ABC 891

SUBJECTS: AWU Scandal; Support for the Motor Industry; Steve Gibbons’ Sexist Tweet; Dogs and politics

E&OE................................

Presenter: Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education and Manager of Opposition Business in the House. As David said the Liberal MP for Sturt, good morning to you Christopher Pyne.

The Hon Christopher Pyne MP: Good morning Matthew and Dave.

Presenter: The big issue which of course is dominating national affairs is the AWU, Julia Gillard controversy. Let’s deal with this in a very political way. Mark Butler if you could say anything to Christopher Pyne who is the Manager of Opposition Business in the House, regarding this affair, what would it be?

The Hon Mark Butler MP: Well I think I’d say that I can’t remember so much being written and so much being said about something of such negligible substance and consequence. I mean for almost twenty years now, the Liberal Party has been trying to create something out of nothing with this issue. Still there is no substantive allegation. There’s lots of smear and lots of suggestive questions, but no substantive allegation so what I would say to Christopher is that this a dead duck there are lots of things to talk about, we’ve had every single question in Question Time this week on this issue, not on issues that actually mattered to families and pensioners and others in the community and we should move on.

Presenter: Christopher Pyne -

Pyne: The gravamen of the allegations directed to the Prime Minister is did she take part in a criminal conspiracy to defraud, and did she benefit from it? Do you need it anymore than that Mark? I just laid it out for you.

Butler: There have been suggestive questions for twenty years they’ve been running.

Pyne: No, you can’t just run that spin. You’ve said there is no allegation. I’ll tell you what the allegation is, the allegation is did she take part in a criminal conspiracy to defraud when she helped incorporate the Australian Workers Union Welfare Reform Association, and did she benefit from that. They’re the questions that we’ve been asking, let me explain; we asked a very important question this week about whether she wrote to the Western Australian Corporate Affairs Commission attesting to the legitimacy of the association. We know from her Slater and Gordon exit interview that she knew that it was a slush fund, because she said that herself. In which case, if she wrote that letter that is part of a criminal conspiracy to defraud. When we asked her if she wrote that letter she said no such letter has been produced. Of course, the file has disappeared in Perth, completely disappeared from state records, but she didn’t answer the question. Why didn’t she just say “No, I never wrote that letter?”

Presenter: Mark Butler -

Butler: Well these questions have been tried every single possible way at Question Time this week, over the last twenty years in Victoria and at the national stage. The Prime Minister again held a marathon press conference this week where the whole of the press gallery was able to question her on every aspect of this smear and these allegations and still there is no smoking gun. I mean you can continue to ask these questions in a range of different ways for another twenty years…

Presenter: He does spell it out as an allegation that she was involved in. Mark Butler, Federal Labor MP, Steven Gibbons according to Simon Cullen, who’s retweeted it on Twitter this morning has initially described Tony Abbott as a ‘douchebag’ and Julie Bishop as a ‘narcissistic bimbo’. Within seconds, we understand it, he replaced the word ‘bimbo’ with ‘fool’, ‘apologies to those offended by my use of the word ‘bimbo’’. How does that leave the Government on the high ground in terms of sexism?

Butler: Well I think as a general proposition I wish the people would think before they use social media and I think that is a general proposition, but it’s particularly one that politicians should take to heart and look, I haven’t seen those tweets, but I’ve seen reports of them and I think they’re completely unacceptable. I think people are heartedly sick of the tone of federal political debate particularly and I think if Steve has done that, that’s not helpful at all, that’s unacceptable.

Presenter: Chris Pyne -

Pyne: Well look, the Prime Minister said that she would call out sexism wherever she saw it, so therefore I assume she will come out today and discipline Steve Gibbons, who is a member of her Caucus. She made a great play about misogyny and sexism as some people might remember, so as the Prime Minister and the Leader, it her job to come out and discipline Steve Gibbons and distance herself from what he said.

Presenter: At 8 minutes to nine, Christopher Pyne, Mark Kenny reports in The Advertiser that Holden boss Mike Devereux has warned voters they will face an election choice between keeping an Australian automotive industry or allowing it fold at the cost of thousands of jobs. In a shot across the bow of the Coalition ahead of next year’s federal election, Mr Devereux said that lower levels of industry assistance and less certainty threatened the survival of Australian manufacturers. That’s aimed at your party.

Pyne: Look I’m sorry that Mark Devereux has said comments like that, I mean the car industry executives are very good at threatening governments and they’ve been very successful at attracting financial support from the taxpayer from both sides of politics, Labor and Liberal. In fact Labor have given them more bailouts this year and the Coalition have supported it. We support tax payer support for the car industry and Mr Devereux should be grateful that that support is provided to ensure that the car industry remains viable, workers have their jobs and we have a manufacturing industry in this country particularly in our great state. As I’ve always supported the car industry but he shouldn’t make ugly threats to the Coalition or anybody else.

Presenter: The state Opposition has questioned whether the money could be better spent as from memory has Jamie Briggs in his musings.

Pyne: Well, the Coalitions policy, I mean goodness gracious, the Howard Government were the people behind the car industry assistance package. We’ve put billions of dollars into the car industry for many years and I think it’s quite rude, actually, for Mike Devereux to make ugly threats. I don’t think it does him any good at all. It doesn’t reflect well on Holden either.

Presenter: Mark Butler -

Butler: Well I need to correct something, I mean it was only a few weeks ago that Sophie Mirabella who is the Opposition Industry spokesperson confirmed again in the Financial Review that the Coalition did not support the Holden co-investment that the Gillard and the Weatherill Government.

Pyne …(inaudible)

Butler: Well I’ve got the quote in front of me from Sophie Mirabella.

Pyne: Well you’ve got lots of quotes in front of you but don’t seem to know anything about Steve Gibbons’ twitter on the other hand.

Presenter: Well I think he said that it had been reported

Butler: … and I’ve the quote here in front of me from the Financial Review, and I did see the reports about Steve Gibbon’s tweet and I responded to that. But this is a really important issue for South Australia. At the moment the Coalition has no plan beyond 2015 and their plan up to 2015 involves significantly less investment in supporting jobs in the car industry than the Government. So it is time, I mean Tony Abbott made a big play about jobs yesterday but to borrow an oft used phrase of Christopher’s, it was all froth and no beer. This is an opportunity for the Coalition to clearly state something of substance, some real policy with meat on the bones about an incredibly important industry to South Australia and they have not done that.

Pyne: It’s a really important industry and I’ve always supported the car industry, for 20 years… [inaudible] Let me say this, Holden and Ford and everyone else, Toyota and Mitsubishi signed up to the Howard Government’s car industry plan many many years ago and they have existed under that plan. It was a transition away from tax payer support and propping up their industry. Now if Mr Devereux…

Presenter: But shouldn’t we, maybe we should have a debate about it Chris Pyne and Mark Butler?

Butler: Maybe we should? I agree we should I mean I think we..

Pyne: I don’t think tax payers should be expected to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars to the car industry every year or two because of threats from the car industry. I think we should be working with the car industry for them to transition away from being a handout industry from Government to being able to stand on their own two feet and that requires exports, it requires them to be smarter about what they are producing and ugly threats from the CEO of Holden do not help.

Presenter: And Mark Butler do you think there does need to be accountability big time?

Butler: Of course there needs to be accountability for tax payers money but I don’t see Mr Devereux statements as a threat I think he is poising a very reasonable question that a group of people who think that they’re already measuring up the curtains for government next year don’t have a plan for the car industry…

Pyne: Mark, after the last $210 million dollar bailout from Government which was supposed to secure the current jobs and Tom Kousantonis said that there would not be one job lost, Ford in Melbourne put off over 200 workers!

Butler: Well Ford in Melbourne did have to restructure from big car manufacturing to smaller…

Pyne: Where is the accountability?

Butler: The whole point about the old Howard car plan is that the car industry has moved on dramatically since then with the Global Financial Crisis, with the growth of Chinese manufacturing, with the move to more fuel efficient vehicles and that is what our Government is focussed on, making sure the car industry here in Australia has an eye on the future of manufacturing….

Pyne: I support the car industry and always have supported the car industry.

Presenter: I think we are getting into a loop gentlemen at four minutes to nine we will go to Ian Henschke who is broadcasting from Cleland this morning, but before that, Chris Pyne I know you support the car industry and are you now on board with the Golden Retriever industry after your 2013 electoral calendar shows you with two - not one, not one golden retriever but two.

Pyne: I do love the Golden retriever. I’m the patron of the South Australian Labrador and Golden Retriever Association actually.

Presenter: Really!

Pyne: Yes.

Presenter: And it is Gidget and Taylor are the two Golden Retrievers?

Pyne: Yes and I have a beautiful Labrador called Matilda and of course the Guide dogs for the blind are in my electorate as well up at Gilles Plains and I’ve had a long association with the Royal Society for the Blind and Guide Dogs, and I want to give them a bit of a push along.

Presenter: Mark Butler are you getting the dogs out for your calendar?

Butler: I actually think there is a dog in my calendar, my Miniature Schnauzer and Christopher and I know they are loyal and forgiving friends, and sometimes that’s all we politicians can get.

Presenter: You know what Paul Keating said, if you want a friend buy a dog. Mark Butler thank you very much. Christopher Pyne thank you for your time.

ENDS