TRANSCRIPT: ABC NEWS BREAKFAST INTERVIEW, 24 August 2020

E&OE

Subjects: Border Closures, JobKeeper, JobSeeker;

MICHAEL ROWLAND

We can bring in Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals Leader Michael McCormack from Parliament House. Good to see you.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Good to see you too. That Heywire story was great and I'd encourage any young person to join up to that. It's a wonderful ABC initiative.

MICHAEL ROWLAND

It is a great initiative, so many great videos we're getting from it. Let's talk about borders. We keep hearing stories about people living in border zones affected by the closure of borders. Realistically, Michael McCormack, how are we going to resolve this? Because the States and the Territories have closed their borders on sound medical advice?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Well look, yes that is true, Michael. But certainly, also I know that last Friday's National Cabinet meeting discussed an agricultural protocol similar to the one that I put in place for the transport sector. We need that access of movement. We need the freedom of movement for farmers who may have property on either side of a border and just because you've got a Murray River or indeed, a fence separating States, doesn't mean to say that farmers shouldn't be able to access their land, just like truck drivers have been able to, to get across that freedom of movement. That's why I put in place the protocol to ensure that they had the ease of movement and consistency. That's what it's all about, whether they were travelling from South Australia to Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales. It shouldn't matter. Farmers should be able to have that access just like truck drivers do.

MICHAEL ROWLAND

We just spoke to Denise Knight, you might have caught the conversation. She's a cancer patient living outside of Mildura and has been denied an exemption to travel across the border to South Australia to see her surgeon in Adelaide. She therefore has to make a long journey down to Warrnambool. She says that her head exploded when she saw the news of the 300 students being brought into South Australia. She can't go and see her surgeon. Do you understand why people like Denise are angry about the situation?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Absolutely I do and I know that Anne Webster has been just so despairing of the fact that her electorate of Mallee, which is a third of Victoria, many of the people in her electorate, many of her constituents actually relate more to South Australia and Adelaide than they do to Melbourne. And it's so difficult for them to get that access of health –

MICHAEL ROWLAND

So how is it fair to see 300 international students just flying into Adelaide while people like Denise and the many others you talk about can't make the journey to see their doctors?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

I appreciate that and that's why we're working through those individually, case-by-case. Poor Denise Knight and there are many others like that and our heart goes out to them. And we'll do everything that we can and I know that Anne and others will continue to advocate for common-sense practical outcomes for their matters and their personal issues. As far as the students are concerned of course, they have to go into isolation and quarantine and have to do everything that they should do, our universities are also crying out for students because they're doing it tough just like every other sector. That's why we've put in place $314 billion of measures to support the economy and the university sector.

MICHAEL ROWLAND

Now Parliament’s back – JobSeeker and JobKeeper are going to be there and very much discussed and debated. We're about to speak to Cassandra Goldie, the head of ACOSS. They want to see a permanent increase in JobSeeker after the temporary supplement expires in December. Isn't it only humane for our politicians federally, to look at making JobSeeker higher than what it is at the moment, which is $40 a day?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

We always look at these sorts of things but as I have always said the best form of welfare is a job. Whilst I appreciate that many, many people have lost their jobs. The figures today that Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has announced with 700,000 of those who did lose their jobs initially are now re-engaged with the workforce. But there are jobs in regional Australia. And what we do need more of in this sector and this area is more mobility. What we do need is people being able to perhaps move to a regional area. Something that they might not have otherwise thought of. There are many, many jobs in agriculture, in the resource sector. Indeed, crying out for chefs, crying out for people to do all sorts of work. And if COVID-19 has taught us one thing, you can live in regional Australia and you can work, have a job, you might as well be in a boardroom in Sydney for the connectivity, being able to Zoom into meetings. Regional Australia has led the way as far as the relief and recovery efforts are concerned because mining and resources and agriculture and construction has continued at a pace through the situation, through the downturn and there are many, many jobs in regional Australia.

MICHAEL ROWLAND

Which is great and it's great to see regional centres increasing in popularity as a result. But again, I'll ask you, there are some people, through no fault of their own, who won't be able to get jobs immediately. Is $40 a day enough for anybody to survive on?

MICHAEL McCORMACK

It's tough, I appreciate that. It must be very, very tough. But then again, I say the best form of welfare is a job. And as we come out of COVID-19, we will get through it. We will certainly get through it. There's hope on the horizon. We want to see as many of those people as possible re-engage with the workforce. We want to see those people who through no fault of their own have lost their job for the first time ever in their career and have had to go on to the welfare measures, the support that the Federal Government has provided as part of the overall $314 billion of measures to back in the economy. But we do want to see people to be able to take those jobs where they are available.

MICHAEL ROWLAND

OK, we'll leave it there. Thank you for joining us this morning.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Thanks Michael.