THE HON.

WAYNE SWAN MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR LILLEY
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
ABC CAPITAL HILL
WEDNESDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2014
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$RE$ JENNETT Wayne Swan the crowning glory of your Treasurership
has just been demolished. Do you feel crushed by that?
WAYNE SWAN, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR LILLEY Not at all. I mean we
put in a frst class performance though the lobal !inancial "risis and
subse#uent to that we put in place some $ery big reforms. Important
reforms which will strengthen our country in the future and one of those
was the %&&T' which on this o$ernment(s own fgures' was due to raise
)* billion. So' what we($e seen last night and today is a huge gift of )*
billion to some of the most proftable mining companies in the world'
ripped away from the superannuation sa$ings of something li+e , million
-ustralian wor+ers and of course tens of thousands of families with +ids. It
just shows you the priorities of the -bbott o$ernment.
JENNETT With the beneft of hindsight' can you say that %ining Ta. %ar+
II that you negotiated in /010 was the best possible deal that could be
obtained?
SWAN 2es' it was' but there were a series of e$ents that came along
which hit the re$enues' and the Treasury accounted for those' 3udget
statement after 3udget statement. 3ut in this o$ernment(s midyear
update they forecast that the %&&T would raise )* billion. -nd of course
we do +now' as production ramps up' more goods are shipped out' it
would ha$e raised much more in the years ahead' particularly when
commodity prices were higher. So' what the o$ernment has done by
getting rid of the %&&T has denied the -ustralian people the bounty that
that is their due from the resources they own 100 per cent. %oney which
could be in$ested either in ta. reform or supporting other elements of
public policy' such as education.
JENNETT i$en the o$ernment(s eagerness to cut a deal. %any
pragmatically thin+ing would say this day was probably ine$itably going to
come. Is there an argument that 4abor could ha$e got in there to ma+e
things better for wor+ers' partly by protecting the superannuation' sure it
might ha$e sacrifced the mining ta. in the process' but a better result
might ha$e been obtained around that superannuation?
SWAN Well' we($e been fghting for -ustralian wor+ers o$er the past
eight years both in go$ernment and opposition. 3ut why is it with this
o$ernment that the only promises they +eep are the promises they made
to ina &inehart? That is the abolition of the %&&T and the abolition of the
carbon price. They(re the only promises which are +ept and wor+ing
-ustralians pay for it in the hip poc+et and in their retirement period.
JENNETT There is that super e5ect as you say but what of the argument
that wor+ers could beneft from higher disposal wages?
SWAN This is just another argument against superannuation which the
4iberals are intent on destroying in this country. Super has always been a
shared burden between employers and employees. -nd an amount of
money is ta+en and in$ested for the future of that wor+er in their
retirement plan. This sort of spurious argument is simply a bac+door of the
4iberals rubbishing super which they($e ne$er belie$ed in.
JENNETT Now you($e lost the battle on mining ta.' on carbon ta. and
now you($e cast headlong into a +ind of history war o$er your legacy' the
%inerals "ouncil has today commissioned a report which will be released'
your old friends at the %ineral "ouncil 6
SWAN &eleased by the o$ernment.
JENNETT Indeed.
SWAN 3ac+ing up their argument. I mean they are just a propaganda
arm for the -bbott o$ernment. It(s $ery clear from loo+ing at the front
page of The Australian' which is also a propaganda arm for the -bbott
o$ernment that they are all wor+ing in tandem.
JENNETT Do you feel li+e a national punching bag these days?
SWAN No' I thin+ it was $ery important to put in place an accurate record
of what occurred during our period in go$ernment. - frst7class
performance during the global fnancial crisis which the o$ernment and
its allies' at The Australian and the %inerals "ouncil' are see+ing to
demonise. Which is why I released the letter from the Treasury' which puts
down $ery clearly how important the actions we too+ were to the stability
of the -ustralian economy. -nd it(s one of the reasons the -ustralian
economy is 18 per cent larger than it was at the end of /009.
JENNETT Now your fght' The ood !ight' is your own attempt to try and
fght bac+ in that history war that I alluded to. What happens now with the
fght on mining ta.? Should the 4abor party go to the /01: election
promising to restore one?
SWAN Well' that(s a matter for the frontbench but let me ma+e this
point; Ta. reform is essential in -ustralia and it must be done fairly. What
the 4iberal <arty and the %inerals "ouncil and The Australian are on about
is simply ta+ing down the corporate ta. burden and putting up the ST.
-nd the 4abor party will ne$er wear that. The ad$antage of a resource
rent ta. was that that would be money which could be used elsewhere in
the system for ta. reform and indeed we put in place reforms for small
business' the instant asset write7o5 which this go$ernment has abolished.
So there will always be a good fght to ma+e sure that the ta. system for
the future is fair and that wor+ing people in this country get a fair go. -nd
also lots of other companies including small business get a fair go
because at the moment the people who are really getting the beneft of
the system and not paying their fair share are our most proftable mining
companies and they($e been gi$en another ta. cut.
JENNETT 3ut if that argument was $alid in /01*' in your own personal
opinion' is it $alid in /01:?
SWAN Well there(s going to be an argument about ta. reform as we go
forward. That(s going to be an important argument and which the 4abor
<arty will be engaging. -nd I go through the ins and outs of that in The
ood !ight.
ENDS