NICK MCCALLUM:
Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
Nick, it’s lovely to be with you.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Now first of all let’s talk about asylum seekers. Lots of various reports about these boats – first report, have the asylum seekers been interviewed by phone from Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Nick, as you know the Government is determined to stop these boats because the illegal boats were coming at a massive rate under the former government. We were getting them at a rate of some 50,000 illegal arrivals a year in July of last year. We had over 1,000 people - we think - die at sea and that is an absolute humanitarian disaster and we had something like $11 billion in border protection cost blowouts over the course of the former government’s life - so the absolute priority of this Government is to stop the boats and one way of stopping the boats is not to give a kind of regular shipping news broadcast on what is happening at sea because that is information which is ultimately used by the people smugglers. It is used against our national interest.
NICK MCCALLUM:
But information is leaking out, Mr Prime Minister and it doesn’t paint the Government in a good light the way it is leaking out and the information that is leaking out, so can I ask the question again – have they been interviewed via phone on the boats and is that appropriate and fair?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well what’s right and proper is that we adhere to our international obligations, that we act in accordance with international law and we believe that we are at all times acting in accordance with our international obligations.
NICK MCCALLUM:
There are also reports that in one of these boats that the asylum seekers will be put on a Sri Lankan naval vessel and sent back to the country where they are fleeing. Is that true?
PRIME MINISTER:
We said before the election that one of the policy options that we reserved the right to use where it’s safe to do so is turning boats around and it’s no secret that some boats have been turned around. So, look, without making any particular comment, I just want to assure listeners that what we’re doing is consistent with our international obligations and consistent with safety at sea.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Ok. One final question on this before we move on to the Budget. Do you have a problem or does the Government have a problem with sending asylum seekers directly back to the country where they claim persecution without having the proper processes?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Nick, there does need to be a process because we do have international obligations. So there does need to be a process but I want to make this observation; Sri Lanka is not everyone’s idea of the ideal society but it is at peace. A horrific civil war has ended and I believe that there has been a lot of progress when it comes to human rights and the rule of law in Sri Lanka.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Do you think the Australian public – I mean there are a lot of people who are interested in this and concerned because at the moment we think 200 people are out there somewhere and we don’t know what’s happened to them. Can you understand people being genuinely concerned about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I would be very happy to give the Australian people an assurance that we are absolutely confident that no harm would come to anyone who has been in our charge.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Ok. Well let’s move onto the Budget. You met Ricky Muir yesterday – one of the new Senators. Are you now more confident that your budget measures will get through having spoken to him?
PRIME MINISTER:
Nick, look, I’m not in the business of counting chickens before they’ve hatched.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Probably a good thing.
PRIME MINISTER:
I am very conscious of the fact that just about every one of the crossbench Senators campaigned against the carbon tax. The Palmer Party campaigned against the carbon tax, Family First, the LDP - they all campaigned against the carbon tax. The DLP is against the carbon tax, Nick Xenophon voted against the carbon tax from memory. So look, I expect the crossbench Senators to act in ways which are consistent with their pre-election commitments and for that reason certainly the carbon tax should be scrapped when it comes before the Parliament early next week.
NICK MCCALLUM:
On the carbon tax, Clive Palmer appears to be asking you to legislate fixed prices to reduce the electricity and gas which goes against everything that the Coalition stands for. Are you prepared to do that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we said Nick, again and again before the election that we were determined to ensure that the scrapping of the carbon tax was passed on in full to consumers. The whole point of our policy is to get power prices down. The legislation that we introduced provides for more power, more authority for the ACCC, we set aside from memory I think $9 million to help the ACCC have the resources to make sure that prices did go down properly and fully when the carbon tax was scrapped. So I’m confident that we can work with Mr Palmer and his Senators to come up with an arrangement which does ensure that the full benefit is passed on to consumers and the households of Australia really are $550 a year better off as a result of this abolition.
NICK MCCALLUM:
But let’s cut through it. I mean he basically wants legislation guaranteeing that. Will you give him legislation – I know you’re talking about arrangements and fluffing around the edges here – will you guarantee him legislation that will ensure that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we don’t believe in price control and I don’t think Mr Palmer believes in price control either, but what we do believe in is a fair system and we believe in consumers benefiting from cost reductions and certainly - abolish the carbon tax you take about nine per cent off the cost of power production and that’s obviously got very important and beneficial ramifications for power prices.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Now, yesterday we discussed this with the new Family First Senator, Bob Day. He and the Liberal Democratic Senator as well are opposed to measures in your welfare bill, particularly pertaining to the six month period where young people might not get the dole. How confident are you that you will get your entire Budget through?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well again Nick, I am confident that once we’ve had the chance to sit down with all of the various crossbench Senators we will get our measures through. I’m not saying…
NICK MCCALLUM:
All of the measures?
PRIME MINISTER:
I’m not saying that nothing will ever be changed or adjusted. I’m not saying that there won’t ever be any fine tuning or finessing, but we are absolutely determined to get away from the situation where youngsters leave school and go on the dole.
I mean this is just shocking. It is a shocking way to begin your adult life. I think that Bob Day would be just as appalled by that as I am and as the Coalition is so we are looking forward to working with all of the crossbench Senators to try to ensure that these policies that we passionately believe in -they’re right for Australia - they’re necessary if we’re going to address Labor’s debt and deficit disaster so I’m looking forward to working with them to get the budget measures through.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Ok, no doubt you’ve read in paper, you’re in Melbourne so no doubt you’ve read this in The Age, but it’s been all around the country, the latest allegations against the construction union and the alleged video which is going to be presented to the Royal Commission yesterday, next week rather. What’s your reaction to it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I’d probably prefer not to give too much detailed commentary on things that may be before the commission shortly. Obviously we had deep concerns about illegality, about rorts, rackets and rip-offs inside a number of unions otherwise we wouldn’t have set the Royal Commission up. The point I keep making Nick, is that if you’re a decent, honest worker, if you’re a decent, honest union member you want your union to be run honestly and efficiently and plainly some of these unions haven’t been. Frankly there are decent, honest Labor members of parliament who are just as concerned about this as I am and that’s why I think Bill Shorten is really letting his party down by being as critical of the Royal Commission as he has been.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Are you also concerned that this certainly appears to be a leak from the Royal Commission? There’ve been other leaks from the Royal Commission. Are you concerned about that as well?
PRIME MINISTER:
I- as it happens - have not actually seen the report in question and there should not be leaks from official organisations, there shouldn’t be leaks from defence, there shouldn’t be leaks from government departments, there should be leaks from media organisations but in the real world sometimes things happen.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Will you investigate these leaks from the Royal Commission – the union commission?
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven’t even seen the report in question, Nick, and let me have a look at the report in question and if any further action is required, well - we’ll have a look at it.
NICK MCCALLUM:
And another couple of issues just quickly Prime Minister. Rolf Harris – do you think he should be stripped of his Australian honours and quickly?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, it’s an absolutely horrific business. Sexual abuse is an abhorrent, repugnant crime. It really is. So I’ve been gutted and dismayed as I’m sure everyone has been to see this iconic individual fall from grace like this, to see what was obviously a very dark side to this man’s character. Whether he’s stripped of his award is in the end a question for the Council of the Order of Australia, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens given that this is a very serious criminal conviction.
NICK MCCALLUM:
And you would think that would be appropriate?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it is a matter for them, but this is a very serious criminal conviction and you don’t want to bring the Order of Australia into disrepute.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Ok. Another issue we addressed earlier in the week was the Socialist Alternative picture of you with the razor blade to your throat. How did you feel when you saw that and how did your family feel when they saw that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well my family are not political tragics. They’re not media junkies and it’s quite possible that my family haven’t really noticed it. I dare say if they had seen it they would probably think, well, you know, typical of the kind of awful stuff which goes around and to be honest, the awful stuff on social media is much worse than the awful stuff even in fringe media. And look…
NICK MCCALLUM:
It’s pretty chilling though; I mean I found it disturbing when I saw it.
PRIME MINISTER:
And Nick, good on you for speaking out against it because it shouldn’t have any place in our public discourse. It really shouldn’t. I mean, yeah we have some pretty big arguments in this country and we feel passionate about things and that’s good, but the last thing we want to do is to suggest that people who we disagree with should be in some way physically harmed. I mean, we are seeing right now in the Middle East what happens when public discourse degenerates into killing, so I think the less suggestions – even if it’s not really meant seriously – the less suggestions along those lines the better.
NICK MCCALLUM:
And the terror laws – George Brandis yesterday highlighted that you’re going to try and change laws to make it easier for ASIO and ASIS particularly to track down Australians fighting overseas whether it be Iraq, whether it Syria.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, Nick, the Howard government obviously legislated to make it an offence to participate in this kind of activity overseas because we found a number of Australians had been involved with the Taliban in Afghanistan and we didn’t at that stage have laws that were adequate to deal with it. What we’ve now got is quite a larger number of Australians who have gone overseas to join the Jihadist movement and I think we do need to update our laws so that if there are reasonable grounds for believing that you have been participating in Jihadist terrorist activity overseas that you can be detained, you can be charged and you can be successfully prosecuted if the evidence is there, because the last thing we want is people who wish us harm at large in the Australian community.
NICK MCCALLUM:
Prime Minister, I know you have to go, you’ve got other events on. I really appreciate your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you so much, Nick.
[ends]