Subjects: American election campaign; Labor’s economic plan and return to surplus; Coalition’s economic plan;
E&OE…
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
I am joined here in the Melbourne studio, a rare treat being in the same studio in Melbourne, by Senator Scott Ryan. Thanks for your company.
SCOTT RYAN:
Good afternoon Peter, welcome to Melbourne.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Hilary Clinton, she is the nominee effectively now, of course Bernie Sanders isn’t giving up. Is there a correlation there, he is not giving up, Tony Abbott is recontesting, or is it different?
SCOTT RYAN:
I don’t think there are many comparisons you could make between Australian and American politics. Theirs is a festival of democracy that goes on for almost 2 years. We have a slightly longer than normal, 8 week, election campaign.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Is the Government allowed to back one over the other? Trump is a little bit out there.
SCOTT RYAN
I have my personal views, but as a Minister in the Government, I do not express those publically. I don’t think it is appropriate for a Minister to do so about another country’s or an ally’s election processes.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Fair enough, and I think that is the wise way to go because you may have to deal with one or the other and you don’t want to dis-endorse them in your comments. Let’s get to what we are going to see shortly unfold in at the National Press Club. The economic debate is front and centre, at least today, Labor have put out there ten years’ worth of costings with the claim that: yes, while we don’t match the Government over the four year forward estimates, we beat them over the ten years. Can you believe them?
SCOTT RYAN:
It doesn’t have the costings, they claim it is a ten year plan…
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
They will put the costings out later.
SCOTT RYAN:
…yes, but it is not a plan it is not even an aspiration. It is an admission, in fact it is a confession that in the next term of Office, if Labor won the election, the deficit will get bigger. That is what Labor said today. They tried to use weasel words like ‘fiscal contraction’ but what it means is that the deficit will get bigger over the next three years under Labor. They are saying it will get better after that, but this is where you have to judge people by their record. Labor promised surplus after surplus, they always promised the Budget would get better. They never met a single one of their targets.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Both sides struggle with that. You guys have had the same problems.
SCOTT RYAN:
The difference here is that our decisions have made the Budget better, every decision Labor made has made the Budget worse. And I am sure Senator Cormann will go into this in great detail in the debate. Labor locked in spending increases despite the fact that at the same time they were saying revenue forecasts were getting softer.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
One of the key features in your plan in the next decade is company tax cuts. But, I can’t see them getting through the Senate even if you win the election, what happens then?
SCOTT RYAN:
That is really a question for those who decide to not respect a popular mandate, if indeed the Government is re-elected. This issue is central to our Budget and central to our economic plan…
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
But hence the question Senator.
SCOTT RYAN:
…and indeed it is central to the election.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Hence the question, what happens? They have already said it. Bill Shorten has actually said at his National Press Club debate against Malcolm Turnbull that he won’t be supporting company tax cuts, we know the Greens won’t as well, so…
SCOTT RYAN:
That just reflects how far Bill Shorten has moved, not only from the Paul Keating and Bob Hawke who supported those policies, but from the Paul Keating that said in 1993 who said ‘if you vote from John Hewson you will get the GST’.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Yeah, alright, well we are going to hear very shortly from the National Press Club, they have started with the introductions, we are going to be hearing shortly from Senator Cormann and Tony Burke on this. The Liberal Party, is there much to come? I mean you are part of the brains trust that helped install Malcolm Turnbull in the leadership, is there more to come or is this just the halfway point of a campaign where there is not much more to say?
SCOTT RYAN:
There is always more to come. I think to be fair…
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Spending?
SCOTT RYAN:
…this campaign, while slightly longer than normal, I think most people over the last few election cycles have noticed that it is an election year. And we have been consistent with the announcements we made last year on innovation, earlier this year on defence industry support, then in the Budget around tax measures to support long-term economic growth. We will have more to illustrate how our plan relates to Australian families and Australian businesses over the coming weeks.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
This is a really important question though, as we have the economic debate shortly at the National Press Club, you took the view, rightly or wrongly, that you needed to change prime ministers – what is the KPI? What does he have to achieve? He obviously has to win the election for that to be the right call, but does he have to win it by a certain number?
SCOTT RYAN:
Peter, those events were quite a while ago now. Obviously, I hope the Government is returned at the election.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Sure.
SCOTT RYAN:
I am a long-term Liberal Party member, I think we have the best policies for the country. And I think, as John Howard once said that is a key KPI for any political leader and then you have got to do good things when you are there. Malcolm Turnbull has shown in the period that he has been there that he has got an economic plan and he has been implementing it. We have already started to do it.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:
Well, we are going to see and we are also going to see just in a moment at the National Press Club how the two Finance spokespeople go squaring off against each other. Senator Scott Ryan we appreciate your company.
(ENDS)