Pyne and Marles

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
13 February 2016

The Pyne and Marles Show

RICHARD MARLES: Welcome to… Welcome to Pyne & Marles on Sky News Live. I'm Marles and he is Christopher Pyne.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Yeah, good morning, Richard, and good morning to the viewers who've joined us this morning on Saturday morning. We've got a very active show planned for today. The first thing we'll do is the news headlines and then we'll go into the some of the issues of the week that are needing to be expanded upon, perhaps one or two that didn't get as big a run as they should have.

This morning, we're very lucky to be interviewing Peter Jennings from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute about a few foreign and defence policy issues.

We'll also take a Question from the Week and, if there's time, we'll deal with Clanger of the Week or That Went Well.

So the first thing is the news headlines.

Back to you, Richard.

RICHARD MARLES: Well, this morning's newspapers are reporting that Bill Shorten will be announcing at a speech at the NSW Labor Conference this morning that a future Shorten Labor government will abolish negative gearing for existing housing stock from the 1st of July 2017.

Now, this is a completely grandfathered proposal, so people who currently negatively gear their properties won't be affected and it will only apply to existing housing stock. You'll still be able to negatively gear in relation to new housing stock. The announcement will also provide that the capital gains tax concession will be reduced from 50% to 25%. And that will be done in the same grandfathered way.

Now, this is a hard decision, but it is a fair decision. It's going to put new home buyers on equal footing in the housing market and it's going to help housing affordability and help the construction of new housing stock. I think this is the sort of hard decision which people have been looking for.

Christopher, you've often talked about how we're going to pay for the education and the health announcements that we've made. This will make a contribution of $32 billion to the budget over the next decade and, combined with other announcements that we've made, this is a $100 billion package to help the budget over the next 10 years…

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Richard, I think…

RICHARD MARLES: ..which is exactly the sort of reform which people are expecting of the Government.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, Richard, I'm glad to see Labor's finally come out from behind the bushes and started putting some meat on their policy proposals because, of course, the first of those is more taxes. Labor want to penalise enterprise.

Now, one of the things about negative gearing that people perhaps need to understand is that you have to actually be earning income from a property or trying to earn income from a property to get the tax deduction so, obviously, uh, it rewards enterprise. It rewards saving. It encourages hard work. And often people who are negatively gearing properties are teachers and nurses and police officers trying to get ahead, trying to put something aside perhaps for their children down the track.

Now, Labor, of course, always wants to tax and penalise hard work. So I think you'll find that, sure, Labor can announce this policy. I think a lot of people will be against it. Again, it's taxing, spending, borrowing from Labor versus working, saving and investing from the Coalition.

RICHARD MARLES: Well, I think it's...in a week where we have seen the Government run away from its own thought bubble in relation to the GST, there is a really stark choice between a Government which is not doing any serious policy work and an Opposition which actually has a plan for the future. I mean, quite frankly right now, we do have a plan for the future and you don't.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, Richard, you must be pleased about not going ahead with the GST, because you spent the last six months campaigning against a GST. Now, of course, you're very disappointed that we're not going ahead with one.

But let's move on to the reshuffle, because the big news of the week of course is the retirements of Warren Truss, the deputy prime minister, and Andrew Robb, the trade minister, two real contributors to our country over the last 10 or so years, particularly in Cabinet in the last two years.

They're being joined, of course, over the summer by the retirements or resignations of Jamie Briggs and Stuart Robert.

And so this is an opportunity for Malcolm Turnbull to renew the frontbench, to bring in some younger people, some newer people. Of course, Barney Joyce is now the leader of the National Party. He'll be the Deputy Prime Minister, so there'll be new Nationals as well.

So for us on the Government side, I'm looking forward to the announcement in the very, very near future of who will be our Cabinet colleagues.

RICHARD MARLES: Well, of course, uh, Christopher, this has only happened because what we've seen on the Government side is enormous dysfunction. I mean, since Malcolm Turnbull has become the Prime Minister…

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Coming from you, Richard!

RICHARD MARLES: ..we've seen three ministers hit the fence. They all have their different story, but at the heart of this is a lack of judgment on the part of the Prime Minister, but a Government which is completely divided. Uh, there’s been leaking from…

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I find that wonderful, coming from Labor, Richard, when, you know, one small statistic I hate to interrupt you but one small statistic. In the entire period of the Howard government, which is 11.5 years, there were the same number of ministers as in the 5.5 years of the Rudd Gillard Rudd government. So while I don't mind you having a go at us, which I'm sure you will, you have to take it from a position of fact. The facts are that your government was utterly chaotic and dysfunctional and people were very glad to move on from it.

RICHARD MARLES: Well, the issue now Christopher is we're not contesting the past, we're contesting the present and the fact…

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I'm sure you don't want to talk about the past…

RICHARD MARLES: ..and the fact of the matter is there is an enormous amount of instability on the part of the Government now.

All of us in the Shorten Labor Opposition have been dealing with multiple opponents on the other side, and what you've got is a Government which is leaking. It is a Government which is divided and a Prime Minister who lacks judgment. There is absolutely no question that the Government is going to…the Prime Minister is going to face payback for hanging Stuart Robert out to dry and that is why you cannot put in place a stable ministry.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, one of the interesting aspects of the week, though, of course, with this reshuffle, is how it's received by the chamber. And, you know, you and I are both in the chamber, but the public, of course, are viewing from the outside.

But I do think that Warren Truss and Andrew Robb's valedictory speeches were really top drawer and I think we might have some vision to have a look at.

WARREN TRUSS: I had six years as minister for agriculture and I have to say that was a portfolio I never wanted. Now, I had been in farm industry politics before I came into the Parliament and I knew how farmers treated their agriculture ministers, particularly when they were Nationals.

I wonder whether I'll be the last person with a limited education who comes from a...one of the poorest electorates in the country to become deputy prime minister. I hope not.

ANDREW ROBB: I think it's been an extraordinary period, not one that we all look on necessarily fondly from either side at different times, but, um, but it is politics and it's the essence of this business. It does test the strength of character.

I just want to make reference in this particular stage to the problem I had...well, the opportunity as it turned out to confront a mental health problem that I'd had for 43 years. It was the trust not only of Malcolm and Tony Abbott but so many of my colleagues here and many on the Opposition benches, and I thank all of you, thank the whole chamber, for the support that I got and the normalcy that you went on with. That's the most important thing.

RICHARD MARLES: Christopher, I think these were really fantastic speeches and valedictories are interesting moments in the Parliament. They're, in a sense, some of the purest speeches that you hear because, when you're announcing that you're about to leave, there is no agenda. There is no point in any spin and you really do get a sense of what's at the heart of a person.

And, you know, these are two warhorses of the Liberal and National parties. I thought the Prime Minister was right when he made the observation that both came from the land, and both have had long marriages, which have obviously influenced the way they think about the world, but obviously also influenced the way in which they've gone about their business in the House.

And, you know, I think there is something, um, refreshing, um, and it's almost a relief I think for all of us to be able to say something nice and to praise those on the other side, and there's no doubt that these are two people who have made an incredible contribution to Australia.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, the two things that touched me about those speeches, Richard, were Warren Truss has spent some time talking about the fabulous opportunity as a local member to improve the lives of his community and his people. So he didn't only focus on being a Cabinet minister, which is a wonderful privilege but, of course, the foundational privileges members of Parliament you and I experience, as members for Corio and Sturt, is, of course, being elected by our local people and serving them. And I thought Warren really summed that up well.

And I also rather was appreciative of Andrew Robb hanging a lantern on the problem of mental health which, for so many decades has been hidden. As much as we can, we tried to hide it. In the last 10 years, happily, we talk about mental health now as a disease, as something to be dealt with. I had the privilege in the Howard government of being responsible for mental health and founding Headspace, the youth mental health initiative, and Andrew Robb did a lot for explaining and talking about mental health and bringing it out from the shadows and making it into a mainstream issue. And I think it was great that they both did that.

And, finally, you know, it's great that people could see that we don't always fight with each other, you know? We don't have to be shouty. We can talk about each other and recognise the achievements on both sides of the House.

RICHARD MARLES: Yeah. I completely agree with that. And I think that the point about mental health is very well made. And the courage, I thought, that Andrew Robb showed when he first announced that and was prepared to take time in relation to that was really significant. And he's got a big role to play going forward outside of the Parliament in raising that issue.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Yes. So before we go to the break, there was one issue that was a very important issue this week, but didn't get a lot of coverage, which was the putting of the duties on tinned tomatoes.

Now, it seems like a small thing, but it actually is quite a significant change because, for years, we have been the big free trade country and we remain a big free trade country, but when overseas importers are dumping their products in Australia, we have a right to protect ourselves, to stop businesses from being injured.

So this week, we put on duties on La Doria and Feger Italian tinned tomatoes of 8.5% and 4.5% so that businesses like SPC Ardmona, in your state, Richard, don't continue to be injured by imported, dumped tinned tomatoes. I think it sent a very good message to business in Australia that the Government will stand up for them. And I was happy to be the minister that was responsible for that.

RICHARD MARLES: Look, this was a really good example of the parties working together. I think Christopher and I both agree that, in an open trading system, and how that's in Australia's national interest, but it has to be done in a fair way. The Anti Dumping Commission was actually something that Labor established in office and obviously your Government, Christopher, has continued it. And it's great that, as minister, you've been able to put in place this measure. It's something like half the tinned tomato market in Australia, these two companies have that market share. And so this will be a very important measure for Australia's tomato growers and, as you say, SPC.

Well, before...we'll go to a quick break now. After the break, we have…we're going to meet one of Australia's most significant strategic defence thinkers, Peter Jennings.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, welcome back to Pyne & Marles here on Sky News Live on Saturday morning. I hope you're enjoying the show so far.

Now we have Peter Jennings from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, probably Australia's foremost institute for defence and foreign policy analysis. And Peter has kindly joined us this morning.

Good morning, Peter.

PETER JENNINGS: Good morning.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: We were… Thank you. Thank you for joining us.

We were hoping to talk a bit about the role of China in the Asia Pacific region because I think a lot of people are reading stories about China's interest in the South China Sea. Can you explain to us what you think China's aspiration in the South China Sea is? And whether that should be a concern to Australia? Or whether it should be a concern to other countries in the local region?

PETER JENNINGS: Thanks, Chris.

China, I think, is very