DEBORAH KNIGHT:Julia Gillard is again wearing her acting Prime Ministerial hat and is our guest this morning. Welcome back to the program.
JULIA GILLARD: Hello.
DEBORAH KNIGHT: And welcome too to our panel, Malcolm Farr from the 'Daily Telegraph' and Brad Norington from ‘The Australian'. Budget night is fast approaching, now just over a month away on May 13. And while the Prime Minister has been overseas, the Opposition Leader has been sounding the alarm about the budget.
BRENDAN NELSON (Thursday): I notice that Mr Rudd has had time to meet celebrities and he had time to meet Senator McCain about the price of coffee in Canberra. I ask myself why he hasn't got the time to talk to everyday Australians suffering with petrol, with groceries and rising interest rates at the same time that the most important budget in Australia's recent history is being put together.
DEBORAH KNIGHT: Julia Gillard, the Treasurer says it will be a tough budget. How hard will it be on Australian families?
JULIA GILLARD: We've been very clear that this budget is going to be about delivering our election promises. We have huge promises to deliver. We said to the Australian people we'd deliver an Education Revolution, we'd be ending the blame game in health, and people will see those promises delivered in this budget. But beyond our election promises, we are on a campaign to get rid of waste, to drive for efficiency, to make sure that the budget is very lean. We have inherited a high-inflation environment that's put upwards pressure on interest rates, that's the legacy of the last government to the country. And we have to fight inflation - and having a fiscally disciplined budget is one way of doing that.
MALCOLM FARR: So, Minister, can you guarantee that Australian working families will not be worse off after this budget?
JULIA GILLARD: Of course I can guarantee that they will see our promises delivered, and those promises...
MALCOLM FARR: Will they be worse off?
JULIA GILLARD: Those promises are about making working families better off. We want to lift the pressure on working families; everything that this government does recognises that working families are doing it very tough. They have seen interest rates go up; they are in a high inflation environment, that's the legacy of the last Liberal government to the country. On the one hand the mortgage goes up, on the other you go down the shops and things cost more. So our aim is to leave working families better off by delivering our promises and by fighting inflation so we take the upwards pressure off interest rates.
MALCOLM FARR: Let's go to something specific. Do you favour the retention of the LPG conversion subsidy?
JULIA GILLARD: I am not going to get into a game of rule in, rule out on budget matters. Of course the budget processes are occurring now, and the budget will be delivered on budget night. What we always see in the lead-up to every budget - and this isn't about the Rudd Labor Government, this is about time immemorial and the way journalists work - in the lead-up there's speculation on a variety of questions. I won't play the rule-in, rule-out game. The budget is prepared, we are clear, we'll be delivering our promises in the budget, and that will be unveiled on budget night.
BRAD NORINGTON: Is it not possible to give your view given your colleague Resources Minister Martin Ferguson says he supports the retention of the LPG subsidy.
JULIA GILLARD: I just made it clear Brad the rule in rule out is a game I am not going to play. I anticipate that every day between now and budget night I'll open up my newspapers and in one there'll be a budget speculation story, and I think it will probably get to fever pitch it will be about whether or not we are selling the Sydney Opera House or the MCG as a fund-raiser. I am not going to get into that business. Budget preparations are confidential, and the budget will be revealed on budget night. But people should expect to see the delivery of our promises. That's what we said to the Australian people we would do on Election Day, and that's what we will do.
BRAD NORINGTON: The Reserve Bank governor Glen Stevens has been sending out mixed signals on interest rates. He said that the economy appears to be slowing down, but he still is concerned about rising inflation. Are you worried about a further increase in interest rates and the pain that might inflict on families?
JULIA GILLARD: I've been worried about every increase in interest rates we've seen, of course...
BRAD NORINGTON: But are you worried about another one?
JULIA GILLARD: Can I just say I've been worried about every interest rate increase we've seen. We saw a large number under the former government. We then, of course, inherited a high-inflation environment, putting further upwards pressure on interest rates. What are we doing in response? We are fighting inflation, because if we can deal with inflation, then we will not risk interest rate rises that you would continue to see if inflation was higher. So we have to get inflation under control.
MALCOLM FARR: Can we go to a core issue here? Who is right - you or the Reserve Bank. Glen Stevens says the talk of mortgage stress is exaggerated. He says that inflation is not out of control. Now, these aren't messages that are pleasant (a) to punters and (b) to you. Who is right?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, what the government has said is we've got a high-inflation environment. What the Reserve Bank has said is inflation has concerned it. I think that they are, if you like, compatible messages, everyone is worried about inflation.
MALCOLM FARR: No, they are not compatible, Minister!
JULIA GILLARD: Everyone is worried about the impact that has on interest rates. When it comes to mortgage stress, there are, you know, a lot of different statistical measures of a mortgage stress. But the measure I use is I talk to people in the streets as I move around, I talk to people in my local community. And people report it's tougher and tougher to pay the mortgage, house prices have gone up, interest rates have gone up, we are in a high-inflation environment, people worry about the cost of things when they go to the shops. That means working families are under stress.
DEBORAH KNIGHT: Julia Gillard, school principals are warning that your pledge to role out a million computers to schools is facing descending into a shambles. Will you take their concerns on board and change the way you roll out the policy?
JULIA GILLARD: The policy is rolling out, and every stage of it is working. We had applications close for the first $100 million actually on Friday evening. That first $100 million has been targeted at schools that have the greatest need. That is, they have a ratio of computers to students of 1 to 8 or worse. Now, some of those schools don't have any computers, if we are counting computers less than four years old, so no computers less than four years old available for students. Now, of the schools that are in that situation and were invited to apply for the first $100 million, 90 per cent have applied. Now, when you get a 90 per cent application figure, I think you can see this is a program that is being met with enthusiasm in schools because they want their children, their kids, their students to have the ability to learn in the modern environment, and that requires access to computer technology.
DEBORAH KNIGHT: Time for a break. But when we return - should political parties pay for costly by-elections. And it was a week when the Opposition Leader's listening tour of Australia turned into a musical.
(SONG) # You and Brendan Nelson And the can-do team #
DEBORAH KNIGHT: Welcome back. You are on 'Meet The Press', with our guest this morning, Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Well, Kevin Rudd is now halfway through his 17-day world tour, with an exhausting schedule of appointments and meetings. The PM has shrugged it off, but he's starting to look and sound tired. Julia Gillard, has he taken on too much, especially with crucial budget decisions awaiting his return and the 2020 Summit?
JULIA GILLARD: I know Kevin Rudd very well, and he's always highly focused on the job and able to do an amazing amount of work. I think, as people know, when you travel around the world, you are in different time zones and the like. But Kevin is always on top of the game and everything that's happening. This has been a very important trip for the country, a trip focused on getting information and having discussions about the global economic environment and, of course, some very important discussions at NATO.
BRAD NORINGTON: Nonetheless, Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Rudd has been criticised for a number of gaffes, the odd verbal stumble, and also a half salute he gave to the US President, which was picked up by cameras around the world. Is that the right sort of discipline for a seasoned diplomat like Mr Rudd?
JULIA GILLARD: I think people expect their leaders to be human beings, and human beings have the occasional joke, and Kevin was caught in a light-hearted moment and, of course, like every human being on the planet, journalists included, Kevin has the occasional joke, and he was joking with the half salute to President Bush. There was no more significance in it than that.
BRAD NORINGTON: Also related to Mr Rudd's world tour, he, of course, visited the candidates, some of the candidates for the presidential election. As Australia's first woman Deputy Prime Minister, would you like to see a woman in the White House, and do you think a woman in the White House could bring a certain perspective that men may not to world politics?
JULIA GILLARD: I'm convinced that whoever wins the American election, we'll have an American President who will be a great friend of this country, and that's good news for Australia. Our alliance with America endures no matter who is in the White House or the Prime Ministership. It's stronger than that. On the question of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, whoever comes through as the Democratic nomination is going to make history, whether it's the first woman, or the first African-American, it's going to be a very special moment in the political history of the planet. I'm watching it with interest.
MALCOLM FARR: Minister, back to the school computers. Do these principals of these disadvantaged schools know that they are going to have to find a lot of money to plug in - you can go down to Officeworks and buy a laptop for $500, but you also have to have powerpoints to plug them into, wifi, central computer, routers, airconditioning for a central computer, you have to be able to pay an extra power bill for all these things. Do principals know you are not going to cough up with that money, and they'll have to convince State Governments to come up with what could be an extra $100,000 a school?
JULIA GILLARD: What principals know is we are working in partnership on the delivery of this program...
MALCOLM FARR: Have they been given guarantees they'll get the money from the State?
JULIA GILLARD: Well I can answer that question. We always said this will be a partnership. We are working with our State and Territory colleagues, and the discussion we are having with them is about us putting an extra $1 billion into the vital task of getting computers in school, and in the delivery of that $1 billion, working with the States and Territories on related questions like electricity supply, like, of course, professional development for teachers, like making sure that curriculum is there that embeds the computer technology into learning. That partnership will make sure that computers are in schools in circumstances where they can be used. That partnership is working well, we are getting the $100 million...
MALCOLM FARR: By when will the first Federal Government provided laptop be up and humming with all the support systems intact?
JULIA GILLARD: By June 30 this year...
MALCOLM FARR: No, that's when the money goes out. Are you - can you guarantee that all those backup things, such as the extra power bills, airconditioning, the software will be available by then?
JULIA GILLARD: We need to have the sequence here, and let me explain the sequence, we have the first $100 million for the neediest schools, the States and Territories are working with us in the delivery of that $100 million, the money will be delivered by June 30, the money will be spent on computer technology and the partnership with the States and Territories will make sure that those computers are in settings where they can be used. Then the balance, $800 million on computers and $100 million on fibre to schools, so people can get rapid broadband access, on the further $800 million, we are working on the ongoing strategic partnership so the computers can be in schools, being used, because we are working together with our State and Territory colleagues, and that process is going well. The first $100 million will be delivered, there's an enthusiasm for it.
DEBORAH KNIGHT: OK...
JULIA GILLARD: 90 per cent of the schools asked to apply putting in applications.
DEBORAH KNIGHT: We have seen this week Peter McGauran announce his retirement from politics. We are yet to hear from other seasoned Coalition backbenchers, such as Alexander Downer and Peter Costello. Should it be up to the parties to pay for the by-elections? Should you, parties, Labor and Liberal and Nationals, be footing the bill?
JULIA GILLARD: I think elections are always going be paid for by the Australian Electoral Commission, paid for by the public purse.
DEBORAH KNIGHT: But coming so close to a general election?
JULIA GILLARD: Look, we are always going to have by-elections for legitimate reasons. Politicians are human beings, they get unwell, family circumstances change, and despite their best expectations that they were going to serve a full parliamentary term, sometimes people have to retire, ill health and other matters. But what is going on here with the Liberal Party is of course quite different to that. We have people that presented at the last election now saying they want to go. We are saying to Brendan Nelson as leader of the Liberal Party, be true to your word. When first confronted with this, Brendan Nelson said he would try and work with his colleagues, and organise a super Saturday, we'd have all the by-elections at once, making them cheaper to do. Now he's apparently saying that it's nothing to do with him. We are saying to Dr Nelson, ‘Be a leader of your party, leadership requires talking to your colleagues, if they are going to jump ship, get them all to do it so we can have all the by-elections on the same time day and at least contain the costs for tax-payers.'
DEBORAH KNIGHT: We'll await eagerly as to who the Labor candidates are for these by-elections as well. Julia Gillard, we are out of time, thank you for joining us.
JULIA GILLARD: Thanks very much.