Doorstop, Mural Hall Parliament House
16 August 2024
JANE HUME: Well this morning, my Cost of Living Committee was looking specifically and insolvencies and businesses going into administration. Right around the country, everywhere we've been, from Gladstone to Launceston, Western Sydney, and indeed, in my home state of Victoria, we can see the for lease signs up on the stores and businesses are telling us that they're really doing it tough. The evidence we heard today was quite confronting. Around 49% of businesses are either not making a profit or are indeed going backwards. That's a real concern. One in five businesses have zero cash reserves. One in 11 hospitality businesses in my home state of Victoria are expected to go into receivership before the end of this year. Businesses in all sectors were telling us that the combination of stringent industrial relations reforms and red tape that comes with that are costing them dearly. In fact, it's preventing things from putting on more employees and taking away from the time that they can spend working within their businesses, instead having to deal with administration. High energy costs they were saying are driving them to close their doors and unable to keep the lights on. In fact, they were saying that the energy bill relief that was provided by the Government for businesses didn't touch the side. I think the phrase that they used was that it was a one off sugar hit. And of course, when we spoke to the building industry, they told us of the high cost effect to their industry, but also to all Australians, of the lawlessness, lawlessness and corrupt behavior of the CFMEU, that's affecting building construction right around the country. Happy to take any questions.
JOURNALIST: What do make of the Reserve Bank Governor's comments today that public spending is not the main game when it comes to hurdles to clear before they cut interest rates, and on that topic, do you agree with her as well, that state government spending, to what extent spending has an inflation, is the lion's share of it.
JANE HUME: Last week in the Reserve Bank's Statement of Monetary Policy, their forecast for public spending nearly doubled from one and a half percent, or did double one half percent to 4.1%. That's a real concern. It is something that drives aggregate demand, and of course, is the driver of inflation. What Michele Bullock did tell us, but last weekend, reiterated today, was that inflation is going to be higher for longer, but interest rates will stay higher for longer. That rate cuts off the table, at least for now, and that's going to be cold comfort to those thousands and millions of Australians mortgage holders or those that hold business debt. Certainly, we heard today in the Cost of Living Committee that those businesses that are taking out business loans or using their homes as collateral for business loans are really doing it tough. That they've been waiting for those interest rate cuts that simply don't seem to be forthcoming. Michele Bullock made it very clear that she has only one job, and that's to bring inflation down, and one tool in the shed to do it with, and that is interest rates. But the Government is responsible for fiscal policy, and that it can pull those levers in order to bring inflation down.
JOURNALIST: Should it be spending more money than? Inflation, as the Governor says, is not a straighter impact as some other features in the future when it comes to reducing rates. If there's more in the government spends, getting the checkbook out to help some of those businesses instead?
JANE HUME: Well, I think the Government has already done exactly that, and that's what we heard today from particularly from hospitality sector that said that the energy rebates that the Government has been spending on their sector hasn't touched the sides and it's simply a sugar hit to bring headline inflation down temporarily. Whereas core inflation is the data that the RBA look at when they make their interest rate decisions. Clearly, interest rates are staying higher for longer. Inflation is staying higher for longer. And it’s Australian businesses and Australian households that are paying the price.
JOURNALIST: Senator, given the NZ Prime Minister is here (inaudible) do you think it is fair for the Australian Government to be sending New Zealand citizens back to New Zealand when they have had most of their lives spent here in Australia?
JANE HUME: Well, certainly that's been a long standing position of the Government, of both hues, and I think that's probably a discussion between Mr Luxton and Mr Albanese today. But what we would say is that if people are committing crimes in this country, and they are not citizens, and they are crimes against citizens, that the first responsibility of the government is to look after the interests of its own citizens, not the citizens of another country.
JOURNALIST: The inquiry was hearing from housing groups, and they were talking about issues with the CFMEU and the building sector. Specifically, they were saying that, they were warning that any further delays in placing the CFMEU into administration have further impacts for the construction sector. So given all of that, why is the Coalition voting against the legislation to put the CFMEU into administration?
JANE HUME: Well, the coalition isn't voting against the Bill that’s before us. The Coalition voted against bringing the Bill on in its current form, and the job of the Senate is to scrutinise legislation, and quite clearly that yesterday, the Senate told the ALP that this legislation isn't good enough. That was the message that we sent to the ALP. The testimony that we heard today from the building sector actually said that they were supportive of the principles and amendments that we were making, and that is to make the Bill stronger, to make sure that the CFMEU is, in fact being held to account. That the period of administration isn't limited to just three years. What if the administration period needs to go on longer than that? That it can't be carved out, carve outs for particular states. Coincidentally those states seem to be facing state and territory elections in the coming months. Most importantly, the Labor Government, indeed, the Labor Party should not be taking donations from the corrupt union while it is in administration. Now, that's a basic level of integrity. Quite frankly, if Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party Labor Party can't agree to not take donations from a corrupt union while it is in administration, well, it's every things ever said about integrity doesn't.
JOURNALIST: Senator Hume, today we had Michele Bullock appear before the House Economics Committee. She said that the rise in public demand, government spending, was not the main game for the central bank. Do you think Governor Bullock is giving Jim Charles, the Albanese Government a leave pass when it comes to the amount of spending that are going on?
JANE HUME: Well, what the Governor said today was that public sector spending was a factor that was driving inflation. There were other factors as well. She also made it very clear that inflation isn't coming down anytime soon, and that interest rates are going to stay higher for longer, because inflation isn't coming down anytime soon. Now that's a real concern for those small businesses and indeed those households that have been looking to the RBA to see if there was an interest rate cut on the horizon. If public sector spending wasn't an issue, why did the forecast for it double in the Statement of Monetary Policy just a couple of weeks ago? What we want to see is the government pull on its fiscal levers, not simply rely on the Reserve Bank to pull on its monetary policy levers. Otherwise it is turning all the heavy lifting over to the Reserve Bank with the one tool that got the shed, which is monetary policy, which is interest rates. Well, then unfortunately it is Australian businesses and Australian households that will pay the price.
JOURNALIST: If the RBA’s figures show a rise in public spending, is the Governor wrong when she says public spending isn’t the main game?
JANE HUME: Sorry, can you just repeat that question?
JOURNALIST: The rise in public spending you referred to, if that has increased in the way it has, does that mean that the Governor's wrong when she says public spending isn't the main game?
JANE HUME: Well, it's the Governor's own forecast that's telling us that public spending has gone up. Clearly, aggregate demand, driven by public spending, as well as private spending. Now, private spending, private consumption, has come back a long way, and that's because the Reserve Bank had to do all that heavy lifting to keep ratcheting up interest rates. In fact, interest rates are very effective, but very blunt tool, and she said that herself, the fiscal policy can also be used to bring inflation down.
JOURNALIST: Zali Steggall, says that Peter Dutton acted in a cowardly way in the House yesterday. There's been a lot of criticism of how the Nationals and members of the Liberal Party acted while she was speaking. Do you think how she was treated was appropriate? We talk a lot about behavior in this building, do you think it was appropriate?
JANE HUME: I wasn't in the House yesterday. Obviously, I sit in a different chamber. But I have to admit, I do object to using the chamber, the parliamentary privilege that comes along with that, to make allegations about colleagues that are either entirely unfounded or excused. If Ms Steggall would like to make those same allegations about the Leader of the Opposition, she should do so in public.
JOURNALIST: Just on that point, and the point that Zali Steggall raised. Do you think that policy, Peter Dutton’s policy, the Coalition's policy of blocking all visa applications from Gaza is racist?
JANE HUME: No, not at all. It's about keeping Australians safe. The Coalition has a strong track record on providing humanitarian support, humanitarian visas to those from conflict zones. Think of Syria, you think of the evacuation of Kabul in Afghanistan. This is something that is dear to our values. It's very important to us. The issue here is about whether the appropriate security checks, whether adequate security checks, can be done, particularly when the terrorist organisation is, in fact, the government of the country which people are fleeing. Now we want to make sure that those checks are in place, and that's why we feel that a temporary halt, a temporary halt, on the allocation of visitor visas. These aren't humanitarian visas, these are visitor visas to people fleeing from Gaza. We think that is the appropriate response. We've heard in the Senate estimates that some of those visas have been issued with only 24 hours turnaround, even as usual as an hour in some places. And in fact, we also heard from the Prime Minister himself that some of those visas have had to be revoked after they've been given because of security checks have been done after the fact. We want to make sure that, before people come to Australia that the security checks can be done. That's the way it was done under our government. That's the way it should be done under this one.
JOURNALIST: We've seen a pretty significant bungle in New South Wales in regards to Liberal candidate nominations not being lodged for the local elections there. Are you confident that in regards to the Federal election coming up, the Liberal Party won't have the same issues that we've seen in New South Wales?
JANE HUME: I'll make two points there. One is issues that go on in divisions in other states I tend not to comment on. I would rather that my colleagues around the chamber didn't comment on what goes on in my division in Victoria, and I'll do them the same courtesy. But what I can say is that I know that the Federal Division of the Liberal Party is very much ready for an election that is called at any time. And quite frankly, I think that the Australian population will be glad to hear that because they can't afford another three years. I think I’ll leave it there, thank you.