Subjects: Federal Budget; election; HIH Insurance.
E&OE................................
CATTERNS:
Mr Howard, welcome to the Breakfast Programme.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning.
CATTERNS:
Nice to have you in here.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
CATTERNS:
What does your Liberal Party polling tell you about how the Budget's been received?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't think about it in terms of polling.
EPSTEIN:
Well, how do you think it has been received so far?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it will be seen as a good budget. I think it's seen as economically responsible. It does address some quite legitimate concerns of older people. Self-funded retirees don't do well out of low interest rates. If you're paying off a home, low interest rates are fantastic. They're much lower than the 17% they hit under the former Labor government. If you're running a small business or you're a farmer low interest rates are fantastic. If you're living on your savings and rely on the interest from those savings then low interest rates aren't so good. That's one of the reasons why we made the changes we did in relation to self-funded retirees and I would believe that most pensioners would like the one-off bonus. On top of that there are quite a lot of initiatives, not talked about a great deal yet but very important in the health area that really strengthen Medicare. One of things about this Government that may surprise some of our critics is that not only did we deliver on our promise to keep Medicare, a promise I made before the 1996 election, but we have in fact strengthened Medicare and in the last Budget we're giving more resources for diabetes, for mental health, for asthma, cervical cancer. Coming on top of the doubling of health and medical research funding in the Budget in 1999 and the strengthening of private health insurance and the extra money for the states for public hospitals. It all adds up to a very good package for health which is very important for Australian families.
EPSTEIN:
Speaking about Medicare, you traded blows with Mr Beazley about tax over the weekend. You say that you won't raise taxes if you're re-elected. Does that go for your successor, Mr Costello as well?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can only repeat that Peter Costello is as passionate about keeping tax down as I am. And bear in mind that we have just cut tax. You may have seen in the papers this morning all the talk about the tax cut in the United States and how big it is and how important it is. It may surprise some of your listeners to know that when you adjust adjust for the different sizes of the two economies, the tax cut under our new tax system is bigger than the tax cut being delivered by President Bush.
EPSTEIN:
Does that mean .
PRIME MINISTER:
1.7% of GDP in Australia against 1.3% of GDP in the United States.
EPSTEIN:
Does that mean that everything is going to continue under Mr Costello as it would under you? To have something like a formal apology, would anything like that change under Mr Costello?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I am not planning to go for a while. For quite some time. But look Raphael, you talk about apology, you talk about many of those things - they are not just John Howard's policies, they are the policies of the Government. But there's a great unanimity of opinion amongst the senior members of this government about all the major policy issues. We do have some differences as befits independently-minded men and women. But the great clutch of mainstream policies - we hold identical views.
CATTERNS:
Mr Howard, economic reform, the GST, has been your driving force, your passion for many years in politics. Now that that's been realised, what's the next grand plan that you have for Australia, that you want to achieve in your next term if elected?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't regard the process of reform has having finished but I certainly want a society that's driven by a number of things. I want a society that provides people with choice. I want a society that provides people with incentive. I think choice and incentive are very important things. I'd also want a society that encourages self-reliance. We talk a lot in our community about rights and privileges. We should also talk about responsibilities in self-reliance. And underpinning all of that, of course, we do need to be a society that recognises that through no fault of their own there are some in our community who can't be self reliant and we need to have a society that looks after the disadvantaged. I think you need, in all of the approaches you take to the future, I think you need to drape them around those sorts of values because they, more than any other values, will continue to deliver a very secure Australian nation. As to other particular issues, well of course there is a time and a place to deal with particular initiatives for the next term but we're not having an election for some months.
EPSTEIN:
No. Perhaps some sweeteners for families later on, but.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, can I just say in relation to families - no, well, I'm glad you mentioned families because there's no group in the community that's derived more benefits from lower interest rates - $300 a month lower than what they were in '96, child care, 15% cheaper as a result of the introduction of the new tax system. Child care, there are more places in the budget and it's cheaper as a result of the new tax system. Families have done very well out of this Government, that's not to say there's not more.
EPSTEIN:
Families might also want to know if you want to have public hearings from the Royal Commission into HIH before the end of this year. Do you want hearings?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, that will be a matter for the Royal Commissioner. The Royal Commissioner will decide when and if public hearings are to take place.
EPSTEIN:
Are you expecting it before the end of the year?
PRIME MINISTER:
I would expect the Royal Commission to be well and truly up and running before.
EPSTEIN:
Including hearings.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, that is a matter for the Royal Commission, Raphael, but in case there's any sort of wedge left in that answer for any of my critics, not you, but any of my political critics to have a go at, we intend to have the Royal Commission up and running as soon as possible. I think it will be another couple of weeks before I announce the identity of the Royal Commissioner, or Commissioners, and the terms of reference but.
EPSTEIN:
Will those terms of reference perhaps include something about ASIC or will it only examine .?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it will be a very full Commission.
EPSTEIN:
Is that a 'yes' to [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, they can investigate anything they like.
EPSTEIN:
Also on HIH - now, the economists, Solomon Smith Barney, say the HIH collapse could make the difference this year between moderate and weak growth. Do you think that's true? Do you think it's that big that it can affect.?
PRIME MINISTER:
That sounds a little extreme to me.
EPSTEIN:
So you don't think it will actually have an affect, a noticeable micro affect on the economy?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, everything has some affect but I don't think it's going to be as bad as that.
CATTERNS:
Mr Howard, I know this is outside your jurisdiction but as a Sydney sider, a rate payer, a Sydney man, what do you think of the old sandstone MSV building down at Circular Quay that's currently housing the MCA?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I'm.
CATTERNS:
You don't care about it.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I do.
CATTERNS:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
I mean, I generally.but I really don't, I mean, I know I'm a Sydney person but I'm the Prime Minister of Australia and I don't think I should buy into every, sort of, local issue, I really don't.
EPSTEIN:
Will you be interested, I mean, maybe if the State government wanted a bit of money to help and there was.
PRIME MINISTER:
The State government has got plenty of money. The State government is getting all the GST revenue.
EPSTEIN:
So there's no need [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I mean, the last thing the State governments of Australia should be doing is complaining about the financial deal. They've got plenty of money for hospitals, they've got plenty of money for government schools, in fact, they haven't increased their spending on government schools as fast as we have and yet State governments have the primary responsibility for government schools. But as for individual things like that, look, as Sydney person I am quite interested in what happens in the city in which I grew up and I love very much but I don't think it's a good idea for the Prime Minister of Australia to buy into every local issue. I think that's better left to the locals.
EPSTEIN:
A simple yes or no, do you like the building?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not going to buy into it.
CATTERNS:
All right, Mr Howard, thank you very much for joining us here on Breakfast, very nice of you to come in.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[Ends]