Prime Minister
MONIQUE WRIGHT: Good morning to you Prime Minister thank you so much for your time we appreciate it.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning Monique.
WRIGHT: Can we start with, how was your holiday?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we were very focused on things back here to be honest Monique. We were keeping in, regular updates with what was occurring and of course when we lost Andrew and Geoff in that terrible incident late this week, Jenny and I were heartbroken. And obviously we made the decision then that I should return home as soon as I could, so I saw Melissa and Jess yesterday out with the whole team from Horsley Park. They are an amazing group of people and to meet Andrew and Geoff’s parents and spend time with them, I am glad home to see them. That’s why I came home. I wanted to personally convey my and Jenny's condolences to them. It was a hard day.
WRIGHT: I can imagine how heartbroken they were. Even when you went on holidays, these were extra ordinary circumstances Prime Minister, people are looking for leadership. Why was your judgement so off and why did it take you so long to come back after you said that you were going to?
PRIME MINISTER: Monique, that's your take on the events. Seven weeks ago we planned this. But we all make decisions Monique. You do as a parent, I do as a parent, we all seek to balance our work life responsibilities and we all try to get that right. We can all make better decisions on occasions, and I was pretty upfront with the Australian people about that yesterday. Whether it is on a Friday afternoon and you are deciding to take that extra plumbing contract and you said you were going to pick up the kids, or something at my level, these are things you juggle as parents.
WRIGHT: I get that.
PRIME MINISTER: I have young kids and I sought to make some good decisions there, and I could have made better on this occasion. These fires have been raging since September Monique. Jenny and I, we were up in Canungra back in September. We have been in Wauchope, we’ve been in Taree, we’ve been in Wilberforce, we’ve been up at the Brisbane, the headquarters up there in Queensland. These fires have been running for a long time, and they still have a time to run yet, and we will be out there again today seeing what's happening on the ground. My concerns are for those who are deeply impacted by them Monique.
WRIGHT: Look ok, the last one on the holiday, just why was it a secret?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it wasn't a secret, I texted the Leader of the Opposition about it myself. I mean everybody knew I was –
WRIGHT: But isn’t there usually a press release that’s put out to say who’s in charge? That didn’t happen and then it seems from journalists who contacted your office, they were given a runaround?
PRIME MINISTER: I followed the same process I had on previous occasions and no journalist raised any issues on that on the last two occasions over the last year and half, so I said yesterday if we can improve that for next time, then fine. I think that this is an issue the media’s got very excited about and my political opponents are seeking to exploit. But look, I think the time for politics and point scoring and all of this sort of stuff should be seen for what it is. What matters, is what is mattering to Melissa and Jess's family, what matters is the firefighters, what matters is the support that needs to go in place and is being provided. These are the most coordinated, best resourced, most amazingly fought set of fire disasters our country has seen, and Australians should be very proud of what is happening out there. Sure, there will be critics, and we can always improve for next time, but Australians should be very proud of what everybody from our defence forces through to our fireys, through to our state emergency services and the coordination and delivery on the ground by the state governments, whether it’s in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia- we lost another gentleman overnight in South Australia yesterday. And so the fires are burning in many places and the coordinated effort is extraordinary.
WRIGHT: Look I think you’ve got a lot of support for that. But Prime Minister, people can't live their normal lives under these bushfire conditions, in the city or the bush. People are scared that this is what our future now looks like. Do you accept that things are different now to when you won the election?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't know what you are referring to, are you talking about the fires?
WRIGHT: You were saying you are now fulfilling your obligations as you said you would when you went into the election, but do you think the zeitgeist, the community feeling has changed with regard to climate change? Given what has happened over the previous weeks in this bushfire emergency?
PRIME MINISTER: The need to take action as we are on climate change, and the science of that is as true as we went to the last election, as it is now. The plans we have are as important now as they were then. We will meet our Kyoto targets and beat them. We will meet our Paris targets and I intend to beat those as well. We have record investments in renewable energies and I look forward to welcoming more of that. Emissions on average under our government are 50 million tonnes lower than under the previous government. Power prices, as the ACCC showed yesterday, are coming down by $65 a year as a direct result of our policies. What I won't do though Monique, is I never panic. I don't think panicking is the way to manage anything and the urge for panic that has come from some, often politically motivated to pursue a particular agenda, is not something I'm ever intimidated by or ever distracted by. I made a promise to the Australian people to take action on climate change and I am, and I will meet those commitments.
WRIGHT: Former fire chiefs wanted to meet with you in April to forwarn you of these very conditions and they say you refused to talk about climate change. Our top medicos are banding together saying this is a health emergency. What is the next step? What is your medium and long term plan now?
PRIME MINISTER: We have our $3 billion climate solutions fund. We will meet all of our commitments that we have made globally, we will continue to see renewable investments come into our country. We will also be taking action on the other great environmental challenges of waste management and reducing plastics in the ocean. We will continue to have this transition in our economy, but what we won’t do Monique, is I am not going to write off the jobs of thousands of Australians by walking away from traditional industries, I’m not going to embrace economy wrecking job destroying reckless targets, which will only - not change the temperature of the globe, but just take people's livelihoods away. I'm going to maintain the course of responsible management, responsibly addressing the changes of climate change and responsibly ensuring that we can grow our economy in what is a very tough climate at the moment.
WRIGHT: Alright, Prime Minister, there’s lots more that we could talk about but we know you have to go, you’ve got a busy day ahead and we really appreciate your time. Thank you so much Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Monique.