Jamie Briggs MP

Now they’d love to be here riding the bike because they did climb Mt Lofty for us. Amanda Rishworth, Labor MP for Kingston. Good morning to you Amanda Rishworth. 

 

Good morning and I am disappointed that I’m missing so much lycra. 

 

Yes Amanda! You are! And Jamie Briggs, also Lycra deprived. 

 

Jamie Briggs, hello lady Briggs. 

 

I’m not disappointed on missing the lycra. 

 

Liberal MP for Mayo. 

 

To both of you, Canberra would be a very cycle-friendly city though wouldn’t it. 

 

Because there is no cars on the road? 

 

Well it is fairly flat, isn’t it? 

 

You do see a lot of people cycling and it is fairly flat. Quite different from Hallett Cove where I live, which is a little more difficult on the bike. 

 

Well I am hoping we can talk to Leon Bignell later on in the morning. He is a state Labor MP from down in the southern suburbs; I think Kingston would take in some of his electorate. Amanda Rishworth, one of the things he said to me yesterday was a lot of people from overseas probably have a better idea of the bike trials and tracks, including down in the southern suburbs, then locals do. But maybe the publicity that we can give it today will help people understand where they can find this information. In the meantime though, it is a big week in Canberra, what is going to be voted on today or over the next couple of days? We’ve got the carbon tax, and we’ve got the asylum seeker bills. Is that right Amanda Rishworth? 

 

Yes, so today at 9am we will be voting the final vote on all the amendments and everything to do with the pricing carbon. I think it is pretty historic day, an important day for this reform that will be so important for our future. So that vote is on today, and then there’s also, will be a vote on restoring the offshore processing for the Migration Act, which was previously understood to be the way that Governments can act and executives can determine that legislation to restore that will also be on tomorrow. 

 

Amanda Rishworth, I was watching the first vote on the carbon tax last night on ABC TV, and your side of the fence, the Government’s side applauded as that went through, and I thought I wonder if they’re applauding their own demise. 

 

Well not at all. To be honest I think that everyone on our side is very pleased that we could vote something in, to get in through a Parliament under obviously very difficult and very partisan circumstances, but because it was equated to, I think in a number of speeches as big as the reforms on superannuation, a whole range of things that businesses at that time said, with superannuation, the sky would fall in, and now we have seen in the future been a massive reform that has benefited the country, and I think this is one of those reforms, as the Prime Minister said, we will look back and see which side of history people were on. 

 

Although superannuation gave people money, albeit it was a part of a wage trade-off, whereas the carbon tax takes money from people. 

 

Well no it doesn’t take money from people. What it does is it puts a price on pollution and through that price on pollution, drives businesses to reduce their pollution. But householders will be getting assistance and a lot will not have to pay any tax anymore. 

 

Jamie Briggs, sorry Jamie Briggs, we haven’t given him a chance yet. 

 

You better give him a chance. 

 

Does it at least show, it may be unpopular, but at least it shows they are doing something, as opposed to a policy vacuum from the Coalition? 

 

Well I think what they’re doing is something they said they wouldn’t do at the last election and I think that is why people are so angry. I mean let’s not forget that four days before the last election Julia Gillard said there will be no carbon tax under a government I lead. Amanda has just tried to say that this is a big new tax, which won’t tax people. I mean it is quite extraordinary. 

 

It is a price on carbon and a price on pollution. 

 

Jamie Briggs, is this as good as it gets though for the Coalition? Once the bill has actually passed, and people see that the sky hasn’t fallen in, that will give Labor time to put some runs on the board. In fact, you may find when people realise that the sky hasn’t fallen in that they start to turn on the Coalition over a scare campaign. 

 

Well I don’t think we are scare campaign when we are pointing out that this was a promise that was made at the election which wouldn’t happen. If Amanda Rishworth and Kate Ellis and all the MPs in South Australia believe that this is such a great policy, that this will do so much good, take it to an election. I mean I don’t see what the problem is with giving people a choice when they ruled it out specifically at the last election, and ultimately we have made that point up hill and down dale and we have got an amendment before the parliament this morning which says this should not be proclaimed until an election is held, and we hope to get that support. Obviously we’ll find out at 9am Canberra time whether we get the support or not. 

 

And those are the battle lines that have been drawn. We do thank you this morning. Jamie Briggs, Liberal MP for Mayo. Amanda Rishworth, Labor MP for Kingston. Thank you for having a yarn to us on this ride to work day.