Doorstop Interview

SUBJECTS: Labor leadership; Melbourne by-election; GST; Peter Slipper E&OE………… Christopher Pyne: While the Prime Minister is dining at the Lodge with the twelve union leaders and shoring up her leadership the issues the Australian public care about are not being addressed.  Cost of living, rising electricity prices, the disastrous carbon tax, the border protection policies which have seen eight boat arrivals in the last week; these are the issues that are not being dealt with while the Prime Minister spends time shoring up her leadership in dinners at the Lodge where the 12 unions leaders are pledging their fealty to the Prime Minister.  At the same time Steve Bracks is saying the Government has lost its way, Nick Champion is writing in the Drum that the Government needs to reconnect with working Australians and Kevin Rudd is giving interviews to the Woman’s Weekly saying how much he wants to shape the nation. We have a disastrous situation in the national government in this country right now.  The only way of resolving that is the Prime Minister doing what the Australian people are desperate for her to do and that is to call an election and get a Parliament where one party has a clear majority and can get on with governing.  Until that happens we are going to continue to see this lack of confidence in the economy, the lack of confidence in the parliament and the circling of the Rudd sharks around the Prime Minister’s leadership; whether it’s Steve Bracks, Nick Champion, Joel Fitzgibbon or Kevin Rudd himself. Journalist: What is your take on the Nick Champion article? Pyne: My take is that Nick Champion is sending up another smoke signal to the public and the caucus to say it’s time that they ditched Julia Gillard.  Joel Fitzgibbon on Monday night on Q&A, he sent up smoke signal saying the Prime Minister’s popularity was a measure of her success and we know he compared her to the Newcastle Knights who are 12^th on the NRL ladder and no chance of winning the premiership.  The Nick Champion yesterday wrote a column which was designed to put more pressure on the Prime Minster.  Steve Bracks has come out saying he thinks the Government has lost its way.  On the key measures of success and that is a Government focussed on the cost of living of the public and border protection and defence cuts and the revenue the Government receives from things like the mining tax the Government is getting one fail after another.  It’s time to put an end to what is a very expensive pantomime in Canberra. Journalist: Is that what you believe is the situation is likely to happen in the by-election in Victoria as well?  Is that part of the underlying cause of what is likely to happen in the by-election? Pyne: The reason the Government is under so much pressure in seats like the Melbourne by-election today is because it doesn’t stand for anything.   It doesn’t know whether it wants to be a party of working Australians, whether it wants to be a party of aspirational Australians or whether it wants to be a party of inner city urban elites and therefore lacking any sense of its character it flips from issue to issue with different results each time and the only political party that has had a consistent approach on things like border protection, a carbon tax, the mining tax and so on is the Coalition and that’s why the Government needs to call an election and give somebody, some adult in the room the opportunity to get on with governing. Journalist: Do you think shoring up support with trade unions will help consolidate her leadership at all? Pyne: No doubt the purpose of the last supper at the Lodge last night was for the union leaders to pledge their fealty to Julia Gillard.  The union leaders are doing that of course because she’s delivered for the union movement.  The union movement has got everything they wanted out of Julia Gillard and they’ll continue to do so as long as the faceless men are calling the shots in the Labor Party.  They’ll want Julia Gillard because she is so weak and her authority so diminished that she needs those faceless men to ward off Kevin Rudd and his circling sharks. Journalist: So, she’s safe then if she’s got them behind her? Pyne: For the moment the union leaders are backing Julia Gillard as part of this ongoing pantomime.  Kevin Rudd supporters are continuing to undermine Julia Gillard.  We saw in February that Kevin Rudd had 30 votes.  Maybe he has more now, but he seems prepared to wound and afraid to strike. Journalist: Today Julia Gillard is doing an online hangout.  Do you think this is the future of politics and how politicians should engage with the community? Pyne: I think the public expects their politicians and their Prime Minister to show they are adults in the room; that they know the priority for the Government should be the concerns of the people, whether it be cost of living, whether it’s border protection, whether it’s over taxation and every stunt or particular means of communicating with the public doesn’t hide the fact that this is a Government that has taken its eye off the ball of putting the people’s interests before their own self interest and their own sense of survival. Journalist:  Tony Abbott has done something similar with his “Ask Tony” on twitter.  Would this be something you would consider doing as well? Pyne: I’m prepared to do anything to communicate with the Australian public, but I’m something of a technophobe.  If I didn’t know better I’d call YouTube “YourTube”.  Potentially I could do that, but my staff might have to train me in the short term. Journalist: In relation to the GST would the Liberals support an increase in the GST if the states call for it? Pyne: Absolutely not. Journalist: Anything more on that? Pyne: No, there’s absolutely no possibility of a future Coalition Government making any changes to the goods and services tax. Journalist: You are absolutely definite on that? Pyne: Couldn’t be more definite. Journalist: What if the states call for it? Pyne: They will get a deaf ear in Canberra. Journalist: In relation to Slipper are you happy that Steve Lewis doesn’t have to reveal his sources. Pyne: I’m neither happy nor unhappy.  My view is the principle that journalists’ sources being protected is very much part of our Westminster democratic tradition.  I would have been very surprised if the court had ruled in any other way.  Obviously the Government had even underlined that fact last year by passing legislation to protect journalists’ sources and I always thought the effort to get Steve Lewis to reveal his sources would fail. Journalist: Would that then show badly on the Liberal Government, perhaps, his sources? Pyne: I doubt it very much. Journalist: But it could? Pyne: No, I don’t know.  I’ve never spoken to Steve Lewis about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the Speaker with respect to the sexual harassment action or the Cabcharge fraud allegations.  I’ve never spoken to Steve Lewis about them so I don’t know who he’s been speaking to. ENDS