WONG: Today, more revelations in the media about the division at the heart of this Government. Seven Ministers, no less than seven Ministers, in Tony Abbotts Government have indicated to the media privately that they are willing to walk away from him. Its an extraordinary indication of the dysfunction at the heart of this Government, and a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister by his most senior colleagues. This Government is a divided Government. This Government is too interested in fighting each other, this Government is so interested in its internal fight its not able to look out for ordinary Australians. Its a Government that is factionalised and paralysed, so factionalised and paralysed it just cant govern. Dysfunction at the heart of the Government, those are the stories again, and of course on top of the Ministers saying this we see an explosive email from the [Liberal Partys] federal Treasurer attacking the dysfunction in the Prime Ministers Office and in the federal secretariat, more division, more paralysis and who doesnt get a look in here? Ordinary Australians because this Government is so busy fighting each other it cant look out for them.
I would like also to comment on some evidence that was given late last night in the Finance and Public Administration estimates about the appointment of the Public Service Commissioner. Now the Public Service Commissioner is a statutory appointment, its a very important appointment, the person who is supposed to look out for the public service, to shepherd the public service, a statutory, apolitical appointment. Well the revelations last night were that Senator Abetz had engaged in another of Tony Abbotts habits and that is a captains pick. It seems there is a lot of captains pick going on inside this Government. There was no ad, no interview, no formal short list, he just picked up the phone to John Lloyd and asked him if he wanted the job, asked him if he was interested. Remember this is a statutory appointment, it pays around $650,000 a year and remember also Mr Lloyd isnt any ordinary appointment. He is a former member of the H.R. Nicholls Society, he is a former director of the IPA and he is quite upfront about the fact he is a former member of the Liberal Party. No proper process, just Eric Abetz picking up the phone and asking him if he was interested. Its the same as the sort of captains pick we also saw from George Brandis who did the same thing with Tim Wilson, just rang him up and asked if he was interested in the job. Between them, these two jobs are about $1 million a year. This is jobs for the boys, Coalition-style. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Despite the Governments difficulties, Newspoll suggests that voters still think Tony Abbott is better at handling the economy than Bill Shorten.Why is that?
WONG: Well I can say this to you: I dont need a Newspoll to tell me that the majority of Australians dont trust Tony Abbott, I dont need a Newspoll to tell me that the majority of Australians dont support this Governments Budget or the unfairness in it, and I dont need a Newspoll to tell me just how on the nose this Government is.
JOURNALIST: Do people have a right to be disappointed, disenfranchised with federal politics. You are critical about the factionalism and division in the Government at the moment, but this follows four, five, six years of the same when you were in government.
WONG: Firstly on the Labor Party, I think you have seen since the election, weve learnt from what occurred in terms of previous issues and we are very united behind Bill. As you also know the Labor Party went through a process of changing its rules to ensure members had a greater say. And we are focussed on doing what is right for Australians, listening to Australians about their concerns and looking forward to the future. What have we got in this Government? Weve got a Government that is focussed on fighting. They are focussed on fighting each other. This is a Government completely paralysed by its own internal division. So paralysed its unable to look out for ordinary Australians.
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned at all about the fact that you are trailing so far behind, not just on the economy on national security as well?
WONG: Hang on, lets just remember what the polls actually show. It shows that the majority of Australians would support the Labor Party, it shows the majority of Australians dont trust Tony Abbott, and it shows the majority of Australians would prefer Bill Shorten as Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST: But those issues are key, national security and the economy.
WONG: Im only telling you what I see in the polls, but what is more important is what I hear when I speak to Australians. Australians understand that this Prime Minister didnt tell the truth before the election, Australians can see the division at the heart of this Government, and Australians know theyre not the focus of this Government. Ordinary Australians are not the focus of this Government, the focus of this Government is its internal division.
JOURNALIST: Is it time for Labor to start releasing in detail some of its economic policies, its approach to the Budget?
WONG: Well I remember Mr Abbott making sure he didnt tell anybody anything about what he would do except things, promises which he turned out to break. We wont be like that and weve made clear we will be releasing policies ahead of the election and Australians will know very clearly the sort of government they would elect if they saw fit to support the Labor Party.
JOURNALIST: There seems to be a prettyclear campaign to get rid of Peta Credlin. What do you make of that?
WONG: That campaign is being driven by the Liberal Party, lets be clear, the Liberal and National Parties. The campaign is entirely driven by members of the Government benches, so thats really their campaign. What I would say is ultimately the buck stops with Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party. And the Governments problems are not about who the salesperson is, the Governments problems arent about who the Chief of Staff is, the Governments problems are that its values are at odds with the values of ordinary Australians. The Governments problem is it has introduced a Budget which breaks promises and which hurts ordinary Australians.