Interview with Peter van Onselen, Studio 10
30 March 2022
PETER VAN ONSELEN: Prime Minister, thanks very much for your company. Is there anything you'd do differently in this Budget if it wasn't an election year?
PRIME MINISTER: No, there isn't, because what we're doing for cost of living pressures in this Budget is because of the cost of living pressures. The war in the Ukraine has pushed up fuel prices and Australians are feeling that. And it's not just at the bowser, it affects the price of food, the price of groceries, and they need that support now. And the reason we can do that is we've had a $100 billion improvement in the Budget over the over the Budget period, and that's been earned by Australians working hard. So giving them tax relief through lower excise, halving the excise, giving them tax relief in personal income tax and when they put in their tax return on the 1st of July and supporting those who are on pensions and those types of payments right now, the cost of living increases are real. And so is this package.
VAN ONSELEN: Halving the fuel excise was larger than what people were predicting, it goes for six months.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
VAN ONSELEN: It's understandably temporary given the overseas measures. Is there any chance it would be extended if the issues overseas continue?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's not our plan. The forecast that we have is that we will see fuel prices in particular the price per barrel of oil to drop back to more conventional levels over that period. But we've done it over six months. In New Zealand, they've done it over three months. So we've provided a greater provision to ensure that people can have the confidence. See, this is about ensuring Australians have confidence. This is giving them a shield against the cost of living pressures that are Australians know are being caused by events far away from Australia. But what this means is it's hurting them now, and I'm not going to have them knocked over again as we're coming out of this pandemic stronger than any other advanced economy in the world.
VAN ONSELEN: But are you open minded about extending it if overseas events require?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's not what we expect. What we did in the pandemic, when we when we went into JobKeeper, and it certainly wasn't an election around the corner back then, because that's what was needed. But what we've demonstrated is we know when to start and we know when to stop. During the pandemic, Labor would have spent an extra $81 billion because they wouldn't have known how to stop. And that means right, right now, they wouldn't have been able to deliver this much needed cost of living support that we've delivered. That's why it’s responsible, it's targeted and it's temporary.
VAN ONSELEN: Labor's intimated that this is a booby trapped Budget that sort of intimates that they think they might win the election, you’re planning to win obviously?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Labor always gets ahead of themselves. We're certainly not getting ahead ourselves. We're dealing with the real economic circumstances that families and businesses are facing right now. Now, if Labor doesn't think the cost of living pressures are real, if Labor doesn't think that that cost of living support is needed now, well, they should say so, and they should set out their alternative. But we know it is real. And that's why we've been able to respond. And once again, we're doing it from a position of strength. The Budget has strengthened. The economy has strengthened. It has strengthened faster and stronger than all of the major advanced economies in the world, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France. And that means that's why we can do that and that's why it's responsible.
VAN ONSELEN: One of the economic features at the moment, though, is higher inflation, and that inevitably tends to lead to higher interest rates. How do these spending initiatives, if you like, work at the same time as those pressures that are inflationary that feel like they don't necessarily gel?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, inflation, as you know, is about how quickly costs are rising. This is about cutting those costs. It's about cutting one of the most important costs that actually drive so many other prices. And that's the price of fuel. But because it's temporary, because it's targeted, that's why it's responsible, because we know when to start and when we know to stop. And that's why last night, S&P, the ratings agency affirmed Australia's AAA credit rating because they knew we'd got the balance right.
VAN ONSELEN: Just on the fuel excise cut. How do you guarantee that it gets passed on at the bowser and it just doesn't get gobbled up by the, you know, petrol stations?
PRIME MINISTER: The law and the ACCC, which is our cop on the beat and the Treasurer has done a fine job in ensuring that the petroleum producers and retailers will be will be watched very closely. Now, it'll take us a couple of weeks before this gets to the bowser because, you know, petrol stations have advanced purchase their fuel and they've purchased fuel on the old excise rate. And in rural and regional areas, then they hold those stocks for longer. So it will take a couple of weeks for that to flow through. So I'm not expecting to see that price change dramatically in those first couple of weeks. But I do expect it to change. I do expect it to pass on because Australians have worked hard to ensure that they can keep more of what they earn, whether that's through lower excises or lower taxes.
VAN ONSELEN: What are you most proud of in the Budget?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there are many measures in this Budget. What I'm most proud of, frankly, that the Australian people who have made this possible. We've come through the last couple of years, principally not just because of strong economic management of our government, but principally overwhelmingly because of the resilience and character of Australians. That's what strengthened our economy. That's what enabled us to achieve this. And we've assumed that at all times we backed them in. That's what our economic policies do. You know, I love Australia because I love Australians and Australians are the ones who've enabled us to do what we did last night, backed in by our strong economic management.
VAN ONSELEN: Last night, one of your Liberal Senators Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, and she teed off hard on you and one of your ministers, Alex Hawke. She said, you're not fit to be Prime Minister. How do you respond to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, I understand Connie's disappointment. 500 members the Liberal Party had decided that she wasn't going to be on on the two slots on our Senate ticket. She's made similar criticisms of both of my predecessors when things haven't gone that way. I understand her upset. If she has any concerns about those issues, she can take them to the party processes that we've established to deal with those issues with the Federal and State Party.
VAN ONSELEN: The timing is pretty deliberately destructive, wouldn't you agree?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I understand she's disappointed about losing the preselection.
VAN ONSELEN: Do you worry, though, that this is a pattern of criticism that you faced? I mean, the text messages with Gladys, the Deputy Prime Minister, he's apologised, and now Connie Fierravanti-Wells saying what she said.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the first matter, as you know, the Premier herself has not confirmed those matters. But what I can say to you …
VAN ONSELEN: To be fair Prime Minister, I've got the text like ...
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you haven't shared where you got them from and who you got them from. And I'm not taking your word for it, Peter. And I don't know if Australians will, either. What I know is that as a Prime Minister, I've led this country through one of the most difficult times. From time to time, people will disagree with the way I want to do that and they'll say things when they disagree with me. But what Australians always will know is I'll stand up for them. Right now, they need cost of living support, and in the future they need a strong economic plan, which is what this is investing in our regions, making sure paid parental leave is giving families real choice. Ensuring that we're reducing the cost of living, whether it's for medicines or whether it's at the bowser and ensuring that we're delivering for Australia, the infrastructure, the dams and all of this, which will unlock the wealth of this country, which means we can guarantee the essentials Australians rely on for medicines all the way through to paying for our defence forces to keep Australians safe.
VAN ONSELEN: Prime Minister, thanks so much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Peter.
