JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA
TUESDAY, 15 JUNE 2021
SUBJECTS: Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack; Australia isolated at G7 Summit; Home to Bilo campaign a credit to regional Queensland; Four Corners and QAnon.
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Michael McCormack is in charge this week, what could possibly go wrong? What a country. A parliamentary sitting week with Michael McCormack in charge.
We open the papers this morning and we see another desperate, cynical attempt by Josh Frydenberg to spin last month's Budget which has otherwise sunk like a stone. What we see in the papers this morning is reheated numbers from the Budget, more than a month ago, which Josh Frydenberg is trying to pass off as new, which are the jobs which he claims will flow from the tax cuts which are already in place, that Labor supported through the parliament - stage one and two - which are already flowing into Australian workers pockets. We supported those tax cuts. We want tax relief for people on low and middle incomes.
The Treasurer is now wandering around parliament expecting a round of applause for numbers which were published more than a month ago in the Budget. Australians have learned to be sceptical about numbers that Josh Frydenberg provides, not just because of the $60 billion error with JobKeeper - the biggest single mistake ever made by a Treasurer in the history of the Commonwealth of Australia - but also because we've seen this before.
The Treasurer likes to make big claims about the jobs which flow from his policies. We know from the JobMaker policy, the centrepiece of last year's Budget, he said 450,000 jobs would flow from that. More like 2,000 jobs flowed from that policy. So I think Australians will be sceptical about the claims that the Treasurer makes today.
He says that the Liberals are the party of low taxes, Australians know the Liberals are the party of record debt, a trillion dollars with too little to show for it. The Liberals are the party of stagnant wages growth. The Liberals are the party of weak business investment, and weak productivity, and weak growth, even before COVID-19.
Australians are on to this Treasurer. They know when he makes these claims to dismiss them. We've seen how far short he's fallen in the past when it comes to these claims about jobs. If only this Treasurer was as interested in generating wages growth as he is in generating headlines, Australians would be much better off.
Now we see the Prime Minister of course is overseas in those important meetings at the G7. We want Australia to have a place at the table in these discussions. We want the Prime Minister's voice to be heard. Unfortunately, this Prime Minister is isolated by the Government's stubborn refusal to sign up to net zero emissions by mid-century. Our voice would be much more prominent, our voice would be much louder and much more respected, if this Government did the right thing when it comes to joining the major countries, and the States and Territories, and so many of the businesses in Australia who have signed up to that mid-century net zero emissions target.
Last thing before I take the questions, is about the Biloela family. If and when that family gets home to Bilo it will be a tribute to the remarkable people of a remarkable Queensland town. Those people in Biloela who have embraced this family in the most Australian way deserve the lion's share of the credit for the outcome that we expect later today.
We want that family to get home to Bilo. We want that family to get home to Bilo, to a town which has embraced them in a very Australian, very compassionate way.
I wanted to pay tribute to the people of Biloela for the way that they have sought this outcome and fought for this outcome for some years now.
As a Queenslander, it is frustrating at times to see the caricature about Queensland, and particularly regional Queensland. But what the people of Biloela have shown in this instance, by embracing this beautiful family and those two beautiful kids in the most Australian way, is that regional Queensland has a big heart, a big compassionate heart, and they deserve the lion's share of the credit for the announcement that we hope to see today. Over you.
JOURNALIST: Jim, you might not have seen but Josh Frydenberg just now has said that the family would be reunited here on the mainland, but wouldn't say it would be a temporary issue while the girls said hospital or whether it would be more permanent. Would you obviously hope that it would be a permanent resettlement option here?
CHALMERS: I did see that. I think the Treasurer was being characteristically evasive. He was trying to spin the outcome. People have got questions about what he said on television this morning. He said that the family will be reunited, but will they get home to Biloela?
We want that family to get home to Bilo. That town in regional Queensland has embraced them in a very Australian way, this country and that town is brimming with opportunities for those two beautiful kids in particular, and we want to see them get home. And it's time for the Treasurer, for the Government, to clarify what they mean by reuniting on the mainland. What does that actually mean in terms of this family's chances of actually getting home?
JOURNALIST: It's unclear what that option might actually look like, whether it's a permanent resettlement here. Scott Morrison didn't rule out a Temporary Protection Visa or something along those lines, talking about community detention this morning, so a lot of different options swirling around. Which one would you hope it would be?
CHALMERS: The Government needs to clarify as soon as possible what the arrangements are for this family. This has been dragging on for some years now.
The community has got behind this family, the community wants to see them reunited not just on the mainland but in Biloela, and we want to see that as soon as possible.
The Government should stop dragging their feet on this. The Treasurer should stop spinning his way through morning television interviews keeping people hanging. We need to see the situation clarified.
JOURNALIST: And just quickly on Four Corners last night, the QAnon story. Kevin Rudd has tweeted that Scott Morrison has questions to answer, do you believe he also does? Do you have any questions about that story last night and Scott Morrison's relationship with that person.
CHALMERS: I watched that story last night and I found it to be incredibly creepy.
The Prime Minister does have serious questions to answer about this relationship with these characters pushing all kinds of dangerous conspiracy theories.
I was shocked, frankly, by the communication between the Prime Minister and some of these characters. I think the Prime Minister does have very serious questions to answer. He should answer them as soon as possible. Thanks very much.
ENDS
