Subject:
Federal Budget 2007
E&OE...
HUTCHISON:
Prime Minister, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning Geoff.
HUTCHISON:
Prime Minister, the Premier of Western Australia Alan Carpenter says that WA's resources boom is driving the economy and has handed your Government a huge Budget surplus. He says there's nothing in this Budget for West Australians particularly as far as addressing the state's infrastructure needs?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is a ludicrous statement to say there is nothing in it for Western Australians. Western Australians are Australians. They get all of the tax cuts, they get all of the pension bonus benefits, they benefit like all other Australians from the huge future investment in education. They benefit from the doubling of the rebate for solar panels. I mean this idea that a state Labor premier feels obliged the morning after a Federal Budget to say oh there's nothing in it for my state, ignoring the fact that we frame Budgets for Australians, we don't discriminate according to where Australians live in this country; they're all treated equally. So I reject completely this rather silly notion that there is nothing in it for Western Australians. As far as the resources boom is concerned, the best thing that Mr Carpenter can do for the resources boom in Western Australia is to persuade his Federal Labor mates to stop advocating the abolition of Australian Workplace Agreements. The best thing Mr Carpenter can do to keep the resources boom going in Western Australia is to persuade the Labor Party not to change the current industrial relations system because the current industrial relations system in two important respects has helped contribute to the resources boom in Western Australia. The AWAs that have been part of the scene for 10 years, and secondly the abolition of centralised wage fixing that means the high wages paid in the mining sector do not automatically flow through the rest of the economy with adverse consequences for inflation and interest rates. So if Mr Carpenter wants to help preserve the resources boom in Western Australia he will use his influence as a Labor Premier to get the Labor Party to get rid of this anti-resources boom industrial relations policy it now has.
HUTCHISON:
Mr Howard a headline in one of the paper this morning describes last night's Budget as canny Costello's cautious bribe. Now alliteration aside, has this been designed as an election year vote buyer?
PRIME MINISTER:
This Budget has been designed at a time of great economic prosperity to do two things. It's been designed to return to present day Australians, the current generation, some human dividend out of that great prosperity; tax cuts, pensioner bonuses and other benefits; increases in child care, which will flow immediately to people. But the other part of it is to lay aside some of this prosperity, lay aside some of this national wealth for the future. And we did that a few years ago with the Future Fund and we are doing it more specifically with the Higher Education Endowment Fund. This is a first in Australia. It's $5 billion initially and it will be used for capital purposes by university and for research facilities and it will grow over time; $5 billion is only the beginning. And it will guarantee a constant stream of additional money going to the universities and they need it. And this will return great dividends into the future for our future generations of Australians. We're also investing very heavily in changes in schools; $700 a year vouchers for children who don't meet the literacy and numeracy standards laid down at three stages during the school time. Additional assistance for apprentices, $1000 a year in the first two years of tax free grants for apprentices in areas of shortage as well as a $500 a year voucher to help with their TAFE fees. And let me say in relation to that we'll be watching very carefully to ensure that the states don't, as a matter of reflex action, put up TAFE fees thus soaking up the value of these vouchers that we have provided to apprentices. We want this money, these vouchers to help apprentices. We don't want the money to flow into state Treasuries.
HUTCHISON:
I am speaking to the Prime Minister John Howard the day after Peter Costello's 12th Federal Budget. Kevin Rudd has conceded this morning he'll take a pounding in the polls with this. Prime Minister I wonder if you wouldn't mind just listening to some of the remarks that Mr Rudd made this morning.
[plays remarks]
Do you have some answers to those questions Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think Mr Rudd in relation to education should have a very careful look at what was in the Budget about that. I mean he talks a lot about an education revolution. That was an education revolution last night.
HUTCHISON:
Was that designed specifically to pull the rug from under Kevin Rudd?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, it was designed to do something for the education future of this country. This idea that only the Labor Party is interested in educating future generations has always been a pompous claim made by Labor Party ideologues. This nation depends on open, inquiring minds. It will only maintain its competitive edge if we continue to have well educated, literate, numerate people. That means that a strong university sector, it also means a strong technical education sector. I want an Australia where a high grade technical qualification is as prized as a university degree. I want both of those qualifications to be prized but I also want the school system of this country to do what parents want it to do and that is produce children who can read and write and spell and understand something about the history of our country. What parents are most angry about is the fact that a system that is meant to deliver these basics often doesn't. And that is not so much the fault of the teachers but it is the fault of those who have controlled education curricula and we have been talking and campaigning at a federal level about this for a long time; you know my passion for Australian history. I think it's shameful that Australian school children now are taught so little in a narrative way about the history of this country. Now, these are all things that are part of a genuine passion of Australians for a decent education system and I think what's great about this Budget is that it puts down not only money but a lot of markers into the future at every level of education. It provides summer schools for teachers, it recognises the contribution of teachers as a great profession. These summer schools will be for two weeks, there'll be full payment by the Commonwealth of all of the living expenses and travelling expenses for teachers to attend and at the end of the two weeks those attending will get a $5000 bonus. Now this is an attempt to recognise at a Commonwealth level the importance and the value of teachers. These are things that should have been done years ago by the states and it hasn't and we see a role for us to step in and fill the gap.
HUTCHISON:
Prime Minister, we have plenty of callers who would like to have a chat. Would you like to take a first question from Wayne? Wayne, good morning.
CALLER:
Good morning Geoff and good morning Prime Minister. Prime Minister my question is about the $5 billion package for capital development for education and I applaud that announcement and I think Minister Julie Bishop has done very well in the last few years. Prime Minister, when can we anticipate something similar to help residential and community aged care providers to have that form of capital available on low term loans for facility development? Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we have provided additional support for aged care. We announced a package of $1.5 billion several months ago and we've added to that by several hundred million dollars in last night's Budget and we believe that those changes, which will provide a lot of additional financial support for the aged care sector, consistent also with our long standing policy through the community care packages of providing increased assistance for people to stay as long as possible in their own homes. There's an overwhelming desire on the part of most people in this age area, this age cohort, to stay as long as possible at home. It's the environment they feel most secure in, the environment they want and we have put a lot of emphasis on that but we haven't done so to the detriment of the residential aged care sector.
HUTCHISON:
Wayne, thank you. Good morning to you Richard.
CALLER:
Good morning Geoff, good morning Prime Minister. I was just wondering with the child care rebate, does it apply to families that choose to have their children looked after at home with a nanny?
PRIME MINISTER:
It doesn't apply to nannies, no.
CALLER:
Right, thanks very much.
PRIME MINISTER:
It applies to, it applies to family day care but not to individual nannies, no.
CALLER:
To the actual family?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, to the family day...if you're employing a nanny in your home it doesn't apply to that but if you have your child in a family day care centre it does.
CALLER:
Thanks very much, congratulations on a good Budget.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
HUTCHISON:
Richard, thank you. Rosalie, good morning.
CALLER:
Good morning. Mr Howard, why was there no recognition for the unmet needs for disability as identified by the recent inquiry?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, let me answer that. We are still in discussion with the states on that issue and at the last meeting between Mr Brough who's my minister and the state ministers, he invited the states to put forward details of particular areas of unmet need, and I'm very aware of what you're talking about, and he said then and I repeat it, that we will meet the states half way on that although if you look at the long term agreements it was really their responsibility but let's put that aside, we've got to get it fixed, and we're now waiting for the states to put forward details and if...when they do we will match their plans on a 50-50 basis and I do hope that the states come forward with these plans and if they don't well we'll have to look at some other way of dealing with the issue. But I am very well aware of that as an issue and I wouldn't want anybody to think because there was no particular reference to it last night that it's been forgotten.
CALLER:
Thank you Mr Howard because it is a of crisis of proportions.
PRIME MINISTER:
I do understand that and I've had a number of discussions with individual providers in my own electorate, in different parts of Australia. There was an understanding reached many years ago that broadly speaking the accommodation needs would be funded by the states and the federal government would fund employment and obviously income support. Now we have lagged I'm afraid with the accommodation, the state, there has been a lack of investment in accommodation and so we said at the last meeting put some detailed plans on the table about unmet need and we will meet 50 per cent of that. Now we're still waiting on the states to provide the details, I hope they will and we will make good that promise. If they don't we will have to find another way of dealing with the problem because it does have to be met and dealt with. I share your concern and it has not been forgotten because it is a very difficult area and more does need to be done.
CALLER:
Thank you for your understanding.
HUTCHISON:
Rosalie we wouldn't mind having a chat to you at some later stage too to talk a bit more about your personal circumstances so I'll just pop you back to Annie. Thanks for your call.
CALLER:
Thank you.
HUTCHISON:
Thanks Rosalie. Prime Minister, you were quoted this week as telling your party members that arguably the coming months are the most crucial your government's faced probably since 1996. Why is that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't talk about what I say in the Party Room, but I will say that the Government has a fight on its hands politically, I think it's self evident.
HUTCHISON:
Are your opponents more capable this time round?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the question of capability is something public will judge. I'm not going to get into comparisons. But this is going to be a tough election, I noticed incidentally my opponent starting to boast about his prospects of winning but I'll leave that to him. I'm certainly not into the boasting game. I think it's going to be very tough, I've thought that for a long time and it still remains my position.
HUTCHISON:
Last night the Treasurer rounded off the full dozen, does he have a bakers' dozen left in him?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the Treasurer has a tremendous contribution to make to Australia's future, a tremendous contribution. He's been a great Treasurer and I've always said that if I went under a bus he'd make a great Prime Minister.
HUTCHISON:
Do you reckon he outlined his own prime ministerial credentials and aspirations last night?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think what he did last night was to address the legitimate aspirations of current generations of Australians at a time of strong economic growth and also lay down a plan that will strengthen us in the future. We've locked in the gains and we're investing in the future and that is what a prudent Treasurer thinking about the national interest will do.
HUTCHISON:
Prime Minister John Howard, thank you for talking to me this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]