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  Interview: Julie Bishop April 20, 2008  Watch our reportSunday political editor Laurie Oakes will be talking to Opposition Deputy Leader, Julie Bishop. She will be commenting on the 20/20 summit, the leadership of the Liberal Party as well as commenting on many of the issues that are covered in her portfolio. LO: Julie Bishop, welcome to Sunday. JB: Thank you, Laurie. LO: Now, Canberra's full of bright idea this morning, so I'm going to ask you to get into the summit mood. Do you have any bright ideas on how Brendan Nelson can turn things around? JB: Well, Laurie, I thought you weren't going to be cynical about this exercise. The summit obviously in Canberra today has - well, one could be forgiven for assuming it's just a gigantic exercise to showcase Kevin Rudd's not insubstantial ego, but obviously people have come along with genuine ideas that they want to put forward and I think the test will be what does the Rudd Government do with these ideas. I would hate to think that Kevin Rudd would be dismissive of them as he was with Professor Garnaut's report when it didn't fit the Government's narrow view of the world, but in relation to the Liberal leadership, I don't think we should be so quick to judge people. Politics is a very unpredictable business and a week is a long time in politics. I remember back in the 2004 aftermath for Labor, after Mark Latham's effort at leadership, the political commentators at the time were saying that Labor stocks were so low that the next Labor Prime Minister isn't even in Parliament yet. And I also remember, in the 2004 election, that disastrous Labor policy, Medicare Gold, that commentators said had helped cost Labor the election. Well, the author of that policy is now the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. So, a lot can change in a short while. LO: It can. You've just got to look at Julia Gillard's grin and you know that. JB: Indeed. LO: But how long do you think Brendan Nelson should be given to turn things around before he is told to walk the plank? JB: Well, Laurie, we're not setting time-frames or time lines on this. Brendan's getting on with the very difficult job of being Leader of the Opposition and he's doing a god job. We are focusing on the Labor's presentation of the Budget that's coming up in a couple of weeks. We want to see Labor present a responsible Budget. After all, they inherited zero government debt from the previous government. They inherited a $20 billion surplus, I mean, that's even before Wayne Swan gets out of bed in the morning and they inherited about 60 or $70 billion in savings, so our focus is on Labor and what they're intending to do in the next Budget because that will affect the everyday lives of Australians around this country - that's what's important. LO: But the focus of a lot of people, including, I imagine, voters is on the Opposition's performance as well. Do you rule out a leadership challenge? JB: Laurie, I am absolutely committed to being the Deputy Leader of the party. I was elected to that position just 5 months ago and so that's what I'm doing. I'm heading our policy review committee. We've got that under way. We're reviewing the policies that we took to the last election. We're going around the country, talking to stakeholders and talking to people about where we went wrong, what we could do differently, gathering our own ideas and we're developing policies and that's what I'm focused on at present. LO: Well, you saying you are committed to being Deputy Leader, does that mean if there was a leadership vacancy, you wouldn't go for it, you would leave it to Malcolm Turnbull? JB: Well Laurie, I'm not going to get into the hypotheticals. The fact is Brendan is the Leader of the Opposition, I'm the Deputy Leader, Malcolm is the Shadow Treasurer and we're getting on with the job of holding this Government to account, and ensuring that we present alternative policies to make us a competitive force at the next election. LO: Is it possible though that Dr Nelson could do a Downer and go quietly if things don't improve? Do you think he's not sort of bloke? JB: Well, Laurie, I'm not going to crystal ball glaze. The fact is we have a Federal Budget coming up shortly. That's what we're focussing on. We're going to hold the Government to account, to it's promises that it made in the last election. I mean, take petrol prices, for example, Kevin Rudd campaigned on a platform of lowering petrol prices, and we want to hold him to that promise. The fact is it was a dishonest campaign, but he said it, he campaigned on it, and we want to see what he does in the Budget for people who are suffering under high petrol prices. LO: What kind of things should he be looking at? What could he do about petrol prices in the Budget? JB: Well, let's take FuelWatch for a start. This is Labor's big response to petrol prices. The fact is FuelWatch has been in place in Western Australia for many years. It does not reduce the price of petrol. Let's get that straight. Kevin Rudd campaigned on a platform of lowering petrol prices. He introduces a national FuelWatch scheme. It doesn't lower petrol prices. It does reduce competition and it does reduce the ability of retailers to discount. It's become a bit of a joke in Western Australia, actually. LO: Could I ask you about that, though? This wasn't a Labor scheme in Western Australia. It was introduced by the Richard Court Liberal Government, wasn't it? JB: Yes, it was introduced in order to make it more transparent and to make it - retailers more accountable for what they were doing. So it was about giving information to the motorists. Now, if that's all it's held out to do ... LO: So, that's a good thing isn't it? JB: Now, if that's all it's held out to do - well, to give motorists more information of course, it's a good thing. But it doesn't reduce petrol prices and that's what Kevin Rudd campaigned on. Now, it's become a bit of a joke because in recent times - a retailer - you know how they have to locked in their prices, 24 hours in advance, a retailer locked in the wrong price, they put in a price that was much higher than they would have otherwise. It was just a typo, and that retailer was forced under the scheme to sell petrol for the next 24 hours at that much higher price, so the hapless motorists that happened to go to that petrol station were paying a price that everybody knew was a mistake. Then we had a situation where a retailer was fined $5,000 for selling petrol below the price that he'd advised. I mean that doesn't help the motorist at all. LO: OK, well, FuelWatch, though, is not part of the Federal Budget, although it will have to pass legislation to get it through. If this is good for transparency, I assume that means the Liberals will vote for it? JB: Well, we would like to hear from Mr Rudd whether he says that this will either reduce petrol prices or more importantly, not increase the cost of petrol. So, we'd like a guarantee from Mr Rudd that a national FuelWatch scheme will not increase the price of petrol in Australia. LO: What about the Budget? You mentioned Budget action. What should they do in the Budget? JB: Well, they start with a $20 billion surplus. I recall when Peter Costello did his first Budget back in 1996, inheriting the books of account from 13 years under a Labor government, Peter found a $10 billion deficit, .... and $96 billion dollars worth of debt LO: But, but we're talking about petrol specifically. JB: OK, about petrol specifically? LO: Yes. JB: Well, that are a couple of things. When we were in Government, you will recall we took away the indexation from excise and that obviously had an impact, but we also consistently, year after year, delivered tax cuts so that people had money in their pocket to meet things like fuel prices where Australia has little control over world oil prices. We gave people their money back. Now, Labor is committed to delivering tax cuts in this Budget. They had to. They were cornered into it during the election campaign, but they've also said, "This is the last time you will see tax cuts under a Labor government." And I think that that will be a very retrograde step. LO: I'm not sure they've quite said that, but let's stick with petrol. Should they cut excise on petrol? JB: We, I'd like to hear a proposal to that effect, if Fuel Watch... LO: Would you propose it? JB: Well, I'm not framing the Federal Budget and I'm looking to see what Labor are doing. I mean, the focus at present is on the Labor Government. They've been elected to govern just five months ago and we've seen a lot of spin, but we've seen very little substance. I mean, we've got the showcase in Canberra this weekend, but let's see how many of the ideas that actually come up - that people have put forward in a genuine and well-meaning way, let's see how many of these ideas actually end up in the Budget or in Labor's policy platform. If Mr Rudd just dismisses them, as he did Ross Garnaut's report, then the people at the summit will have every reason to feel exploited. LO: OK. Well, let's get back to the summit. You're not there, so you can take a dispassionate through view, you're not caught up in all the hype. Let me ask you about some of the ideas that have emerged so far. A Republic by 2010? JB: Well, I attended the Constitutional Convention 10 years ago before I went into Parliament 10 years ago and we had 150 people... LO: As a Republican? JB: Yes. We had 150 people there, for two weeks, discussing one issue: whether Australia should be a Republic, and we couldn't come up with a workable idea that was ultimately implemented. So the idea of a Republic is not new. I would like to see whether Labor intends to take that up, and if they do, how they would do it. I mean, this is the rub. At the end of the day, these people have gathered in Canberra, at their own expense, and have put forward in a genuine way these ideas. But is it just a stunt? Is it just a showcase for Mr Rudd? Or is he going to take these ideas seriously? And will we see them in Labor Party policy? LO: What about the some of the other ideas. A statutory bill of rights, a treaty between Indigenous and other Australians - what do you think of those? JB: Well, again, all ideas that previous governments have considered. They are not new ideas, but they have been put back on the national agenda and it's good to debate these things. I don't agree that there should be a separate treaty for Indigenous people. I don't support a bill of rights. But people can discuss it and talk about it as they have been for many years. I mean, these are issues that have been on the national agenda for quite some time. I'd be interested, Laurie if one of the groups - say, the productivity group were to come up with the idea that in order to retain labour market flexibility, we should retain individual agreements in the workplace. Now, I'd be interested to see if that were a recommendation and whether the Labor Government would take that seriously. LO: I'm not sure that's looming large. JB: Well, perhaps it should be. LO: What about the idea of a broad review of the tax system, including flat tax, tax indexation, and everything else on the table. Do you approve of that? JB: Yes. Well, Malcolm Turnbull has already announced that the Coalition is undertaking a broad review of taxation. Henry Urgasse is assisting us in that regard. So, of course, we should continue to review Australia's taxation system, to ensure that we are internationally competitive and that people don't pay any more tax than they have to and so I think a review of taxation is something that should be on going. We can always do better. The Coalition has already announced a broad-ranging review on taxation and the relationship between State and Federal taxes. LO: Now, I gather you've been reading Alistair Campbell's diaries. The book by Tony Blair's former press secretary. Have you learnt anything? JB: Yes, I have indeed. It's quite a fascinating read. In fact, a number of the ideas that the Labor ministers have come up with in the course of this summit emanate from Tony Blair. Julia Gillard's big idea that schools should be sponsored by big business is in fact a Tony Blair idea. I know because I put it on the national agenda last year when we held a schools business dialogue in Canberra. Now, Labor ridiculed it at the time. They said you can't have McDonald's and Coca-Cola sponsoring schools because that means government would decrease their support and their funding, but apparently this year Julia Gillard thinks it's a good idea. But the Alistair Campbell diaries give us an insight into Labor under Kevin Rudd. There was a rather eerie example, as I was reading the diaries, about when Tony Blair was in a bit of personal trouble, his wife had some rather dodgy business associates and he was on the front page of the newspaper and they couldn't get the media off this story, so Alistair Campbell comes up with the idea, "Let's declare war on binge drinking." Sure enough, the papers are full of the Prime Minister's war on binge drinking. Now, it was eerily familiar. A couple of weeks ago, Kevin Rudd was under pressure in the House, having to answer questions about his association with an Australia-Beijing company - Australia China Beijing Technology and he was in the House having to answer question, very, very uncomfortable, not forthcoming, and all of a sudden, the next day, he declared a war on binge drinking. Sure enough, the media focus was on the Prime Minister's war on binge drinking. So I think that by the time I finish the Campbell diaries, I will have the blue print for new Labor, but let's hope that Kevin Rudd doesn't go down the path of the media manipulation, the spin over substance, that was so discredited under Tony Blair. LO: I'd love to read the Tony O'Leary diaries. We probably never will. We are out of time, but thank you very much. JB: Thank you. |
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