REPORTER: Well the Federal Government has an unexpected ally in its battle with Tony Abbott over paid parental leave today with the former treasurer, Peter Costello attacking the Abbott scheme as silly and against Liberal principles. Mr Costello says the Opposition’s now engaged in a policy race to the bottom with Labor. Well the Opposition spokesman on women, Sharman Stone, has told ABC NewsRadio this morning that while Mr Costello is entitled to his views, they will not alter opposition policy. For a government view on that, Marius Benson is speaking to the Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner.
MARIUS BENSON: Lindsay Tanner, good morning.
LINDSAY TANNER: Morning, Marius.
MARIUS BENSON: Not a universal admirer of Peter Costello yourself over the years, but perhaps on this occasion you might agree?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well Peter Costello's a good Essendon supporter and a former number one ticket holder in the position that I now hold Marius, so he's by no means all bad. And today he's definitely hit the nail right on the head and demonstrated, I think, the key issue here and that is that Tony Abbott's proposing a great, big new tax on business that'll flow through to consumers and hurt jobs, and all in the name of delivering full pay to people who are on $150,000 a year.
MARIUS BENSON: Still he's no admirer of any of the Labor policies either. He's critical of the use of the GST by the Labor Party in its scheme for a hospital takeover, so he's even-handed to that extent.
LINDSAY TANNER: Oh yes, that's correct. He doesn't always agree with us, and in fact, I think we'd be a bit surprised and disturbed if he did tend to suggest that we might be getting things a little bit [indistinct], but he was essentially the creator of the GST, along with John Howard, so it's not surprising that he feels a bit proprietary about the structure of the scheme. But the health reform proposal we've put forward Marius, is designed to take the longer term burden off the states, that they will simply not be able to deal with, and ensure that we've got national responsibly for the efficiency and value of our health system.
MARIUS BENSON: Peter Costello says, why not go all the way? Don't just take 30 per cent of the GST, take it all back?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well look, we've chosen a particular path that I think makes sense and it still leaves the states with a very significant role, because of course they own and run the public hospitals or they own a lot of public hospitals and are central to the system. So our proposal does involve the states remaining as a very significant player, but what we want to do is get an efficient system. The current system's full of duplication and waste and overlap. What we're trying to do is get the lines clear so it's clear where responsibility lies for every aspect of the system.
MARIUS BENSON: Peter Costello is just pursuing the logic as he saw it of Labor's position suggesting that you take over all the GST. Another point he makes is that he bets that the way you're handling the GST is not a recommendation in the Henry Tax Review.
LINDSAY TANNER: Well we didn't actually ask the Henry Tax Review to look at the GST, in fact we specifically excluded it from the ambit of the review, whether the scope of the GST or the rate, so I can't comment on what's in the tax review, but my response to Peter's comment there would be well, what turns on that? Really, the issue here is the merit of the proposition. We are tackling a problem that has bedevilled Australian health for decades. People just want action, they want a better system, they want more resources into the system and they want the system managed better and that's what we're seeking to deliver.
MARIUS BENSON: Peter Costello's remarks about the parental leave scheme will be seized on by Labor reasonably enough in a fairly selective way, but his criticism is directed at both sides of politics. He says both Labor and the Coalition are involved in a race to the bottom on policy in a sort of pre-election scramble. Fair reading?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well not it's not because our paid parental leave scheme was actually put out in the budget last year, so it's quite a while ago. It takes effect at the beginning of next year, but I think you'd hardly call a mid-term budget, an election budget. And ours is designed to ensure that people on lower incomes can have kids basically, can - not have to face that huge gap in income that the - typically would be involved with having children or being forced back to work prematurely, the diabolical choices that face many families around Australia. It's not designed to cover the loss of income that everybody in Australia experiences, because people on higher incomes, people in families like mine can afford to bear that cost and they do. They do have kids. What it's designed to do is to look after people at the lower end and the middle to make sure that the hit that they suffer economically as a result of having kids is moderated, and that therefore all families in Australia can make that choice to have children.
MARIUS BENSON: Lindsay Tanner, the paid parental issue has been seized on by Labor as a better news for Labor in a fairly gloomy time politically for Labor's political fortunes. They have been tumbling down and the Prime Minister, in particular, is - once stratospheric satisfaction ratings have fallen. He's being portrayed now as lead in Labor's saddle bags. Is that a fair description of Kevin Rudd?
LINDSAY TANNER: Of course it's not. That's a totally absurd proposition, and you've still got the Prime Minister with very strong ratings. All that's happened is that those ratings have come down from absolute record unprecedented levels and that's inevitable because governments, as they get older, have to make decisions day in, day out that whichever way they jump are going to annoy somebody, so it is just the reality of life that the Prime Minister's ratings were always going to come down from the unheard levels of 18 months ago and his ratings are still very strong and they're still very positive, and as preferred Prime Minister he is still streets ahead of Tony Abbott, so I absolutely reject those assertions. We've obviously got some big challenges in front of us, and we're now in a very competitive race for the next election. I think people appreciate that. The Australian people don't like walkovers, they want a contest and that's what's emerging, so be it, you know, we've got lots of issues to argue about and we're going to keep putting our point of view and keep seeking to govern in the interests of the nation.
MARIUS BENSON: Apart from what the electorate generally feels, there's continuing reporting of unhappiness in Labor's ranks. Laura Tingle writing in the Fin Review, for example, said it was essential to understand the utter resentment and anger at Rudd in both his front and back bench. Rudd is utterly unloved. Is that an accurate description?
LINDSAY TANNER: Oh look, I think this is basically nonsense Marius. I would have to say that this caucus is the most harmonious and least fractious and least troubled Labor caucus that I've been in. I've been in the place now 17 years, and I've been here in government under Paul Keating, in opposition under various leaders. In my view, although there are always going to be debates, there are always going to be disagreements, that's the nature of politics and large parties. In my view, this is the most harmonious and unified Labor caucus that I've been in.
MARIUS BENSON: And the leader is loved?
LINDSAY TANNER: Oh, I don't think any of us love each other Marius - we're - but there is strong support for Kevin Rudd and that support continues. There has been all the way through, and although we have debates in caucus about different issues from time to time, there is strong, unified support for the leader of the Government, for the Prime Minister and for the Government as a team.
MARIUS BENSON: Lindsay Tanner, thank you very much.
LINDSAY TANNER: Thank you, very much Marius.
-ends-
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