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Weatherill: “We need Abbott to succeed”

Apr 16, 2015
Jay Weatherill says tomorrow's COAG could yield breakthroughs on major areas of disagreement. Photo: AAP

Jay Weatherill says tomorrow's COAG could yield breakthroughs on major areas of disagreement. Photo: AAP

Jay Weatherill says it is in South Australia’s economic interest for the Abbott administration to recover politically, arguing: “We need this federal government to succeed probably more than anyone.”

Speaking to InDaily before jetting out to Canberra today ahead of tomorrow’s COAG meeting, the Premier ambitiously declared he hoped to “break the impasse” on the major issues of contention between state and Commonwealth governments.

He cited planned federal budget savings, uncertainty over defence procurement and a planned downgrade of the renewable energy target, which he believes will hit local companies, investment and jobs.

“We could leave this COAG with a pathway to agreement on each of these things,” Weatherill said.

“I think there’s a certain urgency in breaking the stalemate in national political affairs, because this is killing confidence.”

He conceded the SA economy was facing “significant difficulties” and “if we’ve got a stalemate in the political process, that’s dangerous”.

“We can’t afford for them to not be, to some degree, successful,” he said.

With no further state elections due before the next federal poll after recent votes in Victoria, Queensland and NSW, Weatherill is adamant tomorrow’s COAG presents “a real opportunity” to deliver genuine outcomes.

“That (upcoming state elections) was always the spectre that was looming on the horizon, which really prevented a lot of sensible things being discussed before now,” he said.

“If you go to first principles, basically Australians are looking for their leaders to present a vision for the country that they can get behind and be part of … Everyone’s pretty concerned at the sense of stalemate that’s occurred in national politics.”

He said public perceptions of the Abbott Government’s recent vision were of “cuts … and politicians arguing with each other”, but maintained: “There is an opportunity for reform.”

After the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the minority Gillard/Rudd Governments, Weatherill says he “naturally assumed the new government would have a honeymoon, and it would unlock confidence”.

“They squandered a lot of that,” he said.

“They talked up a massive crisis, which caused confidence to plummet, and put together a federal budget that’s absolutely friendless.”

A GST stoush appears set to dominate the heads of government meeting, with Western Australia demanding a larger slice of the revenue pie than that recommended by the Commonwealth Grants Commission, arguing plummeting iron ore prices are decimating revenues. Senior Coalition figures have backed WA’s stance, but it’s had little sympathy from the other states, and Weatherill says he hopes the issue gets short shrift.

“Obviously we want to get through the West Australian distraction as quickly as possible,” he said.

“WA takes up an above-average amount of time at these things, arguing the indefensible.”

The Premier’s own stated agenda is to find common ground on major policy issues adversely affecting SA, and he believes there is now scope to compromise.

“I think if they make the wrong decision on the (Future Submarines), it will destroy the Federal Liberal Government,” he said. “But I’m not interested in the destruction of the Government – I’m interested in the subs.”

According to Weatherill, “everyone knows what the answer to that is: you need a continuous pipeline of work over 30 years, and everyone will have what they need”.

“It doesn’t matter what level that’s struck at, as long as there’s a continuous pipeline of work,” he said, suggesting a softening of his Government’s recent rhetoric.

Similarly, his stance on what he has has badged the Coalition’s “$80 billion cuts to the states” appears to have shifted in recent times, with consensus and common ground now taking the place of conflict.

“(The cuts) aren’t reform, they’re just a cost shift to the states … (COAG) presents an opportunity to break that impasse,” he said.

“I’m trying to offer a compromise to resolve this … the question becomes ‘how do they fill that hole’, and it’s a revenue hole.

“We’ve got a growing economy but we’re raising less money from that economy for revenue purposes … we would support new revenue measures to fill this $80 billion dollar hole.”

Of course, the Coalition’s most likely revenue solution – increasing and/or broadening the GST – has also been meet with recalcitrance by Weatherill’s Government, but he does suggest alternatives.

“Superannuation tax treatment is an obvious candidate, applying GST to online purchases is a candidate … there are pretty obvious tax evasion measures that need to be grappled with, such as closing loopholes for (corporate) tax havens,” he said.

“You could have a floor on the tax paid by high income earners … (so) there are revenue measures we’d be prepared to support that don’t place the burden on those who can least afford it.”

He argues the Commonwealth “needs to come to the realisation that people want basic services” such as health, education and aged care, and “we need to have a discussion – which might be difficult at times – about how to pay for them”.

“What I’m trying to do is show that agreement is capable of being reached in these matters,” he said.

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