ABC News Radio

SUBJECTS: The week in Parliament; Peter Costello; Asylum seeker policy E&OE……… Marius Benson: Christopher Pyne, the Opposition has been saying that the Government is simply not governing, the Parliament is dysfunctional, but the Government is this week pointing to its achievement in getting its private health insurance means test through both houses of the parliament.  That’s progress is it not? Christopher Pyne: Well, since the defection of Peter Slipper to the Speakership, the Government has had a 76-73 majority in the House of Representatives.  So that has changed the circumstances of the Parliament quite dramatically, but the Opposition doesn't support the private health insurance rebate.  We think it’s bad law and another broken promise from the Government.  If they want to trumpet their achievements being broken promises like the carbon tax and the private health insurance rebate, well, I think the public will have their say on Election Day. Benson: You mentioned there the Speaker, the Liberal defector Peter Slipper.  He was critical of you this week when you called the Treasurer a scumbag and when he pulled you up on that you used the traditional method of repeating the accusation when you were withdrawing it. Pyne: Well, the term is unparliamentary today, but apparently it wasn’t when Paul Keating and Andrew Peacock used to use it in the 80s and the 90s, but perhaps our politicians are more thin skinned these days. Benson: Peter Costello, the former Treasurer was a central player in Parliament this week with the Opposition rallying to his cause after he was passed over to be head of the Future Fund.  One of the points Labor was making is you now see his leadership potential.  You never did when he was trying to be leader of the Liberal Party. Pyne: Well I think it’s sad that the Labor Party are so partisan, so narrow-minded, so myopic and small time that they would not accept the advice of the guardians of the Future Fund by appointing Peter Costello as its Chairman, but instead they chose the head-hunter to become the head. Benson: Labor made the point that while you are criticising them for being small minded and partisan at least they appointed Peter Costello to the board of the Future Fund, one of the many appointments made from Opposition ranks, where as John Howard was never in the practise of appointing Labor people into similar positions. Pyne: Well I can’t imagine who in the Labor Party you would appoint to a board to run a major economic organisation like the Future Fund, for goodness sake when the Howard Government took over there was a $10 billion black hole in the Budget and $96 billion in debt. Benson: So there was no one from the Hawke/Keating years who was sufficiently competent to be posted to any Government position by John Howard, that wasn’t partisanship? Pyne: Look, the Howard Government made excellent appointments throughout its eleven and a half years, but I can’t imagine anybody in the Labor Party, given the state they left the economy and the budget in, who could possibly be appointed to an economic board of the significance of the Future Fund. Benson: One Opposition policy that was in the spotlight yesterday after discussions with the Indonesian Foreign Minister said that the turn the boats around policy that the Opposition has in terms of asylum seekers, he says that policy is impossible and not advisable. Does that give the Opposition pause for thought? Will you review that policy in light of the Indonesian criticism? Pyne: Marius, we have three legs to the stool for our immigration policy, our border protection policy. We will bring back Temporary Protection Visas which takes the sugar off the table, we’ll turn back the boats where it is safe to do so and we’ll reopen offshore processing on Nauru, which worked when the Howard Government was in power and we know it worked because the boats stopped. So we know these policies work. Now I’d be very surprised if the Indonesians said anything other than that, but the truth is there are circumstances where the boats can be returned to Indonesia. We did it when we were in Government before and we will do it when we are in government again. Benson: But Marty Natalegawa, the Indonesian Foreign Minister has said that one leg of your three legged stool is impossible and not advisable, does that make your policy a bit wobbly? Pyne: No, Marius it doesn’t because the Indonesians said similar things in the Howard era, but we still towed back seven boats to Indonesia and it was a very significant deterrent to people smugglers and we’ll do it again. Benson: Christopher Pyne thank you very much. Pyne: It’s always a pleasure thank you. ENDS