TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW ON TRIPLE M HOBART, 2 July 2020

E&OE

Subjects: The 2020 Defence Strategic Update, Tasmanian Infrastructure Package;

BRIAN CARLTON

There's a whole bunch of stuff I need to get across here with the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack. He's also the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and critically for us, Regional Development. Good morning, Minister, how are you going?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Really good, Brian and in answer to your question before, it's always barbecue season, isn't it?

BRIAN CARLTON

Yes, it's a little cool here in Tasmania and obviously we've not been able to invite lots of friends and relations around to enjoy a barbecue so I actually haven't eaten a barbecued bit of meat for a long time. I'll do something about that in the next few days.

The big reveal yesterday by the Prime Minister of $270 billion in total, it's a distinct change in how we go about defending our nation. Is this, to your way of thinking, a part of a plan where we're cleaving away from the United States and becoming more of a self-sufficient military and Defence power or is all of this plugged into the United States and the ANZUS arrangement?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Look, our friends from America will always be our friends and indeed we have good relationships all around the world and I know how hard Marise Payne, the Foreign Affairs Minister, works to achieving that, to maintaining that and continuing that and of course, Washington is always going to be close to Australia. They do a number of defence deployments, particularly in the Top End through Darwin, through northern Queensland but you know, it's a relationship built over many, many years and we've fought alongside one another in two World Wars so that counts for something.

BRIAN CARLTON

Since you mentioned Darwin, the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to a Chinese consortium with links to the Chinese Communist Party has a smell about it that people are beginning to realise is not going to work in our favour. Are we going to move on that? Are we going to bring it back into the fold?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Well, Defence ticked off on that and so it is an arrangement that we've made and look, China remains our largest trading partner and so that's important that we always remember that almost $150 billion of trade with China counts for something and there's a lot of Tasmanian farmers who do a lot of trade with China and we want that to continue.

BRIAN CARLTON

Long-range missiles, how long? Where will they be able to hit and from where?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Look, I'm not going to go down that path of saying where they're going to hit.

BRIAN CARLTON

No, in terms of range, Minister. That's not an unfair question. How far will they be able to travel?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Well, these missiles go hundreds of kilometres. They are state-of-the-art, they are the world's best but what we want to make sure is that we defend our nation of course, that's the first order of Government. Whether it's a Federal Government, indeed the State Governments, I know Peter Gutwein, how hard he's working to make sure that Tasmania's defended from such things as coronavirus. Well, the Federal Government, we've got all manner of things on our plate at the moment, including coronavirus. Including, of course, the defence spend that the Prime Minister so appropriately announced yesterday and that is also going to mean that there's business for every State, for many, many of the regions which feed into that building of subs and upgrading of the aircraft etc. I know how important defence is. My own city, Wagga Wagga, is indeed the only regional inland city with all three arms of Defence including a Navy base despite the fact that it's a long, long way for the nearest drop of seawater.

BRIAN CARLTON

I always wondered about that to be honest. Look, we're talking about many decades for the delivery of the French subs that start their life as a nuclear and end up diesel-electric by the time our people have got through with them, that's too long a timeframe based on the noises the Prime Minister was making yesterday?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Well, it's like anything and it's a 10-year, $270 billion plan. It's like our $100 billion infrastructure plan. It does take time to develop these, it takes time to build and construct and prepare and to make sure everything is as it ought to be and the thing about Government is that it's not a McDonald’s drive-thru. We have to do things in coordination with other nations, we have to do things in coordination with our ability to build these things and we do it in a planned and processed way.

BRIAN CARLTON

The JS-35, the joint strike fighter, has been plagued with all sorts of issues. We were meant to have most of them delivered by now, as of a decade ago, 2010 was the original delivery date. That still hasn't happened in a meaningful way. Are these planes got to be not obsolete when we actually get them?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

They won't be and I know Linda Reynolds, the Defence Minister, is working very closely with our delivery partners to make sure that everything is as it should be. We are putting defence as a priority of course, but whether it's infrastructure, whether it's defence, whether it's growing agriculture from the $60 billion enterprise it is to a $100 billion sector, you know, we're making sure that we put in place the right measures to defend our country, to protect our country, to enhance our country.

BRIAN CARLTON

I understand that, Minister, but all I'm suggesting here is many of the major platforms that we've invested a good deal of money in – or are about to – are not likely to be delivered and functional and operational on behalf of the ADF in the timeframes that the Government, the Prime Minister specifically yesterday, is talking about. Our 30-year timeframes have now been, sort of, contracted back to 10-years if we're lucky. None of these things are going to be here in 10-years.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Well, I'll leave it to the Defence experts who tell me that they'll be very capable.

BRIAN CARLTON

The other thing we need to talk about is just in relation to that is the beefing-up of Hobart Airport. Are you in any position to describe how that's going to happen in a Defence sense?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

No, I'm not but let me tell you that Hobart Airport of course, is one of those vital linkages to the State of Tasmania and whether it's Hobart, whether it's Devonport, Launceston, no matter what the case is, we want to develop the infrastructure there to ensure that whether people are travelling there for tourism, for business or Defence matters, whatever the case might be, that they've got the right community, the right facilities in place and you know I talk with Tasmanian airport owners often and we want to make sure that of course, it's what it needs to be, a great airport, a great gateway to the Apple Isle.

BRIAN CARLTON

Yeah, I was thinking more in terms of strategic storage of things that we might need in the event of, say, border restrictions, shipping restrictions, that kind of thing. I mean, you're the Minister for Regional Development, I would have thought you'd be across that.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Well, I am but Tasmania airport, as I say, it's a great place for obviously, a linkage point. But as you say quite correctly, also a storage area, also a place where, strategically, Australia is very lucky. It's a big, big island, it's a big nation and we can put lot of things in a lot of places and call on them when needed. So whether it's the Northern Territory which has got any number of areas and space or whether it's a small place like Tasmania, in comparison of course with the Northern Territory, it's still very strategically placed.

BRIAN CARLTON

Let's talk in relation to the COVID-19 response, the additional infrastructure spend that you've jointly announced with the Gutwein Government not too long ago. I notice we're getting down to some fairly small projects by Government spending terms. For example, pedestrian underpass on the Midland Highway at Campbell Town, Federal funding $4.8 million, $6 million in total, so $1.2 million from the State Government, so these are all, sort of, little projects that are shovel-ready, are they?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

They are. They're shovel-ready projects and what the important thing about them is that they give local workers and local procurement happening and that's what we want to see happening. We want to see excavators on the ground, high-vis workers in and around these projects, which, as you just described, are shovel-ready. $46 million, we've partnered up with the Gutwein Government, I know Michael Ferguson is very, very pleased with these projects and yes, they are very small by standards, I suppose, nationally, but they're very, very important.

BRIAN CARLTON

So this is all new money, is it, in addition to the $400 million that was promised for Tasmanian roads before the last election?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Yes, it's new money for Tasmania. We're bringing it forward.

BRIAN CARLTON

So the $400 million's already been spent, has it? Where?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

No, no, we're spending it like I said before, it's a 10-year infrastructure plan for Tasmania. We're getting right into these shovel-ready infrastructure projects. Other things such as, of course, the continuation of developments on the Bass and Midland Highways, Perth Links Road, all those sorts of projects we're making sure that whether it's the vital highways or the little by-ways, they're getting built. A 10-year plan – Tasmania is certainly very much a part of the national infrastructure roll-out and what I particularly like are comments like the one at the Perth Links Road [inaudible] said to me when I said, "where do you get all the people from?" He said, "we develop from within." So there will be work there for Tasmanians who are looking for work. I'm sure there is going to be plenty of work in our infrastructure roll-out and Michael Ferguson and I are making sure of that.

BRIAN CARLTON

Do you know how many jobs are likely to be created as a result of this additional spending?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

I'm going to say hundreds because I notice that the new, well – new after a 25-year break – NBL team are back in the fold. I did read somewhere where that's going to create up to 1200 jobs. That's significant and …

BRIAN CARLTON

That's largely a part of the redevelopment of the Derwent Entertainment Centre.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Indeed. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. So it's those sorts of things which are going to develop state tourism. Those sorts of things which are going to help regional development and certainly there is going to be plenty of jobs created across Tasmania with this $46 million spend – unlocking infrastructure jobs, unlocking the potential of Tasmania and whether it's the north-west where Gavin and Bridget and others are representing or whether it's right down in Hobart, there's going to be jobs there, there's going to be infrastructure upgrades and it's going to be good.

BRIAN CARLTON

Just one final one if I may, there's all sorts of anecdotal evidence at the moment from the mainland and here in Tassie suggesting that there's going to be, post-coronavirus, a pretty significant outflow of people from the big cities who are just kind of sort of collectively over it now and this is likely to see a boom in people moving to regional Australia. With a specific focus on Tasmania, do you think the infrastructure spending that's been announced so far is adequate to deal with what's likely to be a massive population inflow from the mainland to Tassie over the next couple of years?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

I'll quickly answer that by saying yes but watch this space, there will be more. We want people to know that Tasmania is a place where they can go to escape the hassle, the hustle, the bustle of the big metropolitan areas …

BRIAN CARLTON

This is not something that's happening in the future. It's happening right now.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

It's happening in my area, it's happening in regional Tassie and people can own a big backyard, they can get to work in 5 minutes without having to be slowed up by traffic, they can have all the right telecommunications, everything else that city living enjoys and if there's one thing that COVID-19 has taught us, you can work from anywhere in Australia and still get the productivity happening in your business, in your workplace, whether you're a worker or whether you're a boss. It's great and that's why we are rolling out this infrastructure and as I say, Michael and I will be working hard to make sure there's even more money being spent in Tasmania.

BRIAN CARLTON

So you're suggesting there will be more Federal spending announced that will be deliberately and specifically targeting this expected up tick of people moving into regional Australia, all over Australia?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Indeed. I'm a regional Member. I understand and value the importance of regional living and so does Michael Ferguson, so do our great Liberal Tasmania representatives down there.

BRIAN CARLTON

Appreciate your time this morning, sir. Thank you. You've been generous. Thanks.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Always. No worries.

BRIAN CARLTON

Michael McCormack, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Regional Development, all of which are pretty significant issues for us here.

Shane Manning