Interview with Jacqui Felgate, 3AW
19 February 2025
JACQUI FELGATE: A very good afternoon to the Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who's joining us on the line. Hello.
RICHARD MARLES: Jacqui, how are you? Jane, nice to talk to you again this afternoon. I really liked your your conversation with Tony. Can I add my voice to Tony that men and I think women in their mid 60s do have capacity?
JACQUI FELGATE: Yes. Well, let's see, shall we? We're about to find out, aren't we? And we've got Jane with us in the studio as well. I might start with you today, though, Deputy PM, and just say, when are we going to call the election? We've all had enough.
RICHARD MARLES: Well, so I obviously don't know the answer to that question. There's only one person, even if I had a crack at answering that question, it would be a career limiting move for me. So I'm not going to go anywhere near it.
JACQUI FELGATE: I think Australians are waiting, though, and we're sort of in this almost phony campaign already, right?
RICHARD MARLES: Look, I think there is something in the idea that, whilst we officially don't know when the election campaign is going to be on, I think effectively it is. And to be honest, I think all of us in politics, I'm sure Jane feels this once you get to this point in the cycle, you kind of, you know, you just want to get on with it, but, but at the end of the day, that is a call for the PM. So we'll see what he does.
JACQUI FELGATE: What do you think, Jane, it's time?
JANE HUME: Look, I'm not going to predict what Anthony Albanese wants to do, other than to say that whenever he calls it, we'll be ready. Well,
JACQUI FELGATE: Well I guess I'll ask you, first Minister, Deputy Prime Minister. Sorry, we've got shadow minister and deputy prime minister. But Richard, what do you think the number one issue is for Australians right now?
RICHARD MARLES: I think it's really clearly cost of living. And, you know, I mean, we've experienced a pretty difficult few years. There's been a global inflationary environment after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. So what we're experiencing is not unique to us, but it is the number one challenge that's facing Australians, and we're really aware that Australians are doing it tough, and it's why cost of living has really been the focus of our government since the moment that we came we came to government, and when we came to government, we inherited an inflation rate at 6.1% it's now down to 2.4 and that doesn't just happen. Two Budget surpluses form part of why we've got inflation down, and that's something that the Liberals never did, and obviously that, in turn, has created the conditions for the interest rate cut that we saw from the Reserve Bank a couple of days ago.
JANE HUME: About time. I mean, let's be honest. Richard…
RICHARD MARLES: I agree with that.
JANE HUME: Inflation stayed much higher for longer because of decisions that the government made. Particularly around spending, an additional $347 billion over the last two and a half years. And Michele Bullock said it herself that our inflation problem was a home grown problem. Yes, at the beginning, of course, it was caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the push up of fuel prices. But after that was put under control by other countries, our inflation rate was still way too high, and that's pushed up the cost of living for ordinary Australians for way too long. Yesterday's interest rate cut was welcome, of course, but to be honest, it's only one of 12 that's occurred, you know, one cut out of 12 rises that's occurred on your watch. And that, I think, is a real problem, because it's hardly going to touch the sides for an average family with or, you know, $750,000 mortgage, they've already paid around $50,000 more in interest in the last two and a half years, so they'll never get that back.
RICHARD MARLES: I mean, it's not right to say that inflation was higher in Australia than other other comparable countries. It, in fact, was lower interest rates people are in Australia than they did elsewhere. Right now, inflation is going down. That's not the case in the US. And so actually, when you look at how we have experienced this phenomenon around the world relative to other countries, it hasn't been as difficult, but it has been difficult, let me be clear, and we're really mindful of that. But that's why cost of living has been the focus on what we've done. You know, we have a tax cut for every income earner in this country, something that the Liberals oppose. We've had energy rebate for every Australian household and small business, something that the Liberals opposed. Every measure that we've taken in terms of trying to do something around cost of living has been opposed by the Liberals, and Liberals can talk about spending. The fact of the matter is, we've done two Budget surplus, Budget surpluses something that in their almost decade in government they never achieved.
JANE HUME: Well yes, except Richard let's be honest again there the two budget surpluses were caused by higher taxation revenues and also high commodity prices, and there's now deficits, as far as the eye can see. So let's be honest, and your cost of living solutions are band aid solutions, rather than dealing with the source of the problems, which is what the Coalition will be focused on.
JACQUI FELGATE: I might just ask you another question. Now, there's some data out today that shows people are put off by woke agendas. What do you understand woke to me?
JANE HUME: Well, that's a very good question. I think it means different things to what it means to different people.
JACQUI FELGATE: What does it mean to you?
JANE HUME: I think that there's that political correctness which frustrates people. People want to be straight talking, and they don't necessarily want performative doing good as opposed to actual doing good. That's what I would say woke agenda is.
JACQUI FELGATE: And what about you, Richard?
RICHARD MARLES: I hear that word all the time. I don't know, to be honest, what I know is that it's not the focus of our government. I mean, we're focused on all the things I've just been talking about in relation to household budgets, cost of living. I know that none of that is woke. What we're doing is trying to make the cost of living. Pressures for Australians easier in what has been a very difficult situation where we know Australians are doing it tough. I mean, others will get obsessed about that stuff and want to talk about it. But you know, for us as a government, you know, we have been very focused on the budget. We've been very focused on cost of living. We've been very focused on our standing in the international community, our national security increases in defence spending. That's our focus, and we’ll let others talk about woke.
JANE HUME: Just on that there is so much wasteful spending going on, there is no doubt about that. And let me just give you one example, the sort of things that really frustrates people. So there was about $260,000 spent on employing a consultant in Darlinghurst to develop a strategy for First Nations approach to Foreign Affairs and Trade. Now I don't know what that is, but not only was there $260,000 spent appointing a consultant, but there's also a First Nations ambassador, and part of his mandate is to develop a strategy for a First Nations approach to Foreign Affairs and Trade. Now, again, that's around half a million dollars that's being spent on something that I don't understand.
JACQUI FELGATE: But is there also a danger that you can go too far that way as well, like, for example, Peter Dutton saying that he won't stand behind indigenous in front of an indigenous flag. He wants just the Australian flag behind him earlier, a couple of months ago.
JANE HUME: Do you think that’s woke thought? I mean, we have one flag.
JACQUI FELGATE: I don’t mind having, I think if it's so important to a group of people that have been disenfranchised for such a long time, I would much rather have the focus of any potential Prime Minister being on the cost of living and other issues, rather than talking about flags. So I think it goes both ways.
JANE HUME: Sure, and I don't think anyone's trying to disrespect the Aboriginal flag or the Torres Strait Island flag, other than the fact that we're one nation, we have one flag. And the idea of standing in front of multiple flags is unusual.
JACQUI FELGATE: I might ask Richard. I might ask Richard Marles in on that. Richard, what's your view on that?
RICHARD MARLES: I mean, I support the Aboriginal flag, the Torres Strait Islander flag, they are meaningful to those communities. And just as you said, Really, Jacqui, I support doing things which are significant to that community. But trying to take this point, what worries me, in terms of the narrative that Jane is giving you just there is Jane has taken an expenditure of $260,000 but is essentially using it to justify $347 billion worth of cuts, which is the number that Jane has just used. Now, if you're going to cut the federal budget to that degree, and those numbers are very different.
JANE HUME: We can't cut it by that degree because you've baked it all in. So okay, we do have to take that so.
JACQUI FELGATE: Sorry we do have to take a, sorry…
RICHARD MARLES: You're out there saying you are going to cut it. You cannot do that without hacking into Medicare.
JACQUI FELGATE: I'm going to get it bell next week. We'll take a quick break, and we'll come back after this.
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JACQUI FELGATE: It is the pre-election section, and it is nine minutes to five, and I did say last week, and we ran out, ran out of time, that I wanted to talk football with both the Deputy PM and the Shadow Finance Minister, because I often see Richard at Geelong Football Club things.
RICHARD MARLES: I feel like this is going to be an unfair conversation, but I'm looking forward to it.
JANE HUME: Oh ha very ha.
JACQUI FELGATE: Because Jane is a secure supporter. And I was asking Jane in the break why she barracked for security, Jane,
JANE HUME: Because my dad did, my grandfather did. It runs in the blood red, white and black. But unfortunately, I can recite the last quarter of the 1966 grand final. Not that I was alive, but my father used to recite it like a lullaby.
JACQUI FELGATE: Recite it?
JANE HUME: Pretty much, yeah, yeah so.
JACQUI FELGATE: Been hanging on that one for a while,
JANE HUME: Yeah, well, we're waiting for the next one. I'm sure this is going to be the year.
JACQUI FELGATE: Well, Richard, I think it's going to be our year. To be honest,
RICHARD MARLES: I really think it's going to be our year. So people may not know that Jane and I co convene the Parliamentary Friends of the AFL.
JANE HUME: We do.
RICHARD MARLES: We are both massive footy fans, so we…
JANE HUME: And Richard is so smug, you’re so smug about Geelong and all the Premiership Cups you’ve got.
RICHARD MARLES: I don’t think that's the appropriate word to use, but we are looking, I think, Jacqui, with some confidence towards September. And one of the great things about this time of year is nothing's gone wrong. So this is definitely the month of hope. But one of the great games, one of the great fun things to do with St Kilda fans, is to ask them, what is their most heartbreaking loss?
JANE HUME: Yeah, I knew you were going to do this, Richard, I know what you want me to say. You want me to say 2009 and I was there in 2009 with the rain coming in at the MCG that last couple of quarters, it was miserable. It was miserable, but I still think 2010 was worse for St Kilda supporters, because my partner barracks was for Collingwood, and never lived that one down.
JACQUI FELGATE: What does the Parliamentary Football supporters group involve Richard?
RICHARD MARLES: Well, we, we, well, I mean, obviously the AFL is a huge, not just a huge professional sport, but a really significant industry in Australia, which employs lots of people, and so they do have an annual visit to parliament house, which Jane and I host.
JANE HUME: Best night of the year.
RICHARD MARLES: It is the best night of the year. We tend it has happened normally about two or three weeks out from the beginning of the final so just as the season is coming to its climax. But I think in a moment of seriousness on this, it is important, I think, to be able to tell the story of a sport which is really so fundamental to the enjoyment that so much of so many of us have in life. My life is just better for the existence of footy.
JACQUI FELGATE: That is true.
RICHARD MARLES: And when you barrack for St Kilda, barracks for the Cats. You know that that's the case, and it's a night where we get to, you know, celebrate that, talk about that. And Jane and I, we put put aside our political differences, and we wear different differences on the night on but we share a passion for the game.
JANE HUME: We do.
JACQUI FELGATE: And St Kilda Geelong is March 22 will you go together?
JANE HUME: Yes, I absolutely would love that.
RICHARD MARLES: I am up for that.
JANE HUME: Yep alright we’re in.
JACQUI FELGATE: Locked in, Deputy PM thanks so much for coming on the show. I look forward to talking to you next week, and Jane thanks for coming in the studio.
JANE HUME: Good to be with you, Jacqui.
RICHARD MARLES: Thanks, Jacqui. Thanks, Jane.