DAVID BRADBURY:
We have seen over the last couple of days the coalition are in a state of shambles when it comes to superannuation. We saw Mr Abbott come forward last week and indicate there would be no change to superannuation. We then saw him forced in a Q and A session to admit that they would rip away tax concessions from some of the lowest paid workers in this country the liberals want to take a meat axe to the superannuation support and concessions from some of the lowest working Australians, the lowest waged Australians are receiving. We saw then earlier this week Mr Pyne go on television and try and hide the fact that the Liberals want to take a meat axe to the concessions and jack up taxes on the superannuation savings for some of our lowest paid workers. We also saw Mr Pyne indicate that when it came to compensation relating to both the carbon price and the mining tax that it was all 'up in air', all 'up in the air'. Which means that all of that assistance is on the chopping block if Tony Abbott were to get elected and in relation to superannuation that means that the increase that is being planned from 9% to 12% for working people - that too, is in the words of Mr Pyne, 'up in the air'. It's on the chopping block. When is come to superannuation the Liberal Party has a lot to answer for and in terms of how their plans will impact on some of the lowest paid Australians and their superannuation savings. Also like to just make some remarks in relation to the Closing the Gap statement that the Prime Minister will be making later today. This is an area where we hope we can achieve a bipartisan policy approach we are however very concerned about some of the recent efforts by the Northern Territory Government to dismantle measures that were put in place that were effective and have been working in trying to dry up the rivers of grog that have been such a problem in the NT. We think that the measures that have been undertaken to dismantle these approaches is leading to those rivers of grog to continue to flow and we think that it is important that those measures be restored. Of course the Prime Minister will have more to say about this later today.
JOURNALIST:
So how will you pay for your super contribution, if it is meant to come from the mining tax - that's apparently not returned any revenue?
BRADBURY:
We have in our budget set out all of the expenditure measures and all of the revenue measures. I will also make the point that our revenues by all countries right through the globe are under enormous pressure there have been massive revenue right downs in the order of $160 billion since the global financial crisis but we are determined to make sure that we are able to run a tight fiscal operation, part of that is about making sure that we have clarity about the plans we intend to implement. We are absolutely clear about the fact that we will continue the process of increasing superannuation from 9% to 12%. Australians should be very concerned about Tony Abbott when it comes to superannuation. He's the man that said, 'superannuation was the biggest con job ever foisted on the Australian people'.
JOURNALIST:
Isn't it embarrassing for Labor that the Greens have ended up with the Coalition trying to reveal how much money we have received from the mining tax?
BRADBURY:
Well in relation to these matters I have some very strong views and they go to the heart of the laws that are currently in place in relation to what can and cannot be disclosed. Can I make this point: when it comes to motions that seek to force the Tax Commissioner of this country, who is independent for a whole host of really important reasons, when it comes to motions that seek to force the Tax Commissioner to break the law I think the Australian people should be very, very concerned about motions of that nature. We have of course announced earlier this week that we intend to address a whole raft of disclosure issues of which disclosure of mining tax revenues will be but a small part. We think that some of laws that are in place need to updated to ensure that appropriate disclosure of tax paid, particularly by multinational companies, does occur but we've also said the way to that is to change the law, not to force the Tax Commissioner to break the law.
JOURNALIST:
Have you ever stayed at Eddie Obeid's [inaudible]?
BRADBURY:
No.
JOURNALIST:
Haven't both Minister's shown poor judgement [inaudible]?
BRADBURY:
Look ultimately this is a matter for the Minister concerned in terms of the judgements that they make what I would say is that they have declared these matters I think there is no substantive allegations that is being made here this appears to me to be a little more of the smear of association that the Liberal Party seems so good at trying to cast the net over. Can I make this point that if you want to get into the politics of six degrees of separation or smear by association then the Liberal Party should ask Mr Sinodinos to front the cameras and to give a full and frank account of his involvement with a company that has been brought up in the ICAC procedures, indeed I would also call upon Mr Abbott to ask Mr Pyne and Mr Hockey and other senior members of his Coalition who have been very evasive on questions around what they knew about the Ashby matter to equally provide a full and frank account of not just what specific knowledge they had of claims before they became public but to let us know what knowledge they indeed did have.