ABC Radio AM with Michael Brissenden
E&OE
Michael Brissenden:
Malcolm Turnbull’s new-look cabinet is expected to feature more women than Tony Abbott’s front bench. One name in the mix is Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells who has been busy meeting with community groups and resettlement services before Australia accepts its first intake of Syrian refugees. She joins us live now from our Sydney studio. Senator Fierravanti-Wells, good morning.
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Good morning Michael.
Michael Brissenden:
Do you think more women should be appointed regardless of merit?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
I think in any organisation it’s important to have a very good mix, but to also have a good mix on the basis of merit and I’m sure that Prime Minister Turnbull will be cognisant of this. Of course, we welcome his indications of wanting to promote more women but promote them on the basis of merit. So we look forward to seeing what his decisions are.
Michael Brissenden:
The lack of women on the Abbot front bench was a note of some contention. Do you think the previous Prime Minister had a problem with women?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
I think certainly this was an issue and Prime Ministers have the prerogative to promote whoever they wish to their front bench. I’m sure the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who has given a very positive indication about some of the change he wants to make, I’m sure he will be cognisant of all those things and we look forward to seeing his new-look cabinet.
Michael Brissenden:
There’s mixed reports about what your role might be, whether you’ll be promoted or demoted. What do you think’s going to happen to you?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
I think, Michael, we all serve at the pleasure of any Prime Minister. I welcomed the opportunity to work in an area in the multicultural and settlement services space. This is an area that I know very, very well. I’ve got thirty years’ experience in community, multicultural, in a whole range of different areas. I did a lot of work before I entered Parliament and in the ten years that I’ve been there. We all come to this job and we all come to Parliament with a set of skills. Certainly, in my case, I have a different mix of skills and certainly coming, as I do, from a different sort of background. I mean forty-five percent of us were either born overseas or have at least one parent born overseas, so in many ways I do reflect the diversity of contemporary Australian society. So let’s hope that all of that stands me in good stead.
Michael Brissenden:
What about the party itself? Because you come from the conservative side of the party, many on that side of the party are not happy about what unfolded this week. What does Malcolm Turnbull have to do to appease them and to heal the wounds in the party?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Look, I think the Liberal Party has always had its two parts: it’s got its liberal tradition and its conservative tradition and we have worked well when we have worked together. Malcolm Turnbull comes from New South Wales, I know him very well. I do recall, of course, when he won the Federal seat of Wentworth, it was the conservative side of the party that supported him over Peter King. So, suffice to say, that I think Malcolm is very, very cognisant of the different arms of the party. Can I say, the transition to Prime Minister Turnbull has been one that’s been done with, I have to say, a relatively small degree of rancour. Yes, people are disappointed; this has been a very, very difficult week. People made decisions based on friendships, connections, based on a whole range of different things. For me, I supported Malcolm Turnbull when he was the leader, as I supported Tony Abbot when he was the leader. And so, I think the tenor of the transition augers very well for a Malcolm Turnbull Prime Ministership.
Michael Brissenden:
Reports of some of that rancour has even spilled out into your own staff. There were reports this morning that one of your own staff members, a Young Liberal, was involved with an altercation with another Young Liberal who was a Malcolm Turnbull supporter. It will clearly take some time to heal, won’t it?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Well Young Liberal Council always has its moments. But suffice to say, when I became aware of this yesterday afternoon, I spoke to the young man in question, he tended his resignation and I accepted his resignation.
Michael Brissenden:
Because you didn’t think that was acceptable behaviour?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Well I didn’t think it was appropriate behaviour, no.
Michael Brissenden:
Right. Is that sort of thing, I mean clearly Young Liberal staffers can be very passionate, is that sort of thing being played out elsewhere do you think?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Look, I think people have different views in relation to the Party. In fact, I have to say that the liberal tradition versus the conservative tradition has made our party a very strong one. We have had times in the Party when the liberal tradition has prevailed and times when the conservative tradition has prevailed and sometimes when there has been a compromise of the two. We are a broad church and I’m sure Prime Minister Turnbull is cognisant of that and most especially in his own home state. And as a senior figure in the conservative side of the Liberal Party in New South Wales certainly I will do my part to ensure that Prime Minister Turnbull is supported and that we are in the best position in New South Wales to win the next federal election.
Michael Brissenden:
Can I just ask you quickly about one of the policies that obviously has been the centre of some focus and that is same-sex marriage, marriage equality. As a supporter of the status quo, are you confident that Malcolm Turnbull will keep the policy put forward by Tony Abbot which is essentially for a plebiscite after the next election?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Look, he has made that very, very clear. I welcome that. I believe that it should be a vote of the people. As I have said quite openly, I do believe that if it’s put to the people, the silent majority view will prevail. But I am sure that Prime Minister Turnbull will respect that and we will have a plebiscite at some stage in the future.
Michael Brissenden:
Ok just quickly on the Syrian issue, you have been working on that issue, and some concerns have been expressed already about the potential ghettoization of the refugees who are coming, with many expected to settle in Sydney. You can’t really control where they’ll settle, can you?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Michael, we have a well-established process and it begins overseas at the selection process, which is basically run by Border Protection and Border Protection have now dispatched officials to work with UNHCR to identify people who fit the criteria of families, women and children. And let’s not forget that an overwhelming number of these young people, of our refugees are actually children. So once they are selected, that’s when the process begins. There are appropriate checks that happen overseas and then they do an orientation program. And then ultimately, once selected, that’s when the machinery kicks in, in the Department of Social Services, a very well-established settlement services program which has been running since World War Two. We have successfully settled over 825,000 humanitarian entrants. We have settlement service providers located all over Australia in 23 different regions. So once they are identified, then we can start the machinery of where they would like to go. Clearly people always like to go where they have family, where they have connections, particularly if they’ve come from a very traumatic experience. There are about five areas where our Syrian-Iraqis have existing, established communities in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Wollongong. But having said that, we are working with states, territories and local governments to identify other areas where we can settle people in regional areas and looking at other areas in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
Michael Brissenden:
Okay, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, we’ll leave it there. Thank you very much for joining us.
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Thank you very much.
[Ends]