Sky News

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
Interview – Sky News
Monday 15 June 2015

SUBJECTS: Anti-terror laws, polls, Budget 2015.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: …to strip away the citizenship from dual Australian citizens who are foreign fighters or who represent a terrorist threat to Australia or Australians. Now that hasn’t changed, there’s a lot of white noise, a lot of static in the media going on, but the reality is that this government takes terrorism very seriously. We also take the rights of our citizens seriously, but a dual citizen who steps over the line and chooses to fight against Australians has no right to expect that their dual citizenship will remain in place.

JANINE PERRETT:
I gather from what we’ve heard over the last week of this debate, or last weeks, that you don’t have a problem with courts deciding? Or would that be a problem for the government’s legislation if in the end it is going to be challenged by the courts.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well a lot of these laws, Janine, when they are to do with rights are about mitigating the risk in the court system. Now there might well be challenges to the government’s legislation in the court system, it would not be unusual. There are always barristers and lawyers out there who want to test these things and the Government tries to mitigate that risk. Of course we are mitigating the risk with this legislation. But if it goes to the High Court or the Federal Court I’m confident that the government’s legislation will withstand scrutiny and we want to make sure that it does by getting it right before it is introduced into this sitting fortnight.

JANINE PERRETT: And I assume that’s why cabinet ministers like you in that cabinet meeting raised the issue about this discussion paper and raised the issues beforehand because the more people warn them the less chance it could be overturned. Could that be right?

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well Janine everybody in the cabinet, all 19 of us, are concerned to ensure that government’s steadfast opposition to terrorism is maintained and our Australian people are safe both home and abroad and that means making sure our legislation is strong and withstands court challenge. Now I would welcome the Labor Party’s support with respect to this. Labor seems to want to walk both sides of the street. On the one hand they say they’re being bipartisan on national security, on the other they seem to be the ones that are raising hurdles in the path of taking a firm stance around this, for this issue for example, of stripping dual citizens of their citizenship but I put the Australian public are on the side of the Government.

JANINE PERRETT: Well you do say that, that you’ve got the public on side, and polls are certainly showing that. But we’ve had a surprise poll today showing Bill Shorten back in the lead on preferred Prime Minister, a big jump there, over issues like this and same-sex marriage. Now there seem to be a conventional wisdom again that you are on the right track. It’s now showing on things like same-sex marriage for example, 7 out of 10 people are not happy. What do you put this sudden turnaround in the polls down to?

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well Janine what the polls show is that popularity at a particular given time, and therefore the particular issues that are running at a particular time, impact on the polls. But the fundamentals on the budget are good and they have been well received. Support for small business, support for families, a laser like focus on jobs and economic growth. That’s the fundamental and that’s in the budget and that’s what we intend to continue to prosecute. Issues will come and go and they will affect the polls but at the end of the day the fundamentals for the government are strong and the Leader of the Opposition is proving himself to be unworthy of being Prime Minister

JANINE PERRETT: Well actually, the polls don’t show that. Firstly they show that you haven’t had a laser like focus, you’ve been diverted on these other issues and I wouldn’t have thought it’s extremely disappointing only a few weeks out from a major budget initiative to stimulate confidence that that budget bounce is looking like a dead cat bounce. Aren’t you going to have to get back to the laser like focus and not be diverted on housing affordability and anything else?

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I’ve never left the laser like focus on jobs and the government’s budget…

JANINE PERRETT: Some of your colleagues have…

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well the message to the colleagues, the message to the gallery is, these other issues, they can be important to particular groups in society, or particular groups and individuals, vital fundamentals about our economy, reducing debt and deficit, getting the economy back on track, repairing the damage that was done by Labor, that’s where our bread and butter lies and we need to make sure we focus on that. Added of that of course, we are the national security party and we are showing our credentials on that. All these other issues will be dealt with in the fullness of time and the polls are reminding us that the public want us to be focussed on what is important to them, not what’s important to the day-today of the commentariat.

JANINE PERRETT: Well what about the issues today – you can’t ignore it. You can give a message to your colleagues but unfortunately the press decides what they want to do, whether you do or not, but the issue is...

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: You’ve been very tricky beasts, the press, to me…

JANINE PERRETT: We are. We just don’t knuckle down as we should really. But the issue today of paying people smugglers; we’ve had so many different views; we’ve had flip flops from Peter Dutton. Now today we have Alan Tudge raising an issue. How hard is it to just keep the line; if it’s true you say yes, if it’s not, you deny it? Is it the refusing to deny this only going to encourage people smugglers out there to head to the high seas because they might get paid off, even if there’s an element of doubt? If it’s not true, why not deny it, why keep this one going if not necessary?

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Janine, we have made a practice on not commenting on operational matters. And that has worked so rather than telegraph something to the people smugglers, as Labor used too, they used to talk endlessly about their policies in border protection, we’ve got on with the job of just doing it. We’ve stopped the boats from coming and our borders are now secure and when we were turning boats around, Scott Morrison, as the Minister for Immigration refused to comment on operational matters and it’s no different in this case. We will continue to protect our borders; Labor wants to give people smugglers the green light again. If Labor is re-elected they will put people smugglers back in business. If the Coalition remains in office, the borders will remain secure.

JANINE PERRETT: Ok, unfortunately we’ve run out of time, but there will be plenty more on that as you say, the pesky media will pursue it and the Indonesians I think too. Christopher Pyne thanks for your time today.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Thanks Janine.

[ends]