Doorstop, Treasury Gardens Melbourne

10 January 2025

JANE HUME: Good afternoon, everyone. Well, Labor's economic incompetence has been on full display this week, and Australians are paying the price. Yesterday, Anthony Albanese revealed that he didn't understand what the key indicator of inflation was that was used by the Reserve Bank when it's making its interest rate decisions. He said that the trimmed mean inflation, that core inflation, was not something that the Reserve Bank look at. Well, that's absurd. I don't know whether Anthony Albanese is economically illiterate or simply incurious about how the Reserve Bank sets its interest rates. But you only need to look at the statement of monetary policy to understand that the trimmed mean is exactly what the Reserve Bank look at. They said that underlying inflation is more indicative of inflation momentum and remains too high.

If Anthony Albanese had been listening to Michele Bullock after the Reserve Bank meets, well then he would know that she herself said that trimmed mean inflation, core inflation is more indicative of inflationary momentum than headline inflation. And that the reason for that is because headline inflation can be artificially deflated by government policies. That's what the Reserve Bank look at when they make decisions about interest rates.

This was then followed up by Katy Gallagher. Katy Gallagher, who clearly has a $7 billion black hole in the Budget. Public sector wages have flatlined in budget forecasts, yet we know that the number of public servants, that bloated bureaucracy, has increased by around 20% under Labor. 36,000 new public servants and Katy Gallagher, the Finance Minister herself, approved an 11% rise in wages for those public servants. Yet somehow, in the budget books, public sector wages have stayed steady.

It's up to Katy Gallagher now to explain how this could possibly occur, because the coalition can't explain it. And economists like Chris Richardson or Stephen Smith from Deloitte Access Economics, they can't explain it. Can Katy Gallagher, the Finance Minister, explain why her budget books are so inaccurate? She can't, because there's no explanation for dodgy numbers in budgets.

The Labor Government has demonstrated time and again that their economic incompetence is causing Australians to pay more. Pay more at your checkout, pay more on their mortgages. Australians are paying the price for an incompetent Labor Government. We can't afford three more years of Labor. It's a new year, but it's the same old Labor economic importance. I'm happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: I'm just interested to find out whether you think the rise of artificial intelligence and the increase in cyber attacks or those sorts of tactics are going to come into play during the scheduled election. Are you concerned about the potential impact of that?

JANE HUME: There is always going to be concern as technology changes. And the rise of artificial intelligence, and how that plays out in election campaigns, is something that I've spoken to both the AEC about, but also oversees elected electorate agencies as well. The most important thing here is that both politicians and the media and others call it out when they see it. We don't, like a Labor Government, believe that a ministry for truth that would make judgements on what is misinformation and disinformation is the right way to go about it. But if politicians can see the use of deep fakes or AI inappropriately, if the media can see the use of deep fakes or AI inappropriately, well then they should call it out.

JOURNALIST: When will the Coalition release detail on the Super Housing policy?

JANE HUME: The Super Housing policy was, in fact, announced prior to the last election. It allows Australians who have superannuation, but maybe not enough money for deposits in their own homes to access their superannuation up to $50,000 take that money out, use it as a deposit on a home, and then once they've sold that first home, got their first foot on that property ladder, they put that money back in to superannuation, and they do it plus the earnings that they have made on a pro rata basis when they sell that first home. Nobody is robbing their retirement savings with this. All they're doing is accessing their own money, their own savings, because we know that the best indicator of economic security and retirement is owning your own home.

JOURNALIST: Should the Government consider sending assistance to Los Angeles?

JANE HUME: We know that Minister McAllister has said that Australians stand ready to assist those in the States that are being affected by bushfires. Not entirely sure what has been requested of Australia, or neither, what it is, what resources we have at the standby, but we are always willing to assist those that are in need.

JOURNALIST: And just on some of those recent job vacancy figures shows that private sector is trying to hire more workers, is that a win for the Government?

JANE HUME: Well, the private sector has been struggling lately because of decreased consumption, decreased demand, and that's caused by high inflation and people looking after their hip pockets. What we've actually seen is such low growth in the private sector. It's really only the public sector that seems to be expanding. This should be a real concern. Without economic growth, without injecting productivity back into our economy, well, Australians are going to suffer. They're going to find that the prosperity and opportunities that they've had in the past simply won't continue on into the future. That's why we've said that we want to see changes to things like energy prices, putting more energy into the system to provide a more productive economy. Changes to industrial relations to make sure that it's flexible and fair for both employers and for employees. We want to see lower and simpler and fairer taxes and a reduction in red tape and regulation. Unless we get the economy moving again through productivity or we're going to see flatlined economic growth for a long time.

JOURNALIST: Jane, what do you make of the latest Synagogue attack in Sydney?

JANE HUME: It's just despicable and disgusting that this continues on. This anti-Semitic behavior. Have to say, I agree with Chris Minns on this one, enough is enough. We want to make sure that those that are perpetrating these vile, heinous crimes, that are hate crimes, feel the effects of the full force of the law.

JOURNALIST: I just wanted to ask you about the ACCC’s latest report. They’re saying that there will be a (inaudible) particularly in the southern states, like Victoria, and that there will be (inaudible). Has the Government dropped the ball in terms of focusing on new gas production, in terms of shoring up supply?

JANE HUME: Because of decisions that the Albanese Government has made we're now facing shortages of gas right around the country, but particularly in the southern states. Victoria is going to have to import gas for the first time. This is unacceptable. We need more gas into the system, freeing up our reserves in order to stabilise the grid and make sure that we don't have ridiculous situations like messages asking citizens to not use their dishwashers to take pressure off the grid. That's not what Australia is all about. We're an abundant, resource rich country, and we should be able to behave like a country that's not third world, first world. Turn on our light switches and expect the lights to go on. But unfortunately, because of the decisions that the Albanese Government has made, that is not happening right now. The Coalition have committed to putting more gas into the system in the short term, to bring down energy prices and to stabilise the grid, and in the long term, as those coal fired power stations retire, we'll replace them with nuclear power stations that will stabilise the grid, bring down prices, consumers will be the winners in the end.

JOURNALIST: Jane, one more from me, Peter Dutton is coming back from his holidays this Sunday with a rally in Melbourne, kicking off his pre-election campaign. What sort of announcements or vibe can we expect at that rally?

JANE HUME: Well, Peter Dutton has been working for a considerable period of time over the holidays, I've certainly had a number of conversations with him. This Sunday, though, there will be a rally in Melbourne, and we'll be announcing our positive agenda for a back to basics approach to get the economy back on track.