The Prime Minister joins the program this morning. Anthony Albanese, thanks for speaking to me on AM.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Melissa.
CLARKE: Prime Minister, what communication has the Government had with the US about this new tariff Donald Trump is proposing?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’ve put our position very clearly which is that any tariff on Australian exports to the United States are unjustified, they’re inconsistent with our free trade agreement. And also, with regard to the specifics that have been put forward by their trade representative, Australia has robust, comprehensive and world leading legislation addressing forced labour and modern slavery. It’s been passed through the Parliament with unanimous support. We continue to use every opportunity that we have to advocate that US tariffs imposed on Australia are unwarranted. And of course, our view is that tariffs are actually a penalty on consumers in the United States. We produce very good products here in Australia that are in demand in the United States. But importantly as well, the United States has a trade surplus with Australia that it’s enjoyed for decades. And we continue to advocate for Australia’s national interests.
CLARKE: Are you frustrated by this succession of proposals that keep coming from the US? You have to keep making these same arguments to your counterparts over and over again, it seems.
PRIME MINISTER: There is an ideological disagreement where the United States administration has broken with what was a decades-long understanding that tariffs are not positive for the country that is imposing them, that they increase the costs of goods and services in the country that is applying them to its consumers, and that free trade is in the interests of the global economy. It’s in the interests of Australia. It’s also in the interests of the United States.
CLARKE: So, this is just a dispute you’re just going to have to keep having through the life of the Trump administration so long as he continues to try and push forward his belief on tariffs. Is that something you just sort of have to accept?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, importantly here, this isn’t Australia being singled out. There are many countries, 54 in fact, countries have been subject to this latest move. It’s one of which no notice was given. And one of the things that we ask for in international engagement, of course, is certainty. Australia and the United States are important allies. We have important economic, security relationships. And it is unfortunate that there have been a rolling series of decisions, some of which have been changed from time to time, but all of which do have a common theme, which is that the United States is a supporter of tariffs, argues that it is to its benefit. We actually think not only is it not in the interests of the United States, importantly, it undermines the global trading system.
CLARKE: If we come back home, your tax changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax discount will pass the House of Representatives today. But that’s the easy part. What discussions have there been with The Greens about getting their support for this bill when it comes to the Senate?
PRIME MINISTER: Importantly today, Angus Taylor and the Coalition have a very clear choice. They can support a tax cut for every working Australian, break with the tradition that the Coalition have had over the last few years of opposing every tax cut, and vote for it. They can also have the opportunity to help first home buyers to have a crack, or they can block that as well. They can continue to try to block aspiration and opportunity for every Australian. We’re determined to make a difference. This isn’t easy reform. Tax reform never is.
CLARKE: And you’ll need it to get through the Parliament. So, how are you going about getting it through the Senate and working with The Greens given the Coalition’s concerns about the details?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we are engaging respectfully, as we always do, right across the Parliament. My door’s always open, as is the door of the Treasurer and our Senate team. Of course, we will have the inquiry before the Senate sits in a few weeks’ time. That will be an opportunity as well for people to put forward their views and we welcome that.
CLARKE: It’s a very brief inquiry that will take place given there has been a lot of concern both from the public who were surprised about the extent of some of those changes, and for the Crossbench and other parties in Parliament that have questions about the details. Would it be a better show of faith to allow a more comprehensive examination by the Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Parliament will have the opportunity to examine it, just as today in the Parliament there’ll be a consideration in detailed debate. We had a productivity roundtable last year that raised these issues about inequity that was there in the tax system and we’ve known for a long period of time that there have been pressures on the housing market, and there wouldn’t be a Member of Parliament who wouldn’t have had a young person who had told them the story, about going to an auction and being outbid by someone who has the taxpayer, every taxpayer, as their partner. And young people, and not just them, but their parents and grandparents, are concerned that young Australians are being driven out of the opportunity to have a roof over their own head. I don’t want the Australian dream to be something that is written about in history books of owning your own home. I want everyone to have that opportunity. Aspiration isn’t something that only people who inherit wealth have. It’s something that every Australian has.
CLARKE: The difficulty for young people getting into housing is just one part of a number of economic challenges that people are facing at the moment. We see economic growth is barely in the positive territory. Interest rates are rising, there’s more rate hikes to come, and the global fuel crisis is unresolved too. There’s a lot of negatives here, clearly Toto has got an opinion in the background there, but can you give us a sense of how worried we should be about the months ahead, given those challenges?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there are always challenges in the economy, particularly when you have a global war going on, on the other side of the world. That’s having an impact on global inflation, because we have the biggest fuel crisis that the world has ever seen. But there’s rather be than Australia. We continue to have positive economic growth. We continue to be a country that has all the resources under the earth and indeed in the sky that the world knows will power the global economy in this century. We have a fantastic education skills system, and we’re located in the fastest growing region of the world in human history. So, I’m very positive about Australia being able to move forward. But one of the reasons why we have to reform is that if you don’t reform, the world does have the potential to move past us. That’s why we can’t continue to put off reform, and that’s why we’re making these changes.
CLARKE: Can I just perhaps get some clarity around the level of support the Government might be willing to offer people? I mean, you’re already softening the blow of some of these cost pressures by underwriting fuel purchases and cutting the fuel excise. Should households expect that kind of level of support will continue? Or is there a point where households need to brace for a bit more pain?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll be very careful, of course, in that anything that we do, we want to make sure we continue to do what we can to put downward pressure on inflation. That’s why we found $64 billion of additional savings in the Budget in May. But the decision that was made, for example, by the Fair Work Commission on Monday, which means that a pay increase of 4.7 per cent is very important for minimum wage workers. So, we want Australians to earn more, but the second thing we want is for them to keep more of what they earn. So, tax cuts come in on July 1 that will assist every single Australian worker. They were of course opposed by the Coalition. The Coalition indeed went to the election saying they’d reverse them. On top of that, we have the two additional tax cuts that are in the legislation today.
CLARKE: Prime Minister, I just want to ask you one more thing. We see polls come and go, but this week we saw One Nation poll higher than Labor in primary support for the first time. Does that change anything for the Labor Party and how you go about politics?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation, are openly discussing being a right-wing partnership. Increasingly, we see them mould into one point of view. And I think that Australians, when they consider that, will look towards what chaos that would represent in Australian politics.
CLARKE: What about for the Labor Party? I mean, this is a fundamental shift away from the two-party system that’s really shaped the post war period in Australian politics. Is it business as usual for the Labor Party or does this change anything about how you approach voters?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, for the Labor Party, we will always give voters respect, and we’ll always look towards how we can deliver higher wages, how we can decrease their income taxes, how we can be a party of reform, one that continues to have Medicare strengthened at the centre of our health system. One that, this year, began the move to fully and fairly fund every school, not just some. We’ll continue to drive the housing agenda, the biggest housing agenda that Australia has had since the post war period, and we’ll continue to engage as well, importantly in the sort of diplomatic representation as we saw yesterday when I hosted the Prime Minister of the Solomons, that looks after Australia’s interests in our region and the world.
CLARKE: An important visit, that one yesterday, but we’re out of time. Prime Minister, thank you very much for joining me this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Mel.
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