RYAN "FITZY" FITZGERALD:
The 2018 Budget was released last night, could this be the last one for the Liberals? We have the Treasurer on the line right now. Scotty Morrison, welcome to the show Scotty!
MICHAEL "WIPPA" WIPFLI:
Hello Scott.
TREASURER:
Hey boys!
WIPPA:
Big night for you mate. A couple of handshakes, a few high fives, you feeling relieved?
TREASURER:
[Laughs] Well it always feels good to get to this side of the Budget because a lot of work goes into it but the reason for it mate is, you know when I left school and I went into work, I went into an economy where it went into recession. More than one in five people of working age were on welfare. I don't want that to be the choices that Australians have over the next decade, so to be able to bring down a Budget which I think changes those choices for particularly young Australians going into the workforce, I think, is a really good thing.
WIPPA:
Mr Morrison, how are you going to clamp down on the old "cashies"? Like you said, the old "cash jobs"?
TREASURER:
Yeah well there's a couple of things. Firstly, there's a ten thousand dollar ban now. You can't sort of walk around with a sports bag full of cash and you know pay for a wedding anymore.
WIPPA:
… bugger it, yeah ok …
TREASURER:
Sorry mate, yeah all those bags you've got sitting there in the wardrobe, better go down to the bank…
FITZY:
…renos…
TREASURER:
… and put it in there. So that's a big part of it and there are extra resources for the tax office to be able to clamp down on this. But also by looking at particular sectors where you know there's a lot of under reporting of people's income. So people have to report their income and particularly employers will have to report what they're paying in wages, because if they don't do it and they get caught, they won't be able to deduct what they've spent on those wages from their own corporate tax.
WIPPA:
Right ok sure.
TREASURER:
So – fess up or pay up.
WIPPA:
Sounds a bit serious, doesn't it?
FITZY:
It's not very often you hear the two words put together – "tax" and "cuts", which is great. You've done that and obviously this could be your last, this could be your last Budget before the federal election next year which has to be in May next year.
TREASURER:
Yep.
FITZY:
So look, they're saying "surplus", we're going to be "back in black" and great to see you as Angus Young on the front of the Daily Telegraph today Mr Morrison.
TREASURER:
A childhood dream.
FITZY:
Yes, it has been, but we know that you are a Tina Arena fan…
TREASURER:
Something I share with Wippa.
WIPPA:
[Laughs] Absolutely.
FITZY:
But, surplus, can we honestly believe that we're going to be back in black by 2019?
TREASURER:
Yeah well look it's a very modest balance in that year and we've been pretty clear about that, we're not crowing about that. We're just sort of stating it as what the fact is. A stronger economy is what delivers all of this and I mean it has been more than a generation now that people have actually lived through a recession in Australia and for a lot of younger people they wouldn't know what one was and you can take the economy for granted. You know economies only remain strong if you do the right things to keep it that way and that's what really underpins and what we're doing in this Budget.
I mean taxes can be too high, that's why we've put a speed limit on taxes in this Budget. If you let taxes go too high, it actually starts slowing the economy which means people don't get jobs and businesses stop investing and the wage rises you want won't happen and that's why keeping taxes under control is really really important for the economy, and that's what we're doing. But all the forecasts we have in this Budget, I'll get a pointy head for a second if that's alright, but all the other pointy head economists around today are saying, "nah that sits right in the sweet spot".
WIPPA:
Ok.
FITZY:
Alright.
TREASURER:
So I think people can be confident about that.
FITZY:
Scott did you have a, did you have a cigar and a nice glass of cognac like Joe Hockey after the Budget last night?
TREASURER:
No, it's not my form I've got to say.
FITZY:
What do you to celebrate, I mean once it's done? How do you do that Scott?
TREASURER:
Well, my wife was down last night and I hadn't seen her and we got together last night with some friends and after the evening was over, I caught up with them which was nice. I saw my two little girls yesterday, they came to the speech and they looked lovely, Mum always buys them a new dress for the Budget, so lovely.
FITZY:
Did you put on a bit of Tina Arena in the background?
TREASURER:
Yeah there was a bit of Tina going on yesterday.
WIPPA:
[Laughs]
TREASURER:
There was a bit of Tina going on, I can assure you, there always is.
WIPPA:
We know you love it.
TREASURER:
That's it, yep, yep.
FITZY:
Well we tried…
TREASURER:
My unsung hero mate.
FITZY:
We're trying to get Tina on, Tom how did you go with that? We wanted her to leave a message, she's hard to get though. She's in France.
TOM IVEY:
Yeah she's overseas at the moment Scott, but if we did get her …
TREASURER:
Yeah I know, I stalk her.
IVEY:
I'm sure she's say…
TREASURER:
Yeah I track her on Facebook.
IVEY:
Oh right ok…
FITZY:
[Laughs]
TREASURER:
I know where she is at all moments. Very scary, sorry Tina.
WIPPA:
Scotty, the most exciting thing for Scott about the Budget is actually the celebration with Tina Arena. The hope that she might call. One day we will make this romance happen for you Scott.
TREASURER:
She wrote me a letter once.
WIPPA:
Did she?
FITZY:
Did she really?
TREASURER:
Yeah, hand written too.
WIPPA:
You dirty flirt.
TREASURER:
Yeah, so there you go.
FITZY:
Saying "never sing my songs again"? Is that what she said?
TREASURER:
[Laughs] No, no. It was when she got an Order of Australia, and I wrote to congratulate her, and she sent me a lovely note back. So you know, Tina's nice to her fans. That's why I think she's got so many of them.
WIPPA:
I love that, well said Scott.
FITZY:
Alright mate, well, well done.
TREASURER:
Not like you blokes eh?
WIPPA:
[Laughs]
FITZY:
[Laughs] We appreciate you coming in. We know how busy you are Mr Morrison, thank you very much for coming on and Up the Sharkies!
TREASURER:
UP UP CRONULLA!
WIPPA:
Thanks mate, thanks for coming on.
TREASURER:
Cheers.