ADAMS: Minister, good afternoon to you. Thank you for joining us.
WONG: Good to be with you, Amelia.
ADAMS: Another $7.5 billion gone from the bottom line. Something has to give there will have to be spending cuts somewhere. Can you tell us where, and just how tough they will be?
WONG: We are facing this challenge but what we will do is make responsible savings decisions to make the smart investments for the future of the country. What we wont be doing is cutting to the bone and cutting the wrong things. We wont be chasing revenue down; instead, well make the right savings decisions for the future of the country.
ADAMS: The Coalitions position is that its not so much those revenue shortfalls but the Governments spending that has created the budget black hole. Christopher Pyne today went so far as to say the countrys in crisis. Your response?
WONG: Well, Christopher is a bit fond of the dramatic flourish, isnt he? I mean, the reality is this: weve got a high Australian dollar, the prices of what were selling to the rest of the world have come off. That means business is making less profits, which means government is getting less money in tax revenue. Theyre the facts.
And the figure of $7.5 billion less revenue this year comes on top of $20 billion less for this year written down over the last two years. Theyre the facts, and thats what weve got to deal with and we will.
ADAMS: Alright, Minister theres been a bit of talk about changes to the GST in recent days. Where does the Government stand on that?
WONG: Well, the interesting thing about the GST is that Tony Abbotts just not being upfront with Australians. He says he wants Western Australia to get more money. Well, the only way one state gets more money is if other states get less.
So, he needs to tell either the smaller states South Australia and Tasmania that theyll get less, or one of the bigger states New South Wales or Victoria that theyre going to get less. Hes just not being upfront.
ADAMS: Alright, Finance Minister Penny Wong well have to leave it there for now. Thank you for your time.
WONG: Good to speak with you.
ENDS