Subjects: International visits by government Minister’s; RBA Board appointments.
ALLISON LANGDON:
We’re joined by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles who is joining us in Rwanda and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in Canberra. Nice to see you both this morning. So Richard, you’re in Africa and Albo is jetting off to Europe and Penny Wong to Asia. Does your government not like being at home?
RICHARD MARLES:
We love being at home, but there is work to be done overseas and certainly there’s work to be done with fixing the relationship with France. With so many things that we’ve seen over the last month where the Liberals have stuffed it, we’re busily fixing it. That goes to our relationship with France, which is a critically important relationship for the country. And it’s going to be really important that Anthony is going to have the opportunity of meeting with President Macron to put a relationship with a country who’s actually one of our nearest neighbours, they’re a Pacific country, in terms of their Pacific territories, to get that back on track. And he’s looking forward to the opportunity to do that.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Peter, what do you reckon about that Albo off to break a baguette with the French President? Of course, because you broke the relationship, didn’t you?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we took a decision that was in our country’s best interests, Ally, and we won’t apologise for that. The AUKUS deal with the United States and the United Kingdom meant that we’ve got a security underpinning for our country for the next four or five decades.
It meant a tough decision in terms of terminating the contract with the French. They took offence that, understandably, it was a big contract, but in the end we acted in our country’s best interests and that’s what you would expect us to do. I’d certainly expect Richard to do the same in relation to any decisions he’s got to make.
I’m employed by the Australian people and my job is to keep our country safe and to make sure that we make the right decisions that are going to protect us into the future.
ALLISON LANGDON:
All right. Well, look, I want to talk now about what’s happening back home because the head of the ACTU, Sally McManus, she’s bagged the Reserve Bank. She says that the rising cost of living has nothing to do with wage rises, that it’s all about profits. And she says that the board of the RBA has, quote: “very little idea how things work.” Richard, is she right?
RICHARD MARLES:
Well the board of the RBA is independent, is the first point to make, but the wage rise that we saw for the lowest paid in our country was a critically important step.
I mean this represented about $1 extra an hour for people who were before the wage increase on $20.33. You know, I’d be really interested to hear Peter, as to whether or not he felt that wage rise was the right thing to happen in this country.
I’ve got no doubt those on the minimum wage absolutely needed every cent that came with that wage rise, and that’s critically important and we don’t resile from the submissions that we put forward to the Fair Work Commission to see that pay rise occur.
ALLISON LANGDON:
But what do you think of what Sally has come out and said though? What do you reckon or what Sally has come out to say that the cost of living rises have nothing to do with wages, that it’s all about businesses and making profits?
RICHARD MARLES:
Well, I don’t think giving a wage rise to those who are on the minimum wage, those who are the lowest paid is at the heart of what we’re seeing with the rise in the cost of living.
Fundamentally, that relates to the fact that we saw wages flatline over the last 10 years. We saw productivity growth being completely insipid and that’s really what’s at the heart of the crunch in the cost of living that we’ve experienced.
As effectively what we’ve seen is prosperity in our country go backwards. That wage rise was critically important and it is not a factor in terms of the in terms of cost of living, indeed it helps cost of living for those who have that increase in their pockets.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Pete, what do you think on one? Because I mean you’ve got the unions wanting wage rises to match inflation – so potentially 7 per cent. RBA reckons anything over 3.5 going to put pressure on inflation? There is a proper fight brewing here.
PETER DUTTON:
Ally, I think if you then have the overlay of what’s happening with inflation in the United States, potentially in our country as well, I think those workers are very worried, like most Australians, about increases in interest rates and if interest rates go up higher than they otherwise need to, then families are really going to be struggling with their mortgages and those businesses struggling to service their overdraught and their business loans, which means that they won’t be employing more people or cut back hours. So it’s a very finely balanced response here required by the government.
But look, Sally McManus is really pitching for a job. She wants a job on the Reserve Bank board. She’s been clear about that.
The unions have enormous influence over the federal government. We know that. I just don’t think we need a union leader without the requisite skills sitting on the Reserve Bank board – as Richard points out, it’s independent – and we want to keep the independence because we don’t want political interference in decisions made by the RBA. They look at all of the facts, the prevailing economic conditions and they make decisions based on that and that’s a system that’s served us well and we shouldn’t try and disrupt that.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Richard, you will have the opportunity to appoint two new board members to the RBA over the next year, is Sally in the running there? Or someone from the unions?
RICHARD MARLES:
Well, we will be looking very carefully at who’s in the best position to serve on the Reserve Bank board, but to hear that from Peter, whose government essentially ran an employment program for their mates over the last nine years, is genuinely astounding.
I mean, we saw more political appointments under the former government than we have ever seen. So we’re going to be about getting the very best people for that board and for all government appointments. And I think the jibe that we’ve just seen from Peter is irony in the extreme.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Well, there you go. Hey, look, I know you’re in Rwanda, Richard. Please pass on our love, won’t you? To Prince Charles and Camilla when you when you see them.
RICHARD MARLES:
I’ll be doing that.
ALLISON LANGDON:
All right – right before you tell him you don’t want him to be the king anymore. I’ll talk to you guys next week. Thank you.
[ends]