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E&OE
SAMANTHA MAIDEN:
Christian Porter, you wanted to fight for greater religious protections in this same-sex marriage bill. Are you disappointed that it was passed by the House of Representatives unamended?
CHRISTIAN PORTER:
Hi, Sam. I’m out here with John Alexander, of course, in Bennelong, and you’ve asked a question about the same-sex marriage Bill. Look, I supported those amendments. I think that they would have improved the Bill, so I am disappointed that they didn’t get up. I’m disappointed that the Labor side of politics didn’t have a true, free conscience vote on the amendments, and I think that, had it occurred, may well have produced a different result.
But look, I’m also pleased that the Prime Minister’s put in place with Phillip Ruddock a, I think, good process to analyse these issues around religious protections and freedoms, particularly in the context of this bill now being passed.
So I think that we’ve got a good process in place to deal with the issue, but frankly, I was disappointed that Labor didn’t have a true conscience vote on those amendments, and I think that if they had a conscience vote, things may well have been different.
SAMANTHA MAIDEN:
Do you think this is a game changer for the Government that can help reset the political debate? This is something that a lot of Australians were frustrated that hadn’t been resolved earlier. Do you think it will allow the Government now to prosecute the case in terms of your own policy reforms better?
CHRISTIAN PORTER:
Well, I think one thing it demonstrates is that Malcolm Turnbull, as a prime minister, leads a Cabinet and a Government that can actually bring difficult issues to a conclusion and resolve them, and if this were an easy issue to resolve, Sam, as you well know, it would have been resolved during the six long years of a Labor government.
We committed ourselves to letting people have a say, and the observation I’d offer is that that plebiscite process was utterly critical to that vote in Parliament happening yesterday. What it did is it provided a mass and spontaneous and voluntary democratic movement in Australia in support of legislation which we, as Liberals, were then free to vote on last evening in Parliament.
And you know, the criticism that was put upon Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister and the Government at large for pursing that plebiscite program and project was utterly enormous, but the Prime Minister stuck to his guns. He’s resolved one of the hardest issues in Australian politics to resolve. It does mean that we can go on and focus the debate on jobs, which is utterly critical – certainly out here in Bennelong where we’re having great results in that respect – but this is something that’s now finished and it was finished very well.
SAMANTHA MAIDEN:
Dean Smith, when we spoke to him earlier, said that there’s a message in this for the Government; that it needs to speak to the centre and remain a party of the centre-right, rather than become a party of the fringe conservatives, if you like. Do you agree with him?
CHRISTIAN PORTER:
I’ve not heard his comments, but look, we’re a party that wants to focus, and we’re a government that wants to focus and are focusing on the things that are actually important to people.
So when I come out to the great seat of Bennelong, I’m focusing on the fact that we’ve moved hundreds of people in this great seat off welfare and into work. We’re producing job growth at an amazing, an extraordinary rate which is improving individual lives. The observation I’d have about the same-sex marriage debate is that it’s finished, and it has been taking attention away from a whole range of other issues which frankly are incredibly important to people’s everyday lives on the ground in electorates out here, like Bennelong with John Alexander.
SAMANTHA MAIDEN:
In relation to your welfare reforms, you’ve now put on a back-burner of sorts for a while this drug testing idea. It’s no longer in the legislation. But you do remain committed to that, of having another go at that down the track?
CHRISTIAN PORTER:
Look, absolutely committed. We got about halfway through the welfare reform bill, and my best estimate is that almost all of it is going to pass through the Senate, although it appears now that’s not now going to occur until February next year. But they’re very, very important reforms. They’re part of the overarching changes we’re making which are bringing about enormous success, and as I noted in Parliament yesterday, we’ve reduced the number of Australians of working age who are dependent on welfare by 140,000. That’s 140,000 more people who are out, independent, working, building better lives for themselves and their families in jobs. That’s a remarkable result, and these welfare reforms are the next step. But what we have been willing to do is to try new things and not always accept that more of the same is the answer, because it certainly isn’t. So cashless welfare …
SAMANTHA MAIDEN:
What will …
CHRISTIAN PORTER:
… cards, drug testing, these are things that we’re absolutely committed to.
SAMANTHA MAIDEN:
I was going to say; so what will be the impact of these laws when they pass? What will the impact be?
CHRISTIAN PORTER:
Well, we believe that we will be able to produce more of the stunning results that we’ve already been able to demonstrate to the Australian people. So, over six years of the previous Labor government, the number of people who became dependent on welfare increased by 250,000. We’ve decreased the number of people dependent on welfare by 140,000. So the proportion of working-age Australians now who are dependent on welfare is the lowest it’s been in at least 25 years. So on the ground that means more employment, better jobs, people independent, breaking cycles of welfare dependency. This legislation – when it passes – is the next wave of reform that’s going to allow us to produce even better results in this area.
SAMANTHA MAIDEN:
Okay, just finally the Greens today have pointed to new research which they claim suggests that income management has been linked in some Aboriginal communities to lower birth rates and school attendance. Do you think there is any suggestion that there is a link between that income management and those two problems?
CHRISTIAN PORTER:
We’ve had the cashless welfare card independently reviewed in the two trial sites. There’s absolutely no suggestion of anything of that nature. Sam, look, in the two trial sites where we’ve had the cashless welfare card operating – which is the most advanced form of income management – the people in those communities spend less money on gambling, on alcohol and drugs, and more money on fresh food and clothing for their kids. The outcomes in those communities have been, in my observation, nothing short of outstanding. The Labor party has now, it appears, withdrawn their support for running cashless welfare card trials. You know what? That is just a commitment to more of the same, which in the past didn’t work whereas we are willing to go out, try new things like the cashless welfare card and like drug-testing welfare recipients to try and compel them into treatment. Our approach is producing results: 140,000 more people out in the workforce leading better lives.
SAMANTHA MAIDEN:
Alright. Christian Porter, thanks a lot for your time today. I’ll let you get back to your campaigning in Bennelong.
CHRISTIAN PORTER:
Cheers Sam, thank you.