TRANSCRIPT: Goldenfields Water Press Conference, 19 July 2019
E&OE
Subjects: Goldenfields Water app, drought, water infrastructure, climate, Newstart, National Carp Control plan
JOURNALIST:
So Michael, today you talked about trying to save every drop of water and how important that is to everyone at the moment – it must be pretty exciting to see something like this open up right here in the Goldenfields catchment area?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Water is our most precious resource, I cannot understate that, cannot overstate it, it is so significant that we utilise every precious drop of water and, of course, this app provided for with $100,000 Federal Government grant is going to make sure that customers, farmers, businesses right throughout Goldenfields Water supply area – make sure that they know where every drop of water is going.
So, if they have got a leak, if they have had a spill, if they have got a tap which is a little bit faulty, indeed for a farmer a trough, they need to be able to get straight onto it, they can with this app, with this mobile phone app. They can also use it from their computers, but they can monitor their water usage. And, of course, that means a saving of money, it means a saving of water and that’s obviously going to be good, particularly in this time of drought.
JOURNALIST:
Obviously Goldenfields is the first to have this rolled out, would you like to see this in a much broader roll out in the coming months?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
This is indeed a pilot program and so $100,000 of Federal money has gone into this, we’ll see how it goes and, yes, it could well be something that we could look at rolling out across the country. Of course, we’ve got to have willing water suppliers, we’ve got to have people with that innovation, with that inventive type of spirit and also willing to back themselves, but Goldenfields Water has shown it is willing to back itself. The customers now, it is up to them to back this app, to make sure they download it onto their phone and then use it, because it is in their best interest to use it, it is in their best interest to make sure they know where their water is going. They, of course, want their water for their businesses, they want their water for stock and domestic purposes; they don’t want to be wasting water because wasting water is wasting money and for the customers, this is a great boon for them. This is going to be able to save them water, save them money and I urge and encourage them to download the app.
JOURNALIST:
And this is a great way for people to monitor their own water usage but you’ve talked a lot about trying to generate more supply. Yesterday’s session in Dubbo, there was a lot of talking going on – where are we at next? Are we getting any closer to building new dams or anything that you’ve talked about previously?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Just recently I announced the National Water Grid. So that is going to take the petty politics out of building water infrastructure. I want to take the petty politics out of this equation, I want to make sure that if there is a dam project, if there is a pipeline project, if there is a weir that needs heightening, lengthening or strengthening the Federal Government is willing to do just that. Now, if states are willing to come on board, we will go on the journey with them.
We have got $1.3 billion, we’ve topped that up with another half a billion dollars just prior to the end of last year, so we want to make sure that we build the right water infrastructure in the right catchment areas to save that most precious resource. So, whether it is building dams right through to making sure that we are utilising technology such as these apps, we want to get on board – we are getting on board – and if the states are willing to come with us on that journey, well and good. If they are not, well the National Water Grid will make sure we will take the petty politics out. We use the best available science, we use local stakeholder engagement and we get on and build dams.
I want to put a shovel in the ground before year’s end for a water infrastructure project. It has been too long, we have been talking about this for decades, we need to get on and build water infrastructure, particularly to drought-proof our nation even further so that if we build the infrastructure now, when it rains again – and it will – we are going to have the necessary resource there to harness that water, to harvest that water and then to utilise the water for when the next drought occurs because we know, as sure as God made little green apples, droughts will follow floods and so on and so forth. That’s the nature of Australia’s climate and we need to get on board and make sure that we co-operate with all stakeholders. We are doing that, we have got the funds available; I just want the states to come on the journey with us.
JOURNALIST:
The BOM has just declared this the worst drought in 120 years of record keeping – what are we going to do now for people who are suffering from this drought? I know that’s a long-term plan, this four-year plan but people are crying out for something now, what’s your…
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well next week in parliament we’ve got the $3.9 billion Future Drought Fund. It is going to parliament. The Liberals and Nationals have put it up – it is going to have a number of measures.
We have already put down as part of our drought-proofing measures and drought assistance measures, our drought relief measures – $7 billion. Part of that is the $3.9 billion Future Drought Fund. Labor have voted against it, they voted against it before the election. If they vote against it now, well we will just see that Labor does not care about regional areas. It will prove to us that Labor has not learnt lessons of 18 May. The policies are there. They are the correct policies. It’s the right thing to do.
Anthony Albanese, just like Scott Morrison and I, was at Dubbo yesterday. He looked those farmers in the eye. He saw those businesses which are doing it so tough in this drought and if Labor wants to turn around next week and play politics and not go ahead in a bipartisan way with these drought-necessary measures then that will be on their heads.
JOURNALIST:
And Mr Joyce yesterday backed an increase to the Newstart allowance, which hasn’t changed for many years and with a number of people struggling there’s going to be more people from the Riverina that are going to be accessing that service. Do you back an increase to the Newstart allowance?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well it does change and, like all necessary relief measures, they are indexed and they do go up accordingly, but the fact is that there are jobs out there if people are willing to take them. Newstart is only meant as a stopgap measure for those people aged over 22 who need to be able to access when they are looking and transitioning from one job to another. Something might have happened, they might have been laid off and they are looking for more work. They have got to, obviously, prove they are looking for work. There are jobs out there for those people and Newstart is meant to help them transition from one job into another and help them get by whilst that period is taking place, whilst they are out of work.
But there are jobs in regional Australia, you do not have to go far to see that there are jobs for those people who are willing to take them, those people who are sometimes willing to move. You can’t always have the job in the home town where you live and sometimes you either have to travel to work or indeed move to a new place and take up that job and there are many, many opportunities, and good paying jobs too, right throughout regional Australia, there are businesses willing to take those workers and just can’t get the employees.
I am proud that I am part of a Government which has helped business, which has helped put the economic conditions in place which has helped create 1.3 million jobs over the past six years. And, with our policies going forward, we’ve got the tax breaks for businesses, we’ve got the right policies in place to encourage businesses to put on another million employees over the next period, over the next term of parliament and that is what we are out there doing and there are jobs, I just encourage people to look hard and to take on one of those jobs. We need a more mobile workforce.
JOURNALIST:
The cost of living has gone up by more than that indexation, though. When I say it hasn’t risen, the base level hasn’t risen whereas our cost of living has, undeniably, gone up, just in power prices alone by over 200 per cent Is it still suitable for getting by on that, living on $550…
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
It is a stopgap measure. Newstart is a stopgap measure. The best form of welfare is a job. I urge and encourage those people who are out of work – look to regional Australia. There are plenty of towns, and good-sized towns too. I am in Junee; I am sure there are employers who are in Junee who are looking for employees.
I know no matter where you go throughout the Riverina, indeed anywhere throughout regional Australia, there are businesses, there are employers who are looking for employees. The employees should just sometimes take the job. It may not be their dream job, it might not be the job that is going to pay them their way to retirement but it is a start and it is better than being on benefits, it is better than not having that reason to get out of bed of a morning and go off to work and I encourage those people – look beyond where you are at the moment – there are jobs out there and look around and you will see something that might not be the job that you want right now but it will be the stepping stone, it will be the building blocks to something better a little later on.
JOURNALIST:
And finally from me, the Wagga City Council recently declared that climate emergency. What is your feeling; is that the right step for local governments to get involved in tacking this climate change issue?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, climate is an issue for everybody but I would urge and encourage the Council to more concentrate on better roads – they have got an increase of 25 per cent on Roads to Recovery funding from the Federal Government. Look to those issue which ratepayers are wanting them to look at. Better roads, of course, making sure that they do all the little things necessary and right.
Yes, climate is an issue but there are a lot of people who are running around at the moment saying a lot of things about climate which is, quite frankly, catastrophising the situation. There are a lot of people using a lot of figures that just, quite frankly, are not right.
We are addressing our climate responsibilities, we are meeting all of our international targets, we are not just meeting them, we are beating them and we will go on and will do that and we will do it in a responsible way such that we don’t close down businesses, such that businesses can afford to pay their power bills.
We are not going to do, as Bill Shorten suggested before the election, as the Greens are always suggesting, to deindustrialise Australia. We are going to continue to dig coal up because it is a valuable resource, it is a valuable power source. It provides employment for 55,000 people. It provides export markets of $60 billion and, the fact is, it is also doing a power of good for our energy sector, providing two thirds of our energy needs.
So we will go on we will keep talking about that. I see that Richard Marles has changed his stance a little with coal. Once upon a time he was denigrating those coal-mining workers, now he is celebrating coal, as all Labor should. But they do not want to be taken down the track kicking and screaming by the Greens because the Greens want to shut down everything, they want to shut down Australia as we know it. Well, The National Party, we’re not in for that. We are up for jobs, we are up for the resources, we are up for making sure we do things in a responsible manner and that is our stance and that is how it will continue.
JOURNALIST:
The National Carp Control plan is due to be delivered later this year. What impact will this plan make on restoring native biodiversity?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, from our research thus far and from what we have seen so far, it [the Coy Virus] has not had any effect on native fish. It has not had any effect on native flora and fauna, so that’s a good thing.
Carp, if left unchecked, will be an absolute destroyer of our natural water areas, our natural river environment, our streams, our waterways and so we had to address it, we have addressed it and of course the report will come back in December. It will show us if we need to do more, if we are on the right track, I know we are but whether or not we need to do more well that is what the report will show in December.