Doorstop interview – Ulladulla | Prime Minister of Australia
FIONA PHILLIPS MP, MEMBER FOR GILMORE: Hi everyone. Well, I’m delighted to be here at the Milton Rural Landcare Nursery here at Ulladulla, of course with Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia. I was absolutely thrilled that Albo was in our area, our beautiful area, today and I could bring him to this nursery to have a look at the forest recovery project. Soon after the bushfires I went to visit a local couple in Yatte Yattah, and they had lost their home in the bushfire. They were rebuilding. But what they were really concerned about, on top of all of that, if that wasn’t enough, was the damage to their local land. They were worried about the weed infestations coming and just the loss of that local environment. And they said that, that on top of everything else, it was just too much to handle. And so that’s really where the idea was sown from, to actually get some support for rural landholders. And we know and we’ve talked to landholders here today that have benefited from this project. So it was great to be able to support the application through the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund, which is both federal and state funding for the forest recovery project. And I think what we’ve seen today is just the most magnificent effort from the Milton Rural Landcare volunteers. It’s it’s been amazing. I really want to thank Penny and the team of volunteers here, the landowners, for everything they’ve done. It’s really lovely to see the difference that it’s making. We spoke to one landowner here today and just the difference with those plants, it’s actually come back better. So it’s about weed control. It’s about reducing that fire load as well, but actually having native plants back to help. I’m really proud that Albo is in the area and could come along and see this for himself as well.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Fi. And it’s great to be here in the electorate of Gilmore, and it’s great to have the very warm welcome we’ve received today from P1 and P2 – both called Penny, it’s easy to remember as we’re shown around – Sue Allen, and also the local landholders, one of whom lost his home here during those terrible bushfires of 2019-2020. And other landholders whose properties were devastated as well at that time. This is a great example of the resilience of humanity and the resilience of this local community. People who have been knocked down got themselves up, not just got themselves up, but got their local properties up as well. It was quite inspiring to hear stories about the land coming back stronger than it was before, with more species than were here before. With better and more quality of the land and local – not just flora, but also fauna – than were here before. The species of animals which have been brought back, wombats and bandicoots and other local native species coming back, because of the local fauna got right and because of looking after the land. It’s a great example of how people care for this local community, how the community has bonded together in the wake of such tragedy and such trauma as occurred during the Black Summer Bushfires of 2019-2020. This program, the forest recovery project, is just a cracker of a project. From the very beginning, propagating plants to go back, so that local properties and local bush as well, throughout the region, is not just restored, but brought back even better in the future. We know that local land holders have spoken about coming back with solar power to be able to better deal with any future events which may occur. And at this time it’s a reminder that we need to do what we can to prepare for the upcoming season. We’ve just been through an incredible wet period. But the science and climatologists tell us that it’s going to be a dry season coming up. With that comes risks. And so preparation is also really important. So now’s the time to clean out your gutters, to keep lawns short, to prune shrubs and cut back trees that hang over buildings, to clean up fallen leaves, dead vegetation, ensure all entry points to your property are wide and high enough to fit a fire truck. They are the sort of preparations we want to see occur today. I wanted to come here in July, well in advance, to make sure that I did my bit to promote a safer community. What occurred of course in 2019-20, any preparation wouldn’t have solved some of that, I tell you. You had areas of rainforest that have never burnt before in the time that we have recorded history, burnt with devastating impacts as well. So, I know that Minister Murray Watt is convening a meeting of all state Emergency Management Ministers next month. That’s an example of how my government is determined to make sure we do what we can to get ahead of these issues rather than wait and respond. And the best way to do that is to work with local communities like this one. So I can pay tribute to this Landcare group, pay tribute as well to all the volunteers who are here, for getting that black dirt under their nails, whilst they’re making a difference here in the local community.
JOURNALIST: The mayor, Amanda Findley, says it’s not all roses, there’s still a lot of pain, anxiety, insurance people have just received it three years down the track. Prices have gone up 30 per cent to rebuild. What can you say to the community about the slowness of this recovery three years down the track from Black Summer?
PRIME MINISTER: It has been traumatic for the local community. I don’t doubt that at all. Part of the reason for my visit here, my visit to other communities, is to say that the government, at the federal level, is very conscious of that. I’m sure that state governments have been as well. We are a country that suffers from natural disasters. In my time as Prime Minister, in the just a bit over 12 months, I’ve visited Southern New South Wales for flooding towns like Eugowra and others, they’ve been devastated. I visited Rochester in Victoria, Northern Tasmania, the Kimberley around Fitzroy Crossing. Devastated. Northern New South Wales, of course remains a community, around Lismore, that is still suffering from the aftermath of those terrible floods. We need to do what we can as governments, working with community, including with local government, to deal with those issues. We’re aware that something like that doesn’t just go away in a short period of time. My government’s committed to working with local communities including with local government.
JOURNALIST: If the money for the Jervis Bay flyover is in the budget, Prime Minister, why is it part of the infrastructure review?
PRIME MINISTER: Because everything is part of the infrastructure review. It’s an infrastructure review based upon the fact there were 800 projects, some of which are frankly massively under-costed and couldn’t possibly have occurred. Some of which are things that aren’t national priorities but were done with a political road map taking place, rather than with the issue of road safety or productivity going forward. Can I say this – I stood on that intersection with Fiona Phillips way back in 2019.
JOURNALIST: Got stuck in that traffic?
PRIME MINISTER: 2019, and nothing happened under the former government. Nothing happened because they were big on announcements and they weren’t big on delivery. I want to make sure it’s delivered. This is an important project. I’ve seen for myself why it’s necessary and we’ll get on with the job of doing it. This is a short, sharp review to make sure that every dollar goes to the right project at the right time, and this will be a priority.
JOURNALIST: Why not exclude it from the review then if it is guaranteed?
PRIME MINISTER: We didn’t exclude anything.
JOURNALIST: The community remains sceptical because you’ve included.
PRIME MINISTER: The community should be sceptical about the former government promising in 2019 and nothing happening.
JOURNALIST: So you are guaranteeing it won’t be scrapped?
PRIME MINISTER: I am guaranteeing that it will happen.
JOURNALIST: The other projects, then: the Nowra bypass, the Milton-Ulladulla, they are similarly things promised by your party before the last election.
PRIME MINISTER: The Nowra bypass: we put additional money in. In January, just this year, we put additional money in. That’s an example, though, of where the former governments didn’t have the full costings of it. So that’s one of the reasons why you do a review, it’s to get proper costings for projects. I was the Infrastructure Minister for six years. During that period, we doubled the roads budget, we increased the rail budget by more than 10 times. I was the first Infrastructure Minister that this country had. Before 2007 there was no Infrastructure Department. What you do is that you get the right policy, the right framework in place, and then you get on with delivering that infrastructure. My government is determined to do that.
JOURNALIST: Would you like to a dual work with this Minns Labor government to improve the entire Princess Highway like the Pacific Highway was improved?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course we’ll work with the Minns Government on projects right throughout the South Coast. We know, for example, that during the bushfires, one of the problems with having single lane each way was that there was problems getting getting cars in and out. Highways were shut. Roads were shut. We need better infrastructure as a part of road safety in general. But also this is a growing community. That’s why we need to get it right. If you go back – what has occurred since 2013, and then the 2016 election 2019, you had a whole lot of projects that are still have been added on to the list, meaning there are 800 projects with no funding attached. They just added things on, didn’t worry about what the costing was, didn’t worry about what the cost benefit was, didn’t worry about whether it would actually occur or not. The Nowra bypass was promised by the former government many years ago, but you didn’t get the progress on it, like the Jervis Bay project, it was promised and you didn’t get the progress on it. What we want to do is to set out a proper timetable for delivering infrastructure in an orderly way that makes the difference. And our priority is here on the South Coast.
JOURNALIST: Can I take you back to the bushfires? Obviously, the horrific scenes from Europe are really triggering to people on the South Coast. What guarantee can you give to this community that they won’t see a Black Summer this season? With the policy shifts that you’ve made, have you made any that will prevent what we’ve seen happen?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think the community is sensible enough to know that that is a question, quite frankly, that you’re asking me to defy science. No politician who’s serious can stand and say that they can guarantee that there will never be a natural disaster again in this country, which is what your question goes to. I think what people want is governments to be practical, to respond in an orderly way, to do what they can in the short term, which is what we’re doing by providing a national large air tanker to supplement the New South Wales fleet, to implement the new Australian Fire Danger ratings system that we’ve done, to provide resources to ensure that communities can respond as quickly as possible, to have that meeting of state Emergency Ministers and to make sure that we undertake fuel load reduction strategies as soon as possible. We need to do all of that. But the other thing they need to do is to take climate change seriously. We have seen potentially the two hottest days on record in Europe in recorded history this week. This week. This is what has occurred. This is something that the former government denied, prevaricated, dissembled, for ten years. They had 22 energy policies and didn’t land one. You know what we’re doing? We have one policy. We landed it. It has proper targets, with a plan through the safeguard mechanism to get there, with whole-of-government responses to make sure that we deal with the challenges of climate change. And we also recognise that one nation state can’t do it by themselves. That’s why we’re engaged with the world. I’ll be at the ASEAN meeting and the G20, where we’ll talk about climate change. We’ve recognised that climate change is a national security issue as well, as has the United States, as has the United Kingdom, as has the European Union, as have countries in our region as well. So we’ll continue to engage and do what we can why. But we need to acknowledge and people are aware of the challenge of climate change. My government is taking it seriously. I am concerned that the Opposition continue – they voted against the climate targets, even though we had a clear mandate for it, they voted against safeguard mechanism, even though we had a mandate for it, even though the business community, the union movement, local communities, all supported the measures that we have put in place – the Coalition continue to just deny the issues which are there.
JOURNALIST: With the temperature increases, what are you expecting?
PRIME MINISTER: I cannot answer. With respect, you’re saying: what will this summer look like? With respect, I’m a politician in July. I think that people want to make sure that we prepare as best as possible.
JOURNALIST: And with respect, the fire season starts in August in New South Wales in the northern part. So the fire season is approaching. Do you feel like the community is prepared for these one-degree or two-degree temperatures that we might expect?
PRIME MINISTER: This community clearly and the people I’m meeting with here today are clearly very conscious about what has occurred in the past and they’re conscious about making sure that the community is as prepared as it can be for the future.
JOURNALIST: 60 day dispensing is just around the corner. Community pharmacies are saying they’ll have to shut doors or reduce their hours. Aren’t we reducing access to medicine?
PRIME MINISTER: No. We have cost-of-living pressures and the idea that where someone has a permanent condition where they have to get medicine for the rest of their lives – diabetes or a heart condition – that they should not get 60-day dispensing but should remain at 30-day dispensing, paying twice the amount, defies common sense. This is a practical change. Community pharmacies play a very important role. We want to provide support for community pharmacies. We’ll continue to do so. And I note that every single dollar that is saved from the Commonwealth is going back into community pharmacies on this program.
JOURNALIST: On John Margerison, should contracts involving him and Stuart Robert be referred to the NACC?
PRIME MINISTER: The NACC has been established – I’ve said that clearly – the NACC has been established as an independent body. I don’t intend to tell them how to operate. I’ve said that and I’ll say it every time that I’m asked. Quite clearly these revelations are really disturbing. This guy was a major donor to the Coalition and there needs to be an explanation about why this fellow seems to have disappeared overseas given the serious allegations which are there, given he was required to appear before a parliamentary committee.
JOURNALIST: It’s been recorded say that Mr. Dutton gave offshore detention contracts to a businessman in Nauru despite warnings from the AFP he was under investigation for bribery. What do you make of those allegations? And do you think Mr. Dutton needs to explain?
PRIME MINISTER: These are serious allegations against Mr Dutton and he needs to explain what has occurred here. It has been suggested that he was warned. He needs to explain what has occurred here because the people deserve an explanation about these events. This is taxpayers’ money and Mr Dutton has a responsibility to explain what occurred on his watch as Home Affairs Minister with this scandal.