Treasurer Jim Chalmers has taken aim at some of Australia’s major newspapers, accusing them of being "cheerleaders" for the liberal party, in response to some of today's headlines.
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00:00Treasurer Jim Chalmers was somewhat not too happy with some of the media coverage that
00:07he received this morning.
00:09Of course, this follows the Reserve Bank's decision to cut the official cash rate yesterday
00:14down to 4.1 per cent.
00:17And so, look, some of the headlines that were splashed across the newspapers this morning
00:21included one cut wonder and rate relief with a catch.
00:26In fact, a couple of those headlines were put specifically to the Treasurer Jim Chalmers
00:30when he held a press conference a little earlier today.
00:33Of course, that coverage came after the Reserve Bank Governor, Michelle Bullock, essentially
00:38poured cold water on expectations around future rate cuts in the near future, I should say.
00:45And look, the Treasurer wasn't too happy with some of the headlines.
00:49Well, I think the Liberal Party and their cheerleaders in the media were really disappointed
00:54when rates were cut.
00:55And we see that reflected in the commentary.
00:58A lot of that commentary is a political position dressed up as economic commentary.
01:03There are people associated with the Liberal Party who are very disappointed that rates
01:07were cut or inflation's come down substantially or real wages are growing.
01:13Now I have contacted a couple of the newspapers that were referenced in that question there,
01:18yet to hear back.
01:19But look, it's certainly clear that the Treasurer Jim Chalmers was frustrated by what he saw
01:24as negative coverage.
01:27Of course, this is the first rate cut that the Reserve Bank has made since late 2020.
01:33It'll see, you know, of course, it depends on the size of someone's mortgage, but roughly
01:37Australian households saving around $100 from their monthly repayments.
01:43So the government has been talking this up as part of cost of living relief to Australians
01:49across the country.
01:50The opposition, from their point of view, we've heard again today saying that they also
01:54are welcoming this rate cut, but recognise that there is more to do.
01:59And elsewhere in politics, billionaire Clive Palmer has entered the fray once again.
02:04What's he doing this time?
02:07That's right.
02:08So Clive Palmer held a press conference this morning.
02:11This comes just a week after his failed bid to re-register the United Australia Party.
02:17Instead, he announced that there will be candidates running in both the House of Representatives
02:21and in the Senate for the Trumpet of Patriots Party.
02:25Look, according to Clive Palmer, it'll be very much based on the policies of President
02:30Trump in the United States, promising to make Australia great again, put Australians first,
02:37very much like some of the language that we've heard for so long now from President Trump.
02:42So look, what will be really interesting to watch in this one will be a couple of things.
02:46One is the exact electorates that Mr Palmer and his team run candidates in, but also how
02:53the preferences will end up flowing from votes to that party as well.