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JOH
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MHR FEDERAL MEMBER FOR WARRINGAH
30 April 2013
TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MHR JOINT DOORSTOP INTERVIEW WITH SENATOR MITCH FIFIELD, SHADOW MINISTER FOR DISABILITIES, CARERS AND THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR,
MILLICENT, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Subjects: Pollie Pedal 2013; National Disability Insurance Scheme; school funding; industrial relations.
EO&E...........................................................................................................................................
TONY ABBOTT:
It’s great to be here in Millicent in South Australia on my way to Mt Gambier as part of day three of the 2013 Pollie Pedal. I’m here with Mitch Fifield, the Shadow Minister for Disabilities and obviously we’re raising money for Carers Australia.
One of the big interests of Carers Australia is obviously the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the Coalition has supported this scheme every step of the way. When the Productivity Commission inquiry was first mooted, we supported that. When the recommendations of the Productivity Commission came out, we supported them. When the Government made some decisions, we supported those decisions. So, we have supported this every step of the way and we want to support it right through to a conclusion. There are many steps towards that conclusion and some of the steps in this journey are yet to be determined but at every step of the way we are in favour of a National Disability Insurance Scheme. It’s got to belong to all Australians. It’s got to belong to the Parliament. It can’t be the property of any one side of politics. We want to ensure that it is a reality as soon as is reasonably possible.
Now, it’s interesting that the Productivity Commission recommended that the economy be so run, and the Government’s finances be so managed, that this scheme be supported and funded out of the general revenue of the Government. We think that is the best way forward. We think if this government had its budget under control, the National Disability Insurance Scheme would be affordable from the ordinary revenue of government.
Unfortunately, this government plainly does not have its budget under control. Budget preparations are in chaos. Every day, the Government is saying that the revenue is under threat. Every day, the Government is telling us that billions more are going to be spent. Now the Government is coming after you, the people, for more money. The Government yet again is hitting up you, the people, for more money because it can’t get its finances under control. Yet again we’ve got further evidence that this is a government and a Prime Minister that is incompetent and untrustworthy. That is the sad truth about this government.
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The best way to ensure that the National Disability Insurance Scheme does become a reality is to build a strong economy, and we have a plan, a Real Solutions plan, that will build a strong economy. It starts with getting rid of unnecessary taxes, not putting taxes up, but putting taxes down. Then, of course, we have to pare back unnecessary and extravagant government spending. Then, of course, we’ve got to make our economy more productive, more flexible, less ridden with red tape and green tape and that is precisely what will happen under a Coalition government. We’ve done it in the past; we stand ready to do it again. With a strong economy we can ensure that government revenues are in a position to sustain over the long term the National Disability Insurance Scheme that the carers of Australia, the people with disabilities here in Australia, so very much need.
I’m going to ask Mitch Fifield to say a few words and then I’ll take some questions.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Thanks Tony. It’s great to be in Millicent with the Pollie Pedal. Part of the purpose of Pollie Pedal is to raise awareness of the needs of carers in Australia, but also to raise awareness about the need for a National Disability Insurance Scheme and the Coalition has supported each milestone along the road to the NDIS and has been at pains to elevate the NDIS beyond partisanship which is why we have consistently called for the establishment of a joint parliamentary committee chaired by both sides of politics to oversee the implementation of the NDIS. It’s disappointing that the Prime Minister has consistently rejected our call for that cross-party committee.
We are in a situation where two days ago the Prime Minister told the Australian people that everything was fine, that the money was there for the NDIS. Yesterday the Prime Minister said that the cupboard is bare. The Prime Minister has created great uncertainty for Australians with disability and it is incumbent upon her to resolve that uncertainty as soon as possible.
TONY ABBOTT:
Ok, do we have any questions?
QUESTION:
Do you support or oppose a levy to pay for the NDIS?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, I support a fully-funded, sustainable National Disability Insurance Scheme and as I said a moment ago, if the Government’s finances were being properly managed, that would be supportable and sustainable from the ordinary revenues of government. The problem is that the cupboard is bare and now the Government is coming after you for yet more money to fund its schemes. Now, it’s just not good enough. It’s just not good enough. What we need is a well-managed budget for a strong economy and that’s what you get under the Coalition.
QUESTION:
Sure but if a levy was put in place, would you undo it?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, I think what we’ve got is a Prime Minister who is desperately casting around; desperately casting around for new sources of revenue. She said that nothing is off-limits. Things that have been ruled out are now being ruled in. We don’t know whether it’s superannuation, whether it’s going to be death duties, whether it’s going to be capital gains tax on the family home or whether it’s going to be an additional
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Medicare levy, but one way or another this government’s budget preparations are in chaos and every Australian has got to be in a state of great uncertainty right now about just where this government is going and just who it’s coming after next.
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, can we go through this step-by-step? If the Government was to introduce legislation to fund the disability scheme through an increase to the Medicare levy, what would be your position?
TONY ABBOTT:
You’re putting a hypothetical question to me because all the Prime Minister has said so far is that the cupboard is bare and that what has been previously ruled out is now, potentially at least, being ruled in. We don’t know whether it’s a Medicare levy. We don’t know whether it’s capital gains tax on the family home. We don’t know whether it’s a new attack on people’s superannuation. We don’t know whether it’s death duties. Let the Government put people out of this horrible uncertainty and then obviously the Opposition is in a position to respond.
QUESTION:
So can we answer that question, though? This idea of using an increase of the Medicare levy has been around before. What’s your immediate response to… if the cupboard is bare and, as you say, it has to be paid for; you’ve said that support for it is bipartisan. Would you support that legislation in Parliament?
TONY ABBOTT:
But the cupboard is only bare because this is a government with a spending problem. There’s no revenue problem. Revenue is up $70 billion a year on 2007. There’s a spending problem because spending is up $100 billion a year since 2007. Now, let the Government say exactly what it’s going to do and then the Opposition is in a position to respond but at the moment, in the Prime Minister’s own words, everything is now on the table: death duties, capital gains tax on the family home, a new attack on superannuation as well as potentially an increase in the Medicare levy.
QUESTION:
And if elected Prime Minister and the Government was able to get this through Parliament with the help of the independents, would you find a different way to fund it or do you accept the status quo that was bowled up by the Parliament?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, as I say, this is a government which is terrific at creating uncertainty, hopeless at actually getting anything done. Let’s see what specific proposal this government comes up with. Let’s see whether it can get it through the Parliament and then we’ll deal with that situation, but what you can’t credibly ask the opposition to do is to rule things in and out in advance of the Government actually putting forward a specific proposal.
QUESTION:
So, how are you going to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme, then?
TONY ABBOTT:
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We will fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme over the long run by building a strong economy. A strong economy can sustain a generous National Disability Insurance Scheme. A strong economy can sustain better education funding. A weak economy can’t really sustain anything because in a weak economy you are always robbing Peter to pay Paul. I don’t want to do that. I want to generate the additional revenue that a strong economy will provide.
QUESTION:
You haven’t ruled out a levy though in any way over the last six or so questions; keeping one in place.
TONY ABBOTT:
I’m saying that it’s up to the Prime Minister. It’s up to the Prime Minister - having raised all this uncertainty, having made all these promises, having raised all these expectations - to tell us exactly how it is going to be funded and at the moment, the Australian people are shaking their heads in wonder and bewilderment and dismay over just what kind of a budgetary mess this government has got itself into.
TONY ABBOTT:
But there’s a high likelihood that you will be the Prime Minister in less than five months. Surely you have a responsibility to tell us how you are going to pay for it?
TONY ABBOTT:
And I will tell people exactly how I think it should be paid for in response to what the Government puts forward.
QUESTION:
This morning Joe Hockey was asked whether the NDIS was still affordable. He said it depends on the state of the Budget. Is the Coalition still completely committed to delivering the NDIS in the same timeframe as the Labor Government has put forward?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well again, the Government hasn’t really put forward a timeframe. They have made a $1 billion commitment. That $1 billion is funding various trials over the next couple of years. The Government hasn’t given us a forward funding envelope, they just haven’t, and I call on them to do so as quickly as possible and to demonstrate exactly how they are going to fund it - not just for a year or two years, not just for four years but for the eight or nine years that might be necessary to put it fully into operation.
QUESTION:
Can I ask you to clarify your position on Gonski? Will the Coalition unpick Gonski if all the states and territories don’t sign up? There’s a bit of confusion there about what the Coalition will do.
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, I don’t think there is any confusion about the Coalition. I think the confusion is all with the Government because we still don’t know what precise deal the Government has offered to New South Wales. We don’t know what deal was offered to the Northern Territory earlier in the week. I mean, this is a pretty desperate government and a pretty desperate Prime Minister running around saying one thing in public and offering different things in private. Now, let’s see exactly what the Government can deliver
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because at the moment we have got a government which is terrific at making promises but hopeless at actually delivering on any of them.
QUESTION:
Just on your position, so for example Joe Hockey said this morning that we have said repeatedly that if all the states don’t sign up then it is not a plan that we can support. Previously Christopher Pyne has said if the majority of states, the vast majority of states sign up. So, is it all the states or a vast majority?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, let’s wait and see what the Prime Minister can bring about but plainly if some states aren’t part of it, it is not a national plan.
QUESTION:
But how can you unpick it? I mean, if Barry O’Farrell signs the deal and the money flows to New South Wales are you then proposing to claw back some of that money down the track if other states don’t sign on?
TONY ABBOTT:
I have always said that the states cannot assume that any bad deal which is negotiated by this government will necessarily be sustained by a future government. It stands to reason that future governments, should there be a change of government at the election, future governments do what they think is in the national interest and that is not necessarily what this government thought was in the national interest.
QUESTION:
Just on penalty rates, yesterday you told the community forum that you wanted to maximise employment when it comes to award rates. You spoke also of the possibility of making a case to the independent arbiter to actually adjust penalty rates. Is that the path that a Coalition government would go to, to maximise employment as you put it?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, I would have thought, David, that what was pretty obvious at that forum yesterday was two things. First of all that workers’ pay and conditions are safe under the Coalition and second, that we trust the processes of the independent umpire to try and ensure that wages and conditions are properly set in a way that will maximise employment. That’s the way it is, that’s the way it should be, that’s the way it will be under us.
[ends]