Transcript - ABC Nat - Morning Show - 2 Dec 2009

SUBJECTS: Tony Abbott as new Liberal Leader; ETS legislation vote in the Senate

(greetings omitted)

Fran KELLY: Now, Christopher Pyne, you say you voted for Malcolm Turnbull in the challenge yesterday but you were certainly helping Joe Hockey get organised in advance of that. Was this a spectacular strategic failure by the Moderate wing of your party? You split the vote and lost the battle.

Christopher PYNE: Look Fran, I don't think there's much point in talking about the internal battles within the Liberal Party over the Leadership. I think that's something the voters are thoroughly sick of. It might be entertaining at times but we are a serious Opposition that wants to hold the Government to account and constantly examining the rather unattractive entrails of the Liberal Party will not advance our cause at all.

KELLY: Have the extremists taken over the Party? That's what the Government says.

PYNE: Well the Government would say that but it's probably time that the Government stopped talking about the Opposition and started talking about what their Emissions Trading Scheme actually means for Australia. They've been allowed to get off very lightly by explaining one of the most immense changes to the Australian economy in our history, a $120billion new tax. Now it's time for the Government to get real with the Australian people. Start explaining what the Emissions Trading Scheme means and has to happen before Copenhagen. Why Barack Obama can go to Copenhagen without legislation but Mr Rudd apparently can't and what it means for household prices, electricity prices and so forth.

KELLY: Now we certainly will come to that in a moment but can I just ask this question first? Is it fair to say that the "Moderate Experiment" didn't last long?

PYNE: Well the Liberal Party has always been a broad church. We've had a large range of people. Liberals like John Gorton, Andrew Peacock and Robert Menzies right through to more conservative Leaders like John Howard and now Tony Abbott. We represent both the Liberal and Conservative wings of philosophy. Yesterday Malcolm Turnbull, who I think has been an exceptional Leader, was defeated by Tony Abbott by one vote. To say that suddenly one group of people have taken over the Liberal Party is, quite frankly, a very unsophisticated analysis.

KELLY: But Tony Abbott said at his press conference, or at some point yesterday anyway, said that he ascendency will see the Party going from "a former Government to a fair dinkum Opposition". Do you agree with that?

PYNE: Well I think that what he's saying is that there's been a struggle within the Liberal Party since the last election to actually come to terms with the fact we lost the last election. As an Opposition we are trying to improve Government legislation or make Government legislation less bad. The public voted for the Labor Party, they got the Labor Party and therefore they have to wear the consequences of it. What we'll do as an Opposition with Tony Abbott is point out the flaws of the Labor Party, hold them to account and ask the people to give us a mandate at the next election to reduce debt and deficit, keep interest rates low and strongly protect our borders.

KELLY: That sounds like you think Malcolm Turnbull's strategy was all wrong.

PYNE: No, I think Malcolm Turnbull was a sensational Leader, I think he did a great job...

KELLY: Well he was working to try to improve the Government's policy on the ETS.

PYNE: Well on interest rates, border protection he was doing very well but I'm talking more generally about the psyche of the Liberal Party. We are now probably three months from a Federal election. Every day is a day to point out to the Australian public why we need to change the Government in order to make the country better again.

KELLY: Well talking about the psyche of the Liberal Party, from what I've experienced over the last couple of days it's a little bruised and battered at the moment. There is going to be a vote in the Senate on the Emissions Trading Scheme Bill today. A couple of Liberal Senators are thinking they are likely to cross the floor. Should they be allowed to do that? Are there any repercussions for that? Will there be any pressure on them to not do that?

PYNE: There will not be any repercussions against any Liberal Senator or member of the House of Representatives. The Bills won't come back to us but if they did and decided to vote in favour of this legislation. The Liberal Party is a broad church, we are not a Stalinist organisation that insists on a mono-dimensional view from the Leader down. That's why we are the Liberal Party and if any of my colleagues chose to cross the floor at this point, I don't think anybody in the Liberal Party could criticise them in the events of the last week.

(ends)