E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND
MONDAY, 24 FEBRUARY 2020

SUBJECTS: Impact of Coronavirus on regional Queensland; Morrison Government inaction in regional Queensland; LNP climate chaos; The Great Barrier Reef bleaching.

PHIL STALEY, ABC FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND: The Federal Shadow Treasurer has visited North and Far North Queensland recently to hear what businesses need to survive the downturn in business in this beginning to 2020. The bushfire crisis, now COVID-19 and its subsequent travel ban, and indeed the potential of coral bleaching as well have businesses calling for financial help to stay afloat. Jim Chalmers says there is more that the Federal Government could do to help.

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: We've met with the Chamber of Commerce and we've done a roundtable hosted by the Mayor with TTNQ, Advance Cairns and some tourism operators trying to understand how we fill that gap that's emerged. We've got the councils doing some great things, the State Government's doing some great things, the business community is remarkably united which is terrific to see. They know what they want. But there is a bit of a gap there when it comes to the Federal Government. We want to help the businesses from this part of the world pressure the Federal Government to come to the table and provide the support that business needs.

STALEY: I had a similar chat that I'm having with you with the member for Leichhardt, Warren Entsch. He did explain, I thought rightly so, that a rescue package along the lines of giving $1000 to an exporter would be really different to $1000 for local residents to pump up the economy. It's really complex. Would you agree with that?

CHALMERS: There are fine judgments associated with that but if there's a problem with one proposal or another from business then the onus is on Scott Morrison and the Federal Government to come up with something different. One thing we can surely all agree on is that we value our tourism and aquaculture businesses, our education services and our retail sector. If we value them then we owe it to the businesses here to come up with some kind of plan. If direct cash grants are not what the Government wants to do, what do they want to do instead? The sorts of things that we hear are what can we do along the lines of what the Local Government and the State Government have done with fee relief? Is there a tax equivalent of that? What can we do to promote Far North Queensland in the big tourism markets overseas? How do we make sure that Austrade is being really helpful so that we can establish those markets? How can we make sure that businesses are getting advice on what's actually happening? The travel ban was extended again and businesses want to know what timeframe they are trying to survive before things will pick up again. All of these things are important. The Federal Government should come here and do as I've done today with Nita Green, sit down with these peak business groups and tourism operators and work out what if anything can be done.

STALEY: Those businesses that you've met, are they even clear on what it would take to get them through? As you say we don't know where the end is. I'm wondering in your meetings today, did you hear something that made you think that they're aware of what they need or are we still trying to work out what we need?

CHALMERS: There's a pretty remarkable degree of unity amongst the business community. That's not common - you go to big regional centres and they've all generally got competing interests. What's remarkable and heartening about what I've heard today in all of these meetings and roundtables is that business is speaking with one voice. That shows how serious things are. They've been asking things like can we do more to promote specific destinations here overseas? The Government's got a package for bushfire-affected communities and so a lot of businesses here are saying, is there an equivalent for us a bit like the State Government is doing?

STALEY: It's a business disaster, isn't it?

CHALMERS: It is. It's quite serious. We'll know the full economic impact in time but you only have to walk down the main drag here to see that the place is not as full as it usually is, the planes aren't full and there are more 'for lease' signs than there should be. You can tell that there is weakness in the local economy. My view is that it was weak before the virus hit. There's a whole other conversation about the lack of a broader national economic plan. Business is speaking with one voice. They want some help promoting destinations. They want to at least have a conversation about things like BAS deferrals. They want to make sure that Austrade is being as helpful as possible. All of these things are important. We want to be constructive on the Labor side and say to the Government, here are some ideas presented to us, what do you reckon?

STALEY: As if we didn't have enough to worry about in the Far North we get the news last Thursday that the reef may well be about to be bleached again or may already have been bleached. From the people you've met, can we deal with this? This feels like a cruel blow after a series of cruel blows.

CHALMERS: It is but there are a couple of things about that, Phil. We've got to make sure that when we communicate the condition of the reef to the rest of Australia and the rest of the world, that we need to not overdo it. We need to be really measured with our commentary about it. You read stuff in the international press that the reef is not worth visiting. It is worth visiting. It is beautiful. It is amazing. It is one of Australia's best assets. We need to be careful about that kind of commentary. But we also need to be cognisant and upfront that as the climate changes it impacts the reef. That's why a region like Far North Queensland and North Queensland have a lot of skin in the game when it comes to climate change because that is a remarkable asset that you have, the Great Barrier Reef. The warmer things get, the more likely it is that the reef suffers from it. That's one of the many reasons why I think we should do something meaningful about climate change.

STALEY: Could you see something like this leading to the Federal Government trying to lower its emissions targets or even act with little bit more urgency in that regard?

CHALMERS: Ideally they would be more ambitious on dealing with climate change than they are. I know that you've spoken with Warren Entsch about this recently and from time to time. The problem that Warren has is that a big, substantial chunk of the Government’s partyroom are essentially climate change deniers. They don't understand the impacts on the reef or that renewable energy is cheaper and cleaner for families and businesses. That is a problem. Anthony Albanese is stepping into that void that's been left by the Government and saying that as a nation we should have net zero emissions by 2050. That would be good for the economy. It would be good for the environment. It means investing more in renewable energy and you've got big advantages here in hydro and other types of renewable energy. We can do something good for the economy and something good for the environment. We can get power prices down and we can lower our emissions. If we could do all of that then that would be a really good thing.

STALEY: That is Jim Chalmers, Federal Shadow Treasurer, speaking to Phil Staley about the calls for assistance to businesses suffering following pretty big downturns to the beginning of 2020.

ENDS