Today Show

SUBJECTS: Peter Slipper scandal; Labor leadership E&OE………… Lisa Wilkinson: Good morning to you, Mr Pyne. Christopher Pyne: Good morning Lisa. Wilkinson: What would you like to see happen to Peter Slipper? Pyne: Well obviously I don’t want to do what the Government has been doing; Anthony Albanese, Craig Emerson, Nicola Roxon and Wayne Swan who’ve been running a commentary on these legal matters to do with Peter Slipper. I think they’ve got egg on their face now. I think they would have been a lot better to let the courts system run its course. I can’t help but think that if Robert McClelland was still the Attorney General - Nicola Roxon has handled it very badly and I think Robert McClelland would have handled it a lot better, which is a disappointment. I think this should be allowed to run its course. The Commonwealth DPP would make a decision about whether a prosecution would be successful against Peter Slipper. If they begin a prosecution, it’s very bad for the parliament and the only way the parliament can be cleansed is a restorative election. Wilkinson: They do have the option of dropping the matter. Is that something you would be happy to see happen? That would be a good way to get parliament back on track again. Pyne: The cards will fall where they will. If Peter Slipper has a case to answer, the Commonwealth DPP will pursue it. I think the Parliament is broken anyway, whether it’s the Craig Thomson affair, the Peter Slipper affair, the union movement holding the caucus over a barrel; I think Tony Sheldon is saying this morning if the caucus changes the leader he’ll deny them $200,000 in donations, which is basically straight blackmail of the Labor caucus. I think the parliament is broken and I think the only thing that will fix it is a restorative election to get confidence back into the economy as well as into the parliamentary system. Wilkinson: Still with the Peter Slipper situation, the journalist who revealed the sexual harassment allegations is also back in court today. Steve Lewis has been told he must reveal his source to the court. Do you have anything to worry about? Pyne: No I don’t, but I don’t think Steve Lewis should have to reveal his sources. I thought that a long standing tradition of our democratic system was that journalists protected their sources. I’d be very surprised if the courts enforced that and I would have thought that Steve Lewis had a pretty good case to protect his sources otherwise journalism will come to a grinding halt, Lisa. I’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about. Wilkinson: You’re saying that the parliamentary system is grinding to a halt at the moment because of this and amongst other things, so this is really about getting to the bottom of it. How many times did you actually meet with James Ashby, who made these allegations against Peter Slipper? Pyne: I’ve outlined that many times. Wilkinson: But your story has changed. Pyne: No, it hasn’t changed. Wilkinson: You originally said you didn’t meet with James Ashby. Pyne: No I didn’t. I said I couldn’t remember asking for his email or mobile phone details because I simply couldn’t remember because he simply wasn’t very controversial at the time so therefore why would I remember? I’m happy to tell you I first met him in the Speaker’s office when I went in there to speak to the Speaker about one matter or another as my job as Manager of Opposition Business... Wilkinson: And then you were asked whether you had any email contact after that and you said you didn’t. Pyne: No, I didn’t say I had no email contact. I said the email was entirely innocuous, which it was. Wilkinson: You said you did not email Mr Ashby after March 19, which is the night you had drinks. Pyne: Well, I didn’t, I emailed him on 19 March. I didn’t email him after 19 March. Wilkinson: - that’s a fairly moot point though, isn’t it? Pyne: the point is - Wilkinson: I mean, you know what people were asking - Pyne: - I answered the question honestly – Wilkinson: Whether or not you had close and confidential conversations that were going to bring down Peter Slipper Pyne: Well, I didn’t, and if I had you’d think I would have been subpoenaed in this case by now, or you’d think I would have been mentioned in this case by now, and I haven’t been, because I met him when I said hello to him in the Speaker’s office, I had a beer with him and another staffer in the Speaker’s office – Wilkinson: Why did you meet with him? Pyne: Because I’m the Manager of Opposition Business in the House and my job is to be in contact with the Speaker and the deputy Speaker which I’ve been doing for the last four years. It’s my job to find out what’s going on in Parliament, and stay abreast of it, and because Peter Slipper was a former Liberal member of the caucus, of our Liberal caucus, of course I would be going to see him to say I think you should be doing this, I think you should be doing that, or how should we interpret your latest ruling and so on, so it brings me into contact with the Speaker’s office on a very regular basis. Wilkinson: After meeting with James Ashby, did you pass on that information, or one of your staffers or an associate of yours pass that information on to Steve Lewis? Pyne: No. I’ve never had any discussion with Steve Lewis about any of these matters. In fact the first time I knew about the unfortunate Federal Court application was when I read about it in the News Limited press. Wilkinson: Ok. Do you have a dirt file on Peter Slipper? Pyne: No. I’ve known Peter Slipper for 19 years. In fact because we’ve been colleagues for 19 years we’ve built up a regard for each other over all that time. The last thing I would do is have a dirt file on any of my colleagues, former colleagues or current colleagues. Wilkinson: Ok. Speaking of a current colleague, Tony Abbott has been in Washington this week, he’s stirred the pot a little bit earlier in the week, saying some very complimentary things about Kevin Rudd. I think we’ve got some vision: Tony Abbott: At this conference, Kevin Rudd has been doing what you’d think a former Prime Minister and a former Foreign Minister ought to do at a conference like this – he’s been actively engaging in debate, and I have to say that the contributions that I’ve heard from Kevin Rudd have been highly sophisticated and very much to the poin. Wilkinson: Very complimentary. Do you agree with the opposition leader? Pyne: Well, Kevin Rudd is a good purveyor of foreign policy and communicates it well. I haven’t been there, of course, I’ve been here holding the fort Lisa, but I’m sure that Tony, if he’s heard good contributions from Kevin Rudd is telling the truth about that. I think the people who are stirring the pot on Kevin Rudd are the union leadership, yesterday in the paper and again today, saying that there’s $4 million on the table if the caucus does the right thing, and of course Joel Fitzgibbon, who keeps coming back like a bad penny, saying that the Prime Minister’s leadership is essentially under threat. Wilkinson: well it has been a big talking point this week. Who would you rather see running the country? Kevin Rudd or Julia Gillard? Pyne: I’d like to see Tony Abbott running the country, and – Wilkinson: No, there wasn’t a ‘C’ in that question, only ‘A’ or ‘B’ – Kevin Rudd is much more popular with voters when it comes to leading the Labor Party and Tony Abbott is a fan by the looks of things. Pyne: I think almost everyone is more popular than Julia Gillard at leading the Labor Party, Lisa, but I think whoever leads the Labor Party, it’s still the Labor Party. It still doesn’t stand for anything. It’s still a bad economic manager, cost of living is still rising. Kevin Rudd was introducing a carbon tax; Kevin Rudd was responsible for the border protection disasters. They can change the leader but it’s still the Labor Party and I think the sooner we have an election and restore confidence in the government of our country, the better. Wilkinson: Ok. Christopher Pyne we appreciate you coming in this morning. Pyne: it’s a pleasure. ENDS