SUBJECT: Government’s electric vehicle strategy; Labor’s cheaper electric vehicles policy; Labor’s urban rivers policy; climate change; lack of modelling from Morrison Government; IBAC; Michael Sukkar.
 
MICHAEL ROWLAND, HOST: Let’s go to Federal politics now. And you could be fooled for thinking there is a Federal election campaign underway. The Government has unveiled a new electric vehicle strategy.
 
LISA MILLAR, HOST: If elected, Labor is pledging to allocate $200 million to help fix Australia's urban waterways and catchments. Federal Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, joins us from Sydney now. Good morning. Welcome to News Breakfast.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. Thanks for having me on.
 
MILLAR: Do you think we became attached to our rivers and creeks and outdoor areas during COVID?
 
ALBANESE: We certainly have. One of the things that happened was people gathered in parks and it was the only way people were allowed to, in some areas, gather with friends and family. These parks behind me in Marrickville were pretty full. People socially distancing but enjoying each other’s company. Our urban waterways are so important for the quality of our life. More people who live in cities and higher density or medium density housing need parks like this around our waterways right around our cities to engage in that recreational activity, as well as we need to address the dreadful rates of problems with our flora and fauna. So many of our species are threatened and they're threatened around our urban cities.
 
MILLAR: Can we talk about quality of life, and that goes to the use of electric cars? The Federal Government is announcing that it plans to install 50,000 charging stations to try and get an extra 1.7 million electric cars onto the roads. Is that going to be enough?
 
ALBANESE: Another day, another pamphlet from this Government. A Government that, during the last election campaign, were saying electric vehicles would end the weekend. A Government that had a violent opposition to the use of electric vehicles. And now we would have it believe they have converted, the same Government whose fuel security strategy consisted of having fuel storage in the Gulf of Mexico. The same Government that has been in denial. And what's occurred here, just a couple of weeks after they released their climate pamphlet, is they are once again not showing the leadership that's required. Scott Morrison is following. The truth is that all of the auto manufacturers are phasing out internal combustion engines. There is a shift around the world to electric vehicles. Australia's uptake last year was under two per cent. In Norway it was 70 per cent. In the UK it was 15 per cent and rising. We are falling way behind. And this is once again a Government that was in denial about change, rather than shaping change in the interests of people.
 
MILLAR: Can Australians make the transition to electric cars without subsidies and tax incentives?
 
ALBANESE: What we would do is to eliminate the taxes, both in terms of the excise but also fringe benefits tax to make sure that companies could take up electric vehicles. That is the way a whole lot of new cars enter the system is through the take up by corporates, by local governments, state governments and Federal Government and then you have the on sale of those cars. This Government is doing nothing about reducing the cost of electric vehicles. And that is a policy that we announced a year ago.
 
MILLAR: Anthony Albanese, on climate, you said once Glasgow was done, and granted there is a few days left of the conference, after Glasgow, we would hear from Labor about the 2030 targets. This morning in the paper, members of your own Party are pushing you to be more ambitious when it comes to 2030. We are almost heading into Christmas. The election campaign feels like it is already underway already. When are you going to reveal Labor's policy?
 
ALBANESE: Hold the front page, Scott Morrison visits electorate and talks to voter. It is extraordinary some of the coverage that is going on there. Glasgow is still going, and we still haven't seen the Government's modelling. They are releasing another pamphlet today, but we still haven’t received the modelling.
 
MILLAR: So, you are waiting for the Government's modelling before you reveal your policy?
 
ALBANESE: It is reasonable that we see the Government's modelling about its plan. And it is also reasonable that we wait to find out what Glasgow has. They have just begun week two of the Glasgow Conference. One of the things that occurred at Glasgow with regard to 2030 was Australia was one of the few countries, along with Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Brazil, that didn't increase its 2030 target. And perhaps coming out of that conference, the UN certainly is considering a decision saying that those countries that haven't upgraded their 2030 target need to do so in 2022.
 
MILLAR: Will we have your policy by the end of the year?
 
ALBANESE: We will have the policy when we release it. This is a Government that has been there for nine years and still hasn't released its modelling. It's just extraordinary that they have held back. Our policy on climate change will always be better than that of the Government. We take climate change seriously. We said we wouldn't have gone to a conference without increasing our commitment for 2030, which is what just about every other country in the world did. Australia, once again, Scott Morrison giving an empty speech to an empty room. And when it comes to climate he said, ‘I don't hold a hose, mate’. Once again, Scott Morrison was saying he doesn't hold a hose when it comes to climate strategy. And on electric vehicles, there is nothing to decrease the cost of electric vehicles. There is nothing to increase the uptake substantially. This is, once again, a pamphlet in search of a policy.
 
MILLAR: The IBAC hearing in Victoria is hearing that Dan Andrews was aware of branch-stacking and turned a blind eye to it. It is directly involving your colleague, the Deputy Leader, Richard Marles, being a beneficiary of branch-stacking. Are you comfortable with what you're hearing out of the IBAC?
 
ALBANESE: Newsflash, Lisa. The big Federal story out of issues in Victoria is that of Michael Sukkar who remains a minister in the Morrison Government.
 
MILLAR: We have been putting those questions to the Morrison Government members. I am asking you about your Party and Richard Marles.
 
ALBANESE: You are asking me about a state issue. Richard Marles has nothing to answer for. There is no suggestion that he's done anything wrong. There is major suggestion that Michael Sukkar has done a lot wrong. He is a minister of the Crown in the Federal Government and Scott Morrison is saying, ‘Nothing to see here’, even though it involves Kevin Andrews, his colleague who has lost pre-selection for the seat. This is a scandal in which the Federal Government is saying, ‘Nothing to see here’. And it's a reminder that we need a strong National Anti-Corruption Commission. Where people in the Labor Party have done the wrong thing, they should bear the consequences of that. You have state anti-corruption commissions in New South Wales having hearings about Gladys Berejiklian and her Government and what went on there. You have these hearings in Victoria. Nationally, we have an approach of, ‘Nothing to see here’, in spite of the fact you have Michael Sukkar's activities, sports rorts, commuter car park rorts and a massive abuse of taxpayer fund by a Federal Government that is addicted to using taxpayer funds as if they are funds of the Liberal and National Party.
 
MILLAR: We will continue taking that up with the Morrison Government. We will have to leave it there. Thank you for your time. We will continue to take that up with the Morrison Government.
 
ALBANESE: Good. I hope you get an answer. Because at the moment, you have just got stonewalling and Michael Sukkar, this scandal has been around now for a long period of time with no penalty whatsoever against someone who continues to sit in the Morrison ministry.
 
MILLAR: Thanks, Anthony Albanese.
 
ALBANESE: Thank you.
 
MILLAR: We did ask Mr Morrison to come on the program this morning. We asked Angus Taylor to come on to talk about electric vehicles. And Josh Frydenberg. They all turned us down. We will continue asking.
 
ENDS