TRANSCRIPT
THE HON PETER COSTELLO MP

Treasurer
Doorstop Interview

Parliament House, Canberra

Thursday, 15 May 2003
8.30 pm

SUBJECTS: Labor’s Budget Response

TREASURER:

Well tonight we have heard what Labor’s plans for Australia are, they are to

put up taxes and drive the Budget into deficit. Labor’s Budget Response was

tax increases and eight unfunded measures which, when they are all put together

of course, will drive the Budget into deficit. Labor has not learned a thing.

Labor supports Budget deficits and higher taxes. Now this was an absolutely

irresponsible Budget speech. If Mr Crean had been serious about putting down

an alternative economic programme. If he had been serious, saying that he thought

that taxes should be lower, why would he announce tax rises tonight? If he had

been serious about his measures, why wouldn’t he have costed them? To take one

example, he says he wants a coastguard. He has not allowed one dollar to build

it, not one. Because this was not in truth a reply to the Budget, this was a

speech to the Labor Party faithful. And when Simon Crean speaks to the Labor

Party faithful he tells them what the Labor Party stands for – Budget deficits

and higher taxes.

JOURNALIST:

What higher taxes, in particular, are you referring to, the…

TREASURER:

Well, he announced that he opposes measures which will make Australian companies

competitive overseas in relation to international taxation. He announces that

he opposes measures in relation to the use of frank dividend, dividend imputation

system. He announces that he is going to start denying companies tax deductions,

higher taxes. But other than the higher taxes he specifically refers to the

fact that he can’t fund his programme, the fact that he will drive his Budget

into deficit, means he will have higher taxes all over the board if he ever

got round to implementing this.

JOURNALIST:

But at the cost of those changes do you concede his Medicare plan is more generous

than yours?

TREASURER:

Simon Crean’s Medicare plan is a plan to spend $2 billion. Well anyone can

announce that. Where does the $2 billion come from Mr Crean. If Mr Crean wants

to spend a new $2 billion on Medicare he could do it by cutting back some other

area, or as most of the Labor Party wants to do, abolishing the private health

insurance rebate. But if all he says, is, he wants to spend $2 billion more

that does not mean anything. It is not costed, it is not itemised, he is not

coming clean. The only thing he could say is, if he ever got round to it, someone,

somewhere would be paying higher taxes.

JOURNALIST:

Were you expecting him to offer a bigger tax cut than yours after…

TREASURER:

I have spent the last 48 hours listening to Mr Crean say that the $2.4 billion

worth of tax cuts announced by the Government on Tuesday were not enough. So

tonight, we expected him to announce larger tax cuts. What did he announce?

Tax rises. The last 48 hours have been an elaborate sham by the Labor Party.

Whilst this Government has been cutting taxes, tonight we find out what their

agenda was – tax rises.

Thanks very much.