Interview with Sabra Lane, AM Programme, ABC Radio
Posted on Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Subjects: Julia Gillard’s carbon tax.
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………
SABRA LANE:
Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister’s labelled you the biggest wrecker ever to serve in a leadership role. Are you a wrecker?
TONY ABBOTT:
I think we’ve got a Prime Minister who is the great betrayer of the Australian people. She was absolutely crystal clear before the last election, “there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead” and if the bills pass the parliament today this will be an act of betrayal and every Labor member of parliament would’ve broken faith with his or her electorate.
SABRA LANE:
You say that you will repeal this tax but business has argued it wants certainty. Aren’t you just creating more uncertainty and will you put that promise in writing? Is this the gospel truth?
TONY ABBOTT:
Look, we will repeal the tax. We can repeal the tax. We will repeal the tax. We must repeal the tax because this is a tax which is going to put up every Australians’ cost of living and put at risk every manufacturing job. This is a bad tax and it’s a total betrayal of the Australian public.
SABRA LANE:
The Prime Minister says there are many on your side who do want market mechanisms to price carbon and they won’t want to role this plan back and that you won’t deliver.
TONY ABBOTT:
I am giving you the most definite commitment any politician can give that this tax will go. This is a pledge in blood. This tax will go. We can get rid of it. We will get rid of it. We must get rid of it and let’s never forget Sabra, no parliament can bind its successor. It’s a fundamental principal of Westminster democracy that no parliament can bind its successor.
SABRA LANE:
It can’t but rolling it back won’t be easy either. Electorally, if you don’t get the numbers in the next election for a majority Senate and you press ahead with a plan for a double dissolution election based on the Constitution, you may not be able to do anything about that promise until well after 2015 and by that time, this carbon scheme might be a full blown emissions trading scheme which is something that many in your party have been arguing for.
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, you can speculate all you like Sabra but what I am saying is we will repeal this tax. We will repeal this tax, we will dismantle the bureaucracies associated with it and we will ensure that it is not a hit on people’s cost of living and it is not a threat to people’s jobs.
SABRA LANE:
The Government says you are a hypocrite for campaigning about job losses while not supporting its $300 million steel transformation package to save jobs.
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, the steel package was just carbon tax compensation, that’s all it is. If you don’t have the tax, you don’t need the compensation – simple as that.
SABRA LANE:
Last week you said that while Australia was aiming to cut its emissions by five per cent by 2020 that China and India will increase their emissions significantly and you said that quote: “any minor gains here in Australia will be instantly wiped out so it’s just hard to see what possible good it could do”. If you don’t believe in it, why do you support this bipartisan policy?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, I think it’s important to do what we can to improve the environment and the beauty of the Coalition’s direct action policy, which is more trees, better soils and smarter technology, is that it makes sense under all circumstances to go forward with it.
SABRA LANE:
But if you don’t believe this, you don’t believe in the five per cent reduction by 2020, arguing that it will be wiped out by other countries, why have you committed to this? You say you are a conviction politician.
TONY ABBOTT:
Sabra, it makes sense to put policies in place which produce a better environment…
SABRA LANE:
But hang on, you’ve been arguing that this is pointless.
TONY ABBOTT:
No, I’m saying that it always makes sense to have a better environment and more trees, better soil and smarter technology makes sense. What we are pursuing is effectively a no regrets policy. We are doing the sorts of things to reduce emissions that make sense anyway.
SABRA LANE:
Are you cranky with Sophie Mirabella? She’s been kicked out of parliament for 24 hours with the Government struggling to get the numbers for the vote to enable its Malaysia swap. The Government might well bring this vote on early now.
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, the Government made a clear commitment that the people swap vote would be on Thursday. The Government made a special request to us to debate the covered bonds issue in the parliament today. The Government said that covered bonds needed to be expedited through the parliament so that the banks could start issuing these things so that interest rates could stay as low as possible. Now, the Government said that it was very, very important that this legislation go through the parliament today. They said that they would put the Malaysia people swap legislation to the parliament on Thursday and I would think that if this is a government with any respect for the parliament, that’s the procedure that they would follow.
SABRA LANE:
But it may well bring it on.
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, they would be breaking their word.
SABRA LANE:
Well, if the Government does bring this vote on early, will you play hardball and revoke Craig Thomson’s pairing arrangements and force him back to parliament?
TONY ABBOTT:
Look, Sabra, I expect the Government to do what it said it would do and if they break their word yet again, we will deal with that if and when it happens.
[ends]