Interview with Stephen Cenatiempo, 2CC

14 January 2025

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: While the Finance Minister is out there touring the nation spruiking increases for the public service. The Opposition is calling out the spending $7 billion in public public sector wage increases have left the Mid Year Budget Update with a bit of a black hole. Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume has vowed to rewind Labor's big government if the Coalition is elected at what I think is going to be an April 12 election. She joins us on the line. Senator, good morning.

JANE HUME: Good to be with you. Stephen, Happy New Year. And I agree with you. I think April 12 is likely too.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Well, it's starting to look that way. Do you think we'll come back in, the Parliament will come back in February?

JANE HUME: I do. I think we'll probably come back for the first two weeks, but I doubt that we'll come back for that third week, because that's Senate Estimates. And of course, at Senate Estimates, that's when we see scrutiny of government and this big $7 billion, at least $7 billion black hole will be the first thing on my agenda to have a look at. It's absolutely extraordinary that the Finance Minister can't explain why she hasn't budgeted for a wages policy that she signed off on, that she agreed to, she agreed to, this record increase in not just the number of public service growing, but also an 11.2 or at least per cent increase in their wages. But the Budget papers that she signed off on in December at MYEFO show a flat line for wages growth. So somebody's got something very wrong here, and the Minister can't seem to get her story straight, but there's a good reason for that. If you're putting forward dodgy numbers, there's never a good reason for a straight story. So it's a big budget black hole. It's at least $7 billion and that will be first thing on my agenda at Senate Estimates, which is why I think Labor will be trying to avoid going to Senate Estimates.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: The problem for you, though, Senator, if you are elected in April or May or whenever the election might be, you can't turn this around.

JANE HUME: Absolutely we can turn it around. I mean, there has been an increasing bloating of bureaucracy right around the country, but particularly coming from the Commonwealth Government. That idea of a big Australia and big government being the right solution to every problem is something that Labor believes in, but certainly not something that Coalition believes in…

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: No doubt about that.

JANE HUME: This is something that has occurred right around the world you know, Donald Trump is making sure that, you know the American government is focusing on efficiency. New Zealand are doing this. Even UK, which has a Labor government, is doing this as well. It's only really Anthony Albanese in Australia that is going his own way. So we think that containing the size of government is fundamentally important so that you don't crowd out the private sector, and you create efficiencies in the public sector so that taxpayers are getting value for money.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: I don't disagree with any of that, but are you realistically going to come in and sack a whole bunch of public servants that have been employed in the last two years?

JANE HUME: Well, there are some really smart people in our public service. There's no doubt about that. I think Canberrans are some of the cleverest people in the country. They're great problem solvers, and this is a problem that needs to be solved, so I'm going to be inviting those people back into the office to come and work with me to make government more efficient. Because let's face it, Canberra as beautiful a city as it is, and I do often love Canberra quite passionately, and I know you do too. Government isn't a make work scheme, and Canberrans know that they need to operate for the entire country. Government needs to operate for the entire country, not just for Canberra.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: How do you, I mean the one of the difficulties you're going to have here is identifying where the scale backs can happen. And I look at the Department of Veterans Affairs, for instance, where an additional 500 case workers have been employed. I mean, they are vital roles that need to stay in play. Now, I'm sure there are efficiencies elsewhere, but it's going to take a lot of work to identify where they are.

JANE HUME: Yes, that's true, and those frontline workers are very important. We want to make sure that we are delivering the essential services that all Australians deserve and indeed expect from their government. But you couldn't tell me that there isn't inefficiencies in there. You don't have to look very far to see that there's been money spent on things that Australians don't need and don't want and don't expect. And I won't start on a, you know, divisive and failed referendum, but you know, look at 620,000 for a speechwriter for Bill Shorten to sound more empathetic when he talked about the NDIS, or 100 and 70 million on ad campaigns for tax cuts people automatically receive and a Future Made in Australia that hadn't been legislated. There's a lot going on that we know needs to go…

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: But this is money that's already been wasted.

JANE HUME: Well, that is, that's certainly money that the Coalition wouldn't have expended. And having that focus on, am I getting value for money? Is this productive expenditure? Is the program that we are doing here, delivering to make the private sector more efficient and more productive and create that that right environment for economic growth is going to be front of mind for a Coalition government, because let's face it, unless we can grow the economy, that's the key to prosperity for future generations of Australians. And that's not going to come from a bigger government. It's going to come from a thriving private sector and a really robust economy.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Senator, the election campaign has started already. Let's be fair dinkum about that. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton making that speech on Sunday, the Prime Minister already out campaigning across the country in marginal seats. It looks like it's getting pretty personal. Do you imagine this is going to be an ugly and bruising campaign?

JANE HUME: Well, I've never been through a campaign where that hasn't been ugly and bruising, but this one has sort of started with a with a certain flavor hasn't said, I'm surprised the Prime Minister's comments yesterday, they did seem rather gratuitous and unnecessary and very, very personal. This election is very much though, going to be a choice about Australia's future. What you want for Australia's future, and we feel that Australia simply cannot afford to be on its current path. The last three years have seen inflation consistently higher than comparable economies, and at the same time, we've had the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world. That's the real concern for the coalition, that Australia's Australians are better off than they were just two and a half years ago. So by reining in inflation, by delivering cheaper energy, affordable homes, making sure our communities are safe, and delivering quality healthcare. That's how we see we're going to get the economy and the country back on track.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Peter Dutton says you're going to get Australia back on track, and I think that's a great slogan. But can you do it in three years, because the expectation from Australians these days is that things happen quickly. There's a lot to fix here. How quickly can you turn it around?

JANE HUME: Well, we intend to start from day one. From day one we'll be reining in that wasteful spending that's fueling inflation. We'll be looking to reduce taxes and red tapes and make sure that we limit the control of union bosses, particularly over small businesses. We want to make sure that we bring that balance mix back into our energy system, making sure that we have renewables certainly, but also gas replaced and replacing those, those retiring coal fired power stations in the longer term, with nuclear to bring down energy prices. And we also want to make sure we build that enabling infrastructure for, critical infrastructure required for housing, help first home buyers. Change the migration laws so that we have a more sustainable migration intake. And we want to restrict foreign investors buying homes temporarily for the first couple of years as well, to make sure that we give Australians a much better opportunity to get onto the housing ladder. We want to get tougher on violent crime. We can do that from day one, to make sure that we non-citizens that are committing crimes in this country are sent back to where they came from. We want to make sure that our defenses and border securities are boosted and improve our online safety culture for children. We've been very clear about that from the beginning. And most importantly, we want to make sure that Australia's well being is better served, particularly their mental health, by doubling the number of Medicare funded mental health mental health sessions. That's something that we announced in our first Budget In Reply. These are the things that we've been working on for two and a half years to make a better Australia.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: It’s look, there's a big job ahead of you, but you've got to get elected first. My estimation, you've got to win 18 seats to pull that off. That's a big ask.

JANE HUME: It absolutely is a big ask. But you know, I'm from the People's Republic of Victoria. And can I tell you that the mood has changed dramatically down here, I haven't seen a Victorian population so open to a change in government at both the state and federal level in as long as I have been involved in politics, and that is many decades now. So I do feel that there is a mood for change. People are rightly disappointed with the governments that they have elected who seem to be more focused on their agenda, on the political party's agenda, as opposed to the citizens agenda.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: No two ways about that. Senator, thanks for your time this morning.

JANE HUME: Great to be with you. Stephen. Happy New Year.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: And to you too. Senator Jane Hume, the Shadow Minister for Finance.