E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
BUNDABERG
TUESDAY, 19 NOVEMBER 2019

SUBJECTS: Bushfire response; Bundaberg economy; Responsible, proportionate and measured stimulus; Hinkler Regional Deal; Cashless Welfare Card; Robodebt.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM, SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND: Thanks everyone for coming along. We've had a productive morning with the Bundaberg Council here – our thanks to Mayor Jack Dempsey. It has been particularly pleasing to hear that the concern around the bushfires has eased and we really thank the community for heeding the advice and the work of all the volunteers, Council staff, and emergency service personnel who have worked so hard over the last week to ensure that the community is safe.

It’s really exciting to be here in Bundaberg. It was really pleasing to hear how precise Council are about seeing those opportunities and realising the potential of the region to grow. What they need is a Federal Government that's going to be a shoulder to the wheel to help them reach that potential. The thing that concerns us is that there isn't a Federal Government in Canberra that is delivering for regions like this.

It's particularly pleasing to have the Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers here, a fellow Queenslander. Jim is on the ground listening to local communities in places like Bundaberg because we know if the Bundaberg economy isn't growing, then the Australian economy isn't growing. I'll hand over to Jim to say a few words.

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks very much, Anthony. It is terrific to be back in Bundy again. I want to pay tribute to the firies, the broader community, and everyone involved in dealing with the fires around Woodgate and the surrounding areas. They were serious fires over the course of the last week or so and as they always do in regional Queensland, everybody got behind each other, looked out for each other, and looked after each other. It's a tribute to the first responders that no homes or lives were lost.

It is terrific to be back here to talk about the local economy. As Anthony said, we cannot grow the national economy unless we grow regional economies as well. For too long the LNP has taken regional economies like this one around Bundaberg for granted. They don't have a plan for local jobs, they don't have a plan to grow the local economy, and they don't have a plan to grow the national economy or to create jobs nationally.

We have been talking with the Council and others about what the Federal Government can and should be doing to support the work of the Council and the State Government to get regions like this one growing again.

Josh Frydenberg is giving another speech without a plan to turn the economy around. The economy is floundering on Josh Frydenberg's watch. We get speech after speech, but we don't get a plan for jobs or for wages or to get the economy growing again. Another speech from Josh Frydenberg won't turn around an economy which is floundering on his watch.

The Reserve Bank has released new minutes today which show the national economy is running on fumes. We've got the slowest growth in a decade, wages are stagnant, record household debt, unemployment went up last week in the most recent data, and we haven't had retail figures or business investment figures this weak since the early 1990s recession. It is long past time for the Federal LNP, Scott Morrison, and Josh Frydenberg to actually do something about an economy which has deteriorated since the election. Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison see stagnant wages, slowing growth, and rising unemployment but they still refuse to act. That's because they have no idea what's going on and they have no plan to turn things around.

This speech from Josh Frydenberg is all about lecturing older Australians that they need to work for longer. Older Australians will never forget that this Government has cut their pension, cut their superannuation, and tried to get people to work until they're 70 years old. When almost two million Australians are looking for work or more work the answer is not for Josh Frydenberg to lecture older Australians about working longer. It's like it's just dawned on him that we have an issue in this country in the ageing of the population. And it's just dawned on him that debt has more than doubled on his watch and we have big debt interest repayments. This speech from Josh Frydenberg shows how horrendously out of touch he is with what's going on in the economy and what's going on in the workforce. He shouldn't be lecturing people about working longer when almost two million Australians can't find the hours that they need or they can't find work at all to provide for their loved ones. There has been a 45 per cent increase in people over 55 years old on Newstart but instead of coming up with a plan for employment, growth or wages we have yet another empty speech from Josh Frydenberg which is no substitute for a plan for the economy.

JOURNALIST: What is your plan for the economy? Seeing as they don't have one, do you have some specifics that you can offer this region?

CHALMERS: Absolutely. What we've proposed is that the Federal Government should bring forward some infrastructure investment and part of stage two of their tax cuts, review and responsibly increase Newstart, have a tax break for business investment in regions like this one, that they settle an energy policy and come up with a policy for wages. We've been very constructive in the proposals that we've put forward. We hope that the Government will pick up and run with those proposals in the mid-year budget update in the next few weeks.

For too long now Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison have dithered and denied while the economy has deteriorated. They need to do something about the fact that unemployment has risen, that growth has slowed, and that wages have stagnated further since the election. Morrison and Frydenberg have refused to act. The Reserve Bank knows that this economy is running on fumes. The business community knows, local communities know, and local workers know. Labor has been saying for some time that the economy is floundering. The Federal Liberals have refused to act and because of that the place is growing more slowly than it needs to.

JOURNALIST: Did you talk to Council about the Regional Deal?

CHALMERS: We had a good conversation with Council and with others around the table about the future of the Hinkler Deal. We are very disappointed that the progress on that is being compromised by bickering between Federal LNP representatives. We want to see infrastructure investment in this part of the world. We want to see Local, State and Federal Governments all working together to get this region the infrastructure investment that it needs and deserves. It's been compromised and delayed because two of the local Federal LNP members can't seem to get their act together. That's very disappointing for the people of Bundaberg and the surrounding areas.
JOURNALIST: If Labor gets in at the next election would you honour the $170 million in federal funding commitments to projects in the region?

CHALMERS: Our intention would be to follow through on good projects if they're committed to in the near-term. We are the party of infrastructure investment in the regions. We always look to support good projects. We obviously wouldn't be looking to tear up any contracts if projects had begun. Beyond that, if any level of government puts good infrastructure investment on the table which gets genuine bang for buck for local people here in this region then we'd be all for it.

JOURNALIST: In terms of that, you said there's some bickering with the Regional Deal. It's actually the State Government who haven't come to the table and signed it. Is there anything you can do to actually talk and push them to sign it, if that's your intention?

CHALMERS: The Federal Government has said that the State hasn't been the hold up. The hold up as I understand it has been the bickering between Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Pitt about the extension of the cashless welfare card in Maryborough. That has been the thing which has been holding things up. The State Government's come to the table. The Federal Government has come to the table in one way or another. The local Council is very keen to see projects proceed. We all want to see infrastructure investment in this region. We don't want to see it held up by petty bickering at the Federal LNP level. The State Government is prepared to do their bit. It should proceed without it being compromised by this kind of petty internal squabbling amongst the Federal LNP.

JOURNALIST: Do you think it's worth calling up State Government and telling them to jump on board?

CHALMERS: The State Government is very interested in investing in infrastructure in this part of the world. They've been part of the conversation for some time. Even the Federal Liberals are not saying that the State Government's a problem here. We want to see the investment made here. We want to make sure that people can put the pettiness of internal LNP squabbles aside and get the infrastructure investment here. Infrastructure means jobs and here in Bundaberg jobs are not exactly thick on the ground. We all need to do what we can to us to support good infrastructure investment, to support job creation and to support economic growth. It hasn't been good enough in recent years that so much of the growth has been around the major capital cities. We can't grow the national economy without growing regional economies. That means investing in infrastructure and jobs in places like Bundaberg.

JOURNALIST: In terms of water security in the region, was that a part of your conversation with the Council today?

CHALMERS: It was a brief part of the conversation but largely what we focussed on today were the economic opportunities in Bundaberg and the surrounding areas, particularly in agriculture and all of the associated industries. This place has a lot of potential. If we are to grow the national economy we need to make sure that the agriculture industry is strong, geared towards the future, creating good jobs, and has the capacity to export. That was the main focus of what we talked about today.

JOURNALIST: What do you make of the Government halting key parts of the Robodebt scheme to recover debts from welfare recipients?

CHALMERS: Under the Federal LNP, Robodebt has been an absolute debacle from beginning to end. Most recently under Bill Shorten's active advocacy for people who have been treated so shabbily by Robodebt, we've been pointing out that this program is a debacle. The Government has been pretending that everything is hunky dory with this program and today they've been humiliated into confessing that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Too many Australians have been treated woefully and shabbily by this Robodebt debacle. Bill Shorten is having more to say on that as we speak, in another part of Australia.
All of the Federal Labor team has been saying for some time that this debacle should be put in the bin. For too long the Federal Liberals have been treating people in a woeful fashion. They've been scaring people. They've been treating people as guilty until proven innocent and that's not good enough.

JOURNALIST: One last question. Where else are you heading for the rest of your time in Bundy?

CHALMERS: We're going to spend some more time with the mayor now, touring some of the local economic opportunities. We'll have another chat with Jack about what's going on around town. We'll be back a number of times between now and the next election. We'll also be talking to him about the fire response which is something I think the whole community can be proud of. Thanks.

ENDS