2GB Luke Grant

LUKE GRANT:

Morning Minister.

MINISTER MORRISON:

G’day Luke. Sorry I couldn’t join you earlier I have been down in Melbourne.

GRANT:

No dramas at all. Actually I saw you on the Bolt Report yesterday and if I can start there, a little out of left field, I always try and watch Andrew’s show it is a bit of a contrast to what happens before it. So I am assuming if you are there with Andrew on the Insiders or you mightn’t have been able to watch the Insiders. I was mystified slash horrified at what the commentator David Marr had to say in relation to the cessation of illegal boats. Have a listen to this and then I might ask you your reaction:

David Marr: “What Rudd did in his second government was a dramatic intervention that did in fact stop the boats.”

So there you are Minister it was Kevin Rudd that stopped the boats. Over to you Sir.

MINISTER MORRISON:

Anyone who thinks that is a complete pelican. I mean it is just ridiculous. I mean these guys have been completely humiliated, for years they told us you couldn’t stop the boats and then we did and now they deny we did it and how we did it. I mean seriously people will just be falling off their chairs in laughter when people say ridiculous and foolish and frankly embarrassing things like that.

GRANT:

Well Richard Marles I know says it as well and that puts him in the pelican class.

MINISTER MORRISON:

Yes, he is in that flock.

GRANT:

He is in that flock. One thing you have always said to me in the many times we have spoken about this issue is that they just don’t believe in it. Isn’t that the difference that you believed in a whole suite of measures – including turn backs which I think have been vital, but you actually believe in the policy to the extent that it was implemented to the letter and whatever you had to do, you damn well did it?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well that is true and having the conviction about doing these things and understanding how to do them is also very important. The two are related – and it was actually David Marr who said the thing that stopped the boats under the Howard Government was the turn backs. Now he is in complete denial on that because it doesn’t feed his constant denialism about this sort of stuff to admit it now. Maybe he will admit it in ten years I don’t know but frankly I don’t really care because the boats have stopped and we said what we would do and we did it and it worked.

GRANT:

Yes indeed. I don’t know what to make of the story in the Tele today in relation to the children of Sharrouf. Who, it would appear through social media and an account attributed to one of them, isn’t all that pleased or don’t really care about what might happen to them if they can’t come back to Australia. If that is proven to be an account of one of them then why the hell would we want them back here?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well it is a good question. This whole incident you just find just so appalling on so many levels; the involvement of children, 14 year old wives, the whole thing is just sickening really and I think that is really the obvious question. I don’t know what is really going to occurring here but I think Australians all look on in complete amazement and just shake their heads. Look this is why we are taking such a strong stand on this particularly in relation to the citizenship issue. It is important that those who have basically renounced their citizenship through their actions should have it stripped away and that is what we are doing. It is something we have put a lot of thought in to and that will move through the Parliament I trust and that we won’t have any silly games going on there. It is too important.

GRANT:

Yeah of course. Taxpayers propping up half a million long term dole recipients we are told in the Telegraph today. I was amazed and you are good at this stuff because it gets immediate cut through but the welfare bill – the annual welfare bill in this country is double the entire NSW budget spend, that number – I mean we can’t continue to spend like this and whilst comparing us to Greece might be somewhat of an over reach it might be a crystal ball down the road unless we do something.

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well I described it as a distant warning. I don’t – I mean our system and the Greek system are obviously very different and particularly in relation to pensions. I mean I like a lot of people would have seen those pictures of the Greek pensioners in despair, sitting down with their heads in their hands weeping around ATMS. Now the signs of their demise were evident 30 years ago and they chose to expand their welfare system and not get it under control. Now our system is far tighter than that and it is far more focused. I know sometimes many listeners may not feel that is the case but by international comparisons we are streets ahead but you don’t stay on top by being complacent. You have got to keep the tension in the cord around these things otherwise within a generation that is where you can end up. Now with the number of people who are long term on the NewStart allowance or on Youth Allowance for not having a job that is obviously very concerning in its own right that people would be out of job for that long. But one of the things we are trying to get through the Parliament is – it’s got to be harder for people, young people, who are job ready – so we not talking about people who might have a mental health issue or other quite significant challenges in getting themselves into work but people who are job ready. I mean we have a Bill that we are putting into the Parliament – we have put into the Parliament that says you have to wait four weeks before you get to access the dole for youth allowance. It is opposed by Labor, it is opposed by the Greens, they just want to run a shuttle from the school gate to the Centrelink front door. It has got to be harder to access welfare in the first instance and there needs to be both a carrot and a stick to encourage people into these jobs.

GRANT:

I’ve only got a minute left but I noticed this morning amongst other things you have been doing is getting some state governments to sign up to a national two year agreement on homelessness. I note some states – where are the others and what’s gone wrong there?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well the Labor states you know ripped into us earlier in the year saying you got to put this funding in place for homelessness; the funding that the Labor Government actually cut at a federal level before they lost office. So then we put it in place and they haven’t signed up for it. The state governments from the Coalition states, particularly NSW Brad Hazzard has been right on the ball there, that’s $30 million now that will flow to NSW for homelessness programmes but the Queensland government hasn’t signed up, the Victorian government hasn’t sign up, South Australia and the ACT – what’s the one theme between all four governments? All Labor.

GRANT:

All Labor. Alright we will leave it there, good to talk. Thank you so much.

MINISTER MORRISON:

Thanks a lot, good to talk with you Luke.

(ENDS)