THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SUNRISE WITH MONIQUE WRIGHT
MONDAY, 16 DECEMBER 2024
SUBJECTS: REMAINING BALI NINE RETURN TO AUSTRALIA, VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT GAS APPLIANCE PHASE OUT.
MONIQUE WRIGHT: Well, the last remaining members of the Bali Nine are spending their first day of freedom on home soil after touching down in Darwin yesterday. They were released on humanitarian grounds after serving 19 years in Indonesian prisons for trying to smuggle heroin out of South East Asia. It follows a deal secured between our federal government and Indonesia's President to bring them home. For their take, let's bring in Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce. Morning to you both. Good to see you.
BARNABY JOYCE: Morning.
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Good morning.
WRIGHT: Tanya. What will the Indonesian Government get in return for this deal?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, we're very grateful to President Prabowo for the humanitarian decision he's taken here. Of course, anybody who's engaged in the drug trade should face the full consequences of the law. And we agree with the Indonesian Government that the drug trade is very serious. But these people have been in jail now for almost 20 years. So, we're very grateful that they're able to come back to Australia at this stage.
WRIGHT: Yeah, but, Tanya, there's no such thing as a free lunch, is there? There will be an expectation that we're going to be returning the favour in some way.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, there's no quid pro quo. I'll leave the Foreign Minister to talk about this in more detail. But whether it's Cheng Lei in China, whether it's Sean Turnell in Burma, whether it's Julian Assange in the UK, we make no apologies for the support we give to Australians who get in trouble overseas. And we make no apologies for giving them consular assistance. That's what any Australian who gets in trouble overseas would expect.
WRIGHT: Ok, Barnaby. The five men will be given temporary accommodation, in fact, they're at Howard Springs at the moment. Does the cost of all this concern you that it's the taxpayer that's going to be footing that bill?
JOYCE: Well, I remember working with the Rush family, trying to get their son away from the death penalty. And so that was, at the time, you know, a great relief. I suppose I see it through the eyes of the family. the heroin trafficking is abhorrent, it's an absolute disgrace. And, yeah, you deserve the punishment you get because you're in the country that has the right to deliver it to you. I don't think anyone here condones anything to do with heroin and the scourge it is. But when you look ultimately at everything, I suppose, at the time of Christmas, you look through the eyes of compassion. I suppose that in that instance, you're looking through the eyes of the parents and, you know, I'll just speak on behalf of parents. It must be a great relief to them. And I'll leave the government to explain any other details that might surround it.
WRIGHT: Yeah. Alright, let's move on now. And the Victorian government's plan to phase out gas appliances in homes may be a vote killer according to a new poll. Almost half of voters say that they would be less likely to back Jacinta Allan's Labor government because of the policy, with many concerned about the cost of the transition to renewables. Tanya, how concerned are you about this? The numbers don't look good. Half of the people in key electorates say they're less likely to vote for Labor.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, a couple of things. The first is the Victorian government is consulting on a plan that would bring down household power prices by $2,000 - $3,000 a year. That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to bring down power prices for households and they're trying to make sure that there's long term supply of gas in Victoria. They're two things that I think most Australians would agree are a good idea. They’re not planning to trundle in and pull your gas cooktop out of your kitchen. This is about when people are doing those new builds or upgrades if they want to swap out their appliances, how do we make that as cheap and as easy as possible. And again, the Victorian government is talking to people about it. There's nothing going to happen tomorrow. This is a way of finding out how they assist people to save on their power bills. By swapping out your gas for electricity, you can save $2,700 a year. And that makes a big difference for most families.
WRIGHT: So, there's no plan to force existing homes to do it, to switch over to gas?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, they're talking about new builds. I don't know all of the details of the plan because it's a Victorian government plan, it's not ours. But I think you need to take a bit of a chill pill. And I mean the polling that you're referring to is paid for by the gas companies. I guess the gas companies say that it's a good idea to have more gas.
WRIGHT: Yes, I saw that. It's paid for by the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group which owns and operates lots of gas pipelines in Victoria. Barnaby. Do you see this as a vote killer?
JOYCE: You know I got a flat tyre going up the hill this morning that’s why I’ve got a more austere backdrop. People's greatest fear is that thing, the power box. What's happening there is as we go to Christmas, people asking the question, can they afford their electricity? We always hear these promises that things are going to get cheaper. They never do. They keep going up. And if that goes out, even in our house, we need the gas, otherwise we just don't cook. And so, anything that starts telling people, you got less choices, you can only use electricity, it's going to be cheaper, it never is - that we're getting smacked by reality, smacked by physics in this one. Then people get angry. And I'm not surprised the vote starts going against you. I don't think it would matter whether you did the gas companies doing the polling or you got Rotary to do the polling. People don't want governments in the energy sector telling them what to do because they've got a very bad habit of getting it entirely wrong.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: You voted against $300 energy bill relief for families. You voted against $300 energy bill relief.
JOYCE: Your $275, hang on, your $275, Tanya, your $275, Tanya never happened.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: And electricity prices have come down.
JOYCE: And it did go through the Parliament.
WRIGHT: Hang on, we can't hear either of you because you're talking over the top of each other.
JOYCE: Your $275 did go through the Parliament, and it did not work. And you're talking over the top of me, then they say I'm rude cause I'm a bloke.
WRIGHT: Tanya, Barnaby, Tanya Barnaby, guess what? It's your last segment for the year here. Do you want to say something nice to one another?
JOYCE: I know we do actually get along, you know.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Happy Christmas to you and your family.
JOYCE: Yeah, I get along with Tanya.
WRIGHT: I know you do, Barnaby, I know you do.
JOYCE: Yeah, Tanya to you, too. You've got beautiful family. All the very best. And to you and to Channel Seven.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: And to you, Mon and all your viewers in particular, everybody who's had to put up with us talking over the top of each other all year.
WRIGHT: We actually, we really, really appreciate you both coming on every week.
JOYCE: I apologise.
WRIGHT: It's one of the highlights of the week. Tanya, Barnaby, a very merry Christmas to you both. Thank you.
JOYCE: Thank you very much.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Seeya.
END
