Tuesday, 25 November 2025

E&OE

Peter Stefanovic:

Joining us live this morning the Shadow IR Minister Tim Wilson. Tim, so the importation of asbestos is illegal in Australia, has been since 2003, so what are you seeking from the Minister? 

Tim Wilson MP:

What we want is a full audit to make sure that there is no asbestos being exposed to Australian workers. Safety is very important on Australian work sites, including renewable energy sites. We also want to make sure that there's a proper pause on installations until we can make sure that there's proper understanding about whether this is a serious risk. The Minister can act, he should act, because it's important to make sure Australian workers are safe. 

Peter Stefanovic: 

Well, it just so happens that there's a Chinese delegation in Canberra today. Should it be raised? 

Tim Wilson MP:

Well it's absolutely something that the Government should follow through proper processes, but this is about getting to the bottom of the problem first, and then making sure that if there's supply chains where asbestos is getting through, stopping it. And if that requires talking to their Government, so be it. But it's about making sure that we know the scale of the problem, it's actioned, because we've got to make sure that we don't have Australian workers exposed to asbestos on Australian work sites. 

Peter Stefanovic:

Okay, your last Party Room meeting today of the year. Is that going to lock in support for the leader Sussan Ley, who's been pretty busy lately?

Tim Wilson MP:

I mean I think the conversation is going to be about legislation like it always is. I know this is an ongoing conversation the media likes to talk about. But our focus has been very clearly on holding the Government to account. You just talk about the issues that I was raising around asbestos and Australian work sites. We've got problems where Chris Bowen is overseeing a decaying electricity grid, but his focus is going off and swanning around the world in Turkey. This government is distracted and it's not focused on how to get cost of living down for Australians. That's where we want the Government's focus and that's what we're going to keep prosecuting. 

Peter Stefanovic:

Well I mean the media's just reporting what polls are indicating and according to polls, six percent of Liberal voters believe you should be leading the party, Tim. So are you keeping your powder dry for a run next year? 

Tim Wilson MP:

Well I picked up that copy of the newspaper and was surprised to see my name as anybody, but I did tweet about it because I thought it was entertaining. But you know, Sussan's leader, that's the focus, because the conversation is how we win, because we being the Australian people need to win, not any individual. Because our focus should always be on how we take the country forward together. 

Peter Stefanovic:

Okay. What about you personally? I mean you ran on a campaign of net zero amongst other things, but net zero is something the Party now doesn't subscribe to. So did you mislead your Goldstein constituents? 

Tim Wilson MP:

Well actually that was the Party's policy at the last election. It wasn't something specific to myself 

Peter Stefanovic:

But you still had the run on it though.

Tim Wilson MP:

Sure, every Liberal candidate, every single person who was elected to the Federal Parliament, including the National Party, was elected on that platform at the last election. We've had a policy review and our policy position is silent on it. You can still support a net zero position, you can still advocate for it, you can still say it's welcome, because our focus is how to decarbonise the economy and make sure we get lower emissions. And every interview I've done on this program since the election and you can go back and review the tapes, I have said consistently the pathway to lower emissions is to get lower prices down, get prices down because if you get lower prices, it's the social licence to achieve lower emissions too.

Peter Stefanovic:

So is that what you're saying to your constituents though, some of whom will feel like you misled them?

Tim Wilson MP:

Well, that's what I said on this program, it's what I've said to my constituents consistently, and it's what I said before the election as well. We had a target before the election. The policy is now silent. I still believe deeply in decarbonisation. I still believe deeply in getting lower electricity prices. I believe deeply in making sure we have lower outages as well. My objective is how do we build Australia's clean industrial future so that we can have all of the objectives met. So I'm still consistent in fighting for those things every step of the way. That's what we need to build the future of the Australian economy.

Peter Stefanovic:

So you'll be staying on though, there had been some talk in recent weeks that you could resign from the front bench, the Opposition front bench?

Tim Wilson MP:

People always speculate about all these sorts of things. I've done exactly what I've said every step of the way. I've advocated for the position we took to the last election. I follow party processes. I've honoured my commitments. I'm not the one who should be resigning.

Peter Stefanovic:

Do you expect Zoe Daniel will be dining out on this in 2028?

Tim Wilson MP:

I don't really care. I mean the former Member went to an election on the basis of climate action, trust and ceasing fossil fuel subsidies, then went and voted for three billion dollars worth of new fossil fuel subsidies, directly in contravention of her commitment on trust, cutting fossil fuel subsidies and climate action. She has no qualifications or credibility in this space.

Peter Stefanovic:

Okay, well you do certainly have time on your side, plenty of it. But Tim, thank you for your time as always.

ENDS