Today Show

SUBJECTS: Labor Leadership; CEO Sleepout; E&OE................................ Karl Stefanovic: Now Bill Shorten has been excluded from Julia Gillard’s inner circle reportedly in The Australian today, a strategic decision making team. As pressure mounts on him to resolve Labor’s leadership impasse. Joining us now for ‘In Da House’, Local Government Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Education Spokesman Christopher Pyne. Morning lads. Lisa Wilkinson: Good morning to you. Stefanovic: Are you fired up? Hon Anthony Albanese MP: Always. Hon Christopher Pyne MP: I’m a bit disoriented. Stefanovic: We’ll get to you in just a second. Albanese: He’s had a difficult night. Stefanovic: He has. He’s been at CEO Sleepout so he has done a good thing. Wilkinson: Be nice to him. Stefanovic: Let’s start with your Party though; the cracks seem to be appearing more and more. That story in the paper today about Bill Shorten being left out of key decision making, is that true first up? Albanese: Well I sit and chair our party’s tactics and strategy committee and let me tell you there has been no change in personnel to it. Stefanovic: So Bill has been involved in that decision making? Albanese: He’s never been there. He’s not on it. Pyne: He was never included in the inner circle. Wilkinson: The crucial thing is though has Bill Shorten changed his mind because he is the crucial key in all of this. Albanese: You know, this is all who talked to someone somewhere about something. This is really speculation on speculation. All the journos are petrified that they will miss the single important glance. It’s ridiculous. Wilkinson: Well you can clear it up for us though. Has Bill Shorten changed his mind? Albanese: No. Wilkinson: Have you spoken to Bill Shorten this week about a leadership challenge? Albanese: No. I’ve spoken to Bill Shorten about getting on with the legislation before the Parliament. Wilkinson: But everybody else is talking about a leadership challenge. Why wouldn’t you want to… Albanese: No. The journos are talking about a leadership challenge. Wilkinson: So despite the polls and despite a number of people declaring for Julia Gillard… Albanese: I’ll tell you what we’re doing, this Sunday, Hume Highway open, duplication between… Stefanovic: We’ll get to that. Albanese: No this is important Karl. Historic! Sydney to Melbourne. Full duplication. Myself and the Prime Minister, this Sunday. Big event. Stefanovic: I understand. Anthony, next week. OK so it might just be journalism speculation but answer the question about next week. Is it going to happen next week or not? Albanese: What? Stefanovic: Is Bill Shorten going to say right-o it’s on Kevin, change his mind on Julia Gillard, we’ve got to change the leadership, the Party is in trouble. Albanese: Bill Shorten speaks for himself. And he has said himself that his position is he supports the Prime Minister. Full stop. Stefanovic: Will you support Kevin Rudd becoming the Leader next week? Albanese: There is no challenge. There is nothing happening. Stefanovic: If there is a challenge will you support Kevin Rudd? Albanese: There is no challenge! He said he won’t and the Prime Minister has said that you know… Stefanovic: Do you believe him? Albanese: Yeah absolutely. I believed him last time, Karl, when people wrote that Kevin Rudd was going to challenge. Guess what - didn’t happen, because he stuck to exactly what he said he would do. Wilkinson: But this time around it probably won’t be a challenge. It would be a case of everyone will realise that the numbers are overwhelming which is what Kevin Rudd has said is the only circumstance under which he would return to the leadership, so if it’s not a challenge but it is the overwhelming numbers will you support Kevin Rudd? Albanese: Well it’s not happening, it’s not happening and the Prime Minister, there is no vacancy for Prime Minister and Kevin Rudd isn’t challenging. So nothing is going on. Wilkinson: So Julia Gillard will lead the Party to the election? Albanese: Julia Gillard will lead the Party to the next election. Wilkinson: Are you happy about that? Albanese: Yeah. Absolutely. Pyne: He voted for Kevin last time though. Albanese: I’m on the record about my position. I’ve always been pretty up-front. Pyne: So you’ve moved now to Gillard from Rudd? Albanese: I’ve always been very upfront. I accept the Caucus made a decision in February last year. Pyne: You’ve shifted. Everybody is shifting the other way and you’ve shifted to Gillard. Do you always like to be on the losing side? Albanese: I’ve always been consistent. My job is to support the Prime Minister. I supported Kevin Rudd strongly as Prime Minister as Leader of the House and I’ve supported Julia Gillard each and every day against the vicious and premeditated attacks of people like Christopher. Stefanovic: Well you did swap. Pyne: I think he might protest too much. Stefanovic: You did swap when it looked like there was going to be a spill. Albanese: No, there was a ballot in February, in February last year, I declared publicly what my position was and what my reasoning was. Stefanovic: Yet you must…. Albanese: The person who had it first was the Prime Minister, was Julia. Stefanovic: You must lament the state of affairs in the party at the moment. Albanese: Oh, this is a tough period, but it’s been a tough parliament I think, Australia coming to terms with a minority parliament is unusual, first one since the Second World War. But it has been an effective one, who have got things done. Each and every day, the Opposition have said they were going to, it was going to fall over. Just a few weeks ago we sat on the couch here, Christopher had his ‘no-confidence’ motion was going to happen. Nothing happened. Stefanovic: We knew that was not going to happen. Albanese: Well he hadn’t even sent the letter. Nothing happened, nothing happened. Stefanovic: Well that is true. You didn’t send the letter did you? Pyne: Of course I sent the letter. The night before. Wilkinson: Did it ever arrive? It’s been two weeks now. Albanese: After the show. Pyne: It arrived. The postie got it to them…. Albanese: After the show Pyne: On the Friday and they all replied. Albanese: Email. It’s instant mate, it’s called the internet, even better with the NBN. Pyne: Anthony is desperately trying to change the subject. Stefanovic: There is nothing else he can say, there’s not going to be a leadership challenge… Pyne: Of course not… Stefanovic: and Julia Gillard will take the Labor Party to the next election. Pyne: Of course she will. Albanese: The question is, will Christopher Pyne take the Opposition? Pyne: What I like about Anthony’s contribution this morning is that this has all been made up by journalists. Nothing to do with leaking coming from the caucus or Cabinet Ministers going out and saying she should resign or Joel Fitzgibbon resigning as the Chief Whip, it’s all been made up by you guys. Wilkinson: Let’s get back to the politicians. Stefanovic: Let’s go back to the CEO ball now. We’re going straight to the CEO ball. Pyne: CEO Ball. Albanese: CEO Ball. Stefanovic: Well it was a ball last night and also the ball you had the other night as well. Let’s go to the ball the other night in Canberra first of all and it was a great show. Will you acknowledge at least, at least this morning acknowledge that Julia Gillard, the PM looked absolutely smoking hot? Pyne: No, no I won’t acknowledge that… Stefanovic: There is shots of Julia… Wilkinson: She looks stunning. Stefanovic: …why wouldn’t you acknowledge that? Pyne: Because I wouldn’t comment on how my males colleagues looked, so why would I comment on how my female colleagues look. Stefanovic: You comment every morning on how Anthony looks. Albanese: That’s right. Pyne: People would accuse me of being a misogynist if I start commenting on how my female colleagues look. Stefanovic: You can’t say that anymore, is that right? Pyne: you can’t say anything anymore. I’m wearing a blue jumper, not a blue tie. Albanese: I’ll say it, she looked great and so did Margie. Pyne: I’m watching my… Stefanovic: Well there you go. Pyne: I’m watching my Labor colleagues every day, searching through their wardrobes trying to find any tie other than a blue one. It’s hilarious. Stefanovic: Blue’s okay. Blue ties are okay. Abanese: This is a nice one. Pyne: Two week ago, you had to find…. Stefaniovic: Just before we let you go. You had the ‘CEO sleep out’ last night. It’s a great cause. Wilkinson: Well done to you. Pyne: It went well. It wasn’t that cold, it was mild. But the concrete was pretty hard and I got chewed on by a rat during the night. Wilkinson: What? Really? Pyne: I got bitten by a rat on the knuckle, so I had to put a little band aid on. But I fought it off. Albanese: You didn’t send someone in did you? Pyne: I fought it off. Wilkinson: So you were asleep as the time? Pyne: Yes, had a good old chew on me. Wilkisinon: So you woke up…. Albanese: Which caucus member was it Christopher? Pyne: With a rat biting my knuckle. Stefanovic: You dirty rat. Pyne: So there was a rat biting my knuckle. Albanese: It was a caucus member. Pyne: One of your caucus members. Albanese: One of your non-friends. Was Cory Bernardi there? Pyne: Ben Fordham of course said I should be worried about the cockroaches. So I woke up during the night and thought there was a cockroach on my pillow. Stefanovic: It was a dirty rat. Pyne: It was my ear plug. So I brushed my ear plug off my pillow, which meant that I didn’t have it for the rest of the night. Stefanovic: You slept with earplugs? Pyne: Of course, because of the snoring of all these middle-aged CEOs. Apparently it is shocking. Stefanovic: What about the rat on the finger? Pyne: They sell them there. Stefanovic: You’re too much Christopher Pyne. Wilkinson: the truth is, that is what homeless people have to deal with every single night. Pyne: It is a very good cause. Wilkinson: Good on you for doing that. Pyne: It is a very good cause and they raised a lot of money and… Stefanovic: Well done. Pyne: It was very good fun. Albanese: Well done to Christopher, although he is the only bloke that ever got a new outfit for a sleep out. But well done. Stefanovic: Oh… Pyne: This is the outfit for going camping in the Flinders Rangers. Stefanovic: What’s wrong with that? That’s harsh. Pyne: Nothing. See, you can’t even let me have one win can you. Albanese: Well done. Stefanovic: That’s enough Anthony Albanese. That’s enough. Wilkinson: Okay you two. ENDS.