Transcript – ABC Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas

Angie Bell MP

Shadow Minister for the Environment

Shadow Minister for Youth

Federal Member for Moncrieff

TRANSCRIPT

ABC Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas

22 July 2025

Subjects: 48^th Parliament, The Liberal Party’s strong leadership moving forward under Sussan Ley, SA’s algal bloom crisis, EPBC reform.

E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………………………

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

The Greens have been arguing for a climate trigger in the laws that would force the Federal Minister to take climate impact into consideration. They’re going to be presenting that as a private member’s bill tomorrow. I want to get the opposition’s perspective now and bring in the Shadow Environment Minister, Angie Bell. Welcome to the program.

ANGIE BELL:

Great to be with you, PK.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

What are your reflections on today and the way that the pomp, the ceremony, the speech from the Governor-General that we think very carefully about the tone about anger in the debate? How did that land on you?

ANGIE BELL:

I think the Governor-General speaks exceptionally well. It’s a privilege and it’s an honour, PK, to be here in the 48th Parliament for myself and my third term representing my constituency and I’m very proud, of course, of Gold Coasters and to represent them. But it’s been a fantastic day, today, and it is pretty fast-paced and we all have to keep up with what’s going on.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Yeah, it’s like, where do I go next? Another chamber. You had to go back and forth?

ANGIE BELL:

We did. We had to wait for the Black Rod and then follow it back to the Senate.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

It is wonderful to watch it unfold. In terms of the Parliament itself, you must have been sitting there thinking, well, we’ve only got a third of the chamber now and there are only six Liberal women, you being one of those six Liberal women.

ANGIE BELL:

Sussan Ley also being one of those six Liberal women, who I have to highlight is our leader. And that is something that’s very special in the Liberal Party. It’s actually something at the moment that the Labor government doesn’t have. I mean, I understand that they’ve got a lot of women, but we actually have a woman who is a leader for the first time, and I think Sussan will leave a legacy.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

But there are a majority of women in the Labor cabinet. That is not the story for the Coalition. The numbers don’t lie. Does that make you uncomfortable, to sit on the side with so few women, just as the optics, the environment, all of it?

ANGIE BELL:

It doesn’t make me uncomfortable. If I was uncomfortable in the Liberal Party I wouldn’t be in the Liberal Party. I’m representing Liberals because I believe in reward for effort and I believe in my journey and that is for hard work and keeping more of what you earn. Smaller government obviously, is a big part of that as well. But I don’t feel uncomfortable. I’ve always worked in a lot of areas and business in the music industry, very male-focused.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Yeah, it is.

ANGIE BELL:

So, I’m used to, you know, the company of men, and there are some very good men who have mentored and helped me in the Liberal Party. So, no, I don’t feel uncomfortable at all.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

No, it’s not so much uncomfortable. Perhaps I framed the question wrong, uncomfortable around their company. Men are excellent. I just spent an hour with David Speirs, he’s wonderful. But it’s more about being so outnumbered when in Australia of course, if you go into a workplace, women have high numbers. They’re participating in the workforce, but it’s not reflected on your side. Do you need quotas to try and break that?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, that’s something for the states to come up with during the process of the meetings that our state divisions have. I think, of course, we need more women in the Parliament. I’ve always championed women. In my own pre-selection, there were five women and four men, and a woman prevailed, happened to be me, the best on the day. But certainly, I think that Sussan Ley is now the Leader of the Opposition, and she is there on merit because she is the best person in the party, who is female.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

What’s your message to people trying to cut her down, undermining her?

ANGIE BELL:

Don’t.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Don’t?

ANGIE BELL:

Don’t.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Does it worry you that it’ll happen?

ANGIE BELL:

Sussan has 100 per cent support from me and many of my colleagues support her absolutely wholeheartedly and my message to the opposition party room is to unite and support Sussan.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Just let’s get to your portfolio. The algal bloom crisis, really, in South Australia it hasn’t been officially designated as a national disaster, but actually the South Australian Premier said he thinks it is. How do you view it?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, I welcome the funding, finally, from the federal government, who’s been flat-footed on this. And, you know, Murray Watt was patting himself on the back last week for sending down a departmental representative, and now he’s done a quick dash down to South Australia before Parliament resumes because of pressure from his colleagues. So, I think the government hasn’t been listening and they speak the big speak on environment, but they haven’t been delivering.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Is it a national emergency? Is it a national disaster, as you see it?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, I think there are a lot of boxes that the government has to tick in order to make it a national disaster, and that is a decision for them.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

But you don’t rebuke their lack of calling it that? Because the Greens just yesterday, Sarah Hanson-Young sitting in that chair, said to me, then, the definitions should be changed. Is it worth doing that?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, what I rebuke is the lack of the government listening to South Australians, whose coastline has been decimated, and this government has taken 18 months to actually reply to eminent scientists who have asked for $40 million for 10 years, PK.

Which is not a lot of money in the big scheme. They wanted to be able to monitor the waters off South Australia. This is encroaching on the Great Southern Reef, so, it’s of huge consequence to South Australians, to livelihoods and of course to the environment that we need to protect.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

It’s devastating for so many layers including of course business as well. So, on that, $14 million sounds like a drop in the ocean. Do you think this should be a bigger investment in such a big crisis?

ANGIE BELL:

Poor choice of words about drop of the ocean there.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Or maybe good choice of words, depends how you want to see it.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

PK, but, you know, when the Minister did his press conference, he couldn’t exactly outline what that money would go towards. But I suggest that livelihoods on the Yorke Peninsula. on the Fleurieu Peninsula, have been decimated and the government should be leading on the front foot, not on the back foot and not on the flat foot.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Just finally, the environment laws, which I mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, that Murray Watt is now negotiating and talking to lots of stakeholders to come up with a new form of legislation. Is your door open on that? Because it seemed very closed under Peter Dutton’s leadership.

ANGIE BELL:

Well, reform of the EPBC Act is in the national interest. We know that our environmental laws are broken, and we need to work in the interest of the nation. I have already met with the Minister and we have discussed moving forward on EPBC reform.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

So, you want to be part of that because they can turn to the Greens, we know that. You want to be the pathway to pass these laws?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, I think if Labor were to go in partnership with the Greens on EPBC reform, that would be disastrous for, again, livelihoods, for industry. It would decimate thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of jobs around the country. And so, I think on EPBC reform, we need to strike a balance.

And that balance needs to be minimising red tape, of course, and approvals, but also protecting our environment.

PATRICIA KARVELAS:

Angie Bell, lovely to have you on the desk.

ANGIE BELL:

My pleasure, PK.

ENDS.