THE HON ANGUS TAYLOR MP 
SHADOW TREASURER 

TRANSCRIPT 
INTERVIEW WITH JIM WILSON, 2GB RADIO SYDNEY
Tuesday, 4 October 2022 

 

Topics: RBA rate rise, stage three tax cuts, budget

E&OE 

JIM WILSON: First things first Angus, what’s your reaction to the Reserve Bank’s decision today?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, it’s a tough day for Australians with a mortgage. Since May we’ve seen increases in a typical mortgage of over $1000 a month. I mean that’s an extraordinary increase, $12,000 per year. Now they haven’t all flowed through yet, they’ll be flowing through in the coming months in the lead up to Christmas and through January we’ll see those payments being paid by Australians with a mortgage, that’s pretty extreme pain. The real interesting issue here Jim is this, we have a strong economy, we have a very strong budget, we’ve learnt that in the last week just how strong the budget is. What we don’t have is a plan from the Government that allows the Reserve Bank to take pressure off and that’s what we need. If you have a government without a plan, then the Reserve Bank has to have a plan of raising interest rates and that’s what we don’t want to see.

JIM WILSON: So, what’s your plan.

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, the plan is to make sure there is a responsible budget, in fact, we’ve seen out plan in action because the strength of the budget right now is a result of our work, but what we don’t need is for Labor then to go and spend it. I mean you just add fuel to the fire. If they go and spend this money, the strength of the budget on their pet projects, then we will see inflation and interest rates getting worse. If they allow industry wide bargaining to occur, we’re going to see inflation and interest rates being worse. These are the sorts of actions that are going to make the situation worse, what we also need to see is incentives for every Australian who wants to work, to get into work. Seeing our pensioners and veterans taking on more work, that’s the policy we put forward some months back. It’s the right thing for Australia at a time like this when we’ve got lots of labour pressures. Labor’s gone with a half-baked version of it and meanwhile we don’t know where they’re taking it. We need to see a responsible budget with a clear plan. I’ve been asking for this for months, now’s the time to do it.

JIM WILSON: So, should the Government be spending more to help people or actually spending less to focus on balancing the budget and reeling in a trillion dollars in debt?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, you know, the truth is it’s nothing like that amount of debt and the truth is that Jim Chalmers has been blessed with a budget position that any Treasurer around the world would love to have. I mean, the guy keeps talking down the Australian economy, talking down the budget situation and yet he’s inherited a budget that has been in surplus since November, since NSW and Victoria opened up in October. I mean, this is an extraordinary situation for Australia. What we are lacking is a forward-looking plan, that takes those pressures away and the most important thing they can do is have a responsible budget, don’t put extra pressures on through industry wide bargaining. Make sure that every Australian who can add to the workforce, is adding to the workforce and is doing their bit. Look I’m out in rural NSW at the moment, in Cowra, we’ve got the most expensive crop in history in the ground, and it is a cracker, Jim. But I tell you what, if these farmers can’t get access to the workers they need, they’re not going to get the crops off and getting more Australians in the workforce who want to work is absolutely fundamental. We’ve seen no genuine attempts from this Labor Government to address those issues and they’re causing inflation and they’re causing rises in interest rates.

JIM WILSON: So, coming out of Covid have we as a country become addicted to government spending and stimulus?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, it’s not a matter of that, it’s a matter of actually having a plan from the Government. I mean, that’s what’s needed right now. Jim Chalmers keeps telling us about what’s been happening overseas and what a terrible situation he thinks he’s got. The truth is, as I say, I tell you in the UK or the US, if they had our situation they would be absolutely delighted. But what he’s not doing is looking forward, addressing the challenges that Australians are seeing. Here in Cowra, talking to people today who are providing support to those in the community who are struggling right now with those inflationary and interest rates pressures and yet the Government seems to be just talking about it and doing absolutely nothing. We need action, we need plans.

JIM WILSON: Okay, your stage three tax cuts, obviously your one hundred percent committed. Do you think Labor is fully onboard?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, Labor’s always wanted more taxes. I mean, you’ve got to remember, Jim Chalmers was Wayne Swan’s Chief of Staff when Wayne Swan was Treasurer, and he was constantly trying to get taxes up. That’s what he did. That’s what he likes to do because he likes to spend tax-payer’s money. Even with the strength of the budget right now, he’s saying it’s going to be weaker in the future. Well, it sure will be if Jim Chalmers has his way because he’s going to spend it. That’s why he wants to tax more. 

JIM WILSON: Could the tax cuts make inflation worse though Angus?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, no, because it’s not until 2024. We actually need strong growth in the medium term, Jim. We’ve got two problems here to deal with. Number one is the short-term inflation, interest rate pressures. With the right plan in place, they can be dealt with fairly quickly and take the pressure off the Reserve Bank, so they don’t need to raise interest rates further. The second problem is in the medium-term, you need to have a strong economy, strong growth. You need pro-growth policies and there’s no stronger pro-growth policy than reducing taxes and that’s why it is still absolutely the right policy for middle income earners across a very wide tax bracket that we are talking about here. And Labor has agreed at the election to proceed with those tax cuts, and now they’re talking about backing down. Another broken election promise. Just like their electricity bill promises. They’re walking away from these promises by the day, Jim. If you’re going to make an election promise you’ve got to keep it and we’re seeing Labor walking away right now.

JIM WILSON: Jim Chalmers is now talking about a possible recession; do you think we’re heading in that direction?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Look, I don’t know. There’s no doubt there is risks right now. But I tell you what, what we need from him is sensible policy to reduce that risk. If government has the right plan, then the Reserve Bank doesn’t have to raise interest rates as much and we can take pressure, recessionary pressure away. Now right now if Labor spends at this budget, if they hit the accelerator on spending then at the same time the Reserve Bank will have to hit the brakes and that’s how you wreak the engine. Hit the accelerator and the brakes at the same time. That’s where we’re going with this Labor budget if it is a traditional Labor budget and it’s certainly looking like that’s what we’re going to see. 

JIM WILSON: Well, the position of the Liberal party has always been to spend responsibly and keep the budget in balance. Right now, we’ve got a big deficit, I can forgive that due to Covid, but surely we need the Government to rein in spending come the budget?

ANGUS TAYLOR: But Jim let’s be clear about this. The Budget has been in surplus since November, since November. Now what we engineered was the previous government liked to call a v-shaped recovery which is as soon as we open up, we’re back into a balanced budget. That’s exactly what we have seen in the numbers that came out in the last week or so. Now it is true that we accumulated debt during the pandemic, we’d been getting back to balance before the pandemic in 2019, but obviously we lost that during the pandemic. We do need to see responsible government right now. We do need to see a very responsible approach to spending, and we do need to see pro-growth policies in the medium term and we’re seeing no signs of Labor having a plan along those lines, indeed we’re they’re talking about getting rid of the tax cuts.

JIM WILSON: Angus, thanks for your time this afternoon.

ANGUS TAYLOR: Good on you Jim.

JIM WILSON: That’s Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor.