MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Mr Hockey, welcome to AM
TREASURER:
Good morning, Michael.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
So, the Parliamentary Library says your hope to bypass the Senate by attaching the asset-recycling plan into an appropriations bill would fail. Do you still go ahead with it?
TREASURER:
Well, Michael I am surprised the Labor Party is so determined to stop the roll-out of in-excess of $40 billion of new infrastructure that is part of our Budget, which is going to create tens of thousands of new jobs across Australia. We have a rising unemployment rate at the moment; the Budget lays down a clear path to roll-out infrastructure such as the 10,000 jobs that are going to be created with the Westconnex Project in Sydney, 6,000 jobs that start rolling out before the end of this year with the East-West Program in Melbourne and so on. So, I don’t know why the Labor Party is so determined to stop that.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Sure. The reality of this advice is though that you will have to deal with the Senate on this?
TREASURER:
Well, we deal with everyone on all the issues; our door is very much open. Having said that, the Labor Party and the Greens are simply playing politics which is hugely disappointing because it is just going to cost jobs and I think Mr Shorten and Mr Albanese need to explain to the Australian people where the thousands of jobs are going to come from. What they are endeavoring to do is to bog down the roll-out of infrastructure in duplicative red-tape. Now, this is part of their delaying tactic because they actually do want to wreck the economy and we are determined to rely on the best available information provided by the States in relation to the Asset Recycling Fund and importantly, importantly, we have our own infrastructure roll-out that is getting on with the job of creating more jobs.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Okay, on to other Budget matters, Peter Costello, the former Treasurer said yesterday, ‘you should cut your losses and scrap the $7 GP co-payment’. Is that good advice?
TREASURER:
Well, it is not good advice because frankly, our Budget is part of an overarching Economic Action Strategy that has a number of different component parts. Putting a price signal in relation to visits to the doctor and ensuring that the Medicare system is sustainable is a key part of that program. We are facing a Medicare System that is growing in-excess of 7 per cent per annum.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
But the truth is, it isn’t going to get through, is it?
TREASURER:
Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched, Michael.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Okay.
TREASURER:
I would urge – there is a lot of commentary, a lot of commentary on the Budget process at the moment, I think people are getting a little ahead of themselves.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Alright, but you are fighting on many fronts for this Budget. For instance, will the Paid Parental Leave be legislated and come into effect next July, as promised?
TREASURER:
Well, we are keeping to our promises. Our Budget has a number of different component parts as I said, including the fact that people are paying less tax now than they would have if Labor were re-elected including getting rid of the Carbon Tax which we have done, including laying down a plan to get rid of the Mining Tax and associated expenditure, which we are doing. We are dealing with issues one at a time. Most of the Budget has actually already gone through the Parliament. We are now dealing with the major policy issues that make the Budget sustainable over the medium and long-term and as you point out, a number of initiatives don’t start until the 1st July next year and beyond.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
But key aspects of the Budget – of the reform process haven’t, I mean, for instance on education – the Palmer United Party says categorically it will not vote for de-regulation of university fees. Without compromise that won’t get through, will it?
TREASURER:
Well, you know the interesting thing is Michael, there has been a lot of statements – public statements by a lot of people in the Senate. For example, Bill Shorten was emphatic that the Deficit Reduction Levy would not get the support of Labor; well it did. So, I am very skeptical about public pronouncements by individuals versus how they actually vote in the Parliament. For example, the Labor Party said that we needed to have $5 billion of savings before the last election; they are now voting against those savings that they promised the Australian people at the last election. So, you know, we are dealing with people who are entirely inconsistent and therefore…
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
You are dealing with the realities of the Senate as it stands at the moment.
TREASURER:
In part that is the reality, there is a level of inconsistency from our political opponents that we have to deal with. We are working through it methodically and carefully, Michael.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
And they clearly are tapping into public sentiment. For instance, the HECS architect, Bruce Chapman, predicted that university fees could double or even triple at some prestigious universities under a de-regulated system. Do you have to accept at some point you know – just to get these things through, you are going to have to compromise?
TREASURER:
Well, we have always said that the door is open and we are always prepared to meet with sensible Senators that are prepared to lay down a plan. I have now met with a number of independent Senators. They have given me various pieces of information that they want me to analyse. I have also invited them to come in and meet with Treasury officials to understand the full impact of the Budget and the challenges that Australia has. I think it is important that we carefully and methodically go through a process of engagement, which is exactly what we are doing, and we have always been doing it but the new Senate only started on the 1st of July. Our new Senators only had resources and the capacity to travel from the 1st of July. So, we deal with what is handed to us, Michael. And this is not unusual by the way; it is not unusual to have various Budget initiatives held up in discussions in the Senate. I mean, I remember the new tax system reforms, after we had won an election on them in 2000 – I mean 1998, it took a long time of negotiation with the Democrats to get it through, and it didn’t get through in its original form. So, these are the sorts of things that do happen.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Alright Treasurer, thanks very much, we will leave it there.
TREASURER:
Thanks very much, Michael.