KIERAN GILBERT:
[Broadcast begins]
…calling for the double dissolution election, given the passage of the two triggers.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes you do. These two bills, very important bills, have been blocked in the last Parliament by the Senate. In the case of the Registered Organisations Bill, three times and the Building Construction Bill twice. We took them to the double dissolution election, we won and we’ve now been able to pass them through the House and the Senate. So, yes.
KIERAN GILBERT:
There were other concerns from some in the construction sector about the delay in the transition.
PRIME MINISTER:
The Building Construction Commission will start as soon as the legislation is passed and the new Commission is set up. All of the provisions of the law will apply. So the ability to stamp out the thuggery, intimidation will be there from day one. But there is a building code that applies, that you have to comply with to tender for Commonwealth building work. Provisions in enterprise agreements between employers and unions, construction companies and unions, have to be consistent with that. Now there is always going to have to be a transition period to bring those agreements into line with the code, these agreements that had already been entered into. We’ve agreed to have a nine month transition period. Senator Hinch took the view that there should be no – that the code should not affect any contract entered into before the Act was passed, he said that was retrospective. So that was his position. We were able to negotiate with him to increase the transition period from nine months to twenty four months.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Does that benefit those companies described as the ‘sell-out’ companies who have stitched up deals with the CFMEU and others prior to the watchdog being put in place, while other companies like Leightons and so on, have held out for the Government to get this legislation through.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the other companies will have better conditions and should have a competitive advantage because they’ll have lower costs. But it certainly does give Lend Lease, at least, in particular for the ones that have been working most closely with the CFMEU in this exercise - this is an issue of contention in the industry of course – but at least will have longer to bring its enterprise bargaining agreement into line. So the alternative is to have nothing Kieran. I mean its fine to be an armchair general and say how things should have been done and would have been done. The reality is we’ve delivered. We’ve got the bill passed. We’ve got the Commission set up. The penalties have been tripled, we’re able to call union officials and employers in for examination. All of those provisions are there to enforce the rule of law once again. You can see how effective it will be because look how hard the CFMEU and the Labor Party, which of course does it’s bidding –
KIERAN GILBERT:
Well you could end up – you say it’s better than nothing. You could end up with nothing when it comes to the backpacker tax. Derry Hinch said he would back 15 per cent, he’s now –
PRIME MINISTER:
Well he said he’d back 19, he’d actually voted for 19.
KIERAN GILBERT:
19 then 15 and now reneged on 15, wants 13. He’s called the ‘human headline’ is this all about him trying to get headlines, do you think?
PRIME MINISTER:
You know Derryn is – I’m not going to attack Derryn here. Let’s focus on Bill Shorten.
KIERAN GILBERT:
But he’s the one that’s double crossed you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Okay let’s look at –
KIERAN GILBERT:
Do you accept that though?
PRIME MINISTER:
Let’s just look at Bill Shorten. Bill Shorten believes a backpacker –could be a rich kid from one of the richest countries in the world, in Europe – should come to Australia and pay 10.5 per cent tax, less tax than the marginal rate an Australian kid is paying, paying tax at the marginal rate of 19 per cent. Less tax than a Pacific Islander who comes here to work over the seas, picking fruit, they pay 15 per cent tax. So you’ve got a young man from one of the poorest countries in the world, in the Pacific Island, who comes here picking fruit so that he can send the money back to his village where the average per capita income might be $1,600 a year. Then in Bill Shorten’s Australia, you’ve got working next to him a kid from Germany, one of the richest countries in the world, he’ll be paying 10.5 per cent tax, 15 per cent of the Tongan. I mean how -
KIERAN GILBERT:
Is the solution then for you, is the solution for you to have this resolved today is you reduce the rate on seasonal workers from the Pacific Islander’s to 13 per cent? If Hinch demands 13 per cent, and Culleton, you could then reduce the rate paid by seasonal workers to 13 and be done with it.
PRIME MINISTER:
The solution is for the Senate to support the 15 per cent tax rate. It is fair. As you know, we proposed 19 per cent which had the support of the industry, we compromised at 15 per cent, that was the announcement made earlier in the week. Then a number of senators appear to have changed their position and so we have an impasse. But the person that can break this impasse is Bill Shorten and he has to -
KIERAN GILBERT:
So no budging from you on this? No budging?
PRIME MINISTER:
Bill Shorten has to answer why he believes rich kids from rich countries should pay less tax than Australian kids and indeed kids, young men and women from some of the poorest countries in the world.
KIERAN GILBERT:
So you’re not going to move further than the 15 per cent.
PRIME MINISTER:
We have a very good position Kieran, with 15 per cent. It is already a compromise.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Would you consider putting the glass screens in the House of Representatives, have the presiding officers do that given the protest yesterday? It wasn’t a security breach but it could well be in the future. To prevent that happening would you look at that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I’d be very sad to see that happen if we got to that point. I really would be. I think it’s part of the nature of the Parliament to be open. I think in the first instance, we need to examine how these people came in, we need to look at the interesting timing of their arrival. The day they chose to come is an interesting question. We need to work out whether there can be better screening of people who come in to the public galleries, you know they obviously came in with super glue and a big banner. I would regard putting glass screens up as a last resort.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Let’s look finally at Donald Trump, he’s sought to put some distance between himself and his business. He’s going to hold a news conference in the next few weeks with his children. Should he go further than simply saying that he’s going to remove himself “in total” from the business and leave it to his kids? Should he place it in a blind trust as you did with your various interests?
PRIME MINISTER:
He’s got a very different, he’s got a big, operating business empire. I mean Lucy and I have investments, passive investments, other than a farm, which is not on the same level as Donald Trump’s affairs.
KIERAN GILBERT:
But is this enough do you think?
PRIME MINISTER:
I’m not going to give Donald Trump advice or comment on American domestic politics.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Well one last question in relation to it though goes to his appointments, he said that he was going to drain the swamp in terms of the establishment in Washington and in Wall Street. His ads had Goldman Sachs executives in them, but then now he’s appointed as his Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, one of those very Goldman Sachs execs.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I used to be a partner of Goldman Sachs so there’s a lot of very smart people over the years have worked for Goldman Sachs, much smarter than me I might say.
KIERAN GILBERT:
It seems contradictory to his message through the campaign.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I’ll just say Steve Mnuchin is a very, very, very, very talented person with a great, deep experience in the financial sector, but again I’ll leave you to do the commentary on American politics. I’ll stick to Australian politics.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Appreciate your time, thanks.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks so much.
[Ends]