JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC BRISBANE DRIVE
MONDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2021

SUBJECT/S: News Media Bargaining Code; Closing the Gap; Labor’s plan for secure, well-paid jobs.

STEVE AUSTIN, HOST: Jim Chalmers is Labor's Shadow Treasury spokesperson. Jim Chalmers, how does the ALP feel about the News Media Code and the direction the federal government has brought it to this point?

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: G’day, Steve. Well, we haven't seen what the new amendments are. I think what the Treasurer was flagging today was that he's come to arrangements with some of the big players here, but we don't really know what they are yet. We know that there's a good chance that they hit the parliament this week, but we haven't seen them in any detail. And I guess the point that we make is, we've said all along, I've said to you probably three or four times in the last few months, that, in principle, we do support the idea that journalists get paid for their content. Our concern is that Josh Frydenberg has overpromised and underdelivered for much of the last year. He said he'd have it all done and dusted last year, we're into February now, and it's still not fixed, and we still haven't seen these amendments that he's talking about today. So, it would be a bit irresponsible for us to commit or not commit, having not seen them, but people know where we're coming from. In principle, we think the direction’s right, but we're worried about the uncertainty created by the government making such a hash of this for so long.

AUSTIN: It will require online platforms like Google or Facebook to pay to display original journalism, now it looks like Seven West Media might have come to their own arrangement today, although I haven't read the details. Some people suggested to me why should old media be protected or be funded by new media, when new media has been so successful, and you’re rewarding bad performance, didn't change with the times, didn't make what their audience wanted.

CHALMERS: Yeah, I’ve heard those arguments, Steve. And no doubt after we speak today, I'll hear a bit more of it on social media! I understand where people are coming from, but I think if you start from a position that journalists, such as yourself, your colleagues there, and in other outlets, are creating something of value, then there should be some sort of return for that. I think at the most basic level, I think there's even an acceptance of that in in really all corners of the industry. The issue is how we go about it. You mentioned that Seven deal with Google, that's what's supposed to happen within the boundaries of a Code, that the organisations would strike deals.

And the other point that I'd make is, and this is a credit to my colleague Michelle Rowland, who is our Communications spokeswoman in our team, she pushed really hard for the ABC and the SBS to be included in this arrangement. In the original incarnation of this, the government wanted to leave the ABC and the SBS out, but in her view, and our view as a Labor team, was ABC and SBS should be in. They’re now in, that's a good thing. We always look to make improvements, but the fundamental principle, I think is largely agreed. It's really how you go about implementing it. We haven't heard or seen yet how the government intends to clean up this mess they've made in more recent times.

AUSTIN: My understanding, it should be on the Notice Paper this week? Has it not actually appeared on the Notice Paper for federal parliament this week?

CHALMERS: It wasn’t on the original, no. It might surprise you to hear, Steve, I don't speak fluent ‘parliamentary procedure’! in all regards. I'm told that there are ways that it can come on…

AUSTIN: Okay

CHALMERS:…without necessarily being on the Paper.

AUSTIN: Alright. It's said that countries around the world are watching the Australian model, because everyone has the same problem, all democracies at least, have the same problem. And that if this gets up it will radically change the landscape for digital or new media. Do you give the government any credit that they've basically bitten the bullet and tried to do what almost no one else on planet Earth has been able to successfully, or didn't have the courage to do, up until now?

CHALMERS: Well, I think the original intent is something that we've been positive about already. I think governments get credit when they manage to land things successfully and beneficially. We haven't seen that yet, so I think that would be premature. But in terms of the general direction, I think I've probably acknowledged to you, we've certainly acknowledged publicly many times, that we are in the car. What really matters is what model, whether you're creating or alleviating some of the uncertainty in the industry. You're right that there's been massive changes, I don’t need to tell you about that, over recent times, but the law needs to keep up with that. And to do that, you need to consult and land things and deliver on your promises.

AUSTIN: Where do you get your news from, Jim Chalmers? You personally?

CHALMERS: Well, it comes at me from everywhere, Steve, as you'd imagine!

AUSTIN: You’re swimming in it!

CHALMERS: I've always been a big consumer of news. I like to read, quite early in the morning, my little tackers wake me up pretty early, so I’m typically on the iPad reading the papers quite early.

AUSTIN: What papers do you read?

CHALMERS: I read all of them. I read the Fin, I read the Aus, the Herald, Courier Mail, Daily Tele, Herald Sun, Age, Guardian, the ABC site, amd others typically.

AUSTIN: So you’re scan reading, basically?

CHALMERS: I read everything in my kind of area, I read properly, but I scan the rest. The other thing I like to do is a lot, around lunchtime when you're having a sandwich or something, I'll try and read the international media too.

AUSTIN: Okay. Jim Chalmers is my guest. He's the ALP’s Shadow Treasury spokesperson. He's also the Member for Rankin on the south side of Brisbane here. Just before I let you go, I note that today there are a number of speeches marking the 13th anniversary of The Apology to the Stolen Generation. Did anything in the speech, did anything stand out to you, Jim Chalmers?

CHALMERS: Oh, Linda Burney. My colleague, Linda Burney, who's our spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians. She was incredibly moving speaking about The Stolen Generation and every time Linda speaks the place goes really quiet and everybody focuses on it. She's such a meaningful and purposeful speaker. And really our commitment that we made, and Anthony Albanese did a terrific job of this too, is to say that we should listen to First Nations people. We should respond adequately to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. That means Constitutional recognition, it means Makarrata and truth-telling and some of those other things that you and I have spoken about before. And it also means making genuine progress on Closing The Gap, and not just thinking about it one day a year, but thinking about how we can make a meaningful difference all year round.

AUSTIN: What's on the agenda for you this week, Jim Chalmers, now that federal parliament is sitting again?

CHALMERS: We've got some banking bills in the parliament, which I spoke on a couple of hours ago. And we've got the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, some changes there. So that's obviously front and centre in terms of legislation, but the big issue here is industrial relations and the proposals that Anthony Albanese put forward to make work more secure and better paid, with fairer conditions, compared with the government's industrial relations legislation, which will cut people's pay and make work less secure. So that's really the main contest in the parliament this week - industrial relations, job security, pay and conditions.

AUSTIN: Jim Chalmers, thanks for your time.

CHALMERS: Thank you, Steve.