TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW WITH 2NM RADIO, 25 NOVEMBER 2020
E&OE
Subjects: Singleton Bypass; Coal industry; Trade agreements; The Nationals representing the Upper Hunter.
JESSICA ROUSE
Jess in with you this afternoon, and I’m catching up with the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the National Party, Michael McCormack. Michael, how are you this afternoon?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Great, Jess, fantastic to be in this studio, 2NM, giving all the sounds of the Hunter.
JESSICA ROUSE
And it’s lovely to have you in the Hunter region for some very important reasons, particularly an infrastructure project that is very, very close to all of the Upper Hunter’s hearts – the Singleton Bypass project.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
It’s a project that’s been talked about for a long, long time and is being delivered by The Nationals in Government. And I know that Michael Johnsen, the Member for Upper Hunter, Barnaby Joyce, of course the Member for New England, I know Senator Perin Davey was with me today and perhaps also just as importantly, we had local government and lots of people there looking on as we talked about this. It was an announcement in the Budget – $560 million going to a $700 million project. I know Paul Toole, the Minister in the New South Wales Parliament for Regional Transport and Roads, he and I talk a lot about regional connectivity. And we are building roads, we are building rail right across this great State, but particularly the Hunter is very, very important. It’s an area of high productivity. It’s got lots going on, whether it’s coal mining, whether it’s racehorses, whether it’s winery tourism, there’s a lot going on. And we want to take many of those vehicles away from the Singleton town centre. There’s something like 26,000 cars and many of them heavy vehicles, rumble through Singleton each and every day. And more than half of those – in fact 15,000 of those – are expected to, of course, use the bypass. And that’s got to lead to less congestion in Singleton and better road safety options for all.
JESSICA ROUSE
Yes. Now we all in the Upper Hunter know all of this. We know we’ve wanted the bypass for such a long time now. With the pandemic that we are going through and the real push to fast-track projects to get that economic boost to the regions, to get jobs to the regions, is there any chance that we’ll see this bypass construction start before mid-2023?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well we’ll do everything we can, but what happens is that the Federal Government commits a very, very big cheque, normally an 80-20 split. So we’re spending $560 million of the $700 million project. The State then goes away and does the tendering, does the contracting. They look at the environmental impacts that are going to happen. They do the planning, they do the design work. All of that happens. Transport for NSW, of course, very, very heavily involved.
So, look, we’ll see what we can do. This is, as you say, a job creation project – 1,370 jobs going to be created from this project. And, of course, it’s expected to take about three years to build. So it’s a long build, it’s a big build. It’s only 8 kilometres, but it’s a big, big project. And, you know, we’re future-proofing it of course, making sure that it’s got the right options so that it can be four-laned in future. But it’s a big project. Lots of jobs and if we can bring it forward, I’m sure New South Wales will do everything to make that happen.
JESSICA ROUSE
Yes, speaking of jobs and the economy, of course, our mining industry, one of the biggest industries in the Upper Hunter, is going through quite the rough patch at the moment. We had a record year last year when it came to coal exports, but due to the pandemic we don’t seem to be able to get our coal out of the country. We have seen job losses in the region. We have seen some mines shut, some partially shut for a period of time as well. What can we do there to try and bring that back up?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, the world is suffering from this global pandemic. It’s not just Australia. And we’ve done very, very well considering it has had such an economic effect. We’ve been fortunate that in one sense the death rate in Australia has been low compared to any other country you’d like to mention. Yes, there are going to be more than 900 families mourning the loss of a loved one this Christmas, but by and large when you consider that we’re not having that many or if any community transmission cases in most states – all states, indeed, in recent times – and yet you look at America, 200,000 cases just in one single day, the other day. And you know, tens of thousands of people dying across the world. It’s, you know, on a daily, weekly basis it is tragic. So we’ve done very well. We’re lucky that we’re an island nation and we’re lucky that people have done the right thing.
And the Government has back-ended the economy because of it. Yes, coal is suffering, but we’ll always, as The Nationals, support the coal industry. Yes, the Hunter is having a bit of a downturn. I understand that. But there’s also, you know, there’s developments in the Surat, the Galilee, the Bowen Basin in Queensland. There is a future for coal and The Nationals back those workers who put on the hi-vis and go to work every day and also those people – many of whom are in capital cities – who work in white-collar jobs who are supported by the coal industry and work directly in the coal industry. So we’ll always support them. We will. And we’ll do everything in our power to make sure that those exports continue.
JESSICA ROUSE
In terms of trade and exports, are there conversations happening to perhaps have new trade deals, perhaps different countries?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Oh indeed. And you know, the Prime Minister was only in Japan just the other day. We’ve got a Japan-Australia free trade agreement, of course, but to build on that and to expand that and to look at other markets as well. We’ve got the CHAFTA – the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement – we’ve got free trade agreements with many, many countries. We’ve just signed a recent one with Indonesia, a free trade pact. And I know that whether it’s The Trans-Pacific Partnership 11, that’s a $13.3 trillion opportunity for Australian farmers, for Australian resources, for all sorts of sectors right across, even in services, not just goods but also in services. So we’re the Government of trade. More trade means more jobs and we’ll always be backing our – you know, we are a trading nation – so we’ll always make sure that we have a vision to increase our trading options to help diversify our economy.
JESSICA ROUSE
Yes and you’ve just been chatting to the Muswellbrook Shire Council, the Mayor particularly, talking about –
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Martin Rush, yes.
JESSICA ROUSE
Yes. Talking about the transitions that are sort of happening in the region when it comes to the coal and new renewable energies. What were your thoughts on that?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Oh look, it was a great presentation. I know Mayor Rush and his General Manager, Fiona. They’ve got a plan for the future and you know, it’s good and encouraging to talk to local governments about their plan for the future, because you’ve got to have a plan. And they’re very delighted that they are getting $1.4 million in Local Roads and Community Infrastructure money. They’re very delighted about the Roads to Recovery Funding. In fact, Mayor Rush praised the Federal Government for the funding that we have had. And he said $32 million in State and Federal funding having come to this region and they’re looking at busily spending that and creating work, creating local procurement opportunities for small businesses up and down the main street and elsewhere throughout the wider region. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what we’ve done as a Federal Government to make sure that we’ve supported the economy but whilst also addressing the health pandemic that has been COVID-19.
JESSICA ROUSE
And lastly, this week it kind of feels like a bit of an election vibe in the Upper Hunter. We’re very much in the spotlight when it comes to The Nationals. Is this off the back of Joel Fitzgibbon stepping back to the backbench?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, Labor are at sixes and sevens and Joel doesn’t agree with Anthony Albanese and Anthony Albanese doesn’t agree with Joel Fitzgibbon. So there’s a very big split there. The Nationals are all as one when it comes to coal and when it comes to what we need to do for regional and rural economies. We are always supportive of those economies. Labor, well, they wouldn’t know the regions if it bounced up and hit them in the face and certainly they don’t support coal.
JESSICA ROUSE
When it comes to The National Party and the next election, David Littleproud mentioned when he was last in town a few weeks ago that you would be pushing to have someone sit in the seat and go for the election for The National Party?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Absolutely. Well, Josh Angus did a great job at the last Federal Election in May last year. Came within a whisker. And you know, we’ve got a branch here. We’ve got a strong organisation here and we’ll do everything we can to ensure that people of the Hunter know that in The Nationals they’ve got a Party that cares about their interests. We’ve got very common interests with people of the Hunter. Michael Johnsen is doing a good job as the State Member. I’ve, you know, had many, many dealings with Michael over many, many years and he’s an example of somebody who had a crack and missed out, but he kept fighting hard and that’s what Nationals do. We fight hard. We get in there and then when we get in there and we get around that big table that’s the Ministerial table or the Cabinet table, the table where the money is being decided where it’s going to be spent, we deliver. We deliver for and on behalf of the country people who put us in there.
JESSICA ROUSE
Well, Michael, it’s been a pleasure having you in the Upper Hunter today. Thanks for joining us.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Thank you, Jess.