E&OE….
Topics: Renewable Energy Target, Pope’s encyclical
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Greg Hunt is the Minister for the Environment and I welcome him to RN Drive now. Thanks for joining us.
GREG HUNT:
It's a pleasure.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Why a wind farm commissioner?
GREG HUNT:
Well what we have here is something which is part of a package of three big things that should go through the Senate I am hopeful next week. One is the Renewable Energy Target, which was always intended at 20 per cent will become 23.5 per cent. Secondly, there should be a support for large-scale solar, which I think many Australians, if not all- if not the vast majority, would strongly support.
And the third is to allow a community complaints mechanism for those who have concerns about what can be a divisive issue in communities, and that's the impact of noise or compliance in relation to wind farms in their areas. People will have differing views, but many people have a sense of deep anxiety, and they have a right to complain.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Given wind farms are regulated by the States, what power will the commissioner have?
GREG HUNT:
Well look this is a monitoring and complaints mechanism. We'll work on the nature of the role with both the industry and with the parliamentary representatives over the coming months. But it's intended to be first and foremost a mechanism to consider the impacts, to give people an avenue of complaint, and frankly that really hasn't existed to date.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
On RN…
GREG HUNT:
And it is part of a democratic process and I think that's an important thing.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
On RN Drive, my guest is the Minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt. What do you think of this idea, the Government suggesting that we have a wind farm commissioner?
The number here 0418226576. Is it a good idea? Do we need one? I'm always interested in receiving your texts. 0418226576. Have you assessed how much the office would cost?
GREG HUNT:
Well it's not going to come at any cost to the budget. It will be met as a non-statutory position from within existing resources.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Okay, so something would need to be cut for you to pay for it. You can't sort of get money from nowhere.
GREG HUNT:
Oh no, I think we can find it, we can do it within the budget of the existing portfolio. I don't think that's difficult. We have put in place …
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Wouldn't you have to stop spending money somewhere else Greg Hunt? I mean, I'm just- like, a logical maths 101 isn't it?
GREG HUNT:
Look, we put in place a year ago, and I remember a number of people were very sceptical, a Threatened Species Commissioner. That commissioner, Gregory Andrews, has been done within existing resources. You can achieve many things within a $2.4 billion departmental and portfolio budget without having to make major changes. You can do things more efficiently.
And the Threatened Species Commissioner, after a year, a non-statutory position, is being seen by numerous people as an incredibly effective example of somebody working within the bureaucracy but with an independent role where they're able to galvanise community, to work with community, get projects going right around the country. And this is a slightly different role, but it's the same structure.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
The Shadow Environment Minister, Mark Butler, says this is designed to undermine the renewable industry. You can understand it looks that way.
GREG HUNT:
No, no. Look at exactly the same time what we're doing is getting agreement on a target which will be 23.5 per cent not 20 per cent. I'm hopeful that this will be through the Senate early next week, and I'm actually very confident that it will be through the Senate next week. We're also giving support for large-scale solar, which I think again is something that the vast majority of Australians support.
And all we're doing here is I think the decent thing, and that is when you talk with folks who are deeply affected, who have great anxiety – and I'm not going to try to draw a conclusion on the science for the medical conditions behind it – you do see that they are desperate for an outlet, are desperate for an avenue to make their complaint. And I think that that's a reasonable and fair thing to do, to give those that feel most disenfranchised and disempowered the opportunity to have that complaint heard.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
There have been more complaints about coal seam gas, why don't you set up a coal seam gas commissioner? Why don't you set up commissioners for coal mining? I mean these …
GREG HUNT:
Well this is one of the fictions that's going around today. I have in front of me the details for the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development. This is a $100 million equivalent of what's being set up, but on multiple times the scale with multiple times the people, covering multiple times the issue. So that mechanism already exists. And it was set up by the previous government …
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
On coal seam gas- on goal seam gas is your argument?
GREG HUNT:
And coal mining.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
So you're saying that that job is already being done?
GREG HUNT:
Yes.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
The former disability commissioner Graeme Innes says the plans to appoint a national wind farm commissioner are very hurtful – these are his words – and very damaging, when there is no full-time disability commissioner. It's a fair point isn't it?
GREG HUNT:
No it's not. I respect his views, but this is a non-statutory position, and I think what's being talked about there is two statutory positions are being carried out by one commissioner – so there's a commissioner for disability and the commissioner also shares another hat. And so that's simply one person with two roles through the Human Rights Commission. I think that that is a job which from my understanding is being carried out extremely well at present.
So you do have a disability commissioner, it's a position that is shared with another under the Human Rights Commission framework. And here what we're doing is creating a non-statutory position, so not with a long complex office, or tail, or bureaucracy, but which will allow people who in many cases have, if you meet them, deep and profound anxiety. And they have been calling for and looking for an avenue…
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Did you think it was a good idea, or is it just something that you're trying to appease the crossbench? Is it an idea that you thought was a good idea from the beginning?
GREG HUNT:
I remember when I first saw it, I said hey, that's a very important idea. And that was my response because- you may not get to people because you might not be dealing with some of the rural communities where there are…
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
No, I've talked to people who have problems with them…
GREG HUNT:
… and this sense of foreboding, and anxiety, and trouble, and emotion is real and profound. I can't go to the course, that's the job of the National Health and Medical Research Council, but I can say that in a democracy, to have one person appointed to give them a hearing and to give them a voice is not an unreasonable thing.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Greg Hunt, the timing is interesting. Pope Francis has called for decisive action on climate change, and the Archbishops in Australia have backed that call. Is the Government's strategy going to shift in response to this?
GREG HUNT:
Look I welcome the Pope's intervention. I think it is important that you have the leaders of one of the world's great faiths engaging in environmental concerns. And the encyclical wasn't just about climate change, it was about the problems associated with poverty and consumerism, it was about the problems in particular of rubbish, and health, and pollution, especially in some of the mega capitals and the mega cities in the developing world.
So, it was a broader call about the link between environment and health. We want action on climate change, and if this helps bring some countries to the forward, I think that's only a good thing.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
I've got a good text message that I need to read to you before I let you go, it's very kind of you to join me so late on a Friday – I know most people, most people are kicking back right now but it's very kind of you Greg Hunt. But I will ask you – what about a commissioner for the Great Barrier Reef? There are a lot of complaints about the treatment of the Great Barrier Reef as well.
GREG HUNT:
Well we actually have an entire bureaucracy, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which receives concerns, and it deals with complaints about illegal fishing, it deals with any damage to the Reef. It has strong statutory powers, it has a very significant budget and all up we're putting just over $2 billion into the Reef over the next 10 years.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Thank you so much for joining me, I appreciate it.
GREG HUNT:
Thanks Patricia.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
And that's the Minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt.
(ENDS)