10-November-2011
Portfolio Media Releases
Interview with Marius Benson, ABC News Radio, 10 November 2011
Topics: European Debt Crisis, Mining Tax, Compulsory Superannuation Increase
CLICK HERE TO PLAY INTERVIEW
E&OE …………………………
MARIUS BENSON:
Andrew Robb, the Federal Government says, “Look at the European debt mess, and you realise just how lucky Australia is at one level, and how well-managed the economy is”, would you agree with that?
ANDREW ROBB:
Well we are, relative to the Europeans, of course, with the great blessings we’ve got out of China, and the enormous income that we’re receiving which others are not. It makes it all the more unfortunate that in many respects, the proceeds of that mining are being wasted, the boom is being wasted in many ways, so we can’t take anything for granted; we are in an economically vulnerable position if Europe brings down the world in terms of its economic activity.
MARIUS BENSON:
Nonetheless, Australian consumers do look pretty happy on the basis of the local figures with the Westpac Melbourne Institute Consumer Confidence Survey – it’s just come out – a six percent bounce. Is that optimism justified?
ANDREW ROBB:
Well you know, people have been saving, I think something in the order of $70 billion more over the last year, than they would normally save, because Australian households do have an appreciation of the vulnerability, they’ve got a sixth sense that things could turn sour on us, and if the commodity prices don’t hold up, that’s very true.
In the meantime, we are blessed with the situation we’ve got, but we’ve got to look forward, not just at the present, and make sure that we weatherproof our economy against any further turbulence, and that’s been our concern all along, that instead of being prudent, the Government has lived beyond its means, and is not looking to weatherproof our economy.
MARIUS BENSON:
Can I turn to the mining tax, you oppose the mining tax proposed by the Government, you’re in agreement with the mining lobby on that, can I get your response to a statement by the Minerals Council CEO Mitch Hooke, who told a Parliamentary Inquiry yesterday, “If I had my druthers, I’d be arguing that it wasn’t necessary for Australians to be sharing in the mining boom”. What do you make of that view?
ANDREW ROBB:
Well I read that, and I wasn’t certain of the context or what he’d said before. I find it an odd statement to make, because I know Mitch, and I know how proud he is of the fact that the mining boom has made – is making – such a huge contribution.
MARIUS BENSON:
Staying with the mining tax, the revenue being used by that is proposed by the Government to pay, in part, for the cost of the increase in compulsory superannuation, from nine percent to twelve percent, the Opposition is against the tax, and has been, until last Friday, against that superannuation increase. But on Friday Tony Abbott announced you’d be still scrapping the tax, but you’d be keeping the superannuation benefit. Do you support that change?
ANDREW ROBB:
I support everything that we’ve announced.
MARIUS BENSON:
Is it a bit irresponsible though to announce all the goodies, the spending goodies, and then say, “We’ll tell you how we’ll pay for it later”?
ANDREW ROBB:
Well it’s not as though we’re announcing all the goodies –
MARIUS BENSON:
Well there’s been the superannuation, there’s been the paid parental leave, there’s been several instances.
ANDREW ROBB:
Well we’ve told people how we’ll fund the paid parental leave –
MARIUS BENSON:
An increase in company tax?
ANDREW ROBB:
There’ll be a tax on the top 3000 companies to pay for that, so we have paid – so you’re asking is it irresponsible not to identify how we’ll pay for it, well we have identified in that instance, and there’s so much of what we will do and not do that we haven’t yet announced, and we won’t announce, until we’ve got a better feel for where Australia is at. We’re still two years, potentially, away from an election, we’re still two budgets away from an election.
MARIUS BENSON:
Were you, as it was reported, left out of the leadership phone hook up that took the decision to stay with the compulsory super, to drop the Opposition to it?
ANDREW ROBB:
I wasn’t on the call, but I know there was no intent in that, it was just one of those things.
MARIUS BENSON:
Were you, as again reported, “ropeable” about the decision?
ANDREW ROBB:
I’m not going to get into internal decisions, just like the Government, and their Cabinet discussions, I don’t intend to discuss that issue or any other issue in terms of who thought what, where and when. The fact of the matter is, we’ve reached a decision, and I strongly support it. In many cases, there’s robust discussion, but we’re part of a team, and if we didn’t have debate on issues, then it would be a fairly odd sort of situation.
MARIUS BENSON:
Andrew Robb, thank you very much.
ANDREW ROBB:
Thanks Marius.
ENDS