| Interview on 2GB with Ross Greenwood
Subjects: Federal Election, ZTE and Huawei, China, WTO
EO&E…………………………………………………………
ROSS GREENWOOD:
Great to have your company here on Money News right around Australia, I want to take you to the federal election because quite clearly now with the election in full steam mode it’s really a situation of both the parties jockeying not only for the national attention through their advertising and through their campaigning the lobbying but on top of that also then comes down to the way in which those messages are being received, so say for example you look at the latest news poll and this is the first Newspoll since the election was called, affectively it shows both parties are still at 52-48, in favour of Labor. Now the point about this however, is that One Nation its vote has deteriorated and that has been to the benefit of both Labor and also the Coalition, so let’s go now to the man who is responsible not only for the election campaign on behalf of the Government that is Simon Birmingham but also I want to talk to him, in his role as the Trade Minister, in regards to China taking Australia to the World Trade Organisation this is over the ban of ZTE and Huawei in rolling out our 5G network. Simon Birmingham is on the line right now. Simon many thanks for your time
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Great to be with you Ross
ROSS GREENWOOD:
Let us got to the campaign the way in which the two sides are jockeying. I mean you’re responsible for rolling out the ads trying to figure out in which of the various electorates the campaign funds going in to the strategy as it were behind it, just give people an overall sense as to how you see the jockeying of this election campaign going?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well thanks Ross, I think you’ve given me a promotion during that intro, our federal director of the Liberal Party working with the head of the National Party responsible for the advertising where that goes but certainly I have a role as the Liberal and National Party’s spokesperson during this campaign and that’s about explaining the policies and the choice that Australians have in this election and we believe this is a very significant choice at this election where there are radically different policy proposals and alternatives at stake. The Liberal and National Party over the last 5-6 years having delivered strong economic growth nearly 1.3 million more jobs, the repair of the budget and back in to surplus. The opportunity that we’ve had now to implement tax breaks for small business’ for many Australian wage earners to deal with bracket creep by eliminating the 37c in the dollar tax bracket as part of our tax reform proposals to lower the 32c tax bracket down to 30c these are all about ensuring we have a strong economy that keeps generating jobs in the future and our plans for 1.25 million more jobs for paying down Labors debt. For delivering that further tax relief for of course using all that to guarantee we continue to increase funding for schools, hospitals, medicines and roads and all that’s in contrast we would argue and do argue to Bill Shorten and the Labor party who’ve got some $387 billion worth of higher taxes that they are committed to applying, some of it in income tax, some of it in tax on retirees, some of it in tax in terms of other investments or houses and of course some of it in higher costs on electricity and cars and the like, that’s a very strong choice for people.
ROSS GREENWOOD:
Ok so that’s the ad as it were for the Coalition but just one important part about this, if the Coalition were to get in given the polls are so tight right now it would be a relatively slender margin. Now some people would say that only gives the minor parties more power and so as a result you are doing deals with Bob Katter or others or in the Senate you might be having to do deals with say Clive Palmer if he gains more power or even One Nation even though it might be losing votes right now. Does Australia really in those circumstances if the Coalition only just sneaks across the line is Australia in a stronger position over the next 3 years that it has been over in the previous 6?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well Ross, governments historically in Australia are those of Bob Hawke or John Howard have overwhelmingly not been in control of the Senate and have always had to work with minor parties in the Senate to be able to implement their agenda. We with a very narrow margin in the Parliament over the last 3 years have still been able to bring the Budget back to this point of surplus, get us to the position where we’ve been able to legislate tax cuts during the time of this Parliament. We’ve achieved a lot with a narrow margin in the House of Representatives, a Senate that has been difficult and challenging at times but we’ve got it done and ultimately Australians need to choose who they want to sit around the Cabinet table what gets presented to the Parliament is the policies of the Government of the day and those policies will either be the policies of the Liberal and National Parties to continue on the path we’re on for strong economy, growing more jobs, creating more opportunities for Australian households to know that they can get ahead keep more of their hard earned money have the opportunity to know that their children, their grandchildren have got the best possible chance to secure a job versus the risks that come with much higher taxing and spending Labor Party and the threat that would be to job prospects and ultimately the cost pressures that would apply on Australian households.
ROSS GREENWOOD:
Do you imagine the Coalition would be in a stronger standing in those polls if Malcom Turnbull was still leading a united Coalition as compared with what clearly has taken place, and many people are concerned about the Coalition simply because of the lack of unity?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well Ross, there’s little doubt that people don’t like shenanigans in Canberra and that is why we have taken the steps in Scott Morrison becoming Leader to change the Party rules to make sure those sorts of things can never happen again. Now I don’t know, hypothetically, what things would look like right now with different circumstances, different leaders or the like, but I do know the choice the election is between Scott Morrison for the next three years and our policies or Bill Shorten for the next three years and Labor’s policies and that is the choice that Australian’s face and they can be very confident because of the rule changes that both major parties have put in place that if they vote for Scott Morrison he will be the Prime Minister for the next three years. We will get on with implementing the policies that build on our six years of accomplishment in having a stronger economy and that’s not just the lower taxes, the balanced budget, it is also targeted policies, to generate 80,000 new apprentice opportunities for young Australians to invest more in mental health support, to make sure that we are supporting Australians with continued record investment in our schools and hospitals. Or they’ll be stuck with Bill Shorten for the next three years and we know from the Labor Party that their policies, if you break down that $387 billion dollars in higher taxes, Labor will be legislating in ways that will take more money of retirees through changes to franking credits and that will take more money off property investors and reduce home owners values and drive up rents through their changes to negative gearing, that will ultimately hurt investment and small business through other tax changes that they’ve proposed, that the cost of the average car will go up by an estimated $5,000 as a result of the emissions standards that they’ve proposed for vehicles for the future. That electricity will go up significantly as a result of Labor’s commitments in plans and terms of energy reform, as part of their climate change policies that take already large emissions obligations Australia has committed to and virtually double them. So it ultimately is a choice. Every election is a choice but at this election the policy differences between the sides are stark and strong and there’s a lot at stake for Australia’s future, and for Australian households in terms of how they live and they’re cost of living pressures.
ROSS GREENWOOD:
I want to take to your position as Trade Minister the Government is in caretaker mode and during this period China has lodged with the global trade umpire which is the Wold Trade Organisation a protest against Australia’s action to ban both ZCE plus also Huawei from participating in the rollout of infrastructure for our 5G technology so the mobile phone technology. In regards to Australia which is followed actions of course by the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand, that have done similar things and it’s been on national security advice from amongst others the Australian Signals Directorate, is it one of these things that Australia would [indistinct) from or would we defend ourselves strongly in that WTO process?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well what our Government has done is focus on how we ensure the safety and security of all aspects of Australia and that of course has been shown in border protection policies, in stopping the boats, it’s been shown in investment, in defence, in infrastructure spending in lifting defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP, as well as investing in creating a sovereign naval ship building capacity in Australia for what is the largest peacetime step up in terms of the infrastructure our Navy has available to it over the coming decades. But also look to those areas of technology as well and what the risks are for Australia in the future and we have looked at the 5G network particularly which is next step in telecommunications infrastructure and technology, and our view is that because that network and the use of 5G technology will be so all pervasive in terms of the different impacts that is has on our economy on our way of life that no network operator should be able to engage in the network if they are potentially subject to the directions of a foreign government, now that’s not a decision we’ve taken again any one country, not a decision we’ve taken against any one telecommunications provider, it is simply about ensuring the sovereignty and safety of our network. We are confident that the national security exceptions that exist in World Trade Organization rules mean that the position we’ve taken is compliant as Australia is a country that relies on the WTO to give us market access that’s allowed us to grow our exports to record levels and a record trade surplus that we recorded just last year, and we are confident that the actions we take on this decision as on any other are compliment with those WTO rules and we will answer those questions appropriately in due course and defend any complaints that are made against Australia’s decisions.
ROSS GREENWOOD:
Simon Birmingham is our Trade Minister and also the Government spokesperson for the current election campaign and Simon I appreciate your time on the programme this evening.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
My pleasure, thanks so much Ross.
|
