1
00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:03,160
Speaker 1: Now, the Albanezy government set to invest an extra two

2
00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:06,480
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty two point three million dollars in the

3
00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,640
Speaker 1: next the twenty twenty three twenty four budget, to address

4
00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:15,280
Speaker 1: what's been described as chronic underfunding of Australia's iconic national parks. Now,

5
00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,720
Speaker 1: in a statement this morning, the federal government said that

6
00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,279
Speaker 1: our national parks have been left with broken infrastructure, out

7
00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:25,840
Speaker 1: of date equipment and inadequate facilities. Now joining me on

8
00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:30,120
Speaker 1: the line is the Minister for Environment and Water, Tanya Plibasek.

9
00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:31,240
Speaker 1: Good morning to your minister.

10
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:34,240
Speaker 2: Great to be with you again, Katie.

11
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:38,840
Speaker 1: Now, minister, firstly, how much exactly for the Northern Territory

12
00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,160
Speaker 1: and indeed Kakadoo as part of this announcement.

13
00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,440
Speaker 2: Well, we're more than doubling funding to national parks, as

14
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,320
Speaker 2: he said, two hundred and sixty two point three million

15
00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:54,480
Speaker 2: dollars over four years, and a fair share of that

16
00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,600
Speaker 2: will come to the Northern Territory, to Kakadoo and to

17
00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,440
Speaker 2: Ularu and that'll be clear in coming weeks as we

18
00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,160
Speaker 2: approach the budget. But this comes on top of the

19
00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,080
Speaker 2: existing spending, and it comes on top of two hundred

20
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,560
Speaker 2: and seventy six million dollars which we're investing in Kackadoo

21
00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,479
Speaker 2: to upgrade the infrastructure. That money is already committed, that's

22
00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,399
Speaker 2: being rolled out right now. This is in addition, so

23
00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,960
Speaker 2: we're talking about one hundred and ten new jobs, and

24
00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,840
Speaker 2: we're talking about making up for really ten years of

25
00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,680
Speaker 2: neglect by the previous government. I've been obviously to Kackado

26
00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,760
Speaker 2: not so long ago, and the ranges there and the

27
00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:36,600
Speaker 2: people whose businesses depend on Kackadoo have been really disappointed

28
00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,120
Speaker 2: by the lack of investment in keeping the facilities up

29
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,960
Speaker 2: to date and the lack of investment in managing things

30
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,920
Speaker 2: like feral animals and invasive weeds. So probably the worst

31
00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:54,240
Speaker 2: example I heard was broken and missing crocodile warning signs.

32
00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,840
Speaker 2: You know, if you're a visitor from overseas in particular,

33
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,080
Speaker 2: that's the sort of thing that you really should be

34
00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:02,000
Speaker 2: able to rely on.

35
00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,680
Speaker 1: Oh absolutely, And I think for us locals we sort

36
00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,920
Speaker 1: of understand that there does seem to have been a

37
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,600
Speaker 1: real underspend in Kackadoo and a lack of maintaining in

38
00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,280
Speaker 1: a lot of different areas, on roads, on infrastructure, on

39
00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,519
Speaker 1: various different things. But it seems as though there's always

40
00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,440
Speaker 1: money announced for Kackadoo, but it doesn't seem to make

41
00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,360
Speaker 1: a huge difference. So what is this funding going to

42
00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:26,360
Speaker 1: go towards.

43
00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you're quite right that the previous government announced

44
00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:32,600
Speaker 2: two hundred and seventy six million dollars for Kakado and

45
00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,600
Speaker 2: they spent seventeen out of two hundred and seventy six million.

46
00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,280
Speaker 2: And since coming to government, we've already spent fifty five

47
00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:43,400
Speaker 2: million dollars on upgrading Kackadoo, including great projects like the

48
00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:47,680
Speaker 2: Kales Crossing Crocodile viewing Platform. I mean, you know, our

49
00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,760
Speaker 2: visitors love viewing crocodiles, but you can see a lot there.

50
00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,440
Speaker 2: It spends between you and the crocodile when you're doing

51
00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,320
Speaker 2: it a safe distance. So investments like that are really important.

52
00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,160
Speaker 2: But the other stuff that will be doing with this

53
00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:05,440
Speaker 2: new money, it's really quite basic stuff like the roof

54
00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:14,560
Speaker 2: coming off the ranger station that Jim Jim Falls. There's

55
00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,360
Speaker 2: not drinking water at some of these campgrounds for the

56
00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,920
Speaker 2: people who want to go camping there. Making sure that

57
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:25,760
Speaker 2: the signage and the educational and interpretive informations right. So

58
00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:30,639
Speaker 2: we'll be upgrading the Warrajoon Visitors Center. There's a lot

59
00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,760
Speaker 2: of great plans here. And of course that's about the

60
00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,600
Speaker 2: visitors infrastructure. We've got one hundred and sixty six billion

61
00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,440
Speaker 2: dollar tourism industry here in Australia. We want our international

62
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,400
Speaker 2: and our domestic visitors to get the best possible experience

63
00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,760
Speaker 2: when they go to these iconic places. It's also about

64
00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:53,040
Speaker 2: better managing nature. I mean, these places are World Heritage

65
00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,080
Speaker 2: listed because they are unique. They are, you know, gyms

66
00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:01,600
Speaker 2: in the crown of Australian nature. The fact that we

67
00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,520
Speaker 2: haven't been we haven't been putting the funding in to

68
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,480
Speaker 2: deal with feral animals, to deal with invasive weeds. The

69
00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,640
Speaker 2: last two extinctions that happened in Australia happened on Christmas

70
00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,080
Speaker 2: Island and that's just not right. I mean these places,

71
00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,640
Speaker 2: if we invest in dealing with things like the feral

72
00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,839
Speaker 2: cats on Christmas Island, we see a huge benefit for

73
00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:28,960
Speaker 2: our animals and our plants.

74
00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,080
Speaker 1: So Walter, you know, what are the feral animals that

75
00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,279
Speaker 1: we're most concerned about it Kaka do at this point,

76
00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:36,279
Speaker 1: and what kind of management are we going to see

77
00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:36,520
Speaker 1: with that?

78
00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,240
Speaker 2: Well, we'll do a lot of work with traditional owners.

79
00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:43,320
Speaker 2: And when I say there's one hundred and ten yew

80
00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,159
Speaker 2: jobs here. Thirty percent of park staff are indigenous stuff.

81
00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,000
Speaker 2: So making sure we're working with traditional owners on feral

82
00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,880
Speaker 2: animal management is really important. But you know, we know

83
00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,840
Speaker 2: that water buffalo, for example, are trampling some if they

84
00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,599
Speaker 2: get in numbers too large, they're really trampling those areas

85
00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,239
Speaker 2: in a way that's bad for the native animals there.

86
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:09,480
Speaker 2: We're always worried about cats. We're worried about you know, pigs, goats,

87
00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,000
Speaker 2: Cats really harmful. So there's a million feral cats in

88
00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,120
Speaker 2: Australia and on average, every one of them kills six

89
00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,000
Speaker 2: animals a night. The six million animals a night killed

90
00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:24,960
Speaker 2: by feral cats in Australia. We've got problems like insects.

91
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,760
Speaker 2: You know, if you get yellow crazy ants or other

92
00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,120
Speaker 2: sorts of invasive insects, they can do They're only tiny,

93
00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,560
Speaker 2: but they can do an enormous amount of damage when

94
00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,279
Speaker 2: they get into the natural environment. So wherever you've got

95
00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,960
Speaker 2: animals that don't belong there, feral animals introduce species like that,

96
00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:44,440
Speaker 2: we've got to get right on top of them.

97
00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,599
Speaker 1: Yeah, now, Minister, I know that you're not the Tourism minister.

98
00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:51,120
Speaker 1: This announcements obviously happening is part of those portfolios for

99
00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,880
Speaker 1: environment and water. But I think one of the big

100
00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,040
Speaker 1: things for us here in the Northern Territory as well

101
00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,159
Speaker 1: is we know that we've got this national gem. We

102
00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,240
Speaker 1: know that Kakadu is incredible as is you know, the

103
00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,960
Speaker 1: likes of all la Aru in Central Australia. But it

104
00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,720
Speaker 1: is so incredibly expensive to be able to get your

105
00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,080
Speaker 1: family or your friends to visit from interstate or overseas

106
00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,760
Speaker 1: due to those airline you know, to the ticket prices,

107
00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,640
Speaker 1: Like it's insane at this point, Is there anything happening

108
00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,640
Speaker 1: on that national scale to really try to help more

109
00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,960
Speaker 1: regional parts of Australia to get more tourists to our locations.

110
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, I really agree with you. It is one

111
00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,440
Speaker 2: of the biggest barriers for Australians traveling around Australia, isn't it.

112
00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:38,600
Speaker 2: Some of those domestic heres. He is really frightening. And

113
00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,760
Speaker 2: you know, it's always always strikes me as such a

114
00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,440
Speaker 2: shame that you can get a cheaper holiday overseas sometimes

115
00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:46,800
Speaker 2: than you can in your own backyard when we've got

116
00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,839
Speaker 2: so much to share. Look, we have a we do

117
00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:55,360
Speaker 2: have a tourism strategy that my colleague, Minister Senator Don

118
00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,440
Speaker 2: Barrell is rolling out and I'll leave the details for

119
00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:04,479
Speaker 2: him to describe. But Katie, you know our own backyard

120
00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,440
Speaker 2: in Australia is so beautiful and so worth visiting. We

121
00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,680
Speaker 2: need to make sure people have a great experience and

122
00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:10,640
Speaker 2: that it's affordable.

123
00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:15,360
Speaker 1: Well, Minister for Environment and Water, Tanya Plibisk, we always

124
00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,600
Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you very much for joining us

125
00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:19,880
Speaker 1: on the show this morning, and we're looking forward to

126
00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,960
Speaker 1: the finer detail of course when the budget is handed

127
00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:24,880
Speaker 1: down well early next month.

128
00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:27,040
Speaker 2: Lovely to talk to you.

129
00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:27,680
Speaker 1: Thank you,