Doorstop - Canberra

SUBJECTS: Speakership; Labor’s smear campaign E&OE……………………………………………………………………………………… Hon Christopher Pyne MP: Eleven months ago in a squalid and grubby deal, the Prime Minister axed Harry Jenkins from the Speakership to put Peter Slipper into it. She was warned at the time that it was a bad course of action on her part and yet she did it to secure one more vote on the floor of the Chamber and the chickens came home to roost last night. The Labor Caucus must be shaking their heads, because many of them at the time said that the removal of Harry Jenkins and replacing him with Peter Slipper would end badly and it has. So Peter Slipper showed the judgement yesterday in resigning that the Prime Minister failed to show yesterday afternoon when she led the Peter Slipper defence team in the Parliament only to have the rug pulled out from under her by Peter Slipper later that evening. This is a Prime Minister with no judgement, a Prime Minister who puts her own personal ambitions ahead of good public policy, of the integrity of the Parliament and the best interests of her own Caucus. Labor is being led by a Prime Minister who is leading them over a cliff. Last night we saw Peter Slipper exit the political scene as Speaker, a role he should never have been given by the Prime Minister in the first place. Journalist: Alex Somlyay put his hand up to be Speaker last night, the Government rejected it. Pyne: I’m not aware of that Laura. Journalist: His office has just confirmed it. Pyne: Well I spoke to Alex Somlyay last night and he never mentioned it to me. Journalist: What kind of precedent do you think this is setting? Are you worried that one day you may have to step down because of text messages you’ve sent in the past? Pyne: Look the reason that Peter Slipper stood down as Speaker is because his actions over the course of the last eleven months have been bringing the Parliament into disrepute, culminating in this case in the Federal Court involving James Ashby. Peter Slipper should never been in the role in the first place, that’s a very important aspect of this and for the eleven months that the Prime Minister has secured an extra vote on the floor of the House, Peter Slipper has been dogged by controversy. Obviously, all of us are flawed characters in politics as we are all in life, but clearly the Prime Minister, her defence of the Speaker yesterday was insipid and pathetic and un-Prime Ministerial. Journalist: Will the coalition be accepting Peter Slipper’s tainted vote? Pyne: Peter Slipper and Craig Thomson are two very different cases. Craig Thomson is facing the prospect of criminal charges with the allegation being that he has stolen, or used for his own personal benefit, half a million dollars of the money of health service union members. Journalist: Peter Slipper had to stand down, because of what you call vile text messages and you’re saying Peter Slipper’s vote wouldn’t be tainted? Pyne: There is a big difference Laura between someone who is potentially facing criminal charges, criminal charges for effectively, the allegation being that he stole $500,000 from health service union members. He was excluded from the caucus ostensibly by Julia Gillard and Labor wants to have their cake and eat it too with Craig Thomson. They want the benefit... Journalist: (inaudible) Pyne: They want the benefit of excluding him from the caucus while also accepting his vote. Journalist: Mr Pyne, you talk about the Prime Minister’s lack of judgement, does Tony Abbott show the same lack of judgement in using the phrase died of shame? Pyne: Well Tony Abbott’s used that phrase to describe this terrible government dozens of times. It certainly wasn’t in his mind at the time … Journalist: It’s been in the news though all week, I mean surely, who’s advising him? Surely he would have known that died of shame phrase would provoke a reaction? Pyne: Well Alan Jones said something quite different, Alan Jones said that Julia Gillard’s father had died of shame because of the lies that she’s told. That’s not what Tony Abbott said yesterday so conflating the two is a very big stretch. Journalist: But should Tony Abbott not have used the phrase? Pyne: Tony Abbott has used that phrase dozens of times. It certainly wasn’t in his mind at the time that there was some parts of it that Alan Jones had also used. Journalist: (inaudible) Pyne: The Government would do anything it can to distract people from the disaster of losing their Speaker last night. Harry Jenkins is a good man. He was a fair and reasonable speaker. He was stood aside so that Peter Slipper could take the job and the bottom line here, is that last night that all came crashing down by the hand of the Speaker Peter Slipper. And the Prime Minister didn’t have the good judgement to know half way through the day that that’s what she should have done herself. Journalist: Tony Windsor said this morning that Peter Slipper is, quote, not in a good place. Should the Coalition be tempering its attacks on Mr Slipper especially now that he’s actually stood down as Speaker? Pyne: We don’t have any axe to grind against Peter Slipper as a backbench Member of the Parliament. Our argument over the last eleven months was that the squalid deal was done by Julia Gillard to put Peter Slipper into the Speakership and axe Harry Jenkins. That was wrong and I wish Mr Slipper and his family all the best. Journalist: There is the extraordinary matter … (inaudible) Pyne: The people of Fisher voted for a change of Government in the last election. I’m sure if you polled the people of fisher right now they would also be wanting a change of Government. They’d be wanting a Liberal Government. It’s the voters of Fisher that should be listened to and they want a Liberal Government, a change of government. Journalist: Are you worried about Peter Slipper’s mental health given the events of the past 24 hours? Pyne: I don’t think it’s wise for anyone to comment on other people’s mental health. Journalist: Can you comment though on the reports in the paper today about the Coalition position on abortion (inaudible)… Does the Coalition have any plans to ….(inaudible) Pyne: That is a complete red herring, quite frankly. This is a part of a campaign that Labor wants to run that is a smear of Tony Abbott. You would think that given that their smear campaign for the last month has been in full swing, the handbag hit squad has been in full swing has not proceeded in moving the polls in fact, has damaged them in the polls, that they would give up on this. But the truth is they have nothing else to talk about. They can’t talk the cost of living. They can’t talk about job security. They can’t talk about the state of the economy. These are the things that people care about and so instead because they are doing such a bad job, in Government, they are deciding that attacking Tony Abbott and smearing him and calling him names is the only thing they have left. I think that will have the same impact as it had in the Queensland State election when the attacks on Campbell Newman were rejected by the Queensland public. Journalist: The fact that you don’t know about …. (inaudible) Pyne: Alex, politics always has twists and turns. I spent quite a bit of time with Somlyay last night. He never mentioned any such thing. That’s all I can say. Journalist: (inaudible) Pyne: Not everybody tells me everything. Journalist: (inaudible) Pyne: Well I don’t believe it. I haven’t spoken to him and until I have, I’m not going to react to that on the basis as much as I respect the fourth estate, I’m not going to react to that on the basis of what you have put to me this morning. ENDS.