TEL: 11. May .95 0: 07 No. 004 P. 0
PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
INTERVIEW NiTH FRAN KELLY, ABC RADIO, TMURSDAYs 11 MAY 1995
& OIE PROOF COPY
FK Paul Ker~ ihi, D) emocrat Leader, Cheryl Kemnot, is calling for a Senate
Inquiry' Mto the figuring of the Buddetand-th-0 iritegrity of the figuring
what's your response to that?
PM: Well, it's just a waste a waste of time and a waste of money. I mean,
the Senate is running around having inquiries they're a dime a dozen,
a dime a dozen. There are very few countries around the world that
produce Budget documents of this level of transparency. But there Is
some sort of Implied notion that the Budget documents are not the
Government's, you know, somehow they belong to the bureaucracy
and that the Government Is sort of shop-soiling them. They've got the
Treasurers name on them, every line In there belongs to the
Government.
FK: But given the whole thrust of the OpRqsiion's attack on your Budget as
being the credibility of the figures and whether they are believable or
not, wouldn't an Inquiry like this clear that up?
PM: But that's what they said last year, that the Investment numbers were
too high and the growth numbers were too high, and we doubled the
Investment numbers and the growth numbers were exceeded by a
quarter of a percentage point of GDP. I mean, these claims come
every year but the notion that the Senate should go. you know, with a
further, sort of, abuse of Its functions and wasting Its time and its
money Into the Budget's preparation is only something to get, I'm
afraid on this occasion, Senator Kemot a quick line in a newspaper.
FK Well, Senator Kernot said that she will support your Budget ultimately,
the bottom line of your Budget. If her job Is as they see It, and many of
the people see it, Is to keep the bastards honest, why not give an
Inquiry and that will show * that you're there to be kept honest, and
you're willing to be kept honest?
TEL: 11. M1ay. 95 0: 07 No. 004 P. 02/
2
PM: But this Is the Executive Government of Australia, we won the election,
not the Democrats. For my part, I've presented eight Budgets and
seven May Statements and the Treasurers presented now two, and
you already had a note from the Secretary to the Treasury saying that
the forecasts were the Treasurys exclusively the rest of the
documents are the Government's, so it's not a matter, so what's she
trying to establish? Are these the Government's documents or are
they not? Well, they are, I can tell her.
FK Prime Minister, just before you go, we've just seen the latest
4nempLoyment figure, it's down .4 to 8.3 what's your response to
tIatTPM: Well, at the time of the election It was 10.5 per cent it's the largest fall
In unemployment we've seen since we've been keeping the records. It
means that the Government has kept faith with the unemployed and it's
kept its fidelity to its principal commitment In the election campaign -to
restart growth and to get unemployment down. And, this gives the lie
to the John Howard line that there was only five minutes of sunshine.
We've now had three years of growth, the Treasury Is saying we've got
three sustainable years coming up and you can see in today's
numbers how could there be simply five minutes of sunshine with
tremendous employment growth like this? It leaves Mr Howard without
a feather tofy'th
FK Should you be preparing to revise your Budget forecast already which
13 only 8 per cent for the year?
PM: No, we're saying 8 per cent for the year, It's a conservative estimate,
but again if we can drop unemployment from 10.5 per cent to 8 per
cent over the course of this three year period, it will be the biggest fall
we've ever recorded. Now, the participation rate jumps around but I
think in these numbers, about 90,000 job growth for the month, as I
said, the Australian people should be very happy with this. But I make
the political point, it leaves John Howard without a feather to fly with.
FK Prime Minister, thank you.
Ends