2CC Breakfast with Mark Parton

Subjects: Kevin Rudd on Q&A, ASX merger.

Transcript, E&OE

6 April 2011

PARTON: To the Federal Trade Minister, Craig Emerson. This time last week, Craig, you were fending off and dismissing the attacks from a particular former Prime Minister made on The 7.30 Report. If it's not one former Prime Minister it's another, because we sort of seem to find ourselves in almost the same situation this morning.

EMERSON: I don't quite get that. I do understand that the media got quite excited – rather more excited than I did – if you're referring to Kevin's comments on Q&A. Is that the point of the question?

PARTON: Well it is and in particular the fact that it really does appear as though – certainly at the time – that the Government really was divided and a little chaotic.

EMERSON: Well on a program like Q&A, you're there for an hour, you get asked a direct question, and you're expected to give a direct answer. Kevin gave a direct answer and a whole lot of people have said 'Oh my god! Oh my god! He was asked a question and he's answered it!'. We often get the commentary that 'you never answer the questions you bloody politicians, we ask you a question you won't answer it'. But he gets asked a question, he does answer it and they go 'oh my god, what's happened?'.

PARTON: But I think a lot of the focus is on the fact that Mr Rudd has said that some of his Cabinet colleagues wanted his proposed carbon emissions trading scheme – wanted it shelved and others wanted it abandoned forever.

EMERSON: I saw all of that commentary over the last what four, five, six months, and in various places. I'm going to make a confession to you, Mark, I don't read all of the books, you know, and analyse who said what to who in the zoo and all this sort of stuff. Just in newspaper commentary and television coverage. Nothing that Kevin said was in any sense a revelation to me, in that I had heard it all before. Now, Julia then is asked will she confirm or deny what happened in the Cabinet discussion. Well, she won't for one reason: that it's a Cabinet discussion. However, I've just been listening to her on radio saying, as I know is true, that she has always been in favour of putting a price on carbon and will press ahead with doing so. What we're going to do Mark, and this is important, is that we're going to put a price on carbon for the top 1000 polluters in this country and that will provide an incentive for them to reduce their pollution. That's how it works, that's what we're going to do.

PARTON: So, it'll also affect their bottom line and they'll put the prices up of pretty much everything?

EMERSON: Well, we have said that for some businesses where they can pass on price increases they will seek to do so. It's pretty hard if you're an export-oriented business to pass on price increases.

PARTON: Yeah.

EMERSON: And what we'll do is provide a relief probably or possibly in the form of emissions, free emission permits. But we have said that there would be an impact on things like electricity prices. But this is not a tax at the checkout. It is not a tax that people pay when they go and get their groceries and so on. It is a levy on the top 1000 polluters. They will try where they can to pass some of that on. They will have some success but we will use every cent of the proceeds of this to compensate lower and middle income earners and also businesses so that we are not collecting any revenue for general government purposes. It is a price that's levied on the top 1000 polluters.

PARTON: The Treasurer says that he remains open to further representations – just moving onto to other matters – he remains open to further representations or information from the parties before coming to a final decision on this, you know, proposed Singapore takeover of the ASX. He's not open at all, is he? Surely that decision's been made?

EMERSON: Well it is a decision under the Foreign Investment Review Board procedures for the Treasurer. I'm not privy to – and don't seek to be privy to – the basis of any decision that Wayne makes other than to say this: he is obliged to take into account the national interest. That's what he's doing, that's his job and that's how it's set out in that legislation.

PARTON: Right. Craig, we're out of time this morning but thanks, thanks for being on the program as always. I do appreciate it.

EMERSON: All right. Happy to be on. Thanks Mark.

PARTON: Federal Trade Minister, Craig Emerson.

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