Now a little segment we like to call Canberra Conversations. Well, it’s a different place Canberra, isn’t it? I mean, it’s full of politicians and public servants for a start, and all sorts of strange things go on. So the Shadow Minister for Immigration Paul Scarr joins us on the line to talk about some Canberra Conversations. Good Morning.
Senator Scarr
Good Morning. Tim. Good to be with you and your listeners.
Tim Webster
Yeah, and thanks for joining us too. Look, I can’t count how many prime ministers, Paul have said, I’m going to improve the behavior in the Parliament. And then you get, you know, it turns into a bit of a circus. The permanent rules tend to get flouted. We saw Pauline’s One Nation’s MPs turning their backs on the Welcome to Country., Mehreen Faruqi’s Pro Palestinian protest. I mean, does it make the political process a little less credible in our eyes, outside of Canberra, whenyou see things like that and it becomes more about spectacle than debate?
Senator Scarr
Tim, I think that’s a very good point. And I think the Australian people expect their politicians, their elected representatives, when they go to Canberra, to actually set the standard, not breach the standard. So I certainly believe that it was disappointing to see Senator Faruqi hold up a sign when the Governor General was actually addressing the joint sitting of the parliament to actually open our parliament for the parliamentary term. And it was profoundly disappointing, because the Governor General was put in a very difficult position. She’s there making an address, and Senator Faruqi was breaching the Standing Orders while she was doing that. And I think it’s a question of courtesy. Tim.
Tim Webster
I agree.
Senator Scarr
You invite someone into your place., be courteous, and it’s just unacceptable, from my point of view.
Tim Webster
But are those you know, Pauline’s protest and Mehreen Faruqi’s protest. Are they against the standing orders of the parliament or not?
Senator Scarr
Well, in my view, they’re against the standing orders. Senator Faruqi used what’s called a prop holding up a sign in the Parliament, and that is clearly against the standing orders. There’s absolutely no question about it. And when we had the debate afterwards about the breach in the standing orders, the Greens said, Well, these are important issues, so youneed to appreciate the passion involved in and whilst, sure, these are really important issues, and there’s a lot of passion in the debate, one of the points I made is when you the more passionate the debate, the more you’ve got to cling to those rules of conduct, because that’s what makes the system work. And when you depart from those rules of conduct, then the system starts to break down, so it is a cause for concern.
Tim Webster
Now Net Zero, Barnaby Joyce has put that well and truly back on the agenda, private members bill, as you know, and of course, in the lead up to the election, and I have to say, I was critical at the time, the Coalition were forging ahead with nuclear power promises, and then it just sort of seemed to wane away and disappear after Peter Dutton’s defeat. And we’re hearing so much about the energy debate as we should. Where are you standing now on Energy, particularly in relation to nuclear power?
Senator Scarr
Well, Tim, at the moment, we’ve set up a policy review process, and we have to be honest, that we suffered a devastating loss at the last election, and I think when that occurs, the onus is on us now to review our policies and go through a process. And that process is extremely important because it’s been set up with my colleague Dan Tehan leading the process, with a working committee across the whole party, different portfolios, working with him to come upwith a policy for us to take to the next election. And every single Coalition MP, every single Coalition Senator, will have an opportunity to have input into that process. And then we’ll come up with a policy to take to the next election, and that policy must provide for a stable, reliable energy grid, which is affordable, affordable for your listeners, for households, for businesses, both small and large. And we’ll also be looking to have a responsible way to address emissions.
Tim Webster
Oh, mate, we had a blackout started at our place about two o’clock on Saturday morning. It’s not coming back till this afternoon at half past six. So I’m with you. But as far as nuclear is concerned, I mean, it was very high on the agenda and then it disappeared off the agenda of the Coalition. Were you frightened about backlash? What happened with that?
Senator Scarr
Well, I think that’s a fair question to ask Tim and my personal view, with respect to nuclear power, is 19 out of 20 of the top major economies in the world have electricity generated by nuclear power. Australia is the only one which doesn’t. So I think nuclear power needs to be something which we consider, but we also need to consider the result of the last election campaign. I think we could have done a better job in terms of explaining the policy and explaining the benefits of nuclear power. And something I’ve said in the Senate in the past is, sure, there are risks with everything you do, but there’s a risk for Australia if it doesn’t adopt nuclear energy, if the rest of the world does, we need to consider that as well.
Tim Webster
Yeah, and the other things too, Paul is, you know, I just think it’s the height of hypocrisy. I mean, we’re one of the biggest uranium exporters on the planet, but we don’t use the stuff ourselves, but we send it to everybody else who can use it. Doesn’t make any sense to me.
Senator Scarr
Absolutely. I mean, it’s a very, very strong point you make. Tim.
Tim Webster
Now, a very important issue for all of us is housing, 1.2 million homes by 2030 That’s the promise. It’s ambitious, and I’m telling you, it won’t happen. Now we’ve got the Housing Australia Future Fund The acquisition of what, 340 houses from existing bills. Now what are the concerns with that fund, the Housing Australia, Future Fund, because building homes is so important and but none of the targets, I’m telling you, the New South Wales target, won’t get there either, and I doubt the national money will as well.
Senator Scarr
Absolutely Tim and the Department of Treasury. So not a Politician, but the Department of Treasury has advised the Government that they won’t meet the target. So that advice was pretty firm when the government got re elected. One of one of the things about the Housing Australia Future Fund is it has only constructed 17 houses. This $10 billion fund was announced two years ago. It’s only constructed 17 houses. That’s the latest information. But at the same time, it’s gone out on the market and purchased 340 houses, 20 times as many as it’s constructed. And when it goes onto the market and purchases those houses, it’s actually in competition with everyday Australians trying to purchase a house. And when that fund was set up, they never told us that it’s it was actually going to be going on the market, purchasing houses in competition with everyday Australians.
Tim Webster
Well, the cynic in me thinks that’s just them trying to make their numbers look better, isn’t it?
Senator Scarr
Well, I think the cynic in you is pretty well informed him, actually, I think you’re absolutely right.
Tim Webster
The thing that troubles me with that is all of this rhetoric about how many houses we’re going to build, whether that’s the federal or this government in this state, just flies in the face of anything I’m being told by the building industry. Mates I’ve got in the industry, one of my own family members in history, and they’re saying it just can’t happen, because most of the the younger blokes in the trade just want to do renos and small decks and things, they don’t want to work in a building site controlled by the unions and while ever that’s the case, the houses won’t get built. Paul.
Senator Scarr
Absolutely, mate. I think we’ve made it so hard for our builders to actually build houses in this country. And in the issues with the CFMEU, which everyone knows about, and also regulation, red tape, green tape, etc, we just make it so hard for the people who were expecting to go out and build homes for Australians.
Tim Webster
Yeah, and I’ve got a little story after I finished having a chat to you about the birthing rate in Australia. We’re just not replacing ourselves. But in in your shadow portfolio Immigration, I mean, where are we going to get with that when I’ve got listeners who say, for goodness sake, stop the immigration now, let’s deal with the people we’ve got already, and then maybe start up again. And now we’ve got the government saying, Well, you know, you need to up the birth rate, because we’re not replacing ourselves. I mean, and we’ve got the housing situation with people nowhere to live. Seems to me, we’ve just got a dog chasing its tail here, the federal government supplying so many more people to our country nowhere for them to live or play in the park or a supermarket to go to. It’s not making much sense to me.
Tim Webster
Thank you, mate. Thanks for the time.
Senator Scarr
Well, our Immigration Policy is an extremely complicated issue. If we’re inviting people into our country, we’ve got to make sure their housing supply is there so that they can be housed. We also need to make sure we’re providing the services for people when they come to Australia. We do have skill shortages in key areas as well, and that’s been something which has occurred over the years. So on the one hand, we need to build more houses, on the other hand, wedon’t have enough carpenters in Australia to build houses.
Tim Webster
That’s right, that’s right. And probably not enough plumbers and electricians either.
Senator Scarr
Absolutely, that’s exactly right.
Tim Webster
But the carpenters are the most important element in all of that. I don’t know. Maybe we should enlist Scotty Cam on The Block to build some houses for us. What about that?
Senator Scarr
Well, maybe he’s pretty effective.
Tim Webster
He’s pretty good at it. All right, it’s good to talk to you. Thanks very much for Canberra Conversations. Now you try and get those Politicians down there to behave a bit better.
Senator Scarr
Oh, that’s a hard job Tim, but I’ll do my best.
