Oliver Peterson: Australian correspondent on Cyclone Alfred blowing a billion-dollar hole in Australia's federal budget

Cyclone Alfred has blown a $1.2 billion hole in the upcoming Australian federal budget, according to a warning from Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

The Government has announced an extension to the disaster recovery allowance and payments to impacted areas in Queensland and New South Wales.

 Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says Chalmers has claimed a significant amount will be used to rebuild the flood-impacted communities - and this is likely to leave an impact ahead of the upcoming federal election. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International correspondence with ends and eye Insurance feace of mind
for New Zealand business. Oli Peters has got a six
pur per flave present to Oli. Good afternoon, good evening.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good afternoon, Ryan.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hey, this cyclone Alfred's blown a pretty big hole in
the federal budget. What do you know?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yeah, one point two billion dollars.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers is forecasting is he has to
hand down the budget next week. He wasn't going to
be doing this until Alfred hit and we would be
going towards a federal election. But they've had to do
a lot of work in the meantime to get this
budget up and ready for next Tuesday. But what is
still a fick blowing that hole in the budget is
the fact that there are still eligible one off payments

(00:43):
for a thousand dollars per adults, are four hundred dollars
per child for those people who live in the flood
affected areas after Alfred, and the treasure is saying that
a lot of money also has to be put towards
rebuilding these communities.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
So we'll see what he hands down next Tuesday.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Looks like he's softening us all up for perhaps not
the the greatest set of numbers or books that he
wanted to reveal to the Australian public before going to
that federal election.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Now, good luck to you if this happens. But the Greens,
if they hold the balance of power, will be considering
at least introducing a four day work week for.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
A stamp exactly.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
And they think that there's been some trials done, I
believe in the UK and Germany, Spain and Canada, and
they think it works well. So they're not saying that
you need to work. Let's say you have a forty
hour work week. They're not saying that you work those
forty hours in four days. No, no, no, you work only
thirty two hours in the four days and you'll just
be more productive because Australians haven't had a pay rise.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
According to the Greens, And how's this, they want to establish.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
A national Institute for the four day work week at
a cost of ten million dollars per year. I don't
know what they would do right apart from say, hey,
you now work four days a week.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
What a job that would be?

Speaker 3 (01:55):
And I wonder if you'd still have to turn up
four days a week for that particular job. Like why
would you need the red of a national institute for
the four day workweek? But the thing is everything the
Greens say at the moment we have to take seriously
in this country because another poll out today highlights the
fact that we are looking at as though we're heading
towards minority government at the Anthony Albanezi lead government return

(02:17):
to office. The poles are changing rapidly, to be honest, Ryan,
but the Greens themselves are also looking like they're going
to go backwards in the number of seats, but they
might hold the balance of power, so they're going to
throw everything at this at the moment, and every policy
needs to be properly scrutinized because Adam Bank could have
not been the Deputy Prime Minister and therefore anything that
Green says could it not becoming national policy.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Goodness me, do you have a date yet? Still a month?

Speaker 2 (02:39):
No, we don't. It has to be before May seventeen.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
I the PM here on my show last week in
the studios, and I reckon he's going full term because
we've got we've got magic ground in the rugby league,
we've got gather around in the AFL. You don't want
to interrupt that stuff for a federal election, right, and
we've got easter, so May seventeen, I reckon.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
All right, we'll put it in a pencil in the calendar. Ollie, Hey,
this wom bat, this influenza had grabbed the one bat
was going to go on the project apparently, but that's
all fallen through. What's happened here?

Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah it well, Sam Jones pulled out at the last minute,
say yes today. Of course, She's drawn a lot of
criticism for stealing that baby warm back from its mother,
but she said on her Instagram account of the weekend
she only picked up the animal because she was afraid it.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Would be hit by a car. This is what she's
had to say.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
What I did was an incredible mistake and there hasn't
been a moment I haven't regretted it. However, there's something
much bigger at play here and it would be a
disservice to ignore it. If this situation has proven anything,
it's proven that Australians care deeply about their wildlife, and
that is something I intensely admire. Every year, however, the

(03:45):
Australian government issues permits for the killing of thousands and
thousands of wombats across Australia along with millions of kangaroos.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
She's on team one bat now, come off, god.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Do they presumably that's that's his control almost as a forty.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Much exactly right. Look, you know what though, I will
say to her defense, like the carry on in this
country over the last couple of weeks, that she should
have been reported. We shouldn't have her here, like you know,
if we turn the you know, not turn a blind eye,
but you know the other instances in this country of
things that are happening right in terms of rapes and
murders and criminals, and this is obviously the issue which
has really raised the eye of in of our politicians

(04:27):
like come.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Only you've been too serious. Honestly, it's a crazy woman
with a wamp with a wombat that's far more interesting
to talk about.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Well, and she's got fifteen minutes of fame plus plus right,
imagine all the DMS she's getting from all the product
endorsements as an influencers.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
That's what we got to do. Ryan should be selling
fur coats soon. Heyly, thank you Oli Peterson sex pr
Perth Life presenter out of Australia.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
For more from Hither Duplessy, Allen Drave. Listen live to
news talks.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
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