Interview — 2HD Breakfast with Richard King
RICHARD KING:
Well, joining us now, as I mentioned, he’s on the Central Coast at the moment wearing- well, he’s wearing a number of hats at the moment, and I’m talking about our Federal Employment Minister who’s also wearing the hat of Acting Minister for Education and Youth at the moment, and that’s Stuart Robert who is on the line. Good morning, Minister.
MINISTER ROBERT:
Richard, how are you, sir?
RICHARD KING:
Very well indeed, thank you, and yourself?
MINISTER ROBERT:
Not too bad. A bit of a wet morning.
RICHARD KING:
Well, yes, it’s- I think we can expect a- pretty well the whole of the eastern seaboard at the moment’s going to have a wet day on the way. Look, you’re actually at the University of Newcastle campus at Gosford, and it’s this $2 billion federal government plan for university research commercialisation action plan. Very briefly, what is that all about?
MINISTER ROBERT:
In short, Richard, if you think about Wi-Fi we use every day, invented by CSIRO. Think about the black box in aircraft, invented by our defence scientists. So, we do great research and commercialise it, but it’s pretty far between. So, we’re sixth in the world in research but 26th in the world in commercialising that. So, we’re now going to pump prime that and really connect our world class universities, like yours in Newcastle, to research, to industry, and get these great things we’re researching commercialised, into the market, creating jobs.
RICHARD KING:
Well, and of course one of them is hydrogen, and that’s certainly a hot topic at the moment, Minister.
MINISTER ROBERT:
It is. We just need to get it down to 2 bucks a kilogram so we can start to power all of our energy in a very, very clean way and ensure that our current workers in that entire industry have got a great future for their families. So, we’re doubling down very strongly in that space.
RICHARD KING:
Right. We're all talking this morning about the Prime Minister's address to the National Press Club down in Canberra yesterday. On the subject of jobs, he had this to say.
[Excerpt]
SCOTT MORRISON:
Jobs change lives, they change families, they change communities. They give Australians purpose and independence. They free them from the clutches of welfare and dependents. And they do the heavy lifting on transforming the budget also. I believe we can now achieve an unemployment rate with a 3 in front of it this year. Our goal is to achieve this in the second half of 2022. We have not seen this in Australia for almost half a century. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
[End of excerpt]
RICHARD KING:
You're obviously on board with the PM, Minister, but how do you go about doing that, getting it to 3 per cent or less? Our unemployment rate.
MINISTER ROBERT:
First time in half a century, it will be full employment, if you want, so that anyone who wants a job can get a job. And we do it by ensuring we've got a great pool of skilled Australians. So, we are doubling down. 463,000 free training places in JobTrainer. We're making sure that apprentices, anyone who wants an apprenticeship can get one. And we're already seeing 220,000 trade apprentices now, highest number since records began in 1963. So, we want to train Australians for the jobs that are available, and government get out of the way and accelerate industry, universities; accelerate commercialisation, accelerate opportunities. When those two meet, Richard, that’s where the magic happens.
RICHARD KING:
Well, the PM yesterday said that the plan - this is to get unemployment 3 per cent or less - seeks to create jobs by securing our economic recovery from COVID and setting Australia up for the future. The plan has five core elements, and the fifth one was securing our sovereign manufacturing capability, unlocking a new generation of high wage, high skill, high tech jobs. And I'll state the bleeding obvious. Apparently, from all reports, I think the federal government’s buying most of their rapid antigen tests from overseas. And I read one report this morning that said that you've got a better chance of buying an Australian manufactured rapid antigen test in the United States than here in Australia. Surely, you know, one way of helping our manufacturing is to make sure the federal government buys as much as they can from Australian manufacturers rather than overseas, Minister?
MINISTER ROBERT:
Oh, absolutely, which is why the reporting is a little disingenuous. There are a number of organisations in my state of Queensland that are manufacturing and selling rapid antigen tests, and the Commonwealth is buying as many as they are offering. There are a number of other manufacturers who have not yet provided all the information to get TGA’s, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, approval. Now, we'll give every assistance we can. The TGA has already approved more than 40 of the rapid antigen tests, more than in the United States of America. So we will buy unashamedly from Australia. But they have to meet that TGA threshold, because, Richard, your listeners expect when they take a test or a tablet that it has the highest level of approval from a medicine point of view.
RICHARD KING:
A lot of people have criticised the PM for not- in response to Laura Tingle’s lengthy question yesterday, actually apologised personally. He did say this.
[Excerpt]
SCOTT MORRISON:
We’re all terribly sorry for what this pandemic has done to the world and to this country.
[End of excerpt]
RICHARD KING:
Do you think he personally should’ve taken ownership and just simply said, I’m sorry?
MINISTER ROBERT:
It’s been a difficult pandemic. The Prime Minister’s apologised for mistakes he’s made. But if you had a choice, Richard, what country would you want to live in right now? A country that’s got one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world? We’ve got more Australians in work now than pre-pandemic. One of only a few, if only- the only country in the world to do that. We have done so very well. Yes, mistakes have been made, and I’ll take my responsibility for those in the same way as the Prime Minister. But there’s no rulebook. We’ve got to fight this thing as we confront it and do what we can. And we are well ahead of the pack in vaccinations, in booster rates, in economic output. Yeah, there’s been mistakes, and there’s always going to be when we’re facing a one in 100 year event.
RICHARD KING:
The allegedly- according to a question from Peter Van Onselen from Channel 10 yesterday, he read out a couple of text messages, allegedly from former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian to a minister - now, we’re not sure whether it was federal or state minister - suggesting, well, in the text, that the former premier describing the PM as a horrible, horrible person. And allegedly the response from the minister was, oh, he's a psycho. Had a number of calls this morning, you know, criticising the media for attacking the man. Would you like to comment on that little interchange? I think the PM- well, had this to say in response.
[Excerpt]
GREG HUNT:
I’ve had the privilege of working with…
[End of excerpt]
RICHARD KING:
Whoops, that wasn’t- that’s not-
MINISTER ROBERT:
[Interrupts] That sounds like Minister Hunt.
RICHARD KING:
[Laughs] It does, it does. And he came out very strongly in support of the PM. Look, would you- you know, a lot of people have suggested the PM is somebody who’s more worried about politics than people. Would you like to comment on that statement?
MINISTER ROBERT:
I joined Parliament 14 years ago with Scott Morrison. I have lived with him in Canberra, in a flat, for around 10 years, our families hang out. So I think I know Scott Morrison personally better than almost anyone else on this planet, apart from his wife. He’s an extraordinary, decent human being, no question about that. Now, Gladys Berejiklian has put out a statement saying she can't recall any of those comments. But goodness, Richard, how would you feel like sharing your text message exchange with all your listeners to see if, indeed, there are- there had been cross words [indistinct]?
RICHARD KING:
[Talks over] No thank you, no thank you.
MINISTER ROBERT:
Gladys can’t remember it. It’s all a bit of a bubble. And I think the press gallery would be better off asking questions of substance from a prime minister to start the year, rather than a bit of gossip.
RICHARD KING:
All right. One of the questions asked, I think it was Andrew Probyn from the ABC, was- he put it to the PM, why does the- why does he, the PM, think he is the best man to lead the coalition to the election? What's your response? Why do you think he is?
MINISTER ROBERT:
The collective party room, which is the gathered elected members and senators of the Liberal Party, have chosen Scott Morrison as the leader, as he has led us through unprecedented times, war-like times for Australia, to the point where the Australian response, the Australian economy, is doing so much better than anywhere else in the world. If we'd had the same results as the rest of the developed world, we would have seen more than 40,000 deaths. The result has been extraordinary. The challenge for Australians, of course, is we’re very isolated. We don't get a good look at the challenges right across the rest of the world to compare how well Australia has done. If you just take that as a snapshot of what the Prime Minister has been able to do with his team to lead our nation through, there’s no question that he is the best person to continue to do that.
RICHARD KING:
And look, while I’ve got you, I’ve been checking on just about everybody I speak to this week, their Chinese zodiac with the start of the Chinese New Year. You were born in the Year of the Dog, Minister, and it says re: Dog in the Year of Tiger, dogs will likely find their career prospects on the up and up in 2022. So, looks like a good year ahead for you.
MINISTER ROBERT:
Well, praise God for that, Richard, I’ll come back and speak to you any day.
RICHARD KING:
Okay. Thank you very much for your time. I hope you can stay out of the rain this morning, Minister.
MINISTER ROBERT:
I will try, although dogs do like to get wet.
RICHARD KING:
[Laughs] Alright, we won’t talk about fleas either. But thank you very much for your time this morning. Stuart Robert, who’s not only our Minister for Employment, but at the moment he’s also Acting Minister for Education and Youth.