What Tony said …

TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MHR
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW,
CARRICK, TASMANIA

Subjects: Julia Gillard’s carbon tax; Health Services Union; Budget 2012; defence White Paper; Peter Slipper; GST revenues; National Disability Insurance Scheme.

TONY ABBOTT:

It’s great to be here at Agfest in Tasmania. This is probably Australia’s premier agricultural show and it really is great to be here. Great to be with my Senate colleagues, with my candidates who I hope will become members of the next Coalition government in Canberra and I think it’s very, very important that Tasmania is represented in the lower house in the next government in Canberra. If there is to be a change of government in Canberra, it’s very important that there is a strong Tasmanian voice in the lower house and that’s what I think that these guys – Andrew Nikolic, Michael Burr and Eric Hutchinson – can be: a strong voice for Tasmania in the next Coalition government in Canberra.

Of course, everyone in the agricultural sector is concerned about the carbon tax. The carbon tax is going to do enormous damage to Australia’s farming sector. Every farm uses power, every farm needs transport and power and transport are the sectors that are going to be hit hardest by the carbon tax – and if Larra Giddings is serious about standing up for the people of Tasmania, she would be saying loud and clear to Prime Minister Gillard: drop this toxic tax.

Of course, Prime Minister Gillard is a bit distracted at the moment. This is a government which should be in the midst of preparing a budget. Instead, it’s trying to deal with questions about integrity and judgement. If the Prime Minister is serious about dissociating herself from the stinking putrid mess which is the Health Services Union, she will disown their vote.

Let’s face it, Michael Williamson was the National President of the Labor Party. Craig Thomson was the National Secretary of the Health Services Union. The Fair Work Act is her legislation. So, the Prime Minister cannot wash her hands of this stinking putrid mess the way she has been trying to. It was her National President. It’s her vote in the Parliament. This is her mess and she can’t dissociate herself from it; she can’t disown it while she’s continuing to accept the Health Services Union’s vote in the Parliament.

Finally, it’s pretty obvious that if Treasurer Swan announces a surplus next Tuesday night, it will be on the basis of cooked books. This is a government which is moving off-budget spending which should be on-budget. It’s moving out of next year spending that should be in next year. If there is a surplus announced next week, it will be an untrustworthy surplus based on fiddled figures because that’s what this government is good at – incompetence and untrustworthiness – and we have a Prime Minister who every day is showing more and more examples that she simply lacks judgment.

QUESTION:

With the government’s decision to delay the joint strike fighter project, are they arming themselves with a surplus at the expense of the defence of the nation?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, the fact is this is a government which has been sitting on its hands for the last three years when it comes to important decisions about our defence capabilities. They’ve announced a new White Paper today. It’s only three years since the last White Paper. This is a confession of failure and I think a lot of people will be shaking their heads with bewilderment at these decisions and asking themselves; can they trust the defence of Australia to this government and this Prime Minister?

QUESTION:

So, you don’t think it’s a good idea that the Defence White Paper was brought forward?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, we’ve only just had a Defence White Paper. A Defence White Paper was released in 2009. There were all sorts of recommendations and commitments in that paper and none of them have been acted upon and in the three years since that paper came out – committing the government to a big increase in submarine fleets, for instance – our actual submarine operating capability has declined and declined and declined and now it seems we can hardly put a submarine to sea.

QUESTION:

Will you ask Christopher Pyne to cooperate on any requests regarding his dealings with James Ashby?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, the only question that counts here, the only question that counts, is did Mr Slipper sexually harass one of his staff? Did Mr Slipper misuse Commonwealth entitlements? All the rest is just smear from a desperate government.

QUESTION:

Can you categorically rule out that anyone in your office or the Coalition had anything to do with the court action?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, this idea that we put someone up to it is wrong, false, desperate smear from a desperate government.

QUESTION:

If you are elected, will you rip-off Tasmania’s GST revenue as you suggested you might in Western Australia the other day?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, with respect, I made no such suggestion, I made no such suggestion. Look, I accept that Tasmania has special circumstances – always has and always will because of its geography, that does put Tasmania in a unique position – but frankly, the best thing I can do for Tasmania, the best thing that the Tasmanian Government can do for this state is try to ensure that the Tasmanian economy is strong. Instead, under the Labor-Green alliance, jobs are shrinking, businesses are leaving and Tasmania is closing down, not starting up.

QUESTION:

But Mr Abbott, you did say in Western Australia that you supported a per capita distribution which would see about $700 million taken out of the Tasmanian economy. You seem to have a different message for WA, a different message for the east coast?

TONY ABBOTT:

Again, that’s not what I said. Go back and look at what I did say. Now, there are perceptions of unfairness – no doubt about that – there are perceptions of unfairness and the best way to tackle them is to see a lot more transparency so that we know exactly what goes on inside the black box of the Commonwealth Grants Commission. Now, I think that’s very important. At the moment there is a group reviewing this, lead by former premier Nick Greiner. Let’s see what the Greiner group comes up with and then the Coalition will have more to say.

QUESTION:

Well you did back a per capita model and a per capita model would disadvantage Tasmania, so why are you changing your comments today?

TONY ABBOTT:

Again, look at what I said. Look at what I said. I said I had sympathy, I had sympathy for the position of the Coalition states. That’s quite different from the words you’re putting to me. Now, I think it’s very important that perceptions of fairness be addressed and the best way to tackle that is to see far more transparency in the whole distribution of monies. But believe me, the Coalition will always support a fair deal, a square deal for Tasmania.

QUESTION:

[Inaudible]

TONY ABBOTT:

I had a very good talk to Will Hodgman. Will is a really outstanding leader of the Liberal Party here in Tasmania. I regard him as a mate. He’s a great bloke, he’s a great Tasmanian, he is a great Australian and I look forward to working with him hopefully in government.

QUESTION:

Will you make sure that if he does become premier he’ll have enough GST funds to work with to keep this state afloat?

TONY ABBOTT:

What Will Hodgman wants to do, and what I want to do is restore and revive the Tasmanian economy. The problem is, under this Labor-Green government in Hobart and now the Labor-Green government in Canberra, we are getting jobs leaving Tasmania, companies leaving Tasmania, industries closing down in Tasmania because the Labor-Green alliance just don’t get it when it comes to business. Now, we do get it and what we want to do is take the shackles off the businesses of Tasmania so that they can grow and expand and employ and make this economy the dynamo that it really ought to be. You walk around Agfest here today and you see lots of very innovative people, lots of people who are just waiting to expand their businesses, just waiting to increase their output. Unfortunately, thanks to a Labor-Green government in Hobart and in Canberra, confidence is shot, business is stagnating. That’s what we’ve got to fix.

QUESTION:

You expressed support for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, but Joe Hockey was more cautious and distanced himself from it, why is there that difference of opinion?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, there isn’t. What I’ve said time and time again is that this is an idea whose time has come. I am Doctor Yes when it comes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme……

[noise interruption]

QUESTION:

I’ll just ask that again. Are you and Mr Hockey split over your support of the National……

TONY ABBOTT:

No, no. Look, the NDIS is an idea whose time has come. I think we do need a new deal and a fair deal for people with disabilities. I’m going to be Doctor Yes on this one. The Opposition wants to work constructively with the Government on this to try to ensure that we get a National Disability Insurance Scheme in a responsible and in a timely fashion. I have proposed a joint parliamentary committee, co-chaired by the Government and the Opposition disability shadows for the time being. On the Productivity Commission’s timetable, moving from idea to implementation, is going to take three terms of parliament. Now, if we’re going to maintain the momentum over three elections, from three terms of parliament, I think a committee like this to keep us going is very important.

QUESTION:

Just back on GST for a moment, why are you so sympathetic to the mineral rich states?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I think that it’s very important that perceptions of unfairness be addressed and the best way to address perceptions of unfairness is to have a lot more transparency. At the moment almost no one knows what goes on inside the black box of the Commonwealth Grants Commission. It’s important that we do understand what happens there and then, when we know exactly what happens there, I think we will be in a good position to ensure that it is a fair system; fair for every one, but particularly fair for Tasmania.