I took a cab into work this morning and on the way in, I asked the driver, 'If you could speak to the Prime Minister today, what would you say to him?' He said, 'I've been a Labor voter my entire life, but for the first time, I think I'll vote differently at the next election'. He told me things have become too expensive. He's having to work two jobs and he just doesn't believe the government is doing anything about it. I want to bring in Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, now. Good morning to you, Prime Minister. This is your biggest problem. People like this cabbie are losing faith. How do you respond to that?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, cost of living pressures are real, Nat, but that's why we have engaged with responsible economic management in order to bring inflation down, whilst we've been delivering cost of living relief. And yesterday's figures showing that headline, inflation's down from 3.5 to 2.7 is a good outcome. There's more work to be done, but we've done that whilst we've delivered a tax cut for that cabbie, who would have got nothing under the previous scheme. That's why we've delivered, as well, additional support, like energy bill relief for the cabbie. If he's got kids, cheaper child care has made a difference. If he's retraining for a job, then fee-free TAFE has made a difference as well. Delivering back-to-back budget surpluses has been a major contributor to putting that downward pressure on inflation, where in difficult global economic times, we understand that. That's why we're also putting pressure on the supermarkets with the taking by the ACCC of Woolworths and Coles to court for the allegations that are over 500 examples between them of products being lifted up in price and then lowered by less than they were raised by in the first place and pretending that they were on special, essentially having a lend of people. We know people are doing it tough. And when people are doing it tough, they'll be looking for value, they're looking for bargains when they go to the supermarkets. And they should trust the signs that say prices are down or that it's on special. And that hasn't been the case for everyday products. So, we are doing what we can, but we understand these are difficult economic times, which is why we're taking that action.
BARR: Look, we understand the supermarket investigation is well-received. As far as inflation goes. It's artificial, isn't it, the power rebate? Because, as the RBA has said, this does not mean that inflation is under control. The power rebate is going to end. And that's keeping it at one level at the moment. That's why they look at underlying inflation. They take out volatile stuff like fruit and veggies jumping around because of, you know, bad crops. They take out insurance spiking because of different natural disasters. And they take out things like the power rebate because that will end. So, what do you say about inflation still being at this level?
PRIME MINISTER: What I say is that if you exclude volatile, the figures that were released yesterday, which are known as month-by-month, but they're year-to-year, they're just released every month. That figure is down from 3.7 down to three. That's a remarkable drop. That's heading in the right direction. The RBA's target band is two to three. Every single one of the figures yesterday that we released, whether it was headline excluding volatile, mean, all of them saw significant drops in inflation. And that is what has been happening over a period of time. It hasn't been smooth, the downward trend, it's been volatile itself. But what we're seeing is a trend heading in the right direction. And inflation is half what we inherited and one third of where it peaked. Now, that is in part because of the back-to-back budget surpluses that we have delivered. That in part is, yes, energy bill relief, but also what we've done in cheaper child care, fee-free TAFE, the deliberate policy design to help people whilst putting that downward pressure on inflation.
BARR: Okay. Well, we could argue about the Government spending, because they have a view on that. And the RBA is actually said the progress in reducing underlying inflation has slowed. So, it's not all going down in one direction like we need. But let's go to negative gearing.
PRIME MINISTER: That was before, with respect Nat, to that, those statements were before these latest figures a day. These figures came out yesterday.
BARR: Yeah, that's right. So, let's go to negative gearing, because this is a topic that everyone's talking about. You've been pressed over concerns that you make reforms. There are claims that you've asked the Treasury on possible changes. We know it's been well reported that Bill, it didn't work out for Bill Shorten. Is there an argument now that you change or at least tweak negative gearing? Because you are losing taxes because of the tax concessions that you give people who negative gear. Most people who do negative gear do it on established houses. It's not helping our housing supply. So, is there an argument to actually look at it now? We're in a different time to the Bill Shorten time, five years ago.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, when it has been looked at, Nat, it's been shown that it won't assist supply, and that's the problem here. Our Homes for Australia plan is all about boosting supply, whether it be building more public housing, whether it be our Build to Rent incentive, that's before the Senate and being blocked by the No-alition of the Liberals, the Nationals and the Greens. Whether it's our Help to Buy scheme.
BARR: Would this help you get in with the Greens, though?
PRIME MINISTER: Which again is being blocked.
BARR: If you're heading for minority government, is this one way of helping you get in with the Greens?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm not slightly interested in the Greens' approach. Because they're just blockers, not builders.
BARR: Well, what if you have to get in bed with them. You might have to.
PRIME MINISTER: There will be no coalition from the Labor Party. I'm seeking to continue to govern in the Labor Party's own right.
BARR: And what if you have no choice?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Greens are in with the Liberals and the Nationals, Nat, when it comes to housing policy, when it comes to blocking the Future Made in Australia plan, making more things.
BARR: There are 20 seats in between. What if in May you're stuck in the minority, in minority government and they're the ticket?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm not interested in that, Nat, because the Greens have just shown themselves to not be a constructive force. They've been opportunistic. Here they are, when it comes to Help to Buy, that's about a shared equity scheme. That is that if you buy a home, a unit for $500,000, you can get $200,000 of that owned, effectively, by the Government, which reduces your mortgage. It gets you in a home ownership. It's their policy and they're voting against it, they're blocking it. What I'm interested in is serious policies as a party of government, not a party of protest.
BARR: Okay. Prime Minister, we thank you for your time today.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Nat.
