ADAMS: Senator, good morning, thank you for joining us.
WONG: Good to be with you Amelia.
ADAMS: Now, your colleague, Martin Ferguson, says the mining boom is finished your reaction?
WONG: Martin is right when he says that the boom in terms of the record commodity prices is over, and thats why we assumed in our Budget that those prices would decline over time.
But, remember weve still got a long way to go in terms of the investment phase of this boom. Weve got half a trillion dollars of investment in the pipeline. Over half of that, the majority more than half, 50 per cent is at an advanced stage. And so theres still a lot more investment and a lot more projects that will come to fruition.
And then, of course, the third phase will be more volumes, more production out of Australia. So theres still a lot of investment still to come and a lot of construction still to come. But theres no doubt you have to plan for beyond the boom which is what the Government is doing.
ADAMS: The last Budget was all about spreading those benefits of the boom. What then does it mean for the bottom line?
WONG: As I said, we factored the terms of trade, or the prices coming down, into our Budget, but lets remember this: this Government is ensuring that families get the benefits of the mining boom that is opposed by Tony Abbott and the Opposition. I mean, theyve voted against things like the SchoolKids Bonus something to help Australian families with their kids, with the costs of schooling.
ADAMS: Senator Wong, Tony Abbott has blamed the carbon tax for the Olympic Dam decision. He then admitted he hadnt read BHPs Statement. Now hes claiming he did read it. Whats your reaction to all this?
WONG: The first thing I would say is this: that this is a dishonest, self-interested fear campaign from Tony Abbott. He knows that BHP have made very clear the reasons for the decision to shelve the expansion of Olympic Dam a very disappointing decision. But they have made clear what has driven that. And that is where the market is at the moment, including commodity prices.
So for Mr Abbott to tell people something that is self-evidently not correct is nothing more than a dishonest, self-interested fear campaign.
ADAMS: Senator Penny Wong, well have to leave it there for now. Thank you so much for your time this morning.
WONG: Good to be with you again.
ENDS