CANBERRA, ACT, March 5 -- The Treasurer of Australia issued the following transcript:
Note
Subjects: repatriation flights, Middle East conflict, effects on economy
Peter Stefanovic:
Let's get some more information now from the government via the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, who joins us live now from Canberra. So can you shed any more light or any more information or detail this morning, Treasurer, on the repatriation flights so far; how many more to come, et cetera?
Jim Chalmers:
Yeah, well, first of all, I mean those scenes are just wonderful, aren't they, to see those very relieved Australians touching down in Sydney; that's a really good thing. We've got about 115,000 Australians in the region, and so to start to see people coming home, that's obviously a terrific development.
We expect another 3 flights to take off today bound for Australia, again a very good thing, and also I wanted to shout out the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials doing the best they can working with a very big population of Australians over there to provide as much help as they can to as many people as they can, and those crisis teams which are heading to the Middle East will play an important role in that as well.
Stefanovic:
So we've got this crisis response team that's now on its way as well, Treasurer. What will their mission be?
Chalmers:
Well, they're trained in crisis management, you know, they're trained in helping people get the information and the assistance that they need. I think people understand that we are dealing with a heap of Australians in that part of the world, 115,000 or so, as I said, and so we're dealing with a big group. And what these crisis management teams will help with is the people who are, you know, the most vulnerable, the people who need the most help. They're very well‑trained officials, and they will go to difficult areas to make sure that more Australians are getting the help that they need.
We do acknowledge it's a really stressful time for a lot of people, a lot of Australians caught up in this conflict, incredibly stressful times, and I think you can see that in the relief on the faces of those families who landed overnight in Sydney.
Stefanovic:
So it will effectively be the setting up of a staging post, if you like, where passengers are going to be ferried around from hotels to airports as soon as repatriation flights become available?
Chalmers:
It's part of their work. I mean it's broader than that. There will be all kinds of different contingencies worked through. They're very well‑trained people, they're very accustomed to working in difficult places and dealing with difficult situations.
And once again, you know, in acknowledging that people are having a stressful time over there for obvious and understandable reasons, we're providing as much help as we can, working through all of these contingencies and the crisis teams will help us on the ground.
Stefanovic:
Just in your wheelhouse now, Treasurer, what is the economic damage and fallout going to be for us from this war?
Chalmers:
Well, the full impact is still uncertain, but it's likely to be substantial, and we're upfront about that. We had our fair share of economic challenges even before the dramatic escalation of this conflict over the weekend, and this will put additional pressure on the global economy and on our own economy as a consequence. That's the difficult news.
But the good news is what we saw in yesterday's National Accounts is growth in the Australian economy as we finished 2025 was strong and broad and very welcome, and it provides a really robust foundation from which to confront -
Stefanovic:
Okay, Treasurer -
Chalmers:
These new uncertainties -
Stefanovic:
I'm really sorry -
Chalmers:
We're seeing in the world.
Stefanovic:
I'm really sorry, can you just wait there for a minute. The US President, Donald Trump is speaking. I just want to take this opening statement, and we'll come back to you.
[Cutaway to President Trump conference]
Stefanovic:
Okay, that's the US President, Donald Trump, giving an update this morning on Iran, and he's got his own economic roundtable. The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is live with us at the moment. Appreciate your patience there, Treasurer, thank you for sticking around.
I know you've got to go, so I'll try and squeeze some questions in here for you. We were talking about the substantial economic impacts, before we get to National Accounts, but I just think more broadly, I think a lot of drivers are going to be wondering how expensive fuel is going to become in the next few weeks, next few months. Do you have a thought on where that might top out at?
Chalmers:
We don't make those kinds of forecasts, Pete, but I do want to acknowledge that we've seen some concerning developments in global oil markets, but also in terms of prices that Australians are paying at the bowser. This is why we've empowered the ACCC to get to the bottom of this.
There was a broad range of prices yesterday, I think 40 or 45cents difference between say Hobart and Melbourne, for example, so some of this is the usual fuel cycle, but there are concerning reports about the potential for motorists to be taken advantage of.
We don't want to see the developments in Iran and the Middle East used as an excuse to gouge customers and motorists, and that's why we've empowered the ACCC to get to the bottom of this. They've got a penalties regime that they administer.
Stefanovic:
All right. Your new opponent, Tim Wilson, he seemed to lean into a cut to the fuel excise yesterday when I spoke to him on this program as a temporary measure. That would obviously come at a cost. But is that something you'd consider at all?
Chalmers:
Well, first of all, that's a very charitable description of what Tim Wilson said and did yesterday. He had absolutely no idea how the fuel excise worked. He said it was levied on price when I think everybody else knows it's levied on volume, and so he got that horribly wrong once again. He seems to be making mistake after mistake at the moment as Shadow Treasurer.
Now on the substance of the issue, this is not something that we have been considering, but we are rolling out cost‑of‑living help in a number of other ways, another couple of tax cuts, for example, cheaper medicines, more bulk billing, student debt relief and the like. And that's because we understand and acknowledge, whether it's at the petrol bowser or at the checkout, Australians are still under pressure, inflation is still higher than we would like, and developments in Iran risk making that worse, not better.
And so this is a big focus of the government, and it will be a big focus of the budget in May as well. But that particular change is not something we've been considering.
Stefanovic:
Okay, no problem. I know you've got to go. Just one more here, because I mean this is something I think a lot of people probably didn't see coming, so how does this war affect your thinking for the budget around the corner, just as a final question?
Chalmers:
It will be a key consideration. You know, already we're focused on inflation, productivity and global economic uncertainty, and at least 2 out of those 3 are impacted very substantially by the escalation of this conflict in the Middle East, and so what we're seeing in the Middle East right now will be a key consideration in the budget that we are discussing and deliberating on right now, and that Katy Gallagher and I will hand down in May.
Stefanovic:
Okay. That's the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers. Appreciate it Treasurer.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
