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Speaker 1: Joining us on the line though right now, I believe

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Speaker 1: live from Canberra. Senator for the COLP for the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 1: Senator Sam McMahon, good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, good morning, Good morning Cody. Good to be talking

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Speaker 2: to you live as you say, from Chili, Canberra. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I was going to say, I reckon the weather. There's

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Speaker 1: probably a bit colder than what it is here at

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Speaker 1: the moment. Yeah, just a bit now, actually, Senator, before

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Speaker 1: we get into I wanted you on the show obviously

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Speaker 1: to talk a little bit about the Howard Springs quarantine

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Speaker 1: facilities situation and quarantining for our agricultural industry. But before

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Speaker 1: I get into that, can I just ask you we

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Speaker 1: have been talking this morning about censure motions following a

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Speaker 1: situation yesterday in the Northern Territories Parliament were where the

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Speaker 1: COLP are, the party which you're part of, the leader

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Speaker 1: Leah Finocciario, attempted to censure the government over the twelve

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Speaker 1: million dollar Grandstand grant. Now that was refused by the

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Speaker 1: gun of Government. Now, without sort of going too political,

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Speaker 1: I want to ask what's the process you know, in

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Speaker 1: the Federal Parliament when it comes to a CeNSE of motion.

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Speaker 1: Is it something that you know that is ordinarily accepted

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Speaker 1: and you know debated.

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Speaker 2: Well, Katie, a center motion in federal Parliament, I think

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Speaker 2: is quite different to a cent of motion in the

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Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory parliament, and a center motion of

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Speaker 2: the government in federal Parliament would lead to dissolution of

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Speaker 2: the government rush. Obviously that's not something that happens. Very often.

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Speaker 2: We have an equivalent type of thing called a notice

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Speaker 2: of motion or a matter of public importance, where the

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Speaker 2: opposition can can be critical of the government and then

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Speaker 2: the matter is debated, and so that you know, a

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Speaker 2: matter of public importance or a matter of urgency. They

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Speaker 2: come up almost every day, and yes they are put

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Speaker 2: by the opposition and they are debated. We never try

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Speaker 2: to shut down those sort of motions.

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Speaker 3: Which I think is fair enough at the end of

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Speaker 3: the day.

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Speaker 1: You know, quite often I would hope that any politician,

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Speaker 1: whether you're talking about federal Parliament, whether you're talking about

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Speaker 1: the territory parliament, you know you're there to represent the

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Speaker 1: people in your electorates, and very often you don't head

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Speaker 1: into parliament thinking well, what's my personal opinion today, to

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Speaker 1: have a crack at the government about it's about actually

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Speaker 1: raising the voices of the people that you represent. So

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Speaker 1: the reality of it is I think that, you know,

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Speaker 1: it should be a situation where issues that are of

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Speaker 1: importance to territorians are actually spoken about and discussed.

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Speaker 2: That's absolutely right, and you know that's always allowed in

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Speaker 2: Federal Parliament. The opposition always has an option to put

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Speaker 2: something like that and then to have it debated. They

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Speaker 2: can have their say. We might not agree with them,

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Speaker 2: so we'll argue with them, but it is discussed, it

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Speaker 2: is debated. It is open and transparent. So I do

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Speaker 2: think that that's what this Gunna Labor government is lacking,

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Speaker 2: is the transparency and the willingness to accept criticism and

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Speaker 2: to rebut it, you know, in a formal manner.

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Speaker 1: Now, Senator, I do want to get on to the

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Speaker 1: topic that we've invited you on the show about this morning,

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Speaker 1: and that is some of the changes that were announced

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Speaker 1: over the course of the weekend when it comes to

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Speaker 1: people coming into the Northern Territory from hotspots and other locations,

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Speaker 1: and also some of the changes out at Howard Springs

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Speaker 1: when it comes to quarantining. Now, when the announcement was made,

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Speaker 1: essentially it was also announced that people would need to

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Speaker 1: get those exemptions to come in from areas where hotspots

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Speaker 1: have been declared. You issued a statement yesterday saying that

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Speaker 1: this is going to have an impact on the agricultural industry.

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Speaker 2: Why is that, Well, well, look, I understand that you know,

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Speaker 2: we've had a lot of people flooding in from hotspots,

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Speaker 2: and that Howard Springs is catering to an increased number

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Speaker 2: of domestic quarantining people. I get that if Howard Springs

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Speaker 2: is full, we have another perfectly suitable facility in Bladen Village,

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Speaker 2: which I've been going on about so close to twelve

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Speaker 2: months now, so we can take in extra people. Look,

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Speaker 2: agricultural workers do qualify for an exemption, So if you

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Speaker 2: are bringing someone in as a worker for agriculture, they

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Speaker 2: are able to apply for an exemption. So that's a

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Speaker 2: good thing. They're at least able to apply. The category

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Speaker 2: that I'm most worried about actually is other than agricultural

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Speaker 2: or what the government deems essential workers. And my point

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Speaker 2: is that for the Northern Territory, every single worker is essential.

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Speaker 2: You know, we've had the tourism and hospitality industries crying

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Speaker 2: out for workers for ages now there's other industries right

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Speaker 2: across the territory, my own, the veterinary industry crying out

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Speaker 2: for and we're often forced to bring people in from

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Speaker 2: interstate and now if they're from a hotspot area, they

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Speaker 2: don't have the option of quarantining in Howard Springs. It's

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Speaker 2: just not an option. It's off the table. So that's

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Speaker 2: going to have a really significant impact for territory businesses

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Speaker 2: and territory employers. So what do you.

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Speaker 3: Think needs to happen here?

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Speaker 1: Because I had wondered whether the Chief Minister had had

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Speaker 1: any discussions with the Prime Minister or the Federal Health

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Speaker 1: Minister about this before making the change.

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Speaker 3: You know, what do you reckon needs to happen here?

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Speaker 1: And have any of those discussions taken place as far

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Speaker 1: as you know, As.

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Speaker 2: Far as I know, those discussions haven't taken place. This

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Speaker 2: was just done suddenly. And as I said, I get

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Speaker 2: the need to have facilities to accept the people that

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Speaker 2: are coming in for quarantine. Understand that, But I would

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Speaker 2: just like Michael Gunner to rethink and to just consider

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Speaker 2: every worker as essential. Anyone wanting to work in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory should be considered essential and should be given

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Speaker 2: the opportunity to quarantine and then to go and work.

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Speaker 2: And if they're worried about people using you know, the

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Speaker 2: territory as a transit hub. You know, surely if someone's

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Speaker 2: got a bona fide offer of work from a territory employer,

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Speaker 2: even if they might be only needed for six weeks,

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Speaker 2: if that employer is prepared to have them come up

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Speaker 2: and go into quarantine and pay for that, then I

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Speaker 2: really would like Michael Gunner to reconsider that position.

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Speaker 1: Sam, What do you think though of you know, the

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Speaker 1: comments that he'd made over the weekend that there are

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Speaker 1: some who are coming in, they're using Howard Springs for

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Speaker 1: two weeks and then there let's say going across to

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Speaker 1: Western Australia to work. I mean, should they be allowed

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Speaker 1: to still stay out there at Howard Springs.

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Speaker 2: Well, look, if we're if we're getting towards capacity, or

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Speaker 2: there's a risk of us getting towards capacity, and if

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Speaker 2: people are doing that, then then no. But if people,

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Speaker 2: you know, if people are wanting to come to the

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Speaker 2: NT for genuine reasons and we can fit them in,

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Speaker 2: I would consider all workers as essential and then consider

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Speaker 2: other categories of people such as maybe people wanting to

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Speaker 2: come for tourism. People might want to come up, do

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Speaker 2: their two weeks quarantine then spend three months traveling in

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Speaker 2: the territory. That would be fantastic for our economy. So

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Speaker 2: I just really would like some more consideration given to

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Speaker 2: this as to you know, the hard No, you can't come.

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Speaker 2: Just give it a little bit more consideration. Yeah, if

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Speaker 2: they're just using us as a transit hub, well okay,

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Speaker 2: and if we're at capacity, then we will need to

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Speaker 2: turn those people away, you know, for goodness sake. Think

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Speaker 2: about territory employers, territory businesses, the territory economy. You know,

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Speaker 2: workers are essential at the moment.

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Speaker 3: Now, Senator, I do want to ask.

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Speaker 1: According to a report in The Australian Today, the National

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Speaker 1: Senate Team is pushing to repeal Australia's ban on nuclear power,

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Speaker 1: saying the option must be considered in the nation's future

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Speaker 1: energy mix. The coalition is facing renewed pressure to boost

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Speaker 1: Australia's twenty thirty emissions reduction target in the wake of

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Speaker 1: the latest report by the UN's Climate Change Authority, which

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Speaker 1: predicted that temperature rise of one point five degrees on

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Speaker 1: pre industrial levels as soon as the mid well as

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Speaker 1: soon as the mid twenty thirties. Now, what is the

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Speaker 1: what are you proposing here? Because I know that it

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Speaker 1: is actually you who's proposing amending the Environment Protection and

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Speaker 1: Biodiversity Conservation Act.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, correct, Katy. Look, consideration of using nuclear energy is

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Speaker 2: something that I've been passionate about for a very long time,

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Speaker 2: and I even spoke about it in my maiden speech. Now,

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Speaker 2: the proposed governments to the ETBC Act have given me

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Speaker 2: an opportunity to advance that proposal even further, and I

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Speaker 2: am moving amendments to that Act that would remove the

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Speaker 2: section that prohibits the consideration of nuclear power. So yes,

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Speaker 2: I'm moving amendments to that Act. I have got them

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Speaker 2: ready to go. I have got the support of the

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Speaker 2: National Senate team. They're very, very supportive of this. I've

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Speaker 2: got a support from a lot of other colleagues. I

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Speaker 2: spoke about this yesterday and I had a lot of colleagues,

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Speaker 2: both liberal, National and labor come up to me and say.

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Speaker 1: Good on you.

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Speaker 2: We fully support what you're doing. This is a good move,

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Speaker 2: This is something that we need to do. So, I mean,

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Speaker 2: my premise is that if we want to get if

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Speaker 2: we're serious about getting to net zero without damaging our

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Speaker 2: economy and our way of life, then is the way

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Speaker 2: to do it?

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Speaker 3: Senator?

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Speaker 2: Provides reliable, dispatchable power and almost no emission.

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Speaker 1: What would you say though, to territorials listening right now

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Speaker 1: who are still concerned about nuclear power.

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Speaker 2: Look, there's been a lot of advances in recent years

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Speaker 2: in the technology involved. Small modular reactors now are incredibly safe.

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Speaker 2: They're nothing like the old Chernobyl or even Fukushima. They're small,

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Speaker 2: they occupy as little as eighteen hectares of land, They're

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Speaker 2: incredibly safe, They've got all sorts of fail safe built in.

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Speaker 2: They don't rely on an external power source, they don't

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Speaker 2: rely on large amounts of water, so we're talking about

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Speaker 2: a very different beast. And they also produce very little

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Speaker 2: in the way of waste. So I'm happy to brief

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Speaker 2: anybody that would like to know about them. It really

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Speaker 2: is a completely different thing to the older style reactors

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Speaker 2: that we've seen.

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Speaker 1: And Senator, I mean, would we see then, potentially, you know,

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Speaker 1: nuclear power plants here in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: I would love to see nuclear power plants in the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory. I mean one of these small modular reactors

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Speaker 2: produces enough power to power seven hundred and fifty thousand homes.

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Speaker 2: So I mean we could be backing up our intermittent generators.

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Speaker 2: Our solar and wind. Nuclear provides perfect backup for those technologies.

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Speaker 2: We could be exporting power and we could also use

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Speaker 2: that power to drive secondary industries from it, you know,

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Speaker 2: petrochemical industries, manufacturing industries, things that we don't currently have.

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Speaker 1: Well, Senator Sam McMahon, we are going to have to

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Speaker 1: leave it there. Thank you very much for your time

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Speaker 1: this morning. Always appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: No worries, Thanks very much, thank you.

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Speaker 1: That is the Senator for the Northern Territory, the COLP

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Speaker 1: Senator for the Northern Territory. There, doctor Sam McMahon