BENSON: Penny Wong, is the Government prepared to amend its plans for changes to company tax in light of opposition from the Greens and from the Opposition?
WONG: The ball is firmly at Mr Abbotts feet. He can, you know, pick it up and run with it. He can decide whether hes going to be the Liberal Party leader who votes against small business tax cuts, against tax cuts for the broader economy, the party of business voting with the Australian Greens to kill tax cuts, or he can decide whether he can jettison just for once his addiction to saying no and vote for this very sensible economic reform.
BENSON: His argument is that your tax cut is a con, its simply being paid for by a tax increase, the mining tax on another hand.
WONG: Thats just another example of Mr Abbotts negativity. This is a tax cut. This is a tax cut funded by asking wealthy miners to pay a bit more, and by using that money to give tax relief across the economy at a time of great structural change in our economy, and to give tax relief to small business.
BENSON: Senator, can I go to another story in the news this morning, which is that you, or the Federal Cabinet, rejected a proposal for Peter Costello to be appointed as the Chairman of the Future Fund; that the Board of the Future Fund wanted Peter Costello as chair and Cabinet rejected it. Is that correct?
WONG: That is absolutely untrue, absolutely untrue. The fact is there was no such recommendation. The views of the Board were put to the Government but the Government made a decision about who the best candidate for the job was. And the Government came to the view that David Gonski, who has a proven track record as a leader in the Australian business community, has been sought after by a great many Australian listed companies to chair their companies, would be the best appointment as Chair of the Future Fund.
BENSON: Just to repeat, youre saying that no recommendation for a person to be Chair was put to the Cabinet?
WONG: There was no recommendation from the report that Mr Gonski did to the Government for any particular person to be appointed. What he did indicate to us is who Board members viewed as the appropriate choice. But Federal Cabinet decided to appoint to best person for the job, and we did so on the basis of Mr Gonskis proven track record.
BENSON: Is that a fairly fine semantic point there? There was no recommendation to Cabinet, but the Cabinet was informed of the Boards choice?
WONG: The Government asked for a report that considered the views of the Board, but ultimately this is a Government appointment. It is not an election by individuals on the Board. And we made a decision that was based on very sound considerations.
The Government wanted someone who had deep standing in the business community, who had a track record as a leader in the business community, someone who had undertaken jobs such as chairing listed companies or running financial organisations, and the fact is Mr Gonski has those qualities.
BENSON: But in Mr Gonskis report it was reported to Cabinet that the Board of the Future Fund wanted Peter Costello to be their Chairman. That went to Cabinet.
WONG: I dont discuss what was discussed at Cabinet. But I will make this very clear: the Government wanted someone with deep standing in the business community and a proven track record as a leader in the business community.
Whilst Mr Costello has many qualities, he has not been asked by the Australian business community to Chair any listed company, he has not been asked by the Australian business community to run a large financial institution. And those were the sorts of competencies that we wanted to ensure the chair of the Future Fund had, and David Gonski has those.
BENSON: Peter Costello was not the best man for the Future Fund job?
WONG: We did not believe that Mr Costello was the best person for the position of Chair. We appointed Mr Costello to the Board, akin to John Howard appointing Paul Keating to the Board, something which did not occur. We did appoint Mr Costello to the Board, and he has many qualities. But we did not believe he was the best person to take up the chairmanship of Australias Future Fund.
BENSON: David Gonski is quoted in The Australian newspaper this morning as saying the Board said they wanted an insider, and they designated by majority that the insider was Peter Costello. So you took a different view to the Board. The Board wanted Peter Costello, Cabinet didnt.
WONG: The Government wanted the best person for the job, and we believe we have chosen the best person for the job.
BENSON: Penny Wong, thank you very much.
WONG: Good to speak with you.
ENDS