E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
BRISBANE
WEDNESDAY, 11 JULY 2018
 
SUBJECTS: Turnbull’s energy crisis; Turnbull’s lack of leadership; One Nation’s preference deal with white supremacist; Longman by-election
 
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE: What we saw today from Malcolm Turnbull's speech is another two failures of leadership - on energy prices, but also on One Nation preferences.
 
My colleague Mark Butler has touched in detail on the ACCC report that was released today, so let me just make a couple of additional points about Malcolm Turnbull's failure of leadership. Malcolm Turnbull in his speech this afternoon gave the Australian people absolutely no confidence that he can resolve the crisis in his party room over energy policy which has pushed up energy prices for families and businesses. The Liberal and National parties promised that power prices would go down by $550 a year when they came into office. Instead, they've gone up by $630 in one year alone. What we're seeing from the Prime Minister is that finger pointing is no substitute for leadership. Finger pointing is no substitute for an actual energy policy. Because until, and unless, Malcolm Turnbull resolves this bar room brawl in his party room over energy policy, we will continue to see high power prices smashing families and smashing businesses in Australia. If only Malcolm Turnbull spent as much time resolving that energy crisis in his own party room as he does pointing the finger at others and blaming others for his own lack of leadership, his own lack of action, and his party's lack of unity on energy prices, the whole country would be better off.
 
On One Nation preferences, One Nation in Longman is asking people to give their preferences to a white supremacist disgraced former neo-Nazi. Malcolm Turnbull had the opportunity to condemn that today at the Queensland Media Club and he didn't, because he knows that Pauline Hanson votes with him in the Senate 90 per cent of the time on all of the unfair policies which are smashing battlers in Longman and around Australia. Instead of condemning One Nation for giving their preferences to a white supremacist, Malcolm Turnbull instead wants to swap preferences with One Nation. So what we've seen today with another failure of leadership from Malcolm Turnbull is everything we need to know about the Longman by-election. Malcolm Turnbull is in cahoots with Pauline Hanson, who's in cahoots with Mark Latham and former neo-Nazis. That means a vote for Pauline Hanson in the Longman by-election is a vote for Malcolm Turnbull's cuts to schools and hospitals and TAFEs and penalty rates. So the contrast and the contest in Longman is very, very clear. The Longman by-election is a choice between Malcolm Turnbull and Pauline Hanson ganging up to cuts hospitals and schools and TAFEs and penalty rates, versus Labor's commitment to properly invest in health and education and to give low and middle income earners the support that they need and deserve. Over to you.
 
JOURNALIST: So for people who aren't aware of the so-called neo-Nazi white supremacist, can you fill us in a bit?
 
CHALMERS: There's a candidate running in the Longman by-election, a bloke by the name of Jim Saleam, who is a disgraced former neo-Nazi, a white supremacist who has been convicted of a number of offences over his time, and One Nation is preferencing this character ahead of other candidates including us in the Longman by-election. We expect this sort of behaviour from One Nation, but the Prime Minister of Australia should condemn the One Nation Party for sending their preferences towards a former neo-Nazi. Malcolm Turnbull will never condemn this kind of behaviour by One Nation and Pauline Hanson because he knows that One Nation has become an extension of the Liberal National Party here in Queensland. He knows that he is in cahoots with Hanson, who's in cahoots with Latham, who's in cahoots with former neo-Nazis as well. I thought that today was a disgraceful lack of leadership from the Prime Minister. He had the opportunity to condemn One Nation for giving their preferences to former neo-Nazis, but in his usual way that leadership was absent. Instead, he wants to swap preferences with One Nation because he knows that is the easiest way for him to inflict cuts to hospitals and schools and penalty rates on the people of Australia.
 
JOURNALIST: In terms of the Longman by-election, of course it's going to be heating up closer to that Super Saturday. In terms of people who are sitting on the fence, in terms of who they should vote for, do you feel that that citizenship debacle with Susan Lamb really has ruined her chances of being re-elected?
 
CHALMERS: Not at all. We have the better candidate in Longman in Susan Lamb, who really is an extraordinary person, a former teacher's aide from the area she seeks to represent; certainly very well liked in the area. This by-election is about one thing above all, and that is the issues. The issues at stake in the Longman by-election are, if the people of Caboolture and Morayfield and Burpengary, if they want more cuts to hospitals and schools and TAFEs and penalty rates, then they can vote for the Liberal and National Party in cahoots with One Nation. If the people of Longman want proper investment in health and education, they want a Government on the side of the people of Longman, the low- and middle-income earners of those suburbs, then they will vote Labor. That is overwhelmingly what the Longman by-election is about. It's certainly what we intend to make it about in the three or so weeks between now and election day. Thank you very much.
 
ENDS