| Subjects: The choice at this election, economic management, surplus budget, candidate vetting
EO&E…………………………………………………………
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham. Minister good morning to you.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
G’day Michael, good to be with you.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
The two opinion polls out this morning show that Labor is on track for a comfortable victory in a fortnight so is that leading the Coalition to change its tack in the final fortnight?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well no Michael these polls show that this election is very close. Each of the polls is within one or two points and that’s a demonstration of the choices Australians have to make at this election is a real one. Their votes will count, every seat will count. People need to think about the next three years, indeed the next decade when they’re making this choice as to how the competing policies of the parties will frame their lives and the future for the country. Will there be a stronger economy? Will there be more jobs? Certainly, under the Liberal-National plans, we’re confident that we will create 1.25 million new jobs for the future, and versus the Labor Party proposing, of course, $387 billion in higher taxes, no matter how much Bill Shorten refuses to talk about it.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
But these polls show that people have already decided, that they’ve heard what you have to say and they don’t like what your selling?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well Michael I disagree. I mean what you can see is continuing tightening and a very close contest and a close contest means every viewer should know that their vote is going to matter. Their vote is going to count, and they should think long and hard about them, their children, their grandchildren’s future. If they want a future where they have greater confidence of getting a job, of getting ahead, of not being burdened by higher taxes, of not finding their retirement savings raided, then they should absolutely be backing in Scott Morrison who has outlined a strong plan to keep our economy growing and create the opportunities.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Ok the Liberal campaign launch will be somewhere in Melbourne on Sunday. Does that underscore the real worry, the real concern your party has about your seats in Melbourne, and in Victoria more generally?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well every state is going to matter. Our campaign headquarters is in Queensland. The Prime Minister is from New South Wales. Our campaign launch will be in Victoria. It’s about sharing the love around if you like, about of course, ensuring that in every part of Australia, that we put a real spotlight there. The first leader’s debate was held over in Western Australia. That was something that the Prime Minister was keen to do as well. Every part of Australia has benefited from the 1.3 million jobs we’ve created over our time in office. Every part of Australia has benefited from our bringing the Budget back to surplus, which allows us to keep putting record funds into schools and hospitals and roads, and to do that without increasing taxes and that’s why we want to make sure that the message is heard in every part of the country.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Well these polls show that Melbourne could be ground zero for the Liberal Party in a fortnight, as it was for the state party late last year. One of your ministerial colleagues was telling me yesterday that the Liberal Party has written off Chisholm, Julia Banks’ old seat, and Dunkley as well, and has real concerns about Kelly O’Dwyer’s former seat of Higgins.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well we don’t write off anything. We will campaign in every seat…
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
…how bad is it looking in Melbourne?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
We will compete hard everywhere around the country. I think that the important thing for viewers to understand and the voters to appreciate is that every vote is going to matter in this election. When you have an election where the polls are showing just one or two points difference, then, of course, anybody could win it. And we want to make sure that they understand the benefits and the certainty that they get by voting for the Liberal and National Parties around the stronger economy, around the prospects for them and their families, versus the risks and the very high risk. You know this is an election that is seeing a choice that is starker than we’ve seen probably in a generation. There’s no doubt that the Labor Party has radical policies, that Bill Shorten is proposing huge spending promises day in and day out. He gets out of bed, he spends another $1 billion.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
And again, according to the polls, they seem to be working?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well, Michael, you could run the counter argument in terms of the way in which they are tightening, the closer this contest is getting. And I think that more people are looking at this election campaign, the more they’re questioning the wisdom of Labor promises that seem to pretend all the ills can be fixed by spending billions of dollars. And, of course, the question of who is going to pay the bill? And that ultimately, if the Labor Party are going to spend all of that extra money, Australians aren’t silly. They know that it is going to come out of their pockets in the end.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
We know that debt has doubled over the six years of the Liberal Party, in terms of paying the bill?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
And we’ve worked long and hard over that six years, we’ve reached the point where the Budget is now coming into surplus. And that has taken enormous restraint. We’ve managed to keep growth in Government spending to the lowest levels in 50 years. And we’ve done that because in large part we’ve created more jobs, 1.3 million jobs which has seen 100,000 jobs for young Australians created last year people. The largest ever workforce participation for women ever. The huge growth in relation to over 50s employment, at record levels under our Government as well. All of that has taken people off of welfare, reduced the pressure on Government spending, provided more for taxpaying Australians and that’s allowed us to get to the strong economy, to bring the Budget into surplus. Now, Paul Keating was there yesterday at the Labor Party campaign launch. He last delivered a surplus for a Labor government in 1989. So we haven’t seen Labor deliver a surplus.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
And we haven’t seen your team deliver one, as well.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well…
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
We won’t know until next year whether you’re right or not? If you win.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
People can have strong confidence, based on our track record, that we’ve exceeded Budget projections quite consistently. In terms of the projected deficit it’s narrowing, because we manage it carefully. We’ve got to the point where it is a very small deficit and in the current financial year that gives confidence to the surplus next year. When Wayne Swan was promising surpluses, it went in the other direction and the budget blew out.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
The Labor Party made a great show yesterday of unity and it had Kevin Rudd sitting right next to Julia Gillard. You can’t exactly do that on Sunday with Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, can you? And that underscores one of the key concerns voters have about re-electing a Morrison Government.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well, the election is a choice for the future, and let’s be honest I think that Paul Kelly’s very good book which looks at the Rudd years and Gillard years and says – the only thing that the two camps could agree upon is that they didn’t trust Bill Shorten. Now, Bill Shorten is Labor’s candidate for the future. Scott Morrison is our candidate for the future. Both parties have changed our rules, which means that whoever people elect as Prime Minister, they’ve got them for the next three years.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
It’s an issue though. You can’t in any universe see Malcolm Turnbull being forced to sit next to Tony Abbott, front row at your campaign launch on Sunday?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Malcolm Turnbull is not on the ballot paper at this election, nor is Kevin Rudd and nor is Julia Gillard. Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison are the candidates on the ballot papers for this election.
And it’s a choice between those two, and the competing promises and policies that we have. And they are chalk and cheese between stronger economic management, more jobs and lower taxes for Australians. Or higher taxes and consequences that will mean a weaker economy and fewer jobs.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Just about out of time. The RBA board meets tomorrow. Won’t a widely speculated interest rate cut be a marking down of your Government’s economic record? It will be an indication from the independent Reserve Bank board that something is seriously wrong with the Australian economy, that it seems some fuelling care of lower interest rates?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Well, I think it’s a reminder of the fact that we live in uncertain times. The strong economy that we have, the strong employment growth we’ve enjoyed, the coming of the Budget back to surplus. None of that can be taken for granted. That we have many global uncertainties. I know that, as Trade Minister, the tensions between the US and China, the pressures globally, are real. That’s why you need strong economic managers in the chair, rather than the threat of higher taxes under Bill Shorten which is not going to do anything for the economy, it will just drive it down.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Finally, as we launch into the final fortnight, is your side done with the candidate eruptions? You can safely say that there will be no more dis-endorsed candidates, in the next two weeks?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Look as I said last week Michael, I think it’s fair to say that both parties of government will, no doubt, after this election, be reviewing the vetting processes. Last week saw problems on both sides. We acted swiftly to deal with our problems. Bill Shorten was defending his candidate on Friday morning and axing him on Friday afternoon. That was a pretty untidy and unseemly affair for the Labor Party, and you have got to wonder what exactly was going on inside there, as to why he couldn’t make his mind up on a domestic violence issue in term of rape and how you portray rape and report rape, despite having seen all of the comments and all of the information, before defending his candidate.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
And there’s been some pretty foul stuff on your side, as well. Just very quickly, you’re confident that that is all done now? The candidates we have now, are those that will be standing in two weeks’ time?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
I believe that to be the case. And ultimately, Australians, though, should make their decision based on policies and the radical policy differences at this election. Not being distracted by other matters.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Simon Birmingham, really appreciate you coming into the studio.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM:
Thank you Michael.
|
