Michael Brissenden reported this story on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 08:10:00

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: In seven weeks, Joe Hockey will deliver his second budget. When he does, he'll once again have to try to convince the crossbench senators of its merits.



The Government of course is still struggling to convince the Senate of last year's budget.



One of those important senators is Ricky Muir form the Motoring Enthusiasts Party in Victoria, and it's a bit of an understatement to say Senator Muir hasn't given many interviews since he came to Canberra last July.



But this morning he's broken his silence and I spoke to Ricky Muir a short time ago.



(speaking to Ricky Muir)



Well Ricky Muir - Senator Muir - thank you very much for joining us.



RICKY MUIR: Thank you for having me.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Seven weeks until the budget. Now, you've been part of the Government's problem in the Senate, as they say. It's a big responsibility, are you feral?



RICKY MUIR: No, no I don't think I am feral. That's probably not the quite wording for it.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: How is your relationship with the Government and with Tony Abbott?



RICKY MUIR: Surprisingly, despite what you may hear in the media, it's actually pretty good. I've never really had a problem dealing with any ministers or the Prime Minister, it's all been pretty, well it's been pretty good and no real problems.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Jacquie Lambie said about the relationship that when she goes and visits Tony Abbott he sits there and ums and ahs like an office manager who can't run an office. Has there been an attempt to build a relationship with you?



RICKY MUIR: There's been a couple of meetings where we've... must be two or three meetings where I've actually gone in with the Prime Minister, it's been a nice, calm and relaxed atmosphere, and I think a professional relationship. That's probably the extent of it.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Apart from that has he reached out, or has anybody from the Government reaching out on specific issues?



RICKY MUIR: Yes, yes, most ministers actually do reach out at the appropriate time and have discussions about whatever bill it may be that they want to speak about.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: How do you feel about being labelled as part if a feral Senate? Do you feel responsible for the Government's problems?



RICKY MUIR: No no, not at all. I think, just look at the way the public's responding to the Government's agenda, it is a house of review, I don't think the Senate's being feral, I think that everybody's trying to review every bill on its merits.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: And presumably you're also in a conversation with your constituents, with people in regional Victoria, where you come from.



RICKY MUIR: Absolutely.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: What sort of feedback are you getting from them about how the political process is operating, and how you are, what your part in it is?



RICKY MUIR: Generally what I hear, but I suppose it is to be expected to a degree, is, "Thank god you're there. Thank god there's actually scrutiny over the current budget proposals or the current legislative proposals." And that's not meaning block, block, block, that's meaning please review things sensibly.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: So when the Government says, "Well, the Senate is responsible for blocking the reform process," what do you think of that? Do you think they've got a point?



RICKY MUIR: No I don't think they do actually.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Why not?



RICKY MUIR: Because it's the Senate's job to review. It is a house of review, and if everybody comes to the same conclusion and it ends up being something that's been blocked, well there must be some reason for it.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Ok. Let's go to a few specifics: higher education, for instance. You were opposed to that, is there anything the Government - the higher education reforms, not post-higher education of course - is there anything the Government could convince you to support this?



RICKY MUIR: Not in its current form. Deregulation was always my concern, and I think it's a concern of the wider community. Do I think the fees are going to go up to $100,000?



Not necessarily. There was a reasonable scare campaign, but the reality is fees, some fees at least, were going to go up. And to me, putting myself back in my shoes before I become involved in politics, that would have been enough to potentially scare me away from pursuing the education I may need to further my career.



So it was something that I really had to weigh up, it was really unpopular within the public. But what both sides of politics - so Labor and Liberal - have said, is the current system is unsustainable, so something needs to happen - some kind of reform needs to happen. So I think in reality, we are actually facing some kind of education reform in the near future.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: But there's nothing the Government can do to convince you to support the legislation that's before them?



RICKY MUIR: So they're bringing it back in in three months time, well they've said they're bringing it back in three months time, which, mind you, will be in the form of a trigger.



But what I've asked is for Labor to release their proposal, so that way the public has a chance to see what they're up against, whatever Labor has to offer.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: You mentioned a trigger - a double dissolution trigger - does that concern you?



RICKY MUIR: No it doesn't. If the Government was to resort to a double dissolution, well so be it. I'm not going to decide, "Hey I'm going to pass everything the Government wants passed because there's talk of a double dissolution."



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Pension indexation, that's another thing that's up before you at the moment. What's your view on that?



RICKY MUIR: I think I've publicly said in the past, if there needs to be reform, it needs to be fair and is, you know, if we need to make savings, does it really need to come from those who are worse off?



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: So essentially you're opposed to…



RICKY MUIR: Essentially I am opposed, that's correct. I don't think targeting pensioners is the right way to go. I would really like to see some kind of reform that comes through that is actually fair.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Where do you sit on workplace reform, would you support, for instance, the slashing of penalty rates for weekends?



RICKY MUIR: Me personally, I'm a supporter of penalty rates, I've been a beneficiary of penalty rates and I certainly didn't work in the weekends or afternoon shifts, where I didn't get to spend time with my family and children, for the love of the job. I did it to actually try to get ahead in life.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Youth unemployment is another issue that's very close to your heart, you've spent some time on the dole. Plans to scrap dole payments for six months?



RICKY MUIR: Yeah I'm not supporting that at all. I think we need to be looking at primary care. I've been working closely with the Brotherhood of Saint Lawrence in relation to youth unemployment lately, and they've got a youth transition program, which really is about the primary care - about teaching youth how to make themselves more presentable to employers, about getting work experience so they can see whether they like a particular job or not, about how to speak about courses that are targeted for a specific area.



So if you live in a rural area and there's jobs going on a farm, there's no point doing a beautician course, you might as well do a course that's going to get you a job on a farm - an entry level job. So I think primary care's something we need to be discussing here, not actually taking away from people.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Now you've documented your own personal experience of being unemployed, what would it have meant to you, for instance, if you couldn't have accessed the dole?



RICKY MUIR: It would have been, it would have been devastating. I never wanted to lean on the Government, but the reality was I needed something to keep me afloat until I was able to transition into that job.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: We've spoken a little bit about the relationship with the Prime Minister, what's the relationship with Clive Palmer like - is he a bully?



RICKY MUIR: No, I wouldn't think so. I've never personally been against him…



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Because you had sort of a vague relationship with him, it wasn't a formal one, was it?



RICKY MUIR: No it was never a formal relationship, so the memorandum of understanding between the parties was that we'll work together when practical.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: And you still have a good relationship with him?



RICKY MUIR: Yeah, I still speak to him whenever I bump into him, but essentially my relationship was more so with the Palmer United senators, and as it stands now, there's only Dio.

But I still have a good relationship with Dio, I speak to him on all matters really.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: OK Ricky Muir, thanks very much for joining us and I hope we see you again soon.



RICKY MUIR: Absolutely, thank you.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Ricky Muir from the Motoring Enthusiasts Party.

