Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm christinamiot.
Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, December seventeenth. Carlie Moore Gilbert says the government
Speaker 1: assistance given to members of the Bali Nine should be
Speaker 1: offered to other Australians detained in prison camps in countries
Speaker 1: like Syria. It comes after the five remaining members of
Speaker 1: the drug ring were returned to Australia after serving twenty
Speaker 1: years in Indonesian prisons. That commentary is live right now
Speaker 1: at The Australian dot com dot au. The government's midyear
Speaker 1: budget update will reveal an uptick in unavoidable and automatic
Speaker 1: spending to the tune of more than twenty five billion dollars,
Speaker 1: But what does that actually mean. In today's episode, The
Speaker 1: Australian takes a closer look at the Treasurer's unique turn
Speaker 1: of phrase and we unpack what it says about Jim
Speaker 1: Chalmers leadership ambitions.
Speaker 2: Look, we recognize that a lot of Australians are under
Speaker 2: the pump.
Speaker 1: His is one of the loudest voices in Australian public
Speaker 1: life and his words arguably carry the most weight for
Speaker 1: voters struggling under a cost of living crisis.
Speaker 2: This is another difficult day for Australians who are already
Speaker 2: under the pump.
Speaker 3: So I think Jim Chalmers has emerged, particularly on Labour's side,
Speaker 3: as the master of the catchphrase.
Speaker 1: Jeff Chambers is the Australian's chief political correspondent.
Speaker 3: He uses repetitive language, uses mantras often to simplify what
Speaker 3: are very complex issues, and repeating the same slogans over
Speaker 3: and over again.
Speaker 2: We see that right through the numbers when it comes
Speaker 2: to household savings, when it comes to consumption, people are
Speaker 2: under the pump.
Speaker 3: What he's trying to do is make sure that his
Speaker 3: language is consistent so when the TV news package or
Speaker 3: the radio package or others reporting on him will reflect
Speaker 3: that grab. It's a big multi media strategy to ensure
Speaker 3: that he's getting his simple messaging out to the masses.
Speaker 2: The budget is in much better Nick, because getting the
Speaker 2: budget and much better Nick helps us fund our other priorities.
Speaker 2: But what really matters here I think when it comes
Speaker 2: to getting the budget in a much better Nick, our
Speaker 2: big priorities in the budget are getting the budget in
Speaker 2: much better Nick. It's a demonstration that we've been able
Speaker 2: to get the budget in much better Nick.
Speaker 1: Jeff has been working on an in depth analysis of
Speaker 1: Jim chalmers rhetoric with reporter Noah Yim, who poured over
Speaker 1: hundreds of transcripts to identify characteristics and patterns in the
Speaker 1: Treasurer's speech.
Speaker 4: This captures every transcript Office for Relief since he became treasurer.
Speaker 4: We went through seven hundred and six transcripts. That's press conferences,
Speaker 4: that's speeches, that's radio interview, that's TV interviews. I thought
Speaker 4: it was interesting to analyze similar responses over time to
Speaker 4: see how she's testing out's deploying and then faving out
Speaker 4: the use of certain catch feess at certain times.
Speaker 1: Jeff and Noah found Jim Chalmers is a big fan
Speaker 1: of repetitive colloquialisms and corny phrases, which he uses to
Speaker 1: test the waters with voters. Take, for example, his near
Speaker 1: constant references to inflation.
Speaker 2: We're making progress in the fight against inflation is to
Speaker 2: take some of the sting out of inflation by managing
Speaker 2: demanding the economy. Inflation is public enemy number one. Inflation
Speaker 2: is the dragon we need to slay.
Speaker 3: What we've seen with Jim is he does adapt that
Speaker 3: language as I said with inflation, there's slight tweaking of
Speaker 3: that language depending on where inflation's at and depending on
Speaker 3: what they might be seeing in polling or focus groups.
Speaker 3: There was a famous one that he used, which he
Speaker 3: dropped pretty quickly, which was saying inflation is the dragon
Speaker 3: that we need to sleigh. So that one didn't stick.
Speaker 3: And then I think with things like unavoidable spending, it's
Speaker 3: funny language. Some people would observe it as tricky language
Speaker 3: because that then is linked to higher spending, which they're
Speaker 3: saying is unavoidable. And then they talk about savings, and
Speaker 3: they'll talk about in the same breath without separating the
Speaker 3: two reprioritization and reprioritization is actually sprinkling those savings across
Speaker 3: other areas that labor uses a priority.
Speaker 1: His penchant for hokiness tends to make Jim Chalmers the
Speaker 1: target of criticism both from his labor colleagues and his
Speaker 1: political opponents.
Speaker 3: I guess for Jim Chalmers, he's taken the reins after
Speaker 3: almost a decade of coalition rule and he doesn't want
Speaker 3: to stuff it up. They had their eyes very much
Speaker 3: fixated on winning a second term, so there is a
Speaker 3: lot of internal pressure to do things on like negative gearing,
Speaker 3: capital gains, company tax, a lot of big bang reform
Speaker 3: that business, and some in the labor caucus, and obviously
Speaker 3: the coalition would like to see him embark on and
Speaker 3: that hasn't happened in terms of the hopiness or colloquial
Speaker 3: retric in his defense, I don't think the punters at
Speaker 3: home or the regular household or small business owner doesn't
Speaker 3: want to get into the nuts and bolts of really
Speaker 3: complicated economic policy. So that's what he's trying to do there,
Speaker 3: and focus groups will show that he is just on
Speaker 3: a really superficial level. Consider the pretty urbane, suburban, youthful,
Speaker 3: dad like character, and at forty six, that's quite a
Speaker 3: contrast to Anthony Albanezi.
Speaker 1: Does he care that people criticize the way that he talks.
Speaker 3: I think that every politician cares deeply about what other
Speaker 3: people think of them. But I think when you are
Speaker 3: so ambitious and when you or you've really got a
Speaker 3: laser like focus on an end game, which for him
Speaker 3: would be at some point to become leader, I think
Speaker 3: that he's going to stick pretty consistently and close to
Speaker 3: what he thinks will get him there. And what he
Speaker 3: thinks is best for himself as treasured for the government.
Speaker 1: Jim Chalmers can afford to brush it off because his
Speaker 1: style tends to resonate with voters.
Speaker 3: I think what he has on his side is he's
Speaker 3: not as antagonistic the venom in his retrigue. Even when
Speaker 3: he's having a crack at the coalition, it's done in
Speaker 3: a more relaxed calm away, not getting to worked up
Speaker 3: about things, and I think that resonates with people on
Speaker 3: the flip side of that. We are currently in the
Speaker 3: group of a cost of living and housing crisis, and
Speaker 3: in a way, if they were to lose next to
Speaker 3: his election or it becomes a much closer run thing,
Speaker 3: that there will be some pushback that he could cut
Speaker 3: through or convey what the government was doing for people
Speaker 3: and convince them that it was working. I think that's
Speaker 3: the problem for this repetitive retric At the end of
Speaker 3: the day, maybe voters will be looking for someone to
Speaker 3: lash out it or punish.
Speaker 1: The Australian's analysis found Jim Chalmers rarely swims outside of
Speaker 1: his lane. Of the many many public appearances he's made
Speaker 1: since becoming Treasurer in twenty twenty two, He's only commented
Speaker 1: on non economic issues on a few notable occasions, and
Speaker 1: even then the Treasurer's comments have an economic bent. In August,
Speaker 1: he branded Peter Dutton the most divisive leader of a
Speaker 1: major political party in Australia's modern history, but didn't miss
Speaker 1: his opportunity to defend the government's economic performance.
Speaker 2: He divides deliberately, almost pathologically, and that sort of division
Speaker 2: in our leadership in our society right now is worse
Speaker 2: than disappointing, it's dangerous.
Speaker 1: And more recently he's spoken out about the economic benefits
Speaker 1: of a ceasefire deal between Israel and her mass militants
Speaker 1: in Palestine.
Speaker 3: He's got one of the great portfolios for someone who
Speaker 3: would like to move up at some point as leader.
Speaker 3: Being the treasurer is a busy job and you've got
Speaker 3: a lot of threads and needles that you need to
Speaker 3: be in control of. You have the big budget once
Speaker 3: a year, you have the midyear budget near the end
Speaker 3: of the year, and a lot of things in between.
Speaker 3: So you can genuinely sit in that space and not
Speaker 3: have to weigh in on the government's position on Israel
Speaker 3: or anti Semitism. He will ultimately talk about it from
Speaker 3: an economic perspective, and because his treasurer, you can generally
Speaker 3: get away with that. I think that speech that he
Speaker 3: did on Dutton was a much more wider attack, which
Speaker 3: probably gives some indication to not only his colleagues, but
Speaker 3: to everyone else out there that he can, when required,
Speaker 3: take up the fight.
Speaker 1: Jim Chalmers prime ministerial ambitions are no secret, and only
Speaker 1: a select few have parlayed their time as treasurer into
Speaker 1: a stint in the top job. The question is does
Speaker 1: this reluctance to branch out help Jim charmers or hurt him.
Speaker 3: I always cast one mine back to Tawny Abbot when
Speaker 3: he won in twenty thirteen. He was consistent, disciplined and
Speaker 3: stuck on the same messaging, and I think we're seeing
Speaker 3: shades of Tanny Abbot in Peter Dutton as well. This
Speaker 3: really is the sort of modern way. I think that
Speaker 3: kind of tactic can work, because the alternative to that
Speaker 3: is when a politician or a leader talks too much
Speaker 3: or talks in too many tangents and can't actually really
Speaker 3: concisely press home what their message is.
Speaker 1: Coming up inside the Treasurer's latest shake up on Monday,
Speaker 1: Jim Chalmers fronted the press again.
Speaker 2: Thanks very much everybody for coming out.
Speaker 1: The treasurer unveiled a handful of new appointments to two
Speaker 1: newly created Reserve Bank boards.
Speaker 2: What I'm announcing today is the best combination of existing
Speaker 2: members and new members. These are first class, first rate
Speaker 2: people with the right skills and with decades of relevant experience.
Speaker 1: The first board will focus on monetary policy. They're the
Speaker 1: people who set interest rates. Distinguished Australian National University professor
Speaker 1: Renee Freie McGibbon and former Bendigo Bank boss Marnie Baker
Speaker 1: have been appointed to that board, alongside existing members including
Speaker 1: economist Ian Harper, West Farmers director Alice Watkins, former Fair
Speaker 1: Work Commission President Ian Ross and Carolyn Heuson, who's director
Speaker 1: of the biotechnology company CSL. The second board, in the
Speaker 1: new dual structure, we'll oversee the RBA's governance. That's how
Speaker 1: it's run. Appointed to the Governance Committee is former Business
Speaker 1: Council Chief executive Jennifer Westercott Gilbert and Tobin Chair Danny Gilbert,
Speaker 1: Former Banking executive Swati Dave and Zero chair David Dodie,
Speaker 1: Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bullock will chair both boards.
Speaker 2: So these are high quality, high caliber people and together
Speaker 2: they represent the best mix of relevant skills and abilities
Speaker 2: and experience. I'm very proud to say that women will
Speaker 2: make up the majority of both boards. And this continues
Speaker 2: the very substantial progress that we've made. When it comes
Speaker 2: to appointments in the Treasury portfolio.
Speaker 1: Here's Jeff Chambers.
Speaker 3: So there's been a few changes, a few tinkers, and
Speaker 3: this is not a surprise in terms of what's been
Speaker 3: announced today, but behind the scenes, they'd be just every
Speaker 3: finger crossed that somehow the new RBA board makeup leads
Speaker 3: towards a rate cut before the election.
Speaker 1: The move to create two separate boards for Monetary Policy
Speaker 1: and RBA Governance follows a sweeping review of the Central
Speaker 1: Bank carried out last year. It was co authored by
Speaker 1: new appointee Renee Fry McGibbon and found the existing board
Speaker 1: wasn't in a position to challenge decisions made about interest
Speaker 1: rates by the RBA's governor. Other changes made to the
Speaker 1: way the Central Bank operates have already come into effect.
Speaker 1: That's why the existing board meets less, but why Governor
Speaker 1: Michelle Bullock is making more public appearances, the historic overhaul
Speaker 1: looked like it would sail through Parliament, but it was
Speaker 1: only passed thanks to support from Teal Independence and the
Speaker 1: Greens after the Coalition withdrew its support. The new board
Speaker 1: structure kicks in in March, meaning that new committee's first
Speaker 1: cash rate decision will happen on April one. So is
Speaker 1: it enough to restore voter's confidence in the RBA.
Speaker 3: I don't think households or businesses care much for restructures
Speaker 3: or new boards. I think they're just hanging out for
Speaker 3: a rate cut. Obviously, every jurisdiction has a different experience,
Speaker 3: but that pressure is building. We've still got lower unemployment,
Speaker 3: a very tight labor market. Underlying inflation is still a
Speaker 3: concern for the RBA. So it's not a sure thing
Speaker 3: that we will see a rate cut before the election.
Speaker 3: I just don't think anyone cares about that. I think
Speaker 3: they just expect that the right things are being done
Speaker 3: and all they're looking for is that announcement on a
Speaker 3: Tuesday afternoon that their rates have been cut for the
Speaker 3: first time in years.
Speaker 1: Jeff Chambers is The Australian's chief political correspondent and Noah
Speaker 1: Yim is a Reporter. You can delve into their detailed
Speaker 1: analysis of the Treasury rehetorick right now at the Australian
Speaker 1: dot com dot au