Interview with Richard and Shanna, 2HD Newcastle

RICHARD: Good morning, Prime Minister.

SHANNA: Good morning.

PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Good to be with you, too. Good day for the Hunter.

RICHARD: Yes and, well a great day for the Hunter. So it's definitely happening this, this gas-fired power station at Kurri Kurri on the old Hydro site, Prime Minister?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, it is. And it's going to bring with it some 600 new jobs during peak construction there and 1,200 indirect jobs across the state. Importantly, it's going to keep the pressure down on electricity prices across New South Wales, in particular. But in addition to that, a gas-fired power station is actually, works in together with our renewables strategy because it supports and firms up all the renewable energy that's coming onto the market. We've got a lot of renewable energy coming in, but when the wind doesn't blow in and the sun doesn't shine, well you need the gas-fired power plants to be able to make up that difference and ensure that you keep the lights on and you keep prices down. So it all works together as part of a plan. But I think it's great for the Hunter and it comes on the back of the more than $60 million I announced when I was up there the other day to widen the Newcastle Airport. So all good news for the Hunter.

SHANNA: Prime Minister, just on the cheaper electricity prices. Our emails, our listeners have emailed in this morning and they want to know, how is this going to guarantee, though, to deliver cheaper electricity prices?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, because it increases the supply of reliable energy. And when you've got Liddell coming out at some 1,000 megawatts, then that reduces the supply and that puts pressure on prices going up. So we were saying, well, if a thousand's coming out, we need a thousand to come on. And the industry have delivered around 330 megawatts. And this puts the balance of the 660 megawatts back into the system to ensure that we can keep that downward pressure on power prices. And since the last election, we've seen a 13 per cent average fall in, in household prices since the last election. And so prices are not going up like they were some years ago. We've been getting that pressure on them through what we've done with the retailer guarantee and all of these things. But we've got to keep the pressure on, and that's what this is about.

RICHARD: Right. And just to clarify, it's what we call a peaking plant. So it'll only be turned on, turned on when it's needed, and, and that's the advantage of gas over coal. It's very easy to turn it on and turn it off.

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. So that means you're using your renewables when you can, and there's a lot of additional capacity coming on there. But then, you know, the lights go out when you can't turn one of these things on. And with the others, you've got to keep them running all the time. So that's why, you know, gas is a great transition fuel for Australia as part of what we're doing on the, on the changing nature of our energy market. So, you know, it's a very, it's been worked through very finely by the Snowy Hydro Corporation who do a great job. And, and they're stepping up and I basically said, well, let the big energy companies have the first crack at this. But if they're not going to turn up, then we will.

SHANNA: Is there a timeframe, Prime Minister, when the project will be complete, and how much is it going to cost the taxpayer, the project?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're putting in an additional $600 million into the Snowy Hydro Corporation to ensure that they can, they can do this. And we understand that they'll have this done by the end of 2023.

RICHARD: And, and, where will the gas come from? There was a report the other day saying that there is at this stage no gas supply for that proposed plant and it might have to run on diesel fuel for at least six months.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's a contingency, and we don't necessarily anticipate that contingency having to be realised. And those elements of the project will be settled in the months ahead.

RICHARD: When, while we're talking about gas, it's been, I think, now three months since the PEP 11 exploration licence expired off the coast. I think all the New South Wales ministers, well, and certainly MPs along the Eastern Seaboard, don't want it. You've said you don't want it.

PRIME MINISTER: That's right.

RICHARD: And yet our Resources Minister Keith Pitt has not yet made a decision on, on the PEP 11 exploration licence.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think I've been pretty clear about what my view is and the Government's view is. So I ...

RICHARD: Well, why, why hasn't a decision been announced?

PRIME MINISTER: There's a process that it's following that, look I've made it pretty clear about what my view is and what the Government's view is, and I think people take a lot of confidence from that.

RICHARD: Well, it's been three months since the licence expired.

SHANNA: Yeah, the 12th of February.

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, and what you've seen is it hasn't been renewed.

RICHARD: Right. Okay.

SHANNA: Prime Minister, what would you say in response to Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese's recent comments that your Government's failed Australian citizens who are still stranded overseas due to COVID-19?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's just the facts don't bear that up. He says lots of things that aren't true. We've had, you know, 166,000 people have come back to Australia, when we were trying to get back just 26,800. Last September I said we're going to work to get people home who were registered with us at that time. That was 26,800, 166,000 people have come back since that time. Multiple flights that we've run to bring Australians home, it's a big task. People have gone overseas, they've found themselves in difficulty. Like in any case, we seek to provide support to people in those circumstances. We're in a global pandemic, it's not easy. But we've got a hardship fund which has seen $30 million of support gone out to people all around the world, not just in India, but many places around the world, supporting them with medical expenses or emergency accommodation or cash support that they've needed. We're giving as much support to Australians as you can in these circumstances and we're bringing them home as well, including out of India. But we've got to do it safely.

RICHARD: Well, and so, so much of the recovery from the pandemic, you know, relies on us all getting vaccinated. A survey out this morning shows that 29 per cent of Australians don't want to get the vaccination. What's your message to those people that still have a question mark about being vaccinated?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, my message is more to the 70 per cent that are quite happy to go and have it. And of that 29 per cent you refer, they're not hard against it. It's only a small proportion of those who are hard against it, which is fairly normal with vaccinations. Now but for the 70 per cent of people that are happy to get along with it, and I'd encourage them to go and make that booking. If you're over 50, you can go and do that with your GP now. The State Government is setting up other clinics to do the same thing. So I'd just encourage people to get on and do it. We're over three, well over three million now, and those numbers keep climbing every single day. And it's an important part of what we're doing. It's not the only part of what we're doing. And it's important we all work together to achieve that. That's why I'm sort of disappointed that the Labor Party, and I'm fighting the virus, they seem to be fighting me. I'll just keep fighting the virus and I'll let them do whatever they want to do.

SHANNA: Now, Prime Minister, you copped a bit of flak for the red carpet treatment you received when you were in the Hunter just the other week. But you must feel pretty special because even your Sharkies didn't receive the red carpet treatment when they won the grand final in 2016.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we, we have nothing to do with that. I mean, I just walk out of the plane and whatever's there's there. I mean, some suggestion that, by those who sort of seized on this, I mean, I have nothing to do with what the Defence Forces do when you get out of the plane. That was nice of them to receive. It wasn't the first time that's happened.

RICHARD: No. We're on radio, it's theatre of the mind. That's, that's the sound effect of rolling out a red carpet. So we've done it again for you this morning.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm more grateful for the service of our Defence Force personnel, personally.

RICHARD: Hear hear.

PRIME MINISTER: I'd be rolling out a red carpet for them, if it was my, it was my decision.

RICHARD: Definitely, definitely. Thank you very much for your time this morning, Prime Minister.

SHANNA: Thank you, thank you.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot. Good to talk to you.

RICHARD: Have a good day. Thank you.

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