Interview on ABC 24 with Kathryn Robinson
Subjects: Skilling young Australians; Section 44; Peter Dutton; Labor’s $387 billion in higher taxes; Tanya Plibersek
EO&E…………………………………………………………
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
We’re reading the reports today that the Prime Minister is set to announce a $58 million youth unemployment package today, is it enough to counter Labor’s $1 billion investments in TAFE?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well indeed this is about ensuring we get young Australians into jobs, now what we know is necessary for that is first and foremost a strong economy that is ensuring that employers are creating more jobs, we have a very strong record in that, having created nearly 1.3 million jobs across the entire Australian economy over our term in office and most importantly in this space having seen last year a record number of more than 100,000 young Australians secure a job for the first time. We want to go further than that our target and commitment is to see 250,000 young Australians employed as part of our overall jobs target of 1.25 million new jobs over the next 5 years and were investing particularly in skills, more support for apprentices, more support for employers to employ apprentices and new tradies of the future, as well as 10 new targeted skills hubs that will be located in the areas of persistent and high youth unemployment too make sure we get more assistance for those young people to transition from school through to trades into employment
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
Can you guarantee this will get more youth unemployment or get youth unemployment numbers down as opposed to Labor’s package?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Well our track record is clear having seen more than 100,000 young Australians get a job last year and what we’re doing is building on that, people won’t get jobs in the future if employers are hiring fewer people because taxes are higher to the tune of $387 billion as they will be under Bill Shorten and the Labor party, employers won’t hire young Australians if they’re uncertain about the industrial relations environment they’re working in. What we can give people certainty of, is as a Government there will be stability there will be lower taxes, greater incentive for people to hire, but also this targeted support for the training of young people to help get them in to those jobs that were confident will continue to be created
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
How bigger a part will skills will play in this? We were just speaking to Kate Carnell the Small Business and Family Enterprises Ombudsman saying that a skills package had to be central to this deal
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
It is really important there are not only areas of persistent unemployment but we also see in parts of our economy areas of persistent lack of people filling particular jobs and so in the skills area in terms of certain trades we know there’s a demand for new tradies we just have to get more young people in there and that’s why our package provides payment and incentive bonuses for current qualified tradesman to take on new apprentices, support as well for those apprentices in terms of extra cash payments, new scholarships for people to go in to trades training as well as these skills hubs in areas of persistent unemployment. So it’s a very comprehensive package and what it’s about doing is ensuring that as we keep growing the economy as our government will, keep creating record numbers of jobs as our government has that we also tackle the very particular needs for new skills and extra jobs and opportunities in some of the parts of Australia like Alice springs or Townsville or Port Pirie where there’s been persistent youth unemployment.
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
Senator as spokesperson for the campaign, let’s just have a look at the days since the announcement of the campaign, hasn’t been an ideal start you’ve been forced to let three of your preselected candidates in Melbourne go due to issues surrounding 44c of the Constitution. Can you guarantee that no other Liberal candidates will find themselves foul of this law?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
I can guarantee our party organisation is taking a zero tolerance approach when it comes to any risks related to section 44 and so it is about thoroughness in terms of the vetting and checking of candidates that we can give confidence that there will be no risks, no chances taken to make sure every candidate we have in place is one we can perceive through the election and sit in the nation’s Parliament with complete confidence in terms of their constitutionality. That’s why that decision was taken.
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
You say thoroughness and vetting but three liberal candidates got through?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well this is of course part of the process to make sure that there is double checking, triple checking where required and that’s what occurred in this instance so Australians can have confidence obviously in those cases relatively safe Labor seats but we’re still making sure in every instances across all 151 House of Representative seats the Liberal or National Party candidates stack up and will pass the test.
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
Just in relation to Peter Dutton’s apology to the Labor candidate in Dickson Ali France, do you think he should have apologised earlier?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Peter Dutton has apologised, that’s the main thing, he’s rightly said the issues that the campaign should be fought on, are policy issues and I have no doubt that the electorate of Dickson, that’s what voters want as well and they will be focused on the question of how much tax they will pay in the future, what the job prospects are for young Australians, whether or not that will be able to afford the type of opportunities for them and their families under Bill Shorten’s $387 billion of higher taxes which will be to the tune of $5400 per Australian household and that’s something that will weigh on the minds of many householders whether it’s in Dickson or any other electorate across Australia.
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
On that $387 Billion was Josh Frydenberg wrong in attributing that total figure to Treasury, when Treasury says they didn’t cost the total?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well we got Treasury advice in relation to each of the elements there and Labor have of course have higher taxes planned for retirees for houses and homes for investments.
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
But was Josh Frydenberg wrong Senator, apologies for interrupting in attributing that total figure to treasury?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
The total figure is based on treasury modelling of each of the different elements of Labor’s higher taxing policy agenda.
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
Which treasury says it didn’t take in account of the interactions of those individual numbers?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well if Labor party disputes the $387 billion figure which they have not done so yet they can always come out and say just how much their extra tax grab will tally up too. We’ve done the best we can in terms of using available treasury advice looking at Labor’s higher taxes on Australian wage earners and income earners, Labor’s higher taxes when it comes to homes and houses, their higher taxes when it comes to savings and investments, their higher taxes when it comes to retirees and pensioners, and add all of them up when you add them all up on the advice we got it comes to $387 billion worth higher taxes that Bill Shorten and the Labor Party propose to collect. They’ve not disputed the figure they can argue about the process from the Labor side but they’ve not disputed the figure and that figure is something that would be a giant whack to the Australian economy and from that there a fewer job opportunities for Australians, greater cost of living pressure for Australian households and frankly this is something that people, households, families and our economy simply can’t afford.
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
Last note on this tax number, do you accept that the Coalition has politicised the treasury over this?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
No, Wayne swan was very clear when he was treasurer that he had the Treasury cost alternative policy scenarios in turn including some that had been Liberal Party policy at the time, there is nothing unusual about what has occurred here and ultimately again we’ve got to ask what matters to Australian households not the process questions about, who did the costing how they add it up but what matters to Australian households is how much extra tax are they going to pay. Now under the Liberal and National Parties we will be bringing taxes down particularly income taxes down and eliminating the 37c in the dollar tax bracket. Under the Labor Party they’re going to keep of course taxes higher, they are not going to deal with bracket creep in the same that we are by eliminating that 37c in the dollar tax bracket and they are going to put new and additional tax pressures particularly on older Australians in terms of their new retiree tax.
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
Senator, Finally if I could just get your thoughts on the tone of the election campaign so far from really both sides. Are you happy with the way the tone is playing out thus far, we saw allegations yesterday of Scott Morrison labelling the Labor party as racist in some of their comments, we’ve seen the issues over in Curtin comments regarding the Palestinians, we just see both sides levelling out allegations of liars to each other, is this a tone you are happy with?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Look I think election campaigns everybody is held to account for what they say what they do and what the policies are now we’re running a campaign where Scott Morrison is today talking about new skills hubs for young Australians, yesterday he was talking about new investments in mental health targeted at young Australian and Indigenous Australians in particular. These are positive policies that we’re putting out there and at the forefront of what Scott Morrison is talking about but we also have to look at what the other side does whether it’s their high taxing agenda or whether it’s Tanya Plibersek deciding that the nationality of a company or investor is somehow relevant to an analysis of whether it’s a good investment or not. You’ve got to wonder why it is that you raise the fact that a company is Indian, just like Michael Daley raised the question of Chinese workers, I mean what exactly is the Labor party insinuating here, what is the undercurrent they are trying to create or feed, and that’s worth calling out in terms of the fact that there is clearly a pattern of behaviour there on the Labor side that is designed to try and create some type of reaction to Indian companies or Chinese workers and that’s not the way Australian should be, we ought to welcome anybody who pays taxes and plays be the rules in Australia.
KATHRYN ROBINSON:
Senator Simon Birmingham, many thanks for joining us today.