E&OE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

KIERAN GILBERT:

Let's return to federal politics now. They've got the first Question Time coming up of the 48th Parliament in just under 50 minutes from now and joining me, as he does regularly, is the Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor. Thanks for joining us. I want to start if I can, back in an old area of responsibility for you when you were the Energy Minister, but today, we're hearing from Barnaby, Joyce, Michael McCormack, they want to scrap net zero. What do you think?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, we've got a working group looking at this Kieran, and we will let that group do their work. It's important that they do. It's also important that we make sure that there are not unnecessary imposts on the cost of living for Australian households, on the cost of doing business for Australian businesses. At a time when we're seeing Australians really struggling, Australian businesses going under at record rates, Australian households struggling to make ends meet, not getting ahead, and so it is incredibly important that that working group look hard at Labor's policies and what they're doing to make the cost of living unnecessarily higher and make doing business a lot harder.

KIERAN GILBERT:

So, you're open to the repeal of…

ANGUS TAYLOR:

What I would say is the working group needs to do its work. It needs to focus on the core principles of making sure we're not imposing unnecessary costs on Australian households and bringing down emissions at the same time.

KIERAN GILBERT:

The Barnaby Joyce bill, the private member's bill, includes repealing two bits of legislation from the Howard era. They’re the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act of 2007 and the Renewable Energy Electricity Act of 2000. Do you think that's a good call getting rid of some Howard era laws?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, Kieran, I'm not going to get ahead of our working group, but what I am going to say is that we'll be looking hard at anything that's creating unnecessary costs for Australian businesses and Australian households. Look, we're seeing industry going under at a rapid rate, in manufacturing…

KIERAN GILBERT:

So you’d open to new coal…

ANGUS TAYLOR:

What I'm saying is that we need to look at what is contributing to businesses closing at a record rate in this country. What is contributing to making the cost of living harder for Australia and higher for Australians? What is contributing to the collapse in the standard of living in this country? What is contributing to an economy that is not growing in any meaningful way? And we should be doing that in a way…

KIERAN GILBERT:

Should we be opening new coal stations?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

We should be focusing on those principles, and we have always focused on those principles, and we should continue to, and I'll let the working group do its work.

KIERAN GILBERT:

It's not helpful to Sussan Ley, though, is it? Day one, have the two steers are going at each other in the paddock next door.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

No, I'm not going to get anatomical about it, but look, you're the commentator, so I'll leave that to you, but we're going to continue to focus on a standard of living that has been freefall for Australians, an economy that is not growing, that's not serving Australians. We need to focus on productivity, because that's the key to prosperity and we will do that, and you'll see that…

KIERAN GILBERT:

What about the timing of this day one of the first parliament? It's not really helpful for Sussan Ley.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well again, you're the commentator, but my focus is going to continue to be on those things I've talked about, and also a government that is letting Australians down when it comes to our military. I mean, this is the most uncertain time since the Second World War. The Prime Minister himself has said that, and yet we see a government that is heading us down the pathway of what ASPI calls a paper Defence Force. I mean, that's completely unsatisfactory.

KIERAN GILBERT:

The retired Navy Chief whose leading Donald Trump's push to acquire more ships and subs. He's described as ‘noticeably fickle’, Australia's approach to AUKUS. Does he have a basis to make that point?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, I can assure you that the Opposition's position on AUKUS is not fickle at all. It is complete and utter commitment to what is an incredibly important initiative both tranche one and tranche two, the nuclear submarines as well as the associated technologies.

KIERAN GILBERT:

The Government’s backed it strongly too, though. From the get-go…

ANGUS TAYLOR:

You know, backing it means not just rhetoric. It also means making the financial commitments and the other commitments necessary for it to succeed and I don't see that Kieran. We've got a government that is underfunding the Defence Force. Experts say that across the board, we've seen ASPI say that in recent months, and so right now, I don't think…

KIERAN GILBERT:

So, you can fund AUKUS, but if you let other things slide, is that your point? That they're funding AUKUS, but not others?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

The total funding envelope right now for our Defence Force is not enough, and we are told that constantly by experts. We've been told that by ASPI in recent times. They say we are heading towards having a paper ADF and sadly, that is not good enough. We need to do better.

KIERAN GILBERT:

But Australia is not fickle, are we? On defence?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

The Opposition’s not fickle. That's for sure. I worry that the Government, I think it's not just me worried. I think every expert looking at this is making these comments. They're deeply worried that we're not on our way to having the Defence Force we need in such an uncertain time. We've got authoritarian regimes around the world, clenching their muscles.

KIERAN GILBERT:

The Dutch defence official, just in the last 48 hours was saying he wants Australia to get him on board with what NATO's doing, three and a half percent. Is that wise?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, we definitely need to increase our defence spending. We need to spend that money well, better indeed. And we've made a commitment already to get to 3% at least and that is exactly what the Government should be doing. They're not. I mean, and this is the only way we're going to be able to have the Defence Force we need, the people we need, the technologies. We need the missile technologies, the drone technologies, alongside the nuclear submarines that the Government says they're committed to. The truth is that commitment has got to translate to real commitments in funding, in support for AUKUS and other critical initiatives for the military.

KIERAN GILBERT:

We're going to go but Question Time is about 40 minutes away. It is when you're in Parliament, it's a reminder of how big that win was for Labor. How does it feel? There’s such a small group of Coalition MPs?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, it's disappointing obviously and we've got a lot of work to do. It's disappointing, not just for us, but for our supporters and those who voted for us, and we've got to do better and that's the work that we're doing now. 

KIERAN GILBERT:

The start of the climb, I guess. Alright. Angus Taylor, thanks. Talk to you soon.

 

ENDS.