CHRIS UHLMANN:
Treasurer, Joe Hockey, good morning.
TREASURER:
Good morning, Chris.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Joe Hockey, have you been too pessimistic about the state of the economy?
TREASURER:
Well, no I have been realistic about the state of the economy and it is important to note that whilst yesterday’s figures are extremely pleasing, it is widely recognised that it would be very hard to sustain them.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Well, Treasury expects growth of 2.75 per cent in this financial year and 2.5 per cent in the next. So do you think growth is going to fall?
TREASURER:
Well, this is a March on March data set. Now, the good news is that there were no cyclones in the March quarter this year, which meant that there was continuing trade from major ports in the north – of iron ore and where appropriate, coal, and what that means is we have exported our socks off in the last few months. As I say, this is a very good foundation for the future but we need to earn growth and by earning growth I mean we need to get our Budget through so that we can start to lay down the foundations for tomorrow’s jobs.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
But your Budget does take money out of the economy and that will slow growth?
TREASURER:
Well, I don’t accept that because it is the right balance we have at the moment between monetary policy and fiscal policy, and importantly, we are re-allocating quite a bit of government expenditure to major new infrastructure and that infrastructure is in the non-mining sector. It includes a massive investment in new productive roads and it will facilitate investment in public transport. That all in turn will help to lift the speed of the non-mining side of the economy.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Now, are you over-winding your sales pitch on the Budget about the state of the economy, the state of the Budget? Are you making that as much worse than they are?
TREASURER:
Well, no, not at all. I would say to you, we are being realistic. Now, Labor is in denial about the state of the Budget. They were constantly in denial on the state of the Budget when they were in. We’re being realistic about the state of the Budget, and if we don’t take remedial action, the debt will go up to $667 billion and we will continue to pay at least a billion a month in interest and 70 per cent of that is going to people overseas because that is who we owe that money to.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Why is the Government making such heavy weather of selling the Budget? Why is it that Ministers don’t seem to be across the detail of the Budget and you don’t seem to be able to get your message out?
TREASURER:
Well, I don’t accept that, Chris. Look, the fact is, there are a lot of reforms, a lot of reforms in this Budget and when I announced the Budget on Budget Night, I pointed out that this is a construct and build Budget, so much of what we are doing is structural change and if we have the structural change now, we are actually going to strengthen the economy in the future and the best evidence of that is that in the first four months of this year, over 107,000 new jobs were created – nearly 80,000 of those were fulltime, and that was at a time when we were being heavily criticised by everyone over decisions in relation to Qantas, SPC Ardmona and the motor vehicle companies.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Well the two Prime Ministers – former Prime Ministers – John Howard and Bob Hawke were at the Press Club yesterday and they said Australians will make sacrifices as long as you give them a reason why, as long as they think that the sacrifices in the end are fair, that people are making. Do you think Australians believe you have handed down an unfair Budget?
TREASURER:
Well, I think they’ve been deliberately misled by some of the critics who are more interested in the politics of the Budget than they are in the actual outcomes. There is a debate to be had in Australia about whether we are interested in equality of outcome or equality of opportunity. Now the old socialist mantra was ‘let’s have equality of outcome, let’s make sure everyone turns out the same’. But I thought that debate had ended years ago, obviously it hasn’t and what we’re focused on is providing everyone in Australia with the opportunity to get ahead and importantly providing a sustainable safety net for those that need a safety net.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Now, did the Liberals in Cabinet play their National Party colleagues over the diesel tax fuel rebate in pre-Budget negotiations?
TREASURER:
No, I saw that story and emphatically I say it’s wrong.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Well, Mark Simkin reported that story, he’s a colleague of mine, I know him, you know him and he wouldn’t just make that up. So, someone in your Cabinet’s talking about this.
TREASURER:
No, I don’t think anyone in Cabinet was talking about it, but if they were, then the story is wrong. I’m telling you, I was there, I’m in it, I’m in the middle of it and the story, unfortunately for Mark is wrong.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Isn’t the problem that you’ve got at the moment that some people in your Cabinet are so willing, and some people in your party so willing to criticise this Budget to people behind the scenes, behind the hands.
TREASURER:
No, no, look, I don’t accept that either Chris. I mean the fact is we know this is a difficult Budget for the nation, but we need to have this Budget to build a stronger economy. We’re not doing this because we’re interested in self-flagellation; we’re actually doing the things that we promised to do which was to fix the Budget and strengthen the economy and we’re doing that and the dividend to Australians of making a contribution now is that the economy will be more prosperous, there’ll be more jobs and there’ll be a greater opportunity for the generations ahead, if we pass this Budget in full. And the Labor Party’s got to be a participant in that, they can’t sit on the sidelines all the time and be spectators and commentators, they’ve actually got to help to do the heavy lifting to fix their own mess.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Joe Hockey, we’ll have to leave it there. Thank you.
TREASURER:
Thanks very much.