AUSTIN: Minister, good morning to you.
WONG: Good morning, Steve, good to be with you.
AUSTIN: Thank you, its good to have you on. Why is the Forum being held?
WONG: We have an economy thats extremely strong and youll recall last week that we had a lot of strong economic data which showed strong growth, low unemployment, jobs continuing to be created as well as falling interest rates and contained inflation. So, theyre all very very good figures. But we also know we have an economy which is facing some big changes because of whats going on in the world a high dollar, which is putting a lot of pressure on particularly export sectors, and a big shift because of whats occurring in terms of the massive investment in the mining industry.
So, this is a Forum that is looking at these long term changes and an exchange of ideas about what we can do now, what more we can do, to prepare Australia for that future and to make sure the prosperity were enjoying, the relative prosperity were enjoying, as a nation today is something which will continue in the decades ahead.
AUSTIN: It looks like theres almost a global, quite a fundamental, realignment of global forces taking place. The decline of the West and the rise of the East. Whats the federal Governments view on this?
WONG: Youre absolutely right. Were living through the biggest shift in the global economy in over, probably, close to a century. And this century will see a shift away from West to East and will see the continued growth in China and India and in the countries of our region. And that presents enormous opportunities for Australia. But there are some pretty big challenges as well. And whilst the Government is doing a lot in terms of our investment in skills, for example, to prepare for this change, we want to keep in close dialogue with business, with civil society, to ensure were on the right path to making prosperity, as I said, sustained for decades ahead.
AUSTIN: Was Premier Campbell Newman, Queensland Premier, invited?
WONG: The Prime Ministers made clear that he was and theres a spot for him if he wants to attend. Obviously, thats ultimately a matter for him.
AUSTIN: When was he invited?
WONG: Im sorry, Im not the person that sends out the invitations for these events. But I understand he was invited. If he doesnt wish to attend, obviously thats up to him. I would prefer him and other Premiers to be there because I think this is the story of our time. This shift in the global economy that you describe, and leaders today have to focus on what that means for the future because what we do today will define our future opportunities.
AUSTIN: Did he say why he couldnt attend?
WONG: Im not across what the Premiers said about his attendance, to be honest with you, youd have to ask him.
AUSTIN: Okay. What about the West Australian Premier?
WONG: I understand hes not attending. I understand Premier Barnetts chosen not to attend.
AUSTIN: Its unusual that for such a Forum as this, thats looking at Australias engagement with Asia, that the two states that are engaging most with Asia, the Premiers wont be there.
WONG: And our preference would be for them to be part of this dialogue. Because, of course, what we described as a patchwork economy isnt just between states, its also within states. So if you work in manufacturing or, for example, tourism, your experience whether youre in Queensland or WA is pretty different to somebody whos working in the mining sector. So, these are issues which affect us all as a nation and I would like to put politics aside and focus on what we can continue to do thats best for everybody.
AUSTIN: Lets focus on business leaders. Was the head of China First, Clive Palmer, invited?
WONG: (laughs) I think Mr Palmers made his views on this Forum clear, hasnt he? I seem to recall something in the papers about that. Weve got, I think its about 60 business people attending and they range across Australia. From my home state, weve got David Knox whos the CEO of Santos ...
AUSTIN: I phoned half of them this morning trying to get them to come on the program, but sadly not one of them would this morning.
WONG: Weve got David Peever whos the Managing Director of Rio Tinto, as well as people from a whole range of different sectors. Obviously, whenever you have a Forum people will say: Well, why didnt you invite X or Y?, but you have to try and get a cross-section of Australian industry and I think weve done that.
AUSTIN: Let me invert my question what Queensland business groups or business leaders were actually invited to it? From Queensland?
WONG: I know that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland will be attending. I dont have the whole list in front of me and obviously its a national forum so youll see a range of people from different states. Im pretty sure, for example, we have QR National represented ...
AUSTIN: Yes, Lance Hockeridge, yes ...
WONG: ... and Mr Carter, Mike Carter, I think. And obviously the Treasurer will certainly be there and hes a very proud Queenslander.
AUSTIN: This is 612 ABC Brisbane and ABC Digital. Finance Minister and Minister for Deregulation, Penny Wong is my guest. There are apparently around 100 million Chinese wanting to come to Australia for reasons of tourism in the next three years. Now, I know youre looking a bit at export, but what is Australia doing to prepare for this and to take advantage, particularly the hospitality industries and more which those hospitality regions, Cairns in the far north and the Gold Coast here are the ones that have been hit hardest by that, but theres no indication that a great deal has been done to try to track those Chinese that are just how we pitch Australia to them when they come.
WONG: Thats a really good question, Steve, and I think its a subset of the bigger question which is what do we do as a nation now to best exploit and seize the opportunities of the Asian Century, whether its in tourism, whether its in the sorts of services and goods we supply into the markets of Asia as more and more Chinese and Indians and others in our region enter the middle class, and so have more disposable income.
You might recall that the PM has commissioned a White Paper of Australia in the Asian Century, which will look across a whole range of sectors, and I would assume including tourism, to consider what are the policy settings we need to change or work on or build on to better prepare those sectors for the engagement with Asia. Well have a presentation on that White Paper which is being led by Dr Henry, but is involving key business leaders as well at the Forum tomorrow.
AUSTIN: Alright. Now, todays Australian newspaper carries a story that suggests that companies in fact, Ill quote from it that companies that integrate with Asia would deserve more industry assistance than others under some of the policy changes being considered by your Government and it quotes Craig Emerson from Queensland, Trade Minister, in the story. Exactly what have you got in mind?
WONG: Theres been a lot of discussion about what is the way the Government can help with the change in the Australian economy. How do you manage change? And I suppose we put most of our investment into Australias people. We put most of our investment into skills and training, to try and lift the skills base of the Australian workforce, lift the number of people in university, lift the number of people in vocational training and make training more responsive to industry needs.
This is a difficult issue because there are always firms who would say: look, the high dollars really hard on my business, I need assistance. And I think what Craig is talking about and what the PM has talked about is that we have to think very carefully about how we provide assistance to ensure were about building more opportunity, rather than supporting businesses which may not be sustainable in the longer term. And we have to find ways to help businesses shift and change their business model so they can better trade with Asia and they can better take the opportunities we know will come as more and more people get more disposable income in the countries near to us.
AUSTIN: I guess whats in my mind is that weve known that for some time now its too late. The horse has bolted.
WONG: I dont think thats right. I think weve done a lot in terms of investment in people and weve got more Australian children in university than ever before. Weve got more people in training than ever before. And weve almost doubled schools funding. Now, theyre very big investments. And we know there are decades to go in terms of this shift.
But youre right, theres always more to do and were living through a period of very fast change I suppose every generation says that, but it is a period of big economic change, and weve got to keep working together to make the best of it and thats what the Forums about. Can I just say one thing a couple of people have said to me: Oh, is this just another talkfest? And I just refer people back to the Tax Forum we had which I thought was a really useful discussion ...
AUSTIN: Most of which wasnt implemented ...
WONG: No, thats not true. I was about to say that, in fact, of the work programs that came out of the Tax Forum was the Business Tax Working Group. We picked up in the Budget at least one of the suggestions they had which is what we call the Loss Carry Back for business which is essentially a bit of flexibility in the tax laws to recognise that people are going through a time of change and they want to be able to offset their losses.
AUSTIN: Weve got to go to News. Thank you very much for your time this morning.
WONG: Good to be with you.
ENDS