Subjects: energy, Bali bomber
PETE STEFANOVIC: So let’s bring in the Shadow Home Affairs minister, Karen Andrews. Karen, good to see you. So, first of all, do you support price caps for states to lead the charge on that and primarily Queensland and New South Wales?
KAREN ANDREWS: Look, I think it’s a little bit too early for me to comment on that, simply because there is a lack of detail from the government about exactly what they’re proposing, what the implications are. Now we know that the proposal is there to be a price cap. We know that there are negotiations happening with the states and territories, or that will happen in relation to compensation for loss royalties. What we haven’t heard is how this is going to directly impact the prices that consumers are paying for electricity, and what is the impact going to be on prices and bills over the next few months, maybe years. So I think once again, what we’re seeing is that the, the federal government hasn’t gone in with a longer term plan, longer term vision. They wasted their time when they were in opposition, figuring out how they were going to manage things when they got elected. And now they’re in a position of scrambling around, and let’s be clear, the money that they are going to be negotiating, spending, giving to the states for compensation is actually taxpayers dollars. So effectively what they’re using is taxpayers money to give compensation to the states with the objective of making sure that there’s a reduction in power prices for individuals. I mean, they need to come up with a lot more detail and a longer term plan, and it’s just not there.
PETE STEFANOVIC: Right. So, I mean, we can all agree that something has to be done though, right?
KAREN ANDREWS: Yep, absolutely.
PETE STEFANOVIC: So if it’s not price caps, if it’s not caps on coal or gas for that matter, what would you suggest would be a better alternative than that?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, I think, let’s see what the negotiations are with the states and, and territories. Let’s understand what the federal government is actually putting at this point of time, and let’s understand clearly what the impact is going to be on people’s power bills. Because at this stage, the labor government was elected on a promise of, of people’s bills going down $275 that walked away from that they’ve refused to recommit to that, post winning the election. Now they’re going to spend even more of taxpayer’s money giving compensation to the states. So let’s look at what they have to say, but they need to be looking at what they’re going to do short term and also what they’re going to do longer term. And hopefully, Australia’s energy minister is gonna be able to do more than one thing at time and can, and can look at what he’s doing with coal, what he’s doing with gas, what he is doing with renewables and how he’s gonna bring power prices down.
PETE STEFANOVIC: Right. I mean, it, I mean, it can be dangerous to assume, but, but would you presume at all that if, if, if prices are capped at half the current levels that they are now, that, that people would, would see their power bills cut in half?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, it depends very much on what the electricity generators are going to be doing. Now, I don’t know that they’re at the, at the table. It appears that they’re not, it appears that there’s been very limited negotiations with the energy producers. So at this stage, it’s really just an exchange of money between the federal government, which is taxpayers money and the state.
PETE STEFANOVIC: Well, I mean, your state of Queensland announced yesterday massive revenue windfall. Is that not an example of how that revenue can be shared with, with the punters?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, potentially. I mean, it was certainly a windfall that came through for the state government in Queensland with the royalties from coal in particular. Now, royalties have traditionally been used to upgrade roads to go into our hospitals. To do a whole range of things that immediately impact consumers, the people of Australia. So if that money is going to reduce power bills, then what happens to hospitals? What happens to roads? I mean, infrastructure right around Australia needs some significant upgrades, and that will be a continuing issue-
PETE STEFANOVIC: Right? So does the Queensland government deserve a pat on the back for doing that? Because it was quite controversial at the time to increase the taxes on those companies, but, but that is a staggering windfall there and, does that prove that it was probably right not to privatize?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, I made more money out of it. So-
PETE STEFANOVIC: And that goes back to the people and, and I think the premier said yesterday that they’ll be, they’ll be tipping that into hospitals.
KAREN ANDREWS: Yeah. And that’s the label way of doing things. It’s increasing taxes. So it’s a perfect example of what a labor government does. So, in this case, there’s been an increase in taxes that has affected the companies, who are now paying those taxes. I mean, it really just sounds as if sometimes what the labor governments do is rob Peter to pay Paul. And, that’s not what they should be doing.
PETE STEFANOVIC: Okay. Just a final thought here on this breaking news that we are running with this morning. Karen, one of the main bomb makers from the Bali bombings. He’s been released considerably early. He was due to face 20 years behind bars. He’s now walked free or will be walking free after just 12. Have you got a thought on that?
KAREN ANDREWS: Oh, look, that’s terribly disappointing. And for all those people who have been impacted by his actions, I mean, this is a really sad day for them. Now, I know that the Home Affairs Minister was in Indonesia earlier this week, and I would hope she raised some serious concerns in her meetings there about potential release of this individual. And their questions that she needs to start answering as well too. I mean, why was she in Indonesia? Surely, the release of this individual should have been a top priority for her. So I’m hoping to hear more on that.
PETE STEFANOVIC: Okay, Karen Andrews, appreciate that. Thank you. We’ll talk to you again soon.