Doorstop - Parliament House

29 Feb 2012 Transcipt

SUBJECTS: Response to Bob Carr’s Statement

E&OE………… 

Christopher Pyne: Bob Carr’s statement today with respect to the offer made to him from Party Officials confirms the Prime Minister’s authority only lasted 24 hours following her defeat of Kevin Rudd on Monday because it is extraordinary that Party Officials, on whose behalf we don’t know, were offering Bob Carr a Senate vacancy and more importantly consideration for the Foreign Ministry. It confirms also that the offer, having been made to him, it was withdrawn on the say so of the faceless men here in Canberra, who obviously didn’t want any competition, they didn’t want an outsider taking the job and they wanted one of their own, in Stephen Smith, to take the Foreign Ministry. It also makes a murky situation even murkier because if the Prime Minister could say today that no offer was made for the Foreign Minister to Bob Carr, then why didn’t she simply deny it in Question Time today, we gave her many opportunities in Question Time today to simply stand up and deny that such an offer was made but she didn’t do it, in fact she left it open to the possibility refusing to answer the question.

There is another aspect to this story that is even more curious and that is that Bob Carr may well have been offered, my sources tell me that he was offered Defence and Trade to come to Canberra, but in fact said no I want to be Foreign Minister.  So he hasn’t answered that aspect of the story in his statement today.  Bob Carr’s statement only makes a murky situation murkier.  It certainly doesn’t let Julia Gillard off the hook.  If Julia Gillard could have denied it today, why didn’t she?  Why did she keep open the prospect that an offer was made and why did Anthony Albanese in the speech on the suspension motion today say that Bob Carr was considered for foreign minister?  It underlines that the Labor Party or officials in it or people close to the Prime Minister didn’t believe there was anyone in the Parliament or the Labor caucus who was good enough to be Foreign Minister.  They had to go outside the Labor caucus, which is humiliating for all their colleagues and within 24 hours the faceless men of the Labor Party were ensuring that that offer could not be made and putting a stop to it. 

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: Well, Steven Smith is the leader of one of the right wing factions, the tribes that make up the Labor Party here in Canberra.  The faceless men especially operate in the shadows and Steven Smith hasn’t come out and said publicly that he vetoed the announcement of Bob Carr being offered the Foreign Ministry.  If he wishes to do so he would no longer be a faceless man, he’d be coming clean with the Australian people. 

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: The Coalition doesn’t have formal factions as the Labor Party does.  We don’t have the David Feenys or the Mark Arbibs or the Don Farrells or others who in the Labor Party call the shots.  The Prime Minister had 24 hours of so-called “assertiveness”  and then went back to being the Bernie Lomax of Australian politics where the factional operators behind the scenes are pulling the strings ensuring the decisions that they want to have made are made rather than the decisions that she wants to have made.  She hasn’t asserted authority.  Quite the opposite.  Within 24 hours of winning the leadership ballot the factions were yet again calling the shots.  Whether it’s Steve Smith or Don Farrell or David Feeny or Mark Arbib or whomever. 

ENDS