PETER VAN ONSELEN: Let’s bring Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham in. He was scheduled to join us on this episode of Contrarians. He joins us now. Welcome to the program. SIMON BIRMINGHAM: G’day, Peter and panel. PETER VAN ONSELEN: You guys are stuffed, aren’t you? SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Not at all, Peter, and…
SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Thanks very much for coming along today. It’s a pleasure to be here with my colleague Senator Mathias Cormann, the Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Tom Zorich, the Liberal candidate for Wakefield, and with John Chapman, the chief executive of the Motor Trade Association of South Australia. We are very concerned at Labor’s…
ANDREW GREENE: Julia Gillard’s carbon tax has been terminated. That’s the key message Kevin Rudd was keen to impress today as he confirmed the budget cuts needed to move early to an emissions trading scheme. The Opposition says it’s a con and there’s only temporary relief for families. Ditching the carbon tax leaves asylum…
LAURA JAYES: … in Kevin Rudd’s first election promise, the Prime Minister has pledged to terminate the carbon tax and move to an emissions trading scheme a year earlier than planned… … LAURA JAYES: … Simon Birmingham, first, your reaction to this announcement, Kevin Rudd moving to an ETS [emissions trading scheme]……
SANDY ALOISI: The Prime Minister will today outline plans for spending cuts to cover revenue lost by Labor’s new carbon abatement plans which will see the carbon tax replaced by a floating price by next July but, even before the release of details of Labor’s plan, Tony Abbott has dismissed all carbon trading schemes,…
(as aired, from longer pre-recorded interview) TOM TILLEY: The Government’s announced its first major election promise since Kevin Rudd’s been back at the helm. They’ll now move to the carbon pricing system much sooner one year sooner than they had planned under Julia Gillard. It’s a move that Labor hopes will neutralise Tony…
JASON MORRISON: The NBN boss, Mike Quigley… look, frankly, I’m not surprised at this. For all that’s said, and Quigley’s had his faults, he is a businessman who was asked to run a business… the NBN, a massive business with more money than he’s probably ever seen in his life billions of taxpayer……
KIERAN GILBERT: With me on the program now for the rest of the day’s issues, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Ed Husic and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham. Gentlemen, before we start our discussion I want to play you a little of the closing arguments made by the Attorney-General, Mark…
GREG HUNT: Two days into the job and Kevin Rudd is trying to con the Australian people. Mr Rudd thinks that changing the name of the carbon tax will somehow satisfy the concerns of the Australian people. This election will be a choice. Under the Coalition, there really will be no carbon tax. Under…
SIMON BIRMINGHAM: What we’re witnessing from the Labor Party at present is a near condemned house undergoing a dodgy makeover. What we’re seeing is the Labor Party putting a new façade on the condemned house in the name of a new leader with Kevin Rudd and they’re now going to go through a process…