CANBERRA, ACT, March 19 -- The Prime Minister of Australia issued the following media release:
RYK GODDARD, HOST:Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, good morning. Welcome to Tassie.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER:Good morning. It's an absolutely stunning day here again today.
GODDARD:Head to head, kick to kick. Are you or Mary Donaldson better with the footy, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:I think - I have only seen a photo, but I'll concede a loss there, absolutely. I thought she looked absolutely sensational. She's a wonderful human being. It's been my great honour to spend some time with Their Majesties. And it is fantastic, I know that both of them are very much looking forward to being here at home for, or the former home, of course, of Queen Mary. And it will be a splendid visit where they showcase all the best of Tasmania today as well, the creativity and everything else that they have to offer.
GODDARD: Prime Minister, you're here for the National Cabinet, in part. You're running that out of here today. Jim Chalmers has ruled out cutting the fuel excise. What can you do immediately to get petrol prices back in hand?
PRIME MINISTER: What we want to do, of course, is to concentrate on ensuring supply, but also to reassure people. What we haven't seen is a reduction in supply in Australia. What we have seen is this massive surge in demand. So, getting those messages across as well. We have empowered the ACCC, the consumer watchdog, to protect motorists from unfair price rises. We've boosted fuel supply by releasing 20 per cent of the stockpile, essentially, for petrol and diesel. And we're also acting to get more fuel into the Australian market by amending, temporarily, the fuel standards. So, that has led to an increased supply as well. The key here is to make sure that we get the fuel to where it is needed, because in some parts of Australia, of course it's available, but in other parts there are shortages. So, we know there's more to do. And one of the things that I'm doing is bringing together state and territories today to make sure that we take up every practical option there is to shield Australian households from the impact, which is a global effect. This is a war that is having an impact in every corner of the world. Australia is not immune from it, but we're making sure that we act to protect people as much as is possible.
GODDARD: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, RBA Governor Michele Bullock suggested we might need a recession to bring inflation under control. Are these interest rate rises unfairly punishing workers? It's not like we're spending big money.
PRIME MINISTER:The Reserve Bank, of course, operate independently of the government. But what I'd say about our economic position is that we go into this issue that we didn't really see coming, I think the whole world didn't see the war escalating as it has in the last few weeks - but we go into it very strong. The last National Accounts saw growth, the highest that there'd been in three years. We go into it with unemployment at 4.1 per cent. There was an increase in business investment, an increase in housing construction. So, we go into it from a position of strength -
GODDARD:Yet our productivity is so low, Prime Minister, in Australia, what are we going to do to raise that?
PRIME MINISTER:What we're going to do is to make sure that we continue to invest in ways to lift productivity through business investment, but also by investing in people. I was yesterday in Burnie at the TAFE, and one of the things that Free TAFE has done is to free up those labour shortages which is there. We're concentrating on areas like construction and electrical and other areas. What that does is bring prices down and make a difference to productivity as well. So, we're continuing to work on all of those measures. We've got a Budget coming up in May. There will be savings, but there'll also be investments made in boosting productivity. One of the things we don't want to do, for example, is to completely cut infrastructure investment because that would have a negative impact on our productivity in the future.
GODDARD:You're listening to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Nipaluna, Hobart for a National Cabinet looking at how to deal with fuel supply. But also, in this Budget in May, there are a lot of people texting in Prime Minister about housing affordability, saying, 'is it time to cut negative gearing? Is it time to cut capital gains discounts?' As Gough would say - is it time for a Labor Government to have some real courage to change this intergenerational inequality?
PRIME MINISTER:One of the things that we will continue to always look at is intergenerational equity. We recognise that the generation, the younger generation today need to be given a fair go. And that's why we cut, for example, the student debt by 20 per cent. That's why we have Free TAFE. That's why we have Paid Prac for people going into nurses, nursing, midwifery, social work and other areas, including teaching. So, we understand. We're examining all of the settings which are there to make sure that giving people a fair go will be front and centre of our Budget.
GODDARD: Will that include changes to negative gearing or Capital Gains Tax, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:Look, our policy at the moment is of course for tax cuts this July and another tax cut the following July, because that is lowering that first rate, that is aimed specifically at benefiting low and middle income earners and young people in particular. People who are working part time will get a real boost from that, as well as low income workers, people just entering the workforce. We'll announce our tax policies when we've determined them. But the only one we've determined at this point in time is tax cuts for all 14 million taxpayers.
GODDARD:ABC Radio Hobart, news at half past seven. Nothing stops for the ABC news, Prime Minister. I do have to put this question to you. Is it morally wrong for gas companies to be banking massive profits out of this global conflict? And are you considering a super profits tax?
PRIME MINISTER:It's wrong for any corporation to take an advantage of what is a difficult international environment. And we're certainly examining, the ACCC are examining any abuse of market power. That's our focus at this point in time. But we would say that the Australian public will quite rightly look very harshly, to say the least, at any business that seeks to profit from the current circumstances.
GODDARD: One Nation appear to be eating into Labor's vote now. Do you think it's because they're speaking to people about issues that they feel you aren't addressing? And are you concerned about how much support they're getting in polls?
PRIME MINISTER:One Nation, of course, don't provide solutions. They do reflect a view which is expressing frustration that people feel, and we need to respond to that, and we need to respond to it constructively. My concern with the rise of One Nation is that they're a divisive political party. Pauline Hanson is a Queenslander who has sought to divide Australians in her approach to politics. What I want is solutions, and I'd rather see people from parties of government elected, whether that be in a state election or in a federal election.
GODDARD:Prime Minister, thanks for answering our questions this morning. I appreciate it. I hope you have a successful Cabinet.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
