BELLING: For our political debate were joined this morning by Finance Minister Penny Wong, in our Adelaide studio, and Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop in Canberra. Thanks so much for joining us both this morning.
WONG: Good morning to you, Natarsha.
JULIE BISHOP: Good morning.
WONG: And to you, Julie.
BELLING: Senator Wong, if I can start with you. Given how badly Labor is travelling in the polls and gosh, Julia Gillard is under the pump was it such a good idea to get rid of Kevin Rudd?
WONG: Look theres always a lot of commentary on these sorts of days. But Im actually less interested in the commentary than what were doing. Im focused on the announcement we made yesterday, a major breakthrough in terms of a National Broadband Network, delivering faster broadband across Australia, delivering better health services, better education services to Australians. Im far more focused on ensuring that we continue to talk about the carbon price, talk about why we need to act on climate change. And of course, rolling out the investment in education and skills that Julia Gillard announced in the budget. These are the big issues that were focused on.
BELLING: Senator Wong, if I could just interrupt there for a moment. You said that youre focused now on what the Gillard Government is doing. Our political reporter Amanda Hart said going into being Prime Minister, Julia Gillard said she would address three key issues, being the mining tax, asylum seekers and climate change. Some may say she hasnt addressed one issue.
WONG: I dont agree with that. I think the point here is that these are really big issues. Nobody would suggest that climate change is not a tough reform. I mean weve seen three opposition leaders come and go, primarily on that issue. We know that its a very big reform. But that doesnt mean we should put it in the too hard basket.
This is the thing about Julia, she is extraordinarily hard working, shes intelligent, shes highly competent. And shes, importantly, determined to do whats right for the nations future, even if the going is tough. We know the going is tough at the moment, but that doesnt mean we dont keep our eyes very firmly fixed on the things that have to be done to build a stronger economy in the future, and a better future for our children.
BELLING: Julie Bishop, if I can now ask you, Mr Abbott was claiming this morning that this constant leadership tension between Julia Gillard and, I guess, even Kevin Rudd is hurting ordinary Australians.
BISHOP: Well, the Gillard Government has defined itself as untrustworthy, and incompetent. Untrustworthy, because Julia Gillard is only Prime Minister today because she betrayed Kevin Rudd, after promising she wouldnt challenge him for the leadership, and she did, and then she betrayed the Australian people when she promised there would be no carbon tax under the government she led and shes now trying to introduce one.
The governments also seen as incompetent because Julia Gillard set three benchmarks for taking Kevin Rudds job. She said shed fix the mining tax, shed fix the climate change issue, and the asylum seeker issue, and twelve months later, shes fixed none of them. So she gets an F for fail on all of those issues. And the incompetence extends even further, today we hear that the solar panel scheme introduced by the government has all the hallmarks of the disastrous pink batts system. So this government cant get anything right, and what was a bad government under Kevin Rudd is even worse under Julia Gillard, and the tension between the two people at the top of this government is causing great difficulties for Australia. Its not in Australias national interest to have the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister refusing to speak to each other, they cant stand each other, and the people who suffer from that are the Australian public.
BELLING: Ms Bishop, youre talking there about the Australian public, and Mr Abbott was talking about ordinary Australians. Why did Mr Abbott this week cave in on the budget cuts to family benefits that he initially rallied against, claiming it was class warfare?
BISHOP: Were deeply concerned about the state of the budget. This government claims it is going to return the budget to surplus, but in its four consecutive budgets all the government has done is run up a cumulative deficit of $150 billion. Now the budgets in strife, and thats through the governments mismanagement and wasteful spending. And, we cant govern from Opposition, all we can do is promise the Australian people that we will do better, and that we will deliver on strong economic management, which is what this country needs. The cost of living is increasing, people are deeply concerned, theres a lack of confidence in the Australian business and consumer community, and thats because they dont trust this government to run our economy properly.
BELLING: Senator Wong, normally at this time youre debating with Scott Morrison, why is the shadow immigration minister in Malaysia and not the Foreign Minister finalising details of your Malaysia solution proposal?
WONG: Well Natarsha, the shadow minister is in Malaysia because hes engaging in a political stunt, a bit of political theatre overseas. By his own admission, he wont change his mind, no matter what he sees, and I understand hes actually not meeting anybody with any seniority in the Malaysian government, or at an official level. Its regrettable that he chooses to take a political debate overseas. Thats generally not the convention in the national interest. Overseas we generally leave our domestic political debate behind and Mr Morrison is obviously not interested in ensuring he watches the national interest when hes abroad.
But theres a broader issue here, which also goes to what you said. The question you asked Julie about family tax benefits I mean, what we see is that the Opposition is interested in a lot of stunts, but not necessarily in conviction politics. Mr Abbott styles himself as a conviction politician, yet he argues against the family tax benefits, as you said, saying this was class warfare, the reforms that the government was introducing. He argues for a plebiscite saying he wants people to have a vote. But then he says, actually, he wouldnt pay any attention, no matter what the result, because his position is clear. And then we see Scott Morrison saying Im going to Malaysia, but I dont care what I see, Ive still got a view. I mean, the consistent theme here, is an Opposition focused on stunts and theatre, not on whats good policy.
BELLING: Ms Bishop, finally this morning, Telstra has now signed up, and Optus has signed up also to the controversial NBN. Is the Coalition really going to destroy the NBN if you do win the next election, because were then in the difficult predicament of paying out possible compensation if deals have already been signed?
BISHOP: Natarsha, this massive government monopoly means that taxpayers are not going to get value for money. It means consumers will not get cheaper broadband, and it means that were not getting the benefits of competition, particularly competition between technologies. Part of this deal that the Government has done with Telstra means that Telstra is prevented from promoting wireless as a competing technology, for the next 20 years.
So if wireless technology advances and becomes a much more attractive product for the Australian people, Telstra is prevented from providing it to its customers, and I think thats an extraordinary outcome, because of course the world is going towards more mobility, not less. And so were now going to be stuck with a $50 billion and thats the conservative estimate $50 billion government monopoly that will be out of date before we know it, and consumers arent going to get the benefit of it. And I think the reflection of the publics concern about this was the Telstra share price yesterday.
BELLING: Im sorry weve run out of time, thanks both for joining us, Senator Penny Wong and Julie Bishop.
BISHOP: You too.
WONG: Thanks very much, Natarsha.
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