PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you all very much for being here for this breakfast. We’ve got such a lot to discuss. I’m delighted that there’s so many great Australians, captains of industry, here in New York. I’m looking at two great exports in front of me, Robert Thomson and James Gorman alone. And of course Greg Norman, who was getting a lot of sympathy last night with the crutches.
GREG NORMAN: I still couldn’t get a handicap.
(Laughter)
PRIME MINISTER: Well the President figured that he might be competitive as long as you’re stuck with the crutches. But anyway, still, we’ve got our Budget next week. As you know, we have had a long 26-year run of uninterrupted economic growth in Australia. We’ve gone through a remarkable transition from an unprecedented, once-in-a-generation, perhaps almost once-in-a-century, mining boom. Because of the diversified nature of our economy we did not have the hard landing that many economists predicted. I’m sure none from Morgan Stanley, James.
(Laughter)
They would’ve nailed it every time, I’m sure. But anyway, the key thing for us is to maintain that strong economic growth. We see that as being founded on that combination of open markets, strong infrastructure investment, strong incentives for private investment. As you know, we’re watching with great interest the President’s agenda to cut business taxes here in the United States. Of course that’s part of a global trend. We’ve already succeeded in cutting company tax for companies with turnover of $50 million or less. We have the rest of our business Enterprise Tax Plan reform agenda underway.
So, a lot to do, a big Budget next week. We are absolutely committed to maintaining that strong economic growth, a diversified economy, open markets, the trade with our region which has done so much, because of its diversification, to give us that continued growth despite the downturn, inevitable, in the mining investment boom. So, a lot to discuss and thank you very much again James for hosting us here for this breakfast.New Your