WONG: Thanks very much for coming. I just wanted to give a brief update on where we are with the release of the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook tomorrow; the MYEFO.
The MYEFO will reflect the strong economy, the strong state of the budget. But I do want to make one thing clear. The soaring Aussie dollar is going to hit Government revenues. The soaring Aussie dollar is going to hit Government revenues. And this will mean that the budget update that we issue tomorrow will reflect that hit to budget revenues. Now obviously when youve got a dollar thats at parity or thereabouts close to, equal to the American dollar or higher thats going to impact on Government revenues. Given that, we know the dollar used to be significantly lower.
So the Governments finances are in good shape. The economy is strong. The budget is in good shape. But the soaring Aussie dollar is going to deliver a hit to Government revenue and that will be reflected in the MYEFO tomorrow; the budget update tomorrow.
I also wanted to briefly respond to some of the unconfirmed reports in relation to the banks today. Obviously these are unconfirmed so the Government is not in a position to speculate about what may or may not occur. But I do want to say this. I think wed all agree its time the banks started listening very, very carefully to the Australian people. I think wed all agree that its about time that the banks did better by their customers. And the reaction that we have seen in recent days to the decision of the Commonwealth Bank, I think, demonstrates the deep-seated anger in the Australian community about the behaviour of many of these banks. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: How savage are the saving measures in the Outlook going to be?
WONG: Obviously, we have to deal with the impact on Government revenue from the soaring Aussie dollar. The Government has taken the approach, and it will be reflected in MYEFO, that we outlined before the election. Very strict fiscal rules, making sure we offset what we spend and ensuring that we comply with the rules that we laid out prior to the election.
JOURNALIST: Are the Australian people going to get a shock when they see the figures?
WONG: I think the Government has made clear that we will deliver on our fiscal strategy. That is ensuring there is restraint on spending growth. That we offset what we spend and that we deliver the surplus that we committed to prior to the election.
JOURNALIST: The Opposition has called for a mini-budget, is that on the plans?
WONG: The Opposition call for many things. They are interested in publicity, we are interested in outcomes. And we are very focused on making sure that we deliver the largest, fastest return to surplus. What I am saying today is that obviously we have a situation with a very high Aussie dollar and that self-evidently is going to have an impact on Government revenue.
JOURNALIST: So does that mean you wont have a surplus at the end of it?
WONG: I think the Prime Minister has made clear, and Ive made clear, that we are determined to bring the budget back to surplus.
JOURNALIST: How big are the cuts going to have to be (inaudible)
WONG: Were one sleep away from MYEFO and those details will be made clear tomorrow.
JOURNALIST: The Opposition wants the cash-for-clunkers scrapped. Are you still determined to bring it in?
WONG: I think Minister Carr gave some indication over the weekend of the implementation of that policy, so I dont really have anything to add to that.
ENDS