Today Show

E&OE TRANSCRIPT Interview - Channel 9 Sydney, Today Show 24 October 2014 SUBJECTS: Terrorist Attacks Canada, Higher Education Reforms KARL STEFANOVIC: Joining us now is Christopher Pyne and Anthony Albanese. Good morning guys, nice to see you this morning. Chris to you first of all, this is a timely reminder of the changing style of terrorism and these lone wolf attacks, very difficult to prevent. Are we as prepared as we can be? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Yes I do think we are prepared as we possibly can be. We have a very highly professional apparatus that listens and surveys what we think people of interest might be planning to do. Both Labor and Liberal Governments’ over the last few years have intervened in potential attacks in Australia and stopped them getting off the ground. These lone wolf attacks though are obviously very difficult to stop. You have to survey the people who might be planning such things but every now and again somebody will crack and do something like this. In the case of the Canadian Parliament this was a person who’s passport had been stopped and he hadn’t been allowed to leave Canada and he decided that’s what he would do. KARL STEFANOVIC: This is happening here too, the number of passports have been handed back. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Yes many. KARL STEFANOVIC: So this is what you, I guess, you run the risk of initiating. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: We are in a very difficult situation internationally and our international security is domestic security. We don’t want those people going to Syria or Iraq to fight and kill people. If they stay here because their passports have been stopped we have to make sure we keep a very close watch on what everyone is doing. KARL STEFANOVIC: Anthony, these DIY terrorists is what they’ve been so called now. Do we need more high visibility police? Do we need more men on the ground? Do we need more funding for high visibility policing? ANTHONY ALBANESE: Well we’ve done that at the state and the federal level. If you look at parliament house, our parliament of course because is a modern building it’s much harder, it’s an obvious target, but its much harder because someone couldn’t just walk in with a gun the way the way what happened in Canada, which is an older building in Ottawa. The presence around the Parliament, it’s there, it’s visible, but there’s also a lot of things that people don’t see that keep us secure. We have to be vigilant. There’s no 100% guarantees when it comes to National security but I have every confidence in our police forces and other security agencies. KARL STEFANOVIC: Well in a place like Canada where you least expect a terrorist attack, it happened, so it’s good to hear that we’re doing everything we possibly can. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: But also Karl our people are the best defence. We have this number 1800 123 400, the national security hotline which people can call if they see suspicious behaviour. That is working, just remember a story a couple of weeks ago the people at Lucas Heights. They were questioned and their cameras were taken away etc. Our people themselves are our frontline as well. KARL STEFANOVIC: That’s a good call. Good call. You’ve rolled over on your education reforms, on to domestic matters now, you’ve… CHRISTOPHER PYNE: No I haven’t. A completely false story in the Sydney Morning Herald. KARL STEFANOVIC: What’s wrong with the story? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: It’s just wrong. It’s completely wrong. KARL STEFANOVIC: Really? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Yes It looks like a grab bag of wishlists from certain people but it certainly is not the Government’s position. Fairfax strikes again! KARL STEFANOVIC: So no more pegging student debt to government bonds? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I’ve said all along we will negotiate and we will negotiate but this grab bag of shopping list of certain changes is all news to me. KARL STEFANOVIC: So no more cutting of course funding of between 12 and 15? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: That is all news to me. KARL STEFANOVIC: Really? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Yes. Maybe a lone wolf. Maybe a lone wolf operating in the higher education space that I’m not aware of but.. ANTHONY ALBANESE: He’s keeping a straight face. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: That is not my plan. Our plan is to stick with the Government’s approach but I’ve said all along we’ll negotiate, I’ve said 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing but the Sydney Morning Herald has taken an egg beater to that story. ANTHONY ALBANESE: Read for that capitulation. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: You should be happy because you don’t like my reforms. ANTHONY ALBANESE: There’s no chance of these reforms getting through the senate because they’re not fair. KARL STEFANOVIC: Quickly, liberal MP Theresa Gambaro says foreign minister Julie Bishop would make a great PM calling her a hero to women. Alright, Chris do you think that’s a good call? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I think she’s a great role model to women. KARL STEFANOVIC: Do you think she’d be a good PM? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I think she’s a great role model to everyone, not just women, by the way. I think she’s a great Foreign Minister but we have a fantastic Prime Minister, I want him to be Prime Minister for ten years and after that people can worry about the next ten years. KARL STEFANOVIC: You want her to be Prime Minister for ten years? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Tony Abbott. I said we have a great Prime Minister and we want him to be Prime Minister for ten years. I said him! KARL STEFANOVIC: Ablo she’d make a great PM? ANTHONY ALBANESE: What about Christopher? KARL STEFANOVIC: Well he’d be great too CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I know my place. ANTHONY ALBANESE: He I think is very reluctant to give praise to any other contender. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: There are no contenders! What about you and Tanya Plibersek and Chris Bowen? KARL STEFANOVIC: We’ve said all along Anthony would make a great…. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: You shouldn’t have hidden your light under a bushel all those years. ANTHONY ALBANESE: And I’m off Karl to the big push riding the bike through Sydney so I hope it stops raining. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well I hope you don’t pass away on the bike. Well he’s not too fit. He’s not too fit! ANTHONY ALBANESE: Now he’s just being mean. It’s because his education reforms are crashing, he’s getting that anger out. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: You wait and see. You wait and see.