Sky News AM Agenda

SUBJECTS: Royal Commission; AC Nielsen Poll; Childcare; AWU Scandal

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

Hon Christopher Pyne MP: Good to be with you Kieran

Kieran Gilbert: Quite, well, staggering support, as I said for the Royal Commission. What does this say to you about the inquiry? Does it reflect, I suppose sentiment that this is long overdue?

Pyne: I think what it reflects is that there’s zero tolerance in the community for the sexual abuse of children and whoever’s responsible for it, whether it’s institutions, individuals, within families, governments, there is absolutely no tolerance for it and if a Royal Commission can help to be part of the healing process for those people who have been abused and can send strong messages in the future about a zero tolerance attitude to this, it will be useful.

Gilbert: There’s some criticism at the weekend of the Royal Commission that there hadn’t been enough preparation done or forethought as to what the Government had hoped to achieve from the Royal Commission. Do you think that that criticism is valid?

Pyne: Well it is valid because the Prime Minister was putting out on Friday through Bill Shorten that there wasn’t going to be a Royal Commission and then by the Monday she had reversed on a dime and decided that she was going to have a Royal Commission. So clearly, there’s been virtually no preparation for this rather important, very important, event in Australia and I think it will have a massive impact on the Australian psyche when people realise over time the really prevalent nature of sexual abuse whether it’s in boys’ homes, girls’ homes ones run by the State, ones run by charities and churches and so on but that said, in spite of that criticism, the Opposition did call for a Royal Commission before the Prime Minister announced it. We do support some kind of closure on this issue and we will support the Government in what they are doing.

Gilbert: Well, in the Government’s defence with the preparation, they are doing consultation now aren’t they, before locking in the terms of reference, or locking in the Royal Commissioner? So doesn’t that then, I suppose provide some rebuttal to the criticism that they haven’t done enough preparation because that’s being done now?

Pyne: They jumped the gun on a Royal Commission but we support the fact that there should be a Royal Commission. We now support the Government taking it’s time to get the terms of reference right because we don’t want this to be some kind of a crucible like, witch hunt where innocent people get caught up in claims and counter claims. Now I know as a local Member of Parliament in Family Court proceedings of course there are always two sides to every story and both sides passionately hold their views. We don’t want a Royal Commission to become another opportunity for people to make claim and counter claim against each other in a very personal way.

Gilbert: On to the Party vote, Labor’s primary vote is flat for the third straight month after an improvement earlier in the year; the Coalition is up too, in terms of its primary vote. Is that comforting after a period where Labor appeared to be as I said to be on the improve?

Christopher Pyne: Well, I think the real story out of the AC Nielsen poll today Kieran is that the Government slag and bag policy of the last three months simply hasn’t worked. In the last three months they have thrown everything including the kitchen sink at Tony Abbott to try and destroy him personally and politically. Now, he’s held up in the face of a barrage of personal vilification. The Government’s also created a blizzard of announcements. Spending announcements of money they simply don’t have. Spending announcements where people think money is going to be spent where it isn’t. There’s been an absolute, veritable blizzard of new issues created since the carbon tax came in because the Government wants to get the agenda off cost of living and off job security. But the truth is Labor’s primary vote has flat-lined and continues to flat-line because the public know this is a poor Government that is taking our country down the Irish road economically and it’s one we need to change.

Gilbert: Mr Abbott’s approval rating is down again: 36% approval, 60% disapproval. I notice, and many have noticed, that he’s taken a bit of a back step in terms of leading the attacks against the Government, obviously worried that this effective campaign against the Prime Minister has had some collateral damage on him. Is that what we are seeing in those numbers, that some of his attacking has come back to hurt him?

Pyne: Look I think that the Government has been napalming Tony Abbott for the last three months. This has been their strategy. Smearing, slagging and bagging him. Personally vilifying him. It’s all been about Tony Abbott.

Gilbert: What about his approach though? (Inaudible)

Pyne: No I don’t think so. The Labor Party spin has been that their campaign has been working. Well the proof of the pudding is in the eating. On election day I’m very confident the public will put aside the campaign of personal vilification and vote on the issues. Cost of living rising, the carbon tax broken promise, job security, the Prime Minister’s integrity, boats and border protection and economic management. They’ll be the issues that will dominate the election. Labor has tried to make the issue Tony Abbott and they are not succeeding.

Gilbert: Mr Abbott’s going to announce the terms of reference for a Coalition promise, a Productivity Commission inquiry into childcare. What sorts of, I know flexibility is the aim here, but what sorts of things are the Coalition considering? What options would you like to see?

Pyne: Well Kieran, I think a lot of families are very concerned that the childcare system in Australia remains very inflexible. There are a lot of different versions of childcare that are not taken seriously by this Government. What we need to do is give mothers and fathers the maximum number of options available to them. So these terms of reference for a Productivity Commission inquiry I think will give us the opportunity to canvas all the options that should be available to mums and dads for childcare, whether its in-home, whether it’s in child care centres and what kind of child care should attract Government support and we’ll look forward to their response in due course.

Gilbert: We’re covering quite a few issues. I do just want to finally get your thoughts on Labor raising questions about Julie Bishop’s legal career. When as a lawyer she represented CSR in defence of claims brought by asbestos sufferers. Given that Julie Bishop has led the attack against the Prime Minister on the AWU is it fair game?

Pyne: Look Kieran, this is a spectacular own-goal from the Labor Party. They’ve decided to talk about Julie Bishop’s career as a solicitor, criticising her for doing her job when she was a solicitor. As opposed to the Prime Minister Julia Gillard who of course wasn’t doing her job when she was a solicitor, because when she found out of the fraud of her boyfriend Bruce Wilson she didn’t report it to the authorities or the police. In fact, she didn’t do anything other than end the relationship, to use her own words. The fact that they talk about Julie Bishop’s career as a solicitor only highlights that Julia Gillard in fact didn’t open a file for the sale of this property in Melbourne from her boyfriend Bruce Wilson for the purchase of it; she didn’t tell her partners at Slater & Gordon that that’s what she was doing; didn’t charge them for the conveyancing fees for the work that she did for them and assisted them in establishing a slush fund which she told, in the objectives of the trust fund, says was for the welfare and work safety of the workers. In fact, she then admitted to her partners in Slater & Gordon it was a slush fund.

Gilbert: What about the questions around the Julie Bishop and CSR matter?

Pyne: Solicitors should do their job. That’s what they’re paid to do. If Julie Bishop was representing CSR she should do the best job possible for CSR, that’s what she’s paid to do. That’s how solicitors and barristers get their work. The truth is Julia Gillard didn’t do her job as a solicitor and a partner at Slater & Gordon, she assisted in the operations, setting up of a slush fund, she has not told the truth about it ever since, she’s claimed that she’s answered questions when you and I both know she’s been given unique questions that she’s never had put to her before that she has refused to answer. About, for example, why she didn’t open a file for the conveyancing work, why she said she had nothing to do with the file? Where are all these files Kieran? The Federal Court Registry in Queensland can’t find them; the Federal Court Registry in New South Wales can’t find them, the West Australian Corporate Affairs Commission lost their file, Slater & Gordon’s lost the legal file. It is very unusual for four files in four different geographical locations to disappear. I think this is becoming a serious problem for the Prime Minister’s credibility. She needs to make a statement to the Parliament when we return next Monday outlining answers to all of these serious questions if she is to have any integrity going forward.

Gilbert: Christopher Pyne, I appreciate your time.

Pyne: Pleasure.

ENDS.