Radio interview, Mornings with Gary Adshead

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
6PR PERTH
MORNINGS WITH GARY ADSHEAD
THURSDAY 20 APRIL 2023

GARY ADSHEAD: And what a day to have them in the studio – there’s plenty to talk about. Welcome, gentlemen.

MINISTER KEOGH: Hello Gary, Andrew; it’s great to be with you in the studio as well.

ANDREW HASTIE: Likewise, Matt. Gary, good to be here.

MINISTER KEOGH: We get to share a studio in Canberra often, but we don’t get you, Gary, so this is a great experience for us.

GARY ADSHEAD: Okay, let’s try and do this. This is going to be difficult. But let’s go first, Matt: do you think that the Federal Government’s now under pressure to lift the JobSeeker rate to I think it’s about $68 a day from 50 bucks. What do you reckon, after that committee’s report?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, certainly it’s highlighted the issue that many people have been talking about for a long period of time – about the rate of JobSeeker as well as a range of other payments and supports. And, you know, we’re very alive to that, and particularly right now where cost of living pressure is so high. That’s why we’ve announced and already started with implementing policies like increasing the subsidy for childcare. There will be measures in the budget that address the broader cost of living measures, and people have to wait a couple of weeks to see what they are.

GARY ADSHEAD: It was deemed to be an urgent requirement to do this for people who are below the poverty line. You know, would you even entertain it, Andrew Hastie, or is it an incentive to not work?

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, it’s up to the Government to make these decisions. And we’ll wait and see what they come down with in the budget. But certainly, there’s pressure within the Labor Party from the left side particularly, given that Jenny Macklin, she authored this report, or at least led the process. So, I can understand there’s a fair bit of pressure on their side. But certainly, we always want those in need to be looked after. But, as always, there’s tradeoffs. And, well, let’s see what happens with the budget.

GARY ADSHEAD: Yeah, $24 billion it might cost over four years. So now let’s go to the next report that recommends that there be two boards of the RBA. I mean, that’s just duplication, isn’t it? I mean, is that going to help the average punter out there that’s trying to pay off their mortgage?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, I think, you know, most average punters aren’t reading the Financial Review. But there has been a lot of commentary for quite a while around how the Reserve Bank makes its decision on interest rates and how it reflects not just how that impacts on people buying a home and mortgages but a whole range of other factors, such as employment and the wellbeing of the nation. And so being able to separate some of the more banking function, overall governance of the bank from the nation-wide policy-setting decisions and making sure you’ve got the right fit of people for both of those is a very understandable recommendation to come out of that report. And a lot of people have been calling for that for some time.

GARY ADSHEAD: Andrew, do you think it will lessen the number of interest rate rises in a row we get?

ANDREW HASTIE: It may not, but I think there is safety in an abundance of counsellors, and I think if we want to uphold the integrity of the Reserve Bank over time and we want to make sure it’s transparent and people have confidence in its decision-making, then adding some more expertise to the decision-making panel on interest rate rises and monetary policy in general is not a bad thing. And so, we’ve already said we’re going to work with the Government on some of these issues going forward.

GARY ADSHEAD: Now, let’s get back into some equilibrium. Anzac Day let’s not forget, we never forget. What’s happening this year from your point of view as the Defence Personnel Minister?

MINISTER KEOGH: So as Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel I will be representing the government at the Dawn Service in Gallipoli for Anzac Day. A huge honour for me.

GARY ADSHEAD: Have you been before?

MINISTER KEOGH: I’ve never been before.

GARY ADSHEAD: Okay, wow.

MINISTER KEOGH: So very much looking forward to that. There’s a number of ceremonies over the course of the few days there with other countries as well, including obviously New Zealand, and I’m very much looking forward to that. There’ll be the national events at the Australian War Memorial as well, as well as the commemorations that occur, like on the Western Front, where our Assistant Minister will be, and in Malaysia and Thailand and PNG. But importantly, it’s going to be Australians turning up at their local cenotaph, standing out on their driveway maybe at dawn, coming together –

GARY ADSHEAD: No Covid. No Covid.

MINISTER KEOGH: And I know RSLs are very excited about that – the opportunity in this new environment for people to come together. People are keen to come together to show their respect, to commemorate and to remember those that we’ve lost, those that have been injured and to also – you know, to remember the families that have been impacted by service as well.

GARY ADSHEAD: I remember watching my son at the end of the driveway during, you know, the dawn service – because he was in the Defence Force a while ago – during COVID, and you would have probably had to do the same.

MINISTER KEOGH: Yes.

GARY ADSHEAD: For you? Obviously, a significant day.

ANDREW HASTIE: Significant day. And I’ll be spending it in my electorate. So, I think I’ve got four different events or so. And I was hoping I might get up to the regiment later in the day and see some of my mates, but it’s always difficult at the end of a long day. But, nonetheless, 100,000 Australians who’ve given their lives and service to this country over the last hundred years, and it’s really important that we all pause in whatever way that we do.

GARY ADSHEAD: And that we all agree on. I do appreciate you both coming into the studio – Matt Keogh and Andrew Hastie. We’ll see you again soon.

END

Authorised by The Hon Matt Keogh MP.

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