Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General
AMES O'LOGHLIN, HOST: Now, the Australian of the Year will be announced on Sunday on, obviously, Australia Day. Don't hold your breath, if it was going to be you, you would have heard by now. So if you haven't heard anything, perhaps unjustly, you've missed out. The New South Wales Australian of the Year in the running for the top award is Kath Koschel, founder of the Kindness Factory. We'll hear from her in a moment. But firstly, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Pat Gorman joins me. Good morning.
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: Morning, James. And like you, I'm not in the running for this either, but there are some outstanding nominees.
O'LOGHLIN: It is a bitter pill, though, isn't it? When you know, kind of early January rolls around every year and no one contacts you, it does hurt a bit.
GORMAN: Well, I feel particularly for those of you who work for the ABC, because obviously Dr Karl is nominated to be Senior Australian of the Year, and you missed out, James, and that's tough, but you know there are setbacks that we all have in life.
O'LOGHLIN: I've never liked Dr Karl, and now I dislike him even more. That's not true. I love Dr Karl. He's wonderful. So tell us, give us an overview of the candidates. Maybe start with New South Wales, but let's not be too too blinkered and biased to our own state.
GORMAN: Oh, look what we've got is we've got 38 nominees from across the country. Every state and territory puts forward one of their very best to be chosen for Australian of the Year. We welcomed them all here to Canberra last night, we'll be taking them to Government House this afternoon, giving them the opportunity to really see some of the best of our nation's capital. And then tomorrow night, the Prime Minister will announce the Australian of the Year. But look, let's start in New South Wales. Kath Koschel is an incredible human. She had a number of significant setbacks. She broke her back, was told she was never going to walk again. You're going to hear her story in a moment. But then she went on to found the Kindness Factory, and that is about, sort of the power of kindness, and again, sending something out into the world that really impacts more lives than the number of people she'll ever meet or see in person. She is an incredible Australian, and I think really personifies the sort of people that we're trying to recognise with these awards, people who do something for others.
O'LOGHLIN: Well, the New South Wales Australian of the Year, Kath Koschel was on Breakfast this morning and told Craig about the Kindness Factory.
KOSCHEL [PRE-RECORDED]: So we're a not for profit, and we foster kindness in the community via an Act of Kindness Log that has registered over 8 million people doing an act of kindness, but also, maybe more importantly, what we've created out of those 8 million acts of kindness is set points of data that help us teach kids the power of kindness. So they're things like empathy, gratitude, self acceptance, positivity, trust, honesty, humour, etc, and that's now being used in three and a half thousand Aussie schools, and beyond that, globally, in the UK and the USA as well. So essentially, what we're doing is using kindness as a vehicle to stamp out things like anti social behaviour, domestic violence, bullying in the schoolyard, and then to increase behaviours like mental health and resilience as well. So it's having some great results so far. We've seen lots of improving statistics within the school environment and also the communities that are embracing the programs as well.
O'LOGHLIN: You should get her in at Question Time!
GORMAN: Well, I actually did joke with Kath last night. I was like, 'well, Kath, you've founded the Kindness Factory. I work at Parliament House, so we are on two very different ends of the spectrum.'
O'LOGHLIN: Now, Minister, tell us about some of the other the other nominees in the running for the well, I guess the main award, the Australian of the Year.
GORMAN: We won't go through them all. There's too many to mention, but I will just mention Di and Ian Haggerty. Nominees from Western Australia, who have done incredible work when it comes to natural farming, sort of showing that you can farm in ways that is in partnership with nature, produce some of the best wheat that you'll find anywhere in Australia, anywhere on Earth. And just have spent thirty years perfecting their farming techniques, and now share that information with international organisations trying to find more sustainable ways of doing what Australia does so well, which is agriculture. Then you've got people like Martha Jabour, who's nominated for New South Wales Local Hero. She founded the Homicide Victims Support Group. And she was telling me yesterday that she's had, I won't say who, but senior political leaders from a number of states reaching out to her, looking at what she's built in New South Wales and whether that can be replicated in other states. Particularly with the organisation she's built Grace's Place, which is about providing support, particularly for children who are victims of crime.
O'LOGHLIN: Feels like over the last, I don't know, decade or so, there's been a move away from lots of sports people and Australian cricket captains towards more, I guess, unsung heroes, people who aren't household names but are doing really good things, like the people you've described.
GORMAN: It's a mix, and there is no there is no template for who can be Australian of the Year. And it's different at different moments in our history. One of the things we've actually done is gather some of the former recipients of Australian of the Year for the 65th anniversary, which is this year. So we've got Robert de Castella, an amazing runner who founded the Indigenous Marathon Foundation. I've had the opportunity to meet Athol Guy and Keith Potger from the Seekers, which was pretty amazing. People who've sort of been part of the soundtrack of Australia. They received the award - the first group to receive the award - back in 1967. Dr Fiona Wood, Mark Taylor is here who does fit the category of Australian cricket captain. But it's about people who are doing more than just their day job, that whatever it is that they're doing is a passion that drives them, and it drives them because they know they can use that work to uplift others.
O'LOGHLIN: What is the criteria, or is it more a vibe thing?
GORMAN: It is a vibe. And it is up to the National Australia Day Council, which is an independent board who decides on the Australian of the Year. But it is about reflecting national pride, national unity, and uplifting Australians. And that's what I hope for those who tune in to the ABC tomorrow night at 7:30pm to watch the awards. I hope that that's what people see.
O'LOGHLIN: I'm talking to the Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Pat Gorman. Pat, I can't have a politician on without asking you how you feel about new polls showing Peter Dutton has taken the lead as preferred PM over Anthony Albanese. Not great news for you.
GORMAN: James, what I know is that it is an election year, and what I know for all of your listeners is that there are going to be polls. Every couple of days, they're going to say all sorts of different things. And what we know is that those pollsters are out there calling your listeners, trying to get responses for those polls. No mobile phone is safe in an election year from a pollster, everyone will get asked for their opinion. The only time we actually get people's opinions when they go in and vote on election day. Like yourself and your listeners, I am waiting for the Prime Minister to at some point in the next few months tell us when that election will be. But I think also it is time for a bit more scrutiny on Mr. Dutton. What actually is his plan for Australia? What does he intend to do? Because so far, the plans that I've heard, we've heard more of what he wants to not do than what he does want to do. I mean, the thing I am concerned about as the Assistant Minister for the Public Service is the massive cuts that are planned for our public service: 36,000 public servants. He was saying it again today. They want to cut our public service by 20 per cent. And just on a practical basis, that means longer queues at Centrelink, people waiting longer for their packages from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and it means poorer services for Australians. So I know what Mr. Dutton doesn't want to do. I don't think Australians have a very good idea of what he does want to do.
O'LOGHLIN: We might have just heard the first of what will be 8000 Q and A's over the next few months, of questioner asking about a poll and politician saying a variation of 'the only one that matters is on election day.' So let that glorious tradition begin. You said scrutiny, but there must be added scrutiny also to the Prime Minister when after Labor sweeping to power and seemingly having an unassailable, an unassailable lead - everyone was talking about, at least two terms for the ALP Government. Anthony Albanese, with the benefits of incumbency, is no longer the preferred Prime Minister of as many Australians as Peter Dutton.
GORMAN: Well, if you talk about scrutiny and being accountable, the Prime Minister will be at the Press Club later today, standing in front of many of your colleagues in front of the National Parliamentary Press Gallery, answering questions about our entire agenda and our plans for the future. We will have these polls. They will come and go. There's going to be one or two a week, probably more, as we get closer and closer to an election. But really, what I'd encourage all Australians to do is to think about, well, who has the better plan for you to build Australia's future? And again, that's what we've been out talking about today, our plan to invest in apprentices. $10,000 incentive payment to get more apprentices building more homes for more Australians. I mean, that's a good idea. I'd actually like to see, you know, in my view, that's the sort of idea that the Coalition should just come out and say, yep, Labor's right on that one. We'll back it. We'll copy it.
O'LOGHLIN: Anything you want to, you know, leak to us about what the Prime Minister will say the Press Club? Any new announcements?
GORMAN: It is not my job to make the Prime Minister's announcements for him. I will leave that to him. The speech is less than three hours away. I think we can all wait.
O'LOGHLIN: And finally, Minister, what are you doing on Australia Day?
GORMAN: I'll be here in the nation's capital. I have the honour of being responsible for Australia Day and things within the government. So I'll be sitting on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin alongside the Prime Minister, our newly-minted Australian of the Year and others for what we call the National Citizen Citizenship and Flag-Raising Ceremony, a great occasion, which is also broadcast on the ABC.
O'LOGHLIN: Thanks for the plugs. And the great thing about Australian of the Year, all the nominees are such nice people that those who don't get it won't be going, 'oh, that's unfair, you know, Pat, that's that's such a rip off.' They won't be doing that. They're too nice.
GORMAN: Yeah, it's not like the Grammys, where you see all the people doing the fake clapping, pretending they're happy for the person who won when they didn't. People are genuinely happy for one another. And that is one of the really amazing things. Seeing these little communities form as they all connect. The Young Australians of the Year, of course, have already got the group chat going. They dived in early, so they're all chatting on their phones already. And I think we can all, whoever is the recipient of the award. We can all be happy for them.
O'LOGHLIN: Yeah, I can kind of be, and I'll start my run, as I'm sure you will, for next year. Thanks for your time this morning, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Pat Gorman.
GORMAN: Thanks, James.
