SANDRA SULLY, PRESENTER: Now, to Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen, for his take on tonight's Budget. Mr Bowen, fire away.
CHRIS BOWEN, SHADOW TREASURER: Well, this is a Budget which shows the Government hasn't learned its lessons. Still giving $80 billion away to big business over the next decade, and still making Australians work until they're 70 before they get the aged pension. And still trying to take $14 a fortnight off pensioners and Newstart recipients. So all the elements of the Budgets which have failed under Malcolm Turnbull and indeed under Tony Abbott from years passed remain in this Budget.
SULLY: Let's cut to the chase. Will you support stage one of their income tax cuts?
BOWEN: Yes we will support the tax cuts which apply on the first of July 2018. Australians are doing it tough. Wages growth is low. These tax cuts are modest, $4 a week for someone earning less than $37,000 a year, $10 a week for people on more than $48,000. But the other tax cuts the Government is saying to you, we'll give them to you in 2022 and 2024. You have to vote for us up to two elections to get them. Sandra I don't know what the Budget will be like in 2024. You dont know what the Budget will be like in 2024. So it's irresponsible to be locking those in now.
SULLY: You're taking shots at the Budget clearly, but you're trying to stake a claim on Budget responsibility.
BOWEN: We have the better Budget repair plan. We have made the tough decisions on negative gearing, capital gains and other things. We'll be saying a lot more about our Budget repair plans. But I believe in Budget repair and the Government is giving up on it. We have a wafer thin surplus in 2019. It doesn't grow to 1 per cent of the economy until much later in the decade. We need to be doing better than that as a country.
SULLY: Yeah but on the surface of it it certainly looks like a vote winning Budget, there's tax cuts, theres plenty of money for health, infrastructure, aged care, small business tax write-offs. Economist Chris Richardson says it's a pretty responsible Budget. How can you argue with that?
BOWEN: Again, a Budget that doesn't provide a sensible and sustainable return to surplus. We'll get back to balance early, and we will under the Labor Party as well, on the Budget's numbers. What we don't see is the tough decisions to build us to try and build us to good healthy surpluses going forward. Peter Costello used to have surpluses of up to 2 per cent of GDP. Half a per cent of GDP would below over in a light breeze of international circumstances.
SULLY: Chris Bowen you can understand how voters are just so tired of watching both sides tailor their argument for your political needs instead of the national need.
BOWEN: Well we have again been doing the hard work, developing policy alternatives, putting the best interests of the country first, so the Australian people have a real choice at the next election. Sure we have a difference of views with the Government, that's why we're the Opposition. We have a different view, a different set of priorities. The Australian people, I want to vote on those to decide between both of them at the next election.
SULLY: How important is it for Labor to be able to convince voters that you'll be able to deliver a surplus?
BOWEN: Well, it's very important that we have sensible and believable return to surplus plans, and we do, and we'll have a lot more to say about them. All our plans will be outlined in full detail for the Australian people, and the Australian people won't just have to take our word for it, they will be able to look at the detailed policies we have, all the costings work that has gone into them, the implications of them, and they will be able to see our Budget numbers. I very much relish an election campaign based on those numbers.
SULLY: Chris Bowen thanks for your time.
BOWEN: Great pleasure Sandra.
