PRESENTER:
I am joined now by the Treasurer of Australia, Joe Hockey. Mr Hockey, thank you for joining us.
TREASURER:
Great to be with you.
PRESENTER:
What assurances can you give that the G20 summit simply won't be a talk-fest and that that fairly ambitious two per cent global growth target will be achieved.
TREASURER:
We have laid down a plan, a plan for growth and jobs. Just as we do it domestically, we are doing it internationally. Now, that plan involves submissions from all 20 nations and there's 1,000 policies that have been submitted. They will in total help to grow global growth by around 2 per cent over the next five years, that means tens of millions of new jobs.
PRESENTER:
But it comes down to countries like Australia having the political will to live up to their side of the bargain. How can you say that every one of these 20 countries will put their shoulder to the grind stone and come up with their plans to achieve that two per cent target?
TREASURER:
Because everyone has to have announced those plans, it can't be just a secret document on the side. You have got to announce it you have to have skin in the game but importantly, we have got to have a monitoring mechanism going forward that ensures that those countries stick to their plans over the next few years.
PRESENTER:
Why isn't climate change seriously on the agenda?
TREASURER:
It is seriously on the agenda. There is a climate change meeting in three weeks in Lima in Peru, which the Foreign Minister is going to. There is also a meeting in Paris this time next year which is the successor to Copenhagen. But ebola will be discussed, climate change will be discussed, a range of things but we cannot distract from the challenge of meeting the job opportunities that are necessary for growth over the next few years.
PRESENTER:
How will climate change be discussed and will it be something of a big elephant in the room after that landmark deal between the US and China?
TREASURER:
It won't be an elephant in the room, it will be discussed, but it is not going to dominate conversation because there's two days of talks. Climate change is a part of the economic narrative but it is not the end of the game.
PRESENTER:
Does the Australian Government worry, though, in the words of Mark Kenny in the Fairfax papers today that it would be left like a shag on a rock on climate change, on greenhouse gas emissions, given what the US and China have agreed to?
TREASURER:
No, I don't listen to Mark Kenny. From our perspective we are focussed on jobs and growth. I will be in the room, Tony Abbott will be chairing. That is what I know the agenda is, not what some speculation is.
PRESENTER:
Just very quickly: infrastructure, a very important topic of discussion, Australia very much has led the way in terms of public private partnerships with infrastructure. How key will that be for the discussions?
TREASURER:
Hugely important. Infrastructure is going to facilitate growth. I am very confident at the end of this weekend Australia will be seen to be a leader, if not the leader in the development of infrastructure right around the world. It will provide enormous number of job opportunities in Australia- that leadership role – and I am absolutely confident that out of this weekend we will have a long-term plan to become the hub for infrastructure facilitation right around the world.
PRESENTER:
Just before we go, you would have been watching the war of words between Clive Palmer and Jacqui Lambie in the Palmer United Party. I won't ask you to talk about the internal divisions there but I will ask you about the potential change in the balance of power dynamics in the Senate should Jacqui Lambie leave. How is the Government viewing that?
TREASURER:
That is a matter for them. If they're having their differences they should get some sort of marriage counselling. From our perspective, we want to get an agenda through the Senate that delivers jobs and growth. Now, we know we have to get six extra votes no matter what. The biggest impediment is Bill Shorten. Not a division in the Palmer United Party. Bill Shorten is the problem, created the problem, he is still the problem, we want solutions delivered that deliver those sort of jobs and economic growth that we are talking about.
PRESENTER:
Okay, Joe Hockey. Thank you very much for your time and we wish you all the best for the G20 summit.
TREASURER:
Thank you, I appreciate it.