Topics: Newspoll, housing prices, marriage equality

E&OE…

GILBERT

With me now the Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Senator Scott Ryan and the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Matt Thistlethwaite. Gentlemen, good morning to you.

Scott, encouraging numbers for Tony Abbott, he is extending his lead as preferred PM but the headline figure still has the Coalition 52:48 behind.

RYAN

Well Kieran, I wouldn’t be consistent if I commented on polls this fortnight and didn’t comment last fortnight or next fortnight. There is an old view in politics that good policy is good politics in the long run.  We have made it clear that we are going to address the challenges that Australia faces, the Budget addresses those in the short, medium, and long term and if that produces a political dividend then that just proves that old adage.

GILBERT

Alright, Matt Thistlethwaite are you worried about this steady decline in Bill Shorten’s approval rating? It has been pretty consistent since the start of the year.

THISTLETHWAITE

I have said from the beginning, the polls are going to go up, the polls are going to go down, there is a long way to go until the next election and what is important is the effect of government policy. And this Government’s policy will have long lasting effects. Particularly the $80 billion they are cutting from health and education that will take a generation of Australians to get over. Particularly in education, you are going to see our kids finish school with an inferior education than they would have had if that money had been maintained. $100 000 degrees, the approach they are taking to climate change in backing away from a price on carbon, these are policy reforms that will take a generation for Australia to get over.

RYAN

These are Labor talking points.

THISTLETHWAITE

So the polls will come and go, but the effects of policy will be long lasting on Australia.

GILBERT

We can get to all of those issues on a later show; I don’t want to get into all of that today. There are some more current matters to discuss. House prices – the Prime Minister said he is happy to see the Sydney housing market go up, he has a house there in Sydney as he said in Parliament yesterday. At that very time he was saying that prices should be increasing John Fraser, the new Treasury Secretary said there was a bubble and that it’s concerning.

RYAN

The Treasury Secretary made the point that in some parts of Melbourne and Sydney that he is of the view that there is a bubble; I don’t think he was making the point that it applies to the whole of metropolitan Melbourne and Sydney. The point and the observation that the Prime Minister was making reflects the fact that modestly rising house prices are generally a surrogate measure for a strongly growing economy. The alternative is collapsing house prices; we have seen that in the United States and in parts of Europe and that usually goes hand in hand with a desperately struggling economy and growth in things like unemployment. That’s the observation the Prime Minister was making.

GILBERT

You don’t believe there is any contradiction in the statements that were made?

RYAN

No, the Prime Minister used the word ‘modest’ and I think that reflects every central banker in the world, every treasury secretary and treasurer makes the point that the alternative to modestly rising house prices is deflation in house prices. The real issue about housing affordability – and this is a generational issue, Matt and I are of a similar age –  is  the problem that year after year our state governments, often Labor governments have restricted land release, refused to invest in infrastructure and have seen new developments as a cash cow with massive development levies. And every study shows that the cost of building new housing and the cost of opening new areas of our cities is what is driving the cost of housing.

GILBERT

Matt Thistlethwaite, your reaction to this because Senator Ryan makes a good point because when you look at house prices if they are increasing it is normally a barometer of a healthy economy.

THISTLETHWAITE

But that’s the problem Kieran, house prices are not increasing moderately. I represent a community that has one of the hottest housing markets in the country, in the south-east of Sydney. The number of parents that come up to me with concerns about whether or not their kids will be able to afford to buy a house in the community they grew up and stay close to friends and family is a big worry. What the Prime Minister doesn’t appreciate is that the rest of the economy is struggling, we have got very low growth in terms of long term projections, business investment has been smashed, other assets are not appreciating at the same value, real wages growth is lower than what would otherwise be expected, but in one particular aspect of the economy you have booming prices that is out of step with the rest of the economy. That is a concern, and economists have been pointing to this and the Reserve Bank has.

GILBERT

What’s your point, do you think the Prime Minister was off the mark with his comments yesterday?

THISTLETHWAITE

I think he is out of touch and his comment reflects that. Labor has been undertaking a process…

(Inaudible)

GILBERT

If you don’t want modestly increasing house prices, what do you want? A flat…

(Inaudible)

THISTLETHWAITE

Everyone who owns a house wants to see the asset appreciate, especially when you sell it. But what you don’t want to see is a market out of whack with the rest of the economy and there is certainly evidence that within pockets of the housing market that is the case and that has been reflected in the evidence that was given yesterday. And I think that’s the reason why people are saying the Prime Minister is out of touch on this issue.

RYAN

You can’t have national policy on housing directed by a few suburbs of Sydney or Melbourne. I come from an area of Melbourne where there’s quite rapid price growth. As a younger Australian with a significant mortgage, but we’re politicians – we’re reasonably well renumerated compared to community standards, I am very worried about the lack of affordability. But the truth is that often first home buyers are not buying in the suburbs we’re you’re seeing rapidly increasing prices; that’s often someone’s second or third home, when they move when their family gets larger. The real problem for affordability is driven by the lack of state government infrastructure, of record stamp duty and land tax receipts.

GILBERT

Ok, let’s move on to the issue of same sex marriage; one of your colleagues, Liberal Senator Zed Seselja had a bit of a crack at some of those speaking out in support of marriage equality. Well, it was pretty clear that he was talking about Josh Frydenberg in these comments this morning to the media.

(Clip of Zed Seselja)

Senator Seselja there, a regular on this program. Says he doesn’t want to target one individual but then pretty much did, because we know who the Liberal was that was on Q&A last night speaking in favour of same sex marriage.  That being Mr Frydenberg.

RYAN

Well, I didn’t watch Q&A last night; I find my weeks start better when I don’t watch it, and I haven’t seen Zed’s comments this morning. But look, I’m a member of the ministry and the Party’s policy is to support the current Marriage Act and the Party Room may have a debate on that in the coming weeks.

GILBERT

Do you agree with Senator Seselja that ministers should not speak out on what is possibly a conscience vote?

RYAN

To be fair to Zed and Josh, I actually haven’t seen what Josh said.

GILBERT

What about the principal though of …

(Inaudible)

RYAN

As a member of the ministry, the principle of ministerial solidarity is one that I take seriously. I’m not making an observation on a colleague on that, but if the Party Room has a debate then we may have a free vote. But at the moment Party policy is to support the current Marriage Act.

GILBERT

Senator Birmingham is also very clearly in favour, he has been for a long time in favour of a conscience vote, and Josh Frydenberg’s been saying it as well. Surely this issue is a bit different to others?

RYAN

This is the important thing about the Liberal Party: the only people bound by Party policy support are the members of the ministry and, I think, the whips. Every member of the Liberal Party, on every issue, has the freedom to exercise their conscience. So the Liberal Party has a conscience vote every time a bill comes before parliament.

GILBERT

Except for ministers. As you quite rightly pointed out, Matt Thistlethwaite, this was an effort by Bill Shorten; no support across party lines. Was it premature?

THISTLETHWAITE

Not at all. The Australian people want marriage equality, that’s a fact. And the rest of the world is moving on this, and it’s time for the Liberal Party to remove its opposition to a free vote. If they do that, I think this issue will be successful. And I don’t understand for the life of me why the Liberal Party can’t just put this on the agenda in two weeks’ time for their Party Room meeting, debate the issue and make a decision on whether or not they’ll offer their members a free vote.

GILBERT

Mr Shorten has said that he’d be happy to second a bill that was put forward by a Liberal. So, he’s saying that he does not want, he’s not trying to make this a political point; he’s happy to be the seconder to a Liberal bill.

RYAN

I think that it’s a stretch to say that Bill Shorten isn’t trying to make this a political point. He may have said that but I think he’s actions demonstrate otherwise. Look, the Liberal Party’s had a long-standing policy on this. There’s a forum, not this week, but in the next sitting fortnight for this issue to be raised in the Liberal Party Room; it may or may not be raised, but that’s the appropriate place for my colleagues to have a discussion.

GILBERT

But how would you vote in that instance?

RYAN

Well, I don’t divulge what happens in the Party Room, and I’m not going to start now.

THISTLETHWAITE

Surely you’ve got a view on same sex marriage?

RYAN

Yes, and my view at the moment is that: I take this position particularly importantly, and that is that I’m a member of the ministry. So I defend the policies of the Liberal Party, occasionally which we all know on the frontbench Matt, we might have agreements or disagreements. So my position is if the Party changes its position on that, then I’ll express my view.

GILBERT

Ok. Matt Thistlethwaite, your thoughts on that? That’s reasonable, isn’t it given that they are the rules of his party? Labor’s even more strict if you waver on…

(Inaudible)

THISTLETHWAITE

This highlights the point; on this issue we’ve got a conscience vote. It’s a free vote, everyone can say what they believe and vote accordingly in the parliament. And this is an issue that is long overdue, and Bill Shorten’s offered to take this in a bipartisan approach, a multi-partisan approach…

GILBERT

No politics at play this week?

THISTLETHWAITE

Not at all, it’s really come about because Ireland made the decision and now Australia’s lagging behind the rest of the developed world on this issue. It’s time for us to make a decision on this.

GILBERT

Well someone who supports the marriage equality efforts, Liberal democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm will join me after the break. In the meantime, Matt Thistlethwaite and Scott Ryan, good to see you as always.

(ENDS)