31 May 2013STATEMENT ON LETTER FROM CHRIS PYNE;STORY BY SID MAHER At 8.39am today I received first notice via an email from Christopher Pyne that he haswritten to me on a No Confidence motion.I have spent the week in Canberra with him, and he made no mention of this issue. No MPfrom the LNP mentioned this issue. The only Confidence issue in Parliament this week wasthe Liberal National Party, including Christopher Pyne and Tony Abbott, voting in support of the science of man-made climate change. I am pleased they expressed full confidence inthe science community of Australia, and now openly accept man-made climate change asreal and in need of a serious policy response.This week, no journalist mentioned anything about a no confidence motion from the LNP.This is despite conversations with The Australian newspaperโs Lauren Wilson about 6pm lastnight, where I indicated a view on the paperโs anti-NBN campaign that asbestos issues inpits and pipes are an issue for Telstra management and shareholders, and this is exactlywhy it would be madness to buy these pits and pipes as is current Liberal National Partypolicy on NBN. I note these comments didnโt make the paper. Yesterday afternoon, I also spoke with Sid Maher from The Australian about another story.He has my personal number, and I am surprised he chose to run this No Confidence trick story from Chris Pyne, without checking facts or offering a right of reply. Only 12 hoursearlier, he used my phone so he knows it works.Chris Pyne also has my personal phone number, and at times he and Sid Maher have used itat their convenience. It is telling that neither chose to use it when designing a page onestory that further destabilises Government based on the story alone.Onto the guessing game of the substance of this letter from Chris Pyne โ my first responseis โhow patheticโ.If Mr Abbott and Mr Pyne, and his colleagues truly believe this to be the worst governmentin the history of the world, and their alternative option as the key to world peace, then Iinvite them to put their case on the floor of the Parliament. Grovelling to the crossbench,and giving letters to journalists before they are posted or emailed, and threatening to dosomething for week upon week upon week, builds the view that this is just the shallowtactics of destabilising, and has nothing to do with the substance of the most serious chargethey are making. If the no confidence motion is because of โthe carbon taxโ, then I ask Tony Abbott andChris Pyne why they personally voted in full confidence in Parliament last week for thescience of man-made climate change? Why would I now support a Coalition carbon tax thatcosts taxpayers more and does less?If the no confidence motion is based on the budget, then we have that vote on Monday.There will be a vote on the Budget Bills on Monday, which are considered, in parliamentaryterms, a confidence motion in Government.If Chris Pyne and Tony Abbott are in any way serious about this tactic of theirs, they willback up their ongoing tactics and vote against the budget bills on Monday. I donโt think they will, and I will watch closely before replying to this newly received letter from Mr Pyne.ENDS
