TRANSCRIPT
Of
SENATOR MITCH FIFIELD
Sky News AM Agenda
Ashleigh Gillon & Senator Mark Arbib
11 August 2008
8:30am
E & OE
SUBJECTS: NT election, WA election, pensions
ASHLEIGH GILLON:
Turning now to domestic politics. Joining me from Melbourne is the Liberal Senator Mitch Fifield and in Sydney, Labor Senator Mark Arbib. Mark firstly to you, the Northern Territory result is disappointing for Labor but is it a reflection of Kevin Rudd’s first eight months in government?
SENATOR MARK ARBIB:
Certainly not. I spent some time talking last night and over the last couple of weeks to people involved in the Northern Territory campaign and this was a campaign that was fought on local issues. It was fought on issues in the Territory. There was no mention in any of the CLP campaign material of federal issues. It was fought largely on law and order. To the CLP’s credit, they got this campaign right. They went back to basics, campaigned on the issues that have kept them in government for a long period of time in the CLP and we should remember, in the Northern Territory I mean, and we should remember, the Territory has a long tradition of CLP government. They were in government for something like 27 years prior to Labor taking over in 2001 and one of the big campaign devices they always used was the wedge of law and order. They got it back at this election and they got their campaign right. Again, all politics is local and in the Territory politics is really local because the size of the electorates is so small. When you’ve got something like 4,500 people in each electorate, everyone knows their MP. So local issues are predominant and this was a campaign that was fought almost entirely on issues in the Territory. So there’s no federal issues at play. But at the same time as that, as the Prime Minister said yesterday, that we do take lessons out of it. And the lesson is, you take no votes for granted and no elections for granted. Just the same as, people should understand, politics is so volatile now. Really no election is un-winnable and no election in un-losable and that’s the message.
GILLON:
Well Senator Arbib not surprisingly your colleagues agree. Yesterday we saw senior ministers out in force playing down the link between the Federal Government and the Northern Territory result, Here’s the Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen.
CHRIS BOWEN:
…the conservatives in the Northern Territory were coming off a very low base. I think they had four seats. So in many respects, the only way was up as far as conservatives in the Northern Territory are concerned. I didn’t detect many federal issues running through the Northern Territory campaign and I think it’s always very dangerous to try and extrapolate State results on to federal results, or vice versa.
GILLON:
Well Senator Fifield, Chris Bowen is right, the CLP was coming from a very low base, but could this result do you think be a result of this so-called ‘toggle effect’ where people are more likely to vote for conservatives in states and territories to sort of even out the federal Labor impact?
SENATOR MITCH FIFIELD:
Well I think the result in the Northern Territory was a rejection of the Labor brand and a rejection of the Labor style of government. The style of government which elevates spin over substance. Which sees a complete pre-occupation with the 24-hour media cycle and an abrogation of core territory and state government responsibilities. Making sure that we’ve got safe streets, that we’ve got good standards in our schools, that there’s investment in infrastructure, that hospital waiting lists are being cut. I think Bob Carr had a point the other week when he was saying that perhaps state and territory governments should become part time operations with part time MPs. Because the sad fact is that these state and territory Labor governments are do-nothing governments. They’re abrogating their core responsibilities. They should be fully engaged. They should be fully occupied. But they’ve effectively become part time outfits and I think Bob Carr’s comments were partly reflecting that. But there is a take out I think for Kevin Rudd and Federal Labor from this election result. The Federal Government is essentially a state government come to Canberra. It’s operating a lot like a state government. When I look at Kevin Rudd, it’s a bit like looking at a reincarnated Peter Beattie just in a better suit and able to speak Mandarin. It’s operating very much like a state government – doing nothing, establishing reviews. And that style of government which Kevin Rudd has brought to Canberra was resoundingly rejected in the Territory at the weekend.
GILLON:
Well Senator Arbib we should let you reply to that one.
ARBIB:
The Territory’s booming Mitch and Paul Henderson has done a fantastic job. Claire Martin did a fantastic job. It’s going from strength to strength. The amount of investment coming into the Territory, the infrastructure that’s being built. I mean you should make a trip up there because it is unbelievable the things that have happened under Labor since 2001. So I don’t know where that comes from. In terms of Bob Carr, Bob Carr did make those comments but what he was referring to was the transfers of power from the state to the federal level. And that’s something that we’ve seen over many years, transfer of powers to the federal level. And that’s why he was making the point. There are many state governments doing fantastic jobs and Premiers out there working hard. So Mitch I think…
FIFIELD:
Is New South Wales one of them Mark?
ARBIB:
Well Mitch you already, I’ve listened to the Liberals who already think, arrogantly, that they’ve won the election in New South Wales. You know, this is the type of politics that you guys are about. You’re born to rule, we actually work for the voters’ actual trust. So I know you think you’ve got New South Wales in the bag already but let’s wait…
FIFIELD:
Not at all, not at all, we’re just recognising…
ARBIB:
…there’s still another two and a half years. Let’s just talk about the Northern Territory for a second. Paul Henderson has done a magnificent job. This was the CLP going back to their usual wedge politics, targeting law and order, they talked a lot about mandatory sentencing. These were the issues that actually got them over the line. The other problem for Labor was that there was a very poor voter turnout. Only 40%, something like 40% of voters in the Territory didn’t come out and vote. And that’s something that’s going to have to be looked at over the next weeks and months because, obviously it is a poor result for the Party and something we’ve got to learn lessons from. Politics is so volatile these days. Voter loyalty has become conditional and you’ve got to be delivering…
FIFIELD:
But Mark, if Paul Henderson has done such a fantastic job for the Territory as you say, why was he resoundingly rejected? Why did he have three cabinet ministers lose their seats at the weekend if they’ve done such a cracker of a job in the Territory? The voters have spoken and I think its hubris to say “look, we think our government’s done a terrific job in the Territory, the voters are wrong.” If he did such a good job then surely his members would have been returned.
GILLON:
Senator Arbib are you confident that Paul Henderson will be able to hold on to his leadership?
ARBIB:
Well at the moment we’ve got to see whether we actually hold on to government. In terms of leadership, it’s something that I would have no idea about, but I think he’s done a brilliant job as Chief Minister over the eight or nine months he’s been in that position and also as a minister previously so hopefully we’ll hold on to government. So we’ll have to wait and see.
GILLON:
I’m interested to see if either of you think that the Northern Territory intervention played much of a role in this election. Mitch Fifield?
FIFIELD:
Well the Northern Territory intervention is something which clearly the Federal Coalition strongly backed and the Northern Territory CLP strongly backed. I’m not sure if it was something which played out in the press and the debate during the course of the campaign but the CLP were very strong supporters of the Northern Territory intervention and they’ve done rather well at the weekend.
GILLON:
Mark Arbib was that an issue?
ARBIB:
Look I’m not sure, like Mitch I haven’t seen it play itself out in the media. I’d be interested to sort of know whether the low voter turnout is in the Indigenous communities. If it is, then maybe there is a connection. But, again, I mean, up in the Territory the CLP always run their wedge strategy in terms of law and order and Indigenous issues, so certainly they would’ve been at play somewhere out there.
GILLON:
Well yesterday the Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said also that we shouldn’t read too much into this Northern Territory result at a federal level but he did flag that the upcoming WA election will also be tight. Let’s have a look at that on the Nine Network yesterday.
STEPHEN SMITH:
…the Australian public make a very clear distinction between voting for a territory government or voting for a state government; they understand fully the implications of our federal system. So, I don’t draw too much into the Northern Territory result, and I won’t draw too much from the Western Australian result, other than to say, we know that’ll be a tough election.
GILLON:
So as Stephen Smith mentioned there WA is going to the polls in just under a month’s time. It’s another early election. Mark Arbib, just how tight do you think it’ll be?
ARBIB:
Well after the Northern Territory, who knows? But the Premier there has said it will be a close election, closer than people think, so it possibly could be a handful of seats again. Western Australia has had a strong conservative history and tradition. It’s a hard state for Labor at the state level. But on the other hand, the state is going gangbusters. Look at the amount of growth. Look at what the mining boom has done over there, the amount of infrastructure that’s now in place. The spending that’s taken place on hospitals, schools, on roads. It’s quite amazing and, again, go and see it. It’s a real success story. Whether that means we’ll get a big result, who knows? But we are again at a high water mark in Western Australia. The last election was a good result for us and it’ll be hard to maintain it at that level.
GILLON:
Senator Fifield, the WA Liberal Party has a bit of ground to make up here don’t they, trying to convince voters that their latest opposition leader is the best person to lead the state?
FIFIELD:
Well there’s no doubt that the Liberal Party are the underdogs in Western Australia. We do have a lot of ground to make up. It will be tough. But Colin Barnett is a very experienced leader. He’s served in that capacity before. He’s been a very senior minister in a number of portfolios. He brings a lot of experience to the position. He’s a familiar face to Western Australians. So it’ll be tough for us, but we’ve got a better chance for having Colin Barnett as Leader and he’ll really take the fight up to the Carpenter Government and he will be highlighting the fact that it’s a case of yet another do-nothing Labor State Government. You can’t get away these days with being a do-nothing government. There are great challenges facing each state. And the people of Western Australia are going to expect to hear from Colin Carpenter, not Colin Carpenter sorry, from Premier Carpenter how he can reduce hospital waiting lists, how he can make the streets safer and how he can lift standards in education.
ARBIB:
No one has, I haven’t heard the criticism of the Western Australian Government from anyone that they’re a do-nothing government. Look what they’re doing on water in terms of desalination. One plant already there, another plant underway, or being proposed. This is a government that’s actually out there achieving. Again, go to Western Australia and see the growth. Go and see the infrastructure, go and see the roads projects that they’re actually doing. I mean they’re delivering for their constituents and hopefully that will show in the next election. But I think you’re right, earlier Ashleigh you said that there is a bit of a ‘toggle effect’ and I think deep down Australians like checks and balances. And now we have a federal Labor government, I mean at the state level, it might cause those state governments some concern. So yes, they should be concerned about a toggle type voting effect and its something we may see play out in other state elections.
GILLON:
Well Senator Arbib do you think that one of the lessons from the Northern Territory could be that voters don’t like being forced to go to the polls early? Is that something that the WA Labor Government might have to face as well?
ARBIB:
Voters never like voting. They never like voting. It’s the one thing I’ve found. Look it might’ve been an issue, it’s been reported that it’s been an issue and I know that there’s a number of politicians talking about it. We’ll have to wait and see. I think if the reasons are good enough, then there’s no reason why you can’t go early and certainly WA and the Northern Territory there were pretty good reasons for going early. But it certainly could be an issue. But let’s hope that voters will look at the record of what Labor’s been able to achieve in Western Australia, look at how poor the opposition has been. I mean the opposition leader…
GILLON:
Mark Arbib you mention that there are good reasons to go early. One of them is that the CCC report looking at the links between Brian Burke and state politicians there won’t be released until after the election.
ARBIB:
Sure, and these reports affect both sides of politics. But again, just coming back to it, let’s hope that the voters in the end will look at Labor’s record and also look on the other side at the current opposition. I mean this was an opposition leader who was actually retiring two weeks ago. For him it was over, he was leaving politics altogether. Now he’s suddenly back in charge again of the Western Australian Liberal Party and saying he’s got a vision and agenda for the future. Well a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, he had an agenda to leave and to retire so it’s hard to see that he’s got a plan for the future.
FIFIELD:
Integrity in government is also going to be a factor at that election. Let’s not forget that Brian Burke has basically had an ongoing seat at the cabinet table and I think the public of Western Australia may want to express a verdict on that.
GILLON:
Alright well we do need to go to a break. Coming up soon we’ll have more with our panel on the other issues floating around today.
Break
Welcome back to AM Agenda. I’m joined by the Labor Senator Mark Arbib and the Liberal Senator Mitch Fifield. Well another story around today, we’re expecting a discussion paper to be released showing the single rate of the age pension is quite low by international standards. Mark Arbib, why are we finding this out now? Shouldn’t something have been done about this earlier, perhaps in the May budget?
ARBIB:
Well we have only been in government for eight months. This was a report we put in place to actually find out what the real truth is in terms of the age pension. I’ve seen the reports today in the paper as well and hopefully we’ll be able to take some action in terms of sorting it out. What it looks like from the reports today is that the single level is, for age pension, is below OECD or below international standards. Everyone knows, this was a big issue after the budget, that pensioners are doing it tough. The last budget had something like $900 extra in terms of payments for seniors and pensioners. And Wayne Swan has said there’s more that’s got to be done. And hopefully out of the review that’s taking place and the Henry Review, we’ll be able to do something in future.
GILLON:
Well Mitch Fifield, there’s a report today saying that Mal Brough has said that he tried to push for a rise in the pension but was rejected by the Howard Government. What’s your take on this story?
FIFIELD:
Well I’m not sure what Mal would’ve argued for, but what I do know is that when we were in government we did a few good things for older Australians. We introduced the Senior Australians Tax Offset, we introduced the utilities payment. The current government really copped it from pensioner groups, I think quite rightly, after the last budget because there was absolutely nothing in that budget for pensioners. As with most problems these days the Government’s solution was ‘let’s throw it into the Henry Review into taxation as well.’ So we’ve now got to wait for the Henry Review to finally complete its deliberations I guess before we know what the Government’s going to do on pensions. But clearly something does need to be done, particularly in the case of the single pension for people who have lost their partner. They do it tough in those circumstances. But I’d ask the Government to do something sooner rather than later if only to stop Steve Fielding from taking his shirt off again, please!
ARBIB:
Yeah I think Mitch and I both agree on that one. Let’s keep Steve Fielding’s shirt on please!
FIFIELD:
That’s right.
GILLON:
Well we do have to go, but I know we’re all sick of the Peter Costello saga, but Mitch Fifield just before we go, any update on that? You’re close to him we know.
FIFIELD:
No. Can’t help you any further than I did last week.
GILLON:
OK.
ARBIB:
Apparently the book sales are going very well, there’s a big pre-sale on its way so keep up the good work Mitch.
GILLON:
Well we’ll all look forward to that. Mitch Fifield and Labor Senator Mark Arbib thank you for joining us again this Monday we’ll chat to you again next week. Don’t forget to join David Speers this afternoon at 4:15 for the PM edition of Agenda. He’ll be coming to you live from Beijing. I’ll be back tomorrow with AM Agenda. Until then, I’m Ashleigh Gillon, thanks for your company.