Doorstop interview Brighton

E&OE

JOURNALIST:

You’re suggesting that a lot of these [child care] reforms are contingent on savings, and you need Labor and the Greens to pass some of these savings, will some of the reforms actually not go ahead if the savings don’t happen?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well I’m not leaping ahead to any of those sorts of positions, I think what we’re looking to do here I think will be great for families, that’s what this whole package is about and we’re a government that will be living within its means and we will be seeking the support of the Parliament obviously and that’s why we’ve been working so constructively with the Opposition and with the Crossbench on this, as well as other initiatives. So look, I’m taking this one step at a time. I think the consultation we’ve had on what we’ve been working on as a package has been very, very positive and I think we’re getting it right and in terms of where the focus needs to be, on middle to lower income families but also not forgetting that disadvantaged families will continue to need very tailored assistance.

JOURNALIST:

In your speech you said that you’re consulting pretty well with the sector but how are you consulting with the Crossbenchers, Labor and the Greens who you need to unlock this funding?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well we’ve had several meetings now with the Opposition and I’ve been also engaging with crossbenchers and I think these are being conducted in good faith, I think there’s been a very positive spirit about those discussions. Whether there’s ultimate agreement on how you pay for things, that will be tested I suppose in the Parliament. The previous government introduced changes to Family Tax Benefit arrangements which led to savings in that area, they were quite happy to do that when they were in government. We’ve proposed some very similar changes in the last budget which would be able to assist us pay for this package and I would hope that they would take a similarly pragmatic approach. I think hopefully we’re starting to get past the point now, I would hope, given what I heard Bill Shorten say yesterday on a separate matter of pensions, that we hopefully are getting past that sort of default reactionary approach from Labor to say no to absolutely everything that happens and I would hope that they would see the bigger picture here and agree that we need to make changes in early childhood learning and child care that we do need to invest more here and that taxpayers should not be slugged for that given taxpayers are already spending $7 billion a year to support child care and early childhood learning. To actually demand that they pay even more for that with higher taxes or not going ahead with savings, I think would be very unfair to taxpayers.

JOURNALIST:

In your speech you said that there might have to be further savings made in your portfolio, namely in the welfare part of things, do you think that Labor will support changes to welfare reform in terms of tightening certain payments?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well we already have quite a number of measures before the Parliament from last year’s budget which haven’t been passed and over the course of these many months since coming into the portfolio I’ve been working with the crossbench on re-engineering quite a number of those measures and that will be part of the budget process and announced on budget night. I would hope that Labor would put aside their very reactionary approach that we’ve seen over the last 18 months and see the bigger picture here which says yes, we need to have improvements in services in this area, but taxpayers shouldn’t have a gun put to their head to accept higher taxes and more charges and walking away from savings that would mean this support could otherwise be delivered, I mean that’s just common-sense budgeting. They are doing it in their households, why the government shouldn’t do it, the Coalition doesn’t understand, that’s why we want to make savings, to deliver these improved services.

JOURNALIST:

An article in today’s Telegraph suggested that Philip Ruddock said that the migrant intake should come down because he believes that some people that come here, they can’t get jobs and then rely on welfare and dole. Do you agree with that sentiment?

MINISTER MORRISON:

The migration programme I think always has to be responsive to the economic conditions in the country. Our immigration programme has always been principally an economic programme. It’s one of the great reasons for our tremendous success over generations – our economic migration programme and it has focused on skills. Two thirds of our migration permanent intake comes from the skilled sector and that was a reform that was brought in by Philip Ruddock himself, when he was the minister. When he became the minister, back in 1996, the Keating government had the skilled intake down to less than 30%. Now he increased that to almost 70% over the term of that government and that’s how it should be. Philip makes the right point that if you get the balance wrong between skilled economic migrants who come, make a contribution from day one, pay taxes and get jobs, rather than come seeking welfare, which is more apparent in the other streams of the migration programme then that is not a good balance for the country and so look, you’ve got to get the balance right. They are matters for the new immigration minister but from my previous experience also as a former immigration minister, you’ve got to get it right and it’s got to be reflective of the economic needs of the time. You bring skilled migrants into the country when you need skilled workers.

JOURNALIST:

Can I just ask you about the employment report that’s due out soon, unemployment has risen, the effect young people [inaudible] how do you think they’ll be [inaudible].

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well 150,000 extra jobs have been created in the past year and that’s something the government is very pleased with and we’d like to see more. More jobs have to be created to bring the unemployment rate now than are currently being created, but 150,000 new jobs in a year is a positive development and we want to see more of that. But that’s why this year’s budget will have a very strong focus on a jobs and small business package. In the same way that we’ll be focusing on families, with the families’ package, the jobs and small business package will give hope and incentive and encouragement to those particularly longer term unemployed, for those who want to be in work, desperately want to be in work, but are finding it difficult to get in a job and stick in a job and frankly also in the child care package which we’re talking about today, this will help families stay in work and get in work and give their families greater choices for the future. So the government is acutely focused on the issue of jobs and that will be seen in the budget that we hand down this year.

JOURNALIST:

With the voting overhaul, the rules [inaudible] change the voting system, will they hamper your negotiations with the Senate?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Look, they’re matters for other ministers, my engagement with the crossbenchers is about securing improvements to child care and early childhood learning, it’s a fair and sustainable pension and positive initiatives that help young people and older Australians and families get into work. So that’s been where my focus is on with the crossbenchers, I’ll leave those other debates to others.

JOURNALIST:

Can I just ask you about Roger Corbett discussing a double dissolution – is that an option?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well they are matters for the Prime Minister, but I’m not aware of any discussion which suggests that. This government has a lot of work to do over the course of this term. We’re only midway through the term, we’re working on delivering this next budget which will focus strongly on families and jobs and small business and that’s where we believe the focus needs to be, while at the same time in my own portfolio, continue to deliver important areas. Domestic violence will be a key focus for this Friday’s agenda on COAG. It was Youth Homelessness Matters Day yesterday and we were able to extend the funding for homelessness programmes in our partnership agreement with the states, so these remain important social focuses for the government but more broadly, our focus is on families, small business and jobs.

JOURNALIST:

But just on that issue with Roger Corbett, is it a surprise that someone of his stature, he’s a fairly senior business leader, believes that there should be a double dissolution because he thinks that the government is being hampered?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well he’s entitled to his view but the government has no intentions in this area as the Prime Minister I think has said on many occasions. I mean others you know can speculate and commentate all they like on this, but our focus is to just to get on with the job of good government which is what we’re doing every day. We are looking forward to this next budget because we believe it’s going to deliver real benefits for families and for those who want to be in jobs and small businesses who are trying to put people in jobs.

JOURNALIST:

Just one more about the ACOSS pension proposal, what about their plan to scrap negative gearing, is that something you guys would look at?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Look I’ll leave those matters to the Treasurer, the one that I’m obviously focused on is ACOSS’ very helpful suggestion around alternative ways to address a fair and sustainable pension and I continue to have those discussions with crossbenchers. I welcome the fact that Bill Shorten seems to be moving away from his very recalcitrant position on this, his head in the sand position, on a fair and sustainable pension. If we followed Bill Shorten’s approach then we’d move the pension to some 3.6% of GDP, in real dollars today that would mean putting a $14 billion plus burden on the budget and that frankly wipes out the Commonwealth’s contribution to the NDIS. Now I think Bill Shorten might be waking up to the folly of that reactionary approach that he seems so welded to in the past and if he is, well that’s a good thing. But the proof will be in the pudding and its eating. At this stage I think Bill Shorten is hopefully waking up but he’s been completely left behind on this debate because he’s preferred to play politics than address policy.