Wednesday, 17 June 2026

Transcript - Interview on ABC News, Radio National

Topics: RBA interest rates decision, Labor’s homegrown inflation crisis, fuel excise, Labor’s sham inquiry, Labor’s bad-faith budget, Barnaby Joyce, One Nation.

E&OE……………………..

Sally Sara: And let's go now to Tim Wilson, the shadow treasurer. Tim Wilson, welcome back to, to breakfast.

Tim Wilson: Well, thank you very much for having me.

Sally Sara: The Reserve Bank has left interest rates on hold yesterday. Is that good news for the economy, in your view?

Tim Wilson: Well, I don't think Australian households are going to say that it's good news. Most of them are struggling with the cost of high interest rates caused by the Treasurer's active inflation agenda. The RBA was essentially forced to keep interest rates on hold despite the events overseas, and it's because we've had too much money chasing too few goods under an economic model where the government spends inflation and stokes inflation then taxes it, then wash rinse repeat. What we need is to take the pressure out of the economy, stop the inflation problems, so that interest rates can eventually be cut so the economy's growing. My much bigger concern on the current trajectory is that the treasurer is trying to crash the economy, which is only going to lead to higher unemployment, and of course, it doesn't even mean that interest rates will go down.

Sally Sara: The US has struck an interim deal with Iran to end the conflict in the Middle East. If this MOU holds, do you think some of the inflationary pressures on the Australian economy, those pressures from offshore, will they now ease?

Tim Wilson: Well, there's two parts to our inflation challenge. One is obviously foreign, so that might have an influence on that, but then there's the domestic. The RBA has been consistent and said it again yesterday in its statement that Australia's headline and underlying inflation pressure remains too high. So, if you remove the international factors, it's not going to address the root cause of the problem, which is why interest rates went up earlier this year off the back of data from last year before anything happened in Iran. That's why getting the economic policy settings right matters so much if you want to build out the future of the economy, encourage, incentivise growth, and most importantly, get a pathway so all Australians look to the future with hope and confidence.

Sally Sara: The temporary 50% discount to the fuel excise, that is scheduled to expire on June 30. What do you think, should the government extend it given cost of living pressures?

Tim Wilson: I think we're all waiting to see what the consequences of this Iran deal is. Need to remember that these, this discount was provided because of what happened in Iran and the price of global fuel, where of course, we may be at the end point on that. We're all optimistic, but we are also all cautious for a reason. The other thing to stress is when we called for it before the government did it, we did it with inflation offsets, because what we don't want is the government to give money back to Australians with one hand then just take it in inflation with another, which will mean not just inflation, less in your red basket at the supermarket, less at the trolley, but also of course higher interest rates as well.

Sally Sara: You're listening to Breakfast and you're hearing from the Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson. Yesterday you had an exchange with Labor frontbencher Amanda Rishworth on Nine's Today Show while talking about changes to CGT and negative gearing. Let's take a listen:

Amanda Rishworth: …maybe you should table your book because, of course, you’ve argued for these changes also.

Tim Wilson: Oh, grow up, Amanda.

Amanda Rishworth: So, these have been a lot... a lot of debate...

Tim Wilson: That’s not true. That’s simply not true.

Amanda Rishworth: Oh, you’re telling me to grow up? Right, good one.

Tim Wilson: Small businesses all around the country are screaming for help, and your answer to this is to turn around and to censor and silence them. There’s a point at which Australians need to have their say.

Amanda Rishworth: That is not true.

Tim Wilson: You didn’t give it to people at the last election. You didn’t give it to people at the last election. You lied before the Australian people before the last election. You’re now ramming this through the parliament, and refusing to even hear their voice. At what point are Australians going to get to have their say about this budget.

Karl Stefanovic: It’s still running hot.

Sally Sara: That's from yesterday morning on the Today Show. We're hearing a very different style of communication from you this morning. Why did things kick off yesterday?

Tim Wilson: Because Amanda Rishworth started by saying how there was a long consultation process around the budget, how there'd been a lot of input, and I just said I'm calling BS on this. And then she doubled down on her deceit and as, you know, she's basically drunk on her denial. There's got to be a point where this parliament actually has a chance to have its say into the budget. What Amanda Rishworth, what Jim Chalmers, what Anthony Albanese are doing is trying to censor and silence, particularly the small business voices of this nation in its input into the budget process. Australians weren't given it at the election, we know that. They weren't given it in the, in the Senate inquiry. They've been given two days to make submissions. Two days into this budget of deceit. The, the Parliamentary Committee hasn't even had the chance to publish all of the submissions that have been included. And frankly, the frustration I felt yesterday with her drunken denial was, frankly, nothing in comparison to the incandescent rage I'm hearing from small businesses all around the country. Now, if the government had taken this to an election, and they'd actually been upfront with the Australian people, people would accept the result. But what they're doing is dividing the country based on this budget. And of course, we're seeing the equal and opposite reaction, where we're seeing a growth of support for, frankly, a party that's equally likely to divide the country. I want to bring the country forward together and unite the nation so we have a better future for all.

Sally Sara: Do you sound like a leader when you're speaking like that?

Tim Wilson: Well, I think when people feel that they're not being heard, when they're not being listened to by the Australian Parliament, and when we have ministers of the Crown drunk in their deceit and their dishonesty and their denial on the impact of their budget, I think people want somebody who's going to stand up, show some passion and show very clearly that we get how angry people are.

Sally Sara: We've just got a minute up our sleeve. One Nation is reportedly divvying up portfolios. Barnaby Joyce will reportedly take on the Treasury portfolio.

Tim Wilson: Fun!

Sally Sara: He's been the Deputy PM and on the Expenditure Review Committee. Does that make him better qualified than you as an alternative to Jim Chalmers?

Tim Wilson: Well, it depends on whether he's flat out on a Braddon pavement or not. But, you know, he's entitled, the Greens have spokespeople, of course, Barnaby has his own form of bluster. My focus is on how we make sure we build out a future economy for Australians where Australians feel like hard work pays off, where they feel respected, and they feel in control of their lives. And that's through economic growth that encourages, incentivises building out the future of the nation. That's not what we're getting under the current government, we're not getting under the current budget, and the consequence of that is Australians feel and are living the consequences of declining living standards. So that's why we need to be bold and confident in where we're going to go, but we also need to be very clear about holding this government to account.

Sally Sara: Tim Wilson, time's against us. We'll need to leave it there. Thank you for your time this morning.

Tim Wilson: Thank you.

[ENDS]