LEEANNE ENOCH, MEMBER FOR ALGESTER: Thankyou very much everybody for coming along today. I do want to acknowledge our Treasurer and of course Minister Rae, we’ve got members of state Parliament here, Corrine McMillan and Margie Nightingale among many guests who’ve come along to celebrate the beginning of Senior’s month in Queensland. Of course Senior’s Month is a month-long celebration. It recognises the incredible contribution of senior Queenslanders to every part of our life. It also promotes positive attitudes towards ageing, and of course, it brings us all together in this idea of an inclusive community, something that I know Jim knows very, very well and is hugely committed to. So on those few words, let me hand over to Jim.
JIM CHALMERS, TREASURER: Thanks very much, Leeanne. I think if you wander around inside here at Calamvale Community College, you can see why Leeanne Enoch is such a wonderful, wonderful local champion in our local community. It's a real honour to serve with her the people in these Brisbane suburbs, and this is going to be a really big day here, this Senior’s Day here in Calamvale. We're very pleased to welcome Sam Rae here, the Aged Care Minister. Now, Sam is a Victorian. He's not here because he thinks this is the best chance for him to see the AFL Premiership Cup up close. But he's here because he's the Aged Care Minister, and he gets around communities like ours, making sure that he's engaging with seniors communities like ours. And we really appreciate you being here, Sam. Saturday was an important day for Brisbane in footy. Sunday will be an important day for Brisbane in footy as well playing another Victorian team, now that I think of it. But today is an extremely important day for every Australian, but particularly for Australians saving for a home, and particularly for our wonderful aged care workers as well. And that's what we wanted to talk to you about today.
Today is the first of October, and it means the beginning of our fourth pay rise for aged care workers. This Albanese Labor Government is investing billions of dollars to ensure that our wonderful aged care workers get the decent pay that they need and deserve to look after older Australians. Aged care workers do amazing work, and this Albanese Labor Government is backing them in with the fourth pay rise since we've been in office. What this means is for a nurse in aged care, bit more than $60 extra a week. What it means for a carer, about $40 extra a week. Altogether, this means hundreds of dollars extra per week for our aged care workers. Our aged care workers are wonderful Australians. They look after our seniors. They deserve every cent of this pay rise that the Albanese Labor Government is funding.
Now this government's reason for being is to make sure that more people are earning more, and keeping more of what they earn so they can provide for their loved ones and also so they can save up for a home of their own. And that's the other reason why 1 October is so important. Today is the beginning of Labor's bigger 5% deposits scheme for people saving for a home. Now these 5% deposits are all about getting more Australians into more homes more quickly. They're all about getting deposits down at the same time as we get housing supply up, and what it means is smaller deposits and more homes for more Australians so that they can save up for and afford a home of their own. So, we're expanding this scheme from today. We're getting rid of the caps on the number of people. We are dramatically increasing the price caps so that more people can access these 5% deposits. But it's a really important day.
Whether you're an aged care worker like those represented by Mandy and the colleagues from UWU behind us, whether you're saving for your own home, 1 October is a really exciting day. Now we've been able to make room for these key investments by managing the economy in a responsible way and managing the budget in a responsible way. And in the last day or so, Standard and Poor's have reaffirmed Australia's AAA credit rating. This is a powerful endorsement of Labor's responsible economic management. We've been able to engineer a $209 billion improvement to the Budget, we've been able to hand down 2 surpluses and a much smaller deficit in our first 3 years. We've got the Liberal debt down by $188 billion. Responsible economic management is an important end in itself, but it also means we can get the debt down, pay less interest on that debt, and make room for the sorts of investments that we are talking about today. Making sure our aged care workers get the pay that they need and deserve, making sure more Australians can afford their first home. This is how the Albanese Labor Government is delivering what we took to the last election. The first of October is a really important day in that regard, and it's terrific on such an important day to have the Aged Care Minister Sam Rae here to talk to us about this important pay rise for some of the most important workers in Australia. Thanks, Sam.
SAM RAE, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIORS: Thanks very much, Jim, and thank you to everyone assembled here. It's fantastic to be here in Calamvale today, the first of October, an amazing event that Leeanne and the team have pulled together here, celebrating and supporting older Australians here locally and all the services and opportunities that are available to ensure that they live dignified and joyful lives. This is a great event, a big thanks to my friend and colleague, Jim Chalmers, and of course all of our other state colleagues who are joining us here. I think Jim has just done a fantastic job of outlining why today is so important for aged care workers. It's the latest in a long line of adjustments that have been funded by the Albanese Labor Government. It's the fourth pay rise for aged care workers. And as Jim outlined, what this particular tranche of pay rises means for aged care workers is about $60 a week for the average aged care nurse looking after older people in our community, and roughly $40 a week for personal care workers in terms of the investments that we've made since we were elected. There's about $17.7 billion of investments from the federal Labor Government to ensure that these amazing people, that people who care for our loved ones, who treat them with compassion and with dignity, are paid appropriately for their work and for a nurse in aged care. That amounts to about $28,000 a year in additional pay since the Albanese Labor Government was elected back in 2022 I'm going to throw to some of these amazing representatives from the UWU in just a moment, but the one thing that I do want to say to every single aged care worker across the country is that we are so very grateful for the work that you do, the compassion that you show and the dignity that you provide for our loved ones in aged care, whether it be in the residential aged care setting or in in home care. We're so very grateful for that work that you do, that, as I said, that compassion that you show, and these are investments in your wages, your conditions, ensuring that the award wage meets the community expectation is a reflection of our appreciation for that extraordinary work. So thank you to all of you very, very much. Now, on that note, I'm going to hand over to Mandy Smith from the UWU.
MANDY SMITH, UNITED WORKERS UNION: Hi, everyone, and 4% everybody said 4%, 4% is brilliant. It is really good, and it's nice to know that we're being recognized and appreciated. Our work's very skilled now. It's not, you know, everybody's saying aged care, anybody can do it. We have a lot of complex needs now, a lot of behaviors. And anybody who works in aged care will understand how difficult the job is so, 4% is brilliant. I'm looking forward to it. We're on the start of a journey to improve aged care. We getting there, but it's a long journey but we're going the right way, which is fantastic to be known and to be heard, it's great.
CHALMERS: You should stick around and take the difficult questions. We're in your hands.
JOURNALIST: Treasurer, the 5% deposit scheme comes into effect today, as you say, and the RBA is delaying rate cuts. Does this mean the end of rate cuts?
CHALMERS: Well, I wouldn't describe it exactly as you have, and I don't make predictions or pre-empt decisions taken independently by the Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank has already cut interest rates 3 times this year, and that reflects the very welcome and encouraging progress that Australians have made together on inflation. Don't forget that inflation is half or less than half than what we inherited when we came to office by getting inflation down, managing the Budget responsibly, managing the economy in the most responsible way that we can. We've been able to get inflation down, and that's given the Reserve Bank the confidence to cut rates 3 times already this year.
JOURNALIST: Treasurer, can we get your reaction on Trump's film tariffs?
CHALMERS: Well, obviously, the Australian view of these tariffs is that they're not warranted. We have a relationship of mutual economic benefit with the USA and we have been advocating in every way that we can to see these tariffs not levied on our really important employers and industries and workers. Tariffs are effectively a tax on the workers and businesses of the country that levies them. So they don't make a lot of sense, and that's why we have been making that clear, since before the last Australian election. When these announcements are made, whether it's the film industry or pharmaceuticals or other industries before that, we worked through the issues in our usual considered and methodical way to understand the implications and impacts for Australian industry and that's what we'll do in this case as well.
JOURNALIST: Thanks, Treasurer and on that note, is the Prime Minister going to raise this topic with Trump during the meeting?
CHALMERS: Well, I don't want to pre-empt the important discussions that Prime Minister Albanese will have with President Trump, but we've made it clear on other occasions that we have an interest here when it comes to the tariffs, either imposed already or proposed or floated by the US Administration and so people should expect that Prime Minister Albanese will make the case for Australian workers and businesses and industries and investors, as we have been doing for some months now.
JOURNALIST: The New South Wales Premier said he's worried about a drop in revenue from the petrol excise – not having enough money to fix the roads. Have you got a rough timeframe or a model for when that scheme might come in by the end of the year?
CHALMERS: We've had some really good discussions with the New South Wales Government, indeed, with all of the state and territory governments about the future of that tax base, revenue base and what it means for road-user charging for EVs. And the point that I made earlier this week is the same point that I've been making for some time, which is that we'll take the time to get that new regime right. Again, we will do that in a considered and methodical and consultative and collaborative way. There are a range of views about the best way to go about making sure that everyone who uses the roads pays for the upkeep of those roads. So, Treasurer Mookhey in New South Wales, Premier Minns all of the state and territory Treasurers and leaders have made that point in one way or another, and we'll continue to work closely with them.
JOURNALIST: When do you expect to have a model?
CHALMERS: We haven't come to a concluded view on that. We're doing the work. I think if there's a characteristic of this government, we work through the issues in the most consultative and collaborative way that we can, including in some of these complex areas. We don't have a time frame for you because we don't yet have a concluded view on a settled model, but we'll continue to do the work.
JOURNALIST: Have you got a reaction to China's ban on BHP iron ore exports?
CHALMERS: I'll set up a conversation with the CEO of BHP about this. Obviously, I've seen those reports. They're concerning reports. Ultimately, though, they are about the commercial arrangements between 2 companies and so in one respect, a matter for the company to work through, and I'll have discussions with Mike Henry about that in due course, when we can set that up. More broadly, this is a government that advocates for Australia's interests on the world stage with our major trading partners. You can expect that to be the case again, we’ll work through these issues calmly and carefully, advocating for the workers and businesses and investors of our country.
QUESTIONER: I would like to raise a question, and I'd like it directed to minister Sam O'Connor. I recently have been the victim of an absolute horrific, catastrophic event at my home, where the front gate was ripped out of my property onto the road. I live in fear. I have emailed him, I have tried to get some sort of resolve for the situation that I'm living under. I have council who are now assisting, but I'm not getting anything from state government, and I have contacted housing management, ignored 32 emails. Now, the Ratepayer Association this week has sent an email to Sam O'Connor wanting answers, also to the Police Minister, this is horrific. I'm dealing with tenants of public housing in my street who are involved in this. And the police agree with that. So I want something addressed. I'm shaking because I'm so fearful and scared.
CHALMERS: I totally understand that. It sounds like you've been through a very traumatic event.
QUESTIONER: I can't leave my home because this person has a network of hoons and they drive past my place. I've got a temporary gate with padlocks on it. If my house burns down I cannot escape, I can't get out. I can't go anywhere.
CHALMERS: What we'll arrange is, if we can have a private conversation and get your details. If Leeanne is your state member, we'll make sure that Leeanne makes that representation to Minister O'Connor's office in the Crisafulli Government, and we'll follow that up for you. But again, I think from all of us, we're sorry that you are going through this very traumatic period, and we'll do what we can to represent you and represent your interests. Thank you for raising with us.
JOURNALIST: ABS Figures show that the government is well behind on its goal of building 1.2 million homes by 2029 should the Government revise that figure?
CHALMERS: Our housing target is ambitious, but it's achievable if everybody does their bit, and we're doing our bit. What the figures have shown over the last 3 years is whether it's construction costs, whether it's dwelling approvals, whether it's new investments, we've been able to turn that around after 10 years of neglect under our predecessors. We know we've got a lot of work to do to hit those ambitious but achievable targets. We think we can, but everybody needs to play their role, and that's what we are doing.
JOURNALIST: You said it's ambitious, but figures show it's unrealistic.
CHALMERS: We're only at the very beginning of a 5-year target, and we know that it's an ambitious target. We've never pretended otherwise, but it's achievable, and we're investing tens of billions of dollars to build more homes for more Australians. We're in discussions with the state governments and territory governments and local governments to make sure that we get the planning and approvals regime right. We're talking with the industry and investors to make sure that these investments are happening at the same time as we're making deposits smaller for people getting into their first home. So we've got a very ambitious plan to hit that target. We know that it will be difficult. We've never pretended otherwise, but if everybody does their bit, we can get there.
JOURNALIST: Thank you. And just Minister Clare O'Neill said this morning that the government needs to do more [INAUDIBLE].
CHALMERS: I've made that point myself. I'm happy to repeat that as well as Clare did this morning on radio. We know that we need to do more and we need to do better to hit that target. That's been obvious, I think for some time. I think people pretend that’s some kind of revelation that we need to build more homes in our community. That's really the position that this Labor Government has taken. Very different to our predecessors. Our predecessors did almost nothing for a decade. So we're starting way back, but we're investing tens of billions of dollars, a lot of effort. Got one of our best ministers on the case, we work closely with her on it to make sure that we're building the homes that Australians need. And today, importantly, we're making those deposits smaller as well to make it easier for people to get a toehold in a difficult housing market.