Subjects: Shane Stone memo; HIH collapse.
E&OE................................
MUNRO:
Prime Minister thanks for your time. How are the walking wounded today?
PRIME MINISTER:
We're fine. We're in very good shape for the battle that counts. But more importantly we're in the business of responding to the concerns that the public have. I mean what matters with this whole issue is that there were some concerns three months ago and those concerns were communicated to us and we have responded to them.
MUNRO:
Those concerns include mean, tricky, out of touch and not listening. But also by your party President who you hand picked. How embarrassing.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look, let's get one thing straight. I don't think the government is mean or tricky. But if there is a perception on certain issues that we're not doing the right thing it's important that that perception be communicated to me and to Peter Costello and to other ministers. And I will never be a leader who gets sensitive about criticism. If I'm doing something that the public is unhappy with my job is to listen to their concerns and if I can, and if they're reasonable, respond. And you will go back over the last 3 months and you will see that we responded to the Business Activity Statement concern, we cut petrol excise..
MUNRO:
[inaudible] backflip on petrol and on beer.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we responded to the public's concerns. I mean we decided that we had got it wrong on petrol and I said that at the time.
MUNRO:
But Shane Stone says you were dragged screaming, dragged screaming to make these changes.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Mike what he was doing was reporting the views that were being expressed. Now this was 3 months ago. Look, I don't mind acknowledging for a moment that 3 months ago there was a lot of criticism of some things the government was doing and we clearly had some things wrong. And it's important that when the public is saying to you you've got something wrong that you listen and you react in a sensible fashion.
MUNRO:
But soon enough? Do you think you listened soon enough and acted soon enough?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Mike in the end that is for the viewers and the Australian public to decide and they'll decide that at the right time. But I want them to know that what's important to me out of all of this is listening to the concerns of the Australian people. That is what really matters and I mean I'm interested in serving their needs and if they have concerns about things we've done, and if they have a perception about us that is negative then I want to know that so I can respond to it.
MUNRO:
Prime Minister I must say I'm getting letters everyday from pensioners, from businessmen, motorists, and a lot of young people who accuse you and your government of being mean spirited, sitting on billions of dollars of GST looty..booty, and not handing it over to the public, not giving some back, not giving enough back.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Mike we're not sitting on billions of dollars of GST loot or booty. All of the GST incidentally goes to the states. It doesn't come to us. There is a perception, a completely wrong perception that we are collecting a lot more tax than we thought we would as a result of the GST. Can I say that is wrong. We are not. We will have a balanced budget on the 22nd of May but we won't have a huge surplus. We have given a lot back. We have put more money into roads, we have cut petrol excise by 1.5 cents a litre, we have abolished the automatic indexation of tax increases in petrol. We've put more money into defence, we've put more money into science. Now all of these things are important long term investments in Australia's future.
MUNRO:
You also have major leaks, the economy has stagnated, the budget surplus as you mentioned is in tatters and you're seven or eight months out from an election.
PRIME MINISTER:
No I didn't say that..I said the budget is in balance. It is not in tatters.
MUNRO:
The surplus is.
PRIME MINISTER:
No I'm sorry. We inherited a government debt of $96 billion from Kim Beazley and we've repaid $50 billion of that and we now have one of the lowest government debt levels of any industrialised country in the world. We have done a fantastic job and Peter Costello has been an important part of that in reducing the debt that we inherited from the Labor Party. And that's important in having lower interest rates, it's important to secure our long term future. I mean we are better equipped to withstand external economic shocks than we would have been if we hadn't have repaid all that debt we inherited from Mr Beazley.
MUNRO:
Would you rate your last 12 or 18 months in office as fantastic would you?
PRIME MINISTER:
No look I don't try and rate it. I leave that to the Australian people who are my political masters. I think politicians who go around giving themselves a rating are sort of taking their eye off the main game. The main game is to serve the interests of the Australian people. In the end they will decide what rating I deserve and that will happen at election time. In the mean time I want to govern well. If they have concerns I'll respond to those concerns.
MUNRO:
And while the top thee Coalition Party men have spent their last three days fighting, tens of thousands of victims of the HIH collapse still can't get an answer from your government or from your Financial Services Minister Joe Hockey about a rescue package which is probably one of the greatest company disasters this country's ever seen.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Mike can I just tell you that we haven't spent the last three days fighting and nothing that's happened in the last three days has altered the responses that are being prepared in relation to HIH. There are certain procedures concerning the liquidator, the receiver that have got to be gone through. There are obligations, statutory obligations that have got to be met by state governments under such things as workers compensation and compulsory motor vehicle third party insurance. We are looking at what we can do.
MUNRO:
But you have been for three months.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes but you can't do something in relation to this until you have a proper assessment of where the damage has fallen. I am aware of some of the tragic cases. You had one on your program the other night, a young footballer and his salary maintenance. Now they are amongst some of the more tragic cases.
MUNRO:
Will they be protected?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look we are looking at all the options that are available. We had nothing as a government to do with a financial failure and no government can give a blanket guarantee that every time a company fails it will pick up the bill. I mean that would really send the budget into dramatic deficit if that happened. But we are responding and we'll see what we can do.
MUNRO:
Maybe the politicians could forgo their pay rise in July.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I guess you can say that but I mean that wouldn't cover the losses of HIH. There aren't enough involved and in any event politicians' salaries have not gone up any faster than the community standard.
MUNRO:
Mr Howard, thanks very much for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER:
Pleasure.
[Ends]