CANBERRA, ACT, July 22 -- The Treasurer of Australia issued the following transcript:
Note
Subjects: Labor National Conference, gas tax, cost‑of‑living relief
Patricia Karvelas:
Treasurer, welcome.
Jim Chalmers:
Thanks for having me back on your show, Patricia.
Karvelas:
You're in Adelaide for this conference and it sounds like the push for a gas export tax is going to be very much on the agenda. Do you support new language in the draft National Platform that says Labor will ensure that the Australian people receive a fair return from their natural resources, including through appropriate taxation arrangements?
Chalmers:
Look, I think there are strong views about this in the Australian community and some of those views no doubt will be reflected on the floor of the conference. It remains to be seen what precise wording the conference will adopt when it discusses some of these issues tomorrow but as I understand it, the conference motion will go to the appropriate arrangements for tax on resources, tax on gas in particular.
And what I've done actually as Treasurer is to make sure that more PRRT is paid sooner so that we can fund Medicare and fund tax cuts and all of these other important elements of our Budget, so the government has already taken important steps in this regard. I know that there is an appetite in parts of the Australian community and parts of the party to go further than that, but we've already taken significant steps.
There's also, I think, in the draft wording, a sense that we need to strike the right balance here with our international obligations in particular. And if you look at the government's agenda when it comes to resources, when it comes to gas in particular, we've changed the PRRT, we've got the gas reservation policy which is a really important part of this as well and we've done that at the same time as we've recognised our international obligations at a time when fuel security is at a premium. We've struck the right balance, I believe, across all of those different areas and as I understand it, the draft resolution speaks to that.
Karvelas:
Ok, but a draft resolution, with respect, Treasurer, doesn't look retrospectively. It wants changes in the future, doesn't it? Does the wording allow you to look at a gas tax in future budgets?
Chalmers:
It does depend on the wording of the motion, as I understand it. It talks about the appropriate arrangements which recognise our international obligations and that's what we're doing. Only a couple of years ago I reformed the PRRT to make sure that we did raise more sooner. In the most recent Budget, we upgraded the expected tax take from the PRRT, I say that acknowledging that whether it's the broader Australian community, or indeed the labour movement, there's always a range of views about these sort of highly contentious issues, I think we'll see that reflected on the floor of the conference.
Now, we are a grassroots party, we're proud of that, it's one of the reasons for our longevity and our platform matters a great deal when it comes to the policy of the government but at the end of the day, the policy of the government is set by the Cabinet and we'll take into consideration the views expressed on the floor of the conference and the views expressed to us from around the country, but we've already got a very substantial agenda here. It goes to our international obligations, it goes to gas reservation, and it includes those really important changes that I've made to the PRRT already.
Karvelas:
Okay. On artificial intelligence, we had the Productivity Commission Chair, Danielle Wood, on the program yesterday talking about AI. She says any regulation on AI should focus primarily on energy and water, and that's it. Shouldn't have all the extra parts that you've been talking about in it. Does that - she wants it to be very stripped down, is that your vision of this legislation?
Chalmers:
Well, first of all, to be upfront with you, PK, I hate to admit this, but I was en route to Adelaide when your show aired yesterday. I haven't seen the full interview.
Karvelas:
It's alright, I'll send you a transcript. I reflect very much what she said.
Chalmers:
I believe you, PK. And I've seen a story from that interview. I think what Danielle was saying, and a point that I agree with, which is that we need to make sure that we are capturing the upside of this game-changing technological revolution and that's the government's focus here.
We intend to make the most of artificial intelligence, but part of that is recognising the serious potential for risk and for harms, whether it's in the workplace, whether it's making sure that creatives maintain control over their work, and also when it comes to these data centre standards. So, across each of those areas, it's really important that we get that regulation right.
We have no intention whatsoever of over‑regulating, which I think is the point that Dani was making on your program because the balance we seek to strike here, and the balance that I am really confident we will strike, is to capture the economic upside while managing the risks and the potential downsides, whether it's to workers, creatives or to natural resources and that's what the government's agenda is all about.
If you look at the very clear direction that the PM set in that speech, not that long ago, consistent with the good work of my colleagues, Tim Ayres, Andrew Charlton and others, it's all about maximising the upside, minimising the downside risk. I think Dani and others have got important views to share when it comes to striking that effective balance.
Karvelas:
Labour luminary and former ACTU boss Bill Kelty says taxes and spending are too high, and there is something really wrong when living standards are falling at the same time that commodity prices are booming. He's obviously a very senior historical figure in the labour movement. It's a pretty strong rebuke of the economy under Labor, isn't it?
Chalmers:
Well, first of all, Bill made the point that this is not an issue of the last few years, these are long‑standing challenges in our economy. But if you look at my most recent Budget with Katy Gallagher, we cut spending and we cut taxes, and that means the budget is stronger because of the government's efforts. And so we have been repeatedly and enthusiastically cutting income taxes at the same time as we get the budget in better shape.
But on Bill's broader points, and obviously I take very seriously what Bill Kelty says. I think you know me, Patricia, we've known each other for a long time, I have a deep respect for significant Labor figures of the past and the contribution that they continue to make, whether it's Bill or others and we acknowledge we do have serious challenges in our economy, and the Budget was designed to address them. Whether it's the productivity challenge, the challenge about longer‑term living standards, getting compliance costs down, cutting taxes, the Budget was about addressing the very serious economic challenges which are long standing, as Bill Kelty has said, and which will take a little while to turn around. But the government's very focused on some of the issues that Bill raised.
Karvelas:
Okay, so are you sort of saying we need more time to deliver on the living standards question?
Chalmers:
I'm saying the government has made a lot of progress in the 4years that we've been in office. There are good things about our economy including low unemployment and improving the budget, wages growth above 3percent, all of these things we have going in our favour, but we also do have very serious economic challenges, global and domestic.
The pace of change in our economy is accelerating, the global and generational pressures are intensifying, all of these things are true, and the government is not dismissing those economic challenges. We are responding to them, including in the most recent Budget, which had a deeper and broader approach to productivity reform and economic reform more broadly than probably any Budget of the last quarter century or so. And that shows that we are taking the serious issues that Bill has raised, the serious challenges in our economy very seriously, but more than acknowledging them, we are acting on them.
We've had this productivity challenge in our economy for a couple of decades now, and if there was one easy way to flick a switch and turn that around immediately, somebody would have done that already. The reality is you need to work on a range of fronts simultaneously, and that's what we're doing.
Karvelas:
Just finally, the Iran war looks to be escalating again. More fronts, even more consequences for our oil supply. Given that the fuel excise that you're tapering down, it all goes back to normal on August the 2nd, even some of your backbenchers are publicly calling for it to continue to be cut. Will you do it?
Chalmers:
First of all, we desperately need this war to end. From an economic point of view, from a cost-of-living point of view, Australians have already paid too hefty a price for this war on the other side of the world. It's the reason why we have stepped in and stepped up with relief at the petrol bowser.
When it comes to petrol prices and diesel prices, as we've made clear on a number of occasions, we will always keep these policy settings under review. The current intention is for that tapered petrol excise relief to end at the end of the month. But like every country, we are monitoring developments very closely because so much in our own economy hinges on a proper end to this war that has already had very serious costs and consequences for Australians, for families, but also for our economy more broadly.
And so obviously, when we see these kinds of developments, these very disappointing developments in the last couple of weeks, we continue to monitor that. So much hinges on that. And part of monitoring that is making sure that we keep all of these sorts of policy settings under constant review. But at the moment, we expect that petrol excise relief to taper off on I think, the 3rd of August.
Karvelas:
Yeah, you could continue it, though, at that tapered‑off level for another few weeks after that, given we're seeing a spike in prices, right?
Chalmers:
There are all those sorts of options available to the government. We have seen a bit of an increase in recent times at the bowser, but that's after a very, very substantial decrease before the last couple of weeks. We actually saw petrol and diesel prices cheaper than what they were at the start of the war in the Middle East and so that's the context for these sorts of considerations. I've tried to be upfront with you, Patricia, and say that we keep all of this under review in the usual way, but our expectation is that it will taper off in the first couple of days of August. It has been really important cost‑of‑living relief alongside the permanent tax cuts, the wage increases and all of the other ways that we're helping in the most responsible way we can with the cost of living.
Karvelas:
Alright, we're out of time. I know you've got to go. Thanks so much for joining us, Treasurer.
Chalmers:
Thank you, Patricia.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
