GILBERT: Senator Wong, thanks for your time. We wont be as combative in this interview.
WONG: Well you never know, you never know Kieran. By the end of this we might be.
GILBERT: We might. This is going to be a long, arduous debate, isnt it? Are you concerned that the Prime Minister has already, you know, her temper has already frayed a bit?
WONG: Look, not at all. I mean, these interviews can get (inaudible) at times. And I think politicians are entitled to correct the record if people put things to us that are not true or not correct.
Look, the facts here are very simple. Weve got to rebuild Queensland. Theres a big price tag associated with that. We have put forward a responsible package including a modest levy to fund one third of that package, a levy which sees 60 per cent of taxpayers paying less than $1 a week. Thats what we will be taking to the Parliament.
GILBERT: Anna Bligh just held a news conference with her Treasurer. And in it, she said that she does expect, its likely that the bill will be higher than the $5.6 billion that the Federal Government has estimated for the flood recovery, more than the $5 billion in Queensland. Is it certain that this is a conservative number; that indeed that number will be higher down the track?
WONG: The Prime Minister made clear yesterday this is the best estimate we have of the impact on the Commonwealth budget, remembering that under the arrangements that Premier Bligh was discussing in the press conference, the national arrangements in relation to disaster we have components which are funded by the Commonwealth and smaller components funded by the states. So what the Prime Minister outlined was what we expect the Commonwealth will have to stump up. And as you know, we funded two thirds of that through spending cuts and a third of it through a modest levy.
GILBERT: Are you preparing, isolating other programs that can be cut in the event that the cost does overrun that $5.6 billion number?
WONG: Kieran, I have no doubt that through the budget process were going to have to keep a very clear eye on where things are trekking in Queensland as well as in other parts of the budget. We will have to apply the sort of discipline you saw in the decisions announced yesterday. Well have to apply those decisions again through the budget process to bring the budget back to surplus and also to ensure we can meet various cost pressures.
As the Prime Minister said, this is the best estimate we have. We think its a responsible package but obviously were going to have to keep looking at what the rebuild costs will be.
GILBERT: It was a bit of a unique position for you to be in. The former Climate Change Minister that oversaw a lot of those carbon abatement programs that yesterday as Finance Minister you played a part in scrapping or deferring.
WONG: I am the Finance Minister and I have to work to bring discipline into the budget process just as the Treasurer does and just as the Prime Minister expects us to. Thats our job. Fundamentally, we have to make a choice about where our taxpayers dollar is best spent. And in the context of this costly natural disaster, weve made a judgment about those dollars for those programs being better spent on rebuilding Queensland and other flood-affected areas.
Can I say it is disappointing, Kieran, to see Tony Abbott doing what he always does which is simply to oppose. We have a major national natural disaster that we have been through. We have to make sensible decisions to rebuild. It is disappointing that Mr Abbott simply has reverted to his old habits of opposing everything.
GILBERT: Was it a bit surreal for you as the Minister that was the architect of some of those things to then be the responsible one for slashing them?
WONG: Well I think youll find a number of those schemes are in a range of portfolios. But its not at all surreal. Its what is expected of this Government: to apply discipline to the Federal Budget when you see these sorts of cost pressures. And we have very significant pressures which the PM outlined from the floods.
Its a national responsibility to fund the rebuild in Queensland. Its the right thing for our economy because we know what an important part of the economy Queensland is. But its the right thing as Australians to make sure we rebuild from what has been a very damaging natural disaster. GILBERT: Has the Government and yourself individually, the Government more broadly, been in touch with the independents since the Prime Ministers speech to start the effort to win them over?
WONG: I havent spoken personally to the independents. I know the Prime Minister did speak, as she said yesterday, to a couple of the independents in the Lower House.
But as the Prime Minister said, we need to put forward this package to the Australian people and to the whole of the Parliament. And we hope that the whole of the Parliament will consider this on its merits. Certainly, we hope that the independents, the cross benches and the Greens will take a more responsible approach than the approach Mr Abbott is taking which is simply a knee-jerk, say-no-to-everything approach.
GILBERT: The Treasurer will speak this afternoon about the broader economic impact on revenue, through the impact on agriculture, in the mining sector. How big should we expect that number to be?
WONG: The Treasurer will be outlining the impact across the broader economy of this. And obviously in the shorter term we are going to see an impact on the economy because weve seen loss of production in a state which is responsible for a substantial proportion of Australias exports.
I think the important thing to remember is that the economy is strong, we have an economy that is also resilient. The fundamentals are good, weve got a strong pipeline of investment. We do have the capacity to work through this period where we know there are going to be costs as long as we handle this sensibly. We know we can also continue to grow well into the future.
The package yesterday was both fiscally responsible but also economically astute because it was seeking to recognise the broader context in which this occurs. Weve got to rebuild now but we also have to recognise the capacity constraints that the economy may well near in the years ahead.
GILBERT: But are we talking $5, $10 billion? What sort of ball park figure are we talking about in terms of the hit to revenue?
WONG: Kieran, I wouldnt want to be talking about what the Treasurer is going to say. The Treasurer will outline some of those things in his speech today. What the Prime Minister said yesterday was the figure that we gave of around $5.6 billion didnt include the revenue hit. She spoke a bit about the impact on the economy.
But our focus very much has been how do we find space in the federal budget to fund this. But also how do we recognise where the economy is at in terms of the package weve announced. And thats why weve deferred infrastructure because we need to make the space to rebuild Queensland, the space not only in terms of money but in terms of other resources such as labour.
GILBERT: Just one last question. How vital is it that the Government win this political debate not just in the Parliament but more broadly in the eyes of the electorate? To gain a bit of momentum in this year?
WONG: Do you know whats vital? Whats vital is we get this through so we can get the money to Queensland for the rebuild. Whats vital is we successfully rebuild Queensland and we give the resources that are required and that Australians work together to deliver that. And our hope is that the Parliament will see the imperative of that when Parliament opens in a week and a halfs time.
GILBERT: Finance Minister Penny Wong, Thanks very much for your time. Appreciate it.
WONG: Good to speak with you.
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