MICHAEL ‘MOFFEE’ MOFFET, HOST: It's Coffs Coast 106.3 Triple M, and it's Moffee in the Morning. We haven't spoken for a while, but the New South Wales Senator Tim Ayres is on the line. Tim, G'day.
SENATOR TIM AYRES, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR A FUTURE MADE IN AUSTRALIA AND ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TRADE: It's good to be on the show.
MOFFEE: Mate, a busy summer, back into it for a new year and, well, an election. Can you tell me? Do you know the date?
SENATOR AYRES: The only person who knows the date is the Prime Minister, and he will let us all know. That's one of the features of our system Moffee, that the Prime Minister sets the date, jumps in the car and drives to the Governor-General's place, and then the election starts. But it's got to be before the end of May. Australians are going to face a pretty clear choice this year. We've spent this week locking in big outcomes for regional and country Australians. I'm really pleased with the progress that we've made over the course the last two and a half years, and I'm very keen to talk to people in the bush and in regional Australia about Future Made in Australia and bringing back manufacturing jobs and decent services for country towns.
MOFFEE: One of the big things too, Rex Airlines. Obviously, we know the problems they've had, and a bit of an update on that.
SENATOR AYRES: There's a lot of economic rationalists and Liberals and Nationals who say the government shouldn't play a role here. We are fair dinkum about protecting regional air services, and if that means we can't find a private sector buyer for Rex that the government has said we are prepared to step in and take over and make sure that these services continue for regional centres like Coffs Harbour. It's really important. Some of these country towns only have Rex. On the routes where there is Rex and Qantas, we want the maximum competition, so there's the maximum services, and we're pushing prices down. The Libs have said they oppose it, and in government, they didn't step in. But we are not prepared to stand by and let country towns get cut off from transport links to the big city. That's how you get fair dinkum jobs and good opportunities in country towns by having regional air services, and we're stepping in, the Albanese Government, stepping in to make sure that we protect them.
MOFFEE: Now one other thing as well, when it comes to regional areas, we often hear about banks closing down and not giving a lot of options for people in regional areas. A moratorium on branch closures for two and a half years, that came out this week. That's good news. But what happens after that, does it mean then, you know, we could face the possibility of all of a sudden, they will close?
SENATOR AYRES: Before this moratorium, under the last government, 36% of country branches closed. For ordinary Australians, particularly older Australians, Moffee, you know how tough it is for people to get banking services if the bank closes down. We have stepped in with this moratorium to protect country bank branches. You're right. It goes for a period. I mean, honestly, what it's going to mean is, if you want the moratorium extended, we're going to need a Labor Government to do it. The other side of politics are dead set hard right-wing ideologues on these questions. They don't want to see the government stepping in. They're opposed to it. That's why we saw so much of our manufacturing go offshore. That's why we saw country bank branches closed. That's why regional air services are withered on the vine. We're pushing in the opposite direction. We want to re-industrialise regional economies, bring back Australian manufacturing, get regional air services back up on their feet, defend country bank branches and support economic opportunity and jobs in country towns. They are good places to live, but we just need government, in this case, you've got a federal government that's prepared to back country towns and back that way of life and back good jobs and opportunity for country people. The other side of politics talk big about all these issues, but they actually go in the opposite direction. They are like rowers, mate. They face in one direction and talk big, but they go in the opposite direction.
MOFFEE: Just back to the air stuff with Rex, and talk about competition, because obviously, for here in Coffs Harbour, we've got, we've got Rex, we've got AirLink, we've got Qantas doing flights as well. The prices for Qantas flights are that high that people travel to Ballina two hours to get a cheaper flight to go to Sydney from there. Talk about competition. How do we make that happen, though?
SENATOR AYRES: First of all, you got to have the airlines there. That's, that's the first thing, no airlines, no services. More than one airline, you've got competition. And then you've got to make sure it's transparent and that there's enough volume of services to make the competition real. But can you imagine Coffs Harbour without Rex. In terms of the tourism industry, I understand the challenges you're pointing out. Is the competition real and effective? I agree, but I'm just saying you need more than one airline in order to have competition. We're stepping in, we'll be very focused on these competitive issues. But just imagine if we didn't. What that would mean for tourism and for all of those jobs in the pubs, clubs and in the restaurants, in the hotels and motels. How do people get there Moffee?
MOFFEE: We've got the three airlines already that are here, and primarily with Rex and Qantas, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything yet.
SENATOR AYRES: Yeah, without the government stepping in, you'd have less than three. That's the problem, and, and I accept absolutely there's more work to be done on airline prices. We're very focused on these cost-of-living issues right across the economy. That's why we delivered a tax cut for every Australian. The last government had a different model, which would have been a much smaller group of high-income Australians would have got a tax cut. Good on them. No problems. But what we did was make sure that every Australian wage earner got a serious, fair dinkum tax cut. We've done all sorts of things across the economy to push inflation down. When we came into government, it had a six in front of it, and it was going up. Now we've got inflation to back within that RBA target range, because we're very focused on keeping costs down, on putting downward pressure on interest rates and inflation. We know that things for in country communities are sometimes harder. They're good places to live, but we're very focused on those cost-of-living issues, including airline prices and stepping in to make sure that Rex continues to function is a key part of the puzzle.
MOFFEE: 23rd of February, just having a look here now, so next Sunday, if I was to book a flight with Qantas from Coffs Harbour to Sydney, my choices are a 10 o'clock flight that's going to cost $540 one way, or a five o'clock flight in the afternoon it's going to cost $470 for one way. Do you think that's too expensive?
SENATOR AYRES: You might be better off jumping in the car than taking a flight in that case. That's the choices that people end up having to make, isn't it? Airline travel i— we're a big country, big distances in between our regional centres and the capital cities. Airline travel is really, really important, having access to viable services. I don't want to see it cost people a dollar more than it should. But in order to keep downward pressure on prices, we've got to have the airlines in the air. And the Albanese Government stepped in to make sure that whether Rex is in private ownership, or we have to step in a public ownership way, then we are determined to do that. Other countries around the world do these things all the time because they see air airlines as a core part of their economy and making sure that they have connectivity within their countries and around the world. The Liberals and Nationals hate this kind of stuff. Had Susan Ley, the Deputy Leader out there, saying in the week that the Peter Dutton and the Liberals would oppose the government stepping in on Rex. I mean, Susan Ley has her own airplane. It's all right for her. She doesn't have to worry. Most country people don't own their own airplanes Moffee, and we are determined to make sure that there are air services to country towns right around Australia. We're not the kind of government that goes mission accomplished it's all done. We know that there's more work to do. We're very focused on these cost-of-living questions and making the economy work for ordinary people. We'll be up in an election this year where we want to continue that work, and we'll need the support of the Australian people to do it. One side of politics pushing in the wrong direction. We know there's more work to do, but at least we're pointed in the right direction, in the Australian interest and the interest of regional Australians.
MOFFEE: Alright. We'll wait and see when that election is going to be called. It's always good to chat, Tim. Thanks for your time this morning.
SENATOR AYRES: Catch you soon, Moffee. Good to talk to you and your listeners. Thank you.
ENDS.
