ABC LOCAL RADIO, SOUTH WEST VICTORIA
PRUE BENTLEY:
Tony Abbott, good morning.
TONY ABBOTT:
`Morning Prue.
PRUE BENTLEY:
What are your plans while you’re in the South West?
TONY ABBOTT:
I’ve just been out for a row with the Port Fairy Surf Club and then I got wet with the Port Fairy Nippers and I’ve got to say that for a New South Welshman the water was bracing and the surf boat row was exhausting, but I’m down here with Dan Tehan, the new Member for Wannon, and I guess the biggest event is the David Hawker testimonial dinner which is on in Hamilton tonight.
PRUE BENTLEY:
As he has now bowed out of politics, what do you see as his legacy?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, he was the Speaker of the parliament for a term and that was a terrific honour. He was a very, very steady and solid member of the Coalition party room for almost 30 years and I think that he brought to the parliament a dignity, a restraint – I know that doesn’t always seem evident from Question Time – but I think David was a very well respected Speaker and he, I think, helped to prepare the parliament for a more independent speakership which we now have.
PRUE BENTLEY:
Mr Abbott, just on a couple of issues facing the South West, I know that you’ll be speaking with the new MP for Wannon, Dan Tehan, and I’m sure some of the things that he will bring up – one including the great concern that we’re having in our region at the moment with an unofficial ban on rock lobsters from Australia into China. What’s the Coalition policy on that? Would you be lobbying to perhaps get something done?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well, funnily enough, I’ve just been speaking to the Trade Minister’s chief of staff on this very issue and I think that the Australian Government should be doing whatever it reasonably can to ensure that there are no unofficial bans on Australian lobsters. Now, obviously we don’t want to needlessly stir up anything but by the same token we’ve got to make sure that there’s a market for our product and there are lots of fisherman who’ve got full boats and full storages because the Chinese apparently haven’t been taking any of our lobsters for the last ten days or fortnight and this is normally the peak season. So yes, it is a very serious problem and I think that the Australian Government should be doing whatever it reasonably can to…
PRUE BENTLEY:
What can they do though, at this stage?
TONY ABBOTT:
Well that’s what I’m exploring and I suspect that there is, look, sometimes issues arise in dealings with foreign markets which need diplomatic solutions and this is what I’m exploring with the Australian Government now.
PRUE BENTLEY:
Do you expect any sort of reprisals to arise from the Wikileaks, particularly pertaining to Kevin Rudd’s position on China?
TONY ABBOTT:
Look, I just wouldn’t want to speculate on that. I just wouldn’t want to speculate. I mean the important thing is to try and ensure that our lobster fisherman have got access to markets and this happened apparently a fortnight or so back and it’s only in the last couple of days that the Wikileaks issue has been around so I don’t think the two are related.
PRUE BENTLEY:
The residents of the South West too are delighted to have an MRI machine available in Warrnambool but without Medicare assistance the cost, the assistance rather, the cost can be prohibitive for some people. Will you be lobbying Government to help make that service more accessible?
TONY ABBOTT:
Absolutely and Dan Tehan campaigned on getting a Medicare licence for the machine. I certainly think that the machine should have a Medicare licence. There is no rhyme or reason for denying a Medicare licence to this machine and as far as the Coalition is concerned there would be one.
PRUE BENTLEY:
Mr. Abbott, just lastly, we have had an unpredicted swing towards the Coalition in the state election just recently. Do you feel that in some ways the Labor dominoes are falling, that it represents a shift in sentiment?
TONY ABBOTT:
I think that’s absolutely right Prue. This is a very big domino and it has fallen and the Prime Minister can talk all she likes but facts speak more loudly than words and the really seminal seismic fact as 2010 ends is that the nearest thing to a competent state Labor Government has been driven from office and for me that means that the Labor brand is becoming increasingly toxic right around the country.
PRUE BENTLEY:
Does that make you confident at this stage – I know it is early days – for the next federal election?
TONY ABBOTT:
It means that I’ve got to work incredibly hard to be an effective opposition and a credible alternative but I think that the political environment is changing. I think that there is no doubt about that.
PRUE BENTLEY:
Mr Abbott, thank you for your time this morning and welcome to the South West.
TONY ABBOTT:
Thanks so much Prue.
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