EO&E..............................................................................................................................................................

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

It’s great to be here in Tasmania and good to talk to the Tasmanian Liberal Council. I am really keen to see this new Working Group up and running because what Tasmania needs more than anything else is a revitalised economy. We need more economic growth, we need more jobs, we need more investment and this Liberal Senate taskforce will be about trying to ensure that we get the policies that we need – not just to get a bigger share of a shrinking pie, but to actually grow the economic pie here in the great state of Tasmania.

 

It’s the Northern Territory election today. I think that Terry Mills has run an excellent campaign. I think that after some decade or more of tired and stale Labor government, it’s time for a change in the Territory. It’s interesting that the Labor Party in the Northern Territory is the party that is trying to deny its name and is in hiding from its own leader and I think that the voters can see through parties that try to deny their identity and are in hiding from their own leader.

 

Finally, we’ve had yet another boat and the point I keep making is that if you want to get John Howard’s results in stopping the boats, you’ve got to show John Howard’s resolve.

 

QUESTION:

 

Will you commit to the current model of GST funding to make sure Tasmania is not left worse off?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

The thing is that we have a review. It’s the Greiner/Brumby review. I think the important thing is to wait and see what this review shows us and if there’s anything more to be said by the Coalition we will say it after the review.

 

QUESTION:

 

Do you think Tasmania unfairly benefits from the mining states when it comes to GST distribution?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

As I said, we’ve got a review. It’s looking into it. Until the review has reported, obviously the existing system is there and until the review has reported, no one has any plans for change.

 

QUESTION:

 

Is there anything wrong with the existing system?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

I think there are some perceptions of unfairness but that’s why we need the review, so that we can better understand exactly what is going on inside the black box of the Commonwealth Grants Commission. When we’ve got the results, when we’ve got the facts, then, if there’s any change that might be needed, well, people can talk about it then.

 

QUESTION:

 

Listening to those comments, should Tasmanians be worried?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

I think Tasmanians should be worried about a bad government here in Hobart and a bad government in Canberra. You see, the challenge for Tasmania is not to haggle for more subsidies; the challenge for Tasmania is to actually grow the economy. That’s what I want to do nationally. That’s what Will Hodgman wants to do locally. That’s what both of us want to do for the great state of Tasmania.

 

QUESTION:

 

Can we grow the economy enough in the short term, though, to make up for a huge drop-off in GST revenue?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

No one should assume that there is going to be any change. We are waiting to see the results of the inquiry.

 

QUESTION:

 

Do you think the Federal Government has been too quick, then, to say that they support the existing system of horizontal fiscal equalisation?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

Well, the Government wouldn’t have set up the inquiry if it didn’t think there were some issues that could be re-examined. Now, the important thing is to wait for the results of the inquiry. If there’s anything more to be said or done, it will be. Are there any other subjects that people would like to talk about?

 

QUESTION:

 

At the last federal election, you didn’t win any seats in the lower house here federally. What are you doing to make sure you win more seats at the next election?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

I’m spending plenty of time in Tasmania, pretty obviously, and we’ve got terrific candidates here in Tasmania. Eric Hutchinson in Lyons is an excellent candidate and I’ve got to say that Andrew Nikolic in Bass is a really, really outstanding candidate. I feel very, very honoured to be standing beside Andrew Nikolic, a distinguished former soldier. He served our county in uniform and I very much hope that he will have the chance to serve our country in the Parliament.

 

QUESTION:

 

Are you hoping that by preselecting early, that will see you get across the line?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

I am confident that with the right candidates – and we’ve got two very good ones – and the right policies, and I think we have got the right policies for Tasmania, including duplicating the highway between here and Hobart; with the right candidate and the right policies, I am very confident that we will do well here in Tasmania.

 

QUESTION:

 

You announced a review of shipping. Do you see some issues there at the moment?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

Well, again, I think all of us are anxious about the fact that there are less shipping services to Tasmania now than there were, particularly the international shipping services. Now, the important thing is to find out exactly why this is happening, exactly what’s behind the withdrawal of international shipping, exactly what the issues are for people who are moving goods in and out of Tasmania and see if there’s anything that can be done differently to help. Now, one thing I want to see is not just subsidised goods coming into Tasmania, I want to see more goods produced here in Tasmania so that Tasmania can export more to the mainland and to the wider world.

 

QUESTION:

 

Won’t scrapping the carbon tax leave Tasmania worse off given that we’re expecting a dividend of up to $200 million for our hydro power?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

Look, the weird thing about the carbon tax is that Tasmanian electricity bills have gone up by some five-and-a-half per cent because of the carbon tax, even though more than 80 per cent of Tasmania’s electricity is produced by hydro. This just shows what an utterly perverse tax the carbon tax is.

 

QUESTION:

 

But the state budget will be worse off.

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

The carbon tax is damaging Tasmania. You ask every Tasmanian whose bill has just gone up by five-and-a-half per cent because of the carbon tax – even though 80 per cent of Tasmania’s power is produced by hydro – what he or she thinks of the carbon tax.

 

QUESTION:

 

You said you’ve spent a lot of time here already. Do you think your domestic travel is excessive?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

I think that my domestic travel is appropriate.

 

QUESTION:

 

You say the Prime Minister still has questions to answer on the Slater & Gordon case. What exactly are those questions?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

The point I’ve been making all along is that my primary concern is not whether or not Julia Gillard was a bad lawyer. Whether or not she’s a bad Prime Minister, that’s my concern and I think plainly she has been a very poor Prime Minister and the fact that the Government wasn’t able to secure the Olympic Dam expansion 4,000 production jobs, 8,000 construction jobs, 13,000 associated jobs and yet all she can talk about this week is basically irrelevancies demonstrates that this is a Prime Minister who is not up to the task of running our country.

 

QUESTION:

 

The Greens are holding their state conference today. Is it hypocritical that they don’t really allow the media in?

 

TONY ABBOTT:

 

Look, I’ll let the Greens do what the Greens think best and I’m sure that they will be judged appropriately.

 

[ends]