Friday, 18 September 2026

Topics: interest rates; inflation; migration; regional Australia; small business.

E&OE……………………..

Tara Searle, Dubbo Real Estate Agency: It's so great to have Jamie and Tim here today, hearing about our regional problems. One of the big takeaways that I'm hoping they've absorbed is that yes, we need more supply in housing, but we need the right types of housing. We need affordability options, big problems with zoning in regional areas, we need more units, we need more duplexes, we need more townhouses. There’s no point in keeping building if we're building the wrong product, and people can't afford a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house. Things have changed, and we need to fix affordability, and we can fix that with supply of the right house.

Jamie Chaffey MP, Federal Nationals Member for Parkes: It is great to be here in Dubbo after two weeks in Canberra sitting, listening to the Albanese government talk about all sorts of things that are on their mind, but they're just completely forgetting about real Australians, people that live in communities just like Dubbo. We are the ones that have been left behind by this agenda, by this out-of-touch Labor government. It's great to have the Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson, here as well. We've got lots of meetings today, whether that's with the business community, the chamber of commerce, as well as meeting other businesses just like Tara's here and talking about real estate this morning. And there is no doubt that this government have got it wrong. In fact, the state Labor government have got it wrong as well, and they're not listening to business owners just like Tara.

One thing that really came out of yesterday that I want to talk about is migration. We saw Tony Burke over at the National Press Club. He talked all about their plan, which we know they've failed now, and they've been failing ever since they came into government in 2022. But that latest announcement yesterday is a real kick in the guts for regional Australia, and regional communities just like the Parkes electorate, and here in Dubbo specifically. We've got 72 different nationalities that live in Dubbo who are providing critical services within this community. Doesn't matter what it is: aged care, healthcare, they're in real estate, accommodation, providing tourism opportunities as well, and they are really engaged. But also, every community in the Parkes electorate, and we go all the way out to the Queensland border and the South Australian border, those are communities with agriculture in mind, and tourism, that are really going to be affected. If you take out our holiday workers, our 88-dayers, those that are here specifically on visas just for a short period of time to help in planting, harvest, and other processes that we see in accommodation, in our pubs. If you want to have a beer, you want to have a schnitzel, generally, a lot of those communities can only function because we do have these holiday workers coming in.

So, for Tony Burke, to say he's got a plan, he's going to fix a plan on migration, he's got this magical number, they've never hit the numbers before, but now, instead of tackling the real issue, those real issues about the big migration numbers going into the metropolitan areas, he's coming after regional Australia. You know, we can't cop it. We won't cop it, and I think you're going to hear in the coming weeks a much better plan from the Coalition as well.

And I'll hand over now to Tim Wilson, Shadow Treasurer.

Tim Wilson: Thank you very much, Jamie, for that incredibly warm welcome to Dubbo, and after two weeks, he's right. It's great to be back in real Australia rather than the Canberra bubble, where we have a government that is fixated on itself and not actually focused on how to build the regional centres of Australia. The community is very fortunate to have a strong local advocate in Jamie Chaffey who always raises, in opposition and takes up to the government, the specific issues that communities like Dubbo are facing and the importance of making sure that they're at the centre of the national conversation.

And this is the problem we've got with this government, is they're not focused on the consequences of their policies on the Australian people. This week, we had an international scorecard that came out saying inflation was a problem in Australia being stoked by the Labor government's measures, by their addiction to spending. This morning, the Reserve Bank Governor, Michele Bullock, is appearing before the House of Representatives Economics Committee. The Reserve Bank Governor is once again calling out the government to stop stoking the forces that are going to lead to higher interest rates. The Reserve Bank Governor has made it very clear that the circumstances for higher interest rates are now here, and the government has been daring her to increase interest rates, and now it looks like, sadly, for a lot of struggling families, they're going to be pushed further to the wall. It doesn't matter whether you're in outback WA, a regional centre like Dubbo, or in the urban parts of Melbourne or Sydney, Australians are doing it tough right now, and the last thing they need is the government daring the Reserve Bank to push up interest rates because the government cannot control its inflation and spending addiction.

That's why we need change in Canberra from communities all across the country to make sure that we build a better Australia through a change of government. And that's what our plan is focused on. Our plan is focused very clearly on how we get the basics right to rebuild communities, to give them strength, and to build the foundations of Australia's economic growth.

Journalist: And you touched on it earlier on, but in terms of your response to the warning that we might get three more interest rate hikes, what is your response to that?

Tim Wilson: I think a lot of Australians sitting around the kitchen tables of the nation are terrified of one interest rate hike, let alone two, let alone three. And what's even worse is we're clearly seeing the government's addiction to spending is driving this outcome for Australians. The Albanese government has consistently warned if they do not control their spending and inflation addiction, Australians will pay the high prices through interest rate rises and rising prices at the supermarket. Their only answer has been to double down on the strategy. Yesterday, we had an international report card calling it out. Today, we have the Reserve Bank Governor saying it may not be one interest rate rise, it may not be two interest rate rises, it could possibly be three interest rate rises.

Journalist: I guess looking at the Coalition's plan, how does the Coalition, if you guys are elected into government, what's your plan?

Tim Wilson: Well, we've made it very clear we need integrity measures in government spending because the waste and the abuse and the corruption in the expenditure of public money is contributing just as much to this inflation pressure as other expansions of spending. So, we've made it clear we want integrity at the heart of taxpayers' money being spent. We need to get inflation down, which means we need to stop regulation, over-regulation of small businesses just like Tara's here today, because all those costs get pushed down onto customers and push the price up for property, through mortgage rates, and of course through prices at the supermarket.

Journalist: So, you spoke about integrity, but what's your plan to reduce that spending?

Tim Wilson: Well, we're going through our savings process right now. But the key thing is to stop the corruption and the abuse of public money. We've seen this in the National Disability Insurance Scheme. We're seeing it in aged care home care packages. We're seeing it in childcare where phantom children are being enrolled. We need integrity at the heart of how government money is being spent because it isn't just stoking inflation, it's also going on, of course, and abusing the trust that Australians have given a government around spending their valuable taxes.

Journalist: What is the Coalition doing to address the needs of small businesses in the regions, particularly when it comes to the proposed cuts of migration?

Tim Wilson: Well, the most important thing is that we have a migration package that actually works in Australia's national interest. Labor has made a complete hash of migration since they came to government. Post-COVID, they let way too many people into the country too fast, and that's why you saw a skyrocketing in rental prices. What we want is a migration program that's focused on making sure we bring in the skills we need for building our businesses, whether it be small business, mining, agriculture, community services, care services, and particularly, it's important for regional centres like Dubbo, but we also need people to come to Australia, to commit to Australia and show loyalty and to contribute to Australia, because the purpose of Australia's migration program is to build Australia's national interest.

But we also need to go further. We're consulting on a Small Business Act right now because we think small businesses are overregulated. It carries heavy costs. It makes it harder to employ the next generation, to give young Australians the first foot on the ladder of opportunity, and frankly, we want to make sure that we're seeing reduced taxes for small business. We've committed to a $50,000 instant asset write-off because we want small businesses whether they're retail, whether they're real estate agents, whether they're farmers, or whether they're running small mining operations to invest in their future, create economic opportunity, and of course grow the wealth and well-being of all Australians.

Journalist: Just on the migration question, could there be potentially a half-way that specifically is for regional Australia?

Tim Wilson: The focus we are looking at in our migration program through is how do we build the future of the Australian economy and that is building up our national interest. So, we'll be stepping through every bit of the policy to make sure that labour supply is available where it's required for the critical services, and of course for growing industry, but we also have to make sure that we get numbers down so that it's a sustainable program that enjoys public confidence. So, we're working through all those measures right now. What we know is Labor is just targeting and kneecapping communities like Dubbo because they think they don't matter. When you have a government that punches down on rural communities like Dubbo, on regional communities like Dubbo, it shows they've completely lost sight of where the wealth of the nation comes from, where the food of the nation comes from, and the importance it plays as part of our national economy.

Journalist: You're working through that at the moment, do you have a timeline on when you expect to actually have a proposal?

Tim Wilson: Well, at the moment, we've got a Labor government that's simply responding to political pressure. We've got other political parties running migration policies on the back of napkins. We're going to come up with a policy and announce it when it's detailed, when we understand the consequences of it, and more importantly, it's backing in the people needed in regional centres like Dubbo, and across [interrupted]

Journalist: Before the end of the year?

Tim Wilson: Well, we'll work through it and we'll announce it when it's appropriate because other political parties are only focused on a number. They're not looking at the human impact, the economic impact, and the importance of backing in regional industry and regional cities like Dubbo. We'll have stuff to announce on that soon enough, but it's important to make sure that it's done in a way that builds out the future of Australia's national interest.

Journalist: So, on the question of housing, is there a plan to increase housing supply and accessibility in the regions?

Tim Wilson: We've got $1.5 billion of the total $5 billion that is going to be building housing stock in regional Australia, as Jamie correctly outlined. But we need to make sure we're getting the right skills of people into building housing stock in Australia because one of the big challenges, and we heard this from Tara this morning, is the right type of housing in communities at affordable prices, but we also need the skills to be able to do it. So, we're working in partnership with councils to build out the infrastructure we need, to build the housing stock as quickly as we can because it's so important for the future growth of communities exactly like Dubbo, and that they can find the housing stock to rent, for industry, and of course buy their first home.

Journalist: Fuel prices and freight costs also are heavily impacting regional Australia and small businesses here. With the increasing cost of doing businesses, we've seen so many cancellations of a lot of regional community events as well. What is the coalition's position on the fuel excise discount and the potential of that to increase inflation?

Tim Wilson: We're keeping a very close eye on fuel prices, and we led the case last time for a temporary cut on excise, and of course we're watching fuel prices now to see whether there's a case for it to be replicated, because we know that when that happens it passes through for the cost of freight, for the cost of food, and of course just to the mums and dads of the country dropping their kids off at the local school. So, it'll be informed, but we are watching it very closely.

Journalist: Tara, run me through what kind of impact three interest rate hikes have on local housing supply here in Dubbo.

Tara Searle: Well, the thing they often miss, Hamish, is that costs passed on to landlords and investors, so they're not able to ask that cost on, we can only do one rent increase in a 12-month period. So, it's making it that the fact that investors, they may not be able to meet their payments anymore on that property that they're providing accommodation for somebody. So, it all flows in and it's really, really important and it really, really affects the rental shortage, because if they can't afford to keep it, the banks don't care, they're going to have to sell it. And that's happening every day for rent. The majority of properties we are selling at the moment are from landlords exiting the market and selling their investment property because all their costs have gone up. Insurance has gone up, rates are going up, everything, global rates are going up, water, everything's going up. Yes, we always talk about rates have gone up, but we're missing the fact that somebody is paying a whole lot more to keep that property, and they just can't afford it when it's coming. It's not an incentive for them.

[ENDS]