ABC 774

SUBJECTS: Carbon tax vote; future election

E&OE… 

Jon Faine: Christopher Pyne Good Morning to you.

Christopher Pyne: Good morning Jon

Faine: We’ve just heard from Greg Combet and now from the opposition’s point of view. Tony Abbott’s somewhat theatrical gesture that he would in bold promise to withdraw this,, its beyond belief that you would obliterate tax cuts once they’ve been delivered quite frankly.

Pyne: Well we have said that we would roll back the carbon tax. Now at the election what we promised in terms of taxation pensions and so on is another matter entirely. We have said at the election campaign, you will have a choice between a party that would roll back the carbon tax, remove the mining tax, we’ll certainly have a package with respect to taxation, income taxation for voters and also for pensions so –

Faine: But you can’t unscramble the egg if haven’t got the income from the tax that pays for the tax cuts. You can’t afford the tax cuts, you can’t unscramble the egg.

Pyne: Well that is what you say, if fact the entire federal budget is not consequent upon the carb9on tax being passed, there are other sources of revenue for the government and there are the whole issue of spending cuts that can be made in order to make room for some of these changes that we will be bringing about, so the idea that you cant roll back the carbon tax is completely false.

Faine: If it comes in on the first of July, if the election is held as scheduled eighteen months after that, industry would have got on to its planning and its forward projections its investing in its infrastructure on the certainty of an eighteen month period of time with a carbon tax no ones going to want it repealed by then.

Pyne: Well Jon that’s your view-

Faine: No it’s a question to you Christopher Pyne, as it was to Greg Combet

Pyne: Well I think quite differently to Greg Combet on this matter. I think it is absolutely clear to business, to industry, to the public, that the Coalition will repeal the carbon tax. That is the absolute dead certainty now that’s why we need an election so that the public can have the final say and that should happen will before July the first next year. It should happen carbon tax is contemplated being introduced because the public made a decision at the last election based on the government not introducing a carbon tax. We know that they’ve lied about that they should get an opportunity to cast a judgement about that and then if the Labor Party is re-elected well they’ll have got there decision the public will have a carbon tax and if the Labor Party is not re-elected they will not have a carbon tax.

Faine: This is not a good use of parliamentary or I might say radio time Christopher Pyne, the Constitution decides when we go to the polls, not the opinion polls deciding when we go-

Pyne: No the Prime Minister decides that –

Faine: Yeah those’s right and under the constitution- we’re not going to have an early election unless there is some sort of collapse in the numbers in the House, it’s not going to happen, it’s fanciful.

Pyne: It could happen. No not at all. I think the likelihood of early election is very high.

Faine: Because?

Pyne: Because I don’t think this Parliament is working and I don’t think –

Faine: Well yesterday’s evidence that is from the government’s point of view.

Pyne: Well I don’t believe that the Prime Minister will last in her job. She’s being stalked by Kevin Rudd, if he becomes leader he could well call an election and get his own mandate. When there are so many different things that could happen, the possibility of this Parliament lasting for another to years is very slim.

Faine: Do you accept, Greg Combet was telling us that the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, a massive public investor in clean energy is a valuable addition to the sorts of infrastructure that we have in the nation to help with the transition to a low polluting future?

Pyne: We have as part of our direct action plan a fund which will obviously need to be administered to decide which technologies the Government should support in our $3.2 billion direct action policy.  These kinds of funds have to determine where the Government should put taxpayers dollars should have a use, whether the clean energy fund is the right one is something we’ll have to examine and make a decision about.  We voted against it yesterday because it was part of the carbon tax package.  Whether it is a vehicle we’ll use in Government as part of our direct action policy is something we’ll announce during the election or before the election. 

Faine: Is government any good at picking winners?  Is a government financed corporation – as mentioned with Greg Combet - it’s a bit like Tricontinental in Victoria or the VEDC – when government try to get into the market place and pick winners and losers with taxpayers money it can often end in disaster. 

Pyne: Well, governments have to make decisions every day about how to spend taxpayer’s dollars and governments are doing that right now.  Governments are deciding they want to see investments in wind farms and they want to see investments in solar energy.  We’ve decided that we want to see many millions of more trees planted, investments in better technologies and so on as part of our direct action plan.  That’s why politicians are elected to govern and make decisions. 

Faine: And finally Christopher Pyne, you came in from some pointed criticism from talk back callers the other day over some comments you made on Lateline about Julia Gillard, a reference to her and fly blown sheep.  Do you regret the tone in the description that you used in the possible future fate of the Prime Minister? 

Pyne: No, not at all.  I think it’s very important for people to have word pictures.  And what I was saying was if I was her, and I believe this, if I was her I’d call an election, get the judgement of the people on my border protection policies and the carbon tax and at least have a go at fighting for it than allow myself to be eaten out like a fly blown sheep by Kevin Rudd and his supporters. 

Faine: You’ve said it again.  Are you aware of the sexual innuendo in the words you’ve just used again on this program? 

Pyne: Certainly not.  I’m talking about, unfortunately, what maggots do you sheep when they eat them out from the inside.  It’s a terrible death. 

Faine: Well, in other circles, perhaps ones that you’re not familiar with those words are used to describe oral sex and many of our listeners thought that your were being particularly inappropriate in your reference and choice of words. 

Pyne: That would be a grotesque reference, but I’m not aware of that and I can assure you I was using the reference to describe what I saw on properties that my family used to own to very unfortunate sheep and I would rather Julia Gillard didn’t suffer that fate.  I’d rather she stood up for herself and sought the judgement from the people than be cut down in the most unattractive way in a slow death by Kevin Rudd and his supporters. 

Faine: Now that you do know it has a double meaning and in some circles it’s used to describe something entirely different does that mean you won’t use that language again? 

Pyne: Certainly. 

Faine: I’m grateful to you for the clarification.  It certainly agitated a number of our listeners the other day. 

Pyne: Some people have very different minds to mine obviously. 

Faine: And mine as well, but there you go.  It brings us back to the politics at the moment which we’ll leave up to the audience to judge.  Thank you for your time this morning. 

Pyne: Pleasure. 

ENDS