Jim Chalmers
Rankin · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“It's why we have delivered and are delivering an ambitious budget defined by reform and resilience and responsible economic management. We've been delivering for the Australian people while the member for Hume has been destroying the Liberal Party. We've been delivering for Australians. He's been destroying the once great Liberal Party.”
“I acknowledge the member for Gellibrand and thank him especially for his work on Asian capability and the big report that he has just released as the chair of the education committee. Today is obviously a very important day.”
“We don't just acknowledge those challenges; we are addressing them. That's why we are delivering more tax cuts for Australian workers, more pay rises for people on awards and the minimum wage and a fairer tax system for first home buyers.”
“It's because every time the Australian people need them to vote to help them with these real pressures that they face, they vote to make things worse rather than better. They leave this parliament today more divisive and more divided than ever. We leave this parliament today delivering for the Australians who sent us here.”
“On Friday, we learned that the deficit for the year just finished will be smaller than anticipated at budget time, and we know from the AOFM this week that our debt will be $200 billion less than the trajectory we inherited from those opposite. If those opposite had their way, there'd be bigger deficits and more debt.”
“The member for Macquarie is a wonderful representative of workers and small businesses and families in her beautiful part of Australia. Today is a really important day, as the Prime Minister said a moment ago. We are delivering tax cuts.”
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“The private sector is resuming its rightful place as the main driver of this growth, with Treasury upgrading forecasts for growth in private demand to more than double next year, compared to this one. Unemployment is now projected to peak lower, at 4¼ per cent. Employment and real wage growth this year will be stronger, and participation will stay near its record high for longer. Inflation is coming down faster as well. Treasury now expects inflation to be sustainably back in the band six months earlier than anticipated. Now, all of this means that the soft landing we have been planning for and preparing for is now looking more and more likely. Because of our collective efforts, the worst is behind us and the economy is now heading in the right direction.”
“North and Far North Queensland have flooded too. Storm clouds are gathering in the global economy as well. Trade disruptions are rising, China's growth is slowing, war is still raging in Europe, and a ceasefire in the Middle East is breaking down. Treasury expects the global economy to grow 3¼ per cent for the next three years—its slowest since the 1990s. It's already forecasting the two biggest economies in the world will slow next year—with risks weighing more heavily on both. Australia is neither uniquely impacted nor immune from these pressures, but we are among the best placed to navigate them. We're emerging from this spike in global inflation in better shape than almost any other advanced economy. Growth is forecast to pick up from 1½ per cent this year to 2½ per cent in 2026-27.”
“This progress has been exceptional, but not accidental. The credit belongs to Australians in every corner of our country. We've come a long way, but there is more work to do. This budget is our plan for a new generation of prosperity in a new world of uncertainty. It's a plan to help finish the fight against inflation. Rebuild living standards. And maximise our national advantages into the future. This is a responsible budget with five main priorities: Economic o utlook The global economy is volatile and unpredictable. The 2020s have already seen a global pandemic, global inflation and now the threat of a global trade war. The whole world has changed as a consequence. Tariffs and tensions abroad have been accompanied by storms here at home. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred could wipe a quarter of a percentage point off quarterly growth.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. And I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people here, and the Yagara and Yugambeh back home. This budget builds on the progress that we have made, together. It's a plan to help with the cost of living. With two new tax cuts, and higher wages. More bulk-billing, and more help with electricity bills. Cheaper medicine, and less student debt. And it's a plan to build Australia's future. With more homes. New investments in skills and education. Competition reforms, and a Future Made in Australia. Our economy is turning the corner. Inflation is down, incomes are rising, unemployment is low, interest rates are coming down, debt is down, and growth is picking up momentum. On all these fronts, our economy and our budget are in better shape than they were three years ago.”
“Thank you to the honourable member for his question. I'm happy to take that up with the ACCC. The ACCC does have an important role when it comes to monitoring petrol prices. We do know from time to time there is a risk that petrol stations, particularly in the regions, can do the wrong thing. Where they're doing the wrong thing, we should be reporting them to the ACCC to make sure that it isn't happening.”
“That's why the choice of the election later this year is such a stark one for the Australian people: the Leader of the Opposition, who will make people worse off, who opposed our cost-of-living help and who will take Australia backwards, or this Prime Minister and his government, helping Australians with the cost of living, making progress in the fight against inflation, strengthening Medicare and building Australia's future.”
“Unemployment is low, and the budget is in much better nick. Even as we've made this progress together as Australians, we acknowledge that growth in the economy is weak and people are under pressure. That's why our cost-of-living help is so important. Getting wages moving, tax cuts, energy bill relief, cheaper early childhood education, cheaper medicines and free TAFE—the Leader of the Opposition has opposed all of this. He says he'll make big cuts, but he won't tell Australians what those cuts are until after the election. The reason this will make people worse off is he can't find that $350 billion in cuts or the $600 billion he needs for nuclear reactors without going after Medicare again, without going after pension indexation or housing or veterans or disaster relief or wages.”
“Inflation is falling in Australia, but it is rising in other parts of the world. Overnight, we heard that in the US inflation rose again, so their measure of both underlying and headline inflation is higher there than it is here. What makes the Australian experience different to what we're seeing around the world is that we've made this progress together on inflation at the same time that average unemployment has been lower under this Prime Minister than under any Prime Minister in the last 50 years. That means that, at the same time, the economy—while growth is soft—has been growing while two-thirds of the OECD have gone backwards at least once. We've delivered back-to-back surpluses for the first time in almost two decades and lowered debt by $177 billion. So inflation is down, and wages are up.”
“Thanks to the member for Tangney for being an outstanding local member from the west and a great colleague and for his important question. When we came to office almost three years ago, inflation was much higher and rising, and real wages and living standards were falling. That's why our priority right from the beginning has been the fight against inflation and helping Australians with the cost of living. Together, Australians have made very substantial and now sustained progress when it comes to inflation. Inflation is now almost a third of what we inherited from those opposite. The headline measure is in the mid twos, underlying is in the low threes, and both are falling. This week, Westpac and ANZ both substantially lowered their forecasts for inflation for the first half of this year.”
“They see investment in housing as wasteful spending, but we don't. We see it as a very important way to get more people into homes, to ease the cost of living and to build Australia's future.”
“The same bin fire of economic incoherence over there that says we are spending too much money on housing now says we are spending too little. What an absolute clown show it is over there. The reason this is so surprising is, if you think about the $350 billion in cuts that they have in store for the Australian people that they won't tell them about, housing is included in that total—billions and billions of dollars that they would cut from housing. Housing is a big part of their secret costs and secret cuts, when as a country we need more homes, not fewer homes. They can't find the $350 billion they say they'll cut or the $600 billion they'll need for their nuclear fantasy without coming after housing. Their cuts to housing are another way they will make Australians worse off and take Australia backwards.”
“These are commonsense changes which will help build more homes and get more people into homes. The changes were agreed in the Universities Accord. They go hand in hand with our efforts to cut student debt and to take pressure off young people in other ways, including our cost-of-living help. Mr Speaker, you would assume that a change this important and this simple would receive the overwhelming and enthusiastic support of the parliament, but apparently not. Even more surprising was the nature of the criticism in the press release we got from the shadow Treasurer. He said that the problem with this announcement was, 'This announcement provides no new money.' The very important reason it provides no new money is that it doesn't cost any money!”
“Thanks to the member for Dunkley for her question and also for being a champion for affordable housing in her community and right around Australia. This government is coming at the housing challenge from every responsible angle, and we've got a really ambitious gender: Build to Rent, Help to Buy, $32 billion of investment, working with the states and territories, training construction workers, and also some important steps which we have announced today. I've asked the regulators and the banks to take a more reasonable approach to student debt and the financing of new apartment blocks, and the regulators have agreed to do that. For too long there's been an ambiguity here, and we are clearing that up. Student debt is different to other kinds of debt. It should be—and now it will be—treated differently.”
“We'll continue to work with the banks and our international partners to address this issue—to make our region safer and more stable; to make sure that loved ones, families and communities can continue to access their money; and to build a better future for the people of the Pacific. For all those reasons, I'm pleased to present this bill, the full details of which are contained in the explanatory memorandum. Debate adjourned.”
“Banks have a responsibility to regional communities, and we're holding them to it. We'll continue to work with regulators, industry and communities to ensure that our regions have access to fit-for-purpose and sustainable banking services over the long term. This includes a focus on sustainable cash distribution and ensuring that Australians can use cash to pay for essentials if they want to or if they need to. This bill will help prevent the loss of banking services in the Pacific at the same time as we're rolling out our domestic agenda, and the Pacific agenda is vital to the security and economic development of our region. We know that we can't, in this one bill, solve every aspect of this challenge overnight.”
“We've been able to make all this progress at the same time as also securing access to banking services around Australia. Yesterday the Albanese government announced we've locked in commitments from Australia's biggest banks to stay open in the bush. Because of our efforts, all major banks now have a moratorium on branch closures in regional Australia for two and a half years. And we've helped secure a number of new agreements to shore up the vital services provided by Bank@Post. And here I acknowledge my colleague the Minister for Communications. We worked closely on that outcome. We are standing up for regional Australians, helping to secure the banking services that they need and deserve. But, more than banking, it's about keeping regional communities connected to our national economy and thriving.”
“But it is still an important and necessary change to make sure our Pacific family can continue to bank with confidence. This legislation is just one part of the substantial progress we've already made to secure the future of banking services in the region. Working with the Commonwealth Bank to establish banking operations in Nauru this year. Working with ANZ and Westpac to secure their continued presence in the Pacific. Working with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to develop digital identity infrastructure and improve compliance with regulations. And funding our Attorney-General's Department to help build capacity in Pacific countries, to strengthen protections from financial crime and build trust in the system.”
“This pressing challenge was one of the main topics discussed with counterparts at the Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers Meeting last year. That marked the first time an Australian Treasurer had travelled to the Pacific to attend that forum in almost two decades. It's also the challenge this bill helps tackle. This legislation allows the Commonwealth to use its balance sheet to support Australian banks to maintain their Pacific operations. It will enable the Commonwealth to guarantee an Australian banks' business in the Pacific—either directly or through its subsidiaries—against the unlikely possibility of a default in the region, which may force them to shut their operations. Eligible Australian banks will pay a fee to the Commonwealth for the guarantee, it is not a subsidy. It is highly unlikely this guarantee will be needed.”
“Around $1.9 billion in official development assistance to the Pacific last financial year— Which will rise to $2 billion in this one. I pay tribute to the work of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, foreign minister, trade minister, Minister for International Development and the Pacific, and the Assistant Treasurer. When it comes to banking in the Pacific, the challenges in front of us are clear, and confronting. We know the Pacific has seen the fastest withdrawal of correspondent banking services of any region in the world. We know these vital services help communities access foreign currencies and international payment systems. And we also know that without them, large parts of the Pacific risk being cut off from the global financial system. At stake here is the ability of the Pacific to engage with the world.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Today I am proud to introduce the Pacific Banking Guarantee Bill 2025. This bill will help secure access to banking services across the Pacific. It will help ensure our entire region can stay connected to the global financial system. Australia's relationship with the Pacific is a special one. Since coming to office, the Albanese Labor government has been working hard to be a partner of choice with the entire region. We've been restoring trust and rebuilding relationships. Within our first 12 months in office, Albanese government ministers visited every Pacific Islands Forum member country. To renew our Pacific partnerships, listen to Pacific priorities and deliver on our collective interests. We've been making record investments, and we are the region's largest development partner.”
“It's becoming clearer and clearer to us that they had a very different question time pack in mind for today. So they've gone back to the reserve pack and all of the old chestnuts, all of the questions that we've answered before in this place and outside this place as well, which I'm happy to repeat for him. What we are proposing to do for people with balances of more than $3 million in superannuation is make a very modest change to turn very concessional tax arrangements into concessional tax arrangements—for people with the biggest balances. We announced this policy more than two years ago.”
“It's a cuts and costings con job, and it will make Australians worse off because they can't find $10 billion a year for long lunches or the $350 billion they said they'd cut or the $600 billion they'd need for nuclear reactors without coming after Medicare again or housing or pensions or veterans or natural disaster relief. That's why this election is a simple choice: a coalition of cuts and conflict, making people worse off, and taking Australia backwards or this Labor government and this Prime Minister making progress on inflation, helping with the cost of living, strengthening Medicare and building Australia's future.”
“There are no costings on long lunches, no costings on their nuclear fantasy to push up electricity prices, no costings on their raid on super which will push up house prices and no costings for the golden ticket visa that he promised at a fund raiser. They can't even get their stories straight. The Leader of the Opposition says that, of course, they'll cut 36,000 jobs. The Leader of the Nationals said yesterday that they'll cut 'hardly any'. The Leader of the Opposition says that golf days are not part of their long lunch policy. The shadow Treasurer says that they're in. This is worse than some kind of harmless shambles.”
“We know that there is still more work, but together as Australians we have made substantial and now sustained progress in the fight against inflation. It's why Westpac yesterday and ANZ today substantially lowered their forecasts for both headline and underlying inflation in this quarter and the next quarter as well. The biggest risk to household budgets in 2025 is sitting over there with his back to us. Australians would be thousands of dollars worse off if he had his way, and they will be worse off still if he wins the election. There's an election due in the next three months, and that means it's been almost three years now that they have had to come up with costed, coherent and credible economic policies, and they haven't been able to do it. All they have are secret costs and secret cuts.”
“I thank the member for Bennelong for his question and for his work on the House economics committee as well. He knows that the defining feature of this Labor government is responsible economic management, and he knows that we have maintained a focus on fighting inflation and helping with the cost of living. That's what the tax cuts are all about as well as the energy bill relief, cheaper early childhood education and medicines, rent assistance, free TAFE, and better wages. All of that has been opposed by those opposite and delivered while we turned two big Liberal deficits into two substantial Labor surpluses. Because of our efforts, inflation is down, wages are up, and unemployment is low. We know that people are still under pressure.”
“They are rolling out right now. They are helping Australians with these cost-of-living pressures which are enduring. The final point I would make is this, and again I make this point respectfully. I listen to the member for Curtin and her colleagues on all of these sorts of issues in a genuine and respectful way. But the difference between the ideas which are offered up from the crossbench and the ideas that we are able to pick up and run with in government is we have to make it all add up. We have to make sure that our tax reform priorities are balanced with our priorities when it comes to public investment. We have to make sure that all of those things are calibrated. But, having said that, I say again that I thank the member for Curtin for her question and for her interest, along with other crossbench colleagues, in genuine tax reform.”
“There is the way that the member for Curtin is proposing. There is the way that those opposite were proposing, which is just to return bracket creep to people who are already on the highest incomes. Or there is the Labor way, the way that we have chosen to return bracket creep. As the Treasury analysis that we released a little over a year ago now when we made the changes to the tax cuts makes clear, the way that we chose has positive benefits for workforce participation and other benefits as well. So I do acknowledge that governments have choices to make when it comes to how we return bracket creep. We are frankly proud of the way that we've gone about returning bracket creep, because instead of giving a tax cut to some taxpayers, as those opposite were proposing, we are giving a tax cut to every Australian taxpayer.”
“Thank you to the honourable member for Curtin for her question. Obviously I'm aware there are a range of suggestions around about the next steps in income tax reform, while our focus has been delivering a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer. I do know that about half the OECD is taking the course that you're suggesting; that means about half the OECD isn't. Countries make their own decisions about these sorts of things. For us, one of the defining purposes of this Prime Minister and his government is to help people earn more and keep more of what they earn. The most important and fundamental part of that is about getting real wages growing again for consecutive quarters but also the tax cuts are playing a meaningful role as well. There are, more or less, to oversimplify, three different ways that you can return bracket creep.”
“So, the choice at the election is going to be really clear: that coalition of cuts and conflict and culture wars, making Australians worse off and taking Australia backwards, or this Prime Minister and his Labor government, getting on top of this inflation challenge, rolling out cost-of-living help, making things better for people when it comes to the tax cuts and energy bill relief, and building Australia's future.”
“After three years of opposition, those opposite still don't have any costed, coherent or credible economic policies. All they have are secret costs and secret cuts which will make people worse off. The reason they will make people worse off on that side of the House is that they can't find $10 billion a year for free long lunches, or they can't find the $350 billion in cuts that they say they want to impose, or they can't find the $600 billion they need for this nuclear fantasy without going after Medicare again, without going after pension indexation, without going after housing and without going after wages.”
“They said, when they dramatically lowered their expectations for inflation this quarter and next quarter, that 'core inflation is moderating faster than anticipated' and 'the moderation in core inflation is fundamental'. Westpac have lowered their forecast for headline inflation to two per cent in this quarter and 1.7 per cent next quarter, which is not just within the Reserve Bank's target band but below it. And for trimmed mean underlying inflation they're now expecting 2.7 this quarter and 2.4 next quarter, which is not just within the target band but in the lower half of the target band. When we came to office, inflation was much higher and rising. Now it is lower and falling. That's because this side of the House has been focused on the cost of living while that side of the House has focused on cuts, conflict and culture wars.”
“I thank the member for Chisholm, not just for her question but for being a key part of our efforts to provide cost-of-living help via her work on our caucus economics committee. And because of the work of this side of the House, there are tax cuts flowing to every taxpayer and there is energy bill relief to every household, cheaper medicines, cheaper early childhood education, more rent assistance, better wages, fee-free TAFE and, after the election, if we win, more student debt relief. We've been able to provide this cost-of- living help at the same time as we've delivered two surpluses in our first two years. Because of our responsible economic management, inflation is down, wages are up and unemployment is low. On the inflation front, we got a very important and interesting contribution today from the economists at Westpac.”
“We're getting inflation down at the same time as we acknowledge that insurance is a big part of the CPI basket. If he's got any ideas or alternatives for how to get those premiums down, he should tell the House.”
“I assume then that he has some kind of policy to deal with higher insurance premiums. If he doesn't, then he should say so. The only policy those opposite have when it comes to natural disasters is to include them in the $350 billion of what they describe as 'wasteful spending'. In the mid-year budget update that I released with Minister Gallagher, one of the pressures on the budget which they describe as wasteful is another couple of billion dollars for natural disaster recovery. He asked me, 'What do natural disasters have to do with insurance?' He asked me, 'What's insurance got to do with natural disasters?' Doesn't that just say it all about the poor quality of those opposite! We're funding natural disaster relief and response.”
“Insurance has been one of the big drivers of the inflation challenge in our economy. Even as we've made some really quite substantial progress in a lot of the other categories—and insurance, I think, from memory, came off a little bit in the most recent data—it is still a big and prominent part of the CPI. The shadow Treasurer has raised this as a challenge; I think my colleagues and I have already acknowledged, in a number of different ways, the challenge of higher insurance premiums. I think we're seeing, with more and more frequent natural disasters—including the one that we're seeing play out right now in North Queensland and Far North Queensland—that that's having an impact on premiums. The shadow Treasurer keeps chirping away as I try and give him an answer to his question.”
“They abandoned middle Australia on tax cuts. They abandoned middle Australia on cheaper early childhood education, as my ministerial colleague was telling you about a moment ago. They abandoned middle Australia on rent assistance. Right across the board, when it comes to the cost of living, they have been nowhere to be found.”
“Imagine asking about gas prices when they came in here, at the end of the first year we were in government, and voted against our gas caps. Imagine being so slow on the uptake that he comes in here and asks about gas prices. When Australians needed them to act on gas prices, they were nowhere to be found. The reason that's top of mind is that, in the same legislation, they also voted against electricity bill relief. At the end of 2022, when we were dealing with the fallout of the last energy minister—now the shadow Treasurer—we came in here and asked the whole parliament to side with the Australian people, to put caps on gas prices and help with electricity bills, and they were nowhere to be found. And they've got form on that front. It wasn't just gas prices where they abandoned middle Australia.”
“So Australians this year will be asked to choose between two very different sets of priorities—that coalition, of cuts and conflict and culture wars, coming after Medicare and wages, making people worse off and taking Australia backwards, or this Labor government, making progress on inflation, helping with the cost of living, strengthening Medicare and building Australia's future.”
“They've got a slogan that says that they want to go back—they want to take Australia backwards. The truth of that is, if he gets back, Australians go backwards. The only way that he can find $350 billion in cuts, the only way that they can find $600 billion to pay for this nuclear insanity, is to come after Medicare again, to come after hospitals again, to come after housing again, to come after wages and pensions again. And they won't stop there. So I think it says it all in this week. It says it all. In the same week that this health minister and this government invested $1.7 billion more in public hospitals in a single year, we learned that they want to spend $1.6 billion a year on taxpayer funded long lunches.”
“In our cost-of-living relief, you see the priorities of this government—tax cuts and better pay for working people, energy bill relief, cheaper medicines, cheaper early childhood education, free TAFE and help with rent, as I said a moment ago. When those opposite opposed all of that, they made their priorities clear as well. They are for lower wages and longer lunches, and they're against cost-of-living help. So Australians would be worse off by thousands of dollars if they had their way and they would be worse off still if those opposite were elected in to government. It has been almost three years that they've been in opposition now. After three years, they still have no costed, no credible and no coherent economic policies. All they've got are secret costs and secret cuts.”
“Thanks to the member for Gilmore not just for her question but for maintaining her focus in her community on the cost of living. That's the focus that we all share on this side of the House. It's a key part of our economic strategy, which is all about relief, repair and reform. Because of that strategy, we're getting inflation down and wages up and keeping unemployment low. The progress that we've seen on inflation has been substantial, it has been sustained, and we saw that in the numbers I referred to earlier. But people are still under pressure. That's why this cost-of-living relief is so important.”
“So we're proud of what we've done to provide cost-of-living help. We remind people, once again, that, if those opposite had their way, inflation would be higher when it comes to rents and Australians would be thousands of dollars worse off, and they'd be even worse off still if they win the election.”
“The hint is this. When they talk about the $350 billion, when they talk about our cost-of-living help, they will come after it if they win the election later this year. They will come after all of it. The worst thing about that—that's bad enough as it is—is that they won't tell Australians all about it until after the election. They have already made it clear that they don't support our Commonwealth rent assistance—two rounds of Commonwealth rent assistance, taking some of the edge out of these rental pressures that do exist in our economy and that we do acknowledge are making life harder for people who are in the rental market. That's why we're putting so much effort into building more homes. That's why, when you oppose building more homes, you are standing in the way of renters getting more affordable rents.”
“I can confirm that rents would be higher were it not for our Commonwealth rent assistance. And I would remind the House once again that, when this side of the House was there for Australian renters, those opposite described two permanent increases in Commonwealth rent assistance as a 'sugar hit' and 'wasteful spending'. It's another welcome opportunity to remind the House and the people at home that, when those opposite talk about $350 billion in wasteful spending, included in that is investment in housing and two consecutive increases in Commonwealth rent assistance. So rent in the December quarter went up 0.6 per cent through the year to 6.4 per cent, but it would have been higher were it not for the Commonwealth rent assistance we have been providing and they have been opposing. In every question we've had so far, there's a hint.”
“On this side of the House, our primary focus is the cost of living. That's why we're rolling out our cost-of-living help. If you look at the cost-of-living index that was released the other day, you would see lower growth in living costs across every household type compared to the time of the election. That is another reminder that, although inflation is still too high, although Australians are still under too much pressure, we have made some welcome and encouraging progress in the fight against inflation, and we saw that in the numbers last Wednesday. Now, there are two things that make the shadow Treasurer really angry: first, when inflation goes down, as it did Wednesday; and, second, when the public finds out the cost of his policies.”
“The nerve of these characters asking about the cost of living—after they opposed all of our efforts to help Australians with the cost of living. If you'd been there for Australians when we wanted to give them tax cuts, energy bill relief, cheaper early childhood education, cheaper medicines, better wages and help with rent, then that would warrant you coming up and asking about the cost of living. As the Prime Minister said in response to this question when you last asked it, if you look at the last year of food inflation, it's 3.0 per cent. If you look at the last year under those opposite, it was 5.9 per cent. I appreciate the shadow Treasurer, in his usually comically incompetent way, asking me to remind the House that food inflation over the last year is almost precisely half of food inflation under those opposite in their last year.”
“His secret cuts and his warped priorities should send a shiver up the spine of every worker, of every student, of every family, of every pensioner in this country.”
“We also know they'd be worse off still if he wins the election and goes after Medicare again, goes after wages again and pushes up electricity prices with his nuclear madness. That's why two revelations in the last few days are very important. The first one is that the long lunches policy would cost Australian workers more than $10 billion a year to subsidise long lunches and entertainment if every business claimed what they were entitled to. He wants lower wages for workers and longer lunches for bosses and he wants taxpayers to foot the bill. The second revelation is he has big cuts in mind but he won't tell Australians what they are until after the election. We know that from his Insiders interview.”
“The member for Reid is terrific, and that's an important question. When that side of the House is focused on long lunches, cuts, conflict and culture wars, this side of the House has maintained a focus on the cost of living. Because of that focus, inflation is down, wages are up and unemployment is low. We've delivered two surpluses and we're rolling out cost-of-living help. We're making substantial and now sustained progress in the fight against inflation, but we know that people are still under pressure, and that's why there is still more to do. We also know that the same Australians would be thousands of dollars worse off today if the opposition leader had his way on tax cuts, on wages, on energy rebates and on cost-of-living help.”
“Their policy for lower wages for workers and longer lunches for bosses is a matter of fairness, but not the way that they think it is. If the member for Hume wants to be the Treasurer of this country, he really should know that the numbers that he is asking for are not itemised in the budget. That's because they are part of the tax base, and we're not proposing to change it. The only party in here proposing to make it easier for bosses to claim long lunches paid for by workers and taxpayers are those opposite. They are the only ones proposing to change these arrangements. I can hear him chirping away. He hasn't been this unhappy since inflation came in at the lower end of the RBA target band.”