WONG: Thanks very much. Today we see supposed costings being released by Scott Morrison from the Opposition in relation to Nauru. This simply shows the arrogance of the Liberal Party of Australia. They believe they can continue to trick the Australian people when it comes to the budget.
They’ve released costings, but they won’t tell you who did them, they won’t tell you how they were calculated, and they won’t tell you how they’ll fund this.
This is a repeat of what occurred in the last election, when we saw the Liberal Party duck the Charter of Budget Honesty, use a private accounting firm who were subsequently found to have breached professional standards, and delivered an $11 billion black hole. But of course, this just blew out to a $70 billion black hole under Tony Abbott.
So this release of these unfunded, anonymous costings – yet more economic trickery from the Abbott Liberals – caps off yet another week of economic irresponsibility from Tony Abbott. Because we saw him at the Press Club walk away from his promise to the Australian people that he would deliver tax cuts without a carbon price. That’s what he did, and he needed to do it because he’s got a $70 billion black hole.
Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Would you say that $1.7 billion over four years is the absolute cheapest you could reopen the Nauru detention centre?
WONG: I’ll tell you what, we did our costings on advice from the Department. We’ve released those costings to the Australian people. We were transparent. Now, would you back those costings, done by public servants, against anonymous, unfunded costings? We don’t even know who they were done by, or how they were calculated. They do include a very interesting reference to a place called The Location which sounds a bit like something from Dr Who.
JOURNALIST: Senator Wong, does Julia Gillard have a credibility issue?
WONG: First I’m going to say this. Julia Gillard is the right person to lead the Labor Party, and the right person to be the Prime Minister of this country. Full stop.
There’s a lot of speculation around, a lot of commentary. My view is, as Finance Minister, I was elected as my colleagues were to serve the Australian people, to do the right thing by the country, and to stay focused on how we do the big things, like delivering more opportunity to more Australians. And that’s what I’m going to be doing.
JOURNALIST: She has your full, unwavering support?
WONG: Absolutely.
JOURNALIST: But does she have a credibility issue?
WONG: I think credibility in politics is about making sure you deliver the right things for Australians. And the Prime Minister has clearly done that. She’s made some tough calls, and she’s done the right thing by Australians when it comes to the big decisions for the future, the decisions which are about delivering more opportunity for all Australians, and supporting working families.
The person with the credibility problem is Tony Abbott, who went around the country every week last year saying he was going to deliver tax cuts without a carbon price, and then walked away from that in his first economic speech of 2012.
JOURNALIST: So why did Dick Adams come out and say what he did this morning?
WONG: I’m not going to engage in this commentary. I’ve answered the question, I’ve told you very clearly that Julia Gillard is the right person to lead the party, and the country. She’s doing the right thing by working Australians, and we’ll continue to focus on delivering those outcomes.
JOURNALIST: Should Kevin Rudd reveal his intentions when it comes to leadership?
WONG: I think that’s precisely the same sort of question that I’ve already answered. My view is that I was elected to do a job. And that job is to be the Finance Minister of Australia, and to ensure that we run a tight budget. That’s what I’m doing. We stand in stark contrast to the economic irresponsibility of the Liberal Party.
JOURNALIST: Do you agree with Simon Crean’s assessment of Mr Rudd’s prime ministership that he wasn’t a team player?
WONG: As I’ve said, I’m not going to engage in this sort of commentary, I think we have a job to do. The Prime Minister is focused on that job, she’s focused on delivering the reforms which are needed: investment in skills, delivering more opportunity for all Australians, and supporting working families. They’re the important things. They’re far more important than a bit of commentary.
JOURNALIST: Do you think whoever’s fuelling this leadership speculation should be rebuked tomorrow at the Caucus meeting?
WONG: I think that Australians elect us to do a job, and that job is to deliver good things for the Australian people. It’s not to speculate and commentate anonymously.
JOURNALIST: But do you agree that the speculation is being fuelled by people inside the party?
WONG: I’m not going to engage in commentary on that. As I said, my job is to ensure I do the right thing by Australians in my job as Finance Minister, just as the Prime Minister is doing the right thing – focusing on the big issues, and the delivering the big reforms.
JOURNALIST: Would a change in leadership for the Labor Party be the death knell for the party?
WONG: I’ve answered those questions. There’s a lot of speculation, I’m not going to engage in it. Julia is the right person to lead the party, the right person to be Prime Minister. She has my absolute support.
JOURNALIST: Have you had a call from either the Rudd or the Gillard camp?
WONG: I’m sorry?
JOURNALIST: Have you had a phone call from either of the camps?
WONG: No.
Any other questions?
JOURNALIST: I have five questions from our people in Canberra if that’s OK. What do you think of Mr Perrett’s comments that he would force a by-election if there was another leadership challenge?
WONG: I think Graham’s comments stand for themselves and I’m not going to add to them.
JOURNALIST: What will you be raising at the ideas forum tomorrow?
WONG: One of the things I think is important for us to make sure we have a discussion about is where the economy is at. Obviously it’s been a pretty turbulent time in the global economy. There’s a lot of strength in the Australian economy, our economy stands tall amongst the global economies but we can never be complacent which is why Mr Morrison and Mr Abbott’s economic irresponsibility is so wrong.
JOURNALIST: Is Kevin Rudd as PM the answer to Labor’s problems?
WONG: I’ve answered that question.
JOURNALIST: Scott Morrison said there was a real stench about this Government.
WONG: There’s a real stench about Scott Morrison’s figures. I think it is a joke that someone who wants to be a minister in a government can seriously release to the media and to the Australian public a set of costings where he won’t tell you who did them, he won’t tell you how they were calculated and he won’t tell you how they’ll be funded. I mean, that is sort of student politics standard.
JOURNALIST: There was a second part to that question. How can Labor regain its focus?
WONG: My focus remains, as the Prime Minister’s remains, on the big issues. As our economy needs to reform, as we know the Asian economies will continue to grow, we need to work out how we spread those opportunities to all Australians. We’ve made a good start but there’s a lot more work to do. That’s where our focus is. Thanks very much.
ENDS
