E&OE…
PATRICIA KARVELAS
So Victorian Senator, Scott Ryan, may be relatively unknown outside the Liberal Party or Victoria but to insiders he has a reputation as a razor- sharp political operator. He was one of the kingmakers who brought Malcolm Turnbull to power and he is now the Assistant Cabinet Secretary, effectively assisting Arthur Sinodinos who is a regular on our program. Scott Ryan, good evening.
SCOTT RYAN
Good evening, Patricia.
KARVELAS
The Prime Minister announced a $100 million domestic violence package this morning. Is this going to be a feature of Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership?
RYAN
I think as well as the announcement by the Prime Minister this morning, you saw him use some incredibly strong language that this is simply a national disgrace. Particularly events that are now thankfully getting more coverage than they used to a couple of years ago, I think most Australians are aware of this to a degree than they probably weren’t. I know I was shocked when Michaelia Cash told me the statistics that she was going to use today, that the number of young men, I think it was one in four or one in five that thought it was acceptable…
KARVELAS
One in four.
RYAN
…to use physical violence. I found that statistic quite shocking; it is something that I find utterly foreign. The language the Prime Minister used this morning, I think, is almost as important as the support we are going to provide to victims. We do need to make this a national priority, and we do need to make this utterly and completely unacceptable at any stage at any time.
KARVELAS
I imagine that this package was all under consideration and being organised under the previous Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. What is the difference under this Prime Minister if he has effectively announced a package that was probably being constructed by the previous prime minister?
RYAN
I think we need to give particular credit to Senator Cash, my Senate colleague from Western Australia who was the minister assisting the prime minister on the status of women when Tony Abbott was prime minister. I know that she has been working on this for a very long time. Prime Minister Turnbull is very committed to it, but I think this is also testament to Senator Cash’s commitment to this issue.
KARVELAS
Tony Abbott was often, it was described that he had a ‘women problem’. Do you think that Malcolm Turnbull being the Prime Minister can elevate this issue to a new level, and get more unity around it than under the previous prime minister?
RYAN
To be fair to the former prime minister, I think he did elevate this issue and I think he spoke very strongly, he knew the power of words. I think with the tragedy of domestic violence that we have become more aware of, I would say over the last three, four and five years, I think there has been a continuum of national and state leaders talking about it, and I am certain that Malcolm Turnbull will continue that. And as he did this morning at the launch, constantly raise the level of debate about this so that everyone becomes constantly aware of it. We had the decision by the Education Council last Friday that actually started to put relationship education within the national curriculum, that needs follow through, because we need to have our teachers feel confident in teaching that material, it is not just about the announcement. But I think the whole of government approach that Senator Cash has championed and was announced today will be continued by Malcolm Turnbull. This is going to be a process of constantly talking about it, and constantly reminding people and changing social and cultural attitudes as the Prime Minister outlined.
KARVELAS
Is it helpful to characterise attitudes towards women , respect or disrespect, in terms of whether it is ‘Australian’ or ‘un-Australian’? What do you make of that language?
RYAN
I think the point the Prime Minister was trying to make is that we have to make it unacceptable, and that is a term that I think a lot of people can relate to. I think most people, other than those involved in the sector and maybe those who study it academically, would be shocked by some of the statistics we mentioned earlier. I think what the Prime Minister is trying to do it to make it clear that making this utterly and completely unacceptable in all circumstances, in all forms, is one of his personal priorities. I think the language reflects that.
KARVELAS
Can you explain your new job to me? You are Cabinet Secretary, effectively, under Arthur Sinodinos. Do you go to Cabinet? What do you do?
RYAN
So Arthur Sinodinos is the Cabinet Secretary, he sits in Cabinet and my job is to assist him both in preparation of materials, both in briefing people and coordinating some of the behind the scenes work.
KARVELAS
So, you are a bit like a fixer?
RYAN
I wouldn’t go that far. It is a privilege to work with someone like Arthur who has been at the core of one of the best governments I will see: the Howard government. He has a unique policy brain. Also, one of the challenges in modern government is to pull threads together from different portfolios. In my old job, when I was parliamentary secretary for education, one of the best examples is that we have money on the Australian Research Council in the education portfolio, we have money on the National Health and Medical Research Council in the health portfolio, you have funding for linkages between science, industry and academia occasionally coming out of the industry portfolio. Having to draw those threads together is something that someone with a whole of government view can work on. Whereas in a portfolio you have your specific responsibilities, so that is one of the areas I will be working on with Arthur, and I am looking forward to it, as well as I am sure that I will be able to contribute to it.
KARVELAS
Scott Morrison has been doing the media rounds, claiming that Australia has a spending problem rather than a revenue problem. Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen says both sides of the Budget need to be looked at.
(Audio of Chris Bowen)
Is the new Treasurer simply starting to make a case for big budget cuts?
RYAN
No. I did go again and look at Scott’s interview with Leigh Sales last night and the point Scott was making is that under Labor spending was ratcheted up as a percentage of GDP, and it remains now at the levels that we were told were emergency levels under Wayne Swan; just over 26 per cent of GDP. Now there are two ways, well three ways in which you can balance the Budget. The first way is that you grow the economy so the Government collects more revenue from more taxpayers and more successful businesses, and that is a lot of what happened in the Howard era. The second way is to constrain the growth in spending, so that it continues to grow, for example on social security payments, in health and education but the rate of growth might drop from three or four per cent in real terms to one or two per cent. And changing those two numbers, the growth in public spending and the growth in the economy will have a dramatic impact on the Budget. The third way is very real cuts in terms of spending, and Australia hasn’t often done that. Victorian experienced it in the early 90s, there were a few real cuts in spending in the mid-1990s in the first Howard-Costello Budget, and you see a lot more of it in places like Europe. The real way to balance the Budget is what the Government has attempted to do thus far, which is to reduce the rate of growth in public spending and empower the economy to grow so that the size of the pie grows.
KARVELAS
Now, you sit in the Senate and Special Minister for State, Mal Brough, has raised the prospect of changing the Upper House electoral system which would make it harder for independents and smaller parties to win seats, here is how Clive Palmer responded to this idea on RN Drive.
(Audio of Clive Palmer)
Has this damaged your relationship with crossbenchers and do you need to take it off the table?
RYAN
I don’t think so. The Prime Minister has made clear that that is not a priority for the Government, and it is not a priority for us in the medium term. I think the point that Mal was making – and I didn’t see the entire interview – was the same one made in the Joint Electoral Matters Committee report which is: when people vote for a ticket above the line they are not necessarily sure where their vote ends up. Now, that is a committee report, it hasn’t been announced as Government policy. Mr Brough did actually talk about his concerns with Senate voting publically, but the Prime Minister has made clear that it is not a priority.
KARVELAS
Scott Ryan, it has been lovely to talk to you. I am disappointed that you are not going to allow me to call you a fixer though.
RYAN
Well, I thought we were going to talk about what sort of puppy that you were interested in.
KARVELAS
Oh Scott, don’t go there. Scott, I am not buying the puppy! Thank you for joining us.
RYAN
Thanks Patricia.
KARVELAS
And that is Scott Ryan, Liberal Senator for Victoria and now the Assistant Cabinet Secretary in Malcolm Turnbull’s Government.
(ENDS)