Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service
ABBEY CULLEN, HOST: Good morning, you are with Abbey this morning on the Goldfields 981 Triple M. On my line I've got Patrick Gorman, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister to talk about all things to do with the Federal Budget announcement. Good morning, Patrick.
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER AND ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE: Good morning, Abbey and good morning to your listeners.
CULLEN: Thank you very, very lovely to have you on the airwaves this morning Patrick, thank you for joining us. I want to start with obviously the Federal Budget was released last night. What changes have been made from the last announcement that was back in 2022 I believe?
GORMAN: This is our third budget and it is our second surplus that we have delivered and we have tried to get the balance right between doing what we need to do now for people, which is cost of living relief, and what we need to do for the future, which is investing in the future - in what we call a Future Made in Australia. So some of those new initiatives include the $300 energy credit that people in the Goldfields will get through Horizon Power - that comes on top of the previously announced $400 credit from the Cook Labor Government in WA. So that is a real boost for people struggling with those power bills. And the other one that we have done for those who might be relying on rent assistance, we have increased rent assistance for the second year in a row to help people who are struggling with their rent. And for every taxpayer, whatever they do across the Goldfields, every taxpayer in the Goldfields gets a tax cut. That is about 75,000 people in your area, which is a huge number of people getting a tax cut.
CULLEN: Absolutely, Patrick. Thank you for sharing that information. In regards to the rental assistance, is there anything in place at the moment that the government have been trying to help in that area? Or is this a new particular segue?
GORMAN: So we have been providing rent assistance for about 30 years from the Commonwealth Government. But what we have done is last budget we increased it by 15%, this year by 10%. That is the largest increase to rent assistance. We know it has been a real pressure for a lot of people. But what we are also trying to do is get more homes built. We know that ultimately we are trying to help people now, but for the long term, get more homes built. We have a big fund in this budget to help with some of the infrastructure needs to help new housing developments, help create ways of getting more homes into our regions. We also know that with some of the commitments we have made around investing more in what we want to do with Geoscience Australia, $566 million mapping across Australia, finding those mineral deposits that will power our nation and the world in the decades ahead. We know we are going to need a lot more people be able to live in our regions and want to make sure that those great opportunities are there for people.
CULLEN: Yeah, absolutely Patrick, I agree with that. And in regards to our energy credit, you mentioned the $300 energy credit being shared across the Goldfields as well, as you might know, at the beginning of the year the Goldfields struggled with the power cutting out. Do you think that $300 credit will be effective for us here in the Goldfields?
GORMAN: I think every West Australian saw people who are struggling when the power went out for a number of days, it was pretty shocking. I think it also showed just how resilient the Australian people are, how people were helping each other out. And I think in times of crisis you often see some of the best of Australians. This is about a cost of living measure for people who are struggling right now. But for the long term, what we have also got is an agreement for a 3 billion dollar investment with the State Government in WA, to upgrade power transmission infrastructure - what we call Rewiring the Nation. That is about making sure that we can get the power that we need to those mineral processing plants and all of those great manufacturing businesses that we hope will build and stay here in WA. But also to make sure that we can start transmitting more renewable energy, because we know that that is the cheapest form of energy for Australia's future.
CULLEN: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Patrick. Well, Patrick that does bring us to the end of our chat. But is there anything else you'd like to add in regards to the federal budget announcement?
GORMAN: The only other thing I would say, and I know I have had your Deputy Mayor in my office here in Canberra in the past, talking about things around airports, regional infrastructure. I am a bit of an aviation nerd, I really care about aviation. There is in this budget an extra $40 million for regional airports, that is a competitive fund but I am sure that we will be seeing an application come in from the Shire of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the near future.
CULLEN: Lovely. Well thank you very much for your time Patrick have a beautiful day. You are in Canberra, aren't you?
GORMAN: Thank you. Yes, I am in Canberra. It is a beautiful day here and I hope you have a beautiful day too and all the best to your listeners.
