Doorstop - Parliament House

SUBJECTS: Craig Thomson saga; Syria diplomat expulsion

E&OE……..

Christopher Pyne: Julia Gillard’s weakness is now becoming a sovereign risk in Australia. The fact that she would allow her cabinet to be rolled by caucus and to establish an oversight body in the caucus for enterprise migration agreements places at risk potentially billions of dollars of investment. Not just in the mining industry, but across Australia as overseas investors and now have to not only meet the requirements of enterprise migration agreements and the requirements of cabinet ministers who are responsible for those agreements might place on them. They now also have the run the gauntlet of “Dougy” Cameron and Kelvin Thomson and members of the caucus who are violently opposed to enterprise migration agreements. That places at risk investment in Australia so therefore the Prime Minister’s weakness in allowing this to happen, in not being prepared to stand up to the union leadership, or the caucus is a sovereign risk for Australia. When the Prime Minister has become a sovereign risk then the country needs an election to elect a Government that can get on with governing.

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: Fair Work Australia certainly hasn’t put to rest the smoking gun of the email from Mr Doug Williams in June 2009. Bernadette O’Neil’s answers on those questions were quite unsatisfactory. On the one hand the industrial registrar from the Industrial Relations Commission suggested that all haste should be brought to referring to matters to do with malfeasance in the Health Services Union to the police and he left of course immediately after that and was replaced by Tim Lee, the personal appointment of Julia Gillard to the job who then did nothing on that matter for three years until very recently. It seems very surprising that one registrar with great experience would say that a matter had reached a point where it could be referred to the police and as soon as that person left it was sat on for three years.

I think Fair Work Australia has very serious questions to answer. We have suspected an institutional go slow to protect this Government for three years and I think that memo proves it. Three years ago the then head of the Industrial Relations Commission felt action could have been taken and it took three years for Fair Work Australia to act on it and only after tremendous political pressure from the Opposition and the general public.

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: Well, they are two quite different matters. We have suspected an institutional go slow at Fair Work Australia and this memo proves that that’s true. The actual report by Terry Nasios is a very thorough report. Both of those things are true.

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: They can have a very professional report that took far too long.

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: Terry Nasios wasn’t offered to appear. As I understand it the Senator’s were told he was on long service leave and not available. So I think that’s a matter Eric Abetz needs to get to the bottom of.

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: I get correspondence from constituents every day. I get emails, letters, visits and phone calls. I get emails and letters saying we have to get rid of this terrible Government. I get letters saying the Opposition hasn’t done its job yet because Julia Gillard is still Prime Minister. I get letters saying people are worried about Craig Thomson’s mental health. I get a whole range of letters. I won’t tell you some of the emails and letters I get about Craig Thomson because I don’t think they’re able to be repeated for children’s ears. The truth about Julia Gillard lecturing the Opposition about Craig Thomson; it’s a bit like being lectured by Caligula on family values or Lady Macbeth on regicide. Quite frankly Julia Gillard who is part of the Labor Party that hounded Archbishop Hollingworth from office who had done nothing himself wrong at all; who pursued John Kerr simply because he sacked the Whitlam Government in 1975 is in no position to be lecturing the Liberal Party about any of these matters.

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: I think it is a strong response and I support the Government in the actions they’ve taken, but for more specific you should ask Julie Bishop whether she’d like to add to that.

ENDS