Transcript - Interview with Ali Moore, ABC Melbourne Drive

Wednesday 18 March 2026

E&OE

Ali Moore: Tim Wilson, hello and welcome back to Drive.

Tim Wilson MP: Thanks for having me, Ali.

Ali Moore: Before we get to that alternative to interest rates, can I ask you what do you make of the Governor's response to the question around recession.

Tim Wilson MP: Well, I made the assessment I think everybody did, which is the Reserve Bank has been forced into a situation of increasing interest rates because the government keeps spending money. Remember, inflation is too much money chasing too few goods and the government keeps borrowing from the future to fund today and they're doing it principally through debt. As a consequence, you're getting continued inflation and that's why interest rates are going up. If you want to stop inflation pressure, to stop the interest rate pressure, you've got to stop the debt the government is accruing and pouring onto the inflation fire.

Ali Moore: So are you saying that the latest interest rate increase was nothing to do with the war in the Middle East and the increase in the cost of petrol?

Tim Wilson MP: It's not what I'm saying, it's what the Reserve Bank Governor is saying. She said that while there are multiple factors, this decision was made off the back end of last year's inflation data in the second half of last year and that the consequence of what's going on in the context of Iran has not even been felt yet in the data, so that isn't the basis of their decision.

Ali Moore: Which would mean that we would have to be in for even more interest rate increases, wouldn't it?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, that's what the Reserve Bank Governor has flagged. But the real problem we have is the government has so little flexibility because they've kept the pressure up on inflation. They've kept put up a pressure because they keep pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire. And so the Reserve Bank Governor's hand is tied. So she's increased interest rates with the board yesterday. She's flagged potentially further interest rates. And of course, based on the clip you just played before, possibly it takes us into another even more unpleasant scenario.

Ali Moore: Are there alternatives, do you think Tim Wilson, some of the ones that we've been talking about that listeners have raised, increasing the compulsory contributions to super, increasing the GST, are there more effective ways, cutting spending is obviously one, that is one that you've been calling for long and loud, but are there other, I suppose more nuanced levers that the Reserve Bank could pull as opposed to an interest rate lever?

Tim Wilson MP: In short, no, because it's too much money chasing too few goods. And so what we have is more cash going into the economy than our economy is productively producing. So if you just redirect that into other places, as a lot of the proposals are putting forward, it won't actually address the fundamental problem. The government needs to stop. Borrowing from the future and putting more money into the economy today because that's what's driving it. It's not just inflation, interest rates that we feel the pain, of course we then also hand on to future generations the need to pay that back. So at every point inflationary pressure damages society today and into the future.

Ali Moore: Tim Wilson, if the issue is too much cash chasing too few goods, if you increase the compulsory contribution of super, you reduce the take-home pay of the individual by the same measure if you increased the rate of GST, you reduced the ability to buy particularly discretionary spending. Does that not help on that issue of too much cash for too few good?

Tim Wilson MP: Not if the government doesn't stop its debt binge, which it continues to do and refuses to adjust its course. And of course if it goes into super funds then where they choose to invest it or spend it can have just as much of an inflationary impact. This is the challenge and why inflation is such a curse on society. The government needs to take it seriously but they won't and of course we're now living in a period of lower economic productivity as well so you've essentially got stagflation which is stagnation in the economy with rising prices which will continue hurt households not just through their mortgages but of course at the supermarket and where they buy basic goods.

Ali Moore: So if it's all down to cutting government spending, what would you cut?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, I've said quite openly, we need to stop, start with addressing the corruption problems. We have $15 billion that's gone to organised crime through the CFMU. That's inflationary.

Ali Moore: Well that's the allegation that hasn't been tested, doesn't appear that it's going to be tested anytime soon.

Tim Wilson MP: No, I understand the government doesn't want to talk about it, but just let's talk about the National Disability Insurance Agency, which says 10% of their $5 billion programme goes to organised crime and corruption and fraud as well. I think we need to stop all of these problems. Last weekend, we had a report in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald talking about nearly half a billion dollars going towards child care fraud. People need essential services and we need to support Australians where money is going towards fraud, corruption and organised crime and then it's also stoking inflation. I think it's a pretty easy place to start and cut.

Ali Moore: Do you really think though that if you focused on fraud and corruption, it would make a substantial difference to inflation?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, I've so far outlined more possibly up to $35 billion that it's taken out into addressing inflation. Is it going to be the only problem? Perhaps not, but it's definitely going to a good start and I'm frankly shocked and horrified that it has been dismissed.

Ali Moore: Can I ask you another question? We've got a conversation that we have every Wednesday here on Drive. We call it what if Wednesday and we take a hypothetical and we ask what if. And today we are asking what if we could income split, if we introduced income splitting. In other words, a couple's income split across both people, reducing the tax rate. It's something that the new Leader of your Coalition partner, The Nationals, Matt Canavan, supports and he's supported actually for a long time, right back to when he entered parliament. Do you think it would be a fairer system?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, it depends on how you define fair, I mean, whether you'd want to treat people as individuals or as families. I have a lot of sympathy, of course, for the idea because want 1) families to have choice about how they want to run themselves. Obviously I don't want to get into a position of judging or penalising people if they're operating more as a family unit than as individuals. The question always is is it the best pathway forward to encourage people to be able to live out their best lives? Is it economically viable at this time? And in addition to that are there better alternatives to achieve the objective which is keep family strong, connected, but also give every Australian, regardless of their background, the best chance to live out their best life.

Ali Moore: And the answer to those questions?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, it's part of a mix of proposals, but I have my own views, particularly in focusing on small and family businesses and the self-employed, and you've got to make judgments and trade-offs about what the best pathway is forward.

Ali Moore: You differ with Matt Canavan, you don't think income splitting should be a priority?

Tim Wilson MP: It's not that it's at a priority, it's just that serious politicians actually have to make tough decisions about the future of the country and they have to make them based on knowing you can't just offer everybody everything all the time. I like the idea of income splitting, I've said that previously. The question is whether it's the best pathway forward and to address our current problems. We've got a big problem around lifting standards of living for Australians. We have too much money chasing too few goods and we do not have an economy that's moving ahead at the pace that money is being injected into it. I see this as perhaps a conversation after we focus on how to get the economy moving. So that we can stop the inflation pressure that we currently live with.

Ali Moore: So I take it from that that Matt Canavan, in your view, is not a serious politician?

Tim Wilson MP: That's a ridiculous thing to say. I'm saying there are trade-offs that politicians have to make, and you can't just say everybody can have everything all the time. When you do that, you get inflation, and Australians are living the pain and pressure of what happens when you have an irresponsible government that isn't serious, won't make the tough calls, whether it's fuel security, whether its meeting the challenges of inflation, and of course turning around at some point and saying to Australians, if we keep throwing more money and more debt on petrol on the inflation fire. You might feel good for five minutes today, but it doesn't mean that you'll feel the flow through later in the future.

Ali Moore: Just a final question, Tim Wilson, it brings it much closer to home, but today we got more detail about the activity centres across Melbourne. You were a very vocal opponent of 20-storey towers Bayside in Melbourne. Today news that the height limit in Middle Brighton is going to be 12 storeys. Was it a lot of fuss and bother over nothing?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, people want housing stock, local residents want housing stock based on promoting community and connection and in housing stock that they actually want to live in through different stages of life. I don't think that 12 stories is appropriate either. I'm not against-.

Ali Moore: You don't?

Tim Wilson MP: No, I don't. I think that is a community infrastructure. We need to have housing stock medium density that promotes connection to community, that promotes people moving through different stages of life. I think the idea of having high density and low density is a false dichotomy in terms of housing policy. And I don t think it actually promotes the housing stock that people want in the community they want.

Ali Moore: Would you call 12 stories really high density? I mean, you railed against 20 stories. There's a lot of difference between 20 and 12.

Tim Wilson MP: Sure, there's a difference between 20 and 12, but there's housing and the research shows this out that promotes people, community where people want to live is lower than 12 stories because people have connection to their neighbours, connection to the street can be connected to community facilities and build a sense of community that that people want to live in. The Labor government, as far as I can tell, just wants to build housing so they can tick boxes with bureaucrats, not based on what promotes community.

Ali Moore: Tim Wilson, good to talk to you, thanks for joining us.

Tim Wilson MP: Thanks very much.

ENDS