MARTIN:
Prime Minister, thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good to be here.
MARTIN:
The Australian newspaper rather cheekily calls this an #8220;erection budget#8221; about having babies #8211; one for dad, one for mum, one for the country. Is it a patriotic act?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think people should have more children, yes. I think having three does fit that pattern. But#8230;
MARTIN:
Is it about babies?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it';s certainly about helping people with their family responsibilities and helping people to juggle work and family and hopefully making some impact at the margin over time on the number of children we have. But people have a lot of reasons that determine the size of their families and not just money.
MARTIN:
Alright. Every commentator you';ve heard today has said the Budget is about buying votes. Is that what it is?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look Ray, no Prime Minister or Treasurer sets out to make himself unpopular, that';s true. But there';s sense and#8230;
MARTIN:
Especially in an election year.
PRIME MINISTER:
There';s sense and logic in it. And this Budget was made possible by the fact that we have run the economy well over the last eight years. I mean we are in surplus, we have about the lowest national debt of any developed country in the world, we';ve paid off $70 billion of debt, we have low interest rates.
MARTIN:
Mark Latham has cancelled his American trip, convinced you';re about to call on an election. Is he right?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can promise him we';re not having an election in June. I think he';s cancelled his American trip because he probably reckons it was going to be a bit of a disaster and he';s using the election ploy as a bit of a cover.
MARTIN:
Alright. Okay, we have questions from our viewers. The first is a lady in Melbourne. Have a look at this please.
VIEWER:
I';m Kylie Rogers. I';m single and I have no children. What do I get out of this Budget Mr Howard? Because I earn under $52,000 a year, why shouldn';t I get a tax cut?
MARTIN:
Fair question?
PRIME MINISTER:
That';s a fair question. We decided, because of the fact that a 42 cent tax rate kicks in at $52,000, which is not a high salary these days in many parts of Australia, that we would give relief in that area and little above to give people more incentive to work harder. Now Kylie almost certainly, I don';t know her income, is on a top marginal rate of 30 cents in the dollar. And the effect of what we have done is to push up the point at which the 30 cents in the dollar continues to apply. Now if Kylie is at $49,000 a year, I don';t know, but she could in the not too distant future go into a higher wage area and might appreciate the changes that we';re making in the Budget. And we have quite deliberately put an emphasis on that because we want to encourage people to work harder and reward effort and incentive.
MARTIN:
And have families. Let';s have a look at a family here from Sydney. Let';s see their comment.
VIEWER:
Mr Howard, we';re a family of six from Sydney and we congratulate you. My wife Caren would like to ask a question.
VIEWER:
Mr Howard, I';d like to ask whether you consider that the measures introduced in last night';s Budget will be sufficient to address our declining birth rate and whether the Government would consider looking at a system of family unit taxation whereby the number of dependents being supported by a given income would be considered before tax was applied?
PRIME MINISTER:
We do think our measures will go a long way towards helping average Australian families to juggle their work and family responsibilities and recognise in a more generous way that it does cost more to have children and particularly to have six children. Obviously depending on the ages of that couple';s children, well they will get benefits, and depending of course on the income of the husband. The family unit taxation idea, I have over the years looked at that. It';s an extension of income splitting. The existing system of family tax benefits that we have delivers the equivalent of income splitting if you have a child under the age of five, if your family income is no more than $65,000, which of course encompasses a large number of families. Once you go over that, then the benefits of the current system would not be as generous as income splitting. And we think the current combination of benefits is probably a better arrangement.
MARTIN:
Okay, the last one is from a gentleman who is approaching#8230; a worker who is approaching pension age.
VIEWER:
My name is Patrick Ovey. I';m a builder. I';m 60 years of age. There was nothing in the Budget last night for the pensioner. What are you going to do for us?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well if he';s a builder and he';s still in business, I';ll tell you what we have done for him #8211; we';ve created about the best economic conditions that this country has seen for 30 or 40 years. The pensioner continues to be protected of course by automatic indexation of their pension, a guaranteed 25 per cent of male average weekly earnings. The#8230; I don';t like talking about retirement villages to a bloke who looks as fit as that, but he raised the issue, we are putting an enormous amount of additional money into aged care.
MARTIN:
$2.1 billion.
PRIME MINISTER:
$2 billion. Very big. And on top of that, there is a terrific package for carers, particularly older carers. We';re not only going to expand the eligibility of the carers pension, but also give them more respite care, and on top of that there are some one off payments out of this year';s Budget in recognition of the particular load that those people carry.
MARTIN:
Alright. Can I just ask one non-Budget question #8211; very much the story of the day. We';ve had weeks of pictures of the abuse of Iraqi POWs. Now comes the video of an atrocity against an American. Do you fear that what has happened in those POW camps, prison, is now going to be an excuse by these terrorist groups to do even worse?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think they will opportunistically use anything that the West does to justify what they do. This kind of depraved behaviour by terrorists has been going on for years.
MARTIN:
Do you fear it may be enough to force the allies out?
PRIME MINISTER:
It won';t force the United States out and it won';t force Australia out. We';re not going to walk away from our responsibilities, and I don';t believe it will#8230; I';m sure it won';t force the British and others out. I mean you cannot give in to this kind of behaviour because it will spread. I mean anybody who imagines that you buy immunity by giving in, is defying all of history. People like this will always pursue you, and if you show weakness, they';re likely to pursue you even more.
MARTIN:
Alright. PM, thank for your time. Good to talk to you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]