WEBVTT - Paul Murray Live | 29 September 0:00:02.290 --> 0:00:07.790 This is Paul Murray Live. Thank you, Shari. Gladly, just 0:00:07.810 --> 0:00:08.990 send it on to me. There is a lot to 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:10.860 get to tonight. But can I, before we get into 0:00:10.910 --> 0:00:13.440 anything else, and yes, there is only one big story 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:15.980 in the country tonight. We'll talk to Nigel Farage. We'll 0:00:16.020 --> 0:00:18.880 have a debate. We'll talk about other subjects. But of course, 0:00:18.940 --> 0:00:22.260 the lead story is the only story that really matters 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.880 tonight to millions of people trying to work out how 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:25.400 ends meet. 0:00:26.390 --> 0:00:29.650 The RBA has lifted the cash rate from 4.35% to 4.6%. 0:00:29.650 --> 0:00:34.379 Interest rates have hit a 15-year high. 0:00:34.700 --> 0:00:39.520 Lifting the cash rate to a 15-year high. And I'm 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.900 angry with them all, right? I'm just as furious as 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:48.420 you are with the gaslighting Treasurer, the BSing Prime Minister, 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.940 the Reserve Bank Governor who, for some reason, dropped interest 0:00:52.020 --> 0:00:55.570 rates and that gave... the government, a narrative that got 0:00:55.610 --> 0:00:58.270 them re-elected only for it all to come back, get 0:00:58.310 --> 0:01:00.810 worse and maybe get worse from here. But can I 0:01:00.830 --> 0:01:03.990 just say one thing right off the top tonight? Life 0:01:04.010 --> 0:01:07.730 got harder for millions of people today. Now, so often 0:01:08.170 --> 0:01:11.050 the news and what dictates the lead story of the 0:01:11.090 --> 0:01:15.390 day can be someone deciding a news story that connects 0:01:15.490 --> 0:01:19.520 with the most number of people. That's generally a why 0:01:19.580 --> 0:01:21.520 you don't see really obscure things at the start of 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:23.640 the news, even though sometimes those might be the most 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:28.110 important thing at the top of the news. But people 0:01:28.209 --> 0:01:30.390 have had enough and have had enough for a long time. 0:01:32.410 --> 0:01:36.930 From the period before COVID, where times were already tough 0:01:36.970 --> 0:01:39.570 and cost of living was already an issue that was 0:01:39.610 --> 0:01:42.810 starting to be weaponised politically, but we all know how 0:01:43.270 --> 0:01:47.380 maddening it was six years ago. And the country broke 0:01:47.420 --> 0:01:50.860 in a way that I was... shocked and saddened that 0:01:50.900 --> 0:01:54.050 it actually happened when people considered themselves to be of 0:01:54.110 --> 0:01:56.330 a state first not of a country but please keep 0:01:56.350 --> 0:01:59.130 the money coming from everywhere else when people sort of 0:01:59.190 --> 0:02:03.830 turned on their fellow citizen when as long as my 0:02:03.870 --> 0:02:07.840 family was all right who cared about anyone else's and 0:02:07.860 --> 0:02:11.540 then we have seen a politics that has been really 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:15.060 toxic ever since where the only way to win a 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:17.920 vote is to try to buy a vote where the 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:22.690 expectation of our politics and of our elections is what's 0:02:22.730 --> 0:02:26.150 in it for me, where we've gone over the past 0:02:26.150 --> 0:02:30.049 20 years from the federal budget really kind of being 0:02:30.090 --> 0:02:34.079 a dry, boring conversation about federal finances to now one 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.459 that every single news website in the country puts a 0:02:37.500 --> 0:02:40.000 calculator on where you put in how much you earn 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.440 and it'll spit out and tell you how much you're 0:02:42.470 --> 0:02:46.510 getting back. The consequences of all of that is a 0:02:46.690 --> 0:02:50.109 trillion dollars in debt. The consequences of all of that 0:02:50.190 --> 0:02:54.160 is a government that spends more money than it takes in, 0:02:54.620 --> 0:02:58.300 and that's the case for the next 40 years. And 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:04.080 while the people in charge of the Australian economy on 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.970 the political side turn around and divvy people up as 0:03:08.010 --> 0:03:10.510 the best way to guarantee being returned to power, they 0:03:10.550 --> 0:03:15.720 feel no responsibility, no restraint. No consequences for their actions. 0:03:16.660 --> 0:03:20.660 Because they see the entire role of being the captains 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.380 of the ship of Australia as just holding on to 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.019 the job and finding a way to keep it when 0:03:26.060 --> 0:03:30.420 an election comes around. Well, in the meantime, there is 0:03:30.540 --> 0:03:34.000 the real world. And the real world has got poverty 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:36.850 in it. The real world has got people who run 0:03:36.870 --> 0:03:39.930 out of food in it. Those problems have got worse, 0:03:40.550 --> 0:03:44.720 demonstrably worse. since the pandemic and definitely since this government. 0:03:45.350 --> 0:03:47.180 But no one cares. It's not the lead story. It's 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:49.380 not sexy. Quick change the subject. Look over here. We're 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:54.440 censoring the internet. Look over here. It's all about renewable energy. 0:03:54.440 --> 0:04:03.150 15 interest rate rises have taken place on this government's watch. 15. Yes, 0:04:03.210 --> 0:04:05.570 there were two downs, but the rest are all ups. 0:04:06.790 --> 0:04:08.730 We are now at the worst position we've been in 0:04:08.730 --> 0:04:12.710 15 years. And for most people, they borrow as much 0:04:12.770 --> 0:04:16.089 as they possibly can to get the best possible version 0:04:16.130 --> 0:04:20.180 of a house because people want to be comfortable, apart 0:04:20.190 --> 0:04:23.500 from anything else, right? Forget the Australian dream, forget white privilege, 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:27.180 forget all that other guff and garbage that we get told. 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:29.520 The reason you want to live in a nice house 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.080 is because it's a symbol of how hard you've worked 0:04:32.580 --> 0:04:35.339 and it's an opportunity for your kids or your grandkids 0:04:35.380 --> 0:04:38.300 to have a better start in life than you had 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:43.320 that we had. That's why we do it. OK? Not 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:46.710 because we've been sold some other fictitious dream. And when 0:04:47.410 --> 0:04:50.010 you make a choice and you buy a house, you 0:04:50.029 --> 0:04:51.450 know interest rates are going to go up a little 0:04:51.470 --> 0:04:53.430 bit here and there, but the idea that they just 0:04:53.490 --> 0:04:58.360 kept going up 15 times in a row. I think 0:04:58.380 --> 0:04:59.840 when I was talking about it when I was only 0:04:59.940 --> 0:05:05.940 five or ten, that the pressure of how much you 0:05:05.980 --> 0:05:09.820 have to pay to stay in your home is something 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:13.630 that has only got worse Yet the government and the media, 0:05:13.930 --> 0:05:16.230 desperate to change the subject, turn around and say relief 0:05:16.250 --> 0:05:18.290 for homebuyers because it didn't go up again this month, 0:05:18.330 --> 0:05:19.150 it just stayed the same. 0:05:19.190 --> 0:05:19.390 No, no. 0:05:19.830 --> 0:05:24.100 People have been choking and have been like Rabina purple 0:05:25.540 --> 0:05:32.140 for years under this mob. People are genuinely worried about 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:36.609 what they're going to do. And for some... they will 0:05:36.620 --> 0:05:38.970 be able to find a way. But for others, they 0:05:39.010 --> 0:05:42.789 will seriously be making considerations about whether they can stay 0:05:42.830 --> 0:05:44.849 where they live right now. Now, that doesn't mean they're 0:05:44.870 --> 0:05:46.310 going to become homeless, but it means they're not going 0:05:46.330 --> 0:05:49.029 to be living where they planned to live, where their 0:05:49.070 --> 0:05:52.910 kids have gone or are going to school, the proximity 0:05:53.170 --> 0:05:57.880 to their parents. That's the consequence of things today. It 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:02.680 is not about the politics. It is not about the politicians. 0:06:02.860 --> 0:06:04.900 It's not about the Reserve Bank. For me, it's just 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:09.740 the very human side that today life got harder for 0:06:09.900 --> 0:06:13.720 millions of people all at once, all at 2.30. It 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:17.380 just means cutting on other things. 0:06:17.500 --> 0:06:20.620 I can't afford to have what I want at the supermarket. 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.680 I can't afford to put the heater on. It's just 0:06:22.779 --> 0:06:23.779 an everyday stress. 0:06:23.900 --> 0:06:27.610 You've got to be so calculative whether you pay extra 0:06:27.620 --> 0:06:29.830 towards your mortgage. 0:06:29.910 --> 0:06:33.650 It's a kind of loophole where us cannot increase our income. 0:06:34.779 --> 0:06:37.400 and we still have to live with the current expenses. 0:06:37.420 --> 0:06:41.730 It's getting tougher day by day. It is tragic, and 0:06:41.950 --> 0:06:43.490 I do know a lot of people who are suffering 0:06:43.510 --> 0:06:46.000 that will suffer because of it. Now, one of the 0:06:46.050 --> 0:06:48.520 reasons why I have such a short fuse when it 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:52.770 comes to Albanese, but particularly for charmers, is because they 0:06:52.850 --> 0:06:56.430 promised something different. Remember that original lie, cost of living 0:06:56.450 --> 0:06:59.070 will be lower under a Labor government? Well, of course 0:06:59.130 --> 0:07:03.310 it's not. Every single industry, everything's more expensive. Everything, everywhere 0:07:03.430 --> 0:07:07.250 is more expensive than it was. Yet they'll keep taking 0:07:07.250 --> 0:07:11.310 52 cents per litre when it comes to fuel. That's 0:07:11.350 --> 0:07:13.489 the tax that they put on it. Whatever, who cares? 0:07:13.530 --> 0:07:17.390 Look over there. Nothing to see here. And also because 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.180 remember their reaction when there was just one interest rate rise. 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:23.580 It happened in May. It happened just before the federal 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.780 election that changed the government and meant that those people 0:07:26.820 --> 0:07:29.820 ended up in charge of the country. By his own standard, 0:07:31.140 --> 0:07:34.570 these same words apply to him. And if they want 0:07:34.590 --> 0:07:36.870 to say, B, well, what about the first six months? Okay, 0:07:37.170 --> 0:07:40.630 the first five. What about the next five and now 0:07:40.670 --> 0:07:44.880 the 15th interest rate rise. Every word he said in 0:07:44.980 --> 0:07:50.960 opposition now applies to himself. Supplement the word Morrison for Albanese. 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.760 Supplement the word Liberal for Labor. And tell me, what 0:07:54.780 --> 0:07:58.260 would Jim Chalmers think of 15 interest rate rises? 0:07:59.960 --> 0:08:02.710 This is a full blown cost of living crisis on 0:08:02.750 --> 0:08:06.380 Scott Morrison's watch. This Prime Minister has an excuse for 0:08:06.460 --> 0:08:09.570 everything and a plan for nothing. The issue that we 0:08:09.610 --> 0:08:13.270 have with Scott Morrison is not that he doesn't take 0:08:13.310 --> 0:08:16.490 responsibility for every aspect of this, it's that he takes 0:08:16.570 --> 0:08:20.440 responsibility for none of this whatsoever. And when things are 0:08:20.460 --> 0:08:22.820 going well, he's in front of the camera claiming all 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.100 the credit. When times are tough, he takes none of 0:08:26.140 --> 0:08:26.980 the responsibility. 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:29.740 Now, we have seen that this is a bloke who 0:08:29.780 --> 0:08:32.200 knows how to get himself to Canberra, including on days 0:08:32.220 --> 0:08:36.160 that are not sitting days. Today was a day when 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:40.170 Jim Chalmers showed a cowardly side of his personality, because 0:08:40.190 --> 0:08:43.550 this press conference wasn't held with the usual media in tow. 0:08:43.929 --> 0:08:47.490 It wasn't held in central Brisbane. It was, of course, 0:08:47.550 --> 0:08:52.820 done by distance at a local park in Brisbane, meaning 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:54.920 the types of people who are asking him questions are 0:08:54.940 --> 0:08:59.480 not the same ones that We're asking him questions last 0:08:59.500 --> 0:09:01.300 time the rates went up, all the time before that, 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:05.840 all the time before that. So, of course, Chalmers was 0:09:05.900 --> 0:09:08.380 out and about there today. And, again, what would Chalmers 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:12.760 really think if 15 rate rises had happened under the Liberals? 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:17.059 Yet still, no, he's completely different. Remember his criticism? They 0:09:17.100 --> 0:09:19.540 don't take responsibility for anything. They're only there for the 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:22.359 good news. Well, look at the mirror, pal. 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:27.120 Australians are under pressure already and we know that this 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:31.040 will make things harder for people. The fact that inflation 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.700 and interest rates are going up right around the world 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:36.679 doesn't take the sting out of this for Australians who 0:09:36.740 --> 0:09:37.980 are already doing it tough. 0:09:39.020 --> 0:09:41.640 And sadly, there's going to be more of it. Again, 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.530 the Reserve Bank Governor. Now again, the Reserve Bank... In 0:09:44.730 --> 0:09:46.709 the lead-up to all of this, they kept rates too 0:09:46.750 --> 0:09:49.650 low for too long. Remember when Philip Lowe, the former Governor, 0:09:49.670 --> 0:09:53.010 was saying, don't worry about anything until 2024? Well, of course, 0:09:53.050 --> 0:09:54.880 things started to go crazy in 2022 and they took 0:09:54.900 --> 0:09:55.230 their foot off. 0:10:00.260 --> 0:10:03.720 The brake and they touched the accelerator again and inflation 0:10:03.780 --> 0:10:06.180 went out of control when they gave a gift to 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.480 the government. And this was one of the single biggest 0:10:09.540 --> 0:10:13.230 determinants in the size of the Albanese win in 2025 0:10:13.230 --> 0:10:16.470 was that February rate cut. That went down a couple 0:10:16.490 --> 0:10:19.290 of times. We have now gone back and now passed 0:10:19.309 --> 0:10:24.790 the the mark of where we were before the federal election. Yet, 0:10:26.190 --> 0:10:29.969 get ready for a 16th rate rise, perhaps as soon 0:10:30.150 --> 0:10:32.290 as before the end of this year. None of this 0:10:32.370 --> 0:10:34.489 is good to talk about. All of this is heartbreaking 0:10:34.530 --> 0:10:38.240 because in the real world, people are, they're just, they've 0:10:38.260 --> 0:10:42.540 had enough. They need hope and there is none tonight. 0:10:43.860 --> 0:10:46.560 The board will raise increased interest rates again if that's 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:48.400 what's needed to get inflation down. 0:10:49.980 --> 0:10:53.160 Now, I've got to maintain a quiet and cold rage 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:55.960 here because it would be really easy for me to 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.660 sit here tonight and scream and abuse these people and 0:10:59.700 --> 0:11:02.830 it'd be fun to do it. But as always, I've 0:11:02.870 --> 0:11:05.670 got to show you the BS that they are spinning 0:11:05.790 --> 0:11:10.870 in real time. Now, again, interest rates have gone up 0:11:10.870 --> 0:11:18.270 15 times. February of this year is when we had... 0:11:18.940 --> 0:11:21.980 Two interest rate rises. February, sorry, I should say, we 0:11:22.020 --> 0:11:25.130 had interest rate rises, two of them before a bomb 0:11:25.150 --> 0:11:28.430 was dropped. Yet, no, no, it's all the Donald Trump 0:11:28.470 --> 0:11:29.850 tax that we are paying. 0:11:31.530 --> 0:11:35.410 Our inflation challenge is being turbocharged by a war on 0:11:35.450 --> 0:11:38.860 the other side of the world. Australians are paying a 0:11:38.900 --> 0:11:42.140 very hefty price for that war in the Middle East. 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:47.560 Forgive my language, but it's partially true, but it's mostly BS. Yes. 0:11:48.870 --> 0:11:50.700 Have a look at Australia's inflation rate. Now, I'm going 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.360 to show you this here, okay? You can see that 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:59.060 this is from May 2025 all the way through to 0:11:59.179 --> 0:12:04.000 July 2026. You can see that we were starting to 0:12:04.020 --> 0:12:07.160 march our way up in July, in August, in September, 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:13.040 in October, and November in 2025. It got even worse 0:12:13.179 --> 0:12:16.589 in December, January, February, and then, yep, there is a 0:12:16.670 --> 0:12:19.550 big spike in The tippy top of the hill in 0:12:19.570 --> 0:12:21.969 the past couple of years, that is the start of 0:12:22.010 --> 0:12:27.920 the Iran war. Because petrol prices firstly went down because 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.140 they cut the excise and then secondly because there was 0:12:31.220 --> 0:12:35.220 more of it coming in, meant that it started to fall. 0:12:36.260 --> 0:12:39.689 But now, right now, the inflation rate is right back 0:12:39.730 --> 0:12:45.440 where it was in November 2025 and So, Iran is 0:12:45.500 --> 0:12:47.160 part of the picture, but it's not the whole picture. 0:12:47.380 --> 0:12:52.390 We had two of the now four interest rate rises 0:12:52.770 --> 0:12:59.949 that happened before a bomb was dropped. And while no 0:13:00.010 --> 0:13:05.940 government is entirely responsible, they are not completely free of responsibility. Now, 0:13:05.980 --> 0:13:10.140 Michelle Bullock, remember, was picked by this Treasurer... because he 0:13:10.179 --> 0:13:12.760 didn't like the previous Reserve Bank governor because he was 0:13:12.820 --> 0:13:16.319 raising interest rates. Well, she is doing it, hot and hard, 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:19.160 and she's even starting to bell the cat, that while 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:21.220 it's not the whole story, it's part of the story, 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:23.900 which is, one of the reasons that you raise interest 0:13:23.970 --> 0:13:26.250 rates is to try to slow the economy, to try 0:13:26.290 --> 0:13:28.790 to take the amount of money being spent out of 0:13:28.870 --> 0:13:33.010 the economy. But when governments keep spending and spending and spending, 0:13:33.050 --> 0:13:38.970 that spending... helps drive the economy to increase inflation. So 0:13:38.990 --> 0:13:41.450 when she's asked straight up, what does she say about 0:13:41.570 --> 0:13:42.630 government spending? 0:13:44.309 --> 0:13:47.050 Inflation is too high and has been driven by domestic 0:13:47.090 --> 0:13:51.190 capacity pressures. The inflation impulse from the Middle East conflict 0:13:51.350 --> 0:13:55.390 is in addition to this. Domestic spending and investment have 0:13:55.410 --> 0:13:59.050 been stronger than expected despite weak sentiment and the softening 0:13:59.100 --> 0:14:00.480 in housing market conditions. 0:14:01.420 --> 0:14:04.500 Put simply, this is the receipt for the politics that 0:14:04.750 --> 0:14:08.949 Australians have become addicted to in the past 20 years. 0:14:09.429 --> 0:14:12.929 What's in it for me? When will the government fix 0:14:12.980 --> 0:14:15.420 this problem for me? Why won't they spend more money? 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:20.690 When governments turn around and find new ways to spend money. Now, 0:14:20.730 --> 0:14:23.790 of course, Anthony Albanese will say, completely not true, because 0:14:23.870 --> 0:14:26.400 he makes the assumption there are two types of Australians. 0:14:26.460 --> 0:14:28.980 Australians like you and me who pay attention, who call 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.100 them out on the BS, and then what he considers 0:14:31.140 --> 0:14:33.260 to be the majority of Australians who are not paying 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:36.400 attention and will just think orange man bad when it 0:14:36.420 --> 0:14:38.990 comes to their own financial situation. 0:14:41.550 --> 0:14:46.270 The truth is that when you have fuel increases... as 0:14:46.310 --> 0:14:48.710 you've had as a result of the war in the 0:14:48.770 --> 0:14:51.900 Middle East. And what you're seeing is inflationary pressures being 0:14:51.940 --> 0:14:56.240 a global phenomenon, which is why you've seen interest rate increases, 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.880 including just in the last fortnight in the United States 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:01.600 and in other advanced economies. 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:05.970 But as I told you last night, Australia has now 0:15:06.050 --> 0:15:09.610 had more interest rate rises than any of those countries. 0:15:09.670 --> 0:15:12.730 Our interest rate is now higher than any of those countries. 0:15:13.490 --> 0:15:15.670 And in terms of government spending, again, If you have 0:15:15.690 --> 0:15:17.110 a look at the total amount of money that has 0:15:17.170 --> 0:15:20.630 been spent by this government, the budget that they inherited, 0:15:20.690 --> 0:15:23.890 which was 2021-22, the first one they had, which was 22-23, 0:15:23.930 --> 0:15:27.840 to where we are right now, to 25-26, where spending's 0:15:27.860 --> 0:15:32.140 gone from $ 600 to $ 780b4 billion. Oh, but that's because 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:34.940 the Australian population is ageing and growing. Come on. Not 0:15:34.980 --> 0:15:38.480 by that much. And remember, all of this results in 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.040 more deficits, a trillion dollars' worth of debt, and deficits 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.680 that run because of, in part, this type of politics. 0:15:47.010 --> 0:15:49.130 And Joe Hockey is correct that it is only a 0:15:49.230 --> 0:15:51.650 shock that will change people, but we know how politically 0:15:51.990 --> 0:15:56.300 unpalatable that is. 40 years of deficits. It only gets 0:15:56.380 --> 0:16:00.820 worse from here. Now, they can blame anyone and they 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:02.780 can pretend they have nothing to see here and we're 0:16:02.820 --> 0:16:05.320 not responsible. Well, if you take the plaudence on the 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:07.160 way down, you've got to take the arse-kicking on the 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:11.170 way up. There have now been 15 times life got 0:16:11.210 --> 0:16:14.170 worse under this government, the government that promised to make 0:16:14.450 --> 0:16:18.280 cost of living cheaper. But, of course... It's just found 0:16:18.370 --> 0:16:21.530 new ways to move a dollar from here to spend 0:16:21.530 --> 0:16:25.310 $ 1. 50 there or to spend $ 2 there. And anyone who 0:16:25.330 --> 0:16:27.170 calls them out is some sort of evil human being 0:16:27.210 --> 0:16:30.310 and anyone who says that maybe, just maybe, governments shouldn't 0:16:30.350 --> 0:16:33.230 just exponentially grow. Well, you're about cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. 0:16:33.470 --> 0:16:36.030 It's about scaring people that their pensions are going to 0:16:36.050 --> 0:16:38.750 go or that Medicare's about to be cut up. Please. 0:16:39.770 --> 0:16:44.290 We all know that's not the case. Australians are hurting tonight. 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:47.370 Millions of people are hurting tonight. I share your rage. 0:16:47.930 --> 0:16:50.910 I hate what they are doing to the country. I 0:16:50.970 --> 0:16:53.630 hate that their politics meant they were able to do 0:16:53.670 --> 0:16:58.390 it for another three years. I hate that their politics 0:16:58.690 --> 0:17:00.310 will put them in a very good position to be 0:17:00.370 --> 0:17:03.990 able to do it in three years after that. I 0:17:04.050 --> 0:17:07.050 hope that people are able to link their circumstances to 0:17:07.070 --> 0:17:08.639 their government because they were able to do it in 2022. 0:17:08.630 --> 0:17:10.730 Can they please do it in 2028 at the federal 0:17:10.750 --> 0:17:23.129 level at least? Now, obviously, remember for, well, frankly, the 0:17:23.170 --> 0:17:26.460 whole first three years of this government, almost every night 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.100 on the show I led with cost of living. Why? 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:31.720 Because it was the thing that was affecting the most 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:34.899 number of people at any one time. It was the 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:39.150 thing that was changing everyone's lives. Yet it's too hard 0:17:39.170 --> 0:17:41.369 to really deal with any of that because you can 0:17:41.410 --> 0:17:44.630 create winners and losers and politicians don't want to do that. 0:17:45.010 --> 0:17:48.680 So we've had endless political distractions. For the Labor Party, 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:52.800 it's about trying to take on social media currently rather 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:56.180 than their own spending. For the Libs, it's about waging 0:17:56.220 --> 0:17:59.150 war on net zero, suggesting that somehow all of that 0:17:59.310 --> 0:18:02.189 is going to turn around cost of living. For One Nation, 0:18:02.230 --> 0:18:04.850 of course, it is all about immigration and immigration being 0:18:04.890 --> 0:18:10.290 connected to everything. But the reality is that everything everywhere 0:18:10.310 --> 0:18:13.720 has just got more expensive because And until there are 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.639 politicians that have ideas to help make Australian life better, 0:18:17.900 --> 0:18:20.700 and certainly two out of those three do their best 0:18:20.740 --> 0:18:23.909 to come up with them, the reality is everything in 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:29.410 the supermarket is more expensive. Petrol is more expensive. Certainly 0:18:29.430 --> 0:18:31.030 if you bought a diesel, and remember you bought a 0:18:31.070 --> 0:18:32.609 diesel because you thought it was a cheaper way to 0:18:32.630 --> 0:18:36.030 drive around in a car, and let alone 15 interest 0:18:36.090 --> 0:18:38.570 rate rises. So what does this do to our politics? 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:42.400 Cos Samaras, a man I always look forward to talking to, 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.630 wrote an interesting piece today in the New Daily, which 0:18:45.670 --> 0:18:47.590 is sort of funded by Union Super, I think, but 0:18:47.650 --> 0:18:51.350 still it's a quite a news service. And he says 0:18:51.390 --> 0:18:54.250 that politicians keep talking about immigration, voters keep talking about 0:18:54.290 --> 0:18:58.230 their bills. Across most of the last year, Redbridge has 0:18:58.270 --> 0:19:00.730 conducted more than 400 focus groups that include voters in 0:19:00.770 --> 0:19:03.690 outer suburbs and regional towns across the country. We listened 0:19:03.710 --> 0:19:06.660 to them describe what's going wrong. They talked about their 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:10.219 mortgage issues. that seems not to be getting smaller by 0:19:10.260 --> 0:19:13.119 the year, the rent that eats into 50% of their 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:16.260 weekly wage, the cost of food, the rising power bill, 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:18.639 the waiting to see the doctor, the strong sense that 0:19:18.740 --> 0:19:21.739 nobody in charge wants to listen. They talk about their 0:19:21.780 --> 0:19:25.480 kids not being able to leave home. And this is 0:19:25.530 --> 0:19:28.750 a big thing that is missing in our politics, the 0:19:28.810 --> 0:19:33.370 sense of hope, the sense of hope that they want 0:19:33.410 --> 0:19:37.510 to make life easier, Not ever so slightly cheaper for 0:19:37.530 --> 0:19:42.290 this certain section of the electoral map that helps them 0:19:42.330 --> 0:19:45.650 get across the line. Like, don't worry about that heck stuff, 0:19:45.650 --> 0:19:50.040 $ 20 billion. All of that, again, just to push the... 0:19:50.050 --> 0:19:54.240 youth vote this way. The housing taxes, which are about 0:19:54.300 --> 0:19:57.460 pushing people. This stuff is not about running a country. 0:19:57.520 --> 0:20:00.699 It is just about the raw politics of trying to 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:04.460 stay in power. And, yeah, they all to some degree 0:20:04.500 --> 0:20:06.700 do it, but this mob, this is what they're obsessed with. 0:20:07.380 --> 0:20:10.060 You see it by their own actions. Because they have 0:20:10.170 --> 0:20:13.040 no sense of responsibility. Because if you admit responsibility, then 0:20:13.060 --> 0:20:19.300 that could be the beginning of the end. Cause goes on. 85% 0:20:19.300 --> 0:20:21.680 say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Net 0:20:21.780 --> 0:20:25.600 trust with politicians to do the right thing. Is it 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:30.240 negative 90%? 70% say their vote is a tactic to 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:33.330 make the major parties listen. Asked who they blame for 0:20:33.350 --> 0:20:35.770 the raising prices and interest rates, 59% say politicians. 14% 0:20:35.770 --> 0:20:43.050 say politicians. Immigrants. So again, it's not that everything but 0:20:43.109 --> 0:20:47.450 the economy is worth talking about, but the economy is 0:20:47.859 --> 0:20:54.220 the main indices about how good, hard or slightly easier 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:59.140 life can be in Australia. The greatest electoral opportunity for 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:04.510 anyone going into the 2028 election is hope. A genuine 0:21:04.570 --> 0:21:08.510 hope of being able to improve someone's lives. not just 0:21:08.530 --> 0:21:11.810 to quickly buy them off or to distract or to 0:21:11.890 --> 0:21:16.130 scare them about voting this way or that way. Let's 0:21:16.170 --> 0:21:19.540 see whether hope and at times hard medicine is something 0:21:19.580 --> 0:21:22.119 the Australian people will want to engage with. I certainly 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:26.139 hope it still exists. But just because it's the hard 0:21:26.180 --> 0:21:27.860 way to do things doesn't mean it is the way 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:31.570 to ignore everything. That'll be much of our discussion between 0:21:31.609 --> 0:21:34.290 now and the election when, of course, it comes up 0:21:34.490 --> 0:21:38.570 in 2028 and, of course, the Deep hope of everyone 0:21:38.590 --> 0:21:43.510 inside Labor is that everyone will forget what happens for 0:21:43.530 --> 0:21:45.590 the three and a half years in between elections and 0:21:45.630 --> 0:21:49.210 they'll just get scared about the other guy when it 0:21:49.250 --> 0:21:53.790 matters most, not for Australia, but for them. Tim Wilson 0:21:53.830 --> 0:21:56.050 is the Shadow Treasurer. He's been listening to all of that, 0:21:56.070 --> 0:21:57.609 but I want to talk to him a little more 0:21:57.650 --> 0:22:01.149 broadly than the challenge I've just put before Australian politicians. He's, 0:22:01.190 --> 0:22:05.810 of course, the Shadow Treasurer. Tim... Again, what I think 0:22:05.869 --> 0:22:08.250 is really frustrating, and I'm trying to keep a quiet rage, 0:22:08.350 --> 0:22:11.210 is people are really, really pissed off tonight. Like my 0:22:11.250 --> 0:22:14.110 WhatsApp in my little world, right? People who are not political. 0:22:14.470 --> 0:22:17.619 Like the WhatsApp chats that are about footy tipping competitions 0:22:18.060 --> 0:22:21.860 are blowing up deluxe tonight. So to see a government 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:24.199 with a treasurer who didn't even have the balls to 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:27.400 turn up anywhere near an office so he wouldn't have 0:22:27.420 --> 0:22:30.119 to answer a question from anyone who really knew what 0:22:30.160 --> 0:22:32.830 they were asking. kind of sells you the whole thing 0:22:32.869 --> 0:22:36.010 about how they're just managing the media, not the economy. 0:22:37.670 --> 0:22:39.609 You're 100 percent right, Paul, and I did listen to 0:22:39.630 --> 0:22:42.790 your introductory piece and I couldn't agree with you more. 0:22:43.390 --> 0:22:46.150 The challenge Australians are facing right now is that they're 0:22:46.170 --> 0:22:49.030 sitting around the kitchen tables of the nation And they're 0:22:49.150 --> 0:22:52.169 asking themselves, I don't have anything left to cut. What 0:22:52.210 --> 0:22:54.830 is the government expecting me to cut? We know that 0:22:54.869 --> 0:22:58.730 government spending is currently at a 40-year high outside of 0:22:58.770 --> 0:23:03.490 a crisis or pandemic. If the Treasurer had and the 0:23:03.530 --> 0:23:06.170 Prime Minister had pulled their built-in as much as they 0:23:06.210 --> 0:23:11.659 expect Australian households, the budget would be $ 22 billion in surplus. Instead, 0:23:11.740 --> 0:23:13.780 what is happening is the government just keeps spending with 0:23:13.820 --> 0:23:17.840 gay abandon. It's stoking inflation. It's putting upward pressure on 0:23:17.980 --> 0:23:20.980 interest rates, which means someone who's got a new mortgage 0:23:21.010 --> 0:23:25.710