Interview with Natalie Barr, Sunrise

4 December 2024

NATALIE BARR: Welcome back to Sunrise. Australia's largest bank is under fire for slugging customers a fee for assisted cash withdrawals. Hundreds of thousands of Comm Bank customers who hold complete access accounts will automatically transition to a new account that carries a $3 fee for any cash withdrawal done in person, and despite the bank saying it can be avoided by using an ATM. Government has slammed the decision.

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STEPHEN JONES: This is a kick in the guts for ordinary Australians and the worst Christmas present imaginable

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NATALIE BARR: For their take, let's bring in Housing Minister Clare O'Neill and Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume. Good morning, Clare, we know there are waivers for customers who are under 18 or for pensioners. I guess people have to go and get those waivers, though. What's the Government saying?

CLARE O'NEIL: Oh look Nat, I just think the Government feels this is really unfair to customers, to Australians, especially just before Christmas, everyone's had a bit of a tough year on the cost of living front, and the last thing they need is a kick in the guts from the Commonwealth Bank right before Christmas. We really want them to reconsider this. It doesn't seem fair or appropriate, and this is a huge bank making huge profits. Come on, guys, it's Christmas, and we just don't need this right now.

NATALIE BARR: Yeah, can you get Matt Comyn, the big boss, on the phone and say, Matty, do something.

CLARE O'NEIL: I'll try that Nat. Sure, sure, sure. We'll try that. But I think it's just big picture. This is not something the banks should be doing, and we are asking them to reconsider.

NATALIE BARR: Okay, Jane, is there anything the federal government can do? It sounds like about 100,000 people will be affected by this. It's a lot across Australia, particularly, I would guess, older people who don't want to use a machine, machine.

JANE HUME: That's one of the things we're most concerned about Nat. It's vulnerable cohorts that would be the most likely to be affected by this change. I don't know what kind of greedy, out of touch executive decided to make this idea. It is ridiculous, and customers will speak with their feet. There is no doubt about it, including myself. Actually, I've got a Commonwealth Bank account that I've had since I was at university, and I'm afraid that I'll be shutting it because of this decision. I don't care whether it's a complete access account or not, it's a bad decision by the Commonwealth, and I'll be shutting my account. Merry Christmas.

NATALIE BARR: Okay, well, it's going to be interesting the feedback they get and whether that is worth the charge they're making. Moving on, Peter Dutton has launched an attack on the Prime Minister for comments made three years ago, promising that energy bills would drop by $275 by 2025. The Opposition Leader put Anthony Albanese's election promise in the spotlight, adding that it was a pledge repeated 97 times. Apparently, Peter Dutton has countered that. Clare is this a broken promise?

CLARE O'NEIL: Well, Nat, I think all Australians are really conscious that we've got real issues in our energy system, and that's why the government just recently went ahead and gave a $300 energy rebate to every single Australian household, that's on top of the tax cuts and other costs of living relief. And that you'd also be aware that the government is making that big change we need to make to the energy system, putting in place the most efficient form of energy there is, which is using that sunlight and all those other natural renewables that we have in Australia. Now, Peter Dutton has gone on the attack on this one. But just remember, his plan is this crazy renewable fantasy, crazy nuclear fantasy, which is going to lift power prices in our country by $1,200 and plus, you know, it is absolutely mad what's going on over there.

NATALIE BARR: It's hard, isn't it? Because people think, okay, Dutton is talking nuclear. I don't know. Don't know much about it. Is it expensive? Maybe that's an option. Then they're hearing you saying, okay, nothing's been done. Maybe we need to transition to green. Who knows? We've got a record number of people on hardship payment plans for power. 130,000 households, more than last year, and all they're hearing is, you promised to bring down our power bill. And look, here's the date, and it hasn't happened.

CLARE O'NEIL: Yeah, completely get it Nat and, you know, I think there's general understanding people are doing it really tough out there. Just remind people that $300 energy bill relief did go through, and I don't want to, you know, get too much into the politics, but that's something that Peter Dutton and Liberals voted against. Can you believe that $300 given back to households and they opposed it, just as they did? You know, the tax cut that went to every Australian household, the cheaper medicines policies, all those other important things that have been done. So understand that people are struggling right now. Please, know that the Government is doing absolutely everything that we can to manage these issues, including on the energy front.

NATALIE BARR: Jane, what exactly would you do to bring down the prices?

JANE HUME: Well, we've already said, Nat, that this was a promise that Anthony Albanese has broken. He said it 97 times prior to the election. 97 times prior to the election, and yet, immediately afterwards, he went with this, this renewables only approach to energy that is actually pushing up prices. There was some independent economics that was released last week that showed that Labor's plan is actually costing the system about $624 billion

NATALIE BARR: We’re running out of time. What I want to know is what your government would do to bring down the prices.

JANE HUME: Well, we’ll bring a technology neutral. Approach to the energy mix, which will bring down prices over time.

NATALIE BARR: What does that mean?

JANE HUME: So renewables will be a part of it, there is no doubt about it, but there will also be gas. There will also be, in the long term, nuclear firming power that will stabilise the grid and bring down prices over time, as it has done in other countries, Labour's renewables only approach that all eggs in one basket. Approach, clearly is not working. They did not promise to recycle taxpayer money into subsidies to bring prices down…

NATALIE BARR: Ok so will you put a figure on it? $275 like Labor did.

JANE HUME: To bring like bring I think that that was a ridiculous thing for Anthony Albanese to do, to make a promise that there was no way he was going to be able to live to deliver. This is a long term problem with a long term it has to have a long term solution. But the most important thing is that we are dealing with it in a sensible approach, rather than this ideological renewables only approach, which is pushing prices up.

NATALIE BARR: No promises to bring down power prices Jane?

JANE HUME: I'm not announcing our energy policy on your show today Nat, as much as you would love me to do that, I'm probably not going to do that. I'll leave that to our Shadow Energy Minister, but what I will say is that Labor's approach isn't working. Something different has to be done. Labor is simply promising more of the same.

NATALIE BARR: And stay tuned for your policy. Okay, thank you both. We appreciate it.