TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MEMBER FOR SYDNEY
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
4CA BREAKFAST WITH MURRAY JONES
THURSDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2021
SUBJECTS: AUKUS Alliance; George Christensen; Vaccinations; Christian Porter’s secret million-dollar donation; Women’s Safety Summit.
MURRAY JONES, HOST: Joining me this morning to talk about what's been another sustained period of gaffs for the Coalition, Shadow Minister for Education and Women Tanya Plibersek. Good morning.
TANYA PLIBERSEK SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN: Great to be with you Murray.
JONES: Let's start with AUKUS. I mean, surely you must accept that drawing a line in the sand was essential with the Chinese. Sure we've had a bit of fall out there with France, but do you accept that we had to actually make a move against China?
PLIBERSEK: I think it's great to see strengthened cooperation with our close allies through this partnership. We do want to work closely with our traditional allies, like the United States and the United Kingdom. And we also need to continue to work closely with countries in our region, particularly the ASEAN nations. We don't want to be seen just to be focusing on the US and the UK, the anglosphere or Anglophone Nations as people call them. We do also need to continue to build our relationships in our near neighbourhood. And so I think AUKUS is a good step forward, but it would have been much better if, for example, we had been talking to Indonesia and other near neighbours before the sort of sudden announcement that the Government made. And you mentioned the French, we really did stuff up breaking it to the French that the ninety billion dollar future submarine project was dead. They have obviously taken great offence. What matters most is us making sure that our serving personnel, the men and women in the Defence Force have the best possible equipment, that it's on time and it's on budget. And it's really a worry that for eight years the Government has stuffed up this submarine project where they've spent billions of dollars. You remember originally it was going to be a Japanese sub, then it's going to be a French sub, now it's going to be an American sub. It's really not good enough.
JONES: Have we also been left vulnerable? And, I must admit living in Northern Australia here, sometimes you think just say the crunch does happen and things start to get ugly, we're actually very vulnerable here in Northern Australia. Have you got some concerns about, you know, the lead time before these submarines even become operational - there's a large gap in our defences. Has it been the wrong time to stir up this hornet's nest?
PLIBERSEK: Well, we've wasted eight years with this. First the Japanese sub, and then the French sub, now changing to the US sub. So that's eight wasted years. And the first of the US subs isn't due to be delivered till about 2040. So yeah, it's a while to wait and there's some talk that we might look at lease submarines in the meanwhile. These are all questions that Labor has been asking the Government. We've got an 18 month period now that the Government says they will examine these issues. We think it's very important that they include us in the discussions about when the first submarine will be available, what its specifications will be, what it will be able to do, how we keep updating the technology. Because, of course, military technology evolves very significantly between the first submarine you built and then third or the fifth submarine you build. These are all questions that need to be answered.
JONES: Let's move on to some internal matters, and Nationals George Christensen from Queensland has made a call for members of the Victoria Police to be arrested for excessive force. I mean the ugly scenes we've seen in the last couple of days are just you know, beggar belief. I mean how can how can somebody be in the Government and so out of touch to say that the police are the ones that are using excessive force here?
PLIBERSEK: Well, George Christensen is morally bankrupt. This is a new low even for him. Essentially, a member of Scott Morrison's Government is saying that they support the police being bashed by violent mobs. And this is what the police are facing - they're out there protecting the community, risking their own safety facing violent mobs, and George Christensen's on the side of the mob, not on the side of the police. I just don't get it. The fastest way that we can get out of lockdown, is for more people to get vaccinated as soon as possible. I'm double vaxxed, I know I say it every single time I come on the show. I've got my two Jabs of AstraZeneca. My husband's double jabbed with two AstraZeneca shots. My daughter's double jabbed with two Pfizer, and my sons had his first Pfizer shot, and I can tell you when our youngest is eligible I'll make sure he's vaccinated as well. The best thing we can do for ourselves, for our families, for our communities, for our country right now, is get vaccinated. And I can't believe Craig Kelly, George Christensen, all these people out there spreading conspiracy theories, and Scott Morrison just lets them get away with it. It is actually disgraceful. And if I'm choosing between a violent mob and police trying to protect our safety, I know whose side I'm on. I think it's extraordinary that George Christensen is on the side of the violent mob.
JONES: Personally I've been describing it as an act of domestic terrorism in the last couple of days and look, it says a lot that even John Setka has come out of this whole thing actually looking pretty good as well.
PLIBERSEK: Well the union - the CFFMEU, the ACTU, all of the unions - have absolutely condemned these violent mobs. Everybody, I think, should be condemning the violent mobs. Isn't it crazy that you've got an LNP politician on the side of the violent mob, not on the side of the police?
JONES: And to be fair the Nationals leadership have certainly made their situation against George Christensen pretty clear. Let's talk a little bit more about transparency and accountability. It really is the cornerstone of any government. Has the resignation of Christian Porter from the front bench, helped reinstall some confidence in the Government when it comes to that transparency and accountability?
PLIBERSEK: Christian Porter has taken a million-dollar donation and he refuses to say who it's from. It's just completely unacceptable. And it's good that he's resigned as a Minister, but he shouldn't be in Parliament if he's prepared to take a million-dollars - like honestly, what is the difference between someone walking up and dropping off a million bucks cash in a brown paper bag and this arrangement that Christian Porter's got? It is so wrong for a member of Parliament to take a donation like this and not be prepared to say who's behind it. In fact, when we were last in government we dropped the disclosure threshold so any donation above a thousand dollars had to be declared. The Liberals put it back up again to $14,000 as it is now, it should be back down to $1,000. Donations should be declared in real time. You shouldn't have to wait months to find out who is behind a donation. And I think in the long run, we also need spending caps in our election campaigns because I just think the sight of someone like Clive Palmer spending 60 or 70 or 80 million dollars to buy an election, it's just not good for democracy. It's actually really wrong.
JONES: Well, as we wrap up this morning, just quickly wouldn't mind touching on something that's probably a little bit closer to your specific portfolios. And for the Government, Australian of the Year Grace Tame she's an incredible young woman, she was a key guest at the National Summit on Women's Safety, which I think is certainly a positive step. But to only, you know even somebody that was actually appointed by the Coalition, she didn't pull any punches and she certainly said some very solid things against the Coalition with respect to their treatment of women.
PLIBERSEK: Yeah, and isn't it crazy that in the week before the violence against women's summit the Government actually voted against fully implementing the recommendations of the Respect @ Work Report that was designed to stop people being sexually harassed at work. I mean this is a government that wants to say that it's acting on domestic violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment, but they never go the full distance. It's all talk and no action. And that's what Grace Tame was calling out.
JONES: Look we are holding our breath for you to do a bit of a trip north, we've got some beautiful weather on the way. But I know certainly in Sydney things are pretty tough, but always wonderful to talk to you. Shadow Minister for Education and Women, Tanya Plibersek. Have a great day.
PLIBERSEK: Murray just on the women's portfolio. I noticed that Cairns girl Mary Fowler scored two goals in that Matilda's game the other night with Ireland, fantastic. You must be very proud of the local doing so well.
JONES: It's interesting that you tell me that because my son used to go to school with her. So he reminds me every day, he talks about Mary and the family. So yeah, incredible connections, remarkably small in Cairns. You have to come and revisit and be part of the family again soon.
PLIBERSEK: I look forward to it. Take care.
ENDS
