E&OE…
KIERAN GILBERT
This is AM Agenda, with me now the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite, and the Assistant Cabinet Secretary Senator Scott Ryan. Gents, good morning.
MATT THISTLETHWAITE
Good morning, Kieran.
GILBERT
Matt Thistlethwaite, Labor would be very supportive of this TPP, given it started, the negotiations, under a Labor government?
THISTLETHWAITE
That’s right, it did Kieran. The TPP has the potential to be a great benefit to Australian producers and service providers, particularly those that are providing products and services in the twelve markets that are subject to the deal. But obviously we will need to see and have a good look at the details of the arrangements. Comments such as the one you read out from Médecins Sans Frontières are of concern. These are people that work on the ground particularly in developing nations on the provision of vaccines and medicines to treat preventable diseases. So, all of those sort of issues will need to be assessed by the Australian Parliament through the Treaties Committee process, and once Labor has had a good look at the arrangement through that process we will make a decision on the deal.
GILBERT
Senator Ryan, I guess that point made by Matt Thistlethwaite is something that is going to be reflected across the dozen nations signatory to this. So, while the agreement has been done, it hasn’t been ratified, and that remains the case with some very strong opposition to this from the Republican Party and even the Democratic Party in the United States.
SENATOR RYAN
Good morning Kieran, good morning Matt. Firstly, congratulations are due to Andrew Robb, he has now landed four free trade deals with Korea, Japan, China and now this, the Trans Pacific Partnership the largest multilateral trade deal in more than a decade. I think in future decades Australians will look back at this period of trade deals that he has landed, as we do with the formative trade deal we made with Japan in the 1950s in the aftermath of World War Two. Generations of Australians are going to enjoy economic and employment opportunities, as well as educational and other opportunities that, quite frankly, would not be on offer but for these trade deals being signed. There is a Parliamentary process to go through; there is one of those in each country, but President Obama got strong support to get fast-tracked negotiating authority that is a process for the Americans to go through. We have a Treaties Committee process, but importantly, as the Prime Minister has made clear this morning and Andrew made clear earlier, we have delivered this trade deal despite the scare campaigns, we have protected the pharmaceuticals benefits scheme, the price of medicines will not go up, we have protected those important public health measures. This only has upside for an open free trading economy like Australia.
GILBERT
A few other matters I want to get to, Nauru, Senator Ryan, what are the implications of the decision by that Government to open up the Detention Centre, to remove curfews for those there. Six hundred asylum seekers to have their applications processed within a week, apparently.
RYAN
That is a decision for the Nauruan Government. Our policy is clear as a Government, we will not let the people smuggling trade that Labor recommenced after John Howard shut it down, we must not let that trade start up again. That means that people who come unlawfully to Australia cannot be resettled in Australia. The Minister has made clear that we are in discussions with other countries for potential resettlement opportunities, and obviously we work with the Nauruans and support the Nauruan Government both to ensure the provision of services but also to ensure the welfare of people on Nauru at the moment.
GILBERT
Matt Thistlethwaite, do you welcome this development from the Nauruan Government to basically open the door on the Detention Centre there? Is this the way forward in terms of those hundreds who remain in limbo on Manus Island?
THISTLETHWAITE
We do welcome this development in Nauru, Kieran. I think the question needs to be asked as to why this has taken so long and, importantly, what support services have been put in place to ensure that these individuals can be resettled in a peaceful manner and that you avoid any potential conflict in terms of the domestic population. So, ensuring kids can get access to schools and people have access to jobs and housing are all very, very important in resettlement. I think that the Abbott Government and Turnbull Government did drop the ball on working with those nations to get that processing started years ago. So, I think the question needs to be asked as to why it has taken so long?
GILBERT
Senator Ryan, it has been a while, and as I mentioned in Manus Island that continues, while this might be resolved within the week for those on Nauru, in terms of having freedom of movement, that is not the case when it comes to the PNG approach at Manus.
RYAN
Kieran, it takes a lot of gall from Matt Thistlethwaite and anyone from the Labor Party to criticize what the current Government has had to do in cleaning up an enormous mess left in place by Labor with thousands of people left in limbo under Labor’s mess that they created. Now, we have had to re-engineer a lot of the work of the Immigration Department to both, at the same time protect our borders, and process a massive backlog of claims of people inside and outside of Australia. We have been in office for two years, and I think most Australians, overwhelmingly are happy with the work we have done in this area because it is two-fold, it is protecting our borders and cleaning up the mess Labor left behind.
GILBERT
That is right, but people have remained in limbo, that is true isn’t it? That is unacceptable; surely, in the longer term and it has been a long time.
RYAN
And the resources of the Immigration Department have a backlog of thousands of people we have inherited from Labor and we are working that down. There are now less people waiting on the backlog than when we came to office. But when you have fifty thousand unlawful arrivals, this takes time to clean up, this mess.
GILBERT
Yeah, sure, Matt Thistlethwaite, your response there before we wrap up this morning?
THISTLETHWAITE
I don’t accept that Kieran, I think that this Government has dropped the ball when it comes to processing people particularly on Manus Island and Nauru. That has been identified independently by the report that assessed the events that led up to the riots and death Reza Berati.
(Interrupted)
GILBERT
Where do you send them then, where do you send these individuals? You’re not saying to bring them here either, Labor says don’t bring them to Australia.
THISTLETHWAITE
The Australian Government should be working with the governments of Papua New Guinea and Nauru to ensure that you’re releasing people from detention as quickly as possible, and resettling them with the appropriate support services as quickly as possible. The report identified the fact that there were delays and stalling of that process because there wasn’t a commitment from Scott Morrison as the Minister to get on with the job that led to that unrest that led to that hopeless sense of those individuals and ultimately the death of Reza Berati.
GILBERT
Gentlemen, we are out of time, have a good day. Matt Thistlethwaite, Senator Scott Ryan, appreciate it this morning.
(ENDS)