EDDIE WILLIAMS [HOST]: Kristy McBain is the Member for Eden-Monaro and the Minister for Local Government and Emergency Management. Good morning.

KRISTY MCBAIN [MINISTER]: Good morning.

HOST: How fair was this program?

MCBAIN: Incredibly fair. If you look at the electorate of Eden-Monaro for example, where 32,000 square kilometres spanning five local government areas. You know, I spend a great deal of my time talking to community groups and working with our local councils about the infrastructure and community needs for our electorate. And all of the projects that we committed to in the election were all projects that community and council had worked on to say this is something that we want to see funded and go forward.

WILLIAMS: You've said previously that you wanted to see more transparency and accountability around regional grants. Has that happened?

MCBAIN: Yeah, we have obviously a range of open and competitive grants as well. From Thriving Suburbs to Growing Regions, the Urban and the Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program, the Active Transport Program, there are a whole range of open competitive grants that are available for communities and for councils to apply for. And they're obviously assessed on their merits by an independent party and then through the department rather than through ministers. And this grant for election commitments was no different. The election commitments were asked to submit their applications. It followed the approach from the Commonwealth grants rules and principles and they still had to be assessed so that they met value for money. So, all of those things were done in this process as well as through our independent and open grant processes as well.

WILLIAMS: A very similar sized electorate is Indi in the north east of Victoria. The independent MP there, Helen Haines, has spoken on this issue and a lack of projects funded through this program in her electorate. Projects in that part of the world not as worthy as those in Eden-Monaro?

MCBAIN: There was obviously no election commitments made there. But in the electorate of Indi she's had, Helen Haines has had a range of competitive grant applications successful so assessed on their merits through that open competitive process and awarded as per the grant guidelines. So, you know, those two things really aren't the same. You know, it's a long-standing process where people make election commitments in particular electorates. We also make a whole range of policy commitments in an election as well. So, we've obviously got to have a vehicle to enact the election commitments and that is this. But there are a whole range of other competitive grant programs that electorates have been successful for.

WILLIAMS: Does there arguably need to be more flexibility that if you see there is a clear need for this particular pool to be revamped, that you should be able to fund it more easily?

MCBAIN: Look, that's why we have competitive grants. We've funded a whole range of pools through our Growing Regions grants as well as the Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program as well. The Gilgandra Pool in western NSW received $14 million in, I think it was round four of the Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program. We've funded a range of other pools, including the Roma Pool in south west Queensland. So, you know, these things are incredibly important. And they are funded through those application processes.

WILLIAMS: Been hearing in the news this morning that the Prime Minister held an honorary membership to the Marrickville Golf Club in his electorate, which was promised $6 million at the election through this scheme, and he hasn't declared that membership. Is that appropriate?

MCBAIN: Look, I think it's probably one of those things where you're gifted a whole range of memberships in, you know, these roles. You know, I'm an honorary member of the Merimbula Pambula Lions Club. That's not something that I've declared, but it's something that I have. In a regional community like ours I'm a member of a whole range of social and sporting clubs in and around the area I live and across Eden-Monaro in general, because I think it's important to show your support for, you know, the communities in which you represent. You know, also many times it makes it easier to get into and out of the club you're going into, but, you know, you're there as, you know, a general punter having a meal or a drink with family or friends. So, you know, that's important to show the support that you have in your local community for those social and sporting clubs.

WILLIAMS: It's 17 past 7 on ABC South East. You're hearing from the member for Eden-Monaro and Minister for Emergency Management Kristy McBain. The National Preparedness Summit getting underway today. What will the focus be over the next couple of days?

MCBAIN: Yeah, we know that there's an increased likelihood of drier weather. We know that there hasn't been the rain that we would usually expect in Spring and therefore we've got a higher than average bushfire level for parts of the country, including along the coast. So, we're holding our fourth annual National Preparedness Summit. It's on the back of Operation Nexus where we scenario-planned a whole range of events. And this brings together all of the emergency service agencies from around the country so that we can talk about the upcoming season and also ensure that we can work really closely together if any of those events do eventuate. It's really important that we prepare now and obviously we've got our national Get Ready campaign rolling out in states and territories across the country. And if you jump on the RFS website, it'll show you where an event is happening close to you. And that's about how you can take some practical steps to prepare your own property for bushfire season. Know where your neighbourhood safer places are, your evacuation centres, and actually start to prepare now.

WILLIAMS: Yeah, it is the time to do it already. Already a fire at Rocky Hall last week. What's your message to the community at the start of the season?

MCBAIN: Yeah, really importantly, prepare now. You know, it's time to clean out those gutters. Get your bushfire survival kit ready, including a wireless and battery so you can stay up to date with emergency information if we do lose power. Make sure you've got all of your personal things that you might want to take with you if you need to leave somewhere, stored somewhere safe, and check on family, friends and neighbours to make sure that they're doing the same thing. I think we all know how important it is to have a bushfire plan and it's time now to look at that, update it if you need to and be prepared for the season ahead.

WILLIAMS: Kristy McBain, I appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

MCBAIN: Good to be with you.