Today Show - News of the Day - 12 March 2009
23 Mar 2009
Transcipt Karl Stefanovic:
Joining us now to discuss what's making news in the papers, Manager of Opposition Business Christopher Pyne. Chris good morning to you!
Christopher Pyne:
Good morning Karl.
Stefanovic:
Okay, good to have you with us this morning. Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has admitted politicians are using frequent flyer points earned on taxpayer funded trips for personal use. Have you ever used frequent flyer points to book personal flights?
Pyne:
Well Karl I think this is a bit of a furphy because MPs aren't allowed to use their frequent flyer points for personal travel - they're only allowed to use frequent flyer points to redeem taxpayer funded travel. And that's a very complicated system. The Government has made it so complex it's almost impossible to do, but the only time that frequent flyer points that have been earned by travel because you're an MP can be used is when you're travelling as an MP. So I don't know quite what Lindsay says, but I mean the first thing you do when you're trying to create a distraction is to talk about MPs' perks and salary because that always gets the public on side. If you want people to not focus on the economy, talk about MPs' perks and that gets all the tabloids salivating.
Stefanovic:
All right, so you have used the frequent flyer points that you've acquired to pay for other flights that are related to government responsibility?
Pyne:
Well I'm not sure that I have because I leave all that up to my office. So basically you just accumulate these frequent flyer points with constant travel, and I've been travelling for sixteen years so there's been a lot of frequent flyer points that have been accumulated.
Stefanovic:
And you've never used the frequent flyer points that you have acquired in government flights to pay for a holiday flight?
Pyne:
No of course not.
Stefanovic:
All right. There you go. Well we'll hear more about that today. Do you think we can expect a Robin Hood budget this May? We're all talking about Budget to fund a much-needed boost for our pensioners...
Pyne:
Well the Budget last year raised taxes, because of the alco-pops tax. And the Budget this year is going to increase taxes, because Mr Tanner has said it's going to, and of course the Emissions Trading Scheme is a tax itself. So every year so far Labor has had a Budget, they've increased taxes. And they haven't taken taxes, taken from the rich to give to the poor. They've taken from the rich, from the poor, the not-so-rich, the not-so-poor, to fund their deficit and debt splurge. So it doesn't surprise me that they're going to call it a Robin Hood Budget, but if they're going to take away or reduce the threshold for using the Medicare safety net, it doesn't take much for families, particularly families of three or four children, to get to that safety net incredibly quickly. So that's not taking from the rich to give to the poor: that's taking from everybody and giving to Kevin and Wayne.
Stefanovic:
Okay, let's move on. Sixty nine thousand pensioners - this has our viewers up in arms this morning - sixty nine thousand pensioners living overseas have received the Rudd Government's $1000 hand out. That's $69,000,000 going offshore just because these people may have worked in Australia for a period. Does the pension scheme need a complete and utter overhaul?
Pyne:
Well it's a complete farce that the stimulus package - the spending spree, the cash splash - has gone to people living in Italy, in Greece, in the Netherlands, in New Zealand, where it's going to help their economy but not help our's, and that's of course one of the flaws of giving away cash in the way that the Rudd Government has done so. That wouldn't have happened of course if they had brought forward the tax cuts, which was Malcolm Turnbull's plan, because those people probably aren't paying tax in Australia. Therefore they wouldn't have benefited from having tax cuts. But of course if you give them a cash hand-out, they did benefit. And it's just a sign that the Government doesn't really know what it's doing, and of course that $22 billion has now disappeared and will never come back again.
Stefanovic:
All right, now let's move on to the last one. Now parents who refuse to immunise their kids are being blamed for a return of old diseases, such as whooping cough. I know you've got a few kids - have you immunised your kids?
Pyne:
Absolutely. I think that while it's awful the first time you take your child to be immunised, it's a critical thing to do. And the first time Eleanor particularly, one of my children, was injected I thought she'd never forgive us again - she got such a terrible shock. But I've got another one who's one at the moment, Aurelia's just been born a year ago. We had her follow-up shots last week. And it's a terrible experience for the parents but it's very important for the children, and the whole community.
Stefanovic:
Agreed. All right Chris Pyne, we'll see you soon.
Pyne:
That's a pleasure - see you soon Karl.
ENDS