CURTIS: I'm joined now by the Finance Minister, Penny Wong. Penny Wong, welcome to ABC News 24.
WONG: Good to be with you.
CURTIS: Is that right? You're aiming for future credibility rather than past, given the forecasts in last year's Budget haven't been met?
WONG: No, what we're aiming for is a plan for the future. What were aiming for is funding the nation-changing reforms they are the reform of our schooling system and DisabilityCare. And we're also aiming for making the right decisions for jobs and growth. As the Treasurer said tonight in his speech, a Government can't choose the economic circumstances you confront, but you can choose what you do with them and you can choose a future that is stronger, smarter and fairer, and that's what the Labor Government has done.
CURTIS: But you also have to live with, dont you, your last year's budget predictions of four years of surpluses? Even on this year this financial year if the $17 billion of revenue you had written down had actually come in, you still would have been in deficit to the tune of $2.4 billion, wouldn't you?
WONG: Well, let's understand the challenge the nation faces and the Government faces. I know the Opposition want to pretend there is no such thing. We faced a hit of $60 billion across the forward estimates on our revenue. And, as the Treasurer said tonight, that's, I think, the second biggest hit to revenue since the Great Depression.
CURTIS: But its still increasing ... just not as much as you forecast ...
WONG: This is the second biggest hit to revenue since the Great Depression, from the people in terms of the forecast, and again I know the Opposition always want to say, well, there is some problem there, well these are the same people that did their forecast it is the Treasury. Now, we have to deal with that. And the Government made two very important decisions. The first was that we're not going to chase revenue down. Were going to put jobs and growth first. And the second was that we will take the responsible savings to chart the path back to surplus, and that's what we've done. And to fully fund DisabilityCare and the reform of Australia's schools.
CURTIS: The Treasurer says hes made $43 billion of savings over the forward estimates. About $25 billion of that is tax increases or tax changes or not going ahead with tax cuts half of that $25 billion is the $11 billion of the Medicare Levy. You're cutting your own spending by less than half of that $43 billion amount ...
WONG: Well, it's true we have already taken a great deal of savings to date, and it's true that we've added to that in this Budget. And its also true that we are a much lower taxing Government than John Howard and Peter Costello. And if you look at the most accurate measure of that, which is tax as a share of the economy, youll see ours is far lower than the one we inherited. The thing that really we see in this Budget is savings, not just for the forward estimates, but for the long term. So, the Government is saying, you know, we understand how important these reforms are to Australia's future how important it is to lift all our classrooms, how important it is to provide people with disability in this country the care and the support they should be entitled to. And so what we are going to do is lay out a plan over the decade to fund them, and that's what we've done.
CURTIS: But is the fact that there are $25 billion effectively of tax increases a recognition that, that boasts youre so much more a lower taxing government than John Howard was, actually means you cut taxes too much?
WONG: What we've done is make responsible savings and we've funded very important reforms for the future. And no doubt well be criticised I mean, you criticise us on one side, and well also be criticised on the other I'm sure people will criticise us for the decisions we've made, for example, on the Baby Bonus. But if we want to have these sorts of reforms which are about the future of the nation, then we have to make the right choices to resource them.
CURTIS: Now, if we could go to the carbon price, something you know very well from your time as Climate Change Minister, youve ...
WONG: (laughs) I've been Finance Minister for a few years now ...
CURTIS: ... youve revised down the expected carbon price in 2015. It's now at $12 a tonne. Given that there are still dangers from Europe the European economy is still not strong is that $12 a tonne still an optimistic figure?
WONG: I have to say its interesting to look at what Tony Abbott used to say about the carbon price. Remember, he always used to say that the Government's estimates were wrong because they were too low and that the carbon price would go up and up and up? Now his criticism is the other way around, but ...
CURTIS: But given the state of Europe, it's possible that it could be lower than $12 a tonne?
WONG: We have revised that price estimate. It is true it is lower and, in part, as you say, it is because of what has occurred in the global economy and particularly in the European economy, and that the recession in Europe is affecting prices across the board, not just the carbon price. We've reflected that in the Budget and we have offset the sort of revenue hit that that imposed. But the reality still remains the Government's approach to reducing emissions in Australia is much lower cost to the economy than the one that the Opposition is putting forward. Much lower cost to families and much lower cost to business.
CURTIS: On another policy area asylum seekers. The Budget says that the number of arrivals will increase next year. Isn't that a sign that the policies you've already put in place, which is not the whole of the policies you wanted to put in place, but the policies you've already put in place are not working at all?
WONG: Look, it's true we've seen an increase in arrival numbers and in part that's what's happening in the global situation. But in part that's also what has occurred in terms of the Opposition, and on this issue we know that they've put their own political interests ahead of the national interests and not allowed the Government to implement the recommendations of the Houston Report. It's quite an extraordinary thing when you see the Opposition voting with the Greens on certain things because they so don't want a solution to these issues.
CURTIS: One final question: what do you say to families who have been hit with around $5 billion of cuts in this Budget, as well as cuts in health spending? Why should they vote for you at the next election?
WONG: What Id say is: this is about a choice. And Id make two points first, this Government has chosen to provide greater assistance to families through the SchoolKids Bonus, through paid parental leave, through the increases in Family Tax Benefit and through the increase in the tax free threshold, which particularly benefits second-income earners. But ultimately this is a choice. If we want better schools for all of our children, if we want support for people with disability, then we have to make the difficult choices to fund those reforms for the future.
CURTIS: Penny Wong, thank you very much for your time
WONG: Good to speak with you.
ENDS