INTERVIEW WITH ALI MOORE AND CHRIS UHLMANN, ABC 24

ALI MOORE: Welcome, Minister.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks, Ali.

MOORE: Leaks first. Do you think the leak’s coming from the Rudd camp and do you think there are more of them to come?

BOWEN: Well, Ali, I’m going to leave you and your colleagues to speculate on the source of allegations and leaks. I’m just basing my comments on the facts. The fact of the matter, as I see it, is that Julia Gillard has been a supporter of these two policies from the beginning. In all my dealings with her, whether it’s as Human Services Minister with responsibility for Centrelink which implements the bulk of these initiatives, whether it’s as a member of the Expenditure Review Committee where I work closely with her, she has been a supporter of both policies, a strong supporter of both policies from the beginning. Of course, she’s sought to bring some fiscal rigour to the process and ensure that the programs are both affordable. But not only for the last few months, not only for the last few years, she’s been a strong supporter of paid parental leave and a dignified and comfortable retirement for Australians.

CHRIS UHLMANN: But one leak looks like something that’s unfortunate, too; it looks like [inaudible] campaign. Are you sure that this is the end of it? It looks like there’s going to be tit for tat between a couple of camps inside the Labor Party for the rest of this campaign.

BOWEN: Look, I’m not sure that’s right, Chris. I’m not sure I’d agree with that characterisation. You see statements, leaks on both sides of politics from time to time, and I’m just basing, as I say, my commentary on the facts of the matter which is that the Cabinet is united and that Julia Gillard has been a very strong advocate for both of these policies, for the biggest increase in the Age Pension in 100 years and for the long overdue introduction of paid parental leave in Australia; both achievements we’re proud of, achievements she’s proud of and achievements which the previous Government failed to get around to.

UHLMANN: But every day in a campaign’s important, isn’t it? You need every day to be getting your message out and today’s another day where you’re having to explain something that’s outside your control.

BOWEN: But we’re also talking about two of this Government’s best achievements. We’re talking about paid parental leave and we’re talking about the biggest increase in the Age Pension in 100 years, a $100 increase for pensioners. So I’ll take any opportunity to talk about those things, Chris, and if this is what it takes for you to ask me questions about our great achievements, look, I’ll take that opportunity.

MOORE: The Prime Minister reiterated today that Kevin Rudd would be offered a senior Ministerial position if you’re re-elected. Would you be comfortable working with him around the Cabinet table?

BOWEN: Absolutely.

MOORE: And the rest of your Cabinet colleagues?

BOWEN: Absolutely. He’s still a relatively young man with a lot to offer to Australia and it’s unsurprising that the Prime Minister has made it very clear that she wants him in a very senior Cabinet role.

MOORE: Do you endorse the comments of Simon Crean at the weekend, that it’s up to Kevin Rudd to decide to be a team player?

BOWEN: Well, Simon was talking, I think, personally as a former leader who’s been through the hurt of losing the leadership, and he was talking about his experiences and what it takes to come back from losing the leadership. I think those comments were well meant and well taken.

UHLMANN: What do you think about the fact that Kevin Rudd’s taken Labor off his posters in Queensland?

BOWEN: Well, Chris, let’s –

UHLMANN: You don’t think he’s sending a message at all? Everyone else has it.

BOWEN: Let’s be fair dinkum here, Chris. I don’t think there’s anybody who’s in any doubt that Kevin Rudd is the Labor candidate for Griffith, just as I don’t think there’s any doubt in anybody’s mind that Malcolm Turnbull is the Liberal candidate for Wentworth. Whether somebody’s got Labor emblazoned on their posters or the Liberal Party logo, when you’re talking about two very high profile people who have both led their parties, everybody knows where they stand and which party they’re in. I think we’re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves to be talking about the matter of their campaign posters.

UHLMANN: You’ve made much of the way that you’re going about trying to cut the company tax rate. You’re doing it by implementing a mining tax, cutting it down to 29 cents in the dollar. Now, well, you’ve been undercut today; the Liberal Party’s coming down to 28.5.

BOWEN: Well, how pathetic, Chris. I mean, this is a two card trick and a pathetic one at this. Here we have the Liberal Party saying, ‘We’re going to cut your company tax rate, oh and by the way, we’re going to increase it as well.’ I mean, this is one of the biggest con jobs I have seen in economic policy ever.

MOORE: To be fair, that’s only for a small proportion of the very biggest companies.

BOWEN: No, it’s not. To be fair, Ali, it’s not. It’s for 3,000 medium sized and large companies in Australia, some of Australia’s biggest employers, companies which very much deal with the provision of basic goods and services to Australians.

MOORE: That still means all small businesses and the vast bulk of medium sized businesses with a tax rate lower than what you’re offering.

BOWEN: Well, Ali, we are the ones proposing a cut in the corporate tax rate and we have for some time. It was only a few weeks ago that Tony Abbott was saying, ‘Nobody’s going to notice a two per cent cut in the corporate tax rate’ and now we’re expected to believe that this 1.5 per cent cut in the corporate tax rate, which is accompanied for many businesses with a 1.7 per cent increase in the corporate tax rate, is good public policy. I mean, this is trying to turn the train in two directions at once.

UHLMANN: But they’re saying they’re delivering this by cutting Government expenditure and you’re putting up taxes in order to deliver it.

BOWEN: Well –

UHLMANN: There’d be a mining tax in place in order to deliver that company tax rate.

BOWEN: We very clearly are funding our corporate tax rate through the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, yes, that’s right, because that’s the fiscally responsible thing to do. Now, Tony Abbott says, ‘Oh, we’ll pay for this through prudent management.’ Well, show us the savings. I mean, a lot of the savings –

UHLMANN: They say they’ve got $24 billion worth.

BOWEN: Their savings, I mean, let’s go through their savings: don’t have a National Broadband Network. A) I would say that’s not a saving anybody should take; it’s a vital investment in the infrastructure of Australia. It’s a capital expenditure. You save it once. A corporate tax rate goes on forever. Selling Medibank Private: you get the money once. So I hope the Liberal Party is not claiming to pay for recurrent expenditure with capital savings. We’ll judge that as the campaign unfolds.

UHLMANN: They’re saying it’s $24 billion worth of recurrent savings.

BOWEN: Well – UHLMANN: $47 billion [inaudible].

BOWEN: And let’s see, Chris, let’s see them submit their savings to the Charter of Budget Honesty, to the Department of Finance and the Department of Treasury. They said they couldn’t do that before the pre-election fiscal outlook was released. Well, that’s released now. It was released in recent days. Time’s now up for the Liberal Party: submit your policies for full costing by the Department of Finance and the Treasury, and then we’ll have a full accounting of our savings, our proposals, our spending, our costings, and theirs, and I’m more than happy for our policies to be judged on that basis.  

MOORE: Minister, just a quick one before you go. Today’s inflation numbers: was there a wave of relief going through all those in Government? 

BOWEN: It’s a welcome figure, that inflation is under market expectations, that’s welcome, and of course it gives the lie to Joe Hockey’s scare campaign that somehow stimulus and Government spending was feeding inflation and putting upward pressure on interest rates.

MOORE: So you wouldn’t have liked a rate rise, would you, a couple of weeks before the election?

BOWEN: As an economic Minister, Ali, as you know, I don’t have the luxury of commenting or speculating on interest rate movements and whether they may be coming or not. But it is welcome that inflation is lower than market expectations. It shows that the economy, the economic fundamentals in Australia are sound, as we’ve been saying they are. I should say, of course, we shouldn’t forget that there are still many Australians with real cost of living pressures on them, and we shouldn’t let these figures take our attention away from that, and that’s why, for example, we are so keen on our Education Tax Rebate expansion, our increase in the Child Care Rebate and our other measures which improve the cost of living for many Australians.

MOORE: Chris Bowen, many thanks for joining us.

BOWEN: Great pleasure.

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