Transcript - 891 ABC - Two Chrisses - 25 Jan 2010

SUBJECTS: Campaigning and the Community Cabinet; Pensions; political expectations for 2010

(greetings omitted)

MATTHEW ABRAHAM: Now, Kevin Hamilton, former Labor MP who lives in Seaton...

CHRISTOPHER PYNE MP: ...he was a big doorknocker in his time...

ABRAHAM: ...well he's ringing about doorknocking. G'day, Kevin.

Kevin HAMILTON: Morning boys. It's said in Labor circles that Street Corner Meetings are a euphemism for ""I'm a lazy bugger. If you've got a problem, you come to me."" I believe very strongly that the time spent...an hour or two hours, whatever the time may be that they allocate...I reckon I could do about sixty houses in a period of two hours. Moreover I believe you would be better off doorknocking in the middle of the week rather than weekends because weekends are very precious to a lot of people so I have to say to all those candidates out there, whether they be Liberal or Labor or other: get off your butt, get out there and around. Knock on people's doors, introduce yourself to them. If they've got a question then you can respond to it immediately. If you're an MP you can say ""here's my card, call my electorate office. Take it up with my secretary, Bob, by the time we get back I'll probably have an answer for you"".

ABRHAM: Kevin, thank you.

PYNE: Can I comment on that very briefly? Because Kevin makes a very good point. If you doorknock sixty houses in a couple of hours and, say, thirty talk to you, you've seen a lot more than the three people who have turned up to your Street Corner Meeting.

ABRAHAM: Kevin Hamilton, thank you for your call. Let's go to Woodcroft, good morning, John.

Caller JOHN: Morning guys, how are you all? I know Chris Pyne had a bit of a whinge about the Community Cabinet meeting, I think it was and I haven't been to one of these recent ones but I have been to a State one and I think it's a fantastic opportunity to have all of the Cabinet there and anybody can fire any questions at them that they want to. So I'm just wondering about Chris' opinion. Is he just angry that it's in his electorate or doesn't he like them at all?

PYNE: Well I have two objections to the Community Cabinet last week in particular. Number 1 is the costing of between $3-5million to host Community Cabinets across Australia. And I think they are little more than a transparent promotion of the ALP brand and I am of the view that if they want to promote the ALP brand, they should use ALP money and not taxpayer's money. Number 1. Number 2 is that the biggest issue for South Australia for a long time is the Murray-Darling Basin and I thought that if Kevin Rudd was going to come to Adelaide, should have announced bi-partisan support for a referendum to hand the power of the Murray-Darling Basin to the Commonwealth. I'm amazed that Labor's position is that the Murray-Darling Basin is better managed in the hands of the States, which for 110 years have been making a complete hash of it...

ABRAHAM: ...now, that's not fair, is it?

PYNE: I think it's completely fair that. If they've been making a hash of it.

ABRAHAM: It's not fair to say that Labor's position is to leave it to the States because they have set up an independent commission. Now...

PYNE: ...in 2019...

ABRAHAM: ...the last of them will kick in in 2019...so in ten years the last of them will leave in 2019...so the independent commission will start to have some say in about eighteen months' time. Now to say they're leaving it to the States is not really a fair summation of Labor's position, is it?

PYNE: Yes, I think it is because when, in January 2007, John Howard asked them to refer the power to us and put $10billion on the table, Kevin Rudd said that if he were elected he would be able to get the Labor States to agree to that. Now what they actually agreed to, the so-called ""historic agreement"" was that they kept their veto power...Victoria until 2019...and they made them take power from our water allocations from the river. Now that is not what Tony Abbott is proposing and they haven't spent...there's been $6billion on the table for infrastructure spend for the last 3 years and they've spent less than $600million.

ABRAHAM: Well let's go to Chris Schacht because I think when we were talking about the Community Cabinet we were saying half...

PYNE: ...my point to John at Woodcroft is...if everyone was using taxpayer's money for things like the Support the River Murray Referendum...now to campaign, just to try and ease me out of my seat.

ABRAHAM: Chris Schacht, wherever you are, Chris Schacht?

CHRIS SCHACHT: Well I think C2, that Chris is being a little too precious and agitated about the fact they met in his electorate. And why shouldn't they meet I his electorate? It's the largest part of the metropolitan area, it is a marginal seat, whether it is or not doesn't matter. There are Community Cabinets in marginal seats that aren't either Liberal or Labor. The cost of $3-4million per year to hold Community Cabinets, out of a budget of $300-400billion...

PYNE: ...it wastes taxpayer's money. That's all there is to it...

SCHACHT: ...is a really good value for money. People can turn up and ask any question they like, good bad or ugly...

PYNE: ...that's not true.

SCHACHT: They have to answer! And I cannot see why C2 would object to this as State Liberal Governments in the past have done the same thing. Why do they think when you're a Liberal it's a good idea? I think it's a good idea whether you're a Labor or Liberal Government to have forums where people turn up, ask questions in their own way, their own style, and get an answer. If Ministers cannot befall an answer properly everyone knows about it. I think it's an excellent idea...

ABRAHAM: Irvin has called from Glenside...good morning, Irvin...

Caller IRVIN: Good morning Matthew. My question is a double-barrelled one and I don't care who answers it. Does the inflation published by the ABS affect only working people? The answer to that will create the question I have now and can either of them tell me why the income limit set for single people who wish to dwell on the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card has stayed at $50 000 for nearly eleven years?

ABRAHAM: In other words, it hasn't been adjusted with inflation. Are you getting a fair go with the inflation figure when it comes to things like health benefits?

PYNE: I think what Irvin is getting at is that he's saying the inflation figure is like a basket of goods by the ABS statistics but he has to live by a fixed income as a self-funded retiree or as a pensioner as I can assume and he's saying it's not really relevant to those people because they have less buying power as they can't increase their income. I think that's the point that he's making. But the answer, of course, is that the inflation rate is the same for everybody but whether the basket of goods and services are used to indicate the inflation is necessarily appropriate should be a moving feast. Some things should come in and some things should go out. It should be going out depending on what people are buying at a particular time. And of course petrol prices have been in and out over the years and interest rates on houses have been in and out over the years. I think the inflation rate should be looked at afresh to see whether the goods and services in the basket are the right ones.

David BEVAN: Can we leave you gentlemen with this question; what are you expecting from 2010? We've got two elections...let's just focus on the State election as that's first in March. Are you expecting much? Is it going to be a big campaign...what are you expecting?

SCHACHT: Every election campaign's interesting and every election campaign is unpredictable no matter what the polls say or what the punters say. I think we're going to have an interesting State election campaign. On one side the State Government will argue the economy has done better...better than the national average and things are going well. There are a number of further reforms I want to reduce...that will be the new Liberal Leader. Isobel Redmond is starting to make a bit of a mark but whether she's had enough time...four Liberal Leaders in four years...whether the Liberal Party is seen as having the responsibility for managing the economy...it will be an interesting election campaign. I can't predict what will happen but it will have a life of its own. At the end of the year the Federal election campaign will be particularly interesting because, I suspect, you'll have Tony Abbott on one side being quite unpredictable. Someone who's on the right-wing of the Liberal Party and secondly you'll have the Labor Party able to point out that they got Australia through a world recession without us going into a recession...probably saving a couple of hundred thousand jobs as a result

PYNE: In a real 30 seconds? I think there are a group of sleeping voters in the State election who will be quite prepared to change the Government and I think it will depend on the election campaign. I think that the result of the State election won't be absolutely known until probably the week before...what I'm saying is that it could change right up to the week before the election day. I think it would be very volatile and most people's money would be on the Rann Government to get re-elected. I think it's because they've got a ten seat majority to start with. I think there's a large number of State voters who shift during campaigns so it will be a very interesting election. In terms of the Federal election, very quickly, I think it's going to be very exciting as an opportunity to get back into Government. I won't give you a paid political advertisement like C1 did but the contrast between Rudd and Abbott couldn't be clearer and I think that's going to make it a fascinating political year.

(ends)