Doorstop Interview
Commonwealth Offices, Sydney
18 February 2009
SUBJECTS: Retail Sales Figures for the December Quarter; Joe Hockey's claims "Australians have never been richer"; Foreign Investment; Virgin Blue Job Losses; Interest Rates
TREASURER:
Today we've had the December quarter retail sales figures. They show that retail sales increased by a solid 1.8 per cent in terms of value in the December quarter. Just consider that result and compare it to what happened in the United States in the December quarter. Retail sales in the United States in the December quarter fell by seven per cent. So this is a solid result and I think it shows that our Economic Security Strategy has supported employment in Australia during this critical period. It's supported employment, it's supported employment particularly in retail, but more than that out there in small business and of course in our farming communities.
As everybody knows, we are in the middle of a global recession and it is certainly having a dramatic impact around the world. So, with an Economic Security Strategy in October to boost growth and employment, it's certainly had an impact here to cushion Australia against the impact of that global recession.
Which is why I find it remarkable that Mr Hockey this morning said that Australians had never been richer. Mr Hockey should go and tell that to those with superannuation who've been hit by the global recession, people in the stock market who've seen their shares halve in value as a result of the global recession. I think what that comment from Mr Hockey proves is how out of touch Mr Hockey and Mr Turnbull are. On only day two in the job Mr Hockey has had his John Howard moment. Everybody will recall John Howard saying "working families have never been better off." I don't think Mr Hockey or Mr Turnbull understand the scope or extent of this global recession. They voted against our jobs package in the House of Representatives and the Senate. They voted against our Nation Building and Jobs Plan. And they have the view that Australia should simply "sit and wait and see" while the global recession rolls over this country and costs jobs.
In the Rudd Government we are absolutely determined to do everything we can to support employment and to support the Australian economy, given the global challenges out there.
What Mr Hockey has demonstrated today is he doesn't understand those challenges at all.
JOURNALIST:
Treasurer, (inaudible) timeframe for your decision on Chinalco (inaudible)?
TREASURER:
Certainly these are matters that I will consider in the normal way. The applications will be lodged with the Foreign Investment Review Board. I established at the beginning of last year guidelines which I announced and we will follow, for establishing whether these investments are in the national interest or not. I'll take our decision in the normal way. We will analyse these proposals seriously and in a considered way and take our decision in the Australian national interest.
JOURNALIST:
The former Treasurer doesn't seem to have much faith in the advice given to him by your department.
TREASURER:
My predecessor was there for a long period of time and if he's appearing to say that the advice he previously took and followed was bad advice, that's entirely a matter for him. This is a very serious proposal. It will be given very serious consideration by myself, and I'll do that in the normal way.
JOURNALIST:
The Labor Government made an election promise to cut consultancy bills by $395 million. Have you managed to do this?
TREASURER:
What we've done is we've brought down a budget in the responsible way. We made very significant savings in our budget last time when it came to waste and mismanagement. We will continue to do that.
JOURNALIST:
Does Peter Costello have a point when he says that you have to be sceptical about assurances made by Rio and Chinalco when we look at how BHP Billiton, for example, gave assurances about their operations in Australia?
TREASURER:
It terms of Mr Costello, he did preside over some of those events, so you'd have to ask him as to why he's making those remarks. What I will do will be to study these matters seriously, very closely, and I will take a decision in the national interests of this country. I'll do that. I'll do it in considered time and we'll announce it. But if Mr Costello wants to reflect on his time in the job and reflect on commitments that were broken when he was the Treasurer of Australia he should provide a full account of that.
JOURNALIST:
Four Hundred jobs are going at Virgin Blue. Does the tourism industry need a rescue package?
TREASURER:
Well, certainly one job lost anywhere is a big loss for the individual, and when many are lost it's a big loss for the country. I think what this announcement underscores is the need for our Nation Building plan and Jobs package announced a couple of weeks ago. We've seen in the last couple of weeks a really marked contraction in the international economy. We saw growth in the December quarter in Japan go backwards substantially. We've seen it in the Eurozone. We've seen it in the United States. All of that means that we must here do everything within our power to boost our local economy and cushion it against these international events. And of course, that industry is a very significant beneficiary, first of all, of our Economic Security Strategy brought down last October flowing mainly through December and we've already seen the benefit of that in terms of retail sales. And of course further moves to boost demand in our Nation Building and Jobs Plan here will be of great benefit to that sector and many other sectors in this country.
JOURNALIST:
Two of our biggest banks, the National Australia Bank and the Commonwealth Bank, have said they may not pass on the full extent of any further cuts in the official cash rate. Is that acceptable?
TREASURER:
I've always said that when the Reserve Bank takes its decision to reduce the cash rate we should have full pass-through as quickly as possible.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have comment on the Japanese Treasurer (inaudible)?
TREASURER:
No, I don't have any comment on that, thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Swan, would you elaborate on the nature of your discussions with the Chairman of the Chinese Investment Corporation that are alleged to have taken place (inaudible)?
TREASURER:
I had discussions with him, as I have had discussions with literally dozens of senior business people from around the world. What I say to all of those people who come through my door, whether they're from China or Japan or the United States or Europe or elsewhere in Asia, is that we welcome foreign investment as long as it fits our guidelines and meets our national interest test. I've said that to him as I've said it to many others from other countries all around the world.
JOURNALIST:
What did you say to him in terms of the (inaudible)?
TREASURER:
I have reiterated to all of those business people that visit me, of which there are dozens and dozens over a period of time, our national interest guidelines. In fact, I gave a significant speech I think in the middle of last year in Melbourne outlining those guidelines. Those guidelines stand. Those guidelines will be applied to see whether these proposals are in the national interest. But I don't comment on individual proposals. What I can do is talk about our national interest test and how we apply it, and I've done that with the guidelines.
Thanks.
