Thursday, 11 June 2026

Transcript - ABC Radio Perth, Breakfast

Topics: Federal Budget, Small Business Act, Liberal Party, One Nation

E&OE...

Mark Gibson: And this morning, the Federal Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson, is here in the ABC studio. Good morning to you.

Tim Wilson: Good morning.

Mark Gibson: Thanks for coming in. I'll ask you a bit about One Nation in a moment, but firstly, you're here to talk about budget issues, no doubt, here in WA, that is, and you've got plenty of meetings today. Anthony Albanese isn't the first political leader, and he won't be the last, to go back on a promise. But why do you think these negative gearing and capital gains tax changes have caused such a furore?

Tim Wilson: Well, I don't think we should start by rationalising broken promises. By his own admission, he said 50 times over that he wouldn't be making these changes. The Australian people voted for him on that trust, and now he has betrayed that trust. So, I think it's much more than something we can dismiss. Then you look at the impact. The government clearly doesn't understand the Australian economy or the impact it's going to have on small businesses, on young investors, and of course, even on the capacity of young Australians to be able to buy their own home. So we need a different vision for the country that focuses on growth and opportunity, not simply on feeding resentment and division.

Mark Gibson: What is that, then? What do you want to do then that's different?

Tim Wilson: Well, we've already outlined a clear policy focused on small businesses and making sure that small businesses can get ahead by increasing the instant asset write-off to $50,000 and making it permanent. We're consulting at the moment, and you can go to standwithsmall.org for our consultation on our Small Business Act, which specifically will protect small business from the overreach of government. And of course, we've announced our Tax Back Guarantee, which says that if you earn your money, you keep it, and the silent thief of inflation won't come and steal your wages like it is under the Albanese government.

Mark Gibson: What about young home owners—prospective home owners, people who would like to own their first home? That is such an important issue right now, and people just feel like they're just priced out of the market. Stamp duty concessions is a big one. The ACT government just announced yesterday they're going to abolish stamp duty for first home buyers. Would you look at something like that?

Tim Wilson: Well, that's a state tax, or a territory tax in the case of the ACT, so we can't do that.

Mark Gibson: But supporting it on a state-by-state basis through the Liberal Party, whether they be in power or not in the states.

Tim Wilson: Well, absolutely support measures that will encourage more housing supply. We also believe that there has to be some sort of balance between migration and the number of houses we're building so that we can ensure young Australians can buy their own home, and also make sure that migrants who come to this country have pathways to secure housing as well. So we want a united country. The problem with the approach the government is taking, Anthony Albanese is taking, is to divide the country, to turn Australians against each other, and not to focus on a pathway of growth where we all succeed. It's simply feeding division and resentment.

Mark Gibson: Speaking of division and resentment, they are words that are thrown around to describe the One Nation party sometimes. But for whatever reason, they are having a resurgence. A lot of that is people just looking for change, isn't it? How conscious are you of that and the need to potentially do preference deals and jump into bed with One Nation?

Tim Wilson: Well, we've said already there will be no peace talks, there will be no surrender to Labor, to One Nation, or any other party in our approach. I don't want a divided country, and we've got the Prime Minister currently actively dividing our country, and we've got other political parties that feed on that as the equal and opposite reaction. If you want a united country, you need to focus on how you're going to build an Australian where hard work pays off, where people feel in control of their own lives, and they feel a basic sense of respect. And that's what we're going to be putting forward in our policy in the lead-up to the next election to build a better country for everyone.

Mark Gibson: Are you at odds with your colleagues? Because there are talks of preference deals. You seem to be one of the members of the Liberal Party who's not ruling it out, but you certainly don't seem like you're very happy to go down that path.

Tim Wilson: Well, in every election, you have to preference every candidate on the ballot paper. We don't know who all the candidates are going to be on all the ballot papers. The leader of that party has said publicly that there has been infiltrations of extremists in her own ranks. I didn't say that; she said that. And so we have to be mindful, and we shouldn't be hitching our wagon to somebody else's star. I want a bold, confident Liberal vision for this country where hard work pays off, Australians are in control of their own lives, and they feel respected in both how government treats them, how they treat each other, but also how their taxes are spent. And you're not going to get that through the extremism of the Labor Party who breaks trust, or the equal and opposite reaction.

Mark Gibson: You're listening to Tim Wilson, the Federal Shadow Treasurer, who's in the ABC studio this morning. Given that you, the opposition, has a record low 41 seats in the federal parliament, and now we see the rise of One Nation, are you concerned that the Liberal Party is starting to be overtaken and slip towards complete oblivion?

Tim Wilson: I believe that there's trust we need to rebuild, and I've said that many times before. But the most important thing is to offer a bold and confident vision for this country so people are choosing us. The old model where people vote Labor, then they get sick of them, then they go and vote for us until things get too good, then swing back, is gone. You need to be an alternative product in the marketplace, defining what you're going to try and do for our country with a sense of clarity and purpose where people can see their success and their lives successfully lived through the values you project and the policies you project.

Mark Gibson: Well, speaking of an alternative vision, though, and moving the country forward and all these phrases, however you like to say it, is Tony Abbott being elected the federal president of the Liberal Party really the right signal you want to be pushing?

Tim Wilson: Well, he's got an administrative position. His job is to work with the party organization to build up its strength, and good on him for doing so. I always welcome—and I've said this publicly before—when Kevin Rudd said he wanted to be the ambassador to the United States, some people derided it. I said I think it was a good thing that we have former prime ministers that want to serve to improve and advance our national interest. But the role of policy sits with the parliamentary party, and we need a clear vision about where we're going to build the future of the country because hard work has to pay off, people do need to be in control of their lives, and they need to feel a basic sense of respect, which they're not getting from the Albanese government.

Mark Gibson: We're in a pretty fortunate position here standing in a radio studio where you get to sense what people are saying, and they call in and they text in and they give you their views. And I think one of the most overwhelming themes at the moment is that people are sick of politicians, with all due respect—I know you are one—but the political speak, all the rhetoric, evasive questions, not answering questions, coming up with all this stuff. What they seem to see in Pauline Hanson is just someone who's a bit more like them. What do you say about that?

Tim Wilson: Well, in the end, you've got to make choices about where you want to take the country. One person can't run the country. You need a team of people who are going to work together to build the future of the country, united with a sense of purpose. We know that two-thirds of the people who end up getting elected under that banner end up defecting because of difference of opinion with their leader or, of course, also difference of opinion within their party structure, or they just simply don't want to be told. And that's why you need a team focused with a common purpose because it's not actually about us; it's about Australia, Australians, and building a better future for all of us.

Mark Gibson: All right then, just finally, what are you doing in WA today? I know you're meeting with a whole lot of different groups, aren't you, and talking still about the impacts of these budget changes?

Tim Wilson: Well, not just talking, but listening, because what's clear is this government introduced its budget and didn't understand the impact it was going to have. Every day there's a new story about a sector that's going to be crushed. From today, there's stories about the biotech sector. We're talking specifically to the small businesses of the country because small businesses need hope, and a lot of them feel like the government isn't listening to them. They don't feel like they've got a way forward. They're sweating, they're working their bums off, they're exhausted, and they've got a government whose only answer is to apply new taxes. The first thing we could do is show them basic respect, listen to them, as part of how we're going to build a better economic future for every Australian.

Mark Gibson: For many reasons, it's going to be a fascinating couple of years, isn't it? It feels like we're in an election campaign and we're nowhere near an election.

Tim Wilson: Well, it's a fight for the soul of the country, and I've made that very clear. I was elected last term at the last election, having lost my seat previously, and I didn't come back to be a shy, retiring, flowering flower, because I see the future of the country is on the line. And we have a choice: we can go down the path of division that the Prime Minister is offering, or the equal and opposite reaction, or we can be the defining answer to the future of the country and build a better country for all of us.

Mark Gibson: Tim Wilson, thanks for coming in.

Tim Wilson: Thank you.

[ENDS]