E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
BRISBANE
TUESDAY, 29 JANUARY 2019
 
SUBJECTS: Liberals’ division and dysfunction; Economy not working for middle Australia; Liberals’ poor jobs record; Scott Morrison’s scare mongering over Labor policies; Liberals’ cuts and chaos in Queensland; negative gearing; dividend imputation; Banking Royal Commission; cashless debit card
 
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE: The Morrison Government is lurching from one debacle to the next. We've got ministerial resignations, we've got the shambles that was the captain's call over the Gilmore pre-selection, and now we've got the Government's scare campaign on the economy falling down all around them. Remarkably, this is a Government that starts the new year even more divided and dysfunctional than they finished last year. 
 
If Scott Morrison thinks that this economy is delivering for ordinary working people, then Scott Morrison's from another planet. We've got falling consumer confidence, weak business conditions, slowing growth, stagnant wages - all at the same time, and we have a government which is too divided and too dysfunctional to focus on those things which really matter. When we've got global uncertainty in the economy, we've got insecurity at work, insecurity at the household level; we have a Government which spends all of its time on an increasingly ridiculous scare campaign about the impact of Labor policies. When the country is crying out for stability, instead, they get this ridiculous language about recessions; they get this increasingly ridiculous scare campaign about Labor policies.
 
The Australian people are crying out for a Government which understands the concerns they have about the work place, the concerns they have about the economy. Instead, all they're getting today from Scott Morrison is a jobs target which is reheated from something Tony Abbott cooked up five years ago. What a shambles Scott Morrison has made of this so-called jobs target. He was asked on radio this morning whether all of the 1.25 million jobs would be full-time jobs, and he said that they would. He said that's been the Government's record. The Prime Minister of Australia - the former Treasurer of Australia - doesn't even know that of the jobs created over the last five years, only 55 per cent of those jobs have been full-time. He has now committed to 1.25 million full-time jobs over the next few years. He needs to immediately release the Treasury analysis on which that promise has been made, otherwise Australians will rightly conclude that this is a Prime Minister just making it up as he goes along. The Prime Minister's job target today is actually slower than the current rate of jobs growth in this country, and it's faster than his own Treasury Department has been forecasting. What an absolute shambles Scott Morrison has made of this jobs commitment today. He doesn't understand the nature of full-time and part-time job creation in this country. He's committed to actually slow jobs growth - slower than what it is right now - and Treasury is actually forecasting much slower jobs growth in this country. What a shambles.
 
To add fuel to the dumpster fire which is the Government's economic story at the moment, we now have this ridiculous climb down from the absurd language that we heard from Government ministers about the impact of Labor policies and all this irresponsible talk of a recession. My two Weetbix lasted longer this morning than this ridiculous scare campaign about a recession. We had the Government splash right across the papers this morning all of these absurd warnings, all of this irresponsible language. But within the hour, Government ministers were contradicting each other and now they're trying to walk back from this irresponsible language, which isn't befitting of a Prime Minister, or a Treasurer, or a Finance Minister in this country. So the wheels have fallen off the scare campaign already. The wheels have fallen off the jobs commitment already. This Government is a total shambles, totally divided, totally dysfunctional, too unstable to focus on what's really going on in the economy, which is stagnant wages and slowing growth and falling consumer confidence.
 
Scott Morrison is in Queensland today. Queenslanders can spot a phony from a mile away. They're not fooled by cringe-worthy social media videos and they won't easily forget that Scott Morrison's responsible for all of the cuts and chaos inflicted on Queenslanders over the last five years. Queenslanders are not fooled by cringe-worthy social media videos or long speeches or reheated job commitments from Tony Abbott five years ago. They understand that Scott Morrison is the chief architect of the cuts and chaos that have been inflicted on Queenslanders over the last five years. Queenslanders will not forget that this is the guy responsible for $160 million cut out of hospitals; $463 million cut out of Queensland's universities; they won't forget 37,000 fewer apprenticeships; they won't forget penalty rate cuts. All of the damage Scott Morrison has done to Queensland will not be forgotten by the people of Queensland. 
 
This year Queenslanders and Australians will be asked to make a choice and the choice will be between Bill Shorten and Labor investing in local hospitals and schools, focusing on making the economy work for more people versus Scott Morrison and the Liberal Party, which will always look after the top end of town and middle Australia won't get a look in. I'm confident that no matter how much time Scott Morrison spends here between now and the election, Queenslanders won't be fooled and they won't forget the damage he's done to our state.
 
Over to you.
 
JOURNALIST: How do you respond to claims from senior Government members that a recession is possible under Labor?
 
CHALMERS: This is an increasingly ridiculous scare campaign. It's irresponsible language, and the wheels have already fallen off it. Government ministers this morning couldn't get their story straight on this ridiculous scare campaign. We have Chris Pyne, Mathias Cormann and Scott Morrison all contradict each other. The scare campaign this morning about a recession lasted barely an hour. This Government is so divided, so dysfunctional, so unstable, that they can't even organise a decent scare campaign that lasts an hour. That is the ridiculous state of affairs in the Government. Is it any wonder that the people of Queensland and the people of Australia are over this Government when they seem to spend all of their time making up ridiculous scare campaigns about Labor instead of focusing on stagnant wages, insecure work, slowing growth, falling consumer confidence. All of the things that really matter to people aren't getting a look in because, whether it's Mathias Cormann or Josh Frydenberg or Scott Morrison, they've spent all of their time with this breathless, unhinged, irresponsible talk about Labor and the economy.
 
JOURNALISM: What do you make of that contradiction though, when you've got the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister not saying the word recession, but certainly saying it will weaken the economy. What do you make of it?
 
CHALMERS: They sprayed that word right across the papers overnight, and you had Chris Pyne use that word. They can't get their story straight. They are divided and dysfunctional and unstable in so many ways. They are so divided and dysfunctional that they can't even get their story straight on this ridiculous scare campaign. The wheels have fallen off the scare campaign. It's part of the broader shambles, whether it's this scare campaign, whether it's the jobs target, whether it's their broader performance as a Government - they are desperately out of touch, desperately divided and desperately dysfunctional, and Australians are over them.
 
JOURNALIST: They're promising some congestion busting across the south-east. So what are your thoughts when you heard that?
 
CHALMERS: Queenslanders won't be fooled by any announcements that Scott Morrison makes between now and the election. They know that he's the guy that's pulled money out of the things they care most about: hospitals and schools, TAFEs and universities. They know when it comes to infrastructure, Scott Morrison has cut cut $700 million from the Bruce Highway alone. And so I think they will see through any commitments that he makes here. Queenslanders have a long memory, and they know who's responsible for the cuts and the chaos of the last five years. They will voice their displeasure at the ballot box.
 
JOURNALIST: On jobs, does the Government at least deserve some credit for creating a million or so jobs?
 
CHALMERS: The credit should be broadly shared; businesses, workers, obviously the Government plays a role and Bill Shorten has said that earlier today. We want to see strong jobs growth in this country, but we also want to see wages growth. We want to see this problem that we've got with underemployment and job insecurity dealt with. When the Australian people see Scott Morrison pat himself on the back for those kinds of jobs figures, they just wonder what kind of planet this guy is from. Their experience of the labour market is job insecurity, underemployment and stagnant wages. We've got a Government too divided, too dysfunctional and too out of touch to do anything about those important things.
 
JOURNALIST: Is it possible that a Coalition Government, if elected, could reach the 1.25 million target?
 
CHALMERS: The 1.25 million target that the Government has announced today, Scott Morrison has said they'll all be full-time jobs, so he needs to release the analysis on which that has been based. It's slower than the current rate of job creation, but it's faster than what Treasury is forecasting. So this is a shambles, this commitment. You can see that Scott Morrison is just making it up as he goes along, as he gets increasingly desperate and as the wheels fall off his scare campaign. He's desperately searching around for something to say about the economy. Scott Morrison's two-point plan for the economy is to pay people less for working on weekends, and is to give bigger tax cuts to banks and foreign multinationals. We have been able to defeat the second of those policies, but we haven't been able to defeat the first. What we say to the people of Queensland, the people of Australia, is if you want a Government which makes the economy work for ordinary people, people on low- and middle-incomes in this country, then you'll support Bill Shorten and Labor. If you want an economy which continues to look after the top end of town and where middle Australia doesn't get a look in, then that's Scott Morrison and the Liberals.
 
JOURNALIST: On negative gearing, does Labor have a mandate to change negative gearing and franking credits policy if elected?
 
CHALMERS: We're seeking a mandate at the election. Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison have named this as a key issue at stake in the election. We are pleased with our policy and proud of our policy and we intend to implement it. We intend to seek a mandate at the election.  I think that people understand that we have to make some difficult choices in this country. If we want world-class hospitals and schools and TAFEs and universities, and we want to look after middle Australia, then we need to make difficult decisions, that means closing down some of the loopholes which are overwhelmingly accessed by people who need them least.
 
JOURNALIST: Should the banking Royal Commission report be released on Friday as soon as it's handed to Government, or is there some justification for holding it back for a few days?
 
CHALMERS: The Government should immediately release the report of the Royal Commission into the banks. I think Australians will see it as of a piece with Scott Morrison always defending the big banks against the interests of the Australian people. We call on the Government to immediately release the banking Royal Commission report. People will remember that Scott Morrison voted 26 times against the banking Royal Commission. This is a guy who always sides with the big banks against the interests of ordinary working people. We want to see that report released. We want to see serious action taken. We don't want to see more of the protection racket that we've seen over the last few years where Scott Morrison does his best to interfere with the people of Australia getting to the bottom of the rorts and rip-offs we've seen in the banking system.
 
JOURNALIST: Just one more sorry on the welfare cashless debit cards. In Bundy it's getting rolled out, I think there's protesters up there today. What are your thoughts on that? Do you think it's a good idea?
 
CHALMERS: We didn't support the cashless welfare card being deployed in Bundaberg. Our view about this is it should be rolled out where the community genuinely wants it, where there's been genuine community consultation. That wasn't the case up north from here. So our view is we'll see what the status of the card is if and when we come to Government, but we've made our position clear. We didn't support Bundaberg getting the cashless debit card, and we can understand why people are unhappy about it, because there hasn't been sufficient community consultation to warrant it being rolled out.
 
Thank you.
 
ENDS