Labor's spending is making YOU POORER.

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]and out money. I want to bring in Deputy Liberal Leader Jane Hume now. The message from Michelle Bullock couldn't have been blunter yesterday. Let's start with the federal government. We'll get to Victoria because I feel like they're a whole other basket case. But basically Michelle Bullock is saying you've got to be really careful how you spend money because it's inflationary, particularly in this environment. Jim Chalmers saying, "Okay, you've heard about this, you know, two or $300 cash handout that we're going to give workers in the next financial year, but just wait to see the whole package. Is that fair enough?"

[00:00:35]I think Michelle Bullock has tiptoed around this issue for long enough. In years prior, whether it be when she's doing a static to the media or in budget estimates, she's been very cautious not to blame government spending directly uh uh for the pressure on inflation. This time she has put all of that aside. It was the second line of the uh of the RBA's monetary policy statement that so statement on monetary policy specifically said that inflation existed before the crisis in in the Middle East uh and that uh pressure from government spending would make the situation worse.

[00:01:14]Even though Jim Chalmers uh denied that almost immediately, uh that is absolutely not the case. Now, this is something that we have been saying the coalition for a number of years now.

[00:01:25]When governments spend more, they put pressure on inflation keeping inflation higher for longer. The RBA has one job.

[00:01:31]That is to respond to those inflationary pressures, try and keep inflation back between that 2 to 3% band. There are plenty of people that seem angry with the RBA's decision, but it's not their fault. They're doing the job that they've been tasked. It's now up to governments to make sure that they're doing their end of the bargain, pulling on the fiscal levers in an appropriate way to make the RBA's job easier.

[00:01:53]Otherwise, it's Australians that pay the price, and particularly mortgage holders who are now paying around $29,000 more each year on their mortgage than they were when they were came to office.

[00:02:04]Let's give people a bit of insight into what happens behind the scenes though. I know that Jim Chalmers speaking to Michelle Bullock regularly. They're two independent they're independent of each other and that is very important. But we have to kind of keep into context what would have happened behind the scenes before this rate rise. Surely Jim Chalmers, you know, we know he's speaking to Michelle Bullock quite frequently, checking that the measures he's putting in place as a whole package aren't inflationary.

[00:02:33]Um would she have said that yesterday?

[00:02:36]Well, she would have said that yesterday knowing pretty much what the budget or the shape of the budget is. So, can we take some comfort in that?

[00:02:45]Well, I'm not going to speak for the conversations that Jim Chalmers has had with Michelle Bullock >> No, but that's how it works, right?

[00:02:52]>> or recently in in anticipation of the budget. However, I don't think she could have been any clearer on this one. Mhm. That if the government continues to spend at the rate that it has, the pressure on inflation will continue, and she will keep having to pull the monetary policy levers if Jim Chalmers isn't pulling the fiscal policy levers. And then we are all going to pay the price. We've already seen bracket creep increase to the point now where Australians are paying around $2,000 a year more uh or their purchasing power has been reduced by $2,000 a year because of the increase in bracket creep. And now we're hearing about a a one-off cash handout back to uh to wage earners. But unfortunately, that $200 isn't going to make up anything like as much has been lost on purchasing power because of inflation.

[00:03:46]In fact, the stage three tax cuts that were reimagined by the government to not address bracket creep and instead uh go to every worker, they've already gone.

[00:03:56]They've gone. They was by within 12 months they were gone and eaten up by inflation. Unless the government tackles inflation head-on, it's not dealing with the cost of living crisis at all. It's simply doing cash handouts and potentially making the problem worse.

[00:04:12]Okay, so we've got these cash handouts.

[00:04:14]We'll wait to see the overall budget.

[00:04:15]Jim Chalmers has said, "Well, they're really concentrating on the spending side." Do you agree that we need to see the overall package to judge whether it is inflationary?

[00:04:26]Well, we certainly do need to see the overall package before we can talk about the effect of a specific measure. But isn't it extraordinary that Jim Chalmers has only suddenly now had it dawned upon him what good economic management looks like? That he knows he now needs to rein in spending because he has denied that for five budgets. Now, this will be his fifth budget, and it's only now that he has that this is dawned upon him. I find that very hard to believe. And let's be clear here, some of the measures that he's proposing are com- are lies. They're they're complete backflips on policy positions that he previously held. It was only 18 months ago that Jim Chalmers specifically said that he has seen no evidence that changes to capital gains tax or changes to negative gearing would have an effect on supply of houses. That was 18 months ago. Well, now the tune has clearly changed.

[00:05:18]Anthony Albanese said over and over again in the lead-up to the election that there would be no changes to capital gains tax, no changes to negative gearing. He lied. He lied to the Australian people then. Either that or he's completely incompetent because he didn't realize that these changes were going to be, in his mind, necessary. But Australians are going to pay the price. Will we see more houses because of this policy? That's up to the government to explain.

[00:05:43]Well, and they think they can get away with it, and they might just because of the position electorally that your party is in.

[00:05:51]That my party is in? Oh, well, look, I don't actually think that that is a problem. Angus Taylor and I have been out for a number of months, indeed years now, talking about government spending putting pressure on inflation and what the effect of that will be on household budgets. But it's governments that are making the decisions that are pushing inflation higher. It's not a a a a product of crisis in the Middle East as much as Jim Chalmers might want to say that. The decisions made in Canberra are making the cost of living crisis worse. And that will be that's a consistent message from the coalition, and I think you'll probably be hearing much more of that whether it be from myself or from Tim.

[00:06:29]>> and and if if you look at this politically, uh we're in the first budget of the second term, the election still two years away.

[00:06:37]Uh they've got two years to kind of uh prove to the Australian public why it was a good idea to break yet another promise, and they're doing it because they've got a massive majority, and it looks like you might just be about to lose Farrow as well.

[00:06:54]The question is, of course, what will the Albanese government lie about next?

[00:06:59]What will Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese uh say, look you in the eye and say that they commit to uh in the future that they completely black- backflip on within 12 months, 18 months, or in the next electoral term of parliament? Will it be a tax on the family home next? They've said black and blue that that will never happen, but they said black and blue that changes to capital gains tax would never happen, changes to negative gearing would never happen. They said that they weren't going to tax superannuation. They said that they weren't going to tax family trusts. All of those they have gone back on. Well, what's next? Is it the family home? I don't think anyone would be surprised if it was.

[00:07:38]We're about to talk to Jess Wilson about the Victorian budget, but given you are there in Melbourne and you are a Victorian yourself, I don't even know where to start with this. So, let me get this straight. They've got an operating surplus, whatever that is. I think it's just a a thin surplus. They need $200 billion dollars worth of debt, but they're giving away things like free public transport, and they had this massive cash splash before the budget to the tune of around $18 billion, I think.

[00:08:05]And then they're morally bankrupt doing a 40-year deal with a lotto company gambling in order to bring forward that money a couple of decades so they can say they're in the green by 400 million.

[00:08:19]Does that make any sense?

[00:08:22]>> This deal stinks. The whole budget stinks. $200 billion dollars worth of debt with no plan to pay it down.

[00:08:29]Victoria is the canary in the coal mine for bad labor governments that cannot manage the economy, that cannot manage a budget. Now we hear that they have done this deal with a lotto company.

[00:08:44]They've done it early. The license is due to expire in 2028, and rather than extend it for 10 years in 2028 as would normally be the case, they've instead extended it for 40 years in exchange for just over a billion dollars so that they can prop up today's budget at the expense of future generations, at the expense of future budgets.

[00:09:06]What is it that they're going to pay for? Well, I can tell you exactly what they're going to pay for. How about the $15 billion dollars that this government has siphoned directly to criminals via the CFMEU on big build construction sites. The corruption and fraud that has been perpetrated on the Victorian taxpayer and by extension, taxpayers right around the country because the federal government has weighed in on these projects as well. The extent of this fraud is unprecedented.

[00:09:36]This Victorian government is corrupt.

[00:09:38]It's rotten to its core, and it must go in November to save Victorian taxpayers and the next generation of Melburnians and Victorians. Jane, this is exactly what the RBA was warning about, and Michelle Bullock wasn't just directing this caution on cash handouts to the federal government. A lot of these states are spending beyond their means, and Victoria is right at the top of that.

[00:10:03]Jim Chalmers does have some leverage here because I think really just into Allen is relying on the federal government just propping them up, other states bailing them out.

[00:10:14]What would you say to Jim Chalmers about some tough love with Victoria?

[00:10:19]I'll be very interested to see what's in the federal budget next week for Victoria, specifically around the suburban rail loop, part of that big build project, along with the metro tunnel, the West Gate tunnel, uh the northeast link. These projects where we've seen just endemic corruption from the CFMEU that has cost taxpayers so much money. Now, if Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese want to feed that addiction, feed that corruption further, well, then we'll see more money for those infrastructure projects in Victoria that Victoria simply can't pay for on their own.

[00:10:57]Jane Hume, good to talk to you. I'll talk to you around the budget.

[00:11:01]You too, Laura.