Julie Bishop - Member for Curtin

Joint doorstop with the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott and Member for Stirling Michael Keenan, Perth

Subjects: Julia Gillard’s carbon tax; border protection; Labor and the Greens; Australia’s relationship with Indonesia; Commonwealth Grants Commission; Newspoll.
 
EO&E...

TONY ABBOTT    It’s terrific to be here at IGA Nollamara in the electorate of Stirling. I’d like to thank Craig and Graham Harris and their staff for making Julie Bishop, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Michael Keenan, the Shadow Minister for Customs and the local member, so welcome.
 
This is one of the millions of businesses right around Australia which is going to be impacted by the carbon tax. This business is going to be impacted and that means that everyone who shops here is going to be impacted because nothing is surer than when the costs of businesses like this go up, prices in the supermarket go up. The power is going up, the transport is going up, the refrigeration costs are going up and all of that is going to impact on the prices of the groceries that people need to live every single day.
 
So, this is a bad tax based on a lie. It is a tax which is being imposed on the Australian people because of the Labor/Green alliance and it’s interesting that we are now on day nine of the carbon tax and not once so far has the Prime Minister gone to a small business to explain to small business why she is making their life so much more difficult and I say to the Prime Minister: do not try to hide from the small businesses of Australia; the  2.5 million small businesses of Australia which are the lifeblood of our economy and which are getting no compensation whatsoever for the carbon tax and, you know, this Prime Minister, she might be able to hide from small business but she certainly can’t hide from the voters and the voters will exact their judgment on this Prime Minister come polling day.
 
This is also a Prime Minister who is trying to hide from the fact that some of her party are now campaigning against the deal that she did with the Greens to stay in The Lodge. Now, you can’t pretend that the Greens are your worst enemy in the electorate but your best friends in the Parliament. This Prime Minister only survives in The Lodge because of the deal she did with the Greens and it’s high time the Prime Minister said exactly where she stands on this issue which various members of her party are now raising about the deal with the Greens. Every single member of the Labor Party who criticises the deal with the Greens is effectively criticising the Prime Minister who did that deal to stay in office after the last election.
 
I’m going to ask Julie Bishop to say a few words, then Michael Keenan, the local member, and then we’ll take some questions.
 
JULIE BISHOP    Thanks, Tony. I’m delighted to have Tony Abbott here in Perth for a couple of days. He’s a regular visitor, he comes here often, and he’s spending time meeting with people who have deep concerns about the impact of the carbon tax. This small family business is typical of thousands and thousands of businesses across Australia who receive no compensation from the harm that they will suffer as a result of the imposition of this carbon tax. The owners of this business have told us about the increase in electricity costs. They’ve told us about the massive increase in the costs of refrigerant due to the carbon tax and if a supermarket, for example, is in the middle of its maintenance cycle, the refit cycle, it will be hit with a huge bill for the increased costs on refrigeration and refrigerant, due only to the carbon tax. This is a tax that will cascade through the economy. It will go up year on year. It will hit people hard in terms of the increased cost of living and the terrible hoax in all of this is that it will have no environmental gain. So, it’s all economic pain, no environmental gain.
 
On another matter, I note that Senator Carr is now dispensing his advice on how the Coalition should conduct its relationship with Indonesia. Senator Carr is the last person who should be giving advice to anyone on how to conduct a cordial relationship with neighbours in our region. No party has done more to damage our relationship with Indonesia than this Gillard Government over its inept, incompetent handling of the live cattle export dispute with Indonesia.
 
TONY ABBOTT    Michael?
 
MICHAEL KEENAN    It’s wonderful for me to be able to welcome Tony and Julie back to my electorate of Stirling and I wanted to add my thanks to Graham and Craig for hosting us here at the IGA Nollamara. This supermarket is an important community institution and it serves an area which is already under acute cost of living pressures. Rents are skyrocketing in Western Australia, other costs are going up. This area is full of young families, it’s full of older Australians, it’s full of people who are just starting out, some of them even just starting out in Australia as new immigrants. The last thing they need is for their federal government to be making a difficult situation worse and doing so for absolutely no environmental gain whatsoever. So, it’s a wonderful opportunity to have Tony and Julia to come down here, to have the owners Graham and Craig explain how this carbon tax is going to impact on their business and ultimately it’s going to impact on consumers in Nollamara and of course, it won’t do anything for the benefit of our country, and it’s a tax that will continue to cascade and go up over time, making those cost of living pressures that I’ve just mentioned more and more acute.
 
TONY ABBOTT    Thank you. Do we have any questions today?
 
QUESTION    Mr Abbott, is the Government wrong to say that the carbon tax will push the average spend on groceries up by less than one per cent. Are they wrong?
 
TONY ABBOTT    Look, this carbon tax is going to go up and up and up over time. The Food and Grocery Council estimated when the carbon tax was first proposed that it would raise grocery prices by up to three to five per cent. The fact of the matter is, every price is going up thanks to the carbon tax. Both Coles and Woolies have said in the last few weeks that there will be an impact on the supermarket shelves from the carbon tax. This carbon tax is going to hit consumers where it hurts: in their pockets at the supermarket checkout.
 
QUESTION    Mr Abbott, what’s the harm in joining the Government’s border protection committee?
 
TONY ABBOTT    We’re very happy to meet with Angus Houston and his panel. We’re doing that, but we don’t need a committee to tell us what our policies are. We’ve had strong border protection policies for a decade. They’ve been consistent for a decade. We don’t need a committee to tell us what our policies are. The committee which frankly should be telling the Government what its policies are is the Cabinet and the Cabinet should be coming to a new position, a position that has at least some prospect of gaining Parliamentary support.
 
QUESTION    A spokesman for the Indonesian President says at no point did you raise any part of the Coalition’s border protection policy. Now, is that the truth?
 
TONY ABBOTT    The fact is, I am going to make it my iron rule, and it’s a very important rule if we are going to have the kind of candid and confidential relationship with the Indonesian Government that we need and that we used to have under Prime Minister Howard, I’m just going to make it a rule not to discuss the contents of confidential conversations.
 
QUESTION    Do you think it’s neglectful to not have a seat at this table with Angus Houston, given what’s gone on in the last month?
 
TONY ABBOTT    I’m very happy to talk to Angus Houston. I’ve already arranged to talk to Angus Houston and his committee later on this week, but we don’t need a committee to tell us what our policies are. We’ve had consistent policies for a decade. They’re policies that worked and if the Government would like to take up our policies, obviously we’ll give them all the support and encouragement they need.
 
QUESTION    What advice will you give that panel?
 
TONY ABBOTT    Well, I’ll be listening to what the panel has to say but I’ll be pointing out very clearly that the Coalition is the only political party in the Parliament which has had a border protection policy that has been proven to work. John Howard found a problem, he crafted a solution. Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, they found a solution and they created a problem - a disaster, in fact, on our borders.
 
QUESTION    You say you won’t divulge confidential meetings. Well, are you angry now that the Indonesian President is divulging, well, a lack of conversation that you had?
 
TONY ABBOTT    Look, I’m very confident that an incoming Coalition government will be able to build a much better relationship with Indonesia than we’ve had over the last four years and the more we see the kind of shrill posturing that we’re getting from the current government, the more I think the Australian people want to see the adults back in charge of our country.
 
QUESTION    Are the Coalition’s border protection policies based on your religious views given what you said yesterday about being un-Christian coming through the back door?
 
TONY ABBOTT    What I said yesterday was that people should do the right thing, not the wrong thing and the right thing is to come in through the front door, not the back door. Now, there are lots of lots people living in this part of Perth who are refugees from the Horn of Africa, from the Sudan and elsewhere. They have waited patiently in camps, in often pretty tough places, to come in the right way. We need people to respect our laws, we need people to respect our processes and that means it’s very, very important that we deny the people smugglers a product to sell and that’s why our policies are there to stop the boats.
 
QUESTION    But you said it was un-Christian. Aren’t you making it religious then?
 
TONY ABBOTT    Not what I said.
 
QUESTION    Mr Abbott, with Labor now attacking the Greens, are you getting a sense that they’re trying to have it both ways, having relied on them so heavily and capitulated to them?
 
TONY ABBOTT    Look, I think that the Labor Party’s attacks on the Greens are as choreographed and stage-managed as world championship wrestling. I think that Melissa Parke is right, this whole thing is a put-up job, but in the end, it is a challenge for the Prime Minister, because every Labor member of parliament who attacks the deal with the Greens is attacking the Prime Minister who did the deal with the Greens and that’s why it’s high time the Prime Minister came out of hiding and explained to us exactly why she did this deal with the Greens given that senior members of her own party are now saying, at least to the press, that they think that the Greens are a threat to democracy.
 
QUESTION    Do you think that if Labor was genuine about that, they would rip up their agreement with the Greens?
 
TONY ABBOTT    Well, this is a challenge for the Prime Minister. It’s impossible to be in a relationship with a political party that you think is a threat to democracy and the problem that the Labor Party has got right now is that at least some senior members of the Labor Party say this party is your enemy in the electorate, but your friend in the Parliament. Now, you can’t have it both ways and that’s what the Labor Party is trying to do right now; it is trying to have it both ways.
 
QUESTION    The WA Treasurer has travelled to Canberra to try and secure a greater share of GST revenue for WA. Can you guarantee that WA then will see a greater share under your government?
 
TONY ABBOTT    I think there are understandable concerns about the process. I think that there is a serious lack of transparency about what happens inside the black box of the Commonwealth Grants Commission. There is a review underway, the Greiner/Brumby review. Let’s see what that review comes up with and when we have the report of that review, then the Coalition will declare a response. But the important thing is to have more transparency and let’s wait and see what the review comes up with.
 
QUESTION    The latest Newspoll shows there’s low support for the Government, but why are you so personally unpopular?
 
TONY ABBOTT    Look, I don’t comment on polls. It’s never been my practice to comment on polls. Every day, my team and I fight for a better Australia. Our objective every day is to restore to the Australian people the hope, reward and opportunity that they deserve. Every day, I am on about lower taxes, better services, stronger borders and modern infrastructure and I say to the Prime Minister - who is yet to visit a small business, even though we are now on day nine of the carbon tax - you might be able to hide from small business, but you can’t hide from voters. You can’t hide from voters and voters will exercise their judgement on this government come polling day.