CHRIS SMITH:
Prime Minister, a very good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning to you, Chris, and your listeners.
CHRIS SMITH:
And what a story of the day coming out of Wimbledon – Nick Kyrgios!
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, a tremendous thrill and what an amazing effort by this youngster against the world number one. I confess I wasn’t up to watch it, but as soon as I did wake up I saw a few text messages from people telling me how fantastic it was and I think every Australian will be thrilled to see his success.
CHRIS SMITH:
They sure will. And then you contrast that of course sadly with the Rolf Harris case. You said yesterday how you were gutted and dismayed at the verdict.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that’s right because he’s been a much loved entertainer for decades and decades and decades and now we know there’s a dark side to him and it’s wrenching, it really is and I guess it just goes to show that all of us have got to redouble our efforts to ensure that this sick crime is eliminated. I mean really, it’s just a gruesome, ugly, horrible thing. Our kids should be safe. Just awful.
CHRIS SMITH:
Yeah, you’re spot on there.
To matters at home, where are we in relation to getting rid of this carbon dioxide tax?
PRIME MINISTER:
Chris, it will go before the Senate next week. My hope is that it will dealt with as the first significant item of business by the incoming Senate. All the crossbench senators were elected on a platform of opposing the carbon tax and let’s hope that they all live up to their pre-election commitments. Certainly we had Mr Palmer quite spectacularly tell us the other week that he was going to vote against it and I think the Australian public are desperate to get this $550 per household on average a year bonus because it’s a bad tax, it’s a toxic tax, it’s making our businesses less competitive, it’s making household costs higher and the sooner we’re rid of it the better.
CHRIS SMITH:
So Clive Palmer’s still on side? I only say that because he’s such a loose cannon you never know what he might think later this afternoon or tomorrow.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, look he said pre-election that he was against it and a couple of times in the Parliament he’s asked me questions which suggested that he was very much against it, then of course he did his big announcement with Al Gore last week and said he was against it. So, I’m as confident as I can be, but I never count chickens until they’ve hatched.
CHRIS SMITH:
I mentioned the renewable energy sector earlier. You’re said to have offended them with comments about the Renewable Energy Target. You say it’s driving up power prices very significantly, I think you’re right. How is that occurring, can you explain that, and by how much?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look, there are different figures as to how much the RET is driving up power prices. Some people said that it was worse than the carbon tax in terms of the impact on prices, others said it was more like 3 or 4 per cent, but in any event we don’t want any needless increases in the power price. Now, I mean we all support renewable energy but we want to try to use renewable energy in ways that doesn’t needlessly increase power prices and the difficulty with renewable energy is that when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, well the power doesn’t flow…
CHRIS SMITH:
Correct.
PRIME MINISTER:
… and there’s got to be back up systems for renewables. Now…
CHRIS SMITH:
And you’re suggesting we’re becoming the unaffordable energy capital of the world, but, Prime Minister, we should be the opposite.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well exactly right, Chris, because we’ve got massive supplies of coal, we’ve got massive supplies of gas; we should be making the most of our natural advantages. It’s one of the few strong natural advantages we’ve got given our distance from markets, given our relatively small population, so let’s make the most of it. Now, as I said, the Coalition introduced the Renewable Energy Target, the Coalition supports renewable energy, but we want to try to make the most of it in ways which don’t artificially increase power prices and that’s why we’ve got this review in place at the moment.
CHRIS SMITH:
One of your big pushes at the moment is to change things on the welfare front. We know it’s such a monstrous bill. Is that the only reason why we need to change?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well in the end, Chris, yes we’ve got to be fiscally responsible but we’ve also got to try to encourage people to make the most of themselves and one of the ways that most of us realise our potential is through work. I accept that there are some people whose disabilities make it impossible for them to work but there are a lot of people who can and indeed do work despite their disabilities and hopefully the Disability Support Pension will involve – or the disability sector generally – will involve more encouragement over time for people to make the most of themselves and I think most disability activists accept that; they think it’s good if people with disabilities are given as much encouragement as possible and…
CHRIS SMITH:
Jeff Kennett was quoted today as saying, as the chairman of Beyond Blue, that those with mental illnesses can’t expect to be on welfare forever, which is encouraging.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well yes, and I mean there are lots of quite serious mental illnesses which may well be incapacitating in the short-term but they’re certainly not incurable, by any means, and for people who have got disabilities which are not necessarily incapacitating, which are not necessarily very long lasting, I think it’s very important that they don’t get parked, as it were, on a pension and just left there, that’s the last thing we should be doing if we really care.
CHRIS SMITH:
Ok. You’ve still got a fight to deal with in terms of welfare changes and the one that seems to be looming is with the new senators, some of whom are vowing to fight your plans to make young people earn or learn. Just what are you proposing firstly, and has all of this been explained properly to them individually, or does that happen when they come to work?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it’s very early days for the new senators, they’ve only just officially become senators yesterday and most of them are coming to Canberra later this week so there’ll be an opportunity to start getting into detailed legislative briefings later this week and early next week. What we’re proposing, Chris, is that for young people leaving school, there won’t be the option of going straight onto unemployment benefits. Now, we don’t want young people to start their life on welfare. We think that’s the last thing that people should be doing, so we’ll expect them to be learning or earning. One of the things that we want to do is to make it much easier for people to be studying by extending the range of courses that will qualify for FEE-HELP, by helping people who want to go out and study a trade with these Trade Support Loans. So, we’re going to broaden peoples’ access to education, not just higher education but diploma education as well, we’re going to make it easier for people to take on apprenticeships, particularly in skills that are in demand. So…
CHRIS SMITH:
But Family First and the Liberal Democratic Parties are pointing out you’ve also got to help employers hire kids who don’t take up study options but want jobs but don’t have experience.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes and as you would know, Chris, there are lots and lots of employers out there who are keen to take people on but find willing workers are not always that easy to get hold of. So, I think, frankly, we’ve got to establish a very strong expectation that if you are leaving school, welfare is not an option – you either go out and get a job or if you can’t get a job you do something to make yourself more employable.
CHRIS SMITH:
Family First Senator Bob Day, and I don’t know this bloke, no doubt these sorts of bods will have ever increasing says in what happens with the country, but anyway, he says it’s not just economically stupid, it’s morally wrong.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well let’s wait and see after he’s been properly briefed, I know Bob Day pretty well, I’ve known him for years, he’s a former Liberal, he’s a pretty decent bloke. The last thing Bob would want, would be to see people just leaving school and going onto welfare because, frankly, that’s no way to start your adult life. So, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to talk to the crossbench senators, my distinguished ministerial colleagues are looking forward to the opportunity of talking to them because we think there are very strong arguments for everything in the Budget. I mean really, who thinks it is a good idea for our youngsters to leave school and go straight on unemployment benefits given that there are jobs available in many instances and if there aren’t jobs available there’s certainly a very effective training system that is there waiting to serve people. We just need to establish a clear expectation that it is simply unacceptable to leave school and go on unemployment benefits. We should not program our kids to fail, Chris…
CHRIS SMITH:
Yeah, exactly.
PRIME MINISTER:
… and more or less suggesting to people that it’s ok to leave school and go on the Dole, I mean you’re programing these youngsters to fail. It’s no way to start your adult life and I think Bob Day understands that as well as anyone.
CHRIS SMITH:
One quick one before we let you go – we’re told today how a significant shakeup is looming on childcare. Back in November last year you announced a Productivity Commission inquiry into this. Apparently it includes a means testing to some degree and also some kind of allowance for child care at home, maybe a nanny allowance. You haven’t got the draft report or you have?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, we haven’t got the draft report. We’re expecting the draft report quite soon, but I certainly haven’t got it, I don’t believe anyone else in the Government has it.
CHRIS SMITH:
Are you a supporter of means testing child care payments?
PRIME MINISTER:
I’m a supporter of an affordable and accessible child care system and I’m certainly not saying that everything’s got to be means tested by any means; I just think we need an affordable and accessible system.
We need to try to give younger women with families every opportunity to be economic as well as social and cultural contributors and that’s why a strong, indeed stronger child care sector, along with a fair dinkum paid parental leave scheme is a very important part, not just of good family policy but of good economic policy.
CHRIS SMITH:
Alright. Good luck with all of that and good luck with the new senators as well.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well thank you so much, Chris, and it’s great to be on your programme, great to be able to talk to your listeners.
CHRIS SMITH:
Fantastic. Thank you, Prime Minister.
[ends]