Melbourne radio host Tom Elliott has hit out at Australia’s political leadership, claiming the nation is being “run by idiots”.
Victoria’s Labor government was the chief target of the 3AW morning host’s spray, but the federal government and the Reserve Bank of Australia also received a serve.
“We are being run by idiots. The Reserve Bank is stupid. The state government is stupid. The federal government doesn’t really know what it is doing either,” he said.
The comments came after the Victorian government handed down a debt-laden budget on the same day the RBA hiked interest rates.
“If you are an ordinary person, and most of us are, yesterday was an unmitigated disaster,” Elliott said.
“We had a state government budget that has got so many holes in it, so many half-truths, so much debt.
“The fastest growing line item in the state government’s budget that was released yesterday is interest payments. They’re going to go up 50 per cent in the next four years.
“So we’re being governed by idiots.”
Elliott then aimed his fire on the Reserve Bank of Australia and the federal government.
“Michele Bullock, the head of the Reserve Bank, she also put up interest rates to try and slow down the economy. As if high fuel prices weren’t doing that,” the radio host said.
“And then she blamed Jim Chalmers for not restraining his spending. And he said, no, no, that’s not right.
“We deserve better from our political leadership, and I am talking about the Prime Minister, the Treasurer.
“I’m talking about the head of the Reserve Bank of Australia, who appears to have very little understanding of economics.
“I’m talking about the Victorian State Government. The only thing it seems to know how to do is to spend money like it’s going out of fashion, and then to increase our taxes.”
The Melbourne radio host then cited a 2025 Herald Sun report about the Victorian Treasurer telling staff to “stop using economic terms and phrases” in their communications, because she “doesn’t have a clue” what they meant.
“So we have a treasurer who doesn’t really understand finance and economics. But here she is in charge,” he said.
“We’re going to have $200 billion of net debt fairly soon. We’re ploughing ahead with the suburban rail. We don’t have the federal government funds committed yet, and we haven’t updated the business case to reflect how much it will actually cost to build. It is insane.
“And taxes have gone up. If you own a property … more and more land tax, if you run a business, more and more payroll tax. It is just horrendous.
“The economy is going down the drain – the economic growth figures in the state budget are terrible reading.
“So the economy is flatlining. Our taxes are going up, and our mortgages are costing more. Fuel prices have gone up – now that’s not anyone’s fault, that’s what’s going on in the Middle East, but the point is that is hurting people. It is hurting people, and we deserve better.”