PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Okay, let's go back to Canberra now. And the Prime Minister has opened the door to potential capital gains tax exemptions for industries other than the tech sector, following widespread blow back. Joining us live this morning, our Tuesday panel, it's the Assistant Minister to the PM, Patrick Gorman, Liberal MP Aaron Violi. Gentlemen, good morning to you. So the policy looks more rudderless by the day, Patrick. Why wasn't all of this work done before the budget?
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: I do not agree with that characterisation. A large amount of work was done before the release of the budget, and you can see that in the budget papers. What we've said at the time, and what we've said ever since, is that, of course, we'll consult with those who want to have their voice heard.
The Prime Minister said in question time yesterday that consultations are happening with the National Farmers' Federation, ACCI, Council of Small Business Australia. That is what you would expect after a budget. That is very common.
Of course, we will also have legislation in the parliament this week, which will allow people to see more detail of those measures. That is the appropriate thing. I always believe that the biggest consultative forum that we have is the Australian Parliament, and so, of course, it's up to all of us, myself, Aaron, and everyone else, to put our views forward, but my view is that this is the right measure.
STEFANOVIC: Okay, so if all the work was done, why is there so much confusion over it? Why so many questions?
GORMAN: People will always seek more information, that is very normal to happen after - what we make no apologies for - is an ambitious budget. And we are making changes, and that does have a range of changes for people in terms of how their assets will be taxed with those capital assets going forward. But a lot of people are also starting to see that some of their concerns may not be founded, or that there are new opportunities, as we've said, when it comes to new build housing.
STEFANOVIC: All right, Aaron, over to you. What are your thoughts on where this is all at this morning?
AARON VIOLI, MEMBER FOR CASEY: Pete, it's complete chaos, and by the time we get to 11 o'clock, the Prime Minister will have probably back flipped again. I mean, let's be clear, even his own backbenchers don't support this, and they have been speaking out publicly and backgrounding privately against the Prime Minister and against the Treasurer. We all know that Jim Chalmers is now watching his back for Andrew Charlton, but it's good to hear Pat say that he supports the parliament and the democracy of this process. So, I'm guessing he's going to support a Senate inquiry, so we can really dig deep into -
GORMAN: I'm not a senator, I can't support a Senate inquiry.
VIOLI: Well, the Senate's part of the Parliament, Pat. So, because we need to not rush this through, this impacts every Australian, every business, everyone that wants to invest wants to get ahead. Every worker is impacted, so we need to get it right. They should consult, and they need to put it to a Senate committee, which I'm glad Pat supports.
STEFANOVIC: And I think that's a good point, Patrick. What is the rush if it doesn't come into place until next year? Why are we rushing this now for something that just came up out of the blue two weeks ago?
GORMAN: What we want to do is to allow Australia's elected representatives to make a decision. It is not new to -
STEFANOVIC: Well, I mean it's just two weeks or three weeks -
GORMAN: - it is not new to see from the Liberal Party that any measure that this government puts forward, they try and find a new excuse - or an old excuse - to delay it.
Many of your viewers will remember that the Liberal Party found many excuses to delay necessary housing investment in the last term, they went out of their way to work with the Greens to delay houses, delaying houses that my constituents now rely upon, when it comes to the Housing Australia Future Fund.
So, I am not surprised that the Liberal Party will seek to delay and obstruct measures from a Labor government. It is one of the reasons they were created more than 80 years ago, was to stop Labor, not to do anything positive.
STEFANOVIC: So, here's the tricky bit for you, Aaron. The legislation, it's coming up fast, it's on Thursday, and it's going to include the $250 rebate for working Australians. So, are you going to support it?
VIOLI: Well, this is classic Labor politics. Pat talks about delays, as you said, Pete, this isn't coming in for another 12 months. There's no need to rush it through. And you've actually got to the wedge politics that this Prime Minister is playing, trying to put four measures together, two that the Coalition support, two that we don't. And frankly, this is why Australians are sick of the Labor Party and of these political games that this Prime Minister is playing. He spent 30 years in this house, and he's obsessed with the parliamentary games, but that doesn't help small business owners. It doesn't help entrepreneurs trying to get ahead. It does not help the Australian people. They're fed up with the political games that is all this Prime Minister has. He's trying to save his own bacon. No one backs this budget. It is friendless, even in his own backbench.
STEFANOVIC: Are you deliberately wedging? Is that the ploy here, Patrick?
GORMAN: No, we were elected to get things done. We were elected to deliver, and that is what we will do.
Now, one of the things I think is really interesting about the answers that Aaron has just given is that in none of them has he sold any of the proposals that Angus Taylor, less than two weeks ago, put forward in his budget reply.
None of the conversations about the huge economic damage that would happen if we took the Angus Taylor approach of stealing One Nation's migration policies, and no conversation about the completely uncosted tax policy that Angus Taylor came out with less than two weeks ago.
I am happy to sell our government's budget measures, but it tells you a lot that the Liberal Party have gone into 'block and delay' because they don't want to talk about their alternative plan, because they know it's a stinker.
STEFANOVIC: Okay, let's get to another political issue this morning, gentlemen. The ISIS brides, a second batch, will return to Sydney this afternoon. There was an exclusion order in place for one of the women, so she has been kept behind, Patrick, but why wasn't that exclusion order given to all of them?
GORMAN: We take advice from our security agencies on these matters. We take it incredibly seriously. You are not seeing any support from any agency of the Australian government for this cohort.
They have made absolutely terrible life decisions, and they will have to live with those terrible life decisions for the rest of their lifetimes, as you've seen with the previous cohort. If those who return have committed crimes, they are punished or held to account for those crimes if they return to Australian soil, and that's what I expect in this case as well.
STEFANOVIC: Let's get to your thoughts on this, Aaron, your thoughts ahead of their arrival this afternoon.
VIOLI: It's a complete failure by Minister Burke. Yes, he takes the advice of ASIO, but he is also the minister that is there to lead, and if one of these cohorts of terrorist sympathisers that joined a death cult willingly can be excluded, then they all could have been excluded. The minister has dropped the ball. He has let these dangerous individuals back into Australia. Now, the question is, after they've failed once, how can they ensure the Australian people that they won't fail again? How will they keep the Australian people safe and make sure that there are no further challenges for the Australian people because of this cohort? And if there is, that rests on Minister Burke, because he's completely failed to keep the Australian people safe.
GORMAN: We will have to leave it there, gentlemen. Patrick and Aaron, appreciate it. Thank you. We'll talk to you again soon.