THE HON PETER COSTELLO MP

Doorstop Interview

Ministerial Entrance

Parliament House

Thursday, 13 May 2004

8.15 pm

SUBJECTS: Mr Latham’s Budget reply

TREASURER:

Well Australians will feel very badly let down by what Mr Latham did tonight,

because he did not do a Budget reply. He did not reply to the Budget at all.

What you heard tonight, is you heard waffle, you heard clique, you heard motherhood

statements but you did not hear a Budget reply. There was no specific policy,

there was no costings, there was no explanation of economic policy or financial

policy. There was nothing that we had not heard before. There has been no work

done. They have put forward no policy, and most astounding of all, after saying

that he would be announcing tax cuts for people, he made no tax announcement.

Not a single tax announcement and this is supposed to be a Budget reply. Now

even last year Mr Crean did a Budget reply and that is what it looks like. You

do the tables as to what your policies are going to cost and how you’re

going to pay for them and that was Mr Crean last year. There is not a single

table or a single amount and I think Australians have been taken for a ride

tonight because whatever that speech was about it was not a reply to the Budget.

JOURNALIST:

What about the youth guarantee? We haven’t heard of any of those details

before?

TREASURER:

We haven’t heard them yet. You just say I am for a youth guarantee, it

is not a policy. What programs? What eligibility? How much does it cost? How

will it be paid for? When will it be implemented? What is the start date? Who

will deliver it?

JOURNALIST:

Are you prepared to match his commitment to reduce Commonwealth spending and

taxing as a proportion of GDP.

TREASURER:

His speech does not mean anything. Now I don’t know if it is because

he has not done the work, or if there are arguments inside the Labor Party so

they can’t agree on policy, but you know this is, this is ultra light.

This is…

JOURNALIST:

…he does say that he will reduce Commonwealth spending and tax as a proportion

of GDP.

TREASURER:

…does he? And how does he do that? What is his tax policy? What…

JOURNALIST:

…I agree he has not given any details…

TREASURER:

…well it does not mean anything, its like saying…

JOURNALIST:

…does the government think that is a good idea?

TREASURER:

Well the government is reducing…

JOURNALIST:

(inaudible)

TREASURER:

No, no, no the forward estimates show that the tax to GDP is reducing. We do

not say what we will do, we actually set out the figures and we show it. But

to say we are going to do that, but I can’t tell you what my tax policy

is, doesn’t mean anything. None of this means anything. It is, frankly,

I think he is trying to take the Australian public for a ride. Frankly I think

that he is trying to take the Australian public for a ride and I think Australians

will feel pretty let down by this.

JOURNALIST:

So if it doesn’t mean anything then that is not a commitment you would

hold Mr Latham to if he did win the election?

TREASURER:

Well, what has he said? He hasn’t given the Australian people any commitments

on anything. He has been promising a Budget reply. He has been promising a tax

policy. He has been promising a family policy and he has delivered nothing.

And even if you want to compare his response to Mr Crean’s last year,

there is Mr Crean’s, that is what a Budget reply looks like. I don’t

think I have ever seen anything like this, I am sorry. Thank you for your time.