TRANSCRIPT: SOUNDS OF THE MOUNTAINS RADIO INTERVIEW, 7 April 2020

E&OE

Subjects: Coronavirus;

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Every week or two we catch up with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Leader of the National Party, of course, it is the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack. Mr McCormack, thank you for your time today.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Pleasure, David.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

On a – we were talking off air – beautiful Tuesday morning across the region weather wise and after some very welcome rain across the region.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

In this area it's always splendid one day and beautiful the next.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Isn't that true?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Why would you want to live anywhere else, David?

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Isn't that true, particularly with what we have at the moment with COVID-19 and what is happening across the country and not just in Australia, but across the world and I think Australia appears to be doing a terrific job, Mr McCormack. What's the latest?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well, that's true David and if you look at the Murrumbidgee local health figures, they can count the number of cases in just dozens and of course, in Australia it's 5,800 and yet you compare that to worldwide where we've got 1.3 million cases and you just look at the US - 356,000 cases, Australia is very lucky and as I said before, why would you want to live anywhere else?

Our health system is good, it's coping. The numbers of coronavirus cases increasing overnight is actually slowing or getting less than the day before and the day before that. So, you know, as best we can, we've done well to so far, contain and minimise it but that's not to say we should get complacent, because we all have to play our part in this and exercising those social distancing and self-isolation, if you have to and of course, quarantine measures are in place for those people who have come back from overseas etcetera. So people just have to exercise good hygiene and do everything that they've been asked to do by not the governments but mainly the Chief Medical Officer, the experts, Dr Brendan Murphy and his wonderful team who have been very visible, very out there telling people to be their best selves and that advice needs to be followed.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

And I think it is. When you look around the region at the restrictions in force and there are some tough decisions having had been made by community members, business owners and so forth. One thing that we will mention is yesterday's announcement there with $5 million to support the regional and rural – Regional and Small Publishers Innovation Fund. Now the Government is supporting our regional papers, what an asset they are.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Look they are, and the Tumut and Adelong Times and other district publications bring the news that people can use and of course, your station and our television stations are all local people reporting local news for other local people and that's what we want to see and the initial $5 million outlay, as you say, was put on the table yesterday. But that's just, as I explained to the Country Press Association President Bruce Ellen last night – that is just an initial outlay. Watch this space. We want our local journalists to continue to ply their trade. Having been a local journalist for 21 years in this area, I know how important a job local news plays in people's lives and we want to make sure that it continues.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

And that's amongst a huge – the last time we spoke, a massive amount of funds coming in from the Federal Government into communities, particularly JobKeeper. This is being discussed on the floor tomorrow, Michael.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

It is, indeed. Back to Parliament tomorrow just for that particular legislation, the JobKeeper legislation, to get it through, to make sure that we can get the assistance to where it's most needed and for businesses wanting to keep employees on the books, that $1,500 per fortnight is going to make the world of difference to them to be able to sustain their businesses and to keep people in jobs and that's what it's all about and it's there for casuals who have been there for more than 12 months, it's there for them, too. There's a lot of assistance available and David, I would urge and encourage people again, to see what eligibility they have for the various economic and health programs that are being rolled out. Go to Australia.gov.au, it's the best website to have all that information for people to be able to see what assistance is there for them.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Truck stops, something that was in the news last week. This was an issue for a little while. We were looking at some information that was around and the truck driving industry is such a crucial part of keeping supplies. Everything we pretty much need around the region is carried by trucks, Mr McCormack and that was a very welcome decision to keep those truck stops rolling. I noticed that caused a lot of chatter amongst the region.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well yes, it was one of the unintended consequences of some of the dining facilities and – well, essentially all the stops, as you say, the truck lounges where there were toilet facilities and shower facilities, one of the unintended consequences of the shutdown of so many businesses was and making them just have takeaway was the fact that many of these truck stops are closed and of course, drivers have to maintain their fatigue management, they need to be able to pull up and have a shower and have a rest, go to the toilet and those sorts of things. So we've made sure that dedicated truck stop facilities, truck driver lounges would remain open.

There's an exemption for roadhouses. Yes, it's still takeaway but they are going to continue to be open and I brought that to the Federal Cabinet. They took it as part of a National Cabinet process to the Australian Health Protection Principle Committee. It's a long-worded name but it's doing a power of good. It's Dr Brendan Murphy and his chief medical officers from each and every State and the two Territories. They get together and they make decisions that are saving people's lives and protecting people's livelihoods.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Very much like we talk on the rural sector and of course, the farm workers. Now this is something that was discussed in the agricultural circles back only a couple of days ago and the Government were making changes to visas. That was another positive that was coming through.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well, what we're doing is making sure that we can, if farmers need to have backpackers picking the fruit and planting crops and harvesting and doing all those sorts of things, because it's an ongoing cycle in Australia. As you know, we grow enough produce to feed 75 million people and that won't change and didn't change during the drought, won't change now even though there's been a run on supermarkets. Thankfully that's eased. Yes, you're right. We're changing the ag-visas to allow people to stay longer if they can. There's an extension for six months. Again, all that information is on Australia.gov.au.

But importantly, because there are so many Australians out of work, farmers are encouraged and they need to, go to the farm hub website which is a part of the Agriculture Department to make sure that they register their interest, to make sure that they use Australians first where they can, when they can, but that is a good thing for those many backpackers who are in the country, some of whom would find it difficult to get home and who are also very needed at this time when we need to not just grow food for 75 million people but probably more even that besides.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Isn't that true? And what an amazing region we are in this district with that type of labour. We have-

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

We are a food bowl.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

We are very much a food bowl, particularly in the Riverina electorate and into the south-west and around through Cootamundra.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Absolutely, and that's going to be so necessary, the Riverina, south-west slopes, Snowy Mountains area is going to be so necessary because as you see coronavirus spreading throughout South-East Asia, it's going to take a toll on Indonesia, on Vietnam, on many of those countries that we have trade agreements with but if they're not able to fulfil their own food production necessities, then they're going to need to get food from somewhere and we can provide that. We always have in the past and we'll continue to do so. That's why trade is so important. Trade equals jobs. More trade, more jobs.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Isn't that true? Now, Mr McCormack, when we look at, we can talk a lot about COVID-19. Yesterday, with you were chatting on Triple M in Hobart, you've been very busy with the media around the region but when we look at our local area and part of the portfolio with large infrastructure projects, that continues as well. We can very much focus ourselves on COVID-19 the whole way through, can't we, but there are so many other things happening around the region, things that are making these regions better.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

I had a teleconference yesterday with my State and Territory transport and infrastructure ministers from around the country, as we've done twice a week every week since COVID began, and assured them that we were continuing to roll out our $100 billion ten-year infrastructure plan. But I want to bring as many of those projects forward. That's why I wrote to each and every one of the councils, Snowy Valleys included, to see what projects they could bring forward. Whether that was road maintenance, whether that was building bridges. We've just, in recent weeks announced a new $150 million program there, or even the National Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program, another $150 billion that we're rolling out and of course, being a regional member, I will always very much look to those regional projects because we know that when the regions are strong, so too is our nation and whether it's the Snowy Valleys Council, Wagga Wagga City Council, whatever the case might be around the region, I want to see those projects so we can get on and build them. Because with infrastructure building, you can, you can actually get those jobs done. They are essential jobs. Every job is an essential job, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said, but you can also do those jobs and exercise the proper social distancing because of the very nature of the work.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Brindabella Road?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

I would love to see Brindabella Road as a priority of the State Government and we stand ready as a Federal Government to look at that, to look at anything that the State Government brings forward. That's another one of those priority projects that I think needs to happen because at the end of the day it will increase Canberra and ACT tourism and visitation and when we get through this, you know those fire-affected areas, those areas that have been largely shut down, you know, and kept regionalised because of the necessities of COVID-19, are going to need to have people visiting and spending money in our areas. So if the State Government wants to play the game, so am I willing to talk and continue talking with James Hayes and the Snowy Valleys Council as far as what we can do in that regard.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

And of course, our bushfire clean up continues and that's one thing we've been saying a lot on-air about is there's a lot of focus on COVID-19, the pandemic, we see it in the news, it's everywhere, but in our particular part of the region, Mr McCormack, Laing O'Rourke have only just started to conduct the clean up. Grocon in Victoria have been working for a month or more for the Victorian fire-affected properties but in our region, the bushfire clean up continues and there's people without homes and there's people without fences and livestock. That's such a priority as well.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Oh, and we certainly know that and that's why Andrew Colvin and the National Bushfire Recovery Agency has continued its work. That's why the money that we put on the table, the $2 billion of assistance for the recovery agency, its work continues. It's been out on the ground. I know that Andrew and his team have been up there to have a look and see what needs to be done and those people will not be forgotten, will not be left behind.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Very, very important, indeed. And Mr McCormack, anything that you would like to add while we're chatting because we try to catch up every week or so just for a bit of an update of people around the region?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

It's important, we'll keep doing that long after the COVID-19 virus goes away, let's hope that's sooner rather than later. But what I would urge and encourage, implore and plead with people this weekend is to stay at home. I know it's difficult and I appreciate the police are out there doing their job and making sure that people aren't making unnecessary trips. People need to, if they're not going and buying groceries or if they're not going to work or doing the necessary things that they have to do to get on with their lives, but as best they can, stay at home.

No camping trips this weekend, no coastal visits over the Easter long weekend. We need to stay at home. If we are on the roads, of course, please be safe and be careful because Easter is always a time when we need to spend with our loved ones but this year, spend time with your loved ones at home.

Watch a good movie, there's plenty of them. I appreciate that some of the TV channels have been playing the classic football matches of the past and they're always good to revisit. I watched the Kangaroos beat Great Britain the other day in that epic, I think it was 1990, the Test when we were behind and of course there was that great try by Mal Meninga right in the last minute. I'm a bit of a rugby league aficionado. I like my AFL, too. So there's plenty happening on the telly. So settle in, get some popcorn, get your favourite drink and watch a bit of telly this weekend.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Good advice, indeed and to keep the region safe. Mr McCormack, really appreciate your time joining us on the station as a regular guest and certainly all the very best for the meeting tomorrow in Canberra with, of course, this Wednesday.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

We'll talk next week.

DAVID EISENHAUER:

Thanks, Michael, bye-bye.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Thanks, David. All the best.

Shane Manning