SUBJECTS: OzCar, Mr Godwin Grech, RBA interest rates decision.
CHRIS BOWEN:
Well ladies and gentlemen; some weeks ago, Mr Turnbull called for the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer.
He alleged that the Prime Minister and Treasurer had lied and abused their offices.
Today, the Auditor-General of Australia has shown that Mr Turnbull's claims were false.
Mr Turnbull's credibility today lies in tatters.
Secondly, Mr Turnbull has just held a press conference.
Mr Turnbull has just acknowledged that he, Senator Abetz and the Liberal Party, were intimately involved with Mr Grech, in the lead up to the Senate inquiry.
There were two words missing from Mr Turnbull's press conference; those words were 'I resign'.
Mr Turnbull has made very serious allegations against the Prime Minister of Australia. Those allegations are now known to lie in tatters. In addition Mr Turnbull has just failed to take any responsibility for recent events; he has blamed Mr Grech; he has blamed others; the best he could bring himself to do that the course of events was 'disappointing'.
He should take full responsibility for the course of events.
We now know that he was very closely – intimately - involved with Mr Grech in the lead up to that Senate Inquiry.
Secondly, Senator Abetz told the Senate Inquiry that he was given information by a journalist. Mr Turnbull has just admitted that the information came from Mr Grech directly.
Senator Abetz needs to explain why he, on the face of it, misled the Australian Senate.
Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Bowen, is it all over for Mr Turnbull now?
BOWEN:
Mr Turnbull should resign today, and if doesn't resign, it is incumbent on the Liberal Party to require his resignation. The Leader of the Opposition plays a very important role on Australian political life. It's important that when the Leader of the Opposition says something, it can be taken at face value as being true. This is no longer the case for Malcolm Turnbull; his position is untenable; he must resign; and if he won't resign the powerbrokers of the Liberal Party should require his resignation.
JOURNALIST:
Minister the RBA has dropped its easing bias this afternoon; is there a risk now of rate hikes in the coming months do you think?
BOWEN:
Well I think the Reserve Bank has today indicated that the Australian economy is responding to stimulus – both the Federal Government's fiscal stimulus as well as their own stimulus through previous interest rate cuts. They've indicated that interest rates will remain on hold and that indicates to us that the fiscal stimulus is flowing through.
Of course, the Prime Minister and Treasurer have indicated that as the world edges to recovery, the cost of capital and interest rates will rise around the world, and Australia won't be immune from that. People should assume that these very low interest rates can't continue forever. As for regular movements by the Reserve Bank, we don't speculate on movements from one board meeting to another.
JOURNALIST:
Minister, we have just finished a fiscal year, is there any chance that the 2008-09 deficit could be less then forecast?
BOWEN:
Look we will be updating our forecasts at the mid-year economic statement as we always do.
JOURNALIST:
Minister, Godwin Grech has alleged that Treasury didn't support him even though they were aware of his health problems, shouldn't Treasury have seen the signs and didn't they have a duty of care to him?
BOWEN:
The Auditor-General deals with this; the Auditor-General finds that the Treasury's management of this was sound; it also finds that Mr Grech was encouraged to let the Treasury know if more assistance was necessary. Hindsight is always a very useful thing and the Auditor-General makes the point that more resources are always useful but it also makes the point that the Treasury's management was very sound and Mr Grech was encouraged to let senior management know if more resources were necessary.
JOURNALIST:
Will Mr Grech have a job after all of this is over?
BOWEN:
Employment matters in the Treasury are a matter for the secretary of the Treasury, I'm sure he will handle is appropriately and properly.
JOURNALIST:
But the Auditor-General did find flaws in Treasury's handling of the Ozcar scheme.
BOWEN:
The Auditor-General found that Treasury's management of the issue was sound; they make suggestions for improvements but they also found that the Treasury handled matters appropriately, properly and soundly.
JOURNALIST:
Minister if I could ask you one other question. Just on the issue of inflation linked bonds, which the Government has said they will issue soon. When will we get a decision on that from the Government and will there be a decision on interest withholding tax soon?
BOWEN:
Well in relation to bonds the Treasurer and other economic ministers will make announcements when full considerations are complete. In relation to the…
JOURNALIST:
The inflation rate…
BOWEN:
What in particular in relation to withholding tax?
JOURNALIST:
Well is the Government considering scrapping the withholding tax on the sovereign bonds? They've already done it for corporate and savings.
BOWEN:
The Henry Review is looking at all tax matters but in relation to particular announcements we'll await the response of the Henry review.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Bowen in that Australia Story piece Mr Turnbull had a personal crack at you, saying that you didn't deserve elevation because of your handling of FuelWatch. Are all bets off personally now as far as you're concerned?
BOWEN:
No, not at all. Look, I take it as a bit of a badge of honour if the Liberal party attacks me. But I always conduct myself professionally and if Mr Turnbull has personal views that are a matter for him, I have no personal animus back.
JOURNALIST:
Will we have new Opposition Leader this time next week?
BOWEN:
Certainly we've called for the resignation of the Leader of the Opposition, we've called for the Liberal Party to deal with that, the matter of how they respond is up to them. But the proper, decent thing to do would be for Mr Turnbull not to blame others but to come out today and tender his resignation; to take responsibility and tender his resignation to the Liberal Party.
JOURNALIST:
If there is one, who do you expect it will be?
BOWEN:
Oh look, that's a matter for the Liberal Party. We're prepared to fight anybody at the next election on the basis of our policies.
JOURNALIST:
Shouldn't both sides be waiting for the outcome of the police investigation on this?
BOWEN:
Look, Mr Turnbull made a very serious accusation. The Auditor-General, one of the most respected bodies in the country has delivered judgement on those allegations.
Now, the Auditor General has found that there was one preferential treatment for one car dealer on behalf of Mr Grech because Mr Grech thought that the person was a donor to the Liberal Party so the only preferential treatment went to a supporter and donor of the Liberal Party. This just shows Mr Turnbull's credibility lies in tatters.
Now Mr Turnbull didn't wait for inquiries, he didn't say that there were questions to be answered. He made allegations and called for resignations.
We now know that his position was completely unsustainable and his position is now completely untenable.
JOURNALIST:
On that point, there's been a major development on the terrorism front in Australia today. Do you think in relation to 'utegate' that Australians really care as much as you do about utegate as they do security matters?
BOWEN:
I think Australians care about the honesty and integrity of their political leaders. They care that if a politician, whether he be the Leader of the Opposition or otherwise, makes a claim, makes an allegation – they're able to back it up with evidence.
This is about more than utegate; this is about integrity in public office. This is about credibility. This is about Mr Turnbull having neither.
JOURNALIST:
Can I just confirm that you're saying Treasury did all they could in terms of Mr Grech's condition and their awareness of it?
BOWEN:
I am confirming that the Treasury acted appropriately, responsibly and soundly as has been found by the Auditor-General.
JOURNALIST:
Minister, is it fair to say the Australian economy is travelling better than the Government expected at the time of the Budget?
BOWEN:
Look we're certainly encouraged by recent figures. We're encouraged by retail trade figures. We're encouraged that Australia is withstanding this crisis better than any other country around the world but we continue to say there's a lot of water to go under the bridge yet and that there are difficulties still to play out.
We'll release our updated forecasts at mid year economic forecast time as we always do – we don't comment on forecasts in the meantime – other to say while there are some encouraging times, there is some difficulty yet to come.
Thanks very much.