E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
CANBERRA
TUESDAY, 23 APRIL 2019
 
SUBJECTS: Morrison needs to sack climate change denying Senate candidate; Liberals’ water buyback scandal; Clive Palmer; Adani; One Nation’s influence on the Liberal Party
 
JIM CHALMERS, LABOR CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON: Everywhere you look in the Liberal National Party you've got crackpots, conspiracy theorists and crooked deals. We've had more revelations today that a key LNP Senate candidate in Queensland is out there saying that the Bureau of Meteorology doctors their climate data as part of some worldwide conspiracy on climate change. I mean, give me a break. This says everything about an LNP which has been taken over by the crackpots and conspiracy theorists. Malcolm Turnbull was right - the extreme right-wingers have taken over the Liberal and National parties, and we're seeing that again today. It says everything about the LNP that they're prepared to trash a respected scientific institution in this country to pursue their extreme right wing agenda, particularly on climate change.
 
Scott Morrison can't continue to stand by a candidate who says that the Bureau of Meteorology doctors their climate data. Scott Morrison can't continue to stand by a key LNP Senate candidate who makes up this stuff about climate change and says that we should take money out of kindies and preschools and give it to the big banks and foreign multinationals. Enough is enough. Scott Morrison must sack this candidate today. Today nominations close for this election. This is Scott Morrison's opportunity to show some leadership, to sack this extreme right-wing candidate who says that the Bureau of Meteorology is tied up in some kind of global conspiracy and who says that our kids get too much money and our big businesses don't get enough from Government. So today is the day for Scott Morrison and the pressure is building. 
 
The pressure is also building on Scott Morrison and the LNP when it comes to this water buyback scandal. This has all of the ingredients of a full-blown scandal. Whether it be the involvement of ministers, substantial donations to the Liberal Party, the use of offshore tax havens, these are serious questions which will not go away and Scott Morrison needs to do a better job of answering them than he has done so far. Barnaby Joyce's unhinged interview made Australians more suspicious of what's gone on here and not less. Tony Burke has rightly sought answers to some very serious questions from the Department and from the Government. We expect them to be answered today and then we will make further conclusions about what comes next, whether it be a judicial inquiry or something else; after we get proper answers to those questions that Tony Burke has sought from the Government, which they should provide today.
 
Across the board, this says everything about a Government dominated by crackpots, conspiracy theorists, cuts and chaos and crooked deals. It reminds us that this election is a choice between the cuts and chaos, and conspiracy theories and crackpots and crooked deals of the last six years - more of the same of that - or a steady, stable, united and experienced Labor team ready to deliver a fair go for all Australians. Over to you.
 
JOURNALIST: Jim you mentioned when talking about this water buyback deal that it was a scandal. Isn't it also a scandal that Tony Burke admitted he didn't know that this same company was domiciled in the Cayman Islands when he approved a deal with that company? 
 
CHALMERS: The important differences between water buybacks under Labor and under the Liberal and National parties now, as I understand it, is that we were buying river water, not this kind of water, and also most importantly, I think, is that we had tender processes for these kinds of deals, not these sorts of one-on-one negotiated deals. So there are key differences. Tony Burke has gone through them in some detail. We'll have more to say about it, obviously. But I don't think it is right to draw some sort of parallel between the behaviour of the two governments, particularly when there are such substantial unanswered questions from the Government. 
 
JOURNALIST: How can you criticise Barnaby Joyce for not doing due diligence and checking if this company was an offshore tax haven when Tony Burke didn't do the same thing?
 
CHALMERS: We're talking about the difference between a tender process and a negotiated deal with the company. I think it would be entirely wrong to suggest there are some kind of parallels here. We are talking about a Government which has substantial unanswered questions here - all of the makings of a full-blown scandal, not just this aspect of it - the Cayman Islands aspect of it - but the role of donations to the Liberal Party, the role of ministers like Barnaby Joyce and Angus Taylor. It's for the Government to answer these questions. They should do so today.
 
JOURNALIST: You mentioned that Tony Burke wants more answers on this. You also haven't ruled out a Royal Commission if necessary into this. That's normally hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer funding. Is that a little bit over the top in an election campaign?
 
CHALMERS: That's for consideration, and we don't take these sorts of decisions lightly. What we have said is that the next step is for the Government to properly answer these questions; to release the documents without all of the black, squiggly lines on them, so Australians can get a sense of what's happened here. They can have their legitimate questions answered. Once those questions are answered, we can then consider next steps, whether it be a judicial inquiry or whether it be some other mechanism to get to the bottom of these issues. But these are serious issues. This has all the makings of a full-blown scandal. The Australian people deserve answers. They deserve them sooner rather than later, so they can factor that into their choice at this election.
 
JOURNALIST: Just on Clive Palmer, he's had a surge of support. Are you worried about his influence in marginal seats?
 
CHALMERS: Obviously like everybody else I read the polls in The Australian today. I haven't poured over them in any detail. There is a range of very close contests right around Australia. We've said all along that we don't take the outcome in any seat for granted. We're contesting this election in every corner of Australia. The election will be tight. It's an opportunity for people to express a view on the last six years of cuts and chaos, and to consider our positive policies as an alternative. When it comes to Clive Palmer, I'm not especially distracted by Clive Palmer. Our fight is with Scott Morrison over his cuts to schools and hospitals, and penalty rates. We're seeking to draw a contrast with Scott Morrison and the last six years of cuts and chaos, versus our steady, stable and united team. There'll be conversations about preferences after the nominations close today, obviously. That's always a feature of election campaigns. I’m not personally involved in those discussions.
 
JOURNALIST: So Labor's willing to talk preferences with him, even though you've criticised him for ripping workers off millions of dollars after the collapse of his company?
 
CHALMERS: Others conduct those kinds of conversations. I guess what I'm saying is Clive Palmer is not the main game for us. For us, the main game is Scott Morrison, his cuts to hospitals and schools and penalty rates. We will engage with other parties where that's appropriate, and where that's necessary that will be done by others not by me.
 
JOURNALIST: It was a couple of weeks ago that Labor MPs were saying that Melissa Price had been bullied by her colleagues into making this final Commonwealth approval for Adani. If that's the case, can you explain why you won't review that decision should you come into Government?
 
CHALMERS: Well it wasn't just Labor saying that. It was Melissa Price's own colleagues who were publicly releasing information that suggested that she was being bullied into a decision. These questions have not been sufficiently answered by Melissa Price or by Scott Morrison or by others. The process here needs to be explained by the Government as a first step. Our view on Adani has been very clear for some time. It's been expressed hundreds, if not thousands of times. I've expressed it tens, if not hundreds of times, and that's our position we'll take to the election.
 
JOURNALIST: But if you do have genuine concerns about this, why wouldn't you just come out and say we will review this in Government? Are you pushing yourself until after the election because of marginal seats in Queensland?
 
CHALMERS: The first step is to get answers from Melissa Price and from Scott Morrison about what extent this bullying in the Liberal and National parties played a part in her decision. We need to know that as a first step. Our point about Adani, if we win Government, if we get over the line on the 18th of May, we have said repeatedly that we'll make any remaining decisions based on the best advice. Based on the fact that the project needs to stack up environmentally, commercially, scientifically. That position hasn't changed for some time, and I think Australians know where we're coming from.
 
JOURNALIST: Pauline Hanson is saying climate change isn't man made. What do you make of that?
 
CHALMERS: This is the sort of crackpot stuff that is now poisoning the Liberal Party, not just the One Nation Party. We have a key LNP Senate candidate called Gerard Rennick who's pushing the same kind of ridiculous views inside the Liberal Party from a winnable spot on the Queensland LNP Senate ticket. That's very concerning, to hear the LNP dance to One Nation's tune on issues like climate change, which the Australian people want a sensible and responsible plan to deal with. I think it is very troubling, and it's a reminder that it's very hard tell where One Nation ends and the LNP begins. When One Nation Senators come to Canberra, they put their hands up 90 per cent of the time to support the LNP under Scott Morrison. If Australians want genuine responsible action on climate change, they need to support the Labor party and not the crackpots and conspiracy theorists in the Liberal Party, the National Party and One Nation. Thank you.
 
ENDS