Transcript - Doorstop Interview - Parliament House, Canberra - Monday, 25 October
SUBJECTS: Net zero by 2050; Western Australian vaccination rate; climate action; Clive Palmer’s spam text messages
PATRICK GORMAN, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Three years ago, the Prime Minister promised us that The Muppet Show had ended. Watching the carry on from the National Party over the last week proves that that was just another lie from Scott Morrison. We had the meeting one Sunday ago where the Nationals were supposed to put their cards on the table, and they didn't. They negotiated it throughout all of last week without telling anyone what they were actually going to do. Then yesterday they came out, announced they'd fixed everything, but they had a secret plan that only Barnaby Joyce and the Prime Minister could discuss over a private dinner. Now we have to wait for cabinet, where possibly we will get an announcement from the Prime Minister tomorrow. This is an absolute mess on the eve of one of the most important international negotiations of this decade. When Australia doesn't have a proper position on climate change, our diplomats who have been in these negotiations for months and months can't advocate for Australia's interests. I'll tell you what all of those other countries who are in these negotiations, who have been doing the hard work, negotiating the Glasgow agreements on the ground don't care what Barnaby Joyce thought about a couple of days ago. We, Australia, should have been in these negotiations seriously looking at what our interests were and how we fit it into the international plan from the beginning. It is incredibly embarrassing. And again, on the eve of the Glasgow conference, the Prime Minister still doesn't have a plan to pack in his briefcase. All he's got is these thought bubbles from the National Party and the Liberal Party, including nuclear power. And I'll tell you what, if you're going to put out a thought bubble like nuclear power, you actually have to be upfront and honest with the Australian people. Being upfront and honest with the Australian people means being upfront and honest with the people in my state of Western Australia about where on the WA coastline you would put those nuclear power plants. And again, what we know from all of the regulators, all of the experts, is that the path for Australia's low carbon future is in renewables. We need to see proper plans for investing in renewables, building the incentives to invest in those renewables and make sure that that's the path that Australia takes. Otherwise, we have this chaos that rolled for eight years. Three years of The Muppet Show and now this ongoing never ending loop with Barnaby Joyce, who, by the way, is allegedly doesn't even believe in the plan that he's now negotiating with the Prime Minister. Then we're going to leave the next generation of Australians behind when it comes to jobs and a high income economy that every Australian wants to see.
REPORTER: Are you concerned about vaccination hesitancy in WA?
GORMAN: I'm concerned about vaccination hesitancy across the country.
REPORTER: But WA especially?
GORMAN: What we've seen is that as people get more and more information and as governments roll out their communication plans, we do see an increase in vaccine uptake. I'm very encouraged by what we've seen here in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Victoria. I'm very confident that's where Western Australia will get to. Of course, I would like us to get there as quickly as possible. I've been out in regional WA where vaccination rates are unacceptably low. Kalgoorlie, I was there a couple of weeks ago. I, of course, want to say every Western Australian be given the opportunity to get vaccinated, the information to get vaccinated and to get our numbers up comparable with the rest of the country.
REPORTER: But could the Labor Government in WA be doing more to encourage people to get vaccinated as supply is no longer an issue?
GORMAN: I find this question about supply an ongoing issue, a really frustrating one because it's a very recent development. Of course, if we'd had the supply that we were promised at the start of the year, we wouldn't be having this conversation now and with the state governments, they've had to sort of rely on month on month, the federal government providing updates on what vaccines will actually be available to them. I commend the work that the Deputy Premier Roger Cook as Health Minister is doing in terms of making sure that West Australians have access to vaccines and doing that really hard work in those hard to reach remote and regional communities in WA.
REPORTER: But when you compare it to other states, surely Premier Mark McGowan could have done more?
GORMAN: The West Australian vaccination rollout is very similar to the vaccination rollout we're seeing in other states, including in South Australia, where the numbers are quite comparable. The vaccine supply has been of a similar nature. And indeed, if you look at some of the specific logistical challenges, bearing in mind that Western Australia is the largest state in the Commonwealth, I'm actually quite impressed with what has been done. But of course, my message to every West Australian - get vaccinated. If you've got questions. Talk to your doctor. There's lots of public information that if you have any questions about this and the quicker we do that, the quicker Western Australia can reconnect with the rest of Australia, which is what we all want to see happen.
REPORTER: Renewables - is that a hard argument for you to sell?
GORMAN: Western Australia is a great mining state. We have great mining companies that provide thousands and thousands of jobs to people in my electorate. I've got FIFO workers, people who work in engineering, in the head offices, in remote operations. Western Australia has a really proud mining history and we have a really exciting opportunity that comes with this transition of our national and international economy to net zero. If you look at the commitments that major mining companies like Rio Tinto and BHP have made towards net zero, that shows you where global capital is moving. It shows you where they see the jobs of the future and you get to Fortescue, who have, I think, try to jump ahead of the pack with a commitment to net zero by 2040 and obviously huge investments in renewables, including hydrogen. If you believe in Australia's and Western Australia's mining industry, then you believe in taking action on climate change because these things work in partnership. Climate action means more jobs for engineers, more jobs for people who are mining those resources of tomorrow, and more jobs for all Australians.
REPORTER: What about politically? Kevin Rudd, someone you know well, and other prime minister have suffered the sword over climate change. You can't blame Scott Morrison for trying to find a deal.
GORMAN: My blame with Scott Morrison is that he's spent three years campaigning against climate action, and all of a sudden, he's suddenly on the eve of a conference, he's trying to cobble together a deal because I don't know who's told him, but someone told him that the politics has shifted away from him. I think what you see from Kevin Rudd's time indeed even Kim Beazley's time and through all Labor leaders, is Labor has a commitment to action on climate change because we don't believe it's an optional extra. We know that it's a science-based necessity if we want to protect the future of our planet and protect the jobs of Australians for decades to come.
REPORTER: On another topic just today, a spam amendment bill is being put forward today to regulate unsolicited text messages. Would you support that bill?
GORMAN: That legislation hasn't gone to caucus, so I can't share with you what Labor will do on that piece of legislation. But let's be honest, the reason everybody's going nuts about spam messages is because Clive Palmer has been spamming people for months with the United Australia Party's junk, fake information about vaccines. Crazy stuff trying to sign up people to his political party mailing list. Clive is a menace. He has attacked the people of Western Australia on an almost monthly basis. It seems to be his hobby to sue the West Australian government, to attack the WA borders. He even came knocking on the door of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, saying, "hey, mate, want to help us in this case in the High Court" and now the thanks that all Australians get for all of that madness is he's decided he is going to spam us, jam up the YouTube channels with all of these crazy ads full of Craig Kelly's garbage. I'll tell you what people of Australia. It's not just your mobile phone that's got to be spammed by Clive Palmer. It's going to be your letterbox. It's going to be the billboards, it's going to be your TV's and it's going to be YouTube. You won't be able to avoid him. But just remember this Clive Palmer is a fraud. He only has his own interests at heart. He doesn't have the interest of the Australian people at heart.
REPORTER: But do you think people like Clive Palmer should be able to continuously send these text messages?
GORMAN: I think anyone is annoyed about Clive Palmer's junk text messages should call the Mineralogy offices and tell him what they think personally.
REPORTER: So you don't have a stance on it?
GORMAN: It will go to the Labor caucus. Thank you.