The Drought; Drought assistance; Iraq; Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme and Telstra

Doorstop Interview

Transcript - ‘Waratah Station’, Brewarrina, NSW - 9 October 2002

CREAN: I had the opportunity today to see first hand the devastating effects of the drought and there are two things that the Howard Government must do. First of all it's got to make sure that Farm Household Assistance is made immediately available for drought stricken farmers. It's had the application on its desk for four weeks and still hasn't resolved it. That's not good enough. Money has to be made available immediately to drought stricken farmers and it needs to be backdated. The second thing the Howard Government can do is to match dollar for dollar the monies raised by the Farmhand Appeal also to assist families through the drought.

The Labor Government did this back in 1994. The Howard Government should do it now. The other thing about drought is that I think it teaches us a very dramatic lesson. We've got to work again to get a long-term plan to deal with drought. You can't eradicate drought but you can prepare (inaudible).

Australia needs a national water strategy and it needs an effective drought strategy. A drought strategy that through taxation assistance encourages farmers to better prepare for drought, better prepare for the cycle of drought. This is something Labor will develop. It's something the Government should be doing. I'm convinced that if we work together on this problem we can get a solution. It's a country of vast natural resources. It's a country of vast experience in having to manage drought. We've got to work better at a national solution and I'm committed to try to find that long-term solution.

JOURNALIST: The Minister said three weeks ago that money would be made available and we still haven't heard anything about it. What are you doing to put pressure on him?

CREAN: Look the Government's just got to make it available and it's got to back date it. It is ridiculous that they have the application before them but bureaucratic bungling and Government disinterest means money's not getting through to the farmers. The framework exists to get this money through. People need it. It should be available to them immediately. The Government simply has to act and backdate the amount.

JOURNALIST: On Farmhand (inaudible) is that really going to make all that much difference?

CREAN: Not by itself but it is a very important contributing factor to it. The Farmhand Appeal back in '94 when I was Primary Industries Minister was a very important additional mechanism for getting much needed assistance to families. They need it. They are struggling. They can't put food on the table. They are hurting. And they need assistance. We as a nation ought to be able to look after those people that sustain us in their good times. We've got to help them through their bad times.

JOURNALIST: While you've been out here, has there been particularly any good suggestions about what could be done for … drought?

CREAN: Well I have but I also go back to the time I was Primary Industries Minister in '94. Labor put together the first comprehensive National Drought Strategy for this country. It was based on Farm Household Support for those in desperate need but it was also based on more effective drought preparedness initiatives. The Farm Management Bond Scheme that encouraged farmers to put money aside in good times and be able to draw it down in bad times. Not taxed when they put it in and it treated as income when it comes out so it evened out the cycle. We also had investment allowances. We also had interest free subsidies up to, well 100% interest subsidies, totally interest free in exceptional circumstances. What we've got to do is to ensure that those farmers that can be profitable and productive in good times sustain their asset base. Sustain their core breeding stock. We've got to assist them in keeping the critical mass fed, nourished and alive. That's what we need to do because when the drought breaks it's them that we've got to rely on to bounce back. This is where farmers need practical assistance as well.

JOURNALIST: If the programs that were put in place when you were in charge had worked, we wouldn't be in this situation right now, would we?

CREAN: They would have been in a better position if the Government hadn't of scrapped some of the initiatives. And what we're seeing is a Government that had a scheme that was developed by me with, interestingly enough, National Party and Liberal Ministers for Agriculture. Now I was able to negotiate a partnership agreement for the nation. I just can't understand why this Government simply can't implement it.

JOURNALIST: Why is it, do you think, the Federal Government hasn't been (inaudible) negotiating with the State Labor Governments?

CREAN: Because it's a Federal Government that whenever it's got a problem wants to pass the buck to the State Governments. It thinks it's got a ready enemy because all of them are State Labor Governments. I see the need to work these issues through in partnership. If we work together we can make a difference. People are sick of the buck passing, they just want a solution. All governments have a responsibility. The drought package that I developed was a shared responsibility. Shared between the National Government and the State Governments. That's as it should be; that all levels of government represent these farmers because it's in the national interest to do so.

JOURNALIST: Aren't they doing that?

CREAN: No they're not. They're dragging their feet and they're buck passing.

JOURNALIST: What about the State, NSW Labor Government?

CREAN: Well the NSW Labor Government has declared the exceptional circumstances. They did that four weeks ago. The Government promised in the Parliament (Federal), when we last asked them about it, that they were going to act quickly. Here we are four weeks later, still nothing's happened. It's not good enough. The Government simply has to get off its backside and get this money for the farmers that need it.

JOURNALIST: So as far as you're concerned as soon as the Minister gets authorisation from the NSW State Government they'll be able to put things in place..?

CREAN: They need to get the Farm Household Support available immediately and backdated. People are really struggling. They're hurting. They can't put food on the table. They need to be given that assistance to survive and then we've got to look at the practical solutions by which we can continue to sustain the breeding herds. So that when the drought does break they can be the basis upon which we build, rebuild the nation's herds.

JOURNALIST: If you were in a position to, would you give a 100% tax deductions on things like (inaudible)?

CREAN: I think that the tax deductibility initiatives need to be properly considered in the light of long-term sustainability. We did that last time. We had an investment allowance last time, which this Government scrapped two years ago without any analysis. He scrapped it because he saw it as a cost. He didn't see its importance to the long-term drought strategy. A Government has to look at the package of initiatives again. I did it in '92, '94, this Government should be doing it now in 2002.

JOURNALIST: …can I move on to a non-related issue? Laurie Brereton (inaudible) in the UN in New York, calling on you essentially, to come up with a more concrete policy on Iraq and oppose any unilateral action on Iraq. Are you going to do it?

CREAN: No I'm not, the Labor Party has had a consistent policy approach since April on this and it's a policy approach that's now working. No one, interestingly, at the moment is talking unilateral action against Iraq. The United States and its President is now accepting the fact that the issue has to be progressed through the United Nations. That's what Labor's been calling for since April, that's the position that we will continue to call for and I hope it works.

JOURNALIST: Essentially what he's saying though is that Labor's stance on this issue has not been strong enough.

CREAN: Labor's stance on this has been consistently strong. It's been consistently calling for the solution through the United Nations. Australia has to make the call as to what's in its national interest. It's in its national interest to ensure the decisions of the United Nations are upheld. That' s what Labor will continue to urge and importantly world leaders are now getting behind that initiative.

JOURNALIST: Does it bother you that what he has written in today's papers could be interpreted as being damaging to your leadership position?

CREAN: Our position has been entirely consistent in relation to this matter. Mr Brereton's assessment that we must rule it out is incorrect. My view is that we have to continue to urge the solution through the United Nations and we will do that.

JOURNALIST: The Government has said that it's putting the PBS Bill back into the Senate unchanged. Have you been given any indication that perhaps the Democrats might have changed their mind on that?

CREAN: No, I haven't and the Democrats have consistently said they'll oppose it. Labor will certainly oppose it. Labor's opposed to measures that are going to put up the price of pharmaceuticals for pensioners and families by 30%. That's what this means. Now I indicated that we would oppose it back in May when it was introduced. Interestingly, I put forward some alternative proposals to the Government by which it could tighten up on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme. The Government still hasn't had those initiatives costed, it hasn't even responded to them. We are prepared to work with the Government to tighten up on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme but we will oppose their measures to hike the cost of pharmaceuticals by 30%. And if John Howard wants to fight an election on putting up the charges of pharmaceuticals by 30%, I say to him, bring it on.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

CREAN: I've got no idea. I think this is a Treasurer, again, who has got (TAPE BREAK) solution to his Budget mismanagement. That's new taxes and charges on the Australian community. We've had a ‘Sugar Tax' a ‘Dairy Tax' a ‘War Tax' and now a pharmaceutical hike. This is a Government that has mismanaged the Budget Deficit. It shouldn't be slugging Australian families to pay for it.

JOURNALIST: On Telstra, the Telstra (inaudible) submission to the Estens inquiry saying they've actually (inaudible) better in the Bush than in urban areas. What's your response to that?

CREAN: Well I think they better come out here and speak to some of the people I've spoken to. No one believes it.

JOURNALIST: Have you been talking to people about that in the last couple of days?

CREAN: They've been indicating to me the continuing problems associated with Telstra services in the Bush. The issue is not the sale of Telstra. The issue is how do we ensure affordable, accessible quality services in the Bush. That's what people in the Bush want and that's what they deserve. Not the further sale of Telstra, which will only make those services and charges worse and higher.