CANBERRA, ACT, Oct. 1 -- The Treasurer of Australia issued the following transcript:
Jim Chalmers:
Really big thank you to all the gang here from Logan Youth Foyer. This is a place that a lot of people are really proud of for good reason. And so to be here again, I think, for maybe the fourth or fifth time, as the local member, but also as a huge supporter of the amazing work that happens here. Young people supporting young people, making sure that they have a safe and secure place to live and to achieve some really wonderful things. And so to everyone associated with this place, thank you not just for having me back here today, but for all of the magic that happens here. Thank you so much.
And I hope Caitlin doesn't mind me singling her out as the Logan City Young Citizen of the Year, but a mate of mine as well. Someone I'm really, really proud to know and proud of the work that she does as a social worker now. It's wonderful to see you all. I could go, I could go on and on about how much I appreciate you guys. Thank you for having us back today and for everything that you do in our local community.
Look, unfortunately, we've had some really difficult reminders in recent times of the unacceptable, unfathomable, horrific impact of domestic and family violence in our society and around our country. And we're reminded on an almost daily basis of the challenge that we have when it comes to housing and homelessness in particular, as part of that challenge, but also as a big challenge in its own right. So, today I'm announcing a $134million investment in more crisis transition housing for families experiencing domestic and family violence and for young people at risk of homelessness. This is all about making sure that people have a safe and secure place to rebuild their lives. This $134million is to build more than 200 homes right around Queensland, which over the course of the next 20years is expected to support something like or more than 2,000 families and more than 5,000 young people at risk of homelessness.
Almost everything that I know and understand about social housing, about youth homelessness, about domestic and family violence, I've learned from being a part of this community, seeing the work that goes into providing a safe and secure place for people to live, to rebuild their lives if they are impacted by the tragedy of domestic and family violence and/or youth homelessness as well. So, today's announcement is really important. It's part of a bigger and broader effort. We're coming at this housing challenge from every responsible angle, we've got a $47billion housing investment program. I pay tribute to Clare O'Neil, the Housing Minister, for the way that she manages that. This is a really important part of it. More social and affordable homes, more crisis transition housing, is all about providing more safety, more security and more opportunity for young people and for families more broadly. And more than 200 extra homes around Queensland, crisis and transition homes will be a really important part of our effort, but not all that we are doing.
If you think about the support that we show the foyers; only last month we announced another $300million in grant funding to support the wonderful work of people addressing this youth homelessness challenge that we have in our communities and in our society and around our country. This $134million that we're announcing today is already in the Budget, but it is being allocated today to those more than 200 properties. And we hope and expect that it will make a real difference to people fleeing domestic and family violence or young people at risk of homelessness. So, that's the first thing I wanted to talk about today.
The second thing is this. From today, we are seeing the end of those annoying credit and debit card surcharges. Today being the first of October means what you see on the menu is what you pay when you tap your card. This is a really important development. This means we can take a bit more pressure off people with their cost of living, and we can also get some of the small business costs down as well. Last year Australians spent $1.6billion in card surcharges. And this means that those card surcharges will no longer exist.
It also means, these changes today mean, that businesses will save about $910million a year because of the steps that are being taken to limit interchange fees that small businesses in particular can be subject to. So, this is about easing the cost of living, easing some of the pressure on people and also small businesses. This is about the end of those annoying, pesky card surcharges that everybody has paid in one way or another. What you see on the menu is what you will pay when you tap your card. A really important development today.
The Reserve Bank is responsible for implementing these changes. The Small Business Ombudsman will help small businesses adapt to the new arrangements. And the ACCC obviously will keep an eye on things to make sure that everybody's doing what they can to implement this in the right way. So, 2 important announcements today. First of all, the end of card surcharging. I saw Deakin do a little fist bump then, when we started talking about that. Deakin doesn't like paying those pesky card surcharges either, like most Australians. But also, this important announcement when it comes to crisis transition housing too. And with that, I'm happy to take a few questions.
Journalist:
On that card surcharge, is there a chance, though, that items on the menu will just become more expensive for people, for customers?
Chalmers:
Well, we'll make sure that everybody's doing the right thing. The ACCC has got an important role to play in that regard. But if small businesses put up their prices, they'll need to put that on the menu. Right now, I think something like 84percent of businesses don't charge credit or debit card surcharges. So, we're talking about 16percent of businesses. And if they put up their prices, they will have to justify it. But what this means is that what you see on the menu is what you pay when you tap. And we know from talking to people right around the country, indeed right around this community that I represent, people hate these pesky surcharges because they can be surprised by them. They think something is going to cost a certain amount. When they get to tap and go, it's a different price. That has been very frustrating for a lot of people and today it ends.
And I want to make it really clear here that the blame for these surcharges does not lie with small businesses. Small businesses are doing the best they can in a difficult economic environment. And that's why an important part of this is to save them more than $900million a year by limiting some of these interchange fees, which have been part of their cost base for some time as well. So, there's something in this for small business and there's something in this for customers, consumers as well, and that's what makes it a really important development.
Journalist:
Treasurer, The Australian is reporting that the federal government is going to fall short by about 260,000 houses for its national housing target. Is that true? And you're talking about adding additional houses on top of that with this announcement. How do we achieve that goal when we're already struggling to meet this national target?
Chalmers:
Yeah, a couple of things about that. I mean, I haven't seen that particular story, but I'm aware of the issue more broadly. We've got an ambitious housing goal, and it will be difficult, but we can do it if everybody does their bit. And the Commonwealth has shown a willingness to do its bit. $47billion of investment, 55,000 social and affordable homes, 7,000 of them already built. 23,000 already underway. So, the Commonwealth has shown an enthusiasm and a willingness to do its bit on housing because this housing challenge had been ignored for too long when we came to office. And so a big part of our agenda is investing in more housing supply.
If you look at those housing numbers that came out yesterday, the building approvals came off a bit in August, but they are up 10.3percent in annual terms. They were going backwards by 22percent when we came to office. So, whether it's approvals, commencement, dwelling investment, all 3 of those things were going backwards 4 and a half years ago. They're now growing. That's a good thing because we've got that ambitious target and we need to hit it because we've got a very severe housing challenge in our communities.
Journalist:
Treasurer, just on that, Queensland has just said- we've just heard from Master Builders, for example, who have said they're just at capacity. It's not an issue of money, it's more that they don't have the workers to build the houses. They've sort of blamed not prioritising the building industry when it comes to skilled migration. Is that something that you will push?
Chalmers:
Well, the Housing Industry Association, when Tony Burke announced our migration reforms, gave them a 10 out of 10. So, I encourage you to check out the Housing Industry Association comments from a couple of weeks ago, from memory. I hope I'm representing that accurately. They said that our changes were a 10 out of 10 because they did prioritise builders and construction workers. And so there's been some sort of wires crossed there.
More broadly, part of our billions of dollars of investment in housing is about skills. We've got incentives for building apprentices, for example. We've got free TAFE, for example. We want more and more young people to take up the opportunities of a trade. Free TAFE's a really important part of that. So, are the apprentice incentives. And there's a big focus on construction and building. And that's because we do understand and accept that a big part of the challenge is making sure that we've got the workers to build the homes that the country desperately needs.
Journalist:
Treasurer, back in 2022, just before you came into office, rates rose from 0.1 to 0.35percent under Scott Morrison. You accused him of having, quote, 'an excuse for everything and a plan for nothing', and said he took, quote, 'all the credit when things went well, but', quote, 'none of the responsibility when they didn't'. Rates are now 4.6percent, yet you're saying it's not your fault. Aren't you doing the same thing? Why shouldn't you take responsibility for the state of the economy?
Chalmers:
Well, I take responsibility for all aspects of my part of the fight against inflation. And that means continuing to manage the budget responsibly, rolling out cost‑of‑living relief where we can afford to do that, and also dealing with some of these longer‑term challenges that Scott Morrison and his colleagues left neglected for too long when they gathered for that wasted decade of missed opportunities. And so our economic plan is about fuel security, cost‑of‑living help, tax reform, productivity reform and budget repair. And that combination of policies that we announced in the May Budget is more important now than ever when you think about the challenges that we have in our economy. So, we do have a plan.
And if you look at budget repair in particular, we delivered 2 surpluses for the first time in a decade and a half. We've got the deficits down. We found $180billion in savings. We've just had our AAA credit rating reaffirmed by 2 of the major ratings agencies, who were very kind and complimentary about our budget management. We've seen public demand come down again, now growing at less than half the rate it was under our predecessors when it comes to also real spending growth in our economy. So, we've been managing the economy in a responsible way and that's been an important part of our plan.
Now, the point that I've made in recent days, and I'm happy to repeat again for you, Harry. We have an inflation challenge in our economy, and it's made worse by war in the Middle East. That's not an opinion; that's a fact. We saw that in yesterday's inflation data. The overwhelming conclusion from that inflation data was the impact of higher petrol prices coming from higher global oil prices. And I know some people want to pretend that's not happening. I understand that, they've got their own reasons for wanting to do that. But any objective observer of our economy would conclude that we have an inflation challenge that's made worse by the war in the Middle East. That's what I've said. That's what the Governor of the Reserve Bank has said, and it's what the Board said in their statement as well.
Journalist:
[Inaudible] a spending issue by a lot of expert economists' accounts. And Chris Minns is now saying that the federal government needs to rein in spending. What does that say when a Labor colleague is intervening like this?
Chalmers:
Well, the Premier of New South Wales made the same sorts of points that we have been making, which is that there is an onus on all governments at all levels to manage their budgets in the most responsible way that they can. And as I understand it, he was referring to referring to demand in the economy. Public demand growth has slowed considerably. In fact, it came in even lower in the budget numbers we released on Monday than what we were anticipating when we released the Budget in May. So, public demand growth has actually slowed. It's actually growing slower than at any time for more than a decade now. And so Chris, as I understand it, was talking about demand. He was talking about the role that every government has to make sure they're managing the budget in the most responsible way they can and that's what we're doing.
Journalist:
Today's housing data suggests that we're in a buyer's market but without the buyers. Are your reforms working as you'd hoped that they would?
Chalmers:
Well, a couple of things about those new housing numbers today. Those new housing numbers show that house prices are now roughly where they were towards the end of last year. So, housing price growth through the last year has been flat. And so the prices that people are seeing in the market in aggregate in these figures is about what we were seeing in around November last year. That's the first point. Second point is, in the last couple of decades, we've obviously seen extraordinary price growth. House prices have gone through the roof for 2 decades, but even in that period, we've had at least 7 times where house prices have come off. They actually came off quite substantially between 2017 and 2019 under our predecessors.
And that's because there are a whole range of factors that go into the housing market, and the house prices specifically. Interest rates are obviously an important part of that story. The broader economic conditions. And so the changes that we made in the Budget are all about making sure that there are more affordable opportunities for more first‑home buyers. If you look at the challenge we've had in our society for too long, and it's an intergenerational inequity that we've seen for too long, is that young people and first‑home buyers have been locked out of the housing market for decades, since the mistake was made with the tax changes a quarter of a century ago.
So, our policy is not about targeting a particular price outcome or percentage. It's about making sure that there are more affordable options for more people, particularly young people. I think housing is the defining intergenerational challenge, not just in our economy, but in our society. That's why I love this place. The work that they do here, this is really important stuff. And so the numbers that we're seeing today reflect a whole range of factors. Prices started to come off before the Budget and that's because there are a number of factors at play.
Journalist:
Thriving Kids kicks off today. What's your message to parents and advocates who are looking after children who may be too old for Thriving Kids who may now come off the NDIS?
Chalmers:
Well, we're doing the best we can at managing what is a really important program, the NDIS. Our goal here is to ensure that we can continue to provide a decent level of care and support and education for people in the scheme or for people who are best taken care of and educated outside the scheme. And so the good work that Mark Butler and Jenny McAllister do and the government does more broadly, is about trying to save the NDIS from itself, trying to make sure that we can pay for it in a sustainable way so it can continue to provide those services, whether it's inside the scheme or outside the scheme.
And we know that when there are changes like this, it can be an anxious time for people. We do understand that. Mark and Jenny and others have made it really clear they're very sensitive to the fact that when you are changing programs like this, there is a level of concern and there is a level of anxiety. We take that seriously. But we're confident that we will come up with the best combination of services and care and support for some of our most vulnerable people.
Journalist:
Thank you. Treasurer, I want to ask you about GST, and it's kind of a triple‑barrelled question, if you don't mind.
Chalmers:
Three questions.
Journalist:
Do you think generally-
Chalmers:
- I'll take the first one, Caitlin, and you take the next 2, okay?
Journalist:
Do you think generally the GST distribution system is fair? Do you think Queensland gets a fair share within that system? And what's your response to David Janetzki saying that the GST carve up system threatens the Federation's fiscal stability?
Chalmers:
I think David Janetzki is looking for a distraction from the fact he just lost Queensland's AAA [AA+] credit rating. I didn't watch his whole speech or read his whole speech yesterday. But I'm told it was a long justification for losing Queensland's AAA [AA+] credit rating, despite the fact that there are billions of extra dollars from the federal government and from GST pouring into Queensland Government coffers. So, it's for David to explain how he lost Queensland's AAA [AA+]. At the same time, as federal funding has gone up quite significantly and the GST has come up quite significantly as well. The GST take going to Queensland is going up over the course of the coming years.
So, I think what he's trying to do here, and I do try and say this as respectfully as I can, because I know that every state Treasurer is dealing with the sorts of pressures that we are dealing with at the Commonwealth level. I would rather work collaboratively and cooperatively with him and with others. But I think everybody knows what he's doing here. He's trying to justify losing Queensland's AAA [AA+] credit rating. We've been piling billions of dollars extra into Queensland schools, roads, hospitals, and the GST take is up. Thanks very much.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
