2GB Ray Hadley
E&OE
RAY HADLEY:
Minister good morning.
MINISTER MORRISON:
G’day Ray. I’ve got a full Cronulla team list in front of me so I don’t make a goose of myself this week.
HADLEY:
We had him playing for Johnathan Thurston.
MINISTER MORRISON:
Anyway I’m happy to stick to Social Services today mate.
HADLEY:
Good idea.
MINISTER MORRISON:
I’ll leave you to be the expert on Rugby League.
HADLEY:
We last spoke before the Budget was handed down but most of the measures involving your portfolio have already been announced. In fact we knew all about them. I tried to prod the Treasurer into giving me an answer about Mathias Cormann and Josh Frydenberg yesterday. You both went fairly heavy on ‘double-dipping’ and Laurie Oakes tried to get Joe to say it was a fraud and all the rest of it. It is ‘double-dipping’ its legal ‘double-dipping.’
MINISTER MORRISON:
It is legal.
HADLEY:
Wouldn’t it have been more helpful for Mathias and Josh to say “fellas by the way we actually have availed ourselves of this legal opportunity to ‘double-dip'”
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well that’s all history now Ray. Look it doesn’t really matter if Mrs Claus was claiming it, it was legal. What the real question is is are we going to continue to allow this practice and we are saying no, we think this scheme should be changed to make it fairer because why should someone who works for small business or runs a small business for that matter be getting less than someone who is working for the public sector when they are spending the exact same amount of time with their kids at home. Importantly, there was an evaluation report done by the previous Government which showed that before and after the Union/Labor PPL scheme that was brought in post 18 weeks there was no change to people staying at home longer with their kids. So this argument from the Labor Party that somehow this was leading to people staying at home longer with their kids beyond 18 weeks, their own research found it wasn’t true. So it wasn’t achieving the objective that they set out for it. It’s time to change it, it is going to save the taxpayer around $1 billion and taxpayers deserve a say in this debate as well.
HADLEY:
I mentioned yesterday there is a group of Liberal and National MPs who think the child care reforms that you’re putting in place are unfair to stay at home mums. Can you negotiate over this one or convince them that they’re wrong and you’re right?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well what they – they are not talking about the child care as such they are talking about whether you can income split under the Tax Act and that’s why we have a white paper. Matt Canavan, the Senator from Queensland who raised this, he doesn’t have any issue with the child care package he is raising issues about the tax system; they are separate issues. On the PPL issue by the way my wife is a stay at home mum and they don’t get PPL at all. The way it currently works that scheme is those who get two lots effectively they get an $11,500 baby bonus on top of the scheme they get from the employer. Because they can take the payments at exactly the same time, concurrently, so that’s – look it’s just a basic fairness issue and Labor and the Unions are clinging on to this. We think it is an important savings measure and one that is fair to everyone.
HADLEY:
Well Labor, speaking of that, is going to oppose the changes to Paid Parental Leave. How confident are you that you will get it through the Senate? Is there enough schmoozing left in you to go to various restaurants and court various people from the crossbenchers, even Mr Palmer, to try and get it across the line?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well look I’ll work with them on all of these but what is clear is that Bill Shorten is playing politics with the Senate. He is not just blocking this measure, the other one he is blocking is he thinks it’s not right for us to say to young people who are trying to get on to the dole rather than get on to a job that they have to wait five weeks. Bill Shorten believes it’s a fair thing for someone to walk straight out of school and straight into Centrelink. We are saying no, you have to wait five weeks. We are not talking about those who are the most disadvantaged youth, we are talking about young people who are described as job ready. We are saying five weeks, get yourself a CV together, get yourself a job plan, get your act together and go out and look for jobs. After five weeks if you haven’t done that, well you’re not going to be on the dole. We think that is an important message to send.
The other thing we are doing is we are investing in employment programmes for disadvantaged youth, including one that I announced the other day out in South-Western Sydney where are we are trying to get some of those kids in South-Western Sydney, particularly from the Lebanese community, give them the choice of a job rather than going down a different path. Now we think these are proactive investments which try and get people into a job which is what we want young people to do. Bill Shorten wants them hardwired to Centrelink.
HADLEY:
You’re very good, you didn’t answer the question. Will you get it through the Senate?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well look we will see, Ray, and we will work with them. I have a good relationship with them.
HADLEY:
What have you done? You don’t have a great relationship with them. I mean….
MINISTER MORRISON:
I do actually, Ray, I get on very well with the crossbenchers.
HADLEY:
Well that’s because you’re such a, you know jolly fellow. At the end of the day they think you are nice bloke but they won’t agree to your policies.
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well they said that about TPVs…
HADLEY:
The answer is a pineapple in the end because we don’t get it through. The last Budget measures didn’t get through; this Budget’s measures won’t get through. It’s just dysfunctional. It’s very frustrating for everyone.
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well the reason there is this difficulty is that Bill Shorten is playing politics with the Senate. He’s the one – if Labor supported measures like saying to young people no, you can’t walk straight out of the school gate into Centrelink. Then we wouldn’t be having this discussion with the crossbench. If Labor and the Unions didn’t want to hold on to a scheme that they cooked up with the Unions for Paid Parental Leave we wouldn’t be having these discussions. But Bill Shorten – he is looking very grumpy I’ve noticed, lately he’s Captain Grumpy. Maybe it’s because after the Budget he knows that politically he has nothing to be really grumpy about?
HADLEY:
Well even if he remains grumpy which is highly likely your future lies with the crossbenchers. Some of them are equally grumpy when it comes to you and the government.
MINISTER MORRISON:
I was with some of them last night actually they’re at the moment involved in the inquiry and we were flying down from Brisbane together. Look, we – you have just got to be patient about this, you have got to listen and that is what I have been doing. There are a range of measures that I am talking to them about and I am going to remain optimistic and just keep doing the work.
HADLEY:
What would you do with these three young blokes who want to come back to Australia having plied their trade in Syria for two or three years?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well it is important that people are accountable for their actions and you can’t apply leave passes for people who have committed crimes and there are very strong laws in relation to that and they will have to be applied. So that is the starting point and then you have got to work through the issues with those young people and their families and come to a constructive outcome. But there can be no leave pass for people to go over there and get up to that sort of nonsense.
HADLEY:
So in other words you can’t just say look we forgive you and as long as you help us guide the youth into the right direction you won’t suffer a penalty? That can’t happen?
MINISTER MORRISON:
People have got to be accountable for their actions. That is the bottom line to all of this and that is why I was really pleased to see Peter Dutton’s actions to make sure another bikie didn’t come home. This time out of Thailand from the Banditos as we talked about when I was Immigration Minister the Rebels boss Alex Vella he isn’t coming back to Australia and well done Peter Dutton he has really kept the cause going very strongly in Immigration.
HADLEY:
What I don’t quite understand with the Sergeant at Arms or with Mr Vella. Obviously while they are either in Malta or Thailand their visas expire do they? Is that how it works or do you just revoke them?
MINISTER MORRISON:
No – I can’t talk about the other one because Peter did that one. But with Vella we deliberately cancelled his visa. We terminated it…
HADLEY:
You terminated it, I see.
MINISTER MORRISON:
…and the minute he got there and then he has tried as you know, because you have reported on it, he has challenged that in court and he lost.
HADLEY:
Now Liberal MP Andrew Lamming who was one of the key supporters… what are you laughing about?
MINISTER MORRISON:
I think I know where you are going but off you go.
HADLEY:
Thank you. Well give me the answer to the question you think I am going to ask then.
MINISTER MORRISON:
No, no I will let you ask it.
HADLEY:
Ha ha, right. Well he was formally a supporter of Malcolm Turnbull, he might still be I don’t know but he has described you as Labor’s worst nightmare for the next decade or so. In other words he is saying you are definitely a future Prime Minister. Now I know you will be demure and retire from such praise and all the rest of it but you along with Julie Bishop have been the best performing Minister in the government and you appear to have the Prime Minister’s ear. Will your ambitions lie there only if he decides that he doesn’t want to do it anymore?
MINISTER MORRISON:
I have answered this question many times and anyone who goes into public life tries to do it to the best of their ability in whatever role comes their way. That is the way I have always played it but I will tell you why I think Lammo said that.
HADLEY:
oh Lammo.
MINISTER MORRISON:
That is how he is known. Lammo.
HADLEY:
Has he got his own FM radio show up there or something? Put an ‘o’ on the end of his name.
MINISTER MORRISON:
He probably would be quite a good radio broadcaster I suspect. But what he has put his finger on is on the issue of border protection in particular. I am a constant reminder as is Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott that Bill Shorten opposes turn backs and they will never commit to the policies that we all know worked. If Bill Shorten were ever to become Prime Minister those boats would come back. Being here every day reminds the Australian public and the Labor party of Labor’s absolute failure on border protection and hopefully working in this new portfolio where we are saying to young people no get a job don’t go on the dole particularly when you are job ready why Bill Shorten would oppose that is beyond me but he does and so I am going to keep reminding them of the difference between what the government is doing and what Labor is playing politics with.
HADLEY:
Ok, we will talk to you next Monday. Thanks for your time today.
MINISTER MORRISON:
Thanks a lot, Ray.