TOM CANFELL [HOST]: This morning I'm lucky enough to be joined by Senator Anthony Chisholm. Anthony, how are you, mate? 

ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Good thanks, Tom, good to be with you. 

CANFELL: Massive day obviously, the Budget was announced last night by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Your overall assessment? 

CHISHOLM: I think it's a Budget that really suits the times. Obviously, we know that there's many people out there doing it very tough on cost of living and the government have done their best to provide support in a responsible way. But then you can also see what the government is doing in building for the future with its focus on education, both higher education and the vocational system, and also the Future Made in Australia policy as well, and linking those two together to ensure that we're providing those jobs and skills of the future and those opportunities for the regions to grow with that new economy that is coming. 

CANFELL: There's a lot of different points I want to hit with you here, so I'll just rattle them off one by one. Mortgage holders, as far as mortgage holders are concerned, it pretty much confirms that there'll be no rate cuts this year, doesn't it? 

CHISHOLM: I wouldn't say that, that's obviously a matter for the Reserve Bank, Tom, but we know that people are doing it tough and that's why we've been focussed on providing responsible cost of living relief where we can. Obviously, the centrepiece of that is the tax cuts that we changed earlier in the year that will start to flow from 1 July. But there's also modest help for those with electricity bills as well. So, we want to do what we can to provide cost of living relief without adding pressure to inflation. We've got that balance right since we came to government, and I think we saw another example of that last night. 

CANFELL: You mentioned the electricity rebates there. That's actually on top of as well what the Queensland Labor Party just announced with their $1,000 rebate, so it is quite a hit for Queenslanders as far as energy prices are concerned, which is good news obviously, but do you think that there is a risk there that it does become inflationary, because those rebates are going to every single household in the country and if people have spare money they're going to spend it? 

CHISHOLM: I think you've got to look at it in the context of what we've been doing on cost of living since we came to government, and it's always been doing what we can but doing it in a responsible way, and also when you see what we've got done with our Tax Package changes as well. So, the advice from Treasury is that it won't add to inflation, and we've been constantly working to get that balance right, provide that relief without making things worse by adding to inflation. 

CANFELL: There was a surplus announced by the government last night, which is a remarkable achievement, it's the first time that a government has gone back to back surpluses in 20 years, it's been a really long since that's happened. Does it concern you though, like how is it possible that over the next few years we are predicted to get absolutely smashed with budget deficits and yet this government is now technically the highest taxing government in history and we have so many people working, unemployment is so low, so how are we getting smashed over the next few years? 

CHISHOLM: Well, what we have been doing with the revenue update is measuring that we're banking as much of that as possible. I think it was above 90 per cent of what we've done in this Budget, and we've also been looking for savings where possible as well. So, it’s based on responsible budget management, and we know that is an important part of how the government will be marked obviously heading into an election year, and that's something that we're really proud of in terms of how we've managed the Budget. But you also don't want to see us cutting into the Budget if the revenue does change and making life more difficult for Australians. So, I think when you look at what we're doing in trying to build the future opportunities for the country, I think that's important and entirely justified in the Budget context. 

CANFELL: The other one I wanted to talk to you about was the NDIS. The NDIS was created under Julia Gillard, it was one of the greats, one of the great things that Australia's put in place in my opinion over the past sort of 20, 30 years, it's what sets us apart from the rest of the world really. It's a fantastic system. But I think it's fair to say that at the moment it's very different to how it was envisioned at the start, and I think that was looked at last night in the Budget, wasn't it? 

CHISHOLM: It was, and as you rightly said it's something that the Labor Party's incredibly proud of, but we also want it to be around forever. 

CANFELL: Yep. 

CHISHOLM: And enjoy bipartisan support. So, part of our changes is ensuring that it is sustainable, working with states and territories to ensure that they're providing some additional foundational supports as well. And you're right to say that this is a proud nation, achievement of a nation but we want it to be sustainable and we want it to be around for generations to come. 

CANFELL: And just finally, you're a Queenslander so this is the perfect question to ask you. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in town last week for Beef Week, he was popping in town, and he did announce the drought proof plan then, which obviously had more details in the Budget coming out last night. No new dams as far as planning for future drought proofing of Queensland. Surely that's got to be looked at again in the near future? 

CHISHOLM: Well they'd be assessed as part of anyone who's bringing forward a proposal to do it. I know that there's been a long history of challenges with dams built in Australia. I know Rookwood Weir in your part of the world, which is quite a dam, but we provided support for that, it was recently opened as well. So, we're not opposed to new water infrastructure, but it's got to be ones that stack up both economically and environmentally. 

CANFELL: We could talk all morning, Senator, but I know you're very busy. I really appreciate your time this morning, thank you so much for coming on. 

CHISHOLM: No worries, thanks Tom.