2CC Canberra with Stephen Cenatiempo

PRESENTER STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Normally we'd be joined by the Member for Fenner, Andrew Leigh, on a Tuesday, but he's unavailable today. So, the Minister for Emergency Management and the member for Eden-Monaro, Kristy McBain, is with us. Kristy, it's been a while.

MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND MEMBER FOR EDEN-MONARO KRISTY MCBAIN: Good morning, Stephen. CENATIEMPO: Look, this has got, well, I won't say a wake-up call, about anti Semitism on campuses, but this is a black eye for the government, isn't it? That three years down the track we're only saying, well, geez, we need to crack down on this.

I don't think it's just now that we're saying that. I mean, the Minister for Education has been saying for some time that universities need a significant shake up. And one of the reasons he's put in place a review taskforce and a new accord is to address a range of not only standards, but behaviours at universities.

CENATIEMPO: Look, I think this paints a bigger picture with our universities is that they are no longer fit for purpose. Once upon a time our universities were about educating Australians and giving them degrees that then went on to some sort of profession. We've now turned our universities into a business where they sell degrees overseas and our university management and look, I'll give Bill Shorten credit for making some great inroads at UC, but across the rest of the country they've lost control of their campuses. : I think one of the big things that we're doing is making sure that we've got degrees that are fit for purpose.

That new Universities Accord looks at what we actually need people to be studying so that we can deploy people across our economy and our society that will contribute to the productivity of the nation. It's incredibly important that universities are well managed. We know that student visas were getting out of control, which is why we've put a cap on them.

I think it's important that we work across the Parliament for that. I know that the Coalition didn't vote in favour of those student visa caps, but we should be working together on some of those issues. CENATIEMPO: I want to talk about Triple Zero.

The latest Telstra outage has shown the vulnerability of our Triple Zero network. Your electorate is prone to bushfires, amongst other issues. So, it's probably more important to you than almost anyone else.

And given that you are the Minister for Emergency Management. This is front of mind for you. Forget Telstra and Optus for a moment.

Our system is prone to, or is now at the mercy of, computer glitches. We've been told, we were told by Kevin Rudd that copper wires were obsolete. Jeez, it'd be good to have copper wires.

Whether it's Telstra, Optus, TPG, telecommunications companies need to account to their customers about why their network goes down. They're required under law to make sure that they have systems that work. We know from the latest Telstra outage that most of the calls were still picked up through Triple Zero.

But what we've done since the Optus outage is legislate the Triple Zero Custodian, who now has broad powers to compel information from Telstra. ACMA will be conducting their own investigation and we have substantially increased the penalties that ACMA can apply to telcos. But it's really important, I think, that Telstra accounts to the public for what's happened here.

As you said, it seems like a pretty minor glitch that has seen a lot of small businesses and parents having to deal with not having access to not only telecommunications, but to EFTPOS machines. CENATIEMPO: But this is my point, Kristy, is it's all well and good to say, oh, we're gonna fine the telcos after the event. But we are now at the mercy of computers.

We don't have a hardwired system in place for Triple Zero calls anymore. And we know that computers will always go down. I mean, it happens here at the radio station.

I know it happens at Parliament House. It's obviously gonna happen in telcos as well. We don't have a government owned telecommunications provider any longer.

So, we are at the mercy of private companies. Which is one of the reasons that we've legislated increased penalties and more monitoring of these systems, because it is essential to people across the country that they have access to telecommunications. We've also introduced the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation Bill, which will create the power to set new standards for mobile phone access, which haven't existed until now.

So, I think it's important again that Parliament actually comes together and sets some expectations for these telcos about service delivery across the country. CENATIEMPO: Okay. I still think, you know, at the end of the day, when you're relying on computers, I don't, you know, I don't care how good your safeguards are, you're always going to be vulnerable.

Now, I want to talk about housing. Since the budget has been passed, we've seen investors flooding out of the marketplace and first home buyers reluctant to buy in. But as far as supply goes, the National Housing Accord is falling over 100,000 homes behind schedule.

I mean, this problem's getting worse. I think it's important to set a target. I mean, we know housing shortages are an issue wherever you are across the country.

There's no point putting your head in the sand about it. We actually have to set a pretty aspirational target because that's what we want to achieve. I think that's what every Australian wants.

And in some parts of the country, because of natural disasters, we have less homes now than we did, you know, before 2019. So, we've got to actually look at how we can incentivise tradies. We're training them through Free TAFE, incentivising them through our $10,000 construction apprentice incentive.

We're investing in enabling infrastructure. And there was an additional $2 billion in the budget this May. We're cutting red tape.

We're making sure that we put a pause on that national construction code. But I know that the data shows approvals are up more than 5% from a year ago. We've got to keep building on that and make sure that it is easier to build homes across the nation.

And that does require the state and territory governments and the Commonwealth working together as well to streamline those planning and approval processes. CENATIEMPO: Well, then I've got to ask the question, why has the Federal government approved the sale of the CSIRO Gininderra site to the ACT Government, which we know is just going to land bank it and nothing will be built on it.

I mean, surely there's got to be some pressure put on the states and territories to actually lift their game. We're doing that through an incentive process. Basically, if you meet your targets, we'll continue to provide additional funding to you for social and affordable housing.

I think it is really important that the ACT meets their housing targets and that it's done in locations that people want to live. So, that CSIRO site, you know, is already near services and major infrastructure. So, we obviously want to see them get on with some work there as soon as possible.

CENATIEMPO: Yeah, well, most people are moving across the border into your electorate rather than building here, that's for sure. One last thing before we go, Kristy, the Prime Minister always tells us that he doesn't want to get engaged in culture wars. Yet we've seen the Labor Party platform updated to formalise Welcome to Countries.

That has to be the most divisive thing we do in this country. I don't know if it's divisive. CENATIEMPO: Well ask around.

We all should be proud of our culture and our heritage. And I think it's really important that we acknowledge that we weren't terra nullis. You know, there were people here before European settlers arrived.

Welcome to Countries is something that happens at the start of any formal ceremony. Obviously, the Labor Party conference is taking place in Adelaide in a couple of weeks’ time. There are a whole range of branches and supporters who want to have their motions debated.

And that's part of democracy. So, we'll do that at our conference in Adelaide. CENATIEMPO: Let me ask you this.

So, the Prime Minister tells us at a press conference that when you go to somebody's house, you knock on the door and say, is it OK if I come in? I have never experienced that knocking on someone's door. I usually wait for them to say, would you like to come in?

I've heard Aunty Violet Sheridan give a Welcome to Country and explain it in a similar manner. At the end of the day, it doesn't take much to acknowledge that there are traditional lands around the country and acknowledge the traditional owners. I mean, I don't think it takes away from anything else we do.

I don't think everyone needs to do it at a formal ceremony. It's great when it happens at the start. CENATIEMPO: Yeah, because here in the ACT, we get our 15 speakers and every single one of them will do an Acknowledgement to Country after we've actually had an Indigenous person do a Welcome to Country.

And I think, doesn't it become redundant after they've done? It's obviously most important when it actually comes from a traditional owner or an Aboriginal person. And I think, you know, for me, that's where it always has its most significance.

CENATIEMPO: Kristy, good to talk to you. We'll have to do it more often.