E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
LOGAN
MONDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2018
 
SUBJECT/S: Scott Morrison’s cuts to Queensland; Bill Shorten listening to Queenslanders.
 
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE: If Scott Morrison thinks that driving a big blue bus through Queensland will win him votes here, then he's even more out of touch than we feared. If he thinks that driving a big blue bus through Queensland will make Queenslanders forget about the cuts which define his time as Treasurer, then he's got another thing coming.
 
Four days in a big blue bus won't make up for five years of Liberal cuts. When Scott Morrison visits some of these places in Queensland for the first time, he should explain to people why he cut their education and health funding, why he cut their penalty rates, and why as Treasurer he voted against a banking royal commission 26 times. 
 
This bus should be called the "Cuts Express", because every time a Queenslander sees this bus, they will be reminded of all of the cuts that Scott Morrison inflicted on Queensland in his time as Treasurer: $160 million cut out of hospitals, including $6 million from Logan Hospital across the road here; $458 million out of Queensland public schools; 367,000 Queenslanders losing their penalty rates because of Scott Morrison and the Liberal Government; and 31,000 apprentices cut under the Liberal Party. This is a big, blue shiny reminder of all of the damage that Scott Morrison and the Liberal Party have inflicted on Queensland. 
 
Queenslanders can spot a phony try-hard from a mile away. Queenslanders understand that this guy can shoot as many embarrassing parody videos on the beach at Broadbeach as he likes; they will not forget the damage that he's done to our state when he was the Treasurer of this country. Queenslanders can spot a phony; they can spot a try-hard. No amount of fake parody videos, no amount of bus trips will cover up for the fact that Scott Morrison always sides with the top end of town at the expense of Queenslanders.
 
The contrast couldn't be clearer. For years, Scott Morrison has cut funding to Queensland and hid from Queenslanders at the same time as Bill Shorten has been on the ground listening and proposing policies which will deliver for the people of Queensland. Bill Shorten has been here on 47 separate occasions since the last election. Half of those visits have been to regional Queensland. He's had 18 town hall meetings in Queensland, and 14 of those have been in the regions. And that's because the difference is that Labor genuinely listens to Queenslanders, and will genuinely deliver for Queenslanders. Scott Morrison just drives past every once in a while when there's an election around the corner.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you think Scott Morrison resonates more with Queenslanders than Malcolm Turnbull?
 
CHALMERS: I think whether it's Scott Morrison or Malcolm Turnbull, they know that this Liberal Government has been defined by cuts and chaos, defined by those cuts to schools and hospitals, cuts to penalty rates, the fierce resistance to the banking royal commission. Whether it's Turnbull or Morrison, Queenslanders know that this Liberal Government has always sided with the top end of town at the expense of people who live and work in Queensland.
 
JOURNALIST: So can we expect a similar tour from Bill Shorten as the election draws closer?
 
CHALMERS: Bill Shorten has been to Queensland on 47 separate occasions right up and down the coast, right through the suburbs and towns of Queensland; 47 separate trips, just since the last election alone, and half of those to regional Queensland; 18 town hall meetings, 14 of which have been in the regions. Bill Shorten has been a regular visitor to Queensland. But not just a visitor. He has listened; he has taken into account the views of Queenslanders and incorporated it into our policy development so we can have the big investments in infrastructure in Queensland without Liberal cuts to health and education and penalty rates.
 
Thanks very much. 
 
ENDS