Sunday, 4 October 2026

Topics: Victorian politics; Jim Chalmers; spending; the Coalition’s plan to fix the economy and protect our way of life; NDIS; aged care; surcharges; polling.

E&OE……………………..

Andrew Clennell: Joining me live now is Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson. He is a Victorian. Quite a reception there, Tim Wilson, and I read one of the candidates even said Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan will be in jail by the end of the year if they won. What do you make of it all? What are the chances, One Nation in Victoria?

Tim Wilson: Well, my campaign launched at the last federal election, despite your predictions of failure, Andrew, was bigger than that and…

Andrew Clennell: It's not all about you, Mr. Wilson, the question is about One Nation.

Tim Wilson: No, no, I'm just, I'm just returning the serve, Andrew, don't worry. Calm down. And when it comes down to it, I'm very confident that Victorians want a Fresh Start, and I'm very confident that Jess Wilson is the way forward, because she's the only one who can bring a team together with some sort of coherence to actually define and govern the state, and end this rotten Labor government. I mean, Victoria is governed by an organised crime cartel, they’re just registered as a political party sitting in Spring Street, and Victorians want change desperately, and we need to see that change.

Andrew Clennell: Do you want to see Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan in jail then?

Tim Wilson: Well, what I want is to make sure there's proper due process. That's why there’s, finally, Labor has been dragged kicking and screaming to a Royal Commission. We need a Coalition government to make sure that the Royal Commission does its job, holds people to account in the way that hasn't occurred. I mean, last time I was on this program, we talked about how $15 billion had been handed from taxpayers' money to the CFMEU-Labor cartel through to organised crime, and we need to make sure people are properly held accountable for that.

Andrew Clennell: Well, in all seriousness, then…

Tim Wilson: That is extremely serious, Andrew, actually $15 billion to organised crime is very serious.

Andrew Clennell: No, no, so, do you want to see state politicians in Victoria, or former politicians, prosecuted? Is that what you want to see out of this Royal Commission?

Tim Wilson: I don't believe anybody is above the law. The King is not above the law, the Prime Minister is not above the law, state politicians or federal politicians. So, I also believe in due process. That's why a Royal Commission should be able to do its job, and more importantly, we need a Coalition government to make sure that due process is followed, that if people have done something wrong, that there's proper accountability for it.

Andrew Clennell: Do you think Jim Chalmers should remain as Treasurer of Australia?

Tim Wilson: Well, I think we all know that my view on that is no, Andrew. This is a man who's actively stoked inflation, because it gives him windfall tax revenue, because he can't manage his budget, and Australian households are poorer because he has been a disastrous treasurer. He's both, frankly, lied to the public where he says he's saving money, he says he's saving $2, then goes on and spends $3. He's actively stoked inflation, and he's fundamentally undermined the success of this country, and now he's announced today he's on a sort of Argo-style salvation trip for investment, because he's created a problem of sovereign risk.

Andrew Clennell: Government says you blocked or delayed a number of measures that could have helped reduce government spending, help the budget, such as the veterans' health cap, punting the NDIS changes to a Senate inquiry, and blocking the sale of the Defence estate to pay down debt. What's your response to that?

Tim Wilson: Well, the Labor government doesn't seem to like democracy very much, or the parliamentary process. We know at the last election the Prime Minister said 50 times over he wouldn't introduce a series of new taxes. He then went to the Australian community on an election platform, then once he got over that election betrayed the Australian community. They don't like democracy, they don't like accountability, they don't like parliamentary process. Proper scrutiny of laws is a very important part of our system of government. It just gets in the way when Labor wants to impose their will, and they have lots of problems with particularly things like the NDIS, where they've consistently targeted clients rather than corruption. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming to address issues of corruption in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and now they've got to a part where they recognise something needs to change. I look forward to them actually ending the corruption in the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Andrew Clennell: Do you agree your promises are worth $110 billion dollars as the government alleges, and wouldn't that put contribute to inflation?

Tim Wilson: Well, we will announce the costings of our policies as we get to the next election. As you know, Andrew, as I know, there are two budgets between now and the next federal election. We also have the PEFO, and until we get those numbers, we can't really release our full costings. The government's going to make claims of whatever they want, because the Treasurer is very good at spin. There's no point pretending otherwise. He thought he could spin himself through his first term, he succeeded in that. Now his spin is running out. We're finally winning the…

Andrew Clennell: Were the promises are worth $110 billion, or aren't they?

Tim Wilson: Well, as I said, we'll release our costings. We've been costing things along the way, but they're the government's numbers, they can substantiate that. What we're focused on is making sure that…

Andrew Clennell: Well, are they way off beam, or are they in the ballpark?

Tim Wilson: Well, as I said, we'll announce our costings at the appropriate time, Andrew. The government will continue to make any claims they want to they want to make. In the mean time…

Andrew Clennell: Well, you're not really answering the question. I mean, is it ballpark or not?

Tim Wilson: Well, as I said, Andrew, we'll announce them. If we have two more budgets between now and the next federal election and the pre-election fiscal outlook, we will then be in a position to announce our clear policies and, more importantly, the costings associated with them. Otherwise, these numbers are purely speculative on the part of the government, because they want to drive a political agenda. That's their right, but it ignores the fact that this government continues to spend with abandon. They have little concern for the impact of their spending on the Australian taxpayer, and more importantly, how it's actively stoked inflation. We have a government that's at a 40-year high of expenditure outside of a pandemic or crisis.

Andrew Clennell: Do you agree there's some price gouging in terms of providers of aged care and the NDIS, and how can the government tackle this?

Tim Wilson: Well, I've consistently argued that this is a problem, and again, the government has completely ignored both the price gouging, the fraud, and the corruption in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and we're seeing it now in home aged care packages where people are being charged three times the rate they're charging a normal commercial service, or even under the National Disability Insurance Scheme. There are a multitude of ways that we can address this from plans around accountability to having civil measures or penalties if people overcharge, and even I would argue ultimately deregistration. There are lots of ways we can deal with this. The question is, do we have a government that is willing to confront this? They weren't prepared to confront corruption, fraud and overcharging in the NDIS. Now they seem completely indifferent and have actually permitted the corruption, fraud in home-aged care packages, and make no mistake about this, Andrew, when we have these problems, they ultimately go through and feed inflation, as well as being an abuse of taxpayer's money.

Andrew Clennell: You had a bit to say during the week about what Anthony Albanese said about ending card surcharging. Is there no saving for the public here, in your view?

Tim Wilson: Well, the problem is it's all built on a lie. What's happening is the banks are still charging small business. Small business is just then being told they can't reveal that price being passed on to the consumer. So, if you actually want to tackle surcharging, you need to tackle it at the level of the banks who are making record profits. At the moment, what they're doing is screwing the small business owners. The hypocrisy is the government has turned around and rather than admit the fact that surcharging is passed on to customers, they're now just banning credit card payments, and so there's gross hypocrisy and double standards around the ban on surcharging. The government is exempting themselves of the exact responsibility they're expecting small business to pick up. Small business can't afford this additional cost. We've already seen recent data a decline of 15% in their profitability. Many small businesses, particularly in sectors like hospitality, operate on margins of 1% and 2%, and the Albanese government has come along and said, ‘we're going to actively undermine your business model.’ We already have record small business insolvencies, and we have even more small businesses that's closing up the doors and walking away because they can't survive. Small business needs help, and the Albanese government is punching down on them.

Andrew Clennell: Coalition in the Newspoll, 19%, could hardly get worse. One would hope it wouldn't get worse for you anyway. Do you still have leadership ambitions and if the vote doesn't get better, will you challenge?

Tim Wilson: Andrew, I've never challenged, and I've never run so far. And my focus is supporting Angus Taylor every step of the way because what Australians desperately need is change to build a better future for our country. We have the Labor Party who's dividing the nation around the kitchen tables of the country. They're trying to start fights between parents and grandparents. You've got One Nation out to the right who are trying to divide the country in different ways around race and ethnicity. Our focus has to be how are we going to build a future for Australia that's united, where hard work pays off, Australians are in control of their lives, and is built around a basic sense of respect between each other. Because unity is central to our national defence, the way we're going to confront the challenge of the 21st century, and it's really important for our nation.

Andrew Clennell: Tim Wilson, thanks so much for your time.

Tim Wilson: Thank you, Andrew.

[ENDS]