HOST:
The Assistant Treasurer joins us this morning. Good morning David.
BRADBURY:
Good morning Grant, how are you.
HOST:
Not too bad. Winners and losers, as always with a Budget. One that really stands out for me: the National Disability Scheme, that's a big winner with the Australian people and with bipartisan support.
BRADBURY:
Look it is and obviously the challenge in delivering a scheme of this magnitude, which will deliver enormous benefits, not only to people currently with disability but of course disability is very much a lottery. Many of us that may very well have disability enter our lives and we don't even realise that. But the cost of this, it does obviously have a substantial price tag and it comes at cost and we've sought, through this Budget, to put in place the savings measures that will ensure that we can continue to have the sort of strong social safety net we think makes the fairer Australia we all have come to expect.
HOST:
There's no doubt about that. As a former cancer patient, I find that interesting too; because there was talk about chemotherapy, the cost of it going through the roof. You have an increase there, $27.9 million for chemotherapy patients and their treatments.
BRADBURY:
Yes, look we've made a number of investments in cancer-related services and this is something that we've been supporting throughout our time in office, but I think we all – none of us would have gone through life without having someone touched by cancer. I know in my own community in recent times we had Relay for Life.
HOST:
Gee it's an insidious disease isn't it?
BRADBURY:
It is. But we had Relay for Life where local people went out raising millions of dollars, in fact, but of course any support that Government can provide to make sure that not only do we have that investment in cancer care and research but also that we support those organisations that are doing wonderful work across the community.
HOST:
Now as far as infrastructure is concerned, for truckies a $4 billion decade work for upgrade work on the ageing Bruce Highway here, that is a bit of a mess, including $1.7 billion already allocated. In Sydney, we've been waiting for this for quite some time, the eight-kilometre tunnel linking the F3 and the M2 motorways in Sydney. There was a bit of concern coming from the north coast there, nothing about the Pacific Highway.
BRADBURY:
Well, look we have made substantial investments in the Pacific Highway over a period of time. I know recently I had the opportunity to drive along there myself and see the constant road works that have been occurring. Look, this is a very big country. There are enormous demands on the infrastructure budget, but it's important to note that we are making substantial investments and areas like the Pacific Highway have been great beneficiaries over a number of Budgets now. But of course, there is always more work to be done but this Budget contains a substantial commitment to making more investment in key infrastructure.
HOST:
Now, the losers, of course. The Baby Bonus gone. I would have thought that that would have stayed for quite some time. Having said that, the system has been rorted for quite some time by some people, basically having babies for money.
BRADBURY:
I know some people have been out there saying, well, you know you get rid of the Baby Bonus, why don't you get rid of the Schoolkids Bonus. I have to say that I think we've got to get away from this mentality where Government is paying people money to have children. The reality is that Government can't pay you enough money to sustain the costs of raising a child across their life anyway.
HOST:
Shouldn't a family look at that and say, ‘Can we afford to have children? Let's go ahead.' You shouldn't be saying, ‘Well we can afford to have children because the Government's going to let us?'
BRADBURY:
That's absolutely right. We have built a very strong system of family support but we think it's important to support families when they need that support. There will still be some assistance in that early period when a child is being born because we're increasing the payments available through the family tax system. We do think that this is one of those things that in years gone by, where they were different times and there was money to splash around, well it may have been a good thing for people while they could get it but in the end, if you want to make the family support system sustainable over time, you've got to make sure that the money is as well-targeted as is possible.
HOST:
Now, this is my little bug bear. I've been going on about this for quite some time. Big business that pay little or no tax at the top end of town and a crackdown on large company multinational tax minimisation schemes, including offshore accounts. Is that right?
BRADBURY:
Yes, well certainly we've got a range of measures, a package of over $4 billion worth of measures to protect the corporate tax base. I want to make this point really clear, that we are not in the business of jacking up taxes for those businesses that are out there doing the right thing, and in fact what we are determined to do is to make those businesses that are putting in place some of the most aggressive tax minimisation schemes, that they pay their fair share. If they're not paying their fair share, then the businesses that are doing the right thing obviously end up carrying more of the bill, not to mention all the rest of us. If you're a wage and salary earner, you don't have the ability to take advantage of these loopholes. We're in the business of closing down these loopholes and I'd just make the point, Grant, that in the time that I've been the Assistant Treasurer, we have introduced new measures into the Parliament that would protect the corporate tax base in the order of about $11 billion - $11 billion. Now, every time we've brought a bill into the Parliament, the Opposition's voted against it. You know, I think it's about time we started to put a little bit of pressure on people. Most hard-working Australians that are out there paying their fair share, they can legitimately ask the question: why is it, that whilst the Government's taking action against some of these loopholes, why is it that the Opposition seems to be so sympathetic.
HOST:
It's one thing that sticks in my craw, that the top end of town pay little or no tax, and that would include millions of people across this country. Well, it's time to pay their fair share. As far as the offshore accounts, that's going to be difficult working with other countries, isn't it? Like Switzerland?
BRADBURY:
We have announced that we've concluded negotiations with Switzerland for a new tax treaty and this is a really significant breakthrough for us because, obviously we have to go through the final stages of implementing that treaty, but what it does is allow for an exchange of information between Swiss tax authorities and the Australian Taxation Office. Now, I think that we've long understood that secrecy provisions around accounts that have been held in places like Switzerland has meant that the visibility of our tax office officials and their ability to actually go and make sure that people are paying the tax that they're required to pay, has been frustrated. So, this is a really big breakthrough. I can't tell you how much it's going to deliver in revenue tomorrow or the next year, it's a long term reform, but I'll guarantee it will increase revenue over time.
HOST:
Do you think you'll be here past September 14?
BRADBURY:
That's a matter for the Australian people.
HOST:
Ray Hadley, you heard him say you won't be.
BRADBURY:
Well, look, I understand Ray Hadley has a lot to say about me.
HOST:
How does that bother you? What does the family think about that when you're constantly told on the air that David Bradbury's not going to be there after the next election?
BRADBURY:
Well, look…
HOST:
You wear that?
BRADBURY:
This is the reality of political life. I make this point, that this has been something I have been committed to doing pretty much all of my adult life. I've represented my local community for almost 14 years. Every day in this job is a great privilege. I seek to do my very best to serve my community and to represent my nation to the best of my ability. Now, if that all comes to an end tomorrow, September 14 or beyond, then that's a reality that I have to come to terms with, but I'm here to make a contribution, to make a positive difference and I think that I'm part of a Government that is doing that, not just today but making changes that will benefit people in the future.
HOST:
Well said, that's a great attitude. Well done. David, thank you for your time this morning.
BRADBURY:
Thanks Grant, good to talk.