Topics: Chris Bowen travel costs, regional communications cuts, One Nation’s gas policy
Peter Stefanovic: As we reported a moment ago, the Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, has racked up an eye-watering $1 million travel bill on travel costs over the last three and a half years. Joining us live now is the Shadow Communications Minister, Sarah Henderson, on this Friday morning. So, Sarah, Chris Bowen, yeah, it’s $1.035 million on the taxpayer dime over the past three and a half years. What’s your response to that figure?
Senator Henderson: Well, Pete, good morning. Australians deserve an energy minister focused on soaring power bills, not soaring travel costs. Really, this Prime Minister needs to get rid of our part-time energy minister who is running around the world, worried about the photo ops, congratulating himself and not focusing on the dire situation we have in this country.
Peter Stefanovic: So for someone who is in cabinet and if that’s averaged out over three to four years, I mean, how would that traditionally compare?
Senator Henderson: Well, Pete, the point is that he is a part-time energy minister. He’s the “president of negotiations”. It is a load of rubbish. He should be focused on our own energy system here in Australia, getting soaring power bills down. They’ve gone up on average 40 per cent. We’re in the middle of a fuel crisis still, and this bloke is running around the world with photo ops with everyone from left, right, and centre. It’s just not good enough, and it’s another example of this government getting its priorities all wrong.
Peter Stefanovic: Okay so as a matter of coincidence, he’s in Denmark this week as the global head of climate negotiations. Now that the fuel crisis has been sorted at home, Sarah?
Senator Henderson: Well, I don’t think it has. You know, we’ve got an ongoing issue with Labor’s reckless renewables policies, Pete. We’ve got this net zero madness, which is taking our country backwards. We’ve got to unlock our resources but we’ve got this ridiculous minister running around the world more concerned about doing the photo ops with other heads of state, rather than focusing on his job. If he’s not prepared to do the job full-time as energy minister, he should go. Simple as that.
Peter Stefanovic: Well, I mean, there’s a trend here as well isn’t there, Sarah? I mean, aside from that, you’ve got the Anika Wells, Michelle Rowland spending scandal. You’ve got Matt Keogh spending more on his wife’s flights than that of a VC recipient’s family travel that he just axed, as revealed by Peter Credlin this week. How much do you think that all jars with the regular taxpayers’ cost of living issues, not to mention the government’s hike on investor taxes this week that folks of all ages will have to pay moving forward?
Senator Henderson: Well, Australians are shaking their heads in horror at this fiasco of a Budget, a fiasco of a government where they have got all their priorities wrong. The travel rorts imposed by Anika Wells and others is just disgraceful. There’s still a very black cloud over her travel to Adelaide to a birthday party, I’ve asked the Prime Minister to stand her down. I mean, he’s doing nothing about it and yet this Prime Minister is imposing the most toxic range of taxes on Australians which we will get rid of. We are fighting them every day, tooth and nail. And of course, now the death tax that the government hid in the budget, it denied it was a death tax. Now we hear that perhaps it’s going. Well we want all these toxic taxes to go because they are sending this country backwards. They are stifling investment and of course, we need to grow as a country, not run our country off a cliff like Labor is doing.
Peter Stefanovic: Yeah and just speaking of the Budget, Sarah, you’ve identified cuts to regional funding. So what has you most concerned?
Senator Henderson: Well here is Anika Wells running around the country and the globe, spending millions and she has cut more than $150 million of investment in regional communications programs, including the Mobile Black Spot Program. She didn’t even have the heart to keep a very small program, the Regional Tech Hub, which is helping regional families connect to the internet, connect their phone. I mean this government has got its priorities all wrong. We are so shocked at the way it has turned its back on regional communities and this is just another example.
Peter Stefanovic: Okay and just finally, just before we go, Sarah, I’m just looking at Pauline Hanson’s gas policy that she announced yesterday. What are your thoughts on that and does that give you pause that you might need to tweak your policy?
Senator Henderson: No because this is a tax on investment. We want to dig, we want to drill, we want to pay down the debt, and we want to unlock our resources.
Peter Stefanovic: But isn’t that what Pauline Hanson is proposing though?
Senator Henderson: No because she is proposing another big tax on our resources at a time when we need to unlock our resources. She also didn’t say in her speech that in the last 12 months the gas sector has paid some $22 billion in corporate taxes. And if we drive that investment, as is our plan, then we expect that those taxes will double. And so I think on this particular issue One Nation has got it all wrong.
Peter Stefanovic: Okay, Sarah Henderson, we’ll leave it there. Thanks.