TRANSCRIPT
THE HON PETER COSTELLO MP
Treasurer

Interview with Neil Mitchell

3AW

Monday, 30 August 2004
8.30 am

 

SUBJECTS: Leadership, economic management, interest rates, children

overboard, oil prices, GST

MITCHELL:

First today in our Canberra studio is the Treasurer, the Deputy Leader

of the Liberal Party, Peter Costello good morning.

TREASURER:

Good morning Neil.

MITCHELL:

If you win the election, do you expect to be Prime Minister in the next

three years?

TREASURER:

No, I expect to be Treasurer, and I am running again to be Treasurer and

I think that it is important that we have somebody that can manage the Australian

economy in what will be a very difficult period and that person is not Mark

Latham. It is going to be a difficult period Neil, because interest rates

are rising around the world as you know, and there is very, very high oil

prices and if Australia is not in experienced hands, then it could have

a big fallout for our economy.

MITCHELL:

I would like to go on to that further in a moment, but do you therefore

believe John Howard will see out a full term as Prime Minister if re-elected?

TREASURER:

Well he has made his position clear in relation to that…

MITCHELL:

(inaudible) well he hasn’t…

TREASURER:

…well…

MITCHELL:

…he said he’d be there as long as the Party wants him, what

does that mean?

TREASURER:

…well he has made his position entirely clear and it has been a very

consistent position for a very long period of time.

MITCHELL:

So you expect him to serve the full three years?

TREASURER:

Well, I agree with his position and he has made that entirely clear.

MITCHELL:

Can you tell me what that position means?

TREASURER:

Well he has stated that he is retaining the trust of the Party and that

is his position.

MITCHELL:

But I don’t understand that.

TREASURER:

Well you will have to take that up with him then Neil.

MITCHELL:

OK, but your interpretation of it is that he will stay three years.

TREASURER:

No, my interpretation of it is that we are running for re-election, we

are doing everything we can to get back and make sure that Australia gets

good government, that is my interpretation.

MITCHELL:

Do you understand of course though that people are looking at you now,

the electorate is probably looking at you are saying, are we voting for

this bloke as a potential Prime Minister?

TREASURER:

Well I think that was the situation the last election, I can remember going

through all of these questions ad nauseam in the last election, precisely

all of these questions, and…

MITCHELL:

And you did expect in fact to be Prime Minister.

TREASURER:

No, I didn’t, no, it is just people try and engage in speculation,

I have learnt in this business it is better not to.

MITCHELL:

You did seem very surprised when the Prime Minister decided to stay on,

surprised and disappointed.

TREASURER:

No Neil, I think it is important that we have a stable government with

strong economic management. That is what I am dedicated to. Look, when I

was elected the home mortgage interest rate was 10 ½ per cent, today it

is seven per cent. When we were elected, there were 1.3 million Australians

who today have jobs who didn’t and the thought of turning all of those

achievements to be wasted by somebody as inexperienced as Mark Latham fills

me with horror. People will not get the job opportunities they deserve,

their mortgages will be at risk all because we have somebody who is inexperienced

in Australian economic management. That is what is making me run at this

election, I can assure you of that.

MITCHELL:

Will you stay the full term if elected?

TREASURER:

Yes.

MITCHELL:

Will you step down if you lose the election?

TREASURER:

In my seat, if I lost my seat?

MITCHELL:

No, if the Government loses the election.

TREASURER:

Well I am not planning on losing Neil, but obviously if I didn’t

win my seat I would be stepped down.

MITCHELL:

OK, but unequivocally you will stay around the full three years if elected?

TREASURER:

Well I am running for a full term.

MITCHELL:

Do you, I would like to get to the economy issues in a moment, do you believe

though that we are at an increased risk of terrorism through this election?

TREASURER:

The only thing you can say is this, in Spain during an election, there

was a terrorist incident, so we have to be careful in Australia. That is

what I will say.

MITCHELL:

Would, do you believe terrorism, well an attack on Australians anywhere

in the world, will influence an election?

TREASURER:

I hope not and I think terrorists ought to understand this, that the Australian

public doesn’t give in to terrorism. Any terrorist should understand

this point – that if they think that some kind of attack on Australians

is going to change Australian policy, they are wrong, dead wrong.

MITCHELL:

Do you believe the Government is the underdog?

TREASURER:

The polls say it is behind, so you would have to say that Latham is the

favourite, he certainly considers himself the favourite.

MITCHELL:

Do you like that?

TREASURER:

Yes I do actually, because I think that there is a degree of arrogance

that has slipped into the Labor Party. They think that they don’t

have to release policies, he said he was going to have a tax policy during

the Budget week and he hasn’t released it. And I think the reason

he won’t release policies is that he thinks that he can get into office

without disclosing his policies.

MITCHELL:

What do you think of him personally?

TREASURER:

I don’t know him all that well actually. He has, look, you would

have to say that he has been fantastically successful for someone who came

into Parliament about ten years ago and who has never held a senior office,

you would have to say he has been spectacularly successful but his experience

is very narrow.

MITCHELL:

Let’s get to the economy, you are saying interest rates would go

up under Labor, on what basis?

TREASURER:

Well I say that you should judge people by their records. Our record is

out there, over eight and a half years, interest rates are now around seven

per cent. Judge the Labor Party by their record, their interest rates averaged

around 12 per cent, peaked at 17 per cent. Now Mr Latham will say, ‘I

believe in low interest rates.’ Anyone can say that Neil, anyone can

say that, but don’t listen to what they say, look at what they do.

Judge them by their record.

MITCHELL:

If we are going to such a difficult period, I mean it is going to be very

difficult for your Government to keep interest rates low as well, what can

you promise?

TREASURER:

We can promise experienced management and a record which is second to none.

You can compare this Government’s record against previous Governments

in Australia, or you can compare this Government’s record against

other comparable countries. Now on either of those measures over the last

eight a half years, it has been a very strong story. You want to compare

Australia to the United States, the United States has been in recession.

You want to compare Australia to Japan, you want to compare us to the UK

or France or Germany, on any of these measures during an extremely difficult

period, the Australian economic story has been a very strong one. You know,

find the countries, name the countries that did better than Australia. That

is one way of comparing it, another way of comparing it is to say, well

let’s compare it to previous records, and as I said earlier, you want

to compare our record, interest rates are now at seven per cent, they were

averaging over 12 under Labor and peaking at 17.

MITCHELL:

Where would we go under Labor in your claim that, what is your claim, what

would happen under Labor?

TREASURER:

Well under Labor there would be no disciplined economic manager and it

is certainly not Mr Latham. Spending would blow out, he would be chasing

economics fads, the Budget would go into deficit, interest rates would rise,

business would be less profitable and less people would be in work.

MITCHELL:

Do you agree under this Government at the moment, I heard Mark Latham on

AM this morning talking about porkies already, do you agree that the credibility

of the Government isn’t high?

TREASURER:

I think Mr Latham is working to try and get that line up, but I don’t

believe that those areas where he claims that the Government has failed,

I don’t believe that they stand up to scrutiny. He put out his big

dossier as you recall, and when you go through those dossier claims one

by one, you will find that it is quite a deceptive little document.

MITCHELL:

Do you accept though that the Prime Minister did get it wrong on the children

overboard?

TREASURER:

Well he admits that there were no children thrown overboard.

MITCHELL:

OK, do we owe an apology to those people?

TREASURER:

But he, when he made that statement to the National Press Club, he cited

a report of the Office of National Assessments, which said that it had happened.

And let’s not forget where the whole story came from, it didn’t

come from the Government by the way, I kept reading in the paper, the Government

invented this, no, the Commander of the base in Darwin, the military Commander

reported that to headquarters, it came from the military, that is where

it came from.

MITCHELL:

Do we owe the people involved an apology?

TREASURER:

Well, it has been, I think the Government quite freely says, and I have

just said now, that people, nobody threw their children overboard…

MITCHELL:

(inaudible).

TREASURER:

…there was, well there was a lot of sabotage going on in some of

those boats, but having said all of that, the claim that was made was made

by the Commander in Darwin and it was honestly and faithfully repeated.

MITCHELL:

I understand that, but I saw a mother in the papers on the weekend saying,

‘I would never do that with my child, I was on that boat, my child

is too important for that.’ Is she owed an apology?

TREASURER:

Well I read that too and I thought that was a moving story and I think

she is now in Australia, is she not?

MITCHELL:

Yes.

TREASURER:

And at the end of all of this Neil, you know, let’s just remember

that keeping Australia strong and safe is one of the reasons why people

enjoy the lifestyle that we have here…

MITCHELL:

So an apology isn’t necessary?

TREASURER:

…well I think that the facts have been fully set out.

MITCHELL:

Petrol prices, where will they go under you in the future? What can you

give us?

TREASURER:

It depends mostly on the world oil price.

MITCHELL:

So you won’t do anything to keep them down?

TREASURER:

Well, we have done a lot to keep them down. We cut the Commonwealth excise…

MITCHELL:

But that GST is ripping millions extra out.

TREASURER:

And who is receiving the GST?

MITCHELL:

Who imposed it?

TREASURER:

Well Mr Steve Bracks.

MITCHELL:

Who imposed it? Mr Peter Costello.

TREASURER:

We put it in place, yes, absolutely, we put it in place and every last

dollar goes to Steve Bracks. I will make you an offer, here is an offer,

if Steve Bracks wants to give the GST revenue…

MITCHELL:

I can see where this is…

TREASURER:

…no, no, no, I will make you an offer, if Steve Bracks wants to give

the GST revenue back to the Commonwealth, here is an open offer, I will

do something for him relation to petrol. There you go.

MITCHELL:

What?

TREASURER:

Well ask him if he and the fellow Labor Premiers would like to give the

$4 billion back to the Commonwealth that they get out of GST. I think this

is a very important point, you are quite right that the GST is a value added

tax, right, so if the price is higher, the receipts are higher. The State

of Victoria is getting every last dollar of those receipts. The State of

Victoria is going to enjoy a GST windfall in the 2004-2005 year. Now, if

you are worried about that GST windfall, Mr Bracks might have something

to say about it, otherwise he can give the windfall to me.

MITCHELL:

If you win this election, if the Government is returned, will it be a softer

government, will there be a different style of government?

TREASURER:

Look it depends on the issues Neil. Look, if the war on terror continues

as I believe it will, the Government will be tough in the war on terror,

in defending our borders, we will be tough in defending our borders. In

improving our health system, if you want to think that is a soft issue,

if we can keep our economy strong, we can improve our health system. I would

say it is soft to run an economic program which allows people to keep their

mortgages. To me that is one of the best things that a Government can ever

do for people, so it comes to the issues themselves Neil.

MITCHELL:

I know we are just about out of time, do you think people like you, the

voters?

TREASURER:

Well you know, I try and work as hard as I possibly can for the public,

I think over the last eight and a half years the record speaks for itself.

MITCHELL:

Do you think…

TREASURER:

How people vote is a matter for them, but I would say to people that if

you look at the record of this Government in eight and a half years, we

didn’t get there by making easy decisions…

MITCHELL:

Do you…

TREASURER:

…I can be quite frank about that, we made the right decisions, and

I think the payoff is there.

MITCHELL:

…do you agree that people will be looking at you and John Howard

as a double act, regardless of what they think about who is going to be

leader in 10 months as Mark Latham says, look at you and part of the decision

will involve you, very much?

TREASURER:

Well I think they will be looking at us as a double act and they will be

saying, we are pleased we have got someone who can run the economy. But

who is the double act for Labor?

MITCHELL:

Simon Crean.

TREASURER:

Precisely.

MITCHELL:

What do you mean?

TREASURER:

Well, Latham and Crean running the Australian economy, it is frightening

isn’t it?

MITCHELL:

Thank you very much for your time, and we will talk regularly I hope through

the campaign with the occasional debate.

TREASURER:

Good to be with you.

MITCHELL:

Do you want to back Essendon?

TREASURER:

Yes.

MITCHELL:

Do you want to back John Howard?

TREASURER:

Oh you shouldn’t, isn’t there some rule that you should never

back something that you are personally involved in? The Stewards might call

for us.

MITCHELL:

Thank you for your time.

TREASURER:

Good on you.