THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SUNRISE WITH NATALIE BARR
MONDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2024
SUBJECTS: QUEENSLAND ELECTION, PRIME MINISTER’S FLIGHT UPGRADES.
NATALIE BARR: Queenslanders have elected a new government with the Liberal National Party claiming victory in the state election for the first time in over a decade. Today, David Crisafulli will officially be sworn into his position as Queensland Premier, wasting no time in vowing to bring in new laws and tackle youth crime by Christmas. A lot to discuss this morning. Let's bring in Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce. Good morning to both of you. Tanya, what does a Liberal National Party victory mean for the federal election and Anthony Albanese? Are you concerned?
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Well, I think the first thing to say is congratulations to Premier Crisafulli and his team. It's a great honour to be elected a new government and I wish them all the very best and I'm looking forward to working with them for the benefit of Queenslanders. Also, you know, congratulations to Steven Miles, to the Queensland government for the 10 years of effort they put into looking after the state of Queensland for Queenslanders, they did a great job. I think the election result was much closer than many people predicted. I think a lot of that was down to the energy of those last few weeks of the campaign. And I have to congratulate Steven Miles personally on that. I think most people said on the night and have consistently been saying that it was a state election that was fought on state issues. And you mentioned law and order was one of those. That certainly seemed to be the dominant issue when I was travelling in Queensland.
BARR: Interesting that, though, because the Prime Minister actually said the Party's performance regarding the Greens should serve as a lesson to federal Greens leader Adam Bandt. So, there must be a flow on effect federally, according to our Prime Minister.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Now, I think that's very much the feedback that people were getting when they were knocking on the doors of those state electorates that had Greens representation or where there might have been - the Greens were claiming that they were going to win up to 10 seats and people were saying that they were shocked by Max Chandler-Mather standing up, defending, basically criminal elements of the CFMEU up on the back of the truck with a megaphone instead of, voting for housing, for cheaper housing and more of it to be built, holding up housing reform. And in my area, holding up environmental law reform, like the establishment of an Environment Protection Agency is something that environmentalists have been calling on for decades, and it's the Greens that are blocking it. So, they're blocking their own housing policies with shared equity, that's something that the Greens have campaigned for. They're blocking a federal Environment Protection Agency, something that they've campaigned for. And people look at that and go, well, these people just aren't serious about making progress. They are only about opposition. They're only about making a point.
BARR: So, does it translate federally or not, Barnaby, because the Prime Minister seems to be saying it is.
BARNABY JOYCE: I think there's - yeah, there's one demographic that definitely translates and also congratulations to Premier Elect Crisafulli. It's sworn in by the Governor, and also congratulations and commiserations to Mr Miles, who now I believe will be the Opposition Leader. Look, there's a big split, isn't there? There's a split between regional areas in the western suburbs and the inner urban areas and the better suburbs. And we've seen that in Queensland. And right what Tanya said when she's talking about how upset people are about a new environmental agency, well not out here Tanya, they're not. What we're upset about is whether we can afford our power bill. That's what we're upset about. We're upset about is having governments in every corner of our life. Can't go fishing here, can't touch this, can't do that, not allowed to do that. And this is something I think we've got to see at a federal election. If the Labor Party, even the Labor Party pollsters on the night was saying that if you don't understand that there's a massive disconnect now between regional areas, areas that voted for the Labor Party the last hundred years, outer suburbs and other parts of the city, then you're going to be disconnected.
BARR: We'll see what happens in the federal election. Moving on, it's been revealed Anthony Albanese received at least 22 free flight upgrades, some for personal use and some he reportedly asked the former Qantas CEO for. The PM has come out and said every single one of those flights was declared. As the Opposition presses him to explain his relationship with Alan Joyce. Tanya, are MPs entitled to this type of treatment?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Look, I think the most important thing is if you receive a benefit like this, that it is declared. And all of these were declared over many years. This has been on the public record the whole time.
BARR: So, it's fine for him to actually solicit upgrades? Does that make a difference?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, he was the Transport Minister. He was the Transport Shadow Minister - Transport and Infrastructure. He was travelling a lot for that job. I don't think it's any surprise that in the role of Transport and Infrastructure Minister, you'd be travelling a lot. And as the Prime Minister's made clear the whole way through, in every instance, these benefits were declared. And I think that's really important.
BARR: Okay, Barnaby, on your own register of interests, you declared a free Qantas flight upgrade for a trip to the US in September last year. We've noticed Peter Dutton, just a quick check, Peter Dutton declared one in December last year for himself and his wife, Brisbane to Sydney. Is it okay to do this? Does the public sort of naturally know that this is how things operate with politicians?
JOYCE: I think there's a big difference between being offered an upgrade and taking it. I think there's a lot of people who just fly generally, get offered upgrades and take them. I think we all do that. And what you said before is the difference when you solicit it, when you ring up Alan Joyce and say "hey, Alan, I'd like an upgrade, my name's Anthony Albanese". And that's the one that doesn't pass the pub test.
BARR: So, how did you get yours, Barnaby? Did they just come to you and say "hey, mate, we've got a spot up the front"?
JOYCE: A lot of times when you go, as you - yeah, it's basically as you're boarding the plane, they say, if you want an upgrade, get an upgrade.
BARR: Why should politicians get upgrades, Barnaby?
JOYCE: Well, there's a lot of people who get upgrades full stop. A lot of the general public get upgrades. And so I think if every person who gets an upgrade is in trouble, then we're going to have a lot of people in trouble. So, you know, I acknowledge 100 per cent that a lot of politicians get upgrades, me included. It's whether you solicit it. It's whether you - especially if you ring up Alan Joyce. That's the issue. That's an issue that Mr Albanese has to explain.
BARR: Exactly. Tanya, is there anything wrong with a Minister picking up the phone and calling the head of an airline and asking for an upgrade?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: The Prime Minister said that as Transport Minister and Transport Shadow Minister –
BARR: I'm not asking what he said, I'm asking you what you think. Is there anything wrong with that?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: He had a good relationship with both airlines. Look, I don't know any of the details about it. I've seen what you've seen reported in the paper.
BARR: You don't have to, just shooting the breeze here. What do you think?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I think the Prime Minister's explained himself perfectly well. He's done a press conference yesterday. I'm sure there'll be plenty of other media commentary today. I'll leave it to him.
BARR: Okay, thank you very much. We'll see you next week.
END
