TIM COX: The Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner, is on the phone to correct any error I have made in those numbers there. Minister, good morning.
LINDSAY TANNER: Good morning Tim. You're correct.
TIM COX: Excellent. Thank you for you joining us, and have a good day.
LINDSAY TANNER: [Laughs].
TIM COX: Let's talk about Tasmania first of all - a listener Chris suggests that while David Bartlett was digging his hole on the eastern shore at Lindisfarne at yet another daily media event, you were deleting any reference to Tasmanian infrastructure or rail while he was digging the hole. Where is the money for infrastructure in Tasmania, if infrastructure is the centrepiece of this budget?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well, I think whoever the caller was is missing something, and that is, the biggest infrastructure project of all time is going to roll out first in Tasmania, and starting within months. And that of course is the National Broadband Network. Tassie has got a history of being the, the place of experimentation and commencement for innovation in communications; the first state that's had a stand-alone digital free-to-air TV channel for example, and the Launceston broadband experiment, and indeed power line broadband experiment in Hobart. So, once again, Tassie is going to lead the nation in terms of the broadband network. And that is the biggest infrastructure project bar none.
TIM COX: Will Tasmanians in small town be leading the way as part of that infrastructure project?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well, the towns below 1,000 people are going to get access to at least 12 megabits per second, which is of course hugely increased from where it currently is, through satellite or wireless solutions. The precise detail of course of this is yet to be worked out. But it's a bit like mobile phone coverage; that you can't do everywhere all at once at the absolute maximum coverage. You've got to concentrate on where it's at least remotely economic. And that's why there are different solutions for much smaller communities. It's still going to be an enormous advance on what the status quo is. Of course there are still large parts of Australia - and I suspect many parts of Tasmania - that can't get any serious broadband. So, and this will also be at least as good as what our pre-election commitment involved.
TIM COX: The Chief Economist with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry here was suggesting earlier that perhaps Tasmania had not made the right pitch to you and Wayne Swan for infrastructure spends. The Bell Bay Port in the north of the State was one that was meant to be at the top of the list. Is that correct? Were there infrastructure projects here that were knocked back?
LINDSAY TANNER: Look, I can't comment on the processes of Infrastructure Australia and the advisory processes there. But, I think people are getting a bit of the wrong end of the stick here. There are some major improvements for Tasmania in this budget - for example, the new southern surveyor vessel for deep sea research; and the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart; they're very important initiatives, and that, that institute's an important educational and research piece of infrastructure. And of course on top of that there's significant new money for our Antarctic bases which need upgrading and repair. And a lot of that of course will eventually flow through into Hobart, because that's traditionally the base from where these things are done. So, there are important initiatives for Tasmania in this budget. And, the initiatives that you're seeing in other parts of the country of course vary in magnitude and vary in specifics.
TIM COX: Is it stretching a little, with respect Lindsay Tanner, to say that the $120 million for a new southern surveyor is money spent in Tasmania or that will benefit Tasmania?
LINDSAY TANNER: Oh, no, it's not. Because the fact that it's based in Hobart means that the jobs that are associated with that project will predominantly be Tasmanian jobs. These are very important initiatives that will benefit the Tasmanian economy. And, I think people are pretty conscious of that, and, that there is a traditional Tasmanian strength in marine, and particularly Antarctic kind of activities; and there's significant money in this budget for those things.
TIM COX: What do you say to analysts and commentators that have said in relation to this that somewhere here in the next couple of years is a really really tough budget? Someone like Alan Kohler for example, suggest that this budget is a good start but hasn't gone far enough.
LINDSAY TANNER: Look, inevitably there will always be commentary of that kind, and, it's always difficult to get the balance right; and particularly in the circumstances we've been in, which are incredibly complex and challenging. Because we have to spend in the short-term, we have to stimulate the economy in the short-term to sustain jobs and business in the wake of enormously negative contractionary forces from the international recession, at the same time as starting the process of repairing the structural damage that that recession's doing to the budget. We've had a huge loss of revenue, as you no doubt know, and of course we can't continue to run deficits forever. We can run deficits in the short-term. Our balance sheet is very strong, so we can afford that very small level of debt that flows from that relative to our major trading partners. So, it's a matter of debate. I think we've made a very important start to that process, and there will be tough decisions facing the government in future years. There always are.
TIM COX: Is the infrastructure spend something that is - and the broadband rollout aside - something that is perhaps overdue - and I'll take this to the Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, in a moment - that perhaps should have been done when the economy was in fact in the black?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well there's no question about that. And this is something we argued for years in Opposition, and I don't want to make too partisan a point about this, but, the real problem that Australia has now got is that for good times, from the turn of the century on, until a year or so ago, the government wasn't investing in infrastructure, wasn't investing in skills enough, and we are seeking to catch up with that backlog. Now, people will debate the specific projects. They'll debate the merits of what's being done inevitably. But I don't think anybody can debate the need to set Australia up for future productivity growth and jobs. Our productivity performance over the past five to seven years has been pretty ordinary, and we've got to build a new surge of productivity for the future. And that's why things like the broadband network and some of the major projects around the country are so crucial.
TIM COX: Yeah. Rail benefited in almost every part of the country, but not Tasmania, which has a terribly dilapidated rail network. Was there no approach for rail infrastructure spending in Tasmania, or is it perhaps deemed not a good, not a good use of what money is available?
LINDSAY TANNER: Oh look, again, I can't really comment on specific proposals that were put forward, and may or may not have been approved by Infrastructure Australia, or reached agreement. But of course the, the circumstances for the rail sector vary enormously around the country. Melbourne for example - which I represent - depends very heavily on passenger rail for public transport, which of course isn't the case with Tasmania. So there are different needs, different circumstances around the country, and I think it makes it very hard to compare and to stay that, you know, for example every state should get a particular percentage. You will see for example that there's only a relatively modest initiative with respect to rail in Brisbane, and that is a feasibility study for a future inner-urban metro. There is of course money committed for light rail on the Gold Coast. So there's different things in different states. I think it's hard to compare.
TIM COX: Perhaps your colleague Anthony Albanese might be able to explain that a little later in the day, or tomorrow. Down the track, the Tasmanian Treasurer will look at the declining GST revenue - something that all of his colleagues interstate, and of course yourself at a federal level - are having to contend with; and wondering perhaps if the way money has been allocate and spending has been prioritised in the past was the right way to go. What's your message to him as he draws up his budget for this year?
LINDSAY TANNER: Oh look, I, Tim, I wouldn't set myself up as an expert on the...
TIM COX: Well you're the Finance Minister, I hope you're something of an expert.
LINDSAY TANNER: I am the Finance Minster of the Commonwealth, not the State of Tasmania, of course. So, I don't, I wouldn't want to lecture the Tasmanian Treasurer about how to do his job. But, I think the challenge that will be facing him will be pretty similar to the challenge that we faced. And you can see this in the various states around the country; that, when you get this sudden contraction and sudden loss of revenue and activity, that hits your budget severely. But, at the same, you want to sustain economic activity. And of course if you cut back government spending too much, then you're actually adding to the problem in the economy. So there's a very difficult balancing act involved here,and there's obviously some tough choices that will face the Tasmanian Government, just as they've faced governments all around the country. I've got confidence that the Tasmanian Government will, you know, handle this with the right approach. But, I'm not in the business of trying to tell State Premiers and State Treasurers how to do their budgets. You know, they, they've got decisions that they have to face without me interfering.
TIM COX: Thanks for your time this morning.
LINDSAY TANNER: Thank you very much.
TIM COX: Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner.
- ENDS
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