Interview with Natalie Barr - Channel Seven Sunrise

NATALIE BARR, HOST: The Prime Minister has held a phone call with US President Donald Trump overnight, where Australia's trade and economic relationship with America was discussed. Anthony Albanese described the conversation as warm and constructive, with the supply of critical minerals to the US and our country's joint security interests talked through. 

For more, I'm joined by Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth and Liberal Senator Jane Hume. Good morning to both of you. Amanda, so the PM mentioned trade in his social media post about this call. Does that mean tariffs were discussed?

AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Well, look, I wasn't on the phone call, but no doubt – this is the fourth conversation the Prime Minister has had with the President of the United States. I have no doubt there were a lot of important things discussed. Of course, we have the lowest trade tariffs of any country in the world when it comes to the US, but no doubt this builds on what is already a warm relationship between the two of them.

NATALIE BARR: Is it a warm relationship? Because I think there are many, many countries' leaders who've met with President Trump before us. It feels like we're kind of a bit left out in the cold.

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, look, we've had very strong engagement, of course, across our Government. But I think the Prime Minister's had four phone calls.

NATALIE BARR: But no meetings.

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, four phone calls – sometimes I don't get to see my friends, but I'm on the phone. And so, I think obviously- as the Prime Minister's indicated, they'll meet when it's convenient for both parties. But look, I think clearly there's a connection there with four phone calls.

NATALIE BARR: Okay, Jane, do you think this will be a lead-in to that meeting in New York at the UN later this month?

JANE HUME, LIBERAL SENATOR: Well, hopefully we're one step further towards a meeting between the Prime Minister and the President, because it's been 300 days now since President Trump was elected and still no meeting between our leaders, and that's a concern. 

We want Anthony Albanese to step up and represent Team Australia with President Trump, and particularly to secure our AUKUS agreements. We know that the US is doing a review right now and we also want to make sure that we are protected from further tariffs. This is really important for us economically, strategically and for our security.

NATALIE BARR: Okay, well they're hot on the phone now, so I'm sure they'll be chatting more. Moving on, Jane, you've introduced a bill in Parliament aiming to tackle a gender superannuation gap. 

Figures show that women have about a 21 per cent less super than men, in part because they take more time out to care for their families and are more likely to work part-time. How does your bill aim to fix that?

JANE HUME: Yeah, Nat, this is something I am really passionate about, because it's a structural problem in superannuation. Even though the gender pay gap has decreased dramatically, the gender super gap is intractable. Now, what this bill will do is allow couples to choose to split their superannuation balances evenly between them. 

So the spouse with the larger balance can roll over an amount into his partner's account to make them even up. It's not compulsory and you can always roll in a lesser amount. You can do it annually once a year if you choose to, and you can do it at any time throughout your working life right up to retirement. It's not a solution for everybody, but it will make a genuine difference to women's super balances at the end of their working lives. And I think that this is something that we can get some consensus on from right around the Parliament. 

Amanda did some work on putting superannuation on paid parental leave, for instance, and that would help with women's superannuation balances. But at the end of the day, if you are past childbearing age, that won't touch the sides. This could make a real genuine difference. 

The Prime Minister has said that he doesn't want to see women penalised for taking time out to do the most important job there is, so I'm looking forward to discussing this with the Government. I'm hoping that we might get some consensus around the chamber.

NATALIE BARR: Amanda, your initial thoughts? Would the Government back something like that?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, my initial thoughts is Jane will probably have to get her own party on side first.

JANE HUME: Oh, I think they'll be good.

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, I'm not so sure, Jane. I mean, I do go back to the budget where you did describe a number of the measures, including our superannuation on paid parental leave as welfare. And so, I have to say our focus is on women's economic security and how we support women, boost their pay and superannuation. 

And, of course, going to 12 per cent on 1 July for all people getting superannuation is important – making sure you don't raid it to try and buy a house at the same time, which will diminish, of course, particularly women, which was Coalition policy.

NATALIE BARR: But what about this plan, Amanda?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, we need policies that boost superannuation, and that's what we're focused on.

NATALIE BARR: And what do you think of this one?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, Jane doesn't have support of her own party.

JANE HUME: It was only introduced yesterday, Amanda. I think we're getting closer already.

NATALIE BARR: Okay.

AMANDA RISHWORTH: She's going to have to convince them first.

NATALIE BARR: If she gets support- but what do you think, Amanda?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Look, our focus is on boosting women's economic …

NATALIE BARR: [Interrupts] So, no comment.

AMANDA RISHWORTH: … women's economic retirement savings. We did put super on paid parental leave. We did increase after a decade freeze of superannuation guaranteed at 12 per cent. That's what we're focused on.

NATALIE BARR: Okay, I think we have our answer. Thank you very much. We'll see you next week.

ENDS