The Prime Minister's interview with Oliver Peterson, 6PR
OLIVER PETERSON: Welcome to Perth Live.
PRIME MINISTER: G’day, Oly. Good to be with you.
PETERSON: Your Government has handed down now its latest Budget. You've been in power for almost a decade, recently steering us through a very tough time. But poll after poll shows you're going to lose this election. Have people stopped listening despite the good news?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ve heard all that before. Previous prime ministers have heard that before, and they've gone on, as they have, to be able to win the support of the Australian people. But that's not what last night's Budget is about. Last night’s Budget is about ensuring that the $100 billion improvement we’ve had to our Budget in just the last 12 months by Australia coming through strongly out of this pandemic, that we can immediately move to provide people with the cost of living pressure relief that we're providing by halving the tax on petrol, by ensuring we're firing further tax cuts when people put in their tax return on the 1st of July, and providing $250 supports to pensioners and others dependent on those payments so they can deal with those cost of living pressures now. It's targeted, it's responsible. That $100 billion improvement we've had enables us to do that and that's what gets the job done.
PETERSON: You've really throwing the kitchen sink at Australians right now, Prime Minister. Is it about buying votes?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I just said, it's about rising cost of living, it's about a war in Ukraine that's driving up petrol prices. That's why we need to take this action right now. Same reason we put in place JobKeeper. We knew when we had to do it, we knew when we had to stop it. And this is what Australians need right now. The cost of living pressures from the fuel price increases have been very harsh, and that's not their fault. It's nobody's fault. It’s the, it's the war in Ukraine and that's driving up petrol prices and that feeds into the price of absolutely everything - groceries and food and all of these things, as well as petrol, the costs for business and doing business. And so providing this relief ensures that Australians can deal with these cost of living pressures. We're coming out of COVID, we’re coming strongly out of COVID. Our economy is stronger than the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, Italy. And, as a result, we can do this because we've managed the economy well through the pandemic, unemployment's down to four per cent, and that that is enabling us to be able to give Australians support they need right now to shield against these cost of living price increases. And as they're getting up and going forward, we're not going to let them hold that, we're not going to allow them to be held back.
PETERSON: And you look at that unemployment figure, it's going to go down even further, to three and a half per cent. Can you see, though, that some people might be confused, because on the one hand you're telling us now the economy is going gangbusters, but then you're spending almost $9 billion to ease the cost of living pressures. If the economy is doing so well, why is there the need to spend?
PRIME MINISTER: There is a need to address cost of living pressures because there's been a war in the Ukraine …
PETERSON: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: … which has driven up fuel prices. All Australians understand that. This has happened far away from our shores, and so they need that support right now. Now, it's not needed permanently. We've got, you know, there’s tax relief that has been delivered out into the future, and and have been delivering ever since we came into government. And so we have been providing that relief so people can keep more of what they earn, and small businesses are paying less tax. In this Budget we invest in the future, and particularly in the area of health. I mean, I was over there on Sunday to announce the the Comprehensive Cancer Centre there in Perth. That's a significant investment of some $375 million. We have the investments in Metronet. We have the investments in the Pilbara, and everybody who lives in Perth understands that what they do up in the Pilbara has a big, big impact on what people earn in Perth and the services that the whole country depends on. So backing in major regions in Western Australia - resources regions, critical minerals, rare earths, all of this is in our plan. See, we've set out our plan. It's in the Budget and this election is a choice, you mentioned about the election. It's a choice between who has got the record of managing an economy, keeping it a AAA level of our credit rating through a global pandemic and recession, and seeing unemployment fall to four per cent. Now when Labor were in power, they went from 4.2 per cent unemployment up to 5.7. We've taken it from 5.7 down to four per cent, and we've had to deal with a global pandemic and recession. Now that tells you something - while maintaining our AAA credit rating - that tells you something about the financial management of my Government. Now, my opponent, he’s never even delivered a Budget, not one, let alone the many that have been done by me and my Treasurer.
PETERSON: You announced, as you mentioned there, that Cancer Centre on the weekend. But you’re still requiring support from the State Government. “Subject to a business case,” says Premier McGowan. Is that prudent or just politics?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh no, that's prudent. I mean, I have no doubt that Mark is very keen on this project, and I spoke to him about it when we met when I was there about a week earlier and gave him the courtesy of letting him know where we'd got to on that. They'll go through their process. And I'm pleased, I mean, with, our GST deal means that on average over the next six years, that's two point, $2.5 billion extra that is coming to the Western Australian Government, straight into the state coffers. It's just over two billion that is going in next Budget year as a result. So, you know, we've been delivering for Western Australia so they can make these important investments, and the Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Perth is much needed. It's going to really transform the care and the treatment that cancer sufferers in Western Australia and Perth receive.
PETERSON: When you mention the GST deal and even the infrastructure spend, 40 per cent, it is in this Budget, above our per capita share. So you're throwing everything at us. The dry docking in Henderson, the Perth City Deal, money for the Pilbara. Do you think that Mark McGowan actually likes having you as the Prime Minister and would probably prefer you to stay there in the Lodge to keep leveraging the Federal Government for more money?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you'd have to ask him, but the reason we're doing it is because we understand how we can drive our national economy by supporting Western Australia. Western Australia is a powerhouse of economic activity, and what we invest in together in Western Australia, which Mark and I have done for many years now, it's great for Western Australians, it's great for the national economy, and whether it's the Pilbara, or whether it’s for services that we're delivering in in Perth and across the south south west, we're doing this because it's it's good for the country. And, you know, Mark and I agree on on so many things that are about driving the Western Australian economy forward. That's why I did the GST deal. I did it because it was good for the national interest, not just the Western Australian interest. And and I had to convince and take the argument forward and get it legislated in the, in the Australian Parliament. It wasn't just about coming to Western Australia and agreeing with them. I had to get all the other states and territories on board. And I can tell you, it wasn't easy, and it wasn't a one-off thing, because it keeps delivering for Western Australia year in, year out, to over the next year, six years, it's an average of $2.6 billion extra into the Western Australian Budget every single year.
PETERSON: Was consideration made in this Budget to changing the pensioner working allowance, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: No, we didn't decide to do that. What we did was ensure that we continue to invest in skills and small business tax deductions, which I think is very essential. We've got the migration program firing up again. We've got the agricultural visa and we've just been able to clinch the deal with the Vietnamese Government to ensure that that can feed into the agriculture visa. Skills training that we're doing is very important for all of Western Australia, but particularly the resources industry. And so that's where we’ve put our investments. Australians have worked hard over the course of their life and they they have every right to enjoy their retirement. And so the, if Australians above retirement age wish to work, then of course they can. But if they wish to have that retirement, then then they've earned it.
PETERSON: Would you consider changes, though? Is it something you might take to the election?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it's not something we're considering.
PETERSON: Were you blindsided by Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells labelling you an autocrat bully and not being fit to be Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: We had a pre-selection for senators in New South Wales last Saturday - 500 members of the Liberal Party had to choose between three senators - Senator Marise Payne, the Foreign Minister, Senator Jim Molan, the former General in the Defence Forces, and Senator Fierravanti-Wells. Senator Fierravanti-Wells was unsuccessful and ran third in that contest. I understand she's disappointed. She's I understand she's been disappointed in the past when other prime ministers haven't put her in the Ministry or or and been in roles that she would have liked to perform in. But politics, on occasion, people have disappointments, and so I obviously don't agree with her assessment. But if she has any formal complaint she'd like to make, in the Liberal Party we have processes for dealing with that, and I'd encourage her to do so. But other senators, Senator Hughes has been very clear today about how she has known me over 20 years, and I understand people get disappointed after they lose [sic] preselections, but there are 500 members of the Liberal Party who made that decision on the weekend, not me.
PETERSON: Have you picked up the phone and given her a call?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I haven't. I've been pretty busy with the Budget over the last, since last night.
PETERSON: Pauline Hanson's also saying today in the Senate that she was bullied by you. What do you make of her remarks?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I haven't heard that accusation, and I don't know what the basis of it is. I’ve only ever sought to work politely and cooperatively with Pauline on many, many issues over a very long time.
PETERSON: Do you think, though, this might drive voters away from both major parties, considering the bullying allegations surfacing from within the Labor Party as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they're completely without foundation, in my case. I've worked constructively with people. You know, as Prime Minister, though, Oly, you make decisions which people disagree with, and they're disappointed when you do that. And if you can't have the mettle to do that as a Prime Minister, then you can't do the job. There are things you you have to do in the national interest, which won't meet with agreement from everybody. Now that's that's the cost of leadership. And I've always paid the price of leadership because I know it's important to take the country forward. I mean, you can't be, you can't be a petal, if you're Prime Minister. You can't pretend to be anyone else either than other than yourself, like the Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese is seeking to do. You've got to be yourself and you've got to make the calls and you've got to get on with the job. And that's what I've done.
PETERSON: The Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will be addressing the Australian Parliament tomorrow night.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I invited him to do that and I'm very pleased that he can do that. And we've provided significant support to the people of Ukraine, including sending 70,000 tonnes of coal to Ukraine to power up their their energy system and we’ve been, the Defence Minister Peter Dutton has been working closely with [inaudible] to provide every support that we practically can. And it's it's difficult. I mean, Australia is a long way away. We can't meet all of the things that they're seeking. That's what NATO is is doing, and we seek to support them through, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States. But there, they are showing tremendous courage in the face of terrible adversity, and the illegal and barbaric invasion that we've seen from from President Putin.
PETERSON: Are you expecting tonight's memorial for Shane Warne, which you are attending, Prime Minister, to be a celebration of Warnie’s contribution to this country?
PRIME MINISTER: I hope so, and I hope that will be a great comfort to his family and to his friends, of which there is a legion, as well as there is being a legion of fans, and we’ll come together down there at the MCG this evening and and come together as a country and celebrate and give thanks for a great Australian life that has touched so many other Australians through his sheer sporting genius, but also because of his great iconic character that he's been in Australian life. He's uplifted the spirits of the nation on countless occasions. And everyone will have their own Warne story, but for me it's about the inspiration he's given, particularly as a sportsman, and the way he was able to lift his team and lift the country in the process. He never gave up and he always came through.
PETERSON: He sure did, and it is a very sad day for the nation to be saying farewell to Shane Warne. Any plans, finally, Prime Minister, to visit the Governor-General in the coming days?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I’ve got a lot to do.
PETERSON: You’re not going to be calling an election by the end of the weekend?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I mean, we've got work to do. We’re getting the Budget through this week and we’ll be, you know, very enthusiastically letting Australians know about what's in that Budget, which is incredibly important. The Budget is a, is a real plan. But, you know, on Thursday night, Anthony Albanese has to [inaudible] speak, and I'd like to know, and Australians would like to know, what his alternative Budget is, and that's what people deserve to hear on Thursday night. You know what my plan is. You know what our record is when it comes to the economy and jobs and keeping our economy strong for a stronger future. He's tried to be a small target. Well, now he's just an empty page, and Australians deserve to know what his alternative budget is, what his alternative plans are. They’ve been waiting three years and got nothing. He says he's do a mini budget after the election. Well, they deserve to know what's in that mini budget now. And on Thursday night, he has to tell them what it is, and if he squibs it, well, you can't vote for a blank page.
PETERSON: Scott Morrison, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Oly.
PETERSON: Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister.
