THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AM AGENDA WITH LAURA JAYES
THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2024
SUBJECTS: INFLATION RATES, REX AIRLINES
LAURA JAYES, HOST: Let's get back to pressing issues at home. It is around the cost of living. We had those inflation figures yesterday and look, the inflation is still too high, but it's not high enough to perhaps trigger a rate rise next week from the RBA.
Let's go live now to the Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek. She joins us live now. We haven't seen you for a while on the programme. Welcome back, Tanya. First of all, I mean, it's a good sign yesterday. It was a good call, perhaps rates aren't going to go up next week, but people are still feeling the pinch, aren't they?
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Oh, they sure are. And the government's very, very aware of the fact that people are feeling the pressure of cost of living. And that's why we have made sure that every Australian taxpayer gets a tax cut. We're supporting wage rises. I think the average now for people on award wages is $143 a week increase since we came to government. That's why we've got our $300 energy rebate, cheaper childcare, cheaper medicines, free TAFE. We are very focused on helping people with the cost of living. And you're right that yesterday's inflation figures, they're getting better. I mean, they're about half of what we inherited when we came to government. But certainly, we're not saying job done. The Treasurer, the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, all of them are very focused on putting the budget in a more sustainable position. It's really worth reminding people that the previous government promised a surplus in their first year and every year after they never delivered a single surplus. We've delivered two back-to-back surpluses in our first two budgets. We're turning Liberal deficits into Labor surpluses, really important achievements. And the Reserve Bank's been clear that our budget efforts have also helped take pressure off inflation.
JAYES: Well, have the RBA been clear on that, though? Because we have heard previously, and especially after the budget, that they've looked through some of these, you know, artificial ways that you bring down inflation. I know most people don't care how you bring it down, artificially or not, with those temporary measures, but is commentary and some comments from the RBA it says, perhaps the government does need to do more. Is that on the cards here?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, we've taken a very responsible attitude to the budget, and the previous government, in their final budget, spent every dollar of the revenue upgrades they had. We've consistently worked to bring down expenditure in the budget. That's how we've managed to get those Liberal deficits into Labor surpluses and the Reserve's been clear that the surpluses do help with the inflationary challenge. We've got to help people immediately, and that's what we're doing with tax cuts, with supporting wage increases, with cheaper medicines, cheaper childcare, free TAFE, relieving HECS debt. All of those things make a difference day to day. And in the longer term, the hard work that the Treasurer and the Finance Minister have done to get the budget back on a sustainable footing is also taking pressure off inflation.
JAYES: Well, looking at, you know, some of the real-life examples of, you know, the economic times are in at the moment. Rex is surely an example of that. Will the government be willing and ready to bail it out? You talk about the money that you've kept in reserve. Is this a good way to spend it, if necessary, particularly for those regional towns?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, we know that regional communities rely on those links that Rex has provided for work, for leisure, for education, for healthcare, for a whole range of reasons, they need to be connected. We're very well aware of the important role that regional airlines play. The Prime Minister and the Transport Minister have both been very clear that nothing's off the table here. I think the one thing that we have been cautious of is that the previous government gave hundreds of millions of dollars to Qantas and other companies during COVID with no strings attached. And we saw Qantas receive enormous taxpayer subsidies and then go on to sack a proportion - a large proportion of its workforce. And we want to make sure that whatever steps we take with Rex are good for the travelling public, but also protect taxpayers' investments.
JAYES: Is part of the thinking here as well, Minister, that if Rex does not survive, it makes Qantas more dominant and therefore less competition, particularly on those regional routes. Is that something you're acutely concerned about?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, absolutely. And it's not just that - those concerns have not just, you know, come to light in the last few days. The Transport Minister, Catherine King, is working on an Aviation White Paper. That work was already very extensive before we heard of the Rex collapse. And one of the issues in that Aviation White Paper is how we ensure that there is competition in domestic aviation and it does look at issues like the slot management systems. I mean, the previous government was warned again and again about slot management.
JAYES: Yeah. Well, that's the question. And the Opposition has been talking about this. Yeah. So, Catherine King's got this White Paper, but she hasn't done anything about slot --
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, they're talking about it now.
JAYES: Look but they haven't really - she hasn't done anything about slot management either and now Rex is in this situation. Perhaps if she did, Rex wouldn't be in this situation.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, well, in February, the Transport Minister had said that we're bringing legislation to the Parliament that will deal with this very complex issue of how to better manage the slots that are available for take-offs and landing at our airports. This is something that has - there's been warning after warning to the previous government that this is an issue --
JAYES: Has that legislation been brought, though?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: -- they did nothing and now they're complaining about the fact. Well, it's going through the processes to go into parliament. And what we would hope is that the Coalition, having ignored the problem for as long as they did, will actually get behind the solution. What they normally do is create a problem over a decade and then get in the way of the solution. So, it would be wonderful to have their support for a sensible approach to the reform of slot management to make sure that there is proper competition between our domestic airlines.
JAYES: Going through the process of bringing that legislation to parliament is cold comfort for Rex now. Should that have been fast tracked by the Prime Minister, by Catherine King months ago, though?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Oh, look, it is very complex to get this right. And I think the Prime Minister, no doubt will be talking about Rex at that press conference you were talking about later in the day.
JAYES: Yeah, ok. He will. Thanks so much for your time. Great to see you. We'll check in soon.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Always a pleasure.
END
