Morning doors press conference, Parliament House
E&OE
Subjects: Omnibus Bill, Tony Abbott, Economic Leadership, Plebiscite
MINISTER PORTER:
Morning everyone. Very busy morning for the Social Services portfolio. Obviously we’re reached a significant agreement around the Omnibus Savings Bill, in excess of $6 billion worth of savings, which puts us on that track, that incredible track to surplus, and over half those savings come in the Social Services portfolio. In fact, looking back over the last year in the Social Services portfolio we’ve identified near on $6 billion worth of savings. We’ve already achieved $2 billion of that $6 billion and we’re on the cusp this morning of achieving another great big chunk of those savings. And we’re doing it in a way that, I think, is absolutely acceptable to a large majority of the Australian people.
QUESTION:
Measures cut from the Omnibus Bill, for example the baby bonus, have you had any talks with cross benchers in order to get a separate bill on the task?
MINISTER PORTER:
We’ve done a deal. With respect to the Omnibus Bill we’re not going to be pursuing the baby bonus. That was a $1000 payment that was mooted as going to young parents when a child was under 12 months. We won’t be pursuing that, that’s part of the deal we’ve struck. But what I can say, we absolutely will be pursuing the remainder of the carbon tax compensation measures. We took to the election a package of savings that said that people should not properly be compensated for a tax that never happened, and rather we should spend that money on the NDIS. Now Labor’s agreed to a small portion of categories where we would end the carbon tax, but we will be pursuing the rest. So our negotiations with the cross bench, they will focus on that carbon tax compensation.
QUESTION:
So why bother on this deal if you’re still going to be pursuing it?
MINISTER PORTER:
The deal is with respect to the things we can agree on, as you would appreciate there will always be many things we can’t agree on, but that doesn’t mean that those matters can’t be negotiated with the crossbench. And we just say, again, that with respect to the carbon tax compensation, that represents about $1.35 billion worth of savings, which we would put into an account and spend on the NDIS. We think in all the circumstances, that is absolutely fair and reasonable, and we think that there’s a good and strong chance the crossbench will also view that as fair and reasonable.
QUESTION:
Have you talked to the crossbench yet on that particular matter?
MINISTER PORTER:
I’m meeting with the Xenophon Team today, and those negotiations are on-going. But keep in mind that whilst Labor is now agreeing to a part of those carbon tax compensation savings, at the election they included all of them in their costings, so in effect they agreed to them going into the election, after the election they now say they can only agree to part of them, but we will be pursuing them all.
QUESTION:
Do you think that you still might have support from Labor on these carbon tax issues?
MINISTER PORTER:
Well that’s look less, rather than more likely. But we will seek anyway support to move them through. And when you look at this in its clearest terms, we are ending a compensation package for a tax that never happened, but only to new entrants to the welfare system, and we would be taking all of that money and trying to plug the gap that Labor left us in terms of paying for the NDIS. Now we think that that is absolutely reasonable. And more to the point, we took it to a full general election, and promising to decrease a compensation payment is not necessarily always going to be the easiest thing to do. We took it transparently and fairly in a known way to a full election, and came out OK.
QUESTION:
Should Tony Abbott take a leaf out of David Cameron’s book and resign from Parliament, as to not be a distraction to the Turnbull government?
MINISTER PORTER:
Well the inference is that the Member for Warringah is a distraction. The Member or Warringah consistently makes very useful contributions. In fact, we made one yesterday on the sometimes difficult issue of same-sex marriage. I have no difficulties with the fact that he’s got a contribution to make as a back bencher, and in fact he’s making it in a way that is not at all disruptive in my observation.
QUESTION:
So what would have changed over the 12 months? It’s been a year since the spill what’s happened [INAUDIBLE], what would you have changed?
MINISTER PORTER:
Hindsight, strategically something that you might always think that there are things that you would do differently, however, over the last year we’ve produced the strongest growth of the G7 economies, we’ve produced 220,000 jobs, we’ve made an incredibly large number of savings that put the nation back on a path to surplus, and saved the next generation from having to pay debt that we have saved them from having to pay. All of these things are very challenging, they all represent, I think, fine achievements in the last 12 months. I think we should be very proud of what’s been achieved over a year.
QUESTION:
There are a number of commentators who have said that Tony Abbott could have won the election if he stayed on, and could have won with more than a one seat majority. Do you agree with that?
MINISTER PORTER:
Some commentators say that, some commentators say the precise opposite; I’ll leave the commentary to the commentators.
QUESTION:
Chris Bowen was out here before, and he gave the Turnbull Government an F for failure on economic leadership. Do you think the Prime Minister has lived up to that commitment to provide the nation with economic leadership, as the primary reason for toppling Tony Abbott?
MINISTER PORTER:
Well, of the G7 economies, of the G20 economies, just about every economy in the world, they would give their right arm to be us at the moment. That, I think, demonstrates the fact that in quite challenging global circumstances, we have fantastic economic leadership through Malcolm Turnbull in this country. The fastest growing of the G7 economies, 220,000 jobs created in the last 12 months, a really quite outstanding effort. So I think you should measure these things by who wants to be us, and as the songs says, a lot of people want to be us at the moment, and that’s because we’ve had a great 12 months.
QUESTION:
On the plebiscite, your WA colleague Dean Smith has said that he won’t support it. He can either abstain or vote against that plebiscite. What message does that tell the party-room that maybe not everybody is happy about this?
MINISTER PORTER:
Well we had a long party room meeting, with respect to the plebiscite proposal, and it’s no secret that there are a variety of views on the actual issue of same-sex marriage in our party room. But let me say, that the unity that was displayed in our party room, around the commitment to the plebiscite was absolutely remarkable. Now you’ve nominated one person who takes a different view, but other than that single person in our party room, the unity was beyond that which I’ve seen on a whole range of issues that are less complicated than this. So I am amazed and absolutely delighted at the level of unity that’s been shown on our side of politics around the plebiscite. And I think it mirrors the fact that in the broader population there is enormous support for the basic democratic principle that people should have their say on a very important issue. At the moment the only person who is really standing in the way of Australians having their say on an issue which is very important to us, is the Leader of the Opposition. I think it’s time to get on board.
QUESTION:
But that’s one vote. Is one vote, it’s not just one voice. That could be the difference between passing this and not passing this.
MINISTER PORTER:
Well he’s the leader of a range of people in Parliament under the Australian Labor Party who do not…
QUESTION:
No, I’m talking about Dean Smith, not Bill Shorten.
MINISTER PORTER:
Well let me focus on Bill, if I might, for a moment. He leads a huge block of votes in this Parliament that effectively could prevent the Australian people from having their say. The Liberal party room says the Australian people should have their say, that’s the policy we took to a full general election and won. The Australian people, in all the relevant polling, want to have their say. Let’s just get on with it and have an open, frank and fair debate and let the people have their say.
Thanks everyone.