Interview with Bridget Brennan, ABC News Breakfast

BRIDGET BRENNAN, HOST: Well, there’s a lot to talk about with the Environment Minister Murray Watt, who joins us from Adelaide. A very good morning to you, Minister. Thanks for joining us on News Breakfast.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: No worries, Bridget. Good to be with you.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: Tell us, this is such a pivotal moment seeing these reunions in Israel and in Gaza. For you, what’s it been like seeing those images?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I actually watched your program earlier this morning, Bridget, and you can’t help but be emotional when you see those reunions. Obviously, many of these families would’ve been worried that they would never have seen their loved ones again. And I think no matter where you are in the world, this is a really positive step, and I think it’s right to feel emotional about these kind of things.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: Do you think Australia could play an increased part in the restoration of the destruction of Gaza and in healing some of those wounds in the Middle East?

MURRAY WATT: Well, there’s certainly a long way to go. I mean, this is obviously a very positive step towards peace, but there’s a long way to go in the restoration of Gaza and ensuring that we see a long term peace in the Middle East. We haven’t made any decisions about that at this point in time, but our focus has really been on being part of the international community pushing for a ceasefire, pushing for these hostages to be released, so we’re very pleased to see those steps now occur.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: You’re in Adelaide this morning. Of course, there’s just so much focus on the algal bloom affecting communities across the coastline. What’s the latest you’re hearing from scientists and from local communities there?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, this is the fourth time I’ve visited Adelaide for the algal bloom to get those briefings, to listen to the community and, of course, to join Premier Peter Malinauskas in announcing ongoing support. Today, in fact, we will be releasing the full Summer Plan, jointly funded between the Federal and State Governments, a total value of $102.5 million, and that’s in addition to the more than $30 million support that has been provided by both governments to date.

I actually attended a community forum in Aldinga, which is about 45 minutes to an hour south of Adelaide last night, to hear directly from community members. And basically what I'd say is that people are obviously worried about what's going to be happening through the summer. They are looking to governments to support them, and that's what we're doing. And also, people are looking for really clear information and facts. Unfortunately, there is some information being put out there about what the causes of this are, what the likely impacts are, so it's an important opportunity to provide those facts. Directly to answer your question, I mean, the scientists are telling us that we can't predict how long this event will go on. It's pleasing to see that particularly outside of Adelaide, places like Kangaroo Island and elsewhere, the bloom has effectively disappeared. It certainly has had an impact on the marine environment, but it's not impacting on people's daily lives, which is terrific. There is still an impact on the metropolitan beaches here in Adelaide. And whether it be here or in Australia or when we've seen these things overseas, no one can predict with certainty how long they'll be around, which is exactly why governments need to continue providing the support in the way that we are.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: Yes, summer was a real concern for so many people. Could you give us a little bit of detail about what this plan will entail, and how it will help people perhaps ease a bit of that anxiety as the summer months come up?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I'll be joining the Premier a little bit later this morning to outline the full plan and every component of that. But you will have seen, even over the last couple of days, there's been a very strong focus on business support. Yesterday, I joined the Premier to announce vouchers that South Australians can use to go to local restaurants, to pubs, to fish and chip shops to make sure that those local businesses survive. Today, we've announced more support for the commercial fishing industry, which is an important industry here in South Australia. But what you'll see when you see the plan is it's very comprehensive. It ranges from really supporting the community through this, the announcements that were made over the weekend about providing information through an app, supporting surf life savers to provide more support through summer, as I say, business support, and also there'll be a strong focus on environmental measures as well. So not too much longer before we'll have the full plan out there, but there's already, I think, been some very positive announcements.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: All right, a few tidbits there. Let's go to WA now. Obviously, there continues to be fallout from your decision on the North West Gas Shelf. Do you think the 50,000-year-old rock art there will continue to degrade under this Government's watch, Murray Watt?

MURRAY WATT: No, I don't think that, Bridget. The decision that I had to make under the federal environmental law was what the impacts of an extension of the existing gas processing plant would have on that incredibly unique and precious rock art. The decision I made was in accordance with Australia's environmental law, and I applied 48 strict conditions in addition to the conditions the WA Government had imposed, and that was all about making sure that we wouldn't see an unacceptable impact on that rock art. I'm confident both that the decision I made is in line with the law, I'm also confident that it will preserve that rock art forevermore, and that's the way we want to see it.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: There isn't though still some scientific uncertainty about the effect of those emissions, particularly from, say, 2030 to 2060? We don't really know what's going to happen, do we?

MURRAY WATT: Well, again, that's one of the reasons that I applied the conditions that I did in ensuring that we do make sure that any emissions into the future don't have those sorts of impacts on the rock art. Some of the conditions that I imposed included requirements to reduce some of the emissions from that plant by 60 per cent 2030, with ongoing reductions after that. And of course, as we've said previously, under the Government's Safeguard Mechanism this plant is required to reduce its greenhouse emissions every year and to be net zero by 2050. So as I say, I'm confident both that the decision I made was legally robust, but also will preserve that rock art. And we want to make sure that happens well, forevermore, not just well into the future.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: All right. Now your trickiest question, because Australians are voting for their bird of the year all around the country. Minister, it's time for you to reveal – what's your favourite bird?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I have cast my vote in this, Bridget. Probably the most important vote I'll ever cast. And I went with the tawny frogmouth.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: Oh, good choice.

MURRAY WATT: So it's been the runner-up a couple of times, and I like a sort of an underdog. And also, I found, The Guardian actually asked me to record a sound of me making the noise of some of the birds, and I figured that one was a little bit easier to do than some of the other choices.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: [Laughs] Very good. All right, thanks Murray Watt for your time.

MURRAY WATT: Thanks, Bridget.