E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SUNRISE
MONDAY, 23 March 2026
TOPICS: South Australia election result; Fuel supply.
NATALIE BARR: For their take, let's bring in Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek and One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce. Good morning to you. Tanya, do all federal and state governments need to heed the advice of the South Australian Premier?
MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES, TANYA PLIBERSEK: Well, Peter Malinauskas and his team had a terrific win on the weekend and congratulations to them for it. They really focused on issues that are important to people. They've got a really good, strong economy in South Australia. The Premier is very focused on housing. They've got great education and health policies. They really focused on three year kinder, making sure that public schools are genuinely free so that things like school camps and so on are also covered. And I think that really resonated with South Australians. It was a very good win and Peter Malinauskas should be congratulated for it.
BARR: Tanya, wasn't it more than that? As he said, One Nation came in, Malinauskas' words, with no South Australia policy offering. But it was more than that. He said it was the vibe, they tapped into other concerns people had about patriotism, about Australia first. Do you think there is something that you guys could learn from this?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I think Peter Malinauskas is a really strong political figure and he really was pursuing policies that like gelled with the electorate. Yes, One Nation had a high vote down there. We’re yet to see whether they're going to win any or many seats, and the seats that Peter Malinauskas and his team have won have increased. So, I think the One Nation story is a really interesting and important thing for us to look at and understand. But the real winner on the weekend was Peter Malinauskas. On what you said about patriotism Nat, that I do think this is an important part of our story. Like we are all proud Australians, and you know, my parents migrated here in the 1950s and I feel absolutely grateful every single day that they did. I know that my brothers and I had a better life here than they would have, than we would have had if my parents had stayed in the former Yugoslavia after the Second World War. I'm grateful every day for the choices they made and the sacrifice they made. And that's how they raised us. And I think that's how a lot of Australian migrants feel. They feel grateful every single day to be part of this great country.
BARR: Barnaby, One Nation has consumed half the Liberal vote in South Australia. Congratulations. You're looking at one to four seats in the lower house. It's obviously a long way from the 35 Mr Malinauskas is set to win. Will One Nation ever actually take away seats from Labor?
BARNABY JOYCE: Well, I think they did take away Labor votes and I just listened to four and a half minutes of Tanya not answering the question, which is what Peter Malinauskas said is, are you for Australia? Which it was quite clear. So, he's giving a warning that you better understand the seismic shift out there in Australia, which means are you for Australia? Would suggest that you should be voting One Nation. It's quite clear. And that's what a lot of people are doing, because people are seeing One Nation with the clarity, the unity, the strength to say the clear message which attracts the vote. Now, One Nation has gone from nowhere to. We do have seats, like three upper house seats and definitely one, possibly five in the lower house, so, that's ridiculous. And when Peter Malinauskas says, and I'll repeat it, he says, "are you for Australia?", which clearly indicates he believes some people are not. Quite obviously, that is the rejoinder for that one. And congratulations to Carlos Quaremba and to Cory Bernardi and obviously to Pauline. It was an incredible result in South Australia. And congratulations to the South Australian people who've made a big step of not only changing South Australia, but changing Australia. And congratulations to the previous pollsters who are obviously getting the polls around about right, because there is a reflection now in the raw vote of what's happening across. And now we also-- And congratulations to the Labor Party who say in the paper that they're now going after One Nation. And the reason they're going after One Nation is quite clear because they see One Nation as the authentic opposition that actually has a clear message which they want to get rid of. We didn't hear them coming out and saying, we've got to get rid of the Liberal Party or got to get rid of the Liberal Democrats. No, they’ve got to get rid of One Nation. So, they have to play the man because they quite clearly know that One Nation clearly stands for something and clearly is the alternative to Labor.
BARR: Okay, let's move on. The Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, has backed working from home amidst the world's fuel crisis, saying it is a sensible idea for those who can work remotely and minimise fuel use. The international energy boss is in Canberra. He's saying the same thing. Tanya, are you encouraging people to work from home?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Oh, no, we're saying that if you can reduce your fuel use, then that would be a really helpful thing to do. But certainly we're not telling people that they must work from home [inaudible]--
BARR: Encouraging them to in a fuel crisis though?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, look, if you can that’s great. And I think a lot of Australians have really made this part of their regular routine as well. Just, you know, buy the fuel you need. There's plenty of fuel stocks there. We've got 38 days worth of petrol. We've got 30 days of diesel. We've got 30 days of jet fuel. There are definitely some distribution problems. We know that fuel is not getting out to regional communities in the way that it should. We've got a fuel coordinator on this. We've asked Ampol to prioritise fuel delivery to regional areas. We've got our two refineries working overtime. All of that fuel staying in Australia. We're negotiating with our countries in the region to make sure that the supplies keep coming. We are absolutely on the issue of fuel distribution and we're working very closely with the states and territories on that as well. But if people can take a bit of pressure off, they save themselves some money as well, that's a good thing too.
BARR: Barnaby, is it the government's fault if, if everyone's doing the wrong thing? It sounds like we're all hoarding.
JOYCE: Yeah, well, we're all fraudulent, aren't we? Tell me, how many days fuel supply they had in Walcha the other day, the other day. Zero. I tell you how much fuel supply they got in so many other towns in regional Australia? Zero. So, this 35 days, is that including the fuel on the water or does that the fuel that's on land? I mean, that's the issue because the International Energy Agency wants you to talk about the fuel that's on the land, not the fuels on ships. Unless you're going to turn yourself into a pirate and climb up the pirate chain and up the anchor chain, argh, and takeover the ship.
BARR: Okay, that is the 30 days that everyone that your government keeps talking about. Is that how much fuel we've got in Australia?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: It's measured in the same way it's always measured. Nat. Which is the fuel stocks that we've got. And, and I think the--
BARR: In Australia?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: --ships that are headed here as well. Well, it's not the fuel stocks we've got in Texas, which is the way that they were measured when Barnaby Joyce was the Deputy Prime Minister.
BARR: That was years ago. Is the 30 days is the fuel we have in this country or is some of it in ships on the way?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: And in ships on the way.
BARR: Okay, yeah.
JOYCE: Okay. That's not what the International Energy Agency [inaudible]--
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: But they're on the way, and they're landing every day.
BARR: Okay.
JOYCE: [inaudible] do you say the population of Australia is people in planes out in the sky? I mean, do you say the population of cattle in Australia [inaudible].
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Barnaby, it's measured in the same way as you when you were in charge [inaudible].
JOYCE: No, it's not. The problem is international-- You're wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong.
BARR: The problem is Tanya, dozens of fuel stations are empty.
JOYCE: The International Energy Agency is quite clear. It's got to be on Australian soil.
BARR: Hang on, hang on. Barnaby. Tanya. Problem is fuel stations are empty--
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: You're talking about two different measures.
JOYCE: I’m talking about the right one, you’re talking about the nonsense one.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: We absolutely acknowledge that there are, we absolutely acknowledge that there are problems in getting fuel supplies out to regional areas. That's why we've made sure that [inaudible]--
BARR: This is in Neutral Bay in Sydney. It's in the city.
JOYCE: [inaudible] When you say work from home [inaudible].
BARR: Hang on, Barnaby. Tanya, in the city, in the Sydney there's dozens empty like the little sign, no fuel.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: And that's exactly why we've released fuels from our emergency stocks. That's why we've got Ampol prioritising regional areas. It's why we've appointed a fuel coordinator. We know there are problems with distribution.
JOYCE: What’s Bowen?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: The most helpful thing people could do is just buy the fuel they need and no more. That's the most helpful thing people could do—
JOYCE: This is crazy [inaudible]
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: --and that there is the same amount of fuel coming as we've previously had. Barnaby, honestly, be a grown up for a change. Be a grown up for a change.
JOYCE: [inaudible] what you've just said is [inaudible] that you should just stay at home. Work from home.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I've said, I've said the most helpful thing people can do is only buy the fuel that they need if that--
BARR: Yeah, okay, try and work home if you can.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: It would be really helpful if you behaved as an adult.
BARR: No one knows why stations are empty though. Can't quite work that out. Okay, we'll see you next week.
Ends
