Fred Pawle
Let's bring in a politician who does care about the residents' concerns, and he is a resident himself, Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg. Andrew, welcome to the show.
Senator Bragg
G'day Fred. How are you?
Fred Pawle
Good. Now, Senator, you are a resident in this area as well, and I don't want this to be a conversation about a local problem because I see this as emblematic of bigger issues. Now, so firstly, do you agree this is typical of the way politics is done these days, sometimes behind closed doors and without opponents being alerted to it?
Senator Bragg
Well Fred, the main issue here is that the interests of the small businesses have not been taken into account. I think there's been a lot of discussion in back rooms about what to do here, but I don't believe there's been a proper ventilation of the issues and the impact on small businesses. Obviously, I represent the State in the Federal Parliament, so I'm not engaged in day-to-day road and transport issues. But I do know that the incumbents are doing a poor job of representing the small businesses, which I believe will be very badly affected if this is to go ahead.
Fred Pawle
How badly affected will they be?
Senator Bragg
Well, to start with, it will erect a permanent cycleway in front of all these businesses. Oxford Street is dominated by small business. There are other roads which have very few or no small businesses. I think they will be affected in the construction phase, but permanently impacted, perhaps, through the loss of parking spaces and accessibility, but also physically having a barrier in front of their businesses will be bad for their shops.
Fred Pawle
Well, just to explain to the viewers about how serious this could be, at one end of this stretch of Oxford Street is St Vincent's Hospital. And you don't have to wait long on Oxford Street to see an ambulance rush down there with sirens blaring. If they reduce the street from four lanes to two, those ambulances are going to get stuck in traffic, no doubt about it. Now, that seems to me reflective of the fact that the people behind this don't really care.
Senator Bragg
Well, I don't think this has had the proper consideration that it requires. I believe there have been a lot of conversations that have happened behind the scenes here. And what I'd like to see is a full ventilation of the best options with the data before any decisions are made. Now, ultimately, all roads, pardon the pun, lead to Jo Haylen, who is the new Roads Minister, and she'll be forced to make a decision. But I would like to see all Members of Federal and State Parliament who have a view on this present their perspectives to Minister Haylen, as well as the local Councillors. They play a very important role here in representing the local interests of small businesses, but also the residents.
Fred Pawle
Yeah, well, representing is the key word here. And again, just to make it emblematic of what's happening around the country, it's increasingly the feeling of people that they're just no longer represented by their representatives. But talking about stuff that's going on behind the scenes, now, you don't have to stand very long on the bike paths that do exist in this neighbourhood to notice that more than half of the people using, riding along those bike paths work for courier and delivery companies. Now, what are the odds that there's a bit of lobbying going on from those companies in the background?
Senator Bragg
Well, I'm not against the express delivery of tucker to people's houses. But I think it's a balancing act here. And if there are going to be bike paths, they need to be in a place which is not going to be massively disruptive to businesses and to existing roads. And I'm yet to see the case for Oxford Street being made that that's where the bike path should be. I think ultimately, there's been a State Election in the State of New South Wales. There's a new Roads Minister, and I think it's now incumbent upon Ms. Haylen to run a clear and transparent process here before any decisions are made.
Fred Pawle
Fair enough. And just one more question before we move on to a few other topics. Am I right? are bike lane's a Trojan horse for '15 minutes cities'? And if so, are '15 minutes cities' bad?
Senator Bragg
I don't know whether it's a Trojan horse for '15 minutes cities', and I don't have a particularly strong view about this. I think some people will be happy to live within 15 minutes of everything they want to do, and others prefer to travel more broadly. I'm not into setting parameters for people to live their lives. But if people want to ride a bike, that's fine. But it shouldn't be to the detriment of the rest of the community. And it feels like here, the balance is not right. So we will be trying to put a lot of pressure on the State Government to make the right call here.
Fred Pawle
Well said. Okay, let's talk about inflation, which is a hot topic at the moment. Yesterday, the Reserve Bank raised the interest rates for the 12th time in 14 months. That's going to cause enormous pain. Now, the debate around inflation seems to be stuck between left and right. It's either caused by corporate greed or high wages. But smarter economists know what the real cause of inflation is, don't they, Senator? What is it?
Senator Bragg
Well, the main driver of inflation in Australia at the moment is the Federal Budget. Jim Chalmers has unleashed a large amount of discretionary spending, $14 billion in the coming financial year, and that balloons out to over $40 billion of new discretionary spending in the forward estimates. That is money that is making the Reserve Bank's job so much harder. Canberra is piling on the new expenditure and the Reserve Bank is trying to put the brake on. And that's why the country is seeing higher and higher interest rates because the Reserve Bank is trying to compete with this flood of money from Canberra. Now, there's a table 3.2 in Budget Paper 1, which sets it out, if you don't believe me, but that sets out this additional spending, which is $14 billion in the upcoming financial year of new money.
Fred Pawle
Yeah. Well, the irony is that the absolute insanity of it is that as soon as there's hints of inflation, which is, as you say, caused by government expenditure, this government's response is to spend more money and pretend that it's going to alleviate the cost of living. That doesn't make sense, does it?
Senator Bragg
Well, you can see here that the Labor Party is sending out their backbenchers to attack Philip Lowe. Philip Lowe is doing his job. He has been raising the cash rate because he's trying to fight inflation. And he's fighting inflation in this way, in this aggressive way because Canberra has not been capable of pulling back on spending. And in fact, they're doing worse than that. They're spending new money. So until Chalmers and Albanese are able to get to a contractionary budget stance, the interest rates will continue to rise. And that is going to make life so much harder for families and small businesses. So it's a pretty simple proposition. While Canberra is spending more money, the Reserve Bank will increase interest rates, and this cycle will continue. So this latest interest rate is really on Chalmers's head. And I hope that people are prepared to look at the facts here. There's lots of misinformation. But the core fact is that the Federal Budget is fueling inflation and higher interest rates.
Fred Pawle
Well, let's look at some other facts, though. I mean, your government, you were a member of the previous government, one of the biggest spending governments in Australian history. Why should we think that you've got the answers?
Senator Bragg
There's no question that too much money has been spent in the previous cycle as well. And we now need to be honest about that and say that the only way we can get inflation and monetary policy into its desired range, which is 2% to 3% inflation over the year, is to adopt a deinflationary or disinflationary stance. And we know we need that. I mean, we're not even running a neutral position. I mean, the government is claiming that it's a neutral position because they've legislated energy caps. But does anyone really believe that the government can legislate out inflation? I mean, it's funny. I wish it was funny. So really, until you see that table 3.2, have no new spending in it, I don't think we're going to be able to get ourselves out of this cycle.
Fred Pawle
Well, that's not... That's pretty grim for the people who are counting their dollars and cents at the moment after the latest interest rate rise. Finally, Senator, before you go, let's talk about Pride Month, which is this month. And of course, there are constant reminders of Pride Month in Inner City Sydney. Now, this represents the LGBTQI etc group, and the T in that stands for transgender. This is a phenomenon that is losing momentum overseas, I'd argue, and indeed seems to be entering class action lawsuit territory. What's your opinion about treating kids who think they've been born in the wrong body with puberty blockers and even surgery?
Senator Bragg
Well, these are very sensitive issues. I've met with parents, I've met with different people who have strong views about these matters. I think one thing is common amongst all groups is that people don't want to see politicians trying to weaponise these issues. These are deeply personal matters. These are matters which are within the preserve of the State Health System. I want to see everyone get a fair go. I want to see everyone treated equally. That's always been my starting point. If you want to talk about medical issues, then those really go to the State Parliaments. But my overall message is I want to see everyone given a fair go. And I'm a big believer in equality, no matter what your shape or size may be.
Fred Pawle
But you're not allowed to vote, you're not allowed to smoke, you can't drink, you can't get a tattoo if you're under 18, but you can start on puberty blockers, which inevitably lead to surgery. Don't you think there should be laws against this happening, or this counselling, even?
Senator Bragg
Well, I'm not a big one for the nanny state, as you may know anyway. I'm not big on all these nanny state arrangements. But in terms of medical advice and medical practice, that is not something that the Commonwealth Parliament is involved in in a day-to-day sense. That's a matter for the States. And I've heard arguments for and against these practices, and I will take advice from the doctors and the medical profession about what is the most appropriate legal setting. These are big decisions that you're alluding to here, and they're not things that politicians should weaponise, in my opinion.
Fred Pawle
Senator Andrew Bragg, thanks so much for your time.
Senator Bragg
Thanks, Fred.
[Ends]
