VIDEO: Independent MP Kate Chaney: ‘People want both sides of parliament to be held accountable’ (27 Feb 2025)
SARAH FERGUSON, PRESENTER: Kate Cheney is the federal member for Curtin in Western Australia, one of the victorious teal independents from the last election, holding a small majority and facing a resurgent Liberal Party. She joined me earlier.
Kate Chaney, welcome to 7.30.
KATE CHANEY, MP FOR CURTIN: Thanks very much Sarah.
SARAH FERGUSON: Just on the state election first. Will the results of the state election affect the race in your seat?
KATE CHANEY: I think they are separate races. I mean, there are some independent candidates running in state seats within my electorate and I take that as a really good sign that people are liking being independently represented and want to see more of it.
But ultimately, the WA state election was pretty unusual last time, and I think the results of that are quite separate to what is happening federally.
SARAH FERGUSON: Now, you said that the WA Premier had helped to sink legislation for a federal Environmental Protection Agency. You are in favour of an EPA. Does it matter that businesses in your state don't want it?
KATE CHANEY: Well, The Samuel Review showed our nature protection was failing business, and it was also failing nature.
And so, we need to reform that in a way that has better, more efficient approval processes but also delivers the right answers and I don't think that it's impossible to have both of those at the same time.
So, I think taking a federal approach to that, to environmental protection is the right approach, because these are long-term issues, and we can work with government to make sure that nature protection also works in a way to gives business quicker answers.
SARAH FERGUSON: And yet a lot of businesses are opposed to that agency and the laws that accompany it. How do you persuade them when they're so implacably opposed?
KATE CHANEY: I think there's been a lot of alarmism around the Nature Positive reform. We do need to protect nature, and we need governments to act in the interests of the whole public and the long-term, not just looking at the short-term vested interests.
So I think we can find that path through but we do ultimately need to review our environmental protection legislation which the Samuel Review found, commissioned by the last government, is not fit for purpose.
SARAH FERGUSON: Now you had a meeting with Peter Dutton fairly recently, did you discuss what it would take for you to support him in the event of a hung parliament?
KATE CHANEY: We talked about the possibility of that occurring. I'm not going into any hypothetical discussion with a list of red lines or non-negotiables.
I think there are so many different scenarios and I have to be prepared for those scenarios but I would be looking at what both sides is willing to do on the really big issues that I think both parties are failing to address, like tax reform and housing, cost-of-living, climate - the things that don't fit neatly into a three-year cycle and they will be the issues that I will prioritising on behalf of my community if I am in that situation.
SARAH FERGUSON: That is essentially a motherhood statement but let me put something more specific to you. You've been clear that nuclear energy is the wrong choice for Australia. How would you enable a Peter Dutton government when you are opposed to such a major part of his policy platform?
KATE CHANEY: For a start, I don't need to make a deal with anyone. I will commit to voting on each piece of legislation on its merits, which I think is the fundamental promise I have made to my electorate, and I'd continue to do that.
So that would sit at the heart of any discussion. Now I do believe in stable government but I'm not going to hold anyone to ransom on a particular issue or a particular project, and I'll work pragmatically with whoever is the government of the day.
So, it won't come down to one thing. You need to look at who has the most seats, what the parliament make-up looks like, what each side is actually going to commit to on policy, because we're not seeing a whole lot of policy on the table, and I think it has to be a negotiation with all of those things in mind.
And I think there are enough sensible voices on what could be the next parliament's crossbench to come up with a path through that that gives us stable government that is focused on better long-term issues than the current swing from one party to the other is.
SARAH FERGUSON: The boss of Woodside Energy described the prospect of teal independents and the Greens holding the balance of power in a Labor minority government as a "nightmare scenario". How much does a statement like that hurt you amongst the voters in Curtin?
KATE CHANEY: I think there is no surprise that the gas companies don't want to see greater accountability in government and there will be these hysterical attacks going right up to the election.
What I hear from my community is that people feel like both systems have, both sides of politics have really failed them. I got in largely because there was great disappointment with the last government and I think this government has been disappointing, too, and ultimately, people want both sides of politics to be held accountable so that they are making decisions in the public interest, not in the interests of the sorts of vested interests we see, like the gas companies.
SARAH FERGUSON: Now just to be clear, you are saying that the comments by Woodside about you and other teal independents are hysterical.
KATE CHANEY: I think they are alarmist, and they are not focused in reality. I will not be holding the country to ransom on anything. I think that a balanced parliament is the best chance we have as a country to actually address the serious issues that we need to face with some accountability.
And if we have to drag both parties back to the sensible centre, by having some people in parliament who aren't thinking about their ministerial careers, they are thinking about improving the laws no matter who is in parliament, and that's a great thing for the future of Australian democracy.
SARAH FERGUSON: So, should the extension, staying with Woodside, should the extension of Woodside's major liquefied natural gas project in the North West Shelf go ahead?
KATE CHANEY: Gas has been a really important part of the WA economy and the Australian economy, and it continues to have a role in transition.
This project is not a 10 or 20 year project, it is a 50-year project and what I am focused on is making sure we have proper processes in there that look at the public interest over a 50 year timeframe and if we are fully pricing carbon and we are reflecting the true cost of the huge emissions bomb that this project represents and if we have a robust offset system, and we can address the environmental issues and the Aboriginal heritage issues, if it still stacks up, on the numbers, after we are taking all of those things into account, then maybe it can go ahead, but what I don't want to see is these decisions being made on a short term basis by parties that are thinking more about who will win the election than about our children and our grandchildren.
SARAH FERGUSON: Now just briefly, you won by a narrow margin last time with the advantage of an unpopular Scott Morrison and a view in the West that government was unfair in its treatment of Julie Bishop. Can you win a majority without those negatives?
KATE CHANEY: I don't think either major party has done anything in the last three years that will reverse the long-term trend of declining support.
Support for the major parties is tanking and for good reason. Neither of them has a plan for the big issues that we face.
So, this election is not about me verses the Liberal candidate. What I'm taking on here is the two-party system that is failing us and that is really what the choice comes down to, is whether Australians feel optimistic that there is a better way to make decisions, that will focus on the long-term rather than the constant flip-flop and pull from one election to another that is driven by polls.
SARAH FERGUSON: Kate Chaney, thank you very much indeed for joining us.
KATE CHANEY: Thank you, Sarah.
