TREASURER:
Thank you very much, it is great pleasure to be here. In the Budget we looked to relocate 300 Australian Taxation Office jobs here to the Central Coast – an area of high unemployment and also an area that has been neglected by government for a long period of time. As a result, another 300 jobs on top of that are coming from other government agencies. In total, the Abbott Government is committing to 600 new jobs here in Gosford City by the end of 2017. As a result, as the modelling indicates, that will create an additional 1400 new jobs on top of that. So, 2000 new jobs in the heart of Gosford and the heart of the Central Coast by the end of 2017. This is what the Budget is about. It is about creating jobs, it is about stimulating growth and everything we are focussed on is about jobs and prosperity. Now, given that we are spending more than $400 million on the NorthConnex upgrade which directly assists the Central Coast as well, this is going to be a place where you can work and where you earn and where you can live. It is going to deliver a better quality of life to those who live here, better work opportunities to those that live here and want to commute here but importantly, also, this is going to be the catalyst for a whole new rebuild of the Central Coast and I want to pay tribute in particular to Lucy and the local community for embracing this initiative. I hope others will join us, such as Newcastle University and a range of others, by backing this initiative and importantly investing for the long-term in the Central Coast in job creation.
JOURNALIST:
How is the Government going to ensure that those jobs, both in construction and afterwards, go to locals?
TREASURER:
Fundamentally, we have got to have the right people for the job but there has got to be a partnership here. The partnership involves the construction of a purpose built facility, A-Grade purpose built offices and the ATO – the Taxation Office, has just assured us in front of our meeting, that they believe they can go to tender in September and have contracts signed early next year. Construction starts as soon as possible. That will rely on the goodwill of the local council to get a new DA through, then the construction jobs start straight away. As the building is going up it can be fitted out along the way so the jobs start flowing earlier. We will deliver on this. It is now up to the community to embrace it as well and we want the community to apply for those jobs, they’re there, they are going to be there.
JOURNALIST:
Do we know where the building will be?
TREASURER:
No, I want it in Gosford City. Again, it’s going to tender, this is very important because [inaudible]. We’re very precious with taxpayers’ money and because it is a purpose built facility you would expect that there would be cafes, retail shops and a range of other things given that this is certainly at least 600 direct jobs and 1400 additional jobs.
JOURNALIST:
Is there any further information on what other agencies form the [inaudible]?
TREASURER:
No, but I would also hope that given the Australian Taxation Office is a very significant purchaser of information technology services and a range of other things, I would expect that other suppliers to the ATO would also look at joining in. This is not a general administration service, the ATO, I would expect would be a centre of excellence. If it is a centre of excellence then it will become a honeypot for other jobs.
JOURNALIST:
Would those ATO employees be already employed by the ATO, so that would be people moving [inaudible]?
TREASURER:
No, not necessarily at all. It is a region here. Therefore, as a standalone region you would expect most of those jobs to be new jobs and certainly supply jobs to be new jobs as well. It is a great story for a region that for too long has been neglected and I have long been a fan of the Central Coast as a Sydney-sider. I have been here many times, many friends live here, there is no doubt the quality of life here is excellent, but you need jobs – you need good jobs. That’s what we’re about to deliver.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Hockey, one thing that certainly hurts people living on the Central Coast, we heard Lucy mention, 30,000 to 40,000 commuters, obviously any changes to fuel excise is going to sting people on the Central Coast who are commuting. What can you say to the people of the Central Coast with regards to that?
TREASURER:
When we spend $400 million helping the State Government to build NorthConnex the money has to come from somewhere. Asking Australians to pay on average about 40c extra a week in fuel excise helps to pay for the roads that will make life, not only easier, but lift productivity. We are engaging in a massive infrastructure build in Australia, we’re building the equivalent of eight snowy-mountains schemes in the next decade in addition to existing committed infrastructure. It has to be paid for, because that means that it will be sustainable over the medium and long-term. Now, by having an increase of 40c a week on average for families in fuel excise, we are able to deliver the infrastructure that makes life, not only much easier, but importantly, helps to deliver jobs, and that’s what we’re focussed on.
JOURNALIST:
On another matter, with regards, there is talk today that the AMA is going to speak to you with regards to the co-payment and asking you to exempt the vulnerable in society. Will the Government be looking at listening to the AMA on this?
TREASURER:
I’ve already met with the AMA, and they have already put a proposal to the Minister for Health. I am glad that they do support the concept of the co-payment. I think that is hugely important. We want to make sure that these things are sustainable. It is the anniversary of the Labor Party’s introduction of the co-payment in relation to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme today. They said if you want to have a sustainable Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme we have to manage a contribution along the way…
JOURNALIST:
…But what about exemptions for the vulnerable?
TREASURER:
It is the same with Medicare. If we want to have a sustainable Medicare system we are asking Australians to make a contribution along the way because ultimately nothing can be for free. We can’t build roads, we can’t create jobs unless we all make a contribution in one form or another. Now, we are always prepared to have sensible discussions with sensible people about making sure that those most vulnerable are properly taken care of, of course we want to do that. But also, we want make sure what people have today is affordable in the future.