Transcript: Doorstop, Shepparton, 11 April 2019
EO&E
Subjects: Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton Bypass, health services, election, Murray-Darling Basin Plan, solar farms
With: Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, Federal Member for Murray Damian Drum & Goulburn Valley Health CEO Matt Sharp
DAMIAN DRUM:
It's amazing to be able to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister into Shepparton today. We have a range of announcements, starting with the additional finance to support the Shepparton Art Museum and the amazing building that's going to be a real economic driver for the for the city. We’ve also had the opportunity for the Deputy Prime Minister to advocate, again, for the improvements that are going to generate with transport and the efficiencies that are going to be going by the Shepparton bypass, a $208 million investment into the region. And thirdly we’ve come here to GV Health to talk about a $4 million investment in relation to paediatric services to child and adult mental health services to Headspace to bring a whole range of mental health, early childhood intervention programs together in a more integrated fashion and the $4 million investment from the Federal Government into GV Health is going to enable the first stage of a very significant rebuild here at the Corio Street site. So again, it's amazing for the Federal Government to be able to be in a position where they can invest in the health of a region and as a local MP there is nothing more important than knowing that you're doing everything you possibly can to improve the health of your people. So to talk a little bit more about the details associated with this announcement, I’d like to introduce Matt Sharp who has been an amazing advocate for GV Health. Matt.
MATT SHARP:
Thank you Damian. Goulburn Valley Health is extremely grateful for the commitment and announcement today from the government for the paediatric and children's hub here at Corio Street in Shepparton. What that will enable us to do is to bring some services currently down at our acute hospital site, our child and adolescent mental health services and community paediatric clinics, relocate from here to the central hub in the central business district of Shepparton. What's important about that is it will allow us to integrate our mental health services for young people with our Headspace service that we already provide that service across the region. It will also allow us to bring together our rehabilitation services for children and young people and our early intervention services. What we know, the reason why that's so important is because it will give us the chance to increase the access available for children, young people and their families across the region and create virtually a one-stop-shop for them to come and receive these really important health services. As Damian said, what's critical about that is that we know also the evidence is really strong, that giving people the best chance they have in terms of the best start to their life is going to reduce any other health complications and/or outcomes in future. So this is a really exciting announcement that will allow us to have best world-class facilities here for children and young people right across the region and as I said, Goulburn Valley Health is really grateful for the Government’s support to enable this to happen.
DAMIAN DRUM:
Thanks very much Matt. So I think now that Matt’s connects [inaudible] and anybody that would to…I can throw to the DPM, to talk about the three issues of SAM, bypass and GV Health and importantly, if you’d like to throw questions about the 18th of May, go for your life.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, thank you very much Damian. It's great to be here with you in Shepparton, in the marvellous Goulburn Valley and it's great to be here announcing funding programs and projects because we've got a strong economy. When you've got a strong economy, and you have a surplus budget, you can do the sorts of things for regional Australia that Labor could never do. Labor could never afford to do. And the fact is, we’ve put another $5 million on the table as part of a $15 million total commitment for the Shepparton Art Museum. That is going to attract visitors to the Goulburn Valley. That is going to have international acclaim for Shepparton like it's never had before. This $4 million investment for Goulburn Valley Health is so important. This health hub is going to make such a difference for the young people of this community and when you have a healthy community you have a happy community. And when you give the kids the best start in life through better health outcomes, it makes such a difference too. And of course, we've also got the Shepparton Bypass. Now that is a more than $200 million commitment to a bypass that is going to take heavy vehicles out and away from Shepparton. Of course, the trucks delivering goods and all the sorts of things that they need to do to deliver to the main street, to the central business district of Shepparton, it will still happen, but we'll get those heavy vehicles out of harm's way. We’ll get them away from the main community area and when you have these sorts of bypasses in these major regional communities, then you have safer options. You’re getting people to their destination sooner and safer and that's what our $100 billion commitment right across Australia but particularly regional Australia, is all about. Last week's budget was a budget for the regions. Last week’s budget was a budget for infrastructure. And these sorts of things also don't happen unless you've got a really strong advocate. Somebody who campaigns, somebody who, when they talk about things in their own electorates, they listen to the people, the stakeholders in their own communities, they don't just leave it there, they go to Canberra, they fight hard for it and they deliver. They achieve and that person is Damian Drum. What he has done for the electorate of Murray, soon to be electorate of Nicholls, is quite outstanding. He has delivered. He’s delivered better bypasses, better health outcomes, better roads, more health services and watch this space, there's more to come in that regard. More money for schools. That's what he's delivering as part of a strong Liberal Nationals team. As part of a strong Nationals’ in Government and as part of a really strong Government which has got a really strong focus on regional Australia and regional Victoria.
QUESTION:
May 18. We’ve finally got an election date. What do you say to Australians who might be thinking, why should I reward an unstable Government?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well they should think local. Vote National. It’s not an unstable Government. We have been a very, very good government. The Liberals and Nationals, we have one focus in mind, and that is building a better future. Building a better future for all Australians. Making sure that we've got lower taxes without penalising people at the top end of the scale or any end of the scale. Making sure that when we cut taxes, we don't do it at the expense of somebody else. Making sure that we've got a strong economy so that when we invest in a road, whether it's in Melbourne, whether it's in regional Victoria, wherever it is, it's not coming at the expense of another community and making sure that we've got that $100 billion pipeline of infrastructure right around Australia that can build better things such as the Goulburn Valley Health Hub making sure that we can build cancer centres, making sure that we can build radiotherapy centres, making sure that we can bulk bill more MRI centres, making sure that we can do the sorts of things that regional people expect, demand and most of all deserve. Labor has never cared about the regions. They've never cared about them in the past, they don't care about them now and they won't in the future. If Bill Shorten gets into the Lodge, well, [indistinct] regional Australia.
QUESTION:
The issue of water and the Murray Darling Basin Plan played a key role in a number of your State counterparts losing their seats in the New South Wales election. Are you concerned about that being replicated across the country, in particular in northern Victoria and southern Riverina?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
When you say a number, we lost two and that was very, very unfortunate. We lost the seats of Murray in the New South Wales State Election and we also lost the seat of Barwon. The fact is, there were also other localised issues there that did play a part, but look, Rob Vertessy, yesterday announced the independent findings into an inquiry into some investigations and analysis that he was tasked to do by the Agriculture Minister David Littleproud and we’ll take on board those recommendations. We’ve already put down $70 million on the table to address the issues that he’s raised. The Menindee fish kill situation was very unfortunate. There’s no question about it but the fact is, the Darling River has gone dry 57 times in the past 57 years. The water has stopped flowing where they measure it past Bourke and the fact is, it is an unfortunate situation that in some parts of the catchment it has not rained for seven years. That prolonged drought period has been very, very hard, but particularly for the people who live along the Darling, but also people that live along the Murray, people who live along the Murrumbidgee in my part of the world in south-west New South Wales. It’s a situation which we can't make it rain. We can put down the policies that is going to help these river communities. I come from a river community. I understand the problems and the issues and let me tell you, The Nationals will address these. We certainly will and we are doing that.
QUESTION:
So what do you say to those that are saying they won’t vote Nationals at the next election because of your water policy?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well if they think long and hard about the delivery that we've done. Not just in water, but right across the board. Right across the board, we’ve made sure that we've provided the best health outcomes, the best business outcomes for people. We’ve got the business tax rate down to its lowest rate for 79 years. We’re making sure that we deliver for these regional communities, whether it's better roads, whether it’s is better infrastructure and it will rain again. We’re putting down $500 million for more water infrastructure. That’s a record amount of money as part of a $1.3 billion investment in more water infrastructure and whether that’s things such as the Mitiamo Pipeline, whether that’s such things as heightening, lengthening, strengthening weirs or building more dams, we will do it as part of the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund.
QUESTION:
With Cathy McGowan retiring, Helen Haines is the Independent to beat in the seat of Indi. Are you confident that you’ll be competitive or at least The Nationals will be successful in that seat?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I’ve got every confidence in Mark Byatt. I know he did very well at the forum at Benalla last night. I know he understands regional development. He's got agricultural experience. Comes from a farming family. He gets it. He is going to be an outstanding representative, a candidate for The National Party and I'm sure if the people of Indi give him, place their faith in him, he will do the job for them.
QUESTION:
The Courier Mail is reporting today that George Christensen left his electorate just two weeks after Cyclone Debbie for weight loss surgery in the Philippines. How much of this is going to damage his prospects?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, the fact is, George wants to have healthy outcomes like we all want healthy outcomes. We’ve just announced $4 million for healthy outcomes for Shepparton and if George has a personal issue to deal with, well he’s done that. I’ve got to say, I commend George Christensen for his fighting Spirit. Not only to lose weight, but also to make sure that he represents the people of Dawson, the people of Mackay very fiercely. He's been an outstanding advocate for Dawson and for the North Queensland, Central Queensland electorate that he represents. I’ve got every faith that he will continue to do that right up to the election and indeed for many more years to come.
QUESTION:
Are stories like this is damaging during an election cycle though?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well I haven’t read the particular story but I’ve got every faith George Christensen continuing to deliver for the people of Dawson.
DAMIAN DRUM:
So just in relation to water because it's an incredibly important issue and it’s also incredibly important for the ABC, especially if we are being broadcast into metropolitan markets, that when we talk about the water situation in regional Australia and regional Victoria, right now the Goulburn River and the Murray River are running at near capacity. So the environment which has the most amount of water of any water owner is held by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. 90 per cent of their environmental assets are being looked after, are being achieved by water that’s being traded down the river. So what I am saying, right now the Murray River is running at near capacity. The Goulburn River is running at near capacity and yet we have this situation where our farmers are being victimised by people who are wanting to run vegan campaigns and activist campaigns where people want to somehow or other call the irrigators responsible for the fish kills. There is just an enormous misservice and injustice that is being perpetrated right now and we cannot get Melbourne, Sydney media interested in what our plight is here in the Goulburn Valley. The food bowl that everyone thinks we should be able to feed the world with. Well we can’t feed the world if the environment keeps taking our water and refuses to engage when we ask for the possibility of maybe some of that un-used, un-needed environmental water could be put back onto market for irrigators who have the capacity to take that water and turn it into food and produce. But no, we keep hearing that the environment doesn’t want to play this space. It wants to carry the water over to what they might need next year. Well at some stage the metropolitan media outlets have got to start looking at the damage that is being caused in the Goulburn Valley and if they want to keep ignoring it, then we’ll know where they sit. But right now the fight is all about us trying to protect our irrigation and our agricultural sectors against an environment that has this unquenchable thirst for more and more water.
QUESTION:
You’ve talked about issues surrounding the environment and this might be a question for the Deputy Prime Minister as well, climate change is going to be a huge issue at the next election, will the government finally announce some sort of strategy moving forward.
DAMIAN DRUM:
So we’re going right now, here in Victoria, the Andrews Government have got a ban on gas. We know that if we are able to extract more gas out of the regions, we could bring down the price of electricity and we could cut emissions. We could have win-win but we have a Labor Government here in Victoria and we have a [inaudible] who have no interest in gas. Well you know that we have 1.5 million gas wells around the world and there’s not one scientific example of aquifers that have polluted of have been contaminated. So we have this situation where the Labor Party that want to be the Government, they want, Bill Shorten wants to be the Government. He has no courage at all when it comes to pushing the agenda for more gas onto the market. We have, in the Goulburn Valley, we have a whole raft of food processing operations that need a competitive gas price for them to be able to keep offering the employment opportunities for their parents. So again, right here in the Goulburn Valley, mum and dad have trouble paying a high energy bill. They then go to work in an energy intensive industry and they have trouble keeping their employment because everybody is under pressure. We have a situation where gas, more gas onto the market at a cheaper rate could alleviate so many of these properties so don’t talk to us about science and climate change when we have an opportunity to achieve both outcomes and we have gutless state governments who don’t want to go into this space.
QUESTION:
We have a number of solar farms being constructed in the region and some orchards are even installing solar powered to power their own operations. Will the Government provide incentives to go down this avenue?
DAMIAN DRUM:
Well I think local government have a real role to play here because they understand their regions best. So if there’s an application for a solar farm in a region like the Goulburn Valley, whether it be the seat of Moira, whether it be the Council of Moira, whether it be the Council of Campaspe or whether it be the Shepparton Council, they are the best ones in a position to say is that location the right location for a solar farm or is that absolutely prime agricultural land that we should be safeguarding in that land for agricultural production. What’s happened in this space is that councils have found this particular issue very, very difficult to deal with so they attempted to push all of these issues aside and tried to let the state government make these decisions. So I think there’s a real place for solar farms right throughout the Goulburn Valley but when you drill right down, we should be able to find aspects within the Goulburn Valley or parts within the Goulburn Valley that are maybe not prime agriculture land but maybe not quite so well located when it comes to being near the electricity grid which is the primary area.
QUESTION:
Well there’s a number of businesses themselves installing them on their own properties to fund their own enterprises, is that something the government would provide funding and support for?
DAMIAN DRUM:
Well I think that government are happy to do that however we also understand that as more and more and more people go into renewable energy on their roof, we put more and more pressure on the system to provide affordable, reliable energy and a lack of reliability only increases the cost of electricity so whilst everybody that likes to espouse the values of renewable energy, say that it’s cheaper, effectively as we get out of [indistinct] with the balance of energy in relation to dispachable or renewable or intermidnent energy, as we get out of kilter with that balance, we are simply just pushing the price of energy up and this is undoubtly the truth, the facts that if we have and we are already out of kilter, we are already out of balance and the AEMO, the Australian Energy Market Operator are telling us very, very clearly that while we let this balance get further out of kilter the price of electricity is going to increase, not decrease.
QUESTION:
Two key states in the federal election will be Queensland and Victoria, they’re at odds over this issue, so are you worried about voters in both of those states?
DAMIAN DRUM:
Victoria and Queensland are at odds over a lot of things and that’s what makes The National Party so brilliant. The fact is that we are encouraged to go in there and represent and have our fights and come up with policy that is fantastic the nation.
QUESTION:
Will it make it difficult for MPs in Queensland to be elected though?
DAMIAN DRUM:
No, well because what you must understand and I assure you, I’m sure the ABC would understand this, that electricity is 95 per cent a state issue. So if Queensland Government which at the moment wants to rip its people off by charging the gold plate of the poles and wires then the Queensland Labor Government can rip their people off. We don’t care. But in Victoria, what we’re saying is we could fix a large portion of our problems just by being a bit more receptive for gas. Gas exploration and then potentially gas extraction but we have a gutless State Labor Government that won’t go anywhere near it. They’re too scared of activists that are going to get behind GetUp, going to get behind Lock the Gate, get behind The Greens and going to support the Labor Party to have nothing. It is just abysmal that they’re prepared to sacrifice communities like the Goulburn Valley that are so energy intensive with our needs. We need help and at the moment, we’re not looking for Labor to give us any help at all.