Today Show

SUBJECTS:  Labor leadership spill; Question Time

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

Lisa Wilkinson: Morning to you Mr Pyne.

Christopher Pyne: Good morning Lisa.

Wilkinson: That was quite a show yesterday.  As Peter Hartcher says in this morning’s Fairfax press, ‘Julia Gillard called a Party Room meeting to settle the Labor leadership matter and the winner was Tony Abbott’.  Would you agree?

Pyne: Well you know there is only one word to sum up the Labor Party at the moment, Lisa, and that is a complete shambles.  It’s like someone’s taken one of Nanna’s apple pies, thrown it on the concrete and is now trying to put it back together and the civil war is unresolved.  Kevin Rudd made it perfectly clear that he is still prepared to be drafted.  He wouldn’t run yesterday.  Goodness knows what he was thinking yesterday but he still says that he’s prepared to be drafted at some stage in the future.

Wilkinson: Must be hard for you not to appear smug?

Pyne: Nobody wants to be complacent or smug.  The truth is that the election will come, it will be a tough election.  We will fight it very hard.  But the people who need to have a stable government are the Australian people.  We’re thoroughly sick of the pantomime that passes for a Government in Canberra, so are they.  So we will put a no-confidence motion in the Government on the notice paper for debate on budget day when we return.  If that motion of no-confidence in the Government is passed, the Government will fall and an election will be called within weeks.  Otherwise the Government can call an election themselves before we come back to the budget.

Wilkinson: So yesterday during Question Time, Tony Abbott called for a vote of no-confidence.  You had Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Andrew Wilkie who moved towards having a debate of no-confidence at that time.  So you’ll be talking to the Independents about taking that further.  Can you tell us the difference between what you’re now proposing and what happened yesterday?

Pyne: Well yesterday we moved a suspension of standing orders to allow a motion of no-confidence in the Prime Minister herself whereas if we move a motion of no-confidence in the Government it is an official motion of no-confidence.  If it’s passed it will be the first time since 1941 that a motion of no-confidence has been passed in a government and the Government would immediately fall.  It will require the Independents; Tony Windsor, Andrew Wilkie, Robert Oakeshott, Peter Slipper, Craig Thomson and Adam Bandt to vote and Bob Katter to vote with the Opposition to carry it and I’m calling on them this morning to examine their consciences, to think about the absolute joke that this Government has become, the civil war is continuing, the faceless men shouldn’t be choosing the Prime Minister, the Australian public should be given the chance to choose the Prime Minister and a new government.

Wilkinson: So you would already be in discussion with those Independents.  What are your chances of getting them on side?

Pyne: Well the crossbenches know our feeling about the Government.  They know that we think it is the worst government in Australian history.  The instability down here means that nothing is being done, the Australian people are the losers.  No one is focusing on job security, cost of living, border protection or economic management other than the Opposition.  I think we’re the ones with a plan, Lisa, some Real Solutions for Australia and the Government isn’t doing any of the things that it needs to be done.

Karl Stefanovic: Where did that come from!

Pyne: Just had it, just happened to have it handy here, Karl.

Wilkinson: Printing presses have been busy clearly for the Coalition are they not?

Pyne: (inaudible) for the Australian public. They need to see our plan, I’ll show it, last time, last time, promise I won’t show it again. But the truth is the Australian people are not getting the government they deserve and the Independents need to join with the Coalition to bring this Government down. Enough is enough.

Wilkinson: So when the vote of no confidence in the Government, you will accept Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper’s vote.

Pyne:  Well we don’t just accept Peter Slipper’s vote, we expect his vote as he was elected a Liberal in a Liberal seat. Craig Thomson’s vote we haven’t accepted, but he doesn’t need to vote with the Labor Party he could abstain from the vote but the mechanics of that will all be sorted out over the coming six weeks. I hope that the electors in the Independents’ seats will contact their local Members of Parliament. I hope that Members in Labor seats will contact their Members of Parliament and say enough is enough; it’s time for a new government. It’s time for an election so we can put this sorry period in our history behind us and have a government with a real majority in the House of Representatives that can start focussing on job security, cost of living, border protection and economic management.

Wilkinson: Well it has been a very dramatic week and Christopher Pyne I have to say you did contribute to it. Take a look at this.

Plays footage from Question Time, House of Representatives - 19/03/13:

Pyne: I would ask her to withdraw it because it is a slur on the Leader of the Opposition from and a desperate play from a desperate Prime Minister.

Wilkinson: Christopher Pyne you blew a gasket there, is your blood pressure ok?

Pyne: Look I, you know I must admit I was, it’s very frustrating having the Prime Minister every time she’s in any trouble using gender as a shield and misogyny as a sword and Tony Abbott was sitting there perfectly quietly, minding his own business and Julia Gillard barks across the Chamber at Tony Abbott ‘oh misogynist Tony is back’. Well you know for goodness sake the Prime Minister should stop trying to hide behind her gender and start dealing with the issues and quite frankly that was pent up frustration that burst out in the Chamber.

Wilkinson: That certainly did burst out.

Pyne: So I apologise if people think that I, people thought I was a bit angry but I was angry and I’m right to be frustrated.

Stefanovic: Cranky pants.

Wilkinson: We might have to send Ben Fordham around for a bit of neck and shoulders but in the meantime Christopher Pyne we will leave it there thank you very much for your time this morning.

Pyne: Ok. Thank you.

ENDS.