www.theguardian.com
Chalmers defends multibillion-dollar budget deficit as ‘much smaller’ than what Labor inherited
Asked how bad the budget looked and why, Chalmers confirmed there would be a deficit in this year’s budget, but “much, much smaller” than what Labor “inherited from our political opponents”.
We have delivered back-to-back surpluses for the first time … in two decades. Our opponents promised, and every year thereafter they delivered, precisely zero surpluses. We have delivered two surpluses in our first two years and that has happened for the first time in almost two decades.
On top of that we have helped engineer the biggest ever nominal turnaround in the budget in the history of this country – a $200bn improvement in the budget, which means we are paying down Liberal debt and avoiding interest costs on that debt as well.
Now a defining feature of our first three budgets was responsible economic management. That will be a defining feature of the fourth as well. Even this year, when we will be printing a deficit for this year, it will be much, much smaller than what we inherited from our political opponents, and that shows the progress we have been able to make. Not managing the budget responsibly or providing cost of living help, but managing the budget responsibly and providing cost of living help and investing in building Australia’s future.
Key events
Josh Butler
Our reporter Adeshola Ore was at Peter Dutton’s press conference.
She’s shared on a press release distributed at the Melbourne event. Dutton and his shadow ministers Michaelia Cash and James Paterson say in the release that they would set up a suite of responses to the latest Cfmeu allegations, including a new Federal Police taskforce to address issues in the construction industry.
The Coalition would also seek to “immediately introduce legislation to deregister” the Cfmeu’s construction division, and would reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission, along with increased penalties for breaches of the Fair Work Act.
“The Albanese government might have hoped this problem had gone away, but it hasn’t,” Dutton’s release said.
Cash called for the Cfmeu to be “immediately deregistered”.
The Coalition claims that its actions would help “alleviate the housing crisis”.
Dutton says super access for homebuyers will not drive up prices thanks to ‘homes being built’
Finally, Dutton is asked about the housing crisis.
Analysis shows accessing super could bring up house prices 10%. Will your policy make the housing crisis worse?
He replies that if you did it in the absence of a supply-side measure, then, yes.
When I talk about a supply-side measure, I mean homes being built and coming to market. We’ve announced a $5bn plan … which will create 500,000 new homes.
And that will provide an opportunity for Australians who are locked out of the housing market at the moment because of Labor’s CFMEU tax, which is making housing and construction more expensive than ever, because of the fact that they’ve brought a million people in over the last two years through the migration program, which has fuelled demand for housing at a time when supply has contracted and building approvals are down by 11%.
Coalition does not want to fuel inflation with tax cuts, Dutton says
Dutton is asked to rule out whether there will be any income tax cut policy under a Coalition government.
He says he and the shadow treasurer have “constantly pointed out we want a simpler, fairer tax system”.
We want Australians to pay less tax under this government – an average family is paying about $4,000 more tax … We don’t want to fuel inflation, which is what Labor has done. If you’re just splashing money out into the economy, as Labor does, you’re fuelling inflation, which increases interest rates.
And this is why I say don’t believe that we have dealt with inflation in this country yet … there is a very real prospect under a re-elected Albanese-Bandt government that interest rates go back up. I’m not going to have a situation where that is possible … We have a track record of dealing with economic management and making economic decisions, including tax cuts … if we can afford to do tax cuts, we will. But it will depend on how much money is in the budget, what’s going to be inflationary, what other measures are floating around at the time, and I think that’s the prudent approach that you would expect us to take.
Coalition will ‘have a lot to say about policy’ in lead-up to election: Dutton
There has been quite a bit in the media, including from members of the Coalition, expressing concern over a lack of policies cutting through with the Australian public.
Asked if Dutton shares that concern, he talks about Labor, and outlines one policy – the one announced today.
Again, if you look at the negative impact of Labor’s polling over the course of the last couple of months, that hasn’t involved any policy, it’s involved lies and deception. Now, people will see through that by polling day. But Labor is the master at negative campaigning.
If the government had a good story to tell, their ads would be about the achievements of the Albanese government. Instead, they’ve destroyed the economy, their renewables-only policy is destroying the energy market, and that’s why people are paying more for their groceries, because the farmer and the storage provider is paying more for their cold-room storage. They’re paying more for their gas, they’re paying more for their electricity.
So, we’ll have a lot to say about policy between now and the election, but today is a very significant policy announcement. It’s a policy that’s going to root out the corruption which is at the heart of the Albanese government.
Dutton spruiks ‘strong leadership’ to get ‘country back on track’ in response to falling ratings
Dutton is pointed to a poll today showing his ratings falling for a second straight month.
What can you do to stop that slide?
He replies that all he can do is “be honest with the Australian people about the fact that we have a plan to get our country back on track”.
The Labor party spent $2m over the past two months personally slandering me because they don’t have a good story to tell themselves. If the last three years had been a success for the Albanese government and a success for our country, there wouldn’t have been a 30% increase in food prices, people wouldn’t be paying 34% more for their gas, people wouldn’t be struggling to send their kids to school or to pay to go and see a doctor, but, of course, they are under this government.
As we get closer to the election, the Australian people are going to have a choice. Their choice is between a bad government in minority form, so it will be even worse … that’s not the decision I think Australians should make. I think they should back the Coalition and my strong leadership to get our country back on track, to manage the economy effectively and efficiently, to stamp out union corruption.
He does not detail how the Coalition could win the 19 seats required to hold a majority government.
Coalition will seek to have proposed legislation heard in parliament next week, Dutton says
Dutton says he will write to the PM today asking for drafting resources and for the matter to be heard in parliament when it sits next week.
I think it has that urgency to it and I think we have the basis upon which to build the legislation very quickly.
He says the CFMEU and outlaw motorcycle gangs would be subject to the Coalition’s proposed legislation, while not ruling out a royal commission once legislation was passed.
Pointed to the response by Labor’s premier, Jacinta Allan, to the allegations, Dutton calls it “wet lettuce”.
It was pathetic. It gave a green light for the CFMEU to continue as they are now. What we’re proposing is a model which will stop the CFMEU in its tracks … We have a serious proposal here and I think the government needs to adopt it. The thing that they can do today, without Parliament resuming, is to announce that they’re going to deregister the CFMEU. If what we saw last night, and what we know and what the government has known for a long time, doesn’t warrant the deregistering of the CFMEU, I don’t know what does.
Cash says proposed laws would mean criminal organisations can be prosecuted
Asked how it would work for bosses and kingpins of alleged organised crime to be jailed despite being distanced from the crimes, Cash turns to the United States.
The way it works is, under the current laws that we have here in Australia, you only have the ability of the police to target the person who committed the crime. In other words, you can’t go after the bosses and the kingpins who might just sit back and keep their hands clean. What these laws will do will ensure that the police are able to go after the criminal organisation itself if it is shown to have a pattern of behaviour in law-breaking.
In the United States, the pattern of behaviour is two offences in the last 10 years. So, a pattern of behaviour under reco laws is fundamentally different to the ordinary meaning of the word “pattern of behaviour”. What that then means is this – the organisation itself, regardless of who committed the offence, is able to be prosecuted. It is a fundamental difference.
‘We’re going to clean it up’: CFMEU should be deregistered, Dutton says
Dutton says Australia is wasting “billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money” through the CFMEU’s “corrupt model”.
The prime minister has no interest in clearing it up because … his party is the financial beneficiary of the donations of the CFMEU. The CFMEU still sits on the national executive of the Australian Labor party. The CFMEU is not going anywhere, and that’s why they need to be deregistered, and bring in a union like the AWU to provide the important work, particularly on building sites, around workplace health and safety …
Now, we’re going to clean it up, and the laws worked in the United States and they can work here in Australia as well. This is not just a blow against the outlaw motorcycle gangs’ activities in the CFMEU, it’s also a blow against drug importations, stolen vehicle rackets, and it will reduce crime across society and our country. And it is the most significant step that’s been taken by a government or opposition in recent history. It will make sure that we have the ability for the police to crush these networks … this is the biggest corruption scandal in our country’s history and we should take it very seriously, and that’s exactly what we do today.
Dutton accuses Labor of knowing ‘for years’ of alleged CFMEU malpractice
Dutton goes on, saying Australian taxpayers are “being ripped off”.
The CFMEU has donated $11.5m to Mr [Anthony] Albanese’s party and to Ms [Jacinta] Allan’s party. They are completely and utterly compromised.
Dutton accuses the Albanese government of knowing “for years” about alleged malpractice within the CFMEU. He then draws a bow to drug habits among young people and stolen cars from “mums and dads”.
And yet they’ve done nothing about it.
Now, why this is really important to Australians, and I think particularly to Victorians at the moment, is that when homes are getting broken into by kids who are stealing money or stealing valuables to sell, they’re fuelling a drug habit. They’re buying drugs from outlaw motorcycle gang members, who are the biggest distributors of amphetamines and drugs in our country. They’re stealing cars from your homes at the moment because there’s a market that’s been created by outlaw motorcycle gangs, who are re-berthing these vehicles, stolen from mums and dads who have worked hard here in Victoria and across the country.
That is the other limb of the outlaw motorcycle gang business model, and the CFMEU, by paying figures, shadowy figures and extortion payments to the outlaw motorcycle gang members, that’s fuelling that criminal enterprise.
Dutton claims construction sector ‘essentially’ run by organised crime
Peter Dutton is up next.
He alleges Australia has “essentially got organised crime figures running the construction sector”.
This is the biggest corruption scandal in our country’s history because we are talking about billions of dollars, billions of dollars that have been paid by ultimately Australian taxpayers through the Victorian government, through the Albanese government, for bloated prices, project times have been blown out, the costs are escalating, and for every kilometre of road that’s being built, or every hospital that’s being built, there’s a 30% CFMEU tax, at least.
James Paterson says Coalition will tackle alleged ‘organised crime in the building industry’ with AFP taskforce
The shadow minister for home affairs, James Paterson, is up next.
He accuses the CFMEU’s business model of being more like “the mafia” than a union.
… It is Australian and Victorian taxpayers who bear the brunt of this business model. Not just in their higher taxes for increased costs of infrastructure projects, but through the lawlessness and terror that we see in our streets and our suburbs …
It is because of the weakness of Anthony Albanese and the Labor party that this business model has flourished on his watch. One of his first acts in government was to abolish the ABCC, to unleash them on building sites, ripping off taxpayers.
A Dutton Coalition government will take a very different approach because we’re not beholden to the CFMEU for our funding in election campaigns. We will introduce a range of measures that Michaelia Cash has outlined, and in addition also stand up a new federally funded AFP-led criminal taskforce to tackle organised crime in the building industry.
