You can say a lot of things about Jim Chalmers, but one thing you can’t accuse him of is not listening to the question he is asked. He listens in a way not many politicians do, and rarely gets caught out because of it.

Q: Treasurer, you’ve emphasised in your speech a number of time global shocks and disruption that we’re seeing and we may see another round of that disruption next week when President Trump presents his new tariff policy. Given those rapidly changing circumstances, would you be willing later in the year to have an economic statement, a major economic statement to take account of new circumstances so that this Budget is not a set-and-forget document?

Chalmers:

There are a couple of important points in your question, Michelle. One of them takes the outcome of the election for granted and you won’t hear me doing that. We’ve got a relatively major event between now and then.

People will decide who governs them in the second half of the year.

But your broader point I think is well understood and your broader point is this – the big story of the Budget and the global economy and our own economy is this dark shadow which is being cast by escalating trade tensions which are very concerning to us but also the slowdown in China, a war in Eastern Europe, a collapsing ceasefire in the Middle East, political uncertainty in other parts of the developed world and all of that creates an element of heightened uncertainty in the global economy and the Budget is designed to provision for, that allow for that, anticipate that and to make sure we’re well prepared and well placed to deal with this economic uncertainty and the best insurance policy for Australia is to rebuild incomes and living standards at the household level, make sure that household budgets are more resilient and we’re making substantial progress there.

Tax cuts are part of that story, but secondly to make the economy more competitive and more resilient overall. The big story of the Budget is dealing with those two pressures at once – cost of living and global economic uncertainty – and the combination of those measures and calibration of those measures are about responding to that. You asked if there’ll be an economic statement later in the year. Again, I don’t take the outcome of the election for granted but we’ve shown a willingness to be nimble with our economic policy, to play the cards we’re dealt and trying to ensure that Australians are beneficiaries, not victims, of that churn and change.