Sky News PM Agenda

SUBJECTS: Election of the new Speaker E&OE……  David Spears: Now joining us this afternoon were going to be speaking in a little while to the Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese, but were first joined by Christopher Pyne, the Manager of Opposition Business, Chris Pyne thank you for joining us. I want to get to Harry Jenkins shortly, but Peter Slipper: how would you characterise the attitudes towards Peter Slipper among Coalition MPs’ this afternoon. Christopher Pyne: Well obviously David I’m not going to reflect on the new Speaker. What I will say is that the party room agreed unanimously this morning that no member of the parliamentary team should take the nomination from the Government for Speaker and that if they did they would be excluded from the party room and be expected to resign from the party. I understand that Peter Slipper has resigned from the LNP and while Peter Slipper is a personal friend of mine and I’ve known him for a very long time in this place, obviously I am very disappointed that he has been prepared to accept nomination as Speaker, but I’m more disappointed with the fact that the Prime Minister would be prepared to be involved in such a political fix to traduce the position of Speaker to save her own political skin, to put her  own political survival before what’s good for the Parliament and for democracy and to allow Sussex St, New South Wales Labor style politics to come to Canberra yet again. Speers:  What evidence Chris Pyne is there of that?  Of this being a political move from Sussex Street?  Harry Jenkins says this was something he decided.  The Prime Minister says she was only informed this morning of his decision. Pyne:  Well Harry Jenkins looked like a person who had swallowed a watermelon in question time today.  He didn’t look like a person who was vastly relieved to be returning to the Labor Party caucus to sit amongst his colleagues.  He looked like a person who, while I’m sure and I accept the words that he told the Parliament today, there is no doubt in my mind and I am sure the Australian people are well aware that what has gone on here is a political fix because the Labor Party is so aware of their vulnerability on so many fronts and they moved to shore up their position. Speers:  The evidence you have then is the way he looked in Parliament? Pyne:  Well David if you or anybody else genuinely believes  that the Labor Party has not been engaged in a political fix today in order to shore up their shaky government then quite frankly I’m not sure how I could convince you. Speers:  Alright well getting back to Peter Slipper though, you expressed disappointment in the decision he has made.  Would you say that the LNP in Queensland mishandled Peter Slipper to lead to this outcome? Pyne:  Look David this isn’t about Peter Slipper.  This is about the Prime Minster first axing Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister and now being prepared to throw an honourable man in Harry Jenkins, who was a very good Speaker, on to the pyre of or her own ambition in order to make sure she stays sitting in that seat on the other side of the chamber.  This is all about… Speers: But the point is she wouldn’t have been able to do this, she wouldn’t have been able to be able to enact any sort of political fix, had relations between Peter Slipper and the Queensland LNP not been so sour. Pyne:  David the Labor Party would love to move this issue off their tawdry political survival instincts that we’ve seen in the New South Wales Parliament over many years.  They’d love to move it off that onto any other subject.  The truth remains the same and that is that Harry Jenkins was a good Speaker, a fair Speaker and is an honourable man.   He is no longer Speaker at the end of the day.  A new Speaker has been appointed in an unprecedented way from the Opposition ranks.  This is the first time a government has not backed one of their own to be Speaker in modern political history even though I nominated nine… Speers: It’s happened in the states.  It’s happened in the UK. Pyne:  Well this isn’t the UK and this isn’t the states.  This is the national Parliament of the Australian Parliament.  Our conventions are very clear David and that is that the Government nominates one of their own to be Speaker under the Westminster political system under which we operate in this country.  The Government has been prepared to traduce those traditions, to throw out the rule book just so Julia Gillard can keep herself in the Lodge. Spears: But it is a fact Chris Pyne that this wouldn’t have happened, had not one of your own, been so disillusioned and prepared to quit the party to allow the government to do this. Pyne: And it wouldn’t have happened, if the Prime Minister wasn’t putting her own political survival in front of the traditions that no other Prime Minister has been prepared to trash in a way that Julia Gillard has done so today. No Other Prime Minister, no matter how desperate, not Gough Whitlam between 1972-1975, not Kevin Rudd, no Prime Minister, no matter how desperate, has been prepared to trash the traditions of the Westminster system in the way the Prime Minister has today, she stands condemned. Spears: Well what aboutPeter Slipper’s role now as Speaker, can you honestly say that he does have the respect and support of both sides of the house? Pyne: Well, the Coalition has always respected the office of Speaker, Peter Slipper is an experienced Member of the Parliament, he has been Deputy Speaker, and he has been on the Speaker’s panel. I’m sure he has the technical skills that are required to be the Speaker, and I’m quite certain, that if he does his job well, he will firstly start making the government answer questions in Question Time, he will end the Prime Minister and other Ministers habits of simply slagging and bagging the Opposition, and we might be able to get a better Question Time, If Peter Slipper takes the action that needs to be taken against a government that has contempt for the parliament and contempt for the people. Spears: The Opposition’s success over the last twelve or so months has at least in part been built on the fact that an election was possible any day. Does that now diminish? What are the chances of an early election now? Pyne: This is a very fragile Government propped up by a very fragile coalition; there is absolutely no reason, why anyone would expect the parliament to continue to last in the circumstances in which it currently exists. I am very confident that the Parliament will change over the course of the coming months, or maybe year, Andrew Wilkie has made it absolutely clear that the government must deliver on its pokies reforms; this is a bomb ticking inside the Labor caucas. Spears: The point now is the Government has an extra buffer, an extra layer of support, does it not given the events of today, Andrew Wilkie’s threats to pull the pin don’t really matter? Pyne: Well, the Government will try and hail this as a very clever tactical victory, just as they have in the New South Wales Parliament for decades, because to them, politics is much more important than principal, in fact there is no principal, too important to be trashed, by the Labor Party, that’s what we’ve seen today, I would be very surprised if the Government believed their hold on power is a strong one in this Parliament and the Australian people are thoroughly sick of, secret deals, special arrangements, and tawdry arrangements as we have seen over the last twelve months and they want an election so we have an unambiguous government that can get on with the job of reducing the cost of living pressures, reducing interests rates, stopping the prices of everything going up through the roof and protecting our boarders. They are the basics, the Government doesn’t care about the basics, the Government cares only abut hanging onto power, at whatever cost, even today, they would not allow nine members to nominate for speaker, they sat on them all. Even today Jason Clare who represents a Western Sydney seat, was describing McDonalds as cheap and nasty food. Now this is the contempt they have for the people and the contempt they have for the Parliament Spears: Alright, Christopher Pyne, Manager of Opposition Business, thank you for joining us this afternoon. Pyne: It’s a pleasure. ENDS