ELEANOR HALL: A short time ago, the Finance Minister Penny Wong told Alexandra Kirk that she's still trying to apply maximum pressure on the Coalition Leader Tony Abbott to back the tax cuts.
WONG: Well the ball is firmly in Mr Abbott's court. He claims he's the party of small business, well he's about to become the first leader of the Liberal Party to vote against a tax cut for small businesses.
And let's remember, Tony Abbott himself just about a year ago, last year, talked about the fact he wanted to support tax cuts, including tax cuts for small businesses. I mean, this is a man who leads a party that claims to be the party of small business. It says something about how addicted he is to saying no.
KIRK: He says, though
WONG: He can't help himself, he can't help himself. He's even going to say no to a tax cut to small business when he says they're his constituency.
KIRK: He says no to tax cuts associated with a mining tax because he's opposed to the mining tax holus-bolus. But the Greens have said now that they support small business tax cuts. So will you agree to say, split your bill or amend your bill so that even though the big business tax cuts appear doomed, small business can still get tax cuts?
WONG: Well I'm sure there will be a lot of procedural issues that we'll have to manage but the facts remain this: the Government is putting forward tax cuts for all businesses in Australia with a tax, a head start for small business.
The fact is, the Coalition is opposing these tax cuts, both for small business and for the broader economy.
KIRK: He's not saying no to tax cuts per se, just to
WONG: Alex, come on
KIRK: these tax cuts, isn't that right?
WONG: The only tax cuts on the table are the ones he wants to say no to. There are no other tax cuts on the table, and he's not putting them there.
And if he's going to put them there, he's going to have to show Australians how he's going to fund them, because a tax cut that you can't fund isn't a tax cut.
KIRK: As it stands, the tax cut for big business is headed for defeat. That'll save the Government a couple of billion dollars. Won't that help you deliver your surplus or go towards some things that you need money for anyway, like a dental scheme or a disability insurance scheme?
WONG: Look, our view has always been that we need to improve the tax rates across the board, that we need to use the benefits of the mining boom to spread its benefits more widely and the MRRT does that. And our view has always been we do need to work on reducing the company tax rate funded by a tax on very highly profitable miners. And Mr Abbott's opposition is simply reckless.
KIRK: Well he's not going to change his mind, so do you have a plan B?
WONG: As I said, I think Mr Abbott really needs to think very carefully about his position. His
KIRK: You don't think he has?
WONG: Well, no I don't think he has. I think Mr Abbott doesn't think very much before saying no.
KIRK: But you have a problem now, so what are you going to do to try and solve it?
WONG: Oh well, I'm going to continue to advocate for a company tax cut and I'm sure business will continue to advocate for a tax cut. And people will say to Mr Abbott, 'Tony you said last year you supported tax cuts for companies. Why are you opposing them now?'
This is a guy who beats his chest, likes to say no, but let's see when it comes to the crunch whether he'll actually be the first Liberal Party leader to vote against a tax cut for small business.
KIRK: Another hot issue in the finance world is your appointment of David Gonski to chair the Future Fund. You assigned him initially to canvas the views of board members about how the next chairman should be appointed. Then you appoint him. How did that actually happen?
WONG: Well I want to start by saying that David Gonski is an outstanding appointment. And I think
KIRK: No-one's questioning that
WONG: I think not even the Opposition, not even Andrew Robb has been able to come to criticise the appointment. It is an outstanding appointment and I think the nation is lucky that someone like Mr Gonski is willing to step down from something like chairing the Australian Stock Exchange to chair the Future Fund and the Government is very pleased that he has done so.
We went through a very lengthy and exhaustive selection process which commenced last year. The department considered candidates, we engaged an executive search firm. In the context of that, the board made very clear to the Government it wanted more consultation. We asked Mr Gonski, who was not paid for this, to engage in this consultation, to provide the views of board members to us. He made no recommendations.
It was after he had completed that work we made a decision that he should be one of the candidates considered for Chair. And as a result of that process, we have determined to appoint him. We're very pleased he's accepted.
KIRK: As I said, no-one's questioning his suitability for the job. But doesn't the whole process put Mr Gonski in a difficult position because there's a perceived conflict. It looks like he canvassed support for himself.
WONG: That is not what occurred. And people who put those views around a being frankly mischievous. We take the Future Fund very seriously. It should be above politics. It is an extremely important institution for the economy and for the nation, and that's the way I've approached and the Government has approached this appointment.
KIRK: Should you perhaps look at appointing an independent panel as the Government has done with say, for ABC board appointments and also the SBS? So it removes you a bit from the process?
WONG: Well I always feel reluctant discussing with the ABC appointments to the ABC board, Alex, but we went through a very lengthy, as I said, and exhaustive process.
KIRK: Well considering the fall-out, do you think it's time to look at a better process?
WONG: I think that we have conducted a thorough process and we've come up with the best candidate.
ENDS