SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER
MINISTER FINANCE
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
ABC AFTERNOON BRIEFING
TUESDAY, 1 APRIL 2025

SUBJECTS: RBA decision; Australia-US trade relationship; Dutton’s doubling-down on cuts to services including health and education.

PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: Katy Gallagher, welcome to the program.

SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: Thanks for having me on.

KARVELAS: Are you concerned about the message that interest rates being on hold sends to voters about the position of the economy?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think people will remember that inflation was rising and interest rates were rising when we came to government, and now inflation is falling and interest rates are starting to fall as well. I think it's very clear from all of the commentators that no one was really expecting interest rates to move today. But the overarching message from the Government is that we are getting inflation right back down almost a third of what it was when we came to government. And that's a really important role that we've had in making sure we can be in a position where interest rates have been cut and that helps people with their cost-of-living pressures.

KARVELAS: Michele Bullock, the Reserve Bank Governor, has of course done her now-traditional press conference, and she says that the uncertain global outlook means that they held as well. That's a big, overwhelming reason, particularly in relation to fears around growth. How significant are those fears and what does it mean for households going forward?

GALLAGHER: Well, PK, this was front and centre as we put the Budget together, we were very clear we had to focus on the cost-of-living and making sure we were helping households with that pressure. But really the Budget was put together in this growing world of uncertainty, globally. So, that has been a feature of our thinking and getting the Budget into better shape and all of the decisions we've taken, really. It's important that we make decisions in Australia's national interest for households across Australia. But of course we are mindful of the situation globally, and I can understand Governor Bullock's comments there. I think everybody is acknowledging that some of the trade tensions that we're seeing play out around the world are causing uncertainty in global markets. And of course that'll have an impact here. But in those times, you need a government that's going to take the decisions that are about supporting households, helping them with cost-of-living pressures, unlike Peter Dutton who wants to raise everybody's taxes and cut services in a time when we are facing such global uncertainty.

KARVELAS: House prices peaked this month to record highs again, Minister. CoreLogic attributes it to a sentiment lift. Do you think that mood will flatten again now?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think again, when it comes to what we can do to support households, whether it be cost-of-living or making sure that people are able to get into home ownership or that we are able to provide housing across the spectrum, whether it be social or affordable housing, the Government's role is to make sure we are working in partnership with the housing industry to actually ensure enough supply of housing and make sure people are able to get into housing when they need it and where they need it. And that's been a key focus of ours as well. And again, the Budget has more to invest in that area because housing is one of those leading contributors to cost-of-living pressures. That's why we've taken it so seriously. When we look at the situation the Australian economy is in, there are a number of things in our favour. We have low unemployment, we have wages growing, we have inflation coming down, we have interest rates coming down. That is all part of the work we've been doing, alongside every other household in Australia, to make sure that we are getting inflation down and helping cost-of-living pressures where we can. So, we are proud of what we've been able to achieve with everybody across the country in the last three years, but there is more work to do, and the Australian government's job is to help households where we can and make decisions in our national interest.

KARVELAS: Malcolm Turnbull has talked today. He's been speaking about Donald Trump and the new international environment we live in. And he says to all politicians, including, of course, the Government – because he says this is a bipartisan problem – that you should get off your knees and stand up for Australia when it comes to Trump. Is that what your government is prepared to do?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think you've seen the comments from the Prime Minister over the last few days, and in fact, since the Trump administration came of power. We will make decisions in our national interest. And in some of the issues that have been raised in the last few days, whether it be the News Media Bargaining Code, whether it be the PBS, all of those issues are not up for negotiation. We will stand up for Australia's national interest. We'll make decisions in Australia's national interest, and we are working and communicating with the Trump administration as they go through implementing their agenda. But implementing their agenda doesn't mean that we aren't going to stand up for our national interests. We make policy here in our country's interest. We make decisions in our country's interest. And what we are seeing in this election campaign is a bit of copying, a bit of cut and pasting from overseas and applying here. And we've seen it in just in the last 24 hours with Peter Dutton saying, we don't need an Education department and we can get rid of the Health department as well. What that means is he wants to cut Medicare, he wants to stop the federal government's involvement in Medicare. And –

KARVELAS: Let me politely pick you up on this. He didn't say he was going to get rid of the Health Department or the Education Department.

GALLAGHER: Well, I think what you'll see when you've seen these similar comments being made overseas, those comments are about getting rid of public servants who administer Medicare. That is a cut to Medicare. That is what he said today. He's doubled down on it this morning. He made some comments last night about the Education department and getting rid of that as well. He's openly saying he's going to slash 41,000 jobs from the public service. This is a cut and paste from overseas, but it's not in our national interest. We proudly have a Medicare system here. We want to strengthen it, invest in it. And it's clear from what he said today, and I don't know whether it's a big campaign gap or a slip up, is he's openly said that he will be cutting Medicare. That's what he said today.

KARVELAS: No, he said that he doesn't want to cut frontline services. I'm just being specific to the letter of what he said. He was pressed, particularly on the Education Department after, you are right, Sky News last night. He was asked about woke education curriculums and he said that he maybe wants to tie funding to what's taught and money from the Commonwealth. That's more specific, isn't it?

GALLAGHER: Well, again, I think you put together the fact that he wants to cut 41,000 jobs, Canberra-based jobs, he says, from the public service, and he's singled out Education, and today he's singled out Health. Now Health administers Medicare. So when people are getting their payments, when the integrity of the Medicare system is being assessed, that all happens in the Health department. Now, if you cut that, you cut Medicare, the system won't work. And that's what he has said today, and we always knew it. I mean, this is what he's done before when he tried to impose a GP tax and take $50 billion out of hospitals. That's what he did the last time he was health minister, and it's clear what he wants to do if he gets the levers of government again. And I think it must've been a campaign gaffe because surely somebody who's trying to win the prime ministership would not walk around saying he's going to do massive cuts to Medicare, but that's what we've seen today.

KARVELAS: The Treasurer has called him DOGE-y Dutton, referring to Elon Musk's DOGE campaign. Now, that's obviously the US's attempt to cut their public service. The Prime Minister has held back more than that. So, what's going on here? Is that the party's view, is that the government's view, that DOGE is bad and somehow that Peter Dutton is doing the same thing as DOGE? Can you clarify what your position is on that?

GALLAGHER: Yeah, well, I think both the treasurer and the PM are on the same page. We are saying there needs to be policies made in the interest of Australia, not imported policies from overseas that sound good to conservative governments, cutting the public service, cut services, without a doubt. Banning working from home? I mean, come on. This is the guy that's ready to move into Sydney Harbour. We know he loves Sydney Harbour. We already knew that when he bailed on a cyclone and went to a fundraiser in Sydney Harbour, but now we can see that he's now banning working from home for people while he wants to work from home himself. I mean, this is an issue out there on the campaign trail. Working from home is really – or winding back working from home when families are trying to manage budgets and juggle childcare and a whole range of other things. This is concerning people out there and we have these imported policies may work in America, they don't work here.

KARVELAS: Ok, you say these are imported policies from America. It seems to me that the Labor Party has decided to openly depict Peter Dutton as a Donald Trump kind of lite. Is that what you're doing here?

GALLAGHER: We are merely drawing a comparison, I think, to what we've seen in the last few months, but also what's been on offer here. Now, we've got our positive agenda. We've got an offer going forward, strengthening Medicare, making sure we can get bulk billing rates up, giving everybody a tax cut. And we have Peter Dutton who's wanting to put everyone's taxes up, ban work from home, move into Kirribilli, measuring up the curtains before he's actually won an election, and then today coming out and saying he wants to cut Medicare. And there's a real offer for people at this election, and I don't think you wouldn't expect us to be drawing that to people's attention.

KARVELAS: Katy Gallagher, thanks for joining us.

GALLAGHER: Thanks so much, PK.

ENDS