot of detail already. $45 billion of spending through the parliament that we've opposed so far. We're not going to oppose supply, that's not something we're planning to do Sabra but what we will continue to do is hold the government to account for its failure to beat this homegrown inflation and set the country up on a pathway to prosperity which is, which is business led, which is enterprise led, which is driven by the private sector, who will ultimately pay our taxes and provide the revenues that are necessary for the hospitals and schools that all Australians want. The idea that this government is putting forward that it can all be government led, we know is wrong. It's failed in the past, and it'll fail again. So we'll continue to first of all, hold the government to account on that. And second, layout what is a back to basics agenda focused on affordable reliable energy, getting regulation out of the way where it's stopping a business from making investments and so on.

SABRA LANE:

Angus Taylor, thanks for talking to AM.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Good on you Sabra, good to be with you.

ENDS.