Topics: Gonski reforms and Baby Bonus
Melissa Clarke:
Hello and welcome to Capital Hill, I’m Melissa Clarke. After two days of pouring over the budget it’s now down to the detail. The Opposition is now looking at further cuts to the baby bonus, formally a signature Coalition policy. The Government on the other hand is turning its attention to the Gonski school reforms, with time running out to get all States and Territories onboard. To talk through the politics, I’m joined by Labor Senator for Western Australia Glenn Sterle and Liberal Senator for Victoria Scott Ryan. Welcome to you both, thank you.
Scott Ryan:
Good afternoon Melissa.
Glenn Sterle:
Hello Melissa.
Melissa Clarke:
Now first we’re looking at the Baby Bonus. The $5,000 cash payment was scrapped by the Government in last week’s Budget, instead offering a payment of up to $2,000 through the Family Tax Benefit system. The Coalition supported the Baby Bonus being reduced and this morning the Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, suggested the Coalition might not even support the smaller tax benefit.
(Audio: Joe Hockey)
Melissa Clarke:
So Scott Ryan, is the Coalition going to block the Governments attempts to have the small increase in the family payment system as a small part of the Baby Bonus?
Scott Ryan:
Well Melissa, Joe made the point of saying this morning that Labor has form in making commitments it doesn’t deliver, making spending commitments that don’t turn out to be funded. Labor has created this Budget emergency, we reserve the right to implement their revenue measures and changes to spending but we’re not going to commit to new spending measures until we see the pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Melissa Clarke:
So when you say you’re not willing to commit to new spending measures, you’re not willing to commit to that Family Tax increase until PEFO, is that what we take from it?
Scott Ryan:
No unless it’s specified we’re not going to commit to new spending measures because Labor has got form…
Melissa Clarke:
…but you’re not specifying so I don’t know if you’re supporting it or not.
Scott Ryan:
Well, the Budget only came down six days ago. Let’s see what Labor do in respect to the measures they promised to introduce because we’re still looking at Budget measures from last year that haven’t even been brought into Parliament.
Melissa Clarke:
Glenn why should parents get cash through the Family Tax Benefit Scheme if the Baby Bonus is a policy that needs to be wound back, if there are better priorities to spend the money on. Why do you need to go ahead with this small increase anyway, is it just a token gesture to stop some of the backlash from taking away the Baby Bonus?
Glenn Sterle:
Oh Melissa I don’t think so. When Scott says we have form, yes we do have form and Melissa when it comes to supporting working families we certainly have form. When it comes to promoting an absolute A-class education for our children we do have form. Melissa, anything that helps Australian families and their children get a fantastic start in life for an education, we are proudly hand-in-hand. Now what we have found out with Mr Abbott and the Liberals is the more that Mr Abbott opens his mouth the more concerned Australians should be. They change they flip, they flop with Labor you know what you are going to get. You are going to get the school kids bonus, you know you’re going to get massive increases in school education. Melissa I’m happy to talk all day about our party measures compared to Mr Abbott and the Liberals.
Melissa Clarke:
Well on the Baby Bonus then in particular, if you decide that families don’t need or the Governments best spending money is best spent giving $5,000 when a child is born, why then is $2,000 the right money. You’re looking at having extra money why not spend that extra money on the Newstart allowance to families who need it the most, why have any cash payment for someone for just having a baby?
Glenn Sterle:
Well Melissa you have to look at the whole package and I remember when Mr Costello brought out the Baby Bonus, my wife and I had children because we wanted to have children but in saying that it’s nice to have some support but look at the whole package, we’ve even increased, there’s is a reduction in the Baby Bonus, but look at the full package Melissa. Look what else we have done, we’ve got the first Paid Parental Level Scheme, we have increased the children care rebate, we have introduced the school kids bonus, we have introduced the new pay and partner plan for new dads with up to two weeks pay up to $1,200, increases in Family Tax Benefit Part A for teenagers. Melissa it is the whole totalitarian package, it suits Mr Abbott and the Liberals to pick bits and pieces but we have to ask, what are they going to do to support young families.
Melissa Clarke:
Scott, just before Glenn was saying where Labor stand and how the Coalition keep moving on this. Certainly it has been the case in the past that the Coalition has been steadfast in supporting the Baby Bonus and have fought off any attacks that its middle-class welfare, now all of a sudden we have Joe Hockey saying perhaps we don’t need any kind of payment at all so it’s no longer a priority. So is the Coalition changing a very long held position on this one?
Scott Ryan:
We’re dealing with a Budget emergency that Labor has created. Glenn rolled-off a whole series of initiatives there that are all funded with borrowed money. There all funded by borrowing money from the children that are at school whose parents he’s giving the School Kids Bonus too. When the Liberal party and the Coalition introduced the Baby Bonus it was done when the budget was in surplus by billions of dollars. All these difficult decisions that are being made now are the result of Labor having an addiction to spending, their sending $120 billion more in this Budget than in the last year of the Coalition Government in 2007 and I don’t think anyone feels that much better off.
Melissa Clarke:
The Coalition has made much of the fact that Julia Gillard has changed her position on a Carbon Tax and has made much of the line ‘can you trust the Labor party’ but we’ve seen this apparent change of position on the baby bonus, also recently the change in Carbon Tax compensation after years of the Coalition saying if you don’t have the tax you don’t need the compensation, now you’re saying families can keep the compensation. Isn’t the Coalition doing precisely what they accused Labor of doing by changing its position?
Scott Ryan:
There’s a huge difference Melissa between saying there will be no Carbon Tax before an election and then hitting every family and small business in Australia with a Carbon Tax. What we’ve said is that cost of living is a real problem for Australian families so we’re going to leave in place the tax cuts that were alleged for the Carbon Tax and we are going to do that with a small deferral for two years of the increase in superannuation. That’s about addressing the problems that Labor has created, it’s about addressing the cost of living pressures they created and about addressing the Budget problems they have created. There is no difference at all in promising to introduce and Carbon Tax and doing it in a deal to try and keep her in the Lodge just after an election.
Melissa Clarke:
Glenn, the Opposition agree that getting the budget back into surplus is an priority and is an important thing so is this a case of the Coalition just doing a better job and the hard thing of making cuts to get there, than Labor is?
Glenn Sterle:
Like the Paid Parental Scheme of Mr Abbott’s. Melissa come on let’s be fair dinkum. I listen to what Scott says and I can see Scott can’t wait like the Liberals to completely condemn this country for keeping it out of recession. Everyone knows we were faced with the greatest financial crisis we have seen since the 1930s…
Scott Ryan:
…it was over four years ago Glenn…
Glenn Sterle:
…well, it’s good that you say that Scott because you know what mate, the last time I looked the country is still doing it tough and for you people on the Eastern Seaboard who may not know this but you talk about Mining booms, but where not in a boom here in WA you only have to ask Colin Barnett…
Scott Ryan:
…I haven’t said that Glenn. It’s Wayne Swan who’s bragging about how good the economy is but he can’t balance the Budget. You can’t have it both ways, you can’t brag about the economy and not balance the Budget.
Glenn Sterle:
Scott, I didn’t interrupt you and I would respect you if you had a crack at me if I interrupted you. If we want to get into a shouting match I don’t think that does me or you that good on national TV. So Scott give me the credit and opportunity to answer your silly and ridiculous claims. The country is still doing it tough financially, we have seen massive write downs in our tax collection, your mate over here, Colin Barnett, has come out and back flipped on two massive promises he made only two months ago over infrastructure which he now can’t fund because there’s a $2 billion write down on collection from Mining royalties, so Scott don’t start the scare campaign.
Melissa Clarke:
Alright I better let Scott have a brief reply on that and then we better move on to talking about Gonski, Scott.
Scott Ryan:
Look there’s always an excuse for Labor the recession and the GFC were over for Australia four years ago. Wayne Swan brags about a Budget and an economy that’s so strong yet we’ve still got record deficits, you can’t have it both ways.
Melissa Clarke:
Now I will move on to Gonski since we’ve had a fair going around the rose-tree on that one. On Gonski education funding, it is a priority for the Government to try and get this locked in and get the rest of the States and Territories signed on before the end of next month. At the moment only the Liberal Premier from New South Whales, Barry O’Farrell, has signed on. Following the release of last week’s Budget, Christopher Pyne the Opposition’s education spokesman has said that Barry O’Farrell was conned when it came to this. Julia Gillard has said that is an arrogant way of describing what’s going on, let’s hear from both of those individuals earlier today.
(Clip: Christopher Pyne / Julia Gillard)
Melissa Clarke:
Scott Ryan has Christopher Pyne just gone too far in accusing a colleague and Liberal colleague, accusing a Liberal State Premier of being conned. Isn’t that just a bit insulting to Barry O’Farrell?
Scott Ryan:
Look I think politics has challenging language occasionally. What Premiers do is up to Premiers but what we know about this budget is that is $326 million cut in education funding. Barry knows his schools best, he’s probably trying to clean up the mess of 15 years of a Labor Government.
Melissa Clarke:
Is the Coalition trying to clean up the mess of Christopher Pyne, I mean just last week we had Christopher Pyne going a little too far when it came to that paring issue and landing the Coalition in no end of trouble in misleading about what Warren Entsch did and didn’t know in that situation. Does Christopher Pyne need to be reined in?
Scott Ryan:
No not at all. Christopher is expressing his view as Shadow Education Minister that Labor’s plans for education involve funding cuts to universities, funding cuts to schools and that only the Coalition can guarantee no school will be worse off. Under the Coalition’s policies schools will get more funding over the next four years, more funding than anything Julia Gillard has promised.
Melissa Clarke:
Glenn Sterle, only NSW has signed on no one else has, even States like Victoria which say they support the principle say that they’re not happy about how negotiations are and that they don’t give it a very good chance of it succeeding. Is Gonski dead in the water now, is it too late?
Glenn Sterle:
No of course not. Mind you if you were a Liberal Premier you’d be frightened to do the right thing by your State if you have to have Christopher Pyne, of all people, coming out and publicly bagging you on the front page of every media. Melissa wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall when Premier O’Farrell and Christopher Pyne get together. Like Scott said Premiers will make the best decision for their State, Mr O’Farrell has made a decision about what is best for his State and of course the Libs can’t help but to politicise this. Any extra funding, and the Libs tell fibs about cutting back, there’s $14.5 billion of extra spending coming if everyone signed up to the school reforms that were analysed under Gonski of which $10 billion Melissa is going to come from the Federal Government. I think it’s an absolute disgrace and I think you should have Christopher Pyne on here explaining to himself (sic) how dare he come out and bag the living days lights out of a Premier who’s doing something best for his State.
Melissa Clarke:
Alright well maybe down the track but I am pleased to note that we can end on a point of agreement. State Premiers will do what’s best for their State, it might be the only that we all agreed on at this point in the program. Glenn Sterle in Perth thanks for joining us today.
Glenn Sterle:
Thank you Melissa.
Melissa Clarke:
And Scott Ryan in Melbourne thanks for joining us too.
Scott Ryan:
Thanks Melissa.
Melissa Clarke:
That’s all for Capital Hill tonight we’ll be back at the same time tomorrow.
(Ends)