Thursday, 30 July 2026

Transcript - Interview on ABC News, Radio National

Topics: inflation, interest rates, Victorian election, CFMEU, One Nation

E&OE……………………..

Sally Sara: Well, let's go now to Tim Wilson, the Shadow Treasurer. Tim Wilson, welcome back to Breakfast.

Tim Wilson: Thank you for having me.

Sally Sara: Yesterday's inflation result was lower than the Reserve Bank and other forecasters had feared, and has dampened expectations of a rate hike this year. Is that a good thing?

Tim Wilson: Well, it's always good not to have higher interest rates for households, but I'd just be cautious about where things are. What we know is the headline rate went down. We know that underlying inflation persists. As Tom Crowley correctly just said, there's been persistent inflation at the heart of the Australian economy since before the war. That's remained stable, so it doesn't mean that there isn't pressure, particularly because government spending continues to be the driver and the government keeps spending beyond its means.

Sally Sara: One of the factors in these figures seems to be a softer housing market, which economists have attributed to a combination of high rates and the government's budget changes. Is the softening of the housing market coming at a good time in your view?

Tim Wilson: Well, there's not one housing market, and one of the critical challenges is it's still very hard for young Australians to be able to buy their first home. And in many cases, because of the government's 5% home deposit scheme, they've gone up, not down. We've seen changes in other parts of the market, but the pressure in the first home owner section is upward. So, I don't think it's all rosy pictures. The bigger concern is we continue to have higher material costs for building and new construction. That will also increase the cost of first homes, and we know that's directly connected to cost flow-throughs from things like CFMEU corruption on building sites in public projects that infects then private projects.

Sally Sara: You're calling for governments to spend less. Do you accept there's a need to provide some cost-of-living subsidies, or should the government resist the urge to shield people from higher prices?

Tim Wilson: Well, the task is to make sure that if you're providing cost-of-living relief, that it isn't inflationary. So, the government followed our lead when we called for fuel excise cuts at the start of the Iran conflict, but we said it should be matched by inflation offsets, so the government didn't give with one hand and take with the other. So, there can be a case for it, but it can't be inflationary, because then you're just giving with one hand and you're taking with the other.

Sally Sara: Treasury has warned that global fuel markets may come under significant strain if the war in the Middle East continues. If that means another spike in domestic fuel prices, should the government consider introducing a discount to the fuel excise again in that scenario?

Tim Wilson: We should definitely keep a watching brief on what is happening internationally. The point of fuel excise cut was to recognize that prices had rapidly spiked in a way that was beyond the government's control and beyond factors in the domestic economy. And so, of course, if we see events like that, of course the government should consider that, but it should be done on the basis of having inflationary offsets, which isn't what they did last time. We could have had lower inflation figures, I think, this time, and even less pressure on interest rates, if the government had have followed the opposition's advice.

Sally Sara: Earlier this week, Michele Bullock said Australia's inflation problem could not be properly fixed without an increase in productivity. How does the Coalition propose to increase productivity?

Tim Wilson: Well, Michele Bullock's right, but it's not just productivity. It's also lowering government spending, because we have multiple factors that create the problems. What we want is to improve living standards, to improve the economic opportunity for the next generation of Australians. And the most important place to start with that is to back small business by removing regulation, red tape, higher costs, they're all being passed on, which is why we currently have a cost-of-living crisis, the lowest consumer confidence in the country's history, and lowest small business confidence in the history of the country. Small business is the backbone of the economy, it's the pathway to get there, and we need to think of new and innovative ways to make sure that we back them in.

Sally Sara: You're listening to Radio National Breakfast. My guest is the Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson. You represent the Victorian federal electorate of Goldstein. Victoria's new Labor Premier, Ben Carroll, has promised to establish a Royal Commission into the construction sector and alleged corruption in the state government's construction project known as the "Big Build." In your view, what should the terms of reference include?

Tim Wilson: Well, the terms of reference should include who made what payments and when, what did people know at different points in the projects and the allocation of money, what did the former Premier know, what did the former Premier before that Premier, Dan Andrews, know? Because Jacinta Allan was Dan Andrews' protégé, just as Ben Carroll is Jacinta Allan's protégé. And so what we need to get to the bottom of is what actually happened that allowed for $15 billion of public money to be handed to the CFMEU Labor cartel to organized crime? Everyone knew it was happening, and we know the Premier knew it was happening, and they continued to sign the checks off. And even worse than that, the federal government, knowing that public money was finding its way into the hands of organized crime, Anthony Albanese and his government continued to sign checks to these projects. So it also needs to include: what did the federal government know?

Sally Sara: Polling suggests a possibility that the Liberals gain seats in the Victorian election, but can't govern in their own right. Would a coalition with One Nation be justified if it's the only path to remove Labor from government?

Tim Wilson: Well, I think we shouldn't be arrogant to project what the Victorian people are going to do at the election by taking polling and extrapolating it out. I think what we should be doing is making sure we win the full 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament, so we have a Liberal…

Sally Sara: But if this is what it takes to beat Labor?

Tim Wilson: What it takes to beat Labor is to make sure we have a Liberal-led majority government, and that is what I am working towards. That's what Jess Wilson, who has the only true fresh start for the state, is working towards, and that's what every Liberal should be working towards: a Liberal government.

Sally Sara: We don't know which way this is going to go, but what's the principle that you think should be guiding the party? Is a coalition with One Nation something that just shouldn't be considered at all?

Tim Wilson: A Liberal-led majority government should be the guiding principle that should guide the Victorian party, and that is what we are going to deliver.

Sally Sara: Tim Wilson, thank you for joining me this morning.

Tim Wilson: Thank you.

[ENDS]