‍DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL HEALTH
SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TOPICS: Labor breaking promise not to do deals with the Greens, broken taxation promises, Help to Buy housing scheme, Snowy Hydro 2.0, CFMEU, paid prac for students

Rogers  

Well, after securing the support of the Greens to pass its latest tax changes, the Prime Minister has once again shifted position, despite previously ruling out any deals with the Greens before the last election, and serious concerns are emerging over the troubled Snowy Hydro 2.0 project with reports 1,000s of litres of sewage contaminated water were discharged into the environment, adding to a growing list of delays, cost blowouts, and management failures. Let's bring in Regional Health Minister Anne Webster, and it is great to see you. I want to start with the deal that was done yesterday between Labor and the Greens to get their tax changes passed. Didn't Albanese say before the last election that he wouldn't do a deal with the Greens? He's just changed his position again.

Webster  

Wow, is anyone surprised anymore? Can anyone believe a word that the Prime Minister says, while he repeatedly has told us in the past that his word is his bond, and he made many, many promises, some 97 times for reduced electricity bills, and then 50 times that he wouldn't touch CGT and negative gearing. Here we are, here we are, and the Greens are in bed with Labor, no surprise there either. So, Australia is in deep trouble with a government who can't tell the truth and who can't make a clear pathway forward. Your upfront piece there, Jamie, tells us everything about the housing market, I mean, it is pretty disastrous, and people who've gone in for that 5 per cent help to buy scheme that Labor set up, what are they thinking when they bought, you know, a house at the top of the market, and now it's falling, and they have got less money invested than they thought ... it's not a pretty scenario.

Rogers  

No, it really isn't. What did you make of Claire O'Neil's comments today? Where she just said it's a market correction?

Webster  

More gaslighting by the Labor government. I've got to tell you, sitting in the House and listening to minister after minister, including the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, tell Australians porkies in order to look like they've got the whole thing under control. Nothing to see here! It’s pretty well beyond endurance for those of us on the other side of the House. I can assure you we have so much to say at them, and I think their lowest trick is to come out and make personal attacks on those on our side. And look, honestly, it's a fairly frustrating place to be right now.

Rogers  

Anne, I want to talk to you about a story that The Australian has reported on, and it's that the contractor who's building the Snowy Hydro 2.0 flushed 1,000s of litres of sewage contaminated water into the environment, and this was instead of just cleaning it up properly, and I look at this and I think, what does that say about the oversight and management of this infrastructure project?

Webster  

Well, clearly it's a disaster. Not only are we seeing the cost of the project go through the roof, and I note The Australian also said that we could be looking at a trillion dollars in terms of network costs into the future. How Labor can talk about nuclear, and they are in control of this kind of mess and I can almost can't wait to hear tomorrow where the government have to say that this is not their fault, this is nothing they have control over, and that these project managers have got away with this kind of behaviour is just extraordinary. There is nothing green about that behaviour, and what it will cost taxpayers further to clean up, if indeed it can be cleaned up into the future. I guess we will wait and see.

Rogers  

But when do we get to a point where we actually just say, you know what, we've got to pull the pin on this project? It is becoming an absolute money pit with no end in sight.

Webster  

Well, look, I look at Victorian projects, Suburban Rail Loop, as well, and it's another disaster. CFMEU fingerprints all over it, potentially $15 billion or more in corruption and crime, and now we hear that the CFMEU are going to be helping out at Snowy 2.0 - I can't wait. It's just unbelievable. And I think that it behoves government to say enough is enough. There is a lot of pride in saying that you have achieved a magnificent project, and if it goes well, and you are somewhere within a bull's roar of the price that was set to achieve that, and a time frame in which to achieve that, that's great, but you know, you look at Snowy 2.0 initiated under Malcolm Turnbull, and you look at the Suburban Rail Loop, I think that there is a time where Australians should have a voice, because ultimately you spoke earlier about debt being passed on to our children. Well, absolutely, and the debt's not going to go away, and it's just going to increase. So, I think there is ... a responsible government would look at this mess and say, all right, we need to go back to the drawing board, where are we? Past the point of no return? I don't know the answer to that. I have no engineering knowledge per se, and I'm not - don't have any eyesight in terms of the project timelines and the costs and all the rest of it. This is a government responsibility, so Labor are the government, they need to be looking at this honestly and doing the right thing by the Australian people.

Rogers  

And just quickly, before I let you go, Independent MP Dr. Helen Haines and Senator David Pocock, they're calling for students to be paid for their prac, and this was actually something that came up a few times during the election campaign, where people said, I know how to fix the lacking psychiatrist numbers pay students for prac because they're all dropping out because they simply can't afford to live that way. Is this something that the Coalition would be open to supporting and doing as well?

Webster  

When Labor brought this bill to the House paid prac bill in 2024 - August 2024 when I spoke to that bill - I spoke about $8.40 which it was at that time, for paid prac per hour was completely nonsense. I mean, honestly, what does it pay for today? Maybe a cup and a half of coffee, depending on the size. I personally believe that there need to be models whereby, and particularly in the regions, that's my portfolio - I am incredibly passionate about regional health. I want to see people being able to study in the regions and still put food on the table for their families, because that's what ends up happening, is that they can't do both, and you know, I've put forward policies around nursing, for example, where it's half in - I'm just going to say half, half in the hospital, half in the university, so that - it's mostly women - can put food on the table while achieving their nursing degree and be able to do both, and successfully, I think we have to look outside the box, and that includes allied health. I hear what you say about psychiatrists. There need to be creative ways of assisting students, but also allowing them to earn something, because there are plenty of jobs that junior nurses, for example, do that they should be paid for.  

Rogers  

Yeah, you're not wrong there, Anne Webster. Thank you so much for your time.

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