Sky News Regional Breakfast with Jaynie Seal

JAYNIE SEAL: Joining me live is Kristy McBain, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories. Minister, thank you so much for joining us. What's your take on what happened yesterday with Jobseeker?

KRISTY MCBAIN: Good morning, Jaynie. It's beautiful to be joining you from Queanbeyan this morning. It’s really important that this bill has passed both the House and the Senate now. The lift to the Jobseeker rate was something called for a period of time. That $56 increase will go some way to dealing with the cost-of-living pressures that people on Jobseeker have. It's a real shame the opposition sought to not allow that increase, when we know we're being told that so many people are doing it tough. It is a part measure that we have put in place to deal with cost-of-living measures, as well as that increase to Commonwealth rent assistance, the largest rental increase on that rent assistance payment for some years now.

SEAL: All right, and the $10 billion Housing Australia Bill has been reintroduced into the Lower House. What's been happening in Parliament? There's that talk of a double dissolution if the bill is blocked once again.

MCBAIN: We know how incredibly important housing is right across the country. Just yesterday, I met with the Far North Queensland Region of Councils. There were ten councils across Far North Queensland in my office discussing the importance of housing for key workers, but for people right through their region. I spoke to Greater Bendigo Council and Shepperton Council yesterday as well in Parliament House. They too discussed the need for housing in their communities, especially for key workers, council workers, nurses, teachers, as well as people that are doing it really tough and can't find rentals. It's really important that the Federal Government do something on this, and now is the opportunity for the Liberals, the Nationals and the Greens political parties to come together and say, we know this is an issue, let's deal with it. They cannot continue to sit on the sidelines as communities call out for more and more housing and do nothing.

SEAL: And what about the double dissolution? Do you think that is an option?

MCBAIN: Obviously, if this gets voted down again in the Senate there is a potential for a double dissolution election. You've heard the Prime Minister say that is not what he's doing it for. He's doing it because we know people are crying out for more housing supply right across the country. Whether that's in regional Australia or whether it's in metropolitan Australia. We know that the three levels of government should be coming together to deal with this issue. The fact that the Nationals, the Liberals and the Greens are blocking the housing bill just goes to show they're not listening to everyday Australians, they're not listening to councils across the country and they're not listening to their own constituents. As I said, Far North Queensland Region of Councils told me last night how crucial it was for this bill to be passed. Their local member is blocking this bill and he needs to get out of the way, get his political party on side and make sure that we're actually doing things to support everyday Australians win this housing crisis.

SEAL: Minister, there was an exclusive in yesterday's News Corp papers and the article was titled ten Victorian Councils blindsided by sweeping Aboriginal Land rights Deals. And it talks about an Aboriginal group would be given unprecedented control. Over ten Victorian councils under these proposals in a secret deal signed by the Andrews government. You mentioned that you were in Victoria and Regional Victoria yesterday. Have you heard anything? And what's your view on this?

MCBAIN: I read the article yesterday as well. It's important that we understand the entire detail of what is being put in front of those councils. I understand that whilst one Mayor has said that he was blindsided by the deal, another one said they obviously knew that this was being negotiated and they would continue to work through it with the local Aboriginal Land Council in place. It's important that we don't jump to conclusions, and that we understand what the detail of this potentially means for councils. Councils are doing a really fabulous job across the country, working with the traditional owners of the lands on where they're operating, and in many circumstances there's memorandums of understanding. There is already a tonne of work that is done with traditional owners, including land councils, to make sure that those entities are working together. First we need to understand the detail of what is being talked about before we jump to any conclusions.

SEAL: It also says Alastair Clarkson - legendary AFL coach who's a local in Regional Victoria, said that there's no chance of ever getting a road named after him. They talk about the Land Council having to be consulted on everything. Do you think this has implications for the yes vote at all?

MCBAIN: We can all debate the merits of AFL coaches. I'm a St Kilda fan myself, so I'm not sure I'd be in favour of an Alistair Clarkson naming. It’s obviously very important to that community that they've got someone so influential that has come from their area. There is a process to go through for street naming. It's not a simple process. All councils will know that. There's usually a list of acceptable names on a list that councils can then choose from for their street names. What this deal potentially says is that perhaps we should consult traditional owners about adding some Aboriginal names to that proposed acceptable street name list. Again, I don't think it's something that we need to be too worried about in terms of what the detail of that might be. It's also really important to note that the referendum that is coming up in the last quarter of the year is about recognition and listening. It's about acknowledging First Nations peoples in the Constitution, as they should have been for many, many years now, and listening to them about how we get better outcomes for their communities in terms of health, education, social outcomes. If you ask Aboriginals across Eden-Monaro, they're not going to be worried about street names, they're going to be worried about how many of their family and friends have the opportunity to go to university, improving the health outcomes of their community. I don't think street names is on their list.

SEAL: Yeah, I think there was more in that story, but, yes, as you mentioned, it's certainly something that is ongoing there, but we're running out of time. We want to talk to you about Queanbeyan and what you are doing there today, Minister.

MCBAIN. This morning, I've got Minister Bowen, Assistant Minister McAllister and Minister Collins in Queanbeyan. We're at Hamilton's Motel talking about the Albanese Labor Government's $1.7 billion package to assist small and medium businesses to electrify and make sure that we can help them bring down electricity prices. It's really important that we are working with small and medium sized businesses and with households across the country to deal with those cost-of-living pressures. We know that we're headed towards our net-zero target by 2050 and this is just one of the ways that our government is working with our community to bring down the cost of electricity, as well as decarbonising our communities.

SEAL: All right, well, thank you very much and I know we'll touch base with you again next week. And this time next week, hopefully, we will be celebrating the Matildas once again. They're doing so well, aren't they? And I know that you will be watching Monday night. How do you think they're going to go against Denmark?

MCBAIN: Absolutely, it's going to be a very exciting time for Australia and we've seen the draw open up over the last couple of days. With a couple of rounds to go today, it's going to be an exciting time for Australia and you'll see the green and gold being flashed everywhere as we get towards Monday night. Hopefully, there might be live sites around Canberra that all these parliamentarians can get to on Monday night to show their support for the Matildas.

SEAL: Yeah, all right, well, enjoy your time in Queanbeyan and great to see you. Thank you very much for your time. Kristy McBain, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories.

MCBAIN: Thank you