Time for Canberra Conversations with Senator Paul Scarr. Well, there’s been a lot happening this week, from the government’s superannuation policy back flip and growing concerns about the cost of living, of course, to the first phase of the US brokered peace plan in the Middle East, and, of course, the upcoming social media age ban campaign right here at home. Senator Scarr joins us now to unpack it all. Senator, welcome to The Nightline.
Senator Scarr
Great to be with you. Cheralyn, my favorite part of the week.
Cheralyn Darcey
Oh, brilliant. It’s good way to it’s a good way to wrap it up, isn’t it?
Senator Scarr
Oh, absolutely, yep. Good way to reflect on everything that’s happening. And there’s so much happening, as you said.
Cheralyn Darcey
Senator, this week, the government announced major changes to its superannuation plan. Essentially, they’ve walked back from a tax on unrealised gains. You’ve called this a massive backflip, and said Australians have avoided a dangerous tax because the Coalition stood firm. What do you think it was that forced labor to change direction after defending the policy for so long?
Senator Scarr
I think there are a number of things. First, I think it was important the Coalition stood up against this tax especially the concept of taxing unrealized capital gains or taxing paper profits when people hadn’t actually earned those profits. It was just a change in the valuation of assets, and I think also a lot of key stakeholders across the whole of society gave feedback to the government that this was just a bad idea. It was introducing a principle that has never been in the Australian Taxation system. That is that you hold an asset that just happens to go up in value, you haven’t sold it, so you haven’t crystallized that profit, but you’re taxed on that profit and I think a lot of people pointed out this didn’t make any sense at all.
Cheralyn Darcey
Well, the Treasurer says the new version will bring stability. Do you believe it?
Senator Scarr
Well, I certainly think it’s better than the old version. So I’m certainly pleased that there’s been a number of changes and the unrealized capital gain component has been dropped. They’re also indexing the threshold. So one of the concerns we had was at that $3 million threshold, which they’re going to keep forever, what’s that mean in 40 years for someone who is, say, 18 today? Because, of course, we have inflation, and $3 million in 40 years time is maybe worth $2 million dollars, or $1.5 million today. So they’ve also addressed that. We’ll be going through all of the detail in relation to the new proposal and working out what the Coalition’s position is. But I think this is really good news. I think this is a good example of our parliament working effectively, and the Opposition holding the government to account and making sure that changes weren’t introduced that were not in the best interest of the Australian people.
Cheralyn Darcey
Senator, while superannuation stability is one concern for Australians, global stability is another and there’s finally been movement overseas that many people thought might never come – the release of hostages, of course, and progress towards a US brokered peace plan. It has given the world a rare moment of optimism. You’ve described it as a hopeful step forward that Australia should support. How significant is this moment for global security and for Australia’s diplomatic position?
Senator Scarr
Just as you were asking that question, I was reflecting on all the conversations we’ve had, you and your listeners in relation to this awful situation in Israel with the attacks of 7 October, and also the situation in Gaza and it’s just such a relief, isn’t it, to see positive steps forward in relation to bringing about peace, and congratulations to President Donald Trump, in relation to the role he performed in relation to this, and ideally, we hope that this forms the basis for us to move forward in a positive way and bring about peace, but also see a decrease in that social division we’ve seen at home. I think that’s also really important. So look, I’m very, very hopeful. I think a key component will be Hamas putting down its weapons and there were some disturbing scenes coming out of Gaza where Hamas were on the streets, to be frank, executing people and we need to see an end to that, and we need to see Hamas disarmed, and then we can move forward in terms of reconstruction, and ideally, hope and pray it’s an enduring, sustainable peace. That’s what the whole world is crying out for.
Cheralyn Darcey
Senator talking about peace. Some are calling for Australia to play a peacekeeping role. Do you think that’s appropriate at this stage?
Senator Scarr
I think we need to be very careful in relation to any commitments of boots on the ground, as it were, in Gaza in particular. One of the things that would concern me is, if Hamas is still in the area with weapons, and I’d be very wary about putting Australians in harm’s way in that context. So I think we need to be very, very careful in that regard and there are major regional players who I think also need to step up in terms of their contributions in Gaza, who know the area much better, and I think really, the onus should be on them to step up.
Cheralyn Darcey
From international relations, let’s bounce back home to another issue that’s weighing very heavily on Australians right now, their wallets. Consumer confidence has fallen again this month, down to its lowest level in a year with a five-year outlook now the weakest in 15 years. Senator, what do these latest figures tell you about the mood in Australian households?
Senator Scarr
It’s very concerning. These figures are really concerning that consumer confidence is falling, and I think at the same time, you need to consider the unemployment rate for September, which was released yesterday and showed unemployment is now back up to 4.5%. There’s over 30,000 additional Australians in the unemployed queue, and that’s a terrible thing for them and their family. So I think people are feeling very vulnerable. We’ve previously spoken about the cost-of-living crisis, so people are saving more, not going out as much. When I go around the community and talk to small businesses, and your listeners would see this in their own community, and certainly those have small businesses, people are spending less. They’ve got less confidence, and it does become a bit of a vicious circle, because they’re spending less and then businesses’ turnover goes down. They need to be more careful with respect to their costs, including employment. So it is a continuing issue that really does need to be addressed.
Cheralyn Darcey
But the government says that inflation is easing and relief is on its way. Why aren’t families feeling it yet?
Senator Scarr
Well, the government is saying inflation is easing, but at the same time, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, who is totally independent from government, is saying that increased government spending is putting pressure on inflation. So you’ve got a situation where inflation is still under pressure, and we’ve got rising unemployment, so that’s a very, very difficult situation and from my perspective, I think everyone, including your listeners, would be well advised to listen to the advice of the Reserve Bank Governor instead of politicians.
Cheralyn Darcey
For listeners that are feeling the pinch now, which I think is all of us, what can realistically change between now and the next election?
Senator Scarr
We do like to be optimistic. So you know, there is hope that, that maybe oil prices will come down, including if there is peace in the Middle East, because a lot of the countries that would be looking to support rebuilding Gaza will be looking to do that from oil revenues, so they may be producing more oil, but that’s really just speculation on my part, so it’s really hard to see a pathway that’s going to address a lot of the major issues that Australia’s facing at the moment, including those 12 interest rate increases, only three decreases. So maybe there’s going to be another interest rate decrease. But at the same time, the Governor of the Reserve Bank is saying that the excessive government spending is putting pressure on inflation, and that makes interest rate cuts less likely. So look, I just feel for everyone out there in the community. I see it when I’m moving around, the pressure people are under. It’s having an impact on a whole raft of areas. I talk to sporting clubs, where parents are taking their kids out of sporting clubs because they can’t afford that additional financial obligation. People are spending less in restaurants and cafes. So we’re seeing it across the whole of society.
Cheralyn Darcey
While we’re talking about Australia’s futures. One issue is getting a lot of attention right now, and it’s how we protect our kids online. The government has just launched an advertising campaign about the upcoming social media age ban, but critics are asking how it can promote a policy before confirming which platforms are actually affected. You’ve said the Coalition led the charge on this issue to protect children from online harm. So why was it important for the Coalition to push for that minimum age ban on social media in the first place?
Senator Scarr
There’s been a lot of concern that’s been raised in relation to the impact of social media upon children, and we are talking about children here and your listeners as grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters. They would know the impact that social media can have on young people. We’re talking about cyber bullying, we’re talking about predatory behavior, the predators who are out there on the internet trying to find victims and we’re talking about grossly inappropriate material that’s also shared on the internet and can be just immediately accessible on your phone. Some really disturbing material. So clearly, action is required. Our concern is that the government really hasn’t explained how all of this is going to work. We’re two months out from the commencement, and they still haven’t really explained which platforms are going to be captured by the ban and how it’s going to work, and there hasn’t been clear communication with the Australian people. So that’s really our fundamental concern at this stage.
Cheralyn Darcey
What sort of support or education should parents expect from a ban like this?
Senator Scarr
It’s not just parents. I think everyone should have reasonably expected that the government was going to be upfront, transparent, and explain how this was all going to work in practice, and we just haven’t seen that. We just haven’t seen it and it’s the same in other areas, across different portfolios, including my portfolio of immigration, when the government released the permanent migration intake for the current year, two months late, they released less than 100 words of explanation. It’s not good enough. It’s not good enough. The Australian people deserve transparency, and they deserve the information they need from government to make the decisions that they need to make to adapt to new government policies. So I think the government really has to lift its game in this regard, especially because we’re talking about our children
Cheralyn Darcey
Absolutely and would you put this down to the government just working too hastily, or is it simply a matter of poor communication on their part?
Senator Scarr
Look, that is really for the government to explain. It’s the same Minister whose responsible for the portfolio that included those awful triple zero emergency call outages, which had a devastating impact on Australians. So it doesn’t really inspire confidence.
Cheralyn Darcey
It doesn’t. Senator Paul Scarr, thank you so much for explaining a few things to us in Canberra Conversations this week.
Senator Scarr
Good on you, and good luck in those future multiple-choice tests!
