Insiders

ANDREW PROBYN, PRESENTER: Happy Father's Day, Christopher Pyne.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE, DEFENCE INDUSTRY MINISTER: Thank-you Andrew, it's nice to be with you.

PROBYN: Well, this redistribution, it doesn't look pretty. You've had many a fight for your seat, but it looks like your seat is going to be abolished all together?

PYNE: No, it doesn't look like that at all. That's an enormous leap, Andrew. There are 11 seats in South Australia. Mine has no more or less chance of being merged with any other of the other ten seats. The fact that I'm probably one of the most prominent South Australian Members of Parliament means you're all salivating at the prospect...

PROBYN: Well, the seat has got to come from somewhere, Mr Pyne

PYNE: Well, it's one of 11, so there's a one in 11 chance it will be my seat. It could be any of the other seats. I'm sure that Labor and the Nick Xenophon team will do everything they can to abolish my seat. They've tried to beat me nine times and not succeeded. They might think that this is an easier way of actually having a fair contest. But this is a process that the Electoral Commission goes through. I'm more than happy for the Electoral Commission to be allowed to do its job, and all of the speculation about which seats might to be merged or not really is, just essentially a complete waste of effort.

PROBYN: Well, you've got 12 months from now to make submissions. Will we see a joint ticket from the ALP and the Libs for the abolition of Mayo, for example, which is held by the NXT?

PYNE: I think that's very unlikely. There certainly wouldn't be any joint submission from Labor or Liberals. We will do a submission to the Electoral Commission, as would be the normal practice. In fact, I've done three of my own submissions in the last three redistributions over the last 24 years and I might even think about doing that myself again.

PROBYN: Have they been successful?

PYNE: They have been, actually. But I haven't made my decision about those things, because this is a very long way from being resolved. We're a good 12 months away from new boundaries. I'm happy to put myself in the hands of Electoral Commission and there certainly won't be any Labor or Liberal collusion about drawing maps on the, lines on the maps. But I'm sure that Labor and the Nick Xenophon team would quite like to see my seat merged. All the speculation is all very exciting but somewhere, in some seat, will be the people that I represent, where I represented for 24 years and I intend to continue to represent them as long as they keep voting for me.

PROBYN: What fault does the Coalition carry for South Australia's shrinking representation? You've had the car industry that's fallen under your rule and you've spent $90 billion on defence spending, but that's done nothing either.

PYNE: Well, wrong again Andrew. In fact, Mitsubishi closed under the Labor party, as did other of the car makers. And the truth, of course, is that the Coalition is not responsible for population decline in South Australia. When I was first elected, South Australia and Western Australia both had 13 seats, Western Australia will have 16, South Australia will have 10. The last 16 years in this state has seen Labor governments that have been anti-development, pro-red tape and regulation, and increasing tax - the highest taxing state in the country. So, it's little wonder that young people don't stay in South Australia and people aren't attracted here. We have the highest unemployment in the country and the lowest growth. So the South Australian Labor Government bears responsibility for this and can't shift it to anyone else. I'm doing my bit. The largest investment in any state or territory in the history of the Commonwealth, as you point out, the $90 billion naval ship-building enterprise that is going very well. In fact, I turned a sod on that only two weeks ago at Osborne South. Several new offices that I've opened here for places like the Naval Group, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. So in fact, I'm doing my part but I can't do it all on my own.

PROBYN: Ok, nice pitch, nice pitch.

PYNE: Thank you for raising it.

PROBYN: You're welcome. Now to the week ahead, we've got Labor that's promising absolute chaos in the next fortnight. Are you prepared, as Leader of the House?

PYNE: Well, I'm shaking in boots, Andrew, as you can well imagine. Yes, Labor is always making these kinds of sabre-rattling remarks about how they're going to bring the place down. That's part of the nature of being in opposition. But we will continue to pass legislation, as we have in the last 12 months. This week, we're focusing on energy prices in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, it will be media law reform. We have a list as long as your arm of legislation and achievements that have passed both Parliaments, working with the crossbenchers and if Labor chooses to walk out of the Parliament, well, that will be good news. First, it will increase the average IQ, and secondly, of course, the crossbenchers will have more time to ask questions of the government. So if they don't want to be there, there's plenty of other people who would like to be.

PROBYN: Well, as you've heard in the papers section, they're talking about jumping on Barnaby Joyce's possible elevation to acting PM. Now, the Prime Minister doesn't go away until Friday to the Pacific Islands Forum. Is this a risk, though?

PYNE: No, look, of course it isn't a risk. The Speaker has ruled that Barnaby Joyce continues as the member for New England until such a time as the High Court rules otherwise. We're very confident about our legal advice. But here we are, yet again, Andrew. While we're focusing on energy, we're focusing on jobs like the defence industry, Labor is again focusing on 'inside the bubble.' They talk relentlessly about things like citizenship, and we, of course, talk about things that the public care about. And of course, unfortunately, the media keep reporting all these 'inside the bubble' stories, but the public are much more interested in things like the Snowy Hydro Scheme, abolishing the limited merits review in order to reduce prices, the gas mechanism that will stop the unexpurgated export of gas overseas causing our prices to go up. We're taking action on storage. Labor, of course, is talking about citizenship.

PROBYN: It's hardly inside the bubble. You're own ministers seem to be finding themselves in trouble. Now, can I just turn to controversial decisions that could be made in the next two months ahead. Do you have to avoid those controversial decisions given that the experts say that they could be challenged if the relevant minister is found ineligible?

PYNE: No, of course not. The reality is that, every Member of Parliament, every minister, remains in their roles unless the High Court rules otherwise. The Constitution, of course, allows a person to be a minister for 3 months after they have been deemed not to be eligible if that happens. So, of course, that's not a legal problem. This is just another red herring. Barnaby Joyce is the member for New England. Fiona Nash remains in the Senate as a National Party Senator until such a time as the High Court rules otherwise. And our advice is very clear that it won't rule otherwise, but even if it did, none of their decisions would be open to being challenged.

PROBYN: Talking about the High Court, Minister, the hearings begin on Tuesday on the same sex marriage postal survey. Whatever the courts decides, does this issue have to be resolved one way or the other before Christmas?

PYNE: Well, the High Court is meeting on the 5th and 6th September to determine whether the postal ballot can go ahead. Obviously, I hope very much that it will. Both sides have already started campaigning. I think that the public are getting very engaged in the story and wanting to be part of it. We have a policy to give everybody a vote, give everybody a say in this outcome, because it's a big social change. I'm supporting the yes case; I think it's time to deal with this.

PROBYN: But does it need to be resolved by the end of the year?

PYNE: Well, it will be resolved by the end of the year because the postal vote should go ahead and if the postal votes yes, which I hope it will, then we'll be able to introduce government-sponsored private members bill to be passed by the end of the year.

PROBYN: If the High Court does strike down the postal survey, would the Government have exhausted its obligation on the plebiscite?

PYNE: Well, I don't think that there is any point in dealing with the 'what ifs.'

PROBYN: It's hardly a 'what if,' Minister.

PYNE: I think that we have to deal with what we have ahead of us and what we have ahead of us is the High Court making a decision. If the High Court rules against the postal vote going ahead, then I guess we'll have to consider options after that. But we are certainly making our best efforts to ensure that we keep our policy, which was a national vote, everyone having a say, everyone being part of this decision. I hope that it will be a yes decision and then we can pass a bill by the end of the year and we can all get on with a lot of other issues that people think are very important.

PROBYN: Do you believe that the bill that has been drafted by Dean Smith and four other Liberals to legalise same-sex marriage has strong religious protections of marriage, as they say?

PYNE: Yes I do.

PROBYN: Sufficient?

PYNE: Absolutely, yes.

PROBYN: So there are calls from your own colleagues that they be tightened. Should they be listened to or ignored?

PYNE: Well, the question that we're being asked in the postal ballot is whether people of the same sex should be able to marry. That's the only question we're asking in the postal ballot. I believe that should be a yes vote. If that's carried, then we can deal with passing a private member's bill. The bill that Dean Smith has had drafted, which has gone through an exhaustive committee process last year and earlier this year, I believe, has the sufficient protections. Because nobody is trying to make religious institutions or conscientious objectors do anything that they don't want to do. That is not the issue here. The issue here is allowing people of the same sex to be able to marry each other should they wish to. And because I'm conservative on these matters, I think they should be allowed to be married because I'm in favour of more marriage, more commitment, rather than less. Now, as for religious protections, we're all trying to protect those.

PROBYN: Turning to defence issues, how advanced are plans to send Australian troops to the Philippines to quell an Islamist uprising in Marawi?

PYNE: So far, the Government is using its Orions to do surveillance over Mindanao, over the area in which the Islamists are operating, to support the Philippines government. That is a good thing and the Philippines government and the Australian government are obviously cooperating on that front. My colleague, Marise Payne, is travelling to the Philippines this week to meet with her counterparts to talk about what other assistance we might be able to provide and might be welcome in the Philippines. Following those meetings and discussions, they she may or may not have, depending on the outcome of them, some announcements to make about that.

But obviously we live in a region which has serious instability, from North Korea right through to the South China Sea and it's very important for us to be a responsible military power to take what action we can.

PROBYN: On Friday, you'd know that the Inspector-General of the ADF made an extraordinary plea for people to come forward to his inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. Why has he done that?

PYNE: I am not aware of why he's done that, that's a matter for him. He operates quite independently of the Government. That's a matter for an ongoing investigation and it would be quite unwise for me to comment on those matters. Those are matters for the IDF.

PROBYN: Well, you've been a minister in three Coalition governments over the last decade and a bit. Are you satisfied....

PYNE: I have...

PROBYN: You have, I'll remind you.

PYNE: I'm feeling it, I can assure you

PROBYN: You're not looking it.

PYNE: That's very kind.

PROBYN: Are you satisfied that the executive has had proper visibility of Special Forces, its activities in the Middle East, all those things that have been done in our name?

PYNE: Well, the Chief of the Defence Forces keeps the Minister for Defence and the National Security Committee constantly updated about information to do with these matters. If there's anything of relevance, we would have been told about it throughout the process that I've been in for part of the Government. I'm very confident that the Australian forces have acted as appropriately as one would expect as an Australian. If there's evidence to the contrary, the Inspector-General's job, of course, is to bring that forward, to do those investigations, and I'm sure that he's doing that with all the responsibility and alacrity that you would expect.

PROBYN: And lastly, do you encourage people who might have information to come forward on a confidential basis?

PYNE: Well, anybody who has information that might be of assistance in any of these investigations should not keep that information to themselves. They should come forward and provide it to the appropriate authorities.

PROBYN: Christopher Pyne thanks very much.

PYNE: It's a great pleasure. Thank you.