E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………

 

 

Mr Abbott thank you for joining me.

 

 

Thanks Andrew.

 

 

[Inaudible] Fair Work Australia colluded with Labor to protect Craig Thomson and keep Labor in power. That’s a big claim. You seem to hesitate even when making it. What’s your proof?

 

 

Well, this is what Kathy Jackson of the Health Services Union is saying. She says that she suspects that there has been political interference. What I say, Andrew, is that four years – and this is now into its fourth year – is just far too long. The Fitzgerald Inquiry in Queensland was for less than three years, the Wood Royal Commission of New South Wales well under three years, the Cole Royal Commission into the Building Industry just 18 months. It should not have taken more than three years to investigate Craig Thomson and bring this matter to a just conclusion and that’s why I say this looks like it’s been an institutional go-slow to protect the Government and the Prime Minister needs to say, first, does she still have full confidence in Craig Thomson and second, does she have full confidence in Fair Work Australia’s investigation? She also needs to come clean, all the details of her government’s contact with Fair Work Australia over this.

 

 

But you don’t have proof, do you? I mean, this is a very serious claim. Fair Work Australia is led by a former judge. You’re surely not implicating him in some sort of ‘help Labor’ campaign.

 

 

Andrew, on the evidence of emails between Fair Work Australia and a government minister’s office there was collusion between the Government and Fair Work Australia, or elements of it, over the media management of this. Kathy Jackson has said there has been political interference, she thinks. Let the Government come clean by giving us all the details of this because no one surely thinks it was absolutely necessary to drag this investigation out for so long and yet, if this investigation had come to a swifter conclusion we all know the Government could have been in jeopardy.

 

 

Well the other issue that you might tempt Andrew Wilkie on, and probably with a little more evidence to it, would be the racial protest that was stirred up against you by a Gillard Government junior staffer who has now resigned. But do you believe the Prime Minister when she says this junior adviser was acting all alone when he organised for radical aboriginal protestors to come over to where you were and she was, on Australia Day? Is that remotely credible, that he did all this on his own?

 

 

Well again, Andrew, the Prime Minister needs to give a full explanation. She needs to tell us, verbatim, what he told people at the protest. She needs to tell us, verbatim, what conversations went on between this media adviser and other members of her office. She needs to tell us….

 

 

So you don’t believe her?

 

 

Well, she just needs to give us a proper explanation. At the moment she hasn’t given us a proper explanation, she’s just said, “Oh look, there was some involvement, we’ve sacked the guy let’s all move on.” Well, the Prime Minister can’t just spin all these problems away. She needs to give people a full explanation if the impression of a government which is both incompetent and dishonest is to be dispelled.

 

 

Do you think you can persuade Andrew Wilkie to use either of these two issues to support you in a no confidence motion that would bring down the Gillard Government?

 

 

Well Andrew, I think Australia needs a better government and we need a better government soon. We need a better government right now. But in the end, I don’t think we should have further, sort of, parliamentary manoeuvrings, further manoeuvrings by the faceless men. I don’t think the faceless men should be choosing the Prime Minister of Australia. I think the people should be choosing the Prime Minister of Australia at an election and that’s what I think we need, an election, because….

 

 

So not a no confidence motion, an election?

 

 

Well, look, the thing is, as long as Craig Thomson is in the parliament, I think this government is fire-walled against a no confidence motion and it is a government which is a tainted government because it’s depending upon a tainted vote in the parliament.

 

 

Well then the prospect is that Labor will then change to Kevin Rudd. Is Kevin Rudd easier to beat or harder to beat? Barnaby Joyce said he’d actually give you a tougher run.

 

 

Well in the end the Government doesn’t have to change leaders, they have to change policies because if they have Rudd or Gillard, they’ll still have the carbon tax, they’ll still have the mining tax, they’ll still be a government which is addicted to spending, they’ll still be a government which has no concept of due process. They’ve got to change the way they do things and unfortunately I think this Labor Party has now become so tainted that it needs a good period of time in opposition to work out what it actually stands for, what its real relationship with the Australian people is.

 

 

Ok, now look. We’ve had a lot of companies, Westpac, Holden, ANZ, a lot of companies announcing job losses. You’ve had a national survey of human relations bosses saying we can’t work with these workplace laws, they’re stopping us from hiring people. You’ve had the boss of Toyota Australia saying these laws must change. Do you agree the workplace laws are bad?

 

 

Well I certainly think that there is a flexibility problem, there’s a militancy problem and above all else there’s a productivity problem with the Fair Work Act and we will make….

 

 

So why don’t you promise to change it?

 

 

Well, I think have been saying for some months now Andrew, that we will change the Act. They will be careful, cautious, responsible changes and we’ll announce them in good time before the next election. We are in the business, Andrew, of trying to prepare ourselves to be a much better government with strong plans.

 

 

So what changes are you talking about? What changes would you make?

 

 

Well, the detail of our changes you will get in good time before the next election but all of the issues that are being raised with us by business, by workers, by the community at large, we will seek to address and as I said, there’s a flexibility problem, a militancy problem and a productivity problem. These are the sorts of things that we will try to address with careful, cautious, responsible changes to the Act.

 

 

So workplace changes are on the agenda now?

 

 

Look, what we want to take to the Australian people is a strong plan for a stronger economy, for a stronger country and part of building a stronger economy is to have good workplaces where companies can get on with the business of making a profit, employing more people and workers can get on with the business of being creative and of contributing to a stronger economy for everyone and that’s our job.

 

Well good on you. Thank you very much for joining us, Tony Abbott, for our first show of the year.

 

 

Thank you so much, Andrew.

 

[ends]