Tony Abbott on election negotiations

The transcript of Tony Abbott’s Sydney media conference today on Election negotiations:

TONY ABBOTT:

Ok, well thanks for being here. I just want to stress that my objective over coming days is to try to ensure that Australia gets stable and competent government over the next three years, arising out of last Saturday’s election and I believe that only the Coalition can offer a stable and competent government for the next three years. The point I keep making, and I want to make it again today, is that a Labor Government that was incapable of providing stable and competent government with a majority is highly unlikely to be able to provide stable and competent government without a majority. Only the Coalition can provide stable and competent government because only the Coalition can end the culture of machine politics. Labor exemplifies the culture of machine politics as demonstrated by the political execution of Prime Minister Rudd. Only the Coalition can effectively reform the Parliament. Labor has completely abused the Parliament over the last three years. Only the Coalition can provide a better deal for regional Australia. Labor cut $1 billion out of funding for regional Australia in its first Budget. The other point I should make is that it’s increasingly apparent that any continued Gillard Government would effectively be a Labor-Green alliance and that is not going to be good news for regional Australia.

I’m very pleased to say that the Coalition has had a significant win on the briefings process. As things had stood, the Treasury would have briefed independent members without any input from the Coalition and with all information available to the Government. As things have now been agreed, the Coalition will brief Treasury before Treasury briefs the independents and no information from that full briefing of Treasury by the Coalition will be available to the Government. What this means is that briefings of the independents by Treasury can now go ahead without the risk of political interference and that was a very, very real risk.

I want to stress that the Coalition at all times prior to the election was happy to comply with the Charter of Budget Honesty process. More than 50 Coalition policies had been made available to the Government as part of the Charter of Budget Honesty process. But the leak that took place from out of the Government completely compromised the integrity of that process. That was why the Coalition could not further comply with the Charter of Budget Honesty process. But the new arrangements which have now been agreed to ensure that Treasury briefings of the independent members can take place without the risk of political interference.

The Coalition has also had a win on the release of incoming government briefs. Now, this was a matter which the Prime Minister had publicly floated last Wednesday evening. This would have been, I think, a complete trashing of the Westminster conventions. Those incoming government briefs are prepared with particular recipients in mind. I believe it is absolutely essential to the proper functioning of our government under the Westminster tradition that the public service be able to provide frank and fearless advice and making that advice available to people other than the intended recipients would have completely trashed that important part of our system. It’s now absolutely agreed by the Government that that should not take place.

So, I think as a result of the wins that the Coalition has had today there can now be a full and fair briefing of the independent members on the policies and costings of the Coalition and of the Labor Party and on that basis I hope that the independent members will be able to come to a position as soon as possible as to which side of parliament is worthy of backing on motions of confidence and on supply.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, when you say ‘briefings’ are you prepared to hand over all your policy papers for the scrutiny of Treasury or are you going to tell them selected bits?

TONY ABBOTT:

No, we are happy to sit down with the Treasury and to provide them with absolutely all the information they need to make a full and fair assessment of our policies which they can then share with the independents.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, you’ll have 73 seats in the House. You’ll need three more to form government. What realistically are your chances of convincing the three independents – Katter, Oakeshott and Windsor – all three of them, to join you and form a government?

TONY ABBOTT:

As I said, I think that all three of them are interested in competent and clean government. I think all three of them want an end to the machine culture which has so contaminated our politics over the last three years. I think all three of them want a much fairer and more collegial Parliament than we’ve seen over the last three years and I think all three of them want a better deal for the regions and I think the Coalition and only the Coalition can deliver on all those three points.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, do you count Tony Crook as a member of the Coalition?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, Tony Crook has made it very clear that he cannot abide the mining tax and that he certainly could not, under any circumstances, support a government that was in favour of a mining tax and that essentially means that he can’t support the Labor Government.

QUESTION:

So that’s a yes?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I’m not wanting to put words in Tony Crook’s mouth and I accept that he has a particular agenda which he’s entitled to have which will involve fairer treatment for Western Australia and I’m confident that we can sit down and talk sensibly about that. But I think there’s no way that he’s going to support a continuation of the Gillard Government.

QUESTION:

So once those briefings are done, will the independent then be free to discuss your costings with the general public or will they be gagged?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, we have established a fair basis for briefings to take place of the independents. We’ve put a process in place. Now, what will come out of that process, I hope, is a decision by the independents to back one or other side of the Parliament and I think, by virtue of which side they choose, the independents would have cast a judgement on the policies that they’ve been presented with.

QUESTION:

Will they be able, in the interim though while they’re considering their decision, to discuss your costings [inaudible]?

TONY ABBOTT:

I don’t believe it is going to be helpful if the independents are expected to hold a press conference after every briefing. I think if this process is to be fair to everyone we’re going to have to allow the independents a degree of space to assimilate, digest and consider material without expecting them to be giving a running commentary on each day’s briefings. But at the end, obviously, they will make a decision and I expect that at the time they make their decision they’ll offer a justification to the public.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, you talk of wins by the Coalition today and the way the Prime Minister characterises it, it’s a backdown by you.

TONY ABBOTT:

I would completely reject that. I was not prepared to make available to the Government our policies in any context where I thought they were open to political interference. Now, the Prime Minister has agreed to a process, I think this is a very fair process and I think this process enables our policies to be briefed out to the independents without the kind of political interference that we saw in the course of the election campaign.

QUESTION:

You weren’t going to give over the information at all, so it is a backdown.

TONY ABBOTT:

No, we were not going to agree to a briefing process that was open to political interference in the way that might have been possible without the arrangements that have been agreed to today.

QUESTION:

Realistically, when can Australia expect a government? How long will this process, do you think, should take?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, I don’t want to put the weights on the independents because I understand that it’s going to be difficult for them to make a choice. I mean, independents are independent for a reason, they do not want to be allied to either of the main political parties and in order to deliver stable and competent government they are going to have to opt for one side or the other. So, I accept that this is a difficult choice for them. To their credit they accept, I believe, that a choice does have to be made. Now, I’m not trying to pressure them into any particular timetable. I just make this point though, this is the national government, it’s not a state government and it is important that this decision be not unduly delayed. Now, in the end this timetable will be set by them but I think the public will expect that decisions are made as soon as they reasonably can be.

QUESTION:

Would you consider making an alliance with the Greens yourself to get a stable and competent government and what do you think of the Labor Party’s suggestion that they do?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, I respect Bob Brown and I respect their position but I don’t agree with the Greens’ position, not very much at all and I made it crystal clear in the course of the election campaign that we’d made no deals with the Greens, unlike the Labor Party which even before the election had entered into a secret preference deal with the Greens. Adam Bandt, the Green member of parliament, has already indicated that he expects to support the Labor Party and I think that the real issue here is for the Prime Minister to disclose now exactly what arrangements might have been made pre-election with the Greens and exactly what kind of arrangements are being contemplated now.

QUESTION:

So would you rather not have government than make a deal with the Greens?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I believe that it’s important that Australia should have a competent and stable government emerge from this election and given the position of the three non-aligned independents, I think that it is possible for a stable and competent government to emerge by negotiation with them. I think only the Coalition is well place to provide a stable and competent government but nevertheless I think that negotiations with them are the key.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, Bob Brown’s accused you of forcing Australia back to the polls, that that’s your desire. Can you answer that at all?

TONY ABBOTT:

It’s a complete fantasy. I think that the public expect, and Australia deserves, to get an outcome from the election. I think that it is possible to get stable and competent government, even out of the election outcome that we’ve got and that’s what I’m working towards. I want to form, if at all possible, stable and competent government that won’t require the country to go back to the polls any time before August of 2013.

QUESTION:

Steve Fielding said that he plans to destabilise and block government policy in the Senate, he’ll obviously need Coalition votes to do that. Would you be taking that course of action, as well?

TONY ABBOTT:

We are a responsible political party. We’ll be a responsible government, should we get that opportunity, we’ll be a responsible opposition should that be our fate. We will always be responsible, we will always act in accordance with the best interests of the Australian people as we see it and certainly we’re not in the business of blocking supply or needlessly running interference on anyone.

Thanks so much, thank you.