TREASURER:
Well, we talked about how we can work with Will Hodgman and the State Government and the business community to lift the Tasmanian economy, to help to create more jobs. There is a plan that we are working through focussing on everything from maintenance and enhancement of transportation corridors to the mainland and opportunities for businesses to export overseas, through to how we can get on with the job of speeding up the rollout of infrastructure here in Tasmania. Today I’m signing an MOU with the Premier on behalf of the Prime Minister so that we can have a faster approval process for major projects here in Tasmania.
PRESENTER:
I’d like to go to that MOU, it’s for a major project [inaudible] what would it involve?
TREASURER:
Essentially it means that we are going to fast track approvals and co-operation between the Commonwealth and the State to make major projects happen. Delay is costly for projects, whenever a major project is undertaken, and the pulp mill is a great example of that, the longer the delays the greater the risk in the project and the more likely that investors will pull out. Eventually the project just doesn’t go ahead, and you’ve seen that in Tasmania for years, but obviously under a Labor-Greens Alliance that was never able to fast track projects. We want to get on with the job of creating jobs.
PRESENTER:
But is that easier said than done? How do you fast track something?
TREASURER:
You make sure that there is no duplication in the approvals processes, particularly in relation to environmental approvals. I mean, it’s the same environment and we have similar standards, without asking businesses to go through multiple layers of approvals for the very same outcome. We can get rid of the red tape but have the same appropriate protections in place with the environment. But there are a range of other things in relation to taxation measures or corporate regulator measures, competition regulators, where we can actually speed up the process and that, sort of, gives investors certainty.
PRESENTER:
[inaudible] investments over $50 million.
TREASURER:
That’s right, yes, that’s what we’re looking at. Look, this is what Tasmania needs. It needs that adrenaline shot that has been missing for more than a decade and the Premier and the Prime Minister are absolutely committed to job creation here and building for the future because after all, no one wants Tasmania to be left behind.
PRESENTER:
Speaking of adrenaline shots, you’re offering Tasmania an incentive through the assets recycling fund to sell off assets, then the Federal Government will provide a bonus. The Treasurer and the Premier have both ruled out the sale of assets including hydro; what other options do they have?
TREASURER:
This is part of our Budget. This is a pool of money that we made available to the states on a first come first served basis, $5 billion. Why are we doing this? Because we want states to recycle their money from existing assets, which aren’t going to move out of the state, into new productive assets that are going to build the domestic economies. Now, I totally understand and respect Will Hodgman keeping his election commitment. You would expect that to be the case. But to be fair to him, he didn’t know that we were going to lay this on the table in the May Budget, and why? Because we’re looking at the economy and we’re looking at the fact that the mining construction boom is coming off – all that massive investment in mining is coming off. It has now gone into a production boom where we are, as a nation, exporting our socks off, which is terrific. But all of those engineering jobs and mining jobs and logistics jobs have now gone. What we’ve got to do is fire up the rest of the national economy. So we’ve got to build roads, rail, ports whatever it is, and the states are the ones that roll out that infrastructure. Now, it’s a partnership that we’re offering the states. We will give them an incentive payment to build that infrastructure, but they have got to use their assets better as we’re using our assets better. Other states are taking it up, some states may choose not to take it up, that’s their call. But the offer is on the table, it is first in first served, a pot of $5 billion and it’s contingent on the sale of existing assets and the redeployment of the proceeds from that sale. All the proceeds of that sale have to go into new productive investments like ports and rail and everything that builds the economy.
PRESENTER:
You said the Premier Will Hodgman wants to keep his election commitment of not selling assets but you say he didn’t know when he made that commitment about this asset fund you’ve established. Does that indicate or did he indicate at the meeting yesterday that he might be more receptive now to perhaps looking at it?
TREASURER:
No, the Premier is determined and understandably so, to keep his commitment. But, there are other assets that Tasmania may have the capacity to sell, I don’t know, that’s up to the government. The fact is that other states have stepped up to the plate and in some cases, for example in New South Wales, Mike Baird says ‘I’ve got to take it back to the people at the election’. Well, I totally respect that. He is one of the first to sign up, he’s selling over $20 billion of assets, electricity assets, and the assets don’t move offshore, they don’t float on a barge off to New Zealand or China or somewhere, these assets continue to do their job and continue to service the state or the country. It’s just a case of mums and dads that have superannuation and various others that have superannuation, they want things to invest in. That wasn’t around years ago. So now, we’re creating a pool of Australian assets that superannuation, held by Australians, can invest in rather than investing in infrastructure overseas. They can invest in Australian infrastructure, and we can take the money that they pay us for the asset and put it into new infrastructure. That’s how you grow the economy and grow jobs.
PRESENTER:
As you say, it’s up to the states to decide what they want to do about it, but as a Treasurer for the whole of Australia, if Tasmania decides not to take up your offer, how difficult does it make for the Premier, for the Treasurer at COAG to sit at the table with other states and say we still want to be paid a higher rate of GST, we still need to have benefits, up to two thirds of Tasmanians rely on some form of Government support that we need to be somehow isolated from those cuts?
TREASURER:
They’re totally separate issues. The asset recycling scheme is about building a new, strong economy, and that’s why we’re doing it and that’s why people are signing up. Even the Labor states, who were critical of the program are the first to sign up – South Australia and the ACT. When Canberra comes with a pot of money, normally, people react, but at the same time I totally understand where the Premier is at. As for the GST, that is an entirely separate issue and that is about the quality of life that people should have and the aim that all Australians have the same opportunities, we are absolutely committed to that, that all Australians should have equality of opportunity. The GST allocation, as it has been with allocations out of the Commonwealth for many years, it’s going to be based on a whole lot of criteria that ensures that we focus on equality of opportunity across Australia.
PRESENTER:
Now, the legislation for the actual asset recycling fund is actually stuck in the Senate, and I know you’re meeting with Senator Jacqui Lambie at lunch time today, are you hoping that talks with her on a one-on-one basis might help you to get through some of these Budget measures?
TREASURER:
We are simply doing what any Government would do, that is, engaging with all the parties, giving them the opportunity to understand more about the state of the nation’s Budget and the state of the economy. I don’t think there is anything particularly new about that, but I haven’t met Jacqui Lambie before, I decided I want to meet her, I want to get to know her, as I do all of the Senators. I have reached out to everyone, some have decided not to respond, like the Greens – entirely predictably – but the independents, so far, have been very prepared to meet with us and prepared to listen and we’re also very prepared to listen to them.
PRESENTER:
Well, she’s standing very strongly by the idea that even if the Mining Tax goes, for example, that the low income super contribution stays, the school bonus, she’s representing her electorate. How much leeway do you have in talks like this or is it, as you say, just to get to know? And just on that, Clive Palmer has accused you of trying to split his party by having an individual meeting with his Senators.
TREASURER:
Well, in relation to Clive Palmer, I’ve spoken with Mr Palmer on a number of occasions and we are offering members of his party the very same opportunity as we’re offering others in the Senate. Mr Palmer will say what he wants but there is nothing special that we’re offering his Senators that’s not being offered to others. In relation to the Budget more broadly, we have to do what is right for the nation to strengthen the economy, to create jobs. There will always be critics and the critics are always loud. But at the end of the day we are focussed on the creation of jobs and prosperity, giving people hope that tomorrow will be better than today. It’s not an easy path, it is like climbing this snow covered mountain just outside the window here, you have to start at base camp and work your way up. The fact is, you can’t climb a mountain of debt, unless you get the Budget back to surplus. The only way you can get it back to surplus without hurting the economy is to focus on reducing expenditure, wasteful expenditure, and importantly, putting in place the building blocks for infrastructure that is going to help to lift the economy. So, we have an Economic Action Strategy, no one else does. None of the critics do, none of the opponents do, no one else has an economic action strategy. We are the ones that have a plan, it involves getting rid of the Carbon Tax and the associated expenditure, getting rid of the Mining Tax and the associated expenditure, which we have taken to two elections. See, people want us to break our election commitments and they’re doing everything they can to try and force us to break our election commitments. We are determined to keep our election commitments to get rid of the entire Mining Tax package and to bring the Budget back to surplus. You know, we’ve just got to work through those issues.
PRESENTER:
Now, mining magnate Andrew Forrest was just on AM talking to Chris Uhlmann, I don’t know if you heard that interview but it was about his report on welfare reform initiated by the Prime Minister, particularly to look at indigenous communities, but in it he is calling for everyone on welfare, and that would affect a lot of people in Tasmania, to be given payments by a card system rather than cash, and to really look at the way you fund a systems program. You’ve already started doing that and you’ve announced during the week a change to work for the dole; people aren’t listening are they?
TREASURER:
There’s two different issues there, I’m not sure about the last line about people aren’t listening, but I think people are listening. The Forrest report is a report to the government it’s not from the government, it’s to the government and Mr Forrest is not only a hugely impressive Australian but he practices what he preaches. He employs a huge number of indigenous Australians, proportionately probably more than any other private sector business in Australia. He has offered this insight, we totally respect that, we will carefully consider the recommendations but I think the community needs to come with us on this. Some of them are bold, there is no question about it and some of them have significant costs to the Budget, but we want people to go into jobs and we want to give people hope that tomorrow will be better and a combination of that is ensuring that they have a reasonable quality of life guaranteed by the state, but at the same time, have hope that through their own effort they can have a really good quality of life. It is a balancing act, all of this is a balancing act.
PRESENTER:
You mentioned the Chinese resources boom coming off. Overnight the International Monetary Fund has warned China, perhaps, to stall growth to a more sustainable level. Look at it purely from, say, this part of Tasmania where we are trying to sell exports of agriculture, dairy, that type of thing to Tasmania, what is your reaction to that?
TREASURER:
We are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with China. That was stalled for six years under the Labor Party, started towards the end of the Howard Government. Opening up China for our exports is good for the entire country and particularly Tasmania, which is in itself, a food bowl. The demand out of China is just phenomenal. We can create enormous wealth here in Tasmania simply by dramatically increasing our agricultural exports to China. So we’re focussed on what we’ve got to do to open up our access to that market – and the Chinese are very agreeable. For the first time they are really moving on it and that’s because of the efforts of Andrew Robb and the entire Coalition team to negotiate that deal. Now, having said that, the IMF’s statements in relation to China are based on a whole range of economic principles. Fundamentally, we want to China to continue to grow and Beijing will ensure that China continues to grow. There’s that element in a command, control economy, that gives you the sort of levers that many other countries do not have. I am absolutely confident that China will do whatever it takes to maintain the level of growth it deems necessary to deliver prosperity and social harmony. So there is more than economics at play when you look at the growth of China, it is also about social and community harmony because each year they try and create 13 million jobs for new entrants into the workforce. It’s taken us more than 200 years to create 13 million jobs. China has to do it every year and if it doesn’t it hasn’t got a welfare system that Australia has for unemployed or people that don’t have money. So they are very focussed on growth and jobs and they will do whatever they have to do to the make sure they get the growth in jobs to deliver the social harmony. We can be a beneficiary of that in Australia because they, at the end of the day, as they improve their quality of life, will want our food. They want part of our education, they want our health system which provides huge opportunities for doctors to export services into Asia, and dentists and others, we have massive growth opportunities in Asia. It could be the most bountiful time in the history of our nation, which is saying something, but we’ve got to seize the moment by only taking the changes here that are going to build that strong economy. That’s not easy, that’s hard, but people need to know the dividend of everything we’re doing, on the Budget, on getting rid of taxes, on Free Trade Agreements; is about prosperity and jobs for the future.