Interview with Karl Stefanovic, Today Show, Channel 9
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Jim Chalmers joins us now from Canberra. Good morning, Treasurer. How are you?
JIM CHALMERS:
Great Karl. Happy New Year.
STEFANOVIC:
You too. Can you just remind everyone at home when people's energy prices might be going down?
CHALMERS:
Well, we're hoping to take some of the edge off those price increases. We know that that's one of the things putting real pressure on people. So we've got a cap on gas prices, the states have got a cap on coal prices and we're also going to give through the course of this year some electricity bill relief - I'm working with the state and territory colleagues on that at the moment to try and get that all sorted. Unfortunately there will be increases in electricity prices but what we're hoping to do is take some of the sting out of that, take some of the edge off of that and that's why we've got those interventions in the market plus a bit of cost of living relief for your viewers, as well.
STEFANOVIC:
You seem a long way away from the election promise though?
CHALMERS:
The commitment that we made about energy prices was that renewable energy is cleaner and cheaper energy and we said in 2021 that it would be cheaper in 2025. In between then we've had a war in Ukraine which is pushing up energy prices as everybody knows, I think and appreciates. So what we're doing instead, we're taking some pretty, I think, substantial decisions to cap some of these prices and to give some of that bill relief when people get their electricity bill in the mail. We're hoping that that makes a difference. But it's a big part of our inflation problem in the economy. It's one of the reasons why I'm so pleased that we are seeing now the beginnings of some wages growth in our economy which has been missing for too long.
STEFANOVIC:
How's that energy intervention going because from the outside it looks like it could be a dud. Price restrictions restrict supply, energy retailers have stopped taking new gas customers while others are increasing prices, some businesses have been reporting to us they're being forced into more expensive plans. I don't see a whole lot of positives there.
CHALMERS:
Well, the gas price cap's only been in place for a few weeks now. It came in on the eve of Christmas. And inevitably, people will want some more information as they get their head around what it means for them on both sides of the equation, whether they're selling gas or buying gas. And so there's an appetite for some more information and some more guidance about how it works and the ACCC will provide that guidance before long. But I think we do need a bit of perspective here - what we're proposing is a relatively substantial thing. We thought through all of the options, we think this is the best available, but inevitably not everybody wants to have their prices capped and so there will be a bit of back and forth as we bed it down and people get their heads around it.
STEFANOVIC:
A bit of back and forth, I mean - some of these companies are giving you a bit more than back and forth at the moment. Anyway, we're talking about worker shortages, throughout the last six months we've been talking about that. You're going to pay those seeking jobs more money, how is that not going to be inflationary?
CHALMERS:
I'm not sure what you're referring to, Karl.
STEFANOVIC:
In terms of paying people more money, in terms of JobSeeker who are at home. You're also talking about the fact that some of these things can be inflationary. How is giving people more money not inflationary?
CHALMERS:
We don't have a proposal on the table to increase JobSeeker. There are suggestions being made to us all the time about how we might do that?
STEFANOVIC:
So that's a no?
CHALMERS:
We haven't come to a concluded view on that but that's not something that we've put on the table. We've got processes to work through that. We don't have an inflation problem because people on pensions and payments are getting too much money or we don't have an inflation problem because workers are earning too much. In fact, wages growth has been too small over the course of the last decade. We've got an inflation problem because the war in Ukraine is pushing up energy prices and COVID is putting pressure on supply chains and a few other issues as well around labour shortages. And so our job is to get wages moving again in a sustainable way, we're doing that, our economic plan is working when it comes to the beginnings of wages growth. We’re providing cost-of-living relief, whether it's energy bill relief, cheaper early childhood education, cheaper medicines, or in other ways - you can do that in a responsible way without adding to inflation. That's a central part of the Budget that I handed down in October and will be a key part of what I do in May when I hand down our second Budget as well.
STEFANOVIC:
So that's a no on JobSeeker increasing, is that right? Because it was a little different before the last election as well, wasn't it?
CHALMERS:
Always, when you're a Labor government and you know that people are doing it tough, you do what you responsibly can, but you've got to weigh it up with the fact we've got a trillion dollars of debt in the budget and we've got to make it all add up. And so those are all relevant considerations. On an almost daily basis, people that we respect and like and listen to put proposals to us to increase JobSeeker and when we can responsibly do that, sensibly do that, affordably do that, obviously, we consider it. But we've got other cost-of-living relief in the budget already, there'll be more in the Budget in May, we've got to weigh up all of these different options and different priorities.
STEFANOVIC:
There's a bit on.
CHALMERS:
Well listening to you talk to Eddie Jones a moment ago, Karl -
STEFANOVIC:
I thought he said dirty Jones.
CHALMERS:
Eddie Jones.
STEFANOVIC:
That wasn't dirty. Yeah, go on about Eddie.
CHALMERS:
Eddie Jones. I was thinking Eddie's got a lot on his plate but I think we've all got a lot on our plate in 2023. You've got a new co-host, there's a new coach of the Wallabies, there's a bit on for the Government as well.
STEFANOVIC:
All right. It's a good trifecta to have. Everyone's going to be okay, I reckon. Good on you Treasurer. Thank you.
