Nat Barr unleashes at Jim Chalmers on Sunrise: ‘It’s a disaster right now, you know that’

Sunrise presenter Nat Barr has slammed Jim Chalmers for claiming Australia’s aged care sector could soon be the best in the world, despite a critical shortage of workers.

The 2023 intergenerational report released Thursday shows that economic growth over the next four decades will be sluggish compared to previous decades.

According to the report, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, defense, elder care, health care and public debt will be the biggest budgetary constraints over the next 40 years.

The NDIS cost $35 billion in the past fiscal year and is on track to exceed the $50 billion mark by 2025/2026.

The federal government already spends more on the decade-old program than on Medicare ($30.8 billion), elder care ($27.7 billion) and state hospitals ($27.3 billion).

“How are we going to afford to pay for all those things that an aging population will need more than ever?” Barr asked the treasurer Thursday.

Dr. Chalmers said Australia has been given the opportunity for “spectacular growth” in the care and support economy.

“This is a big pressure on the economy, but also a big opportunity for Australia. If we train the workers, we can be the best in the world,” he said.

‘By putting care at the heart of what we do and also at the core of our industrial base.’

‘Can we? Can we treasurer? Because we can’t get enough elder care workers, we can’t fund the NDIS; it’s a disaster now, you know that,” Barr interjected.

“We can’t afford to pay for NDIS and the health sector. Ask someone. So how are we going to do that in the future if we can’t do that now?’

Dr. Chalmers said migration would play a role in finding more aged care workers.

“One of the reasons I’m putting out this intergenerational report is because it challenges us to make sure we can find and train the workers to make sure we can fund these services,” he said.

“Already during our first two budgets, we’ve made substantial progress to get the budget in a much better shape so that we can give the fund the things that we really value in society going forward.

“We know where the world is heading, we want to make Australians beneficiaries, not victims, of a world of change and change, which is what today is about.”

It comes at a time when Dr Chalmers says corporate tax reform is not on the government’s agenda as calls grow for bold changes to tackle Australia’s struggling budget.

This year’s intergenerational report shows that the critical mineral sector is expected to grow as the world moves towards net-zero emissions by mid-century.

Global demand is predicted to increase by 350 percent by 2040, enabling Australia to capitalize on the booming industry with its vast reserves of lithium, nickel, zinc and bauxite.

Australia’s exports of crucial minerals are expected to double over the next five years, but the treasurer faces calls to be more ambitious with tax reform.

Dr. Chalmers said the government was making meaningful changes to the tax base despite labeling the changes as “modest” as it pushed to increase offshore gas revenues and recover money from large pension balances.

“They help us get the budget to a much better level,” he told ABC’s 7:30 program.

“They will save us interest payments over the course of the intergenerational reporting period, they will … rebuild our buffers against this global economic uncertainty.”

Pensions will also protect the budget against an aging population, with the $3.5 trillion asset pool meaning fewer Australians will receive pension benefits.

But the government is also bracing for higher spending on health care, defense and interest payments.

“You have to look through the whole tax system and your tax base has to be robust enough to fund the kinds of services that people depend on, especially as our population is living longer and healthier lives,” said Dr Chalmers.

But he ruled out changes to the overall corporate tax rate, despite the composition of Australian tax revenues set to change in the future as money from cigarette and fuel excises dries up.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said ahead of the intergenerational report that current economic conditions are unsustainable.

“We currently have huge challenges for Australian households and small Australian businesses. We need a government that finds the right balance and pays sufficient attention to these crisis issues,” he told ABC TV.

“We have seen productivity gains of about 11 percent in our tenure. Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen labor productivity decline by 4.6 percent, which is completely unprecedented if you go over the data again.’

Following his remarks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told business leaders in Sydney that the government needed their help to meet critical future targets on climate change, skills and jobs, technology, manufacturing and gender equality.

“I can assure you, my colleagues and I are not asking for your input for the sake of appearances,” he told the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner.

‘We do it because we want to involve you in the design and details, because that’s how we get the best out of… programs and policies.

“And that’s how we create changes that last, that last, that become embedded as an engine of success in our economy.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt also called for a progressive tax agenda, saying it could put up to $1 trillion in state coffers over the next decade to tackle intergenerational inequality.

The money would come from a tax on corporate and mining super-profits that would end fossil fuel subsidies, changes to the offshore gas tax, scale back negative gearing and scrap the third phase of tax cuts.