ABC Capital Hill – with Greg Jennett
E&OE
GREG JENNETT:
Minister you are at the sharp end of what a lot of people would call the budget nasties, just how much engagement are you having with crossbench Senators this week?
MINISTER ANDREWS:
We’ve begun some preliminary discussions with the crossbench Senators, trying to understand what they are wanting to achieve. To put to them the challenges that we face in terms of the ageing of the population, the need for workers into the future, the need for young people, for example, to if they’re not in work now to be training to get work in the future etcetera.
GRED JENNETT:
So let’s talk specifically about that. How much would it cost the Budget if the six month wait for the dole was shortened to say a two month period?
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Well we’d have to look at all the details of that. This is a provision which has a lot of exemptions in it, for example it’s really aimed at people under 30 who are capable of working full-time, who don’t have parenting responsibilities, who are not stream three or four job seekers. So it’s basically saying for people from 18-30 that if you’re not working then the expectation is that you should be training so you can get work in the future. Now any variation of that would depend on the parameters of all of those things that we’d have to look at.
GREG JENNETT:
As you say lots of exemptions already within the design of it, but the concept of shortening from six months to something shorter, what’s your disposition towards that?
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Well I start from the principle, and in any discussions I’ll have and regardless of whom it is, the principle is this. That we’ve got an ageing population, we know that there’s going to be a contraction in the growth, the net growth of the workforce in the future, we know that we’re going to need workers and frankly it’s much better for people to be in work rather than on welfare.
So this starts with the principle that if you’re under 30, you’re capable of working full-time then the expectation is that you’re either working or getting the experience, you’re getting the skills, you’re getting the training and the education to be in work and I think a lot of us can agree on that principle.
GREG JENNETT:
Is it an option to start it at a shorter period and maybe phase it up to your ideal six month period at a later time?
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Look, I will listen to any detailed suggestions that crossbenchers or others want to put to me but I think we have to start from this principle. The principle is that yes work for people who are capable of working is a good thing and not only a good thing but something which Governments should be encouraging, not just for the economy, but for the individuals and their families as well. Now if we start with that principle then you know we can have discussions.
GREG JENNETT:
But even if they accept that principle it’s fairly clear isn’t’ it that critical crossbench Senators do not accept the six months?
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Well we haven’t got that far at this stage and I’m not going to pre-empt any discussions we have about it. We go into this in good faith, we go into it with goodwill towards any discussions that we will have, but it has to start from the point of view of recognising what are the challenges that we face in this country, and these are real challenges and that’s not to mention the budgetary considerations of how we continue to ensure that the economy thrives and the Commonwealth can operate within its means.
GREG JENNETT:
On a related front, there was a bill yesterday to restart the mining tax process and it does, Labor claims, open the prospects of a much longer phase-in of the 12 per cent super guarantee. Why would the government be contemplating something that didn’t fully impellent there until as late as 2034?
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Well that’s a matter for the Treasurer and the Finance Minister in particular, but Labor can’t complain about any of these processes at the moment because they are standing in the way of what was clear a mandate for this government and that was to get rid of the carbon tax and the mining tax, and frankly Mr Shorten and the Labor Party should just get out of the way and allow us to implement that because you know this was a disastrous policy. It didn’t raise the amount of money it was claimed to raise, you know there could have never been a more poorly designed tax than what we’ve got in the mining tax.
GREG JENNETT:
But is the Government prepared for a debate about slowing down that move towards the 12 per cent super…
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Well as I said that’s a matter for the Treasurer and the Finance Minister and you’ll have to ask them about that.
GREG JENNETT:
Okay this is also I think your first interview since you withdrew from the World Congress of Families meeting. It did look like a reactive decision, were you reacting to what others were saying? Had you done your due diligence before originally accepting that invitation?
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Look I had no problem speaking to the World Congress of Families, just as I have no problem speaking to any other group. And what I was speaking about, my speech has been put out there, was about the economic consequences of marriage and family breakdown in Australia and elsewhere. And that’s a very serious matter, not just for the individuals concerned and the cost to them but to the economy overall. What in the end made me withdraw was because I thought there was a lack of toleration, a lack of tolerance, for views being expressed and I think that is not right.
GREG JENNETT:
And did you know Pastor Danny Nahllia was involved at that point that you accepted?
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Well I accepted to speak at a World Congress of Families. I didn’t expect to speak at a function that he was hosting and his organisation was hosting, and for the reasons I’ve said I think in all clinical debate there should be a degree of toleration, after all that’s what western liberal democracy is founded on.
GREG JENNETT:
And the perception, do you think the perception was valid that you may have been associated with their views of homophobia and some of their views on abortion is that ultimately the..?
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Well that wasn’t what I went to speak at, it wasn’t what I’d agreed about a year before to speak at but it seemed to have morphed into something different and ultimately that’s why I decided to withdraw. But if I’m asked to speak at a families conference, I’ll speak at a family conference and I’ll continue to promote what I was saying at that conference and what I’ve put out by way of my speech and that is that these issues are very serious issues they cost individuals a lot of emotional trauma and financial costs and they are of huge cost on the economy as well.
GREG JENNETT:
Alright Minister more budget talks to get on with so we’ll let you resume those duties, thanks for your time today.
MINISTER ANDREWS:
Thank you.