KIRSTEN AIKEN, HOST: The Minderoo Foundation, founded by Nicola and Andrew Forrest, is committing $100 million to Australia’s first all-women investment trust. Future Generation Women will see leading female portfolio managers make investment decisions aimed at driving stronger gender equity practices in the community but also in the finance sector. I spoke to the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher. [CUTS TO PRE-RECORD] Welcome to The Business. We’re surrounded by women who lead the investment decisions of major financial institutions, investment and superannuation funds, and yet they’re striving for gender equality in their own sector. How is today’s announcement going to advance change?
SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: It’s a really exciting announcement, I think, to have Future Generation Women led by women leading in the financial sector. We know this is an area that has struggled. It’s male-dominated. There’s significant barriers to women’s participation. And so I think, a signature group like this as part of the Future Generation group will start shifting the dial. Really important.
AIKEN: And in the community more generally, in terms of their ambitions with this fund?
GALLAGHER: Yeah absolutely, we know that when women lead and take on these big challenges, address barriers, it has a flow-on effect across the community and the economy. I think the social side of this, as well – we know that a lot of women do care deeply about some of these areas like youth mental health, about women’s equality, and I think if you’re able to be good at business and be driving some of that other change, it reflects well on you.
AIKEN: The Government has recently directed the Future Fund to invest in priorities it believes are in the national interest. In time, would you like to see a gender lens applied to investments in that fund?
GALLAGHER: We’re certainly looking at it across government. I mean, in relation to the Future Fund, we haven’t directed them, but we have issued a statement of expectations to them that you know, even though we haven’t changed the rate of return or the risk profile, that when they are making those decisions, those big things like the transition in the energy system and housing are important considerations. But we are using every lever across government to look at how we can drive gender equality. Because it’s not just good for women. It’s good for everybody.
AIKEN: Unemployment remains at historically low levels. Inflation is moderating, but slowly. Living standards are declining. Does this impact women disproportionately?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think the evidence is that cost-of-living pressures hit women harder, and that’s often because they are the managers of the household budget. So, they see it when they do the shopping, they see it when they pay the bills, when they engage with schools. And so, we know that addressing that and trying to provide some relief is really important for households that are led for women, but also where women are making those decisions about spending and cutting back on spending, which we’ve seen flow through some of the economic data.
AIKEN: Is the Government going to flag further cost-of-living measures in the Mid-Year Economic Outlook?
GALLAGHER: Well, we’ve made it a feature of every budget since we came to Government. I mean, we’ve seen living standards slipping and inflation increasing when we came to government. So, it was an economy that we inherited. And so, it’s been a part of every decision we’ve taken, MYEFO is no different.
AIKEN: Okay, so can you give us an idea of what we will see?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think you’ll see a continued approach through our economic plan. So, we’re looking to find savings, looking to make investments where it makes a difference, trying to provide cost-of-living relief, but not you know making the Reserve Bank’s job harder.
AIKEN: Total public demand through federal and state government spending was up considerably by 2.4 per cent in the three months to September. How is the Government going to fight the charge that it’s the reason why the RBA hasn’t issued a rate cut?
GALLAGHER: Well, I guess we would respond with how the Bank has responded, which has said that that is not their main concern in the economy, an acknowledgement that governments need to spend and in those priority areas. I mean, I don’t think anyone would want to see wasteful spending, but where you’re targeting those essential services – health, aged care, NDIS, cost-of-living relief – there is a role for government there. And I would say, we’ve all been talking about this narrow path – which doesn’t mean a lot to most people, but it’s essentially how do you drive down inflation and keep people in work – and on that front, I think you know, whilst people are still feeling the pinch and I don’t want to pretend otherwise, the fact that a million jobs are being created, that our unemployment rate is as you say relatively low and inflation is coming back to band, is actually quite a remarkable story. So, you know, hopefully we’re seeing a bit more of those green shoots than people have had over the last 12 months.
AIKEN: But is government spending, together with possibly more cost-of-living relief measures to come, going to renew the risk of a surge in inflation?
GALLAGHER: Well, we’re very careful with the decisions we take. I mean, it’s not only the amount you spend, it’s the quality of that spend as well, it’s the timing of that spend and it’s where it’s going. And so, we’ve been very clear that those decisions like energy bill rebates, like tax cuts, they were built-in to the RBA’s inflation expectations. But that where we are making decisions, it’s not adding to the inflation challenge, if anything it’s reducing it.
AIKEN: Katy Gallagher, thank you.
GALLAGHER: Thanks very much.