Subjects: Sporting grants; bushfire recovery; tourism.
EO&E...........................................................................................................................................
ALLISON LANGDON:
Joining us now is Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles. Thank you both of you for coming in this morning. Bridget McKenzie has to go, doesn't she?
PETER DUTTON:
No she doesn't, and if you look at the report, none of those clubs that have received that money have been found ineligible to receive that money. I've been in the Parliament a little while. I can remember the years in Opposition where the Labor minister, the Labor candidate, the Labor senator would come out and make announcements for funding within your local community. This is not anything new in that sense. Now, we'll have a look at the Auditor-General's report obviously, but none of those clubs, very deserving sporting clubs that have received that money, have been found ineligible.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
That's not the point. The point is that nine of the 10 electorates awarded the most money were either in marginal seats or ones that the Coalition were hoping to win. I mean that is a damning figure, that's pork barrelling of the highest order.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Karl, if you have a look at the individual applications that have been made, all of them were eligible.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Yeah, but it seems stacked.
PETER DUTTON:
It's not been stacked. I mean she's had a look at the projects that are eligible, the clubs that need the money. The Coalition also holds more seats than the Labor Party – that's the reality – so I don't know how many applications were put in from Labor seats; what were eligible, ineligible – all of that can be looked at – but I think the important point is that the money has gone out – not against recommendations, not to clubs that weren't deserving of it – but to clubs that are trying to get small kids in.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Well you could argue that every club, ever community club that put their hand up deserved the money, but you've got a sporting body whose job it is to say who is most worthy and who is most in need of this money. She ignored that and basically because they lived in the wrong part of town, they didn't get the money.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Ally again, I think if you look at the applications that were made, you could make out the case that some were ineligible and clearly they were and they weren't funded, whether they were in Coalition or Labor seats.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I get it; you're in a spot. If it smells bad, looks bad, then it is bad and you have to defend it. I get that. But the problem is that she's done something wrong here and something needs to be done about her behaviour and there needs to be set up some sort of integrity commission, where this stuff is worked at and looked at and made right, because there are sporting clubs out there and all over this great country of ours that need to have the money given to them in a fair way and this just is not fair.
PETER DUTTON:
Well the Auditor-General has that role Karl. He's given his report and we'll look at the recommendations.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Richard, Labor was actually the beneficiary of all this. Bridget was saying yesterday, that is was something like 27 per cent had gotten funding…actually 36 per cent when she reviewed it got more funding than what was going to happen before.
RICHARD MARLES:
Well listen Karl, this smells bad, it looks bad and it's really bad. I mean we all know that if you're in a Liberal-held marginal seat it was raining gold bars when it came to your sporting club and there are hundreds of sporting clubs out there…
KARL STEFANOVIC:
And why is that a bad thing?
RICHARD MARLES:
Well because politics shouldn't be the basis on which these decisions are made. This wasn't about community sport, this was about saving the Liberal Party. I mean everyone knows that. If you were in a Liberal-held marginal seat, you got a heap of money. If you weren't, you didn't get anything; you got bupkis, and basically there are hundreds of clubs out there who are furious about what's gone on here. Most of the recommendations of Sports Australia were ignored by Bridget McKenzie in the way in which she made her decisions. That's a disgrace.
ALLISON LANGDON:
I mean Labor has form here too of course. You had sports…
KARL STEFANOVIC:
…good form. Very good form.
RICHARD MARLES:
But Karl, what? So we're now going back to seven, 10, whatever years. This mob have been in power for seven years. It's about what they're doing right now.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
But you have form. You have form.
RICHARD MARLES:
It's about what's going on right now Karl and the reality is there are hundreds of sporting clubs which missed out a year ago by this Government and this Prime Minister because of a rotten scheme.
ALLISON LANGDON:
I mean we also had this happen with the 220 million job scheme as well. Is the fact that both of you sitting here, both parties have been responsible for this, both have defended their actions, mean that the system is broken?
PETER DUTTON:
No, I think if you're awarding money Ally to clubs that have been found to be ineligible to receive that money – that's what happened in Labor's day – then that's crook and there's no question about that, but it's a bit hard to take a lecture from Richard who was part of a government giving out cheques to dead people…
RICHARD MARLES:
Oh please.
PETER DUTTON:
... sending Pink Batts into roofs where, you know…
RICHARD MARLES:
Is that your defence?
PETER DUTTON:
Seriously mate, I mean…
RICHARD MARLES:
…you're going back to the global financial crisis, that's your defence right now?
PETER DUTTON:
We've given money out to Labor electorates, to Liberal electorates, Independent electorates where people have applied for that. Now, I'd love to see all the sporting clubs get the money.
RICHARD MARLES:
We all would.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, it'd be great if you hadn't run us in to enormous debt and we're still paying the debt off.
RICHARD MARLES:
Look, that's where you have an independent body…
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay. I'm going to take your call. Let's move it to the future. Moving on, a new wave of government funding has been announced to help the victims of our bushfire crisis. We were talking also today and through the course of the show about the fact that we've got a PR problem, Australia now, with tourism. It's going to cost us something in the order of $4.5 billion. That needs to be addressed right now and we need to make some really strong moves now in order to bring that money back, don't we?
PETER DUTTON:
Absolutely Karl and it's under way. To the Prime Minister's great credit here, we've had a lot of discussion with Tourism Australia, working very closely with the state and territory tourism bodies, the state governments. We desperately want to make sure that the message gets out and all of us should be speaking to our friends overseas to make sure that people know that if you've got a holiday booked in Australia, honour that booking. The best way that you can help Australians, either in bushfire affected communities or across the country at the moment, is to come here and support those communities.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Are you going to back it with money?
PETER DUTTON:
Yes we are. There's no question about that and I really I think this is one of the issues where there is great bipartisan support because there are tourism packages at the moment that have been bought by people in America, for example, to go to the Whitsundays. They're cancelling that…
KARL STEFANOVIC:
…yeah, they are, yeah…
PETER DUTTON:
…because of the footage they're seeing on TV. So we've got to get out a good message that look, we've gone through a terrible, terrible thing with the bushfires, we're helping those people recover, but the vast, vast majority of our country is unaffected, open for business. Please, if you want to help Australians book that holiday and come to Australia.
RICHARD MARLES:
So I think that's a really good message and it's important to get out there. It's also domestic tourism. I was up at Katoomba yesterday in the Blue Mountains and small businesses there are just bleeding. I mean they mightn't have been physically affected by the fires, but they've been affected by the fires. I mean, if you live in Sydney, go on a day trip to the Blue Mountains like you would always have done because they really need it.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Yeah. Really good call from both of you. We've got a couple of issues we want to hit, we've got a couple of minutes left. Peter it is unlikely your Government, it's been reported today, will reach its targets of reducing emissions because of the bushfires. Are you still on course? Are you going to do any more? Do you sense that there is a wind of change now or not?
PETER DUTTON:
Karl, we're still on course and we need to make sure that we have policies in place that make us a good global citizen to contribute to reduction in emissions, but we are not going to close down our economy. Us stopping exports of coal to India or to China will mean that they will source it from other countries. It will mean emissions will go up, so there's no benefit to the environment and we would lose $70 billion from our economy.
So we need to be realistic about the thousands of jobs that exist in Central Queensland, right up and down the coast. It's about getting the balance right. I think we have got the balance right, but it's also about responding; we've got 6,000 Australian Defence Force troops out there. I think we need to deal with the reality of bushfires, of floods etc, in a different way. We need to supplement it, in my judgment, the effort of the states and the volunteers and we'll continue to do that, and I think that's the practical response to a changing environment as well.
RICHARD MARLES:
Can I just say, the Government's a joke when it comes to climate change. Like, we all absolutely know that. They're not on target to meet Kyoto and they're not on target to meet the Paris commitments – like, that ain't going to happen and when you hear Government Ministers say it will, it is just a patent lie. That's the reality of it. You only need to look at what Craig Kelly did on the BBC to see the way in which this Government...
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Not a perfect example.
RICHARD MARLES:
No, but Karl that is the reason this Government can't act because of the rump in their party.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Alright. We are out of time. Before you go, you can smell – obviously there is a beautiful waft – can we ask you what your favourite...
ALLISON LANGDON:
And it ain't his tuna mornay, I'm just saying.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
We're going to ask you what your favourite meals to cook are, as you were growing up, as a kid?
RICHARD MARLES:
Pizza, from the pizza shop, does that count?
KARL STEFANOVIC:
You didn't make it yourself?
RICHARD MARLES:
Texas cheesy meat from La Campagnola in Geelong, that's where…
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Free plug, free plug.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Oh, no.
PETER DUTTON:
Free pizza tonight for the Marles family.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
You Peter?
PETER DUTTON:
Cooking at home? Roast lamb is my favourite.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Your go-to dish?
PETER DUTTON:
It's a go-to because my wife won't cook it, right, and my kids don't like it, but it's my go-to meal so…
ALLISON LANGDON:
So you don't have to share it.
PETER DUTTON:
They won't eat it and they'll sit there in protest, but I have a great meal, and as you can tell, it's a regular thing.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
There's a bit of that going around.
PETER DUTTON:
I didn't want to mention...
KARL STEFANOVIC:
…whatever Pete. Thank you so much for that, you can all sample Ally's dish on your way out of here.
ALLISON LANGDON:
I do cook, thank you.
[ends]
