TRANSCRIPT: ABC CANBERRA with Ross Solly
Subjects: Coalition negotiations
E&OE
STARTS: 8.46am
Ross SOLLY
The Liberal and National Party, announcing early this week that they were going their separate ways but now talks have broken out. The peace pipe has been passed around. Michael McCormack I don’t know if enough people have had a toke yet, but, it is there. It is there for the toking if required. Good morning to you.
Michael McCORMACK
Good morning Ross.
Ross SOLLY
Where are we at? Are we close to bringing the two parties back together?
Michael McCORMACK
I would certainly like to think so and I know that talks yesterday were very fruitful, very productive, very meaningful between Sussan Ley and David Littleproud. The Liberals met at 5 o’clock last night via telepresence, and I’m told that that meeting was, very practical and pragmatic about the way forward.
I think people who are out there in the real world probably just want politicians to stop talking about themselves and start to get on with the job of governing for the betterment of Australia and, the sooner this ends and everything goes back to normal, the better.
Ross SOLLY
Yeah. Michael McCormack, by the way, the Federal Member for Riverina. Where they’re getting some nice rain, I hope, at the moment, by the way.
Michael McCORMACK
Its drizzled down for a bit over 24 hours and it’s beautiful because it was drought conditions before and it has not stopped just drizzling. It’s just good steady rain.
Ross SOLLY
I know, I can hear more joy in your voice than I heard earlier this week. I have to say, when I sensed a lot of frustration Michael McCormack. At the time, I didn’t realise how strongly you’d actually argued against this, this split, but it’s now emerged that you really did take a stand against it and in fact, I’ve read reports today that, David Littleproud was in the process of dumping you from the, the National Party frontbench yesterday before peace talks broke out again was that the case? Was your job on the line there?
Well, if you believe what you read in The Sydney Morning Herald then yes, apparently so but you know, look, I, I never went to Canberra to — Paul Sakkal’s a good journalists by the way — look, I never went to Canberra to get a position. I went there to represent the people of the Riverina and look, if that’s the case, well, that’s the case. It would have been nice to be told so but look, you know, sometimes you find out about these things via the media and you were talking there before about a good investigative journalist on your team, and that’s what journalists are supposed to do. They’re supposed to uncover stories and report the facts and provide impartiality and, and that’s what, thankfully, we have a good press gallery in Canberra, mostly and, that’s a good thing. But look, as I say, there’s been a lot going on this week. I’m always ready to serve in whatever capacity I can but the first and foremost job is for people of the Riverina.
Ross SOLLY
After that announcement was made. I know you’d already made your position clear, but did you have subsequent conversations with David Littleproud? Did you try and urge him to reconsider, to go back on this …
Michael McCORMACK
Yesterday or on Tuesday when The Nationals decide to walk away?
Ross SOLLY
Any time?
Michael McCORMACK
Oh, well, look, I’ve certainly had discussions with the Leader to try to get the show back together. You know, obviously yesterday, a couple of conversations we had and certainly I was talking to Sussan Ley, she’s my neighbouring MP, and people should think nothing strange about that because, Sussan and I have been very close, we’ve been working together. Indeed, a lot of her electorate was part of my former electorate.
Ross SOLLY
Yes. Of course.
Michael McCORMACK
The Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, everything west of Narrandera was, which she now represents and represents well, was the majority of my electorate when I first took the seat of Riverina in 2010, from succeeding member Kay Hull. And, it’s all that irrigation country and so, you know, Sussan and I are very close and of course, we speak together regularly and of course, when The Nationals walked away from the Liberals and Sussan was the newly anointed Liberal Leader, it was important that I did talk to her, to try to get things, patched up.
Ross SOLLY
You didn’t suggest you might jump ship and join the Libs did you?
Michael McCORMACK
Oh no I’d never do that. No, I am sticking … I don’t think that anything good comes of people who actually leave their political parties and go to another movement. There’s a long, long sorry line of people who’ve done that, and it’s never ended well.
Ross SOLLY
Yeah.
Michael McCORMACK
Always ends in tears. Always does.
Ross SOLLY
Well, one of your colleagues has just jumped ship and it’ll be interesting how that plays out for her. Now look, so the conversations you had yesterday were they friendly conversation with David Littleproud, or has the relationship between yourself and David Littleproud broken down completely? I mean, what is the state of your relationship at the moment?
Michael McCORMACK
I always have mature conversations with my colleagues and like Darren Chester said on the ABC this morning he’s not about to engage in a public discussion of what goes on in private conversations but my conversations have always been mature and principled.
Ross SOLLY
Must be pretty fraught though in the National Party room at the moment, is it?
Michael McCORMACK
Well, it’s good that Barnaby and I have, a lot of people have looked at the relationship that we’ve had over years past, and we work together to, to help broker a peace arrangement and I think that’s a that’s a good thing going forward. We might be sitting together in the next Parliament, by the looks of things. Who would’ve thought?
Ross SOLLY
Well yes, you could be sitting up there on the crossbench, the pair of you smoking a peace pipe with nobody.
Michael McCORMACK
Well, we will be sitting with The Nationals in Cockies’ Corner. We won’t be quite with the crossbench. An important distinction there.
Ross SOLLY
Can I ask you, though, hand on your heart here Michael McCormack. If peace does break out again and the parties come back together, is David Littleproud’ s future as Leader tenable?
Michael McCORMACK
Well, that’ll be up to the party room.
Ross SOLLY
What do you think?
Michael McCORMACK
Again, I’m part of a party room and I’ll leave those discussions within the party room. It’s been a bizarre week. It just has and The Nationals have never walked away lightly from The Liberals. It’s only happened twice before ‘72 and ‘87 and took a couple of years in ‘72 to get the two back together.
I mean the Victorian Nationals and the Liberals broke up and it was it was almost a dozen years before they got back together. So thankfully this can only be a, you know, a few days and we’ll get back on to doing what we should be doing. That’s being a credible opposition together, united, working for Australians, not talking about ourselves.
Ross SOLLY
Yeah, but surely, I mean, would he have your full support if he was to remain as Leader?
Michael McCORMACK
I’m ambitious for him.
Ross SOLLY
Would he have your full support, then Michael McCormack?
Michael McCORMACK
I’ve just given you my answer.
Ross SOLLY
So, I mean, you can’t be happy with what he’s done with the party and where the party I mean there’s been so many negative headlines.
Michael McCORMACK
It’s been messy. It’s been really messy.
Ross SOLLY
Yeah.
Michael McCORMACK
And it’s for people on the outside looking in, they just might wonder what the hell is going on. They must, because they’re running kids to school, they are trying to run their small businesses, some of them are looking for work because they’ve slipped through the cracks and some of them have a lot of cost-of-living pressures really mounting and they’re finding it difficult to maintain their family budgets. And here we are, just weeks after an election loss, which was rather shattering, just talking about ourselves. We need to put this behind us, get on, united and talk about the things that matter and that is getting this country fixed up and, dare I say, to use the slogan from the election campaign — back on track.
Ross SOLLY
And if the National Party has to walk away from some of those four policies that they feel so strongly about for the sake of peace and for the sake of bringing the party together, so be it, or?
Michael McCORMACK
I’m not sure they will. I’m not sure, to be honest that they will, and they were four important policies and if people have been living under a rock and haven’t heard its divestiture powers, nuclear energy, universal service obligations to bring about better mobile coverage, particularly in regional Australia obviously, and the Regional Australia Future Fund. So, they were the four items. I don’t think they’re a huge ask. We’ve worked years on developing those policies but look, let’s just get on with the Liberals and The Nationals reuniting again for the sake of the country
Ross SOLLY
I’m going to read you this text. This is Anne from Monash. You’ll like this one I think Michael McCormack. “Ross for God’s sake, will you stop talking and stirring in politics we’re so sick of it.”
Michael McCORMACK
You’re just doing your job Ross.
Ross SOLLY
You can never keep people happy any of the time.
Michael McCORMACK
Yeah, tell me about it.
Ross SOLLY
Yeah. Michael McCormack, good to chat with you. One last question, if you don’t come back together, can you I mean, what’s the future for Michael McCormack? Are you happy just to sit there in the National Party on the crossbench by yourself — not the crossbench — but in your little corner there by yourself?
Michael McCORMACK
Well it’s a hypothetical, but I’ll be representing the people of the Riverina, and that’s all I ever wanted to do and I love this area, I love the people in it, and they need a good, strong voice in Canberra and that’s what I provide and I will continue to do so as long as they keep sending me here.
Ross SOLLY
Michael McCormack good to chat with you.
Michael McCORMACK
Thank you very much.
Ross Solly
Thank you, thank you, bye bye. Michael McCormack who is heading out to do another rain dance right now, the Member for Riverina.
ENDS: 8:54am