Transcript: Sky News AM Agenda, 28/9/15

DAVID LIPSON: Well joining me now, Paul Fletcher, the new Minister for Local Government and Major Projects, and Graham Perrett, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney-General. Thank you both very much for your time.

First to you Paul Fletcher. I just want to ask first of all about the situation in the Middle East, and in particular the news that Vladimir Putin has moved his troops in to support Assad. He's calling on the West to back him, to back Russia, and back the Assad Regime to defeat Islamic State once and for all. Is that something the West should be doing do you think?

PAUL FLETCHER: Well good morning David, and good to be with you. Look I think one of the things that it can be difficult for us in Australia to fully appreciate sometimes is just how complex these situations are, and the fact that there are regimes which may not necessarily be very savoury by our standards but nevertheless you have to deal with who is there. So what Julie Bishop as Foreign Minister has said is that we believe there needs to be a political solution to Syria. Obviously there is an awful civil war going on there, millions of people displaced internally, millions of people driven out of the country, hundreds of thousands of people killed, an absolutely appalling situation. Now the reality is that President Assad is backed by Russia, and what Foreign Minister Bishop has said is that all options need to be considered, and she's expressed the hope from an Australian perspective that the involvement of Russia can be positive. So the key point is there does need to be a political solution, and Foreign Minister Bishop has made it clear that that is the priority from Australia's perspective, so that this awful civil war can be brought to an end.

DAVID LIPSON: Graham Perrett, what's Labor's position on this? Obviously there's been great concerns in the past about Bashar al-Assad and the way that he has conducted his forces throughout this civil war. But is it time for us to put that aside and work to defeat a greater evil?

GRAHAM PERRETT: Well certainly he has a long history of being a divisive figure in that nation. Obviously Australia doesn't sit at that UN Security Council now, Russia does, so that means we need to be engaged with Russia, not, you know, threatening the … Putin and saying we're going shirtfront. We need to engage with- in a diplomatic way with Russia to get the best possible outcome, because obviously the civilians in Syria are the ones suffering. So I think Tanya Plibersek has worked very closely with Julie Bishop on this. I know they've had their differences, but the Middle East is very complicated, and while we've got Australian air crew, Australian pilots at risk we need to make sure we've got the best possible outcome for the people of Syria, and I think Tanya will give a more detailed commentary later in the … as this thing unfolds in the United Nations.

DAVID LIPSON: Yeah, fair enough. Graham Perrett, Paul Fletcher, we'll have more with both of you after the break as we focus on issues much closer to home. Stay with us.

[AD BREAK]

You’re watching AM Agenda, Paul Fletcher and Graham Perrett are still with me here. I want to look at media laws and hints from the new Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield that the Government wants to have another look at this.

Paul Fletcher, you used to have some carriage of this space. You know it very well. I want to start with anti-siphoning laws, these are the laws that restrict Foxtel and others from getting first bidding rights to sporting events. Does the Government now have room to move in this area?

PAUL FLETCHER: Well David, let me just say that the new Minister is Mitch Fifield who is doing a terrific job. He’s already been out meeting stakeholders and talking about some of his priorities in the portfolio. He’s talked about the importance to him of serving consumers, the people ultimately for whom, as consumers and citizens, the people for whom the Government is there to serve. And when it comes to anti-siphoning the issue is of course it will always be critical, always be vital, that nationally significant sporting events are available on free to air television, and I don’t think you’re going to see any change to that fundamental principle from Mitch Fifield. What he has said is in relation to media issues generally, issues in relation to the current regulatory controls on media ownership, so for example the two out of three rule, the rule than in any one market you can’t own both radio, TV and newspapers, and the 75 per cent reach rule, he’s indicated that he’ll have a look at those issues. But of course the key point is consistent with what Prime Minister Turnbull has said: on all of the issues that this Government considers there will be an orderly process, an orderly Cabinet process. And so what we’ve seen really Minister Fifield say is that he’s starting to get across the issues in his portfolio. The media ownership issues are obviously a pretty critical issue in that communications portfolio.

DAVID LIPSON: And Graeme Perrett, how does Labor view this approach? Obviously nationally significant matches would always be in the domain of free to air television, but what about some of the less significant matches – should they be handed over to Foxtel and others?

GRAHAM PERRETT: Well it’s certainly an interesting landscape that we’re in. I’m sitting in a Sky studio in the middle of a News Corp building - things have changes rapidly over the last 20 to 30 years. I think there’s a couple of flags there that might be noteworthy. Obviously Malcolm Turnbull understands the communications sector very well, he made a lot of money in that area. It’s significant that he transferred copyright from George- Senator George Brandis, the Attorney-General, over to Communications Minister Fifield. That might create a little bit of interest and see what unfolds there, but obviously we’ll see what the Government puts forward.

 I know that the communications stakeholders are not shy about putting their views forward, so we’ll consult with stakeholders and see what the Government puts forward. But obviously those national sporting events – we’re in the middle of a Rugby World Cup at the moment, we’re in the middle of footy finals seasons- footy finals – we’d like to think the Australian public would always be able to be … observe, participate in some of these national sporting events. We love our sport, I’m sure we’ll get the mix right. I would hope that the Prime- Malcolm Turnbull doesn’t let some of his old prejudices get him too carried away.

PAUL FLETCHER: David, can I just pick up a point there? One of the themes from Prime Minister Turnbull has been Australia being flexible and adapting to the enormous rate of technological change which is affecting every industry, and it’s certainly affected the media industry profoundly. So for example, 20 or 30 years ago about the only way people could get video content was over broadcast television. Today of course subscription TV is a big part of the landscape, but the internet is a critical part of the landscape and people can watch enormous amount of video content on outlets like Netflix, delivered over the internet, or Fetch TV, or Stan. And so it is important that our regulatory framework in the media sector, as across all industries, is responsive to the rate of change and today’s fast moving landscape. And certainly I think that’s something that Mitch Fifield is very aware of in the comments that he’s been making.

DAVID LIPSON: Yeah, it is certainly moving very fast. Also this weekend just past, the Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg speaking about the need for changes to penalty rates on Sundays in particular in order to spur jobs growth. This has sparked threats from the unions, Graham Perrett, of another major campaign akin to the Work Choices campaign. Is that just the reaction that we have to accept from the unions, that as soon as there’s talk about workplace reform or workplace changes, there’s going to be a mega sort of scare campaign?

GRAHAM PERRETT: Well, it’s amazing that the Resources Minister, Minister Frydenberg, when dealing with his new constituents, the mining sector, you know, would say to them this is an area we need to look at, end of quote. That’s an amazing thing to see. You think of all those workers going out to Browse, out to the gas fields near Roma, the Bass Straight, and to say to them that we’re going to have a look at what you’re paid on Sundays. I don’t know whether Minister Frydenberg understands how important penalty rates are for people. So you know, we’re happy to have sensible discussions, but why attack something that’s been part of the Australian industrial landscape for you know, 100 plus years, and to change that, to change that approach. Why flag that as something?

So he’s obviously been given the go-ahead by this Abbott-Turnbull Government, saying that yeah, this is something we’d like to look at if that old IPA agenda that I thought was going to be ditched. You know, we’ve got a new salesman, but he’s still peddling the same old rubbish. It’s ridiculous, in 2015 that we’re having these arguments again.

DAVID LIPSON: Now Paul Fletcher, does the Government consider jobs growth to be more important than take-home pay?

PAUL FLETCHER: Oh, well I don’t think there’s a trade-off between the two. They’re both clearly important. What is important is creating new opportunities and … for example, it’s important therefore that we look at a range of issues – again can I emphasise anything that we do is … will be done in a thorough, orderly way, but the notion of saying a whole range of issues are off limits when it comes to looking at sensible policy is not a good way to deal with for example the competitive pressures that Australia faces in the 21st century. We need to be flexible and adaptable, as Prime Minister Turnbull has said.

But let’s be clear, there’s a detailed Productivity Commission review underway, that had some comments about penalty rates – pretty measured comments, in fact. And I guess the other point that I would make is this fits within the domain of Employment Minister Michaelia Cash, one of the five women in the Cabinet, a very capable and effective parliamentarian. She will be leading obviously the Government’s policy in this area, so I think it’ll be appropriate for her to have the opportunity to comment on approaches to this and other issues in the employment space.

DAVID LIPSON: I just want you to hold that thought – Julie Bishop I’m told is just up on her feet speaking in New York. I just want to take a very quick listen to the Foreign Minister, let’s have a look.

[address by Julie Bishop]

That’s the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop speaking there at the United Nations in New York. If you want to keep watching that you can do on Sky News Mulitview, just press red on your Foxtel remote. Paul Fletcher and Graham Perrett still with me here on AM Agenda. I did want to look, Paul Fletcher, at one new area of responsibility for you and that’s automotive safety. In the frame of the VW emissions scandal that has gripped the world, has the Government been able to rule out that cars being sold, or that have been sold in Australia have actually cheated emissions testing?

PAUL FLETCHER: Well David, let me maybe start by explaining why it is that a Minister for Territories, Local Government and Major Projects is talking about automotive safety. Ah just to explain, my portfolio sits within Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Senior Minister of course the Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, and that department has responsibility for transport issues including road safety and vehicle safety issues. And so I’ve got an interest in the vehicle safety issue. So of course what’s happened is it’s been discovered that Volkswagen globally has used so-called defeat devices when complying with- when meeting emissions testing, and that’s essentially software in the vehicle that allows it to- it causes it to behave differently when it’s being tested than when it’s operating normally, so it produces figures which meet the emissions tests during the test mode, but then once it’s on the road normally it may not necessarily meet those figures.

Now that’s a very serious matter, and globally that’s had ramifications for the group, with the CEO I think resigning. But in Australia, we are in contact – my department is in contact with Audi and Volkswagen to understand first of all whether vehicles with these defeat devices have been sold in Australia, and secondly to ensure that if that’s the case they don’t continue to be. We will continue to work closely with those … with Volkswagen and Audi, and also of course with the ACCC – Australian Competition and Consumer Commission – and should we discover there is an issue, we would work with the manufacturer to pursue a voluntary recall in Australia. Invariably in these situations manufacturers cooperate, and that’s what we would expect would happen if it proves to be necessary.

DAVID LIPSON: Graham Perrett, generally the Government just signs off on paperwork for these sorts of emissions testing rather than actually conducting them itself. Should the Government be involved though? Should the Government be conducting its own tests?

GRAHAM PERRETT: Well we’d … you know, with 30 million cars around the world, this is a serious concern. Obviously the normal state of affairs doesn’t apply, and I think the Government might have to step up. I’m sure Paul will do what’s sensible, and Warren Truss. I should just say, I’ve got a factory in my electorate that’s actually providing parts for VW cars in Germany. I mean, these cars had a good brand around the world for being green, so it shows how that the world is getting on board with reducing emissions as much as possible. I would hate to think that this is going to damage that process, especially with China coming out in 15 months saying they’re going to have an ETS. The world should be doing whatever it can to reduce emissions, not this sort of trickery.

DAVID LIPSON: Yeah, absolutely. Graham Perrett, Paul Fletcher, great to talk to you this morning, thanks so much for that.

[ENDS]