TREASURER:
Thank you, Craig, and thank you for allowing me to come into your electorate. Craig Laundy, the Member for Reid, and to our very generous hosts, thank you so much for showing me this hugely impressive facility. This is exactly why we have endeavoured to set up the biggest stand-alone medical research fund in the world. The Medical Research Future Fund, which will have $20 billion in it within six years, which will start to distribute funds within 18 months, is going to be distributing to facilities such as this to find the cures for cancer and Alzheimer's and Dementia and the fact is that, as I have just heard in a presentation, recognition that ageing is a major contributor to the proliferation of these sorts of afflictions.
Australia is at the forefront of global technological development but we have just got to go that extra step and instead of sending our patients and our expertise to Oslo, as we did in one case, we should be doing it here in Australia and we can do it here because we certainly have got the brain power and we certainly have the capacity to innovate. It is about going that extra step and setting up the biggest medical research endowment fund in the world, funded by Australians contributing to their own healthcare through the $7 contribution when they visit the doctor, to contributions through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, through other savings in the Health Budget. Every single dollar will go towards the Medical Research Future Fund which will, on a sustainable basis – when it is fully up and running – provide at least $1 billion a year to medical research which will help with clinical trials, which will help to facilitate commercialisation of Australian innovation, and in some very wise words that were just given to me; at a time when the motor vehicle industry is heading offshore, ‘now is the time to invest in our very significant medical research and scientific industry which, of itself, is going to change the quality of life of Australians forever’.
So, that’s why we are here, to remind Australians that: forget the naysayers who keep talking about how outrageous it is to contribute to your own healthcare costs, we already contribute to our own healthcare costs and we are asking Australians to give a little bit more with every dollar in that sense going into medical research and finding hopefully, the cures and the treatments for cancer and for Dementia and particularly here, mental health issues, it is something that is prevalent for all ages –all too prevalent for all ages - and now is the time for us to put our shoulders to the wheel and find the cures and the treatments for these sorts of afflictions. We could only do it through greater investment; I welcome the private sector investment in these facilities. I am greatly encouraged by the amount of private sector investment we have here. But, I recognise that the Commonwealth Government has to do more, as well and we stand prepared to do more but it is obviously taxpayers' money and that is exactly what we're dealing with.
Thank you so much for giving me some ‘on the ground’ advice and direction about the importance of the Medical Research Future Fund. Now to questions from our friends in the media. No questions? Perfect.
JOURNALIST:
On the Medical Future Research Fund, when are we actually going to start to see [inaudible]?
TREASURER:
[inaudible] … to see a flow within 18 months. The National Health and Medical Research Council is going to guide the direction of that money. It will be within six years, it will be a doubling of the amount of money that we spend on medical research in Australia. It is not just about scientists standing in a lab wearing lab coats, it is about the interaction with patients, it is about the commercialisation of medical research, it is about collaborative activities with off-shore medical researchers, but this is our great strength and we have seen amazing success stories in Australia. I want us to become a global hub for medical research. If you look at – you know, we just saw a piece of technology that comes from Palo Alto in California; computer technology. We might not have a Silicon Valley for software but we can have a Silicon Valley for medical research, there is no doubt about that because we’ve certainly got the smarts, we just need to have the courage to deliver on our convictions.
JOURNALIST:
Treasurer, there is still some uncertainty about whether or not this co-payment is going to get through the Parliament. Are you counting your chickens before they hatch?
TREASURER:
No, we are laying down the best policy that we need to lay down to strengthen the Australian economy, to build on our strengths and I would say to the naysayers about the Senate: if the Senate is simply saying no to everything we do, it becomes irrelevant. In one sense, it is hugely relevant in that it is disrupting the role of Government but if it just continually says no without any capacity to negotiate an improved outcome, then the Senate becomes irrelevant. It is just simply a road block and we either have to smash through that road block or the Australian people get the chance to change the Government. But, there is no better policy that could be laid down for the future of the country than what we laid down in the Budget. If we want a stronger economy, if we want to be able to strengthen our core skills as a nation, then the Budget does that.
JOURNALIST:
When will there be some more detail about how the co-payment is going to operate?
TREASURER:
There will be in due course. Peter Dutton, the Minister for Health, is obviously in consultation with key stakeholders and has been discussing the matter with the AMA who – in principle – I now recognise, support the co-payment. I just make the obvious point – you know in the case of pensioners - they already as of today, pay $6 for every script they receive from the doctor for the first 60 scripts. We are asking them to pay $7 for just 10 visits to the doctor and of that $7, $5 goes towards the Medical Research Future Fund. We already pay for everything in our healthcare system; I mean, it is all taxpayers' money. So, now is the time when if we give a little bit more we can get a massive return by investing in medical research and that is so important for the destiny of our health system to make it sustainable, but also for the destiny of our country. No other question?
JOURNALIST:
Questions on another topic: the Prime Ministers’ digging his heels in on Paid Parental Leave. Do you think that is wise considering some of the Nationals have said they may cross the floor on it?
TREASURER:
Well, all of our colleagues campaigned for two elections to have the Paid Parental Leave Scheme. The biggest winners out of the Paid Parental Leave Scheme, that we took to the last two elections, are Australian women on middle-income and lower-income because for the first time, they are going to get their superannuation covered and for the first time, as Craig knows, they are going to have replacement wages which is hugely important when you live, for example, in the city where the mortgage keeps coming in and if you take time off and you don't have replacement wages, it makes it much harder and there is greater pressure on a lot of mums in the family and we want to take that financial pressure off the mums that have to contribute to the mortgage. I mean, the days of having a single bread winner in a family to pay a mortgage in a capital city are effectively over. So, you need to have that concept of replacement wages. It is also a massive win for farmers who don't have paid parental leave schemes, farmers are self-employed and for a lot of the mums in a farming household, they don't get paid parental leave and now they are going to have replacement wages plus superannuation. I mean, it is a no brainer for regional Australia and it is a no brainer for middle and lower-income Australians to have full replacement wages, particularly when the bills keep coming in.
JOURNALIST:
Has the – is it true that the Executive has been told that the Government doesn't have the numbers in the Senate to pass this?
TREASURER:
No.
JOURNALIST:
Well I was going to ask a similar question. So, in terms of Paid Parental Leave, there is no review? You're not re-thinking anything?
TREASURER:
No, we have laid down our plan for the Paid Parental Leave Scheme; we have taken it to two elections. I just say to the critics: you want us to keep our election promises, now you're doing everything you can to stop us keeping our election promises, so please make up your minds. Do you want us to keep our election promises or do you want us to break our election promises because we went to the last election promising a Paid Parental Leave Scheme, that delivers for middle and lower-income women, replacement wages; replacement wages - 98 per cent of the people that will qualify for our Paid Parental Leave Scheme earn less than $100,000 a year – 98 per cent. So, can we just get away from the class war rhetoric of Labor and I would urge my colleagues not to fall for the class war rhetoric of the Labor Party and the critics, and focus on who is going to benefit and how they are going to benefit and if they do that, they will soon understand that the biggest winners are people in regional Australia, particularly farmers and lower-income people and also small business. Small business people can't afford to deliver the same Paid Parental Leave Scheme as the public service or large business. Now, for the first time, it is going to be on exactly the same level playing field for a young woman or a man employed at a small business, as it is for a large business or the public service – except small business doesn't have to pay because it is paid for entirely by a levy on large businesses.
JOURNALIST:
The Malaysian Government has revealed it has spent a fraction of what Australia has paid in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. Do you think it is concerning that they're not contributing as much?
TREASURER:
Well, the plane – it is understood to have gone down in waters that are our responsibility and there is a cost to having responsibility and we don't shirk that. We accept responsibility and we will pay for it. We're not a country that begs others for money to do our job. We will do our job and that is our responsibility.
JOURNALIST:
Back to Paid Parental Leave. When will the draft exposure Bill be released?
TREASURER:
Not too far away.
JOURNALIST:
Are you going to introduce it either into the Lower or Upper House before July 1?
TREASURER:
We will see.
JOURNALIST:
Will it be put to Parliament this year?
TREASURER:
Well, I would expect so because it is meant to start next year.
JOURNALIST:
Any comments for investors regarding franking credits, Treasurer? Just the $5 billion potential loss?
TREASURER:
Well, I don't accept that. I mean, on the one hand, the logic of the argument about the $5 billion on franking credits is that we should have higher company taxes so people might get more franking credits; it is illogical and frankly, we want to have lower company taxes. The United Kingdom is going to 21 per cent and when you look at a lot of our competitors in Asia, they're at 16 per cent; we're at 30 per cent, and from next year, 800,000 Australian companies will be 28.5 per cent, so we still lag behind a number of the averages with company tax that is still too high and I would rather have lower company taxes and in that case, you know there will be changes to franking credit availability.
JOURNALIST:
On the story about Government seizing money from dormant bank accounts: does the Government need to revisit the rules around that given there has been a steep increase in just one year?
TREASURER:
Do you want me to repeat everything I have said? Look, Senator, Mathias Cormann, who is the Assistant Treasurer, is releasing a discussion paper in relation to this. It was the previous Government's policy; we said at the time there are a number of flaws around it. Obviously, we will take on board concerns. I was listening to the radio on the way here and I heard a talk back caller talk about the amount of process they had to go through trying to claim back their money; that is the cumbersome nature of the system we inherited. We have been in Government less than a year and something certainly we want to fix.
JOURNALIST:
The reports this morning that FIRB chairman Brian Wilson, saying the decision to deny the takeover of GrainCorp was purely political. How do you react to that?
TREASURER:
I think he was right to say there has been no impact at all on the level of foreign investment in Australia. In fact, there has been a reasonable increase in the level of foreign investment in Australia, which just goes to show that when I make decisions, in the national interest, I make no apologies for it and there can be also proven benefit, if you like, in the fact that we have a robust foreign investment system but one that always protects the national interest. I make no apologies for my decision in relation to ADM and GrainCorp – none at all and I think the Australian people support that. There may be other decisions that I have made that Australians might not like but the law is very clear. I have to make a decision where that investment would be contrary to the national interest and that is certainly where I step in and I am not afraid to do so.
JOURNALIST:
(Inaudible) Any words of advice on the incoming Senators?
TREASURER:
Well, I can say to you, Mike Willesee Junior and Mike Willesee Senior are both formidable journalists and you know, obviously Mike hasn't aged at all in his capacity to be quite brutal towards politicians, noting he was the one that John Hewson might remember as well from the GST days. But, you have got to treat everyone the same - with the same degree of respect, whether they are the most articulate or whether they are inarticulate or whether they are nervous or confident, and my view is that you shouldn’t judge people on a single interview, or on multiple interviews. I don’t mind someone being nervous or, I think it’s very human. In fact, indulgently, there was a Member for North Sydney, Billy Jack, who only gave two speeches in over more than a decade – one and a half decades as the Member for North Sydney, his Maiden Speech and his Valedictory Speech. And as Bob Menzies said at a famous town hall meeting in North Sydney, he said, ‘I’m the one who does the talking and Billy does the voting’, so I suspect that might be the same with Ricky.
Okay thanks very much.