Welcome Back to Today. Thank you so much for your company this Saturday. Well, the travel expenses saga has deepened this morning, with another front bencher facing scrutiny as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeks a review. Attorney General Michelle Rowland has announced she’s referred to a family trip to the expenses authority, making her the second minister to refer themselves this week. Let’s bring in today’s talkers, Shadow Minister for Immigration, Paul Scarr and Carla Bignasca from 4BC radio. A particularly good morning to you both and thank you for your time. Paul. I’ll start with you. This story must be like Christmas for you.
Senator Scarr
Well, it just keeps coming, doesn’t it? We just get more and more of these revelations, and I think the point to make here is we’re in a cost of living crisis, and the Australian community has expectations that all politicians, whatever party they come from, have to be reasonable and considered with respect to expenses., and now we have two Labor ministers who’ve had to refer themselves to the regulatory authority with respect to analysis of their expenses. S, it really isn’t good enough. The Opposition Leader wrote to the Prime Minister and said, let’s sit down and have a look at this code of travel expenses and make sure it meets community expectations.
Host
What do you make of that, Paul? Because, as you said, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, she has said that she wants to have a bipartisan reform on this, looking into it next year, but the PM says he wants to wait for the watchdog. What are your thoughts on that approach from Anthony Albanese?
Senator Scarr
We need to sit down and fix this. The community expects us to be very careful with how we spend taxpayer dollars, so I’m disappointed the Labor Prime Minister didn’t accept the overtures from the Opposition Leader to sit down and discuss the code and make sure it’s fit for purpose, and I just want to make this point as well – just because you can do something under the rules doesn’t mean you should do it. It doesn’t mean you should do it, because I think there’s an ethical responsibility to be careful with how we pay taxpayer dollars.
Host
Carla, News Corp have crunched some of the numbers, and they estimate a Sydney Backbencher gets more than $650,000 in entitlements in total, and although they claim they haven’t broken the rules, this can’t sit well with the general public, especially when we’re in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
Carla Bignasca
Exactly what Paul just said there. Just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should, and what underlies this is the word entitlement and community standards. All week, we’ve been banging on about the fact that it doesn’t pass the pub test. We need to put that in the phrase of 2025/2026, now, but that’s exactly what it is. You know, whilst we’re all tightening our belts, Canberra is opening the door wide open for whatever they have, for whatever reason, and yes, of course, it is openly and everything else, but it doesn’t meet community standards.
Host
In other news, this morning, Top CEOs around the country are urging Labor to rein in their spending with claims they’re making the RBAs job of taming inflation even harder. Paul, the RBA, they’re hinting at another rate rise, and, once again, it’ll be the public who feels this financial pain.
Senator Scarr
Oh, absolutely, and I’m seeing this in my local community. The food banks and the social welfare organizations in my local community are helping people who they’ve never seen before, because of the cost-of-living crisis, interest rates are so high, rents are so high, electricity bills, et cetera. The government must rein on spending. The government is spending too much that puts pressure on inflation, which puts pressure on interest rates. So, we need to see the government bring inflation and government spending under control.
Host
Carla, Westpac mortgage holders, they the first to feel it. They’ve already copped on a preholiday hike in rates. Of course, the banks waste no time here.
Carla Bignasca
I guess they’re all anticipating the fact that, you know, come February, with our next rates meeting, the RBA, it’s more than likely will go up. Westpac, interesting tho is the only one of the big four who have said that they will hold interest rates, so maybe they’re just preempting the move, so that when it does happen and the other ones have to follow suit, if the rate does go up come February, they don’t seem like the bad guy, because they’ll put it on hold, but more than likely, they’ll do it again, just so they’re in line with everyone else. But all signs are quite foreboding for February, and you know, it’s all great, and we get a reprieve come Christmas now, but we’ve got to look for the next couple of months, and it doesn’t look great.
Host
Indeed, and it seems, though, that one place we are not saving on is splurging on our pets. Australians are spending $1 billion on their furry friends this silly season. Paul, do you have a pet? Would you splurge an average of eighty dollars on your pouch?
Senator Scarr
I’ve got Incy Wincy, the rescued Greyhound, and as soon as I finish this interview, I’m taking Incy Wincy out to breakfast at her favorite cafe. I’ll roll out her mat, and I’ll feed her bacon from my plate. I’ll also take my wife along and give her a cup of coffee!
Host
I’m getting the vibe that Incy Wincy might just be the most spoiled pet in all the country. Carla, how about you? Do you have any pets? Do you splurge on them at Christmas?
Carla Bignasca
Oh, gee, I want to be Paul’s pet. Paul’s wife eats off Incy Wincy’s plate. We have just adopted a long-haired dash hound named Gary. Gary is annoying and has ripped up so many things around the house, so his present to us will be, hopefully, not chewing the rest of the Christmas decorations that we have around the place and leaving my kids’ toys alone. But yes, he has a Christmas bandanna, and that’s all I’ve spent. I bought it at the Black Friday sales, because I don’t know what sort of money Paul’s on, but there’s not much money going around at the Bignasca household, and poor Gary, he’s lucky to be getting a lump of coal. He’d like that, to keep the air con on.
Host
Yes. It doesn’t sound like Gaz is going to be joining you at breakfast like Paul’s, Incy. Wincy is! Paul and Carla. Thank you very much for speaking with us this morning. Really appreciate it.
Senator Scarr
Thanks very much!
