PRESENTER:
Treasurer, Joe Hockey joins us now from Canberra. Good morning to you.
TREASURER:
Good morning Sam.
PRESENTER:
We know that you are politician; we know you are a tough bloke but when you wake up and see headlines like that, how do you feel about this talk today?
TREASURER:
Sam, this is part and parcel of being Treasurer. When you have conversations with your colleagues about asking them to live within their means in their portfolios, some of them don’t like it but we have got to do what is right for the Australian people. We need a Budget that is starting to live within its means, get back to surplus and start to give Australians the opportunity to have hope about the future.
PRESENTER:
Joe, here we are in December and a lot of the Budget still hasn’t been passed.
TREASURER:
It has.
PRESENTER:
It is a bit of a schmoozle.
TREASURER:
No. Seventy-five per cent of the more than 400 measures have passed Parliament. We are still working our way through. The Senate has only been in place six months. It's not easy, it's hard but, Kochie, the main thing is, we are doing what is right; right for the Australian economy. If we don't reform, if we don't undertake change, we are not going to have the sort of prosperity that Australians expect and want into the future. I am absolutely determined to do what is right for the country.
PRESENTER:
But after a horror Budget, you are no closer to getting a surplus.
TREASURER: One of the challenges is that, as you know, commodity prices have come off significantly but we have put in place a lot of structural reform, Kochie – free trade agreements, getting rid of the Carbon Tax, getting rid of the Mining Tax. We have abolished 57,000 pages of red-tape legislation, approved a trillion dollars of major new projects. We are getting on with the job; much more has to be done and it is hard. I know it is hard for people. I know it is hard for the community. I know it is hard for colleagues but we have to do what is right.
PRESENTER:
Do you find it frustrating? Because we know you inherited a bit of a shambles, nobody likes to be told that they have to tighten their belts but obviously to try and balance the books, the money has got to come from somewhere. So, the country needs to save – we get that. Do you find this frustrating?
TREASURER:
Sam my feelings don't matter in this. What matters is the feelings of the Australian people and that's what I'm focused on. We are on the weekend, on Sunday, going to release a report that focuses on containing credit card surcharges, which means that consumers will get the benefit of some of the changes that we will be initiating. So, we are focused at every step on how to make life easier for households, how to get job security, how to get prosperity. This is not about me. It's actually about how we serve the Australian people.
PRESENTER:
We asked Peter Beattie about you a bit earlier in the program. Here is what he had to say:
PETER BEATTIE:
The reality is he couldn't sell water to a thirsty man. Yes, they have had a tough Budget. They have had to all to do all those sorts of things but he hasn't been able to sell the message to the Australian people and he is a major liability in the government.
PRESENTER:
Have you not been able to sell the message? He is quite right, you haven’t been able to sell the message.
TREASURER:
Come on. Hang on, he is a former Labor Premier of Queensland who failed at the last election.
PRESENTER:
You haven't been able to sell the message.
TREASURER:
Well, I think everyone has got to help to sell the message, Kochie. It's not just me [inaudible].
PRESENTER:
So are you being stabbed in the back by your colleagues?
TREASURER:
No. It is not about commentary. I want to focus on outcomes for the Australian people. We want Australia to be prosperous. We want Australia to have a good summer. We want Australians to spend up, spend up for Australia. It is important but let's just not get carried away with commentary. I mean, that is very beltway in Canberra.
PRESENTER:
Do you agree though that the Budget is so unpopular, it is still stuck in the Senate – so many bits of it. Do you agree that it is unpopular? Would you, in an ideal world, like to step back from it a bit, pull it back a bit?
TREASURER:
Sam, we have to do what is right. We have to do what is right. I mean, for a decade and a half, Treasurers have been able to spend more and more money without constraint. Under Peter Costello, he had big surpluses and can hand them back. Under Wayne Swan, he borrowed money. Sooner or later, a Treasurer had to come along and say, ‘Hang on guys, we need to live within our means, we need to have a plan that ensures that Australia does not end up with an insufferable level of debt’. Now, I have been that person. I do it because it is right, it is right for everyday Australians. Just as in everyday households, someone has to say, ‘Look, we can't afford that’. I have to do that with my colleagues and the nation, and that is difficult but it is the right thing to do.
PRESENTER:
You are not scared that you are going to be a barnacle?
TREASURER:
No, the biggest barnacle is actually Barnacle Bill – Bill Shorten, who is opposing $28 billion of our savings. Kochie, this is about making sure that Australia can cope with the challenges that lie ahead and we have a steely determination to make sure that Australia is at its best in the future.
PRESENTER:
Alright Joe Hockey, thanks for joining us.
TREASURER:
Thanks very much – and nice hairdo, Sam.
PRESENTER:
Thank you, Joe. I appreciate that.
TREASURER:
I heard about it and I had a look and I thought ‘that works’.
PRESENTER:
I appreciate that.
PRESENTER:
All right.
PRESENTER:
Thank you, Treasurer. I appreciate we’re talking about the Budget and my hair.