Clarke and Dawe on Liberal unity

Clarke and Dawe on Liberal unity


Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 02/06/2011

Reporter: John Clarke and Bryan Dawe

John Clarke and Bryan Dawe provide their unique take on the recent disagreements within the Opposition.



BRYAN DAWE: Joe Hockey, thanks for your time.

JOHN CLARKE: That's my pleasure, Bryan, as always. Good to see you.

BRYAN DAWE: Nice to see you again.

JOHN CLARKE: You're looking well.

BRYAN DAWE: You too. You've called for unity in the Liberal Party.

JOHN CLARKE: I have, Bryan. I mean, we've already got unity; it's not as if we're not unified.

BRYAN DAWE: No, but you'd like some more unity?

JOHN CLARKE: More unity. I've called for more unity.

BRYAN DAWE: Yeah. Even more unity.

JOHN CLARKE: Even more unity than we've currently got.

BRYAN DAWE: Yeah, Joe Hockey, can you have too much unity?

JOHN CLARKE: Well I suppose total unity would be the gold standard, Bryan. You can't have more than that.

BRYAN DAWE: But you wouldn't want a surplus of unity, would you?

JOHN CLARKE: No, you don't want a superfluity of unity, Bryan; where would you put it? You don't want it running out your ears.

BRYAN DAWE: Yeah, but Joe Hockey, shouldn't you have some disagreement on issues within the party?

JOHN CLARKE: I think that's healthy, Bryan. What you don't want is disunity, but of course we are a pretty broad church, the Liberal Party. We have a very robust debate in there.

BRYAN DAWE: Sure. And isn't the Government the same?

JOHN CLARKE: No, the Government can't agree about anything, Bryan. They're riven by factions, Bryan. We don't have factions in the Liberal Party; we have a diversity of views.

BRYAN DAWE: However there seems to be for example some disagreement within your party on the matter of climate change.

JOHN CLARKE: Well, good example, Bryan. Very, very healthy. Diversity of views within our party.

BRYAN DAWE: Sure, sure, broad church, etc. Tony Abbott believes that climate change for example is crap.

JOHN CLARKE: Well, Bryan, his view is not quite that simple.

BRYAN DAWE: Well, how simple is his position?

JOHN CLARKE: Well he's been very public about this, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: Well you would expect him to be as the Opposition Leader.

JOHN CLARKE: Yeah, and what you see is what you get with Tony. He has been public about this. I mean, he obviously has his own views, but he does listen to the climate scientists.

BRYAN DAWE: But how does he reconcile his view with that of the climate scientists?

JOHN CLARKE: He doesn't have his head in the sand like an ostrich, Bryan. He does listen to what the climate scientists are saying.

BRYAN DAWE: Does he still think it's crap?

JOHN CLARKE: His view, Bryan, like any sensible person, is that crap is happening a hell of a lot faster than the client scientists initially indicated it would.

BRYAN DAWE: Well, Joe Hockey, does he have any plan for dealing with the crap?

JOHN CLARKE: We have a plan, yes, we have a policy on climate change.

BRYAN DAWE: For dealing with the crap? OK, increase policy numbers in NSW.

JOHN CLARKE: Sorry, wrong piece of paper. That's not it, Bryan. There it is there. It's a very detailed policy.

BRYAN DAWE: Increase parliamentary super.

JOHN CLARKE: No, that's actually - we've got unity on that one. That's total bipartisan unity we've got there. The dream scenario. There is our policy on climate change.

BRYAN DAWE: Race five, horse six, 200 units, Randwick.

JOHN CLARKE: No, that's not it. I don't know where the policy is, Bryan. I thought I had it with me. I do apologise.

BRYAN DAWE: OK, would Malcolm Turnbull have it, do you think?

JOHN CLARKE: No, no, no. He wouldn't have it, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: Well he's got one.

JOHN CLARKE: He's got one, yeah, but he flies under a separate flag on this one, old Malcolm.

BRYAN DAWE: Have you got one?

JOHN CLARKE: We do have one. It must be in the car, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: Well you can go and get it; I can wait. It's fine.

JOHN CLARKE: It's in the car.

BRYAN DAWE: Well, I'll wait.

JOHN CLARKE: The car's in Albury, Bryan.
BRYAN DAWE: Oh. OK, well how are you gonna get unity if you don't have a policy?

JOHN CLARKE: Well how are we gonna get a policy, Bryan, if we haven't got unity? I've called for unity. The minute we get unity, ...

BRYAN DAWE: Once it's here, right.

JOHN CLARKE: ... we'll bring in the policy and everybody'll be ...

BRYAN DAWE: Unified.

JOHN CLARKE: Every bugger will agree, Bryan.


JOHN CLARKE: And then I'll be up to Albury, get the policy.

BRYAN DAWE: Back here.

JOHN CLARKE: Yep. I'll go on Thursday. Might take the dog. You wanna come?