INTRODUCTION: A short time ago I spoke to the new Minister for Resources Keith Pitt who of course has taken over from Matt Canavan after Matt Canavan resigned, well, for two reasons. He resigned partly to support Barnaby Joyce in a national leadership spill. It's also important to note he also resigned over a conflict of interest he hadn't declared with regards to something in his portfolio. Anyway, he's gone from the ministry. Keith Pitt takes over. We've been chasing him for the last couple of weeks to have a chat about things in Kimba. We managed to do that, about half an hour ago I recorded this interview. I started off by asking with regards to the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility, which of course has been decided by the Government to be built in Kimba. I just asked him: coming to this portfolio, and this process, what his mindset is.

KEITH PITT: Oh we are moving forward. We've introduced the legislation to the Parliament. We will deliver on what we said we would and I really want to thank the community of Kimba and Napandee that this has been a long process. And I certainly understand that, you know, there are some concerns but the majority the community are very supportive and I really want to acknowledge the work of Rowan Ramsey the Member for Grey. He's been intimately involved, in a lot of cases for him, this is a personal issue as well. And I think he's just done a fantastic job locally as all of his constituents would expect, I'd imagine. But Rowan's a good mate of mine and he's been very supportive and he's very keen to see this come to fruition.

PAUL CULLIVER: Obviously, Matt Canavan's been the face of it for the Government for many years now and it's now going to be you. Does anything change?

KEITH PITT: Oh look I think I probably bring a bit of a different perspective, I'm not a career politician, I'm an electrician, I went to university and did an engineering degree; I've had small businesses and farms and I guess I've got a bit of a different background to some. But, you know, my view's pretty straightforward. I'm a very practical and pragmatic individual. This is about delivery on a facility which is in the national interest and, to be frank, it's been some 40 years in the making. So we're close - we're close to the finish line. We want to get this done.

PAUL CULLIVER: Did Matt Canavan sort of give you a handover of any kind? Did he tell you anything about this process?

KEITH PITT: Oh look, we've obviously spoken about the portfolio. There's certainly staff and departmental staff that have been intimately involved in this over the last four years. So there's no change in terms of the localised resources that I have access to and really we just want to move forward with the legislation, get it through the system in terms of the House, the Senate, get royal assent and start to deliver for the people of Napandee.

PAUL CULLIVER: Look, on the weekend that it was announced that Matt Canavan had made the decision, people that were opponents to this facility going into Kimba have effectively vowed to fight on. In fact, I'm even looking at now there's a petition that's been started on the Parliament of Australia website that's currently got what? 412 signatures at time of recording. Obviously, there's people still with very strong views about this and very strong concerns about the process. I mean are you interested in hearing from those people still or are you just pushing forward?

KEITH PITT: We're moving forward. We'll always continue to consult with the community, but there's been very broad community support; 61 per cent of the voters in Kimba support the facility; close on 60 per cent of local businesses; close on 60 per cent of submissions supported it; 100 per cent of the direct neighbours that share a boundary support the facility. And as I've said, this has been a search which has been underway for decades. There's been four years of work in terms of the location at Napandee and this is a facility which will also help the local economy. So it's important for the nation, I think it is important for the local community.

PAUL CULLIVER: And what's your feeling on the fact that the Barngarla people feel left out of that consultation process when people talk about broad community support? The Barngarla people say well we didn't get a say in that community vote.

KEITH PITT: Well firstly, we've worked very closely with Barngarla people and there's still an opportunity for us to continue to work closely with them as we've said we would both publicly and privately.

PAUL CULLIVER: The legislation's gone into Parliament now; it's been referred to a Senate inquiry. Could you just explain sort of what the process is there? What's going to happen with that legislation?

KEITH PITT: Well firstly, the legislation's been introduced to the Parliament. It will probably be debated in the House of Reps sometime this week, although that changes on a day-to-day basis depending on what's on a thing called the Blue which is basically just a list of what's up for debate for the day. I've self-referred the bill already to committee in the Senate so it will go to committee for consideration as well but the process is basically through the House of Reps we have a debate, whether there's division or there will still be consultation with the Labor Party as to what they might do. It then goes to the Senate. It will be debated in the Senate. Once it passes both the House and the Senate, after the committee process, it goes to what's called royal assent with the Governor-General and becomes law and then we push on.

PAUL CULLIVER: And what exactly does this legislation do?

KEITH PITT: So effectively, it does make some changes around some pre-existing legislation to identify the site at Napandee as the site. There's some bits around the community development package. So there's $31 million being provided from the Federal Government for what's called a community development package in the area. Now, $8 million of that will be in grants through the Community Skills Development Program over a period of about four years and that's about upskilling some people in the local community; three million to support Indigenous economic development and a $20 million community fund which we'll start to consult with, you know, the local community about how they might want to see that distributed and utilised for the benefit of the local people. So it's an important piece of legislation. It's taken a long time to get to this point, but one of the points I really want to make is, you know, the low level waste which we stored here, around 80 per cent of that comes from nuclear medicine. Now, one in two Australians will utilise that technology in their lifetime. It's critical for people who are very, very unwell and at the moment, we have some of this waste stored in over 100 locations. So this is a national facility and it's a very important one not only for the nation but for the local community and I'm looking forward to delivering it.

PAUL CULLIVER: One criticism from people vocal about this facility is that the intermediate waste is going to have to be moved on again somewhere anyway, so what's the point of parking it in one place if you're just going to have to find a new facility for it later?

KEITH PITT: So what we've said from the beginning is that this will be a storage facility for low level, and potentially intermediate waste. There's an intermediate waste storage canister at Lucas Heights right now, which is in Sydney for those of your listeners who are unaware of the one nuclear reactor we have in Australia. And the majority of the work that it does is scientific and also the development and the delivery of these nuclear medicine isotopes. So it's an important facility for Australia, it certainly helps us to be self-sufficient in terms of nuclear medicine, which is just incredibly important for individuals who are very, very unwell. And I think everyone will see the benefit of making use of this type of technology, and we just have to be able to deal with the waste in a practical and sensible way.

PAUL CULLIVER: Will you be visiting Kimba?

KEITH PITT: It's certainly on the list, I look forward to getting to Kimba as soon as I can. Given I've got portfolio responsibilities for resources, water, and northern Australia. If I can be frank, all of those areas would like to see me there first, my first visit outside of the parliamentary sittings was into the Murray-Darling Basin. And I've spoken with Rowan Ramsey a number of times and I'll take the first opportunity I can to get down in South Australia and talk to the local community.

PAUL CULLIVER: What kind of timeframe do you think?

KEITH PITT: Well, the challenge will be, the priority is always the Parliament. Every Member of Parliament, whether you're a backbencher or in the Cabinet, obviously has to attend during the sittings, and we've got quite a number in the first part of the year. But I'll be looking to try and do that as quickly as I possibly can.

PAUL CULLIVER: Keith Pitt is my guest, he's the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. I just wanted to ask you, because look, this is sort of a strange thing that we've reached out to federal Labor many times throughout this process, and we basically get crickets back from them. They've never actually appeared on the radio with us to talk about the nuclear waste management facility process. You said you're in conversations with Labor about what's going to happen with this legislation - could you give us some indication, is this a bipartisan thing, do you know?

KEITH PITT: Well, we have that consultation with the Labor Party on all pieces of legislation. As a Cabinet Minister, that's one of my responsibilities is to brief and discuss with the Opposition, and we'll continue to do that. As I've said, we've introduced the legislation into the Parliament, it's likely to be debated this week, and those negotiations and discussions are ongoing.

PAUL CULLIVER: All right. Look, part of the reason that, of course, you're in this role, is because Matt Canavan resigned from his ministry to support Barnaby Joyce taking over the National's leadership, obviously that bid failed. Do you expect that there's going to be another leadership spill at some point in the near future for Barnaby Joyce?

KEITH PITT: No.

PAUL CULLIVER: And how is things in the Nationals Party room, is there stability there?

KEITH PITT: We're getting on with the job, and the point I'd make is that the Deputy Prime Minister - the numbers have been tested three times, he's been successful three times, and we are just moving forward. So we're getting on with the job the Australian people elected us for, that is to deliver more jobs into regional areas, stronger regional economies. And, can I say, one of the things about the radioactive waste management facility being that step closer, I think that's a step closer to more jobs in that region. It'll add some $8 million to the local economy every single year and a facility that will run for 100 years at least. So, I think it's important that we continue to drive opportunities into regional Australia, and I'm very pleased to have that opportunity around resources, water and Northern Australia, it is a very, very strong part of our economy, and I'm looking for growth.

PAUL CULLIVER: Just to name a few other issues the Government's dealing with at the moment, obviously we're learning more and more about the sports rorts, as it's called, the way that the Federal Government handled the sports grants into various parts of Australia, including regional. Given that there's now been 136 emails unearthed that went between Bridget McKenzie, the then sports minister's office, and the Prime Minister's Office - do you think that Scott Morrison needs to reveal more about his involvement in this, including releasing the Phil Gaetjens report?

KEITH PITT: Well, as you say, there've already been a review by PM & C, there's the Auditor-General…

PAUL CULLIVER: But we haven't seen it, should we see it?

KEITH PITT: Look, the Prime Minister has made any number of statements on this matter over recent days and weeks, everything has been handled appropriately, we've delivered those sports grants. No one has said anywhere that an individual or organisation has not been entitled to have the sports grants, but we-

PAUL CULLIVER: Yeah, they have. The Auditor-General confirmed that many of these sports grants went to groups that were ineligible when they were granted.

KEITH PITT: Well look, as a local member I can tell you right now, I fight for every dollar for my community and I will continue to do that, regardless of whether I'm in Cabinet or not. I come from an area which is desperate for further support, so we'll continue to deliver. As part of the Nationals we have a regional deal in my area, there's another one in Barkly. We're delivering on the water grid, $100 billion…

PAUL CULLIVER: Sure, but on the sports rorts, the Phil Gaetjens report been released because we've been told its Cabinet in confidence - have you seen it?

KEITH PITT: Well I'm not involved in the investigation; I wasn't a shareholding minister. And quite simply that is normal and appropriate for Cabinet documents.

PAUL CULLIVER: In the interests of honesty and transparency though, should Australians just get to see it?

KEITH PITT: Yeah. But once again, this is Cabinet, Cabinet documents are protected for very, very good reasons, and that's normal and appropriate.

PAUL CULLIVER: And just finally, given this morning we're learning about supermarkets going out of stock with toilet paper because of what appears to be panic buying over the coronavirus. What's your message to Australians about the supply of toilet paper?

KEITH PITT: Well, my message is more around the coronavirus, and that is Australia is ready. The Minister for Health, and of course, the Chief Medical Officer have been working 20 hour days, to be frank, as have a lot of other Australians right around the country in terms of providing support who find themselves - for people who find themselves unwell. Australia is ready for this type of disease outbreak, and we are managing it very, very well. So, I'd say that every single individual that's listening to your program, move on with business as normal, this is not something for you to take drastic steps and drastic measures. The Government stands ready, as does our health system.

PAUL CULLIVER: All right. Minister, thank you so much for your time today.

KEITH PITT: No problems at all.

ENDS