JON FAINE: Lindsay Tanner is the departing Member for Melbourne, and also the Minister for Finance in the Rudd Government, he's announced his departure from politics, although we still don't really know quite why? Lindsay Tanner, good morning.
LINDSAY TANNER: Good morning, Jon.
JON FAINE: Happy new financial year. We still don't really know why you've quit the Parliament?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well, perhaps you'd better read the Hansard of my speech, Jon, and then you'd find out.
JON FAINE: I listened to it as well, but it doesn't tell us much.
LINDSAY TANNER: Oh, tells it pretty straight, and that is, I've got to a point where the family pressures that are all people who've got blended families, and who've got kids of previous marriages, that they want to spend time with, and help look after, feel, and those things have just got to a point where I felt that I had to depart, and I certainly say, I've had a good innings, as the saying goes.
JON FAINE: Yes, but you also feel though that you've achieved all, and as much, as you are likely to achieve in Federal politics, that ambition for higher office was likely to be thwarted.
LINDSAY TANNER: As the events of the last week show, Jon, you never know, so I don't think you can ever safely draw conclusions about any of those things. If ever you want a good example of that, have a look at Colin Barnett in Western Australia, he was literally out the door, the new pre-selection had occurred, and bingo, he's Premier within weeks. Now that ain't gonna happen to me, I can assure you, but it just illustrates that you can never know these things.
JON FAINE: But you've put up with the family pressures, and I agree they're - well, to me they would be intolerable, other people seem to somehow strike a balance, but you've struck that balance for so long, and then suddenly you say you've lost that balance.
LINDSAY TANNER: Well no, I don't say that, it's a gradual thing, but I've said all I intend to say about these things.
JON FAINE: Cath Bowtell, a trade unionist, with a strong pedigree, likely to be preselected for Melbourne, does that stave off the Greens?
LINDSAY TANNER: The preselection nominations close on Monday, and there'll be a ballot toward the end of next week, if there are more than one - is more than one nomination.
JON FAINE: The deal's been done though, I'm advised.
LINDSAY TANNER: Well, if there's any deal, Jon, I'm not part of it. Anybody can nominate, obviously someone like Cath Bowtell is a pretty strong candidate, who is likely to attract support from key players, but until nominations close, we don't know what the lie of the land is. I believe Labor will hold the seat, the research that we've done over the years shows that notwithstanding whatever support I've got personally, it's the issues that matter in the seat of Melbourne, and I think the Rudd Government and the Gillard Government carrying on, have got a very strong record, and one that Labor people, and long-term Labor voters, can genuinely be proud of.
JON FAINE: You said on Lateline last night that you weren't part of the plotting, but we know who was, it would seem, judging by today's newspoll in The Australian newspaper, that the Victorian polling, looking at John Brumby versus Ted Baillieu, gave you an extra piece, it gave the Labor Party an extra piece in the jigsaw puzzle. The knock-on effect to State Governments, must have motivated some of the key Victorians, and mobilised them against Kevin Rudd too.
LINDSAY TANNER: Well, I haven't spoken to anybody about that question, Jon, so I really wouldn't know, but I suspect probably not, people in Federal politics are overwhelmingly focused on the fate of the party at the national level, understandably, under the government, so I doubt whether that's the case, but really, those people can speak for themselves.
JON FAINE: Have you spoken to Kevin Rudd since the coup?
LINDSAY TANNER: Yes, I have.
JON FAINE: What did he say?
LINDSAY TANNER: Dead serious? I'm not going to reveal the content of private conversations Jon.
JON FAINE: Well, you get serious, I've got to ask.
LINDSAY TANNER: [Laughs] Well, fair enough, but I'm saying I'm not going to reveal the contents of private conversations.
JON FAINE: Julia Gillard told us the other day that other than in a formal capacity, she hadn't spoken to him, seems a lot of people who worked closely with him, including Wayne Swan, who told us he hadn't spoken to him, don't feel the need to put in a call.
LINDSAY TANNER: Well look, I've got no idea who's spoken to Kevin, and who hasn't, apart from myself, Jon, but that's really a matter for individuals, and I really think that's their business.
JON FAINE: Yeah, but I'm reminded of John Button's famous quote, that if you want a friend in politics, get a dog.
LINDSAY TANNER: I think that was Clive Cameron, actually, but...
JON FAINE: Oh, thank you for the correction, is it still apt?
LINDSAY TANNER: Probably either him or Mick Young, it's one of those things that probably there's multiple owners of...
JON FAINE: [Laughs].
LINDSAY TANNER: But look, it is a very competitive game, it's different from many other kinds of walks of life in that in effect, everybody's competing with everybody else. Neil Brown, a former Liberal Deputy Leader, wrote a very good autobiography, where he pointed out that he found it quite distasteful that every bit of advancement he won, was always at the expense of a colleague, sometimes a colleague that he valued highly, and liked, and it's just the nature of the game.
JON FAINE: What are you going to do next?
LINDSAY TANNER: Oh look, I indicated in my speech that I intend to pursue opportunities in the business and academic worlds...
JON FAINE: I know, I was hoping to get a bit more detail.
LINDSAY TANNER: [Laughs] Well, Jon, there isn't any detail to give, because as I again indicated, I have nothing lined up as such, I...
JON FAINE: Have you had any offers since your announcement?
LINDSAY TANNER: I've had numerous suggestions put to me, some of them more serious and worthwhile than others, but I'm not going to rush into any of these things. I notice that John Roscombe was suggesting I might replace you the other day, so be careful, however, you have to get up so early in the morning, I think the ABC couldn't afford to compensate me for that.
JON FAINE: Yeah, well I don't recommend it to anybody, I might say. And the tax cuts kick in, I notice, as of today, the first day of the financial year, 450 bucks a year, it's not going to send people out partying, is it?
LINDSAY TANNER: No, but it's the third tax cut in a row from the tax cuts that we committed to prior to the election, and for somebody on $50,000 a year, an extra $450 a year helps, it is not insignificant, and I think it's one example of the genuine achievements and worthwhile Labor things that this government has done, that often are overlooked. I think there's a lot of things that have happened over the past two-and-a-half years, that tend to get missed when people look at the record, and I believe that once the election campaign gets underway, and there's more focus on these things, I think we will be in good shape, not just in my backyard, or what is ceasing to be my backyard, but also nationally.
JON FAINE: Well, it's going to be a most interesting situation that we will find ourselves in, and likewise I suppose, it will be a most interesting life for you, from here on. I thank you for your availability, and access that you've provided to us, that has made, from the point of view of someone trying to cover Federal politics, a big difference, when someone's prepared to be up front, cop the flack when it comes their way, but answer questions in such a straightforward manner.
LINDSAY TANNER: I appreciate it, Jon, and you never know, I might be on again.
JON FAINE: Well, I hope you are, in fact we're putting together some of our planning on how we cover the Federal Election, in particular the polls themselves, and you would be a man with many insights, or person I should say, with many insights, and we'll keep you in mind for that.
LINDSAY TANNER: Thank you.
JON FAINE: Although mind you, that might not be what you had in mind [laughs].
LINDSAY TANNER: I don't think that's really where my future lies.
JON FAINE: No, no, and it's not sustainable either. Thank you for your time.
LINDSAY TANNER: Thanks very much.
JON FAINE: And best wishes. Lindsay Tanner, Member for Melbourne, Finance Minister, outgoing Finance Minister in the Rudd Government.
-ends-
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