3AW

SUBJECTS: Craig Thomson saga; Peter Slipper E&OE…………  Neil Mitchell: Christopher Pyne, good morning. Christopher Pyne: Good morning. Mitchell: Are you Shadow Education? Pyne: I certainly am.  In fact I gave a speech on education just last night to the Christian Schools Association.  In fact I’ve been travelling around the country talking about the Gonski Review for the last four months and if you look at my website you’ll see dozens and dozens of press releases and speeches about education.  I think Craig Emerson is just raising another red herring, which is his specialty. Mitchell: Do you believe dirt is about to be thrown at the Opposition as is reported today? Pyne: Not that I’m aware of.  I haven’t seen that report, but not that I’m aware of, no. Mitchell: Where does this go?  How long can this go on for? Pyne: Well, it will go on for as long as the Government continues its protection racket around Craig Thomson.  Yesterday…. Mitchell: He’s making a fair point.  He’s saying there’s a presumption of innocence here.  That’s a reasonable thing to say. Pyne: If there is this presumption of innocence the Government has suddenly discovered, why isn’t he sitting in the caucus? Mitchell: Because of the convergence.  That’s all I got to. Pyne: There’s apparently been some mythical line that’s been crossed, but in fact the Labor Party has excluded him from the caucus because obviously he doesn’t have the presumption of innocence to be in the caucus (inaudible) presumption of innocence to be in the Parliament. Mitchell: Will you allow him the presumption of innocence? Pyne: Well, we believe the Parliament has a responsibility to protect its own integrity and when a Member of Parliament has brought the Parliament into disrepute the Parliament is entirely responsible for protecting its own interests. Mitchell: Yeah, but on what basis do you say he’s put it into disrepute?  He’s been convicted of nothing.  He’s not even charged with anything. Pyne: Well, he’s bought it into disrepute because there’s an 1100 page Fair Work Australia report that is findings that said in fact that he gave false and misleading evidence to Fair Work Australia.  He was asked to do a statement to the House in September last year, which he finally was dragged kicking and screaming to do yesterday which didn’t address most of the key issues that the Opposition and the public want answered. Mitchell: Even you’re dragged into this on another issue.  You’ve been accused of dodgy dealings with the man who’s accused Peter Slipper of inappropriate behaviour.  Now, you I assume want the presumption of innocence there?  You’re accused of doing deals to sort of promote it really. Pyne: Well, if I’ve been accused of that I’ve missed it. Mitchell: Well, that’s the inference isn’t it?  That you had these conversations with him and email contact with him and everything else.  That’s the inference isn’t it? Pyne: Well, I’ve dealt with all of those questions, Neil.  I’ve answered them all and the truth is there’s been no evidence produced of me having any involvement in the James Ashby federal court action at all and I keep asking the Labor Party to produce this evidence.  Of course there isn’t any. Mitchell: I think people are thoroughly sick of this.  Is there any way that this can now come to a conclusion or does it just drag on?  The Government is not going to agree to the Parliament to judge him. Pyne: I think you made a very good point before, Neil, which was if the Government wasn’t clinging to power with one vote, Craig Thomson would have been dispatched a long time ago.  The only reason this has been dragged on for as long as it has is because we have a Government that governs with a number of conservative independents from rural seats, a green, another independent from Denison and now Craig Thomson sitting on the crossbenches and until this parliament is brought to its logical conclusion by having an election these matters will not go away because of the tenuous grip the Government has on power. ENDS