TREASURER:
Good morning.
JOURNALIST:
Looking forward to another Budget?
TREASURER:
Well, tonight's Budget will be focused very squarely on making Australia safer. We have not yet had eight months since the terrible events of September the 11th. They told us that no country is immune, that no country is so safe that it can not be a target. It led to our involvement in the war against terror in Afghanistan. We still have troops in the field in Afghanistan, we have troops in East Timor and we have sat down over the last eight months and we have looked at the measures which are required to keep Australia safe and they will be the focus of tonight's Budget, not just safe in a security sense but safe in an economic sense as well.
JOURNALIST:
Why should pensioners and also patients pay for the War on Terrorism?
TREASURER:
Well, keeping Australia safe something that we do for all Australians. All Australians want to see a safe society. They want to know that their Government is taking the measures which are required to guard against the kind of incidents we saw on September the 11th. I think Australians support the Government's commitment to troops in Afghanistan, our troops in East Timor, and I welcome the fact that New South Wales Premier, Bob Carr, has given the Government his full support, and so at least we know that State Labor supports the Government in relation to this Budget even if Federal Labor does not.
JOURNALIST:
Treasurer, why is the Liberal Party selling access to media owners for three and a half thousand dollars?
TREASURER:
Well, I will not be commenting on any media speculation in relation to that. But I am sure that you will see all of the measures that are put in place for the Australian people in tonight's Budget when it is handed down.
JOURNALIST:
Is the Government pinching Labor's coastguard plan with its Border Protection policy it will be unveiling?
TREASURER:
No. The Government does have a very strong border protection policy, as you know, and unfortunately the Labor Party opposed it, then they supported it, then they opposed it. Now, we do not know whether they will turn around tonight and support it again but the good thing is that Bob Carr, the New South Wales Premier, has supported this this morning, and that is a lesson to McMullan and Crean. While they have been out there attacking the Government, trying to make cheap, irresponsible points, it took a real Labor leader, like Bob Carr, to step up...
JOURNALIST:
But he is also...
TREASURER:
...and to support the Government on border protection.
JOURNALIST:
...he's also asked you to give more money to people for disability services?
TREASURER:
Well, as I said, all our measures will be revealed tonight. But Bob Carr was on the TV this morning saying he supports the Government on border protection. It took a real Labor leader to step up to the plate because Crean and McMullan could not do it. Now, all we have heard from them is cheap, opportunistic attacks, but the Government does not worry about those. We get on with the job and we are going to make Australia safe.
Thanks.