ANDREW CLENNELL: Joining me now from Sydney is the Industry Minister, Ed Husic. Ed Husic, thank you for your time. What do you think contributed to the result last night?

ED HUSIC, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND SCIENCE: Good morning, Andrew. Well, I just first want to congratulate Mary Doyle. I mean, she's gone and now become a record maker by being a huge record breaker. What has happened here is really important. An Australian government has not won a seat off an opposition in a by-election in over 100 years. This is a heartland Liberal seat held by the Liberals for 30 years. As much as it's historically significant, it's politically significant because you've got a situation here where Anthony Albanese and the Australian Government's approach to governing has received a degree of support here in just getting on with the job and acting as a mature government. But this has also been a huge thumbs down to the way of working by the Liberal Party being problem makers rather than problem solvers. The Liberal Party's addiction to negativity, to saying no has received a resounding no from their own voters in Aston and I think that is a big part of the reason why the Liberal Party is currently in such strife. You just can't keep being negative and saying no. You have to contribute to the type of issues that the Australian people want to see fixed.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Does this mean the government can increase its margin at the next election?

ED HUSIC: I'd be very careful. Having watched by-elections in times past, you'll see that we did very well in a whole host of by-elections pre the 2019 election. It's not a guarantee of anything, frankly. What it does require is for the Australian Government to keep doing what it is, which is governing in a mature way. Doing what people expect. Being able to deliver practically for the type of concerns that people have. And the Liberal Party needs to take stock of this moment. They can't keep opposing everything for the sake of trying to make themselves look different. There's an expectation that the parliament will get together and work on the problems that are confronting the Australian people. I had to do it working with other parliamentarians on the delivery of the National Reconstruction Fund. Chris Bowen did a terrific job, likewise, in delivering a Safeguard Mechanism by working with others in the parliament. The question is, will the Liberal Party learn or will they just keep doing the same old approach to Australian politics that they've adopted - which is to be negative and be problem makers and not problem solvers?

ANDREW CLENNELL: And what appears to be working for the government is to be, as you said, a calm sort of deliberative approach, governing from the centre and not fiddling with tax, it seems to me, which is what saw you undone in 2019. Would you agree?

ED HUSIC: I think there is an expectation we'll just get on with the job. We set a whole host of things that we've said were really important in opposition leading into the election. We said, if we're elected, we'll get this done and that we'll deliver on our promises. We've had a big focus, not just in my space of revitalising manufacturing. We've talked about reducing the cost of medicines. We've talked about improving access to childcare. We've talked about fee-free TAFE places. We've talked about being able to stabilise our relationship within our region and being able to build support for the type of things that we need to do. For example, if you've seen what we've done on climate change, we said that we'd take meaningful action. We've been doing it. And often what I get, Andrew, in the community is just a sense of relief that the adults are in charge, that they're just getting on with the job, not picking fights and dealing with the things that Australian people want action on.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Is Peter Dutton the man you want to face at the next election?

ED HUSIC: Well, that's going to be a question for the Liberal Party to sort out. But my big concern is that the Liberal Party already don't seem to be taking the proper lessons out of the Aston by-election. They seem to be blaming the voters rather than taking responsibility for their own actions. You've seen it already with Peter Dutton saying that it's hard for the Liberal Party to win in Victoria. That is not the big takeout. Blaming the voters of Aston is not the takeout here. The Liberal Party need a period of reflection and to think whether or not the approach that they've always had once they've gone into opposition, the Tony Abbott approach to saying no to everything is the way to go. I think people just want all of us, as parliamentarians, just to get on with a job, dealing with the things that the Australian people are thinking is really important.

ANDREW CLENNELL: So you've had a win this week, as you said, with this National Reconstruction Fund getting established through that - the Senate got the legislation through. But how much will this change manufacturing in this country, given it's not a scheme of grants with this $15 billion put away, it's equity and loan guarantees and the like?

ED HUSIC: I think that's a really good question because it's going to take a lot to get us off the mat. We're ranked amongst the lowest of OECD nations for manufacturing self sufficiency. We've had a decade of neglect under the former Liberal government and we are trying to rebuild and revitalise manufacturing at a time where we've been dependent on concentrated or broken supply chains. We've got the geopolitical environment we're operating in where we do need to reduce those dependencies. And so this is an investment, this is a layer of capital for firms that are finding it hard right now to get that investment support in the climate that we're in. We need, across key priority areas that are outlined by the National Reconstruction Fund, to rebuild in the national interest. And so we are going to work on delivering that layer of capital and do it in a way that's different to the way of doing business under the Liberal Party, which has been colour coded spreadsheets determining grants based on political interest, not national interest.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Just on that. Mr Husic, just on that. Tell me how this scheme works. Do you have the final decision making power over all this?

ED HUSIC: I've noticed that criticism levelled at me by the Liberal Party saying that I've got all this power as a Minister. Wrong. I mean, they haven't looked at the detail. We deliberately set up this $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund to be managed by an independent board. There will not be colour coded spreadsheets. The board will make decisions about allocating loans, equity guarantees, just like the Clean Energy Financing Corporation has for ten years plus, and it will be targeted to priority areas in the economy where we need to revitalise manufacturing. So it's not about me as a Minister. It's about an independent board. It's not about political interest, it's about national interest.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Okay. On the Safeguards Mechanism, the government was celebrating that this week, the passage through the Senate. But how can you guarantee this measure will not drive up costs for consumers?

ED HUSIC: Well, I think it's looking at something that the Liberal Party put in place when they were in government to drive down emissions. They had this mechanism in place, but they never cared to actually make it work. We've said, we've got to get to that 43 per cent by 2030 mark. This will target 215 of the heaviest emitters, get them to get on a pathway to reduce their emissions. And it's not targeted in the way that the Liberal Party scare campaign suggested of driving up costs. But it's by working with industry. If they do well, they can obviously reduce their emissions, and if they've got trouble in doing so, they can buy credits to help reduce emissions collectively. And it is a really important way in which we can work with industry to get emissions down and also see jobs go up with some of the investments that we're making as a government to help industry achieve that.

ANDREW CLENNELL: And does the government give up on the Housing Australia Future Fund now? Seems that won't pass the Senate.

ED HUSIC: We are very focussed on addressing housing affordability, particularly making homes available to low income earners, being able to help others secure accommodation. And the Housing Affordability Future Fund is a big part of that. Just like we did with National Reconstruction Fund, as we did with Safeguards, we'll work with other parliamentarians, with the Greens and the crossbench if they're willing to do so. We're prepared to work with them. And as much as people make predictions about the fate of certain pieces of legislation, I'd actually wait until we get close to putting it before seeing what the actual result is. 

ANDREW CLENNELL: Okay. I wanted to ask about speculation there might be changes to the PRRT in the budget. You previously criticised gas companies. Would you like to see such changes? An increase in tax from the gas companies?

ED HUSIC: I understand why you need to ask me the question and if you can appreciate Andrew, leading into a budget, I won't be in a position to make announcements pre-budget. Though I totally get why you're asking me the question, but -

ANDREW CLENNELL: Alright. Are we going to see something of that nature, do you think? 

ED HUSIC: I do appreciate - 

ANDREW CLENNELL: Are we going to see something of that nature?

ED HUSIC: - that you've raised the question in a different way. I'll leave that to the Treasurer that's in his ballpark to respond to.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Alright, look, just a couple left. How important is the Voice seen in your electorate? You have a reasonably big Aboriginal population there in Chifley.

ED HUSIC: Yes. I'm proud of the fact that Chifley is home to one of the largest Aboriginal, urban-based Aboriginal communities in the country. And I've just been quietly meeting with groups in the area, talking through what the Voice means in practical terms. But there's also a huge degree of symbolism here, and anyone who discounts symbolism I just don't think is being fair dinkum. This is a chance for us to, one, recognise our First Nations people in our constitution and extend respect by consultation. People get the practicality of that and also the symbolic significance of that as well. And so there is this period of time before the referendum gets called by the Prime Minister to work with people. Not just Aboriginal communities, but the broader community as well. To explain what this all means, why it's important, and why the scare campaign and the negativity being put up by the Liberal and National parties just doesn't stack up.

ANDREW CLENNELL: And just finally, should the Reserve Bank pause on interest rates this Tuesday?

ED HUSIC: Well, I think we always stress the independence of the Reserve Bank. We would, clearly, get them to take on board the impact of the interest rate rises that they've authorised up until this point and they'll make that call. Ultimately, there is some suggestion that they are taking note of that. I'll leave it to them. I don't as a cabinet minister need to be jawboning them on that point. But I think what we are trying to do is rein in inflation, make sure through things like the National Reconstruction Fund, we address the supply chain issues that have been largely responsible in terms of driving inflation. We need to put downward pressure on interest rates. That's what we're trying to do as an Australian Government. And if at any point the Liberal and National parties want to cooperate and work with us on that, instead of being negative and saying no all the time, I think that will be a welcome development as well. There are some signs of that. I saw some suggestion that the Liberal Party is prepared to work with Treasurer Chalmers on the future of the Reserve Bank and the review that's being done into it. And all I can do is encourage that type of behaviour if it is to continue. If that is the actual case, let's see more of it. Australian people want mature government. They want parliamentarians working together on the nation's problems. Let's see if that actually happens as a result of the Aston by-election.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Ed Husic. Thanks for your time this morning. 

ED HUSIC: Good on you, Andrew. 

ENDS