E&OE…
Topics: Coalition victory, CFA, plebiscite, coalition agreement, plastic bags, immigration
TOM ELLIOTT:
Mr Hunt, good afternoon.
GREG HUNT:
And good afternoon, Tom and Melbourne.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, congratulations on your election victory. Now, how many seats in the House of Representatives will the Coalition Government have?
GREG HUNT:
Look, we currently have 76. It's likely that we will have 77 versus 68 for Labor.
And we will have gained close to a million more first preference votes, or people's primary votes, by the time the count is finished.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Okay. Well, 77 seats. You need a minimum of 75 or 76 to govern in your own right. Was the election closer than you would have liked?
GREG HUNT:
Look, you want to win every election by as much as possible, but the Australian people voted, and I think we've seen a little bit of premature exuberance from Bill Shorten this week.
The Australian people voted. They voted by potentially up to a million – or nearly a million votes – more on their primary votes for the Coalition.
They elected Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister.
We always have to listen, always have to listen, to them – particularly the people in the outer suburbs who are concerned about cost of living. But they elected a Coalition Government by probably nine seats more than the ALP.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Okay. Well…
GREG HUNT:
And so I think it's gradually dawning on the ALP that their excitement may have been a little overdone and a little in defiance of what the Australian people have actually done.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Okay, well, you say you've always got to listen. Now I – if you don't mind me saying this – I don't think it was a particularly impressive campaign.
I mean, it got off on a bad foot by getting stuck into superannuation changes. Now, I'm now hearing out of your party, the Liberal Party, that there'll be a further review of changes to superannuation.
Are you going to listen to what so many people said, which is, don't fiddle too much with super?
GREG HUNT:
Look, obviously an election is about taking a set of policies to the people. We will take the superannuation policies forward. I'll leave it to the Ministers in question…
TOM ELLIOTT:
Unchanged? Unchanged?
GREG HUNT:
There's no proposal at this point to change them, but I'll leave it to the Ministers.
But overall, what people said to us is – we want a Coalition Government, we think that you can do a better job with the economy, we are concerned about cost of living.
And let me say that equally, we are the only ones that can protect against the electricity price rises that the ALP wants.
But we now want to work with the crossbench and with the public on delivering the best job security we can, the best approach to making sure that we're putting the pressure on keeping costs of living down.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Okay. Now you mention working with the crossbench, but obviously your initial task is to sign a new coalition agreement with the National Party. Has that been signed?
GREG HUNT:
To the best of my knowledge there, it hasn't been completed. I think the Prime Minister was working with the National Party today.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Why is it secret? Why can't we know what's in it?
GREG HUNT:
Look, I think I'll leave that to the Prime Minister and the head of the National Party, Barnaby Joyce.
I'm not aware of what the final circumstances will be, because it's literally being worked through at this moment, so I won't pre-empt what decision they make.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, one thing we do know of course is the Nationals actually picked up a seat in the election, whereas the Liberal Party lost seats.
Will the Nationals get increased Cabinet representation? And the rumour doing the rounds is that they have asked and will be given the Communications portfolio.
GREG HUNT:
Well, I haven't heard that, and being very much inside the Government, I haven't heard anything on particular portfolios.
Again, I'll leave that for the coalition agreement to be settled. The Nationals did well, and I think that's a tremendous thing.
We did very well in Victoria. We picked up a seat in Victoria, the seat of Chisholm – Julia Banks.
We held the seat of Dunkley, where the great Bruce Billson was leaving, and Chris Crewther came in. So we had a tremendous result.
Victoria was the state in Australia where the Liberal Party improved, took a seat, the Coalition improved.
And so I think that that says that the CFA issue mattered here…
TOM ELLIOTT:
Okay, well, I wanted to ask you about that. Yeah.
GREG HUNT:
…and the thing that I've been discussing with the Prime Minister is taking immediate action on that front.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, that was going to be my next question. Okay.
GREG HUNT:
Sorry .
TOM ELLIOTT:
So the Prime Minister has – no, that's all right. The Prime Minister has said that he wants to sort out the CFA issue – that is, the dispute between the United Firefighters Union and the CFA.
Now, obviously primarily it is a Victorian state issue. What can the Federal Government do to resolve the current impasse?
GREG HUNT:
So there are two big things we can do. First, we can and we will legislate under the federal Fair Work Act.
This, in part, was driven by the Fair Work Commission – so a federal body – and Daniel Andrews has taken that, and of course I think done enormous damage to the volunteer movement, not just with the CFA but the potential risk to the SES or other groups.
So we will legislate to protect volunteer rights, and the Prime Minister has committed to that being our first legislative action. The second thing is…
TOM ELLIOTT:
But okay – but if you did that, so if you legislate to protect volunteer rights, does that mean that that legislation would override the current enterprise bargaining agreement that has been signed between the United Firefighters Union and the MFB, and that presumably will soon be signed by the new CFA board?
GREG HUNT:
It would strike out what are called objectionable clauses, and those are clauses in violation of the CFA Act, things which would provide the veto over the Chief Fire Officer.
TOM ELLIOTT:
So all those reasons that the CFA – the various CFA officials resigned? So Joe Buffone, Chief Fire Officer…
GREG HUNT:
Correct.
TOM ELLIOTT:
…resigned. Lucinda Nolan resigned. The board was sacked. The…
GREG HUNT:
Minister.
TOM ELLIOTT:
…former Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett resigned. You think that by changing the Fair Work Act, you can remove all the bits of the enterprise bargaining agreement that have caused the problem in the first place.
GREG HUNT:
Yes, we do. And that's very clear, and we are committed to that, and we're also committed to intervening through the Fair Work Commission, so Michaelia Cash is committed to that as well.
TOM ELLIOTT:
So how long will this take?
GREG HUNT:
Well, Parliament will obviously sit within the coming weeks. I'll leave that to the Electoral Commission to finish the count.
But it will be our first law that we will seek to bring in to the new Parliament. The Prime Minister's committed, and I reconfirmed that with him personally myself in recent days.
TOM ELLIOTT:
So this will be one of the first – when the new Parliament sits, this changing of the Fair Work Act to fix up the CFA – United Firefighters Union dispute, this will be one of the first things that you do?
GREG HUNT:
I can reconfirm today, having spoken with the Prime Minister over the last few days, that our first legislative act, our first law that we will seek to bring in, is to protect the volunteers in the CFA through amending the Fair Work Act.
TOM ELLIOTT:
All right. 96900693. 131332. Look, I think that's good. I don't share your confidence that the Federal Government can just go into this agreement and fix everything up.
Another thing, and the reason that we went to double dissolution election was to re-establish the Australian Building Construction Commission – the watchdog, if you like on the construction industry. Now that was the reason we went to the election.
GREG HUNT:
Correct. Absolutely.
TOM ELLIOTT:
You've now come up with a Senate which is arguably more obstreperous than the previous Senate.
Are you still going to push ahead with this legislation as well, after you've fixed up the CFA?
GREG HUNT:
Yes, absolutely. And what is this about? It's about removing thuggery and intimidation in the workplace…
TOM ELLIOTT:
No, I get what it's about, but I mean – you've got a rather a weird Senate. What does Nick Xenophon think? What does Pauline Hanson think? Because these are the people you've got to get on side.
GREG HUNT:
So let me say this – I think we can work with the new Senate. On one analysis, there's likely to be 29 or potentially even 30 Coalition Senators, and then a crossbench of probably 10.
And so we'd need nine crossbenchers, and that might be three Xenophon Team members, including Nick himself, up to three from One Nation, up to two from the Liberal Democrats, obviously Derryn Hinch, Jacqui Lambie.
I think we can work with that crossbench.
I was fortunate to be able to pass seven major contested pieces of legislation by working incredibly hard with the crossbench last time.
And I think this might be a more amenable Senate than the last one.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Okay. Before we go to calls, leadership tensions in the Liberal Party, have they now been put to bed?
I mean, you've won an election. It was narrow, but you've won. Is that the end of the all the whispering going on that was going on against Malcolm Turnbull?
GREG HUNT:
Yeah, I think it's done, dusted, settled, and Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop will be elected unopposed next week when the party room meets on Monday.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Will Tony Abbott, the former Prime Minister, be invited into the Cabinet?
GREG HUNT:
Look, that one is beyond my pay grade. The Prime Minister has said that he will – his plan is to keep the Cabinet as it is. I'll leave that for him, though.
But I think that we've got a good Cabinet.
We have just taken the Government, the Prime Minister, the leadership team, and a platform to the people. Now, not everybody agrees with everything, by definition…
TOM ELLIOTT:
They never do.
GREG HUNT:
…but that's the nature of an election. We'll always keep listening, and you always learn.
Whether you win or lose, whether you increase your majority or it comes back, you always learn, and cost of living is a critical message that comes out. But our fundamental points, we should be taking forward.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, Greg Hunt has said that he and the Government will listen, so give us a call.
Give him something to listen to. 96900693 at 18 after five.
Twenty two after five, the Federal Environment Minister and member for the seat of Flinders Greg Hunt is with us and we're taking your calls because the Government is listening. There you go, it's listening. 96900693.
Mark, you're first. Go ahead.
CALLER MARK:
Minister, congratulations on the win.
GREG HUNT:
Thanks Mark.
CALLER MARK:
A five per cent – ah sorry, a five cent levy on plastic bags would take billions of bags out of the food chain, people would recycle them, you could take the five cents and put it into reforestation or something good. What's wrong with that?
GREG HUNT:
So, we're not opposed to individual States taking those measures. I know that at a national level we couldn't do that because at least one of the States, WA, is against it.
So we're not opposed to individual states doing it and we've said to the States what we really want to do it to have a war on plastic in the environment but if you want to impose financial measures…
TOM ELLIOTT:
A war on plastic?
GREG HUNT:
Yeah, in the sense that it has a huge impact on the marine environment, on the land-based environment. If you look right along our beaches after a big storm…
TOM ELLIOTT:
You'll have to ban children's toys.
GREG HUNT:
No, no, no. This is the light material that blows about. It's something that's just – we can clean up, we can manage it, there has to be a culmination of education and standards…
TOM ELLIOTT:
But couldn't you…
GREG HUNT:
…and if individual States want to put in place their own financial mechanisms it’s a matter for them.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, why don't you call all the states together and say…
GREG HUNT:
We have.
TOM ELLIOTT:
…there, righto, let's all work together.
GREG HUNT:
So, we have done that and we've got an agreement and we're phasing out what are called microbeads, the tiny little plastics that you'll find in a lot of products such as shampoos. We've got that agreement.
Similarly on larger plastics, there's an agreed Commonwealth approach but you have to have unanimity of the States to do something like…
TOM ELLIOTT:
Have a levy.
GREG HUNT:
…a levy, and one state has a different view. So, individual States can take that step but we have said we will work to really drive down that level of plastic in the environment.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well then, simply, you just get them all in a room and say, come on everybody, act like a team and do it my way.
Peter, good afternoon.
CALLER PETER:
Yeah, good afternoon Tom. Good afternoon Mr Hunt.
GREG HUNT:
Hi Peter.
CALLER PETER:
Look, I'm just wondering, seeing the Malcolm Turnbull Liberal Party is now going to override a lawful decision made by the Victorian Government for the CFA, are you going to pick the tab up for the CFA seeing you're interfering with the decision of an elected government in Victoria?
GREG HUNT:
Well, we don't actually think that it is lawful. The Victorian Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett herself resigned because she thought it was unlawful, that it was in breach of the CFA Act, and the Act which says that the chief officer has powers to administer the CFA…
TOM ELLIOTT:
But Peter, can I just ask though, you mentioned- Peter, you mentioned picking up the tab, exactly what tab do you mean?
CALLER PETER:
Well, to fund the whole CFA. If you're going to override a decision by the State government, then are you taking responsibility for the cost of the CFA?
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, Peter the CFA is largely funded by the Fire Services Levy, which is a State-based tax. So Mr Hunt, I mean, do you…
GREG HUNT:
No, we're not proposing to change the financial arrangement but what we are proposing to do is to uphold the law, protect the rights of volunteers.
And that is one of the reasons why the strongest result anywhere in the country was in Victoria.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, on that, and this is a cynical point of view, but do you regard the CFA dispute occurring, blowing up as it did in the middle of the federal election campaign, was that a gift for you?
GREG HUNT:
Look, I don't see it that way. It was what I'd call a responsibility.
I know from the CFA members in my own electorate who contacted me and said, we need your help, you don't actually want issues like that, you just want to get on with Government.
But once that happened, there was a responsibility and a duty.
And volunteers were just outraged and then people associated with volunteers, or those who just respected the volunteers and the firefighters, the CFA volunteer firefighters, just wanted a fair go and didn't want union heaviness and thuggery imposed on people who just constitute the absolute heart and soul of Victoria along with our SES and our lifesavers.
TOM ELLIOTT:
David, go ahead.
CALLER DAVID:
Tom, Greg, congratulations.
GREG HUNT:
G'day, how're you going?
CALLER DAVID:
Good, good. My question's about – what I want to say is about the Greens, that they didn't get in with as many votes as what I first thought they would and probably because of their, I would say, their draconian thoughts on immigration.
From what I'm led to believe, they want to bring in – and I'm not anti-immigration for one minute, I'm happy for people to come here from other countries that are war torn, but a sustainable amount, for one thing, and number two, making sure that the people who come here are thoroughly checked.
Now I don't want your people who are involved in ISIS to be walking amongst us on…
TOM ELLIOTT:
David, David. Do you have a question, though, David for Mr Hunt?
CALLER DAVID:
Well, what Mr Hunt's view on immigration? What's…
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, there we go. Immigration. Now, as I recall, when it comes to refugees, your party is saying lift it from 14,000 to 18,000. Labor said bring it up to 30,000 per annum, the Greens are saying 50,000 per annum.
GREG HUNT:
Yeah, so that's broadly right.
We're carefully increasing our intake of what are called humanitarian visas, those people who are facing emergency situations to 18,750. The Greens want 50,000.
We are scrupulous on checking backgrounds and it would be irresponsible and negligent not to. Sometimes we're criticised for that but that's our deep responsibility – A, to make sure that people who are most needy are given priority and B, to make sure that we are protecting the security of the country.
TOM ELLIOTT:
What about the overall level of immigration, though?
It's a personal bug bear of mine and I think it's something that David was getting at, our previous caller.
No one ever seems to ask the Australian people, how big would you like the population to be?
Because if we had a population target of, say, I don't know, 40 million by 2050, that would define an annual immigration intake and yet we never seem to discuss it in those terms and I don't understand why.
GREG HUNT:
Look, I think that when you look forward as the Prime Minister did in the cities policy, he recognises that you have natural growth and you have immigration. We have a sustainable level of immigration in terms of people that are skilled and then…
TOM ELLIOTT:
But is it? I mean we just…because – but the numbers jump around.
GREG HUNT:
…families and then humanitarian.
TOM ELLIOTT:
But, okay, in the nineties, for a while, we only had 70,000 or 80,000 immigrants a year and at the moment it's north of 200,000 and it goes – it's been as high as almost 300,000 per annum in the past.
I mean, everything leads up to a population target in the future which can be predicted. Why don't we have a discussion – like, if we're going to have a plebiscite on gay marriage – and, by the way, I assume we're still having that…
GREG HUNT:
Yes, we are.
TOM ELLIOTT:
…why don't we have a similar thing about how big we want Australia to be?
GREG HUNT:
Well, when you actually go into the cities policy that the Prime Minister put out just before the election, it's talking about the direction of our cities. So, I think that's one of the things where there is more discussion to be had.
TOM ELLIOTT:
But it's – I mean, look, you're Minister for the Environment and a big issue in the environment is, of course, the number of people that live here, the population. I mean, do you have a view personally on what population you think Australia should have?
GREG HUNT:
Look, I'm not going to put a particular figure on it and I understand that…
TOM ELLIOTT:
But no one ever does. Why don't we?
GREG HUNT:
I think it's a case of, have we got the right infrastructure and are we planning that infrastructure and if we've got the right infrastructure, then our cities can cope.
TOM ELLIOTT:
But if you're planning infrastructure – yeah but if you're – sorry, but we're going to run out of time but if you – but you would start – your first figure would be, righto, we're going to have 40 million people living in Australia, what do we need to build?
Not, let's just build things and then hope that the things that we build happen to match the number of people that, you know, appear here.
GREG HUNT:
Well, we actually have projected out the population at various times in the future.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Based on certain levels of immigration.
GREG HUNT:
Yes, correct.
TOM ELLIOTT:
So why don't we start with a population target and then define the levels of immigration back.
GREG HUNT:
Well, you're effectively achieving the same thing. We're presuming a certain population and then, what's it really mean? We're going to add to the Monash, which we've committed to. I think it is important to say that. It really – what do they care about…
TOM ELLIOTT:
They're going to live on the Monash? Live in the car park.
GREG HUNT:
…they're trapped in their car on the Monash. We're going to add an extra lane to the Monash for over 40 kilometres.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Very quickly, the gay marriage plebiscite. That will go, I think the promise was to do it before the
end of the year, is that going ahead?
GREG HUNT:
No change in that position.
TOM ELLIOTT:
No change.
GREG HUNT:
And, by the way, both the Greens and the ALP are against that, whereas the vast majority of Australians – the latest figures that I saw were about 70 per cent – want to have the plebiscite and we should be really proud of a democratic action.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Pauline Hanson wants to enshrine the definition of marriage in the Australian constitution. What do you think about that given that you've got to make friends with her now?
GREG HUNT:
Look, we took a plebiscite to the election as our fundamental policy in this space and so I respect other people's views but we'll be putting the plebiscite as a commitment to the people and the people want their say and people can vote either way.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Greg Hunt, congratulations on your – on re-forming government and thank you for joining us today.
GREG HUNT:
Thank you to the Australian public for giving us the opportunity and our goal now is to govern for the whole of the country, not just those who voted for us.
(ENDS)