Topics: Labor’s toxic taxes, ABC impartiality, Australia Post closures
Stephen Cenatiempo: Time to talk federal politics with the Shadow Minister for Communications, Senator Sarah Henderson. Sarah, clearly there’s no mirrors at the clifftop mansion in Copacabana?
Senator Henderson: Look, as you say, we are seeing the Prime Minister lie over and over again, deceive. I mean, he is a complete incompetent fraud and you know we don’t use that sort of brutal language every day in politics but Australians are so angry because they have been so deceived. This is a Budget of lies and broken promises. Labor promised, Stephen, they would not touch capital gains tax, negative gearing, trusts, superannuation, and of course, there’s also the lie on the Stage 3 tax cuts. Labor continues to break promises, they continue to lie, you cannot trust a word this Prime Minister says. And I’ll tell you what, we are determined to stand up for Australians every single day, we are not going to cop Labor’s toxic taxes, they don’t need a tweak, they don’t need a carve out, they don’t need another Canberra fix. They need to be axed. These are bad for families, bad for small businesses, bad for our economy, and bad for our country. And we are working day and night to scrap those taxes.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Sarah, I want to talk about issues that are explicitly in your portfolio areas, communications shadow. There was a lot of talk about Pauline Hanson’s speech at the Press Club and her comments on the ABC and SBS. Now, I don’t share her view that they need to be shut down or turned into subscription services but you’ve been very vocal in your criticism of the ABC. I mean, at the very least, it needs to be forced to uphold its charter?
Senator Henderson: Look, that’s right, and I have to say my continuing criticism of the ABC is because the ABC is continuing to fail Australians. And we saw another terrible case just yesterday, Stephen, where the ABC, despite indicating during Senate estimates, when I raised the question that they would consider an opinion from Sall Grover, who, of course, is championing the rights of single-sex spaces and the rights of women and girls under the Sex Discrimination Act, because their rights have effectively been expunged in the Tickle v Giggle case. Well, she was shut down, and she was told when she argued that biological sex was a matter of fact, she was told she had got things wrong and they would not be running her op-ed.
So they ran an op-ed from an academic who claims that this case was a great victory for women’s rights. Of course, many Australians vehemently disagree with this because it sidelined women and children. But the ABC would not comply with its obligations to be impartial and run an op-ed from Sall Grover, and it’s these types of decisions we are seeing every day where the ABC is infected with activism, not proper journalism, that is dragging down the trust and credibility of our national broadcaster.
Stephen Cenatiempo: We should also point out that you are a former ABC journalist, so you’ve been inside the asylum. You speak with some authority on this.
Senator Henderson: I worked there for nine years and I can see things that are happening now that if they’d happened when I was at the ABC, you wouldn’t have a job. I mean, you cannot have conflicts of interest, you cannot be biased, you must be fair and faithful to the truth. And I think on so many times we’ve seen the ABC fail to meet basic standards. And let’s not forget, Stephen, this is $1.2 billion and more of taxpayers’ funds every single year. I mean there are parts of the ABC that I think do a good job. I mean, they play a very valuable role, particularly in the regions but every part of the ABC must serve all Australians.
There are 2,000 people working in the news and current affairs divisions of the ABC. That’s a lot of people. They should be doing a much better job, I think, to deliver the news and information impartially and accurately. And of course, now as we know, after my call, along with Michaelia Cash and Angie Bell, the ABC will be in the spotlight at the Royal Commission, because I think they’ve also failed to report matters accurately and fairly, and there are also issues I’ve raised at Senate estimates. And now, of course, they will be having to sort of be accountable for their actions before the Royal Commission.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Sarah, another thing that you’ve highlighted, and this came out after intense questioning of the boss of Australia Post is what you’ve described as a secret plan to shut post offices and postal agencies. I mean, we’ve seen it here in Tharwa, in the ACT. We’ve also seen post offices shut within suburban Canberra as well. Now, I know Australia Post is a corporatised entity these days and it has to operate fiscally responsibly but surely there’s a minimum level of service that has to be applied here?
Senator Henderson: Well, there is a minimum level of service. The legislation provides there must be at least 4,000 post offices across the country and 2,500 of those post offices must be in the regions. Now, again, in Senate estimates, the managing director and CEO of Australia Post, Paul Graham, gave evidence saying there was no active closure plan in place. I raised concerns, in fact, perhaps reminding him that he was under oath because they were not forthcoming at all with what they were doing with the future of Australia Post’s retail network, and he denied it, until he was black and blue in the face. No active closure program.
We then discover a secret leaked document with a plan for mass closures, not just in Victoria and New South Wales but also right across the regions, and that is just unacceptable. And so we are calling on the minister and Australia Post to come clean with their secret plan which is to close dozens of post offices and to downgrade many other post offices. And we’re really upset about this, we have a proposal for a Senate inquiry. We will vote on that today, Stephen, because Liberal and National members understand that the post office in our local community plays a vital role, particularly where there is nowhere else to do your banking or to pay your bills. And the Coalition, and you’re going to see how good local Coalition Liberal members and National party members are. Because when our communities come under threat, when these government services are threatened with closure or cuts or the sorts of rubbish that we are seeing from Anika Wells, we are going to fight very hard because we understand how valuable these services are to so many people across this country.
Stephen Cenatiempo: I’d say Anika Wells could do a tour of post offices but that’ll cost an absolute fortune, the way she uses Comcars etc.
Senator Henderson: Well she’d probably go to the post offices in New York and Paris. Perhaps she needs to get out into the regions and understand what an important role they play. And it is a disgrace that this secret plan we’ve uncovered. We’ve asked what does the minister know? Has she approved this plan? How many jobs will be lost? How many post offices will close? She has failed to be straight with Australians about their plans for our postage system. That is just completely unacceptable and this leaked document, of course, is a very significant embarrassment, not just for Australia Post but also for the minister.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Indeed, Sarah, good to talk to you. We’ll catch up in a couple of weeks.
Senator Henderson: Thanks so much, Stephen.