REPORTER:
[Inaudible] are you going to stand down?
TREASURER:
No. Let me say this: Sometimes you have got to have difficult conversations with colleagues about their budgets and living within their means. I understand some of their anxieties but we have got to do what is right for the Australian people and we have a steely determination to have a credible pathway back to surplus and to deal with some of the challenges that we have at the moment.
REPORTER:
Has it been a tough [inaudible] to sell your Budget?
TREASURER:
We have a terrific economic story and the Budget is part of that.
REPORTER:
But is it getting through?
TREASURER:
We are working on it. What matters is jobs, growth and prosperity.
REPORTER:
Did the Government have a much needed win last night getting its TPV legislation through the Senate?
TREASURER:
It just shows it takes time to get these sorts of things through the Parliament. I mean, it is a good win to get TPVs through the Senate. It just shows if you keep persisting, you’re not deterred by the critics, you can get there.
REPORTER:
Are you concerned that your colleagues – or some of your colleagues – seem to be giving you an ultimatum to improve over the summer or else?
TREASURER:
No, they do that every summer in one form or another, either in Opposition or Government. For a decade and a half, Treasurers have been able to write out bigger and bigger cheques for their colleagues. Peter Costello had surpluses where he could write out cheques. Wayne Swan borrowed the money to write out cheques. Someone had to say ‘enough, we have got to live within our means’. It has fallen on my shoulders. It has to be done for Australians, for our future. Be it in a family budget context or in a business budget, the chief accountant might not be the most popular person in the household, but what needs to be done must be done.
REPORTER:
Are you sure you will be the Treasurer until the next federal election?
TREASURER:
That’s a silly question.
REPORTER:
How is MYEFO going?
TREASURER:
We are working on it and these are the sorts of discussions I've been having with colleagues about how they are going to help to deliver savings that keep us on a credible path back to surplus.
REPORTER:
Are they receptive?
TREASURER:
Some of them aren’t too happy but we've got to do what is right for the nation. It is hugely important we do everything we can to live within our means.
REPORTER:
Are you disappointed though that your colleagues have decided to air their grievances in the media?
TREASURER:
Towards the end of the year it gets a little ratty for some.
REPORTER:
How do you convince Australia that you need to put these Budget savings through because the past 12 months [inaudible]
TREASURER:
That’s not right, that’s not right. The Carbon Tax went, the Mining Tax went…
REPORTER:
But your new Budget measures [inaudible].
TREASURER:
They were all part of the Budget. There have been a number of other Budget measures. It's Bill Shorten who is the problem because he is standing in the way of $28 billion of savings including his own. So that’s kind of…
REPORTER:
Higher education, GP co-payment – these look like really tough measures [inaudible]
TREASURER:
Well, compared to other budgets, they're not. Thanks very much, guys.