Topics: Fuel campaign, Coalition’s migration policy, Australia Post
Stephen Cenatiempo: Time to talk federal politics with Shadow Minister for Communications, Senator Sarah Henderson. Sarah, this is just mind-boggling that this government literally will do nothing of any real value to help through this crisis.
Senator Henderson: Stephen, good morning. It is extraordinary that the government is spending $20 million telling Australians to reduce fuel consumption by pumping up their tires and taking off their roof racks, when this is really a campaign where the Prime Minister is pumping up his own tires, spruiking his so-called achievements when we know that the biggest initiative was led by the Coalition, a halving of the fuel tax. So what an egregious waste of money, at a time when our economy is going off the cliff, at a time when so many families can barely pay the bills or put food on the table, it is a disgrace. And yet we still don’t have this government delivering a national dashboard, providing Australians with a daily update of fuel shortages, supplies, stock levels and delayed or cancelled shipments. So it’s a complete shemozzle and it’s just another example of this Prime Minister being all spin and no substance.
Stephen Cenatiempo: But even further than that, Sarah, we know that our sovereign capability and national security relies on fossil fuels of one form or another, but yet we’ve still got Chris Bowen out there with his head buried in the sand going down this renewables-only rabbit hole that has sent our electricity prices go up by 40 per cent in a year.
Senator Henderson: Stephen, that’s right. This is an energy minister and a government which, of course, subscribes to the philosophy that we should not be having any coal or oil or gas in this country, they are living in la la land. And look at what has had happened now with our energy security under such jeopardy, we need oil, we need coal, we need gas to power our country. We cannot turn our back on the resources that make us such a prosperous country, and that is what is happening under this government. That is why we are saying there must be no net zero which, of course, is underpinned by carbon taxes, underpinned by horrendous policies which are taking our nation backwards and which are causing such enormous environmental and economic harm to our country.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Sarah, I want to change topics for a moment. You’re in Sydney at the moment. Angus Taylor, the Opposition leader, is going to deliver a speech outlining the Coalition’s immigration policy. Look, on the whole I think it sounds like, from what I’ve seen already, it sounds like it’s moving in the right direction and clearly an important issue that resonates with a lot of Australians, but one of the problems that the Coalition had in the lead up to the last election was the inability to combat the scare campaign. Labor is going to launch the mother of all scare campaigns against this.
Senator Henderson: Well, I’m not sure that they are because the facts are very clear, Labor has opened the migration flood gates, bringing a record 1.4 million people into this country in three and a half years. And I think most Australians understand, particularly those living in the major cities, that this has added extreme pressure to the housing market, to infrastructure, to essential services. So the speech that Angus will give today, the announcement that he will make in Sydney, it’s all about putting Australian values first at the centre of our migration laws. And that, of course, means that we will make an Australian Values Statement a binding visa condition. We will not tolerate anyone coming to our country who hates Australia, who does not subscribe to our values, who advocates for other legal systems. It is just not acceptable. Migrants who breach Australian values risk visa cancellation. We are going to be incredibly tough. We will not tolerate it and Angus is making that very clear today.
Stephen Cenatiempo: One of the components of this concerns me a little bit, and that is social media checks before visas are applied. Now, clearly, if somebody’s radicalised and they’re in various groups where they might be, you know, attached to neo-Nazi groups or, you know, radical Islamic groups, et cetera, fine, but I mean, how far is this going to go? Because everybody makes stupid comments on social media from time to time.
Senator Henderson: Well, Stephen, we want to make sure that every person coming to this country respects our laws, shares our values and wants to make a positive contribution to our nation. Labor has completely dropped the ball. Remember, it brought 3000 Gazans into this country with the minimum checks, there was an average processing time of 24 hours. They, of course, came from a territory controlled by Hamas. Hamas then controlled who left the country. We want to make sure that in every respect, anyone coming to this country. Believes in our way of life, supports our values and that is why interrogating social media accounts is an important part of the investigation that we will undertake to ensure that our standards are the various highest. I mean, our standards under Labor have been too low, migration has been too high and of course, that has meant that Australians way of life has not been protected. We will protect Australians way of life and restore integrity to our migration system and this is the first instalment of that.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Sarah, small business owners across Canberra are telling me that a lot of their suppliers are now applying fuel levies, generally a flat rate of five or $10 or sometimes more than that. And you know, in the current environment, you expect that businesses have to do that, but Australia Post have put a ridiculous fuel levy on their parcel deliveries, which is only further impacting on small businesses.
Senator Henderson: Well, Stephen, that’s right, this is a really callous and opportunistic fuel surcharge levied by Australia Post on some 30,000 businesses. Bear in mind, many are struggling just to keep the doors open. I’ve called on the minister to reverse this charge. It’s an increase of 150 per cent. This is a shocking gouge on customers, many of whom are small businesses, you know, who are really struggling, as I say, just to keep the doors open. And again, the Albanese government, for a government-owned enterprise, is just missing in action. Anika Wells has said nothing about this. How can she stand by when Australia Post, for which she is responsible, is gouging customers in this way. And of course, we would expect, Stephen, like the pandemic, there will be an increase in parcel revenues because as more Australians are struggling with the cost of fuel, they will turn to parcel delivery. So this is a shocking failure of the minister and of this government and that’s why I have called for the minister to say to Australia Post, this charge increase must be reversed.
Stephen Cenatiempo: You’ve written to her directly about this issue. Is she obligated to respond to you?
Senator Henderson: Well, she’s obligated to serve the Australian people. She’s obligated to do her job and in many respects, I don’t think she’s been doing her job. She’s been caught up in a travel rorts scandal. In so many respects, she has been missing in action. I don’t think she’s up to it. Frankly, Stephen, I think she’s a weak link for the government and this is just another example where the minister has not stood up for the Australian people. You know, on what planet is she saying nothing when Australia Post is gouging customers with this horrific increase in their fuel levy charge? And as we know, there are many small micro businesses, e-commerce businesses that depend on Australia Post services every single day, and there’s also a real risk that this charge will be passed on to consumers. So we are paying the price for this government’s incompetence. Let me say that in the two years of the pandemic, Australia Post’s parcel revenues went up by 51 per cent, extraordinary increase. Now I’m not suggesting there’s going to be the same increase during this time but we would expect more people to turn to parcel delivery. So for Australia Post to take this callous and opportunistic decision is unacceptable, and it’s even worse that the minister is saying nothing about it. She’s got 10 days, this is due to come into force on the 24th of April. She’s got less than 10 days to take action and so do Australia Post. This increase is not on and reverse it.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Let’s hope that common sense prevails. Sarah, good to talk to you. We’ll catch up in a couple of weeks.
Senator Henderson: Thank you so much, Stephen.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Senator Sarah Henderson, the Shadow Minister for Communications and Digital Safety.