CONLON: Penny Wong, good morning.
WONG: Good morning, Keith. Good morning, Jane.
CONLON: Well, Christopher Pyne paints it as chaos. He says that there are too many signs of that. How do you respond?
WONG: Well, Christopher has a bit of a tendency to hysteria and exaggeration. I think that was on full display this morning for all of us to see.
CONLON: It is a big list in one week, isnt it; an election day, the Craig Thomson affair, then resignations surprising to the public. There is, as Michelle Grattan puts it, now a perception issue itll be a problem for Julia Gillard giving us the perception that things are under control.
WONG: Id make the point that quite a number of people on both sides of the Parliament have indicated theyre not going to re-contest. Some, I think nine Coalition Members and Senators have indicated theyre not going to contest the next election. Obviously elections do bring into focus whether you want to continue in the job for another three years. In terms of Nicola and Chris I mean, I think Nicolas been in the Parliament some 15 years. I think anybody would perfectly understand her desire to actually spend a bit of time with her daughter before she goes to high school, and Chris has been in the job, I think, for 20. So, its not surprising personal decisions that people make.
REILLY: It was very emotional, that announcement ...
WONG: Yes, well, you know, it is sad when youve worked with people to see them move on, particularly people who are held in high regard. But this is a job where you see that. People do make decisions around their personal lives. These jobs are an enormous privilege but theyre also pretty difficult for your family.
CONLON: What about this notion which was raised on the weekend, that being a Federal Cabinet Minister is a pretty toxic workplace. Its a very very difficult task and we may in fact be asking too much of people, the way Parliament sits, the way the whole program runs ...
WONG: When you go into it, I think you know what its going to mean. Its going to mean most nights away from your family, really long hours and a lot of work. But you also get the opportunity if youre a Cabinet Minister to make decisions or contribute to decisions that are really important for the life of the nation. For me, having been part of a Government thats delivered growth in the economy at a time when weve seen a lot of global instability and continued jobs growth, and working on things like the Disabilities Scheme and more funding for education. These are great and important reforms for the country.
CONLON: There is a suggestion in the Financial Review that more Cabinet Ministers might go. Can you guarantee youll be there?
WONG: (laughs) yes, Ill be there. I will be there. Sometimes I think Sophie, my partner, would prefer I took another job, but no, Ill absolutely be there.
REILLY: With the election coming up in September, theres still this kind of rumbling coming from the Kevin Rudd camp. Does he still remain a threat to leadership?
WONG: I think this more media and frankly Liberal Party speculation. I do think it was interesting that Christopher on the one hand says Australians want politicians to talk about things which are important to them I agree with that but I think what was noticeable in that interview was that he really gave no indication for what the Coalition plans for the country would be. The Coalition want to coast through to the next election doing nothing other than mouth slogans on radio and at some point I think the basic respect for the Australian people should require that they actually say these are the hard choices we would make and this is what we would do. Thats certainly what the Government is doing.
CONLON: Well, the 50-page document from Tony Abbott in the last week or so is a bit more mouthing seven-second grabs...
WONG: Well, Id invite you to have a look at it and tell me, apart from the pictures and the nice messages where the real choices are. Look, Im the Finance Minister and I can tell you that if you want a Disabilities Scheme, which is what Tony Abbott says he wants, you have to make real choices around that, otherwise it really isnt anything more than words.
REILLY: Senator, the polls today would indicate that you have big challenges for you over the next 223 days that are left...
WONG: Im not counting ... but certainly were in for a pretty tough fight and its a pretty hard time in politics. I think last year was one of the most brutal political years I think most of us can remember for people who have been in it and I suspect people like themselves watching from the media. But my view is, elections should be a contest around plans for the future. We will continue to come forward with our plans. We will make sure we tell Australians how much our plans will cost something that Tony Abbott continues to run away from. The reality is you cant promise all the things hes promising. The reality is what we see in Liberal Governments in the Newman and OFarrell Governments, and the Liberal approach is to not tell people what theyre going to cut and then sack a whole range of public servants and cut a whole range of programs that they didnt tell people about before the election. I dont think thats okay.
CONLON: Senator Penny Wong, thanks for joining us.
WONG: Good to speak with you.
ENDS