SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER
MINISTER FINANCE
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
PM WITH SAMANTHA DONOVAN
TUESDAY, 25 MARCH 2025
SUBJECTS: Federal Budget.
SAMANTHA DONOVAN, HOST: Senator Gallagher, thanks very much for joining me for PM tonight. A busy day for you, I know.
SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: It’s a pleasure, thanks for having me on.
DONOVAN: Now, the announcement of the two new tax cuts has really taken many people by surprise. What’s the Government’s rationale for those?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think it’s a recognition that where we can with tax, we should be looking at ways to lower tax that’s being paid. And this is a sensible way, a modest way, to build upon the tax relief that was provided in July last year. And so, they are modest, but you’ve got to see them in combination with what we’ve been trying to do over a number of budgets, and we think the tax cuts combined with the cost-of-living help that’s also in this Budget will make a real difference to households around the country.
DONOVAN: Are they a bit of a sweetener as we head towards the election?
GALLAGHER: No, we haven’t considered them in that way at all. What we’ve tried to do with the Budget, the Budget’s often reduced to a couple of big ideas or key ideas. For me, it’s about a thousand different decisions that all interrelate with each other. We’ve looked at tax, we’ve looked at what’s possible on tax, we’ve looked at what’s affordable, what’s responsible, and we’ve looked at other pressures that needed addressing, like Medicare and cheaper medicines and things like that. So, I think when you look at it as a whole, you’ll see what we’re trying to do, sort of take some pressure off households when they’re still doing it tough. There’s a lot of optimism in this Budget about the economic situation, the fact that we have turned a corner after a couple of pretty difficult years for people, and I think this builds upon the work we’ve done in the previous three budgets.
DONOVAN: I’ll ask you about that optimism in a moment, but we’ve just heard from ACOSS and CEDA, who’ve both raised concerns about the fact that the tax cuts and the energy rebates aren’t targeted. Are you comfortable with the fact that some of the wealthiest Australians, who aren’t struggling with the cost-of-living, are going to get those tax cuts and electricity rebates?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think the Budget has a lot of measures which are targeted and which are, when you look at all of our income support payments, they are all targeted to fixed and lower income households. But there’s still room and we think it’s still important to provide cost-of-living assistance across the board. We’ve done that and seen how the energy bill rebates went last time. They’re obviously tapering in this budget, we’re not doing it for a full year, we’re doing it for six months. But we think there’s room to share some of these measures across the board. But you know, many of the Government’s programs are targeted, are either means tested or income tested or have other eligibility requirements in place, and that’s appropriate, because particularly in the area of social services, that’s there to support people who are doing it pretty tough.
DONOVAN: Now, the Treasurer has really emphasised today the difficult global conditions Australia’s facing. Trade tensions, especially with the United States, we’ve got the two big conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the slowing of growth in China’s economy. Do you think global events could completely derail this budget, even over the next couple of months?
GALLAGHER: Well, as the Treasurer said and you’ve outlined there, there is a lot of global uncertainty at the moment. And I think most people are watching that and are concerned by it. Look, it’s definitely a shadow that hangs over the Budget. But where the Treasury are able to incorporate that into their forecasts and their thinking of the Budget, that is done. And on the local – it is, Jim’s said this a couple of times today, as there’s more challenges in the global economy, it is rather positive and rather extraordinary that the economy here has been so resilient. Unemployment has remained so low, people in jobs, jobs being created, wages growing, interest rates coming down, inflation back to band six months earlier than the Treasury had previously thought. I mean, that is all very positive news for the Australian economy. But yes, we don’t live and exist in isolation of other global pressures, and it’s right that we outline those in the Budget and that if and when we need to respond to them, we do so.
DONOVAN: So, I’m not going to ask you when the election’s going to be, because I know you’ll probably –
GALLAGHER: Well, the Prime Minister says it will be held in May. That’s his answer.
DONOVAN: Can we expect that the Government’s going to make more funding announcements over the election campaign?
GALLAGHER: Well, a lot of the announcements we’ve made to date are reflected in the Budget. So, the big announcement, obviously the tax cuts, which are $17 billion, we’ve got the big investment in Medicare and cheaper medicines, women’s health, energy bill rebates. If people look to the contingency reserve or the decisions taken but not yet announced section of the Budget, you’ll see that it’s relatively modest. And there’s different reasons why you might have some things stashed away in there. But it’s relatively modest and compared to other pre-election budgets by other governments, it’s pretty small indeed.
DONOVAN: Senator Gallagher, we’ll await the Prime Minister’s visit to the Governor-General and prepare for the election campaign. Thanks very much for taking the time to come in and join us on PM this evening.
GALLAGHER: We all will. Thanks so much for having me on.
ENDS
