ABC Newsrado

SUBJECTS: The week in Parliament; Speakership E&OE……… (Greetings omitted) Christopher Pyne: Well it’s a tough week every time the Parliament sits because of the nature of this Parliament because the government doesn’t have a majority and they have an even worse situation now; they are down to 70 seats out of 150 because they broke their deal with Andrew Wilkie over the pokies reforms when they thought they had Peter Slipper in the chair therefore they gained an extra vote. Andrew Wilkie is now of course a free agent, they have a very, very tiny majority, a majority of one. Marius Benson: Do you think they will last given the size of the majority? Are you resigned to the election being called when the Prime Minster calls it or do you think it might happen earlier? Pyne: Well look I don’t think it’s possible to predict exactly when the election will be. There is a school of thought that believes the election will be in February/March next year because the government can’t possibly go to a budget which will show that far from having a wafer thin surplus they actually have a massive deficit. And therefore there is a view they would go to the polls then. There is a view that if Kevin Rudd looks like he is about to get the numbers, Julia Gillard will be off to Yarralumla to ensure that he can’t take his old job back. So it is very fluid and it is very bad for government in Australia and the Australian public are the unfortunate victims of this unstable, uncertain era and I think most of them would rather have an election and put everybody out of their misery. Benson: Just looking at the week past, do you think Parliament and politicians have gone down in public esteem? Pyne: Well I think that Julia Gillard getting rid of Harry Jenkins as speaker and placing Peter Slipper in the chair acted in an entirely self-interested way and replaced a fair and reasonable person in Harry Jenkins with a member of the Coalition team in an act of political bastardy and she has been paying the price for that. I think that has lowered the tone of the Parliament and we had the result of this rather tumultuous week. Benson: Anna Burke is the new speaker. You have been rather critical of her. You have compared her unfavourably to Harry Jenkins and to Peter Slipper, you have already been thrown out by her. Do you think she is going to be a good speaker? Pyne: Well I certainly hope so. Anna Burke is a very decent person. I have known Anna Burke for a long time since she has been in Parliament . And I think she has acquitted herself very well since she was thrust in the role six months ago including this week. I think that now that she has the full authority of being the speaker I think she seemed to exhibit a new found confidence which I think will be very helpful in the chamber. Of course it is very difficult to have a week in Parliament when people feel that it is being functional when the Prime Minister simply refuses point blank to answer any questions in Question Time and just stands up and attacks the opposition over and over again. Benson: Did Tony Abbott show a lack of judgement this week when the continued with interjections directed at the Prime Minister like calling her ‘a piece of work’, knowing that he was under scrutiny for allegations and claims that he is too aggressive? Pyne: Look Marius this is all part of an orchestrated campaign from the Labor party. Benson: But Tony Abbott is in control of what Tony Abbott says, should he make interjections like that? Pyne: Look I couldn’t possibly repeat the interjections that come across the chamber from Julia Gillard and the Labor Ministers… Benson: Well give us an idea of what they are saying… Pyne: No I am not going to do that because it is part of this pathetic you know using of gender as a shield and sexism as a sword that we see from the Prime Minister… Benson: What, that there are claims of sexisms, is that what you are saying are directed at you? Pyne: Look Marius I couldn’t be bothered going into the detail of the things that the Labor party say across the chamber. Benson: Well you have raised, you are under some obligation to give some idea… Pyne: No, you raised it. Benson: No, I asked you about Tony Abbott’s interjections. You raised Labor’s interjections, what are Labor’s interjections? Pyne: Marius, I am not going to get into the pathetic games that the Labor party display of pretending to be over sensitive to remarks made in the tumult of Parliament. I am not a sensitive flower as the Prime Minister appears to be. Benson: But you took exception to someone calling someone a bloke this week, but that was a joke? Pyne: No I didn’t. As you know it was highlighting the irony of the nonsense that we get from the Labor party when apparently it is okay to call someone a bloke and of course it is. But if I called someone a sheila one of the handbag hit squad would be right on their feet accusing me of sexism. I was highlighting the nonsense of the Labor party’s behaviour this week. Benson: Would you call a woman in Parliament a sheila? Pyne: Marius, I am not getting into this nonsense. The truth is, all of this is rubbish. The Labor party’s campaign is orchestrated to try and distract people from rising cost of living and the carbon tax and border protection and job insecurity. You’re now propagating it by asking me ridiculous questions about whether a sheila is a sensitive political term. You see this is what Labor wants people to do and I am not going to get into it. Benson: I’ll have to leave it there. Christopher Pyne, thanks again. Pyne: Okay, thanks Marius. ENDS