Interview with Kieran Gilbert, Sky News

18 June 2024

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS
TUESDAY, 18 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Australia-China Relationship; trade opportunities; Coalition’s woeful energy plan; Ministerial delegation to Papua New Guinea.

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: China's Premier, Li Qiang's visit to Australia has coincided with record levels of trade between the two nations. Prime Minister Albanese and Premier Li are holding a business roundtable, marking the last day of the Chinese delegation's tour with further trade talks. Earlier today, I spoke to the Agriculture Minister, Murray Watt, about the extent to which trade has rebounded between the two nations.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES & FORESTRY: It's really promising to see, as you say, the rebound that we've seen, whether it be in agriculture, mining, a range of commodities that are getting back into China in a really big way.

So we already knew that in total, we've seen about $14 billion worth of exports go back into China since suspensions have been lifted. That includes mining and agriculture products. But even here in my home state of Queensland, what that has meant is $720 million more in exports to China, just of agricultural produce in the last few months. The bulk of that is in cotton, but also really strong figures for beef, for barley, even a little bit of wine from Queensland. I know people think Queensland doesn't make wine, but it turns out we do! And some of that is going back into China, which is terrific news.

So I guess these figures are, again, another sign that the stabilisation of our relationship with China that the Albanese Government has delivered is delivering real dividends for Queensland farmers and farmers nationwide.

KIERAN GILBERT: Two more beef producers also allowed back in. It looks like we're nearly there in terms of getting rid of all of those barriers. What's the latest when it comes to lobster exports? I think that's one of the last hurdles, isn't it?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, that's right Kieran, really is now down to lobster and two beef abattoirs that have still got suspensions on them. We have consistently lobbied, really, since we took office a couple of years ago to have all suspensions removed, even these remaining ones. These issues were again raised by the Prime Minister, myself and others yesterday. So the Chinese government is under no illusion that we want to see those suspensions lifted.

It's been a really big impact on lobster producers and these abattoirs to lose what is a premium market. Many of them have adjusted and tried to find other markets, but nothing really compares with the premium, particularly in lobster, that China provides. So we're very hopeful that as a result of this visit, that we will see those remaining suspensions lifted soon.

KIERAN GILBERT: There was a bit of an incident with my colleague Cheng Lei, some of the embassy officials trying to block a camera vision and line of sight to her. The Prime Minister called this clumsy and ham-fisted. Should the ambassador, at least, apologise for that?

MURRAY WATT: Well, look I think I'll leave it for the Chinese government to determine how they respond. But again, they're under no illusions how we feel about this. The Prime Minister addressed this yesterday in his press conference when I think he actually took a question from Cheng Lei in his press conference as well. We've made further representations to the Chinese embassy today about it. It's not the way that people should be behaving in Australia, and particularly in our Parliament. We made the point yesterday in the meeting with the Chinese Premier that one of the things Australians cherish is our free press, our democracy. Let's face it, Kieran, us politicians in Australia don't always feel like we get a fair crack from our media, but that's the way it goes. So people should be able to operate in parliament, of all places, with freedom. And that position has been conveyed very strongly to the Chinese government.

KIERAN GILBERT: On a few other issues, the Coalition is running with the very strong argument now on energy and climate policy that you don't have to have a linear growth in terms of emissions reduction by 2050, that they can achieve that goal later in the decades. Is this something that's going to resonate in your home state of Queensland, particularly in a climate of very fierce cost-of-living pressures?

MURRAY WATT: I don't think it will, Kieran. And it's because of the connection between energy policy and cost of living pressures that I think Queenslanders, and all Australians, are awake up to. I mean, this idea that we keep hearing from the Coalition, that we can just put this off forever. This is the same kind of nonsense that we heard from these people for ten years. And all that meant was that we delayed investment, it delayed the jobs, and it's contributed to the power price rises that we've been seeing over the last couple of years.

I mean, when I was at university or when I was at school, you always paid a price for trying to put off your homework or put off your assignments to the last minute and cramming. That's the approach that the Coalition is taking. They're saying that they don't need to do their homework through the school term and they'll just catch up on the night before the exam. If we follow that approach, it means higher prices for power for all Australians. I mean, Peter Dutton's plan is nuclear, which won't be around until at least 2040.

My impression is that Queenslanders and all Australians want to see their power prices fall now. They don't want to wait until 2040 to get power that will be eight times more expensive of the renewables that we're already providing. So it's important we get on with this renewables transition, not just for the environment, because that is the best way to deliver the cheaper prices that Australian households need and also our heavy industry as well.

KIERAN GILBERT: The Nationals are really pressing ahead with their argument here, though. David Littleproud this morning on Sky News, said he's really talking about their attitude towards the transmission lines that are going to go across much of the agricultural land in this country. He says ‘you've got to have the transmission lines to plug in and that goes across prime agricultural land, this is the folly that Chris Bowen & Co go down - 2000 acres of cultivation country in Wagga, going to solar panels’. He’s using these specific example examples, won't that resonate in parts of Queensland?

MURRAY WATT: Look, it probably will because this is an issue that there are different opinions on. But David Littleproud is just all over the shop on this issue. Even just yesterday he was out one minute calling for the end to offshore wind and then he's saying, ‘oh no, I didn't mean that, I meant something else’. It was the same when Peter Dutton launched his new energy policy the other day. First of all, he was going to be out of Paris and then he's not. These people don't know what they're talking about. They don't know what their policy is. And again, the big risk in all that is that it endangers the investment and the jobs that are coming now and will continue to come from investment in renewable energy, not to mention the lower power prices it will generate.

This point about transmission lines, I mean, are they going to set up nuclear reactors without transmission lines? How is that going to get the power through to the network that we need? You're going to have similar issues with nuclear along with much more expensive power, the risk of environmental waste and of course the risk of blackouts because we know that their policy won't come online till about 2040 when we've got coal-fired power stations closing between now and then. So really, David Littleproud and Peter Dutton's policy about nuclear only is a recipe for higher power prices and more blackouts. And I don't think that's what Queenslanders or Australians want.

KIERAN GILBERT: I know, just finally, you're about to go to Port Moresby. This is for the 30th Ministerial Forum between Australia and PNG. You'll be there along with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. This food security or biosecurity more specifically is crucial isn't it in dealing with PNG and bolstering their capacity?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah that's right, Kieran. I'm really pleased to be joining this delegation of several Ministers from the Australian Government to Papua New Guinea. Of course, a really important neighbour, a great friend of Australia, and an equal partner for us right across our region.

From an agriculture perspective, our very deep interest is supporting our friends in Papua New Guinea with their biosecurity challenges. You'll remember, Kieran, not long after we took office, we were faced with a very real threat of foot and mouth disease entering the country when it got to Bali. And the risk was that things like it, or lumpy skin disease, would move along the Archipelago, move into Timor Leste, move into Papua New Guinea and find their way here. That's why we've always invested strongly since coming to office, not just in biosecurity at home, but in places like Papua New Guinea. It assists them to meet the kind of food standards that are needed by other countries like us before we prepare to import their agriculture. But it's also a really important protection of our own agriculture sector to stop diseases before they enter the country.

KIERAN GILBERT: Yeah, it's certainly our front line as well as theirs. Murray Watt, thanks so much, as always. Appreciate it.

MURRAY WATT: No worries, Kieran, good to talk.