Jaynie Seal, Host: Well, joining us live is Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite and Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic. Thank you both so much for joining us. Matt, we'll start with you, first of all, will Australia play a role, do you think?
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Good morning, Jaynie. No, we're not considering joining the blockade. We believe that the best way to get lasting peace and to ensure ultimately that petrol prices come down for Australians is a negotiated settlement. It was pleasing to see that the talks went for 20 hours. It was disappointing that they didn't get an outcome, but we'd like to see those talks resume and try and negotiate an outcome. That's the best way that you're going to see the Strait open permanently and the international economy restored and petrol to flow and those prices to come down for Australians.
Seal: And Senator, what do you think of the breaking news and those 21-hour talks with no deal?
Maria Kovacic, Liberal Senator for NSW: I think it's disappointing for everybody that there hasn't been a deal. I don't think that many expected that we would come out with something after that short period of time. But effectively to have a stalemate is very, very challenging because there are great concerns, not just domestically, but globally in relation to what is occurring here. In relation to our own involvement, I think it's really important for us to have an understanding of what requests, if any, have been made by our allies for support. We don't have any clarity or transparency on that as yet and whether or actually have the capability to assist in that regard. At some point we're going to have to have some more information on that and the government is going to have to provide it.
Seal: Matt, the Prime Minister is heading to Brunei and Malaysia, as Australia moves to shore up fuel security during the ongoing crisis. Your government talks about supply, supply, supply being the main priority, but many people are saying we're just not getting the transparency that we need, particularly from farmers, wouldn't you say? Because they need to know what lies ahead, understanding that, that it is a very uncertain time.
Assistant Minister: Well, we've got a national fuel supply plan and we're delivering that plan. We've got well over 30 days' worth of fuel supplies and there's about 60 shipments that are on their way to Australia. But the longer this conflict goes on, the longer the chance it has of destabilising our economy. And that's why the Prime Minister is travelling to Malaysia and Brunei this week on the back of the trip to Singapore to shore up those supplies that are vitally important for Australian farmers and businesses. And that's also why we're. We've rolled out the campaign to inform Australians about how the fuel supply plan works and the various state websites, in NSW it's Fuel Watch that people can go to get information about supplies in their local community.
Seal: And, Senator, Brunei being an important source of urea used for fertiliser, and that's what we are hearing, that is a major issue here. So, urea prices have doubled now from what they were six weeks ago, and farmers say, if you can actually get the urea. So, how important are these trips and what do you think in terms of the transparency that the government is or isn't providing?
Kovacic: Well, the trips are important, Jaynie, as long as there are outcomes from these trips. The last thing that Australians need at this point in time, when there is fuel scarcity or concerns around fuel supply, is the Prime Minister flying to multiple international locations without outcomes. We've known for weeks, we've been told about the shortages of urea. On top of that, you know, Brunei provides us about 10% of our diesel. Malaysia provides us some 30% of our refined petroleum. So, they are important supply partners, important neighbours. Is the Prime Minister going there to ensure those supply chains remain intact? Is he going there to actually get more? What are the outcomes? And no disrespect intended, but really, $20 million on an advertising campaign at this point in time, to just tell us, perhaps to pump up your tyres and should you really have roof racks is not appropriate. Australians need clarity. We've spoken about a dashboard that being important so we can know where the fuel is, where it isn't and when the supply will be coming in, how many shipments are on the way, it does something very, very important. It provides Australians with confidence. Those farmers, those producers, those small business owners that you speak of, they can then have confidence that the government is doing the job that they need to be doing. We don't need to be made to be felt good with warm and fuzzy messages if there are no legitimate and tangible outcomes behind those messages.
Seal: And Matt, on that campaign, the $20 million advertising campaign, every little bit helps. We just heard from a farmer this morning and he has asked the question, why are the government spending $20 million on a campaign to pump up your tyres and remove roof racks when our community have small businesses that speak still haven't had their category D from the 1 in 500-year flood almost a year ago. What would you say to those comments?
Assistant Minister: Well, the opposition are saying that we're not providing enough information. That's exactly what we're doing with this campaign. We're providing information to the Australian people, and it's aimed at ensuring that every Australian does its bit to support our farmers, and small businesses and truckies who rely on an adequate supply of fuel every day. So, we're rolling out information for the Australian people about how they can run their cars, particularly people in the cities, how they can run their cars more efficiently by making these very small changes to the way that they drive their cars that will help small businesses and people who are running trucks for their livelihoods.
Kovacic: Matt, respectfully, what about information on where those 500-odd servos are that don't have either petrol or diesel? That's the information that we need. We don't need that kind of basic stuff that people generally already know. People want to know where are the holes in the supply chain and how do we fix those supply chain gaps? That's what we need to understand. A simple dashboard would provide that. I don't understand why the government is refusing and really, I think that this campaign, from what I've seen of it or understood of it so far, is probably a little bit insulting given the circumstances.
Seal: We've got to go, unfortunately.
Assistant Minister: And that dashboard is provided by Fuel Watch NSW. So, anyone can go on to that website and find out where the shortages are.
Seal: We're getting the wrap up. Thank you so much to both of you.