Doorstop - Parliament House

E&OE TRANSCRIPT Doorstop - Parliament House 13 February 2014 SUBJECTS: Qantas, Parliamentary procedure, Sydney’s proposed second airport CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Good morning ladies and gentleman. Good to be with you again. Labor is continuing to try and frustrate the results of the election on September 7th last year in many ways, not only are they trying to stop the re-establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission in order to put a tough cop on the industrial beat, they are also trying to oppose the repeal of the Carbon Tax and the Mining Tax and vital savings that even they proposed before the election but never legislated. So they are trying to damage the business environment in which businesses like Qantas and others have to operate. So they are wilfully hurting the capacity for jobs to grow in the economy. But yesterday they also tried to disrupt the parliament to stop it from operating in a very ill mannered, rude and juvenile way. The address in reply debate is the speeches that members of parliament give in response to the Governor-General’s speech at the opening of Parliament so Labor was just being rude to members of parliament trying to respond to the Governor General, they were also being rude to the Governor-General. I don’t mind a robust parliament, I have been accused of a being behind a robust parliament in the past but there is a difference between holding the Government to account and sheer rudeness….[inaudible]....friends who are jeering from the sidelines. That’s what we saw yesterday. Labor has to understand that they lost the election. I know that they’re feeling very sad and angry with themselves. They’re angry with themselves because they were a failure of a Government and they have won less seats than the Liberals in six of the last seven elections. That’s been a shock to them, they feel that the best years of their political lives are behind them. But that’s no reason to try and stop the Government from getting on with the job of creating more jobs in Australian, of repairing the damage that Labor did. They should stop trying to trash the shop and allow the new Government elected by the people to get on with the job of creating more work in Australia and growing our economy. QUESTION: Did the Government run out of its legislative agenda yesterday? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: No the address in reply debate is a very important debate. Now I’m sorry that it seems a bit esoteric to many people but the Governor-General gives a speech opening the Parliament outlining the agenda for the next three years and members then respond to that. That Address in Reply debate is transported by the Members of Parliament out to Yarralumla to give to the Governor-General because it’s a very important part of the process of establishing the parliament. We have legislation that we will be introducing today, we’ve introduced legislation last year and there will be much legislation but we don’t judge our success on the amount of legislation that is passed. I know Labor does because Labor thinks that more regulation, more red tape, more legislation is government. Government is getting on with the job of allowing businesses and individuals to help grow the economy. It isn’t about constant legislation. But they’re position indicates that they don’t even understand how the Parliament works. The Address in Reply is a very important part of the establishment of the Parliament and being rude to members of Parliament by trying to stop them speaking on the Address in Reply is being rude to the Governor-General and we won’t tolerate it. QUESTION: Have Liberal MPs from Sydney urged the Government to delay any announcement any announcement about Badgery’s creek being the second Airport in Sydney. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I think it’s been perfectly clear from the papers today that there’s no imminent decision on Badgery’s Creek. QUESTION: But does it show there is concern out there amongst your own MPs about the impact for them in their electorates if the PM is now consulting a committee that’s been formed. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well the Prime Minister should consult his colleagues and he likes to consult his colleagues, he wants to do so. He’s been doing so since he’s been the leader in 2009 so consulting his colleagues is not new for Tony Abbott. QUESTION: Is your protest a bit rich considering your form in the last Parliament? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I don’t think anybody ever accused me of rudeness. QUESTION: They accused you of a lot of other things. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Yes, they did. And robust debate and holding the Government to account is a part of the process but ill-mannered rudeness should not be. QUESTION: Why is it ok for you in opposition and not Labor? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I think I’ve made it clear I don’t think I was ever ill-mannered and rude and I think Tony Burke needs to grow up and stop being juvenille. I know that he’s about my age, perhaps a little bit older, and maybe he feels that the previous Government was a manifest failure and he played a part in that. It’s very hard for Labor to get over just how bad they were in Government. Because of course in 2010 they went into minority Government and in 2013 they were bundled out of office. But that is no reason because he’s angry with himself to be angry with the Parliament. QUESTION: Given your track record you’d have no problems with lots of censure motions that we’re seeing. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I never moved a suspension motion that I didn’t think was justified but Labor moved three suspension motions yesterday in the course of an hour. QUESTION: Your colleague George Christensen says that car companies should pay back the money they were given by the Government. Is that a responsible call? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well George is entitled to his opinions but that’s not the Government’s policy. QUESTION: Will the Government heed Alan Joyce’s concerns and allow a guarantee of the national carrier. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Look the issues surrounding Qantas are very important. Qantas is in a unique position as our national carrier because it’s quite hamstrung in terms of its ownership by the legislation that established Qantas as a semi-private entity so we need to consider all aspects of how to ensure Qantas can continue to flourish and grow. The answer of course is not just taxpayers money, that’s isn’t always the solution. I know it’s always Labor’s solution that’s why we have a $667 billion government debt if we don’t do anything about it. But there are things we can do the help Qantas. And I’m pleased to see that Alan Joyce believes that Qantas needs to take control of their own destiny whether it’s reasonable for Virgin to have no controls over foreign ownership and for Qantas to have substantial controls over it is something that we need to consider as a Cabinet and as a Government. QUESTION: If Alan Joyce is pushing for the Qantas sale act to be changed will that get a fair reception? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: These things will need to be considered through the proper processes of the Cabinet and through the Treasurer, the Prime Minister, who will obviously have a view, but we don’t make Government policy at morning doorstops in Canberra. QUESTION: Do you have a personal view? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I’m a member of the Cabinet so I couldn’t express a personal view on matters that come before the Cabinet. QUESTION: Members of your Government given interviews this morning about selling off $130 billion of public assets at State and Federal level. We’ve just heard from the Greens that you’re effectively selling off the farm in their view. Is that what your doing? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I’m not aware of the comments that my colleagues have made so it would be injudicious for me to respond to them. QUESTION: Well Mathias Cormann’s talking about $130 billion of public assets being privatised. That’s the potential for them to get the budget back in line. As a member of Cabinet do you think that’s a good idea for such a large number of assets to be privatised. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I’m sure Mathias Cormann has covered the issue very well and it would be unwise for me to comment on something I haven’t read myself. QUESTION: So it hasn’t been raised in Cabinet? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I don’t discuss what’s been raised in Cabinet or what’s not been raised in Cabinet. QUESTION: But if you’re part of the decision making team don’t you have a view? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well if I have a view on those matters I’ll express them in the Cabinet and then once a decision has been made I will then discuss them publicly as appropriate. But there is a Minister for Finance, his name is Senator Cormann and he’s doing a very good job. QUESTION: $130 billion is quite a considerable amount. Were you surprised by that amount being bandied about potential privatisation? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I think I’ve made it clear that I’m not going to comment on that. Thank you. [ends]