The federal election will be a battle of the suburbs, the treasurer says, declaring Labor’s budget and economic plan is focused squarely on the outer suburban areas which may decide the next prime minister.
In an interview with Guardian Australia’s Full Story podcast, Jim Chalmers also dismissed Peter Dutton’s budget reply centrepiece, a temporary fuel excise cut, as providing “no ongoing help with the cost of living”.
He was scathing of Dutton’s pledge to repeal Labor’s newly legislated tax cuts, claiming it was the first time he could recall where an opposition had gone to an election promising to raise income tax levels.
Chalmers admitted some people wanted to see more help from Labor in Tuesday’s budget, but said he was offering more assistance than the Coalition would.
“As they weigh up the cost-of-living offers from the major parties, I’d encourage people to think, to compare what [the Coalition] are saying about the fuel excise, not just with any one element of what we’re doing in the cost of living, but the whole lot,” Chalmers said.
“The same with tax. I understand that people will say … the extra 10 bucks a week, that there’s an appetite and they would like more, but it’s really to top up those [stage three] tax cuts.”
The treasurer joined Guardian Australia on Thursday afternoon, shortly before Dutton’s budget reply and just after news broke that Labor sources were expecting Anthony Albanese to call the election as early as Friday morning.
He joked he was “usually the last to know these things” but said Albanese would confirm the election date “relatively soon”.
“I’m ready, I’m raring. I was really happy that we got to do a budget. And I feel like the economy is front and centre where it should be in the election contest,” he said.
“There’s some pretty stark choices have been laid out this week in budget week, and I hope that those are the major dividing lines in the election contest, whenever Anthony calls it.
“I think the election will be won or lost in the suburbs … our agenda and our government is very focused on the outer suburbs, and I’m looking forward to, personally, going right around the country and talking about the progress we’ve made to here as Australians, our plan to make the most of it from here, and the risk posed by Peter Dutton and the Coalition.”
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Chalmers said he was “very concerned” about a global trade war sparked by the US president Donald Trump’s tariff agenda. But he was optimistic Australia could wade through further looming tariff decisions.
“We’re focused on ensuring that Australians can be beneficiaries, not victims, of all this churn and change,” he said.
While declining to directly comment on developments in US politics, Chalmers admitted he’d been engrossed by the extraordinary story about a journalist being added to a Signal group chat of senior American officials discussing a military operation in Yemen.
“It takes a lot to distract the treasurer in budget week, but I have been following this story very closely.
“I mean, it’s a big and interesting story, but not really for me to kind of explain or rationalise it. It’s really for them.”
