ABC 891

SUBJECTS: Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse; Cuts to cancer treatments

E&OE………………

Journalist: (inaudible)... Manager of Opposition Business and its either Butler or Farrell, Butler runs the left faction in South Australia and Don Farrell runs the right in the Labor Party, today its Senator Don Farrell good morning Don.

Farrell: Good morning David.

Journalist: I suppose you could say it’s the faceless politician meets the in your face politician and Chris Pyne who is the in your face politician who’s in the studio.

Farrell: or off your face ..

Journalist: oh or off your face…Chris Pyne.

Farrell: yeah… off your face that’s the way I’d describe him.

Journalist: Chris Pyne…

Pyne: That’s a rather rude beginning Don.

Farrell: Oh look I’m sorry Christopher I’ll withdraw that.

Pyne: I guess you’re still smarting from having to give up your spot on the Senate ticket to Penny Wong.

Farrell: You know how to spoil a fellas morning.

Pyne: Don knows, Don knows by the way what a complete humiliation of Penny Wong that was.

Journalist: That’s all behind us, onto an issue of much substance… the Royal Commission in Child Sexual Abuse. On the weekend Paul Kelly Editor at large of the Australian, the Weekend Australian wrote this “the dismal, populist and doomed quality of Australian Governments has been on display this week with Julia Gillard announcing an in principle Royal Commission in to Child Sexual Abuse a panicked Tony Abbott falling into line and an ignorant media offering cheer upon cheer” Don Farrell how would you respond to Paul Kelly?

Farrell: Look, I think Paul is wrong in what he says, I think the Prime Minister made a sensible decision to call a Royal Commission, it was clearly community concern about the way institutions including the Catholic Church have dealt with the issue of child abuse. I think there’s been some polls that have been done since the decision was announced that make it very clear that an overwhelming number of Australians believe that we have to conduct this Royal Commission.

Journalist: Well that’s Paul Kelly’s point to just quote him the question, this is the way Australia now works, your mentioning polls, “the question is for popular approval, moral legitimacy and gesture politics”. Was this … how much time in cabinet, how much time did Cabinet spend discussing this Royal Commission before it was announced?

Farrell: Look I don’t… I’m not a member of Cabinet.

Journalist: was it discussed in Cabinet though?

Farrell: Well it was obviously discussed by Cabinet my recollection was that it was discussed last week but just how long they spent on the topic I don’t’ know . I don’t think you can criticise a Government or for that matter an Opposition because both the Government and the Opposition supported this Royal Commission, I don’t think you can criticise them for making a decision which has the support of the Australian people. I think that’s one of the rare occasions during the course of this Parliament where there has been a unanimous view by both political parties I don’t think that that’s a criticism.

Journalist: Ok. Chris Pyne, Tony Abbott had no choice. You can imagine how he is, how he would have been slaughtered, so he just had to come out whether or not it’s a good idea.

Pyne: Well there are a few levels to this issue; you’re absolutely right and Paul Kelly is right about one thing and that is that the Government had an absolute u-turn in terms of their attitude to a Royal Commission. On the Friday, Bill Shorten was being sent out to say that they wouldn’t be having a Royal Commission, on the Monday…

Farrell: I don’t think he was being sent out.

Pyne: I didn’t interrupt you Don.

Farrell: No, but I’m interrupting you Christopher. I just think it’s fair to point out that he was asked a question and I don’t think there had been any consideration to it so, I don’t think he was sent out to.

Journalist: He’s a Cabinet Minister though.

Farrell: Yeah he is.

Pyne: Look, perhaps could I finish my point since I let you speak at great length without interrupting you. So Bill Shorten went out and said there wouldn’t be a Royal Commission. On the Monday Julia Gillard went to Cabinet without a written submission, without having had discussions with the Cabinet beforehand and the Cabinet was told that the Prime Minister had changed her mind and this is all being briefed out of Cabinet and a Royal Commission was announced. Now the Opposition supports a Royal Commission but as you point out it would be a very brave politician that said that we didn’t think the sexual abuse of children by anyone was not a matter of grave import.

Journalist: Ok, so you had nowhere to go on this?

Pyne: Well we actually, before the Royal Commission was announced we said that if the Prime Minister announced one, we would support it. So we have given them bipartisan support from the beginning.

Journalist: That was by a matter of hours wasn’t it? Because you knew it was coming.

Pyne: Yes, by a matter of hours. I didn’t know it was coming or not, nobody did. But we certainly said that if they announced one, we would support it. But what we’ve seen of course is that expectations have been massively raised.

Journalist: Can they be met?

Pyne: I think it’s quite impossible to meet the expectations. And even the Irish Commission, the man who ran the Irish Commission, I think his name was Sean Murphy, I could be wrong about that, but not a bad stab in the dark though, Sean Murphy.

Journalist: I think you are wrong, I think its Ryan, but anyway.

Pyne: Oh right, it is Ryan you’re right. I think it started with Murphy.

Journalist: It did.

Pyne: Then Ryan took over.

Journalist: He took over at the five year mark, it took ten years.

Pyne: That’s right, it took nine, it took ten years and even in ten years the Irish Royal Commission was not capable of hearing the stories from all of those who claimed to been abused and had to simply take a sample. Now the Irish say that it worked very well. But I think everybody in Australia who has been abused or believes they are abused thinks they are going to have a day in court.

Journalist: Don Farrell is it a fair comment, say if expectations have been raised because of the open ended nature of this Royal Commission we still haven’t seen the terms of reference, and that’s going to hurt people.

Farrell: That’s a fair point I think Dave and we haven’t seen the terms of reference. The Attorney-General is under discussion with the States and all of the interested parties to try and get a set of terms of reference that both adequately deal with the issues, but does that in a timely way.

Journalist: And they have a week to do that?

Farrell: Well, we’d like to hear back from people within a week, although people can’t make a response in that time, that doesn’t mean their views won’t take into account if they come a little bit later.

Journalist: Don Farrell, if we can just move on to another issue because we want to get this in as well it’s on the front page of The Australian and covered in depth in other papers today. The budget cuts to hit cancer treatment, warnings of nationwide cut backs to chemotherapy services over a decision to cut federal funding for chemotherapy drugs and it won’t kick in until 2014 after the election?

Farrell: Can I answer that please Christopher. That is not right that story. I heard Senator Xenophon on the news earlier today and can I assure your listeners that the particular drugs, as I understand they are talking about is absolutely not going up, it is not in question. What has happened for many years, pharmacists have been charging anywhere between twenty and fifty percent above the market price for some drugs, sometimes thousands of dollars more. But from the first of December, the reimbursement amount that the Government pays to the pharmacists who dispense this drug will be brought into line with the true market price.

Pyne: Perhaps if I could make a comment about this.

Journalist: We will need to give Chris Pyne an opportunity.

Pyne: This is not a Senate speech; you have to give other people an opportunity.

Journalist: Well you better do it quickly then.

Pyne: I will. The truth is that the Government has made massive cuts in the health budget since May and in MYEFO not just cuts to the pharmaceutical benefit scheme where they have established a moratorium on new drugs on the PBS until 2014, conveniently after the next election but also they cut the billion dollar chronic dental health scheme which was used by, 80% of its users were concession card holders, and they haven’t replaced that with anything until 2014.

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: He is saying that, what he is saying is there is a scheme to reduce the payments to pharmacists from the Commonwealth but that it shouldn’t affect payments. What this story says that in fact it will affect patients because private hospitals cannot pass on the cost of that to consumers. And therefore, they will have to either absorb the costs or close; in Toowoomba they are talking about closing the biggest regional cancer centre in Australia outside a city.

Journalist: Well gentlemen thank you very much for your time again on this Wednesday.

ENDS