4 February 2009
DAFF09/76T
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry, Tony Burke - interviewed by Grant Goldman 2SM Breakfast Program
E&OE
SUBJECT: Nation building and jobs plan
GRANT GOLDMAN: I do have on the line the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry, Tony Burke. Morning, Tony.
TONY BURKE: G’day Grant. Good to be with you.
GRANT GOLDMAN: Thanks for taking the time this morning. Well our Prime Minister has given it a red hot go, hasn’t he?
TONY BURKE: Well that’s right. We’re dealing with circumstances that the world hasn’t seen before. First of all, we acknowledge the position we’re in and if you want to be anywhere in the world, you want to be here.
But notwithstanding that, we will be affected. And we’re already being affected by what’s happening in the rest of the world.
GRANT GOLDMAN: It’s not necessarily a guarantee of recession-proofing this country. But at least it may help to retain jobs and stimulate the economy somewhat. So there’d be less of an impact, if you’d like.
TONY BURKE: Well that’s right Grant. It’s there to support jobs. And it’s there to support us through what will be a difficult time. And we don’t pretend for a minute that this fixes the problem or completely insulates us from the rest of the world.
GRANT GOLDMAN: Yes, the insulation. That was a bit out of left field, wasn’t it? All of a sudden insulation came into it. Look, I understand the green policy there. But that particular measure I don’t quite get, to tell the truth.
TONY BURKE: It’s interesting. First of all, in terms of energy efficiency, you’ve got the environmental part of it that you referred to. You’ve also got the impact that that has on household bills, which is extraordinary. On top of that, you’ve also got a very large number of Australian-owned businesses using Australian product on insulation.
Those are all real jobs for real people in small businesses in Australia. There’s a whole lot of spin-offs that come from that insulation, right through to the fact that at the end of it, the households affected end up with lower utility bills.
GRANT GOLDMAN: The results are coming out sometime today about how successful the last stimulus package was before Christmas. Would it have been prudent perhaps to wait another 24 hours, or are we in a situation where time is of the essence and we’ve got to get moving pretty quickly?
TONY BURKE: Well, getting moving quickly is important, obviously. But it’s also the case that the retail figures that Australia experienced during December were much, much better than the retail figures experienced by comparative nations in the rest of the world.
Those Westfield figures that the Prime Minister announced in Parliament yesterday, had – only small, but still – a level of retail spending holding up in Australia at the same time that it was radically falling in the rest of the world.
That’s a whole lot of jobs for people in the retail sector. When the money that went into the economy went to people who we knew would be spending it, then it’s pretty hard to miss the link between the package and the fact that retail spending held up.
GRANT GOLDMAN: Yeah. I’ve got to leave it there. But I suppose we’ll all sit and watch and wait to see what happens over the coming months. Thanks for your time this morning. Thanks Tony.
TONY BURKE: Pleasure to be with you Grant.
ENDS