ABC News 24

SUBJECTS: First sitting week of Parliament

E&OE…… 

Michael Rowland: Christopher Pyne, good morning. 

Christopher Pyne: Good morning Michael. 

Rowland: Now, we have those nervous leadership rumblings continuing, but at the same time there’s that Fairfax Nielsen Poll out this morning showing a jump in Ms Gillard’s preferred Prime Ministership rating and Labor’s primary vote.  How do you explain that? 

Pyne: Well, the polls come and go Michael, and after the summer break Government’s often rise in that period when beaching and tennis and so on is supposed to be on the agenda.  Unfortunately with this Government the summer has been spent with Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard circling each other like two gunmen at the OK Corral with neither prepared to reach for the guns.  Unfortunately the Government continues to be a shambles and a chaotic mess. 

Rowland: And despite all of that for the first time in nine months Julia Gillard is the preffered Prime Minister over Tony Abbott.  How do you explain that? 

Pyne: Well, as I said, Government’s usually get a rise over the summer period.  If the Government feels confident that they would win an election, then the Opposition would very much welcome one.  I think the Australian public would also welcome an election.  We had on the weekend Bill Shorten saying the Government won’t necessarily release the Fair Work Australia inquiry into Craig Thomson.  Now I don’t think the public will tolerate an inquiry, which has taken three and a half years at least – still isn’t finished, longer than it took the Korean War to start and finish – then not being released publicly.  The Government already exists with this tainted support with the member for Dobell and if it continues with a secret inquiry never released publicly it will call into question the very integrity of the Government. 

Rowland: A lot of Australians may have indeed been playing tennis or sitting on the beach over the holiday period Christopher Pyne, but your leader Tony Abbott was exceedingly busy, and yet he’s still not getting traction with voters.  What does the Coalition have to do to improve on that front? 

Pyne: Tony Abbott is very busy, as is all his senior leadership team.  Everyone is out working very hard because we think the Government is contemptible and we think it’s time to change the Government and I think the public are very sick of the ambiguity that the hung parliament brings to Australian politics.  They’re sick of the soap opera, of broken promises, of the contract with Andrew Wilkie being ripped up, of the cross benchers constantly saying they might renegotiate their support of the Government or not.  The only thing that’s going to resolve this Michael is not opinion polls, which come and go, but one poll; an election in which the public get to choose the party they want to actually govern the country clearly.

This morning we have figures showing the Government’s carbon tax will hit the economy by up to a trillion dollars by 2050 and 32 billion dollars by 2020 and yet the Government persists with the idea of introducing a carbon tax, which they never had a mandate for.  Let’s take it to the election.  Let’s take it to the people and give them a verdict on the carbon tax. 

Rowland: At the same time the Government is signalling some of its strategy going into this week and into this session is to promote the tax cuts and pension increases that come with the carbon tax.  Will that change the dynamics of this debate? 

Pyne: Well, tax cuts and pension increases are illusory when people are being hit with increases in their cost of living because of the carbon tax.  I mean it’s so crazy it’s amazing we even have to explain it, but what the Government is asking people to do is pay a greater tax in the carbon tax and then receive some of it back in compensation.  Now, anybody who’s sensible would say lets not have the tax in the first place.  Especially when it’s not going to reduce emissions world wide, our emissions are simply going to be exported overseas.  So we’re paying more.  Our real wages will be hit according to the treasury figures released today.  Our economy will be hit and not grow as quickly as it should because of the carbon tax and all for nothing as our emissions are sent overseas. 

Rowland: As the Manager of Opposition Business how is the Coalition strategising this very important first week of the parliamentary session? 

Pyne: Our strategy is to keep holding the Government to account and we have since the last election, to keep focusing on the things that the Australian public care about; cost of living, job security, border security and allow the Government soap opera of their leadership to distract them, but not distract us.  At least one political party ahs to be focused on solutions for the challenges Australia faces and that’s not the Labor Party at the moment.  They’re only focussed internally and only thinking about what’s good for themselves, not what’s good for the Australian public. 

ENDS