Interview with Kerry Peck, 2BS Brekky with Pecky

KERRY PECK, HOST: I have been looking forward to talking to my next guest this morning. As you well know, the years that I've been around here at 109 George Street have been many and varied since about 1969 when I first came to Bathurst. But in the early 80s, the then Federal Member for Calare, David Simmons, had a chat with the local branch of the ALP and also the NSW branch of the ALP and then spread it right nationwide to talk about the life of Ben Chifley and how we could commemorate that and which way we could look at.



Then somebody came up, I can't remember who it was, but somebody came up with - let's call it - the Light on the Hill dinner. And we will have a dinner to honour this wonderful Prime Minister in our country. And people like Gough Whitlam, Paul Keating, all those luminaries in the ALP have been in Bathurst to actually pay tribute to the former Prime Minister and wonderful post-war Prime Minister, of course, of our country and towards the end of the Second World War as well.



And on the phone this morning, I really do have a great deal of pleasure to introduce the Federal Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland. Good morning.



MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Good morning, Pecky. Great to be with you.



PECK: Thank you very much indeed for your time, I really do appreciate it. When you look at the past people that have spoken at this particular dinner, it really is an important part, not only of the ALP history, but also our country's history as well.



ROWLAND: You're absolutely right and it's a great honour to have been invited by former Senator Sue West, whom many of your listeners will know, to give this address. I think it's partly in my capacity as President of the NSW Labor Party, but I think more importantly for this occasion, being the Minister for Communications in a New Labor Government. I think that it really is incumbent on this portfolio to improve delivery, productivity, make people's lives better. I've been having this as my policy passion for some time. I had a life before politics.



I worked in telco, broadcasting, media and technology sectors as a lawyer. I've always been interested in the power of technology to enhance change and to make people's lives better. I can think of no better way of me being able to do that is actually delivering for regional Australia and on this occasion coming to the Central West. I'm really excited. I've been putting a lot of thought into what I'm going to say. I've rewritten this speech several times and I'm looking forward to delivering it.



PECK: Yeah, I can imagine that too. I also noticed in the bio, just on a serious note, just for one moment, is one of the things that you really are looking at, and I'm a great believer in this, you're looking at social media and how – not controlling it overall, but how some of the sections can be controlled. This is becoming very important, isn't it?



ROWLAND: Every regulator and government around the world are grappling with this because social media when it first emerged, a lot of people saw it as a real democratising institution. People were able to have their say to communicate with one another in ways that they couldn't before on these very free and accessible platforms.



But with that also comes risks and harms, including to children. It also means that we need to respond appropriately whilst not stifling innovation. So, it's really finding that right balance. I think one principle, Pecky, that I found in being in this portfolio is that there's no single solution to a lot of these problems. A lot of it does lie in multifaceted approaches, like through media literacy, so enabling people to understand and to interrogate what they're consuming online, which becomes an even bigger issue with the rise of artificial intelligence, because there's so much that can be done with this technology that people don't trust or is capable of misleading or deceiving. So, we all want technology to improve our lives, but we have to be really mindful of harms and governments really need to tread carefully to ensure we strike the right balance between protection and regulation for the safety of citizens.



PECK: Yeah. When I look at some of the guidelines that we, of course have to follow in the commercial media and right across the media in Australia over many years, and you look at some of the freedoms they have, we get a little bit jealous about it, I have to say. And I think there should be more done in this. And, you know, from your earlier life, of course, as you said, a life before politics I take it that this prepared you very well in shadow cabinet, then going into cabinet now, it prepared you very well for this portfolio.



ROWLAND: I believe it did. I had the great privilege of working in a law firm that did a lot of international work. And I spent some time in the Pacific in the Middle East, establishing regulatory institutions, looking at rolling out networks, looking at undersea cables, and how consumers could benefit overall from having enhanced communications. I actually just came back recently from my first overseas trip as Minister and I went to Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea and Australia is doing really practical delivery that's improving people's lives over there, including investing in undersea cables, assisting with the construction of telecommunications towers.



I think this is going to make a measurable difference to the lives of some of our neighbours, where Australia is back in the Pacific in a big way and we're back as partners - and I think that's really important. When we talk about the Asia-Pacific region, we need to remember the Pacific side of it as well. Prime Minister Albanese has instructed all of his Ministers to really be focused on how we can make those improvements, how we can deliver, and how we can help make it a more prosperous region overall.



PECK: Let me say we look forward to welcoming you to our city once again. We hope you enjoy this day. We hope you enjoy the speech. And you've probably got to rewrite it again, have you tonight, or something?



ROWLAND: No, you've given me some food for thought, and I really can't wait to get on the highway. Actually, I have a brother who's lived in Orange for most of his life, but I haven't made the trip out on the Mitchell Highway for some time with COVID getting in the way, elections and so forth. I had a few kids in between, but I'm really looking forward to hitting the Great Western Highway and can't wait to see everyone.



PECK: Thank you for your time this morning. I really do appreciate it; you've been very generous with it. And I look forward to catching up in the future if that's okay.



ROWLAND: Great pleasure. Thank so much.