2GB Ben Fordham

SUBJECT: CEO Sleepout; Labor Leadership E&OE................................ Hon Christopher Pyne MP: G’day Ben how you going? Ben Fordham: I’m okay, you’re hearing me okay? Pyne: I am. Fordham: We have had the odd technical issue or two this afternoon, so thank you for that. How are you going to handle this Christopher? You always look, you’re always wearing the nice suit, your hair’s always perfect, you don’t strike me as the kind of bloke who’s going to be able to sleep on the concrete! Pyne: Well, I’ll let you in on a secret and all your listeners because I have this crinkled hair, when it gets long and I wake up in the morning my children have said I look like Tina Turner in the morning. Fordham: Oh no. Pyne: I’ve had it cut short so that when I wake up tomorrow morning, I won’t give all the other people there a shock! Unfortunately, that comes with having long, curly, wavy Irish hair but now I have very short hair so I should be fine. Well it’s going to be very, very cold. Apparently, it might even be raining but homeless people do it often, sometimes every night if they can’t get accommodation so I think for politicians and CEOs and others to do it once a year is not going to kill us at all and it’s a very, very important and good cause and I’m delighted to be part of it. Fordham: Have you done any practice? Pyne: No I haven’t well, I’ve been camping with my children of course on many occasions now but there’s a blow up mattress when you’re camping. I understand I’ll be given a card board box and I’ve got my own sleeping bag so there’ll be no luxuries. Fordham: I don’t want to scare you off at all but can I tell you the thing you have to look out for? Pyne: Snoring? Fordham: No. Snoring’s nothing. I’ll tell you what you’ve got to look out for because a number of years ago when I was working with a charity in Kings Cross called Nugacity where homeless people would go there every Thursday night and I would go down there for a Thursday night shift and occasionally, you would stay overnight as well because it was this one night of the week when homeless people have got a place to stay underneath a church in Kings Cross. You know what it is? The cockroaches. Pyne: Oh yuck. Fordham: I knew that would get you. Cockroaches …. Pyne: You’re just trying to scare me. Fordham: No, Christopher Pyne it’s the cockroaches because the cockroaches don’t sleep, you see. Pyne: No, I really hate cockroaches. I can’t believe you mentioned cockroaches. Did you … someone’s obviously given you a tip. Cockroaches are one of my least favourite things in the world. Fordham: I hate them too. But look, it is a great thing because politicians often get a bad rub. People think ‘oh, there you are driving around in your commonwealth car and you’re in Parliament House in Canberra which is a beautiful building but they forget the fact you’re real people and you’re dealing through your Electorate Office with real people and real concerns all of the time. Financial issues, health issues; everything you can name. Pyne: And homelessness issues too and I’ve been a Member of Parliament for twenty years and I’ve had to deal with the mother and two year old that turn up at your office in their car where they’ve been living for goodness knows how long looking for support. Homelessness amongst families is a real scourge and I think if politicians and business people can draw attention to homelessness and raise a bit of money on the way through then it’s a very good cause to do it and I’m happy to do it and I’ll be doing it with quite a few of my Parliamentary colleagues. I think Malcolm Turnbull is doing it as well and Kevin Rudd I’ve been told is doing it in Brisbane but I’m not sure if that’s absolutely correct. Fordham: Okay, K-Rudd might be doing it as well. Make sure you snug up to Ross Greenwood and keep him warm. Pyne: Ah yes, Ross will be there. Well, I’ll be able to ask him questions and he’ll be able to inform me about finance because he knows more about it than most people I know. Fordham: You’re sounding a little bit croaky. Have you been yelling at the top of your voice during Question Time? Pyne: It’s Canberra, it’s the Canberra cold Ben. This morning I woke up with a bit of a throat, a bit of a frog in my throat it wasn’t because I went to the mid-winter ball because I didn’t go. Fordham: You didn’t go last night? Pyne: No, I didn’t go. Fordham: Prefer to avoid it? Pyne: Well I don’t know if you can bring the mongoose, the cobra and the wolf together in the same place and try and pretend they’re all friends. Fordham: Well that’s what they do. I want to play you something from today. This is Paul Howes the union boss talking about the, well the leadership issues that have been going around at the moment. I mentioned on the show yesterday that a well-connected Labor source told me yesterday that Friday next week, Kevin Rudd is going to be Prime Minister again. Bill Shorten has switched his support. He’s switched sides from Julia Gillard to Kevin Rudd and I put questions to Bill Shorten the last two days direct questions saying “Is this true?”. Those questions haven’t been answered but Paul Howes today has weighed into this. Have a listen to the union boss: Paul Howes: I haven’t spoken to any Labor MPs who are considering change, okay; now I read the newspapers like everyone else in this country. I hear all these reports and like numerous other times over the last three years, you hear that it’s all over and it’s all going to change and never has it actually come to fruition. David Speers: What sort of result do you think Julia Gillard is headed for under Julia Gillard? Howes: I think Labor will win the election under Julia Gillard if we unite behind the Gillard Government and focus on the amazing record of achievement of the last three years….. “ Fordham: There is Paul Howes talking to David Speers on SKY News but the crucial line Paul had, Paul Howes thinks that Julia Gillard can still win the election. Here it is again … Speers: What sort of a result do you think Labor is headed for under Julia Gillard? Howes: I think Labor will win the election under Julia Gillard … Fordham: Really? Christopher? Pyne: Well Ben, of course they can win the next election if they get enough votes and that’s why people can’t assume it’s all over. You’d have to say, on the current projections Labor is coming from behind on this issue. But I would simply caution people to remember that in 1990, sorry 2007, when Kevin Rudd was 61% in the polls and the John Howard led Liberals were 39%. On election day it was 52.7 to 47.3, so it always tightens up and this election will tighten up. Certainly the Government doesn’t deserve to be re-elected and they’ve been behaving in the last few weeks like an absolute rabble and they haven’t put the interest in the Australian public first because they are too busy fighting amongst themselves and it is a great disservice to the country. As Bob Hawke said, if you can’t govern yourselves you can’t govern the country and they need some time out. But the ballot hasn’t been cast, the election day hasn’t been and gone and I certainly don’t want to do anything that would put that at risk, so the Coalition will continue to focus on good policy and trying to make sure we hold a very bad government to account and if we are fortunate to be elected then an adult government that puts the people first, not our own self-interest. Fordham: As we’re talking we get an announcement from the Federal Government regarding border protection command. Another boat has been detected. This happened yesterday by the looks of things, but this has just been released this afternoon. Three people were on board north-west of Darwin. They just keep on coming don’t they? The thing that amazes me about this Christopher, is the fact that honestly, it just looks like Julia Gillard long time ago threw her hands up in the air and went, ‘oh well, the East Timor thing didn’t work, the Malaysian thing was hit on the head by the High Court….option three, I don’t know.’ But there is nothing. Pyne: The Prime Minister has given up governing Ben and the great tragedy is, that we are now having 3000 unauthorised arrivals per month. When the Howard Government lost there was a trickle, I think there were 3 boats a year and we are now having 3000 arrivals a month and since Labor changed the rules we’ve had 45,000 people come here illegally and it is the greatest policy failure of the Government. Sure the carbon tax is wrecking the economy, sure the mining tax is a fiasco, we can go through pink bats, overpriced school halls I mean the list is endless. But the failure to protect Australia’s borders is the Government’s singular greatest failure and the Prime Minister has done nothing to change it. Fordham: No doubt about it, good luck tonight with the CEO sleep out for Vinnie’s and well done to you and the others for getting involved in it. Pyne: Well thank you. Fordham: Good luck with the cockroaches. Pyne: Thanks very much. Fordham: Take care mate. ENDS.