WONG: Its great to be here, back in Hobart this morning a little bit cooler than Adelaide with the Premier, Lara [Giddings], with Dick [Adams], whos a good friend of mine, with Carol [Brown], whos also a good friend of mine, and also Jane Austin, whos our great candidate for Denison. Were here because we want to talk about the GST. We want to talk about Tony Abbotts plan, should he ever become Prime Minister of Australia, to take money away from Tasmania and also from my home state of South Australia.
Tony has a habit of wandering around the country, telling people what he thinks we want to hear. So, when hes here, hell say one thing and when hes in Western Australia, hell say another. And hes made very clear to Western Australians that hes quite happy with the state Liberals proposal to allocate GST on a per capita basis.
Now, lets just understand what that would mean for Tasmania. It would mean at least $600 million lost to the budget for Tasmania thats about $1200 for every Tasmanian. We think Tasmanians are entitled to understand what that means. What that would mean in terms of your health care system; what that would mean in terms of your education system; what that would mean in terms of those services which people rely on here in Tasmania.
So, today, we think its about time that Tony Abbott, who wants to be Prime Minister, is held accountable for some of the things he says in one state ... he should be held accountable in the state that would lose as a result of his plans. So, were launching, on behalf of the Labor Party today, a number of advertisements and youll be provided with copies of those which remind everybody what Tonys true plans really are. He doesnt want to tell people what his plans will cost, but hes very happy to back a plan which will mean Tasmanians and South Australians would lose a lot.
Ill hand over to the Premier to say a few words.
GIDDINGS: Thank you Penny, and we appreciate that Penny Wong has come down this morning to be part of this campaign; a campaign that is extremely important to Tasmania and Tasmanians and particularly considering the result of the West Australian election where weve seen Colin Barnett returned strongly off the back of the attack on the state GST. What we know is that we have the wealthiest state in Australia wanting to take funding off the poorest state in Australia.
Any change to the GST will see Tasmanians lose funding. We know the per capita system, if that was to be brought in, would see up to $700 million ripped out of the Tasmanian state budget; a state budget thats just under $5 billion. That is a huge cut in nurses, in doctors, in teachers, in services that Tasmanians rely upon. There is no fair way of cutting the GST to Tasmania. We already have the fairest system in place through the Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation scheme that is used to distribute GST. There is only one reason why GST is going down for Western Australians thats because their mining royalties are going up. They are a rich state. They dont require the support that Tasmania, that South Australia, that other smaller jurisdictions, do.
WONG: Ill just ask Dick [Adams] to say something and can I indicate then that well take questions on the GST and then when we move to general questions, which Ive no doubt you have some, well flag that and the Premier and I will take those.
ADAMS: Thanks very much Penny. The issue in Australia is that weve always had an issue about fairness and those that make the most usually pay a bit more. Those rich states that are really living off and gaining a hell of a lot out of our mining industry, the wealth of which ... the minerals belong to all Australians and therefore all Australians should share in it. These false arguments about endeavouring to rip off the minor states and give more to these rich states is a very false argument and should be countered. For Tasmanians to lose money which would affect our teachers, cut our teaching staff, cut our nurses and the delivery of health services, would be a real blow for us. And thats what Tony Abbott is all about.
WONG: Okay. Happy to take questions on the GST.
JOURNALIST: This isnt a new issue, Penny Wong. Is the new concern about it the fact that Colin Barnett had such a resounding win and youre concerned about his influence perhaps on Tony Abbott?
WONG: My primary concern, actually, is accountability. We see a lot of this we see Tony going to one state and saying one thing and coming to another state and not repeating it and saying something else, and I think he should be held to account for some of the things he says interstate and he should be held to account in the state of Tasmania for his promise to pick up and to look very carefully, as Julie Bishop says, at the state Premiers proposition.
JOURNALIST: Your colleagues are talking even about the Gillard factor being a problem in...
WONG: Ill move to general questions after this Im happy to answer the question, but can we finish on the GST first ...
JOURNALIST: Opposition, both at federal level and state, have consistently said that Tasmania would be no worse off under the GST. So, why can Tasmanians not take their word for it?
WONG: Id invite everyone to look at the quotes that we are using in these ads. Quotes, so theyre not Labor spin I know Eric Abetz might like to dismiss them as Labor spin but Id invite all Tasmanians to look at the quotes from Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop and then make up their own minds. Can I say this: youve got a great Labor team, a great Labor team, in the federal Parliament here in Tasmania. Youve got the people standing with me today and youve got a range of others who cant be with us today. My question to Eric Abetz and the rest of the Liberals here is when are you going to stand up for your state?
JOURNALIST: Why would Tony Abbott implement something thats going to be so unpopular in Tasmania, given that theres just as many seats here up for grabs as there is in Western Australia?
WONG: Perhaps you should ask he and Julie Bishop why theyve said what theyve said to Western Australians, and, if hes not going to, whos he fibbing to?
JOURNALIST: Is he lying to Tasmanians? Is that what youre saying?
WONG: Well, he needs to tell people which is the truth. Is it true what Julies said and Tonys said in Western Australia in Perth or is it true what hes probably going to say to you later today?
JOURNALIST: Tony Abbott says hell be able to talk more about it once the Government makes its formal response to the [GST] Review how far away is that?
WONG: I think that hes already gone further than that to date, and he has quite clearly given a green light to a per capita distribution in terms of what hes said.
JOURNALIST: How far away is it?
WONG: Were still working through aspects of that Review with Heads of Treasuries, as the Deputy Prime Minister has said. But the point weve made is that the Review finds that the current system is working well.
JOURNALIST: So when he says that we wont be worse off, do you think that hes got in mind us getting less GST and then some sort of other system in which we get money?
WONG: Well, if you believe in tooth fairies as well, I suppose that might work.
JOURNALIST: So when he says that we wont be worse off, you think hes lying?
WONG: Well, Im saying if hes got a plan to find more money to give Tasmanians to make up for the between $600 and $700 million hes proposing to take off Tasmanians, well, perhaps he should tell people what hes going to cut to fund that.
GIDDINGS: Can I just say on that, though, that would be quite frightening to me too, if what he was going to do was to say, well, well take $700 million off you, off GST, and well give it back to you on certain projects. So, well say to you youre not worse off but it will be tied funding. The fact is, GST is state revenue and we determine how that funding is spent. We dont want Tony Abbott determining our priorities for us. It is very important that we are able to direct funding towards doctors, nurses, teachers, those really important areas of government that Tasmanians want us to prioritise. We dont want him to try to fill Will Hodgmans black hole on the promised four-lane Midland Highway by suddenly finding funding for a road that really, at this point of time, is not required when doctors and nurses are.
WONG: Is there anything further on the GST?
JOURNALIST: Why come down here today and try and spook us over Tony Abbott, rather than launching a campaign about a positive Julia Gillard policy?
WONG: I think it is a positive policy to say we understand the importance of the current GST distribution mechanism to Tasmania, to the Northern Territory, to South Australia I think that is a positive thing. I dont think you can criticise the Gillard Labor Government in terms of our support to Tasmania. Lets remember, in addition to the over $2 billion over a number of years that were providing to the health system, you saw also, agreed with the Tasmanian Government and this Premier, the Tasmanian health assistance package $325 million for your health system. You see it in terms of our funding of education, our funding of infrastructure. These are important investments in this state because we do care about whats happening here and whats happening in your community and your economy.
GIDDINGS: Can I also add to that, to say that we have had Julia Gillard, we have had the Treasurer, of course, Wayne Swan, and now weve also got the Finance Minister Penny Wong here in Tasmania, very firmly saying that they will support the current system. We have, in contrast, Will Hodgman, who has said absolutely nothing as a state Opposition Leader on these issues, and in fact, has sent his Liberal Party Director to Western Australia to work on Colin Barnetts campaign. The contrast could not be more stark. Here, we have the state Liberal Party supporting the election of Colin Barnett who is fighting to rip up to $700 million out of Tasmania. In comparison we have a federal Labor Government who have sent their three senior people, including the Prime Minister, to Tasmania to reassure us that Labor stands by the current, fair system.
WONG: Well move to general questions now ...
JOURNALIST: Premier, bad news for Labor in Western Australia. Do you think that will translate to things here?
GIDDINGS: Look, of course its disappointing to the Labor Party as a whole, the result in Western Australia. For Tasmania, its frightening. To see Colin Barnett there, believing now that hes got an even stronger endorsement to rip up to $700 million out of Tasmanias pocket, is really quite frightening, and really emphasises the importance of this campaign. It emphasises the importance of Tasmanians understanding what the Liberal Party stands for in Tasmania that is Will Hodgman at the state level, Tony Abbott at the federal level. Its just not good enough for Will to stay silent on these issues, and its just not good enough for Tony Abbott to have a different statement in whichever state he is, according to what he believes the people of that state want to hear.
JOURNALIST: Penny Wong, how is morale in the federal Labor Party after the devastating results in Western Australia.
WONG: I do want to say a couple of things about the Western Australian election. Can I first start by congratulating Premier Barnett on his win, and say that Mark McGowan ran a great campaign a tough campaign and he certainly established himself as the future of Labor in Western Australia. In terms of the result: first, Australians are smart enough to know which level of Government they are voting for. Having said that, as a national Government, you always have to listen to what voters are saying wherever they are across Australia. And its quite clear from the election result that the message from Western Australians is they want us to do better. And we dont do better by talking about ourselves we do better by doing the right thing by Australians and their families and thats what we have to focus on. The only response from federal Labor to the challenges we currently face should be to govern well, to hold, for example, the budget discipline thats so important and, despite the fact that its an election year and there will be many demands made of us, we do have to hold the discipline in terms of the budget because thats part of governing well.
JOURNALIST: Stephen Smith conceded that federal Labor was a drag on Mark McGowan do you buy into that?
WONG: Ive said what Ive said this morning; that whilst Australians are always smart enough to know which level of government theyre voting for, as a national government you have to pay heed to what people say all throughout the country and we certainly have to listen to what Western Australians have said.
JOURNALIST: How disciplined is the Caucus, though, in terms of being united at this important time for the Party?
WONG: What Id say you dont improve your position by talking about yourself. You improve your position by doing the right thing; the right thing for the community, having the right policy, being strong enough to make the right budget decisions and doing the right thing by Australians and their families.
JOURNALIST: Now, youve got Mark Latham saying Kevin Rudd should be the Climate Change Minister ... what sort of response do you have to that?
WONG: Well, Id refer you to my previous answer.
JOURNALIST: The leadership stuff just keeps coming up, though, whether its triggered by a poll or an election I know theres not going to be many elections between now and then. When do you get clear air and we stop talking about leadership?
WONG: Well, Id again refer to what I said. I think nothing about federal Labors challenges are resolved by us talking about ourselves more.
JOURNALIST: So is that a call to your Caucus colleagues?
WONG: Well, you can take it how you wish. My observation is that the only response to these sorts of political challenges is to govern well, and thats what we have to focus on.
JOURNALIST: Are you 100 per cent confident that Julia Gillard will be the Leader going to the next election?
WONG: Yes I am. Thanks very much.
ENDS