Topics: Rate cut; train strikes leave commuters stranded

  

E&OE    

 

SARAH ABO

Welcome back. Well, homeowners are rejoicing this morning over the RBA's decision to cut rates by 25 basis points. The cut has been four years in the making, but it comes with a warning from the Reserve Bank, which is plastered across the front pages of today's papers. Let's take a look. The one-cut wonder. Cut and run, don't bank on more, and cut to the chase. Just some of the titles, all reflecting Governor Michelle Bullock's position there likely won't be more cuts for some time. Joining us to discuss today's headlines is Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor. And our news and 3AW's Heidi Murphy. Good morning to you both. Angus, I'll start with you. Look, this is, of course, tempered relief. Will it make a difference to Aussie households?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR

Well, it's obviously welcome relief, Sarah. But for many Australian families, it's too little, too late. A typical Australian family with a mortgage has paid an extra $50,000 in interest costs since Labor came to power. And we know it's a long journey back to the standard of living they had when Labor came to power. Updated forecasts from the Reserve Bank yesterday saying our standard of living won't get back to the level we had when Labor came to power until 2031. So, this is a long journey back, and there's a lot of pain to go.

 

SARAH ABO

The first cut, of course, happened in your time in government. I mean, timing is everything they say, Angus. So, has the RBA just delivered the government its re-election? There's the momentum.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR

Well, as I say, there's a lot of pain out there. And at the end of the day, the hard work, even to get this... The first cut has been done by Australian families, not by the government. We're seeing record levels of government spending. So, households have had to tighten their belts, and that's the only way this has been achieved. It should really not be on households to do all that hard work. The government should be doing its bit, and this government has failed to do that. And that's why we've only had one cut. It's taken a long while. We're at the back of the pack internationally in getting that cut. And as we've heard, there's a long way to go here now.

 

SARAH ABO

Heidi, is this more a sigh of relief for the government?

 

HEIDI MURPHY

A little sigh of relief, I think. I was in the opinion camp of saying, once there's a rate cut, they'll rush straight to an election. But I'm actually not convinced there'll be a big enough honeymoon on this for them to rush to it. It's $100 a month when the banks finally get around to passing it on. They were admirably quick saying they would, but they're not for a few days, for a couple of weeks even, in one or two cases. And $100 a month, I mean, it's a load of petrol and a small grocery shop. And it's gone. It won't touch the sides.

 

SARAH ABO

So, I don't know if there's going to be a long enough period of, woohoo, we're coming back to get Labor across the line here. Well, especially because the Reserve Bank says that it's unlikely that we'll see any more cuts in the near future. Angus, no rushing to an election then?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR

Well, that'll be up to Anthony Albanese and his track record is it'll be a political decision made in his political interest. But whichever way, we're ready to make the case that if you want to beat a cost of living crisis, you've got to be a good economic manager. And we've seen a failure in economic management under this government in the last two and a half years.

 

SARAH ABO

I wonder too, if given the Reserve Bank has said this is just, it is one for now, if the banks are being irresponsible, floating, that they're expecting a lot more. Are they going to be luring people into mortgages unrealistically?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR

I don't know about that, though, because the banks are a bit, I mean, no one's really listening to them when it comes to rate cuts, right? I think the Reserve Bank...

 

SARAH ABO

No, but you are listening to them when you're taking a mortgage out with them, thinking, oh, it'll be easier, it'll get easier. I wonder if they're being irresponsible.

We'll wait and see, I guess. Well, Clive Palmer wants a slice of Canberra too. According to the Daily Telegraph, his new political party will be called Trumpet of the Patriots, perhaps signalling a philosophical alignment with Donald Trump. Angus, are you feeling threatened?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR

Well, good luck to him. But if you want to get rid of a bad Albanese government, you've got to vote Liberal or National at this election, Sarah. So that's the point I would make. But good luck to him. We're a democratic country and he can do as he chooses on these things.

 

SARAH ABO

How do you reckon he's going to fare? I mean, we're preparing for a big advertising spend. He's already taken out some primetime ads. I mean, he may go well in Queensland. I don't know about the rest of the country. All right. And just finally, we've seen a rather hangry worker in Sydney, a train driver, doing the rounds online amid ongoing industrial action, not for the best reasons, by halting services because she'd gone six hours without food. Let's take a look.

I've been on this train for nearly six and a half hours. I'm entitled to some food, yeah? Yeah. I'm waiting for someone to come and take the train off me so they can take you to the Rift, mate, because I need some food. I'm sorry if that's an issue, but if I pass out on the train while the train's moving, apparently that doesn't look good on paper either, and then I can't open the doors.

Angus, what was meant to be a 20-minute trip turned into a 90-minute journey for communities. Is it just a reminder to pack a lunch next time?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR

Well, perhaps that's right. But at the end of the day, the disruption here to Australians is enormous, to people in Sydney is enormous. And really, there's an opportunity here for Anthony Albanese to step in. He can. He has the power to do it. The government has the power to do it. He should do it. He shouldn't be weak on this. We need some strength.

Oh, Heidi, maybe he just needs to, the PM needs to just give her a sandwich. That'll make everything a bit better.

 

HEIDI MURPHY

Just a little snack pack. Give them a little snack pack in the driver's carriage.

 

SARAH ABO

Goodness. We've all been hungry before. Thank you both so much for your time this morning.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR

Thank you.

 

ENDS.