Federal Budget 2014: Tony Abbott on the front foot defending budget
TONY Abbott has had a tough morning. Out spruiking his tough budget, he has faced off with Kyle, Karl and a cranky granny.
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has had a tough morning on TV and radio as he sets about spruiking his unpopular Budget.
He copped a serve on Channel 10’s morning show Wake Up when he faced questions from a particularly cranky granny named Vilma Ward.
She was incensed by the change that would see 3.7 million pensioners worse off when payments rise in line with inflation, rather than wages, from 2017.
“Mr Prime Minister, I have never heard of such rubbish in all my life,” she barked.
“Why don’t you leave the pensioners alone? If we pull the belt any tighter we’ll choke to death.”
Mr Abbott said he was happy to hear her give him a piece of her mind.
“I said before the election that we weren't changing pensions and we’re not changing pensions in this term of parliament,” he said.
“I accept that in 2017 if this government gets elected we’ll go from one system of indexation to CPI indexation and after some time that will produce slower increases in the pension. I accept that but, look, this is a fair Budget, everyone is doing his or her bit, including, dare I say it, politicians.”
Vilma scoffed at this suggestion.
“Oh, you’re a comedian, sir, you’re a comedian,” she said.
But it turns out that Vilma is not what she seems.
News.com.au has discovered that Vilma is a not just an average pensioner from Queensland; she is Labor’s go-to granny for media events and one of the biggest fans of former PM Kevin Rudd.
A great-grandmother from Norman Park in Mr Rudd’s former electorate of Griffith, she was on the former PM’s first campaign committee, has appeared in his election flyer and has helped stage media events for him.
Mr Abbott also hit the airwaves with Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O on Kiis FM this morning, where listeners were most concerned about raising the pension age to 70 and the plan to make job seekers, aged between 25 and 30, wait six months before receiving unemployment benefits.
Western Sydney listener Natasha, 22, wasn’t pleased with this change, explaining that she had been unemployed for six months, despite have five years’ management experience.
“I can’t find a job and, you know why? Apparently because there’s not enough experience,” she said. “How are (people) going to live if they’re not getting the money they need?” she asked.
Sandilands interjected and suggested she should “toughen up”.
“If you are a young person and you can’t get a job, what about upgrading your qualifications?” Mr Abbott said.
“All of these things will be easier under us because we’re deregulating universities, we’re going to allow support for people doing non-degree studies … and there are the trade support loans that we’re bringing in.”
Mr Abbott had an easier time over on 2Day FM, where he handled some curly questions from Sophie Monk (who said, with more than a little tongue in cheek, she “loved talking politics”).
“How do you feel about Jay Z and Beyonce’s sister having a fight?” she asked the PM.
“I’ve been a sort of Budget hermit, the most exciting things I do is watch colleagues of mine have a cigar, occasionally,” he said in reference to Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann lighting up at the weekend.
“Is that Monica Lewinsky-ish?” Monk said.
Mr Abbott defended his first budget on Channel 9, saying it's “fundamentally honest” and the right thing for the nation.
“I want to do what’s right for the country, not what's right for the government,” he told Today this morning.
The government was being upfront with the Australian people about the state of the nation's finances.
“This is a fundamentally honest Budget,” Mr Abbott said. “We are not going to cook the books, we are not going to make a series of rosy assumptions.”
The government cannot keep using its credit card to pay the nation’s mortgage, he said.
The budget includes a $7 charge for GP visits, lower pension rises and hikes in the fuel excise and income tax for people earning more than $180,000.
It also includes cuts to family benefits, foreign aid and the ABC.
But Mr Abbott is keen to stress the Budget also contains “hope for the future” with its record infrastructure spending and a $20 billion medical research fund.
Asked repeatedly on whether the Budget broke his key election promises, he said: “I think we have kept faith with the Australian public.” But he acknowledged: “Some people will be disappointed, some people will feel let down.”
Mr Abbott also spoke on Sunrise, saying he accepted that “millions and millions of Australians are doing it tough right now”.
“I want to lighten their load, not make it worse. I think the Australian public knew that we were going to get the Budget back under control because if I said it once, I said it several dozen times.
“We weren’t elected to take easy decisions, we were elected to take tough decisions and that’s what we’ve done.”
Originally published as Federal Budget 2014: Tony Abbott on the front foot defending budget