Transcript of
Senator Mitch Fifield
Senator for Victoria
Sky News
AM Agenda with Kieran Gilbert
30 November 2009
8.40am
E & OE
Subjects: Emissions Trading Scheme
KIERAN GILBERT:
Welcome back to AM Agenda. With me now former Liberal frontbencher Senator Mitch Fifield. Senator Fifield thanks for your time.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Hi Kieran.
GILBERT:
The polls show that Joe Hockey has got the popular support. Is he the man to take the Party forward and unify it?
FIFIELD:
Well Joe has the leadership skills which we are looking for. He has the leadership qualities that the Party needs. He has the capacity to bring the Party together. And also, critically, to focus on the flaws in the Government’s legislation, but also to put forward a Coalition case for action on climate change. Tony Abbott has indicated that he is going to run. Joe hasn’t indicated what he intends to do, but Tony has indicated that should Joe put up his hand, that he is prepared to withdraw. That would see unity around the next leader of the Liberal Party. We are looking for resolution. On Tuesday we will have a new leader of the Liberal Party.
GILBERT:
And you’d hope, obviously, then given those sentiments, that Joe Hockey does put his hand up today?
FIFIELD:
Well a number of colleagues have been talking to Joe. Joe is entitled to consult his family. It is a big commitment to lead one of Australia’s major political parties. It is not a decision that you want to take lightly. It remains to be seen if Joe will nominate. But there would be broad support across the Party if he did.
GILBERT:
Peter Dutton, a good deputy? Is that the unity ticket as far as you see it?
FIFIELD:
Well no one has yet nominated for the Deputy’s position. Julie is the Deputy. I am a fan of Julie’s. She is very well regarded throughout the Party. So it remains to be seen if there will be any nomination for Deputy.
GILBERT:
So you would hope that Julie would remain?
FIFIELD:
Well look, it is up to the Party Room. No one has nominated for Deputy, people are focusing on the leadership itself. It would be fair to say that the Party has moved on and that the Party is now looking to the next leader.
GILBERT:
Well some of the Party might have but the Malcolm Turnbull attacks yesterday were quite remarkable. What did you make of them?
FIFIELD:
I think it was unfortunate and incorrect to characterise anyone in the Party who has issues with Labor’s legislation, and to characterise anyone who thinks it is important to delay the legislation, I think it was wrong to characterise them as climate change deniers. Being someone who thinks it is important to find out what the rest of the world is going to do, doesn’t make you a climate change denier.
GILBERT:
He went further though, he said you were destroying the Party.
FIFIELD:
Well I don’t think anyone who has genuine policy issues and expresses those is destroying the Party. It is important to have robust policy debates. And I think if there is a lesson out of this recent episode, it is that you’ve got to have proper debate before you can reach a position. Yes, unity, and yes, discipline, are important attributes for a political party. But in the hierarchy of political virtues, ideas and debate rank higher. And you have got to have the debate before you can call for unity and discipline.
GILBERT:
Are you concerned about what Malcolm Turnbull might do today, given the nature of yesterday’s attack? And are you worried that he is going to launch further attacks as he sees his future as inevitable, that he is going to lose the leadership?
FIFIELD:
I think it is important for all colleagues to not impugn the motives of other colleagues. I think it is important for all colleagues to treat each other with courtesy and respect. And I also think it is important to not falsely categorise colleagues such as saying that if you have a concern about this ETS legislation that you are a climate change denier. We are not a Party of climate change deniers. We are a Party committed to action on climate change, and the next leader of the Liberal Party will be advocating our approach to tackle climate change.
GILBERT:
If his leadership wasn’t untenable before that interview yesterday, do you think that was the nail in the coffin?
FIFIELD:
It would be fair to say that the vast majority of colleagues have moved on, and are looking at who will be the next leader of the Liberal Party.
GILBERT:
It’s been a fairly brutal execution, political execution, of Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership. How can you and your colleagues claim that this wasn’t orchestrated. It was so clinical. How can you seriously claim it wasn’t orchestrated?
FIFIELD:
Well I can only speak for myself. I obviously consulted with Senators Cormann and Mason before I resigned from the frontbench, we announced our resignation together.
GILBERT:
But not Senator Minchin?
FIFIELD:
No. We spoke to each other, we decided that we couldn’t support the legislation as it was and we made our announcement. I wouldn’t want to speak for anyone, other than myself.
GILBERT:
Ok well now our attention turns to what the Coalition will do in the Senate with the legislation. Nick Minchin’s had a few comments this morning, let’s here what he had to say.
OPPOSITION SENATE LEADER NICK MINCHIN:
This morning I call on the Government to respect the will of the people and withdraw its CPRS or Emissions Trading Scheme legislation from the Parliament today and bring it back in February, after the nation and the community has had time to consider the complexity of this new bill which is what it is, with all the additional amendments has had time to consider the outcome of Copenhagen, get an assessment of what other countries are doing. And then we can have a considered and sober debate about the course that Australia should follow in relation to action on climate change, without this Prime Minister desperately trying to force this legislation through the Parliament in the week before Copenhagen, just so that he can go to Denmark in December boasting about his Parliament having passed legislation.
GILBERT:
That is a new message there from Nick Minchin, calling on them to withdraw the legislation. Surely you will just use your numbers to delay it anyway, won’t you, the vote?
FIFIELD:
It would be a very sensible approach on the Government’s part to withdraw the legislation. The only reason the Prime Minister initially advocated for passing this legislation before Copenhagen was to try and serve as some sort of demonstration and example for the rest of the world.
GILBERT:
But they are not going to do that, so will you delay it?
FIFIELD:
Well we know now that nothing is going come out of Copenhagen other than a glorified press release, so I think there is wisdom in withdrawing this legislation so that we can look at it more carefully and more soberly.
GILBERT:
Mitch Fifield thanks for your time.
FIFIELD:
Thanks Kieran.
ENDS