TRANSCRIPT - 2GB
17 November 2024
E&OE
Topics: Australia's delegation at COP29
Luke Grant
Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction, James Stevens, as I mentioned, alerted us to this cost of our bureaucrats and the number there today is on the line. James, thank you for your time.
James Stevens
Luke, it's great to be with you and good morning to all your listeners.
Luke Grant
Why do we have 100 bureaucrats and others in Azerbaijan? Can't we just send the Minister and one or two advisors, and maybe even limited at 10?
James Stevens
I think that'd be plenty, Luke, you're quite right, and it's just unbelievable that 100 public servants are getting on these expensive - it's all business class, I might add - over there to Azerbaijan, the other side of the world, it's become quite the annual retreat for everyone. And I just find it unbelievable that, particularly when Australians are doing it so tough right now in this cost of living crisis that our government says, let's put 100 people up the pointy end of a lot of high carbon emitting flights to head to the other side of the world for this kind of jamboree of do-gooders, they'd be doing much better for us if they all stayed at home and didn't emit the carbon dioxide getting there, quite frankly,.
Luke Grant
Yeah, yeah. Well said, I agree. You referred to a study published, I think it's called Common Earth Environ, which looks at the carbon dioxide emissions generated by private jet travel to and from these global summits. And there was a staggering number of private jets that travelled to the last COP. COP, 28 in Dubai. Wasn't there?
James Stevens
Yeah, I think nearly 300 Luke, it's just unbelievable. And that's 1000s of tons of carbon emissions. That's only the private jets. Of course, there's all the other commercial flights from every corner of the planet. These annual meetings are becoming super emitters, and it's just to me, rank hypocrisy that people fly from every corner of the earth, apparently, to talk about reducing carbon emissions, and in doing so, they're effectively creating one of the world's great carbon emitting events, and it's every year. And look, I just think there's all these meetings in Canberra, clearly, where people are sitting around saying, "gee, let's all go to COP, no one will criticize that. It's this really important climate change conference." It's gotten completely out of control, and some of the people attending do not need to be there. And you'd think they'd be looking for a chance to set an example and say, why don't we have a meeting on Zoom or Teams, you know, do it all virtually and show people that they don't need to fly all over the world for these sorts of meetings. The complete opposite is occurring, and it's just ridiculous.
Luke Grant
Yeah, it's madness. I mean, what do we learn from things? During the pandemic, the way we did business was often online, by Zoom, as you say, or meetings. For goodness sake, I used to sit in my study at home and into the small hours of the morning speak to listeners all over the country on a radio show out of my study at home. Now, if we can do this, surely we can find a way to gather all sorts of people, like minded believers in whatever COP one day may or may not turn out just to you know, follow the link and do it that way. It is madness, I have to say, James before I let you go, and I thank you for your time very much indeed. And a portfolio like your shadow portfolio is the sort of stuff we love to hear about. We think there's government waste, but we never know exactly, because government generally are very good, protected by the bureaucracy, probably at hiding this. Do you intend, and I think your work here is excellent. Is there more to be said about what this government's wasted over the journey?
James Stevens
No question about it. Look, you know, I'm really grateful to Peter Dutton for giving me this opportunity to have a focus on government waste. I mean, I'll give you one example. You talk about the bureaucrats covering up a lot of the waste. Labor have employed another 36,000 of them since they came to powder. You know, that's just one of many unbelievable examples of this extreme waste of taxpayer funds. We spend $700 billion a year as a federal government, and that's money coming out of your pocket, the pockets of your listeners in tax and government needs to be as small as it can be. They're important things that government does, no question about it. But the waste needs to go. We need to be efficient in setting an example as a government. People are doing it tough. Your listeners are doing it tough with skyrocketing rents and mortgages and electricity bills, and to address that, government needs to be smaller. It needs to be efficient, and as I say, I'd much rather have that money in the pockets of the average Australian than I would the government.
Luke Grant
I just wonder, hearing that number, I agree with everything you said, but how many listeners deal with government or support agencies? And Paul Fletcher has been really good on reporting the blowout times among Centrelink and other agencies. And I'm not targeting the good people that work there, I'm just making the point, if a government's going to employ 36,000 extra people. Thing One, no wonder employment has stayed low. But thing two is, anything anywhere better? Are the queues shorter? When you phone Centrelink, or whoever, is it answered more quickly. I mean, where's the proof that this expenditure, this 36,000 extra people employed, have made government better. I mean, is there anything, James, that suggests to you, and you probably will say no to this. But is there anything that suggests, actually, government are doing their job better because there's 36,000 more people employed.
James Stevens
I mean, they're all essentially in Canberra, sitting behind desks. And so it's probably been good for the, you know, local coffee shop and eateries around the big ivory towers that all these people working in Canberra. But, yeah, I mean, you're right, if this was front line, people that we needed to improve services to people that, whether it's Centrelink, pension, all the other things that government does that we obviously support, but it's not going to frontline. There's not 36,000 more people working at Centrelink processing claims more quickly. But what we're seeing is just all of these pen pushes. I mean, 100 of them are over in Azerbaijan right now at COP so that's what they're up to, and it's just not on.
Luke Grant
Good to talk to you, James. As they say in COP, COP-you-later.
James Stevens
Thanks, Luke. All the best.