PM, Palmer & the Poisoned Chalice

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3828986.htm Panellists: Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Health & Medical Research; George Brandis, Shadow Attorney General; Michael Kroger, Former President of the Victorian Liberal Party; Lenore Taylor, Chief Political Correspondent The Guardian; and Graham Richardson, Labor powerbroker turned commentator. -- Tanya Plibersek Tanya Plibersek is the Member for Sydney, a seat which covers the CBD and several inner suburbs of Australia’s biggest city. A minister since Labor came to power in 2007, she was elevated to Cabinet in the health portfolio in 2011. Tanya is the daughter of migrants from Slovenia and grew up in Sydney’s south. Her late father, Joseph, came to Australia in the 1950s and worked on the Snowy River hydro-electric scheme. She has degrees in communications and politics and public policy and entered Parliament in 1998. As an MP she has concentrated on issues of concern to her electorate, including homelessness, young people, child care, work and family and gay rights. She is married to Michael Coutts-Trotter, a senior NSW bureaucrat. They have three children and live in the Sydney suburb of Rosebery. -- George Brandis Senator George Brandis is the shadow attorney-general and one of the most respected legal minds in the Federal Parliament. He studied law with distinction at the University of Queensland and at Oxford, and was called to the Queensland Bar in 1985 at the age of 28. He quickly established a large commercial practice concentrating on trade practices law. In 2006 he was appointed a Senior Counsel of the Queensland Supreme Court. George was born in Sydney in 1957, but grew up in Brisbane. He was politically engaged from an early age and became president of Queensland's Young Liberals in 1981. Through the 90s he was very active within the Liberal Party and entered the Senate in 2000. But he was not, despite his obvious abilities and qualifications, given a front bench position until 2007 when the coalition government was in its last year of office. He became Minister for the Arts and Sport. This lack of preferment was attributed to a mutual antipathy between himself and then Prime Minister John Howard, whom he once allegedly referred to as a 'lying rodent'. -- Michael Kroger Michael Kroger has been involved with the Liberal Party since joining as a 15-year-old in 1973. While studying law at Monash University in Melbourne he became president of the university Liberal Club, and by 1987 he was President of the Victorian Division – a post he held until 1992. Throughout his years in the party organisation he was active in many policy debates, preselections and election campaigns. He and his university friend Peter Costello exerted considerable influence at a State and federal level over many years. Michael is a frequent commentator on politics and a strong advocate of the Liberal viewpoint. Since 1993 he has worked for the corporate advisory business JT Campbell and Company, first as chief executive and, since 2003, as chairman. Lenore Taylor - Panellist Lenore Taylor Lenore Taylor is an award-winning political journalist who has covered federal politics for more than twenty years. She is now chief political correspondent for The Guardian and a regular commentator on radio and television, including the ABC's Insiders program. Her first book, Shitstorm, co-authored with David Uren, was published by Melbourne University Publishing last year. Sub-titled Inside Labor's Darkest Days, it tells the inside story of the Government's attempts to combat the global financial crisis. Lenore grew up in Brisbane and graduated in arts with a politics major from the University of Queensland. She began work as a journalist with The Canberra Times in 1987 and worked in the Old Parliament House press gallery for a year before the Parliament moved to its new premises. She has worked in the press gallery ever since, other than a stint in London as a foreign correspondent and two periods of maternity leave when her children were born. -- Graham Richardson Graham Richardson retains a reputation as one of Australia’s most knowledgeable and well-connected political operators, despite having been out of active political life since 1994. Although he worked largely as a lobbyist after leaving politics, in recent years the man universally known as Richo has re-emerged as a media identity. He writes several newspaper columns and has his own pay-TV show, Richo. In politics Richo came to personify political ruthlessness, and established the NSW Right of the Labor Party as a formidable political force on the national scene. Richo was born in Sydney in 1949 and grew up in the city’s southern suburbs. He joined the ALP in 1966, was assistant general secretary of the NSW branch by 1976 and a Senator by 1983. A king-maker who knew how to dispense patronage and call in favours, he had a significant influence on a great many political careers. Most notably, he was instrumental in replacing Bill Hayden as federal leader with Bob Hawke in 1983, and Hawke with Paul Keating in 1991. Richo served as a minister in a number of portfolios from 1987 to 1994. As Environment Minister he is credited with several pro-environment initiatives and helping to secure the fledgling green vote for Labor in the late 1980s. He was also beset by scandal at various times, and in 1992 resigned as a minister when it was revealed he had used his influence to assist a relative’s business ventures in the Marshall Islands. He left politics in 1994 and published a much-read biography, appropriately titled Whatever It Takes. In 2009 he made a reluctant return to the spotlight as the star witness at a NSW parliamentary inquiry into planning decisions. This followed the high-profile murder of a loan shark, Michael McGurk, who had dealings with one of Richo’s then clients, developer Ron Medich. Richo is known to live in Sydney but few other details of his personal life are available. He is working on another book. ---- Audience: ALP 34%, Coalition 44%, Greens 9% -- PM ABBOTT Elaine Wziontek asked: Michael Kroger, you have said that Mr Abbott will surprise us by being a moderate, sensible, middle of the road, cautious Prime Minister. What evidence do you have for that assessment when you consider his previous form? RUDD’S VICTORIOUS CONCESSION SPEECH Peter King asked: If I’d have nodded off on Saturday night and woke to the jubilant entrance of Kevin Rudd prior to his concession speech I’d have thought he was triumphant! I’d like to ask the panel why they think this was the mood of the gathering and how much did Kevin Rudd’s return save Labor from a more parlous outcome? CARBON TAX MANDATE James Wilson asked: This question is for Tanya Plibersek. The coalition, this Saturday, was given a clear mandate by the Australian people, with the repealing of the Carbon Tax playing an integral role in the platform on which they ran. Will you seek to block the passage of a bill to repeal the Carbon Tax in the senate, and if so, how can you justify this, given that the Australian people have made their opinions on the carbon tax quite clear? MICRO PARTIES Angie Pinto asked: Given the rise of the micro parties, some elected to the senate with primary votes of around 1%, it would appear that many are gaming the system with preference deals. Is it time to review our preferential voting system? And do we need electoral reform? CLIVE PALMER Laura Ryan asked: Why do you think the Palmer United Party proved so popular? And, presuming he wins Fairfax, how do you think Palmer will be as an MP? SHORTEN LEADERSHIP Brenda Okada asked: The Labor leadership seems to be a poisoned chalice. How likely is Bill Shorten to accept the position given his role in toppling Kevin Rudd in 2010 and Julia Gillard in 2013? ECONOMIC REFORM Joanna Chin asked: Now that Tony Abbott is Prime Minister, would he be looking into other economic reforms to strengthen the Australian economy apart from the repeal of the carbon tax?