Transcript - Sky News Panel with Tom Connell
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS
THURSDAY, 13 JUNE 2019
SUBJECTS: John Setka; WA Liberal Party
TOM CONNELL, HOST: Joining me now is Labor MP Patrick Gorman from our Perth studio. Thanks very much for your time. What do you make of this action from Anthony Albanese, because these were not public comments from John Setka, and someone five metres away has said that they were not a criticism of Rosie Batty.
PATRICK GORMAN, LABOR MEMBER FOR PERTH: I think what we saw from Anthony Albanese, and he’s made his decision when he was here in Perth, was very decisive and clear leadership. That’s what people want. That’s why we choose people to lead our political parties – it is to provide leadership. And to uphold community standards. And that’s exactly what Anthony Albanese has done. The comments reported about Rosie Batty are very disappointing, but as Mr Albanese said, it’s a long line of behaviour from Mr Setka. When you reference the people sitting within five metres of one another, Mr Setka and the other gentleman who has commented on this meeting, had very different versions of the same meeting. Indeed, they contradicted Mr Setka’s own version of events. So I think’s there’s a bit of revisionist history being performed because Mr Setka’s been called out and Mr Albanese has made the right decision. I back it 100 per cent.
HOST: Right, and you’re calling this decisive leadership. Should it go a step further? If the CFMMEU want John Setka in place as their secretary, should Labor sever ties with the Union?
GORMAN: Well, look, I’ve been a member of unions most of my working life and what I know is that unions are not about the leaders of the union. They’re about the members. So those decisions about whether those unions are or are not a part of the Labor Party is a decision made by the members. I don’t want to comment on a particular union’s internal matters. I think they are, as we’ve seen from other reports, they are working through that at the moment, and I understand that’s going to take them some time. For me, as a Labor Party member, I am pleased that John Setka’s membership has been suspended. That was the right call, and our National Executive, with representatives from all sorts of organisations and interests from within the party, will resolve this matter decisively, soon.
HOST: You’ve still got the matter of if the Union still wants this person, and I understand you say it’s a members issues, if those members decide that John Setka is a good representative of them, and you say John Setka should not be in the Labor Party, surely Labor Party should not, for example, be aligned with this union and accepting money from it.
GORMAN: It’s a long-standing accepted known fact that the CFMMEU is a militant union. We’re not a militant party, we are a mainstream party, that represent mainstream views for working Australian people. I’m not going to say on this program, that they should leave the party, because I actually believe it’s important that we have people who work in construction, who have those voices in the party. Again, unions are not about the leaders, unions are about the union members. I think about something my friend Anne Aly says very regularly, that if any of her sons were ever working on a construction site, she would want a union like the CFMMEU there to protect their interests at work, because people do face issues at those worksites. That’s what they should be focused on. Clearly, Mr Setka has got other priorities, because he’s constantly picking fights with people in the Labour movement. But I’m not going to tell a union what they should do about their leadership.
HOST: But in your own words, this is a militant union. In your opinion is this hurting the ALP brand, this continued association?
GORMAN: That’s not my words, that’s their own words. They describe themselves as a militant union. That is how they define themselves. I am not a militant person. I believe we get the best outcomes when we talk things through, have rational policy debates and focus on delivering things for the Australian people. Look this has not been an easy week, just to answer your question. This has not been an easy week for the Labor Party, but it’s not from something we would have liked to have happened. There were some pretty unfortunate things that have happened. When I read them in the media I was pretty disappointed. But I think the good thing to come out of it was decisive leadership from Anthony Albanese. That’s what people expect from us, and that’s what we’ve done.
HOST: There is the Ensuring Integrity Bill the Government’s going to send to pass again. This would include the provision for a union official to be removed of two civil offences, and other capabilities as well. This could do your job for you. Maybe you’ll support it and help the Government get rid of John Setka.
GORMAN: No, we think the registered organisation changes the Government is proposing – bear in mind the Government did not talk about this at all during the election, they didn’t take much mind you. At least Malcolm Turnbull, in 2016, had the guts to take this to an election and put it forward front and centre during his campaign. Scott Morrison didn’t even do that. This is just the Coalition playing politics and stirring. I think they know, these laws go a little bit too far. Unions, like other organisations, should be subject to the same laws. Putting special standards for particular unions at particular times I think is just a bit over the top.
HOST: Just wanted to get to another couple of issues, the WA Liberal Party has a new leader. It’s been announced during this program – Liza Harvey. Is she going to be a tougher opponent?
GORMAN: I think it is a mistake in politics if you ever underestimate your opponent. Liza Harvey works incredibly hard in her community in Scarborough. She is a former Police Minister working under Colin Barnett as Premier. I don’t underestimate her and I’d say to my State Labor colleagues you’ll always make a mistake if underestimate the person you’re up against. Having said that, it’s been a pretty weird time, the way Mr Nahan has chosen to resign because of leaks against him to the media. It seems like a bit of an odd way to finish your political career. I don’t know exactly … I’ve not heard any new ideas from the Liberal Party. I haven’t heard anything new from the new leadership. I don’t know what they stand for in WA, and I think that’s the biggest challenge they have as Liberals in Western Australia, is what do they stand for? I know what Mark McGowan stands for – he stands for fairness, he stands for opportunity, he stands for investing in public infrastructure, in building train lines, improving our schools. I’ve got no idea what the WA Liberal party stands for at the moment.
HOST: We’ll see how her tenure goes, having just taken over. We expect to hear from her soon addressing the media. But Patrick Gorman that’s where we’ll end it. Thank you.
GORMAN: Thank you for having me on the program.
ENDS