PRESENTER:
Joe, good morning to you.
TREASURER:
Good morning, Karl.
PRESENTER:
How are you this morning? All fired up?
TREASURER:
Well, yes I am. I am measured but I am very determined – very determined to continue to do what is right for the country.
PRESENTER:
Alright, some are calling that warning yesterday that you issued an own goal. Some inside your own Party, was it?
TREASURER:
You know what, Karl? You just shouldn't believe rumours and that's just a report of a rumour. You know, I hear rumours about you all the time and I just discount them.
PRESENTER:
That's mean.
TREASURER:
It should be reassuring for you. So, you don't take them too seriously, the focus that we have is actually on making sure that we have a stronger economy, create the jobs and make sure that tomorrow is a better quality of life than we have today. We're not trying to be popular, Karl, but we're trying to do what is right for the nation.
PRESENTER:
Just for the record, you've got no dramas inside your own Party; everyone's OK with what you said yesterday?
TREASURER:
Yeah we're doing it. This is our Budget. This is our collective blueprint to strengthen the economy, to improve the quality of life for every day Australians. Now, if someone else has an alternative, then terrific, let them lay it down. But this is the plan that has been put before the Parliament to fix the economy, create jobs, to give people hope that tomorrow will be better than today.
PRESENTER:
This has got to be frustrating for you though. You worked so hard to get to the position you're in now. You get back into government; you deservedly become Treasurer only to have no power to change [inaudible] because big Clive is running the joint.
TREASURER:
Well, ultimately, it is the Government that runs the joint. It is also the case that we rely on the goodwill of our political opponents and independents to get these things through. Now, the Labor Party is the one that has 25 Senators, I mean, Clive Palmer has three Senators – the Labor Party has 25. Once upon a time the Labor Party believed in surpluses, in living within your means. Now, they've gone into opposition they're opposing everything we're doing. When we were in Opposition we supported 80 per cent of their savings then offered up a huge number of savings from Opposition as a way to balance the books. Well, unfortunately our political opponents aren't doing the same, so we've just got to press on, Karl. It's a marathon, not a sprint and we are very focussed on doing what is right over the medium and long term for the nation.
PRESENTER:
So the problem is Clive Palmer is more powerful than Joe Hockey as it stands at the moment. He's your Daddy. Who's your Daddy? He's your Daddy!
TREASURER:
The Australian people are my Daddy, and my Mummy. We're getting down to very basic television here. But, you know, the fact is that Clive Palmer has only been put in this position because the Labor Party and the Greens are opposing everything we're doing. If they actually came to the table, if they were consistent, I mean for example, the Greens opposing a change to fuel indexation is the most absurd policy decision I have seen from a third party in years. They are entirely inconsistent with their principles and the Labor Party is now opposing $5 billion of savings that they took to the last election that they promised the Australian people they would introduce. So when you're dealing with political parties like the Labor Party and the Greens that actually can't hold principles that they held 12 months ago, it's like trying to capture smoke. But, we're going to press on because what we're doing is right for the nation.
PRESENTER:
OK, so if you need to find those savings, if you can't get Clive – your Daddy, on board, and the others on board in the Senate, to pass along those cutbacks, where are you going to find those savings?
TREASURER:
Well, we have to make sure that we do our very best to get what we laid on the table through the Parliament and we're working carefully and methodically in that regard. People said we wouldn't get the changes to financial advice laws through and we did. And look, it's looking as though we are going to get the changes to the Carbon Tax through and that's positive as well.
PRESENTER:
Joe, give me something, you've got to find them somewhere.
TREASURER:
We will carefully go through the entire Budget. But Karl, we've laid down a plan to fix the Budget, to give people a better quality of life over the long term. It does mean people making sacrifices now, we recognise that. But if we make a contribution now, tomorrow will be better. We can earn prosperity tomorrow and I know there are things in this Budget that are difficult for every day Australians. But also, I know that if we don't move now, it is going to get worse and Chris Richardson, a renowned economist said it last night. This is about not just the next year or two years, it is about the next decade – the next 30 years. That's why we've got to get these things through the Parliament.
PRESENTER:
Why don't you just up the GST and it would all be done with?
TREASURER:
Well, that is not the answer because the problem has been excessive government spending and if we don't reduce government spending then ultimately you keep borrowing money and if you tax people more all it does is reduce the power of the family, it reduces the power of small business.
PRESENTER:
I understand all that, Joe, your problem though is, you can say all of that and there will be people happy to say, 'yes you are 100 per cent right, Joe Hockey, to try and balance the books', but if the Senate doesn't let these things go through then change isn't going to be effective, you're going to be stuck, nothing is going to get done and it's going to be bad for the country.
TREASURER:
Well, Karl, we're doing what is right for the nation. I am sure at the end of the day, the Senate will recognise that action needs to be taken. I am absolutely sure that at the end of the day people with good common sense will recognise that we need to pass, not just the Budget, but we need to pass initiatives that strengthen the economy, that improve the quality of life of everyday Australians, but importantly lower the cost of living challenges for everyday Australians. Things like abolishing the Carbon Tax, getting rid of the Mining Tax, delivering a sustainable Budget; they're all things that build a stronger economy and greater prosperity.
PRESENTER:
Joe, I know you've got a book coming out next week. I look forward to reading who your Daddy is in that book among other things, thanks for your time today, appreciate it.
TREASURER:
Thanks very much, Karl.