Interview with Kieren Gilbert, Sky News Afternoon Agenda
6th June 2022
KIEREN GILBERT
Let's turn our attention back to relations with Indonesia. Particularly on the economic front, I'm joined by Shadow Finance Minister and Shadow Special Minister of State Jane Hume. Shadow minister thanks for your time. I know the former coalition government established the free trade agreement with Indonesia, which was a significant breakthrough at the time. It's been sort of a perennially underdone relationship between Australia and Indonesia, our northern neighbour, and then the pandemic hit just after the FTA was signed. So no real breakthrough in terms of a boost to trade. Do you welcome the fact that Prime Minister Albanese has gone there as his first official bilateral to try and kick things on?
JANE HUME
Certainly Kieren, it does seem to be a tradition to visit Indonesia, the moment that somebody is sworn in as Prime Minister, they are our nearest neighbour. They are very important partners both strategically as well as economically. So this is a welcome visit to Indonesia. I'm very glad that the previous coalition government established that free trade agreement as it did with the UK, as it has done with India, and we would like to see those free trade agreements progressed as well.
GILBERT
So you're now the Shadow Finance Minister, what are the priorities you will bring to this new role in opposition?
HUME
Well, Kieren, the Labor Government's talked a big game during the election campaign, they called for fiscal responsibility. Yet they announced at least $25 billion worth of additional spending that was on the books, and another 50 or so that was off-budget. I think the most important thing we can do is to hold the new Labor Government to account, make sure that they live up to that big game that they've been talking and ensure that there is appropriate fiscal management that they don't allow the budget to run away from them. As has been the case for previous Labor governments. So that will be my first priority. Of course, there are also other responsibilities in my portfolio too. The Public Service, and Shadow Special Minister of State. So we'll be working very hard both with our counterparts in the Labor Party, but also making sure that we keep them to account. Hold their feet to the flame. They talked a big game in this election campaign, we want to make sure that they deliver on those promises.
GILBERT
Senator Hume, do you think that a bit of the potency has been lost, though, on that debate around debt and deficit given? I'm not being critical here, but we've got a good record of debt and deficit through the pandemic. For obvious reasons, the Morison Government had to spend in order to keep the economy afloat. So there's, it's not necessarily a criticism of that, but it's because of the pandemic that's where we are. So hasn't the potency of that sort of broader argument about fiscal restraint been lost?
HUME
You know, when I first joined the Treasury portfolio as the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, back in 2019, one of my first jobs was to assist Josh Frydenberg to deliver MYEFO, the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. At that point in time, we were so close to a balanced budget, we were so close to a surplus, that we were absolutely certain that by the time we got to May 2020, the wheel would have turned. I think it was around $700 million or so that we were off a surplus at that point in time. Of course, then COVID hit, and things change, and I think that the Australian public realised that things had to change. They looked to the government to help them at a time of extraordinary financial uncertainty when they needed us the most. We were there delivering and that's why we got to the end of COVID, or as close to the end, having gone through that financial crisis, one of the biggest since the Great Depression. Having seen more people employed after COVID than before, it came at a cost, a fiscal cost. Now the job is going to be fiscal repair. Labor, made sure that we were reminded on a daily basis that we were spending taxpayer's money but indeed at the same time, they asked us to spend more. They were the ones that did not want to turn off job keeper. They wanted to spend an additional $6 billion dollars rewarding people for taking vaccines that they had already taken. So fiscal responsibility is not necessarily in Labour's DNA. It is profoundly important though because, without a strong budget, you can't deliver those essential services that Australians expect and deserve. Things like the NDIS, Medicare, and the PBS. Now, these are all really important and we want to make sure that the budget remains strong and secure, that we maintain that triple-A credit rating which is an indicator of the international tick of approval for economic management to ensure that we can deliver those services into the future.
GILBERT
Well, there are the 10 women now on the coalition front bench under the new Liberal leader. Do you see this as a signal from him that he's listening to the outcome of the election and wants to bring women voters, those that were lost on May 21 back to the coalition?
HUME
Well, I think that that's really only one aspect of this Kieren. The 10 women that will now be part of the coalition's shadow cabinet are all highly qualified individuals that bring so much to their own portfolios from their professional careers. You look at somebody like my colleague, Sarah Henderson from Victoria, she was not only a former lawyer, but she was also a former journalist at the ABC. She's now the Shadow Minister for Communications so she brings so much to that portfolio and her professional experience. Somebody like Perin Davey from the Nationals, was an irrigation advocate before she entered parliament, Susan MacDonald in resources. You know this is a really exciting opportunity for so many coalition women to bring that professional experience into their portfolios and really deliver on behalf of Australians, even from shadow ministry as opposed to the actual ministry.
GILBERT
Jane Hume, we will talk no doubt many times over the next few years. I appreciate your time.
HUME
We will thanks Kieren.