TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW,
BOONAH, QUEENSLAND
28 May 2001
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you come to an area where certainly during the State election you wern’t polling too well. What’s been the response you’ve received here particularly to policies of the Budget last week and also your compensation package for dairy farmers?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well on the last thing I’ve had a very positive response from a number of people in the dairy industry. A couple of people have come up to me and said how welcome the dairy package has been. I’ve found a generally responsive mood but of course you have to meet a lot of people to get the aggregate opinion of everybody. But the mood’s been responsive. Of course the area is incredibly well represented by Kay Elson who’s an outstandingly active and energetic local member. I am not surprised that people feel they have quality representation in the national parliament in an area like Boonah.
JOURNALIST:
How much ground do you need to make up in the bush at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I can’t give a running day to day commentary on our electoral fortunes. I don’t intend to do that. What we are doing at the moment is to address areas of particular concern that we have while maintaining very strong economic policies. The best message I can give to the bush is don’t go back to the 22 and 23% interest rates of the Keating/Beazley years. If there’s one thing above everything else that my Government has done for farmers it’s been to cut interest rates dramatically. And the worst thing that you could visit upon the farmers of Australia, the rural people of Australia, would be to go back to those horrifically high interest rates. And you will get that under a Labor Government because they always spend, they always go into deficit, they always go into debt. Now there are many other things that we’ve done for rural Australia but the greatest gift that we’ve given rural Australia is lower interest rates. Now there are problems, and I don’t take anything for granted and we have a big political battle ahead of us but I’m encouraged that the budget’s been well received but we’ve still got along way to go.
JOURNALIST:
Is the Queensland branch of your party one of the problems?
PRIME MINISTER:
The Queensland branch of the Liberal Party has agreed on a reform program that’s got a new committee, with input, and a partnership with the Federal organisation and everybody’s working very hard to win the Federal election. To hold the seats that we now have in Queensland and to carry the fight into areas like Dixon and Capricornia.
JOURNALIST:
Will Bob Quinn be involved in the campaign?
PRIME MINISTER:
I’m sure he will but I mean it’s overwhelmingly a Federal campaign, but he will be very welcome. He’s doing a very good job in a difficult situation, he’ll be very welcome but overwhelmingly it’s a Federal campaign.
JOURNALIST:
It looks like.John Anderson could loose his safe National seat, what do you say about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don’t think he will. I thought his response this morning was very strong. He made the point that I’ve made that interest rates represent one of the greatest things that this Government has done for rural Australia.
JOURNALIST:
The proposed detention centre in this area is obviously an issue in the region. Do you think it’s an issue yourself. And furthermore do you think it’s a necessity?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there is no proposal.
JOURNALIST:
On Internet gambling Packer’s taking his gambling services off shore so is the latest scheme going to be worth while?
PRIME MINSTER:
Well we think it’s desirable because it will make an impact on the expansion of gambling in this country. This country has enough gambling already.We need less gambling rather than more. It doesn’t really matter who’s involved, personalities don’t matter. There is a social problem with some people who gamble. And I know it’s unpopular what the Government is doing with some treatment but we are determined to do what we can at a federal level to curve the growth of gambling. There’s not a lot the Federal Government could do. Most of the options are available to State Government’s and most of the options are available to state governments and most of them seem reluctant to do anything because they’re hooked on the revenue. Now it’s a pity they don’t put their social obligations against their revenue gathering proclivities, particularly in the light of the generous treatment they’re getting from the GST. I mean the state of Queensland will be the first beneficiary in relation to enhanced GST revenue.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister can I turn your attention to tax. Yesterday you had no intention to increase taxes in your next term. Was that a watering down and …
PRIME MINISTER:
No it’s not. No let me just say it again in case there’s any doubt. I am intrigued at the statement ‘that we won’t’, is different from a statement ‘it is not our intention’. A future Coalition Government will not be lifting income tax, we won’t be lifting the Medicare levy, we won’t be lifting indirect taxes and we won’t be lifting capital gains tax or company tax. We have in fact cut the tax burden and the commitment I give in relation to that is absolute and unconditional. The real debate about tax at the present time is how is Mr Beazley going to pay for rollback? I mean what Senator Conroy did was to blow the cover on this great fraud that Mr Beazley’s been running on the Australian people. The idea that you can rollback the GST without telling the Australian public how you’re going to pay for it is an insult to Australians. And Senator Conroy instead of being lambasted for having made a mistake, he didn’t make a mistake, he told the truth. The truth is you cannot rollback the GST without finding the money to pay for the rollback. Now what taxes is Mr Beazley, if he became prime minister, going to increase to pay for rollback?
JOURNALIST:
You say it’s some months off until we see …yesterday you said it was some months off until we see your (inaudible) tax plan…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well no I said it would be some months before we released our election policy. I mean we have a tax plan already. Our tax plan is the new tax system that cut personal tax by $12 billion. Our tax plan is the GST that replaced the wholesale sales tax. Our tax plan is lower diesel excise for people in the bush. Our tax plan is lower company tax. Our tax plan is lower capital gains tax. Our tax plan is on the table. Mr Beazley said he’s going to roll it back. Okay, that’s the debate, that’s the argument. How’s he going to pay for the rollback?
JOURNALIST:
On that basis then why should Labor not wait for the election campaign till it sees the state of the books?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look the Labor Party knows the economic conditions under which it’s going to operate. They’ve seen the Budget. They’re putting off the evil day, hoping that something McCawber-like will turn up to absolve them from the responsibility of coming clean with the Australian public. Well I’ve got news for Mr Beazley, you can’t hide from the Australian public any longer. They know what we have done in relation to the tax system. They know they’ve got personal tax cuts under this government. They know they’ve got lower company tax. They know they’ve got lower capital gains tax. Mr Beazley says, oh I’m going to roll it back. Well okay, tell us how you’re going to pay for the rollback. Senator Conroy blew your cover Mr Beazley. You now have to come clean and tell us how will you pay for rollback. That’s the tax debate in Australia and that is the tax debate that will go on from now until polling day – how you’re going to pay for rollback? Where’s the money coming from Mr Beazley?
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard you compared tax cuts in the US to Australia and saying that as a percentage of GDP 1.7% here and 1.3% there. Alan Oster the Chief Economist of the National Australia Bank says well if you actually take into account indirect taxes like the GST, it’s more like less than 1%.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that’s not the advice I have from the Treasury, so perhaps Alan Oster and the Federal Treasury should go and have a debate.
END
