Treasurer Wayne Swan’s 2012 Budget Speech

May 08, 2012

This is the official transcript of Treasurer Wayne Swan’s 2012-13 Budget Speech in the House of Representatives.

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Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Bill now be read a second time.

Strong Economy and Fair Australia

Wayne SwanThe four years of surpluses I announce tonight are a powerful endorsement of the strength of our economy, resilience of our people, and success of our policies.

In an uncertain and fast‑changing world, we walk tall — as a nation confidently living within its means.

This Budget delivers a surplus this coming year, on time, as promised, and surpluses each year after that, strengthening over time.

It funds new cost of living relief for Australian families.

It helps businesses invest, compete and adapt to an economy in transition.

And it finances bold new policies to help Australians with a disability, the aged, and those who can’t afford dental care.

It does these things for a core Labor purpose:

To share the tremendous benefits of the mining boom with more Australians. [Read more...]

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Latest CPI Figures Show Lower Inflation

Apr 24, 2012

Inflation increased by a negligible 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.

In the year to March, there was a 1.6 percent increase in prices. The underlying inflation rate was 2.1 per cent.

The low Consumer Price Index figure has surprised some commentators. The Reserve Bank is now being widely tipped to lower interest rates next week.

  • Listen to Wayne Swan’s press conference on the CPI figures:

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Statement from the Treasurer, Wayne Swan.

Consumer Price Index – March Quarter 2012

Today’s inflation data show a moderation in both headline and underlying inflation through the year to March, with underlying inflation remaining well contained at the lower end of the Reserve Bank’s target band after falling to its lowest level in well over a decade.

Today’s figures are another reminder of Australia’s strong economic fundamentals – solid growth, low unemployment, strong public finances, a huge pipeline of investment, plus contained inflation – which put the Australian economy in a league of its own. [Read more...]

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Former Prime Minister’s Primary School GFC Lesson

Apr 24, 2012

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivers a lesson on how his government tackled the global financial crisis in this video of his appearance at Wellers Hill State School in Brisbane.

The relevant section begins around the two-minute mark.

Filed Under: Economy, Rudd Government, Video Tagged With: , , ,

Hockey On Lateline: The End Of The Age Of Entitlement

Apr 18, 2012

Joe Hockey11.15pm – Notwithstanding the usual annoying and incessant interruptions from his interlocutor, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey has just offered up a remarkably woolly performance on Lateline.

Hockey has delivered a speech in London – transcript not yet available – in which he argues that The Age of Entitlement is over.

In the interview he was pressed on how this would be achieved in government. Aside from a defence of the Health Insurance Rebate as a government spending measure which actually reduces expenditure on other entitlements, Hockey was less than specific about what he will do as Treasurer in less than 18 months time.

  • Listen to Hockey explain his entitlement policy:

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Update: Click here for a transcript of Hockey’s speech.

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“We Could Be Great” – Business Council Plan For Australia’s Prosperity

Apr 04, 2012

Tony ShepherdThe President of the Business Council of Australia, Tony Shepherd, has delivered a speech calling for more imaginative leadership and offering “a plan to lock in Australia’s prosperity”.

Shepherd said Australians “are beginning to lack confidence in the future and in our economy”. Many Australians are “doing it tough”. He suggested “the feeling of optimism and clarity that characterised Australia through my childhood” was on on the wane.

“But Australians are waiting for the call, the vision for the future and the plan that’s going to help us get there.”

Shepherd offered a wide-ranging plan covering infrastructure, taxation, population and immigration, and engagement with Asia.

The BCA represents around 100 of Australia’s largest companies. Shepherd gave the speech to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Sydney. [Read more...]

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Gillard Speech: Building A New Australian Economy Together

Feb 01, 2012

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has delivered a key economic speech to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.

Julia GillardThe speech centres on the concept of “building a new economy” in “the Asian century” which is transforming the global economic order. Gillard says “our nation is strong enough to bend those
transformations to our own purposes – from a strong base, we can build a new economy, one which is even stronger, one which is full of opportunity.”

Gillard envisions “a new economy which is prosperous and fair, creative and skilled; where mining and manufacturing flourish and services grow; where the government manages the economy for working people, for the future”.

She said: “We can see an opportunity to build a new Australian economy. And we can see more: an opportunity to build the new economy together, to include every Australian in its growth. Our people do not want to be forced to choose between mining and the rest; nor do they want to choose between a strong future for manufacturing and a strong economy as a whole.”

The Prime Minister also reiterated her government’s commitment to bringing down a surplus budget in May.

  • Listen to Gillard’s speech (34m)

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  • Download a copy of Gillard’s speech (PDF)

Prepared text of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s speech to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.

Building A New Economy Together

It’s good to address an audience and a forum which does such great work to promote friendship and co-operation between two great countries, Australia and Israel.

Decades after the desert was first made to bloom, Israel is a place where ideas still bloom.

And this Chamber is a place where ideas bloom too.

Friends, in 2012 Australians will be watching the economic situation of Europe closely.

It’s only by understanding just how serious and complex the European problem is that Australians can truly understand our own position of strength in the world economy, the important opportunities we have created for ourselves – and the part every Australian can play in the work of coming years. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Audio, Audio2012, Economy, Gillard Government Tagged With:

Abbott: My Plan For A Stronger Economy, A Stronger Australia

Jan 31, 2012

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has addressed the National Press Club in Canberra on his “plan for a stronger economy and a stronger Australia”.

The keynote speech was Abbott’s first major speech for the new year. He maintained his political attack on the Gillard government and made only broad commitments.

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  • Listen to Abbott’s responses to questions

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MY PLAN FOR A STRONGER ECONOMY AND A STRONGER AUSTRALIA

Four decades after Donald Horne ironically tagged Australia as “the Lucky Country”, the Gillard government is relying on good luck rather than on good management to secure our nation’s future.

The government often cites the fragile international economic situation but fails to propose any new policies to respond to it. It claims ownership of the fundamental strength of the Australian economy even though its own actions have weakened it. And it boasts of a future return to surplus while actually delivering the four biggest budget deficits in Australian history.

Labor’s economic strategy is to hope that China’s strength will keep our economy growing. It’s lazy, complacent economic management from a government which is much better at deception and dirty tricks than at the hard work of actually running the country.

The Eurozone crisis is a terrible verdict on governments that spend too much, borrow too much and tax too much yet our prime minister is lecturing the Europeans while copying their failures.

In just four years, Labor has turned a $20 billion surplus into $167 billion in accumulated deficits and $70 billion in net Commonwealth assets into $133 billion of net debt. That’s $6000 for every Australian man, woman and child.

At the heart of Labor’s failure is the assumption that bigger government and higher taxes are the answer to every problem. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Audio, Audio2012, Economy, Liberal Party, Video Tagged With: ,

A Year In Retrospect, A Decade In Prospect

Dec 13, 2011

This is the text and audio of a speech by Dr. Martin Parkinson, Secretary to the Treasury.

Dr. Parkinson addressed The Sydney Institute. The speech was originally published on the Treasury website.

Whilst technical to some extent, the speech is readable and informative. It traces economic developments over the past year and advances some thoughts on the coming decade.

A Year in Retrospect, A Decade in Prospect

I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Leigh Soding in preparing this address.

Introduction

Thank you for the opportunity to be here with you tonight.

With 2011 rapidly coming to an end, I thought I might take stock of what has happened over the year, both globally and domestically, and muse a little about what lies in store for the year, and years, ahead.

A year in retrospect

2011 has been a tumultuous year.

Were I to have been standing here this time last year, I would have said something like:

The Australian economy is in a strong position … real GDP is now growing at around its trend rate … The global economy has recovered from recession faster than expected, but at different speeds across regions … Financial market conditions have improved since the sharp increase in market volatility and stress experienced in mid-2010 when the European sovereign debt crisis reached its peak.[1]

In fact, a barrage of events, either unanticipated or occurring more rapidly than expected, has battered both the global and Australian economies. [Read more...]

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Tony Abbott Speech on the Economy to The Sydney Institute

Nov 21, 2011

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has delivered a speech on the economy to The Sydney Institute.

Whilst containing no new policy initiatives, the speech attempts to broaden Abbott’s campaign against the government into the prevailing discussion about China and the economic crisis in Europe.

Abbott reiterated his proposals for budget cuts, improved economic growth, productivity reform and workforce participation.

AUDIO of the speech will be posted here once it becomes available.

Official transcript of Tony Abbott’s speech to The Sydney Institute.

Almost 50 years ago, an influential book described Australia as the “lucky country”.

Author Donald Horne meant that we’d relied on our luck rather than on our insights or on our hard work to get where we are but the irony was largely missed.

As if to prove his point, the tag passed into popular use and ever since has helped to reinforce the complacent expectation that something would always turn up to keep us safe and prosperous.

There is a complacent assumption from people who should know better that Australia is largely immune to the economic turmoil threatening Europe because China’s growth guarantees our future prosperity.

There’s no doubt that the China boom has sustained Australia’s economic success over the past decade.

There should equally be no doubt that the boom will one day end. Otherwise, it would be the first never-ending boom in human history. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economy, Liberal Party Tagged With: ,

Global Resolve: Wayne Swan on Economic Policy

Sep 27, 2011

The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has outlined Australia’s economic policy, the nation’s role in Asia, and the challenges of the global economy, in a speech to the Harvard Club of New York.

The speech follows Swan’s acceptance of the Finance Minister of the Year award from Euromoney magazine.

This is the transcript of Wayne Swan’s speech to the Harvard Club of New York.

That was a very kind introduction and a very warm welcome, and I want to thank you for having me here.

Harvard has made such an extraordinary contribution to the advancement of economic policy around the world so it’s an honour to be here to address you today.

It’s great to be in New York again, the capital city of the free world.

It’s a tragedy that the remarkable history of this city and the fond memories of it so many people carry are stained of course by two history-altering events, both marked this month.

The first was commemorated 15 days ago, a full decade after the fall of two towers brought death and destruction and beyond that a dramatic escalation of a war our nations still fight together today.

The second was quietly remembered just four days later – three years since Lehman’s collapse pushed the global economy off a cliff, towards the greatest synchronised downturn since the Great Depression. [Read more...]

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