Transcript: Interview with Kieran Gilbert, Sky News - 17 March 2026

TRANSCRIPT

INTERVIEW WITH KIERAN GILBERT, SKY NEWS

17 March 2026

Topics: South Australian state election, agal bloom controversy, fuel crisis     

E&OE…………………………………

Kieran Gilbert: Welcome back to NewsDay. Joining me live in the studio is the Shadow Health and Aged Care Minister, Liberal Senator for South Australia, Anne Ruston. Thanks for joining us. Tomorrow, we've got the Sky News Advertiser Leaders Debate with Ashton Hurn and Premier Malinauskas. Is this a chance - do you think Ashton Hurn is able to push back against this One Nation surge? Can you save the furniture on the weekend? 

Anne Ruston: Look, absolutely. I think Ashton's a once-in-a-generation politician. I've been so incredibly impressed with her, as have I think a lot of South Australians when they've seen Ashton. We've seen her in a couple of debates where she's really taken it up to the Premier, and I think the Premier thought he was going to coast into Saturday and I think Ashton has really put up a good challenge. 

Kieran Gilbert: Do you think South Australians want to, you know – I don't think anyone's expecting her to win. Stranger things have happened, but I mean, that would be the upset of all upsets if she were. But do you think South Australians are saying, for a democracy, you need a good opposition? 

Anne Ruston: Well, I would absolutely argue that that is the case. I mean, a good government can only be as good as the opposition. And I think it is absolutely incumbent on the party of alternative government, which we are, the Liberal Party here in South Australia, that we need to be as strong as we possibly can be. And I think Ashton's shown that she can do the job. She can take it up to the Premier. But equally, it's an alternative - you know, we've heard a lot about One Nation. But I actually think that South Australians understand that a vote for One Nation is pretty much a vote for Peter Malinauskas and more Labor Members of Parliament. So, I think South Australians will see Ashton and say, yes, she's a great alternative, and they will vote for her. And so hopefully on Saturday, we will see that reflected in the poll. 

Kieran Gilbert: Well, you've been out and about at the pre-poll, at the booths, what are you picking up? Because obviously a lot of people voting early these days, have you got a sense that you might have, you know, you've got a good one with Ashton Hurn, is it showing up though in voter sentiment? 

Anne Ruston: Absolutely, people are actually walking up to you as you're handing out how to vote cards and actually making positive comments about Ashton and her performance. I think people are particularly polite on polling booths and I'm never going to be somebody silly enough to predict what the outcome on Saturday might be, but certainly people have been very positively predisposed towards our candidates. I've only been out in a couple of electorates, one yesterday and one Saturday, but the mood seems to be very strong and very positive towards us. 

Kieran Gilbert: The algal bloom controversy - I mean, it's been mother nature really causing chaos along and for the marine systems off the coast of Adelaide and South Australia. But in relation to the Government's response, the ABC reporting the last 24 hours that they didn't pass on the toxicity advice soon enough. What's your read on this from both a Federal Health Spokesperson level but also as a South Australian Senator? 

Anne Ruston: I think it's a pretty sad indictment that Peter Malinauskas would hide really important health information from South Australians and actually risk their health. We identified this six or so months ago when we had the inquiry here in South Australia and good on the ABC for picking it up. But, quite frankly, Peter Malinauskas has got a bit of answering to do. 

Kieran Gilbert: Is he hiding it or is he just taking the advice of the medical authorities? They seemed adamant that they had taken this precautionary sort of - they didn't want to overstep the mark on little evidence. And you saw it in that program on the ABC that the Chief Health Officer was adamant that they took the right steps. 

Anne Ruston: Well, they didn't have to look very far. I mean, there's precedent around the world where the toxicity of these sorts of blooms has impacted on human health. I mean, they had a case in France not that long ago where the Government was sued because of the lack of information that they were providing in terms of health advice. 

Kieran Gilbert: Blaming the Premier and the Minister, is that fair given the advice was coming from their health experts and marine experts?

Anne Ruston: At the end of the day, the buck stops with the Premier and it stops with the Minister and it stops with the Government. And a government can't hide behind, you know, "I got a bit of bad advice from my department." And, quite frankly, it appears to me as if the Department was covering up. Now, whether they let that information through to the Premier or not, I don't know. But there was enough evidence around the world for the Government to have known that this was a real issue and the fact that they sought to hide it, I think the Premier's got some answering to do.

Kieran Gilbert: No doubt it will come up in our Sky News Advertiser Leaders' Debate tomorrow. On the sort of national issues around - look at the fuel supply, the Middle East uncertainty continues to wreak havoc right around the nation. Obviously in South Australia and Adelaide as well, people are feeling it at the bowser, expecting another rate rise this afternoon from the RBA. But in terms of the fuel supplies, what's the latest advice that you've got from South Australia, the regions? Is it getting out to where it needs to be for our agriculture sector? 

Anne Ruston: Well, no. I mean, I think that's the bottom line. I mean the amount of - [interrupted]. 

Kieran Gilbert: It's still not? 

Anne Ruston: Well, everybody that we've spoken to, all the media that's reporting is saying that there is a real crisis. People can't get access to fuel. The cost of the fuel, if they can get access to it, is very high and sometimes they're being rationed. So, the question for Mr Malinauskas, who has come out and said there's no issue with supply - well, if there's no issue with the supply, there must be an issue with supply chain. And so, what is he doing and what is the Federal Government doing if they've got an adequate supply, making sure that supply is where it needs to be? That's in the tanks of tractors and in the tanks of people's cars and there seems to be a problem. 

Kieran Gilbert: Is it companies gouging or holding back on supply? These shocks surely not a moment to be capitalising on it from a corporate perspective, are they? 

Anne Ruston: Well, this is why governments need to make sure that they've got strong regulations in place so these sorts of things can't happen and, you know, the Government - "nothing to see here, nothing to see here" and then there was a crisis. I mean, the mixed messaging is really quite frightening and I think Australians quite rightly in South Australia are quite nervous about what the future holds in relation to their access to fuel and particularly our farmers who, you know, we've had some great rains and they obviously want to get their crops in. But they're now suffering from the incredible increases in the cost of living across the nation, which was well in place before the actions in the Middle East, and we're seeing skyrocketing fuel prices and skyrocketing fertiliser prices. I mean, it is just a triple whammy on Australian consumers and particularly our farmers at the most difficult time that you could imagine. 

Kieran Gilbert: And you can understand why a lot of Australians would be feeling a fair bit of uncertainty, because we don't know when the conflict ends either. 

Anne Ruston: Well, we don't know when the conflict ends, but I don't think anybody's taking great comfort in the mixed messaging that's been coming out of the Government over the last few weeks, because I think Australians deserve to be told the truth and they need to have transparency about what's going on. One minute the Government's saying - [interrupted]. 

Kieran Gilbert: They've released that supply from the fuel reserve, the security fuel reserve. Do you welcome that? I mean, that's flowing or should be flowing soon. 

Anne Ruston: Well, is it flowing? I mean, we've had the announcement, which is something this government's pretty good at is making announcements, but I don't think we've even seen the paperwork finalised to actually get the fuel out the door and into the tanks that we need. So, I think the Government's actually got to not just make announcements and make statements, they've actually got to demonstrate that they're going to follow through with them, because Australians out there are really hurting. I mean, they've been hurting for a very long time and today, sadly, it appears that there's very likely that we'll another interest rate rise, so that's just another hit on the budgets of Australians that they can least afford. 

Kieran Gilbert: Yeah, indeed. It's not an easy time, that's for sure, for many households around the nation. Liberal Senator for South Australia, Anne Ruston, thank you.

ENDS