Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher

EMMA REBELLATO, HOST: Finance Minister Katy Gallagher joins us now from Canberra. Senator, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: Thanks for having me on.

REBELLATO: Well, Australians are pretty desperate for a rate cut but it’s not anticipated to happen possibly for months. Are you worried the RBA will wait too long to cut rates?

GALLAGHER: Well, Emma, we don’t comment on the decisions of the Reserve Bank. They’re independent. They have a mandate around ensuring inflation is in the target range and looking to maintain full employment, and so they need to make those decisions for themselves. There’s a lot of experts sitting there that look at all of the data and then advise the Board. I mean, our job as a government is to make sure that we’re working with the Bank, not against it and you know putting downward pressure on inflation. We’ve got some CPI figures out on Wednesday, so that’ll give us a bit more information, but our job is to make sure we’re helping people with cost-of-living challenges while the Bank does their job.

REBELLATO: But are you worried about not only the impact on Australians, but also possibly on your government? A couple of new polls are out today showing that primary support for Labor is falling. Housing costs is one of the big concerns. Are you worried that you’re going to cop more blame and this could see a result at the ballot box?

GALLAGHER: Well, governments have to deal with the economic circumstances that are there before us. We inherited an inflation challenge with a 6 in front of it. It’s moderated in welcome ways, but we get that people are doing it tough and you know – some of that will be reflected in different reports that come out. Our job is to make sure that we’re holding fast to implement the policies that we need to implement, whether it be on housing, whether it be on cost-of-living, whether it be on tax cuts. We’re doing what we can whilst we’re trying to wrangle with this inflation challenge to make sure we’re helping people with the cost-of-living pressures they’re under.

REBELLATO: You mentioned the RBA being independent of the government. However, the Greens are calling on Jim Chalmers, the Treasurer, to intervene and force a rate cut with the RBA. Do you think that should happen or could happen?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think the Greens are out of control at the moment and they’re just you know trying to be populist but can cause a lot of damage at the same time. There are good reasons why the Bank is independent and interest rate settings is independent of the political process. There are good reasons for that. It has served our country very well. And the Greens political party are teaming up with the Liberal party. I think it’s Peter Dutton and Adam Bandt working together to frustrate sensible changes that are in the long-term interests of the country. So, I mean, that’s the Senate in particular, that I work in every day. We’ve got to continue to argue for sensible reforms and you know and keep pushing that.

REBELLATO: Well, the Greens say they won’t support the RBA reforms until there is a drop in interest rates. What’s your reaction to that? Does that mean the reforms are dead in the water?

GALLAGHER: Well, the reforms are there. We’ve been trying to work with the Liberal party, they cancelled themselves out when they said no, and then we seek to work with other parties in the parliament. It seems the Greens political party are doing what they did on housing with Peter Dutton last week and teaming up together again to not support this sensible legislation. But again, I mean the Greens are out of control. They’re wandering around waving their finger, you know, shouting orders when we’ve got sensible legislative change before them. I think it’s populist. It’s seeking to be populist. But it’s economically irresponsible.

REBELLATO: Well, we saw last week in the Senate that the Greens have stalled the vote on the Help to Buy scheme. Will you be negotiating with them to try and get that through?

GALLAGHER: Well, we’ve been trying to negotiate with them. I think the housing minister, Minister O’Neill, has met with their housing spokesperson. But the reality is, they’re not trying to negotiate. They are coming out and saying, oh, we want to negotiate in the media. But behind the office doors, there’s none of that happening. And again, it’s Peter Dutton and Adam Bandt working together to stop us from having a program called Help to Buy. I mean, I don’t know how you support – where you say you’re after improvements in housing and then vote against a help to buy scheme which is about trying to get people into home ownership – but that’s what happened last week. And the RBA, waving the threat around this morning is just another example of the Greens political party and the Liberal party working together.

REBELLATO: I’d like to turn your attention now to your other portfolio as Minister for Women. We saw the Senate report last week into menopause and peri-menopause and the effects in the workplace. Do you support flexible working arrangements for women?

GALLAGHER:Well, certainly in the areas that we’re responsible for in the public service, we know whenever we survey what conditions women want in their work, flexible work arrangements will come above pay often. So, it’s clear that women really treasure that or certainly are seeking to have that in their workplace and it makes sense for a whole lot of reasons. Whether it be caring responsibilities or health. And so you know, this is something that I think workplaces around the country are looking at how to accommodate, because it’s 50 per cent of the workforce, we need to make sure you’re able to get employees through the door and women will always rate flexible working arrangements.

REBELLATO: I know there were quite a few recommendations in this report. What’s your opinion about reproductive leave for all genders, but in particular for women, including women who suffer intense menopausal symptoms? Do you think that’s something that should be adopted?

GALLAGHER:Well, we’ll work through the report, definitely. We’re really serious about looking at how we can support women through menopause, peri-menopause and post-menopause. I’m just so pleased that we’re talking about this as a country. I mean, for too long, it’s been hidden and not spoken about. We’ll work through and do a formal response to that report, but I mean, my answer is the one I gave before – which is we’re looking at how we support women and women in work. Flexibility and supporting them through a whole range of times through their life is really important and I think every workplace – it’s not just public sector workers, it’s every workplace – is looking at how they can better support women. Because we’re such a valuable asset in the workplace.

REBELLATO: I would agree with that one. Katy Gallagher, thank you very much for joining us on News Breakfast this morning.

GALLAGHER:Thanks for having me.