Transcript - television - Sky News, Breakfast with Jaynie Seal

JAYNIE SEAL [HOST]: Returning to one of our top stories, and Australia has joined forces with Japan and South Korea to condemn China’s cyber-spying behaviour. Joining me live is Senator Anthony Chisholm, Assistant Minister for Regional Development. Senator, thank you so much for joining us. So, they say that they are fed up with Beijing’s relentless campaign of intrusions in government and private sector networks. What do you think about this?

 ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Well, it’s important the government take strong action. It’s obviously been something that – that’s what we’ve done in this instance, and working with our allies in that regard as well. Obviously, these are serious issues and Australia has been impacted by them. And enough is enough, and we need to stand up and say that we’ll take action where appropriate.

SEAL: And what are your thoughts on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese not attending the 75th NATO summit? There’s certainly been a lot of backlash from many people.

CHISHOLM: Well, he attended the first two summits as Prime Minister, and this is a heavily focused – this meeting is heavily focused on defence. So, I know that the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Richard Marles, is there. I know that Matt Thistlethwaite, the Assistant Minister for Defence, is there representing our country as is appropriate for us as participating – as observers of this.

SEAL: So, you don’t think it’s important that the Prime Minister is there when we’re in such a – you know, crucial situations across the country, and NATO is so important to Australia?

CHISHOLM: I think he’s shown his commitment by attending the previous two. It was deemed on this occasion that it was appropriate for the Defence Minister to be there representing the country. As noted, the Assistant Minister for Defence, Matt Thistlethwaite, is there as well. Australia is strongly represented. We’ve been supportive of the process and the Prime Minister’s – by his attendance at the previous two, has shown how supportive he is as well.

SEAL: All right. Let’s talk about nuclear, because we’re hearing that Labor ministers are encouraged to avoid the nuclear energy conversation while campaigning during the winter break. Why?

CHISHOLM: Certainly not something I’m aware of. I’m up in Karumba meeting with local government representatives here, and it was a topic of conversation yesterday as I met with some of the mayors that are in town. I’m sure it will be at their conference today. So, it’s something that I’m more than happy to focus on, how uneconomic and unaffordable Peter Dutton’s plan is, and it won’t actually make a difference for the next couple of decades when we need new energy into the system. So more than happy to talk about it as I travel Queensland and the country, particularly regional areas over the next month, I’ll be talking about it as often as I can, because it is not something that is going to work for Australia and we shouldn’t disrupt and let them play the spoiler with a plan that is working for this country, which is our renewables rollout. And that is working constructively with the states around the country at the same time.

 SEAL: We’re yet to hear the costings from the coalition. And once we do hear that, no doubt we’ll all have more of an idea of what they are putting forward. If that’s something that seems feasible and certainly worth looking at. Is there any chance of Labor lifting the bans on nuclear?

CHISHOLM: Well, we have a plan in place, and one that we are working constructively with states and territories on. We are seeing new energy generation. We’re seeing announcements regularly from the Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, about new renewables being built. But this isn’t new from the opposition – to release something without any costings, and then to say that this won’t be built for more than 15 years isn’t actually a real plan that is going to work for this country. We need the new generation now. That’s why we’re implementing it. If the Opposition were to win, we would see no action and Australia would be worse off as a result.

SEAL: Understanding that the cost would be, you know, something of an issue. However, with energy being a necessity, not a luxury, wouldn’t you say if we certainly need it in combination with renewables – I don’t think the coalition are denying not having renewables in the mix – and potentially talking decades away, is that not something that you would even consider looking at?

CHISHOLM: Well, it’s not actually proven that it’s needed. What we’ve done is followed the advice that’s been given us. We’re implementing the lowest-cost option, the lowest-cost for new generation. Nuclear is the most expensive form of new generation, so we’re listening to the experts and we’ve provided a plan. So while we’re working constructively with states, the LNP Opposition here in Queensland are saying they’re not supportive of Mr Dutton’s nuclear plan. So, the only option that they’ve put forward, which is uneconomic, also lacks support from across the states and territories, and it will only delay the transition that needs to be made. So, it is something that I think does put the country at risk, and it does put important manufacturing jobs at risk, particularly in the regions [indistinct] …

SEAL: All right. Hopefully we haven’t lost you there, Senator, but we wanted to ask you – you’re in a beautiful spot there, Karumba in Queensland, looking like a nice day ahead. Talk us through the announcement that you’re making today.

CHISHOLM: Yeah, so I’m in this part of the world, and yesterday I travelled along the Normanton-Burketown Road with the mayor here, and we’ve provided $16 million to upgrade that road. The council are putting in $4 million in an 80-20 split, and that will seal a really big section of that road, which is - does have a fair bit of dirt still. Whilst we were there, I met with a lot of the workers. There’s a lot of First Nations people who are working as contractors on road maintenance around this part. And whilst we were there, I think for the half an hour whilst we were chatting, I saw a heap of caravans go past, a heap of trucks go past. So, at this time of the year there are a lot of activity up here, particularly tourists. As you can see behind me, it’s a beautiful time of the year to be here. And so, these projects, through working with council, will improve safety and improve access all year round, because there is a big wet season here, and we’ve done that similarly for roads across Longreach, across Townsville, Charters Towers as well. And that’s part of ensuring that we’re delivering infrastructure across the whole of Australia.

SEAL: All right, and in terms of fixing the roads, what exactly is wrong with the roads in that area?

CHISHOLM: Well, obviously it’s a big part of the world where the council are responsible for the road maleficence, and there are still dirt patches as well that we need to fix up over time. So, what this money does is work with councils, who can obviously better identify which are the critical needs of our safety for their communities, and we partner with them to get these road projects done. The encouraging thing about yesterday is that this funding was only recently announced, and the council already have the work teams ready to go to start working on these projects. That’ll be a similar case across north Queensland as well, so it’s a really good opportunity for those councils to identify problems that they have and the federal government can partner with them to ensure that we can provide those safety upgrades all year round, particularly during the wet season, which does cause so much damage in this part of the world.

SEAL: Well, certainly roads are vital to be safe. No doubt plenty of people, you know, grateful for that boost in funding. It sounds like a lot of – you’ve got a lot of birds out there this morning. We’ll have to let you go, but Anthony Chisholm, thank you so much for joining us. Have a great day.

CHISHOLM: Thanks, Jaynie.