LEON COMPTON:
Prime Minister, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER:
`Morning, Leon.
LEON COMPTON:
And thanks for talking with us this morning. So, can you explain more broadly the policy that you’ll be announcing today – that we understand involves export shipping and subsidies for it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, you put it in a nutshell yourself a moment ago, Leon. Essentially everything that leaves Tasmania will get the same subsidy and goods that are going from Tasmania to Melbourne and then onto the rest of the world will have a $700 a container subsidy because that will put them on essentially the same footing as goods that leave Tasmania going to the mainland.
LEON COMPTON:
What impact do you think it will have on Tasmanian exporters, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
This is a very big boost to Tasmanian exporters: people like Norske Skog, Boags, Cadbury, all of the other business, Simplot, which are exporting businesses. This is a big boost. It’s an investment in economic growth in Tasmania and I’m pleased to say, Leon, that since the federal election in September of 2013 we’ve had an extra 9,000 jobs created in Tassie. Unemployment’s gone from over eight per cent to about six-and-a-half per cent and this is what happens when you get governments in Hobart and in Canberra that are open for business.
LEON COMPTON:
How long have you made this funding commitment for, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s a commitment over the forward estimates, so it’s a four year commitment but obviously commitments of this sort tend to be ongoing, but it’s a four year commitment at this stage.
LEON COMPTON:
In February of last year, the National Commission of Audit under the banner headline Towards Responsible Government recommended that the Freight Equalisation Scheme be abolished altogether. Is it possible the funding’s irresponsible governing, but good politics for Tasmania?
PRIME MINISTER:
We think this is an investment in economic growth and government from time to time does make new spending commitments and just about all of the new spending commitments that this Government has made are directed towards boosting economic growth, boosting jobs. So, this is an investment in exports. It’s not just a simple subsidy; not just a simple handout.
LEON COMPTON:
Why did the National Commission of Audit think that it was so bad it should be abolished?
PRIME MINISTER:
That’s a question you should direct to the National Commission of Audit. That was a report to government; it wasn’t a report by government. The National Commission of Audit made a whole lot of recommendations for across the board cuts. Some of them this Government has taken up, some of them it hasn’t, and this is obviously a recommendation of the Commission of Audit that we’ve decided not to accept. You might remember that before the election we made a commitment to keep the Freight Equalisation Scheme, not only have we kept it but in this important respect we’ve expanded it. And I’d like to thank the three Tasmanian Members of the House of Representatives – Andrew Nikolic, Brett Whiteley and Eric Hutchinson – for their commitment in this area.
LEON COMPTON:
Glenn Lazarus in news overnight is going to become an independent having left the nest of the Palmer United Party. Prime Minister, will it be easier to deal with as an independent, do you think?
PRIME MINISTER:
The challenge for Government is the same now as it was before – it is to talk in good faith to all of the Senate crossbenchers, and I guess I should also point out, Leon, that we only have to deal with the Senate crossbenchers when the Labor Party and the Greens are taking this kind of feral, “let’s not talk to the Government” approach. So, the crossbenchers only have the balance of power because the Labor Party just says no and if the Labor Party was to join the world of economic responsibility, was actually to get involved in the conversation about our country’s future and how we can actually grow economically without just endlessly spending, that would be a very good thing for our country.
LEON COMPTON:
Prime Minister, you’re visiting the state with the highest youth unemployment in the country. We’ve been talking about it since you announced this policy in the May budget. Are you still planning to cut access to unemployment benefits to under 30s who aren’t at school?
PRIME MINISTER:
We don’t want people to leave school and go on the dole, particularly given that employment opportunities are expanding in Tasmania. We’ve had, as I said, 9,000 new jobs in Tasmania. The unemployment rate has fallen from over eight per cent to about six-and-a-half per cent which is close to the national average. So, things are getting better in Tassie and I’m here to talk up this state, not to talk down the state, and I’m here to talk about what Tasmanians can do for themselves, the increasing dynamism in Tasmanian business and that, in the end, is the antidote to the unemployment problem: it’s people who have a go, and I think Tasmanians are more than capable of having a go and they’re certainly being encouraged to do that by the Coalition Government in Canberra and the Liberal Government in Hobart.
LEON COMPTON:
You talk about the issue of intergenerational theft and you know that around Australia programmes like this one have been talking about it as you have been nationally for a long time. How can we ask young people to carry the enormous weight of baby boomers for decades into the future if we’re not prepared to carry them for a short period if they’re unemployed?
PRIME MINISTER:
We’re saying that there are plenty of opportunities for school leavers to either get a job, or if they can’t get a job to continue their education either at university or in a trade, and one of the really important things that this Government has done is introduce trade support loans which extend to people who are doing a trade the kind of support which has long been offered to university students. So, this is a government which wants people to be making the most of their lives and I don’t think anyone thinks it’s a good thing to encourage people to leave school and go straight on the dole.
LEON COMPTON:
No one thinks that that is ideal, but I mean, in terms of how this will impact on north-west Tasmania, say, in a practical sense – the place with the highest youth unemployment in the country. You’ve been to school, you’ve come out, for a period you have no job. Effectively, the Government will be demanding that people hit the road; that they go on the road to find work.
PRIME MINISTER:
And this is not a bad thing, that people start thinking well before they leave school, “What am I going to be doing next year?” because we want people to have the best possible start in life and maybe it’s going on to higher education or to study a trade, maybe it’s moving to a place where there are more opportunities, maybe it’s getting work. These are things that should be planned and thought through by people who are about to leave school.
LEON COMPTON:
But essentially in a few decades time, when we’re asking those same people to clean up my dribble in the nursing home or pay my way in a demographic sense…
PRIME MINISTER:
You’re putting it very graphically, Leon!
LEON COMPTON:
But it’s an important thing to think about, Prime Minister! We’re asking those people to do heavy lifting. They’re going to look at us – the generation that places the most pressure on them – and say, “You didn’t necessarily care for me. Why should I return that favour?”
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the best thing we can do for young people is encourage them to make the most of themselves and that’s what the Government is trying to do. We are trying to say to people, please, you are doing yourself no favours if you think that you’re going to leave school and just go on the Dole. This is no preparation for the kind of life that we want you to have. There are plenty of opportunities – to do more study, to gain a trade, to find work – if necessary, to move to find work – so let’s have a go. That’s what we’re saying to people.
LEON COMPTON:
You’re talking freight this morning. You’re also appearing in the north of the state and launching the new Vodafone call centre. What else will you be discussing in your time in Tassie?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Leon, it’s a pretty busy day I’ve got here and there’s also a meeting of the Tasmanian-Commonwealth Joint Economic Council. I’ll be joining Premier Will Hodgman and Treasurer Joe Hockey for that meeting as well as some of Tasmania’s senior business leaders. Dale Elphinstone, one of Tasmania’s great business entrepreneurs, will be chairing the Council. So, there’s quite a lot on the plate today. Lots of talk, but lots of action as well.
LEON COMPTON:
Good to talk to you this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks so much.
[end]