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Katie Woolf spoke with Senator Sam McMahon · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Joining us on the line though right now, I believe
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  Speaker 1: live from Canberra. Senator for the COLP for the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 1: Senator Sam McMahon, good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, good morning, Good morning Cody. Good to be talking
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  Speaker 2: to you live as you say, from Chili, Canberra. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: I was going to say, I reckon the weather. There's
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  Speaker 1: probably a bit colder than what it is here at
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  Speaker 1: the moment. Yeah, just a bit now, actually, Senator, before
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  Speaker 1: we get into I wanted you on the show obviously
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  Speaker 1: to talk a little bit about the Howard Springs quarantine
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  Speaker 1: facilities situation and quarantining for our agricultural industry. But before
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  Speaker 1: I get into that, can I just ask you we
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  Speaker 1: have been talking this morning about censure motions following a
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  Speaker 1: situation yesterday in the Northern Territories Parliament were where the
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  Speaker 1: COLP are, the party which you're part of, the leader
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  Speaker 1: Leah Finocciario, attempted to censure the government over the twelve
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  Speaker 1: million dollar Grandstand grant. Now that was refused by the
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  Speaker 1: gun of Government. Now, without sort of going too political,
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  Speaker 1: I want to ask what's the process you know, in
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  Speaker 1: the Federal Parliament when it comes to a CeNSE of motion.
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  Speaker 1: Is it something that you know that is ordinarily accepted
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  Speaker 1: and you know debated.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Katie, a center motion in federal Parliament, I think
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  Speaker 2: is quite different to a cent of motion in the
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  Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory parliament, and a center motion of
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  Speaker 2: the government in federal Parliament would lead to dissolution of
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  Speaker 2: the government rush. Obviously that's not something that happens. Very often.
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  Speaker 2: We have an equivalent type of thing called a notice
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  Speaker 2: of motion or a matter of public importance, where the
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  Speaker 2: opposition can can be critical of the government and then
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  Speaker 2: the matter is debated, and so that you know, a
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  Speaker 2: matter of public importance or a matter of urgency. They
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  Speaker 2: come up almost every day, and yes they are put
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  Speaker 2: by the opposition and they are debated. We never try
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  Speaker 2: to shut down those sort of motions.
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  Speaker 3: Which I think is fair enough at the end of
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  Speaker 3: the day.
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  Speaker 1: You know, quite often I would hope that any politician,
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  Speaker 1: whether you're talking about federal Parliament, whether you're talking about
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  Speaker 1: the territory parliament, you know you're there to represent the
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  Speaker 1: people in your electorates, and very often you don't head
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  Speaker 1: into parliament thinking well, what's my personal opinion today, to
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  Speaker 1: have a crack at the government about it's about actually
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  Speaker 1: raising the voices of the people that you represent. So
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  Speaker 1: the reality of it is I think that, you know,
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  Speaker 1: it should be a situation where issues that are of
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  Speaker 1: importance to territorians are actually spoken about and discussed.
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  Speaker 2: That's absolutely right, and you know that's always allowed in
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  Speaker 2: Federal Parliament. The opposition always has an option to put
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  Speaker 2: something like that and then to have it debated. They
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  Speaker 2: can have their say. We might not agree with them,
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  Speaker 2: so we'll argue with them, but it is discussed, it
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  Speaker 2: is debated. It is open and transparent. So I do
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  Speaker 2: think that that's what this Gunna Labor government is lacking,
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  Speaker 2: is the transparency and the willingness to accept criticism and
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  Speaker 2: to rebut it, you know, in a formal manner.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Senator, I do want to get on to the
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  Speaker 1: topic that we've invited you on the show about this morning,
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  Speaker 1: and that is some of the changes that were announced
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  Speaker 1: over the course of the weekend when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: people coming into the Northern Territory from hotspots and other locations,
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  Speaker 1: and also some of the changes out at Howard Springs
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to quarantining. Now, when the announcement was made,
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  Speaker 1: essentially it was also announced that people would need to
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  Speaker 1: get those exemptions to come in from areas where hotspots
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  Speaker 1: have been declared. You issued a statement yesterday saying that
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  Speaker 1: this is going to have an impact on the agricultural industry.
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  Speaker 2: Why is that, Well, well, look, I understand that you know,
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  Speaker 2: we've had a lot of people flooding in from hotspots,
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  Speaker 2: and that Howard Springs is catering to an increased number
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  Speaker 2: of domestic quarantining people. I get that if Howard Springs
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  Speaker 2: is full, we have another perfectly suitable facility in Bladen Village,
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  Speaker 2: which I've been going on about so close to twelve
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  Speaker 2: months now, so we can take in extra people. Look,
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  Speaker 2: agricultural workers do qualify for an exemption, So if you
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  Speaker 2: are bringing someone in as a worker for agriculture, they
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  Speaker 2: are able to apply for an exemption. So that's a
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  Speaker 2: good thing. They're at least able to apply. The category
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  Speaker 2: that I'm most worried about actually is other than agricultural
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  Speaker 2: or what the government deems essential workers. And my point
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  Speaker 2: is that for the Northern Territory, every single worker is essential.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we've had the tourism and hospitality industries crying
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  Speaker 2: out for workers for ages now there's other industries right
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  Speaker 2: across the territory, my own, the veterinary industry crying out
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  Speaker 2: for and we're often forced to bring people in from
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  Speaker 2: interstate and now if they're from a hotspot area, they
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  Speaker 2: don't have the option of quarantining in Howard Springs. It's
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  Speaker 2: just not an option. It's off the table. So that's
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  Speaker 2: going to have a really significant impact for territory businesses
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  Speaker 2: and territory employers. So what do you.
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  Speaker 3: Think needs to happen here?
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  Speaker 1: Because I had wondered whether the Chief Minister had had
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  Speaker 1: any discussions with the Prime Minister or the Federal Health
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  Speaker 1: Minister about this before making the change.
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  Speaker 3: You know, what do you reckon needs to happen here?
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  Speaker 1: And have any of those discussions taken place as far
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  Speaker 1: as you know, As.
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  Speaker 2: Far as I know, those discussions haven't taken place. This
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  Speaker 2: was just done suddenly. And as I said, I get
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  Speaker 2: the need to have facilities to accept the people that
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  Speaker 2: are coming in for quarantine. Understand that, But I would
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  Speaker 2: just like Michael Gunner to rethink and to just consider
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  Speaker 2: every worker as essential. Anyone wanting to work in the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory should be considered essential and should be given
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  Speaker 2: the opportunity to quarantine and then to go and work.
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  Speaker 2: And if they're worried about people using you know, the
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  Speaker 2: territory as a transit hub. You know, surely if someone's
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  Speaker 2: got a bona fide offer of work from a territory employer,
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  Speaker 2: even if they might be only needed for six weeks,
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  Speaker 2: if that employer is prepared to have them come up
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  Speaker 2: and go into quarantine and pay for that, then I
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  Speaker 2: really would like Michael Gunner to reconsider that position.
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  Speaker 1: Sam, What do you think though of you know, the
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  Speaker 1: comments that he'd made over the weekend that there are
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  Speaker 1: some who are coming in, they're using Howard Springs for
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  Speaker 1: two weeks and then there let's say going across to
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  Speaker 1: Western Australia to work. I mean, should they be allowed
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  Speaker 1: to still stay out there at Howard Springs.
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, if we're if we're getting towards capacity, or
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  Speaker 2: there's a risk of us getting towards capacity, and if
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  Speaker 2: people are doing that, then then no. But if people,
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  Speaker 2: you know, if people are wanting to come to the
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  Speaker 2: NT for genuine reasons and we can fit them in,
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  Speaker 2: I would consider all workers as essential and then consider
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  Speaker 2: other categories of people such as maybe people wanting to
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  Speaker 2: come for tourism. People might want to come up, do
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  Speaker 2: their two weeks quarantine then spend three months traveling in
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  Speaker 2: the territory. That would be fantastic for our economy. So
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  Speaker 2: I just really would like some more consideration given to
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  Speaker 2: this as to you know, the hard No, you can't come.
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  Speaker 2: Just give it a little bit more consideration. Yeah, if
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  Speaker 2: they're just using us as a transit hub, well okay,
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  Speaker 2: and if we're at capacity, then we will need to
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  Speaker 2: turn those people away, you know, for goodness sake. Think
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  Speaker 2: about territory employers, territory businesses, the territory economy. You know,
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  Speaker 2: workers are essential at the moment.
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  Speaker 3: Now, Senator, I do want to ask.
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  Speaker 1: According to a report in The Australian Today, the National
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  Speaker 1: Senate Team is pushing to repeal Australia's ban on nuclear power,
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  Speaker 1: saying the option must be considered in the nation's future
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  Speaker 1: energy mix. The coalition is facing renewed pressure to boost
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  Speaker 1: Australia's twenty thirty emissions reduction target in the wake of
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  Speaker 1: the latest report by the UN's Climate Change Authority, which
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  Speaker 1: predicted that temperature rise of one point five degrees on
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  Speaker 1: pre industrial levels as soon as the mid well as
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  Speaker 1: soon as the mid twenty thirties. Now, what is the
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  Speaker 1: what are you proposing here? Because I know that it
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  Speaker 1: is actually you who's proposing amending the Environment Protection and
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  Speaker 1: Biodiversity Conservation Act.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, correct, Katy. Look, consideration of using nuclear energy is
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  Speaker 2: something that I've been passionate about for a very long time,
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  Speaker 2: and I even spoke about it in my maiden speech. Now,
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  Speaker 2: the proposed governments to the ETBC Act have given me
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  Speaker 2: an opportunity to advance that proposal even further, and I
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  Speaker 2: am moving amendments to that Act that would remove the
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  Speaker 2: section that prohibits the consideration of nuclear power. So yes,
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  Speaker 2: I'm moving amendments to that Act. I have got them
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  Speaker 2: ready to go. I have got the support of the
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  Speaker 2: National Senate team. They're very, very supportive of this. I've
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  Speaker 2: got a support from a lot of other colleagues. I
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  Speaker 2: spoke about this yesterday and I had a lot of colleagues,
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  Speaker 2: both liberal, National and labor come up to me and say.
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  Speaker 1: Good on you.
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  Speaker 2: We fully support what you're doing. This is a good move,
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  Speaker 2: This is something that we need to do. So, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: my premise is that if we want to get if
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  Speaker 2: we're serious about getting to net zero without damaging our
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  Speaker 2: economy and our way of life, then is the way
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  Speaker 2: to do it?
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  Speaker 3: Senator?
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  Speaker 2: Provides reliable, dispatchable power and almost no emission.
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  Speaker 1: What would you say though, to territorials listening right now
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  Speaker 1: who are still concerned about nuclear power.
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  Speaker 2: Look, there's been a lot of advances in recent years
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  Speaker 2: in the technology involved. Small modular reactors now are incredibly safe.
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  Speaker 2: They're nothing like the old Chernobyl or even Fukushima. They're small,
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  Speaker 2: they occupy as little as eighteen hectares of land, They're
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  Speaker 2: incredibly safe, They've got all sorts of fail safe built in.
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  Speaker 2: They don't rely on an external power source, they don't
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  Speaker 2: rely on large amounts of water, so we're talking about
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  Speaker 2: a very different beast. And they also produce very little
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  Speaker 2: in the way of waste. So I'm happy to brief
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  Speaker 2: anybody that would like to know about them. It really
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  Speaker 2: is a completely different thing to the older style reactors
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  Speaker 2: that we've seen.
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  Speaker 1: And Senator, I mean, would we see then, potentially, you know,
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  Speaker 1: nuclear power plants here in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: I would love to see nuclear power plants in the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory. I mean one of these small modular reactors
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  Speaker 2: produces enough power to power seven hundred and fifty thousand homes.
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  Speaker 2: So I mean we could be backing up our intermittent generators.
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  Speaker 2: Our solar and wind. Nuclear provides perfect backup for those technologies.
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  Speaker 2: We could be exporting power and we could also use
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  Speaker 2: that power to drive secondary industries from it, you know,
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  Speaker 2: petrochemical industries, manufacturing industries, things that we don't currently have.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Senator Sam McMahon, we are going to have to
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  Speaker 1: leave it there. Thank you very much for your time
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  Speaker 1: this morning. Always appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: No worries, Thanks very much, thank you.
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  Speaker 1: That is the Senator for the Northern Territory, the COLP
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  Speaker 1: Senator for the Northern Territory. There, doctor Sam McMahon