PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON PJ. KEATING, MP
DOORSTOP, PARLIAMENT HOUSE, 13 DECEMBER 1992
E OE PROOF COPY
PM: Today John I-cwson announced that he is going to exempt food from the
taxation under the GST. I've got one simple message for Australians and
that is, you can't believe him. Hc'll put thc tax on the moment he wins an
election. Hec'll do to the nation just what Jeff Kennett has done to Victoria
say one thing before the election and do another thing later. Today he says
in the newsqpapers ' in my own analysis it was fair to do what I planned'. In
other words he is saying, I am changing the policy, but haven't changed
my mind. It would be as easy as simply one press announcecmcnt to rcly
upon those words today, in office, to say he's reconsidered and the tax on
food is to again, to apply. The fact of the matter is Dr Hcwson has rcmoved
this only because of pressure from his own party. Re rcmoved it under
prcssure from the Federal Director of the Liberal party, Mr Robb, and the
State Director of Victoria, Mr Georgio.
Hc has not done it because he thinks it is the right thing to do, in fact he
thinks it is the wrong thing to do. It's a political strategy, it's not a policy
change, it's not a policy test that he's applied in removing his wish to tax
food under a OST, it's a political test and the moment he thinks he could
politically succeed in levying the OST on food he would.
J: Isn't the danger though that the political strategy might work and he might
win back some votcrs that he's lost because they think he's..
PM: Food is just a small part of his total policy mix atid the OST wvill still apply
to all sorts of services to theatres, to dry cleaning, to hair cuts, to water
rates, to just about every service in the economy clothing. The fact is this
is just part and, of course, there's the rest of the draconian policy. But he
said two days after announcing what is the most spectacular flip over in
Australian politics, where he said he would resign before he had to
introduce these changes, he had this to say in Perth on radio: ' I'm not just
going to give a knee jcrk rcaction and respond to pressure because a lot of
the trouble we're in today as a nation is because political leaders over the
last couple of decadcs have just bcnt to cvcry breeze and problems have
grown and been allowed to drift and ncver bccn dealt with because it was
politically expedient not to bothcr, hut to try and fool people'. Now he said
this two days after he's abandoned the most solemn commitments he's made,
saying he would resign first bcfore hc would change.
And in his press statement on food, on October 9 he said ' the argument that
food should not be taxed simply doesn't stand up' and he went on to say
' excluding food would mean raising the GST on all other products in order
to maintain the revenue'. In other words hc's told us that if you take food
out, the rate of tax on the rest of the products would have to be increased.
Thcsc arc thc extravagant commitments he made in respect of food, he's
now abandoned this. So, given the fact that hc's told us today that he still
belicves he's right he says ' in my own analysis, it was fair to do what I
planned', in other words it was fair to tax food given the fact that he said
that today, you'd havc to belicve in fairies at the bottom of the garden to
believe that if he won an election he wouldn't tax food. This change is a
politically different change, he would ahandon it at the first opportunity.
J: If he did that though Prime Minister, wouldn't it make the public reaction
national, make what happcned to Kennett in Victoria look like childs play?
Would any politician dare risk something like this?
PM: I think Dr Hewson would, if he won office, because he has risked now the
most amazing change to his stated position and his policy which he's had for
a year I will never change, I'll resign he's just thrown it all away. But
what he is saying is I'm right about it though, I'm changing my policy, but
I'm not changing my mind. I say, once he wins an election he will put the
GST on food. This is a guy that would just drive on with the changcs he
wants to make, wilfully put that GST in if it kills him. And if he wins an
election, cvcry Australian ought to know if they believe him, theyll
believe anything. Every Australian ought to know this man will tax
everything they eat, everything they dress iii and every service they
consume.
3
J: Prime Minister, will the Dcmocrats' move in the Senate in any way imperil
your own announced program of tax cuts?
PM: I don't think so, we have the normal huffing and puffing from the
Democrats, but there wc are.
J. Mr Keating, will you bring back Parliament after Dr Hewson's statement to
make a reply?
PM: At this stage, we are run by the Parliamcntary business load, and I don't
quite know where that is.
Dr Hcwson's plan to take away those tax cuts for high income earners,
doesn't that take the wind out of your sails a bit?
PM: We weren't proposing..
ENDS