Sky News interview with Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek

SUBJECTS: ALICE SPRINGS; VOICE TO PARLIAMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL APPROVALS; IMF.

PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Let's bring it back to Sydney now. Joining us live is the Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek. Minister, good to see you. Thanks for your time this morning. I just want to get your reaction to this breaking news out of the Northern Territory. It's the Dorrelle Anderson Report. It's going to recommend that alcohol bans be reintroduced in the Northern Territory. What are your thoughts on that?

TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Well, we know that the best solutions are local solutions, and if communities in the Northern Territory are backing alcohol bans, that makes a lot of sense. I know the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister will be discussing the report, I believe today, and I think listening to Dorrelle Anderson is a very good start. I mean, we know in Alice Springs these are issues that have been around for a while and we are acting immediately to increase visible policing, increase CCTV, improve lighting, give more places for kids to go at night, places that are safe. But, of course, these further steps of reintroducing alcohol bands, I think that makes a lot of sense.

STEFANOVIC: Yes. We just had the Mayor on the programme last hour and he said alcohol, as we all know it's one part of it. There are other factors as well. He says, and we don't know the full recommendations yet, but he says more police are going to be needed. There needs to be more support programmes in place, because those that are in place right now, regarding kids, kids wandering the streets, not going to school, they're not working. So, you know, from what you can gather, would you think there should be police and more support programmes placed in on top of these bands?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Pete, one of the first things that happened when the Abbott Government came in is they cut $500 million from programmes to support Aboriginal communities around Australia. We know that the changes they made to school funding, the Northern Territory was the worst impacted jurisdiction when they made those changes to school funding formulas. These are issues that have been with us for a long time and they're going to take long-term solutions, including doing things like addressing overcrowding. We know that kids are less safe in overcrowded housing, again something that the previous government did nothing about, so yes, we need to take immediate actions.

STEFANOVIC: So, do you feel you've got to reverse that now?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, I think we need to take immediate actions, particularly to keep women and children safe. We've heard shocking stories about the number of women hospitalised from extreme violence. We know that there are kids running around town in the middle of the night. They should be home safe in bed. We know that. But we also need to accept that these are issues that have grown up over time and the best solutions come when we listen to local communities and we back in the solutions that they come up with.

STEFANOVIC: On the Voice, do you expect it to be operational this term if the referendum is successful?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I'm not sure about the timeline for how quickly it can be stood up after a successful referendum, but as soon as possible would be obviously something that we'd be looking at. We know that The Voice is a great opportunity for Australians to come together to, in the first instance, acknowledge the special place that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have in Australia, with a line in our constitution that acknowledges that special place. And then the Voice – making sure that we've got legislation through the Parliament and then local selection processes so that the members that make up the Voice are reflective of the wishes of local communities. So, we need to have a democratic process across Australia to make sure that the people who are selected reflect the wishes of Aboriginal people. We're looking for gender balance. We're looking for youth voices to be represented. We want to make sure that the Voice is working with existing organisations. It's not trying to replace them. It's not a funding body. It's a representative body that will work with the Parliament to make sure that those voices are heard when we're developing policy and making decisions about Aboriginal communities.

STEFANOVIC: Okay, just to enter into your portfolio now, Minister. The Greens, as we know, they want no new gas, they want no new coal mines. You have a number of proposals on your desk regarding new projects. Will the Greens influence your decision in order to gain your support or their support for the Safeguard Mechanism legislation? Will that influence your decision on new coal and new gas?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, it's interesting, isn't it? The Greens want no new coal and gas. They're also opposed to half the wind projects that are suggested. They say they want more renewable energy but they don't want wind farms, they don't want transmission lines built that would move the renewable energy around Australia. They say they want more housing, but they don't actually want more housing development anywhere. It is really important for the government to take a sensible and case-by-case approach here. I'm not going to make any decisions about banning new coal and gas. I'll take a case-by-case approach. I'll make sensible decisions about proposals that are before me. But we need to have sustainable development in Australia. We want to continue to see growth and employment. Of course, we want to protect our natural environment and the precious places and plants and animals that make us uniquely Australian. So, we just need to take a sensible and case-by-case approach.

STEFANOVIC: Okay, and just a final one here, and your colleague, Peter Khalil, he, with some dancing feet, shimmied away from this question a short time ago, but the IMF has said that Jim Chalmers should overhaul stage three tax cuts. So, are you still committed to stage three tax cuts? The Labor Party?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, it's Labor Party policy. It's the government policy. But I think it's really significant that the IMF has overnight given us a glowing endorsement of the Treasurer's first budget. They particularly singled out the fact that we're investing in cheaper, cleaner, renewable energy to bring down power prices. They commented favourably on extending paid parental leave, cheaper childcare, free TAFE, more university places, all of these things that will address skill shortages and make us a more productive economy. And I think it's really significant too that they mentioned the fact that it was a very sensible budget, it wasn't a big spending budget, the fact that that helps relieve cost of living pressures because it helps moderate inflation pressures.

STEFANOVIC: Tanya Plibersek, I appreciate your time. I'll talk to you soon.