Interview with Kieran Gilbert, Sky News

Website search Interviewer Kieran Gilbert Diesel fuel rebate, capital gains tax changes, gas reservation scheme. KIERAN GILBERT: Let’s return to parliament now and joining me is the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King. Thanks for your time.

A lot of areas we’ve got to cover in your portfolio. The Minerals Council launching a campaign this week along with the Farmers Federation, “Hands off our Fuel” is the message ahead of the Labor conference. A number – I think it’s a few hundred Labor branches – calling for the government to put a cap on diesel fuel rebate.

Are you listening to the members or the miners on this? MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, I listen to everyone, Kieran. I have an open-door policy.

And what I would say to all those branches around the country, I thank them for participating in the great democracy that is the Labor Party and, indeed, the Labor Party conference later this year in Adelaide. We see those motions that they pass and they’ll be discussed no doubt. And that’s a really important part of how the Labor Party works.

Equally, the Minerals Council of Australia and the Farmers Federation and the other organisations on their campaign, they, too, have every right to put their position forward. And their position is equally valid around the diesel fuel rebate because, of course, that’s a rebate for roads that these vehicles don’t use. So that is the idea of having a rebate so that those who put trucks and heavy machinery on roads that they’ve built, not public roads and not roads that their light vehicles might use, that’s why that rebate goes back to them.

KIERAN GILBERT: Have you seen this Lock the Gate and agent activists releasing data suggesting modelling that says coal miners will get another $6 billion in rebate if you approve half of the projects up for consideration now. What do you make of those numbers? MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, to be honest, I’ve not seen that report.

But the truth is and does remain that no matter what project it is – whether it be agricultural or mining, whether it be iron ore or gold mining or lithium mining – if you pay an excise when that diesel fuel is imported into this country and you use that diesel in a machine that is used on a road that you have paid for and that you maintain, the companies maintain, that the taxpayer has nothing to do with, no access to, no money into it, then you’re entitled to that rebate.

So it’s no cost to government. To be honest, I don’t know the historical reason for why they are charged the excise and then it comes back as a rebate. But I know customs duty is a complicated matter, and I imagine it’s equalisation at the border.

But nonetheless, it is an important principle that all those – the agricultural uses, the farmers, the miners, this is about the use of diesel on roads that they pay for. KIERAN GILBERT: Okay. So it’s not an impost on the taxpayer to that extent?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Not at all. Not at all. KIERAN GILBERT: Now, some of your colleagues in the – well, you’re not a member of the LEAN – Labor Environment Advocacy Network – but that is the Labor environmental arm, they’re saying there should be a $50 million cap on the rebate.

That way the smaller miners, emerging miners, however you want to describe them, they’re not caught up in any change. Would you consider a cap? That way you’re just targeting the biggest miners.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: The government has not – we’re not proposing any changes to the diesel fuel rebate. And LEAN make a valuable contribution to the Labor Party, and I know they’ve been very active in this space. And there are other caucus members as well, and I respect their views.

But the principle remains that this is about a fuel that is used for vehicles that don’t use public roads or cause any public expenditure. And I know the arguments are around taking – lowering emissions and so forth, and that’s important, too. But it’s important to know that the government’s policy on reducing emissions is around the safeguard mechanism.

And that’s how we make that work. KIERAN GILBERT: Okay. Roger Cook has – and his Treasurer are saying please don’t impose the CGT that is going to hamper mining in WA.

What’s your message to them? Would you compromise? MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, the campaign around that is a concern validly raised by more around mining exploration.

And it is very challenging work, there’s no doubt about it, and it does require a level of investment that is different. And the people doing – KIERAN GILBERT: The WA Treasurer called it they’re the original start-ups. MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yes, I have seen that.

And I think that’s not a bad characterisation. But it’s important to know we are adjusting the CGT to make sure asset classes and income classes are more equal across the spectrum. This government has invested over $3 billion into Geoscience Australia for some of that pre-competitive data exploration.

We continue to speak with the WA government and with those mineral explorers, but it is – KIERAN GILBERT: So you’re willing to compromise on that? MINISTER MADELEINE KING: We are looking at it. The consultation process is ongoing.

But I would say – and it’s important to note – these are not miners like your big BHPs and your Rio Tintos, who do amazing work. These are the small minerals explorations companies that really spend a lot of time out in the red dirt with their drills doing a lot of hard work. So it’s a very different type of mining and sometimes we jump – we put them all together, and they’re not the same.

KIERAN GILBERT: No, that’s right. As you said, a fair characterisation to call them the original start-ups. On gas producers, apparently the AFR are suggesting this week they’re looking at compromising further or suggesting to the government we’ll compromise on tax further if you rein in the reservation, this proposed gas reservation.

Are you open to that? MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, that is a proposal I’ve only seen in the Australian Financial Review. It’s not been put to me.

And as far as I know, it’s not been put to the department. We’re very firm on the reservation policy. We’re also very firm that we want to consult on making that work, because our focus is on making sure there is more Australian gas for Australian consumers and Australian manufacturers.

That is really the aim of this. I suspect – though I don’t know for sure – that this is maybe one or two producers that have always opposed the idea of a reservation and are seeking to find some other way to not have to provide that gas to Australians. KIERAN GILBERT: Okay.

So you’re adamant – MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I’m pretty determined to make sure we reserve enough Australian gas for Australian consumers. KIERAN GILBERT: Finally, Pauline Hanson, seeming to qualify some comments around paid parental leave, statements that she’d made at the Press Club saying that she doesn’t oppose government-funded paid parental leave now. Do you welcome that?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, it’s hard to understand what Pauline Hanson and One Nation actually mean. I think her statement at the Press Club was pretty clear – she doesn’t like paid parental leave. She seems to accuse women and families of, you know, bludging, and I think that is outrageously unfair.

Paid parental leave is a really important productivity measure of government. It ensures that women remain connected to the workforce, and this Labor government is really proud to invest in families in Australia so that people can have children, they remain connected to the workforce. And what we see from Pauline Hanson is that she wants to smash workers’ rights, sack as many workers as she possibly can.

She certainly doesn’t like paid parental leave, and I suspect it’s the start of her attack on Australian women and Australian families. KIERAN GILBERT: Resources Minister Madeleine King, we’ll talk to you soon. Appreciate it.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Thanks, Kieran. The Department of Industry, Science and Resources recognises the First Peoples of this Nation and their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to the lands, waters, seas, skies, and communities. We Acknowledge First Nations Peoples as the Traditional Custodians and Lore Keepers of the oldest living culture and pay respects to their Elders past and present.

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