Interview with Holly Stearnes on Sky News

Subjects: Travel expenses, Tomago bailout

E&OE………

Holly Stearnes

Joining me now is Shadow Housing and Shadow Productivity Minister, Andrew Bragg. Thanks for your time this afternoon. Would you like to see change?

Senator Bragg

Well, Holly, the reason that we're having this debate is because the Prime Minister has mismanaged this scandal. What should have happened is he should have known that these type of expenses were not acceptable. Just because there is an expense account, it doesn't mean you need to clean it out. The Prime Minister I think, has shown that he has faulty judgement, and he could have done a much better job here. Frankly, the Australians are starting to see this guy for who he really is. He's a shapeshifter.

Holly Stearnes

Well, it doesn't really matter what side of politics you're on. It's about taxpayer money. It was set up eight years ago. Let's review it, right? Because clearly this is causing concern, and rightly so, when people across the country are doing it tough.

Senator Bragg

Yeah, sure. But the whole point of this reunion thing is for people who are predominantly stuck in Canberra for Parliament, it's not to go to all these salubrious different events and then to charge a taxpayer for business class airfares. I just think it's taking the piss. And frankly, he should have known better once he discovered this had happened, and he should have called it out, and he hasn't shown leadership. He's tried to hide behind the fact that he's not the Minister for Finance. Maybe he should have secretly sworn himself in. You can't do it anymore. But I think what this shows is a lack of judgement from this man, and maybe it also shows the fact that he hasn't been under much pressure for a long time. That's really regrettable because Australians need to see a government which is held to account. Because if there is no opposition, then frankly, people like this will waste taxpayers' funds.

Holly Stearnes

I mean they say it's within the guidelines, but it just doesn't feel very good, does it? Conversations that I'm having with a lot of people say it just shouldn't be allowed, basically. Even some revelations yesterday about Sarah Hanson Green's [sic] husband flying to Canberra. He's a lobbyist, of course. I mean Sussan Ley has written a letter to the Prime Minister. She, of course, faced her own scandal years ago. Do you think Anika Wells should resign like Sussan Ley had to at the time?

Senator Bragg

Well, Sussan did the right thing, fessed up and took her medicine. I think it's big of Sussan to offer to work together in a bipartisan way. Now, this has been mismanaged by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister had a window where he could have said, 'look, this is not good enough, and we'll clean it up.' He has more power and more authority than any Prime Minister in decades. He's got about a million seats. He's got heaps of power. He could have cleaned it up. Instead, he chose not to. Now, Sussan is offering to help do this in a bipartisan way. I think most Australians will see it as constructive and important. And we will now try and work with all parliamentarians to tidy it up.

Holly Stearnes

But should Anika Wells resign?

Senator Bragg

Well, we've said that we think that for the duration of the review, she should step aside. And certainly the Prime Minister should reflect very carefully on how he now engages with all parliamentarians, particularly the Opposition Leader. Given that Sussan has offered to find a pathway to reform, some of these entitlements which are not in line with community standards, clearly not in line with community standards.

Holly Stearnes

Well, yeah. After eight years, you'd think it's time for a review of the rules, and I think this week has shown us that more so than ever. Let's get to some other news. What do you make of the Tomago announcement today?

Senator Bragg

Look, we want to see Australians in jobs. We want to see the power on. We want to see industry, but we don't want to see a band-aid. This is, frankly, the model we have now in Australia, where you have an energy disaster, and then you have taxpayer funds coming to bailout sectors with these band-aids. It's a pretty ugly form of industry policy. Our economy is very sick, and I don't think this government has the capacity to fix it. After four years, or nearly four years, we've seen their economic mismanagement for what it is.

Holly Stearnes

What would the opposition do differently?

Senator Bragg

We would try and improve the competitiveness of the economy. We will try and cut taxes and regulation, and we will try and have more energy in the system, which would make it more effective for industry to be on shore. I mean, these rinky-dink solutions are not going to solve the problem in the long term. There are things that you can do that improve the resilience and the competitiveness of the economy. And none of these things are going to be pursued by the government because they like the idea of bailouts. I think they like the idea of announcing they're going to say something. But these are just, frankly, band-aids.

Holly Stearnes

Okay, Andrew Bragg. We'll leave it there for today. Of course, there was that AEMO report as well this week showing that coal will be needed until 2049. Of course, none of us really surprised by that. At the end of the day, it's households and businesses paying the bill for all of this, but we'll leave it there for today. Thanks for your time.

[Ends]

Media Contact | David Nouri | 0401 392 624

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