Radio Interview - 6PR Perth
OLIVER PETERSON, HOST: This is Perth live with Oliver Peterson eight past five. Joining me on the line now is the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and the Assistant Minister for the Public Service, the Member for Perth, Patrick Gorman. Good afternoon.
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER AND ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE: Good afternoon, Oly. And good afternoon to your listeners.
PETERSON: And a very happy birthday to you, Patrick Gorman. You've got your wish. It's coming true. You're talking to the people of Perth.
GORMAN: That's it. Look, I don't think, even on someone's birthday, for a politician, that you're going to get love and adoration from listeners. And I wouldn't expect it today, but I did get a very nice breakfast with my kids and I understand that probably right about now they're baking a cake for tonight.
PETERSON: Okay. Do you feel a little bit ripped off though, having a birthday in December with Christmas just two weeks away?
GORMAN: No. Look, when I was a kid, the rule in my household was the Christmas tree couldn't go up until after my birthday. Now, with little kids in the house, that rule is out the door and we start Christmas, and Dad's birthday is just a little bit of an interruption in the broad run to Christmas that the kids enjoy.
PETERSON: Yeah, fair enough. Well, let's get onto a few local matters. First and foremost, because it is in your electorate, what did you make of the extremism yesterday? We got protesters now stopping traffic on, or a lone protester, I should say, on Mounts Bay Road, as people are just trying to get to work and holding everybody up for over an hour.
GORMAN: Yeah, well, I think if your goal is to reduce emissions, it was a pretty bizarre way to try and do that. I mean, that action alone would have increased emissions with just all those cars waiting, stuck in traffic. So, I thought it was silly and it didn't do their cause any good. And I'm conscious that Mounts Bay Road is a vital road for people who need to get to Charlie Gairdner and to Perth Children's Hospital. Silly idea at the best of times. Really stupid to do it.
PETERSON: It's not something that you'd expect here in Perth, though. This is this sort of activism that we've seen from Just Stop Oil protesters over in London, in the UK. We don't want Perth to turn into that.
GORMAN: Well, no, and I think it kind of undermines the fact that actually Australia has a great democracy. People can have their voice heard, they can call up to your programme and give me some blunt feedback, they can write a strongly worded letter, you can have a protest. There's no one saying you can't have a protest, but just do it in a way that gets your message across, rather than put people in danger or block access to vital services like a children's hospital. Really dumb.
PETERSON: It is dumb. Speaking of London and the UK, why is it that Stephen Smith - the former Member for Perth, turned High Commissioner to the UK - why does he want to cancel the Australia Day commemorations and celebrations in Australia House in London?
GORMAN: I'm going to disaggregate this for your listeners because there's two things going on here. Australia House and the Australian High Commission will still have an Australia Day event on Australia Day on the 26 January. The event that's not going ahead is something organised by what's called the Australia Foundation and they run a sort of a gala dinner, black tie event and they've chosen not to do that for 2024. So, that's basically, there's two different bits of this conversation. I think that's worth noting for your listeners.
PETERSON: Sure. Are you disappointed, though, that the event is not going to go ahead on the 26 January?
GORMAN: Look, I think we celebrate Australia Day on the 26 January. Obviously, a decision has been made by not the High Commission but an independent organisation that sets up this event in London. My focus, because your listeners might not know I'm actually responsible for the National Australia Day Council and for making sure we get all of these events happening here in Australia. So, what I can say is I don't really care that much about whether or not people get to bronze a fancy dress in London. But what we're doing for Australians here in Australia, 694 different events, 75 of them funded by the Commonwealth Government here in WA. If you're in Bayswater on the 26 January, you can head down to the Civic Centre, get a free ice cream and a barbecue. We've got events. We obviously fund the events with the City of Perth. That's what I'm responsible for, that's what I'm doing. And I would say to all of our High Commissioners, Ambassadors, of course, we should be proudly celebrating this great country and particularly on our national day. I've encouraged them all to do that. But I would just note that there will be an Australia Day function on the 26 January in London at the High Commission. What's not going ahead is a function organised by independent foundation, and they made a decision.
PETERSON: Okay, because.The event organisers are saying the High Commission said they couldn't do it. This isn't a change or a captain's call by Stephen Smith, is it? Is he trying to change the date by stealth?
GORMAN: All ambassadors and high commissioners follow the Australian Government's policy and the law, which is that Australia Day is on the 26 January.
PETERSON: And your personal opinion, Patrick, you'd like to see it stay there on the 26 January?
GORMAN: Yeah, that's the government's policy. I think these things have bounced around. The discussion will always happen. And I was just talking before, Oly, about us being a democratic nation, where we can have discussions about these things. But the government's view, which I share, is that it's appropriate that it's done on the 26 January. We acknowledge that the nature of the date is changing, that you are seeing more and more discussion about not just what happened in 1788, but actually discussion about Australia's broad history over 65,000 years. I think that makes it a richer day. And I also think that one of the great things, and I always find myself at a citizenship ceremony or two or three on Australia Day, is that it means a lot to people who choose to become an Australian citizen on our national day. So, we'll do what we're doing, funding about $10 million worth of events here in Australia, 75 of them here in the West. And I think the most important thing - I mentioned it being protected in legislation - it's also a great public holiday. Where it signals for some the time to make sure that you've done all of the shopping, getting rid of the kids, ready to go back to school. If you've been lucky enough to have some extra leave, then you really have to make sure that the shirts are ironed and you get back to work. Or if you work on Australia Day at a pub or something, it's a day you get a little bit of extra money in your pocket with those penalty rates.
PETERSON: My guest is Patrick Gorman, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, and of course, the Member for Perth. 133 882 if you'd like to join the conversation. Speaking about a couple of extra dollars in your pocket. I see the Minerals Council is calling the industrial relations laws, which passed the Parliament, as a declaration of war last week. Now, are you ready for a Mining Tax-style campaign with big business?
GORMAN: I hope we don't see that. These were very sensible changes to make sure that workers who are working on mine sites here in WA, doing the same job, get paid the same. And I think most Australians will recognise that's a pretty simple, basic thing. That's what made the mining industry strong for many years, was that everyone was paid the same and everyone saw that it was a great way to build up, pay off your mortgage, get a good job. What we've seen recently is people using labour hire to lower wages. Now, I think your listeners will make up their own mind if the Minerals Council of Australia is spending $24 million on a campaign to pay their workers less. I think we're better than that. And I think if you go and look at what we've tried to do in closing these labour hire loopholes, most people say, 'yeah, that's a fair thing.' If you're going and doing that really tough work on the mines, on very difficult rosters, everyone should be paid the same for that work if they're doing exactly the same job with the same experience.
PETERSON: Are you worried, though, mining companies, resources, to one side, this could have some wider impacts for the employment of people in remote and regional Australia not involved in mining?
GORMAN: We've obviously debated this legislation at length in the Parliament. I haven't found many of the fear campaigns or the worries that have been expressed to have much credibility behind them. I've got to say, in my electorate, and I've got thousands of thousands of people who work in the mining industry in the electorate of Perth, and I say thank you to them for everything they do to keep the Australian economy strong. They haven't been coming to me saying that they're concerned. I get why those who run mining companies might want to try and minimise their wage bill, but my responsibility is to the people who work in the industry, the people who actually keep the mining industry and the Australian economy strong, that's the people who actually go and do the work day in, day out, and that's who we're trying to support with this legislation.
PETERSON: The gig economy workforce has been split out, though. Will those laws come into the Parliament early next year?
GORMAN: Well, as you noted that, what basically happened is we saw an opportunity to get as much of this legislation through the Parliament as we could. We thought, 'well, that's what we're there to do, we're there to work for Australia, we're there to get things done. We'll get that through.' The Senate will revisit those other pieces next year. There's a Senate inquiry underway at the moment. People can put their views into that inquiry. That's the standard policy development process. But of know we'll wait to see what that inquiry says, but the rest of that bill sits in the Senate waiting for further consideration. We'd like to see it get done, but I think people also expect us where there's an opportunity to get something done rather than nothing, to get moving like - we're there to work. We're there to work for Australia. We're there to deliver things. I could come up with a million excuses why we couldn't do everything or why you could delay a piece of legislation. We want to get something done. We'll revisit the rest of it next year.
PETERSON: And just one more issue back in your electorate here in Perth. You've now got a proposal on the table from the Lord Mayor, Basil Zempilas, about relocating that women's hub to Tranby House. I know it's before the Minister responsible in the State Parliament, John Carey. Would you like to see this one resolved, particularly expedited, before Christmas?
GORMAN: Look, I think the closure of the previous service was unfortunate. I always worry when we've got local governments withdrawing from those social supports that actually keep people in our community safe. I would hope that we have. I think Christmas is a reasonable deadline. When we start to think of the message of Christmas being about compassion, care for others, I'd hope that we get some form of a resolution. Actually, as I was driving to the city this afternoon, I went past the Common Ground facility, which we're co-funding with the State Government as part of the Perth City Deal. There's a lot of things happening in this space. I do commend John Carey. I think he really has tried to do everything he can to make sure we've got the services we need for those experiencing homeless, but also getting more actual houses on the ground. It is a debate between the state and the local government, but I hope it's resolved soon.
PETERSON: Patrick Gorman, happy birthday. Enjoy that cake the kids are baking for you tonight. Enjoy your Christmas and we'll chat to you again in 2024. Thank you very much.
GORMAN: Speak to you next year.