E&OE….
Topics: EPBC Act amendments, Syrian humanitarian crisis, Australian economy and budget
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
Mr Hunt good afternoon.
GREG HUNT:
Good afternoon Raf.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
Can I start with – you worried about Alan Jones lining up against you? He did a lot of damage in Queensland.
GREG HUNT:
Look I respect everybody's views and everybody's arguments but I don't agree with them in every case.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
Is it worth the trouble? Only a handful of cases have been fought successfully – legally – under that part of the environment legislation. Is it worth your trouble?
GREG HUNT:
Look what we're dealing with here of course is preserving, protecting, upholding and indeed giving great sanctity to the rights of farmers, landholders, communities around projects. So maintaining what has been the position in Australia for a long while.
But then we're dealing with a new type of issue which is what you call the ‘Americanisation’ of Australian law where a particular set of people or groups said that they would, quote – “seek to disrupt and delay key projects and infrastructure while gradually eroding public and political support. Legal challenges can stop projects outright or it can delay them in order to buy time”.
The express objectives include to “mount legal challenges to the approval of several key ports, mines and rails”…
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
…sure, I just wonder if it's worth it…
GREG HUNT:
…and “run legal challenges that delay, limit or stop all of the major infrastructure projects”.
So what they're saying is they don't care what the umpire's decision is, they will use the time of the Court to try and disrupt and delay. And that's irrespective of the decision of the umpire.
So I believe deeply and passionately in two things – the decision of the umpire, and the rights of the community to have a further avenue of appeal.
And we're upholding those two things here, rather than allowing in an American-style use of the Courts which is not in line with the history of Australia.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
Are you really allowing that in? Three or four – I think it's three, four, five cases out of 5500. It just really doesn't seem worth changing the Act.
GREG HUNT:
No the figures are categorically wrong. I know Mr Shorten has used those figures. In fact the…
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
I think quite a few independent groups have as well. But tell me how many successful cases there have been.
GREG HUNT:
No, no no…well what you see is that you've had, at this stage, 33 cases out of 817 approvals. And an increasing use – so at the moment we have a series of cases and then a pledge to use every form of legal delay to thwart an umpire's decision.
Now you can agree or disagree, but the whole goal of having a federal process is to provide certainty – environmental certainty and certainty on project outcomes. And we inherited a huge backlog and we've managed to clear that backlog.
We inherited an approach where there wouldn't be decisions and we've managed to make those decisions. What we see now is not an attempt to overturn, but simply to use what I would hope we wouldn't see in Australia – American style litigation, where litigation is its own end.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
It still seems like a distinct minority. However I know you need to get to Cabinet soon so I do want to ask you for a personal opinion.
I don't know if this is on the Cabinet agenda, but Labor's said that they will – they would if they were in power – increase our humanitarian intake by 10,000 in just one year.
Are you supportive of the idea of raising the humanitarian intake – the total number – to accommodate more people from Syria?
GREG HUNT:
Well look what I do support and I am passionate about – having worked with the UN Centre for Human Rights, having been in Rwanda, having been in Cambodia, all in different human rights roles – is a significant additional level of support for refugees from the Syrian crisis.
It is an extraordinary humanitarian crisis where the people are caught between two catastrophic regimes – obviously ISIS or Daesh which is beyond – just simply beyond – description in terms of the brutality, and the Assad regime which is almost as bad and is categorised by the use of chemical weapons as well.
So we have done an enormous amount, we have brought 4400 people in from the general conflict in the area, we have added…
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
…that's only about 2000 from Syria isn't Minister, is that right?
GREG HUNT:
There's 2200 from Syria, and 2200 from Iraq.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
Yeah.
GREG HUNT:
Same conflict, which respects no borders.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
No.
GREG HUNT:
The second thing is that we have contributed about $155 million in humanitarian aid, including approximately $100 million in the last year.
And what the Prime Minister has announced in the last 24 hours is that we will now produce an additional package of support.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
That's financial support?
GREG HUNT:
…so we need to be able to assist on the humanitarian side to try to do our bit on the political resolution, and…
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
But an opinion, Minister, if I could? I don't know if you've got an opinion on an increase in the humanitarian intake? So taking above 14,000?
GREG HUNT:
We will take an additional number of people, but I won't pre-empt – as you would understand – the Cabinet discussion on the form in which that will occur.
But there will be more people who are protected, and fortunately – fortunately – the most terrible of images which we all saw over recent days is something which no longer happens in the waters north of Australia.
But this – which is occurring in Europe, and between Europe and parts of the Middle East – is something which the world simply has to address. And it has to provide humanitarian support, and it has to provide security support.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
It's not feasible though is it for them to stop the boats the same way we have. I mean the numbers, the sheer numbers in the Mediterranean make that impossible don't they?
GREG HUNT:
Well look I won't try to comment on their security crisis. But I will say that we are fortunate that these same tragedies – which were occurring largely out of sight of Canberra but to the level of 1200 lost souls at sea – are no longer occurring.
Now we have to do – we have to do – more to assist as many as we can feasibly do to play our part, to take our fair share, to pull our weight, in this humanitarian crisis.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
Look Greg Hunt I know it's two years since you were voted in, I understand you need to get to Cabinet. However you've got the thirtieth Newspoll not in your direction, unemployment is higher, growth is lower, there are significant problems inside your Government aren't there?
GREG HUNT:
Well with respect, we inherited a very, very poor situation where the budget was completely out of control.
Since then what we've done is bring the budget progressively back into control. We're bringing it from a huge deficit down towards balance.
And we've done that despite one of the most difficult switches in the terms of trade, which means less money and less income from mining revenue, the very thing we were talking about…
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
Is there a major economic indicator that's improved?
GREG HUNT:
Well I think you'll find that what we've got starting with is the budget – that we are turning the budget around, which is the number one fundamental thing.
Secondly, we've had 335,000 people employed over those two years at a rate dramatically higher, in terms of new jobs created, than had occurred during the life of the previous Government.
We're doing so in a low inflationary environment, and many people had wanted to see the re-balancing of the dollar, which has occurred. So those are all fundamental economic factors that have changed.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
Do you think most people are happy with your Government's performance? I mean, something like 170 polls have you behind. I just wonder what you think the cause of that is.
GREG HUNT:
Look I'll let others comment on that. My job is to be part of the Government and to be an advocate for what we are doing.
And let me be clear, we are doing difficult things and these are from time to time unpopular. But at the same time the consequence of not bringing the budget under control, of not assisting with productivity, of not working on infrastructure, is that we would leave future generations in a far worse place.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN:
Okay Mr Hunt, I know you need to get to Cabinet, I'll leave you be. Thanks for your time.
GREG HUNT:
Thanks Raf.
(ENDS)