E&OE….
Topics: Environment Ministers Meeting, National Clean Air Agreement, Renewable Energy Target, Leadership speculation
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Despite the leadership rumblings the Government is still trying to get on with business. Yesterday State Environment Ministers met in Canberra to discuss, among other things a draft National Clean Air Agreement. There’s still work to do but they want to establish a National Clean Air Agreement by the middle of next year.
Greg Hunt is the Federal Environment Minister and I spoke to him earlier.
Mr Hunt, welcome to the program. People might be surprised we don’t actually have a Clean Air Agreement. Why not and what are sticking points?
GREG HUNT:
Well, obviously I can’t speak for what’s happened in the past but my view is that we do need a National Clean Air Agreement. There has been remarkable cooperation between the Commonwealth, the States and the Territories. We set a goal of an agreement by the 1st of July, 2016. We are releasing today the draft paper for consideration by the public. We’re well ahead of where we expected to be.
The big picture here is Australian cities have very good air quality by world standards but it could be better, and over the coming decades as population grows, we need to make sure that our air quality improves, that we reduce particulates, reduce sulphur dioxide.
So this is an approach to ensure the particulate matter standards are improved, particulate matter practices are improved and basically people have cleaner air to breathe and cleaner environments in which to work.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Okay, well that’s one area where it looks like you will get agreement, but there are other matters where you don’t have agreement, where you have billions of dollars of investment and lots of jobs at stake such as the Renewable Energy Target.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation told the Senate Estimates this week that Government’s efforts to scale back that target had set investment in the industry back 12 years. Are you now rethinking that?
GREG HUNT:
Well actually of course there is a bipartisan view that the Renewable Energy Target should be maintained. There is a bipartisan view as well, the Labor Party has set out their position, that in its current form, it’s completely unsustainable for certain sectors of the economy. They have…
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
The point is the disagreement over what 20% is though, isn’t it?
GREG HUNT:
Well, no, we are all agreed that we will achieve 20%. We are …
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Yes, but what is the 20% figure? Sorry.
GREG HUNT:
I’ll just finish, thank you.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Okay.
GREG HUNT:
We are in a process of at the very least doubling our renewable energy investment and capacity in the next five years as opposed to what’s been done in the last fifteen. Now there is a very constructive discussion. It was disappointing that the Labor Party went on strike but a very constructive discussion about the exact point of agreement but I am hopeful and confident that we will reach that agreement.
The early work on our trajectories, our approach to the 2020 target is that we will hit that target and I am hopeful of the fact that we will beat that target. So as a country we are making good progress on renewables, very good progress on clean air and outstanding progress on achieving our international targets.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Okay, on other government business, how would you rate the Government’s performance this week?
GREG HUNT:
Good. The fact that in own area we’ve announced that we’re up to almost 550 Green Army projects which are coming into the field. A hundred are already in the field. We’ll be ahead of our target of 250 by the 1st of July. We are making progress on a Clean Air Agreement, on wiping out the problem of microbeads – which is one of outcomes from the National Environment Ministers meeting yesterday.
Just today we’ve seen that the approvals times for environmental assessments have been more than halved under our Government, whilst maintaining the absolute highest standards indeed increasing them with different States so this is my portfolio.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
And all of it overshadowed by leadership and an attack on Gillian Triggs?
GREG HUNT:
Well look, everybody will have their views on that. The suggestions in terms of the leadership, in my view, are just ludicrous. I think we are doing immensely important, profoundly important work of reducing the cost of living in terms of electricity prices compared with what they would have otherwise have been, saving lives after 1,200 were lost at sea and ultimately, ensuring that we’re not leaving a massive legacy for the next generation, of transferring costs of the next generation. So these are deep, profound, important things that we’re doing that the other side won’t do and wouldn’t do.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Okay, well clearly the undermining of the Prime Minister is continuing. You’d have to admit that there’s been a week of pretty damaging leaks and reports this morning that Cabinet backers of Tony Abbott are not conceding that he’s lost the support of the party room. Are you one of them?
GREG HUNT:
No, I don’t accept that proposition at all. I think it’s ludicrous. I think it’s wrong. My support for the Prime Minister previously was absolute, it remains absolute and it will continue to be absolute.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
What’s your message to those who don’t believe that though, who are agitating for him to be removed?
GREG HUNT:
Let’s get on with the job of transforming this country so as the legacy for future generations which was going to be of intergenerational theft, is turned around so as we are a great generation, giving to the next generation rather than a generation that Labor put in place at the governance level of stealing from the next generation.
This work is too important, too profound, too significant to be distracted by any individual issues.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Okay, but do you concede the leadership issue is sucking the oxygen out of everything else?
GREG HUNT:
No, because just this week, apart from all the things we’ve done in our portfolio, we’ve made profound changes with regards to childcare, we’re looking at making…
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Well, you’ve got a plan.
GREG HUNT:
..sustainable. The choice that we are offering is deep responsibility which, frankly, can be unpopular on some occasions but it’s the right thing to do, versus utter irresponsibility and massively higher electricity prices under Bill Shorten and the ALP.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
Okay, Greg Hunt, we’ll leave it there. Thanks very much for joining us.
GREG HUNT:
Thanks Michael.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
That is the Federal Environment Minister, Greg Hunt.
(ENDS)