Interview – ABC AM Programme

E&OE

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:

Scott Morrison is the federal Social Services Minister, a senior figure in the federal government and also a former New South Wales State Liberal Director. He joins me on the line now, Minister Morrison good morning.

MINISTER MORRISON:

Good morning Michael.

BRISSENDEN:

I imagine there was an almost audible sigh of relief coming from some quarters in the federal party last night?

MINISTER MORRISON:

It was a very good result for New South Wales and the Liberal party and importantly for the national economy. The re-election of Mike Baird was critical for this because of the infrastructure programme that he has committed to and to see that go forward is great news for the national economy and very good news for New South Wales.

BRISSENDEN:

Do you think the biggest sighs of relief will be coming from Tony Abbott’s office?

MINISTER MORRISON:

I don’t know why you would say that. The reason that we are very pleased this morning is that Mike Baird took a strong policy to the election, like we did at the last election whether it was on boats or on carbon taxes and mining taxes, he has a strong mandate to get on and do that job and the challenge for Labor is are they going to continue to be the party of policy reactionaries that we have seen or are they actually going to now go and support the reform that the New South Wales people have voted for?

BRISSENDEN:

Mike Baird has to be said ran a different sort of campaign, he was a likeable guy, he is very approachable, has he shown you all how it is done?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Mike Baird is an outstanding individual he is very popular but he is no populist. He is a very credible, strong individual who has taken a very clear plan to the people of New South Wales and he has had it ringingly endorsed. It was a bad night for Labor; this was their second worst result in their political history. This was worse than the 1988 loss they had to Nick Greiner. This hasn’t met expectations for the Labor party at all. The person who I think would have been sleeping less easy last night was Bill Shorten.

BRISSENDEN:

Ok. Nonetheless I am speaking to you as a senior Liberal member and what lessons do you think the federal party can take from this?

MINISTER MORRISON:

We will continue to make our case for strong reform and we will be the party of policy leadership. Labor will continue to be the party of policy reactionaries. We will continue to argue our case between here and the next election and continue to implement our agenda of fixing the budget. Labor basically ordered the meal and then did a runner on the bill when they went into Opposition and we are now seeking to address that bill that has been left behind by Bill Shorten and his crew.

BRISSENDEN:

Has this shown you how you might approach that though because he is – Mike Baird has taken a small steps, he hasn’t – he still does have his agenda in tact but he has taken small steps and he has attempted to bring the people along with him?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well this is of course the same thing we are seeking to do and there are lessons…

BRISSENDEN:

But you haven’t done it.

MINISTER MORRISON:

I would disagree strongly with that Michael. What I am saying we are doing is we have taken some big lessons out of last year’s budget and as we go towards this budget with our jobs package, our families package, our small business package when we are trying to address the long term sustainability of the budget. We are engaged in that conversation with the Australian people and we will continue to do that. Labor has their heads in the sand; Bill Shorten’s planet of ideas is a complete wasteland.

BRISSENDEN:

It does put more pressure on your budget now, doesn’t it, because this has shown you can take the difficult decisions, you can bring the public along if you take the right approach?

MINISTER MORRISON:

I think that is right and that is what we will continue to do and the budget we will be seeking to bring down will address those challenges that we have and it is a shame that the Labor party aren’t interested in addressing the problems that they left behind.

BRISSENDEN:

But many in your party and you yourself have said that you didn’t do that in the last budget and that you were overly ambitious and the approach didn’t work.

MINISTER MORRISON:

Well that is why I am saying we learned the lessons of the last budget and we are in violent agreement here Michael. I think there are lessons learned from the last budget but let’s not forget that first budget halved the trajectory of Labor’s debt. There is still a long and big job for us to do and we are far from finished yet. There is an ever receding finishing line as John Howard used to say. We are on a path to policy change to improve the long term sustainability of the budget and the Labor party has their head in the sand as they have here in New South Wales. What Luke Foley said last night was you vote for this change and we will vote against it. That is where he is now, the party of policy reactionaries.

BRISSENDEN:

What he did say last night which I think was striking and in fact the tone generally from both Luke Foley and Mike Baird was different that is for sure. Luke Foley describing Mike Baird as honourable, it suggests that they have certainly decided that the public is fed up with the overly hostile nature of the political fight doesn’t it and presumably there is lessons there too for you?

MINISTER MORRISON:

The federal and state scene is very different and the amount of attention that applies to both and they were both very gracious speeches last night and they are two good blokes. There is no doubt about that and no one is arguing differently but I think the take out of last night is Labor barely managed to pick the low hanging fruit at the New South Wales election last night. That wouldn’t be an encouraging sign to Bill Shorten, not surprised he made sure he was in China last night. He was there when there was big wins in Victoria and Queensland but he was a long way away and he knew the date of the election and he just happened to be somewhere else.

BRISSENDEN:

I guess my point is can Tony Abbott become the nice guy?

MINISTER MORRISON:

Tony Abbott will continue to be the strong leader with the policy agenda to fix Labor’s budget mess and that is what we are doing and that is what the whole team is focussed on as we go into this budget. We are thrilled for Mike Baird because our budget task does get easier because Mike Baird has been re-elected, because he has an infrastructure program which will help continue to drive the national not just the New South Wales economy.

BRISSENDEN:

Scott Morrison thanks very much for joining us.

MINISTER MORRISON:

Thanks Michael.