Transcript, AM Agenda, 18 July 2012
July 18, 2012
TRANSCRIPT
SKY NEWS AM AGENDA
INTERVIEW WITH KIERAN GILBERT
18 JULY 2012
E&OE….
Topics: Carbon Tax, Ford announcement,
KIERAN GILBERT: Thanks for being with us on AM Agenda this morning. Joining me now, the Shadow Environment Minister Greg Hunt. Mr Hunt thanks for your time. I want to start by playing for you the comment made by the Ford Australia President, Bob Graziano, who’s talking about the job cuts announced yesterday.
Bob Graziano: The Carbon Tax has absolutely nothing to do with today’s announcement. Today’s announcement is about ensuring that our production meets demand based on what Australian customers are asking for in this marketplace.
He says it’s got nothing to do with the Carbon Tax. Do you accept that?
GREG HUNT: Well look, Ford has to make its own decisions but what’s absolutely clear here is that on top of all of the domestic issues including production, consumption, manufacturing, demand, costs, adding what’s largely a manufacturing electricity tax of $9 billion a year across Australia, what’s specifically a $440 million impost over the coming years on the car sector in the form of a Carbon Tax, is absolutely the worst possible additional thing you could do.
KIERAN GILBERT: So you don’t accept his comment that it had nothing to do with the Carbon Tax?
GREG HUNT: No. He’s absolutely entitled to make statements on behalf of the country but if you look at manufacturing across Australia, adding a $9 billion a year tax which is what the Carbon Tax is, according to Treasury’s own estimates, makes a bad situation worse. How can it be anything other than making a bad situation worse? We know that Australian manufacturing is in a vulnerable condition. We have rising production whether it’s from China or other parts of the developing world. We have a high Australian dollar, then on top of that, to add a $9 billion a year tax simply, obviously, unarguably is bad for Australian manufacturing.
KIERAN GILBERT: The Coalition hasn’t supported - it’s about $1.5 billion in support - for the automotive industry. Things would be more precarious, would they not, for workers in that sector if the Coalition was in power?
GREG HUNT: No. We think we can make the Australian economy more competitive. We’d start by taking away a $9 billion a year electricity and manufacturing tax, which is of course a huge impost…
KIERAN GILBERT: (inaudible) take away the subsidies? You’d take away the subsidies for the automotive industries as well?
GREG HUNT: With great respect that statement is plain, flat wrong.
KIERAN GILBERT: You would keep the support for the automotive industry where it is at the moment? You would do that? Because if that’s the case that’s breaking news this morning.
GREG HUNT: No, let me speak Kieran, when you’re finished you let me know.
KIERAN GILBERT: Well tell me what’s the level of support? Will you maintain $1.5 billion for the automotive industry because I want a bit of clarity on what you’re going to do here? Because you’ve just said you would keep support.
GREG HUNT: When you’re finished interviewing yourself I’m happy to respond. You let me know when you’re ready.
KIERAN GILBERT: OK tell us what the support would be. I just want clarity for our viewers rather than a deceptive answer. What would the support be?
GREG HUNT: I haven’t had a chance to answer yet. Look, you keep going, interview yourself, you can go for another three or four minutes but when you’re ready I’ll respond.
KIERAN GILBERT: Can you give us an answer? What would the support be, rather than this ridiculous dancing around?
GREG HUNT: OK, we will have an automotive package. We’ve already committed to that. We will make sure though, there is value for money and we think that it has to go before the Productivity Commission, so as we don’t have the situation where the Prime Minister promised 300 jobs early in the year and delivers a loss of 440 jobs. These are real jobs with real people who are going to face difficulties whether it’s for themselves or their families. What we see is that there are promises made and the delivery, as has been the case throughout the Government, is radically different. So yes there is a role, and I say this particularly as a Victorian, for smart support but we’ve seen today reports that the very standards that the Government have wanted to achieve in terms of support for the new green Falcon haven’t been achieved. So as in NSW for example are not able to purchase them according to their own standards, so they set standards for a Government bailout which was not delivered and therefore it was money spent without adequate supervision. That’s the problem here (inaudible) delivery.
KIERAN GILBERT: So to cut through that, you want a Productivity Commission review. There’s no commitment to keep the support where it is. Finally on the Carbon Tax compensation, we’ve only got less than a minute now, do you think that…
GREG HUNT: …That’s not surprising…
KIERAN GILBERT:...payments should be made in credits or cash?
GREG HUNT: Well our view has been very simply that the best way to deal with the Carbon Tax is to take away the Carbon Tax. What we need to do here is to take away the Carbon Tax because it is an electricity tax on mums and dads, pensioners and seniors and the small business owners, whom I’ve been meeting, and others in the Coalition have been meeting right around the country. So what we see with this Carbon Tax is three things: firstly it doesn’t work, Australia’s emissions go up; secondly, it’s a manufacturing tax at the worst possible time and thirdly it’s an electricity tax on mums and dads. That’s why it is a fundamentally misconstrued policy which doesn’t even achieve its objective of reducing Australia’s domestic emissions.
KIERAN GILBERT: Well that was a perfectly timed answer. We’re out of time Mr Hunt, as always good to see you, thanks for that.
GREG HUNT: Thanks very much Kieran.
(ends)
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