Interview with Laura Jayes, AM Agenda

21 February 2024

LAURA JAYES: Hey, welcome back. You're watching AM Agenda. What we were expecting this morning was a statement to the market about Woolworths profit results. What we weren't expecting was a resignation or retirement announcement from Brad Banducci. He has been the CEO for eight and a half years come September, he will no longer be let's get some reaction now from the Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume. Jane, thanks so much. Of course, there's a little bit of recent history to all of this, what's your reaction?

JANE HUME: Well, obviously, this is a decision for Mr. Banducci himself. It's also a decision for the board of Woolworths to they're representing the shareholders. But I think what's most important is the provenance that not just Woolworths but also Coles have experienced in them in the media lately, and particularly as part of this cost of living crisis and what their role is. We've had both Coles and Woolworths and indeed Aldi and IGA come and speak to the Cost of Living Committee over the last 18 months and give evidence as to what it is that they've seen in terms of consumer behavior, but also what their responses have been. Whether it be donating to food charities, or, or discounting products and committing to discount for longer, and it's been a mixed bag. Each one of those supermarket giants has responded in a different way. Certainly, Woolworths has had some questions to answer quite recently. And I note that there's a report out just today by Choice magazine that suggests that, perhaps the way that the supermarkets have been expressing their discounts, is a little bit misleading. And something that potentially could be addressed. My great frustration, of course, is that there are currently two reviews going on one by the ACCC, and one by Craig Emerson into the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. This is a government that is in the middle of a cost of living crisis seems to be lots of reviewing and not actually much doing when we know that grocery prices have gone up around 9 per cent in the last 18 months alone.

LAURA JAYES: Yeah and look, this is all part of the inflation story, right? Everything has gone up, the cost of living has gone up everyone at home, watching knows that. But I think the difference here is when you have a supermarket sector dominated by two big players, I mean, you just need to look at the incentive package for CEOs and the big profit that had been reported today. How do supermarkets like Woolworths so both their shareholders and their consumers fairly?

JANE HUME: Well, this is essentially a job for the ACCC and not something that we would stand in the way of. The problem, of course, is that the government can charge the ACCC with this task of assessing competition in the supermarket sector. They can charge Craig Emerson with the job of looking at the code of conduct and the relationship between the primary producers and the supermarkets. But if they're genuine about reducing the cost of living and reducing the cost of grocery prices, why would the government then create a whole new tax on truckies and then another one on farmers that they introduced in the last budget, which of course, are going to get passed on in the form of grocery prices? So let's not look at what the government is saying. Let's look at what the government is actually doing to reduce the cost of groceries.

LAURA JAYES: All right. What about Paul Keating, his comments this morning essentially saying that the highest income tax bracket in Australia is perhaps at too high?

JANE HUME: It's interesting that Paul Keating and you know, I don't often agree with Paul Keating on a lot of things. But on this, I think that we've both seen the light here. We've been speaking for a long time now about how high taxes can suck aspiration out of society out of the economy and that's exactly what Paul Keating is saying. That's one of the reasons why the stage three tax cuts, as they were originally implemented was so important, because it removed that bracket creep addressed bracket creep for anybody that was earning between $45,000 and $200,000. That was about 90% of Australians throughout their working lives would not be affected by graph bracket creep. Paul Keating is essentially saying that as tax rates higher and get higher and higher, that removes the incentive to work that little bit extra to have a go start a business, take the pay rise, get a promotion. And that's what we want to inject back into the economy.

LAURA JAYES: We certainly do. But the question is, what are you gonna do about it? If you maintain being the party of lower, simpler taxes this is going to cost your budget if you were to get back into power even more, isn't it?

JANE HUME: Well, we were I think we discussed this last week in order to reinstate stage three from the moment we returned to the government as soon as we could return to government and cost around $9 billion a year. What essentially has happened is by backflipping on stage three, by lying to the Australian public and reversing their commitments that they made over a hundred times to stick with the stage three tax cuts, this has essentially been a regressive step in our tax system. The government has essentially abandoned all hope of reform and said that they are quite comfortable with bracket creep. Now, that's not something that there's a position of the Coalition. We will go to the next election with a fully costed tax package that will be in keeping with the original intention of the stage three tax cuts. But essentially, because they have been ditched, because this of this backflip, they can't go ahead in the timing that we intended. Stage one, stage two and stage three were very carefully calibrated. They were very carefully timed. That has gone. We now have to go back to the drawing board. But we will make sure that the tax package that the Coalition implements presents lower, simpler and fairer taxes.

LAURA JAYES: Yeah.

JANE HUME: That are in keeping with the original stage three, but also fiscally responsible and fully costed.

LAURA JAYES: It sounds like you're saying and you agree with Paul Keating that you know, higher income tax at the highest level is sucking aspiration, you still believe in the core principle of what you're trying to do with stage three tax cuts? It sounds like you'll go to the next election promising there will be a lower income tax rate at the highest end. Is that right?

JANE HUME: Well, I'm not, certainly not announcing the Coalition's tax policy on your show-

LAURA JAYES: No but it sounds like where you're going.

JANE HUME: -this morning Laura. As much as I would love to do-

LAURA JAYES: I would love you to as well.

JANE HUME: We will make sure that we have plenty of time to present our tax package to the Australian people prior to the next election. And I can assure you that it will be in keeping with the principles of stage three, and it will also deliver lower, simpler and fairer taxes.

LAURA JAYES: What does that mean exactly?

JANE HUME: But we have to be, but we have to be responsible here. We have to make sure that we can implement it. That it's going to have the right effect on the economy, the right effect on aspiration, that it will provide incentives and that it will be a simpler and fairer package than currently exists.

LAURA JAYES: Okay, we'll keep peppering away at that one. Jane Hume. Thanks so much. We'll see you soon.

JANE HUME: Thanks Laura.