CANBERRA: Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen has said that I know what Australia’s tax rates are despite being unable to identify the tax-free threshold during a live television interview. Under repeated questioning during the interview on Sky News’ Richo and Jones program last night, Mr Bowen was unable to correctly nominate the figure of $18,200.
Pressed by talkback host Alan Jones to explain what Australia’s tax levels were, Mr Bowen fumbled and appeared increasingly uncomfortable. At a press conference in Sydney this morning, Mr Bowen acknowledged “in hindsight” that he should have answered Jones but, since the broader discussion was about superannuation rather than income tax, his question did not seem relevant at the time.
“If Mr Jones wanted to have time going through the tax thresholds I should have engaged in that. In hindsight, that’s a mistake that I didn’t do so,” he said. Mr Bowen said he was interviewed “many hundreds” of times each year, ranging from remote radio stations to hard-hitting programs such as Sky News’s Australian Agenda and ABC’s 7.30. “I don’t hide from tough interviews. I believe if you want to be a senior minister or shadow minister you do the tough interviews including with people who don’t sympathise with your cause,” he said.
“From me, you won’t get statements that poor people don’t drive cars. You won’t get statements that a GP tax is just equivalent to a middy of beer and packet of cigarettes. You won’t get statements from me about North Sydney doing it tough because they have high rates of bulk billing. “From me, you’ll get values underpinned by economic knowledge. That’s what you’ll get from me, building on my time as a minister in various economic portfolios and as shadow treasurer.” Earlier Mr Bowen maintained his knowledge of the country’s personal tax rates was solid. “Some interviews will go better than others,” Mr Bowen told the ABC. “I’m more than happy to have my economic credentials compared to [Treasurer Joe Hockey] and my command of details compared to the Treasurer’s any day.”
However Jones was unforgiving. “This is a serious issue. The man wants to be the treasurer of Australia but he doesn’t know the tax thresholds,” he said. Bill Shorten defended Mr Bowen, saying his willingness to be interviewed by Jones late on a Tuesday night was “a sign of his commitment”. “I could probably think of other things he could do on a Tuesday night at 8.30pm than be interviewed by Alan Jones but he did,” the Opposition Leader said. “He’s has made a mistake. He’s acknowledged that. And when it comes to acknowledging mistakes, when will Joe Hockey acknowledge the whole budget is unfair?”
Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham agreed that everybody made mistakes and had “slips of the mind”. “But you do expect that the shadow treasurer will at least in ball-park terms — if not in the precise dollars — be able to talk about the tax rates, the tax-free threshold,” Senator Birmingham told Sky News this morning. Labor MP Ed Husic also defended his colleague’s performance, saying running the country was not about “getting a sash for the best rote learner”. “Does anyone seriously believe if later today Treasurer Joe Hockey is given a pop quiz on the tax scales and he passes that that means he’s going to be able to frame a good budget?” Mr Husic asked.
