88.9 FM Tamworth
Matt "Macca" MacCarthy (Host):
New South Wales. Senator Tim Ayres joins us again for our weekly chat. How are you, Tim?
Senator Ayres:
Oh, mate, I'm terrific. Really good to talk to you.
Macca:
Absolutely. You as well, nice, busy week this week, which is what we're talking to you at the tail end of the week, quite a bit going on. One of the big things we noticed what around about 39 adult males, I believe seeking asylum turned back around or at least towards Western Australia. What was the story there?
Senator Ayres:
Well, it's important to just deal with the facts with these kinds of issues. I don't know, we don't know whether they are asylum seekers or economic refugees. It proposed economic migrants may have arrived here by boat. The rules that apply under this Government are the same as the rules that applied under the last government. And so, they have been transferred by boat by Operation Sovereign Borders to Nauru. And they'll be dealt with, in the same way that boats that have arrived from time to time under both governments have been dealt with. So, there will be once the operation is concluded, there won't be politicians who come out announcing the details of this in a political partisan way. It will be Operation Sovereign Borders, being transparent to the extent that they can be and it's important that politicians think about the kind of language that they use on these issues. They are border security issues. It is important that the message is very clear that there's complete consistency in the approaches and various Australian Government's whether they are Labor or Liberal. And it has been pretty unhelpful, frankly, to have Peter Dutton out there being a blowhard again on these questions, trying to encourage people smugglers to think that the borders are a soft option, we have put more resources than the previous government put into these issues, we have provided additional funding and given Operation Sovereign Borders, what they need to do their job. And we'll continue to do that.
Macca:
Mate, price gouging being a big one, obviously, the Woolworths CEO out the door. At the moment everybody's got the spotlight on supermarkets, are we going to see, I guess, a further spotlight on the supermarkets and maybe some reduction when it comes to the checkout?
Senator Ayres:
Well, the Federal Government is going to keep the focus on this Anthony Albanese appointed Craig Emerson, one of the former Trade Minister, you know, one of Australia's finest economists to lead an inquiry into the supermarkets, the AAAC has also been directed to do work here. And I heard the Prime Minister on the radio this morning, talking about how important it would be to try and attract investment from additional supermarkets. So there's a whole series of debates going on here, focus on the supermarket that's appropriate. If you're a country person, you can see the difference between falling prices at the farm gate in some product categories and rising prices in the supermarket. So this is one of the levers that we're pulling really hard to try and put pressure on the cost of living, it's the number one priority for the government. That's why we announced difficult decision but the right decision for the right reasons in the national interest at the right time to shift our approach on the Stage Three tax changes, which means, you know, 85% of people across the Australian community more in regional areas will receive a bigger tax cut than they would have received under the last plan. That's because we're trying to make sure that we're taking as much pressure as we can off Australian families in this cost-of-living period pressures coming off inflation, to moderating that's a good thing. The job is not done. Anthony Albanese, the government we are going to keep focused on this set of issues. And that includes the supermarket's right, everybody's got their role to play in this.
Macca:
Just off the shores for a second Senator, the Israel tensions obviously increasing over there at the moment Fiji deciding to back U.S, any news on whether Australia might need to send further troops over this situation, or are we attempting to stay out of it? What's the story?
Senator Ayres:
Well, we are we are pursuing carefully our national interest here. That the first priority of the government was to make sure that Australian citizens either in Israel or in the Palestinian occupied territories, were able to leave and return to Australia. That was the first job. Second job is lending our voice as a middle power, albeit a long way away from the Middle East, lending our voice to the international effort. To make sure that this crisis doesn't spread to become a worse conflict than it already is. Thirdly, of course, our job is to make sure that this doesn't become the focus of division and conflict in the Australian community, our social cohesion is a really important national asset. And we have been as a government really focused on making sure we do that. And finally, that our approach is shaped by our Australian values. That every life is precious. Every life is precious. What we saw happen on October 7, was an absolute atrocity. You know, we have seen terrible things happen globally. That was a terrorist attack by a terrorist organization of unbelievable ferocity. Of course, the government is now very focused on the enormous loss of civilian life that is occurring inside Gaza, inside the Palestinian occupied territories and urging the Israeli government to make sure that they're their operations inside Gaza are consistent with international law, because as I said, before, every single civilian life is absolutely sacrosanct. And, I think all of your listeners, if they've tuned in on the evening news to watch that would be horrified by what they see unfolding in front.
Macca:
Absolutely. There's some scary footage here. Indeed, just quickly on the renewable situation, where are we up to? I know, this one's obviously important for the government, they seem to have backed all the horses in the renewables corner still polarizing communities out here in regional Australia, though, with the, you know, the wind farms and the solar and whatever, it seems to be very much 5050.
Senator Ayres:
It is it is, and I understand why. You know, we're in a situation where, over the last decade, four gigawatts of electricity have gone out of the system, and only one giga watt was put in because of policy uncertainty. So we have to get on with the job of getting the lowest cost reliable power into the system. And that means renewables plus burning capacity which includes gas, plus getting our transmission infrastructure, right, that that will mean lower cost energy for Australians. It does mean like any industrial development, if you put a coal mine in a regional area, or, or a power station or a supermarket into a country town, there are all sorts of development issues and consultation issues that go with that, the government understands that. At the moment, the consultation process that people are complaining about, is the one that was put in place by Barnaby Joyce and Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull. So we're dealing with the last government's consultation framework, we ran an inquiry led by an expert, he's come back with a series of recommendations about how we can improve that we've released that publicly. We're going to keep talking to regional communities about that. So you know, there's two imperatives here. One is we have to make haste to make sure that we secure the energy system that households need and industry needs for the future. But we also need to make sure that the consultation is done right. We've got to manage both of those imperatives. I can tell you, I understand this, as you know, I live in the city now. But I grew up on a beef cattle farm, I understand what the landscape means to people. You know, it's not just an economic question, I understand why people feel strongly about it. I guess what I'd say is, have some confidence in the approach that the government is taking. Don't get sucked in by some of the nonsense on social media, you see some of the claims that have been made by you know, sometimes, sources that are backed by all sorts of characters have got a political or industry interested in this. You know, keep a focus on the facts. That's all I'd say to your listeners. We've seen interestingly, in the Hunter, you know, there is a proposal there for offshore wind farm that you won't be able to see from the shore, it will generate 3000 jobs in construction, 1500 permanent jobs. It will be one of the biggest projects of this kind around the world. There are legitimate issues there that have been worked through to secure the right approach the environment, but there's a lot of nonsense been talked as well.
Macca:
Certainly sounds like spinning a few plates at the same time by the sound of that Tim quite a bit there.
Senator Ayres:
It's a big job. There's a there's a lot of progress to be made. And we're starting from a bit back because nothing happened for a decade. So we're getting on with the job, but I do respect it understand the anxieties that a there in regional communities and I also appreciate the opportunities and we've just got to keep having a fair dinkum honest conversation with people about those issues.
Macca:
Senator Tim, as we appreciate your chatter was gonna play a song but we're coming up to the news now. So find out all our national stories very shortly and we'll have to get a request of you next week when we chat.
Senator Ayres:
Mate, if I can get a request in every time I come on. I'll just keep coming. A bit of country music on your channel, we'll all be delighted, good on you.
Macca:
Good on you. Thank you very much. I'll talk to you next week.
Senator Ayres:
Thanks. Bye.
Macca:
All the best, there we go Senator Tim Ayres.
ENDS.
