TRANSCRIPT: Interview with Kieran Gilbert and Laura Jayes, Sky News, 18 October 2018
E&OE
Subjects: Leadership, Israel Embassy, Royal Commission into retail sector
KIERAN GILBERT:
Let’s go back to our top story now and the dramas within the National Party; with us The Nationals’ Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
Deputy Prime Minister, thanks for your time, do you still have the support of your Nationals Party Room to remain as leader?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Absolutely. And look – The National Party is right behind me. I have spoken to my colleagues obviously as I do just about every day and certainly when I’m in Parliament – that’s a regular occurrence, not just once but several times each day and I have the support.
LAURA JAYES:
Do you concede that some MPs within your party are dissatisfied with your leadership, though – what frank feedback have you been given?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I have been given nothing but support, Laura, nothing but absolute solid support. Look, National Party members aren’t talking about the leadership, they are talking about the sorts of things that are really important to the people they represent. Issues particularly such as drought …
LAURA JAYES:
But Michael McCormack, that’s just not true. Do you deny that there has been any disquiet about your leadership, is there no self-reflection here?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
No National Party member has come to me and said ‘I am dissatisfied with the job that you are doing’. They have come to me and have offered me solid support, but they are very much talking to me about the issues of the drought, they are very much talking to me about issues of regional infrastructure. They are the things that matter to National Party members – they come here, they represent their electorates fiercely, that’s the sort of …
KIERAN GILBERT:
Can you reassure them, though, that you are – for example on the agriculture visa – that you are taking it up to the Liberals on that?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well look, absolutely, and with the farm labour workforce issue I am absolutely rock solid behind the policy that the Coalition has, as is David Littleproud, as is the Party Room. Indeed what we want to see is those jobs filled by Australians first, but if those jobs cannot be filled by Australians then we will look to overseas as we have always done in the past. So we have got the visa situation ready, the arrangements there ready and I would urge any farmers who are listening to this broadcast to make sure …
KIERAN GILBERT:
So you have taken it up to the Libs sufficiently?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, absolutely and the fact is we have got the arrangements in place that if farmers need workers all they need to do is go on to the Harvest Trail website or ring the hotline and register their interest – how many workers they need, how long they need them for and what sort of work they need them to do and those jobs will be filled by Australians or indeed by foreigners as has been in the past.
LAURA JAYES:
There has been some frustration with this agricultural visa – did you tell the Nationals’ Party Room that it was part of the secret Coalition agreement when it wasn’t?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well I don’t tell people outside the Party Room or indeed outside Cabinet all the Coalition Agreement. I don’t tell the general public what goes on inside those arrangements and nor will I. The fact is we have got arrangements in place to fill the labour workforce needs of the agriculture sector. We are going to be doing it – I can recall just a couple of years ago when the backpacker situation arose. It was left until the last minute – unfortunately we had to have an extra sitting of Parliament to determine the fact that we would get the workers then. The fact is that it is mid-October and we have got the arrangements in place. If farmers have workforce needs I urge them again – Harvest Trail, go to the website.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Barnaby Joyce yesterday said he was willing to take the job if offered again. Do you feel that was destabilising, do you feel that that is an effort by him to, you know, trail his coat in relation to the leadership once again which he was replaced of course as you know only as recently as February.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, the leadership is a gift of the Party Room and it is an absolute honour and a privilege to lead The National Party. It is the Party which has fiercely represented regional interests and country people for nearly 100 years. I take a great honour and pride in the fact that I was chosen by the Party Room. I say again that it is a gift of the Party Room and I’m pleased that I have the Party’s support …
KIERAN GILBERT:
Was it unhelpful? Was it unhelpful of Mr Joyce to suggest that yesterday? Because that obviously kicked it along when he spoke to David Speers yesterday.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Sure, and I appreciate that and I support Barnaby in the role that he is doing as the Member for New England, I support him in role he is doing as special drought envoy and at the end of the day, people don’t like us being focused on ourselves – they don’t like this introspection. What they want us to do is represent them – that’s what I am doing and that’s what The National Party members are doing.
LAURA JAYES:
Michael McCormack, are you disappointed that there is a real disconnect to what we are reporting today and what MPs are telling you personally? You say that no-one has come to you with any complaints about your leadership style or the things you are …
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
No-one.
LAURA JAYES:
… and aren’t pursuing …
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
No, no-one has said that to me, Laura.
LAURA JAYES:
Well what’s going on here, are you disappointed in what we’re reporting today because obviously we’re not making it up.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
No. I appreciate that these inside Canberra games are played. Of course, the ALP is playing them as well – a couple of questions in Question Time this week. Not too many questions about the economy I note because they don’t have a very good record on the economy – never have had, never will have. The fact is I am concentrating on the role that I am doing – looking forward to at the weekend getting back to my electorate, going to the Cootamundra Show, opening that – doing those sorts of things as all National Party members will be doing this weekend, I’m sure, getting back to their electorates and next week getting back here and fighting …
KIERAN GILBERT:
But you said in the Parliament this week that there shouldn’t be leaking, that that’s a cancer on our democracy. Do you – because some of your colleagues believe that you backgrounded against Barnaby Joyce – do you deny ever having done that, having leaked against his leadership?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Absolutely and I can hand on heart say the fact that the person who broke the Barnaby Joyce story in the first place, (I) had never actually met her until weeks after I became the Deputy Prime Minister and that was witnessed by a couple of leading journalists in the Press Gallery who were surprised to realise that I had never actually met the reporter. I supported Barnaby, the whole party supported Barnaby and he did a very very good job as Leader of The National Party just like I am trying to do now. The National Party fiercely represents the interests of country people – we always have and we always will.
LAURA JAYES:
What do you say to your colleagues that are backgrounding?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Concentrate on the things that matter – people who are suffering from drought, making sure that they continue to do the job that they do representing their country electorates. That’s what we do, that’s what I am concentrating on. There are people out there who are struggling with cost of living, struggling with the drought – they’re the people I am focused on and they’re the people I’ll continue to focus on.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Barnaby Joyce yesterday said that the move or the discussion of the move of the embassy in Israel could hurt agricultural exports to the Middle East – do you agree with him on that, do you share his concerns about that thought bubble?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
We will have to wait and see how that plays out but I can understand why that policy decision or why that initiative has taken place. It is a good decision and I support it. Obviously, Indonesia is heavily reliant on Australian agriculture, on Australian cattle – one of the worst things that ever happened for Indonesia and our trade was the stopping of the live cattle exports and certainly that won’t happen under a Liberal Nationals’ Government.
LAURA JAYES:
Do you think there’s some things that you can do better, Michael McCormack?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well there’s always things we can all do better, Laura. There’s always things we can do better but I will continue to work hard each and every day. I will continue to make sure that the people who I represent in regional Australia are fiercely represented by the sorts of things that they expect and demand and deserve: better infrastructure, more spending on health and schools – we are already providing record amounts of funding for that – and certainly in the drought, I am looking forward to the drought summit here in Canberra on Friday week to make sure that we have the conversation about what we can and must and will do as far as even providing more drought support to those areas affected so badly by this prolonged dry spell.
KIERAN GILBERT:
We have discussed throughout this morning that this is not something The Nationals do in terms of challenges and spills and I don’t think it has ever happened in The Nationals, it is normally a much more disciplined Party Room when it comes to the …
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
(Interrupts) And still is, Kieran.
KIERAN GILBERT:
So would you, in that context, if you realised that a majority, you know, moved their support back to Joyce would you ever consider standing aside to maintain that sense of discipline within the party?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I don’t intend standing aside. I have got the support of the Party Room and that’s a fact.
LAURA JAYES:
One more question before we let you go: Llew O’Brien stood up in the chamber last night and called on a Royal Commission into the retail sector, but really focusing on Coles and Woolworths – is that something that you knew about before he stood up in the Parliament and is that something you support?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well look, Llew O’Brien and I have had many discussions and there have been many discussions about the duopoly and the role that they play. What I’m focused on is farmers getting a fair price at the farm gate for the produce, for the fruit and vegetables …
LAURA JAYES:
(Interrupts) The Royal Commission, though?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well look, we will see that, we will discuss that obviously in our Party Room and we will reach a position but let’s not forget that farmers need a fair and good price. I have to say that Coles and Woolies do provide a lot of support for those farmers, many of whom would just be trading at farmers’ markets in their local towns. So we will have a discussion about that. I know that Llew is passionate about that as some other members, not just Nationals either, are indeed, but we will have that discussion and we will see where it takes us.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Nationals’ Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, thanks for fronting up, appreciate it.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Thanks Kieran, thanks Laura, any time.