E&OE….
Topics: Marriage equality, climate change, Great Barrier Reef
TOM ELLIOTT:
Joining us on the line now Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt. Mr Hunt, good afternoon.
GREG HUNT:
Good afternoon Tom. I had thought we might have spoken about the Great Barrier Reef, but I'm in your hands.
TOM ELLIOTT:
No well we'll talk about that in a moment. But look Tony Abbott's quoted in the paper as saying that there has been a forthright discussion in Cabinet, now forthright usually means a big argument, and he also described this issue of gay marriage as a ‘come to Jesus’ moment. And again I'm quoting from the newspaper. What's happening here? I mean is gay marriage proving to be a very divisive issue?
GREG HUNT:
Look with respect I think that quote being attributed to that topic may not be right. I think it was referring to…
TOM ELLIOTT:
Oh someone- I'm only going on what's in the newspaper and we don't get invited into the Cabinet room remember?
GREG HUNT:
…that report might be a little bit incorrect in terms of the application of that quote to that topic. But look firstly, Parliament should be a place where people debate. Secondly, the- as a general principle the Cabinet should certainly be a place where people debate…
TOM ELLIOTT:
Okay well so do you- are you debating gay marriage in Cabinet?
GREG HUNT:
Oh actually no.
TOM ELLIOTT:
No?
GREG HUNT:
No.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, wait a minute, I mean one of your colleagues, a man called Josh Frydenberg, who I believe is the Assistant Treasurer, was on national television last night saying it's inevitable and from what I hear that's caused a bit of a storm amongst the more conservatives MPs in the party today.
GREG HUNT:
Look there may be a discussion in the Party Room at some stage in the future. But that's really up to the Party Room and this is one of those topics where you get incredibly decent people on each side of the argument.
And I guess the real point and this is the message for Bill Shorten – if you're serious about this topic, you know that you need people from both sides to be supportive, then why would you do something which is potentially likely to lead to the defeat of the very thing you want? So in other words, I don't think he's been particularly sincere or helpful to his own cause because he's done something which…
TOM ELLIOTT:
But what is he doing?
GREG HUNT:
…is more about politics and less about being a Parliamentarian.
TOM ELLIOTT:
But okay, I mean he's putting a bill into the Parliament saying I think we should have gay marriage, he says he believes in it. I mean you know that seems fairly straightforward to me. Now where do you stand on the issue? I mean have you thought about it? Have you decided how you would vote?
GREG HUNT:
Sure, look obviously I won't pre-empt a possible discussion in the Party Room. I think it's very important to be respectful…
TOM ELLIOTT:
But wait a minute, but what do you- you can't say what you think?
GREG HUNT:
…so I'll reserve my position until we've been through that approach. I am well known as being extremely comfortable with and supportive with equal rights, but on this particular topic, I've said before and I'll say again, until such time as we've been through a Party Room discussion, it's the right thing and the respectful thing for me to operate within the Party Room rules and constructs.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well does that mean Josh Frydenberg has been disrespectful for going on TV last night and saying I think we should have gay marriage? I mean if you're saying it's the right thing to do, to reserve judgement or at least not come public on it…
GREG HUNT:
Oh no I think he set his position out very early in his career and he's been consistent with that. So it's a unique set of circumstances in this case…
TOM ELLIOTT:
But are you saying that you don't have an opinion? Or you just don't think its right to be public with it until the party has decided what it thinks?
GREG HUNT:
The latter. No, the question is not about what the party thinks as such. It's whether or not we move to a position where there is a free vote. And there's been a long discussion about that process. I would respectfully say to Mr Shorten that on the one hand you have a deputy who's been arguing that there shouldn't be a free vote for the ALP but you're arguing there has to be a free vote for the Coalition.
The way to do this is to discuss these things, if you are a sincere parliamentarian, across the Chamber, many things get resolved quietly and if the issue matters more than the politics, then you have to choose to be a parliamentarian. And a parliamentarian chooses to resolve things by setting a pathway which will get legislation through. It's a kind of difference between two different approaches.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Okay well can I just say let's know over-complicate this. I mean a parliamentarian, I mean there's different things on which you argue. I mean you argue in the Cabinet room, you argue in the Party Room, you argue in the Parliament…
GREG HUNT:
That's all true.
TOM ELLIOTT:
…but I mean, but at the end of the day, I mean, you as an individual representing, in your case the people of Flinders, have to say this is what I think, I vote this way or that way. I mean Sarah Henderson, the Member for Corangamite has come out I think today or yesterday and said that- she said there's been a shift in my electorate.
I think the majority of people are in favour of gay marriage, I'm in favour of it too. So I mean some people are coming out and saying publicly what they think, others are not. I mean, I'm- you know, I think a lot of people in your electorate would like to hear what you think about it.
GREG HUNT:
Oh and they will. But as a Member of the Cabinet, there are two important steps here: one is to work within that process because it's the very thing that you were talking about on your other discussion, keeping Cabinet solidarity and so…
TOM ELLIOTT:
But is that happening? Because I mean we're hearing about all those splits on issues?
GREG HUNT:
…and then the second thing is this is a process which is going through, and historically I've been quite involved in supporting superannuation rights for same-sex couples and other things. But when the time comes I'll respect and work through the party room process and if the position changes on a free vote, then I'll be clear and categorical.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Alright. Clear and categorical questions for the Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt in a moment. Give us a call. 9690 0693, 13 13 32. It's sixteen to four.
Intermission
TOM ELLIOTT:
Greg Hunt, the Federal Environment Minister is with us. Jason, go ahead.
CALLER JASON:
How are you guys?
GREG HUNT:
G'day.
CALLER JASON:
My question is, look I'll start off by saying that I'm not against gays. I believe that everyone should be treated equally as well. My question is do you think that these issues are taking up important resources that could be passed out to where they are needed more? I mean, gay or straight you're still affected by drugs, you're still affected by unemployment and by the economy the way it is. Do you think in your honest opinion that this should be something that we're not worrying about in 2015 rather than the…
TOM ELLIOTT:
So Mr Hunt, I think the guts of the question is, is this becoming a time-consuming side issue? What do you think?
GREG HUNT:
Look, the country can always handle more than one debate at one time. And so individual MPs can have their discussions and it does matter to many people so in no way would I want to minimise that. Having said that, our task and our focus right now as a Government is to improve the lives of those people who are often in the most powerless of circumstances by providing economic opportunity.
If they can work, if they can get employment in small business, if you're running a small business and you can keep people on and add additional jobs, then that makes a huge difference to the country but most importantly it makes a profound difference to individual lives. So that's our primary task in the Parliament right now is working to have the Budget passed, working to have the small business measures put in place and that in turn has a profound social and community benefit as well as an economic benefit.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Scott, good afternoon.
CALLER SCOTT:
Good afternoon. Minister, I'm a bit of climate sceptic and I'd like to know how long does this pause have to last before it stops being a pause and officially becomes the end of the cycle?
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well the answer is that Greg Hunt has done such a good job that global warming is now a thing of the past. So Mr Hunt, what do you think? I mean, we’ve got- there is a pause in global warming, is that something that we should embrace or be pleased about?
GREG HUNT:
I respect the views immensely. The advice that I have had from all of the Australian authorities has been very consistent for a very long time and that is that the issue is real, it's significant, it will proceed at different paces but there's no question that the last decade at a global level was the warmest decade in the period that humans have been taking records…
TOM ELLIOTT:
Could- can I…
GREG HUNT:
…so the way the bureau says to me, the Bureau of Meteorology says to me it should be considered, is global average temperatures over a decadal period.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Tell me, were you in Parliament on Monday?
GREG HUNT:
Yes.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Now, I don't know if you saw how everybody turned up, you know it was a freezing cold morning on Monday…
GREG HUNT:
Yes. I walked in…
TOM ELLIOTT:
…did you see any of the Greens? Do they still turn up on bicycles and things like that? Or how do they get to Parliament on a minus five degree Monday morning in Canberra?
GREG HUNT:
Well I have to say I walked in this morning at minus six degrees and I walked briskly. It was exceptionally cold today. I didn't see…
TOM ELLIOTT:
Did you see Sarah Hanson-Young?
GREG HUNT:
…I didn't see any of my Parliamentary colleagues from the Greens but that's not to say they didn't arrive by bicycle or other personal means. But I know that I came in by foot and I know it was cold.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Very quickly, I know you've got to go, but over the last couple of months I believe you were travelling overseas to get other countries, like Japan for example, to agree that the Great Barrier Reef was not endangered. How did that go?
GREG HUNT:
Look, we had a tremendous result on Friday night when the World Heritage Centre of UNESCO recommended that the Great Barrier Reef should not be listed in danger and indeed went far further and praised Australia for the ending of dredge disposal on our watch in the last few months in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park – something that's been going on for 100 years.
The Long-Term Reef 2050 Plan and the almost a quarter of a billion dollars of additional investment in water quality improvements. So a great result for Australia, which reflects the reality on the ground of the Reef.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Greg Hunt, thank you for your time.
GREG HUNT:
Thanks mate.
(ENDS)