JOURNALIST: Joining us now we have Labor Senator for South Australia and Minister for Finance, a very senior Minister, Penny Wong. Good morning to you Senator.
WONG: Good morning to you both.
JOURNALIST: And Liberal MP for Sturt and Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives, and the Shadow Minister for Education Christopher Pyne. Good morning to you Christopher Pyne.
CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Good morning Matthew and David and Penny.
WONG: How are you Chris?
PYNE: Well, thank you.
WONG: Good.
JOURNALIST: Chris Pyne I know youve stepped out of a breakfast gathering with Tony Abbott. But Chris Pyne is your party room a little stroppy? Very stroppy indeed over the funding of the paid parental leave scheme announced by Tony Abbott and saying its a Rolls Royce scheme, and that the economy cant afford it?
PYNE: Well Ive never known our party room to be as happy as they are at the moment and why wouldnt they be?
JOURNALIST: So theres no debate about that?
PYNE: Well that debates been had. And we had that debate before the last election. We have a generous paid parental leave scheme, a fair dinkum scheme, which means that career women can take six months off and spend that time with their newborn babies, which is great, and not go backwards in terms of their career and their wages, which I think is a fair enough scheme.
JOURNALIST: Penny Wong you say that the numbers just dont stack up?
WONG: Well the numbers dont stack up, and the description of it as a Rolls Royce scheme is a description by a Liberal Party member. And it is also Liberal Party people describing this plan as being practically friendless in the Liberal shadow cabinet. And the reality is
PYNE: Well Im its friend.
WONG: Well you might be its only one, other than Tony Abbott, because clearly your shadow finance minister doesnt agree with it. I mean the reality here is, it is about priorities. We have prioritised paid parental leave. Thats why weve got it in; a fully funded scheme thats already benefitting 140,000 Australian families.
The scheme that the Opposition are putting forward involves whacking a great big new tax on the economy and is a scheme which is about privileging people who are on high incomes. We dont think its sensible, the business community doesnt think its sensible, and it is practically friendless in the Coalition shadow cabinet.
PYNE: I think its kind of fun that Penny Wong would be talking about a great big new tax when this is the Government thats introduced the carbon tax, the mining tax, the alcopops tax and
JOURNALIST: What, you dont like having your own clichs thrown back at you?
PYNE: Well its not a clich. The truth is the carbon tax is the biggest new hit to the economy in many, many decades. And for Labor to talk about costings when they have five different costings for the mining tax and three different iterations for the mining tax I think the Australian public, when anybody says great big new tax, their reaction is, oh, she must be talking about the carbon tax. But I think its audacious at least that Penny would be wanting to be talking about new taxes.
WONG: Im very happy to talk about the mining tax, because I think this really shows a couple of things
PYNE: Lets talk about the carbon tax.
WONG: I did listen to you mate I think this really shows the priorities of the Coalition, and it really shows their economic recklessness. We are saying to wealthy miners we want you to pay more tax for the benefit of the whole community. Were using that revenue to fund a reduction in the tax rate for small business and for the rest of the economy. Were using that revenue to improve the superannuation holdings of working Australians.
What the Coalition is saying is that they would rather give wealthy miners a tax break than give a tax break to small business, and give working Australians more superannuation. I mean this is a completely wrong-headed approach to public policy.
JOURNALIST: But Minister, do you think it is good public policy to have our Treasurer bagging Gina Rinehart, Andrew Forrest and Clive Palmer, saying theyre blind to the national interest, pour their considerable personal fortunes into advertising, army of lobbyists, dodgy modelling, and commercial manoeuvring? Do you agree with Wayne Swan?
WONG: What I think the Treasurer is saying is quite right; that if people want to engage in a national policy debate, then the national interest needs to be priority, rather than your personal business interests. And if you -
JOURNALIST: But do you really think Gina Rinehart, Andrew Forrest and Clive Palmer are blind to the national interest?
WONG: Ive no doubt that when Ms Rinehart and Mr Forrest stood up and opposed the mining tax that what they were doing very effectively was advocating for their business interests. But I think it is entirely appropriate for the Treasurer to say if we want a debate about what the national policy should be, we have to look to the national interest. And we are very firm
JOURNALIST: But the fact that you altered your mining tax, doesnt that show that they might have had a point?
WONG: Hang on, my recollection is the big demonstrations
PYNE: (inaudible) three times.
WONG: My recollection is the big demonstration that some of these individuals were involved in was after we had reached agreement with a significant proportion of the mining industry. My view is we have a good dialogue with Australian business. Yesterday the Prime Minister stood up with leaders in the business community to talk about bringing them into the Council of Australian Governments process to push along deregulation so we can get better productivity benefits for the nation. We have a productive dialogue, sometimes its robust, and youd expect that because our job as a Government is to look to whats in the best interests of all Australians.
JOURNALIST: Now Senator, as a senator and a Labor senator, how do you feel about this lauding of Bob Carr, and the fact that hell single-handedly lift the IQ, or double the IQ of the Senate, and there are only about two or three people in the Senate who can read and write? Kim Carr, the other Carr, is one of them.
WONG: (laughs) I did learn to read and write a little while ago (laughs), but what Id say is I worked with Bob Carr actually. You might not know that. In the mid-90s when Labor first came to government in New South Wales. I spent a stint there and worked as an adviser in his Government and worked on the forest policy there which was something was something that was a pretty important reform for Bob personally. I have enormous regard for him. And Im extremely supportive of this move. I think he will be a great addition to
JOURNALIST: But do you all feel a bit inadequate? Because hes been lauded by the Canberra press gallery as someone who finally got to Canberra who can string a few words together and has got half a brain. Hes a brain on a stick.
WONG: Ive never been of the view that when you strengthen your team that somehow diminishes you. I think that strengthening your team is a good thing for the Government, the Party and its good for the country. I think hell be a great Foreign Minister and Im looking forward to working with him.
JOURNALIST: And Chris Pyne, finally, does the Carr move show that Julia Gillard may be righting the ship? Shes dispensed with Kevin Rudd, shes been able to attract a talented person into the team are there ominous signs there for the Opposition?
PYNE: Well in one fell swoop, Matthew, what Julia Gillard has managed to do is confirm that shes a proven liar, given that she, on three occasions last week, said that there was no possibility that
WONG: Come on Christopher.
PYNE: No hang on
WONG: Its just such a personal attack. You always have to go the personal, dont you?
PYNE: Shes a proven liar.
WONG: Have you got nothing better to say to Australia?
JOURNALIST: Christopher Pyne -
PYNE: Shes a liar. She knows shes a liar. She said last week on three occasions that it was completely untrue that Bob Carr was coming to the Senate to be the Foreign Minister. And on Friday she announced he was coming into the Senate to be the Foreign Minister. Secondly, shes humiliated all of her colleagues, because shes said none of them were good enough to be the Foreign Minister. And thirdly, far from bringing this brain on a stick that hes referred to, hes the guy who gave us Eddie Obeid and Mark Arbib and Joe Tripodi, and the faceless men of Sussex St.
JOURNALIST: Wed better let
WONG: I reckon Chris
JOURNALIST: I think we should let Penny Wong respond on behalf of the Prime Minister.
WONG: Actually, I think Chris should just go and have another cup of coffee, I think hes a bit grouchy this morning really.
JOURNALIST: Penny Wong, thank you for your time this morning. Labor Senator for South Australia, Minister for Finance. Christopher Pyne is still going, hes the Liberal MP for Sturt and Manager of Opposition Business in the House, and we thank you for his time this morning.
ENDS