5AA

SUBJECTS:  Labor leadership spill; Independent support for no – confidence motion

E&OE................................

The Hon Christopher Pyne MP: ...resigned. The civil war continues and Kevin Rudd made it clear yesterday Leon that he's still available to be drafted for the leadership. I was receiving text messages only last night from Labor people saying that they'll be back at it again in budget week so the losers from this unfortunately are the Australian public.

Leon Byner: Are you prepared to name the people that send you these messages or is there some kind of covenant that you have that you don’t tell.

Pyne: Well if I tell, then they won't send me the text messages so of course I'm not going to expose.

Byner: So you're telling us that despite the calls for unity which were made yesterday and today there are still presumably Rudd supporters that will continue to stir.

Pyne: Well there are moles in the Labor Party Caucus who contact people like me and other Liberals to let them know what they are doing and to encourage maximum disunity and division in the Labor Party I mean that is how rank and rancid the Labor Party Caucus has become and that's why we need an election in order to give the people a chance to elect their Prime Minister, rather than the faceless of the caucus.

Byner: Well, see, it seems to me looking at the way things work in our Constitution and parliamentary procedures there are only two ways you’re going get, possibly three, to get an election. You can call for a vote of no confidence and you need to win it. That's unlikely, ok. The Prime Minister could call it but she's already suggested that it’s going to be on the 14th of September or there would be a change of leadership in which case the replacement and we don’t know that that's going to happen in fact it seems less likely now would give us another date closer than the election date.

Pyne: Well we think Leon we think it’s time to have a government focussed on cost of living, job security, border security and economic management, so we will move a no confidence motion against in the government for the first time this Parliament in budget week when we return, we ask the Independents to support that motion and we’d ask people in their  electorates to contact their Independent Members and ask them to support that motion so we can have an election  and get a government with a clear majority that can get on with putting the Australian people first rather than the Labor Party's own self interest.

Byner: All right. Christopher Pyne thanks.

ENDS.