Today Show
E&OE
LISA WILKINSON:
Fresh from those negotiations is Scott Morrison, who joins us now. Good morning to you.
MINISTER MORRISON:
Good morning, Lisa.
WILKINSON:
Minister, what did you have to promise the Greens in exchange for their support to get these changes to the pension?
MINISTER MORRISON:
We have extended the process for the tax White Paper which will enable people the make submissions over the next six weeks on issues relating to retirement incomes which was already within the scope of the tax White Paper. There was an extra engagement process with stakeholders on that issue. That is what they were seeking and that is what they were seeking and that is what we were able to facilitate. The government’s position on superannuation though has not changed, will not change. There will be no adverse changes to super in this term and we have no plans for that beyond this term. So our commitments on not taxing your super are clear and unchanged.
WILKINSON:
With these changes to the pension what do you say to the more than 300,000 pensioners who will lose out on this deal who went to the polls in 2013 believing the government’s promise there would be no cuts to the pension?
MINISTER MORRISON:
There won’t be any cuts to the pension in this term of Parliament, that’s what our promise was and that’s what this arrangement delivers. More than 90 % of pensioners will either be no worse off, exactly the same, particularly those on full pensions and there will be 170,000, as you mentioned, who will actually be better off. That is because we have a system now where people who own their own home and can have assets of more than $1.15 million and still receive a part pension.
Now that is a result of some changes that were made many years ago which has kept creeping out there. The pension is a welfare payment, it is there for people most in need, it is a safety net payment. As a result, we are making these changes. The budget needs these changes but importantly for a fairer pension and a more sustainable pension, to those who have saved for their retirement we say thank you for being a fully self-funded retiree, they have worked hard for that and we’re not going to go and tax your superannuation as Labor will.
WILKINSON:
A week ago Immigration Minister Peter Dutton denied the government was paying people smugglers to turn around boats heading to Australian waters. What the immigration minister lying to the Australian public when he said that?
MINISTER MORRISON:
I do not think that was the case. What we’ve simply said is that the officers who are part of Operation Sovereign Borders have always operated lawfully, that has always been my experience when I was the minister responsible for that be operation and I have no doubt that has continued. We always conduct ourselves lawfully.
WILKINSON:
No, Peter Dutton did say that it did not happen.
MINISTER MORRISON:
I have said that our officers always operate lawfully.
WILKINSON:
Peter Dutton’s language has now changed and Fairfax Media this morning has pictures of thousands of dollars allegedly handed over to the people smugglers. The United Nations refugee agency says passengers have confirmed to them that payments were made by officials acting on behalf of the Australian government. Are you outraged by these allegations if you say you always act lawfully?
MINISTER MORRISON:
I’m used to people making allegations in this area. For five years I was in the shadow portfolio and then in the ministerial portfolio, I had all sorts of people making accusations against our policies on stopping the boats. People said it could not be done, they said it was unlawful. They were wrong. We have always operated lawfully and that is what the minister has said, the Prime Minister has said and that’s what I’m saying.
WILKINSON:
Why don’t you want to clear the facts up?
MINISTER MORRISON:
I just did. By saying we have always operated lawfully.
WILKINSON:
That is the problem because these police officers say the asylum seeker boat was – sorry, that the asylum seeker boat – my apologies, we have a problem here – was intercepted by the Navy warship HMAS Wollongong and an Australian Customs boat. Why would these officials be travelling with huge wads of cash, presumably taxpayers money?
MINISTER MORRISON:
You are making a range of assumptions there which nobody has confirm from the government and acting on the basis of information that is effectively hearsay so I do not see why the government should need to confirm that. We have always acted lawfully, we’ve run a very tight operation, it stopped the boats. That is what the Australian people asked of us Lisa and that’s we have delivered. So many, particularly whether it was in the media or the Opposition, Bill Shorten said it could not be done and some said it should not be done. I disagree with all of that and I think the government’s record has proved those naysayers absolutely wrong.
WILKINSON:
Labor has asked the Auditor- General to investigate these claims. Will you support that investigation?
MINISTER MORRISON:
I will leave the matters to those who are dealing with them. The Labor Party has no policy in this area. If Bill Shorten thinks he can deal with this issue the first thing he has to do at National Conference is to support the government’s policy of turning back the boats, because that is what stopped them. They’re in complete denial. Over 50,000 people turned up on over 800 boats. I remember it, I was there. Talk about the killing season, the terrible tragedy of the killing season in the Labor Party is how many deaths there were at sea under that administration. It was just a diabolical tragedy. Thankfully, that has ended under this government.
WILKINSON:
Minister, with respect the trouble is by refusing to deny this story, you are opening up a new people smuggler business model. Basically they can charge asylum seekers a fee at the beginning, then get paid possibly by the Australian government as well. Effectively, it looks like they can double their wage and double their incentive.
MINISTER MORRISON:
I just do not accept any of that. That may be your view, Lisa. It is not my view or the government’s view and the government acts lawfully in relation to these matters. I point to our success and how we have run all of these operations and we will continue to have that success because of our resolve and determination and to do things in a way that will be effective.
WILKINSON:
Scott Morrison, we’ll have to leave it there. Thanks for your time this morning.
MINISTER MORRISON:
Thanks a lot, Lisa. Good to be with you.