JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
A LEADER WHO’LL SHOW UP AND STAND UP FOR QUEENSLANDERS
REMARKS INTRODUCING ANTHONY ALBANESE, QUEENSLAND FEDERAL CAMPAIGN RALLY
BRISBANE
SUNDAY, 3 APRIL 2022
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Good morning everybody!
Can I acknowledge the traditional owners and say how proud I am that an Albanese Labor Government will implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Thanks to Anika, the committee and the workers here, for hosting us at Kedron-Wavell, a great neighbourhood club in Lilley, and an evacuation centre during the floods.
And thanks Terri for that characteristically kind introduction.
What an honour it is to serve with you in the shadow cabinet, with Shayne and Murray in the shadow ministry, and with Anika, Milton, Graham, Anthony and Nita as proud Queenslanders in our nation’s parliament.
And with Swanny as the keeper of the flame as ALP national president.
And to work for, and with, the mighty members, supporters, volunteers, unions and true believers of our labour movement.
Thank you for coming out in such numbers and with such enthusiasm.
What a time to gather.
A few days before the election’s called.
A few days after the Budget.
I’m proud of our response to the Budget, proud of Anthony’s reply, proud of the team which made it all happen.
Because another three years of stagnant wages, job insecurity and flatlining living standards can’t be the thanks Australians get for the sacrifices we’ve made for each other.
Neglect of older Australians and the essential workers who care for them – can’t be the thanks they get.
Generational debt without a generational dividend – can’t be the thanks Australians get.
We all understand our mission is to make our economy and our society stronger after COVID than it was before.
To learn the lessons of the pandemic – that we can’t have a healthy economy without healthy people.
And to ensure that as the national economy recovers, Queensland workers and industries are a big part of the story.
You see, budgets at their best lay the foundations for the future.
They tell a story about where people fit in an unfolding story of economic success, economic inclusion, and economic mobility.
Governments at their worst just push the most pressing challenges from this side of an election to the other.
Hoping the luck will run out on somebody else’s watch.
Australians deserve so much better than this.
We’ve seen what we can achieve in the most difficult times.
How much more could we achieve with real leadership?
With a real leader?
Not a Prime Minister who goes missing.
Not a Prime Minister who determines flood relief based on whether you live in a Labor seat, or a Coalition seat.
Or which side of the border.
Or the political affiliation of the Premier.
Time and time again, Scott Morrison turns his back on Queenslanders when we need him most.
Friends,
Real leadership is taking responsibility, not just taking the credit.
Not just pointing the finger of blame when things get difficult.
But most of all it’s bringing people together.
Finding common ground, applying common sense, for the common good.
Not looking for division or picking needless fights.
Not jetting into Queensland from time to time, staying just long enough to:
Bag Premier Palaszczuk;
Diminish and deride our collective efforts to battle the virus;
Overpromise and underdeliver on infrastructure;
Cuddle up and cosy up to Clive Palmer, Campbell Newman, Pauline Hanson – his Coalition of Chaos;
Pose with a Fourex tinny and the Lord Mayor;
Then turn around and disappear again.
Friends,
There’s a very clear pattern with Scott Morrison –
Those who know him best, who work with him the closest, who have the longest history with him – like him the least, and trust him even less.
When the election is finally called, the people will choose.
Between a Prime Minister who goes missing, points the finger and divides us.
Who is temperamentally incapable of taking responsibility and therefore temperamentally incapable of leadership.
Whose idea of transparency in government is a glass jaw.
A fake and a phony.
Or a real leader in Anthony Albanese, with a real plan, based on real interactions, with real people.
I’ve seen this for myself.
I’ve known him a long time.
Spent time with him in every corner of Queensland.
In good times and tough times.
Seen the way he listens, makes connections.
As a minister, and now as leader.
He doesn’t just show up when an election’s on.
He shows up and stands up when Australians need him.
When Queenslanders need him.
He takes responsibility, but shares the credit.
And he’ll bring us together again.
Because he’s as forward-looking, optimistic and compassionate as the people themselves.
An honorary Queenslander, with a real affinity for Queenslanders, who will govern for the whole country.
Please welcome the next Prime Minister of Australia – Anthony Albanese.
ENDS
