SHERLOCK: Penny Wong joins me now from Adelaide. Minister, the numbers show the Governments tax income has fallen, and thats expected to continue. Doesnt that make a return to surplus less likely?
WONG: Certainly what we saw today was less revenue than we anticipated. But the Government remains determined to bring the budget back to surplus for the reasons the Treasurer and I have both outlined: its the right thing to do for the economy.
SHERLOCK: Well the shadow finance minister Andrew Robb says the numbers are embarrassing, and you could have a surplus now if you hadnt panicked and overspent during the financial crisis. Did you make the wrong decisions?
WONG: We kept 200,000 Australians employed, people who would have been unemployed but for what the Government did, and we kept Australia out of recession. But you know what is embarrassing Amber is the shadow finance minister who has never got his costings right. Who has a $70 billion black hole in his own costings, by his own admission. I think thats whats embarrassing.
SHERLOCK: Minister, your Government has never delivered a budget surplus. I guess many would be sceptical and believe it will just end up as another broken promise.
WONG: What Id say is this, weve been through the global financial crisis. Some $130 billion worth of revenue was written down. In other words, the Government received $130 billion less in taxes and other income over a number of years as a result of the global financial crisis.
Despite that, what were doing is working to come back to surplus by restraining spending, and thats what you saw today. Were determined to keep working to do that, because we understand how important it is to have strong public finances. Australia has some of the 2 strongest public finances and the lowest debt of any nation in the world certainly of the major advanced economies.
SHERLOCK: Alright, well the Galaxy Poll today shows Labor would have a far better chance of winning the next election if Kevin Rudd was leader. So when are you going to make the switch in allegiances?
WONG: You know the numbers Im focused on? Im focused on the budget numbers, and making sure we make the hard decisions to bring the budget back to surplus, and Im focused on making sure we continue to have the strong public finances that we have. Thats what Im focused on.
SHERLOCK: Nicely deflected, thanks for your time today Minister.
WONG: Good to speak with you Amber.
ENDS