Interview with Neil Breen, 4BC
24 June 2021
Neil Breen: The Prime Minister has been in the Lodge. He's gotta self-quarantine because he was on G7 duties. He joins me on the line. Good morning to you, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Good morning Neil, how are you mate?
Breen: Good thanks, I'm well. While you've been in the Lodge working away, we've seen you on all you zoom calls and everything. You ended up with a new Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, known to be a bit of a maverick. And he's going to be asking plenty of things from the Federal Government or from yourself, the Liberal Party, is he going to cause you grief?
Prime Minister: No, look, Barnaby and I have worked together many times before. When I was Treasurer, he was the Deputy Prime Minister. We worked very well together. I mean, Barnaby is the Deputy Prime Minister, he forms part of the Government. He works alongside me in leading the Government and working through the cabinet process. That's how policies form. That's how decisions are made. The Government has a strong agenda. I mean, the key focus is to save lives and save livelihoods. And the economic performance that we're seeing at the moment where we've got more people in work today than before the pandemic and unemployment down to 5.1 per cent. And also the economy's growing again. It's roaring back. And that means that we've got a bigger economy today than we had before the pandemic. And when I was at the G7 overseas, I mean, there aren't too many countries that can say that.
Breen: Well, while that economy grows, we're going to need power. And The Nationals are talking about a new coal fired power station in Queensland at some stage and they're not happy with net zero emissions. I know that's not an actual policy of yours, but you've raised that. Is net zero emissions by 2050 going to be a rod around your neck?
Prime Minister: What we need to do is ensure that we continue to reduce emissions and Australia has cut emissions by 20 per cent since 2005. See, where a lot of other countries are talking about what they're going to do, Australia is already doing it. We've got the highest rate of rooftop solar in the world. We've got, you know, incredibly high rates of take up of renewables in Australia and investments. So we're just getting on with it and getting it done. And what we're saying is that, you know, when we change towards this new energy economy, then you've got to do it through technology, not taxes. And that's something that Barnaby and I strongly agree about. We're not going to get there by taxing Australians. We're not going to get there by shutting down industries. We're working on a plan and we'll work on that plan together. But it's not a plan to close things down. It's a plan to ensure that the jobs continue to grow in regional parts of the country, whether it's up there in Gladstone or in Townsville, right up north in Cairns or in the suburbs of Brisbane and out in Ipswich, where there's so much industry. So, you know, we're going to keep working on that plan. I mean, the world is changing and we've got to make sure that Australia is as successful in the new energy economy, as it has been in the old one.
Breen: This week in Queensland, it is very dear to our heart. Obviously, the Barrier Reef, we saw this recommendation from the World Heritage Centre and the advisory bodies. There's Chinese influence on those bodies about putting the Barrier Reef on the endangered list. But this morning, there's been many delegates to UNESCO from all over the world, who have been co signatories on a letter pretty much denouncing the findings of that. Australia is getting some support around the world for the fact that we believe China is trying to damage our reputation with the Reef.
Prime Minister: Well, the UNESCO process has been appalling and we've been busy talking to our friends. And the list of countries is quite extraordinary. Indonesia, Canada, the UK, France, Thailand, Hungary, Poland, Bangladesh, Philippines, Turkey, Spain. Joining us in highlighting that this process, you know, is not on. And then there's a proper way to do these things. We invest together with the Queensland Government, some $3 billion on reef science. It's one of the best managed reefs in the world, and sure, it's got challenges like sensitive environments all around the world does. But Australia does it better than anywhere else. And so we'll be making that case. And we really do think that this process has been absolutely appalling, quite different to when this issue was dealt with by UNESCO early on in our Government back in 2014, I think it was, Greg Hunt was the Environment Minister and we worked through that process and got the right outcome. But this process is a bit of a triumph.
Breen: Mark Killian will be reunited with his father Frans at Robina Hospital today. Frans is dying from pancreatic cancer. I know that you wrote to Mark Killian. The Queensland Government was slow to the party here, but you'll be happy that common sense has prevailed.
Prime Minister: Yeah, I am. I mean, these are incredibly heartbreaking cases. And we obviously enabled Mark to get into the country. And I thank the New South Wales Government as well, they were happy for him to be able to transfer out of their quarantine to get up there. And I'm pleased the Queensland Government has made that possible. I mean, at the end of the day, this was just about Mark and his family. And I'm very appreciative of the kind words Mark had to say about our role and my role in this. But at the end of the day, it was just the right thing to do. And when that happens, I'll seek to do it sort of quietly. And on this occasion, we've been able to get the right outcome.
Breen: Maybe only because you've got a little bit loud towards the end. Hey, I do want to ask you...
Prime Minister: You have got to.
Breen: That's right. That's right.
Prime Minister: It's much better if you don't have to go through that process and people can just work together to get the right outcome. I mean, that's just what should have happened a bit sooner.
Breen: Hey, just quickly, because I'm coming up to the 7.30 news, but Sydney's got some grief. We've got some border lockdowns again. Are we ever going to get out of this?
Prime Minister: Well, the pandemic, mate, is still raging all around the world and it still presents its challenges. And look, I just feel for the Queensland tourism industry. I hope, you know, they can get these border bans out of the way as quickly as possible. New South Wales will do, I think, a fantastic job getting on top of this as they've demonstrated time again, they haven't locked down Sydney, but they've got some additional restrictions in place which are sensible. But I know the Queensland tourism industry would be very much wanting to see people coming from Sydney, in particular for those school holidays. I mean, those tourism industry players that, you know, put up with so much, need that business. And we've been supporting that through everything, from our discount airfares programmes, which has been a real boon for domestic tourism in Australia. And so it's important that those restrictions get lifted as soon as they possibly can and that they're highly targeted. These blanket bans, that’s just going to hurt tourism businesses in Queensland. But, you know, public health decisions have to be made based on the health advice. But let's see if we can get things opened up as quickly as possible.
Breen: Okay, good stuff. Prime Minister, thanks for joining us from the Lodge. Enjoy State of Origin from lock down when Queensland makes it one-all. Bye.
Prime Minister: Good on you Neil, I'll be enjoying watching. There's a Queenslander here with me, as well, so it will be a rowdy night, I suspect.
Breen: Good.
