Topics:  Jacinta Allan visit to China, Suburban Rail Loop, Net Zero, ban on defence insignia, net zero.

 

E&OE

 

TOM ELLIOTT:

 

Well, as promised, our next guest is Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor. Mr. Taylor, good morning.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

G'day, Tom, good to be with you.

 

TOM ELLIOTT:

 

Well, thanks for joining us. Now I've got a few things I want to ask you about. First, yesterday on this program I said that I was nearly 100% certain that Jacinta Allan has got the begging bowl out in China that she needs to raise, well, you know, anywhere between $12 and $15 billion to be able to fund the Suburban Rail Loop. The government here in Victoria has denied that, but we've got the drilling machines arriving in just a month or so. Do you think that's what she's doing? 

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, look, I don't know, Tom, but what I do know is that when Labor sends Victoria broke with more debt than New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania combined, then she's got to go out with a begging bowl and look for money. Now, I think it's inappropriate that we see a repeat of the Belt and Road fiasco that we saw under Dan Andrews, and we've seen part of the result of that with Dan Andrews being part of a family photo. In other words, a photo with dictators from across the world at this Chinese Communist Party parade just a few weeks ago. But look, there are real questions to be answered here, and I think Jacinta Allan should be answering them.

 

TOM ELLIOTT:

 

Yeah, well they are denying that that's what she's doing. She says it's all about encouraging more Chinese students to come to Australia, but I guess we will see. I mean, the federal government is not funding more of the Suburban Rail. The property industry is saying they don't think value capture will work and yet the hole drilling is about to commence. So, it's going to be interesting.

Now, in your capacity as Shadow Defence Minister, I understand you want to reintroduce what is called death iconography. What does that mean?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, it means just releasing the ban. So, what happened a few years back is the ban was imposed on symbols that were deemed to be associated in any way with death. So, this includes the Spartan symbol or the Phantom symbol, and these things were banned, even though units wanted to have them. The truth is, Tom, that our ADF personnel are warriors. The way to get peace, which is what we all want to continue to see in our part of the world for many years to come, of course, is to make sure that we are strong.

Strength is the key to deterrence, and to peace, and that means our military units have got to be capable, but the truth is that part of what we ask our military units to do is lethal, is to kill adversaries in appropriate circumstances. And so allowing them to have the symbolism that allows them to have the culture they need to be able to be effective warriors, I think is really important. So, let them make the choice. Of course, you know, completely inappropriate iconography is unacceptable. I mean, we've already banned Nazi symbols in this country, for instance, that isn't acceptable, but I think the Spartan symbol seriously, I mean, what is this about? 

 

TOM ELLIOTT:

 

Well, it's funny, you know, I got in trouble, oh it must’ve been close to 15 years ago, I'd watched an ADF ad and it was all about peacekeeping, about giving out water and medical supplies to remote villages and doing things like that, and there was nothing in the ad that spoke about war fighting. And an old friend of mine is actually in an Army Reserve ad from the late 1980s and it shows him walking through the jungle with his SLR rifle and then a tank bursting onto the scene and that sort of thing and I said, look, I wonder if the ADF has perhaps forgotten that you know, its primary aim is to fight wars. So, you're saying let's just sort of encourage people or make sure that that's what people understand. That's its main job.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

I would go one step further than that, Tom, and say that the purpose of any military is to fight and win wars. It was actually Norman Schwarzkopf who made that point a number of years ago in the US context, but that's the whole point. Weakness is provocative. Strength is our best pathway to deterrence and it's why I firmly believe that the ADF, the Defence Force, has been underfunded by Labor. We need to get serious about this. We need to work closely with our allies from the United States, Japan and elsewhere to build that strength and to make sure that we get a balance in the Indo-Pacific and that we avoid conflict. Deterrence is the key and that means having a strong military and allowing them to have the symbols that work for them I think just makes sense. If we're not asking warriors to be warriors, then we don't understand the purpose of the military.

 

TOM ELLIOTT:

 

Now I want to ask you something else. Yesterday on West Australian local radio, your colleague Andrew Hastie was asked about Net Zero. Here's what he had to say.

 

Gard Adshead: If Sussan Ley though supports Net Zero by 2050, where does that leave you?

 

Hastie: That leaves me without a job.

 

Adshead: Go on, elaborate on that. That would be it for you?

 

Hastie: I've nailed my colours to the mask, Gary. If I go out with a tide in two and a half years, that's great. I'll get a lot more time with my kids back. My primary mission in politics is to build a stronger, more secure, more competitive Australia. Energy security is a vital input to that.

 

So, we've been talking about this catastrophic climate change report that's come out today. Is the Liberal Party going to stick with a commitment to net zero by 2050 or get rid of it?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, I think the debate we're about to have is about the 2035 targets, Tom, and it's going to be a really important debate, and the truth is that all the indications are these targets are going to be extremely aggressive. Now, put this into perspective, Tom. Emissions haven't gone down in any meaningful way since I was Minister. You know, when I finished up as Minister, we were at around 28% down on 2005 levels.

 

We're at the same level, give or take a couple of decimals points, and now Chris Bowen is saying, hey, I'm not going to reach the 2030 targets. He's not on track to do that and I'm going to up the targets for 2035. Now, the real question here is what is Labor going to do to achieve that? What's it going to do to industry? Are we going to lose more industry from the country which we're already losing? Are they going to put additional taxes on the favourite cars that Australians drive? The Ranger and the Hilux and so on. Are they going to drive electricity prices up even further than they already have? 

 

And this is the debate, and this is what affects Australians immediately and for the coming years and frankly, I think putting in place the Trojan horse carbon taxes, which is where I think Labor is going and will continue to go, is not the right answer. It's not bringing down emissions. It’s certainly driving up electricity prices and so we'll see what Labor comes out with. Sounds like it's going to be later this week. But, you know, I think there needs to be a side of politics that stands on the side of hardworking Australians who want to be able to see a way to get ahead and pay their electricity bills.

 

TOM ELLIOTT:

 

Ok, but just putting aside what Labor comes up with, I mean, you know, what is your Party's point of view? Or do you have to still debate that? I mean, do you want to just say we'll still have a cut to emissions, just a smaller cut? Or do you want to just say, look, let's exploit all of our resources and the devil take the high and most, or what?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, my position has always been that if we can reduce emissions without imposing costs and taxes on the Australian economy, go for it. Technology can do that. I mean, household solar has played a really important and effective role. Gas has actually played a really effective role in bringing down emissions in a way which is consistent with bringing down prices. When I was Minister, we brought down emissions by 10%, and we brought down prices by a similar amount.

 

You can do it if you're sensible about it. But I tell you what I'll never stand for is Labor imposing effective taxes on people's favorite cars, on their electricity bills, on industry so industry goes offshore. That we should oppose and let's see what Labor comes out with. I mean we're having a debate here without a plan from Labor, but let's see what they come out with later this week. We don't have long to wait.

 

TOM ELLIOTT:

 

Well just quickly your colleague Dan Tehan is going around saying we need to reconsider nuclear power. I mean, will that be on the agenda for the Coalition?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Yeah, I mean Dan is over in the United States looking at the latest developments. We've seen a really important deal happening between the United States and the UK on this. This is a technology that the rest of the world is moving on fast, and I continue to believe it needs to be part of the mix. Of course, we've got to resettle our position since the election, but I've never been shy of saying that I think it is an important part of the mix to consider.

 

TOM ELLIOTT:

 

Alright, thank you for your time, Angus Taylor there, Shadow Defence Minister.

 

ENDS.