Interview with Natalie Barr, Sunrise

2 April 2025

NATALIE BARR: Let's bring in Housing Minister Clare O'Neil and Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume. Good morning to both of you. Clare, I noticed the White House spokeswoman has said just in the last 24 hours that the president is, quote, always up to take a phone call. Always up for a good negotiation. Is our Prime Minister going to get a quick call into him at the last minute?

CLARE O’NEIL: Well, Nat, I'll let the PM speak to the direct discussions he's having. But what I can tell you is that we've got every arm of the Australian government engaging with the US on this critical decision that's coming out. The PM's been absolutely clear about this. Our government will stand up for Australia's interests, and we will not be trading away any of the things that make our country great, especially as it relates to our healthcare system and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. We've also been making the point to the US that tariffs are actually a form of economic self-harm. At the end of the day, the people who are going to pay for this are American consumers. It's in everyone's interest for us to have fair and free trade. And we've been very direct in our discussions with the US about that.

NATALIE BARR: Okay, Jane. Obviously, we're in the middle of an election campaign. Let's pretend you guys are in exactly what would you be doing about this?

JANE HUME: Well, we've already said that we support the government 100% in their efforts to make sure that the dealings that we have with the Trump Administration are fair and reasonable and work in Australia's best interests. That's been our message from the start. That would be our message if we were in government. We know that Peter Dutton will always stand up for the national interest, that we won't be trading away what's important to Australians. I note that Peter Dutton yesterday said that if those tariffs fall on our beef exports, that we would not be open to considering changes to our biosecurity rules to negotiate that away. I think that's a really important decision for Australians to know that a Dutton Coalition government will always stand up for Australia’s interest in the face of a global trade war.

NATALIE BARR: Okay, let's move on to this one. Labor has pledged to back an inflated wage rise for nearly 3 million low paid workers above the rate of inflation. The Prime Minister wants to go further than previous years, urging the Fair Work Commission to support an increase that is economically sustainable. Clare, the national minimum wage, currently about $24.10 roughly $47,000 a year. How much would you like the Fair Work Commission to increase minimum wages?

CLARE O'NEIL: Well, we want to see Australian workers get a real increase to their wages. That means that we want an increase that's above inflation, and we're pretty unapologetic about this Nat. We want Australian workers to earn more and to keep more of what they earn. That's why you've seen our government, at every opportunity over the last three years come out and back in these lowest paid people in the economy. It's also why you've seen us make sure that we get tax cuts to every Australian taxpayer. Remember that these low income workers were the ones who were going to miss out under the tax proposal that was put forward by Jane and her colleagues, and remember again, Nat, that for every taxpayer watching at home, you're going to get a tax cut under Labor and a tax increase under the Liberals. This is absolutely core to what we stand for as a government. These are the people that keep our economy ticking over every day, and we will stand up for them every single day.

NATALIE BARR: Jane, the call for minimum wages to increase. You're against that?

JANE HUME: No, absolutely not. The Coalition will always be in favour of higher wages and the best way to get real wages moving again is to get inflation down. Something that this government has failed to do on every metric. At the last election, Anthony Albanese promised higher real wages, but in fact, they have gone backwards under Labor. In fact, your real disposable incomes have collapsed now by more than 8%. That's why it's not just in your head. You're not just feeling poorer, you are poorer. You're poorer under labour, and that's because they fail to manage the economy. They fail to tame inflation. Interest rates went up 12 times on their watch while they were out campaigning for the Voice. That's what's happened under Labor. That's why you're feeling poorer.

NATALIE BARR: Okay, just clarifying, Jane, you would back the government's call for the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum wage above inflation?

JANE HUME: Well, the Fair Work Commission are an independent body. They shouldn't be politicised-

NATALIE BARR (talks over): Yeah but you can put your case as the government.

JANE HUME: They shouldn't be politicised. That's why they are independent, but let's be really clear about this, what the government have called for is a wage rise above the rate of inflation. That's kind of the likely outcome of the Fair Work Commission anyway. So a sternly worded email is probably not really a policy position. It's just a political stunt.

NATALIE BARR: Okay, but the Coalition would back that?

JANE HUME: We want to see real wages moving again. The best way to do that is to get inflation down, something this government has failed to do over and over again.

NATALIE BARR: Okay so you would back that policy?

JANE HUME: We want higher wages. The Coalition want higher wages Nat.

NATALIE BARR: Okay and so you would push that? You’d back that?

JANE HUME: We want higher real wages by getting inflation down.

NATALIE BARR: Okay finally, a Sydney Primary School has come under fire for allowing some students to opt out of an upcoming Anzac Day service in order to accommodate a small number of Christian students who don't commemorate war. Clare parents and veterans are like outraged. What's your thoughts?

CLARE O'NEIL: Look honestly, Nat, I feel pretty outraged too. You know, I've got three kids. It's incredibly important to me that they're educated by their school about what makes our country great, and the fact that the reason Australia is such a great country is not just because people fought for it, but people died for it. And the idea that we've got people who don't want their kids to understand that, I just, I really do think it's wrong. You know, these kids are going to grow up to be adults who have to protect and defend our great country. How are they going to do that if they don't understand what it costs to get us here. So I think it's wrong. I think schools should be required to teach this, and I think kids should be required to learn it.

NATALIE BARR: Yeah, Jane, out of 640 students, it was less than a dozen students belonging to a Christian faith community that were against it. What's your position?

JANE HUME: Well, Anzac Day isn't just commemorating war or celebrating war. It's a lesson in history too. Clare's right. Those Australians died for our future, for our freedoms, and I think that that should be respected by all Australians. You don't have to participate in dawn ceremonies or anything like that. But the most important thing is that you understand what it is that's made this country the great, free nation that it is today, I think that's just respectful.

NATALIE BARR: Yeah, okay. Thank you very much, Clare, we'll let you go feed the dog. Thank you. We'll see you next week.