12 November, 2012
Sky News AM Agenda
With David Lipson and Nick Champion MP
12 November 2012
8:45am
E & OE
Subjects: Child abuse, GST, nuclear submarines
DAVID LIPSON:
Joining me now on the program is Labor MP Nick Champion and Shadow Disabilities Minister, Senator Mitch Fifield. Thank you both very much for your time this morning gentlemen. I want to start with these allegations, very disturbing allegations surrounding the Catholic Church and claims of abuse stretching back decades and perhaps more disturbingly, claims of cover up as well. Nick Champion, do we need a royal commission, as some of the independents and backbenchers on your side believe we need?
NICK CHAMPION:
Well look I think we probably do need a royal commission and it should be a broad royal commission that looks into any Australian institution that have care of children and where these allegations have been made. I think it’s important to have a broad inquiry that deals with all of these issues once and for all and deals with them in an independent manner and a manner that the victims can have confidence in and that the public can have confidence in.
DAVID LIPSON:
And should this be a national royal commission? So should Julia Gillard put this in place?
NICK CHAMPION:
Well of course it needs to be national in its breadth because frequently we’ve had issues that cross state boundaries and obviously many of these are legacy issues. They’ve gone on in decades gone past so obviously state-based inquiries are somewhat limited in its fashion.
DAVID LIPSON:
And is there any concern that such an inquiry would overlap or disturb the current inquiries that well in Victoria’s case are already under way and in New South Wales’ case have been announced?
NICK CHAMPION:
Well I think that’s one of the things that consideration has to be given to and obviously you want to establish an inquiry which can’t be legally challenged. They’re all matters that governments will consider and it’s important that government gets the time to consider these properly. But I think we do need a national inquiry and I think it should be a royal commission, because I think we need to have an inquiry that the public and victims can have confidence in.
DAVID LIPSON:
Mitch Fifield, do you back these calls?
MITCH FIFIELD:
I think it’s important that due diligence is done to see if the existing inquiries, the parliamentary inquiry in Victoria and the New South Wales inquiry that Premier O’Farrell has instituted, are fit for purpose. That there aren’t allegations of child sexual abuse that are going uninvestigated. When considering what is the appropriate mechanism to look at these issues, it’s important to make sure that no one denomination is targeted. These allegations we have heard over the years in relation to a number of denominations and a number of religious institutions and a number of organisations that have care for youth. So any future inquiry needs to be comprehensive and shouldn’t be seen to be targeting any particular denomination. The Prime Minister I’m sure will be looking at these matters and the Opposition will be very happy to look at any proposal that the Federal Government may put forward.
DAVID LIPSON:
Ok well let’s change tack. On the GST, we just heard Christopher Pyne very much ruling out a GST increase under a Coalition government. Tony Abbott has done the same but yesterday Joe Hockey left the door slightly open. He said that it could be open for consideration if indeed the states convinced the rest of us that it’s a good idea. Mitch Fifield, are they out of step with each other? Who should we believe here?
MITCH FIFIELD:
No not at all. What Joe Hockey was doing was simply going through the mechanism that would be required to change the rate of the GST. When we were in government and put the GST in place, we put both the rate and the breadth of the GST into a locked box. We ensured that the GST could not be changed unless every state government agreed, every territory government agreed, the federal government agreed and law was passed through both the Australian House of Representatives and the Australian Senate. So we ensured that it was in a locked box. Joe was simply going through the mechanism that would be required to change that. The Coalition is completely against any change to the base of the GST. We’re about helping with cost of living pressures. We’re not looking at applying the GST to anything new. And we’re against any increase to the rate of the GST. Full stop.
DAVID LIPSON:
So is Joe Hockey freelancing then?
MITCH FIFIELD:
No not at all. As I say, Joe was simply going through the mechanism that is required and making the point that it’s an extremely difficult thing to happen. It’s not going to happen, I don’t think. And the Coalition is against it.
DAVID LIPSON:
Well Tony Cole believes it is going to happen, perhaps not in the immediate future but Nick Champion, is this something we should at least talk about? I mean, it has been suggested that it would be a much more efficient way of taxing Australians, to actually extend the GST and perhaps get rid of some other taxes.
NICK CHAMPION:
Well this is all part of the austerity economics bandwagon which says you should take taxation off corporates, off companies, and place it on families. And that’s the Liberal Party agenda, that’s the conservative agenda right the way round the world. That’s what they want to do. Cut government spending, particularly where it helps families, and jack up taxes on consumption. And even though, you know, it’s on the table one moment and off the next, you can be sure that this will be on the agenda for the Liberal Party if they’re ever to be in government, and particularly if you have revenue hungry Liberal state premiers. You know, nothing can be surer than night passing day that you’ll get the increase in the base of the GST. And while Mitch says well they set it at 10 per cent, let’s not forget it was originally by both Howard and Hewson and others, they tried to get it at 15 per cent, and that’s where the states and the Liberal Party will see it end up, at 15 per cent, sure as eggs.
DAVID LIPSON:
Ok well I’m sure Mitch would disagree with that but I’ve got to move on.
MITCH FIFIELD:
That’s dreamland. That’s dreamland what Nick was talking about. And any one who thinks the GST is going to increase is living in fairy land. Ain’t going to happen.
DAVID LIPSON:
Ok well just on the nuclear submarine issue, Nick Champion, Joel Fitzgibbon today said that he believes it was a mistake in 2009 to rule out nuclear subs. He’s not necessarily saying we need them now but he’s saying it should have perhaps figured in the defence policy direction, the long term direction of defence. Do you agree with him or is he off on a frollick on his own?
NICK CHAMPION:
Well look I disagree with him. I think if we were to embrace nuclear submarines we would be outsourcing defence industry capability and defence jobs to the United States and we would be having to set up a very big infrastructure in the country to, if you like, deal with that. And it would make us very, very dependent on, you know, the US. I think we need to have an Australian-based submarine industry and I think it should be based in South Australia obviously and we need to build these subs because they’re vital to our national defence. So I don’t think it was the wrong decision to rule out nuclear submarines and I think Joel and I probably have a difference of opinion on this one.
DAVID LIPSON:
And Mitch Fifield, what about these reports over the weekend that some ‘senior Coalition leaders’, as it was written up in the Financial Review, believe there should be a discussion on nuclear subs.
MITCH FIFIELD:
The Coalition isn’t looking at nuclear-powered subs. There are cost issues. There are serious logistical issues in supporting nuclear subs given that we don’t have a domestic nuclear industry in Australia. I’ve got to say though that this government has been incredibly tardy in looking at replacements for our submarine fleet. They’ve twiddled their thumbs for the best part of four years. It’s something that will be a priority for an incoming Coalition government. We will obviously be strongly guided by the advice of the defence chiefs and we would be looking to have the ship yard capacity in South Australia used. But obviously the decision that is taken is one that you can only take from government.
DAVID LIPSON:
Ok well we’re out of time. Senator Mitch Fifield and Nick Champion, thank you very much for your insights this morning.