Chalmers rejects opposition claims Labor is fuelling inflation, and says he is ‘impatient for reform’
Jim Chalmers says the May budget will help tackle inflation and strengthen the economy against shocks from Donald Trump’s policies, and has pushed back on opposition claims his government is intensifying cost-of-living pain.Days before another expected interest rate rise from the Reserve Bank of Australia, Chalmers labelled criticism of government spending from the Liberal and National parties as hypocritical, while also saying the government was “open” to big ideas on tax reform and would apply a laser-focus on intergenerational inequity in Labor’s second term.“The same people who say now that the budget is the sole or primary driver of inflation weren’t saying that last year when inflation was falling substantially and the bank cut rates three times,” he said.“We actually improved the budget in December in the update in any case, another $20bn in savings and the sort of responsibility and restraint unrecognisable to our predecessors.”Chalmers praised last week’s landmark speech by Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, but stopped short of endorsing Carney’s call for a coalition of middle powers and said Australia would navigate a path between China, as its biggest trading partner, and the United States as a vital defence ally.
In a wide-ranging interview with Guardian Australia, Chalmers revealed that a new intergenerational report [IGR] would be released in the middle of the year, and was likely to include a greater-than-usual focus on geopolitics.The five-yearly federal government reports are designed to project budget and economic outlooks for the next 40 years, measuring long-term policy and structural trends.Sign up: AU Breaking News email“The 2020s are a defining decade in terms of setting us up for the future, but also a dangerous decade, so the IGR will help paint a picture of our understandings in the 2020s about how the world will play out in the coming decade,” he said.He pushed back against claims his government was not acting boldly and quickly enough to lift the economy’s productive capacity, saying the breadth of Labor’s agenda was under-appreciated.“I’m impatient for reform, but I’m not impetuous about it,” he said.
On the prospect of a major tax reform proposal in time for the next election, Chalmers said Labor was working on a substantial agenda already, including from last year’s productivity round table and Friday’s announcement of an independent review of thin capitalisation reforms.The rules are designed to prevent companies claiming excessive debt deductions to minimise the tax they pay in Australia.“We take decisions collectively in our government, and any steps beyond that will be consistent with the directions that we set at the reform round table, which were around intergenerational fairness, attracting investment and making the system simpler,” he said.“If there are responsible steps that we can take beyond that already very substantial agenda, and if we can afford to do that, obviously we’re open to ideas.But decisions about any further tax reforms, whether it be in this May budget or subsequently, will be, as they always are, a matter for the cabinet to determine.
”Figures on Wednesday showed inflation had jumped to 3.8% in the year to December, from 3.4% the month before, strengthening expectations of a Reserve Bank rate rise on Tuesday.The return of high inflation threatens to hijack Labor’s second term economic agenda in the short term, but Chalmers said he remained focused on longer-term challenges around productivity and intergenerational inequity.“The government’s priorities [are] dealing with this inflation challenge, turning around a couple of decades of underperforming on productivity, [and] making our economy more resilient.
“We’re interested in building more homes for people.You know that the housing market is really one of the defining elements of this big intergenerational challenge that we have in our economy and in our society, and so those are the sorts of lenses through which we view the preparations for May.”Chalmers said Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos was a reminder decision makers in Australia should not be “nostalgic” about the past, especially after economic shocks including the Covid-19 pandemic and the global financial crisis.“The point that Carney is making goes beyond trade policy changes out of [Washington] DC, it captures the whole shebang,” he said, pointing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “a more assertive China” and Middle East conflict.“But we work across the board in the service of our interests.
We work with our allies, like the US, big economies like China and increasingly, middle powers like Canada,”Chalmers said there was an “extraordinary” level of interest in Australia from global investors, which he said reflected the potential for Australia to prosper despite the rupture in the global economic order,“We are increasingly seen as this island of stability and opportunity in a sea of risk and uncertainty,“We’ve got so much of what the world needs,We’ve got the stability that the world is hankering for, and that makes us more attractive.
And there’s economic opportunity in that for Australia, for our workers and businesses and investors, and we intend to make the most of that.”Carney is scheduled to address the Australian federal parliament in March.Despite polls showing One Nation has a record-high primary vote of 22%, Chalmers told Guardian Australia support for rightwing parties was fracturing, pointing to the split between the Liberal party and the Nationals.“I think they’re splintering, and obviously the divisive politics of the three far-right parties in Australia risk making the intergenerational challenge worse, not better, because divisive politics are anathema to economic progress.”
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Anything bright and zingy is particularly welcome in January, even more so when it’s in the form of cake. I always have an odd end of marzipan after the festive season, and this is a great way to use it up and bring that cosy almond flavour. The marzipan gets blitzed into the butter for a plush-textured loaf cake, and comes together in minutes thanks to simply putting everything in a food processor.Prep 10 min Cook 1 hr 10 min, plus cooling Serves 8-10200g unsalted butter, softened125g marzipan 150g caster sugar Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange, plus 2 tbsp extra juice for the icingFinely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon3 large eggs 220g plain flour 50g ground almonds ¼ tsp fine sea salt 2 tsp baking powder 50g plain yoghurtTo finish100g icing sugar 40g toasted flaked almondsHeat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4, and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper.Put the butter and marzipan in a food processor and blitz until smooth
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