TRANSCRIPT: Interview with James 'Monte' Irvine, Radio 2NZ Inverell, 28 June 2019

E&OE

Subjects: Manufacturing in Inverell, water infrastructure, nuclear power, Federal Government infrastructure funding, retiring Senator John Williams

QUESTION:

We have the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Michael McCormack. Good morning.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:             

Good morning Monte, very well this morning. It’s great to be here. It’s a great town.

QUESTION:        

[Inaudible – Re visit yesterday to Boss Engineering, Taylor Street, Inverell]

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:             

What a great facility that was. Michael and Dan run a tremendous show there with 100 employees. They’re making seeders and other farm equipment, really providing a great manufacturing ability. And when we’re all writing manufacturing off in Australia, when everybody’s saying there’s no such thing as manufacturing happening in this country, here they are in Inverell employing 100 people, providing options for people all over Australia and elsewhere. It’s a great facility and I commend their work. It’s world class, world class.

QUESTION:        

[Inaudible – re nuclear power]

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:             

It’s not on the federal table at the moment and if the states want to build and go down that path, well, they’re most welcome to do so. But as I say, it’s not on the federal table at the moment. And the fact is, when it comes to nuclear, if people are talking about nuclear medicine and they need that sort of treatment, they’re the first to put their hands up. But when it comes to nuclear power and people say well, you know that’s the way of the future, most people would not want a nuclear reactor or anything to do with it anywhere near their own communities. So if the states want to go down that path, they’re most welcome and John Barilaro’s most welcome to do just that. But it’s not on the federal table at the moment.

That said, we need a mix of energy and of course we’ve got everything here in Australia to provide every sort of energy. In the future we may well go down that path. But we have to do it in a sensible, responsible way. And when it comes to power and energy, the fact is we need to get our big stick legislation through the Parliament and our tax cuts as well. They’re the ones that we took to the election. They’re the ones that the people voted for us and they’re the ones that we’ll pursue.

QUESTION:        

[Inaudible – re NSW National Party conference agenda for this weekend at Inverell]

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:             

I know there’s a lot of talk about water infrastructure and I’m delighted that there’s going to be a lot of discussion about that. I want to build a dam. Whether it’s in regional New South Wales, I don’t care. We have the National Water Grid - we announced it during the election campaign to take the petty politics out of water infrastructure building. We want to make sure that everyone’s on board but certainly want local input, local stakeholder input.

Farmers are telling us it’s very, very dry. They know. I had a meeting with a group of about 30 farmers at the rugby oval here late yesterday evening. All they want is they want security, water surety. We will provide that with the right water storage infrastructure. We can do that with the National Water Grid. I’m delighted that that’s on the table.

There’s lots of discussion points to be had during this conference. Hundreds of people have arrived in Inverell. You can’t get a motel room in Inverell. I know that there’s a two-and-half day sale in the central business district. My wife Catherine went and helped that process yesterday. There’s a number of things we’ve got on that conference table. It’s going to be a great weekend.

QUESTION:        

[Inaudible]

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:             

Well if it’s not going to rain it might as well be beautiful.

QUESTION:        

[Inaudible]

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:             

I’m more than happy for him to do that, with Gladys Berejiklian. I mean they’re in partnership together, and I know John’s a fighter and a campaigner for more money - as am I. But I think what people said at the May 18 federal election was that they wanted stability, they wanted unity. More than anything else, they were so sick of the infighting that has occurred in Canberra. Any discussions about funding and any bolshiness that might occur is sometimes best left behind closed doors. It might be titillating for The Telegraph readers. It might make great grist for the mill for the Sky News studios and all the rest, but the fact is I think Australians just want stability in Government. They want to see things funded and that’s why the Federal Government is rolling out $100 billion - $100 billion - of infrastructure  - and let me tell you, regional New South Wales is not missing out on their fair share.

QUESTION:        

[Inaudible]

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:             

Indeed, and it’s a great send off for Wacka Williams too, John Williams. Senator John Williams has done a great job for Inverell in the Federal Parliament. Inverell has always had a voice in the Federal Parliament in Senator Wacka Williams, and that’ll continue with Perin Davey taking over his Senate spot. So, fantastic conference, fantastic town, looking forward to the weekend.

All the very best.