Speaker 1: From Schwartz Media. I'm Daniel James. This is seven am.
Speaker 1: In newsrooms and boardrooms and electoral offices, there's one question
Speaker 1: driving everyone insane. When is Anthony Albinizi going to call
Speaker 1: the election? The Prime Minister is being coy about it,
Speaker 1: while nervous backbenches worried about their seats are willing him
Speaker 1: to strike now, while the Reserve Bank's decision to cut
Speaker 1: interest rates is fresh in voters' minds. Today columnists for
Speaker 1: the Saturday paper Paul bon Jorno on what Laboring siders
Speaker 1: are telling him about when to expect an election, and
Speaker 1: how Peter Duttman is coping with the government's week of
Speaker 1: good use. It's Saturday, February twenty two. Paul, thanks for
Speaker 1: joining us this week. We had the first rate cut
Speaker 1: in almost five years, the government throwing about it, so
Speaker 1: they got to call an election.
Speaker 2: Well, that's a question that probably everyone in Australia that's
Speaker 2: got even a tad of interest in politics is wondering,
Speaker 2: but none more than the very nervous people.
Speaker 3: On Labour's backbench.
Speaker 2: I spoke to a couple during the week and as
Speaker 2: soon as the announcement was made, they said, that's it,
Speaker 2: that's it.
Speaker 3: He should go.
Speaker 2: He shouldn't waste any more time. And of course the
Speaker 2: most nervous staniel are those in what we call the
Speaker 2: mortgage belt seats and you know, the fringes of our cities.
Speaker 2: A recent you gov poll, in fact, said that these
Speaker 2: labor seats were in grave danger of falling. One of
Speaker 2: the seat holders in New South Wales told me that
Speaker 2: they don't want Albansi to wait for the simple reason
Speaker 2: that if the Reserve Bank on April, the first April
Speaker 2: Fool's Day doesn't cut rates again, as Governor Michelle Bullock
Speaker 2: indicated pretty strongly, they weren't inclined to then that would
Speaker 2: make it a harder selling job for them in the
Speaker 2: election campaign. And I can tell you that it wasn't
Speaker 2: only borrowers who were mightily relieved when the Reserve Bank
Speaker 2: cut rates. The government led out a sigh of relief
Speaker 2: that you could almost hear all over Australia. And the
Speaker 2: next day Jim Charmers, the Treasurer, well, he went on
Speaker 2: an interview binge. You might say, he'd done ten interviews
Speaker 2: on radio and television by midday.
Speaker 3: We're joined now by a treasure at Jim Chalmers live
Speaker 3: in Logan, Queensland.
Speaker 1: The Federal Treasurer is Jim Chalmers.
Speaker 3: He's here this morning.
Speaker 1: Good morning to you, gym, Good morning Hammer.
Speaker 3: Let's go live to the treasurer at Jim Charmers.
Speaker 2: Joining us live now is the Treasurer of Jim charm.
Speaker 3: Treasurer, welcome to seven thirty. Thanks very much, Sarah.
Speaker 2: One of his colleagues in the cabinet equipped that Jim's
Speaker 2: become more of immediate tart than Kevin Rudd.
Speaker 1: Now that is saying something. And what about Anthony Alberezi,
Speaker 1: what's he been up to?
Speaker 3: Well, alban is he not far behind?
Speaker 2: He gave a number of interviews on Tuesday afternoon and
Speaker 2: again on the airwaves next day.
Speaker 4: Taking you live straight to Sydney where Prime Minister Anthony
Speaker 4: Albanesi is speaking.
Speaker 5: We're joined by the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Alberezy.
Speaker 3: Good morning, gooday, Prime minister.
Speaker 6: Thanks for Johnnys.
Speaker 3: Anthony Alberinezi joins me.
Speaker 6: Mister Prime Minister, you must be happy.
Speaker 4: Well, I think the Australians will welcome this news.
Speaker 2: But on Thursday the Prime Minister pulled off with the help.
Speaker 2: It must be said of the South Australian Labor government
Speaker 2: under Peter melanowskis of well.
Speaker 3: A pretty big political coup.
Speaker 2: In a surprising move, the South Australian Parliament this week
Speaker 2: past laws that forced Sanjiv Gupta, the British billionaire who
Speaker 2: owns the Whyella steel Works, well they forced him out
Speaker 2: of the steel works and put the steel works in administration.
Speaker 2: The Prime Minister says this will consolidate the workforce in
Speaker 2: Wyela and the uncertainty that's been plaguing the town for
Speaker 2: a couple of years.
Speaker 4: Now. This package that we're putting together here we're working
Speaker 4: very hard on between the South Australian Government and the
Speaker 4: Australian government, two labor governments working together to support jobs,
Speaker 4: good quality, good paying jobs.
Speaker 2: They're going to pump in over three hundred million dollars
Speaker 2: to stabilize the steelworks and they're going to have another
Speaker 2: one point nine billion dollars to invest in it in
Speaker 2: the hope that someone will then buy this refurbished steel works,
Speaker 2: which by the way, is going to have a distinctly
Speaker 2: green tinge about it. And blue Scope, which I think
Speaker 2: is owned by BHP, is expressing interest already. So that's
Speaker 2: a big announcement and Albanezi says this proves that when
Speaker 2: we say we're investing in a future made in Australia,
Speaker 2: we mean what we say.
Speaker 1: So that was a huge announcement by Albanez. It's something
Speaker 1: that he can talk about and the lead up to
Speaker 1: the election. Does that tell us anything about election timing
Speaker 1: and what are some of the apossible dates for the election.
Speaker 2: By legislation, an election campaign must go thirty three days.
Speaker 2: It can go out of a lot longer if a
Speaker 2: prime minister wants that to happen. So if we take
Speaker 2: the thirty three day rule, Albanzi would have to call
Speaker 2: an election, say for March twenty nine, by February twenty five,
Speaker 2: so that's still an option.
Speaker 3: However, there is a big fly in the.
Speaker 2: Ointment and that is the March eight state election in
Speaker 2: Western Australia. And one Cabinet minister told me not only
Speaker 2: does Albanesi want to steer clear, doesn't want to blur
Speaker 2: the lines between state and federal for the WA election,
Speaker 2: but he's been begged not to by the Labor premier
Speaker 2: over there, Roger Cook. So that would suggest he could
Speaker 2: call one maybe towards the end of that campaign, So
Speaker 2: people are then thinking, well, March eleven, or just a
Speaker 2: couple of days before, Albanesi will get in the car
Speaker 2: and go out to Government House to call an election
Speaker 2: for April twelve. And the good thing about April twelve
Speaker 2: is it avoids both Anzac Day and Easter, and it
Speaker 2: avoids the.
Speaker 3: March wa election. So you know, put your money on that.
Speaker 1: I'm not a betting manning Paul, but I just might.
Speaker 1: You've reported on a lot of elections in your time.
Speaker 1: Do you think that this rate cut, which could be
Speaker 1: a one off and which will only have a modest
Speaker 1: impact on people's wulgage repayments, will make any real difference
Speaker 1: to the campaign?
Speaker 2: Well, look, without a doubt, it's the most anticipated rate
Speaker 2: cut that I can remember. And there's also no doubt
Speaker 2: that it has huge political implications. It's a watershed, a
Speaker 2: circuit breaker if you like. It turns the argument on
Speaker 2: economic management around and it gives credibility to the claims
Speaker 2: of the Treasurer that it's his economic management. It's the
Speaker 2: government's economic management that has succeeded in bringing inflation down
Speaker 2: and creating the atmospherics for the Reserve Bank to have
Speaker 2: enough confidence to begin cutting interest rates. But by comparison
Speaker 2: already the opposition seems to be offering bainalities like back
Speaker 2: to basics of economic management and cutting spending. Well, cutting spending,
Speaker 2: whatever way you shake it means more pain for the
Speaker 2: very people you said of labors put into too much
Speaker 2: pain already.
Speaker 1: Coming up after the break, Dutton goes missing. Paul, it's
Speaker 1: been a good week for the Albernezy government. How's Peter
Speaker 1: Dutton's week?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: Well, it was quite noticeable that Peter Dutton on the
Speaker 2: afternoon of the announcement left his shadow treasure to as
Speaker 2: it were, carry the can.
Speaker 5: The truth is that this is too little, too late
Speaker 5: for many Australian families who have seen the biggest collapse
Speaker 5: in their standard of living in history.
Speaker 2: Old heads and old hands in the prescalery do notice
Speaker 2: that if the government does get good news, Peter Dutton
Speaker 2: tends to disappear.
Speaker 3: From the media.
Speaker 2: Angus Taylor was left by Peter Dutton, who kerry most
Speaker 2: of the burden of replying to this good news for
Speaker 2: the government. Or can you name one policy that is
Speaker 2: going to drive down the cost of living for the rest.
Speaker 6: Of this year?
Speaker 3: If you win government in what could be six seven,
Speaker 3: eight weeks time.
Speaker 1: All of those policies will help him bring down the
Speaker 1: cost of living, because that's what economic management does.
Speaker 2: But Dutton so far has been pretty loose. We got
Speaker 2: a pretty stark example of that in a key interview.
Speaker 2: He gave a long form interview he gave on Sky
Speaker 2: News Sunday Agenda last weekend.
Speaker 3: It showed that Dutton was more inclined.
Speaker 2: To stay opposition leader rather than an alternative prime minister.
Speaker 2: He was out scoring cheap political points against the the
Speaker 2: government for the way it was handling the threat of
Speaker 2: the President Trump's the tariffs, but he wasn't actually on
Speaker 2: top of what the government had done. He called for
Speaker 2: ministers to go to Washington and it was pointed out
Speaker 2: to him, we'll hang on the deputy Prime minister was
Speaker 2: in Washington on previous days.
Speaker 6: Richard Miles is a nice guy, but he's batting fairly
Speaker 6: significantly down the list in terms of the government's key hitters.
Speaker 1: In the first place, Richard Miles is the Deputy Prime Minister.
Speaker 1: Why are you saying he's batting down the order?
Speaker 6: Well, I just don't think Again. I'm friends with Richard
Speaker 6: and I like Richard. But I just don't think he
Speaker 6: has the gravitas that the Prime Minister would have if
Speaker 6: he had attended, or if.
Speaker 2: He also didn't seem in calling for our trade minister
Speaker 2: to talk to his counterpart in America at that point
Speaker 2: of time, the Trade Secretary hadn't been sworn in, so
Speaker 2: you know, that seemed to be that seemed to be
Speaker 2: quite indicative of someone who hadn't done his homework.
Speaker 3: Was it too much? But in that.
Speaker 2: Interview what really caught the breath of commentators and indeed
Speaker 2: his coalition partners in the Nationals, he announced what looked
Speaker 2: like something off the top of his head that raised
Speaker 2: the prospect of forcing insurance companies to divest if they
Speaker 2: don't bring their premiums down. Now he has put his
Speaker 2: finger on a very sore point, particularly in far North Queensland,
Speaker 2: which has been hit by devastating whether cyclones and floods
Speaker 2: this summer.
Speaker 3: But of course we had the.
Speaker 2: Bushfires in Victoria and elsewhere, and it's true people simply
Speaker 2: aren't taking out insurance because they can't afford it.
Speaker 1: Can you tell me about the reaction to this announcement.
Speaker 1: What the reaction to this has been?
Speaker 3: Well, the Insurance Council was flabbergasted. For one thing.
Speaker 2: It seemed that Dutton was unaware of a ten billion
Speaker 2: dollar cyclone reinsurance pool that was set up by the
Speaker 2: Morrison government, the government he was part of in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two. So Little Proud went on television next day
Speaker 2: and said, oh, well, this isn't policy.
Speaker 5: Is this a policy that has been approved by the
Speaker 5: Joint party room, Because it's not a policy was announced.
Speaker 5: What Peter Dutton has said that is very clear we
Speaker 5: are prepared to use whatever policy lever. We need to
Speaker 5: ensure that Australian's costs a living and consumers are being
Speaker 5: treated fairly.
Speaker 1: That's what you want from government. So it's not actually Jalacy, Well, it.
Speaker 5: Wasn't announced as a policy. I don't think I think
Speaker 5: it would be unfair to say that that was a
Speaker 5: policy announced by Peter Dutton.
Speaker 1: What he said was, so what do you think is
Speaker 1: going on here, Paul, with Dunton making these seemingly off
Speaker 1: the cuff policy announcements.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that Dutton clearly has got an ear
Speaker 2: for the things that are playing out there. No one
Speaker 2: can deny that insurance is a major issue, but Alberizi
Speaker 2: has made the observation that the oppositions simply haven't done
Speaker 2: their policy work. It seems that Dutton, maybe with an
Speaker 2: eye to how Trump got in in America, wants to
Speaker 2: get in on the vibe. If he talks insurance and
Speaker 2: taking on the big insurers, that's all he has to
Speaker 2: do and people will rush to vote for him. It
Speaker 2: was quite interesting. The next day he doubled down and
Speaker 2: he said, I'm warning insurance companies now, unless they do
Speaker 2: something before we get elected, they better look out when
Speaker 2: we get elected. The opinion polls do show the coalition
Speaker 2: with an edge, but it's only an edge, and fifty
Speaker 2: one forty nine, which is the average of all the
Speaker 2: published poles at the moment, is basically statistically line bare.
Speaker 2: So while news poll was told recently that voters are
Speaker 2: seriously considering a change, the two party votes shows they
Speaker 2: haven't yet found a credible alternative.
Speaker 1: And finally, Paul, one of the main criticisms of the
Speaker 1: government is that it hasn't been very good at spreaking
Speaker 1: its own achievements, telling its own story. Is there enough
Speaker 1: time for them to start doing that this late in
Speaker 1: their term.
Speaker 2: Well, they are incumbents and they've been there for only
Speaker 2: three years, and Albanesi, as a communicator, has not sold
Speaker 2: his government well. But mind you, it wouldn't matter who
Speaker 2: was in government in these tight times, selling your government
Speaker 2: well would always be difficult. However, I think the focus
Speaker 2: is now coming down to the choices that are on offer,
Speaker 2: and what Albanzi can rightly claim is that we've done
Speaker 2: more than the coalition wanted to allow us to do,
Speaker 2: which then puts the focus on the alternative to show
Speaker 2: that it is as caring of people's pain as labors
Speaker 2: tried to be. But look, in our system of compulsory voting,
Speaker 2: it simply does come down to, you know, not the
Speaker 2: ideal you want if you could ever get it, but
Speaker 2: the devil you know versus the devil you don't know.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Daniel bye.
Speaker 1: Also in the years today, the artist Colored Subsabi and
Speaker 1: curator Michael de Gastino will not be reinstated as Australia's
Speaker 1: representatives at the next Venice Biennial, despite thousands of artists
Speaker 1: calling for the decision to be overturned. This was confirmed
Speaker 1: by Creative Australia's chair Robert morgan An executive director Adrian
Speaker 1: Collette at an all staff meeting on Thursday. It is
Speaker 1: now increasingly likely Australia will not be represented at the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six event, and a joint press conference between
Speaker 1: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski and the US Special Envoy for
Speaker 1: Ukraine and Russia has been canceled. Retired General Keith Kellogg
Speaker 1: was due to brief the press alongside mister Zelenski after
Speaker 1: a meeting on Thursday local time, but mister Zelenski's office
Speaker 1: says the US called for the appearance to be canceled.
Speaker 1: The cancelation comes at a critical time as US President
Speaker 1: Donald Trump a Russian President Vladimir Putin have been discussing
Speaker 1: an endo. The war discussions Ukraine have not been invited to.
Speaker 1: I'm Daniel James this seven am. Have a great weekend,
Speaker 1: all right.
Speaker 4: Just a quick one on a light and note, are
Speaker 4: you going to Vegas for the NRL launch?
Speaker 3: I won't be doing that. There is an election being
Speaker 3: called Carlin, so yeah, no, I can't go to Vegas,
Speaker 3: carg because that's the day we're calling the election. Just king,
Speaker 3: that's my birth that's my birthday. Weekend