E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
ABC NEWS
WEDNESDAY, 8 MAY 2019
SUBJECT/S: Leaders’ debate
JANE NORMAN: We're here at the National Press Club joined by Jim Chalmers. Welcome to the show.
JIM CHALMERS, LABOR CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON: Thanks Jane.
NORMAN: Obviously there was no audience vote tonight, no worm count. It was a very fair debate though wasn't it? There was no knock out punches that really landed?
CHALMERS: Well I'm not sure about that. I think Bill Shorten won tonight's debate even more comprehensively than he won the first two.
NORMAN: And why?
CHALMERS: Because he showed that he's ready to be the Prime Minister - that's the first reason. But I think the second reason, and probably more important, is the Australian people are crying out for change, and all Scott Morrison promised tonight is more of the same. More of the same denial and division on climate change; more of the same when it comes to tax loopholes for the top end of town; more of the same approach to childcare, which has seen prices go up by 28 per cent.
NORMAN: Well on that, on childcare, Scott Morrison made the point that costs have actually been going down under the Coalition. So it begs the question, why is Labor pouring millions into this industry if the costs for people at home are actually going down?
CHALMERS: Costs of childcare have gone up 28 per cent under the Liberal Government, and even in the most recent changes, one in four families are worse off under Scott Morrison's policy. That's the first point. You go to any suburb or town in this country, and one of the big cost of living pressures is childcare. Bill spent one of his questions asking Morrison why won't he join with us in giving people genuine cost of living relief? Scott Morrison's answer, the same with his answer on cancer, the same with his answer on climate change, showed just how out of touch he is with what people want, which is real change, not more of the same.
NORMAN: Alright Jim Chalmers, I'm sorry we'll have to leave it there; childcare being one of the many policy differences in this election that voters will have to choose between. Thank you.
ENDS
