Interview with Holly Stearnes, AM Agenda

19 February 2025

HOLLY STEARNES: The Reserve Bank has handed down its first interest rate cut since 2020. The Treasurer though, quick to take credit. Joining me now is the Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume. Jane, good morning, always good to see you. Finally a fall, finally some reprieve. What’s your take?

JANE HUME: Well I think that there will be a lot of Australian families with mortgages out there that will be breathing a sigh of relief. But, unfortunately, it's probably going to be short lived. For a family with an average size mortgage is probably a little over $100 a month. But after the last 12 interest rate rises that we've seen in the last three years, this is only one of those interest rate rises that's been reversed, and the average family, with the average mortgage, has paid an additional $50,000 in the last three years in interest repayments. Now that's $50,000 they are never going to get back. So you can see why standards of living have gone backwards under Labor, backwards by about 8.75%, why people are feeling like they're really doing it tough. This is good news, but it should have happened earlier, and it should have happened greater.

HOLLY STEARNES: What would your government have done differently or better?

JANE HUME: Well, we have said for some time that the wasteful spending of the Albanese Government has kept interest rates higher for longer because inflation has stayed higher for longer. That includes around $347 billion of additional spending since the last election on everything from $450 million on a Voice Referendum that nobody wanted, right through to $620,000 for a speechwriter for Bill Shorten to sound more empathetic. There is a litany of wasteful spending from this government. 36,000 new public servants, that's an increase of 40 new public servants every single day since the last election. But I very much doubt whether Australians are feeling 36,000 public servants better served. By reining in that wasteful spending, by making sure that you're supporting small businesses, by bringing down energy prices, that's how you reign in inflation. That's how you get your economy under control. If you can't manage your economy, you can't manage inflation.

HOLLY STEARNES: We obviously heard from the Governor, the RBA Governor yesterday, and she was very cautious. While this is great news for many, she was cautious about further, you know, rate cuts in the future. What will your government do to sort of prepare for that future if you win the election?

JANE HUME: The most important thing we can do is work with the RBA rather than against the RBA. You can't have the RBA with its foot on the brake and the government with its foot on the accelerator, because that's a great way to bust the engine. So we want to make sure that we reign in that wasteful spending, that we cut red tape and regulation for small businesses, give them a chance to flourish and thrive. Bring down their costs, so they don't pass it on to consumers and as I said before, energy costs are one of the great drivers of inflation. We have to bring energy prices down by putting more supply into the system, starting with gas and then eventually nuclear, to bring down energy prices by increasing supply.

HOLLY STEARNES: The big question today, too, is the banks, obviously, they should be passing this on ASAP, right? Some are not passing it on for a couple of weeks. That ripping Aussies off?

JANE HUME: Well, the Coalition has said consistently that we want to see any rate cut passed on in full and that's not just for lenders. I mean, this is the thing. The banks tend to be very good at dropping interest rates for depositors, but taking their time for borrowers and that's not fair. So we want to see it passed on in full and passed on immediately.

HOLLY STEARNES: Okay, hear hear to that, I second that. Not good for savings though, right? Not good for savings rates?

JANE HUME: And there are those that, particularly, you know, pensioners, older Australians, that are relying on those those interest rates for deposits, that will be a little disappointed by this, but at the same time, there is such now a large proportion of people that are relying on interest rates coming down just to get by. Australians are doing it tough. They've seen a cumulative 11% rise in inflation, but much more in the cost of living, nearly 20% rise in the cost of living and everything from groceries to petrol, to insurance, to gas prices, electricity prices have gone up. Australians have paid a price. They've had to make some really hard decisions with their budgets. We want to see a government that will make tough decisions about its budget as well.

HOLLY STEARNES: Okay, I mean, many people talking today, of course, saying the PM has got his finger on the election trigger, some recent polls suggest that people don't necessarily believe the Coalition could have done any better during this time. What do you say to those loyal Labor voters, I was out on the road yesterday talking to some of them, what do you say to them to convince them that the Coalition is the better party to lead them into a more economically prosperous future?

JANE HUME: Well, you don't need to look too far into the recent past to know that a Coalition government, as part of its DNA, holds fiscal responsibility as one of the most important responsibilities of government. Under a Coalition Government, inflation averaged 2.2% over the last nine years of a Coalition Government. Under a Labor Government, it averaged 4.1%. So you might see Jim Chalmers crowing and saying, well, mission accomplished, but that is simply not the case. People are poorer under Labor and Australians have suffered as a result.

HOLLY STEARNES: Now, moving forward to some other news, just before I let you go. The PM has announced his wedding, on a lighter note. Are you going?

JANE HUME: Hey, absolutely, pulled one out of the wardrobe already, dusting it off? Obviously, it's a recycled one, because it's cost of living crisis. You want to make sure that you know you're saving money where you can. But I think you know a Copacabana spring wedding would be a lovely thing.

HOLLY STEARNES: You sent your save the date back i’m sure. Thank you. As always, always great to see you and it is a busy day for you today. Thank you so much for coming on.

JANE HUME: Thanks Holly.