Treasurer Jim Chalmers has conceded that he has no idea about his long term future in politics. but does know he has no intention of challenging his ‘mate’ Anthony Albanese for Labor’s leadership.
Dr Chalmers made the candid admission during an interview on Channel Seven’s Spotlight on Sunday night where he also spoke about giving up the booze, his aspirations of becoming prime minister and his reaction to Mr Albanese’s recent $4.3 million property purchase.
Dr Chalmers, 46, told Seven’s political editor Mark Riley that he could not say how long he would stay in politics, which has consumed most of his adult working life- first as an advisor to Labor MPs before being elected to the Queensland seat of Rankin in 2013.
‘I don’t know is the honest answer,’ he replied about how long he would be in parliament.
‘Nobody is in it forever and these opportunities to be treasurer or a local member they are not typically someone’s whole career so I try to make the most of it.
‘I am not sure when I will have had enough or people will have had enough of me, part of it is out of my hands, a big part of it is out of my hands.’
Mr Albanese’s purchase of a four-bedroom, three-bathroom mansion overlooking the ocean at Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast has led many pundits and reportedly some unnamed Labor MPs to question his political nous.
Polling group RedBridge strategy and analytics director Kos Samaras called the opulent purchase ‘terrible optics’ in the middle of a housing and cost of living crisis with a federal election due before the end of next September.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers was grilled on Channel Seven’s Spotlight on Sunday night
When Riley mischievously asked Dr Chalmers if he himself had recently bought a beachfront property he got the adamant reply: ‘I have not’.
The treasurer was then asked if he had advised against the purchase giving the potential political repercussions.
‘I don’t really see that as my role,’ Dr Chalmers replied.
Pressed again on the timing of the purchase, Dr Chalmers admitted there were political implications.
‘He would acknowledge, as I acknowledge, that anything you do as a prime minister is at great risk of being a subject of political conjecture,’ Dr Chalmers said.
Dr Chalmers insisted he had ‘a terrific relationship with the prime minister’ and the two often talked first thing in the morning, not just about work but about other ‘things ‘mates talk about in Australia’.
Riley asked Dr Chalmers a number of times if he might consider challenging Mr Albanese for the leadership, with Labor having just slipped behind the Coalition in polling, the Treasurer kept replying he ‘couldn’t see the circumstances’ where that would happen.
Dr Chalmers said he had a ‘terrific relationship’ with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the pair often chatted as ‘mates’
‘My goal here is to be a good treasurer in a great Labor government led by Anthony from start to finish,’ he said.
Dr Chalmers also opened up about being diagnosed with a melanoma on his chest at the end of 2020 and the effect it had on his health.
He said he gave a press conference around that time when his wife told him ‘you look really unwell’.
‘My face was kind of white, it was a weird shade of grey,’ Dr Chalmers said.
He said the ‘weird kind of blessing’ of the cancer was that it made giving up drinking easier, something he admitted was necessary.
‘I was really unwell I didn’t feel like drinking over the summer,’ he said.
However, before that Dr Chalmers admitted to being a ‘pretty enthusiastic drinker’.
‘I’ve always had trouble pacing myself,’ he said.
Kicking the booze had given him ‘more room … for things that are really important to me. My wife and my kids. My work is really important to me’.
Dr Chalmers (pictured with wife Laura Anderson) said giving up drinking gave him time to be with his family
Dr Chalmers is married to journalist and former political advisor Laura Anderson and the couple have three children together.
The program also showed Dr Chalmers in his home city of Logan, that he now represents in parliament.
He said what he liked about being out and about was ‘the blunt feedback I get from the community good and bad’.
‘Last week I had three people telling me I am getting too fat,’ he said.
As Dr Chalmers prepares his pre-election Budget, he did have some good news on cost of living, stating he believed inflation was headed in the right direction.
‘Well, I think when it comes to inflation specifically, the worst is behind us,’ Dr Chalmers said.
‘The peak in inflation is in the rear view mirror And we’re not complacent about that but we are confident.’
Asked about how close Australia came to have a recession, which is normally defined as two quarters where gross domestic product shrinks, Dr Chalmers said it had been touch and go earlier this year.
‘There were times we feared the economy would go backwards,’ he said.
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