HOST:
David Bradbury is the new Assistant Treasurer, he was sworn in as Assistant Treasurer yesterday – joined the swearing-in show, I suppose, in reality – and joins us now. David, good morning to you.
BRADBURY:
Good morning, good to be with you.
HOST:
And great to have you along. Was it exciting yesterday? Were you all chipper?
BRADBURY:
Look, it was exciting, I was fortunate to have my wife and my four young children come down. Incidentally, they had a student-free day, so that worked out well. I think they probably feel as though they were robbed of a student-free day in having to come down but it was a great opportunity for them to share in –
HOST:
Yeah, but you would have taken them out of school for that anyway, wouldn't you? I mean it's not every day you're dad gets sworn in.
BRADBURY:
And look, I also had my parents there as well so it was a really big day in the Bradbury family and a proud day for us all. Now the job begins and there's no shortage of work to get stuck into.
HOST:
And now the nightmare begins. And I suppose you've got to make the most of it too because you're in a marginal seat, you've got to make hay while the sun shines.
BRADBURY:
I've always taken the view that if you work hard in your local community and you're lucky enough to get to contribute at a higher level then that's a really positive thing for your local community. I've had a lot of really positive feedback from people in my community who are proud to have their local Member contributing at a higher level in Government.
HOST:
I suppose as Assistant Treasurer your immediate boss is Wayne Swan. Would that be right?
BRADBURY:
Yes, that's certainly the case. I work very closely with Wayne. I was his Parliamentary Secretary prior to this, but, yes we work very closely together.
HOST:
Do you share his contempt of the super-rich?
BRADBURY:
I think that it's really important that if people want to understand what Wayne has said here they should have a look at both the speech that he gave yesterday but also the essay that he's written. I think he makes a very important and a powerful point, and that is that it's not about whether people are rich or successful, the question that he's honing in on is the fact that there are a small number of people who are super-rich, in particular he's focussed on a couple of the mining magnates, but the issue here is that it's not that they're successful or wealthy that's the problem, it's the fact that they are using their wealth and their resources to try and engage in the public debate in a way that I think is undemocratic .
HOST:
So you do share his contempt for the super-rich?
BRADBURY:
Look I wouldn't call it contempt but I think it people want to start – I'll give you a good example. When this issue was raised by the Treasurer, the immediate response of the mining sector was to take out full-page ads in the newspaper. Now that demonstrates the point that the Treasurer was making and that is that in a democracy where everyone is entitled to a view, it just seems that some people, particularly those who have very deep pockets, are engaging in the debate, masquerading behind some notion of national interest, but really are just pushing their own barrow. I think that in the public debate, that's something that we have to take into account. The Government of course, well it's our job to represent all Australians and sometimes that means we end up getting into some tough discussions with those that might have their vested interests and toes being trampled on.
HOST:
Now David, going back to the swearing-in ceremony, you looked pretty happy yesterday but someone who didn't look very happy was Kim Carr, he had his manufacturing portfolio taken off him. Did you get a chance to chat to him?
BRADBURY:
I did say hello to Kim and had a brief chat to him. Look, I think that it's always a great honour to be sworn into the Ministry of a Government, regardless of what level that is. I remember when I became a Parliamentary Secretary that that was a great honour. Kim has obviously had great experience in Government holding various portfolios and I know that he's very much committed to working as part of the team in the Gillard Government to make sure that we tackle the challenges that we as a country face.
HOST:
Now David, I don't want to imply that there was any favouritism in you getting this job because obviously you have earned the right to it, but you did famously say that you would get a tattoo to show your support for Julia Gillard, so what we've done is actually mocked up a couple of tattoos. Is there any chance that you would get one in the future?
BRADBURY:
I made an important qualification that it was subject to my wife's approval. Now, it won't surprise you that my wife has vetoed this but my support for the Prime Minister remains undiminished. When it comes to body art, I have said various things to my children over the years and this raised a few eyebrows with because they thought that perhaps I was contradicting some of the earlier things that I had told them about what they should and shouldn't do in the future.
HOST:
So I'm assuming your wife's name's not Julia, because that would have been a simple way to get around it?
BRADBURY:
[Laughter] No, it's Kylie.
HOSTS:
[Laughter]
HOST:
And to be fair, you're a Minister of the Crown now so contradictory statements just go with the playing field doesn't it [laughter].
HOST:
David Bradbury, thanks so much for your time and congratulations.
BRADBURY:
Great to be with you.