Sky News PM Agenda

Subjects: Restoring Faith in the Parliament; Gillard & the election campaign; Coalition’s release of policies and costings

E & OE………………………..

Graham Richardson: (inaudible).. Christopher.

Hon Christopher Pyne MP: Thank you Graham, not sure about the introduction but it’s better than nothing I suppose.

Richardson: Well, well it’s better than some I’ve heard of you I mean I I’m  trying to give you some credit because you, you do run the gamit you’ve got it all I’ve got to say, you’ve got it all. But tonight we just, we just want peace and love so, let me start by saying, what are these reforms of the Parliament about? I hear that you’re going to fix up the independence of the Speaker but I don’t see how.

Pyne: Well basically I’m supporting the independent Speaker the little ‘i’ independent that Harry Jenkins was when he was in the role. I think that was a good model. I think the Speaker should take themselves out of the Party room and the Deputy Speaker should be from the opposite Party and they should try as much as they can to rise above the political fray. But the thing that I have proposed today which I thinks the most interesting is that I’ve watched for 20 years as backbenchers essentially in Question Time almost get shut out of the process because the front bench of the Opposition wants to ask about cost of living or jobs security or economic management or border protection or whatever it is and the backbench don’t get to ask about local issues so I’m proposing that we have half an hour backbench Question Time where the Ministers get the notice of the questions during the day but then they can give a substantive answer in the Chamber on local issues for backbenchers and I think that will engage the Parliament more.

Richardson: So you’re not talking about the normal cut and thrust then? You’re talking about a real question with a real answer.

Pyne: Well, I’m talking about an additional Question Time so as much as the frontbench holds the Government to account for their incompetence we also think that the backbenchers, well I think the backbenchers should have the chance to ask about local issues whether its myrtle rust or whether its flying foxes in northern New South Wales or whatever it is, I think backbenchers should be given the chance to get some substantive answers from Ministers. And that’s best done of course when the Minister knows what the question is going to be but by the same token it can be asked as supplementary by a backbencher.

Richardson: Without wishing to be impolite it doesn’t appear to me to be a ratings winner.

Pyne:  Look it will definitely not be a ratings winner but if the ratings would be taken amongst the backbench Members of both Government and Opposition in the House of Representatives I think they would grab it with both hands.

Richardson: Well alright, let’s turn to the big events of the day, not that I’m down playing yours, but the announcement of the election.

Pyne: No my speech was a bit over taken.

Richardson: It’s even bigger than you announcement I take it.

Pyne: Well my speech was overtaken by the Prime Ministers National Press Club speech Graham, surprisingly. But what the Prime Minister’s done today of course is she has made a massive political blunder. She’s elevated Tony Abbott for the next eight months to the same status as the Prime Minister; she’s removed the Governments element of surprise, the power to know when the election is going to be that the Opposition always wants to know but never finds out until 33 days before election day. She’s created the environment where every decision and announcement the Government makes will now be seen through the cynical prism of an election campaign and she did all this of course to fight off Kevin Rudd. And when Wayne Swan was asked tonight about the Government releasing all of its policies and all of its costings he said well they weren’t ready to do that and we’d have to  wait until the May Budget. Yet the Prime Minister said today that the Opposition is duty bound to release all of our policies and costings virtually immediately so what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Richardson: Now I didn’t hear her say virtually immediately, I did hear her say that the Budgets coming up in May and in May when the Government announce the Budget and everything else what will you announce? I mean how many policies will we get out of you? I suspect I know the answer, it’s a nice round one.

Pyne: But Graham we were always going to announce our fiscal policy between the time of the Budget in May and the election campaign so that’s hardly the reason why you’d call an election eight months before you needed to its a very unusual decision it’s bizarro world and tonight ALP members are describing it a mistake a biblical a political error of biblical proportions.

Richardson: Well it wouldn’t be the first time she’s made a biblical proportions error I’d have to say I just said I remember going back to 1984, Bob Hawke had a campaign that ran almost eight weeks and it was a complete disaster. Eight weeks however is nothing like eight months.

Pyne: Well I remember ’84 I was in Year 12 Graham I hate to tell you but I was in Year 12. And I remember the ’84 election campaign because what Bob Hawke did of course was elevate Andrew Peacock to the same status as the Prime Minister for eight weeks and when people had a look at Andrew Peacock they actually thought well he’s not so bad after all so in fact he gave Andrew Peacock and enormous  fill-up and of course Tony Abbott loves to  campaign he performed brilliantly in the last campaign and took us of course to more seats than Labor so why Julia Gillard thinks that having an eight month campaign will advantage her is beyond me -  which leaves me the only assuming that because she was wanting to head off Kevin Rudd, she thought this was the way to do it.

Richardson: Well I think there’s got to be an element of truth in that, mind you there’s always a two edge sword with Rudd, he was always going to have an early election if he got up and stop you and your mates from I suspect you would really have quoted Wayne Swan and Stephen Conroy and Peter Garrett and Nicola Roxon and all of those people who were giving those charming little clips, those little character references..

Pyne: That’s right.

Richardson: ..that they gave our Kevin last February I think wasn’t it? A year ago?

Pyne: Yes, February.

Richardson: I think we had heard that ad nauseam so the plan with Rudd was to go early. He’s now been robbed of that plan hasn’t he?

Pyne: Well he’s certainly been robbed of that plan and of course if he did become the Leader and call an early election, I think one day someone said that it would be like the turkey’s voting for Christmas. His Labor colleagues didn’t want to have an early election so he was in a bit of a cleft stick. Mind you Graham, he could still take the leadership and call an election. Just because the Prime Minister’s made this announcement today doesn’t rule that out but what it shows is that..

Richardson: But would make it very difficult.

Pyne: It does make it very tricky.

Richardson: It would make it very very difficult for them.

Pyne: It makes it very tricky for them and I would say probably that was the end of Kevin Rudd’s ambitions. Labor, if they’ve got their backs to the wall and think they’re going to lose their seats as you know and I know, that is a great motivating factor.

Richardson: Yeah, but hasn’t been much of a motivating factor so far. They’ve been trailing in the polls for the last two years, she’s still there.

Pyne: That’s true. And as the election gets closer and closer they will start to feel their political mortality more and more and the way that she’s handled Trish Crossin and Nova Peris this year, I think underlined her lack of judgement and an announcement of an election today eight months before she needed to do it is another example of a lack of judgment. Goodness knows what the next one will be. Meanwhile the Coalition will now get a massive airplay for our real solutions policy for our plans for the future around job security, around cost of living reductions, abolishing the carbon tax, economic management, returning the budget to surplus, that’ll get top billing, because we are not just the opposition, we are in an election campaign.

Richardson: But how can you talk about returning the budget to surplus when you won’t give us one costing? How can you possibly do it – it’s a joke.

Pyne: Well we delivered surpluses in ten out of our eleven budgets during the Howard era. Wayne Swan hasn’t delivered one surplus. In fact Labor hasn’t delivered a surplus since I think you were in parliament Richo, which was 1989. So Labor’s record of delivering surpluses is weak.

Richardson: Hang on, I left in 94, don’t write me off that early.

Pyne: No, I said you were still in parliament in 89.

Richardson: Actually I think I was.

Pyne: You were.

Richardson: But if we could move on however, because I think we need to. What about what’s happening in your home state of South Australia. There is a very odd situation where a Government has been in forever; they’ve looked like it was completely dead in the water, completely and utterly dead in the water. Now seems to be back in with a show, and then I hear that a guest that will be on my programme a little later on, Alexander Downer is contemplating coming down from wilderness and saving you. Is that all going to happen?

Pyne: Look, I don’t know Graham. I mean the truth is that Isobel Redmond is doing a great job as Leader of the Opposition and Jay Weatherill…

Richardson: Doesn’t look like it from here I must say?

Pyne: He is thin skinned and he’s glassed jawed. Labor has done a very poor job under Jay Weatherill. He voted a massive vote of no confidence in Jack Snelling, his Treasurer when he shuffled him out of the job about two weeks ago. There’s speculation surrounding Alexander Downer but he’s made it clear that he is very happy doing the job that he’s doing. He’s making a great impact in his own personal life, his business life, internationally through the United Nations and I’m not sure that he’s that keen to leave that life after 24 years in Federal Parliament. But it’s a matter for him and the election is still 12 months away. But Isobel Redmond deserves to be supported and the State Opposition should focus on attacking Labor and not worrying about these distractions.

Richardson: Now as the last question, do you worry about those Eastern State Governments with the massive cuts they’ve been having in government services and with jobs, you worried they’re going to effect you?

Pyne: Look, I think the voters in New South Wales, particularly and in Queensland I think they’ve got a fair idea that they elected Coalition Governments to make the changes to fiscal policy that were necessary to get Queensland and New South Wales back on track. In spite of the fact that the governments have had to make tough decisions, I think the voters in both those states are sticking with Campbell Newman and Barry O’Farrell because they changed the Government for a reason, they didn’t do it for fun, they did it because they thought the Labor Governments that were in place were mismanaging the economy, driving up cost of living pressures and hurting their family budgets.

Richardson: And no matter what you and I think Christopher we can be dismissed with a grain of salt, you can never dismiss what the bookies say. And the bookies say you are going to win and win very well indeed. Your red hot, very short price favourite.

Pyne: Well I do like the bookies, I must admit I do keep an eye on my seat and I think I’m at one to one to win and my opponent is at fifteen at one to win so I think I’m not too bad.

Richardson: I think my money would be on you. Good luck to you Chris. I hope we can see plenty of you in the course of the year.

Pyne: I hope so.

Richardson: Good on you, Christopher Pyne.

ENDS.