Tuesday, 16 June 2026

Transcript - Interview on Sky News, Politics Now

Topics: Reserve Bank, interest rates, fuel excise, inflation, Labor's taxes, Coalition, One Nation

E&OE...

Trudy McIntosh: Well, interest rates, as you’ve seen, have been left on holiday today as the Reserve Bank presses pause to assess the impact of the three hikes we've seen this year so far and, crucially, what is happening with inflation. Let's go live to the Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson in Melbourne who's standing by. Tim, let's start first with your reaction to today's interest rate move kept on hold.

Tim Wilson: It’s incredibly disappointing. Australian households are doing it so tough right now. Australians are going to the supermarket and they’re getting less in their red basket or their shopping trolley. They're paying more for their interest rates just to keep a roof over their own head. And today, what they were looking for was relief, but because the government keeps stoking inflation, taxing inflation, and spending the inflation, and keeping the cycle going, interest rates have persisted. Australians are doing it tough as a consequence.

Trudy McIntosh: Do you think, though, that it would have been responsible for the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates today given the circumstances we’re facing?

Tim Wilson: The RBA's hand has been forced by a government that cannot control its spending addiction, and that's the real point. The Reserve Bank Governor has made it clear that inflation is too high. The underlying inflation, the headline inflation is too high, and it persists. And that started before the Iran crisis. It’s continued during the Iran crisis and we’ll wait and see where the Iran crisis concludes at the moment, but once its factors are removed, inflation will still be too high because of the approach the Albanese government is taking, and that means households are going to pay more.

Trudy McIntosh: I wanted to ask you about one of the imminent decisions this government has to make, that is the fuel excise cut, which is due to expire at the end of the month. The Coalition was the first to call for this a few months back. Are you calling for it to be extended beyond July 30 now?

Tim Wilson: When we called for it to be introduced in the first place, it was with inflation offsets. So, we want to be very cautious about continuing it without inflation offsets. We’ll wait and see what happens with Iran, that was the basis of the initial decision, but if there is to be a decision, it should be with inflation offsets because what the government is doing is it’s simply spending inflation, taxing inflation, and then going and spending it again. And so we've got a constant cycle where the government is giving with one hand and then taking with another.

Trudy McIntosh: I’m just trying to get a sense of the Coalition’s thinking, though. Would you like to see it extended, or would it be more responsible, even if it’s a harder political decision, to say, look, it's time for it to come to an end, we can’t afford to keep extending it?

Tim Wilson: The initial decision was made off the back of the Iran crisis. In the past 24 hours, it's looking like that crisis may ease or end, but none of us are banking on it yet. We're welcoming, obviously, what's happening overseas, but we're also cautious about it. So, I just think we need to put it in the context of events and then make a decision, particularly because if we continue down the path the government is currently taking, we know they're stoking inflation and that's one of the reasons why the Reserve Bank's hand is being forced and interest rates are persisting at a higher rate than many Australian households can afford, and as the Reserve Bank Governor has outlined today, may yet have to increase them further because of the Albanese government's spending agenda.

Trudy McIntosh: I wanted to ask you, too today, Tim, it’s the second and final day of the inquiry into Labor’s tax changes. The Treasurer last hour argued that there’s been enough consultation, he says, when he includes the previous Senate inquiry that looked at the capital gains tax changes. What's your response?

Tim Wilson: Actually, the best form of consultation would be to take these new taxes to an election, but instead, they did the complete reverse. They denied they were going to do it all the way up to the election. The Prime Minister said 50 times over he wasn't going to introduce these taxes. So, to give two days of consultation on a budget they’ve already announced that broke and betrayed the Australian people is railroading these changes through and, more importantly, they're not even listening to the voices of the Australians that are standing up and speaking out. They haven't even published all the submissions before they got to the point of holding the inquiry. We know groups like the Financial Services Council—the Financial Services Council who literally are responsible for the financial management of large chunks of the Australian economy—weren't even asked to appear to give evidence and to inform the Parliament on these changes being introduced. This is an absolute disgrace, and the idea that there has been enough consultation just shows you how arrogant, how out of touch, and how little this government is listening to the Australian people and particularly to the small businesses of this country. We have record small business insolvencies, Trudy. They are screaming not just to stay alive, but to be heard, and the government’s only response is to tell them to sit down, to know their place, and to be quiet.

Trudy McIntosh: Even if there was an extended period of consultation, which it doesn’t sound like there’s going to be, say that was extended for 12 months, 18 months, ultimately you wouldn’t support it anyway, would you? It's not about necessarily the length of time for you, it's the actual detail of the proposal.

Tim Wilson: It's absolutely about the detail of the proposal, but when did it become acceptable to just turn around to the Australian people, lie completely before an election, then do the complete reverse of what you said once you got elected, and then turn around to the Australian people and tell them to get nicked when they actually raise concerns or want to inform the betrayal and broken promises? It's not something we can just skip over in this process. And I frankly find it contemptible that so many people in the Parliament and the media take this so lightly. Small businesses of our country, the self-starers of our nation, those who employ people, who create jobs, and are trying to get ahead and build a life not just for themselves but for many families across the country, are just being completely discarded in this process. Small business needs a voice. It doesn't just need a voice in our national conversation; it needs a voice in legislative reform and into our nation's Parliament. And I'm sorry, I'm just not accepting the idea that they should be silenced.

Trudy McIntosh: Can I ask you, Tim, where are we at in terms of trying to get an extension of this? It seems the fate of this lies with the Greens in the upper house. Has there been any movement on securing a longer inquiry for this, if you also extend the NDIS inquiry?

Tim Wilson: These negotiations are ongoing, but this is really a chance for the Greens to turn around to the Australian people and tell us whose side they are on. Are they on the side of the Australian people where they get to have their say in legislative changes and the impact it's going to have on them, or are they on the side of the government to silence, to censor, and to bully people into submission? That is their choice. I hope that they actually rise to the occasion and actually give Australians a say on both the NDIS changes and the tax packages that have been put forward under this budget because Australians deserve to have their say, but I want to stress again, particularly the self-starters and the small businesses of this country that have been treated with absolute contempt by the Albanese government.

Trudy McIntosh: I want to turn to the raw politics we are seeing at the moment in Australia. Pauline Hanson's spectacular rise in the polls. I want to play this comment for you, Tim, this morning on 2GB.

Ben Fordham: How are you getting along with Angus Taylor these days?

Pauline Hanson: I haven't spoken to Angus since 2019 when he's Environment Minister.

Ben Fordham: He was in the studio about a month or so ago and he agreed with me that he needed to reach out to you.

Pauline Hanson: Yeah, well he hasn't.

Ben Fordham: He hasn't reached out at all?

Pauline Hanson: No, he hasn't. Look, he's got problems with his own moderates.

Trudy McIntosh: Now Tim, if you want to turf out Labor, isn't it important that Angus Taylor can at least have a conversation with Pauline Hanson? One Nation's numbers may be crucial after the next election.

Tim Wilson: Well, as Mr. Taylor's office has outlined, they have actually reached out to Ms. Hanson, and because she was AWOL from Senate estimates, didn't turn up to Parliament, and didn't do her job, they didn't get a chance to speak with her. So, the next time Pauline Hanson turns up to Parliament and actually does the job that the people of Queensland elected her to do, perhaps people can have a conversation with her. But our focus isn't just to turf out Labor. Our focus is to make sure a Coalition government is elected, with Liberals and Nationals, to define the future of Australia and, most importantly, to repeal Labor’s high tax agenda, their high inflation agenda, and actually give Australian households and the self-starters, the small businesses of this nation, a sense of hope. That isn't going to happen simply because of meetings. It's going to be because we're going to continue to fight for the self-starters and the small businesses who are currently being punched down by Labor and, if the Greens choose to participate, by them, too.

Trudy McIntosh: Why do you think that it is One Nation and not the Coalition that have benefited from this anger that we're seeing directed at Labor at the moment?

Tim Wilson: That's up to voters to make up their own mind. Obviously, there's work of trust that we need to be doing, but people need to see us fighting for them and making sure that we're fighting for the future of the country. When it comes down to it, Australian small businesses and Australian households are doing it tough. They're looking for somebody who's going to fight for them, who's going to stand up and believe in them and, most importantly, where we're going to offer them a sense of hope. What we know is that Labor is dividing Australians right now. We're getting an equal and opposite reaction on the other side with One Nation. That's why we have to be leading and making sure we're defining the future to bring Australians together, to unite them towards a better purpose and a better future where every Australian looks to the horizon with confidence and with hope.

Trudy McIntosh: Tim Wilson, will you be watching Pauline Hanson's Press Club address tomorrow?

Tim Wilson: I have something else on, but I've no doubt that you'll be covering it in the media. And whatever comes out of it will be what comes out of it. I don't spend time worrying about my opponents. I focus—

Trudy McIntosh: You don’t want to hear what she’s got to say on policy?

Tim Wilson: Of course, I said I'm sure you'll cover it and I'm sure if I want to watch it, I'll be able to do so in retrospect. But I don't worry about what my opponents do. I focus on what we're going to do to build out the future of Australia, to unite Australians towards a purpose of one land, one people, with one destiny, where young Australians can get ahead, where hard work pays off, where Australians feel in control of their own lives, and where they feel a sense of respect, which they aren't getting under the Albanese government.

Trudy McIntosh: Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson, always appreciate your time. Thank you.

[ENDS]