BRADBURY:
Today the Reserve Bank announced that it would leave the cash rate unchanged at three per cent. The Reserve Bank noted that the significant stimulus that has been provided by the cuts that have occurred over the last 18 months are beginning to flow through to the hands of families and small businesses right around the country. The Reserve Bank also noted the resilience of the Australian economy against the backdrop of some challenging international circumstances.
A cash rate of three per cent means for a family with a mortgage of $300,000 that they are now paying $5,000 a year less in repayments than they were when Labor came to office. For a family with a $300,000 mortgage, it means that over that period they would have saved over $15,000. If they continued to pay off their repayments at the same rate as they were back in 2007 they would be able to pay off their mortgage eight years faster with interest rates at these levels.
The Australian economy continues to be resilient and there are signs of continued strength in the Australian economy flowing through from the Reserve Bank's statement. We are an economy today that is 13 per cent larger than we were back before the Global Financial Crisis. We are an economy that, as a Government, we now have a triple A credit rating from all three credit ratings agencies, putting us in the nine-As club, one of only eight countries across the globe that has this particular honour. This is something that was never achieved under our predecessors – triple As from all three credit ratings agencies.
Importantly today's statement shows that not only do we continue to have solid growth, not only do we continue to have employment growth, but we also have a strong pipeline of investment and importantly inflation remains contained. That is why the Reserve Bank is in the position to leave the cash rate unchanged at three per cent today.
JOURNALIST:
What is the Government planning to do with superannuation? [Inaudible].
BRADBURY:
There's a lot of speculation about may or may not be in the Budget. Unfortunately, people are going to have to wait until the Budget. We're working through a process as all governments do in the lead up to Budgets. When we get to the Budget, all details of any of the policies that are to be released as part of the Budget will be made public to all.
JOURNALIST:
Isn't it embarrassing that a former leader like Simon Crean has broken ranks on this and that once again the Labor Party is turning on itself on something like superannuation?
BRADBURY:
I think the traditional Westminster tradition has always allowed backbenchers to speak freely in the interests of what they perceive to be their electorates and the communities they represent. What's important for the Government is that we stay focussed on the task of making sure that the resilient economy that we have been steering through the Global Financial Crisis and beyond is equipped to take on the challenges of the future, so we can continue to be a high growth economy, growing faster than any of our competitor economies; that we continue to be an economy that provides jobs and job opportunities; and that we continue to be an economy that is low inflation, where inflation does not take hold and force the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates as we saw under the previous Government where they had interest rate rise after interest rate rise.
JOURNALIST:
Have any of your constituents contacted you with concerns about possible changes to superannuation that could see them lose thousands of dollars?
BRADBURY:
Look, I don't accept the premise of your question. You're speculating upon speculation. Of course, in the preparation of any Budget, MPs, particularly those that may have some role to play in the framing of the Budget will be contacted by constituents, stakeholders, lobby groups right around the country to put their case. That's an important part of the democratic process. I say to all of those people, I always listen to what they say, take it on board and we certainly will factor in all of those considerations in the deliberations we make on Budgetary positions.
JOURNALIST:
But couldn't the Government put an end to speculation like this now?
BRADBURY:
The rule in, rule out game is a favourite of journalists. The minute we rule something out they move on to ask us to rule something else out. Now we can do that but there won't be much left by the time we get to the Budget. We don't intend to be releasing bit by bit by ruling in and ruling things out between now and the Budget. We will hand down the Budget in its entirety and you'll see exactly what we've got in mind. It will be a Budget that's very much focussed on positioning Australia for the challenges of the future so that we can secure not only jobs but quality jobs, high-paying jobs in the Asian Century with all of the opportunities that that presents.
JOURNALIST:
Can the Budget save the Government; can it save your marginal seat?
BRADBURY:
Framing Budgets is about setting out a plan for the future. Our plan for the future is about jobs and creating jobs, particularly high quality jobs, high paying jobs, but it is also about showing that we are prepared to take the decisions necessary for the country to prosper. That's what we'll be doing as we prepare for the Budget to be handed down in a month or so.
I'd also like to make some comments in relation to the question of 457 visas. There's been some commentary made today in relation to these matters. I want to make the point that there have been some suggestions that the language that's been used in this matter has been in some way racist. Let me be very clear about this. There is nothing racist about standing up for jobs and job opportunities for Australians. We make no apologies for the fact that we believe that where there are jobs and job opportunities and there are Australians that are ready, willing and able will have the capacity to be trained for those jobs, that there is an obligation to try and make sure that these job opportunities are available for Australians looking for work. Now the 457 scheme has an important role to play and there are many legitimate cases where there is a need for foreign workers with skills to be brought in to fill those vacancies, but what we have seen is there have been many examples and many instances of abuses and rorts in this area. We think it's absolutely essential to crack down on those rorts and those loopholes. That's something that the Immigration Minister has foreshadowed and has announced various changes and we'll be looking to progress those changes in order to crack down on those matters.