MICHAEL MOFFETT, AKA. MOFFEE, HOST: I want to have a chat because we've been talking about Defib hero, and we often speak to this bloke when Parliament in Canberra is about to start which is the case today. New South Wales Senator, Tim Ayres, Good morning, mate.

SENATOR TIM AYRES: Good morning Moffee. Good to be on the show. I think I heard the end of "You Give Love a Bad Name", Bon Jovi. I remember going to the Lismore record shop as a kid and I bought that. I In the same week I'd saved up and I bought a copy of “Slippery when Wet” and Steve Earle “Copperhead Road” and they were my first two records.

MOFFEE: Yeah, can't stand “Copperhead Road,” sorry.

SENATOR AYRES: You got to get a bit of country into you. It is one of those songs...maybe it's played a little too much, exactly. But that got me into country music, fantastic.

MOFFEE: Mate, you're in Canberra this week. We'll talk about parliament shortly but a campaign we've been getting right behind and a heap of the businesses around the Coffs coast have as well, is Defib Hero and, you know, we talked briefly off air about how important defibs are, not only [in] workplaces but just for the community as well.


SENATOR AYRES: Yeah, I'm really pleased to hear that the businesses are getting behind this, it does make a difference, it will make a difference. I know that in my previous life before I came into parliament, I was a leader in one of our trade unions and in the AMWU and we made sure we had defibrillation units installed on every floor of our office. They are easy to install. There's a number of suppliers, one of them I understand is Australian made, where you can go online and find that out for yourself, Moffee, but one of the firms that provides these are made in Australia. You never know when they might save a life.


MOFFEE: And that's exactly right. We spoke to the former Coffs Harbour mayor Denise Knight last week. And when she was the mayor, they were over in, Japan, on a train station, her husband had a heart attack. And that's what saved his life, was the fact that every stop on that train platform had a defib and she had to use the defib to bring him back to life and he's still here today.


SENATOR AYRES: Well, that's a wonderful story Moffee. I know Denise I had a cup of coffee with her a couple of years ago in the main street there in Coffs Harbour. She's dead right. Anybody who's got a personal experience of this kind of thing will be a passionate advocate for defibrillation and making sure, of course, that all of the other things that we can do to support heart health in the community, that we're backing that in, you know, making sure our health system is strong, giving people good choices to make so they look after themselves. But nothing beats, in that moment of crisis, knowing where their closest defibrillation unit is and knowing how to use it.


MOFFEE: Yeah, and with the app, the Defib Hero app, you download it, there's a map on there, and people just register their defib, and it shows up on the map. Then, where the locations are, the business community have put in a whole heap of money as well to be able to buy more of them. And then that way, when they can see where all the others are registered, they can see the holes of where, you know, we need to put one here, put one there and stuff like that, which is great. So, if you just download that app Defib Hero, and you can go to defibhero.com.au, and find it there as well. Tim, parliament back again today. What's on the agenda this week, mate?


SENATOR AYRES: Well, for those of us in the Senate, it's two weeks of budget estimates. So, budget estimates is a uniquely Australian process, really important part of our democratic institutions, where members of the Senate get to really cross examine officials and ministers about what's in the budget and the government's performance, you know, against those measures. So that's a real opportunity for accountability in our democratic system. And while it's not always fun, it's an important process. So, I'm looking forward to ten days starting at the beginning of the day, hearings finished at 11pm. It's a pretty punishing schedule but it's good for the democracy and good for people to have an insight into what's going on and I don't mind being asked the hard questions. I know none of the Albanese Labor government ministers, you know, we actually support that accountability. That's why we introduced a National Anti-Corruption Commission. That's why we've got a very strong record of replying to questions on notice and all of the other measures that are about transparency. I think democracy is stronger and the government is stronger when there's strong transparency. Beyond that, in the House of Representatives, we'll be introducing legislation to put the Net Zero Economy Agency in place making sure that we're building industrial diversification and a planned approach that supports good jobs, particularly in those regions that are energy intensive, but also looking for opportunities to go up the value chain and build manufacturing jobs in Australia and, Moffee, all the other priorities of the government; keeping a focus on the cost of living, tax cuts for every single Australian taxpayer, bigger tax cuts for 80% of them than were provided in the previous Morrison government's plan. So, that'll be the focus over the next couple of weeks in what's turned out to be a very cold Canberra morning.


MOFFEE: Well, it's a lovely looking day here today. I don't want to have to rub it in, but we are heading for about 22 degrees. Sixteen at the moment and it's looking good outside.


SENATOR AYRES: The surf's probably good too, which it's great. Nice steaming cup of coffee looking over the water there sounds pretty good. But I'm in here at Parliament House. Working hard, Moffee, and we love every second of it. You know, we've got a big job in front of us. The budget had to do two things. One is it had to focus on the here and now that is particularly those cost-of-living pressures. We've made big progress. Inflation has fallen to about half of what it was when we took office. But there's still work to do. And sometimes the last mile is the hardest mile. The second thing is setting the country up for the future and the Future Made in Australia, the biggest pro manufacturing package in our history. That is, for me, as the Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and for Assistant Minister for Trade that is a real focus of my work. And you know those two things, here and now setting the country up for the future, have a real focus as the government and that's what will dominate the parliamentary sittings over the fortnight.


MOFFEE: A very busy time as well. Tim always good to have a chat mate. And enjoy those late nights tonight and for the rest of the week.


SENATOR AYRES: Good on you, Moffee. Take it easy.


MOFFEE: Good on you, there he is, the New South Wales Senator Tim Ayres joining us this morning the Coffs Coast 106.3 Triple M.



ENDS