‍DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIES
SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

‍Topics: Net Zero, NSW Coalition, Energy Minister’s COP31 role, energy prices and cost of living, Bureau of Meteorology website, mobile black spots, regional speed limits.

De Giorgio  

Joining us now for more on this is Nationals MP Anne Webster. Anne good to catch up. Thanks very much for joining us on the show. Look, Kelly Sloane has said that she's willing to do a deal with the Nationals here, given that she's, of course, looking to remain committed to a net zero 2050 target. Here she was on Sky News This Morning. Have a listen.

Sloane  

I understand that they are strongly representing their communities of enormous respect for our Nationals colleagues. I think what we need to be doing, and in fact, that work has already begun, is sitting around the table together, working out what we can do in the short term. I mean, with the words net zero, we need to stop talking about them, because they are, they are a target a quarter of a century away, and the pain in communities is being felt now.

De Giorgio  

Anne, are you concerned New South Wales is at odds with federal policy, and what would a deal look like in New South Wales with The Nationals, as suggested by the new opposition leader?

Webster  

Well, thank you very much for having me on. Danica, the issue is that The Nationals, at a federal level, fought and worked through sensible policy that has brought us to a cheaper, better, fairer energy policy. I note that Kelly Sloane has said that they she's aware of people's pain right here, right now, that the words Net Zero should be just not really talked about. I think that's a fight for her to have with my colleagues at a state level in New South Wales. For us at a federal level, I've got to say it is fantastic to be able to breathe clear air about this whole subject. We are very focused on bringing down electricity prices through sensible measures, using the cheapest form of power moving forward, not forgetting that we need to reduce emissions in a responsible way, but not streaking ahead of the rest of the world.

MacPherson  

And Chris Bowen is now Australia's part time energy minister, as we were talking about just a moment ago. That's after he's taken up the role with Türkiye as president for COP31 - Don Farrell you heard, suggested his loyalty remains with Australia, despite the fact he's moonlighting with the UN. Are you happy with that situation?

Webster  

Look, James, I think it is actually quite laughable. Frankly, moonlighting with the UN is, you know, it's a cute way to say that he's basically leaving his responsibilities in Australia alone, like leaving somebody else to fix his mess while he becomes Captain Planet to save the Earth. I think he is in a great deal of trouble, frankly, and perhaps the Prime Minister wants him out of the country because he knows he can't actually fix what he's created.

De Giorgio  

No, I like that. I like that word, Captain Planet, you're absolutely spot on. I mean, he's doing God knows what over there, but also wants to look after the energy grid here, but he hasn't been able to do that in four years. It's extraordinary. Now look, Anthony Albanese and other world leaders have gone against Donald Trump and issued a consensus declaration at the G20 in Johannesburg this weekend, backing in the Paris Agreement, free trade multilateral frameworks, as well as the need to spend trillions of dollars on reaching climate change goals. What does this mean for Australia now Anne, are we going to be required to cough up more money in pursuit of climate change?

Webster  

Well, I'll be interested to see what the Prime Minister actually means - is he committing more taxpayer funding to reach goals that are not Australia's, as in goals that are not going to benefit Australia and Australians? I think he's in trouble. I think he, you know, wants to play this universal global hero status when Australians are suffering and Australians are doing it tough right now, and seriously, he needs to turn his mind to Australians. He's the Prime Minister of Australia first, and Australians are not doing well in this cost of living crisis that he's not going away and is phenomenally part of, or a result of the energy policies that he has brought to bear. I just think, you know, the Prime Minister needs to get his feet on the ground and understand what's going on in Australia.

MacPherson  

Well, speaking of people not doing it, well, the Bureau of Meteorology have had a shocker of late, including their redesigned website, which we were told would cost $4 million and I thought, gee, $4 million for a website, but it's been revealed today, the total cost was $96 million for a website that, when it was launched, didn't even work properly. How does anyone spend that much money on a website?

Webster  

When I was mulling this over this morning, I thought, how does this even happen? How do you spend $96 million developing a new website that's going to do even better than the past? Well, there are a lot of problems with the old one. There's no doubt about that, but the fact is that farmers can't even get GPS readings now and know exactly what's going on in their region. I'm in Mallee, I have so many farmers who have contacted me absolutely disgusted at the bomb website. As soon as it went live, they started … my phone started pinging, as happens when you're in the House of Reps. And I don't know what the government is planning on doing for this, but it worries me that Accenture are the ones who are doing this, having done this work, this new website, and they are also responsible to determine mobile black spots - another subject, but nonetheless, same company - mobile black spots around Australia, and they won't be able to tell us where the mobile black spots are until 2027 I mean, seriously, does nobody have to have a record of success before they get these kind of business deals? It really is quite concerning.

De Giorgio  

2027? I mean, that's just unbelievable. Before we let you go Anne, Labor has quietly shelved plans to lower regional speed limits from 100 kilometres an hour to as low as 70. Is this a win finally, for common sense?

Webster  

Absolutely, I would do a fist pump for regional Australians who have been incredibly vocal about how dreadful this policy was, I mean, Labor had, in their consultation PDF - pretty page - that the three reasons for looking at dropping the default speed limit from 100 to potentially 70 kilometres hour on regional roads is because, one, they wanted to reduce fatalities - of course, everybody wants to reduce fatalities. How about fixing the roads? Secondly, they wanted to reduce fuel consumption. Well, that's nice. I absolutely didn't know they cared. And thirdly, they want to reduce emissions. Well, some cars actually increase emissions by having to go slower. And why is it that they were targeting regional roads? Why not the freeways? Maybe they didn't want voters in those areas to actually push back. Well, regional Australia has spoken. I am really pleased that Catherine King has seen the light and has pulled that consultation. It was nonsense from the beginning.

MacPherson  

Anne Webster, I've got to say I have very much enjoyed your common sense responses tonight. Thanks so much for coming on the program.

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