Interview with Laura Jayes, AM Agenda
28 August 2024
LAURA JAYES: The Greens have a list of demands, and they amount to a $500 billion bid on big business, and it's only getting started, if Labor was to form a minority government at the next election and capitulate to such demands. Joining me now is the Shadow Finance Minister, Jane Hume. Jane, with this list of demands, I feel like the Greens would only be getting started, and then you have on the other side the Teals saying no new gas. So the next election is looking pretty terrifying.
JANE HUME: Laura, I think the cat has been well and truly belled on this one. You can already see a Labor government beginning to panic. And you can tell that they're panicking because they're attacking Peter Dutton, playing the man and not the ball. They're starting scare campaigns, and essentially they've taken their eye off the ball of what's really important, which is bringing down the cost of living, the number one issue for all Australians right now. If the Greens were put behind the Treasury benches, you can only imagine what would occur. And they'll be ably assisted by the Teals. The most important thing we can do at the next election is make sure that we don't fall into a minority government and instead elect a party that actually has a sensible, fiscally responsible economic plan to tackle inflation, to bring down taxes, to raise the raise the standard of living, and bring down the cost of living.
LAURA JAYES: So Jane, you're saying, if the Coalition can't win outright, you want Labor to win outright, that's the next best outcome, in your view?
JANE HUME: I think that Australia do not want, do not need, cannot afford to have a minority government. But quite frankly, Labor haven't exactly been exemplar of good economic management. We've seen them spend an additional $315 billion. We know that public spending continues to push up inflation. We have some of the most persistent inflation in all advanced economies around the world. They've taken their eye off the ball and failed to tackle the most important issue, which is the cost of living, and instead, they're distracted by just about anything else, including their electoral prospects.
LAURA JAYES: Well, looking at these university caps as well, which the Coalition I might say, has a similar policy of its own, perhaps it would go even further. That is going to do nothing to help the cost of living, is it?
JANE HUME: Well, that's not true. In fact, we know that this incredibly high migration, the fact that the immigration program in Australia has managed to get away from Labor-
LAURA JAYES (interrupts): But are international students the problem here?
JANE HUME: -is one of the reasons why building costs are so high. Well, there's 500,000 international students that are moving into the private rental market. You can't say that with 500,000 new entrants into the private rental market that that's not pushing up rents even further. We do want to see caps on international students. However, we believe that negotiating individually with each university, depending on their individual needs, depending on the region, depending on their business model, is the way to go, rather than having a blanket formula that applies to everybody.
LAURA JAYES: I mean, with South Australia for example, they have a 10% vacancy rate in the student accommodation market. They have these caps as well. That doesn't make sense.
JANE HUME: Which is why it's so important to speak to the individual universities and work out what it is that's most appropriate for them. But student caps are a way to go about this, and they are pushing up private rents. There is no doubt about it. We want to make sure that we can bring down-
LAURA JAYES: Where is the evidence of that Jane? To be fair, because in Sydney and Melbourne, the renting crisis is starting to moderate, and there hasn't been a dramatic reduction in international students in that time.
JANE HUME: Well, you don't need to look very far, Laura. Even I myself, were standing in a queue for a rental property with my university aged son not that long ago, at 9am on a Saturday morning in the rain, there would have been 40 to 50 groups of people, not people, groups of people in line to look at one pretty ordinary looking rental property. There is a rental crisis-
LAURA JAYES (interrupts): But were they international students?
JANE HUME: -in Australia. There is no doubt about it now. Some of them absolutely were international students. There is no doubt about it whether we're in a rental crisis right now. Obviously we want to make sure that we could add to the building stock through building supply. There's much more work that needs to be done in that space. But in the meantime, a reduction that is targeted specifically to the area, specifically to the university in international student gaps, is an appropriate way to go.
LAURA JAYES: But I mean your side of politics and Labor, bang on about productivity. This is a productivity measure as well. Universities don't get international students. They're high paying. That means less money goes into R and D, and that is the pipeline of our workforce going into those critical skills industries. I mean, it seems like a blunt instrument from you, and the Coalition hasn't offered up any kind of way for these universities to fill that funding gap? Any ideas?
JANE HUME: Well, there are many universities that are actually making quite significant profits. And let's face it, these are tax free institutions. Some of these are making profits well into the millions, and these are the universities that aren't necessarily providing appropriate accommodation to those students. We want to make sure that we find the balance. We get the balance right, and it's a university by university approach. We want to make sure that our regional universities, for instance, can attract more international students. That they can fill those skills gaps that they need within their local economies. But it's about tackling individually rather than having what you're calling that blunt approach, a one size fits all approach, and that's the way the Labor Government have decided to tackle this.
LAURA JAYES: Okay. Look forward to those details. Jane, we'll speak soon.