Interview with Sally Sara, ABC Radio National Breakfast

Minister, welcome back to MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: G'day Sally. Good to be with you. SALLY SARA: Before we get to your portfolio, as you've heard, the President has extended this deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

What's the Federal Government's response to this development? MURRAY WATT: Well, it's obviously a matter for President Trump to determine what he says and what he does. But from Australia's perspective, we support anything that is going to get the Strait of Hormuz open as quickly as possible and restore some of the interrupted fuel chains- supply chains that we're seeing impact on Australians right now.

We've said consistently that the longer this dispute goes on and the longer the Strait of Hormuz is closed, that's going to continue to have impacts on the Australian economy and Australian families. So we've got a very strong interest in seeing this resolved as quickly as possible. SALLY SARA: We've heard US President Donald Trump make specific reference also of Australia.

Overnight, he was responding to a question about the level of support for the war from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He had this to say… DONALD TRUMP: I think he's a lovely man. I do.

I think he's a lovely man. But I think he did something that was shocking. He didn't want to help us.

Australia too. Australia was not great. I was a little surprised by Australia. [End of excerpt] SALLY SARA: What are your thoughts on the President again singling out Australia as one of the nations facing criticism for its contribution?

MURRAY WATT: Well, as we've said many times, we're not going to give a running commentary on the various statements of President Trump. What we're going to do is focus on what's in Australia's national interest. It's been very widely reported that we've delivered the support that we've been asked for, which is defensive support for the UAE.

I heard you say that you'll have the Ambassador from the UAE on the program shortly and he'll be able to tell you more about the support that we're providing to defend the UAE from incoming attacks from Iran. That's the request that we've received, that's the request that we have agreed to. And I'm not aware of any further request having been made of Australia.

SALLY SARA: Let’s talk about fuel – it's dominating the headlines at the moment. The Australian Local Government Association says fuel supply constraints and rising costs are putting councils under increasing pressure, with implications for essential services like waste and recycling collection and water and sewerage. Is the Federal Government considering any specific measures to address the concerns of local government?

MURRAY WATT: Look, I think what's becoming clear is that, as I say, the longer this dispute goes on, the impact that it's having across a range of groups and a range of sectors of the economy continue to grow. And again, that's why we are so keen to see a resolution of the problem at its source. In the meantime, of course, we are going to keep working with a range of business groups, sectors of the economy, representatives from different parts of the community to understand what impacts are being felt and then work with states, territories and other groups to make sure that people are getting the support that they need.

So only yesterday I met myself with waste recyclers about the impacts that this is having on them. Every single day there are different groups who are feeling impacts that they weren't feeling three weeks ago. But I think what we've demonstrated already is that we are prepared to work with any group to see what can be done to resolve their issues, but we shouldn’t kid ourselves that this is going to stop tomorrow.

SALLY SARA: We've been asking our listeners for their questions on the current situation. We've had one question which says, ‘with the meeting of National Cabinet on Monday, why is this meeting waiting until Monday - the crisis is now’. What's your response?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I think people would be aware that there's already been one meeting of the National Cabinet in the last week or so to discuss these issues. There will be another meeting next week as the situation has escalated, but it wouldn't be correct to say that we're not engaging with the states and territories outside of National Cabinet meetings. Last night I met and will be meeting again today with all of the environment ministers from around the country.

I know that every single minister in our Government is engaging on a daily basis with states and territories along with a range of groups outside government. So there is literally around-the-clock work happening with other states. It is important, though, to escalate that from time to time to a National Cabinet level, and that's what the Prime Minister will be doing next week.

SALLY SARA: Does the Federal Government have much confidence that talks between the United States and Iran will be fruitful, given that each has rejected the other's proposal? MURRAY WATT: Well, I think in the end, the only way this is going to be resolved is through those sort of diplomatic discussions. The entire world has got an interest in this being resolved.

We understand very deeply the pain that Australian families, businesses and farmers are experiencing right now and the anxiety that people have about the future. And I'm sure those feelings are replicated in every country around the world, from families with their household budgets, businesses, farmers right around the world are being impacted on this. So we strongly encourage a resolution of this conflict as quickly as it possibly can, because that's the only way that we will begin to see some change for the better in terms of the petrol prices people are experiencing and the supply chain shortages.

SALLY SARA: You're listening to Radio National . In a few minutes, you'll be hearing from the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Australia. Right now, I'm speaking with the Environment Minister, Murray Watt.

Minister, you're meeting with state and territory counterparts later today. Changes to Australia's plastic recycling system will be on the agenda. What's happening?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, so this is a matter that's been discussed for some time between the federal and state governments in the environment space. I think everyone is probably aware of the problem that we experience from the overuse and poor management of plastics in particular. They cause immense environmental harm, they cause big health impacts on the community.

But there's also a significant economic problem in that imported plastic tends to be significantly cheaper than the plastic that we recycle here, and that puts our domestic recyclers at a commercial disadvantage as well. So the work that's been happening over the last couple of years is to work out what to do about this. We'll be having some further discussions with environment ministers today, but in the meantime at a federal level, we've also started considering what the role of recycled plastic can play in meeting some of the supply chain shortages that we're beginning to see when it comes plastics in Australia as well.

So there is an enthusiasm for making some progress on this front, and we should be able to say a little bit more about that after the meeting today. SALLY SARA: Minister, thank you for your time this morning. MURRAY WATT: Thanks, Sally.

SALLY SARA: That's the Environment Minister, Murray Watt, speaking to me there. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.