KARL STEFANOVIC:
Treasurer. good morning to you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be with you Karl.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Ok so the Treasurer, at the start of this working week, so the PM rather, has taken a massive hit in the polls, you worried?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We’re absolutely just focused on the response and the recovery to this national crisis and as you indicated, Karl, today we’re making a significant, an initial contribution of $50 million to respond to the ecological disaster that we’ve seen across many states. Our focus is on the Australian people, we’ve heard the message loud and clear, that when it comes to these national disasters they want the Federal Government to be playing a very direct role and the Prime Minister has already signalled not only a formal enquiry to get the lessons learned from what has occurred over recent months but also to ensure that we have the proper rules in place to get the right Federal and State balance. ….
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Treasurer the polls are also a sign that people weren’t happy with the way he handled things, at least initially, and so that’s got to be a concern for you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, you saw the Prime Minister yesterday in an interview make the point that if he had known now what he knew then he would have done some different things but the focus right now is on the response and the recovery effort. We’ve already got more than $40 million out to state governments for the support of local governments’ efforts in response to the fires. Yesterday we made a $76 million announcement about mental health. Today we’re making it about preserving our native flora and our fauna. And we’ve had an unprecedented call out of ADF reservists across many states, with now 2,700 reservists at work supporting the bushfire relief effort.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Treasurer you were just talking there about the interview the Prime Minister did yesterday and in that he said that he would meet and beat emissions targets. He’s now sort of moved away from that statement, is that coming from pressure from backbenchers, those backbenchers who don’t believe climate change is real?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we’ve never moved away from the statement that we’ll meet and beat our target. Australia is actually performing well in reducing our emissions compared to many other countries. We set ourselves a goal of reducing our emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030 on the levels that they were in 2005. Now we’re about 13 per cent, 12.8 to be exact, per cent down on those 2005 levels whereas New Zealand, China, India have in that time seen their emissions go up. Our focus is on technology, our focus is on getting the balance right, our focus is on preserving jobs across the economy while understanding the importance of having a smaller carbon footprint as a nation.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
But Ali’s right though, that’s the pressure within your own Party I mean you could bite the bullet and reduce emissions beyond your targets, I don’t think it would be that difficult for you to do it but you’re worried about your backbench, you’re worried about survival.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Our focus is on technology and whether that is the Climate Solutions Package that we announced in the lead up to the election, Karl, whether that’s Snowy 2.0, whether that’s putting in the reliability guarantee to ensure that when more wind and solar comes into the grid, we actually have the backup power when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining. You know these are very delicate balance, it involves engineering, economics, but of course the science, and we accept the science, we understand that importance of climate change, climate change is real, but we’ve got to make sure that the transition is done in a very sensible balanced way.
ALLISON LANGDON:
But is there an issue for you within the Party when you do have members who don’t feel the same way that you do about climate change?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, the Prime Minister addressed this yesterday when he said there’s, you know, a variety of views across the Parliament and that’s not confined to the Coalition, you see that on the Labor Party side as well. There’s a variety of views on these complex issues across Australian people. But the policy is set by the Cabinet and by the Prime Minister and his Ministers and the policy is very much to reduce our emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement, because this is an international problem and we need an international solution and we are very much a part of that.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Maybe a good start would be reducing the number of planes flying over you this morning? It’s a flight path….
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we’re here at the airport, Karl….
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Working hard, working hard.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
That’s right.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Tell us about this $50 million wildlife, that’s a good start, is it enough, is it even going to touch the sides?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Oh look, it’s going to make a significant difference. $25 million of that, Karl, is going to emergency recovery fund and that money will be focused on how do we boost the recovery effort, how do we prioritise the various projects how do we map the damages that are to be done how do we control the predators? And we have a threatened species commissioner, Dr Sally Box who will be working with the CSIRO, working with our zoos, working with leading universities. And then we’ve got another $25 million which is actually going to volunteer groups, Conservation Volunteers Australia, Greening Australia, to the zoos who are doing so much to help wildlife that has been damaged in these devastating bushfires which have been a true ecological disaster.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Always good to talk to you Treasurer, thanks for joining us on a Monday morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good to be with you both.