KARL STEFANOVIC: Joining us now, Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Julia, good morning to you.
JULIA GILLARD: Good morning, Karl.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Good to talk to you this morning. Now, Kevin Rudd calls it counselling, Belinda Neal calls it conflict resolution. She appears to think it's all a bit of a joke, don't you think? Is that disappointing?
JULIA GILLARD: What we've taken here is decisive action. The Prime Minister spoke to Belinda Neal yesterday. We were obviously concerned about a pattern of behaviour here. We've said to Ms Neal that she needs to get some assistance with that and she certainly agreed to get professional counselling assistance. And Kevin made it clear yesterday and certainly I've been making it clear during the course of the week that there is a standard of behaviour that people expect from Members of Parliament and of course from the Labor Party's point of view, no one's preselection is guaranteed. That is all about MPs doing their job and doing it properly.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Julia, she has a pattern of bad behaviour as you say. She says she didn't do anything wrong though at the nightclub, she denies the Sophie Mirabella incident and yesterday, strangely, she said it was the referee's not so good decision. I don't think she's sorry at all.
JULIA GILLARD: Ms Neal yesterday certainly said she thought she needed assistance in deescalating situations, in taking the conflict out of situations. She acknowledged that yesterday. She will be seeking the professional counselling that we have asked her to undertake so I think we really need to let that process continue, Karl. And obviously this sort of incident has been one that I said I'm not happy about and it stands as a reminder to all MPs that whenever we're out and about, even if you're out and about on a private occasion like a private dinner, there is a standard of behaviour that the community expects and certainly my expectation and Kevin's expectation is that every member of the Labor team meets that standard of behaviour that the community would expect.
KARL STEFANOVIC: The problem here that I see is that it's all well and good for you to say that but that person has got to want to change and for me watching that press conference yesterday - I'd like to hear your thoughts on it - she just didn't come across as being sorry, legitimately sorry.
JULIA GILLARD: Well Karl she's agreed to the course of action. She's agreed to undergo the professional counselling. I think we've got to acknowledge that and that process will now happen.
KARL STEFANOVIC: All right. There are reports this morning I'm sure you're aware of as well she keeps photos of her enemies in the freezer. Have you heard that before?
JULIA GILLARD: No I haven't, Karl.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Are you afraid you're in there?
JULIA GILLARD: No I'm not.
KARL STEFANOVIC: All right. Let's say in all seriousness, though, talk about the effect that this has on her electorate, in particular the good people of the Central Coast. They're not being represented in a great way here. Is it time that you start looking ahead to finding a new candidate for the Central Coast?
JULIA GILLARD: Well Kevin made clear yesterday that for all of the Labor team, no one's preselection is guaranteed. We expect people to be representing their constituencies and doing it well. In relation to Ms Neal, obviously these matters have now been dealt with. Ms Neal has agreed that she is going to undergo professional counselling and I think that that's appropriate.
KARL STEFANOVIC: All right, so it's a little bit too early to say whether or not you'll be looking for a new candidate.
JULIA GILLARD: Well Ms Neal's agreed to a course of action and I think we've just got to let that course of action take place.
KARL STEFANOVIC: All right, you are being very diplomatic this morning. Let's move on. New figures show consumer confidence has hit a 16 year low this morning. I just wonder when will these measures that you've put in place in the last Budget start to take effect. When will the burden on working families be reduced?
JULIA GILLARD: Well our Budget had a $55 billion package for working families. It includes tax cuts which of course start from the 1st of July for the new financial year. Those tax cuts are about lifting the pressure, particularly for low and middle income earners.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Because people are doing it so tough, Julia, as you know.
JULIA GILLARD: Look, people are doing it tough and that's a legacy that we've inherited, we've inherited high inflation environment. Obviously we've seen interest rate rises. Whether you buy your own home or you're renting, interest rate rises are bad news. We've got to take inflationary pressure down.
The Budget was designed to do that but it was also designed to bring assistance to working families, tax cuts are direct dollars in Rebate to try and take the pressure off for families that have got kids in care. We've introduced the Education Tax Rebate so you can get that bit of assistance when you're spending money on all the things that families do spend money on for education today which will include, you know, broadband access and textbooks and all of the aids that kids need to get through school so all of those measures are timed to start on the 1st of July. $55 billion is a big package of assistance and we wanted to deliver it because we understand it is tough.
KARL STEFANOVIC: All right, you're also rolling out your computer program I know today. Just finally, I know that you're kicking your coffee habit and I know that can be a very difficult time but I have rung my doctor and he says that kicking a coffee habit and deliberately drinking hot water can lead to irritable and withdrawal symptoms, muscle pain, trembling, insomnia and palpitations. You know I have your health in my interests. It's all bad though, isn't it, when you try to give up something you love.
JULIA GILLARD: I'm fine thanks, Karl, and I'm just trying to drink a little bit less coffee and a little bit more water. I'm sure that's going to do me some good and I'm feeling fine. And I'm looking forward to going to a school in Victoria today to launch our computers in schools program to announce which schools are going to get computers out of the first round. There's 896 of them so that's good news for 896 schools who will be receiving 116,000 computers and I might even celebrate that a bit with one cup of coffee.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Easier than dealing with Belinda Neal at the moment, that's for sure. Thanks Julia, good to talk to you.
JULIA GILLARD: Thanks, Karl.