FIFI:
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, welcome back to the show.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah thanks Fifi. Thank you so much.
FIFI:
Did you like your intro there to a bit of Acca Dacca?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah it sounded great.
[Laughter]
FIFI:
Now Malcolm, this is a – wow, we've woken up this morning, front page of the newspaper, there's more money in our banks, can you please tell us what this is all about and why we got all this money?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well this is ensuring that hard-working Australian families can keep more of the money they earn. From this coming financial year people on middle incomes will be getting another $530 back from the tax man. So if you had a family with Mum and Dad earning you know 65, 75, 80 thousand dollars a year, they'll each get $530 back as the tax offset from the Tax Office. This is a long term responsible tax reform and then it goes right through with more changes until, by 24/25 we'll have a tax system Fifi, where from $41,000 to $200,000 dollars which you will not pay more than 32.5 cents in every, any extra dollar you earn.
So it's basically going to take out the 37 cent tax bracket completely and so you'll have a much flatter, fairer, simpler, lower tax system.
FIFI:
Ka-ching! Sounds good.
FEV:
And yes, Mr Prime Minister, Fev here. Byron’s rapt with that because that's right in his wheelhouse.
BYRON:
Woah, hang on a minute.
FEV:
Bit of extra coin.
BYRON:
I mean I don’t want to comment on my income Fev. But obviously you'd be well over the 200 mark.
FEV:
Oh, easy. Now Mr Turnbull I couldn't get the tax free cashews over the line last time I spoke to you.
FIFI:
Oh dear.
FEV:
Because everyone loves a cashew – but we won’t go there.
All I'm asking - we’re two days in - can we please get the plastic bags back at Coles?
BYRON:
Fev!
PRIME MINISTER:
[Laughter]
No, good getting rid of plastic bags is a good move and I want to congratulate the supermarkets for doing that.
FEV:
I agree with that. But it’s just hard! I’ve got nothing to put my groceries in, I’ve got nothing to put my rubbish in, I’ve got my kids footy boots, they're just - they're so useful.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, yeah. Well the problem is they're not very useful in the water.
We've got to reduce the amount of plastic that's going into the oceans and rivers and I think phasing out single use plastic bags is a great initiative by the big retailers, so I congratulate them.
BYRON:
Most do, most do.
FIFI:
I imagine when you woke up this morning, you didn't think you'd be confronted by somebody trying to bring back the plastic bag so my apologies for that.
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER:
I didn’t.
BYRON:
Fev’s trying to get a hashtag going and everything.
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't think he’s fair dinkum. You know when I go out kayaking I always pick up whatever rubbish I come across. I have to say you know, I've been paddling my kayak around Sydney Harbour for a long time now and I do find a less plastic bags in the harbour than there used to. So I think whether it's because people are taking their own shopping bags to the supermarket or whether it's because of better pollution traps, it may be a combination of both. But we can do, we can do better and we shouldn't be polluting our waterways.
FEV:
How often do you get out for a paddle?
PRIME MINISTER:
I spend about - I think - roughly about a third of the year in Canberra, a third of the year somewhere else, and a third of the year at home in Sydney. So whenever I can, mostly in, mostly in summer. But I've got a sea kayak so I sit in it and so it's quite warm in winter.
BYRON:
That’s perfect.
PRIME MINISTER:
I love it so if I can get out for a paddle on the weekend I will.
BYRON:
You could even do the Lake Burley Griffin there in Canberra. I mean that's right there for you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah you could. It's hard here in Canberra. I get up, you start early and finish late.
BYRON:
Right, got you.
FEV:
He’s got business in Canberra, Byron. He doesn’t want to be paddling.
PRIME MINISTER:
Got a country to run!
[Laughter]
BYRON:
No you raise a fair point.
PRIME MINISTER:
Got a country to run and a tax system to reform, and hard-working Australian families to support so they can keep more of the money they earn.
That's what we said we'd do you know. We said we'd deliver a stronger economy, and we have – 3.1 per cent GDP growth.
We said we'd deliver jobs and growth. We've had record jobs growth.
We've got record funding into education, into health, hospitals in particular, into infrastructure. Look at what we're doing in Melbourne with the Tulla Rail is a good example, Monash Freeway.
So all of that - we're doing all of that, reducing people's tax, bringing the budget back into balance a year earlier. That's what happens when you've got strong economic management. And of course Labor is the big threat to that.
BYRON:
Fev would agree with most of that.
FEV:
100 per cent.
FIFI:
And we know that you are very busy Prime Minister. It's a triumphant day,
So you've got other things to do and obviously not get your kayak out in Lake Burley Griffin. But just quickly before we go, let you go, we're about to give away tickets to some lucky Melbourne listeners to go to Las Vegas to watch the Backstreet Boys. Out of interest do you have a favourite Backstreet Boys song?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't, I don’t. Why don’t you recommend - why don’t you play the one you think would be my favourite?
[Laughter]
FIFI:
“I want it that way”?
BYRON:
“Everybody, Backstreet’s Back” I think is a great one for the Prime Minister. It’s an upbeat number. It's about being back, I mean your back-
FIFI:
Could we do it right now for the Prime Minister?
BYRON:
Back in the black.
FEV:
After the tax reform; Malcolm’s back, yeah yeah.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well as they say, play it again Fev.
FIFI:
Yeah!
[Laughter]
FEV:
Thanks mate.
BRYON:
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
[ENDS]