Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been caught out unable to say how many people are living in homes delivered under Labor’s $10 billion housing fund, during a tense debate with shadow treasurer Angus Taylor.
Mr Chalmers and Mr Taylor agreed that the economic outlook was “uncertain” but the consensus stopped there as they clashed on housing, energy policy and tax relief.
The pair faced off on ABC’s 7.30, with host Sarah Ferguson pressing both on the economic realities behind their promises and past performance.
While both men largely stuck to familiar lines, there were moments of discomfort, particularly for Mr Chalmers on housing delivery and for Mr Taylor on the tax refunds.
Here are the key moments that shaped the debate.
Treasurer caught out on housing figures
One of the most uncomfortable moments for Mr Chalmers came as he was pressed on the House Australia Future Fund.
He was asked by his opponent to answer a simple question: how many people are living in homes delivered under Labor’s housing policy?
“We’ve built a couple of thousand houses. There’s 28,000 more… in the pipeline right now,” he said.
Despite referencing “thousands of homes”, he couldn’t say how many people have been housed as a result of his government’s investments.
“The truth is not a single person is living in one of these houses,” Mr Taylor said.
There have only been about 300 homes built and about 5,000 under construction.
The Coalition has promised to tear up the fund if elected to government.
Shadow treasurer struggles to explain $10 billion tax promise
Mr Taylor also faced tough questioning when pressed on his party’s decision to offer a one-off $10 billion tax refund of $1,200.
The promise came just days after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton warned the federal budget couldn’t afford new tax cuts.
“We won’t be able to provide tax cuts during this campaign,” Mr Dutton said before the tax refund policy was announced.
Asked whether this was a compromise of budget discipline, Mr Taylor said the rebates were targeted relief and different from long-term tax reform.
“If I may, what we need is short term cost-of-living relief for Australians, which is temporary, which is meaningful,” he said.
“We also need to rebuild the government budget, which, as I have just said, has gone off a cliff under Jim Chalmers, because basically they threw out the rule book.”
Energy divide widens over nuclear
Energy policy proved a flashpoint, as it has throughout the campaign, with the treasurers unable to agree on the price tag.
Mr Taylor said the CSIRO has estimated $20 billion per two-gigawatt generator, so seven generators would be about $120 billion.
“It’s rubbish. The reason why he won’t say how much his reactors cost is because he won’t come clean,” Mr Chalmers said.
The Treasurer claimed it would be $600 billion without $1 of private investment in the project.
“That is not right Jim. That number is just a lie. It is a lie,” Mr Taylor said.
Housing policy
After economists and independent voices criticised both major parties’ housing plans, the debate moderator called on them to defend their policies.
Labor has promised to invest $10 billion to build up to 100,000 homes for first home buyers and eliminate Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance for deposits as low as 5 per cent.
“What we’ve seen since we’ve come to office is construction costs have come down compared to under the Coalition,” Mr Chalmers said.
“New approvals have turned around. Investment growth in housing and new builds, all of that is improving.”
Rents have risen more than 30 per cent since 2022 and many young Australians have been priced out of the market.
Meanwhile, the Coalition has proposed tax deductibility for mortgage interest payments for first home buyers of new builds.
“We’ve never seen… a crisis like we have right now… I hear it all the time in my own electorate, where I see houses are held up and not being completed,” Mr Taylor said.
“Interest tax deductibility will provide that conduit, not just for affordability for young Australians wanting to get into a home, but also to make sure that new builds are actually occurring.”
Economists weigh in on debate result
Institute of Public Affairs Chief Economist Adam Creighton told Sky News he thought the shadow treasurer won the debate, though independent economist Saul Eslake said the result was “unclear”.
“Both prospective treasurers were sharp and on message although I thought Angus Taylor won the debate given Labor’s poor record in government,” Mr Creighton said.
“Taylor zeroed on in the fact Labor has presided over the greatest decline in living standards for many decades, which raised obvious questions about the government’s economic competence.
“Taylor needs to ‘own’ the Coalition’s previous attempts to rein in federal spending growth on health and education, which is necessary given soaring debt and deficits, rather than appear embarrassed by trying tough but necessary decisions.
“The bottom line is that the hallmark of this election campaign to date is a total lack of big ideas to lift Australia out of the economic mess and malaise of the post-pandemic era.”
Meanwhile Mr Eslake, argued the bar was higher for the shadow treasurer — not only needing to criticise the government but also prove the opposition could do better.
“I thought in general Chalmers’s defence of what the government is doing was a bit more convincing than Taylor’s defence of what the Coalition would do,” he said.
He noted the Coalition had “effectively abandoned” its commitment to responsible budgeting, through lower deficits and fiscal restraint.
“They’ve obviously walked away from that and matched everything (that Labor has promised),” he said.
“I think, he and (shadow finance minister Jane) Hume have to be able to exert discipline on their shadow cabinet colleagues.
“Which is what a strong treasurer ought to be able to do.”
The latest poll, from the Sydney Morning Herald and Resolve Political monitor, found the Labor Party has extended its lead to 53.5 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.
