Interview with Peter Stefanovic, Sky News First Edition - Tuesday 17 December 2024
Topics: MYEFO; reckless government spending
E&OE
PETER STEFANOVIC:
The Albanese Government will reportedly defer spending beyond the next financial year to minimise the size of budget deficits during an election campaign, therefore also minimising electoral blowback. Joining us live here in the studio is the Shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor. Angus, good to see you. Thanks for your time this morning.
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Good to be with you.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
What do you make of that tried and tested tactic?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Well, what's clear is the budget is going to be a shocker or the MYEFO, the Mid-Year Economic update is going to be an absolute shocker. Chris Richardson expects that it's going to be $220 billion in the red – the headline balance. That's over $20,000 for every Australian household. So not only has the government driven the economy off a cliff, seven consecutive quarters of GDP per person going backwards, seven consecutive quarters of household recession but the budget is going off a cliff. That's very, very clear, and this is at a time when you need the government doing everything it can to make it easier for the Reserve Bank to bring down interest rates, to get a sustainable reduction in inflation, and it's simply been exactly the wrong set of initiatives at a time like that.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
What about this report, though, you know, getting departments to defer payments to beyond the election. I mean, it has been used by everybody. Have you got a problem with it?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Well, what's not been done by everybody is $220 billion in the red. This is, look, this is the highest level of government spending we've seen. We haven't seen this before, and they've lost control. They have absolutely lost control because they think that spin is the way to get through a cost of living crisis. Well, it's not. You've actually got to do the hard yakka. It's why we've opposed over $100 billion of spending initiatives …
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Well they call that the ‘Noalition’.
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Well … but it’s the right thing to do at a time like this when households can't manage their budget because of the pressures they're under, the government has to get control of its budget, and it's completely failed.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So, let's get to the spending spree and Trudy talked about this a little earlier, $16 billion worth according to some of the leaks. So that's going to include so-called “unavoidable” spending. So that's childcare, that's aged care and the like. What trims would you make there?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Well, we've already opposed well over $110 billion of spending through the Parliament. We've already done it. I mean that's …
PETER STEFANOVIC:
But this “unavoidable” spending.
ANGUS TAYLOR:
But, you know, it’s the aggregate level of spending that matters. I'm not going to go through each of the individual initiatives that are out today because …
PETER STEFANOVIC:
But you wouldn't touch it, though, right?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
… I've only just … well let's step back from this. Jim Chalmers, first of all, for the economic crisis we're facing, wanted to blame Vladimir Putin. More recently, he's gone to Donald Trump. Then it's President Xi we just heard the other day. It was his fault. Veterans on the weekend. Now he's saying it's all “unavoidable”. Look, the spin gets thin. Jimmy's spin gets thin after a while, Pete because at the end of the day, this bloke has lost control of his spending. Spending is growing way faster than the economy, and the economy is in life support. Let's be clear.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So, this could be your problem in May. How are you going to rein in spending?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Well exactly right and that's why we've opposed that spending that we have and Labor has loved to criticise us for that. But look, there's no point spending money on power lines that are not necessary if you get your energy policies right. There's no point spending money on, you know, manufacturing policy or housing policy that doesn't deliver manufacturing or housing. I mean, they've got their policy settings wrong. They're committed to spending that is not appropriate at a time like this and we know if you want to beat inflation, Pete, you've got to contain the growth in the spending.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. This government admits is hardly the first to ever run up a deficit. Is it fair to say that neither of the main political parties have been serious about fiscal discipline?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Well, Pete, I've just said we've opposed over $110 billion …
PETER STEFANOVIC:
But that contributed to the mess that we’re in.
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Well, Labor loves to give us flack for that, for having opposed those things, but we've done it and we've done it because it's the right thing to do. Now no opposition has done that in recent history. The last time an opposition went hard on spending like this was Malcolm Fraser blocking supply. We're not proposing to do that, but we have been serious about this. And the reason is we know to beat inflation, to get it down to that sustainable lower level, to get interest rates down, to give the Reserve Bank room to bring down interest rates, you've got to contain your spending growth, and that's why we've done what we've done.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Are you looking at an early election? What date are you working towards at the moment?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Well, that'll be up to Albanese.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Sure. But what’s the chatter?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
But the one thing you can be sure … well, the chatter is he'll do it when it's politically advantageous.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Is this why he’s moving … getting the departments to defer spending?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Well, look, there's no doubt they're going to play games. It's all going to be spin. It'll continue to be that. With these guys it’s all tactics, it's all politics so let's see what it is.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
All right. Good to see you in person.
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Good on you.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Thanks Angus. Talk to you soon. Shadow Treasurer there, Angus Taylor.
ENDS.
