Interview with Andrew Clennell, Sky News

ANDREW CLENNELL, HOST: And a short time ago, I spoke to Environment Minister Murray Watt, who has made an announcement in WA today with the West Australian Premier Roger Cook about streamlining environmental approvals. My discussion with the Minister comes after I've heard that the Federal Government has done modelling around how petrol rationing would work should the US-Iran war go on.

Yesterday, I asked the Foreign Minister about this and she didn't deny that modelling had occurred. PENNY WONG, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: - because we're very clear-eyed about the challenges we face. We know and we've been upfront about the disruption in global supply – 80 per cent of the fuel that goes through the Strait of Hormuz comes to our region and we, primarily receive refined liquid fuels from the Asian refineries, so from Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea.

That is one of the reasons why the Prime Minister and I and Minister Farrell have been engaging with the countries of the region to try and secure commitments around further supply and continued supply. [End of excerpt] ANDREW CLENNELL: Will we see petrol rationing? Will we see domestic and international plane flights cancelled in coming months if the war goes on?

A short time ago I spoke to the Environment Minister. What are you announcing today in in terms of faster environmental approvals in WA? MURRAY WATT: G’day, Andrew.

Good to be with you again. Yeah. So, I'm in Perth today and I've, just this morning, signed an MoU with the Western Australian Premier Roger Cook to enter into what's known as a bilateral assessment agreement under the EPBC legislation, and to do so by the end of this year.

Now, why that matters is that currently in Western Australia, a project - whether it be a mine, a solar farm, a housing development - if it's going to involve needing a Federal Government environmental approval, it needs to first of all get a state environmental assessment and approval and then come to us for a federal assessment and approval. And of course, that duplication can really extend the amount of time that it takes to get a project up and running.

So, what we've agreed to do today is that, by the end of the year, we'll reach an agreement where the Western Australian Government can not only assess that project against its own laws, but also assess that project at the same time against federal laws. And that can really significantly reduce the amount of time that it takes to get the required approvals from both levels of government.

ANDREW CLENNELL: All right. I want to talk about fuel now. Now, Angus Taylor, the Opposition Leader, has been calling on you to drill, baby, drill and look at places like the Bass Strait to get into reservoirs straight away for oil.

Is that a fair suggestion? MURRAY WATT: Well, what we've said is that we're open to any suggestion that people have got around meeting our fuel security needs. I mean, I have to remind you that Angus Taylor was the minister when the government of the day oversaw the closure of four fuel refineries.

He's obviously a lot wiser now in Opposition than he was when he was a minister. But we will take suggestions from anyone about the development of fuel projects, of energy projects. We're not ideological about this.

Of course, what we've got to think about is whether those projects are commercially viable, but that's a matter for the proponents. You know, in some cases, they might need Federal Government environmental approvals. But as I say, I'm here in Western Australia today signing an agreement with the Western Australian Government to fast track those sorts of assessments and approvals.

And we want to do similar things with every state around the country. ANDREW CLENNELL: Do you know how much new exploration acreage and how many new oil drilling approvals have been approved by the government in the last couple of months? MURRAY WATT: Look, I don’t have the figure in the last couple of months, Andrew, but my recollection is that since we came to office we’ve approved something like 15 different areas across the country for new exploration for oil and gas.

I might have those figures a little bit wrong, but it's in that order. So again, that demonstrates that we're open to approving these kinds of things going forward. As the Minister for the Environment, I've approved a number of different fossil fuel projects, as I've approved renewable projects.

Because we're not ideological about this. Obviously, we've got to make sure that they comply with our environmental standards, but we will always consider these kind of projects going forward. And, you know, I've seen Angus Taylor's criticism of the way we're going about this in our EPBC laws.

Let's not forget that Angus Taylor and the Liberal Party voted against the reforms that we got through the Parliament at the end of last year to our environment laws that contain a whole range of fast-tracking processes. We wouldn't have been able to enter into this agreement with the Western Australian Government today if we hadn't got those laws through, and Angus Taylor voted against that happening.

So, he's very wise after the event. ANDREW CLENNELL: All right. Let me stick to this fuel issue, though, with the Government's response.

I asked Penny Wong about this yesterday. Can you confirm there is modelling on fuel rationing occurring within the Government presently? And would it involve certain sites being shut down on certain days so less fuel was accessed?

MURRAY WATT: Andrew, I'm not aware of that modelling occurring myself. Obviously, in my portfolio, I've had some involvement in our fuel response, but not as much as other ministers. Without doubt, we are undertaking a whole range of scenario planning for what may happen in the future and that's, you know, the act of a responsible government.

But I'm not aware of the kind of modelling that you're talking about. ANDREW CLENNELL: Is there a chance that any flights could be cancelled because of fuel rationing in Australia if the war goes on? MURRAY WATT: Well, we've already seen our domestic airlines make some changes, Andrew, around their flight routes.

That's obviously, at least in part, a response to the global fuel shortage that we're seeing, and I don't think that we can rule out future events occurring. It's why we've been saying that we want to see this conflict resolved as quickly as possible. It's why we want to see the Strait of Hormuz opened as soon as possible.

We've always said that the longer this dispute goes on, the more difficult it will be for Australians and everyone around the world in terms of meeting our fuel needs. ANDREW CLENNELL: So we'll see flights cancelled if it goes on and on for months, by the sound of things, in your view, probably. MURRAY WATT: I can't predict exactly what the future is going to hold.

But clearly, the longer we see global fuel networks disrupted in the way that they have been, that's going to have consequences. And again, that's exactly why we need to see this resolved as quickly as possible. ANDREW CLENNELL: We've got the likes of Ed Husic jumping up and down, calling for a gas windfall tax.

My understanding is the Government won't go for this in the Budget. Why do you think Labor MP’s are calling for this? What do you think of them calling for this?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I mean, it's the beauty of a democracy, including within a party, Andrew, that especially backbenchers are completely entitled to express their views on policy matters, we see that on a range of different issues. You know, I think again, it's worth remembering that even in our first term, we did significantly reform the petroleum resource rent tax, one of the key taxes on oil and gas developments, and now that's bringing in an extra $2 billion for Australians every year to spend on health services, reduce the debt, all of those kind of things.

We haven't got too much longer now to wait until the Budget, so I'm not going to sort of predict anything of that nature here today. But our record shows that we have taken action on this front already. ANDREW CLENNELL: The capital gains tax change seems likely, and already, there's a whole bunch of criticism about it, particularly when the housing market is vulnerable.

What's your take on that criticism? MURRAY WATT: Well, again, I'm not in a position to confirm anything like that today, with the Budget not too far away. What we have said, though, throughout the last few months and few years is that there is a growing problem in Australia around intergenerational equity, so the ability of younger people to be able to enter the housing market.

So, you know, we've obviously spent a significant amount of money building social and affordable housing, including for younger people. We've made changes around rent to assist younger renters. And again, all that speculation will no doubt continue right up until Budget Day about anything else that may or may not happen.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Well, there's a real push by the Government on the NDIS including a speech from Mark Butler tomorrow and in terms of the Treasurer meeting the state treasurers today. Can you confirm we're going to see significant change to the NDIS? Might we see psychological supports taken out?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I'm not in a position to confirm any of the specifics, Andrew, and no doubt Mark Butler will have more to say about that tomorrow at the Press Club. But we've made no secret of the fact that we simply have to undertake reform to the NDIS scheme to make sure that it remains financially sustainable for the future, and to ensure that it can continue providing the sort of support for people with significant and permanent disabilities.

When we came to office, the NDIS spending was growing under the Liberals at the rate of 22 per cent per year, and that is simply unsustainable. We've been able to bring that down to 10 per cent now. We've obviously reached an agreement with the states and territories to bring that down to 5 to 6 per cent growth, and that is going to require some level of change.

Of course, part of that is about cracking down on the fraud that we're seeing within the NDIS scheme. We don't want to see people ripping off disabled people or ripping off taxpayers, and that is clearly part of addressing this and Jenny McAllister and Mark Butler have been doing that very well. But Mark will have a bit more to say about that, but there's no doubt we need to undertake some significant change to the scheme going forward.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Environment Minister Murray Watt 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.