Today Show

E&OE TRANSCRIPT Channel 9 Today with Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson, Sylvia Jeffreys & Ben Fordham 20/06/14 SUBJECT: Interview with Christopher Pyne and Anthony Albanese. LISA WILKINSON: Just hours ago Barack Obama announced the US will be sending an additional 300 military personnel to the growing conflict in Iraq. [Excerpt] BARACK OBAMA: American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq but we help Iraqis at they take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people, the region and American interests as well. [End of excerpt] LISA WILKINSON: Well, joining us now is shadow transport minister, Anthony Albanese in Canberra and here in the studio Education Minister, Christopher Pyne. Good morning to both of you. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Morning, Lisa, morning. Anthony. ANTHONY ALBANESE: Morning. Hi, Chris. LISA WILKINSON: Christopher, to you first. Now, Barack Obama in that speech was talking targeted and precise action. As this crisis escalates, does the Australian Government completely rule out sending Australian troops in if the US asks? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, the United States obviously has to lead any kind of response in Iraq as they are the world power if you like and our great allies. If they ask us for assistance we'll weigh that up at the time and decide what we can or can't do. The situation in Iraq is obviously very, very serious. It does seem that the Iraqi Government in recent days has stopped the unbridled advanced of the ISIL fighters and we can't allow Iraq to disappear into a sectarian civil war. So, we are monitoring it very closely. Yesterday the Government announced $5 million of humanitarian aid for Iraq. The Iraqi Government hasn't yet asked us for assistance but as every day passes, Julie Bishop and Tony Abbott and the National Security Committee will be monitoring it. LISA WILKINSON: Is this complete mess an inevitable result of us being part of the coalition of the willing and invading Iraq in 2003? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, we invaded Iraq in 2003 because we believed that Saddam Hussein represented an existential threat to ourselves as well as neighbours... LISA WILKINSON: It was a sovereign country, though. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: But it was harbouring terrorism and those terrorist attacks were occurring on the west - were ones we and other populations couldn't tolerate. And we took what we thought was the necessary action. I think it's the inevitable consequence of the civil war in Syria and the extremism of some of the Islamic groups in the Middle East. It's not an area that has been known for its peacefulness over the last 60 or so years and obviously it continues to present monthly, yearly new challenges for the west. LISA WILKINSON: Anthony, do you think we're too closely aligned with the US? ANTHONY ALBANESE: Oh no. I'm a supporter of the US alliance but I do think that there is a lesson here which is we need to be very cautious about interventions. We need to work through what the end-point is and the invasion of Iraq was based upon a falsehood that they had weapons of mass destruction. We now know that that is not the case and certainly I'm with Christopher in terms of real concern about what's going on in Syria. I'm opposed to fundamentalism of any kind. But these people involved with ISIS, like many of the people who're involved in the conflict in Syria, are extremists. I mean these people are nut-jobs. They have an extremist ideology that would seek to do harm to anyone who doesn't agree with them. And of course the biggest victims here, are the Muslims. Moderate Muslims who want to get on with rebuilding their lives. LISA WILKINSON: Alright. Back home now and it's been revealed this morning that four senior ministers in the Abbott Government have been assigned secret service-style protection amid backlash over the Federal Budget and Christopher, you are one of those ministers. Has it really got that bad, the reaction to the budget? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, there's nobody here protecting me this morning except you, Lisa, so I'm very obviously very safe here. LISA WILKINSON: Safe within the... CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Safe here in Channel 9. LISA WILKINSON: ... the arms of Channel 9. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Exactly. LISA WILKINSON: But you have been assigned - can you confirm that that is the case? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, certainly when I visit university campuses, the Australian Federal Police have made the assessment that it's wise for me to be accompanied by AFP officers and to do security checks in the places where I'm visiting. I think the same for the Prime Minister and Julie Bishop since she was jostled and attacked at the university here in Sydney. And that's just part of the process of being in government really, when you're making major reforms and some of the students are taking the opportunity to protest. LISA WILKINSON: Alright. Well, just stay here for as long as you can. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I feel safe here. LISA WILKINSON: To make sure that the baddies don't get you. Meantime.. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Get ready to jump in Karl. LISA WILKINSON: At any moment, don't you worry about that. KARL STEFANOVIC: I'm ready to pounce. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: He'd love to. [Laughter]. LISA WILKINSON: Meantime, I'll break up this bromance. ANTHONY ALBANESE: That can make you feel secure, Christopher. LISA WILKINSON: Brisbane's Courier Mail is calling it absurdus maximus, Christopher, you're spending $1.8 million for authorities to develop Latin and Greek curriculums. Didn't the Roman empire fall 1500 years ago? Do we really need this? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, it's a fabulous Courier Mail eggbeater story quite frankly. The ACAR - the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority -have decided that 16 languages should be on the national curriculum. Latin and Greek are part of those. And so the $1.8 million is for 16 languages to be developed into the national curriculum which I don't get to decide on but I'm happy that they're doing. Latin is of course the root of the English language and most European languages. It's also - English happens to be the most spoken language in the world. So, it's perfectly sensible and intelligent for Latin to be on the national curriculum but I can tell you we're not spending $1.8 million on one language. We're spending it on 16. I did Latin at school; it's a very, very good thing to do. LISA WILKINSON: What do you think, Albo? ANTHONY ALBANESE: This is a government that's not just stuck in the past, it wants the rests of Australia to go back there and keep it company. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Showing your ignorance, Anthony. ANTHONY ALBANESE: Along with all of this we've - a government with an agenda from the last century. It appears it might be from the last millennium. I mean we need to - I think wherever you look at this government it's always about being backward and I really think... CHRISTOPHER PYNE: You show your ignorance, Anthony, unfortunately. ANTHONY ALBANESE: ... I've got nothing wrong with teaching languages, that's a good thing. But I think in general what Christopher's about with education policy is winding things back. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I think you're [indistinct]. ANTHONY ALBANESE: [Talks over] And perhaps this is - perhaps this might be worthwhile but it's certainly symbolic of that winding back the clock that characterises their agenda on education. LISA WILKINSON: Well, Christopher, we don't want your education to go wanting this morning. You said that you studied it at school. Do you want to sign off with some Latin for us? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, I can tell you that the high courts found that the chaplaincy program is ultra vires, Lisa. LISA WILKINSON: We didn't quite get to the chaplaincy program unfortunately. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Outside power, outside our power. LISA WILKINSON: Alright. We could talk separation of church and state but we won't. We'll leave that for another time. Thank you very much for your time this morning. And thank you to you, Albo, and Christopher, I also have to say congratulations, you did the CEO... CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I did, I've just come from Carriage Works. LISA WILKINSON: ... sleep-out for St Vincent's de Paul overnight and well done to you. Its a... CHRISTOPHER PYNE: The concrete is no softer this year than it was last year I can assure you. LISA WILKINSON: I'm sure not. Minus three degrees, was it? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: In Canberra it was minus three. ANTHONY ALBANESE: Christopher, I'll just say ciao, Lisa. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Anthony wasn't of course doing anything for the homeless last night, he was tucked up in his bed in Canberra. ANTHONY ALBANESE: I'll tell you what, I'm not creating more of them through your budget. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Sad, you've had a bad morning. LISA WILKINSON: We'll leave the last word to Albo. [ends]