Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher

MONIQUE WRIGHT, HOST: Aussie families could be in for some extra cost of living relief this morning, with the Prime Minister now considering an extension to the fuel excise cut beyond its original June the 30th end date, amid growing voter frustration off the back of a controversial budget. For more, let's bring in Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, now. Thanks so much for being with us, Katy. Good morning. We know people plan their lives around things like this, so when will we all be told if the fuel excise cut will be extended or not?

KATY GALLAGHER, MINSTER FOR FINANCE: Well, I think you know it's no secret that we'll keep these matters under review. We know that the cut to the fuel excise has really helped households whilst the war in the Middle East has impacted on petrol prices here. The PM said yesterday that we have this under consideration, and that there'll be plenty of notice given to people about any decision we take. So, people should, you know, listen to what the PM said. We're constantly always looking at how we can provide cost-of-living help to households and motorists. The war in the Middle East has had significant impact here, and we've done what we can to try and help households through that time.

WRIGHT: Due to end in two weeks, in terms of giving people plenty of notice, you'd think that you'd have to let people know by next week though?

GALLAGHER: Look, we have it under active consideration. I think the PM reflected on that yesterday. You know, petrol prices have come down quite a bit in most capital cities. They're below where they were at the beginning of the war, and that's because the fuel excise has helped, but also because the price of oil has come down, and we saw that with the announcement of the conflict and a ceasefire yesterday, that the oil price, really did go down again, which is really welcome.

WRIGHT: Yeah, all right. Let's talk about your budget now. You released it a month ago. Are you still having to convince people that it's a winner? Why is it such a hard sell?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think when you have big changes and this is a big reforming budget that you're always going to get a lot of feedback and input into those, what those decisions were, and how people feel about them. We believe we made these decisions for the right reason, the housing market wasn't working for a whole group of people, particularly like young Australians who were getting locked out of the housing market. The system wasn't working, it needed to change, and our reforms do that, and you know we're going to have to keep fronting up and keep explaining those changes, but we're already seeing at auctions on the weekends first home buyers getting a better crack at the auction market, and that's welcome.

WRIGHT: Okay, you just touched there a little bit on the difficulties that people are facing. We just get an avalanche of messages, Katy, every day on our text line of people venting their frustrations. It's visceral. Lots of young people are even writing in, saying that they're planning to leave the country to start their businesses and chase their dreams elsewhere, where taxes are lower. As the Finance Minister, how does that make you feel? What do you say to those people that feel like they can't get ahead in Australia?

GALLAGHER: Well, it's our job to continue to talk to those people, and that's what we're doing. I think certainly some of the feedback we're getting around concerns about people making business decisions, we think are unfounded, and part of that is us explaining these changes. They are big changes. This is a big tax reform. Tax reform is hard. We have to keep explaining it, but for the vast majority of people, the tax cuts in this budget, the working Australian tax offset, 13.3 million Australians will be better off. And we have to continue to explain the Budget and the reasons why we've done it, and it's those reasons, you know, the people under the pump feeling the pressure that have led us to believe these decisions are the right ones, because in the long run it will make sure that the tax system works better for working Australians and fairer for working Australians, and younger people will get a better opportunity, or some opportunity to buy a house.

WRIGHT: Katy. The issue seems to be, and we have government ministers on here most days of the week, and you're saying the same thing. We hear those talking points every day and that's okay, but it doesn't, it doesn't seem to be resonating. Is this a communication issue? Are we all just confused at how this budget is going to affect us?

GALLAGHER: Well, our job, I mean, I'll leave others to commentate, is to explain the reasons why we're making the changes, and I can tell you that they're not talking points, these are the arguments, and that have led us to believe these are the right decisions. Now, when you have a whole generation that's locked out of the housing market, partially because of how the tax system is working. It's also about supply of housing, and we're focusing on that as well. Then, as a government, you have to be prepared to make some decisions. Sometimes those are hard decisions, and you have to be prepared to front up and explain them, and that's what we do, including when we come on your show every day.

WRIGHT: Still seems to be confusing people a month later. Katy Gallagher, unfortunately, we're out of time. But thank you so much for being with us this morning.

GALLAGHER: Thanks for having me on.