EO&E..............................................................................................................................................................

 

 

It’s great to be here at Yatala Pies with Bert Van Manen, the local member. I want to thank the Porter family for making Bert and myself so welcome. This is an iconic Queensland business and it’s typical of the tens of thousands of businesses large and small right around Australia that are going to be hit by Labor’s toxic tax. We’ve now had almost a week of the carbon tax and essentially the Prime Minister has given up the fight. This is the tax that dare not speak its name. Meanwhile, inside the Government there is all this talk of trying to change the tax. Well, my message to the Government, the Australian people’s message to the Government, is that this is a toxic tax. It’s a bad tax based on a lie and the only way to fix it is to axe it. The only way to fix this tax is to axe this tax. That’s what will happen after the next election should the Coalition win government. When I say there will be no carbon tax under a government I lead, unlike the Prime Minister, I am telling the truth and, as I said, this is just one of many, many, many businesses right around Australia which is under the gun because of the carbon tax. I’m going to ask Bert Van Manen to say a few words, then I’ll take some questions.

 

 

Thank you, Tony and my thanks also to the Porter family for hosting us here today. This is just an example of one of the many family businesses that we have in this electorate who are really struggling with what the effects of the carbon tax are going to be on their business and the uncertainty that that’s creating as business owners, but also for their employees, their staff and for their suppliers and we have already had many stories over the past few weeks of businesses that are looking to reduce the number of staff or close down for a period to avoid the carbon tax and as Tony has very rightly pointed out, they are looking for us to provide a positive direction for the future and part of that is to axe the carbon tax when we get into government.

 

 

Ok, are there any questions?

 

 

Tony, can I ask you about the car crash last night?

 

 

Yeah, sure. Look, it was the sort of thing which regrettably happens. The important thing is that the young woman on the scooter is going to be alright. She’s now in the best possible hands.

 

 

What happened?

 

Look, it was just one of those things that sometimes happens. I’m not going to go into the details, but we had the young woman who was very well attended to by the emergency services, the ambos, the firies, the police, who were quickly on the scene and acted with their usual professionalism. But even before they arrived, a whole lot of people were there attending to that woman and it was a marvellous example of how Australians help each other when times are tough.

 

 

Did you see it coming?

 

I’m afraid I was in the back seat of the car with my head buried in some briefing papers.

 

 

And did you go and help her? Like, did you render assistance when it first happened?

 

 

I did what anyone would do in that context. I got out of the car and did what I could to help.

 

 

The New South Wales Secretary of the Labor Party has warned the party against making deals with the Greens at the next election, in fact invited them to put the Greens last. Is this the sign of cracks appearing in the strategy?

 

 

Look, two points. First of all, this is a Government which absolutely depends on the Greens to survive and their major policies are Greens policies. The carbon tax is a Greens policy, which the Labor Party has now embraced. Their effective policy of onshore processing of boat people is a Greens policy, which the Labor Party has embraced. This whole talk of Malaysia is a smokescreen - it’s a smokescreen. What the Government is in fact doing is processing boat people onshore. It’s rolled out the red carpet for the people smugglers. The only people smuggler who has been processed offshore under this Government is Captain Emad and he processed himself offshore when he took himself to Malaysia. So, that’s the first point I make. The second point I make is that it’s clear who is really in charge of the Labor Party: it’s the faceless men. Whether it’s deciding their preference strategy, whether it’s deciding who the leader is, the faceless men are ultimately calling the shots.

 

 

Mr Abbott, are you having any trouble finding businesses that are opposed to the carbon tax now that it has been implemented? Are any businesses saying to you that they want certainty and they want it to remain in place?

 

 

I think what businesses want is the certainty of lower taxes and that’s what they’ll get under the Coalition. The carbon tax will go, the mining tax will go, workplace relations will return to the sensible centre, we’ll cut a billion dollars a year from business red tape. That’s why what business want is an election and what business hope for is a change of government.

 

 

Mr Abbott, Kevin Rudd’s wife has indicated that he still has leadership ambitions. Does that worry you at all?

 

 

I’m not at all surprised that there are lots of people inside the Labor Party who think they’d do a better job than Prime Minister Gillard but, in the end, we know who calls the shots - it’s the faceless men and what the faceless men are doing right now is weighing up whether it is time for a change. Obviously, Prime Minister Gillard has been guilty of misjudgement after misjudgement. Plainly, she is someone who the Australian people just don’t trust and why should they trust this Prime Minister? Let’s face it, she was the one who said six days before the last election, "there will be no carbon tax under the Government I lead" and then having denied a carbon tax to win votes, she gave us a carbon tax to keep her job. I mean, that is an utter, utter political betrayal and that’s why this Prime Minister simply can’t be believed.

 

Mr Abbott, how do you respond to Malcolm Turnbull’s calls for gay civil union equality?

 

 

Look, we have a clear position. We took it to the last election and it’s a matter of keeping commitments. We don’t say one thing before an election and do a different thing after an election. It’s Prime Minister Gillard who does that, not me.

 

 

Malcolm Turnbull’s doing that now.

 

 

Well, every single member of the Coalition went into the last election with a clear policy position on this issue and as far as I’m concerned, if you say something before an election, you stick to it after an election.

 

 

Mr Abbott, what do you have to say about reports today about the memo sent to LNP members over coming preselections to not speak out about it?

 

 

Look, these things are a matter for the party. The thing that I find very encouraging is that so many people of great distinction want to put their hand up to be candidates. It says something about the state of our nation. It says something about the quality of the Coalition that so many people want to change the Government and so many people want to be part of the next Coalition government.

 

 

Does Mr Brough have your support?

 

 

Look, I know Mal, I work with Mal and Mal’s a friend of mine but there are lots of good people - I want to stress that - there are lots of good people who are putting their hands up for preselection and, in the end, this is a matter that has to be decided by the local party.

 

Thank you.

 

[ends]