with
NITA GREEN
SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
CAIRNS
MONDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2020
 
SUBJECT: JobKeeper cuts.
 
NITA GREEN, LABOR SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND: Hi my name is Nita Green and I'm a Labor Senator for Queensland. I'm very lucky today to be joined by Jim Chalmers, our Shadow Treasurer. It's really important that Jim is here today in Cairns because as we know today is the day that JobKeeper will be cut. We know that in Cairns about 27,000 workers will be impacted and 7,000 businesses will be hurting because of these JobKeeper cuts, and an extraordinary amount of money will not be circulating through our local economy. What that means for local workers is that they'll have to consider their future in a very uncertain time. We know that these cuts mean that some people might have their hours cut back and that some people might even lose their jobs. We have been very vocal in the past couple of weeks, calling on the Federal Government to reconsider these cuts to JobKeeper, which is particularly important for places like Cairns but also all over Queensland. 
 
Right now, we are in a national recession. We are not going to snap back as quickly as the Federal Government would like us to. These JobKeeper cuts on top of the JobSeeker cuts that have already been put through are going to have a really big impact on our regional economy. It's fantastic to have Jim here today. The federal budget is up next week and it's no mistake that Jim has made a visit up to Cairns because we need to make sure that the federal budget delivers for our regional communities. I want to introduce Jim; we'll hear from him about the things that he's been hearing on the ground.
 
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER:Thanks very much Nita. It's great to be in Cairns talking with local businesses, local workers, businesses of all sizes, universities, Advance Cairns, and others about what we need to do here to make sure that places like Cairns can get to the other side of this recession and recover strongly. If we are to have the national economy recover strongly from this recession, we need regional economies like this one to be a big part of the story. The budget is in eight days’ time. We want to make sure that communities like this one aren't left out and left behind during this Morrison Recession. Communities like this one have more to lose than most from the way that Scott Morrison is mishandling this worst recession in almost a century. The JobKeeper cuts will have catastrophic consequences for communities like this one. We don't want to see here in Cairns alone 27,000 workers and 7,000 businesses adversely affected by these cuts to JobKeeper today. We don't want to see this Morrison Government take $24 million dollars a fortnight out of this local economy. There are communities and economies like this one which still desperately need Federal Government support. Instead, we have a Federal Government which is leaving Cairns out and leaving it behind. It doesn't understand the difficulties that Far North Queensland and other communities like it around Australia are going through. Yes, some parts of our economy are recovering already but many aren't. Many businesses of all sizes are still struggling. We need to make sure that support is flowing. When the budget is handed down in eight days’ time, we don't want to see this community let down. It makes absolutely no sense to be cutting support for this community without a proper jobs plan to replace it. From time to time we hear the big announcements from the Morrison Government but there's just no follow through which looks after and supports people in this community, particularly their jobs. The highest priority in the budget next week needs to be to ensure that people, their jobs, small businesses, and local economies like this one are properly supported during this recession. If the Government continues to leave these communities out and leave them behind, the recession will be deeper and longer, and the unemployment queues will be longer than they need to be. We need to see this community made a priority in the budget. Labor makes this community a priority and that's why we're here in the week before the budget.
 
JOURNALIST: Jim those payments are scheduled to end in March. Why is it so important to have that extended for communities like Cairns where we rely on international tourists [INAUDIBLE]?
 
CHALMERS: We've always said that the JobKeeper program is a good idea being badly implemented and prematurely withdrawn. We want to make sure that JobKeeper payments are tailored to what's actually going on in economies right around Australia. Unfortunately, the Government is in a rush to cut JobKeeper and that will have catastrophic consequences for communities like this one. We want to make sure that the support, which is welcome support into the economy, reacts and responds to the conditions on the ground. This community still has some very real challenges that it's dealing with. Other parts of the tourism sector are recovering but here in Cairns, relying very heavily on flights and very heavily on international tourism, it’s going to recover a bit slower than we'd like. That puts the onus on the Federal Government to deliver that support and not to pull that support out prematurely. Pulling support out prematurely from this community and this local economy means that the unemployment queues will be longer than they need to be.
 
JOURNALIST: [INAUDIBLE]
 
CHALMERS: There are a range of ways that the Government can go about it. Clearly at some point JobKeeper will be tapered away, but it's too early for that to happen, particularly in communities like this one. We want to see the level of support respond and react to the economic conditions. Here in Cairns that means not cutting JobKeeper today. We urge the Government to reconsider those cuts. $24 million each fortnight will be pulled out from the small businesses in this part of the world because of the Morrison Government's decision to cut JobKeeper against the interests of the workers, small businesses, and communities of Far North Queensland.
 
JOURNALIST: [INAUDIBLE]
 
CHALMERS: It remains to be seen. We want to see the level of support react to what's actually happening on the ground. One of the reasons why Nita and I have spent time already today and will continue to have meetings over the next couple of days with small business and other representatives of the business community here in Cairns is because you need to understand what's happening in the local economy if you're to deliver the right amount of support. The Morrison Government has absolutely no idea how much the businesses and workers of this community are relying on those JobKeeper payments. They have no idea of the catastrophic consequences of pulling $24 million a fortnight out of this local economy. If they understood what was going on here, they wouldn't be cutting JobKeeper today.
 
JOURNALIST: An argument for cutting the payment was that some people are earning more by being on the scheme and working part time - they weren't working full time. What is your argument against that? 
 
CHALMERS: We've said for some time that if there's a way to better target the payments, including for some of those cases you mentioned, then we're prepared to be responsible and constructive. The main issue here is actually that $300 a fortnight is being cut from 27,000 workers and 7,000 businesses. That’s $24 million pulled out of the economy and that will have catastrophic consequences here. When the economy is as weak as it is now, it makes absolutely no sense to be withdrawing support from the economy. We urge the Government to reconsider that in the interest of the businesses and workers of this part of the world.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you think the Government's allocation of $250 million to tourism is an attempt to placate tourism operators?
 
CHALMERS: No doubt, but it's too little too late for the tourism sector not just here but around Australia. We're talking about $250 million of which a tiny fraction has been allocated to Far North Queensland. There have already been so many jobs lost in that sector while the Government dithered and delayed. When I was last here with Nita some months ago, we were calling for a targeted package of support for the tourism industry here; it's taken them all of these months. They've dithered and delayed and that's cost jobs. We think that what they've announced in the last 24 hours or so is too little, too late. The State Government has done what they can, and the local council is doing what it can, but the Morrison Government is more or less missing in action when it comes to supporting tourism here.
 
JOURNALIST: [INAUDIBLE]
 
CHALMERS: We spent some good time this morning with Advance Cairns and small businesses, and we've got some other meetings with tourism operators this afternoon. Clearly there's an issue around tourism. Clearly, they’re not getting the people through this community that they need to support the local economy. The cuts to JobKeeper are making that worse. The Morrison Government is a part of the problem, not part of the solution when it comes to that. Clearly there are issues too with international students. There are opportunities around economic development here, whether it be the port, the airport, or elsewhere. We've been gathering ideas but really the main priority that we've picked up in this community is the effect of these JobKeeper cuts. We need to see those cuts reversed in the interest of this community. We need a jobs plan. The Commonwealth budget next Tuesday needs to have a jobs plan for this local economy. What we have is a Government in a rush to cut support for this community without a jobs plan to replace it which is why a jobs plan is desperately needed.
 
JOURNALIST: Can you tell us anything about the specific concerns of businesses you've spoken to?
 
CHALMERS: We spent some time at Blackbird this morning talking to Troy about JobKeeper and other issues. Later we spoke with Advance Cairns. We're off to see some tourism operators after this and tomorrow as well. In this community JobKeeper is the number one priority but it's not the only priority. Support for the tourism sector is needed. Clearly there are issues around health and the capacity to teach medical degrees here; there are issues around international students; all of those issues have been coming up. That kind of input is gratefully received by us in Labor. Unfortunately, I think a lot of these suggestions fall on deaf ears in the Government.
 
Thanks very much.
 
ENDS