E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………
PATRICK CONDREN:
Prime Minister, good morning. Thank you for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Patrick, thank you for having me and thank you for mentioning Bill Glasson who is a terrific human being and would be an absolutely outstanding member should he be elected on Saturday.
PATRICK CONDREN:
Leave the money on the fridge! What message will you take from a loss in Griffith, do you think?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I am not contemplating losing because if the people of Griffith want an outstanding human being of very high accomplishments and proven commitment to our community as a doctor, as an aid worker, as someone who goes out and spends a lot of time every year with the indigenous communities in western Queensland helping them with their vision problems. If you want someone like that who will be a very good listener and a fierce and committed, passionate advocate for the local area you ought to be voting for Bill Glasson.
PATRICK CONDREN:
Does Sharman Stone fulfil all those requirements as well? She has accused you a couple of days ago of telling lies about the SPC issue.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the point I made, Patrick, yesterday when asked about this was that local members should fight for their areas and when they are disappointed they will inevitably speak out strongly, but the other point I made was that – and this was a very general point, but it certainly has particular application – is that if you have got a business in trouble it is up to the business to run the restructure and in the case of SPC they have got a highly profitable parent company, Coca Cola, it is a $9 billion company. In the last six months they made a $215 million after-tax profit and why should the taxpayer go out and borrow $25 million to give it to a company which has made $215 million in just the last six months?
PATRICK CONDREN:
But should a fierce and committed backbencher, all the attributes you have given to Bill Glasson, should someone like Sharman Stone call the Prime Minister of the country a liar?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, as I said, backbenchers are entitled to be upset when decisions don’t go their way. They are entitled to fight hard for their electorate; they are expected to fight hard for their electorate and I respect any backbencher who is out fighting for his or her electorate.
PATRICK CONDREN:
Will she be disciplined?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, look you know we are a broad church. We are not a Stalinist political party. I don’t expect our people to just spout pollie waffle. That is the trouble with so many Labor candidates these days they are all identikit union lawyers or former union officials and you ask them a question and they just spout the party line. Well, I think it is about time to have some real human beings in the Parliament and Bill Glasson certainly qualifies on that count.
PATRICK CONDREN:
So, Sharman Stone won’t be disciplined in any way, shape or form?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, as I said – and we are going to go round and round the mulberry bush on this, Patrick – as I said, you have got to extend a certain licence to a disappointed local member who is fighting in his or her best way for the electorate.
PATRICK CONDREN:
Ok, fair enough, we’ll leave the mulberry bush behind. Paul Howes yesterday indicated that he wants a grand compact between unions, government and business. Is that a good idea?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I certainly think that he has pulled the rug out from underneath Bill Shorten’s scare campaign. That was a very powerful assault on everything Bill Shorten has been doing for the last few months but my emphasis would be on workers and managers having a partnership in the workplace. I think that is very, very, very important. I think that the management and the workforce need to be fully engaged with each other because neither can succeed without the other. You can’t have a strong business without a committed and engaged workforce. The workers can’t have well-paid jobs without a profitable, innovative and competitive business. So, yes, I certainly think workers and managers need to be partners in the enterprise. Whether we need to have some kind of grand compact with big government, big business and big unions, I am not so sure about that. That was very 1980s, all of that.
PATRICK CONDREN:
So, there wouldn’t be any plans to discuss a new wages accord, then?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I think that wages should be as high as the business can afford and if the business is profitable and competitive and innovative obviously it can afford much higher wages. If it is not profitable and innovative and competitive, well, it is probably going to have trouble paying the wages it is paying. So, this is why we have always got to have the management and the workforce working together to work out better and smarter ways of doing things and that is what I will always be encouraging.
PATRICK CONDREN:
Steve Sargent, the chief executive of GE Australia and New Zealand, at a G20 business advisory meeting, says that, “disentangling complex labour laws that get in the way of hiring workers is important to creating jobs.” Is that something you agree with?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we took some proposals to the election and they are very important proposals to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission so there is a strong cop on the beat in a very troubled industry – we’ve seen some very interesting allegations and serious allegations about corruption and organised crime and protection rackets and so on in that industry. So, that was a very strong proposal we took to the election.
We also want to see the Fair Work Commission looking more at productivity. This is very important, but in the end, it is important that the independent umpire be allowed to do its job and that’s what we’re proposing – that it do its job and do its job well.
PATRICK CONDREN:
Will you be announcing a royal commission into union corruption next week?
PRIME MINISTER:
What we said pre-election, Patrick, was that there would be a judicial inquiry into union slush funds. Now, we’ve had further revelations about more widespread corruption and we’re looking at all of that, but…
PATRICK CONDREN:
So is next week too soon to announce that?
PRIME MINISTER:
…the basic point I make is that this is a government which keeps its commitments and we committed to a judicial inquiry into union slush funds and that’s what you’ll see: you’ll see a judicial inquiry into union slush funds. Whether it should have a broader remit, well, that’s something that obviously we’re looking at and it’s interesting to see that even some senior union officials are saying – Paul Howes said yesterday that corrupt union officials were traitors. Well, on that score, Paul Howes and I are absolutely on a unity ticket.
PATRICK CONDREN:
That probably undermines his call for a grand compact. But anyway, listen can I ask you a couple of other quick questions? I know you’re very, very busy. Schapelle Corby possibly being released in Bali – should she benefit financially from her time in jail there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, that’s a good question and I guess the old principle is ‘crime should not pay’, but, look, I really don’t want to say anything at all, Patrick, on this because I wouldn’t want to prejudice the outcomes of any discussions which are going on about her tenure. Generally speaking, consular cases – and Schapelle Corby is a very high profile consular case – but generally speaking, the less public comment by politicians, the better.
PATRICK CONDREN:
And just in terms of another Australian who’s in jail overseas, Peter Greste in Egypt. Is that an issue that you can assist with?
PRIME MINISTER:
We can certainly lend our voice and the Foreign Minister has been making appropriate representations on his behalf. I strongly believe in a free press – that doesn’t mean I won’t from time to time have my own views about what the free press says – but if you believe in free speech, the media have a right to say their bit and others have got their right to say their bit. But, I strongly believe in free speech and a free media’s an important part of that and I think a free media is going to be an important part of bringing about positive changes in all parts of the world, including the Middle East.
PATRICK CONDREN:
And just finally, I know you’re a keen triathlete. Do you still find time to get in some training?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it’s funny you should ask that because Campbell Newman and I have just been off to the Enoggera Barracks where we did a bit of PT this morning with the 2nd/14th Light Horse, one of Australia’s oldest military units. So, if the Premier and I are looking a bit exhausted this morning it’s because we’ve been training with Australia’s finest!
PATRICK CONDREN:
At the frontline for Griffith no doubt! There’s a good segue for you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you – that’s where I’ll be shortly!
PATRICK CONDREN:
Righto. Prime Minister Tony Abbott, thank you very much for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks so much, Patrick.
[ends]