TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW WITH ABC NEWS BREAKFAST, 5 February 2020
E&EO
Subjects: Leadership, Ministerial Appointments, Energy;
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Back now to Federal Parliament where it has been a busy start to the week with the new ministry set to be announced this morning after the resignation of two Nationals and, of course, Barnaby Joyce's failed leadership coup. The re-elected National Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack joins us now from Parliament House.
Good morning, Michael. This leadership tension isn't over though, is it?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yes, it is. Barnaby Joyce has said that he is not re-challenging. I'll take him on his word.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
If you believe Barnaby Joyce won't come for you again, you believe in the tooth fairy, don't you?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, I did believe in the tooth fairy as a child, until I found out otherwise. But the fact is that Barnaby Joyce has said that he's not going to re-challenge. Let's take him on his word. And what we need to do now is draw a line under this and make sure that for those people in regional Australia - those people who are hurting through the ongoing crippling drought, those people who have been particularly affected by bushfires this summer - they're the ones who we need to be addressing the needs of.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
You firmly believe that Barnaby Joyce and his mate, Matt Canavan, will happily sit on the backbench and give you a clear run?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, they stood up yesterday and both said exactly that. And you take people on their word - particularly country people. We all need to work for and on behalf of the people who send us to Canberra to do the job for them. Whether it is bushfires or drought or delivering better infrastructure - Inland Rail and more dams, that's my focus. That's always been my focus. The National Party are unite behind me. We've had the vote. The vote was clear. I've been re-elected as the leader, or reaffirmed as the leader, and we're moving on.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
OK, would you consider bringing Barnaby Joyce back into the Cabinet or the ministry to have him in the tent rather than outside?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I'll be determining those ministerial positions later today. We'll not necessarily be making those announcements today, but watch this space. The fact is - we need to ensure we've got the right people in the right jobs. I'm really glad that in the National Party, we've got so much talent knocking on the door. We can't all be in Cabinet. We can't all be in the ministerial position, but we can all serve our regional constituents, and that's what we're doing. That's our focus.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
You say you've got so much talent, and we do know that the party did well in terms of female representation at the last election. But at this stage, after Bridget McKenzie's departure, you won't have a female in Cabinet. That won't be a good look, will it?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
We have six females, up from two in the last election. That was one of my most proudest achievements. The fact that we were able to get that amount of female representation, and they're all talented. We have four new females in our team. That is fantastic. Of course, Michelle Landry is doing a great job as the Assistant Minister for Families and Children. And I'm sure that those women, that they will certainly be out there representing their electorates, representing their states, as you would expect them to be. And in time, they, too, will be given their chance. We need to focus on the people who send us here to represent them, though. All this talk about positions and power and all the like - out there in regional Australia, if you've lost your farm, if you've lost your business, a house or a loved one, what you want to be hearing from politicians in Canberra is talking about how you're going to make life better for them. Not how you're going to make life better for yourself. That's always been my focus.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
On that basis, your new deputy says that the National Party, by definition, you, as the leader, has to get that message out and you haven't been as assertive speaking to the traditional voters?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I've made sure that the sort of delivery we've achieved hasn't always been easy around the Cabinet table, not around the expenditure.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
[Interrupts] So it's been the Liberal Party's fault?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
If I have a disagreement with the Liberals, I'll leave that behind closed doors. And again, people at the last election, they were craving for unity, stability within the Government. That's what they voted for. That's what we're going to be giving them. And they don't want to see scraps between the Coalition partners or arguments between the leaders. What they want to see is - yes, people fighting for them. Not fighting between themselves. Scott Morrison and I get on very well. He knows from where I'm coming. He knows exactly that I will always stick up for regional Australia. I crossed the floor before in Parliament on an issue. I've always been one who has spoken his mind, and always been one when I have spoken my mind, put my name to it. Too much backgrounding goes on here in Canberra. Way too much media speculation about all sorts of things, but people out there in voter land - they want to make sure that the focus is on them and that the delivery is given to them. And that's always been my major focus.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
OK, do you believe in the science of climate change?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yes. Yes, I do.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Why did you say back before Christmas, and I'm quoting you directly, "Climate change is only the concern of woke capital city greenies".
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I was talking about Richard Di Natale, and Adam Bandt. And whilst I say that - I do want to wish Adam all the best in his new role, and wish Richard all the best for retiring for family reasons, and do want to reach out and scroll through my phone to see if I had either of their numbers. I think that Adam is waiting in the studio and I'll see him in a short while and I'll congratulate him on his new role. But they did go out and accuse, I thought unfairly, the Prime Minister of being in some way responsible for the sad and tragic and unfortunate deaths of those people in the bushfires very early in the bushfire season, which I thought was going way too far. And I called them out for it. We are meeting and beating our international obligations as far as reducing emissions. We're doing that. But we're doing it in a responsible way. We're doing it in the way that we said we would prior to the election and when we were re-endorsed last May in the election, people wanted, they told us, they showed us by their votes, that they want their factories kept open. They want their farms operating the way they should. We don't want to be sending industry offshore. And there is a future for coal in this country, and certainly for the 55,000 people who put on a uniform, put on a high-vis vest and go to work, not just in the coal sector, but resources every day.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Excuse the interruption, on coal and industry, you've been championing the chief executive Mark Kutafati, the head of one of the world's biggest miners says that his company wants to be out of thermal coal, which produces electricity, within five years. He went on to say, "Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time and we cannot underestimate that." Do you agree with him, the leader of one of the world's largest coal companies, that there is a time...
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
He's entitled to his view.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
He's the chief executive of one of the world's biggest miners.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Fantastic, good on him, and he's probably done very nicely, thank you very much, out of the coal industry. Very, very nicely, but coal is providing two thirds of Australia's power and energy needs. Providing $62 billion of exports. It's providing 55,000 jobs. We are a Government looking at all forms of technology to be able to power this country and I'm glad that we've just gone into an agreement with New South Wales. We need to use more gas. We need to actually get more gas into the system. And I know that Angus Taylor and others are working very hard to make sure that we're bringing power prices down for Australians. That's one of the most important things for them is the energy bill and making sure that it is affordable, and that's what we're doing and achieving.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Your deputy, David Littleproud, told 7.30 last night, in his words, that the partisan allocation of the sports grant money was not necessarily the best way of distributing it. Do you agree with him?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
What I agree with is that each and every one of the grants allocated were eligible to be allocated.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
I want to direct you back to Mr Littleproud's comments.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I didn't hear it.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
I'm telling you, he said, in his view, that it was a partisan allocation based on political purposes, was not the best way of putting that money out. Do you agree with that sentiment?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
We can take learnings from what the report has decreed. Phil Gaetjens has also said, the secretary, that there was no bias towards targeted or marginal seats. He has said that. And yes, we can take learnings from what the ANAO report has said, and from Mr Gaetjens and what he's also found. No bias. All projects eligible, and I'm proud of the fact that we've got a set of books which are balanced, which are coming into surplus, and which provide the ability for the Government, through the expenditure review process, through the budget process, to be able to fund even more rounds of these programs. Particularly important for regional Australia. And let me tell you, when you're out in regional Australia and you're a young woman and you're wanting to play netball or AFLW or soccer or whatever the case may be, you shouldn't have to be getting dressed behind a car. You shouldn't have to be getting dressed behind a tree. You should be able to have the same sorts of facilities that the boys have always enjoyed. And that's what I'm particularly pleased about with this program. Well done to Bridget McKenzie for doing just that.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Out of time, Michael McCormack in Canberra, thank you so much for joining us.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Any time at all.