The Oakes Interview: Julia Gillard

Nine political editor Laurie Oakes presents his weekly political interview on TODAY on Sunday every Sunday from 7am -10am on the Nine Network.

LAURIE OAKES talking with DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, JULIA GILLARD.

"TODAY ON SUNDAY" FEBRUARY 15TH 2009

LAURIE OAKES: Julia, welcome to the program.

JULIA GILLARD: Good Morning Laurie.

LAURIE OAKES: Obviously we've got to talk about the dreadful Victorian bushfires. I gather the Prime Minister's going back to some of the affected areas today.

JULIA GILLARD: The Prime Minister will be in Victoria today. He will be in the Kinglake area. He will be there with the Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, and also with the Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Houston, he wants to see some of the work that the Army is doing to help with the reconstruction effort and all of the feedback I've had is that the Army has been welcomed with open arms and that they have done some tremendous things to help already.

LAURIE OAKES: Is the Federal Government going to play a lead role in the rebuilding, or will it be a State Government thing with the Federal Government just helping out?

JULIA GILLARD: We'll be working together in partnership. The Recovery Authority has been announced and is being set up. We will obviously work with the Recovery Authority and with the State Government in the rebuilding effort and the Prime Minister and the Premier have been working closely together. One of the great advantages of having the Prime Minister here in the first few days of this unfolding disaster was that he was able to co-ordinate directly with the Premier and make things happen from that highest level.

LAURIE OAKES: Well State Governments are facing criticism for not doing enough to reduce the bushfire risk, for under-resourcing the relevant agencies, neglecting the need for fuel reduction particularly in national parks, and for not paying enough attention to building and developing regulations, now given that, shouldn't the Federal Government pay a bigger role from now on?

JULIA GILLARD: I think all of that is going to be on the table for examination by the Royal Commission that has been announced by the Victorian Government and we'll certainly be all ears for the recommendations of that Royal Commission.

I expect that it will canvas matters like the planning scheme, back-burning, clearing vegetation around homes, communication systems, the whole lot, so we really need to get the benefit of that expert view about what everybody needs to do to help reduce risk, but even if further steps are taken Laurie, I think we have to acknowledge that with the extreme weather conditions we saw in Victoria last weekend, with the raging intensity of these fires, that this was a huge and unusual event and I just think we've got to acknowledge that.

This is now about laying blame at anybody's feet, it's about bringing the community together after this inferno has destroyed so many lives and so many homes.

LAURIE OAKES: It mightn't be about laying blame but surely it's about the problem of complacency. You mentiioned there's going to be a Royal Commission into these fires, but we've had a host of Royal Commissions and other inquiries into bushfires including eight major inquiries and reports in the last 15 years. Nothing seems to happen. They all make the same recommendations. This new Royal Commission will make the same recommendations, will something happen this time?

JULIA GILLARD: Laurie, everybody is going to be wanting to hear the lessons and recommendations of this Royal Commission and I think the whole community in Victoria, and indeed around the nation, will want to see action following those recommendations. Certainly the Federal Government is bringing an attitude to this that we will do everything we can to respond to the recommendations of the Royal Commission, just as we will do everything we can to work with the Victorian Government and affected communities to help people rebuild their lives.

LAURIE OAKES: Well, after the 2003 fires that ravaged five states and the ACT, there was a parliamentary committee that inquired into bushfires and what could be done about them and a COAG Committee, And yet very little happened. How do you explain it, why are politicians so slow to take these things up?

JULIA GILLARD: The recommendations from that - including, I believe, a recommendation about an early-warning system - first came to Government several years back - you're right about that, Laurie - when the Rudd Labor Government was elected in 2007, certainly the Prime Minister pushed through, with COAG, on moving forward the early-warning system. It had been languishing around for several years and, the Prime Minister pushed it forward. I think that that shows that we want to act when we get these recommendations. We're obviously going to get the recommendations from the Royal Commission and we will bring an attitude of doing everything we can to respond to those recommendations. Laurie I can't answer for everything in the past, what I can do, is tell you about our determination for a different future. We need have the Royal Commission first, need to hear what it's going to say, and then you're absolutely right, we need to respond quickly and decisively.

LAURIE OAKES: Will the Federal Government now implement that early-warning system, the states have been messing around with it. Will you take it over, implement it, finance it?

JULIA GILLARD: Well, certainly, the work is already in train - legislation needs to be changed, and legislation is being brought to the Parliament. There are some technical issues here that still are being worked through about how it can give warning to everybody in the affected area, so it's not about where your billing address for your phone is, but where you physically are that day. Those things are being worked through, Laurie, but we're bringing a spirit of determination to getting this done.

LAURIE OAKES: The big political news of the week, of course, was the passage through the Senate after a lot of wheeling and dealing of the Government's $42 billion economic stimulus package. When will we know whether it's worked, and how will will we know whether it's been a success?

JULIA GILLARD: There's no silver bullet in fighting the global financial crisis, Laurie. Every piece of news we get from overseas is another disturbing piece of news. We now know, of course, that the Eurozone, as it's called - our European friends - saw their economies contract in the December quarter. The US economy contracted in the December quarter. All of these international events are bringing a huge downwards pressure on our economy. What can we do? Well, we can fight that downwards pressure by trying to keep our economy moving and by supporting jobs. And that's what the nation-building and jobs plan is about - it's about economic activity and supporting jobs.

You will see that economic activity as families spend their cash bonuses, that makes a difference in our economy, and you will see that economic activity in the shape of construction right around the nation including on the precincts of the nation's schools with every school able to benefit from this package.

LAURIE OAKES: But, if Australia goes into recession, will that mean that the Government's failed, the package has failed?

JULIA GILLARD: What Treasury is telling us is that this package will add to our GDP, to the economic activity in our nation both in this financial year and next financial year. And you don't really need to have a PhD in economics to see that that makes sense - that if the Government moves to stimulate the economy, there's more economic activity - that supports jobs. That's what we've done. So that's what the package is all about - the package will move through the economy in that way - you'll see construction jobs, you'll see people spending the cash bonuses and creating ripple effects throughout the economy. But Laurie, I want to be clear here - the global financial crisis is bearing down on this nation. There is no silver bullet here. This is going to be a long fight, a hard fight, against the global forces seeking to overwhelm our economy, and that's what the Government is engaged in - that long, hard fight.

LAURIE OAKES: But what about the question of debt. The Opposition says you're shouldering the next generation with $200 billion worth of debt. I mean, that's going to frighten people. Don't they have reason to be frightened?

JULIA GILLARD: Well, the Opposition, of course, is in the game of playing politics and they think that it's smart politics to be frightening people. The Opposition has oscillatsed from having no plan at all to deal with the global financial crisis just sitting back and waiting and seeing how many people get hurt, then some days they volunteer half -thought-through plans, half-thought-through suggestions. When they've done that, the half-thought-through plans, they have acknowledged that their plans would also mean debt and borrowing.

So let's just get this kind of hypocrisy off the table. To the extent that they've ever suggested anything - the things suggested by Malcolm Turnbull would have meant debt and borrowing. But most days of the week, they sit on the sidelines, they say "wait and see," they advocate no plans, no action, to support Australians and to support Australian jobs, as the global financial crisis bears down on us.

LAURIE OAKES: What about today's reports that paid maternity leave will not be in the budget? That makes sense doesn't it, - presumably you don't want to add another $500 million to the debt.

JULIA GILLARD: Laurie, I'm going to say at it to that what I've said consistly for months, which is that we are awaiting the final report of the Productivity Commission. It is very close now - it will be received by Government during the course of this month - towards the end of month. Government will then respond to that final report, and paid maternity leave will be considered in the Budget context. Obviously things that amount to expenditure - particularly ongoing expenditure for the nation - will be dealt with in the Budget context.

LAURIE OAKES: So it could still happen in the Budget?

JULIA GILLARD: Well, people should read that as a prudent approach from a Government that has always wanted to study this issue, to make sure that nothing Government did discouraged the initiatives we're already seeing in the private sector where many big companies offer their own version of paid maternity leave. And, of course, we always take a prudent approach to budgetary matters.

LAURIE OAKES: What about unemployment benefits? The Government admits that at least 300,000 more people will be out of work. We all know it could be more than that. Are you go to increase unemployment benefits from the present level, which is lower than the pension?

JULIA GILLARD: What we've said about unemployment is we firstly want to support jobs - that's what the nation-building and jobs plan is all about - keeping people in work. When people do lose their jobs or struggle to find work, then we want to help them by making sure that they've got the skills they need to have the best possible opportunities in the labour market. The nation-building and jobs plan itself dealt with some new training and learning arrangements for people who are unemployed or outside the labour force and the Prime Minister has indicated that we will have more to say on supporting people who are looking for work, and particularly the next Council of Australian Government's meeting will look at some new plans and measures to support people who are looking for that job...

LAURIE OAKES: Go ahead.

JULIA GILLARD: In our economy today, we know that there are people who are losing jobs - we've seen some redundancies, major redundancies announced by big companies. But we also know, in other parts of the economy, people are still crying out for skilled labour. We want to make sure that people who do lose their job have the best possible opportunity to get the skills they need to get back into the workforce.

LAURIE OAKES: A quick final issue - your opposite number, the deputy Opposition leader, Julie Bishop, looks like being dumped as Shadow Treasurer. Do you have any sympathy for her, and do you think the blokes who are after her job would be any better?

JULIA GILLARD: Well, I would say, Laurie, that I think Julie Bishop is being criticised for following Malcolm Turnbull's script. So Malcolm Turnbull's script about the global financial crisis has been no plans, no suggestions, wait-and-see, play politics. As Deputy, Ms Bishop has faithfully followed Malcolm Turnbull turn's script, and now appears to be being criticised for it. Well, I think the problem here is that the political outlook of Malcolm Turnbull has been all about playing politics, not the national interest. And I do wonder whether it's Ms Bishop who should bear the criticism for Mr Turnbull's approach.

LAURIE OAKES: Deputy Prime Minister, we thank you.

JULIA GILLARD: Thank you.