TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW WITH DAVID EISENHAUER, SOUNDS OF THE MOUNTAINS 9 FEBRUARY 2023
Subjects: Turkey, Riverina, bank closure
E&OE
Starts 8:32am
DAVID EISENHAUER:
Right now we are joined by Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack joins on the line from Canberra this morning. Morning Michael, and a very good morning to you.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Very wet morning here David, the heavens have opened up and there’s quite a bit of precipitation about I suppose. I was speaking to my wife Catherine there a little earlier this morning, and it’s raining in Wagga Wagga as well and I think it might be a bit wet down your way as well.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
Yeah, look, it varies like it does everywhere. We have had up to 26 mls, and yeah the thunder and lightning crashed through the region there at 3 o’clock, 4 o’clock this morning.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
It will make it a bit heavy underfoot for Tumbatrek.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
*Inaudible (05:28-05:35)
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Indeed, it is, and of course, that great tourism exercise started by the late, great Tim Fischer. And I was communicating with his widow Judy Brewer Fischer this week, there’s a new book coming out, a new biography about Tim, mid-year. So, those aficionados and politicians will want to read that. I went to a funeral last week for Garry O’Connell in Lockhart, Garry of course being the former president of the Hume League, Hume Football and Netball League for many, many years. And caught up with people outside the St Mary’s Catholic Church there in Lockhart, and they were all talking about Tim Still.
And of course, Garry and Tim were a lot alike, great community people, great family people. Put family first and foremost, very much great volunteers in the community of course. Tim – we all remember him, and we all treasure him, and his legacy will be on show this week with Tumbatrek, I almost said Timbatrek there, they could almost call it Timbatrek.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
They could, well, it's part of the Hume and Hovell track, as you mentioned, Tim without a doubt that fantastic number of books Tim had. The railway preservation of railway history was one of his greatest passions as well and greatly, I still remember sitting on the CargoSprinter with him many years ago at Lockhart, when they were looking at what do we do with these old branch lines that weren’t working. He brought up this newly invented CargoSprinter, like a flatbed tray.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Of course, he did, of course, he did. That’s about the only response, I could almost say. And we would talk about branches, and we talk about rail and then we talk about Junee or your old stomping ground. And I tell you what, they are rallying at the moment because they have lost their only bank, Commonwealth Bank is set to shut its doors. I spoke very passionately about it in Parliament last night, I am very much in communication with the Mayor Neil Smith, the General Manager James Davis as late as last night and they are going to not cop this, they aren’t going to take it lying down. The difficulty there is that I know it not just Junee, it’s not just isolated to the railway and the jail town. But it’s right across the board, but what they are facing is that small businesses with cash on hand, because people still deal with cash still legal tender, for goodness sake. They're going to have to drive to Wagga Wagga, 42 kilometres. It's an 84-kilometre round trip. Call it a hundred. And they're going to have to take their cash each night back over because of safety. But that's actually not safe, because, you know what happens if they break down, they then get held up by some nefarious characters on the Olympic Highway. Well, it leads to all sorts of concerns and issues and danger, quite frankly. And it's just not good enough in this day and age that banks, which have done very, very nicely, thank you very much. Out of regional communities such as Junee over decades, more than 100 years, to then just close their services, close their doors and leave town. And to leave Junee high and dry like that is quite frankly reprehensible.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
It is and the town rally we had, we had a few of the members of the community the other day. They showed up there bright and early. We watched Commonwealth, we had ANZ, we had State and we had Colonial, we had lots of banks there. But yeah to have that actual structure there on the corner, right next door to the Commercial Hotel, very, very popular spot.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Well, you can see the beautiful old buildings the banks were in. They were in big beautiful old buildings, and they were in big, beautiful old buildings, Colonial heritage buildings, because they made a lot of money out of the town, and they were able to put those structures in place. And now they just they just walking and they're still taking the money. But a lot, of a lot of those communities, also have an ageing population. People of that age still like to walk into the bank. They like to pay their bills and all that sort of thing. It's one thing to say, well, just get to the Post Office. What the Post Office does not provide are the security measures and the rest of it, nor should they have to have big screens up and all these sort of security measures, because they are, at the end of the day, Post Office branches. They're not banks. They're not there to provide all the financial services that those banks that have long left town once provided. So, it is a concern. It's right across the nation. I'm glad Senator Perin Davey, who I know you know very well, she's been on your show a number of times. I know she's got the Regional Banking Task Force and certainly, that's going to be cranking up again as well.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
Yeah, that, of course, towns like Junee don’t sleep, they don’t just walk away from them, because they've got a few things going on and that's one of them. At the moment. All we can do is hope that the banks listen to the community, because as you mentioned, that older population, they struggle with this online but that’s easy if you know what you’re doing.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
But the other thing, too, is there's so many sophisticated scams these days, and all the people, even the not-so-old people, are getting sucked in by these scams which are popping up on their phones, coming in on their home Internet. And, you know, they look as though they are, you know, Ridgy Didge from banks and from all sorts of nefarious characters. And this is causing also concern now. I appreciate the banks play a role; I appreciate they employ a lot of people. I appreciate they do a lot of good, and they provide money for agriculture and all the rest in our area. It's not a bank-bashing exercise, but they also need to realise that these little communities aren't going to cop it lying down. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Neil Smith or James Davis in this regard because they ain't finished and they will push this point until they get the outcome that they and their communities deserve.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
In a big way, you mentioned Neil Smith who used to be a part of that Junee Committee.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Wonderful bloke.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
They would come up to Uranquinty every year in that little, what is it?
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Jalopy.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
*Inaudible (11:37-11:44)
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
It looks like something out of the Wacky Races. Remember that cartoon that used to feature when we were kids? Anyway, we love him. We respect him, and we know he's a good fighter. Good on you Neil, I’ll get in there and I'll certainly be with you all the way.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
My word and good luck to the community. Few issues there and you mentioned scams they are dealing with one there that you and I will chat about. Michael, one very important is trying to force ahead of Labor to put in a Veterans wellbeing centre in the region. A large number of Veterans in our region.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Indeed, we should. And $5 million was allocated by the former Federal Coalition Government and Labor has taken that away and unfortunately, they've taken away not just for Wagga Wagga, but other regional centres as well. And we talk about pork barrelling. And I know, I know people get very upset and agitated by this, but it's always been the accusation made against us and levelled against Coalition sides. But indeed, this is this is classic pork barrelling because they’ve taken the money away from Coalition National Party seats and they've put it in their own seats. And their own seats don't have the presence or the history of veterans that well places such as Wagga Wagga has. Now, of course, we're the only tri-service city in inland regional Australia and we've got the Navy, we've got Air Force and we've got every recruit goes and does their basic training at Kapooka, the Army base there. So, this is and of course, many of those Veterans who ran 4000 of them then have called Wagga Wagga home and call indeed the wider Riverina region home. Now they need a well-being centre, they need somewhere to go for those veterans’ advocacy support services that are provided, provided well by the RSL and of course, the RSL sub-branch and the RSL, in general, does that very, very well. But Pro Patria, which has been pushed by such people as Jason Frost and Alan Lean and other good-hearted people, Veterans and community-minded members, they thought they had the, you know, a share to put a stake in for the $5 million. Indeed, they did. And now it's been pulled out from underneath them. The rug has been stripped away and they're concerned. They're worried. And, of course, if the Veterans Royal Commission the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide has taught us one thing, it's that we need more of these centres, not less, and we need them in the right places, such as Wagga Wagga. And so, I'll continue to fight the good fight this week. This very week. I've written again to Richard Marles, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Defence Minister. I've written to Matt Keogh, the Veterans Affairs Minister, to ask for money in this May budget. I've given them the benefit of the doubt last October when they had the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook and the mid-year Budget, I've given them the benefit of the doubt. They couldn't provide it then, but they need to do it now.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
Well, you mentioned how important the tri-service are down on Fitzmaurice Street and how much involvement that they still do down in the community... *Inaudible (14:56-15:01). It’s really important for the economy and the region from the bases...*inaudible (15:10-15:14)
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Well, we had the Empire Air Training Wing right throughout the Riverina region. Lockhart at Uranquinty, it's Brocklesby, be it Narrandera tomorrow or places such as that. Of course, we've got a new Commandant of Kapooka in Colonel Tim Stone and we spoke about the importance of not just the ongoing training, and he's got one of the most important jobs in Army, but indeed the Veterans and their wellbeing. When we caught up just the other day to welcome him and he's a bit of a bushie like us. He knows the importance of having those veteran centres in the right places because it actually helps him in his task. And he's got in a very important role. As I say, it's one of the most important jobs in all of the Australian Defence Force right there running Kapooka. And the fact that we're also providing nearly $1 billion of infrastructure support for both Forest Hill RAF and the Kapooka Base shows a measure of what as a former government we thought about the importance of having the right infrastructure in the right places. But it's not just buildings and it's not just the current people in uniform. It's those who've served the nation well and those who in some cases, have been broken by their service. Of course, there's a lot of good stories about Veterans who are integrating back in the community and doing some wonderful things, but some of them aren't doing so well, and they need that support. They need that help. And even those who are doing well still need the advocacy, still need to have that contact. And that's what Pro Patria would provide. And we just need to make sure that we can get the funding so that we can give them the very best facility there with the Carmelite, the former Carmelite Monastery, there in North Ashmont.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
Beautiful, a lot of history there with that Monastery too.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
There is in the sisters there, of the sisters have given albeit they say they need funding as a result of it, as a result of the exchange. But they've provided that facility at cost. And there's some great potential there. It's got some big grounds, big surrounds. And it's in an ideal area.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
Beautiful spot there. Michael something you have covered because your portfolio talks development and the Pacific. We talk Ukraine, we also talk of the work that’s being done from Australia. The terrible earthquake that’s overseas there, with 1000’s of people dead. It’s just a terrible situation, we have got these families and people that have passed away, the destruction of the city.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Oh, it’s shocking and I’m pleased that the Federal Government is providing $10 million of support and are standing by to do whatever else is required obviously this is important. This is a thing that comes across in a bipartisan fashion. There are Australians missing up to up to four Australians missing. But some of the stories. Yes. Of sorrow and tragedy. A dreadful one of breaking to read. But there's also some amazing stories of babies being born in the rubble of people texting very much deep within the earth and deep. Deep under those, you know, smashed-up concrete, metal, and yet still alive and texting the rescuers and for their own family members to try to get them out. And, you know, they are pulling them out of the debris. And some amazing stories there. A little bit like it reminded me of the Thredbo disaster. And we all know what happened there with Stuart Diver and there's similar stories to that. And you know, the human spirit is amazing and of course, Australia will be on hand for our Turkish friends. It does alarm me that some of our friends in the media find it more important to worry about the spelling of Turkey of things underneath there are way more important things to be worried about at the moment. It's actually making sure that we get the support where it's needed rather than worrying about how the actual country spells its name and how pronounced. But anyway, we'll, we'll move on from that.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
Yeah, and the Government as you said is working as a bipartisan.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Government is doing the right thing, certainly, I made that point to Government members I spoke to yesterday. The Government is doing the right thing as you should expect Australia to do, and its taxpayers’ money and Australians are, I think right across the nation, right across regional Australia would be satisfied that the Government will always do the right thing when these sorts of disasters strike.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
Well as the Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific…*inaudible (23:49-52). We are one big world.
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
Well, we're great friends with Turkey and, you know, of course, we had little differences there back in 1915 with Gallipoli, but I've actually been to that ill-fated peninsula, and I've seen how respectfully and carefully they, they tend to the graves of course along with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. But how, how they had tenderly, they treat that particular battlefield, that particular war site and it's a sacred place. And Turkey and Australia are great friends and always will be.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
Michael the elections are coming up, I know we talk Federally but from a State point of view, elections are coming up very quickly. There is quite a few announcements coming through
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
It's not far away. And, of course, Andrianna's out there. She's on the hustings. And you bump into her say G’day. Tell her what you think, what you want, what you need, what you expect and what you deserve. She'll be, she'll give you a listening ear, I'm sure. I see Labor's finally come up with a candidate for the division of Wagga Wagga and of course the sitting member who'll be hard to dislodge. And we, we know that incumbency in politics gives you some sort of advantage.
But, you know, it's a matter of as when you're a local member of turning up, of listening and acting and that's why I got up in the Parliament last night and talked about the banks because I know how important this is. And, you know, you should never forget, no matter what position you ever attain whether you're in Macquarie Street or Canberra. And I was once the Deputy Prime Minister, never forgot that I was from Wagga Wagga, never forgot that I was from the Riverina and never forgot the country people that you represent because they're the ones who give you these opportunities and it's a great privilege. It's a great honour to be able to serve people in a Parliament no matter whether it's State or Federal. And you should always remember that every waking minute of every day you should be out there trying your best. And that's what I do. And I'm sure that's what the candidates will be on the hustings in coming weeks to endeavour to put their cases forward as to why they should be elected.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
*Speaking inaudible
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
It's quite remarkable isn't a wonderful service. That's 70 years of service and it's people like Laurie, people like the Dowlings who keep their country communities ticking.
And that's why, as I say, again, that's why it's a great honour to come to a place like Canberra to represent people like the Dowlings who are the heart and soul, the very, very mortar which keeps the bricks together in these country communities so well done to them.
And we acknowledge their service, and we thank them for it as well.
DAVID EISENHAUER:
*Speaking inaudible
MICHAEL McCORMACK:
The PostMaster General and Aussie Post, good organisations still doing the hard yards and they are probably doing a bit more banking than they'd probably like to be doing or should be doing. But anyway, that's we I think we've discussed that topic fully and I look forward to catching up to you again over the fortnight and discussing the issues of the day. And you have a good one. You can probably hear the bells ringing. That's my cue to get into parliament, see what's happening. So, all the best.
Ends 8:56am.