SASKIA MABIN [HOST]: It has been an extremely busy week for our members of Parliament. We're going to talk about a few of the things that have happened with Member for Eden-Monaro, Kristy McBain, including something that you might have missed. The senate has passed what is called the Survivors' Bill. This aims to prevent child sexual abusers from hiding their assets from victim survivors. It is a good morning and welcome to Kristy McBain. Thanks so much for your time.

KRISTY MCBAIN [MINISTER] :Good morning. It's good to be with you.

MABIN: Now I know you were really passionate about this bill. Can you tell me a little bit about what it will do?

MCBAIN: Yeah, look, it was a really important moment. This was first discussed in 2018 and victim survivors have been campaigning on this ever since. It follows on the back of a horrible case in this part of the world where Maurice Van Ryn was convicted of assaulting 10 kids over a period of a decade. Compensation payments were ordered and that perpetrator declared bankruptcy and his superannuation was then not able to be touched by those victim survivors. So, we have now made sure that we've got rid of that loophole so that perpetrators can no longer retraumatise victims by hiding their assets in vehicles like superannuation and it not being able to be touched by the people that they've perpetrated some horrendous crimes on. So, it was a really good moment. And this has been, as I said, a long time in the making, particularly for those victim survivors who have been campaigning now for a long time

MABIN: Yeah, absolutely. And so what happens, is there a court order where the superannuation is ordered to be delved into? Is that how it will work?

MCBAIN: So, if a victim has obtained obtained a civil court compensation, they are able to provide that to the trustee of a superannuation fund and those assets are eligible to be used for payment of that compensation. And I think that's really important. Previously, as I said, superannuation was a vehicle where even if an order was made, if the person declared bankruptcy, it was a vehicle that couldn't be touched. You know, if a perpetrator has perpetuated some of the most horrendous crimes in our country, then there should be no asset that should be able to be held by them, particularly in the case of a child who was an innocent victim in what is a horrendous crime.

MABIN: Yeah. Eight years on since this was first discussed by the Turnbull Government. A huge achievement from everyone involved and I think possibly easy to miss given the events of this week. It's been incredibly busy. Last night, the leader of the federal opposition, the alternative Prime Minister, Angus Taylor, delivered his budget reply speech, including a plan to cut net overseas migration. He's also proposing to end welfare payments for non-citizens, including permanent residents. Your electorate, Kristy McBain, Eden-Monaro, covers large parts of regional NSW where people on skilled visas are incentivised to go. How would a cut to migration impact your electorate?

MCBAIN: There are a lot of regional electorates that would be worried. I mean, we rely on immigration for seasonal things like fruit picking, hospitality and tourism. There are a whole range of our industries, like aged care and health, that rely on immigration in large parts. So it's an easy talking point, I think, at a time when Australians are worried about the cost of living and Australians are worried about the impact of the Middle east war, particularly on our fuel and fertiliser supply. But the reality of it doesn't survive much scrutiny because there is no regional business that I've met that is telling me they've got too many employees. People are crying out for work to be done in their communities and a lot of the time those job vacancies are being filled by migrants. So, it's an easy target, but it doesn't survive much scrutiny.

MABIN: My guest is the Member for Eden-Monaro, Kristy McBain, also the Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government, and the Minister for Emergency Management. The federal budget announced by the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, earlier in the week, gives $100 million to the Sydney to Canberra rail link, $50 million from the Commonwealth and $25 each from NSW and the ACT Governments. This is something that has also been talked about for a very long time. Do you take the train much between your electorate and Canberra?

MCBAIN: Living in the southern end of my electorate, I don't get to take the train often, but I hear frequently from constituents that they want to be able to access the train to Canberra or a faster service to Sydney rather than rely on their car. And for many people, the price of an airline ticket is too much for them. I know it's been long talked about and that's why it was incredibly Important that the three Labor governments came together to actually start this work. So, the initial works will work on making sure that we rerail parts of that line, that we're upgrading electrical connections, we're getting better level crossings where it's needed. And there'll be a business case established to look at what else needs to be done on that line and express services between Canberra and Sydney. So, we're really looking at how we can improve that line. The NSW government is in the process at the moment of refurbishing and getting new country rail trains. So, they will be coming down once that rerailing starts and that work will commence shortly and will be rolling out over the next couple of years.

MABIN: You mentioned their express services between Canberra and Sydney. Does that mean no stops in between, or would it stop at Goulburn, for example?

MCBAIN: That detail is still being worked out and that will be part of the business case that will go as part of this funding. Because it's really important, I think, for people along that service to be able to access a much faster service. At the moment, it takes just over four hours. We want to get that below four hours with this initial work and hopefully down to three once we can get that business case sorted and the next package of works that might need to be done to do that.

MABIN: Yeah, I certainly know from our listeners that this is something a lot of people would be pleased to see happen. What's the timeline for how long this might take?

MCBAIN: That first lot of works are scheduled to roll out over the next three years. And as I said, as part of that package of works, there'll be a business case to identify what else needs to be done. That rail corridor is an interesting one because different parts of the track are owned by three different corporations. So, we are working with both NSW Rail, the Australian Rail Track Corporation and the freight services to make sure that we can speed up that service. The other thing we'll be doing is taking off speed limits in that service along that rail corridor. So, we're really looking at what we can do to speed up that and make peoples’ days much more productive.

MABIN: Kristy McBain, thank you very much for your time this morning.

MCBAIN: Great to be with you.