Tuesday, 3 November 2026

Topics: interest rates; inflation; spending; CHOGM; One Nation volunteer; U.S. midterm elections; Victorian politics.

E&OE……………………..

Andrew Clennell: Joining me live from Sydney on this day, Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson. Tim Wilson, thanks for your time. Will this be the rate that stopped a nation?

Tim Wilson: Thanks, Andrew. It is an incredibly difficult day for Australian households and particularly those with a mortgage. A lot of Australians with a mortgage right now will be looking around the kitchen table at each other and saying, what is it we've got left to cut? Families having to make choices about whether they're going to dump school excursions, whether they're going to dump birthday parties, just to be able to keep a roof over their heads. And they're not buying the Treasurer's spin anymore. You just heard from Michele Bullock that she said very clearly that this is about domestic problems, and particularly it comes from government spending. Because the government cannot control its spending addiction, Australian households are being asked to pull in their belts when the government won't do it themselves.

Andrew Clennell: And what do you make of her saying inflation will last until 2028? It's baked in.

Tim Wilson: Well, that's what's so worrying out of today's decision. Not only have we seen the fifth interest rate hike today, most advanced countries have only had one this year, we've had five, it is going to persist throughout all of next year, which means rates, based on this forecast, are not coming down next year. While unemployment will be rising according to the RBA statement, we're going to have low productivity, declining wages. So, at the end of next year, Australians will not be healthier, happier or richer. They will be worse off, paying higher bills and looking to the future with less confidence until we get a change of government.

Andrew Clennell: What about a change of Treasurer? Would you like to see that? Is that something the Prime Minister can consider? Would that make a difference?

Tim Wilson: The Prime Minister and the Treasurer are both following the same rulebook. They're both engaged in an active inflation agenda where they can't control their spending addiction. That's putting upward pressure on inflation and upward pressure on interest rates. The only thing that will change the household pressure that's being experienced right now on budgets is a change of government, where you get an alternative government that's focused on how it contains government spending. That's why we've outlined $31.3 billion of savings, and of course, one that's focused on encouraging economic growth, particularly on doing things like getting the cost of energy down. Chris Bowen keeps increasing the cost of energy. We're focused on how we get the price down so small businesses can succeed.

Andrew Clennell: Do you concede the war and the oil price has had an effect?

Tim Wilson: Well, I just make the point that Michele Bullock just made, which is, to headline inflation impact, yes, but that's not where the Reserve Bank looks for drivers of interest rates. That's underlying inflation, and that's coming from domestic problems. Interest rate hikes will not control the global price on oil; it will control domestic spending pressure. This is where the Treasurer continues to spin to try and get himself out of the problems that he has created. He is a man now drowning in his own inflation, and frankly, nobody buys the Treasurer's spin anymore. They don't buy the idea that it's all to do with international factors, because people can see he is not committed to getting inflation under control, he's not committed to getting spending under control, and he's certainly not trying to put downward pressure on interest rates, which is making families make tough choices.

Andrew Clennell: Do you think we're headed into a recession?

Tim Wilson: Well, if the Treasurer isn't prepared to stand up and actually pull his belt in, we know the RBA's forecast increases unemployment and takes it above 5.1% after many years. And of course, that is not a good sign of where things can go. I always hope we don't have interest rate hikes, we don't end up in a recession, but the Treasurer seems determined to continue to see uplifts on unemployment while we have real values of assets declining and homes declining.

Andrew Clennell: If the government in this mid-year statement come up with a plan to simply offset an increase in interest payments on debt as opposed to produce a net saving, have they failed?

Tim Wilson: Well, I think essentially, yes. I mean, they've actually got to show that they're prepared to pull their belt in before they turn around to the Australian people and tell them to pull their belt in. What is quite clear from Sunday's interview by Katy Gallagher is the government is not committed to carrying its responsibility to take pressure off inflation. And small businesses out there in the Australian community that are screaming for hope right now, all they're getting is more inflation, more cost rises. We have a cost-of-government crisis, not a cost-of-living crisis, and until you fix the cost-of-government crisis, you will not fix the inflation problem, and the interest rate problem Australia faces right now.

Andrew Clennell: Should there be any cost-of-living relief in this mid-year statement, or would that be irresponsible because of inflation?

Tim Wilson: The responsible pathway to give households more breathing room is to stop the government's spending addiction, get it to pull its belt in, which will take pressure off inflation and of course lead to lower interest rates. Everything else risk...

Andrew Clennell: Is that a no, there shouldn't be cost-of-living relief? There shouldn't be cost of living relief in the mid-year statement?

Tim Wilson: Well, that is cost-of-living relief, Andrew. Cost of living relief is taking inflationary...

Andrew Clennell: But they say, the government says you're promising more than them. The government says you're going to spend more than them, you've got $110 billion worth of promises on the table. Is it your position, "Oh, we're going to find the cuts later and then have more cuts than the government"? Is that your position?

Tim Wilson: Our position is what we're outlining. We've already put $31.3 billion of savings on the table right now: bureaucracies that don't build homes, bureaucracies that don't cut emissions, capping and ending welfare for future non-citizens. We understand that you have to have a credible...

Andrew Clennell: Yeah, but you've got $110 billion on top of that, don't you? $110 billion in promises on top of that. Do you dispute that?

Tim Wilson: That is Jim Chalmers' talking point, and I've never seen any actual evidence to support his claim. The reality is every time he talks about savings, he has promised $2 of savings...

Andrew Clennell: Well, how much do you put it at?

Tim Wilson: Well, we are going to outline all of our policies and all the costings in the lead-up to the election. We've released $31.3 billion worth of savings already in detail. But every time the Treasurer turns around and says he's saved $2, he goes on and spends $3. The Treasury Secretary has now confirmed that. And we have seen continual evidence that this government cannot control its spending addiction and take the pressure off inflation.

Andrew Clennell: Do you think your policy on fuel excise is responsible in the current inflationary environment?

Tim Wilson: I do, because we've made sure that there will be appropriate offsets to make sure that we're not stoking inflation. This is the problem: the government cut fuel excise earlier in the year, they didn't provide an inflation offset, we explicitly said to them that they should do so. We've made sure that there will be offsets appropriately, but of course it's not currently being implemented because Labor wants Australian households to pay more while they get less.

Andrew Clennell: All right. You said last week the PM would be drinking cocktails by the pool during this rates news. Do you think he's doing that right now? What do you make of his trip? Should he not have gone on the trip? Some of your colleagues seem to support the trip.

Tim Wilson: Australians face choices right now. The Prime Minister's choice is to be in the Caribbean or supporting Australians through this cost-of-government and interest rate crisis. Australians, by comparison, are sitting around the kitchen table and deciding whether they can fund their kids' school excursion. And it's not to the Caribbean; it's to a local scout park. They're looking at whether they can afford to hold a birthday party for their kids. It's not cocktails by the pool in the Caribbean. We all face choices, the Prime Minister has made his, and it's not to be here for Australians at the time that they want.

Andrew Clennell: What's your reaction to this horrific incident involving this One Nation volunteer being attacked in Victoria?

Tim Wilson: Based on what I know, all political violence is completely unacceptable, and there's no scenario where this should be tolerated. We need a society of laws where people can be free to express their political opinion, whatever that may be, and it should never lead to resorting to violence.

Andrew Clennell: Do you expect Jess Wilson to win a majority in the election at the end of the month, the Liberal leader? She picked the winner in the Melbourne Cup today, by the way.

Tim Wilson: Oh, good. Well, I'm absolutely convinced that Victorians are going to vote for a fresh start, and I'm also convinced that the Australian people will at the next federal election, too. Because Australians know, Victorians know, that as long as Labor is in government, they will continue to experience higher prices, declining living standards, and frankly, honest taxpayers' money will go to organised crime, as explicitly has been demonstrated in Victoria, and that must end.

Andrew Clennell: What are you expecting out of the US midterm elections tomorrow, and do you think they will change the complexion potentially of the Iran war?

Tim Wilson: I think that's too much for me to comment on. We know obviously that midterms, you often see a political situation where the dominant party at the time, which is of course Republicans, experience setbacks, so it wouldn't shock anybody to see a turn back of the House, possibly the Senate. But how the President responds to that is obviously a matter for him and the United States. All of these things are something we're keeping a very close watch on, but we believe this is a decision for the American people.

Andrew Clennell: Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson, thanks so much for your time.

Tim Wilson: Thank you.

[ENDS]