Topics: Inflation data; Labor’s economic mismanagement; cost of living crisis; interest rates; Border Force Operation LUNAR;  

  

E&OE    

 

GISELE KAPTERIAN, LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR BRADFIELD:   

Great to be here, everybody in the in the seat of Bradfield. Great to have Angus and Jane, our Shadow Treasurer and Finance Minister with us today talking about the issues that all Australians are facing, cost of living. We're here with Cesar from Dynamic office supplies. He's just been telling us a little bit about some of the challenges he's facing in making ends meet. Cesar is going to tell us a little bit about some of the challenges. 

  

CESAR BIGUETTI, DYNAMIC OFFICE SUPPLIES:   

So it's good to have these guys here today, when inflation figures just got released, chatting to the staff. It certainly doesn't feel like anything is getting cheaper or easier to do business. So it's good to have these guys here taking this seriously. We need some change I think. People are hurting, and to do what you were doing last year, you've got to work twice as hard, which is, you know, bit of a challenge. So thanks for coming over and taking this issue seriously. 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

Well, thank you, Cesar, thanks Gisele, thanks Jane for being here. It's great to be with our hardworking candidate for Bradfield, who is working hard to focus on those issues that matter in Bradfield, and matter right across this country, where the cost of living pressures are affecting all Australians. The cost of doing business pressures, which we just heard about, are affecting all businesses across Australia, and that suffering continues. Now, we see the inflation data out today, and we see that core inflation is stubbornly above target, services inflation stubbornly above 4% - it hasn't moved much in the last 12 months and sitting underneath that is a situation where Australians continue to pay more at the checkout. They continue to pay more for insurance, pay more for all of their services, and we've got a situation where Australians are paying more than 10% extra in what they buy every day compared to when Labor came to power. Indeed, for working families, that number is closer to 18% and that accumulated price increase, that accumulated pain for Australian households is not going away. Indeed, we've seen the biggest collapse in Australian's standard of living in our history, higher than any of our peer countries, and that pain isn't going away. Now we see a report out from Deloitte today that is telling us that we're not going to see a restoration of Australian's standard of living, back to where it was when Labor came to power until 2030. Until 2030, this pain is far from over. We see the Treasurer out today patting himself on the back, but indeed, Australian families with a mortgage are paying, have paid $50,000 more on that mortgage as a result of the 12 interest rate increases that have occurred under Labor. We've got an economy that has been in a household recession for a record seven consecutive quarters, and again, none of our peer countries have seen that situation. We are absolutely at the back of the pack in beating inflation and getting that low inflation, strong economy that we all want to see. Now, there is a better way to get this country back on track, getting back to basics. Making sure that government is living within its means, not growing and spending faster than the economy, making sure that we rebalance immigration so we get the balance right between our housing supply and our population, making sure that we get rid of red tape that's hurting small businesses, record levels of insolvencies in businesses in this country since Labor came to power. This is all basic stuff, but it's stuff that this government has got wrong, and we've got a Treasurer who's more interested in spin than substance, more interested in rhetoric than reality, but the reality of Australian families and Australian businesses, and we've seen it here today, is the pain continues. And I'll ask Jane, our great Shadow Finance Minister, to add to that. 

  

JANE HUME:   

 Thank you very much, Angus, it was terrific to be here today to talk to Cesar about his business and about the problems that he sees his business facing because of the economy that we're in. Jim Chalmers is out today with a big grin on his face, but he is a doctor of spin, not a doctor of substance. This is not mission accomplished. Inflation has remained too high for too long in Australia, and because of that, interest rates have stayed too high for too long, and Australians have paid the price. We've seen a reduction in living standards here that is unprecedented. It's been a faster and a deeper collapse in living standards than we have ever seen, so if people out there are feeling poor, it's not all in your heads. You, in fact, are poorer. You're poorer than you were three years ago. You're poorer under Labor, and that's because of the poor decisions, the broken promises and the bad policies of this government that has kept inflation too high for too long now. That includes an additional $347 billion of government spending, which Michelle Bullock, the Reserve Bank Governor, has said is one of the things that has made it so hard for her to bring interest rates down sooner. And yet, the 12 interest rates that have occurred under this Labor government have made it so much harder for businesses, so much harder for households to get ahead. Caesar was telling us that his customers are just bobbing along the surface right now. Nobody is shooting the lights out. The economy is essentially ground to a halt. We're in a per capita recession for the last seven quarters, real wages have gone backwards, and consumer sentiment is down. We need a change. We need a back to basics economic approach to get our economy back on track. People happy to take some questions. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Given we've now had back-to-back quarterly increases of 0.2% in inflation with prices now on everything from petrol to pets falling. Do you concede that inflation is now under control? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

Well, only the Treasurer thinks that the prices of everything are under control. Only the Treasurer thinks that. Australians don't think that because they've seen a cumulative increase in the prices of things they buy every day of over 10% almost 18% for working families, they're paying an additional or they've paid an additional $50,000 on their mortgages. They're paying a record level of personal income tax under this government. They're seeing record levels of business insolvencies. But for the Treasurer, that's mission accomplished, only this Treasurer could see that as mission accomplished. I mean, this has been a disastrous period economically for Australian families, for Australian businesses, and you only have to look at the international comparisons to see this, we are absolutely at the back of the pack in dealing with core inflation and getting interest rates down, at the back of the pack in terms of GDP per person, and Australians are paying a high price for that. And we've seen that talking today, and we've seen it in businesses right across this country. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Given these issues, you raise, core inflation, does that mean you believe there should not be a rate cut next time?  

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

Unlike the Treasurer or the Labor Party, I don't get into giving advice, free advice to the Reserve Bank Governor. She is independent, and she should be independent to make the right decision for Australians. But what I will say is that this government has no plan to restore Australian's standard of living. They have no plan to restore Australian's standard of living. In fact, we've seen multiple reports now demonstrating that Australians won't get back to the standard of living they had when Labor came to power, until 2030. That's how much damage labor has done to the economy, until 2030 we simply can't afford another three years of Labor. Australians are poorer after this two and a half years of Labor. We can't afford another three years of it. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Can you blame Labor for the inflation crisis? Do you give them any credit for the fact inflation has come down? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

It is homegrown inflation. I mean, we have heard the Reserve Bank Governor say that on multiple occasions. This is Labor's homegrown inflation. This is Labor's homegrown standard of living crisis. This is Labor's homegrown cost of living crisis, and this is Labor's homegrown cost of doing business crisis and we've consistently seen, you know ... 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Do you give credit for the fact it has come down though? 

   

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

Well, prices aren't coming down at all, and there's no sign of that happening, and no one's saying that's going to happen. The trouble is, we've seen baked in increases in the price of what people buy. No one's seeing a reduction in what they pay for at the supermarket. No one seeing a reduction in their insurance bills. But this this Treasurer is congratulating himself for the biggest collapse in Australian's standard of living in our history, only this Treasurer could see that as a victory. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Jim Chalmers has described this as a soft landing for the economy, and that's something that they've been planning and preparing to do. What is your response? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

If his plan was to cause more damage to Australian's standard of living than we've ever seen before, than any of our peer countries, then he should fess up to that. And that has been his plan. And his plan is that we won't restore our standard of living until 2030. This is his plan. This is a guy who doesn't understand economics. He doesn't understand business, he doesn't understand our economy. He's barely worked in the private sector, and when he did, he hated it. He simply doesn't know how the economy works, and we see that in the outcomes we've had since he's been in that role, and since Labor has been in power.  

  

JOURNALIST:   

If the Coalition does win government, are you suggesting that prices will come down?  

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

We will restore Australian's standard of living. That's what we must do, and that's what this government should have set out to do from the start. It shouldn't have spent its first 18 months on a divisive referendum. It shouldn't have spent an additional almost $350 billion much of which, a significant portion of which, of the bad spending we've opposed at a time like this is inappropriate spending. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Prices won't come will they, because the inflation - 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

Well, standard of living is what we've got to focus on, and standard of living has to get back to where it was fast, not by 2030 let's be clear. I mean, this is a government that thinks it's okay to trash Australian's standard of living, and then have a plan where it takes till 2030 to get it back to where it was. Only a Labor Government could think that's okay. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Just on your small business tax rate plan. When will you provide a list of activities that will and won't be covered? And can you clarify? Is golf in or out?  

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

Well, we've been clear. It's about food. That's we've been clear about that from the start. It's about food, and there's no, there's no ambiguity about that. We'll put the costings out for all of our initiatives in the lead up to the next election. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

That was going to be my next question, why have the costings on the lunch plan not been released yet? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:  

Well, you know, by convention, costings are put in before the election. We'll tally them all up and we'll put them out before the election. That's what Labor did at the last election, and that's what we do by convention in this country. Because we're still yet to see Labor's big spending agenda. We haven't seen all of that. I mean, we know they're spending a lot more money, and the result of that is we've got the biggest government we've ever seen in our history. We've seen Labor adding 36,000 new Canberra based bureaucrats. This only a Labor Government could think that the answer to the challenges we face now is more bureaucracy, not more business. But that's the situation we've had under this Labor Government 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Will you offset the cost of the measure against cuts elsewhere in the budget? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

Sorry I didn't quite catch that. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Will you offset the cost of the measure against cuts elsewhere in the budget? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

Okay, so we will put out all of our costings in good time ahead of the next election, but we're very conscious of the fact that that government needs to make ends meet, and that every dollar that is spent by a government is a dollar that is earned by hard working businesses, like this one, by hard working people across this country. And so we're going to always be hugely respectful of taxpayers' money. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Warren Mundine has been quoted as suggesting that Gisele Kapterian won the Bradfield pre selection because of her gender. Do you agree with these comments? Are you able to respond to them? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:   

I believe firmly in merit, and what I absolutely love about the democratic process we went through for Bradfield and we're going through for electorates right across New South Wales and Australia right now, is that the democratic processes where our members get to choose the person they want as their candidate and to represent them in this seat. And Gisele won that preselection through a democratic plebiscite process. And that's a meritocratic process, and it should be. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Gisele Are you able to comment on that as well? 

  

GISELE KAPTERIAN, LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR BRADFIELD:   

Sure, you know, I'll just be echoing the comments that Angus just made. It's one of the most fantastic traditions of the Liberal Party, is to go through that democratic process selected by individuals who are part of the communities that are on the ground. They are the people there, the mums and dads, the netball coaches, the soccer coaches, the people of our community. They make a decision about who is right, who they believe is best placed to represent them at the next election, and I am honored and privileged to receive their confidence. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

On Operation LUNAR, Border Force Operation LUNAR - Is it enough to bring illegal boat arrivals under control? And if not, what more needs to be done?  

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:  

Well, yeah, thanks, Fi. Well, what's clear is that that is too little too late. We've seen 26 boats attempt to get into the country since Labor's come to power, seven have arrived, and this government has lost control of its borders, our borders. It's lost control of immigration. We've seen an immigration rate which has been double the housing coming available for growth in population. I mean, this is, this is a government that simply doesn't get it. We are. We are a country that has been a great immigrant nation for a long, long time, and we've done it well, but this government has lost control, and that is showing and this is simply too little too late.  

  

JOURNALIST:   

And what would you do differently to bring it under control?  

  

ANGUS TAYLOR:  

Well, we've been very clear that rebalancing our immigration intake more broadly are you asking about that or are you asking about maritime arrivals? 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Specifically asking about the maritime arrivals yeah.  

  

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

Well, we've got a pretty good track record on maritime arrivals. Last time we're in government, everyone told us we couldn't fix it, and we did. But it's only when Labor comes to power that they lose control of the borders. It's always Labor that loses control of the borders. It's always Labor that loses control of a sensible, balanced immigration rate. We will as we've said on many occasions, get that back to where it should be, rebalance it so that we have that housing that we need for young Australians, so we make sure that we've got an economy that can cope with the growth in population we're seeing. We've seen a GDP per capita recession under this government, and every Australian pays the price for that.  

 

JOURNALIST:   

The Liberal Party adopted a 50/50, gender target 10 years ago. Do you think the Liberal Party has done enough in the last decade to improve its representation of women? 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR: 

I am surrounded by two wonderful, wonderful Liberal Party women, so I'll hand over to them.  

  

JANE HUME:   

So after the 2022 election, I, along with Brian Loughnane, wrote a report on the review of that 2022 election where we set a gender target for the Liberal Party over the next three elections or 10 years. It's really important that we have women representing us in the Liberal party at a parliamentary level, but also at an organisational level too, pushing them through the ranks, through those senior roles. And when we have women like Gisele Kapterian who get to step up and take the reins of a seat like Bradfield, you know that these policies are working, these programs are working. Gisele is so extraordinarily qualified, she's had amazing experience in the private sector, as well as within government. She's got Foreign Affairs experience. She's got technology experience. She's representative of her community. It's fantastic to be working with her. I cannot wait for the contribution that Gisele Kapterian is going to make to our party room, because she is a warrior for her cause. She's a warrior for the people that she represents. She'll make an extraordinary contribution.  

  

JOURNALIST:   

Have you or Peter Dutton, had discussions over summer, with Don Farrell on electoral reforms? 

  

JANE HUME:   

Sorry? Can you say again?  

  

JOURNALIST:   

Sorry, have you or Peter Dutton, have discussed, had discussions over summer with Don Farrell on electoral reform? 

  

JANE HUME:   

The conversations on electoral reform are entirely in the Labor Government's hands. We'll see what happens in those first couple of weeks. 

  

JOURNALIST:   

Back to where we started. If there is a rate cut before the election, will that be vindication for the government? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR   

Well, I tell you what vindication for this government would be, a restoration of our standard of living to where it was before the government came to power as soon as possible, but their plan is that our standard of living won't get back to that level until 2030. That's their own plan. That's their own numbers. I mean this. This is a government that has trashed our standard of living, trashed the position of small businesses across this country, and has no plan to get us back to where we were anytime soon. This is a government that has made Australians poorer and we can't afford another three years of Labor. Thank you very much. 

 

ENDS.