THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SUNRISE WITH NATALIE BARR
MONDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2024
SUBJECTS: TRUMP’S PROPOSED NEW POLICIES, PARLIAMENTARY BEHAVIOURAL WATCHDOG, REMEMBRANCE DAY.
NATALIE BARR: Well, Australians have had their say on Donald Trump's US election win with a new poll revealing 40 per cent of us believe it is a bad outcome for Australia. 29 per cent say it's good. It comes after the President elect proposed radical new policies, such as 10 per cent tariffs on all imports and an elevated trade war with China. For their take, let's bring in Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce. Good morning, Tanya. Your government might be saying everything's fine. A lot of Aussies seem worried about Mr. Trump's impact. How do you hope to calm those fears?
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Oh, well, of course, whether it's the Republicans or the Democrats, whether it's Labor or Liberal in government, we have a good and close relationship with the United States and have for many, many decades and that will continue. Of course, we're watching with interest what the incoming government will say about tariffs. Australia is a trading nation, and we've worked really hard to drop tariffs on Australian goods going into China. We'll continue to advocate for low or no tariffs on Australian goods because we know that's in our national interest.
BARR: Yeah, Barnaby, one of his promises was to put 10 to 20 per cent on all tariffs on all goods coming in. I think 60 per cent on Chinese goods. How will that affect us? What if we can't carve out our goods from going into America without tariffs?
BARNABY JOYCE: Well, I basically agree with everything Tanya just said. I think, on that one, I think it's a bipartisan position that we both need to get along very well with what is the most powerful ally we have. And that's why Australia has to become as powerful as possible as quickly as possible, if you want to ever, you know, mollify that effect. A trade war would be very bad. You think of everything we've got, our tie, your tie, your camera, your phone, everything you do, from your Panasonic television to your Miele stove to your whatever you've got in your house, the car you drive, the fuel that's in it, it's all coming on a boat. So, somebody somewhere must be putting something on a boat and sending the other direction, otherwise your currency is worth nothing. And that is because we are a trading nation. You take away our capacity to trade, you take away all those accoutrements and benefits in your lifestyle. Just have a look around your house while you're watching this right now. Say what was important. If we don't trade, you haven't got any of it.
BARR: Yeah, and good on you for having Miele, that's top shelf, Barnaby. Moving on, a damning new report by the Parliamentary behavioural watchdog has revealed 30 allegations of serious wrongdoings, including sexual assault, in the nine months to June of this year. Tanya, oh my goodness, more than 300 complaints were made in total. How is your government going to act on this?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I think it shows how important it is that we've set up the Workplace Parliamentary Office where people can make complaints and have them taken seriously. A lot of these complaints may actually be historical complaints from when people didn't have this sort of service that they could make a confidential complaint to. But, Nat, I guess the problem is not just in parliamentary workplaces. We know that two in every five Australian women has experienced sexual harassment at work in the last five years.
BARR: Yep, and we know that but we're talking about Parliament House.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Two out of every five, that's four in 10, that's 40 in every 100. And it's in every workplace. Yes, it's important, absolutely important, that Parliament is a safe workplace for people. That's why we've accepted all of the recommendations made by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner. It's why we've set up this independent office. It's why it has the powers it does. It's why we provide the support. We do need to change Parliament House as a workplace. But, Nat, as a woman, you would know, I would have experienced, pretty much every workplace you've ever worked in there has been sexual harassment or bullying. We need to make every workplace safe.
BARR: I don't want to get onto other workplaces because we're talking about Parliament House. I want to talk about the independence of this process in Parliament House because the complainant in Richard Marle's office said external lawyers that were brought in were clearly acting on instructions from the government. Is this an independent process here?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, it's absolutely an independent process and I'm not going to make any comments about individual cases that are subject to legal proceedings now. And you understand why that is. This process has been set up by us coming into government on the recommendation of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, because it didn't exist before. This is exactly the sort of thing we need to clean up Parliament House as a workplace. And, Nat, I do think it is important to focus on Parliament House, but we need to provide a safe workplace for every Australian. People won't forgive us if we say, ‘oh, as parliamentarians and as staffers, we think we need special treatment, we need better workplaces than everyone else’. We've got a responsibility to make every Australian workplace a safe workplace.
BARR: I absolutely agree, but I also know we are talking about this today, so I don't want to say, look over here, look over here. That's what I meant by that. I wasn't saying that -
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I'm not saying that for a second. For all of my working life, I've been standing up for workers across Australia to have safe workplaces. And I've been amongst the strongest voices saying that we need to provide a safe workplace, particularly for our staff, especially for our staff, because there is a power imbalance between the boss and the worker in Parliament House, as there is in every workplace.
BARR: Ok, let's look at Remembrance Day. Obviously, today, a very important time to show respect for our soldiers. Barnaby, how will you be reflecting today?
JOYCE: First thing, I'm going down to Muswellbrook for the 11 o'clock service. I just say to all people, just think about what your grandfathers, your great grandfathers, your great granduncles - think of what they did during this horrific thing, which was the First World War, which is - this is the end of the First World War. In the mud, in the frost, being shot at, coming back, marriages breaking up, some people just destitute but being buried in unmarked graves. And that's apart from the over 60,000 people who paid the supreme sacrifice. Within a year, 30,000 of the veterans that came back had died. By the first sentence, over 100,000 had died. It was an absolute tragedy. And you're asked to do one thing, stop for one minute, shut up for one minute at 11 o'clock. We're all capable of doing that. Just if you feel a bit embarrassed, just go to the corner of the room, just walk away from other people and say, I'm just going to shut up for a bit. But if you've got some ticker about you, tell other people to shut up. Say stop. It's just so simple. Stop for a minute.
BARR: You're right. And if you're not sure about what it is, maybe younger people, maybe they haven't learnt it. Look it up. When the guns on the Western Front fell silent at 11am on 11th November 1918. Tanya, how will you be reflecting?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I'll be at the Cenotaph in Martin Place representing the Prime Minister and I do that on Anzac Day and on Remembrance Day because it is, as Barnaby says, so important for us to reflect on the sacrifices that generations have made.
BARR: Yep. Thank you very much, both of you, we appreciate it. We'll see you next week.
END
