DOORSTOP- Press Gallery, Parliament House

Thursday, 20 August 2026

Topics: Australia hits $1 trillion of Commonwealth debt; inflation; GST; housing; tobacco excise; IDF investigation.

E&OE……………………..

Tim Wilson: Good morning, everybody. Today is ultimately a sad day for the country. We have had our national debt pass the $1 trillion mark, and what we know is that more debt is being used to stoke inflation, increase interest rates, and increase the price at the supermarket. That's why when Australians go to the supermarket, they're paying more and they're getting less, and it's directly connected to Commonwealth debt, how much the government is borrowing and directly then translates to government spending. The government wants to absolve themselves of responsibility of the national debt. They want to absolve themselves of their responsibility. They've received a $400 billion windfall, which if they had have paid down debt, been prudent and responsible, that Australia's position would be substantially better off. Simple reality is this government is addicted to spending, it's addicted to inflation, and it's constantly focused on how it spends that spending and goes on, stokes the economy, stokes the inflation, then they go and tax the inflation and they spend the inflation in a vicious cycle, which is why Australians are falling further and further behind. And I think about my parents. I think about my parents who are small business people, who like many Australians, struggled to get ahead and keep their doors open, and the more the Commonwealth goes into debt, the more they're increasing prices that small businesses are paying and how they're struggling to keep their doors open. And this is the challenge Australians are living with right now because the Albanese government cannot kick its inflation and its spending addiction, and now of course, it's crossed the $1 trillion threshold.

Journalist: Tim, the government talks about intergenerational fairness. What kind of impact does a debt this high have on future generations?

Tim Wilson: We know that today's debt is tomorrow's taxes. Today's debt is tomorrow's taxes and so what we're passing on to future generations isn't just debt, the debt is also being used to stoke inflation so they're paying higher prices today, everyone's paying higher prices today, and they'll have to repay that debt and continue to finance that debt. And so, we know that it's costing about $2,000 per Australian taxpayer to continue to finance this debt, and as a consequence, it could be a $2,000 tax cut that was offered if it wasn't there. This is why the task is so important, to confront debt, to make sure it doesn't continue to be part of an intergenerational legacy that's being left behind.

Journalist: The Treasurer has said that if the Coalition was in still power, gross debt would reach $1.2 trillion. What do you have to say to that?

Tim Wilson: Well, the Treasurer doesn't seem to want to take any responsibility for anything in the economy, including the national debt. We know full well that he's received a $400 billion windfall over his time in government. He didn't use that to pay off debt, what he used for is to continue to spend and to continue to stoke inflation and of course, as well as the money that was borrowed, continued to use that to spend and continue to stoke inflation. That's why there's a direct correlation between the decisions that Jim Chalmers is making, and the inflation problem Australians are experiencing, and particularly for families and households when they go to the supermarket and they're getting less and paying more.

Journalist: Part of that debt is being caused by the GST deal which is about six billion dollars a year. The interim report from the [Productivity Commission] says that if there's a bushfire in New South Wales, Western Australia gets more money. Do you think that's a proper way to spend federal taxpayers' money?

Tim Wilson: When you've got a $400 billion windfall that's been received by the Commonwealth during this government's term, that is the ultimate driver of the problem we now have where they're not spending it to retire debt and to manage the finances. The government's obviously backed in the GST deal at this point based on the interim report and of course, we've made it clear that we need to make sure finances are sustainable, but we need to make sure the incentives are in alignment so that states are encouraged to develop their natural resources and grow the economy. Now, [interrupted]

Journalist: That report didn't find there was any evidence that the GST system does makes that [inaudible] but does find that there is a perverse arrangement that rewards one state if there happens to be a natural disaster in either New South Wales or Victoria. Is that tenable, do you think?

Tim Wilson: Well, the focus of the report was around achieving essentially a form of equality. Our focus is how we grow the economy and this is one of the myriad of differences between us and the Labor Party. Their focus is not on how they grow the economy, it's not on how they drive productivity improvement. Yesterday, of course, we had one year since the productivity summit held by Jim Chalmers, and let's face it, it went nowhere and achieved nothing, and Australians have only continued to go backwards. Our focus on how we're going to grow the economy, how we're going to empower and back small business to be part of the engine of the economy so that the only reason we're driving up tax revenue is because the economy is growing, Australians are getting ahead, and we're making sure that the incentives for state governments is to develop their industries and develop their natural resources instead of their first resort being a begging bowl.

Journalist: So, you don't think the CGC arrangement where you try to get an equity of the ability of states and territories to offer the type of services to their constituents, you think that should be gone?

Tim Wilson: I think the first thing we should focus on is making sure that states are focused on developing their industries and their natural resources to grow the economy. We're going to continue down this track of more debt if we don't focus on how we grow the economy and empower Australians to build out our future. We make no apologies for being pro-growth and pro-enhancing and empowering Australians to get ahead, because we believe very strongly the best days of this country are ahead of us, we believe we need a sense of hope and that's based on growing the economy, not simply redistribution and encouraging states to come with their begging bowl.

Journalist: Specifically, what would a Coalition government cut spending on to address the debt levels?

Tim Wilson: We've already said, we’ll absolutely taken meat-axe to the corruption that exists across government spending. The government itself has now acknowledged how deep an endemic problem this is. We're hoping that they'll do some things to address it. They're obviously trying on some things like the National Disability Insurance Scheme, but we know there's phantom children enrolled in childcare. We know that we're seeing similar patterns in other areas from home aged care packages. We're absolutely determined to cut out the corruption that exists in taxpayers' money. I can't see morally how we can turn around to Australians and say honest, hard work should pay for taxes that goes to dishonest organised crime. We know that the government continues to incentivise organised crime to be in trades like illicit tobacco. That just involves both foregone revenue, but of course it then increases the cost of law enforcement. Now we've got a big job because the mess that this government is leaving behind. They've been given a $400 billion tax windfall and all they're leaving behind is the wreckage of reduced benefits to veterans, smashing small business with higher taxes, attacking the private health insurance of older Australians. This government has got its priorities completely wrong.

Journalist: Tim, the tax bill that's in [inaudible] the scheduling that that includes capital gains tax [inaudible], hitting small miners and also renewables [inaudible].

Tim Wilson: Well, we're working through that bill, but we've absolutely made it clear that we want to make sure the tax settings are focused on orientating growth and building out the future of the economy. One of the things that's been attached to that bill has been the humiliating backdown of the Treasurer over the widow's tax. The federal budget introduced a tax on widows, bizarre, perverse and frankly insane ideas any of us ever heard, and then he has reluctantly backed down after the Prime Minister once again overruled him, humiliated him, and led to a situation where he's been forced to attach to this bill and back down on the widow's tax.

Journalist: [Indaudible]

Tim Wilson: The widow's tax bill which went through, was it yesterday afternoon? We’ve been in meetings, but the key focus is obviously on making sure that the bills we have before the Parliament grow the economy.

Journalist: Tim, you mentioned states coming with begging bowls. Are you concerned about the long-term impacts of, we've seen house prices falling, low clearance rates across states, that's going to have an impact on stamp duty. Are you concerned that if this continues, they'll have a worse long-term effect?

Tim Wilson: Well, my concern is that we see first-home buyers in a position to buy their first home, and we know what we've seen with this government, they’ve increased rents by design. The federal budget was designed to increase rents on young Australians and those who need to rent to have a roof over their heads. That kneecaps their potential to save a first home deposit, and then of course, we know that in addition to that, the price of a first home has also increased. And so, we're in a disastrous situation where at every point where young Australians are saving to get ahead, the response of the government is to kneecap young Australians and their chance to get ahead. I think one of the most terrifying things that's come out of this federal budget is what's going to continue as people are forced to change their structures, moving from trusts to corporate structures under the budget. Small businesses are going to be forced to get their insurance redone, they're going to get their finance redone, and we're going to end up in a situation where it's going to push a lot of marginal small businesses to the edge. The idea that a government will actively choose to attack small businesses and the mums and dads of this country is disturbing.

Journalist: The IDF has cleared itself of criminal wrongdoing in the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom. Are you satisfied that with that investigation [inaudible] do you support Minister Wong in [inaudible] Ambassador?

Tim Wilson: Respectfully, I'll allow the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs to be the first person to speak on that issue, and I have no doubt he'll have remarks to say shortly.

Journalist: Can I just ask on what you mentioned around cracking down on the black-market tobacco, how much will you want to the tobacco price reduced by?

Tim Wilson: Well, what we know is that the constant increase in excise has directly led to more organised crime being involved in these distribution networks. As a Victorian, you know frankly we see this every day. The supply chains and networks of organised crime, they get into tobacco and increasingly moving into illicit alcohol. State and federal Labor governments are failing to address these supply chains to organised crime and that's not just costing Australian taxpayers enormous amount of money through foregone revenue, it's of course increasing the cost of enforcement. And I don't want to live in a city or a country where organised crime is actively stoked because we know that that money then goes on to finance other activities, nefarious activities like terrorism and they have networks, some very distressing networks. So, we know that this is part of the problem, but you can't just cut excise to be the solution. You need to make sure that we have enforcement mechanisms to support it, because otherwise it's not going to get to the root cause of the problem, which is providing a pathway for organised crime to prosper. Thank you very much.

[ENDS]