THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS
THURSDAY, 6 NOVEMBER 2025
TOPICS: EPBC REFORM; NET ZERO; SOCIAL SECURITY AMMENDMENT; PRIYA’S LAW.
LAURA JAYES: Let's take you live to Canberra now. Joining me is the Social Services Minister, Tanya Plibersek. Tanya, thanks so much for your time. Moving from Supermoon to you, there is no good segue here. But let's talk about the environment laws. This is something that you were unable to get through in your previous portfolio. Murray Watt's certainly not close to making that happen yet. Negotiations are ongoing. But can you give us an idea just how different this bill looks under Murray Watt than it did you? Has it been significantly changed?
MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES, TANYA PLIBERSEK: Well, Murray's doing an excellent job on the negotiations. And my first point would be to urge both The Greens and the Liberals and Nationals to vote for this bill because it has something for business. It means faster approvals, faster decision making for businesses who want to go out there and build the roads, the houses, the renewable energy projects that we need in this country. And it also is better protections for the environment. The Greens should be queuing up to vote for this legislation. A lot of the fundamentals are the same as the bill that we had previously, but Murray's been doing an enormous amount of good negotiation with the business community, with the environmental groups, and now it's up to senators to just get in there and vote for this. Let's get it done. We know that our current environment laws are broken. It's time to change them. This bill is a good balance and people should back it.
JAYES: It's really difficult in that portfolio because there is, it seems like environmental groups in particular are never satisfied. Then on the other side, you've got business saying, well, this is a real handbreak, which is, you know, the real world issues that people need to deal with. Is it fair to say this bill is more, you know, focused on reducing red tape than it has been in the past?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, look, the legislation as it currently exists is really problematic. It just has presided over the slow decline of our environment in Australia. And it's been, as you say, a handbrake on the development that the country needs. Everybody agrees that the current laws are broken. If these new laws, the proposed laws don't pass, we're stuck with the current laws. I think the people who are at the edges of this debate, at the extremes of this debate, just have to understand that there will be compromise required from both ends to get something that is workable and acceptable to the majority. And I think it's really significant that, that there are plenty of people on both sides of this debate who are saying let's just get on with it. People in the environment movement and people from the business community, including, I mean most recently the Minerals Council, saying let's just get on with it.
JAYES: Yeah, that's right. Ok, we'll see where that ends up. I also want to talk net zero because this is something that is really ripping the Liberals apart at the moment. But from your perspective, do you concede that the renewables rollout and the path to net zero certainly not going as planned?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, I don't agree with that at all. In fact, the previous government were told that 24 coal fired power stations were closing. That's the majority of the coal fired power stations in Australia. They were given a timetable by those operators. They did nothing to prepare for what comes next. We’re in the middle of a huge transformation of our energy grid. Last month in October, we got to half of our energy coming from renewables. That's led to about a 38% drop in wholesale energy prices. Australians get this, they get that renewables are cheaper. That's the reason that 4 million Australians have solar panels on their roof.
JAYES: They don’t get it because they’re not feeling it though, Minister, at the moment, I mean they might be eventually promising the $275 off your power bill, looks pretty stupid now, doesn't it? All these years on.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: So, we're seeing the impact on wholesale energy prices. That impact will flow through to retail prices. It is frustrating that people imagine that you can transform a whole energy grid overnight. Of course we can't. And this is something that should have been planned. The transition should have been begun a decade ago. And in fact, you know, instead of doing that, despite all the warnings about old unreliable coal fired power stations coming to the end of their lives, nothing was done by the previous government to prepare for that transition. If they wanted to build new coal fired power stations, they should have done that 10 years ago when they were told that the old ones were too old to be reliable any longer. They didn't do that then. If they wanted to build nuclear, they could have started that a decade ago when they were in government. They didn't do that either. They just waited for the energy system to fall apart. We've come in, we're cleaning up the mess. It takes a while to transform such a large system. But you're seeing the results already with those wholesale power prices coming down and up to half the grid in October being run on renewables.
JAYES: There's a big subsidy question there. But a lot of our viewers are pointing out that even China, their policy is to, yes, transition to net zero, but they are not doing it at cost to their own economy and heavy industries. Do we have that balance right here?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: We absolutely do. And I think it's instructive, isn't it, that the Minerals Council of Australia, the BCA, the business groups are all still backing net zero. The people who don't back net zero are the extremists of the National Party and they're dragging half the Liberal Party with them. It is the bush that benefits most from this transition. We are worried about the impact of climate change on our farmers and there's plenty of farmers who'll tell you that they are worried too. We need to be part of the global effort to tackle climate change. But on top of that, the economic benefits to regional communities. You can earn $40,000 from a wind turbine on your land. For the first time in history, the National Party are saying that farmers shouldn't be allowed to choose what to do on their own land. They're saying that it's okay for their neighbours to bully them, that it's understandable when kids get teased at school if they turn up and their parents have a wind turbine on their land. I mean, this is madness. This is drought proof regular income for farmers that the National Party want to deny farmers.
JAYES: We'll see where that goes in the Liberal Party. Absolutely. I also wanted to ask you about these fugitive payments, welfare payments. What are these and what are you trying to achieve here?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, unbelievably, Laura, we actually have people in the Parliament right now and in the community who are arguing that a fugitive on the run from the police for a serious offence like rape or murder or child abuse, should continue to get social security benefits while they're on the run. The Minister already has the power to cancel someone's payments if they're suspected of a terrorism offence and their passport or their visa is cancelled. It came to my attention recently that we don't have the power to do that. When someone is accused of a serious crime like rape or murder, they're on the run, there's a warrant issued for their arrest. So, what I am proposing is that the Home Affairs Minister, after a request from the Federal Police or State Police, determines whether that person, whether there's strong evidence against them, there's a warrant for their arrest, they're a continuing threat to the community. After considering any dependents, making sure that we look after the dependents, that person can have their social security benefit cancelled the same way they would if they were waiting on remand to be tried for a serious crime. And unbelievably, we have people in the Senate and in the Australian community who are saying, oh no, they should continue to get their JobSeeker or DSP or pension, whatever.
JAYES: Who's saying that?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: To support them while they're on the run from the law. Yes, absolutely, there are senators-
JAYES: There are senators who want the taxpayer to pay for fugitives on the run?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: To subsidise, yes, yes. This is the madness-
JAYES: Who are they?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: -and the debate that we're facing at the moment, and people-
JAYES: Who are these people?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, you know, people can have a look at that. Well, Senator Thorpe is one example and we've got, I mean, it's certainly a debate worth watching. We've got people in the community who are saying that people who are on the run for crimes like rape and murder and child abuse should continue to receive those payments to maintain them while they're on the run. It's madness.
JAYES: Well, please keep us updated on that one. I know a lot of our viewers will be interested to see where you get with that. I finally wanted to ask you about two other things really quickly. Priya's Law. I know you're very vocal about the intervention we saw from four males in particular in the Senate. What's the most generous interpretation you can give for that intervention there?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, the most generous thing I can say about it is they're totally clueless. And I think probably it's worse than that. They've picked up on some of the chatter in the dark corners of the internet that suggest a woman would go out, get deliberately, you know, become pregnant, carry a baby till she's, you know, 20 something weeks gestation and then have an incredibly dangerous, difficult late term abortion just to get a few thousand dollars. Like what a, what a perverse thing to suggest for a moment, like these men have never even had a period, let alone carried a baby. It is just so disappointing to see a debate about something so important hijacked. I mean, baby Priya's Law says that if there is employer provided paid parental leave and your baby dies, you should still get that leave so that you can recover from what is probably the most traumatic thing that's ever happened to you, and instead that debate gets hijacked by some of these guys. It is unbelievable.
JAYES: And well, I think it's been, it’s discounted the leadership ambitions of at least one of those. So, we'll see. Finally, Zoran Mamdani. He is the new socialist, self-declared socialist mayor of New York City, which is, you know, the home of capitalism, really. I see a few of your colleagues celebrating this election. What is there to celebrate there? And is there any parallels or lessons for Australian politics?
MINISTER PLBIERSEK: Look, I don't like to comment on elections in other countries. I think about individual candidates. But I would say this, it is a wonderful thing to see American democracy still strong institutions there are very strong. And we'll watch with interest what happens.
JAYES: Tanya Plibersek, good to talk to you this morning. Thank you.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Always a pleasure, Laura, thank you.
ENDS
