Subjects: Same sex marriage, banking.
KIERAN GILBERT:
With me now, the Transport Minister Darren Chester. There has been criticism internally about this decision to delay the sitting. Can you understand why people are saying: look, you look like you are running scared here?
DARREN CHESTER:
Well, the Leader of the House Christopher Pyne made a statement yesterday and basically it is a practical scheduling issue around the fact that the Senate is considering the same sex marriage legislation all next week. We take the vote seriously. Obviously the overwhelming majority of Australians voted yes, we want to get that dealt with by Christmas and from a scheduling point of view to then delay the sitting week for a week to allow the House of Representatives to consider that and the citizenship issue as a matter of priority, I am quite relaxed about the announcement made by the Leader of the House yesterday.
KIERAN GILBERT:
And the optics of it as well?
DARREN CHESTER:
Well, I was in Orbost yesterday, Kieran, and Orbost is about five hours from Melbourne, bumped into four people on the main drag having a cup of coffee; they didn’t want to talk about citizenship, they didn’t want to talk about House sitting schedules, they wanted to talk about roads, they want to talk about rail, they want to talk about airports, they want to talk about what we are building in Australia right now. They are not interested in the internal games that seem to get everyone very excited up here. In the real world, out there in a little town called Orbost, they are very happy to hear what we are actually doing to build a better highway for them.
KIERAN GILBERT:
A very nice pub in Orbost too, but we won’t get distracted. In relation to this though, the numbers being tested on the floor of the House, this looks convenient to the extent that you have got two MPs out at the moment fighting a by-election.
DARREN CHESTER:
Well, we will still have two MPs out the following week anyway. I mean, Barnaby Joyce’s by-election in New England doesn’t occur until 2 December, it is unlikely – and even if Barnaby wins, which I am very confident he is going to go really well and I hope he gets back very easily – but even if he does win, the chance of him being in the House on 4 December are pretty small. John Alexander’s by-election in Bennelong is not for another couple of weeks after that. So we will still be a couple of numbers down next week anyway.
KIERAN GILBERT:
And I guess that goes to the whole idea of banking inquiry and a few of your Nationals colleagues are very passionate about that, aren’t they? Senator O’Sullivan…
DARREN CHESTER:
Well, my Nationals colleagues are passionate about a lot of things, a lot of important issues in regional areas and they express themselves very strongly and forcefully…
KIERAN GILBERT:
Would you expect them to cross the floor on this? It certainly looks like they will in the Senate introduce this Private Members Bill.
DARREN CHESTER:
Well I’ve only read the discussion in the media from Barry O’Sullivan, I haven’t spoken to Barry on the issue; I have spoken to George Christensen on the issue. I spoke to George actually last night and George made it very clear to me last night that he won’t be doing anything that would jeopardise our situation in the House in the context while Barnaby Joyce is still off fighting his by-election in New England. He has made that very clear, he will be doing nothing that would upset the arrangements given Barnaby’s absence at the moment so I take George at his word. He is a man of great honour and he is a passionate Queenslander who fights hard for his community and he said to me he wouldn’t be doing anything that would compromise the situation while Barnaby’s out fighting the New England by-election.
KIERAN GILBERT:
And that would go to the banking inquiry as well, you believe?
DARREN CHESTER:
I take George absolutely at his word. He said he is rock solid when it comes to backing the Nats, backing our Government – particularly in the environment where we are one number down due to Barnaby’s absence and look, obviously we will be two numbers down given John Alexander is also fighting that by-election.
KIERAN GILBERT:
And Senator O’Sullivan, though, moving that Private Members Bill, it will probably get through the Senate at least in terms of a banking inquiry. Is that a bit ugly for the Government given that’s not your policy?
DARREN CHESTER:
Well, you are right, it’s not the National Party policy, it is Barry’s strong view and he will do what he says he is going to do. Look, I said I haven’t had any conversation with Barry on the issue, I have only been reading the media reports myself – whether they are accurate or not, I’m not sure – but I will wait and see.
KIERAN GILBERT:
I know firsthand that the Senators within the Coalition, a number of them, were annoyed at the way it was managed last week. The response to the same sex marriage vote, they felt like they were taken by surprise a bit in terms of the way the Coalition Senators moved that Dean Smith Bill so quickly without taking it to any party room discussion. Should they be surprised given the campaign and the result?
DARREN CHESTER:
Well this issue has been on the books for years. I have been here for nine and a half years now and it has been on the books ever since then. Particularly from our perspective, as a Coalition, we took the policy of a plebiscite to the last election. Labor blocked that because they didn’t trust the Australian people to have their say and then we took the postal vote out there to the Australian people and they resoundingly and in a great exercise of democracy – keep in mind, more people voted in that voluntary survey than votes to elect a US president. So the Australian people made it very clear they wanted to have their say on the issue, they had their say, resoundingly said yes and now it is up to us to implement the will of the Australian people. The Senate moved quite quickly and I think the Australian people expect us to get this done by Christmas.
KIERAN GILBERT:
And finally, Mr Chester, the Andrew Bolt program and he has reported that he has spoken to a Coalition MP that’s going to quit the Turnbull Government next month unless there is a change of leadership. Do you know who that one might be?
DARREN CHESTER:
Look, I see anonymous sources quoted in the paper every day and I say if you haven’t got the guts to put your name to it, don’t waste your time ringing the journo up. I mean, what Australia needs right now is certainty, confidence, stability. We have created in the order of 500,000 jobs over the last two years. We want businesses to keep creating jobs, we need that certainty and that confidence. It doesn’t help to have people backgrounding against the leadership. We…
KIERAN GILBERT:
As a member of the Cabinet what would you say to that individual?
DARREN CHESTER:
Give me a call. You have got my mobile number mate, or whoever you are. Give me a call and we will talk through your issue but we have got a big agenda, we are delivering everything we said we would do at the last election. 500,000 jobs over two years is a great achievement; national security: another great achievement; stopping the boats and regaining control of our borders: another great achievement. You know, we are not perfect. No government is ever going to be perfect but we are delivering everything we said we would do in the last election. In my own portfolio of Infrastructure: $75 billion over 10 years, thousands of individual projects ongoing right now around Australia, a lot of Australians gainfully employed doing some great work in the community and they want to see us keep on delivering for them.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Darren Chester, appreciate your time as always. Thanks for that.
DARREN CHESTER:
All the best.
[ENDS]