The Hon Michelle Rowland MP
Interview with Ross Wallman, Natalie Locke, Nathan Morris and Shaun McManus, Nova Perth 93.7
ROSS WALLMAN, HOST: We're here with a very special guest, I feel very honoured to have you in here, Minister for Communications, the Honourable Michelle Rowland MP. Thank you for coming in.
MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Good morning.
WALLMAN: How are you this morning?
ROWLAND: I'm great.
WALLMAN: We've got you in Perth, you said, for until the end of the week, what have you been up to? What have you been doing?
ROWLAND: I've been talking all things NBN, looking at the new fibre upgrades that the Government's bringing in, some of the Business Fibre Zones, some eSafety features and also announcing today some really important new rules around financial hardship for people and their telco bills.
WALLMAN: You're putting telcos on notice, so explain that?
ROWLAND: That's right, and I think everyone appreciates that people are doing it tough right now. The telcos have had a scheme in place where they do have to have financial hardship provisions for customers, but unfortunately, we've seen that there's some less than 1% of people who take this up. So this is about letting people know that it's there, but also putting the telcos on notice that we need to put consumers first. You know, your mobile phone, your telco service, these days, it isn't a luxury or a nice to have, it's absolutely essential, including for safety and emergency reasons. We want to make sure people stay connected.
WALLMAN: And you're standing up for those that need it. And with the NBN, so 81,000 of us getting a bit of an upgrade, can you explain that for layman people like myself that might not quite get that?
ROWLAND: In three steps - this used to be a very copper-rich area and not in a good way. We announced prior to the election that we would be introducing fibre right across 1.5 million premises around Australia and over 80,000 of those are in the Perth metro area. So this will mean faster, more reliable, better quality services, so people can go about their lives, go about their work, their e-commerce, their study, their interactions with other people in a much better way as opposed to the plain old copper service. So we're bringing the future to Perth.
WALLMAN: I feel smarter just talking to you, by the way. On a totally different topic, here at Nova, Taylor Swift mayhem has hit everywhere. You have two daughters. How has it impacted your life? Have you been in it?
ROWLAND: They're 11 and 6. My husband is someone who knows how to get things. He has got this covered and I just hope that I'm invited along as well. So we'll see if I get a look in on this one.
WALLMAN: So the husband has more pull than the Minister for Communications in getting Taylor Swift tickets?
ROWLAND: That's my life.
WALLMAN: Yeah, gotcha. You caught up with Nathan, Nat and Shaun a little earlier. You're talking about love of radio, Bon Jovi as well. We're going to hear all that. Shall we get into that now?
ROWLAND: Bon Jovi!?
WALLMAN: Yeah, yeah, we'll be talking about how much you love Bon Jovi, I'm not playing him, don't get too excited.
ROWLAND: I was getting very excited.
WALLMAN: We've got rules here at Nova, maybe, I'll talk to the boss off air. But let's get into that. Thank you so much for coming into the studio.
ROWLAND: Thank you.
PRE-REC
NATALIE LOCKE, HOST: I've noticed something, guys, that now that we're friends with Albo, everybody wants to be friends with us.
NATHAN MORRIS, HOST: Someone's saying in the political circles that we are political power hitters.
SHAUN McMANUS, HOST: Who are those people, I wonder?
LOCKE: Well, begging to talk to us right now is the Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland. Michelle, good morning.
ROWLAND: Good morning, great to be with you and just to clarify, it's not the Prime Minister, it's Toto, the power of Toto.
MCMANUS: That's where it's at, yes.
LOCKE: It's easy to be friends with the Prime Minister. It's a lot harder to be friends with Toto, isn't it?
ROWLAND: And I saw the photos from when you were at The Lodge. Toto, she took to you like you were best friends.
LOCKE: We had to cover Nathan in Chum to get that.
MORRIS: People don't realise that if you are very good friends with Toto then you are allowed to officially have one enemy killed. Now, you being the Communications Minister, are you calling to tell us that we have to stop?
ROWLAND: Absolutely not. I'm calling because I am a massive fan of FM radio commercial broadcasting generally and very much enjoy all the engagements with such great people like yourself to keep people entertained, informed and connected.
MORRIS: Oh, thanks, honey.
McMANUS: Michelle, with this title, the Communications Minister, did you have a background in going that's an area that I would love to get involved in and help lead the Government or is it just thrown at you?
LOCKE: Did you used to work at the Telstra store?
ROWLAND: Close. I had a before life before I went into Parliament some 13 years ago. I spent 10 years as a lawyer doing media IT and communications.
So this is really my area of policy passion. It took me around the world and then it took me to Canberra and I'm very privileged to be in a portfolio that really is my life's passion. It really is the great transformational portfolio, in my view. Everything from the NBN to broadcasting, to media, ICT, and it's such a privilege that the Prime Minister has given me this great job.
MORRIS: Well, it's funny you say about the Prime Minister because there was an article the other day that says why Albanese loves hanging with Perth's Nathan, Nat, and Shaun. And it says 172 press conferences, 89 television interviews, 128 radio spots, and it talks about the power of FM radio and what it's done to politics when they engage correctly with it and drop the facade of being a politician, actually let people get to know who they are. It's a very powerful political move, Michelle.
ROWLAND: I think there's a lot in that. So radio is not only the great survivor, I mean one of the earliest forms of communications was actually radio, but it has just gone from strength to strength and that's because of the innovation in the sector, the fact that you've got presenters like yourself who, in all seriousness, you're making connections with people who are busy, who are getting on with their lives, and I remember a time when I was practising in the law and people were predicting that streaming services, that all these different music technologies were going to be the end of radio. It's been the exact opposite.
MORRIS: You're right because we were told that -
McMANUS: Yeah, we were told that.
MORRIS: - when digital was coming, we said that the whole of the world is going to be opened up to digital radio and digital radio is an amazing thing. But what it did, was it made people - it sort of had the opposite effect and people went no, I want to hear what's happening locally because you can get that stuff at your fingertips any time nowadays, you can download any podcast, you can listen to anything. But our numbers have grown huge when there's more options than ever out there.
LOCKE: That's right, people will just return to the local stuff. We heard that video was going to kill the radio star, that didn't happen either.
ROWLAND: Well, that's right. It's a fantastic song but you're absolutely right about, I mean, the whole sector, and I give a shout out to your industry association, CRA, because they've been at the forefront of this. The innovation in everything from podcasts to utilising smart speakers. Again, smart speakers were going to be the end of radio. But, instead, they have always been ahead of the curve in saying well how can we best serve our consumers, our listeners, and keep them engaged, what do we need to do, and they really have done the industry a great service and, of course, again, in all seriousness, it's that human connection from talent, from individuals, that you don't get through just pure music streaming.
McMANUS: One of the things we were able to connect with Albo about was music, obviously. We went to The Lodge and he had an album that was signed by U2 which was amazing that we all looked at. But the Taylor Swift -
MORRIS: On vinyl which means you really love it.
LOCKE: 1989, well, Jodie bought it for him. Yeah.
McMANUS: It was amazing for us to see and listen to. Michelle, what's your band of choice? Do you have a group that you follow, an individual?
ROWLAND: I certainly do and for me it is Bon Jovi.
McMANUS: Yes, come on!
MORRIS: Slippery When Wet.
McMANUS: 1987.
ROWLAND: Part of that story is I worked in a supermarket for eight years putting myself through school and university and my first pay packet was around $30. I remember around that time sort of the mid '80s, vinyl records were actually really expensive and people didn't have CDs then, or some people did if they were pretty wealthy but that was sort of still an emerging technology. So I spent nearly my entire first pay packet on Slippery When Wet and to this day I have -
LOCKE: A great investment.
ROWLAND: - I have kept that.
McMANUS: Have you?
ROWLAND: I know every word of every song and of course the best song of all time is You Give Love a Bad Name. So it does mean a lot to me. It speaks to that point in my life when I was getting out, I was learning how to earn a wage and, again, it just kept me entertained and every time it comes on FM radio it gets turned up very loud.
McMANUS: Oh, we love it too, here.
LOCKE: We love it when we find a politician with a touch of bogan about them, Michelle.
MORRIS: And you know what I love as well, Michelle? I love the fact that we seem to be collecting a very good posse of powerful friends. Are you now in our powerful friend posse?
ROWLAND: I'd be honoured.
MORRIS: Yes!
McMANUS: Thank you, Michelle.
LOCKE: Application is accepted. We'll stamp that approval. Thank you so much for talking to us this morning, Minister. Like you've got nothing more important to do.
McMANUS: I know, thank you.
ROWLAND: No, it is a real pleasure and as always, you know where I am. Happy to always have a chat.
McMANUS: Beautiful.
LOCKE: Thanks, Michelle.