GILBERT: Senator Wong, thank you very much for your time.
WONG: Good to be with you.
GILBERT: This is actually a blessing in disguise for the Government, isnt it? The fact that the Coalitions going to block the big business tax cuts gives you more breathing space to achieve the return to surplus.
WONG: I dont think its a blessing that Tony Abbott is so addicted to negativity. I dont think its a blessing for small business that they have a Liberal Party leader whos going to vote against a tax cut for small business. And I certainly dont think its a blessing that tax cuts that the Government wants to bring forward, which are good for the economy, are going to be opposed by the party that calls themselves the party of small business.
GILBERT: But if its a couple of years that youve got leeway in terms of the big business tax cuts the Greens are going to join with the Opposition in blocking those that will give you a bit of breathing space, wont it?
WONG: But thats not the Governments position. The Governments position is to support the tax cuts. We can guarantee well support them. I accept the Greens position; theyre not the party that claims to be the party of business.
What we have is a Liberal leader who is so addicted to saying no, hes going to say no to tax cuts for small business. Hes going to come into the Parliament and vote against tax cuts for small business. Hes going to come into the Parliament and vote with the Greens to sink a tax cut for the broader economy. Its an extraordinary position.
GILBERT: But you mustnt be that wedded to the tax cuts to the big end of town if youve given the Greens the option of voting for one and blocking the other. You could have made them all part of the same legislation.
WONG: Hang on, the Greens make their own decisions, and I think Senator Brown made his position clear yesterday. But
GILBERT: But its a set-up
WONG: Absolutely not.
GILBERT: Because youve separated the two tax cuts.
WONG: Absolutely not. The only reason the Greens are relevant for the purposes of the broader tax cut to business is because Tony Abbott is saying no. And remember, hes actually changed his position because last year he was saying he wanted a corporate tax cut. He was prepared to support tax cuts for the business community. And what hes saying now is no.
GILBERT: But you could have made them all part of the same legislation, couldnt you? And said to the Greens, youve got to back both.
WONG: We have put our position. The Greens have said theyll support one, not the other. The ball is firmly in the Liberal Partys court, its firmly at Tony Abbotts feet. And hes got to decide, is he going to be an Opposition Leader known for nothing except saying no, or is he going to say, actually, its the right thing for the economy?
GILBERT: With the extra revenue that you gain by not having
WONG: Im not looking at that, Kieran.
GILBERT: Well, youre the Finance Minister.
WONG: But we have factored these tax cuts into our budget.
GILBERT: But youre not going to get them through.
WONG: We have factored these tax cuts into our budget. So we are in a position to support them.
GILBERT: But will you spend the revenue if they dont get through, or will you put them on the bottom line?
WONG: Im not going to get into hypotheticals. Theres a way to go on this. I can remember Tony Abbott saying no to a number of things in the Budget as well, beating his chest about middle class welfare, and saying, class warfare thats the phrase that he used and then he supported those measures. So, weve seen Mr Abbott before, weve seen Tony Abbott have to change his position. I think the issue today for Tony Abbott is, is he pro-business or not?
GILBERT: Finance Minister, Senator Wong, thanks for your time.
WONG: Good to be with you.
ENDS