Topics: TV advertising, Budget, election timing, election policies.

E&OE…

KIERAN GILBERT

With me on the program now, the Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Senator Scott Ryan. Also Labor frontbencher, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Matt Thistlethwaite. Gentlemen, before we get to our discussion, I just want to play a little bit of my colleague Paul Murray last night. This was on PML and this exclusive that he had in relation to TV and advertising being planned in the wake of the budget.

(Excerpt from Paul Murray Live)

GILBERT

Okay, we’ll go to Scott Ryan first of all. Your thoughts on that story and is it necessary for the Treasurer to come out and clarify is this accurate or not? Because if it is, it’s quite a leak.

SCOTT RYAN

Well firstly Kieran you wouldn’t expect me or any other member of the government to comment on what people might be proposing or otherwise on contents of the budget. We’re only a fortnight away, there will be a budget delivered to the House of Representatives on May the third, and I think that’s the appropriate place, where the details of the government’s plan for the economy are…

(interrupted)

GILBERT

But surely there should be some clarity as to whether or not details have been leaked, and if they’re wrong, well the government should come out and well those numbers aren’t actually right.

RYAN

Well no but I think that that then starts down the track, Kieran, of people saying well what’s in or what’s out of the budget. This happens every April and every early May every year. On May the third the government will outline its plans in the budget, its economic plan for Australia – it’s only two weeks away. That’s the appropriate time to do it.

GILBERT

As you start an election campaign, it’s not exactly the way you’d want to if one of your TV ads has been leaked to Sky.

RYAN

Well look, no decision has been taken on those matters at all. The Government’s focused on pulling the budget together, finalising it over the next couple of weeks, that’ll be presented to the House of Representatives as it is every May, every year. And while you know, obviously some people want to try and ask us what’s going to be in, what’s going to be out of the budget, I’d just say it’s only fourteen days away.

GILBERT

Your thoughts on that?

MATT THISTLETHWAITE

Day one of the election campaign and a Budget leak already – a major leak from within the Turnbull camp. So the sad thing about this is the chaos and dysfunction in this Government continues, as is evident in this leak. It’s also sad that they’re appearing to use tax payer dollars during an election campaign to sell what is essentially a political message.

GILBERT

This would be before the campaign though, it could potentially because you have the budget and then you’ve still got a week before we go into an official campaign, that’s right, isn’t it?

THISTLETHWAITE

Look we’re in a campaign now, we all know that. The Prime Minister’s said if the bills were rejected that they’d call a July 2 double dissolution. Although he hasn’t said it publically, he should probably stump up and say something today. But we all know we’re in election campaign. They’re going to use this money for essentially political advertising. The second thing, Kieran, is it appears that they’re adopting many of Labor’s policies. If this is true, they look at cracking down on multinational profit shifting and the massive tax concessions that exist in superannuation. They’re Labor policies. They’re policies that we’ve had out there fully-costed, budgeted for over the course of the last six months. So they’re adopting Labor’s policies – it’s good to see that they’re doing that, if this leak is true.

GILBERT

Well – sure, you can respond to that – but the other thing that I would ask and put to you is that this isn’t a regular question that’s being asked about detail, this is actually a report suggesting that this is the script for the TV advertising. Pretty specific.

RYAN

No decision has been taken on matters like that, at all. I know that. What Matt’s pointing out though, is he’s trying to confect this, this sense that an election campaign has begun. The government made clear that we were going to recall parliament, it was going to be given a chance to actually vote on the Australian Building and Construction Commission. We were also going to progress the budget, we brought the budget forward on May the third. That’s what the Government’s focussed on now. And to hear Matt’s histrionics about ad campaigns – you ran advertising campaigns during the last election, against the advice of the department of finance. They had to put a disclaimer on the ads. I mean, Labor’s got no credibility on this at all. I have never, in my thirty years of following this, seen ad campaigns of the order that Labor ran last time, with the officials saying ‘we don’t believe these should be run’, but Mark Dreyfus overruling them during the caretaker period. So put the histrionics aside.

THISTLETHWAITE

Well those comments are interesting. Are you saying that we’re not going to a July 2 election?

RYAN

No, No I said the Prime Minister made clear that the Parliament…

THISTLETHWAITE

So we are having a July 2 election?

RYAN

…the Parliament would be recalled, it would be given a chance to consider these important pieces of legislation, we would deliver a Budget on May the 3rd, the Prime Minister will say something today. Until the Budget is delivered, and the Prime Minister approaches the Governor General, the Government is focussed on the Budget. You can play politics all you want, that is the only plan Labor has for Australia – politics.

GILBERT

Alright. Matt your take on…you keep saying that we need the Prime Minister to be definitive on the date, but we know the date it is July 2. He couldn’t be clearer than that. If it is not backed by the Senate, the ABCC, he has a trigger and that is where we are going.

THISTLETHWAITE

If it is, then let him tell us, he hasn’t said that yet.

GILBERT

He couldn’t have been more blunt.

RYAN

Not at all, he was clear three weeks ago.

THISTLETHWAITE

Well if we are going to a July 2 election, how are you going to spend taxpayers funds during an election campaign…

RYAN

So you’re saying that in New South Wales when you were

THISTLETHWAITE

…for what is essentially political purposes?

RYAN

When you were state secretary of the Labor Party in New South Wales…the New South Wales election date is fixed, we know it three years from now. We know it three or four years away, in all of our states. So don’t try and confect this idea that just because you think you know the date that everything before that is an election.

GILBERT

Are you worried about this longer campaign? As someone who has watched politics for a long, long time, is this something that could alienate voters?

RYAN

I think particularly since 1998, when our elections moved from March in the 90s to start in the latte half in the year, I think the coverage of politics in an election year has been pretty consistent since the new year. And that is no different this year. There is going to be an election in the second half of this year, everyone knew that. It had to happen by August/September, the Prime Minister has said, well it is going to be July to activate the provision where there can be a joint sitting to deal with this particular piece of legislation if the Government is returned. So, realistically, having it six weeks is not really having it early.

GILBERT

There is a sense of optimism within Labor at the moment that you might be able to win, that wasn’t there at the end of last year. That’s true isn’t it?

THISTLETHWAITE

If you look at Labor over the last two years we have been clearly focussed on policy, and in our view the election will be determined on key issues like economic management, and tax reform. We have a clear set of policies on that to ensure we level the playing field for people buying first homes, to ensure that multinationals pay their fair share, we removed some of the big concessions in superannuation. It will be about an investment in schools, and we have a plan to deliver additional funding through our schools, it will be an investment in health and we will make some announcements about investing more in our hospitals. And it will clearly be about renewable energy…

GILBERT

And potentially tax cuts as well?

THISTLETHWAITE

We have got a clear policy on renewable energy, we will invest and ensure that 50 per cent of our energy is produced from….

(Interrupted)

GILBERT

Is there room for tax cuts as well, do you think?

THISTLETHWAITE

Bill Shorten will make his budget reply in a couple of weeks’ time, I am not privy to those discussions because I am not part of the economic team. He will make his reply to the Budget. But we have a clear set of policies…

GILBERT

They actually are right about that, they are much clearer than the Government…

RYAN

Labor is making all of these promises, but what he doesn’t want to talk about is Labor’s track record. Blowing the Budget, forcing up energy prices, forcing up the cost of living, unfunded promises, a budget that is left with the biggest black holes we have ever seen; and they are hoping people have forgotten what they were like in Government. I mean, Labor hasn’t just blown the Budget, it has actually voted against the promises it made at the last election to fix it. We tried to implement some of Labor’s promises where we agreed, but Labor voted against them because Bill Shorten is all about politics. You can run on your promises but Labor’s track record is also going to be relevant this election, and people do not trust you on the Budget, the economy or jobs.

GILBERT

When you start this campaign it is just as the polls start to converge…

RYAN

They were always going to.

GILBERT

…50:50 51:49 behind.

RYAN

They were always going to. Every election…

(Interrupted)

GILBERT

Are you in a better position than you would have been under Tony Abbott?

RYAN

I will let you and others talk about that, I have to deal with the fact that we are all up for election now, at some point in July, all Senators, all Members of the House. Every election you start from scratch these days and our job is to earn the confidence of the Australian people to say here is our plan for the economic transition, here is our plan to balance the Budget, here is our plan for domestic and national security. And Labor do not want to talk about that track record but they are not going to be able to run away from it.

GILBERT

Matt Thistlethwaite, this is the reality isn’t it for Bill Shorten? That he is still well behind in his approval ratings, in terms of preferred prime minister – making ground it has to be said – but still a long, long way behind.

THISTLETHWAITE

If you look at Bill’s performance over the last couple of years, he got rid of Tony Abbott, he got rid of Joe Hockey, he got rid of Bronwyn Bishop and he has narrowed the gap with Malcolm Turnbull. We have got a clear set of policies. We have focussed the last two years on policy development, consulting with the Australian public, having those policies tested by academics and reports, having them costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office. They are all out there for people to see. They concentrate on tax reform, investment in health and education, investment in renewable energy and ensuring that we are developing a fairer economy and growing jobs.

GILBERT

It is going to be a big few months ahead. Matt and Senator Ryan, appreciate it – talk to you soon.

RYAN

Thanks Kieran

(ENDS)