WONG: First, can I welcome Mr Wilkies public support for the Governments levy legislation. Lets remember what were talking about here. This is part of a $5.6 billion package to provide the funds to Queensland and other parts of Australia. Funds for rebuilding peoples lives, peoples communities, the infrastructure that has to be rebuilt after these dreadful natural disasters. Thats been the Governments priority - to make sure we get this package through the Parliament to get certainty to Queenslanders that they deserve.
JOURNALIST: What have you had to negotiate away to get the support of both the Greens and Mr Wilkie? And what will you need to do to get Xenophon on board?
WONG: Weve had discussions with the cross benches. Weve had to make some minor changes on our funding package. I think Mr Wilkie - we had to make a change of around $50 million. I want to stress this is in the context of a $5.6 billion package, so its a very small set of changes. We welcome the responsible approach that Mr Wilkie and other members of Parliament including the Greens have taken to this. Can I say a much more responsible approach than that of Mr Abbott who once again has simply said no.
JOURNALIST: You know from your time as Water Minister that Nick Xenophon is pretty good at holding out for a deal. Are you having negotiations with him at the moment? Are you likely to have to give something up on this insurance situation?
WONG: We are working on ensuring we can get legislation through both houses of Parliament. Obviously, the House of Representatives is the first chamber, weve got to ensure we get the votes for this legislation, in the absence of Tony Abbott doing the right thing. Obviously, we also have to get support through the Senate. Well keep talking to Senator Xenophon and the cross benches to ensure we can get passage of this levy because it is the right thing to do for Queensland and for other flood affected parts of Australia.
JOURNALIST: Its a big package, but at what point does it not become worthwhile to have to negotiate bits of it away?
WONG: Lets remember, the total amount weve been negotiating, I think is about 2.6% of the entire package. So we are very clear this is a good package, weve had to make some changes to it. But lets remember while weve had to make those changes, its because Mr Abbott has vacated the field. And the Government is going to prioritise getting this legislation through because its the right thing to do. Thats what weve done.
JOURNALIST: The Carr/Bracks/Faulkner Review is being released about now. And theyre talking about perhaps instituting primaries for the pre-selection of candidates in Labor. What do you make of that?
WONG: Look I havent seen the Review. I certainly look forward to reading it and its a very important contribution to the partys discussions.
JOURNALIST: Minister, can I just ask you about the Mineral Resources Rent Tax, in terms of how close you are to the actual final package in terms of the detail particularly the way it will apply to different types of iron ore? (inaudible)
WONG: As you know the government went through an extensive consultation process including the Argus Committee. That report has been received and the Governments considering it and will make an announcement in due course.
JOURNALIST: Any idea of a sort of time scale on that?
WONG: Weve received the report and weve said we will consider it carefully and make an announcement in due course.
JOURNALIST: Another thing is defence spending. In South Australia, there is concern that that with the pressure to bring the Budget back into surplus and the other pressures that the Budget is under, that there may be a deferment of some of the programs particularly the submarines? The next build?
WONG: Can I say, on defence, that there is a strategic plan in place, as youre aware, that involves a range of efficiencies being found in order to help fund the capital costs in defence. Weve made clear were committed to that.
JOURNALIST: Andrew Wilkie said that your proposed budget cuts that hes negotiated out of today were reckless. And today Amanda Vanstones also said that the Government isnt making the tough decisions when it comes to the budget, whats your response?
WONG: Well, my question is this: where is Mr Abbott and Mr Robb when we need tough decisions? Lets remember, Mr Robb is the shadow finance minister who presided over a $10.6 billon black hole in his election costings. Mr Robb is also the shadow finance minister who allowed his Senators to vote for legislation which would put an impost of over $300 million on the budget thats the unconstitutional legislation that they supported in the last week of the Parliament. Frankly, the Liberal party are not in a position to lecture the Government on fiscal responsibility.
In terms of Mr Wilkie, we have entered into negotiations with Mr Wilkie in order to achieve passage of the legislation and thats for one reason our priority is to rebuild Queensland.
JOURNALIST: And just one final question, Mike Smith has said that investors are scared by the governments populist approach to regulation. What do you think of this? Do you think this is a fair assessment?
WONG: Well I havent seen all of Mr Smiths comments, nor the context of them I would say what I said in there, I think we have to be guided by what is the right policy for the nation, not just for today but for the future.
JOURNALIST: And is that guided by the people?
WONG: I think that we should always be looking to what is the best thing for the nation that is not always popular. But it is important for us to always be looking to what is the best thing for the country and for the future.
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