Treasurer gives extensive outline of economic philosophy but no specifics in major speech

SPORTING analogies and a mate called Clay were part of Treasurer Scott Morrison’s National Press Club address where he said he’s here to help.

Treasurer Scott Morrison addressing the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

HIS name is Scott and he’s here to help you.

Treasurer Scott Morrison’s speech to the National Press Club today started with that assurance and was followed by a ramble over the philosophy of Budget preparation in a “transition” economy.

The Treasurer used sporting analogies, lingered over power point displays which the bulk of his audience, those watching on television, could not see, and told about a mate named Clay who did playful things with alligators.

There were no specific Budget announcements, but a repeated warning that tax cuts relied on spending cuts, and no new spending — state or federal — would be tolerated.

Mr Morrison summed up that Budget philosophy: “Tax and spend is simply not a plan for growth … So if anyone thinks higher taxes, higher spending is a pathway to prosperity, they’re dreaming.”

Australian Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison speaks at the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: AAP

He also said:

• “If we want to reduce taxes in one area then we have to look at tax mix in other areas.”

• “Our timing (for making any tax announcements) will be based on ensuring that the work is ready and the work is done and the answer is the right one for Australia. What that means, at the end of the day, is we need to address that in the Budget context.”

• “The only way to have lower taxes is to have lower expenditure. … The only way we can deliver longer-term relief for people out there earning every day is to deal with the expenditure.”

• “When will we achieve a surplus? ... When expenditure is less than revenue.”

• “(To states) asking for buckets of money doesn’t solve your expenditure problem. And it doesn’t solve it for the Commonwealth.”

• The economic task is a test match, not a Twenty20 or Big Bash League game.

But first was that reassurance.

Clay Nelson from Texakana is a Morrison mate. He and his hunting friends would play pranks, such as throwing alligators in each others’ tents, but his day job was in sales.

“And Clay would sit down with a client or a mate or a friend or whatever, and the first thing he would say to you was, ‘How can I help you win today?’,” recounted Mr Morrison today.

“And when you heard that for the first time, the first thing you did was recoil a bit as an Aussie and say, ‘That’s a bit full-on, that’s a bit much, does the guy really mean it?’

“Now we became very good friends and I know he meant every word of it. And that was his business practice. Every single deal he went into, every relationship he had, he took that attitude of, ‘How can I help the person on the other side of that table win today?’”

Mr Morrison said he had adapted the phrase to Australian terms: How can I back you in today?

“You’re out there trying to make something happen. How can I as Treasurer, how can the government back you in terms of what you are doing and what you hope to achieve? And that’s our job.”