Topics: Reserve Bank decision; living standards under Labor, cost of living.  

  

E&OE    

 

JAMES GLENDAY   

Let's go back to the political reaction to the Reserve Bank's rate cut and joining us now from Sydney is the Shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor. Angus, good morning. 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR   

Good morning, James. Good to be with you.  

  

JAMES GLENDAY   

The Treasurer says the worst of inflation is now over. Do you agree? Is this good news for Australians? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR   

Well, it's welcome relief, obviously, but for many Australian families, James, this will be too little too late. We know that Australians have seen the biggest collapse in their standard of living in our history, unparalleled across peer countries across the world, and the updated forecasts from the RBA tell us we're not going to recover that until 2031. So there's a long journey here, and too late, it's been slow in Australia, we've had core inflation higher than peer countries around the world, and that's meant there's been a lot of pain for Australians. A typical Australian family with a mortgage has paid an extra $50,000 in interest costs since we started seeing these interest rate increases. So a lot of pain out there still, and a long way to go.  

  

JAMES GLENDAY   

We might get someone to take a look at that $50,000 figure you keep using. I've heard it a few times now from the Coalition, but just, I'm just curious. I mean, given inflation was through the roof when you left office, interest rates were at emergency lows, and pandemic spending reduced the economy. How would have things been any different over the past couple of years with an independent Reserve Bank setting rates? I mean, they had to go up, right? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR   

Well, except that the government plays an enormously important role in beating inflation and bringing down interest rates. We know that from what we saw in the 70s and 80s. We know that from history, that's always true, and the key to beating a cost of living crisis is strong economic management, and we've seen the opposite from Labor. We're seeing record levels of government spending. We're seeing red tape being wrapped around industry after industry, the construction industry, the resources industry, getting approvals through, what we've seen from the CFMEU. These are all the things that make it harder to fight and beat inflation, and Australia has been at the back of the pack, not only in terms of interest rates coming down, but in terms of bringing core inflation down. I should say there's no prospect here that prices are coming down. This is all about the inflation level, and there's a lot of pain still coming. And the government, frankly, hasn't done enough, and that's meant households have had to do the hard work here of cutting back on their spending because governments weren't willing to cut back on their spending.  

  

JAMES GLENDAY   

I'm not going to go back to everything you've just said there, but I will point out that in terms of rates elsewhere in the world, rates were higher in other countries, and they haven't been as high here, I just want to look to the future. An election campaign is pretty much upon us. So what is the Coalition's key policy to reduce the cost of living? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR   

Well, it's strong economic management that beats the cost of living crisis, and that means managing taxpayers money very, very carefully, James Not, not wasting it on the wrong things, making sure government is the right size, making sure that business can invest and create jobs and opportunities and prosperity for all Australians -  

  

JAMES GLENDAY   

But they're - sorry to interrupt Angus - they're just sort of big motherhood statements. What's the specific policy you have to reduce the cost of living? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR   

Well, James, we've opposed over $100 billion of wasteful government spending that was inappropriate at this time in this term of Parliament. That's pretty significant. We've also said we've got to get businesses investing again, which is why we're saying we need to ramp up accelerated depreciation for small businesses so they can invest, create jobs, create opportunities for Australians. I mean, you don't, you don't solve a cost of living crisis by making government more bureaucratic. Frankly, what you've seen under Labor is more bureaucracy. We need more business investment that is able to ensure that Australians have the prosperity that they deserve. 

  

JAMES GLENDAY   

But you're looking backwards. Sorry to labour the point just. Is there a specific policy you can outline that you can say this is going to reduce the cost of living? I was looking back through some of yours. I mean cutting public servants welcomes to country, spending a lot of money on nuclear in the coming decades. What is any of that going to do to curb the cost of living if you win office in a couple of months time? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR   

Well, all of it will help to bring down the cost of living, because the end of the day, good economic management is what does it. So the bureaucracy has got much bigger under Labor. We do need to encourage businesses to invest. We need to get more energy into our system. Get the natural gas industry moving in this country, when it's been wrapped in red tape by Labor, we've been very clear about all of these things, James, they're very specific policies. They're all about good economic management, and good economic management is how you beat a cost of living crisis. Labor is incapable of doing it, and that's why we saw under the last Liberal government, an average inflation rate of just over 2% and we've had near double that since Labor has been in power.  

  

JAMES GLENDAY   

I have to just, context again for that, the inflation rate was very, very high when you left office that you're talking about a long-term average pandemic, and the rest of it pushes it down. I don't want to get into a broad argument about that. I just wanted to ask at a broader, very broad level, Angus, polls suggest you're within touching distance of winning office again. Do you think that your party has done the policy preparation and developed a vision to sell to voters for the future, not the past, to survive the glare of a campaign. 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR   

Absolutely right. I mean, our vision is to enable Australians to live the lives they want to live, to realise their aspirations. That's why we put aside $5 billion to invest in that critical infrastructure that will get housing supply moving again in this country. It's why we are focusing on encouraging business to invest through accelerated depreciation. It's why we do need to make sure we manage every dollar of taxpayers’ money carefully. I mean, all of these things Labor has got wrong. That's what good economic management is about, making sure you get those things right, James, and that's how you beat a cost of living crisis, sustainably. Sustainably. Because right now it's very clear from the Reserve Bank, we are far from the end of this journey. Australians are poorer than they were when labor came to power. We can't afford another three years of Labor. 

  

JAMES GLENDAY   

Very briefly, before I get you go, I'll just go back to the question I was asking before. Can you name one policy that is going to drive down the cost of living for the rest of this year? If you in government in what could be 6, 7, 8, weeks’ time? 

  

ANGUS TAYLOR   

All of those policies will help to bring down the cost of living, because that's what economic management does, making sure that government is the right size is not bloated with bureaucracy, making sure that you get project approvals through, making sure that you get more energy supply coming through the system, making sure that the unions, the unions - unions with deep links to the criminal underworld - are not in control of our construction sector. That's why we need to bring back the ABCC. That's why we need to de-register the CFMEU. These are the things James that ultimately Labor should have done they didn't, and all of them are about good economic management, and good economic management is the key to beating a cost of living crisis. 

  

JAMES GLENDAY   

Angus Taylor, we do appreciate you coming on the show this morning, and no doubt we'll have many more conversations as that election day draws near.