Subjects: 2010 federal election; the cross benchers; Labor’s mining tax; Christmas 2010

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

PHILIP CLARKE:

Good morning Mr Abbott.

TONY ABBOTT:

Nice to be with you, Philip, and nice to have you back on air.

PHILIP CLARKE:

Yes, well thank you, it’s great to be on air as well. It’s been something of a year for you, heaven’s sake, looking back how would you rate it out of ten?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, in terms of excitement I’d have to give it at least nine and a half out of 10 but look, it’s been a great honour Philip to lead the Liberal Party and lead the Coalition. Obviously, from a professional point of view I couldn’t have asked for a greater challenge and I guess the election result was disappointing in the end but that’s the people’s verdict, even if in the end the people’s verdict was in the hands of three country independents, that’s our system and for all its faults it’s the best anyone is likely to come up with.

PHILIP CLARKE:

You of all people know how unpredictable politics can be and, you know, what a week by week proposition, not a day by day proposition that it can often be.  Just looking back, the prize which so many people said was never going to be in your hands, you know, every new government gets at least one term they say at will be re-elected for a second and yet here was this prize that was so close at one point that you thought you might, you couldn’t fail to grasp it. What was the disappointment like for you personally?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I would be, I think, trying to fool you if I denied being disappointed. Of course it was disappointing but look, much as I disagreed with their decisions the independents were entitled to go either way I guess. No one forces them to go one way or the other and I guess whatever electoral consequences the members for New England and Lyne face are up to their people. So look, sure it was disappointing. I guess in the end though, Philip, it’s not me or the Liberal Party that matters here, it’s the country and I think the problem is that we’ve got a bad Government getting worse and that’s the real disappointment. Having squeaked back into office, having been selected rather than elected, the Gillard Government seems to be completely paralyzed and that’s bad for the country.

PHILIP CLARKE:

We’ve had Ken Henry, the now retiring head of Treasury, address senior colleagues there saying he felt that the system of government, I’m putting words in his mouth, I know, was to some degree grinding to a halt because of the set up of the parliament, the hung parliament situation requiring endless briefings of cross benchers and so forth. Is that a feeling that you have?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, you can’t take anything for granted. I mean, a normal party room regardless of your majority will be a pretty tough place for a party leader or a Prime Minister. I mean, I saw John Howard face some very vigorous debate and internal opposition on issues in the party room so I wouldn’t want to pretend that it’s smooth sailing that leaders and executives get their way all the time even in a normal situation but I guess at the moment you’ve got the normal party room and caucus issues which major parties face and then every single bill has basically got to be argued through with minor parties and independents on an individual by individual basis and it certainly means that there is much less certainty about what comes out of the parliament and I think for a Government that didn’t have too many convictions anyway, it has made for an even less satisfactory situation.

PHILIP CLARKE:

Do you regret not offering more to some of the independents, Mr Oakeshott and Mr Wilkie and Mr Bandt?

TONY ABBOTT:

I still haven’t seen that famous ABC programme that went to air after the negotiations was concluded but people who watched said to me that, look, two of them were never ever going to go your way because they just decided almost from the outset that their preference was Labor. Now, whether it was the National Broadband Network, whether it was just dislike for the National Party, who knows, who knows. But I think I did the best I could in those negotiations I think that I certainly gave them a more than fair hearing and I think we bent over backwards to be accommodating but it wasn’t enough for them.

PHILIP CLARKE:

Andrew Wilkie has come out and said that, on the refugee issue, you offered him a doubling or a big increase in the number of refugees that you’d land in this country and process in exchange for his support. Was that right?

TONY ABBOTT:

I think he’s got his own interpretation of what was a pretty free ranging discussion, a pretty speculative discussion. I mean, in the end what I said to him was consistent with the election policy which was a modest increase in numbers provided people are coming in the front door, not the back door coupled with a much stronger border protection policy. The point I made was we were absolutely committed to offshore processing, we were absolutely committed to the re-introduction of temporary protection visas. We really did believe that for all the flack that it copped at the time, the Howard Government policies had worked and needed to be reinstated and I guess he was wanting me to be more moderate, in his thinking, in some ways and it was in that context that we were speculating about whether there could be a modest increase in the numbers.

PHILIP CLARKE:

Looking at the Victorian state election result by the way, are you disappointed that the federal election result didn’t see more support from you down there now that they’ve now obviously decided to chuck the Labor Government down there and install a Liberal Government?

TONY ABBOTT:

And Philip, that was really the seismic event of the latter half of the year, the defeat of the one Labor Government that people thought was at least semi-competent and the fact that that Government was defeated in the end quite decisively with a six per cent swing against it I think shows that the Labor brand is becoming toxic right around the country. But I think that our result in some respects legitimated, as it were, voting for the Coalition and I think looking at the hung parliament in Canberra might have had some impact on Victorian voters who said that whatever the result let it be a decisive one.

PHILIP CLARKE:

What’s Tony Abbott going to be doing differently in 2011? Politics is about change, the parliament is a different situation and you know, if you’re adaptable you survive in politics. What are you going to be doing differently next year?

TONY ABBOTT:

But it’s also about continuity as well, Philip, and politicians who constantly reinvent themselves are politicians who in the end don’t have a lot of credibility and so I won’t be doing that much that differently. I’ll certainly be doing lots of community forums that were so effective during the election campaign, I’ve done three of them since the election already. I think we do need to deepen our conversation with the Australian people on policies but these will be based on the policies that we took to the election because I think people power in schools and hospitals is a really important change we need in this country. I think we do need to really boost participation in the economy by younger people who might otherwise languish for years on welfare, older people who need to be an economic and not just a cultural contributor to our country and I think mothers, I mean, I believe that one of the really good policies that we took to the election was my paid parental leave scheme and I think that if we’re going to give mothers in the workforce a fair go, we really do need a better scheme than the one that the Government is bringing in on the first of January.

PHILIP CLARK:

Yes, that’s right, the Government’s scheme does start then. Critics of your scheme say that although clearly better it was likely to be immensely expensive. What’s your view of the way the budgetary situation’s shaping up anyway? It’s probably, despite the GFC, going to be in a pretty improved state by the end of next year, isn’t it?

TONY ABBOTT:

I’m not so sure about that, Philip. Certainly the Gillard Government needed the mining tax to balance the books because their spending is completely out of control and yet it seems that every day there’s another problem with the mining tax. I mean, this was one of the things that Julia Gillard was going to fix pre-election because the Government had lost its way but post-election that pre-election fix is completely unravelling and she’s either got another huge fight with the miners or she’s got a huge fight with the premiers. But either way, I suspect that they’re going to have a hole in their revenue.

PHILIP CLARK:

Don’t you think the miners ought to be paying more tax anyway?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I think the miners should pay the tax that everyone else faces. I mean, as businesses they pay company tax, as workers their employees pay normal personal income tax and as miners they pay the state governments’ royalties. Now, I think that that’s a perfectly good system and I don’t think that we should single out particular industries to pay more tax than other ones unless there is some unique feature and just because an industry is quite profitable at the moment doesn’t mean that we should suddenly whack them with a super profits tax effectively because that’s really saying to people, Philip, that if you do well we’re going to take money off you which is just an economic version of the tall poppy syndrome which I think does us a lot of harm.

PHILIP CLARK:

Your critics often point to you and say, ‘Tony’s a great one for politics, he loves politics and he loves the cut and thrust and, you know, the game, the Canberra sort of push and pull of the whole thing. He’s really bored by policy so much and that’s his weakness.’ It’s a commonly repeated criticism. How do you respond to it?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I don’t think anyone who knew me well or followed my career closely would say that, Philip. When I was a minister in the Howard Government I was regularly being taken to task by my beloved former leader for policy ideas in areas that weren’t necessarily my own portfolio areas and I think if people were to read my book Battlelines they will find an abundance of policy, perhaps politically inconvenient policy, but nevertheless, plenty of policy there, Philip. So, no, I just think that’s a political smear, not a balanced judgement.

PHILIP CLARK:

They also say that when circumstances change, that wise politicians change their thinking as well. Circumstances in Australia in relation to a number of policy settings, particularly climate change and so forth, have changed significantly. How has your thinking changed?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I think that over time my thinking on various issues has evolved and I don’t think my deeper political values or orientations have changed much.  But take paid parental leave. I was plainly and publicly against a mandatory scheme in the, about a decade ago when this came up as an issue in the life of the Howard Government and in the course of writing my book, Battlelines, I did actually come to a different position. My views on multiculturalism have evolved over time. I guess I have become a supporter of a conservative version of multiculturalism over time. My views on the federation have changed over time. I mean, I was a philosophical federalist two decades back and I’m probably more of a pragmatic nationalist these days, Philip.  So look, there’s been some evolution in particular, in response to certain circumstances but I think continuities are more important than change, particularly for politicians who want to maintain their credibility and I’d like to think that there has been a lot of continuity over the years.

PHILIP CLARK:

I was speaking to Michael Parkinson yesterday and he said he couldn’t understand why Australia wasn’t a republic and I said, well, it’s probably, you’d have to be here to understand it. Is your thinking on that, you’re a staunch monarchist, is that likely to evolve as well?

TONY ABBOTT:

I can’t see any circumstances where the arguments for change would outweigh the arguments for stability, Philip. I mean, I think we have a good system of government, it’s not perfect but I think it’s better than any other system of government and I think that the crown adds stability to our system, I think it adds a grace note to our public life. I think we would be a little culturally diminished if we were to rip the guts out of our constitution and, dare I say it, vandalize this aspect of our heritage. So, no, I’m not keen to change. I think I’ve made that pretty clear.

PHILIP CLARK:

Alright. Politics is a tough business, particularly on families and spouses. I know your spouse has been at your side for a long time now in politics. How much longer is she going to be expected to shoulder the burden?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, look, that’s a question that only Margie can answer and you’re right Philip, spouses are the conscripts of politics. Politicians volunteer but their spouses and their families are dragged along for the ride and I think one of the reasons why there is such a high attrition in political marriages is because it is very tough. I mean, the exposure, the fact that you become public property, the fact that there’s a lot of criticism, some fair, some not so fair, it is very tough. But look, Margie has been incredibly good to me and I think everyone who watched the election campaign thought that Margie and my daughters played a really good role and they haven’t called stumps on me yet.

PHILIP CLARK:

Alright, where’s Christmas, Tony?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well it will be at home in Forestville. We’ll have breakfast with the neighbours and some parts of the family. Then, there will be a dinner later on with other parts of the family and a pretty lazy January, not entirely on holidays but on light duties and amongst that time, Philip, there will be a week down the south coast just near Sussex Inlet at a place called Berrara which is just the most beautiful spot. Me and some of my uni mates and their families have been going down there for about the last ten years and it’s a really terrific holiday.

PHILIP CLARK:

Well, don’t let anyone, don’t let any of us catch you in a pair of boardies, you stay with the smugglers, alright?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well look, I suspect I’ll either be in Speedos or a wetsuit because apart from the fact that the water on the south coast tends to be pretty chilly, even at Christmas time, your old skin is a little more protected by the wetsuit from the bumps and bruises of the board.

PHILIP CLARK:

Ok. Alright, well, all the best to you and your family for Christmas, Mr Abbott. I appreciate your time this morning as well.

TONY ABBOTT:

And Philip, likewise to you and yours and let it be a good Christmas as far as it can be for every Australian.

[ends]