WEBVTT - Rhiannon Down - This week in Canberra

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<v Speaker 1>Every Friday, we wrap up the week with Rhiannon down

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<v Speaker 1>he's on the phone, the political reporter for The Australian.

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning to you. This is the week that was

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<v Speaker 1>in camera. Let's get it started with, Well, where do

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<v Speaker 1>you want to start?

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<v Speaker 2>A big meeting didn't end up happening.

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<v Speaker 3>We had the long awaited G seven summit where Albernezi,

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<v Speaker 3>our Prime minister, was you to have his first meeting

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<v Speaker 3>with Donald Trump face to face to discuss tariffs and orcurse.

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<v Speaker 3>But despite being highly anticipated in the media for months

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<v Speaker 3>or weeks, I should say, it didn't end up happening.

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<v Speaker 3>Donald Trump canceled at the minute and left him hanging

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<v Speaker 3>because of the Middle East conflict, which I imagine was very

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<v Speaker 3>disappointing for the Prime Minister and the government because they

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<v Speaker 3>were very keen to negotiate an exception from those tariffs

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<v Speaker 3>that have been causing them so much grief. Apparently he

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<v Speaker 3>didn't receive he did not receive a call from Trump

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<v Speaker 3>personally afterwards, which some leaders did, which is unfortunate. However,

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<v Speaker 3>Athne Albernize is now considering going to a NATO summit

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<v Speaker 3>in the Netherlands soon to meet Trump in person.

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<v Speaker 2>He's certainly keen to make up for that lost meeting.

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<v Speaker 3>He sees it as very critically important as way of

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<v Speaker 3>assuring the nation that he's a capable economic manager and

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<v Speaker 3>able to negotiate.

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<v Speaker 2>An exemption ursued tariffs.

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<v Speaker 3>However, there were some successes for Anthony Albernizi in terms

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<v Speaker 3>of he did meet with some EU officials to discuss

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<v Speaker 3>a new Security and Defense Pact, which is something that's

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<v Speaker 3>on the table, so certainly some closer ties with Europe

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<v Speaker 3>emerging out of that G seven summit.

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<v Speaker 1>Jim Chalmers went to the National Press Club. How did

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<v Speaker 1>he go?

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<v Speaker 3>Just a week after Anthony Alberanzi gave his own presentation

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<v Speaker 3>at the National Press Club, which I'm sure he was

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<v Speaker 3>very keen to get him first. The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers

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<v Speaker 3>has now done his He did that on Wednesday and

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<v Speaker 3>it was really I mean, he talked up his achievements

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<v Speaker 3>after his first term as Treasurer and sort of talked

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<v Speaker 3>about the mandate in the next three years ahead.

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<v Speaker 2>So it was certainly, you know, very.

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<v Speaker 3>Like it was a bit of a victory life, I'd

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<v Speaker 3>say for the treasure He sort of talked about the

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<v Speaker 3>government's track record of bringing down inflation while making sure

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<v Speaker 3>that unemployment didn't rise, so certainly the government's had some successes.

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<v Speaker 2>He also sort of tried to temper this with this.

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<v Speaker 3>Idea of you know, there's a lot of global volatility,

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<v Speaker 3>there's tariffs, there's all over the world now. And he

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<v Speaker 3>also talked up this productivity roundtable that's coming up in

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<v Speaker 3>August where they're going to bring all these prominent business

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<v Speaker 3>leaders and economic leaders and sot of discussed how to

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<v Speaker 3>get the nation's productivity sort of out of the duldrums

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<v Speaker 3>that it's in.

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<v Speaker 2>So certainly it was a well received speech for Jim Chalmers.

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<v Speaker 2>He did also make a few interesting admissions. He said

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<v Speaker 2>that the budget as it is is not sustainable.

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<v Speaker 3>We've got spending sort of falling short of all the

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<v Speaker 3>big ticket items the government needs to fund, like the

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<v Speaker 3>care economy, that's age care, health indies, all those things.

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<v Speaker 3>Defense is another big one at the moment. And he

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<v Speaker 3>talked about this idea of tax reform, which is very interesting.

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<v Speaker 3>Labor certainly steered clear of tax reforms early in the

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<v Speaker 3>first term. And he sort of flagged this suggestion that

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<v Speaker 3>you know, everything should be left on the table, the

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<v Speaker 3>possibility of looking at GST.

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<v Speaker 2>But he also talked about this idea of consensus.

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<v Speaker 3>He said that failures to get productivity out of the

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<v Speaker 3>gutters or reform the economy won't be because of a

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<v Speaker 3>lack of courage.

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<v Speaker 2>It'll be because of.

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<v Speaker 3>A lack of consensus, and consensus will be the key

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<v Speaker 3>thing here.

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<v Speaker 2>He talked a lot about this topic. We've got already,

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<v Speaker 2>we've got.

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<v Speaker 3>The coalition, James Patterson, the Finance Minister, coming out saying

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<v Speaker 3>that this is sort of code for labor, saying they

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<v Speaker 3>want to raise taxes. So we'll see how that goes,

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<v Speaker 3>this idea of tax reform, and this has been this

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<v Speaker 3>week in camera