PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
DOORSTOP, ALTONAl MELBOURNE, 31 MARCH 1995
E& OE PROOF COPY
PMV: Today we have seen the National Accounts come and I have said that
they are a beautiful set of numbers, and they are because they prove
the recovery is sustainable. it's not me claiming the recovery is
sustainable they prove the recovery is sustainable through low
inflation, low wages growth, high investment growth and a slowing in
GDP. The economy is slowing just as we hoped it would, and the
interest rates effect of last year are working just as the Government
had hoped. So why they are good numbers is because they hold the
promise of Australia having a low inflation, sustainable long-run
recovery, and they give the lie to all the doomsaying that John Howard
and Peter Costello and all the others have gone on with. The proof in
economic policy, as always, is in the eating. And today's statisticians
National Accounts mean that the doomsaying by the Opposition has
been just that doomsaying and entirely wrong. Now more work still
needs to be done, and that is why the Government will bring down a
Budget which will enhance Australian savings and play a further role in
fiscal policy in just getting a further little slowing there in the economy
to make this entirely sustainable. But wages growth of 1.6% over the
year is a phenomenal figure It means that all Australians are pulling
their weight in making sure we keep low inflation, and on the broadest
measure of inflation the broadest measure inflation is less than 1%
for the year, and that is coupled with 5% growth and 21 investment
growth. I have never seen numbers like this in my political life. But,
the promise is that they will get better, and they will get better as we do
more work on the Budget, and we bring the recovery home through the
1990s. The Government thought that the September quarter accounts
were unrepresentative of the state of the economy, and the December
quarter accounts proves the point.
J: Mr Keating, what do you make of Mr Fraser's comments that no matter
what is in the Budget, there still might be interest rate rises?
iEL: 31 . M1ar. 95 13: 54 No. 0 s FP. O 2/ u,
2
PM: He was substantially mis-represented there. If you read the speech
and I invite you to read it what he said was one can never say, at any
stage, that interest rates won't rise. But what these numbers today
reveal, is that the likelihood of interest rates rising, after these
numbers today and the Budget are much, much less likely. Thank
you.
ends.