E&OE….
Topics: Funding for the orange-bellied parrot, wind farms
JUSTIN SMITH:
Greg Hunt, Federal Environment Minister, is on the line. Hi Minister.
GREG HUNT:
Hi, it’s a pleasure to chat. In fact, I am a bit of a cricket tragic so I can tell you that Roach and Holder and Taylor are probably the three best of the West Indies bowlers these days, but…
JUSTIN SMITH:
Roach, Holder and Taylor? Yeah.
GREG HUNT:
Yep. The Aussies did pretty well overnight and Steve Smith cracked I think about 135 not out so…
JUSTIN SMITH:
Yeah we did and that’s – I’m glad you know that Minister but would agree with me that the fear and that real feeling of anticipation before a West Indies game is not there like it used to be and I long for those days.
GREG HUNT:
Oh look, the focus now is obviously England, India and South Africa and so there’s incredible competition. The West Indies are not at their peak. I really hope they come back because…
JUSTIN SMITH:
Yeah, me too.
GREG HUNT:
…(inaudible) in world cricket, although the most fearful for a long while and…
JUSTIN SMITH:
That’s – yes.
GREG HUNT:
..you know, Holding, Robert, Garner and Cross, they were a pretty awesome team.
JUSTIN SMITH:
They were really something. By gee we could just chat on like this all day.
GREG HUNT:
Oh actually if you want me on to do cricket commentary at any time, this is my secret passion.
JUSTIN SMITH:
Next Ashes series, mark yourself down Greg, you’re in.
GREG HUNT:
Done.
JUSTIN SMITH:
Alright, we’ll put you on the payroll for the cricket team.
GREG HUNT:
I’ll do it for free.
JUSTIN SMITH:
That’s right, I’ll do it for a pickled egg. Half a million dollars for the breeding programme of the endangered orange-bellied parrot. I’ve got to say, you won’t get any criticism out of me, we’ve got to save them, but gee it’s a hefty price tag isn’t it?
GREG HUNT:
It is but what happens is from time to time you’ll have natural outbreaks which might affect critically endangered species. In this case what we’ve seen is a natural outbreak of a disease that’s been affecting orange-bellied parrot. Sometimes because of the name people think that’s a bit of a laugh but it’s such a beautiful little creature and as you say, there are fifty, maybe, hopefully, a few more in the wild…
JUSTIN SMITH:
Is that only a bit of a guess Minister? The fifty?
GREG HUNT:
No, it’s as well documented as it could be. Nobody can say absolutely that we can guarantee that there are fifty-eight of them but we know that there are at least fifty from the work of the ornithologists and the researchers. We think that there may be up to double that, but this is where you move from absolute, identified individual birds to projections. But there’s been an outbreak of a disease and so a critically endangered species is on the brink.
So what’s happening today – the Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews, the first one ever, is pulling together the experts from around the country. We’re putting just over half a million dollars into a captive breeding programme which is about boosting the numbers and then getting them out into the wild to help them recover. They’re pretty resilient and they’re pretty tough, but their numbers are thin.
JUSTIN SMITH:
Alright, thank you very – look I wish our teams all the very best in trying to save this creature, we need to do it. I want to ask you about wind farms. Your boss has said he doesn’t like the look of them, they’re too noisy – how do you feel?
GREG HUNT:
Look, I’d put it this way – beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So everybody comes to different judgements. I’m a little less fussed about this but for some people, it really matters to them and so we have to absolutely respect what happens to people in their own lives and their own backyards and so they’re entitled to be heard and sometimes people deride those who actually have to live in an area where suddenly something has been built.
JUSTIN SMITH:
Alright. Sorry, I’m not quite getting you Minister. Do you – how do you feel about them? Do you like them?
GREG HUNT:
Oh look, I’m neutral on them. I’m less fussed about them but I know there are many people who are concerned and they have a right to be heard and they have a right to be heard without those who don’t live with them in their backyards deriding them.
JUSTIN SMITH:
Alright so what is the government policy? I mean I know it’s not totally up to the Federal Government here, so what’s the Government policy on it?
GREG HUNT:
Look our policy is that we’ve got a 33,000 gigawatt hour Renewable Energy Target that is 23.5% of Australia’s energy coming from renewable sources and then it’s up to individual States to determine where they should be. There’s been a buffer zone in some States of two kilometres and I’m not opposed to that, I think that’s entirely reasonable.
JUSTIN SMITH:
Alright, so you don’t mind the look of them, you don’t mind the sound of them?
GREG HUNT:
Oh I’m just not drawing a judgement. I’m – let people make their own minds up but I certainly think that there’s…
JUSTIN SMITH:
This is kind of your area, Greg, isn’t it?
GREG HUNT:
Yes, look my job is to set the policy and what we’ve done is fixed up what was a mess. Believe it or not, Labor created a phantom credit scheme where they paid people for renewable energy which was not produced…
JUSTIN SMITH:
Yeah ok, look I don’t really have an interest in the Labor Party policy. Can I ask you, just a final question, the wind farms – are they a part of our energy future? Australia’s?
GREG HUNT:
Look, they are a part of the Renewable Energy Target but I think you’ll find that solar is becoming increasingly competitive. The whole purpose of this target is to achieve a certain renewable energy outcome for Australia – 23.5% by 2020 – and then to let the different forms of renewable energy compete and solar’s becoming more competitive each day.
JUSTIN SMITH:
Thank you Minister. Appreciate it.
GREG HUNT:
Thanks Justin. Bye bye.
(ENDS)