On the phone right now. I have Senator Paul Scarr. Good morning, Paul and welcome thank you very much for having a chat with us. How’s your week been? It’s been a busy one in Canberra, hasn’t it?
Senator Scarr
Well, it has been a busy week, but as you mentioned, John, there’s been that rate rise, and that was probably the most important meeting during the week, that meeting of the RBA on Tuesday, which increased interest rates by point two, 5% which is going to be devastating news for many Australians with a mortgage.
John Sertori
Yeah. And it’s interesting, because initially government spending, Jim Chalmers was sort of saying, No, it’s not related to that, but that’s now not what Michelle Bullock is saying.
Senator Scarr
There was a lot of nonsense spoken during the week, not just by Jim Chalmers, but also by the finance minister, Senator Katie calleger, in relation this interest rate rise, as you said, Jim Chalmers said it was unrelated to government spending. And yet, nearly every economist who commented on the increase in inflation, increase in interest rate, was calling out an increase in government spending. And as you said, the Reserve Bank Governor as well.
John Sertori
The interest rates going up again. Of course, that’s hurt. You know, mortgage holders and those who are possibly wanting to take them out, which is not good. I mean, in our government spending, you know, it sort of in some way, it really does need to be reined in, doesn’t it? Because I would imagine that if there’s more going out than there is coming in, then we’re always going to have a problem.
Senator Scarr
Well, absolutely in in. If there’s, as you put it, you put it very well. If there’s more going out than coming in, all we’re doing is increasing debt and imposing that debt obligation on future generations, and that’s just unfair to future generations, so it has to be brought into control. And there’s lot of spending at the moment which is unnecessary or it’s unsuccessful. An example of that is spending in some of the renewable projects. There’s been hundreds of millions of dollars invested in renewable projects which is going to get no return, and in some cases, has been lost already.
John Sertori
I mean, and you know, do you think there’s evidence of sort of deeper structural problems, as well as government spending?
Senator Scarr
Well, I think there is, and there are some major government projects or government schemes where the expenditure keeps going up and up, and it needs to be brought under control. NDIS is an example of one of those huge government schemes, and we need to do everything we can to make sure every single dollar spent on the NDIS, through our social security, through all the government programs, is well spent, and the money actually gets to the people in need. It isn’t lost to bureaucracy over regulation and inefficiency.
John Sertori
Obviously, one of the other big news stories during the week is this rift that still seems to be there between the libs and the Nationals. For the coalition to put forward a united front. It sort of really needs to be fixed, doesn’t it this?
Senator Scarr
Well, mate, I hope it is fixed. I come from Queensland. I think we spoke about this last week, and the thing we learned in Queensland, which had been governed by Labor governments for many, many years, for the vast majority of time, over the last 30 years, was division on the non labor side of politics doesn’t work. So ideally, hope the coalition comes back together. There are still discussions occurring, and I really do hope they’re successful.
John Sertori
Obviously, we’ve seen and heard this for a number of weeks now, with regards to the polls, but a concern for the coalition and liberals and the Nationals and the popularity of one nation?
Senator Scarr
Yeah, and I think there’s, I think there’s an element there that people are unhappy with the division that they’ve seen, especially over the last few weeks, and they’re protesting against that. And we need to focus on the main game, which is holding the government to account and developing that suite of policies to take to the next election.
John Sertori
It was mooted in the last couple of days, and I think it might have been Pauline Hanson who said it about sort of a closer tie between one nation and the Coalition.
Senator Scarr
Well, from my, from my perspective. We’ve had a long relationship of a coalition with the National Party, and I think that needs to be our focus, getting the coalition back on track with our friends in the national party, where we’ve been very successful in governments, including the John Howard coalition, with people like John Anderson and Tim Fisher. And I think that needs to be our focus.
John Sertori
I was only just talking about, I mean, you’ve mentioned John Howard and about this capital gains tax discount, because they’re now talking about the Albanese government, and now talking about potentially, you know, scrapping that.
Senator Scarr
That’s really concerning. So Jim Chalmers is making a number of comments about what he refers to as reform, and whenever Jim Chalmers talks about reform, you can expect more taxes. And look, we’re not going to correct the housing supply issue through more taxes. It’s that’s not going to solve the issue. Australians don’t need more taxes. Australians don’t want more taxes. Australians have bought their homes on expectations that they’re going to get that CGT capital gains tax discount, and that’s how it should remain.
John Sertori
So next week, it’s again, going to be a lot of focus on what’s happening between the liberals and the Nationals. The CGT thing is, of course, is also going to rumble on. I think you’re in for another busy week in Canberra, Paul.
Senator Scarr
It’s also Senate Estimates. So in the Senate, we had the opportunity to ask all the public servants and the ministers questions about how they’re managing their portfolios. And there’s a lot of questions that need to be asked, and that’s our job, that should be our focus, holding the government to account.
John Sertori
Sounds good. Paul, thank you very much for your time. Have yourself a great Saturday and a great weekend.
Senator Scarr
Good on you, mate.
