Interview with Emma Rebellato and James Glenday, News Breakfast, ABC

Subjects: fuel excise, housing market, 1 July cost-of-living relief, superannuation James Glenday: The consumer watchdog has put petrol stations on notice ahead of tomorrow’s fuel excise changes which will lead to higher prices. The government has opted to keep its cut to the fuel excise, which it brought in in response to the war with Iran. But it is not going to be as much for the month of July.

Emma Rebellato: The ACCC has written to retailers warning them not to take advantage of the change to bump up their profits. Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers joins us now from Canberra. Treasurer, good morning.

Jim Chalmers: Good morning, Emma. How worried are you that drivers are going to get ripped off at the pump? This is a really important warning from the ACCC because we want to make sure that every cent of the government’s fuel excise cut is passed on to motorists who need this extra bit of relief.

It’s been really terrific to see petrol prices and diesel prices come down very substantially in recent months. In fact, this week we think for the first time both petrol and diesel are cheaper than it was before the war in the Middle East began, but people are still under pressure. That’s why we’re extending this fuel price relief, this petrol and diesel tax cut, for another month at a tapered rate to provide that cost‑of‑living help that people need and deserve.

That will be extended from tomorrow. But that’s not the only cost‑of‑living relief which kicks in from tomorrow. It’s a really important day tomorrow.

Another tax cut, more wage increases, an extension to paid parental leave, paying super on payday, as well as this really important extension of petrol and diesel price relief. When it comes to the excise, it’s going up by 16 cents as of midnight. Can we expect that to happen straight away at the bowser?

How’s that going to work? What should motorists expect? This is one of the things that the ACCC monitors very closely to make sure that it reflects changes in the tax arrangements.

But we are extending this fuel excise relief for another month at a tapered rate, as you rightly point out, and sometimes there is a bit of a lag when it comes to the pass through of those kinds of changes. What it means is an average motorist will save about $11 a tank all through the month of July. That’s because we are extending this cost‑of‑living help and it’s another important way that we are helping people who are under pressure, particularly with these new cost‑of‑living measures which come in from tomorrow.

Treasurer, when it comes to auction clearance rates and on housing, Sydney’s housing auction market hit its weakest point on the weekend in more than 6 years. Melbourne’s its worst in 5 years, Brisbane wasn’t looking good either on the weekend. How much worse is it going to get?

First of all, I don’t think that’s quite right about Brisbane. What we saw on the weekend was a bit of a tick up in auction clearance rates when you compare the relevant numbers to the week before. But you’re quite right to point out that Melbourne was a bit softer.

Sydney was pretty even, maybe a tiny bit softer as well. We’ve been seeing this for most of the year. There are number of factors playing out, whether it’s auction clearance rates or house prices more broadly.

Interest rates are playing a role. Broader economic conditions are playing a role as well. But overall, the market – whether it’s house prices or auction clearance rates – is growing a bit more slowly, but in some markets like Sydney and Melbourne, those big markets, we have seen a bit of a moderation in clearance rates in the last few months.

The CBA is forecasting house prices to be flat for the year. NAB’s predicting a drop. Domain thinks the drop could be quite big, up to 8 per cent in Sydney and Melbourne.

Could Treasury be wrong in its house‑price predictions? First of all, the Treasury assumption about house‑price growth is for house prices to continue to grow but a bit more slowly. That’s a national aggregate number and you’re referring to some of the more specific capital city markets.

Overall, we expect prices to continue to grow more slowly. There is a bit of volatility in house prices, there is a bit of volatility in auction clearance rates – these are long‑term investments. Different market forecasts have said different things about this.

The Treasury assumptions are pretty clear and they’re a national assumption rather than specifically about Sydney or Melbourne on its own. Treasurer, you mentioned superannuation before. Should all teenage workers be paid super?

This is a really important issue. I actually met with a delegation of young workers about this last week. We are always looking for ways to strengthen the superannuation system to make it deliver for more workers.

That’s why we are, for example, extending the low income super tax offset to benefit more than a million workers. The big focus for this government right now when it comes to superannuation is actually the big change which comes in tomorrow, and what that change will do tomorrow will make sure that super is paid on wages when people get their wages. For too long, too many people have missed out, particularly younger workers, lower paid and vulnerable workers.

We are addressing that with this Payday Super that kicks in from tomorrow. That’s the priority. There’ll always be more to do in superannuation beyond that.

What about under 18s, if they work less than 30 hours a week, they’re not – they don’t have to get paid super. Shouldn’t they be? As I said, Emma, this is an important issue.

We have been engaging with young people about this. But the priority for the time being is to make sure that people get paid their super with their wages so that they get the super that they’ve worked so hard for and are entitled to. That change comes in tomorrow.

We’ve indicated a willingness to continue to engage with young people, with unions, with the super sector on proposals about what the next set of changes might be in superannuation. But for us, the focus is payday super because it comes in from tomorrow. Treasurer Jim Chalmers, thanks for your time.

Thanks, Emma.