Television Interview, Sunrise

SUBJECTS: Culture in Parliament; Housing; Birth rate; Support for Ukraine

HOST, NATALIE BARR: Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles joins us live in Geelong now. Morning to you. We know this is obviously with the lawyers, you can't say much, but does Parliament House still have an issue with bullying?

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Look, Parliament House needs to be the exemplar in terms of employment in Australia. I've often said that and certainly I've sought to put that in place within my own office and I know that MPs and Ministers across the board are doing the same. When the Jenkins Report gave its recommendations, we've implemented them, but not for a moment do I think the job's done. I mean, this is an enduring work in progress. And we need to continue to be doing everything we can within our power to make sure that Parliament House is a good place to work. It is a privilege, obviously, to serve our country in the way in which we do. And we need to make sure that we're encouraging the best people to do that. And certainly that's what I've sought to do in relation to my own workplace.

BARR: Ok, moving on. A lot has been said this week about the Prime Minister's purchase of this expensive cliff top mansion for over $4 million, people not begrudging him buying a nice house. But are you and all your colleagues behind the timing of this, right before an election in a cost of living and housing crisis?

MARLES: Well, I mean, the Prime Minister is entitled to his own life and to his own personal affairs. And clearly this sits within that domain. And so I don't grudge him any of that.- 

BARR: Right now?

MARLES: And as I speak to people- Yeah, I think this is a matter for him and I'm not worried about it happening right now. I think when I speak to Australians, they're not interested in what Anthony's doing in his private life. They want to know what we're doing as a government and they know that we are very much focused on the cost of living pressures that Australians face. And that includes in respect of housing. I mean, we put in place the Housing Australia Future fund, which is building thousands of new low costs social housing dwellings. We would like to have done the Help to Buy scheme, but that was opposed by the Coalition and the green, which.- 

BARR: Which we have been talking about a lot. 

MARLES: So, we will continue to do everything within our power.

BARR: When did you find out about?

MARLES: I know that the PM- I don't talk to the PM about what he's doing with it, with his purchases. It's really a matter for him.

BARR: But when you found out that he's buying this right now, he could call an election any minute. Did you say “cool”?

MARLES: I couldn't have cared less. It's frankly a matter for him. What I do care about is what we're doing in relation to all the cost of living pressures that Australians are facing. And we've talked about housing but, you know, the most significant thing we can do is put downward pressure on inflation. And we've done that by delivering two surpluses in the two years in which we've governed, something the Coalition never did in their entire time in parliament in office, even though they said they would do that each and every year. Australians know we are on their side in respect of this and that's what we’re focused on.

BARR: Well, I don't know what they do because the polls would show otherwise, but that's another debate. Let's get on to the baby bonus, which a lot of people are speaking about this morning. Bring it back in response to the declining birth rates. Would you be in support of that?

MARLES: Well, look, that is not something that we've been discussing. I'm interested in those figures. I mean, what we are focused on is ways in which we can make it more affordable to raise a family. That like a huge focus of actually the Prime Minister, but the whole government has been on more affordable childcare, which really does make a difference in terms of the ability of people to have children and raise children. It's obviously an expensive thing to have kids, we all know that. But we are doing everything within our power to try and make that more affordable for Australians.

BARR: Ok, so no baby bonus at this stage, because, interestingly, when it was brought in all those years ago, the fertility rate was similar to what it is now. And Peter Costello said, you know, one for mum, one for dad, one for the family. You reckon that's still something we should aim for?

MARLES: Well, look, you're talking to a father of four, so I think it's great to have kids- 

BARR: Done your bit. 

MARLES: I have done my bit plus one, so exceeded Peter Costello's expectations.

BARR: You're in credit.

MARLES: I am in credit! But, you know, look, we want to do what we can, what we can to make it easier for families and couples to have children and we're doing that. It is important that we have a sustainable birth rate-

BARR: Ok. But no baby birth at the moment.

MARLES: That we are allowing people to fulfil their aspirations.

BARR: Okay, so before we let you go, you want to talk about the new tanks that you're giving Ukraine? Talk to us about those.

MARLES: Well, indeed, we've announced that we'll be gifting 49 Abrams tanks. These are our frontline heavy transport vehicles. They're a really impressive piece of kit. It's worth $245 million. This is the latest package in the iterations of packages that we've been announcing for Ukraine. It takes our military support up to $1.3 billion. I mean, this is a conflict which is enduring. We've known that we need to be in there for the long haul, and that's certainly our intention. And we continue to work with Ukraine about how we can support them in ways that enable them to resolve this conflict on their terms, because they're out there fighting for their country, of course, but they are also, in many ways, fighting for the rules-based order, which is so important for our country and countries around the world. So, this is a cause we need to support.

BARR: Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, we thank you for your time today.

ENDS