E&OE TRANSCRIPT
Topics: Labor’s tax cuts, Paid Parental Leave, Energy Bill relief, Inflation
JADE ROBRAN, HOST: Good morning to all our listeners. Now, today is the new financial year and guess what? We're all going to have a little bit more money in our pockets. And that is because the stage three tax cuts come into effect today. And to explain how it all works, we're joined by federal Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth. Good morning to you.
AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: Good morning. Great to be with you.
JADE ROBRAN: We've been talking all morning that we would love some extra money in our pockets right now. So, for a lot of us, it is a good day. Why is this happening?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: We've been very clear that we do want to give responsible cost-of-living relief, that doesn't actually add to the inflation problem – because we know inflation can hurt everyone. But the tax cuts that come in today are all about giving that cost-of-living relief to every single taxpayer. You may recall that these tax cuts have been redesigned to make sure that low and middle income earners get a significant benefit. But importantly, all 13.6 million taxpayers will get a tax cut come the 1st July, today.
JADE ROBRAN: Now, minimum wage also goes up, yeah?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Yeah. So, the minimum wage also goes up along with others on award wages, and that includes about 2.6 million workers. In addition to that, the superannuation guarantee goes up today. So, not only are people getting support for cost-of-living relief now, but they are putting more money away, or getting more money put away for their retirement. But there's some other really important measures coming in today as well. $300 off every single household's power bill and $325 off every small business's power bill, which is really important. As well as things like freezing the cost of medicine. So, whether you're on a concession card, which your medicines will be frozen, but also if you're paying the $31.60 rate, those medicines are also, the cost is frozen from today as well.
TOM RHEN, HOST: So, much needed tax relief Minister, which is great. And hopefully a few more dollars in people's pockets. But how cautious are you as a Government to try and ensure, and I know it's difficult that this doesn't, you know, transfer into more inflationary pressure, which therefore means higher interest rates?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Look, you're absolutely right and this is a very important, responsible balance we have to get right, because, of course, inflation affects everyone and we need to make sure we're tackling inflation and supporting people with cost-of-living relief. Things like our energy bill relief has actually shown to put downward pressure on inflation along with things like our cheaper childcare and our Commonwealth Rent Assistance. So, that's actually shown to be putting downward pressure on inflation. And the tax cuts, as the result of Treasury modelling, is showing they won't add to inflation. So, these have been very carefully calibrated to make sure they're not adding to inflation. And what helps with that is the fact that we're looking at a second budget surplus and that responsible budgeting is also critically important. So, it is about finding the right balance. But we do understand people are under cost-of-living pressure and we are delivering this relief across the board.
JADE ROBRAN: Amanda, on average, how much better off are we going to be? I estimated about $50 a week. Is that right?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: It really varies depending on what tax bracket you're in. There is a tax calculator that you can go to and work out what it means for you. It'll be in your pay packet, though, in the next, pay. You know for some people it's as high as $50, even higher than that. Others it's about $30. So, it does vary across the tax bracket, but everyone will be getting cost of living relief.
JADE ROBRAN: So, those that are really struggling and talking about their bills going up $600 a month, how do you think this is going to help them? Is it going to make any difference?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: I think every dollar counts and I think the support for people when it comes to tax cuts is really important. But it is in addition, of course, to the power bill relief, which has been really important, the freezing of medicines, but also we've been really focused on getting wages moving as well. And so it's not just the pay increases for those on the minimum wage, but also those on award wages. People are getting a pay increase as well. So, it is the combination of all of these elements that support people. But that's not to say people aren't doing it tough, no doubt about it. And we will keep working to make sure that people are getting the support we want them to get. And things like our most recent announcement about more scrutiny on our supermarkets and the mandate making what is a voluntary code of conduct mandatory with bigger fines for supermarket conduct. Those types of things are really important as well to start to put some downward pressure on prices at the supermarket.
JADE ROBRAN: Amanda, also changes to Paid Parental Leave today. Can you tell us what's on the cards?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Today is a really exciting day that we're seeing the first tranche of our extension to Paid Parental Leave. So, at the moment, there are 20 weeks that the Government pays for at the time of a newborn baby. Today it's going up to 22 weeks. And so that's really important for parents, not just for mums, but for dads as well, because with the new rule changes that encourages flexibility. So, mums or dads can take this Paid Parental Leave. This is an extra two weeks starting today and will keep increasing until it gets to 26 weeks. So, this is very, very good news for people that do want to take that really important time off when they're having a baby.
TOM RHEN: Yeah. And it just eases some of that financial burden as well. Minister, thank you so much for your time this morning. We really appreciate it.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Thank you.