ABC 891

SUBJECTS: State Liberals; Labor corruption scandals; Kevin Rudd E&OE................................ Hon Christopher Pyne MP: Good morning Matthew, good morning David, good morning Mark. Presenter:  And Chris Pyne are congratulations in order now that you’ve achieved total control of the South Australian Liberal Party with the election of Steven Marshall and Vickie Chapman? Pyne: Oh Matthew I think that is a very inside the beltway opening question.  I think the important thing … Presenter:  How about answering it? Pyne: WellI’m happy to answer it.  I only got six words out.  The important thing is the South Australian Liberal Party has unanimously elected Steven Marshall as the Leader and elected Vickie Chapman as its Deputy.  It’s got twelve months between now and the next State election.  Steven Marshall got off to a flying start and in Question Time yesterday already had Jay Weatherill in the hot seat and I think he has the political acumen, the business experience and the compassion to be a really outstanding Premier and I hope the South Australian public share that view. Presenter:  It’s not hard though to find Liberals who are concerned about your enormous power within the Party.  It’s been pointed out to us that now that Isobel Redmond has gone as Leader, she was allied to the right faction, she associated with them, now Steven Marshall, he takes a position on State Executive and he’s with the moderates.  Chelsey Gardner , wife of John Gardner and I think John Gardner worked for you at one time and Chelsey Gardner has worked for Vickie Chapman at one time.  James Stevens has, who worked for you at one time, he’s now, if he hasn’t already is about to be installed as the Chief of Staff in Steven Marshall’s office and Tess Hipper who was a policy adviser apparently is being shunted, somewhere, allowing Isobel Redmond’s Chief of Staff Michael Fitzgerald to take her position as a policy adviser so it’s quite a clean out and people allied either directly to you or people via Vickie Chapman. Pyne: Well look, they’re all outstanding and talented people that you’ve mentioned and if they have achieved success in politics in their own right, I’m absolutely delighted for them.   In terms of the South Australian public, who is, fills particular positions in the Leader’s firmament is not that relevant.  What’s important is that the economy is stagnating, debt is rampant, industry payment of $750 million a year…. Presenter: ..former Pyne staffer, a former Pyne staffer is now the Chief of Staff to the Liberal Leader. Pyne: Well that suggests that I after twenty years in politics, I’ve learnt something perhaps about training staff and producing terrific people and I’m very happy about that. Presenter:  Mark Butler Minister for Mental Health, have you stayed in Eddie Obeid’s ski lodge? Hon Mark Butler MP: No, no I haven’t. Presenter:  Why not?  Were you out of favour? Butler: I’ve never met Eddie Obeid and I think I may … Presenter:  I don’t think you need to have met Eddie Obeid to have stayed in his ski lodge though, do you? Butler: I haven’t.  But look can I just say about the conversation you just had, that the problem for Mr Marshall is that he’s taken the Leadership of the Liberal Party as part of a massive power grab by Christopher.  He’s grabbed all of the significant positions in the Liberal Party in South Australia and you only have to read Sarah Martin’s piece in the Australian this morning to see that there are still some very unhappy campers in the Liberal Party about this.  Those who are proclaiming the end of the Evans and Chapman saga frankly seem to be dreaming.  I mean it’s gone longer than the Bold and the Beautiful.  This has a long way to go. Pyne:  This from a man who sits around with Don Farrell in smoke filled rooms and decides which candidates will fill which seats in which pre-selections and don’t even have a ballot ... Presenter:  But you meet with your people at the Cremorne Hotel regularly plotting moves for the South Australian Party Christopher Pyne.   Pyne:  The great thing about the South Australian Liberal Party, unlike the South Australian Labor Party, is that every single person who’s pre-selected has to face a democratic ballot of the party membership, it’s called plebiscites and whoever wins those, I then support them because I think the most important thing is to beat the Labor Party. Presenter:  But your group, which now controls State Executive, controls pre-selections and controls the allocation of funding for seats. Pyne:  Oh for goodness sake. I don’t accept your assertions to start with.  Number one, all of this is completely irrelevant to the fact that South Australians are paying $750 million a year in interest repayments, $2.2 million a day because of the economic mismanagement of the Weatherill Government. Presenter:  Well if power is so irrelevant why do you try and get so much? Pyne:  I don’t.  I just do my job as the Member for Sturt, very happy to do it. Presenter:  Now Mark Butler … Butler: Rubbish, rubbish.  If there’s one clear lesson in political history is that people who try to grab too much power end up coming unstuck and this is the problem, this is the albatross that Mr Marshall is going to have hanging around his neck – as he tries to rebuild the Opposition there is already enormous dissent because Christopher’s overreached. Presenter: Mark Butler coming back to this national issue though, these corruption enquiries going on in New South Wales and the revelations coming out about the influence of the Obeid family, particularly Eddie Obeid, you say you have never stayed at his ski lodge.  Are you worried that some of your colleagues have, and despite the fact from memory here it goes at around $2,000 to $4,000 for a couple of nights as a freebie, totally forgot we understand, to put it in their pecuniary interest register. Butler: Well there are two issues there, the first is that they stayed at the lodge owned by Mr Obeid.  I imagine that Tony Burke and Steve Conroy, who were the two Federal MPs who made statements yesterday, would greatly regret with the benefit of hindsight, accepting anything from this fellow but it’s with the benefit of hindsight.  At the time Mr Obeid sure, had a reputation for being a guy who played politics pretty hard but the extraordinary and frankly stomach churning allegations that are going around were not around at that time.  So with the benefit of hindsight, I am sure that they greatly regret it.  In terms of declaring that they stayed at this chalet or lodge or whatever it was, and the rules say that you don’t have to declare hospitality that is offered in a personal capacity so for example when a mate or a work colleague has you around for dinner it’s the view that there is no public interest in declaring that you’ve done that.  It’s not going to have any impact on how you vote if a mate or a work colleague, but again with the benefit of hindsight particularly given what’s happening in the Commission proceedings in Sydney, Tony Burke and Steve Conroy - Steve Conroy as I understand was not even mentioned in the proceedings yesterday – but nonetheless declared that he had stayed there and that given what was happening, there was a public interest in declaring that. Presenter:  Now Chris Pyne I heard Stephen Conroy on AM indicating that well there’s some questions to be asked in relation to the Liberal Party with Eddie Obeid as well, not just the Labor Party.  Are you aware of any of those? Pyne:  No and there aren’t any questions.  The truth is that it doesn’t surprise me that Mark Butler would do everything he can this morning to cast attention away from the fact that Craig Thomson is in Court today in Melbourne, Peter Slipper is in Court next week in Canberra, Steve Conroy and Bill Shorten and Tony Burke have got caught up in the hideous stories coming out of the Obeid clan in Sydney, I mean Labor is surrounded by a stench of scandal and corruption.  That is a simple statement of fact and they’re not focussed on what the public care about.  They’re not focussed on cost of living or job security or border protection or economic management.  They’re just inwardly focussed and in Canberra of course the only talk in town is Rudd versus Gillard. Presenter:  Well, Mark Butler does the federal Labor Party need to find a job for Kevin Rudd? Butler: Well I think he’s got a job; last time I looked he’s the Member for Griffith in Queensland Presenter:  A better job, something more than just being a backbencher? Butler: Well I’m not of the view that he wants a better job.  He’s campaigning in his seat, he’s doing some bare foot bowling as I understand it, whatever that is, over the next few days in his seat.  A number of MPs have asked him to campaign in their seats and that’s no surprise to me, he’s a very popular political figure and he’s one of the best campaigners that we have at a federal level.  So, I think he’s keeping himself busy and obviously you see from his Twitter feed is also spending some time with his family on the weekends. Presenter:  Would you concede that it’s unfortunate then that the Labor Party crippled him as an asset by describing him just a year ago as a psychopath, pathetic and bizarre. Butler: Well the Labor party didn’t describe him as that.  A couple of members of the Labor Party did. Presenter:  Cabinet Ministers. Butler: Yeah, a couple of Cabinet Ministers. Presenter:  Okay. Butler: Okay but that is not the view of the Labor Party, necessarily.  Where I think Kevin is still held in very high regard in the Labor Party as all of our former Prime Ministers are and as someone who still has great campaigning capacity. Presenter:  You wouldn’t have thought so a year ago. Butler: Was that a question or statement.  Sorry…. Presenter:  Well a statement.  I’m putting it to you and I’m interested in your response that you wouldn’t have thought a year ago that he was held in high regard. Butler: Well no, I think a year ago he was held in high regard by the vast bulk of Caucus.  That doesn’t mean that they were going necessarily vote for him.  I mean people can vote for a candidate Gillard at the February ballot last year and still hold Kevin Rudd in high regard.  I’m one of those people for example and I think the vast bulk of people who voted for Julia Gillard did so with no animus against Kevin Rudd, I think he is still held in very high regard among the Caucus. Presenter:  Mark Butler thankyou Minister for Mental Health, Member for Port Adelaide thank you. We’re almost upon the news we’ll talk to Ian Henschke in just a moment, we want to talk to him to find out what  he’s got coming up, don’t go away yet, it’s not a duty. And Chris Pyne thank you Shadow Minister for Education and Liberal MP for Sturt, thank you. Pyne: It’s always a pleasure thank you. Presenter: Thank you very much. ENDS.