SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER
MINISTER FINANCE
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO NATIONAL BREAKFAST
TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2025
SUBJECTS: Costings; Credit Rating; Tax; Family and Domestic Violence.
SALLY SARA, HOST: Well, the Federal Government is demanding the Coalition release the costings of its election promises after Labor published its own costings yesterday. The Government says it's found extra savings by pulling back further on consultants working with the public service and trimming departmental expenses on things such as meals and travel. Senator Katy Gallagher is the Finance Minister as well as the Minister for Women and Government Services and joins me now. Katy Gallagher, welcome back to Breakfast.
KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE, WOMEN, THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES: Thanks for having me on.
SARA: Why were there still efficiencies for you to find and does that vindicate the Coalition's argument that there is waste in the public service that can be cut?
GALLAGHER: Look, I think this is just an ongoing part of driving savings across government. I think it's an ongoing piece of work. We've started it in the first term and when we announced that our spending in the election campaign was fully offset by finding further savings, it just shows that we are continuing on that path. In the second term, it's an important part of being responsible budget managers, to continuously look for areas where you can find savings, return them to budget so you can find room for important programmes like Medicare, like cheaper medicines, like energy bill relief. All of those things are interconnected in a sense.
SARA: You may have found some savings, but there are projected deficits ahead. The top rating agency S&P has warned that Australia's AAA credit rating may be at risk and that it needs to be addressed by whoever wins the election. Do you concede that all of these election spending commitments has heightened that risk?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think that's why it's important that we released our costings yesterday to show that the Budget is actually slightly better after we have provided these costings than it was at budget time. We've more than fully offset the spending and that shows I think a continued approach that the Albanese Government has paid in government, which is defined savings where we can to lower debt to lower the interest on that debt delivered two surpluses and halve the deficit in this financial year. That shows the approach we've taken. And I think when you look at what Standard and Poor’s have said, the biggest threat to that has to be Peter Dutton and his $600 billion nuclear reactor schemes because that is off budget and the private sector won't touch it. That will absolutely decimate the Budget. They've also announced more off budget funds, and I guess the point that the Treasurer and I made yesterday is now they need to come clean on what their costings are and what their cuts are in order to pay for that nuclear reactor scheme.
SARA: But to be clear, when we are talking about the revised numbers from yesterday, that means that you've got an extra billion dollars in the bank over four years. That's not a big change when you look at how large the deficits are going to become.
GALLAGHER: Yeah, and there's continued work to do on budget repair, there's no doubt about that. But we have, from what we inherited when we came to government in 2022, we had a deficit in that first year of $77 billion. We turned that into a surplus. We did the same the following year. And it's because –
SARA: In the wake of COVID as well.
GALLAGHER: Well, I mean obviously yes, that's part of it, but we found savings in every single budget, $100 billion in savings that we have now identified. And in the last budget before the election in 2022, the former government found none. I mean, this is the difference between what our approach to budget management and this reckless and volatile approach that we see from Peter Dutton and his team. And really again, when you look at the Standard and Poor’s warning, there couldn't be a further red flashing light than how are you going to pay for essentially taxpayer owned and funded nuclear reactor schemes around the country?
SARA: In the medium to long-term, there's a structural problem with the Budget according to many economists, and it's not clear how you'll address that. Based on what we know now, is your budget relying in some part on bracket creep?
GALLAGHER: Well, in terms of the Budget going forward, you're right. The pressures on the medium term are there, and that's why those reforms that we've done in just this first term on NDIS and aged care in particular are two of those really important structural reforms that take pressure off the Budget in the medium term. We've done that in three years. There's more work to do in terms of your question around bracket creep. We are the only party going to this election that has a policy on how to deal with that, and that is through our income tax cuts that we have factored into our costings – or the Budget as it was released – to deal with that and make sure we're returning bracket creep and people's money where we can. And the Opposition, again --
SARA: That's a temporary measure rather than fixing the issue of bracket creep with indexation.
GALLAGHER: Well, it's not a temporary measure, it's an ongoing measure. We don't index our tax brackets. I mean, that hasn't been the way it's been done, I think, under governments of many different colours and persuasions. But governments do look at ways to return income tax where they can and whether you can afford to do so, and our Budget found room for that. And again, the Opposition are going to this through this campaign saying that they will introduce legislation to increase income tax and not deal with bracket creep. So, it's a very different contrast between what we’re offering and what Peter Dutton and his team are offering. We take that seriously, the issue of bracket creep, and these are the third tax cuts that we have delivered or will deliver in our first term of government.
SARA: You're listening to Radio National Breakfast, and you’re hearing from Senator Katy Gallagher, the Finance Minister, Minister for Women and Government Services. On a separate issue, Labor made some announcements around domestic violence policy and funding in the past few days. Last year, you commissioned a rapid review into policy responses, and it told you that a significant uplift in funding for frontline services was needed. With the funding that you've put in place now, does that now mean that domestic violence services are now adequately and fully funded?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think this is one of those areas where there is always more to do, and you have to come at it from a variety of ways. I mean, we have put almost $8 billion when you into frontline services. That's not only crisis services on the frontline, but also importantly legal services that were facing a funding cliff because it hadn't been factored in under the former government. We've addressed that, made sure they're properly funded, but at the same time we have to take steps at looking at how we can change this crisis that occurs in the country. What are the other things we need to do? Yes, you resource the frontline, but we need to put effort into a whole range of areas. Some of the things we've announced is how Commonwealth systems can perpetuate violence, whether it be through our payment systems in particular, and that's something that we want to tackle in a second term. So, that's looking at social security and our tax systems and how debts can be incurred and then used as a way of essentially financial coercion. We need to deal with that. We need to deal with perpetrator programs and how we deal with those high-risk perpetrators, and we need to start changing the conversation right down at the primary school level, really, about respect for women. There is no shortage of areas where we need to continue to work in this place, Sally. It's one of the biggest barriers to women's equality in this country, the fact that so many women face violence in their home, when they're out, or at work. For me as Minister for Women, it's devastating, and we need to do more.
SARA: Katy Gallagher, only a few more days until the election. Thanks for making some time again to talk to us on Radio National Breakfast.
GALLAGHER: Thanks, Sally. Really appreciate it.
ENDS
