Michael Sukkar MP

Interview with Amanda Stoker – Sky News Australia

THE HON MICHAEL SUKKAR MP – SHADOW MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES, NDIS, HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS

TRANSCRIPT

INTERVIEW WITH AMANDA STOKER, SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA

Wednesday, 31 May 2023

TOPICS: Philip Lowe at Senate Estimates, Inflation, Interest Rates & Housing

E&OE

Amanda Stoker: As I mentioned earlier, Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe has fronted Senate Estimates and he’s issued a fresh inflation warning. Joining me now is Liberal MP Michael Sukkar. Michael, thank you very much for your time. What’s your take on the RBA Governor’s appearance at Senate Estimates today?

Michael Sukkar: Well, tellingly, Amanda, after he made those remarks, we saw the latest ABS data which shows that inflation has actually increased and it’s now tracked up to 6.8% so we see very stubborn inflation action and clearly what is occurring is the government has lost control partly because of their high spending agenda, which means we’ll have higher inflation for longer. And as your viewers will know, Amanda, that means is that the Reserve Bank’s got no choice but to keep interest rates higher for longer. Now, that could mean interest rates rise even further and if they do, it will be because of the actions of this Labor government.

Amanda Stoker: Philip Lowe seems like he’s being polite, but that entrenched inflation about which he talks seems to be borne out by the data we’re seeing today. And the real driver here is, as you say, the big spending agenda of this government. Speaking of the RBA, the board is set to meet on Tuesday and in all likelihood rates will probably go up again. You’ve mentioned the fresh data out today that makes that inflation pressure increase as they go toward that meeting. Isn’t this just going to cause more stress for households that are already doing it so tough?

Michael Sukkar: Well, this was the point we were making when Labor outlined their budget and a number of the decisions they’ve taken since they’ve been in government – that fuelling higher spending that the government was doing in the end was going to hurt Australians and the way it was going to hurt Australians is just what we’re seeing now. Inflation pushing up interest rates. What the government needed to do was to show disciplined financial management, but also to avoid kowtowing to the unions. I mean, one of the most inflationary things that hasn’t even hit yet will be its industrial relations changes, which were just a payback for the millions and millions of dollars that the militant unions throw at the Labor Party. That’s going to fuel inflation even further and that doesn’t commence until the 1st July. So, that is going to be coming through the system over coming months and years. And finally I would say Labor’s ideological obsessions around energy has meant that Australians are paying hundreds, if not thousands of dollars more for their gas and electricity. Again, that’s not something you can easily cut out of your budget. So, Australians are getting whacked at every turn by poor decisions of this government and it’s really sad to see that it could even get worse in coming meetings of the Reserve Bank.

Amanda Stoker: You’re quite right to observe that Australia’s productivity is already subpar and the effect of these second tranche industrial relations reforms is only going to make it worse. The outcome that you get with that is inflation every day of the week. Let’s chat briefly about the housing crisis. Phil Lowe today had an interesting solution on offer to the housing and rental crisis facing the country. He suggested staying home or getting a housemate. It’s a pretty sad conception of the Australian dream, isn’t it, Michael? Just get yourself a housemate.

Michael Sukkar: It’s utterly embarrassing for the government that the Reserve Bank Governor would have to say that. I mean, I think his comments just indicate how little confidence any of us have in this government when it comes to housing. The hapless housing minister’s very thin agenda is already in tatters. This government announced just in October that they were going to deliver a million homes over five years. They never mentioned that a million homes is just business as usual. By the way, that we’d been doing that prior to their election. But notwithstanding that pretty thin commitment in the Budget, they’re not going to meet that million home target. They’re going to fall way short of that. They’ve got no plan for first home buyers, no plan for supply. And there was comical scenes in the parliament when I asked a question about what is Labor going to do to with housing 1.5 million migrants who are coming to Australia over the next five years? The Minister got up and said, well, we’re going to set up our $10 billion fund to build 30,000 homes over that five years. Now I don’t know how 1.5 million people could possibly live in 30,000 homes,

Amanda Stoker: That’s a lot of housemates, Michael. It’s a lot of housemates.

Michael Sukkar: Lots of housemates. So, you know, this is the craziness and, you know, I come from a migrant family. We like planned migration in Australia, but it’s got to be planned. And you can’t bring in 1.5 million new people to this country unless there’s going to be 1.5 million homes to house them. And clearly that’s not going to happen under this government.

Amanda Stoker: Well, Michael Sukkar, I haven’t forgotten as a plumber’s daughter what you did to keep the residential construction industry going through COVID and the difference you made to people who wanted to get into their own place at an affordable price, hopefully Australians can remember policies like that and how they worked. Michael Sukkar, thank you very much for your time today.

Michael Sukkar: Thanks so much Amanda.