JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC BRISBANE DRIVE
MONDAY, 25 OCTOBER 2021
SUBJECTS: Scott Morrison a climate change fraud; Nationals more interested in Keith Pitt’s job than the regional jobs and opportunities flowing from cleaner and cheaper energy; Modelling shows regional communities set to benefit most from net-zero.
STEVE AUSTIN, HOST: Jim Chalmers is the Shadow Treasurer and federal Labor Member for Rankin. Jim Chalmers, you would know the story, but we now have agreement, the Prime Minister jetting off to Glasgow with full support of the Coalition partners the Nationals. How do you feel Jim Chalmers?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: I was just listening that clip of Scott Morrison, I mean what a fraud when it comes to climate change. He spent much of the last eight years celebrating the obstruction he's been able to inflict on action on climate change policy, now all of a sudden because we're five minutes from an election he's pretending to care about it. The National Party are running around for the last couple of weeks saying that they really care...
AUSTIN: The real reason things have changed is because of the Summit. It's not because of the election, it's because of the Glasgow Summit isn't it Jim?
CHALMERS: No, the reason that Scott Morrison's view has changed is because of the election. The Glasgow Summit is important but for eight years now he's been one of the primary opponents of doing something meaningful on climate change. He hasn't been able to get his head around the jobs and opportunities that come from it, particularly in regional areas. And the Nationals have been running around pretending they care about jobs in regional Australia when it turns out that the deal they did showed that all they cared about was a job for Keith Pitt who goes back into the cabinet. It's a farse from beginning to end. And I think what it shows the Australian people, again, is if we want to do something meaningful on cleaner and cheaper energy then it's time to throw these guys out and elect a Labor Government.
AUSTIN: In 2017 there was a Senate Inquiry into the future of coal-fired power stations. And one of the recommendations was to come up with a plan to transition and adjust transition for workers and communities in that area. Do you know what happened to that plan? Because I know that one of your Senate partners was on that, Anthony Chisholm from Queensland here was on that Senate Inquiry, but it seemed to disappear. Do you ever know what happened to that?
CHALMERS: Anthony did a great job on that Committee. Unfortunately, the Government has more or less ignored the affected communities. They've had their report for some years. What we've been saying for some time now, is it's very clear from the companies themselves that over the medium term some of these power stations will close down. Everybody knows that, there's no hiding from it. But the Government's been there for eight years and doesn't have a plan for those sorts of communities. From our point of view, the best thing we can do is make sure that there are jobs and opportunities for people. That's why it's so important that we have this net-zero target by mid-century, but more importantly than that, that we have all the investment and all the jobs and opportunities created from that investment in the interim. That's why it's so important that we've seen big investments like from the Palaszczuk Government and Twiggy Forrest in things like hydrogen and advanced manufacturing, so that in some of these communities that are impacted over the medium term and the longer term by the closure of some of these power stations, there are jobs for people to go to. That's the most important thing.
AUSTIN: On that, it's funny you should mention that, because the Queensland Government policy is to shut three or four of our coal-fired power stations in the next nine years, but so far they've announced the closure of just one. So, in other words, it's easy to have targets, but they've not actually said what the plan is.
CHALMERS: Whether it's the government-owned power stations or the private sector owned power stations, there's a very clear timetable over the next, whatever it is 20 or 30 years, for when these power stations are expected to wind up. And the point that the Palaszczuk Government has made, the point that I'm making and we've made repeatedly, our Senators in particular, is that we know that some of these power stations won't be around in the decades to come. Our responsibility is to make sure that there are additional sources of energy in the system - cleaner and cheaper energy, ideally - and also that there are opportunities for people to work in the communities of regional Queensland and further afield. That's been our priority and our focus from the beginning. What we find out today and yesterday, is the Nationals - who are supposed to represent regional communities - have been focused on getting another one of themselves into the cabinet and a pay rise, rather than focusing on the sorts of jobs that we need to see around the regions.
AUSTIN: So what does Labor think that the net-zero emissions agreement, what effect will that have on Queensland coal mining towns like Clermont, or Moura, or Moranbah, and Dysart. None of those towns would exist if it wasn't for coal mining in effect. So what do you think that the net-zero emission effect will be on those towns?
CHALMERS: First of all, mining in Queensland and Australia has an incredibly bright future. And when it comes to coal, there's more than one kind of coal.
AUSTIN: Sure.
CHALMERS: Obviously, the market is expressing a longer-term view about thermal coal but most of our exports from our mines is exported to make steel. And there will continue to be a need for that steel. And so a lot of the towns that you mentioned, they will have a bright future. And so they should. And more broadly in resources, whether it's rare earths, whether it's all kinds of other really important commodities, the mining industry of regional Queensland and other parts of Australia has a lot to look forward to.
AUSTIN: So will any of those Queensland mining towns be adversely affected by the net-zero targets? Labor would actually legislate for them. If you were in power you'd legislate them. So is it your position that there would be no negative or detrimental effect on any coal mining town in Queensland?
CHALMERS: Well, what the Minerals Council, who represents the mines and the miners and the mining companies has said, is that there will be more opportunities. They have signed up to net-zero. The country's biggest employers, the BCA...
AUSTIN: But I want to know what Labor says, Jim Chalmers?
CHALMERS: I'm saying the same thing. What I'm pointing out is that everybody except the Government seems to understand - or everybody but the National Party - seems to understand that in a net-zero world the economy will be stronger, energy will be cleaner and cheaper, and the regions will be the biggest beneficiaries of this change, if we can get the investment in areas like hydrogen, and other sources of energy, and advanced manufacturing to make that possible. If we can get that right, then the towns and provincial cities or regional Queensland can actually be winners from this change. And that's what exposes the absolute crock that the National Party, which has been pretending for the last couple of weeks, as they roll around saying that getting to net-zero means fewer jobs, when the BCA, and the miners, and others have shown that we can have more jobs in a net-zero world and the regions will be amongst the biggest winners of that change.
AUSTIN: Barnaby Joyce, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Nationals, said this in Question Time today.
BARNABY JOYCE, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: I 100% support our process of going to Glasgow, going to Glasgow, for the target of net-zero emissions.
AUSTIN: He's 100% on board, Jim Chalmers.
CHALMERS: No, he said he's 100% on board for a process of going to Glasgow, which is why the parliament was laughing at him. He said to his party room that he didn't support net-zero. They've done this deal to get Keith Pitt back into the cabinet. They do not believe in it. They do not understand the jobs and opportunities from that will flow from a net-zero world and cleaner and cheaper sources of energy, just like the Prime Minister himself. They are cobbling together this half a deal to try and get them through an election but people will see through this, Steve. This country, for too long, has been putting off doing the right thing by Australians and their economy by getting that cleaner and cheaper energy. And more and more Australians every day are onto these characters. They know that they're just making it up as they go along, they know they're just saying the right things to get them through an election, they know their hearts not in it. And that's why, I believe, people are increasingly looking to Labor to help end really what's been the large part of a decade of climate change inaction, which has sold our economy short, sold our people short, and seen opportunities go begging.
AUSTIN: The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said this in Question Time this afternoon.
SCOTT MORRISON, PRIME MINISTER: The Labor Party have a target with no plan, Mr Speaker.
AUSTIN: So when will Labor be releasing your plan, Jim Chalmers?
CHALMERS: First of all, we need to know what targets we would be inheriting. And so what we've said , and I think people understand this...
AUSTIN: The target's net-zero by 2050.
CHALMERS: The interim targets, is what the Prime Minister is talking about. We still don't know what the Government's interim targets will be. And so I think it's reasonable and responsible for us to say, let's see what interim targets we might inherit. We have already made clear some elements of our plan. We've got a plan for energy transmission, which is such a crucial part of this - a modernisation fund to get the transmission network up to scratch, to get our renewable energy from where it's created to where it's used. We've got a policy on community batteries. We've got a policy on electric vehicles. These are all important parts of it and we'll have more to say, but I think it's reasonable and responsible for us to understand what system we would inherit, what system we may be seeking to change, before we come to a final view on things like interim targets.
AUSTIN: Jim Chalmers, thanks for time once again.
CHALMERS: Thanks very much.
AUSTIN: Jim Chalmers is the Shadow Labor Treasury spokesperson. Jim Chalmers is also the federal Labor Member for Rankin.
ENDS
