CHENG LEI, HOST: Joining me live is Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Patrick Gorman. Hi there, Patrick, great to have you on the show. What do you think of these tariff hikes and what we can do, aside from 'tut-tutting' the move?
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: We'll continue to do what Australia has been doing for a number of months now, which is to express our view that these tariffs do not serve the interests of the people of the United States. That is, that they simply apply higher prices for both consumers and businesses in the United States to get access to incredibly good products that we provide here in Australia into global markets. Now we've been doing that advocacy and building our relationship with the Trump Administration through the work that Foreign Minister Penny Wong has done attending the inauguration of the President. The work our ambassador is doing there in Washington, DC. The conversations that Don Farrell as Minister for Trade has been having, and of course, the conversations the Prime Minister has been having and continues to have. Because it's really clear; we don't just say that we don't think that these tariffs are good policy. It's clear Australia does not apply these sorts of tariffs to the United States, because we recognise it's not in the interests of our people, it's not in the interests of our economy. And I say exactly the same thing to the United States. It's not in their interests. And when it comes to how these have been announced, particularly when it comes to the tariffs on Australian goods, we've said it's not a friendly action. There's a deep, enduring friendship between Australia and the United States. This is not consistent with that -
CHENG: But what's more important than this relationship is how the US President sees its promise to those US steel workers who seem to believe that these tariffs will help them.
GORMAN: We have a different view, and I recognise that the United States Administration took a range of policies to their election that they're seeking to implement, just as we took policies to our recent election that we seek to implement. Ours is to advocate for free and fair trade, we see that as being in the interests of the working people of Australia as much as it is in the interests of the working people of the United States. And we'll keep putting that case because we know from our own experiences here in Australia -
CHENG: - In terms of our total exports, steel and aluminium exports to the US is not big, it's quite a small percentage. But having said that, how should our industry react, and how should our other exporting industries that do export more to the US prepare?
GORMAN: Of course, these tariffs apply to every nation that seeks to export to the United States. I think that industry here in Australia have been doing the right thing. Pointing out to their trading partners in the United States the benefits of free and fair trade with Australia, the excellent quality of the products that Australian workers produce, and the fact that actually, Australia imports much more from the United States than we export. We are a huge customer of goods from the United States. It's nice to see a little bit of Australian product in those goods that we buy back from the United States. And I'd hope to see that continue. I'd just encourage all those who are using their connections in commerce, their connections, people-to-people, links with the United States, to keep doing that work. We know that Australians are great advocates, not just for this wonderful country, but for the great products that we produce. I'd encourage industry and business who are doing that advocacy to keep doing so.
CHENG: What can we expect from the Cabinet meeting in WA?
GORMAN: Tomorrow I'll welcome a range of colleagues here to host Cabinet in Perth, in the middle of the heart of the Perth CBD in my electorate. It will be great to have the Prime Minister and his senior ministers here. Talking not just about what's important for Western Australia, but continuing the work of implementing the agenda we took to the election. So, you've already seen some discussion about how we're getting on with the job of things like our commitment to cut HECS for some 3 million Australians. Our work to continue to implement the tax cuts that we took to the election. And our work to make sure that we do all those other things, like the big partnerships when it comes to education funding and Free TAFE that we put forward to the people of Australia just a month ago. So I'm looking forward to everyone coming here. It's the second formal Cabinet meeting of the second term of the Albanese Labor Government. But it is also good to see Western Australia on the national stage. In the Albanese Government, we take Western Australia really seriously. We recognise the enormous contribution that Western Australia makes to our national economy, the enormous opportunities that are here when it comes to our links to the rest of the world -
CHENG: - Will we see some progress on environment approval reforms, which the Premier is asking for?
GORMAN: Well, we've already had Minister Murray Watt here in Western Australia consulting with a range of groups who have interests in that policy. We, again, took to the election a commitment that we would look to establish an Environmental Protection Authority for Australia, because we see that the laws that we have at the moment aren't fit for purpose. They're more than 25 years old. I regularly have people from both environmental advocacy groups and business -
CHENG: - Thanks so much for that. And look forward to the news flow from the Cabinet meeting. Thanks so much for your time. Patrick Gorman, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister.
GORMAN: Thank you.