ABBOTT INTERVIEW WITH JAMES LUSH (ABC PERTH) - ALANNAH MACTIERNAN, KEVIN RUDD'S GREAT BIG EMISSIONS TAX, COPENHAGEN, EDUCATION

E&OE

TONY ABBOTT:

[start of audio] there is no doubt about, but she wasn’t good enough for the leadership of the West Australian state parliamentary Labor Party. Now she is having a go at Don Randall and if she wasn’t good enough for her state colleagues why is she good enough to take on a very well respected federal Liberal.

JAMES LUSH:

You probably argue that with his… Obviously he has been a while and Alannah is a fierce competitor. She is going to be the one that is going to take beating even though she is not a resident.

TONY ABBOTT:

Well there is no such thing as an easy fight when you are talking about a relatively marginal seat and Don is only too well aware of the fact that he is going to have to fight for every vote, but he is a very, very strong local member.

JAMES LUSH:

Let me ask you about international affairs now. Obviously the dust settling a little after Copenhagen. Many would say you have done what you needed to do. You have seen an accord for it is worth come out of the mix rather than anything firm. How do you sum it all up?

TONY ABBOTT:

I think it’s been a terrible disappointment for everyone such as Mr Rudd who was anticipating great things from Copenhagen. I mean what Mr Rudd said beforehand was that real progress meant real targets against real timelines and of course that’s not what we’ve got. So look a disappointment for many, a rebuff for Kevin Rudd, but surely proof, if proof was needed, that Australia was crazy to try and rush itself into an emissions tax before knowing what the rest of the world was going to do.

JAMES LUSH:

We don’t really need political point scoring under these circumstances.

TONY ABBOTT:

But I am a politician James.

JAMES LUSH:

That is true.

TONY ABBOTT:

And I am allowed to point out the errors in the Government.

JAMES LUSH:

But we have a world situation which needs looking at. What do you actually want to put into this void? We have heard what you don’t want. What do you want?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well I want to see a better environment and I think there is a lot you can do to improve the environment that doesn’t mean a great big new tax on everything. Now, tree planting is important. It’s not the whole answer but it is important. I think more energy efficient buildings are important – again, not the whole the answer – and I think smart technology is very important. Now, one of the projects that I looked at last week was a very innovative project in Townsville at James Cook University to turn waste water and carbon dioxide from power stations in to algae which can be used as biodiesel and stock feed. Now, this is apparently a commercial proposition even under current rules and there are pilot plants being constructed in the near future at our three biggest and dirtiest power stations. This is what is going to solve our problems, not going back to the past but using intelligent technology…

JAMES LUSH:

So you will be all behind this new research? You will be putting your money where your mouth is?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well we will have our policy before Parliament goes back, James, in February. I am not saying that you can save the environment for free. It will be costly, but it won’t be as costly as Mr Rudd’s giant one hundred and twenty billion dollar money-go-round.

JAMES LUSH:

Do you believe that money spent on research and looking at new technologies, new innovations would be money better spent than implementing huge taxes on everybody?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well essentially, yes. See all Mr Rudd is doing is putting up the price of things; he is not actually stopping pollution. He is going to make fuel and energy more expensive. That is not necessarily going to stop the emissions, it’s jut going to make every day activity much more costly.

JAMES LUSH:

With due respect, you’re new in your job. You obviously were aware a whole range of different issues going on around the world. Environmentally, was that something you used to take a very close look at?

TONY ABBOTT:

I regard myself as an environmentalist, James. My first responsibility in government was the Green Corps, which was a young environmental activists program doing practical environmental work. In opposition prior to 1996, I supported things like burying overhead power cables, trying to get environmentally friendly hemp grown in areas that might otherwise have been inappropriately used for rice farming and so on. So I think I’ve got a pretty good track record and I would certainly match my green record against Mr Rudd’s.

JAMES LUSH:

Just on one final issue on the environment. Do you think you underestimate the power of the people here? That there is a large population that is very keen to see something done and all we see at the moment is politicians bickering.

TONY ABBOTT:

And that is always very frustrating, but it’s important to get things right not to rush into the first thing that we think of, and Mr Rudd’s first instinct was this great big new tax.

JAMES LUSH:

Let’s talk about some of the local issues. Some very tight marginal seats here in WA. We have got Canning, Swan, Cowan, Stirling. What is your strategy as you move to 2010?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well my strategy is to be as supportive as I can of my tremendous local members here in the West. It’s to be an effective critic of the Government and, as 2010 unfolds, to roll out credible alternative policies, James. So there is no great mystery to what you need to do to win elections. You have got to make people think that the Government has mucked up and you have got to make people think that you are a better alternative.

JAMES LUSH:

Is it nice to be in a state where the current leader is one of the most popular in the country?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look its terrific isn’t it to see Premier Barnett the most popular premier. He is doing a great job and I’ve got to say that, notwithstanding the difficult economic circumstances, West Australia looks to be back on track.

JAMES LUSH:

Just finally, I wanted to ask you about an issue that cropped up over the weekend with regards to a comment you made about kids reading the Bible. You said that Bible classes should be compulsory, so children have a fundamental understanding of Christianity on leaving school. Is that something that has been misquoted or did you actually say that?

TONY ABBOTT:

I didn’t say that. I didn’t say that. I said that in our culture to be culturally literate requires some familiarity with the great source documents of our civilisation and the New Testament is probably the most important single source document for western civilisation. So that is what I was talking about. It was a far more nuanced and subtle statement than the rough caricature that appeared in one of the papers.

JAMES LUSH:

And this is the danger you’re going to face, isn’t it? As Opposition Leader and potentially leader in this country that you have to be so careful about what you do say and the way it’s interpreted?

TONY ABBOTT:

But what I said was fine. I think that a journalist, can I possibly say that some journalists would rather beat things up than report the truth including the nuance. I mean, so many journalists and I am a former journalist myself, James, and I appreciate the need for conflict to make stories, but so many journalists have a tendency to write to the stereotype, to pander to the prejudice rather than to actually report the facts and explore the nuances and subtleties that exist in most people’s positions.

JAMES LUSH:

So tell me, is there any truth in the fact that you are going to be swimming in Cottesloe beach with Julie Bishop this morning?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well look it was very tempting. It’s a gorgeous day and Julie is a terrific companion, but no we didn’t go swimming Cottesloe. We have got a big morning tea at Cottesloe but everyone will be fully clad in their Christmas finery.

JAMES LUSH:

There are a lot of women in this newsroom who are always very keen to see you in your budgie smugglers.

TONY ABBOTT:

Well my wife tells me that I should never be seen in them again and so they will be disappointed.

JAMES LUSH:

I just wondered whether you’re influenced by Mr Putin in Russia?

TONY ABBOTT:

I think he is probably an example of… He’s a mixed example Mr Putin, and I wouldn’t ride a horse without a shirt on. And I can’t do Judo.

JAMES LUSH:

But you can fight crocs?

TONY ABBOTT:

I can’t even fight crocs. I often feel like a croc myself after too much exercise.

JAMES LUSH:

Have a great Christmas. Thanks for seeing us.  

TONY ABBOTT: 

Thanks so much James.