RHIANNON ELSTON [HOST]: Welcome back. The Prime Minister has begun laying out his policy plans after a decisive victory for Labor at the weekend. Joining me live is Queensland Senator and Assistant Minister for Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm. Senator, good morning to you and thanks for joining us. Labor has obviously done very well in Queensland. What do you put that down to?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Well, I put it down to the steady and decisive leadership from the Prime Minister who governed for all of Australia in the last term and particularly spent a lot of time in Queensland, and I think that paid dividends on Saturday. I think that the policy agenda that we ran with around cost of living relief, HECS debt relief, and also our future vision around Medicare were all part of the Prime Minister's message that resonated strongly with Queenslanders. We had a fantastic bunch of candidates as well, who've all been so impressive during the campaign and since. So, I think we had a lot of ingredients that really worked. But it started with the Prime Minister, who led from the front and really delivered for Queensland in the last term of government, and now we've got a few more caucus members to contribute to that as well, which is fantastic.

ELSTON: What about the idea that people just weren't that inspired by Peter Dutton and his policies? Did that play a role?

CHISHOLM: There's no doubt that that was a factor in the campaign. You didn't have to stay very long on pre-poll before you had people coming through saying they just couldn't bring themselves to vote for Peter Dutton. So, there's no doubt that he was a negative. And I think the challenge for Peter Dutton was that even in his own home state, where he was best known, he was a negative when it came to the election, and it did cost them votes. But I don't want to undersell the achievements of the Prime Minister in our campaign in that regard and the positive vision that we outlined. So, whilst it was a factor, I don't think it was the overwhelming one. And I think people did see a brighter future under an Albanese Labor Government, and that's what they voted for amongst vast parts of Queensland for the first time in a long time on Saturday.

ELSTON: Well, the Prime Minister has announced his initial plans. What are your priorities as Assistant Minister for Regional Development, presuming that that's the role you'll stay in?

CHISHOLM: Yeah, I'm really excited and looking forward to continuing to work as part of an Albanese Government. Obviously, the decisions on who fills what role will be for the Prime Minister. But I think the good thing about the collegiate way the Prime Minister works is that there's always valuable roles you can play as part of the caucus. We'll obviously have a few additional members, but I love spending time in regional Queensland and regional Australia. So, certainly no matter what job I've got, I'll be spending as much time as I can in regional Queensland. I've got a few less duty seats in South East Queensland now, which is good. But getting out and about across the state is something that I've always really enjoyed and it'll be great to do that, no matter what role I'm playing as part of the Albanese Government into the future.

ELSTON: Are you heading to Canberra on Friday? Are you hoping for a promotion?

CHISHOLM: I'll be there on Friday. Absolutely. As part of the caucus. I'm relaxed. I've enjoyed the role that I've played over the last three years as an Assistant Minister. I've felt that I've been able to make a contribution to the team, but those are matters for the Prime Minister. I'm relaxed and I look forward to continuing to play my role as a Senator for Queensland. I often say that being a Senator for Queensland is the best job in the world, and I'll continue in that for the next three years.

ELSTON: Your state has obviously seen a huge amount of flooding over recent months. But farmers in the south east of the country are really dealing with very dry conditions. As drought intensifies, they're calling for more politicians to come and visit them, see what it's about. Do you support that? Do you think we should see more people from your party showing up in the south-east?

CHISHOLM: I think when you do have these natural disasters, you do learn more from being on the ground. That’s what I found when I was out in Quilpie and Longreach when the floods hit during the election campaign with the Treasurer and the Emergency Management Minister. I've been to a lot of places that have been impacted by floods and water damage this year as well, and I've been at farms down in Victoria recently. I think it's always important to get out and about. We're obviously a big country and it’s not possible to get everywhere. But I do feel as though when you do get on the ground, you do learn more and I'm sure that whichever Ministers are put in charge of those portfolios again that they'll be out and about across the country as quickly as they can.

ELSTON: Your former staffer, Emma Comer, has done well there in Queensland. Did that result come as a surprise?

CHISHOLM: Look, it was a surprise. I did not expect the swing to be that good. But Emma's been someone who's been active in her community for a period of time now. She's someone who brought a great deal of personality and work ethic to her campaign, so it's pleasing to see that that was rewarded in a seat that the LNP had taken for granted for too long. And I think we saw that across a number of seats in the south-east corner, where the swings were just a bit bigger than what we anticipated. And that was enough to elect some new Labor MPs. So, I'm really excited to work with Emma. I think she'll make a great contribution to her local community, along with so many of those new MPs who were elected on Saturday. I hope and expect that they'll be diligent workers and hope they'll be around for a long time to come.

ELSTON: It was reported that the party was so underwhelmed by her chances that they had to be convinced to pay for corflutes. Is that true?

CHISHOLM: No, I haven't heard that one but it couldn't be further from the truth. From my experience, she's someone that I've always had a lot of time for, and I thought she campaigned strongly, enjoyed good party support and is someone that I think will really fit into the role of being a MP in Parliament well, as she’s a real advocate for her community and they've got some challenges in that part of the world. There is some growth. There is an ageing population as well in parts of the electorate. So, I think that Emma will be someone who's active, diligent and will do a great job representing Petrie after they've been ignored by the previous MP for so long.

ELSTON: All right, Anthony Chisholm, thank you so much for your time.

CHISHOLM: Thanks, Rhiannon.