E&OE TRANSCRIPT
ABC RADIO SYDNEY
MONDAY, 21 JULY 2025
SUBJECT: 48TH PARLIAMENT
HAMISH MACDONALD, HOST: Samantha Maiden is the political editor of news.com.au and Susan Templeman is the Member for Macquarie here in Sydney, returning to Parliament again as the local Labor MP. Very good morning to you both.
SAMANTHA MAIDEN: Good morning.
SUSAN TEMPLEMAN: Good morning.
HOST: Susan Templeman, were you at the barbecue at the GG's place over the weekend? Seemed like a pretty happy atmosphere, which was a little surprising.
TEMPLEMAN: I was there yesterday, a couple of hours to do a wonderful catch-up with people who I hadn't had a lot of chance to see since the last term of Parliament, and that's people on all sides of the Parliament. It's great to welcome people back and also to have a chance to more casually get to know some of the many newer MPs. And it's the first event of that kind that I've been at, courtesy of the Governor-General. We were also encouraged to look at the beautiful property that is obviously owned by Australians there. So, it was a very generous welcome, very relaxed, and I've got to tell you, beautiful day in Canberra for it.
HOST: So, is this a new thing? I know this Governor-General is trying to put a lot of effort into making sure that these properties and locations that are, you know, owned by Australians, as you say, are more open, more welcoming to us as a community. Is that part of this?
TEMPLEMAN: It is. And Sam Mostyn, the Governor-General, was really encouraging of people. She said, "Explore this bottom floor. Look at some of the really historic things that are here." There’s obviously artwork that is loaned to the Governor-General from the National Gallery and others that are part of the collection.
So, a real encouragement for every MP to get in there. You know, you typically only get to the Governor-General's residence when you're being sworn in as a member of the executive, and I haven’t had that privilege—or for some very limited function. I remember Malcolm Turnbull inviting us there, but we were kept very much outside, was my recollection of that event.
HOST: I suspect a lot of listeners would say, yeah, keep the politicians outside. Sam Maiden, as Parliament returns today, a bunch of new polls out, the News Poll, the Resolve, I mean, affirming really what the election result was, but it doesn’t look great for the new Opposition Leader, does it?
MAIDEN: No. I think there's a couple of interesting elements about these polls. I mean, obviously, they show the Coalition at a historic low, and there will naturally be focus on that. I think it's entirely unsurprising. I mean, look, they've just gotten an absolute kicking at an election. And there is no surprise that I think the polls remain in a very perilous position. There is no planet on which you’d expect this poll to show that they were suddenly back in fighting distance of the ALP. And so in that sense, fascinating, but also, you know, a poll that really in the grand scheme of things doesn’t matters. There is also, I think, a natural tendency of voters, having delivered a rather brutal verdict, to back themselves in. But I also think the other thing that’s quite interesting about this poll that is being remarked upon in News Poll, for example, is this shift where, of course, Labor has this huge two-party preferred lead, I think it’s something like 57–43, But its primary vote also remains very low. So, a real reorganisation of the way people are voting in Australia and a reduction in support for both the major parties, which is a bit counterintuitive when you look at that huge two-party preferred vote.
HOST: I don’t want to get the numbers wrong, but I think I caught on news overnight in the Resolve polling that actually "Others" is now the biggest first choice for voters?
MAIDEN: Yeah, look, I mean, I certainly know that in News Poll, the combined vote of both the Coalition and Labor is 65%. So that tells you something. So, it’s quite fascinating to see that sort of shift. And it’s not the way, you know, many of us who are over the age of 30 or 40, remember polls in days gone by. So, it’s fascinating, I think, to see Labor secure this huge majority off the back of declining primary votes.
HOST: So, the Parliament itself will look quite different, Susan Templeman. Your lot will be sort of spread across into the opposition benches now because there are so many of you and so few of them. The Prime Minister’s done a few interviews with the newspapers for this morning, one of which he says, look, this next year is going to be a year of delivery. So, what is it that you’re going to deliver on first?
TEMPLEMAN: Oh, well, first, Hamish, you’re right, I just can't wait to see what the Parliament looks like, because it will look very different. And all the kids running around the Governor-General's lawns yesterday give you a sense of how youthful and, you know, really wanting to plan for - I think about my kids and my grandkids, they're, you know, they're going another generation beyond - and so it is things like housing—although, obviously, immediately the things we want to deliver on are those that we committed to in the election, one of which was the 20% cut to HECS debt. Now, we will be delivering that. The legislation will get introduced in the Parliament this week. We’ll—you know, we have to cope with the terrible, horrific stuff that’s happening and being revealed in Victoria and other places in childcare centres. So, legislation around that will be introduced. Penalty rates legislation to protect it—and that’s something that we will deliver in this Parliament—is the protection of people’s right to penalty rates and not being worse off because of things that employers may try and do. And so you go through our whole range of things. I think you’ll see housing is going to be a really key focus—actually delivering in quantity.
HOST: Because I’m already getting questions about this on the text line. What about gambling advertising on television?
TEMPLEMAN: Well, I’ve certainly said publicly that that is one piece of unfinished business, from my perspective, from the last Parliament. I took over the committee that brought down the report that had been chaired by my colleague, and so I have a real interest in having additional steps taken. You know, we’ve done a lot already to restrict gambling, including—
HOST: Susan, I don’t know what you mean by that—like, is this going to happen or not?
TEMPLEMAN: I would like to see additional steps happen because we have not had a comprehensive response to that report. And that’s something that we, as committee members, can expect to have. So, I will certainly be one of many people pushing for additional steps on gambling advertising restrictions—which, after all, was just a couple of points in that report, but I think are really key ones.
HOST: Sam Maiden, obviously this is an issue that does seem to matter to a lot of voters. We hear about it frequently—a sense of frustration at the government for not delivering on that. What are going to be the challenges for this government, as big as it is in terms of numbers, in delivering? Is it going to be the changes to that taxation of super above $3 million, is it gambling advertising, or what are going to be the thorny issues?
MAIDEN: Well, I think they have a beautiful problem to start with, which is this huge majority.
And you can already see that the Prime Minister and others—Mark Butler this morning on ABC Radio—have been making the point that they need to respond respectfully to that, and they need to sort of avoid questions of hubris. Obviously, the first cab off the rank—which doesn’t seem like it’s going to be any problem getting through—is those changes to HECS. The government, the Labor Party, obviously has said that that is the first thing they want to do, and the Coalition has said over interviews over the weekend that they’re not going to stand in the way of that, even though they have some concerns about it. The most controversial thing at this stage is obviously in relation to those superannuation changes. It does look like they will be able to get support from the Greens, even though the Coalition won’t play ball on that—but it’s a question of how they shepherd that through, and they have made it clear that it doesn’t look like they’re going to introduce that legislation in the first sitting fortnight. In terms of the issue around gambling reform, the Prime Minister couldn’t palm that off fast enough before the election, but I think it’s clear he’s probably going to have to do something after the election. What form that takes is not yet clear. TV networks would be very unhappy, wouldn’t they, if they lost that advertising revenue, and they were lobbying pretty hard on it.
HOST: Interview with Sam Maiden and Susan Templeman. Sam Maiden is here from news.com.au and Labor MP Susan Templeman, who’s returning. How many terms have you been there for now, Susan Templeman?
TEMPLEMAN: This is now my fourth term, and that is not a sentence I ever imagined I would say when I lost my first two elections in 2010 and 2013. So, I’m terribly grateful to be here, and so privileged to be able to be part of what is going to be a very exciting Labor caucus.
HOST: You make it sound very exciting, Susan. In terms of policy, Sam Maiden, there was quite a lot of news last week out of the RBA’s report into card surcharges and what might happen there. It went further, I think, than many had expected because it included both credit and debit card surcharges, not just debit. Does this force the government to act? How does the RBA’s advice work into legislation?
MAIDEN: Well, I think that it absolutely puts an enormous amount of pressure on the Albanese Government to do something about this. But the Treasurer has already made clear that they will be taking soundings from industry as well, which is, I think, code for: we're going to water that down.So, we’ll see what happens. But I think it’ll be impossible for the government to avoid doing something. It’s obviously very frustrating for consumers. But there is, of course, a concern that if retailers must take on that cost, it could be passed on through higher prices. So that’s going to be the balancing act. But definitely, I think the RBA has applied pressure here just by releasing that report, and now it’s over to the Albanese Government to actually respond.
HOST: Sam Maiden, Susan Templeman, thank you very much.
TEMPLEMAN: Thank you.
