Top of agenda is to deliver on pledges
Senator Murray Watt on what’s next
THE Gold Coast faces a worsening housing crisis and “nothing to show for” a trillion dollar debt left in the wake of Scott Morrison’s government, says Queensland senator Murray Watt.
The Gold Coast-based senator has spoken out about the growing crisis facing the city and being accused of “politicising” victims of the March floods in his first major interview since the election.
He also reveals why he didn’t think PM Anthony Albanese’s pre-election gaffes put Labor at risk of losing.
Q: What do you think is the key issue facing the Gold Coast over the next year and what’s your plan to address it?
A: The biggest Gold Coast issue is housing affordability and shortages. Labor has a plan for a big investment in social housing, rather than the cuts that we saw from the former government.
Q: What’s your main goal for the first 100 days?
A: I want to deliver on our election commitments firstly, things like housing, childcare, power bills. Obviously with my new portfolio (Agriculture) I’ve got a big learning curve and I’m meeting as many stakeholders as I can. I’m going to be working hard to get on top of the challenges in the sector as quickly as possible.
Q: Did the appointment as Agriculture Minister come as a surprise?
A: Not really. I didn’t expect I’d be appointed to cabinet and that’s a huge privilege.
Q: Have there been any raised eyebrows about having a Gold Coast-based MP as the Federal Minister for Agriculture? Do you think you’re up for the job?
A: In discussions I had with the PM I was happy to serve in any role I could but I wanted a role that had close ties to Queensland. I think people in the sector have wanted to know I care and am interested and I’d like to think early discussions with them show that. I’ve had a strong family connection to agriculture for a long time.
Q: Given the growing housing and homelessness crisis on the Gold Coast, how does the government plan to address cost of living?
A: We’ve announced a regional first home-buyers’
scheme, providing a guarantee to buyers outside capital cities, (and) we have the Help to Buy scheme, where the government would take a share in a new house someone buys. It’s about making sure people can buy a house without needing quite as much of a deposit themselves.
Q: Do you think Anthony Albanese should have known the unemployment rate when asked during the campaign?
A: No, and I think Australians saw it as a storm in a teacup. Politicians and journalists can get focused on these “gotcha” moments. I think what Australians wanted from a future PM was someone who had a plan to deal with the cost of living, housing affordability crisis.
Q: Were there any times before the election where you were really concerned about Labor’s chances of winning?
A: We never took the result for granted. That’s why we were so excited, all that hard work paid off. Every single day we knew it could go either way.
Q: During the March floods you were accused by thenLNP federal ministers of being the “Labor-greens frontman” to attack the government, and of “politicising” the suffering of Australians. Was that a valid concern? Is there anything about that you’d do differently now?
A: I wouldn’t. I thought it was really important for someone in government to speak up for victims. The MPS who said those things about me just needed a way to distract attention away from their own failures. I don’t apologise one bit for standing up for disaster victims who were desperately in need when their federal government
completely abandoned them, and I’d do it again every day of the week.
Q: What’s your biggest strength? What’s your biggest weakness?
A: My big strength is I’m a hard worker, I’m very approachable, and I like working with a broad range of people. Weakness: Sometimes I can take on a bit too much and try to pack a bit too much into one day, but you only live once.
Q: What legacy do you think the Scott Morrison/ Coalition government leaves behind?
A: We will look back on the former government as a lost decade. We’ve had no action on climate change, we’ve got a trillion dollars in debt and nothing to show for it, the highest inflation in 20 years, wages going backwards. The former government has left some really serious problems.