Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Member for Solomon Luke Gosling says the Federal Government is conducting a review into the leasing of Darwin Port

Transcript

Member for Solomon Luke Gosling says the Federal Government is conducting a review into the leasing of Darwin Port · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio is a member for
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  Speaker 1: Solomon Luke Goslin.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Luke, Morning Katie Luke.
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  Speaker 1: There is so much happening around the place, but I
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  Speaker 1: do know that the ABC is indeed reporting online a
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  Speaker 1: report by Jano Gibson that a national security review of
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  Speaker 1: a Chinese of the Chinese owned company's lease of Port Darwin,
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  Speaker 1: Lambridge's lease of Port Darwin is going to remain a
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  Speaker 1: secret after the Defense Department refused a freedom of information
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  Speaker 1: request for its findings. Now, plenty of us obviously have
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  Speaker 1: spoken about this on numerous occasions. You know, you and
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  Speaker 1: I have spoken about this on numerous occasions. But in
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  Speaker 1: the leading to the election it became an issue again,
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  Speaker 1: I guess you'd say, as our relationship with China became
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  Speaker 1: more strained, and you know, there was a lot of
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  Speaker 1: questions being asked on a real national scale as to
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  Speaker 1: whether there should be a review into that lease in
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  Speaker 1: this instance, Luke, do you think it's fair enough that
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  Speaker 1: this documentation or that this review hasn't been made public
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  Speaker 1: or do you think.
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  Speaker 2: That it needs to be.
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  Speaker 3: Freedom information requests maybe refused from time to time on
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  Speaker 3: national security grounds, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's
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  Speaker 3: what's happened in this instance. But it wasn't as if
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  Speaker 3: we've only raised this and the lead up to the election.
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  Speaker 3: We've been consistent since twenty fifteen when the COLP worked
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  Speaker 3: with the federal coalition government at the time, Scott Morrison
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  Speaker 3: was a Treasurer in charge of foreign investment and it
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  Speaker 3: was allowed to go through the current Prime Minister. Elbow
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  Speaker 3: was the Infrastructure Minister at the time, and myself and
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  Speaker 3: he and many others from our side were very clear
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  Speaker 3: in our opposition to the leasing of our northern strategic port.
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  Speaker 3: So that's been consistent and what the PM said when
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  Speaker 3: he was here just after the election is that we're
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  Speaker 3: going to conduct our own review and he will make
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  Speaker 3: that public in due course. But obviously the timing of
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  Speaker 3: that is something that government rightly will keep keep you
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  Speaker 3: under wraps. It's going to be thorough though, and it's
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  Speaker 3: going to answer the questions that so many Australians have
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  Speaker 3: had all this time, i e. How is this allowed
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  Speaker 3: to happen? I think the language that the Prime Minister
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  Speaker 3: uses is what were the circumstances around this leasing of
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  Speaker 3: our northern strategic port to a company so closely aligned
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  Speaker 3: to the CCP and we'll get those answers in this review,
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  Speaker 3: and as the Prime Minister said, we'll make that public.
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  Speaker 1: And so there is a review going to happen from
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  Speaker 1: it's underway as we speak. So any idea how long
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  Speaker 1: that's going to take.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's an issue I guess with the with the
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  Speaker 3: review where kind of reviewing the information that's already already
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  Speaker 3: come to light, the stuff that's public and the stuff
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  Speaker 3: that's not. And obviously anti government is cooperating in that
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  Speaker 3: process because it is, after all, a contract that was
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  Speaker 3: established by the anti government of the day. So that
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  Speaker 3: will take some time. But yeah, I'm not in a
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  Speaker 3: position to say that it'll be by a certain month
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  Speaker 3: next year or something like that. But it's going to
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  Speaker 3: be thorough and we're working through.
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  Speaker 1: It all right, and it is going to be made public.
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  Speaker 1: So people have got a good understanding as to, you know,
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  Speaker 1: as to whether the leasing of our port is okay,
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  Speaker 1: whether it's you know, whether it's going to cause us
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  Speaker 1: any issues down the.
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  Speaker 3: Track, yeah, and whether whether there was any improprietary back
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  Speaker 3: in twenty fifteen. And you know, people who have been
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  Speaker 3: around Darwin for a while. You know, know that there'd
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  Speaker 3: probably some people that are a bit nervous about the
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  Speaker 3: outcomes of this review and this investigation into the circumstances
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  Speaker 3: at the time, but Australians deserve to know bit more
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  Speaker 3: than that. Australians need to know that there's been a
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  Speaker 3: proper process by which a decision was made about the
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  Speaker 3: ongoing status of that lease over our port and Looke.
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  Speaker 1: I know again, in the leading to the federal election,
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  Speaker 1: there was discussion from the Coalition as well about further
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  Speaker 1: investments being made into the Northern Territory. They weren't saying
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  Speaker 1: that they were going to build a new port, but
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  Speaker 1: there was going to be a further investment. You know
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  Speaker 1: where I suppose where is all of that now now
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  Speaker 1: that Labor is obviously in charge when you talk about
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  Speaker 1: the port and when you talk about it being leased
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  Speaker 1: to a Chinese owned company in terms of the use
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  Speaker 1: by defense or the concerns by defense potentially Catie.
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  Speaker 3: For me and for so many others, it's always been
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  Speaker 3: purely the northern strategic port of Darwin should be in
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  Speaker 3: Australian hands or those of our strategic partners. And that's
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  Speaker 3: a no brainer. Most people where if I go in
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  Speaker 3: Australia and I'd say that I'm the MP from Darwen,
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  Speaker 3: people say, well, mate, what the bloody hell happened with
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  Speaker 3: that port? And it's a good question, and it's a
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  Speaker 3: question that Australians deserve answers to just to go to
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  Speaker 3: that port infrastructure. I think the Deputy Prime Minister at
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  Speaker 3: the time, Barnaby Joyce, actually referred to it as a
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  Speaker 3: second port or a replacement port. But they hadn't engaged
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  Speaker 3: at all and consulted at all with Defense, so I
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  Speaker 3: was really curious. But what we have said is that
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  Speaker 3: we're committed to one point five billion dollars of investment
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  Speaker 3: in our port area. What we need to do through
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  Speaker 3: this process now is work out what is the best
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  Speaker 3: what is the best use of those funds to enable
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  Speaker 3: further economic growth in Darwin for the good in the nation,
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  Speaker 3: but also with our new naval and our allied uses
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  Speaker 3: and training in the area, what is the best infrastructure
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  Speaker 3: to support not only industry but the defense as well.
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  Speaker 1: And so just going back to our current port, you know,
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  Speaker 1: if the review that he's undertaken by Labor shows that
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  Speaker 1: you know that there are no concerns that there's nothing
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  Speaker 1: to see here. You know, it is okay for it
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  Speaker 1: to be leased by land Bridge, you know, is it
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  Speaker 1: something that then we will just sort of need to
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  Speaker 1: move on from or do you think that the reality
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  Speaker 1: is that we should actually have that port in Australian hands.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the port never should have been leased, that's one thing.
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  Speaker 3: And the federal government, so I'm proud to be a
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  Speaker 3: part of, will follow the advice of that review, those
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  Speaker 3: recommendations and take the appropriate action. We're not sure at
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  Speaker 3: this point, obviously of the review the full depth because
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  Speaker 3: we haven't come to government for that long. We know
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  Speaker 3: that Defense has withheld some information on national security grounds
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  Speaker 3: from the FOIS. But yeah, I'll congratulate Jano Gibson. He's
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  Speaker 3: doing a great job in investigating this because you know, he,
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  Speaker 3: like many others, we're scratching their heads back in twenty
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  Speaker 3: fifteen when we lost our northern port for a century
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  Speaker 3: or a year short of a century. Now it's already
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  Speaker 3: been what seven years, But we've seen how quickly strategic
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  Speaker 3: circumstances can change. That is why it was such a
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  Speaker 3: stupid thing to do. And I look forward to being
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  Speaker 3: part of a government that rectifies the situation.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and in rectifying the situation, though, do you reckon
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  Speaker 1: that it could potentially harm our relationship further with China.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it's just something that needs to be managed in
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  Speaker 3: a mature way, I mean, in a diplomatic way. As
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  Speaker 3: I've said to you a number of times over the
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  Speaker 3: past years, Katie, it is uncontroversial to say that such
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  Speaker 3: critical infrastructure in the north of Australia, a massive defense hub,
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  Speaker 3: should be in Australian hands and not in foreign hands.
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  Speaker 3: That is an uncontroversial thing to say. And I know
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  Speaker 3: for sure that we can't go and by port facilities
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  Speaker 3: in China because they want to keep their port facilities
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  Speaker 3: critical infrastructure in their own hands, as most other countries
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  Speaker 3: in the world would. And people will often say, or
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  Speaker 3: what about the port of Melbourne or other ports? Well,
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  Speaker 3: people have views on that, but Darwin's different. Darwin's critical,
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  Speaker 3: Darwin's our northern port. It's got significant strategic military role
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  Speaker 3: that should be in our hands. And I look forward
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  Speaker 3: to seeing the recommendations out of the review in due course.
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  Speaker 2: I just can't give you a date about when. No,
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  Speaker 2: that's all right, when it will come out.
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  Speaker 1: We'll keep on to it. Luke, no doubt about that. Hey,
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  Speaker 1: one thing I want to ask you about really quickly.
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  Speaker 1: I know that you've been pushing for there to be
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  Speaker 1: another look into our airfares in regional Australia. It's something
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  Speaker 1: that we're all pretty concerned about. I mean even last week.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you've got a situation where flights are being
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  Speaker 1: canceled to here, there and everywhere, and then it takes
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  Speaker 1: days to be able to get back on to another flight.
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  Speaker 1: We all get that that sort of part of living
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  Speaker 1: in a location that is a little further away than
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  Speaker 1: some of the other capital cities. But how far along
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  Speaker 1: is this and are we any closer to seeing you know,
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  Speaker 1: ourselves being treated a bit more fairly I suppose when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to the airline the cost of airfees.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I've been speaking to Quantison Jetstar since we last
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  Speaker 3: spoke Caddy, and I'll share in relation to that Singapore
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  Speaker 3: leg as well, which a lot of people are devastated
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  Speaker 3: about because that was sort of their affordable way to
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  Speaker 3: get to Singapore and then bounce from there to wherever
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  Speaker 3: they needed to get to. Keeping in mind a lot
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  Speaker 3: of people haven't seen family members because of COVID for
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  Speaker 3: a long long time, so that's been a bit of
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  Speaker 3: a kick in the gust for us. But I'll share
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  Speaker 3: that response from Countison Jetstar on my Facebook today for
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  Speaker 3: those that are interested. I'm still looking at what we
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  Speaker 3: might be able to do with that federal committee. But
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  Speaker 3: it's affecting a lot of us. If some colleagues of
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  Speaker 3: mine where to fly down to Alice Springs yesterday, the
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  Speaker 3: flight was canceled or sorry it we first was put
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  Speaker 3: back three hours and then it was canceled to go
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  Speaker 3: on the flight today, and you're thinking, did you always
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  Speaker 3: know that.
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  Speaker 2: It was going to be canceled? Did you just yeah?
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  Speaker 3: And then they can't find a hotel, right, so but
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  Speaker 3: they end up finding someone's house at and parmesans So
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  Speaker 3: good for those people making a dollar, but made of
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  Speaker 3: mine was going to fly up from the Gold Coast
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  Speaker 3: to see midnight oil and the flights were over a grand.
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  Speaker 3: So it's affecting us, I think as it moves into
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  Speaker 3: the wet season as well. And I am I've got
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  Speaker 3: to put it on the record, Caddie. I'm not someone
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  Speaker 3: who's rushing for the wet season. It will come into course.
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  Speaker 3: Can we enjoy this cool weather for another week or so,
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  Speaker 3: but I did feel for the asthmatics this morning, so
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  Speaker 3: reach out to asthmaar and because it's pretty putrid in
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  Speaker 3: the air.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, look before I'll let you go though, So what
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  Speaker 1: of Jetstar and Quantus?
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  Speaker 3: Said, yeah, you know, there's this bit of a word salad,
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  Speaker 3: but I'll put it up on my face.
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  Speaker 2: Pull it up now if you've got time online.
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  Speaker 1: So I mean, are they sort of I'm assuming that
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  Speaker 1: there's not a lot of movement from them, like they're
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  Speaker 1: not really coming to the party and saying, look, we're
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  Speaker 1: prepared to put on additional flights, or we're prepared to
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  Speaker 1: sort of make those flights any cheaper, because it does
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  Speaker 1: you know, it's seems like they are more prepared at
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  Speaker 1: this point in time to keep those flights and to
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  Speaker 1: keep that sort of frequency higher in our major capital
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  Speaker 1: cities because that's where they're obviously making money. So I
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  Speaker 1: can only assume that you know that that's sort of
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  Speaker 1: part of it. Now. Luke is just trying to find
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  Speaker 1: that response from Jetstar and Quantus. We'll see whether we're
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: able to get it.
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  Speaker 3: Otherwise people can Yeah, they're just going through the reasons
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  Speaker 3: for the tempest are changes in how often those flights
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  Speaker 3: are going due to demand.
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  Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of demand people keen to
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  Speaker 2: get over to Bali.
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  Speaker 1: But so they're saying that there's not a high enough demand.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: We just you know, they said they're going to increase
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: services during school holadays, but otherwise I think workforce is
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  Speaker 3: hitting them the same way as hitting so many others.
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  Speaker 3: They're apologizing the customers for the inconvenience and frustrations of
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  Speaker 3: canceled flights, but also talking about the suspension of the
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  Speaker 3: day unto Singapore services and referencing the commercial viability of
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  Speaker 3: the route. But as if it's any guide from the
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  Speaker 3: people who have rang me that really concerned, then there's
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  Speaker 3: a lot of demand there. But I think you've hit
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  Speaker 3: the nail on the head cadi in which is why
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: we need to continue to look at ways to apply
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  Speaker 3: pressure in Canberra is because the more profitable roots they
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: are just raking it in and with their workforce shortages.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: So the question is, you know, NT's obviously in Quantus's name,
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  Speaker 3: what responsibility they do, particularly when they got about two
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: billion of taxpayers money to stay viable during COVID, What
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: responsibility do they have? Is to say, well, yes, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane,
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  Speaker 3: they're the profitable roots and they're raking it in on
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: those roots. But what responsibility they have to service the
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  Speaker 3: rest of the country. And that'ssolutely and that is absolutely
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  Speaker 3: our point. And will I need to keep punching down
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: in Canberra.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Luke Gosling, we will leave it there. We'll catch
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: up with you again very soon, no doubt. When does
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: Parliament sit in Canberra again?
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  Speaker 3: Just under two weeks so Monday and two weeks time,
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  Speaker 3: and so we can have a chat from there and
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: give you an update on where we've got to with
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: the committee and other things.
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  Speaker 1: Perfect, that'd be great. Thank you very much, Luke. Good
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: to catch up with you.