JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW 
BRISBANE
THURSDAY, 27 JANUARY 2022

SUBJECTS: Brisbane residents paying the price for Scott Morrison’s failures; Rapid test shortages; Scott Morrison’s mistakes impacting the economic recovery; Scott Morrison the Prime Minister for higher prices and lower wages; National Cabinet and support for small business; interest rates.

MADONNA JARRETT, CANDIDATE FOR BRISBANE: Hi everyone. I'm Madonna Jarrett and I am fighting to win the seat of Brisbane at the upcoming federal election for Labor. I'm here today with Jim Chalmers. Jim and I have just done a walk through White Box. White Box is a fabulous social enterprise that is creating jobs right here in Brisbane and of course around Australia. But a lot of jobs here in Brisbane and we're very proud to be able to call them a Brisbane enterprise. I put my hand up to run because I see a better future for Brisbane and a better future for Australia overall. But I have to tell you, the people of Brisbane are hurting. They can't buy the food that they want. They can't buy their antigen tests. They're paying more for medical services. You've got people who are facing wage stagnation, insecure jobs and not to mention many are very concerned about the future of this country because of the lackadaisical approach this government has taken to climate action. We have a real choice at this election between Labor who has a vision for looking after families today and building a stronger and more sustainable future for all of us tomorrow, or Morrison and Barnaby Joyce. Morrison, who can't hold a hose and frankly can’t tear his way out of a paper bag. It would be my great pleasure to join Jim, Anthony Albanese and a Labor government in Canberra after May this year. And with that I'll hand over to you Jim.
 
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks very much Madonna. Great cities like Brisbane deserve great representatives and that's what Madonna Jarrett will be, with the support of the people of Brisbane, after the next federal election. People like White Box Enterprises, Madonna, myself, Anthony Albanese, we understand that the unemployment rate doesn't tell the full story of the jobs market or the economy. And what Whitebox is doing to make sure that there are more opportunities for more people in more parts of Australia is really how we see a better future for the people of this country. 

We want an economy that works for everyone and a recovery that doesn't leave people behind. We want a better future for the working families of this country so that when they work hard, they can get ahead. 

Under this Prime Minister, what we've seen is skyrocketing costs of living at the same time as real wages are going backwards. Scott Morrison is the Prime Minister for higher prices and lower wages. And what we're seeing right around the country right now, as Madonna said, is people are finding it hard to get groceries, hard to find rapid antigen tests, hard to meet the rising cost of living, whether it's rent or petrol, and all the rest of it, at the same time, as this government's gone after their wages. 

The Liberals and Nationals have had nine years now to ease the cost of living pressures on working families and instead they've attacked their wages. That's the story of the last eight or nine years and it will be the story of the next three years if this government is re-elected. Australian working families can't afford another three years like the last eight or nine years of wage stagnation, real wages going backwards and ordinary working people falling behind. 

I'm asked to comment on National Cabinet today and support for small businesses, and also issues around interest rates. 

When it comes to interest rates we saw in the inflation data earlier in the week, that the costs of living are skyrocketing and real wages are going backwards under Scott Morrison. Obviously, decisions on interest rates are a decision for the independent Reserve Bank. Nobody is pretending under either government that interest rates will stay at zero forever. Clearly, at some stage, the bank will be contemplating rate rises, whether it's a Liberal government or a Labor government. Scott Morrison shouldn't be politicising, and he shouldn't be lying about, about interest rate rises. What we've seen under this government is skyrocketing costs of living, real wages going backwards and these are the economic conditions that the independent Reserve Bank will make their decisions in the context of. 

When it comes to National Cabinet today - and particularly the New South Wales government and support for small businesses: Scott Morrison either doesn't understand or doesn't care about the impact and the consequences of his failures on rapid tests and all the rest of it. Scott Morrison made this mess for small businesses and workers, the least he could do is be part of a conversation about cleaning it up. 

The consequences of Scott Morrison's mistakes have been so dire for small businesses and working people right around this country. The least that he and Josh Frydenberg could do is to have a proper conversation with state governments about how we get the small businesses and other employers of this country through a difficult period. 

This is the Prime Minister for lower wages and higher prices. The Prime Minister whose mistakes are doing damage right around Australia to small businesses and to the livelihoods of working families. The least that he could do is take responsibility for once for cleaning up, or helping to clean up, the mess that he has made over this summer. 

This is a government which takes credit for a recovery before it's happened, but doesn't take responsibility for securing that recovery. We've seen it with the pressure on working families, we've seen it on the failures around rapid tests and the failure to understand that the pressure that their mistakes have put on the small businesses and working people of this country.
 
ENDS