Transcript - radio interview - 4CA Cairns with Murray Jones

MURRAY JONES [HOST]: Well, we were talking yesterday with the Prime Minister about some of the options and some of the opportunities that are coming up for Northern Australia when it comes to military strategy. Things are changing in this world. But there's so many other things that we're crying out for. We talked about the misinformation, the disinformation, and sadly, there is a degree of dumbing down in this country. So, education is one of the key ways forward. And look, there has been an announcement just made in the last couple of days, opportunities for regional areas to become Regional University Study Hubs. And of course, Cairns, perfectly located, not just geographically, with CQU and JCU also already in town. Some great opportunities to be recognised internationally as a real education hub, because people like to come here, not just for a holiday, for education, but to enjoy some of the beautiful things we've got in tropical North Queensland. Federal Minister for Regional Development, Kristy McBain joins me this morning. Kristy, this is an exciting opportunity and look, let's talk through it; opportunities not just for CQU and JCU, but maybe other opportunities for universities to come to our region.

KRISTY MCBAIN [MINISTER]: Absolutely. Good morning, Murray. Great to be with you again. It's a fantastic announcement that was made yesterday by my colleagues Jason Clare and Anthony Chisholm, which is about making sure that we are spending that $66.9 million that we've allocated to double the number of University Study Hubs across the country. There's 34 currently operating and we want to do 20 more in regional Australia and 14 more in suburban areas. We know far too often that postcodes determine your access to further education, whether that is university or TAFE education. I think nationally, one in two people have a university degree, whereas the further out from our city centres you get, it's less than one in four. We really want to change the trajectory of our communities by making sure that we've got Regional Study Hubs available across the country. We know that it's important for reskilling and upskilling and it's also going to be important for those new careers that are coming with energy transition and advanced manufacturing.

JONES: Now look, the Federal Government obviously getting involved with these Regional University Study Hubs. But also, for TAFE, which is obviously a Queensland institution, because not everyone wants to go to university and get a degree. But of course, there's a lot of things that are on offer on TAFE. So, supporting the TAFE system to, I guess, bring those overall opportunities for youth and for people, full stop up further, is also a good thing.

MCBAIN: Absolutely. When I look at my own family, my dad, my brother, my husband, all went to TAFE for further education. It's really important that we have those opportunities available across the country. We've committed $325 million under the National Skills Agreement for TAFE Centres of Excellence. We've just now announced an additional $41 million. We want to see new TAFE centres of excellence across the country. We want to support the extra funding to partner with jobs and skills councils, with industry, with universities, to make sure that we're providing the skills training that is needed in some of our industries. We know how important it is to make sure that people have access to those education facilities. Far too often, we've seen things move online, which for so many of those vocational training opportunities, you need that face-to-face and hands-on experience.

JONES: Sure, yeah.

MCBAIN: We’re putting our money where our mouth is to make sure we're getting those locations sorted through those TAFE Centres of Excellence.

JONES: Well, I don't know whether you're much of a footy fan, but let's talk a little bit more about football. Barlow Park. It's always been a bit of a difficult one for our region because it does have the athletics tracks around the outside, so it just moves you a little bit further from some of the action there. But it's a reality, I mean, we've got so many other positive things here in our region that maybe we don't have one of those big stadiums, but I guess trying to get it as fit for purposes as possible. There is certainly some positive things about some of the money that's going into Barlow Park as a venue for the region moving forward.

MCBAIN: That's right. Barlow Park is one of 16 new or upgraded ventures being jointly funded by the Albanese Labor Government and the Queensland Government in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics. Yesterday, the Queensland Premier released the concept plans for the precinct, which is very exciting. The stadium is going to be upgraded to substantially increase that seating capacity, improve accessibility and amenities so that we've got a whole range of broadcast equipment that can come in, better for the athletes and better for the public. And I can confirm that construction plans have been brought forward. Construction is likely to begin by 2026 and expected to be completed by 2028, which will benefit the Cairns community well before the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. A great opportunity for us to work with the community and with the state government here to make sure that that venue is available for a whole range of things in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics.

JONES: Okay, look, if we can just briefly go back to education. Something that I've been talking to quite a few of the Federal Ministers about is my personal concern that there's a real decay in society and unfortunately, misinformation and disinformation is trumping. It's something that we've seen in the states and sadly, we are mirroring it in so many ways. And look, I'll be straight with you, when it comes to the No campaign, I have just been littered with misinformation and disinformation and a simple misunderstanding of how the Constitution works and how the enabling legislation works. Moving forward, and look, as a Federal Minister, I think I need to have this discussion with you. There's got to be a push to actually deal with social media in such a way that it's basically stopping – it is stopping truth and fact from getting out there and unfortunately, it is lost. And unfortunately, with what's happening with The Voice, I think it's a great example of the damage that social media is doing to our society, Kristy?

MCBAIN: Murray, I 100 per cent agree with you. You can have access to your own opinions, but you can't have access to your own set of facts. There are only ever one set of facts when it comes to any given matter. We have seen The Voice referendum really disintegrate into a whole bunch of mis- and disinformation. Even so far as the Communications Minister saying we need to deal with mis- and disinformation, and we've had people rail against that. They don't want legislation which actually deals with misinformation on social media, which is incredibly disappointing. It does come down to individuals being informed. We've gone through a period of significant upheaval with Covid, where we heard from so many people, go out and do your own research on things. That's exactly what we want you to do with The Voice. There are reputable information sites; Voice.gov.au, the AEC website, and the Australian Electoral Commission website has information about the referendum. This legislation, if it passes the referendum, goes through the exact same process that every other piece of legislation in this country goes through. That's through both houses of Parliament, with a committee that enquires into it, with the opportunity for amendments to be put and voted on and a substantial public submission campaign.

This is not the end of the conversation. For all those people who keep saying to me, where's the detail? Where's the detail? I ask you to have a look at the Constitution. There is one line on taxation which says the Government has the power to make laws on taxation. We have seven volumes of taxation law which changes frequently so that we can make sure we're keeping abreast of all of the information that's given to us as parliamentarians to vote on. That would be no different to The Voice. We need to make sure that there is a head of power given to us through the Constitution and then the parliamentarians work out that legislation in consultation with everyone across the parliament, but also the public.

JONES: And I think you put it very succinctly because that is the thing that I think so many people don't understand is that – how that enabling legislation will work. It's like any act of parliament and people say, “Oh, that it's risky.” Well, in that case, every single act of parliament or any proposal with respect to new legislation is risky as well. But unfortunately, it's been weaponised. And I think, sadly, this concept of freedom of speech has kind of overtaken our concept in so many ways and people don't realise that with rights also come responsibilities.

MCBAIN: 100 per cent. I was just about to say freedom of speech doesn't give you freedom from responsibility. There are a whole bunch of legislative instruments which tell us that you are not free to say whatever comes into your mind. We have anti-discrimination legislation in place for a reason. We want to work with communities to get good outcomes, and that is every community across the country. We know we've got our first Australians who are doing it tougher than the rest of the country and we should rightly acknowledge them in the Constitution as the first custodians of this great country of ours. We also know that we need to make sure that we are dealing with the legislation that impacts them differently and separately to the rest of the population in a better manner. Things like remote housing legislation, things like justice reinvestment, those things should and could, if the referendum gets up, come with that direct input from First Nations People.

JONES: Great to talk to you this morning. We've covered some important subjects. She's the Federal Minister for Regional Development, Kristy McBain. I'll let you get back to the kids on school holidays but thank you so much for your time this morning.

MCBAIN: Thanks so much, Murray, and go the Broncos for the weekend.