ADAMS: Minister Wong, a very good morning to you.
WONG: Good morning. Good to be with you again, Amelia.
ADAMS: Lets go to the polls first. On a two party preferred basis, Labor and the Coalition are now both on fifty per cent you must be very pleased with that. What do you think is behind Labors boost in the polls?
WONG: Polls come and go, as you know, every couple of weeks, and Ive got to say we focus on other things other than polls. Im much more focused on things like making sure we get a National Disability Insurance Scheme, making sure we can invest in our schools and improve standards, and things like rolling out the National Broadband Network, because this is what is important for the future of our economy and for future generations of Australians.
ADAMS: Tony Abbotts character has come under fire in recent weeks. Do you think thats revenge for his attack on Julia Gillards time at Slater & Gordon?
WONG: Tony Abbott is the person who said character is an issue when it comes to leadership. Hes the one who has been telling Australians, as hes participated in what is a pretty extraordinarily negative attack on the Prime Minister, hes the one thats been telling Australians that character is important. Now, hes saying its not when it comes to him. To my way of thinking, people have seen a fair bit of Tony Abbotts character. Hes been pretty aggressive and pretty negative since hes become Opposition Leader.
ADAMS: Senator, I know you say you dont pay much attention to polls, but it is a sign of how the public is thinking. There is also a poll out this morning showing that Malcolm Turnbull is significantly more popular than Tony Abbott. Do you think there might be a leadership change there?
WONG: I think youd probably better ask the Liberal Party that, rather than me. Thats a matter for them ultimately. But Ive got no doubt that people do see Tony Abbott as a very negative figure and hes certainly portrayed himself as aggressively negative for his entire period of Opposition leadership.
ADAMS: Just finally, as Finance Minister, of course, you know a lot about balancing the books are those public sector cuts that weve seen in Queensland and New South Wales needed to bring the States budgets back into surplus?
WONG: This is a slash and burn approach from the Coalition and really the sorts of cuts to frontline services that were seeing, particularly in Queensland, demonstrate the sorts of plans that Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey have but wont be upfront with the Australian people about.
ADAMS: Alright, Penny Wong, well have to leave it there for now. Thank you so much for joining us.
WONG: Good to be with you.
ENDS