KING: Prime Minister good morning and welcome to 612 ABC Brisbane.
PM: Good morning Madonna.
KING: Can I just start with that point, people have been so generous, is this just hitting some of them one more time?
PM: People have been generous and I believe people will continue to be generous. Already today I've had people ringing into my office, including an invalid pensioner who wants to work out how they can pay the levy, of course as a pensioner they don't have to pay the levy, but that's the spirit of generosity they want to show. I've seen stories in today's newspapers of flood victims who don't have to pay the levy saying they'd voluntarily pay it, there is so much of that community spirit in the wake of this disaster, it's fantastic to see.
KING: I've had emails this morning of people saying they would not have donated money if they'd known of this levy, that they believe they've been as generous as they can possibly be, what would you say to those people?
PM: What I'd say to those people is firstly their donations are going to be used to help people with a hand of mateship to rebuild their lives, what this levy is going to go to and what the package I announced yesterday is going to is to rebuilding all of the infrastructure that we need in Queensland and in other flood affected areas, the roads, the rail, the ports, the bridges, that we've got to get rebuilt so communities can go back to life as normal and the economy can keep functioning, coal can get out on ships to where it needs to go, farmers products can get to market.
I'd also say to people that I understand that people have been generous, the way we've structured the levy, and we've done this very deliberately, is to make sure that the more people earn the more they pay. 60 percent of Australian taxpayers will pay less than $1 a week, in a 12 month one off levy.
KING: You raise the issue that you are also implementing spending cuts, you're cutting climate programs and delaying some infrastructure to raise the money too. What was the argument around the Cabinet table against leaving the budget in deficit a bit longer and funding this solely through spending cuts instead of imposing this levy or tax?
PM: Well I have been very clear Madonna that I'm going to do the right thing to rebuild Queensland and the right thing by the national economy.
KING: But would it have been the wrong thing to do this solely through spending cuts?
PM: In terms of how the package is put together, let's just make sure we're clear on all the issues, first it's the right thing by the national economy to bring the budget to surplus in 2012/13, by then we will have an economy running hot, close to full capacity and what you do when you've got an economy running hot is you make the sort of footprint of what government does less, that's what having a budget surplus does. Despite this huge disaster and it has been a huge disaster, we have a strong economy now. We've got strong employment growth, strong wages growth, we've got inflation in the band where we want it and in those circumstances it's the right thing to do to pay for this as we go. The package has put together budget cuts, infrastructure deferrals and the reason for that is we're going to have to do a lot of building and if we're going to have to do a lot of building then we can't do everything at once, we do need it sequenced and of course I am saying to Australians that they will be paying this levy to make a contribution.
KING: You say you can't do everything at once, why not put the NBN on hold? You wouldn't have had to cut programs or impose a tax.
PM: Completely untrue Madonna. That's not the way the government budget works. The National Broadband Network is an investment that we've made that is going to pay a return to taxpayers. It is not money in the government budget that can be reallocated from the NBN to another purpose that's not the way it works, it's an investment. And then the other thing is we have to have a strong economy, so we've got the capacity to do things like meet natural disasters. Now pivotal to having a strong economy for the future is having the infrastructure of the future and that's the National Broadband Network. When we look at what's happened in Queensland, so much of the burden has been borne by regional centres in Queensland, they're exactly the places and exactly the local economies that will benefit from the National Broadband Network, I'm not prepared to rob them of that.
KING: The burden that you mention, some people have said in emails to me would you have considered slowing down on foreign aid for one year to help those at home. Was that talked about at all?
PM: In terms of our foreign aid assistance, we do assist countries overseas and I think generally Australians are fairly proud that we go and do things like help kids in extreme poverty, kids who are at risk of starvation, that we do do that kind of work around the world.
KING: But did you consider holding off or throwing that in the mix just for one year?
PM: Well Madonna, I obviously structured the package I believed as the right package and that's the package I announced yesterday. I do just want to say on the question of our relations with the world, the world has come and offered us assistance in our hour of need, we shouldn't forget that.
KING: Will you rule out more pain in your May budget or do you believe your estimates of this damage bill are accurate and this is where it stops, the pain?
PM: I've used the best possible estimates available to me now, but they are preliminary. We will learn more about the damage in Queensland in the weeks and months ahead, obviously out there in Queensland people are trying to get to grips with everything that has been damaged and then work needs to be done to see, you know underneath roads and bridges and all the rest of it what has happened. If there is a need to make further money available we will do that by further budget cuts.
KING: OK, so budget cutbacks, it is a one off levy only.
PM: It's a one off levy only for 12 months, absolutely.
KING: You've said you wanted to do this quickly and people need the assistance quickly, the infrastructure has to be built quickly. How do you ensure you don't end up with another home insulation program on your hands?
PM: Well the expenditure will be worked through the Queensland Recovery Authority, we've made Major General Mick Slater available to chair that authority and I think he'll do a great job and he will bring with him all of the expertise you get in the Defence Force on questions of logistics and doing very very big and complicated things. The Federal Government will have two representatives on the board, we will have an agreement with the Queensland Government which will have very strict guidelines about value for money and how money can be spent, but I want to get on with this job, I want to rebuild Queensland. We'll get value for money as we do it.
KING: The problems with home insulation did hurt you and your government. We've received many complaints about the $1000 Centrelink handout, you get it here no questions asked if your power's off for 48 hours, that is Federal public money. Information just yesterday that people earning more than $250,000 a year were sitting in their beach homes on the Gold Coast during the flood and received it, how can you stop that kind of rorting?
PM: Well we have had the Australian Government Disaster Recovery payment in that form for donkey's years, so there weren't new guidelines for the Queensland floods, there were the guidelines that have been used for a long period of time. They're used because it's money that needs to be made available urgently for people and I don't make any apology for getting money into the hands of people quickly during a flood circumstance and disaster. If there's any fraud involved then there is a particular fraud squad that will deal with that.
KING: That's not necessarily fraud; because someone on $500,000 is entitled to that $1000 no questions asked, should the guidelines be tighter though ensure that public money is going to the right people?
PM: The guidelines have been drawn to deal with circumstances where people can find themselves in an evacuation centre, not able to get to an ATM, not able to access their own cash and they need help urgently, that's what that payment is for.
KING: Have you heard of problems with this $1000 Centrelink handout in Queensland?
PM: Generally when I've been out in Queensland on the ground meeting with Centrelink workers in evacuation centres people have been grateful that the assistance has got through and they've desperately needed it.
KING: Just finally we've had the big bushfire appeal in Victoria, now the flood appeal, in determining who wins out of people's wonderful generosity and it's generosity you've referred to too this morning. Do you have any view on whether payments should be means tested, or whether we need to look after the uninsured as well as the insured?
PM: I think these things are best dealt with and by the committee that's been brought together to administer the donations that people have very generously made. As a Victorian obviously I saw the work that stunned in the Victorian bushfires, including the work that was done from the donations that people around the nation and indeed around the world made when Victoria suffered so badly and what that has taught be is it's very important to have a committee that is working with local communities and assessing needs. Communities are different, circumstances are different, natural disasters are different, so I don't think it's for me in this interview Madonna, to pronounce about how that should be done. I think it's for the committee that's been selected to work with local communities
KING: Julia Gillard, thank you.
PM: Thank you.