Australian news and politics recap: Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor face off in tetchy treasurers’ debate

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It’s been a tetchy day at times, with the Prime Minister firing up and a debate that almost got heated.

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Let’s be real - this one was never going to set living rooms on fire across the country.

But despite a slow start (no one likes a political debate where the two participants promise to be ‘respectful’) things did get a little more zingy towards the end.

The questions from Andrew Clennell provided the most bite, with neither Dr Chalmers nor Mr Taylor covering themselves in glory with their answers.

Dr Chalmers refused to apologise for Labor’s broken promise on energy bills and Mr Taylor wouldn’t be drawn on claims he’d ‘hidden’ an energy price rise when in government.

Overall, the Treasurer probably won the night - if only because he is a more polished performer.

But he gets points deducted for his repeated wheeling out of the old Mediscare line. That one is really starting to get boring.

“I said up front that the key question for this election is, who do you trust to manage the economy?

“And of course, we’ve seen in the last three years, Australians have got poorer, and it’s clear that Australians can’t afford another three years like the last three, and yet that is exactly what Labor is promising in their own Budget, we’ve been laying out our positive plan to get this country back on track, to beat inflation by cutting waste and slashing red tape, to boost growth, by backing business and backing investment in this country by fixing our energy market, by getting more supply into the market, fixing housing so that young Australians can hope to buy a house as part of their journey through life in this great country, to give relief at the bowser 25 cents a litre immediately, not in 18 months or 15 months time.

“And of course, to fix our Budget so we can protect our nation into the future. Before I came into politics, I spent 25 years in business and economics advising people at the highest level in business, starting businesses and working in our family farm. I want to take that experience to be the treasurer, if I get the opportunity, of this great nation, to work with every Australian to get our country back on track.”

“Well, these are uncertain times,” he says.

We all had that one on our bingo cards.

“We’ve got a lot going for us as Australians, but there’s a lot at stake,” Dr Chalmers continues.

“This is a really important moment in the global economy, and we get to decide whether we go to the world more resilient under Labor or more vulnerable under the Coalition, and this debate and Angus’ inability to come clean on his secret cuts to pay for his nuclear reactors has made the choices really clear, whether we build on the progress that we’ve made together, or whether we take Australia backwards.

“And the choices there, as I keep coming back to, is labor helping with the cost of living, cutting income taxes, strengthening Medicare, building more homes, building Australia’s future, making us more resilient in an uncertain world, or higher income taxes and lower wages and secret cuts to pay for nuclear reactors, that’s not an economic plan.

“That’s an ambush, and it’s just like 2013-14, which is why we’re hearing all of the same rhetoric again. Now, there could not be a more important time for the responsible economic management, which has been the defining feature of this Albanese Government. And there could not be a worse time to risk Peter dutton’s coalition of cuts and chaos, which would make Australians worse off and take Australians backwards, because when Peter Dutton cuts, every Australian will pay all right.”

It’s not the first time this topic has come up today, but Dr Chalmers is certainly a lot calmer in his reponse than his boss was earlier on.

The Prime Minister was pretty rude when journalists dared to ask him about the chances of Labor forming a minority government with the Greens.

Greenwood asks if Labor will make changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing if they enter into a minority government with Adam Bandt’s party.

“First of all, we’re not entering into a coalition with the Greens. We seek to govern in a majority,” he says.

“We don’t take our cues or our economic policies from the greens. We’ve got our own agenda on housing.”

But Greenwood isn’t giving up on this one.

“Will it be dangerous if the Greens do have any form of power after this election? Is that a message for Australian voters?”

Dr Chalmers hits back: “Well, that’s in the hands of the Australian people who’ve got the ability to elect a majority Labor government under Anthony Albanese, building more homes, helping with the cost of living, strengthening Medicare and making our economy more resilient. If people want the reliability that comes from a majority Labor government. They can vote for it.”

Andrew Clennell: “Angus Taylor, a decision was made by you as energy minister. We’ve heard about it from Jim Chalmers tonight in 2022 before the last Federal election, to delay a decision on electricity price rises past election day rises which were 11 and 12% so you effectively hit that power price rise from the Australian people.

“Now you’re promising or releasing modeling, claiming your gas reservation policy will cut power prices by a meager 3% and your only other power price solution is 15 years away in nuclear.

“Why in 2022 did you hide that price rise from the Australian people? And given you did, why can we believe your policy promising this 3% reduction in power prices?”

Some tough questions here!

Angus Taylor: “Well, I absolutely didn’t. And in fact, what we saw in my time as energy minister is a cut in electricity prices of between eight and 10% depending on whether you’re a small business, large business or a household.

“We also saw big reductions in gas prices. That got up to close to $20 and we got them down to closer to five to $7 over my final time in the role. And we saw as a result of that, lower electricity prices and lower costs right across the economy. This is the key.

“If you can get gas prices down, it’s not just gas prices that come down for consumers, they clearly do, but also the price of food, the price of building materials. So much of our economy is energy.

“Energy is everywhere through our economy. If we can get those costs down, and we can by getting more Australian gas working for Australians, we can have a lower cost of living for all Australians.”

Sky News political editor Andrew Clennell has asked Dr Chalmers if the ongoing deficits forecast in the most recent Budget have left Australia fiscally unprotected from global economic turbulence.

“Well, despite all of that investment in strengthening Medicare, providing tax cuts, providing cost, delivering relief, making our economy more resilient, the Budget is $207 billion stronger than when we came to office, and that’s made room for those investments, and it’s meant that we delivered two surpluses,” he says.

“Our predecessors delivered none. The deficit this year is half as big. We’ve made a structural difference to the Budget in areas like the NDIS and aged care and also interest costs. And so we are getting the Budget in much better nick, and we’re doing that without ignoring our responsibilities to people who are doing it tough.”

We’re hearing from more ordinary people on the street.

To be honest, this is the most interesting part of this debate so far. Probably because they’ve found people that are actually relatable.

Greenwood asks: “The problem is right now with America, what Donald Trump is doing, Australian businesses are picking up their money, and they’re going overseas,” he says.

“What I want to ask is what you’re going to do to make Australia more competitive. Can you bring down that corporate tax rate? Can you actually bring down the price of energy?”

Dr Chalmers insists that they don’t “talk down” the economy.

“Let’s remember that business investment last year was the strongest business investment in more than a decade,” he says.

“Business investment is growing faster under us than it was under our predecessors.

“And so he always wants to talk down the economy, because he wants to dismiss and diminish the progress that Australians have made together, and he wants to distract from his secret cuts.

“Now, when it comes to investing in the future, making our economy more resilient, more productive, more dynamic, this has been a key focus of the government.”

Taylor counters with his point about investment as a percentage of GDP.

He puts it to Mr Taylor that he has been touted as an incredibly gifted “future prime minister” but “some people suggest that maybe you don’t put the work in”.

Ouch.

“Well, you know, there’s lots of free advice. You get it. Jim gets it. We all, we all get it,” Mr Taylor says.

“But I tell you a lot I work every single day for those hard working Australians who work, you know, in my electorate, right around Australia, and that is what I’m here for.”