‍DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

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

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TOPICS:

Ballarat Bush Summit Protest, Prime Minister in Question Time, farmer protests, energy bills, renewable energy, net zero, regional communities, climate change, energy technologies

SEAL  

Well joining us live from Canberra as well, is Anne Webster, the Shadow Regional Communications Minister. Thank you so much for joining us. So, yesterday in Parliament, a bit of a heated discussion between you and the Prime Minister - let's take a listen for our viewers:

WEBSTER  

“The Prime Minister told the Bush Summit and I quote ‘I won't. B.S. people’, the Prime Minister promised Australians a $275 reduction in their energy bills prior to the 2022 election. Hasn't that now proven to be BS? Is this broken promise the reason why the Prime Minister was chased out of town by a convoy of tractors?”

ALBANESE

“No one … no one was chased, as the member put it in her question, indeed, I - because of the presence of the AFP - I attended a dinner the night before, I went around all of the tables and discussed that with farmers.

SEAL  

And your reaction, Anne, it was certainly a big day in Ballarat and certainly lots of tractors. Did he really get chased down by the tractors?

WEBSTER  

Yeah, absolutely. Jaynie, there's no question about that. I mean, the ability of the Prime Minister to reshape facts is really quite extraordinary, and the fact is that protests were there. They're farmers, they're people who would prefer to be doing their job on their farm producing food and fibre for the nation and the world. They don't want to be at protests, but the fact is, they have been. And the Prime Minister alluded to a previous protest where I stood by my community in Horsham that he had, you know, gone to Horsham to open the riverfront precinct, actually, which the Coalition had paid for. There's just so much wrong with the way he presents this story, it's extraordinary. The fact is, regional communities are the ones bearing the brunt of the railroading approach by both the federal and the state government. And you know, Labor ought to hang their heads in shame in the way that they have managed the renewable rollout.

SEAL  

We did hear New South Wales Premier Chris Minns at the Bush Summit in Wagga last week say that there was ample evidence that there were more renewables for regional areas than the city. That's pretty obvious, most people would believe, but what is going to happen Anne? Because we do have an energy situation, we've got to get to net zero if - well, lower our emissions, whether we want net zero or not - I think most people are under the assumption of that, regardless of what spectrum people believe in terms of climate change, where are we going to put these renewables and how are we going to do it in a fair way?

WEBSTER  

Well, I think Jaynie to assume that renewables is the only approach, and that is Labor's approach, it's all renewables, which has been proven to fail elsewhere in the world. Spain attempted it and got to 100 per cent renewables and you know, a week after they did that, their power system fell over. Renewables are not the only answer. We all want a healthy planet. There's no question about that, and I will not be given the label climate denier. We all want a healthy planet. We want to ensure that whatever energy mixes we bring, they are sensible, they are cost efficient, so that everybody's power bills are not paying into the decades ahead for really illogical programs, which is what Chris Bowen has brought to the table. He's forcing Australia paying huge amounts in subsidies, paying overseas investors to invest in Australian renewable infrastructure. The wealthy are becoming wealthier, the poorer will become poorer under Labor's approach. What we want to see is a sensible, agnostic technology, agnostic approach to energy, and certainly the Coalition is looking at that. The Nationals definitely are looking at that, and we will be bringing those policies forward. And I look forward to that, because the debates need to happen, in fact, in real time - I'm not in this mythological space that Chris Bowen lives in.

SEAL  

We've got to wrap it up but I believe, you know, with some of the Coalition not wanting net zero, as you mentioned, new policies have got to come through, because speaking to so many people, when they hear no net zero, it's potentially an immediate reaction of ‘no interest in the climate’. So yes, to get some more policy and clarity from the Coalition is what I think many people are asking for.

WEBSTER  

Absolutely, and I am too, and I can assure you, the Nats are very focused in this space. We have a lot of discussion about energy possibilities into the future, and I look forward to us bringing that to the Australian people, ultimately, hopefully the Australian people decide, because where we are heading right now is disastrous for the Australian economy and for people's cost of living, crisis, which is only going to get worse under Labor.

SEAL  

Anne Webster, thank you so much. Great to see you.

WEBSTER  

Thanks, Jaynie.

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