JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
4RO ROCKHAMPTON
TUESDAY, 20 JULY 2021
SUBJECTS: Central Queensland roadtrip; A future made in Australia; Rockhampton train manufacturing; Labor’s Full Employment White Paper; Russell Robertson, Shane Hamilton, Matt Burnett; Labor’s commitment to same job, same pay.
MICHAEL BAILEY, HOST: Jim Chalmers has just walked in, he's got a banana in hand, so he's going to be energised! It's breakfast I know, I know, it just never ends! We're talking with Jim. We know what's happening around Australia, but what about locally? Because I know that yesterday you were up in Moranbah. You actually visited a mine. Thank you very much. There's a perception there that Labor and mining just don't mix. But slowly but surely it is changing. Must be an election around the corner, eh?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Oh, it's not that, Michael. I think it is important that we show our support for the miners and their industry, and the communities that rely so heavily on mining. I think it's self-evident that mining and resources are such a big, important part of our economy. I want to be the Treasurer of this country. I want to make sure that I'm across what's happening in that sector, but also we're spending time in the ag sector while we're in Central Queensland, transport logistics, hospitality and tourism, manufacturing and construction. Because our view is if we want the national economy to recover strongly we need the regional economies in places like CQ to be a bigger part of the story. That means getting on the ground and talking to people who are running these businesses and working in these businesses and industries, to make sure that we can properly represent them.
BAILEY: Do you feel if you do retain the crown, there's going to be any money left to spend? Because the way money's being spent at the moment, regardless of who's in office because of the crisis that we're going through, it's gonna be pretty hard to sort of wrangle the books, isn't it?
CHALMERS: A couple of things about that, Michael. There's never been more debt in Australia than what’s in the Budget right now.
BAILEY: Yep.
CHALMERS: There's more than a trillion dollars in debt, which is many multiples of the highest it's ever been.
BAILEY: Can you just say that slowly?
CHALMERS: A trillion dollars.
BAILEY: A trillion dollars, oh my god!
CHALMERS: Yeah, twelve zeros. That is something that we're very conscious of and I think Australians are very conscious of that. The Budget is in really bad nick and we don't have enough to show for all of that debt. It's one thing to borrow and to spend to support each other when things are especially tough, but we want to make sure that we've got something to show for it, that we’re building something that lasts. I think that's why people are most worried about this debt. But the other point that gets lost, I think, is that debt had actually been multiplied by this Government before the pandemic. So the debt in the Budget isn't just because of the pandemic. It actually had multiplied even before then. So we've had an issue there before any of us could even spell coronavirus.
BAILEY: I like it. Now, I know Barry O'Rourke and of course our Mayor are looking at a 2030 plan. The white paper, the wish list I call it, because who knows who's going to be in power. But at least people are talking about what could be happening in our region. I know eight years ago it was jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. Now we can't find workers, workers, workers, workers. That's why our accommodation is almost down to zero. Try and rent something around town, it's near impossible. And it's happening up and down Queensland, but still we do need jobs for the future. And one of the big ones, I remember Robert Schwarten saying we will never close down the railway works in Rockhampton. “Over my dead body”. Well, I know for a fact that he’s still very much alive and he drinks at the Red Lion.
(LAUGHTER)
CHALMERS: Schwarto’s an institution in these parts!
BAILEY: So what's gonna happen with the rail infrastructure here because there's been a lot of talk from the state government trying to buy the land back. Now, these people are hanging out, no doubt for a profit.
CHALMERS: Well as it turns out, Michael, I'm heading there next. The railyard is the next stop on this visit and I'm seeing Barry O'Rourke there. I wanted to commend Barry and also Tony Williams, the Mayor, for the forward thinking that's in that Rocky 2030 White Paper. That's the kind of vision that we do want to see. We want to work closely, all levels of government should be working together closely. So where are the opportunities and where are the jobs going to come from in the future? You're right to point out that there are skill shortages in parts of the economy but we've also still got 1.7 million Australians who can't find a job or enough hours, so we've got to get better at matching opportunities with people. The railyards, as your listeners are more aware than anyone else in Australia obviously, when they closed down a couple of years ago, that was a hammer blow.
BAILEY: It was a kick in the guts.
CHALMERS: It was horrible. And people were, for good reason, really upset about it. Annastacia Palaszczuk, at Barry's urging, committed in the last election to buy some of it back. I think earlier this year the Council came up with a plan for the various uses for the railyard. The state government wants to play a big role there. Federally, we want to play a big role here. Anthony Albanese, who's a bit of a train guy.
BAILEY: Yep!
CHALMERS: He's a former Infrastructure Minister but he's massively into trains. He's described a future made in Australia, and a big part of that is manufacturing trains here. Maryborough's already got a slice of the action.
BAILEY: They've got all the slice! Win, win, win for Maryborough!
CHALMERS: We want Rocky to have a slice of the action. There's enough work to go around. For too long we've been building trains overseas and getting inferior products as a consequence. And we want Central Queensland to be part of that story too, and the railyards have a role to play there.
BAILEY: Okay, so is this hot air or can you actually see this happening in our lifetime? What I mean, is this going to happen in the next ten years or five years, or is it going to happen sooner than we expect?
CHALMERS: Building trains?
BAILEY: Yeah, in Rockhampton, getting it up and running again. Because there's hundreds of jobs long.
CHALMERS: Yeah, but I think there's a glass half empty version of it and there’s a glass half full version of it. I think there are hundreds of jobs to be created. I want to commend Annastacia Palaszczuk and Barry O'Rourke for saying that they'll come to the party. They want to play a role in those yards. And we've got a national policy about building trains here, building more broadly a future made in Australia, as Albo describes it. So I think between us - the Council doing that planning work, the State Government coming in with money and jobs, and with a Labor Government under Anthony Albanese with a bit of vision for the place - I think the future can be exciting here. That’s what Barry's White Paper is really all about. I'm looking forward to talking with him more about it during the course of today.
BAILEY: Okay, well I'm talking of course with Jim, the Shadow Treasurer for the Labor Party. Is this like a listening tour is it? You're just trying to find out what is happening out there?
CHALMERS: It’s partly that, it's a big part of it actually. I think leading is listening, that's my view. And if you don't understand Central Queensland, then you're not going to be as good as you need to be at representing the interests here and the people here. Part of that is electing Russell Robertson here in Capricornia, and Shane Hamilton and Matt Burnett. We've preselected three amazing candidates in this part of the world. And we want them to be a voice in Canberra. One of the reasons why I wanted to do this job and be the alternative Treasurer - and hopefully the Treasurer - is because I want regional Queensland to have a more prominent voice. And when we're talking about our economy, there's opportunities here and we want more people to grab them.
BAILEY: So when are we going to see a White Paper from yourself?
CHALMERS: When it comes to jobs, what we’ve said is we'll have a White Paper on full employment, which recognises, a bit like we were talking about a moment ago Michael, yes we've got some jobs and opportunities but you need to make sure people can actually grasp them. That people are trained for them. That they're good, secure, well-paid jobs. If you think about mining for example, we want to make sure that two guys in the same pit might be doing the same job but be getting paid differently. That’s a problem. There are safety issues, job security issues, casualisation, we want to do all of that. And that's our priority when it comes to white papers.
BAILEY: When are we going to get rid of casualisation, I mean that's the bugbear for most workers. Although some of these guys on casual actually earn more sometimes, but then they lose all these other penalties. So when is that being scrapped?
CHALMERS: Well some of them earn less as well. Regardless, our view is if you’re doing the same job you should get the same pay. I drove hundreds of kilometres yesterday with Russell Robertson, our candidate here. He's a miner in a multi-generational mining family.
BAILEY: But when do you think it’ll disappear or is this just talk?
CHALMERS: You need a federal government who's on people's side.
BAILEY: You’ll squash it?
CHALMERS: We are going to act on same job, same pay.
BAILEY: Great. In your first term?
CHALMERS: Yeah, that's our intention, absolutely.
BAILEY: I love it! That's what it's all about, Jim! Thanks very much for coming in. Enjoy your trip to Emerald and you know the door is always open.
CHALMERS: I can enjoy my banana now.
BAILEY: And get energised!
CHALMERS: Thanks for your time Michael, good to talk to you.
ENDS
