E&OE TRANSCRIPT
Topics: CFMEU; Cabinet reshuffle; Olympic Flag Bearers.
SARAH ABO, HOST: Welcome back to Today, live from Paris. And as construction union CFMEU continues to grapple with damning allegations of corruption, new information has come to light. Four years ago, a concrete contractor wrote to every MP in Victorian Parliament, including former Premier Daniel Andrews, pleading for help with what he called thuggery and intimidation tactics. Joining us to discuss today's headlines is Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth from Adelaide and AFR reporter Zoe Samios right here in Paris. Good to see you guys. Amanda, I'll start with you. MPs have revealed that current Treasurer Tim Pallas forwarded matters to the Fair Work watchdog. A lot of people have said, a lot of MPs have said that they've never heard of these allegations before. Who's to blame here then? Do we believe them?
AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: I don't want to get into who said what when, but what I would say is since these allegations have come to light our Government has made sure, made clear, that we have zero tolerance of this type of behaviour. Whether it is infiltration by unlawful motorcycle gangs, intimidation, that type of behaviour has no place in our work sites. And so we've taken the strongest possible action, whether that is through the referral of administrators to the branch or indeed the targeted investigation into enterprise agreements. So, look, since these allegations have come to light it’s been clear that we have taken action…
SARAH ABO: But Amanda, if there's no place for it, why was it ignored when it was raised with you – not you specifically, but others within the party?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: I can't really talk for the Victorian Government. What I can talk for is on behalf of our Government. We've, as I said, when these allegations came to light, we took immediate and strong action. The strongest possible action.
SARAH ABO: Do you think the government's done enough, Zoe?
ZOE SAMIOS, AFR REPORTER: Oh, I probably say there's more to be done. You know, we have seen, what, days, no, a week of coverage on this and the allegations are pretty damning. I think that there's definitely more to be done, and particularly from the Victorian state government.
SARAH ABO: Because it means that the public has lost faith in the government, hasn't it? If we don't see them taking this kind of action, given there have been so many allegations, of course.
ZOE SAMIOS: Yeah, well, that's usually what happens. People want to see action when they read about this kind of stuff, they're hoping that someone will do something so these sorts of things don't happen again. And if they're not going to get the response from the government that they want. Well, they're just going to keep asking and asking and asking and demanding for more.
SARAH ABO: Yeah, absolutely. All right, Amanda, I want to move on now. The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is tipped to revamp his front bench before parliament resumes. You had any whisperings, any murmurings about a reshuffle on the cards, Amanda, and what that might mean for you?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: I have to say that is well above my pay grade. Of course, the Prime Minister can make changes at his prerogative. I have to say for myself, as Minister for Social Services, I'm very proud and passionate about the work I do and look forward to continuing to do that if that's what the Prime Minister wants me to do.
SARAH ABO: All right, well, let's see what happens when he comes back from his little break in Queensland. Well, Australia's Flag Bearers have been crowned with slalom canoeist Jessica Fox and hockey player Eddie Ockenden, selected to lead the green and gold in the opening ceremony. Zoe, you and I were both there today. It was such an emotional and exhilarating announcement, wasn't it?
ZOE SAMIOS: It was amazing. And I turned around just before the announcement had happened and I could see Jess Fox's family, her parents, just sitting there. I think I saw Richard Fox, like, that little tear in his eye as well. It was just the most magical thing. And, you know, we had Jessica Mauboy singing and she. I don't know, it was kind of gave me chills.
SARAH ABO: Yeah, it's really incredible. Amanda, I mean, it's like, this is upon us now. I mean, we've already had the Rugby Seven success so far on day one. It's on.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Oh, look, it is on. And I have to say that when I speak to young athletes, every young athlete's dream is to represent their country in the Olympics or the Paralympics. But to be a Flag Bearer and to lead our team is something really special. And I'd just like to offer my congratulations to both Jess and Eddie, but also to the whole team. This is going to really invigorate and excite the country and I just want to wish all our athletes the best.
SARAH ABO: Yeah, very nicely said, Amanda. Thank you. And, Zoe, thank you so much for coming in.