JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
SENATOR HELEN POLLEY
LABOR SENATOR FOR TASMANIA
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
LAUNCESTION
WEDNESDAY, 10 MARCH 2021
SUBJECTS: JobKeeper cuts; Australian Maritime College; OECD warning about withdrawing support too quickly; Reserve Bank Governor’s comments on the recovery; Australia’s participation in Quad talks; Daniel Andrews; Labor’s commitment to Bass and Braddon; Christian Porter; Greg Hunt; Linda Reynolds; Leppington Triangle land deal; Budget riddled with rorts.
HELEN POLLEY, SENATOR FOR TASMANIA: Hello everyone and thank you very much for coming. I have great pleasure in welcoming Jim Chalmers, the Shadow Treasurer, back here to Tasmania, and in Northern Tasmania, today and also Geoff Lyons, our Labor candidate for the upper house seat of Windermere. It's great to have them both here. Now, Jim Chalmers has come down to see the affect of JobKeeper being cut at the end of this month and we've been talking to businesses and tourism operators.
But there's another crucial issue that has broken this morning, and that's the undermining of the Australian Maritime College, by the Liberal government. Now, this started in 2017, when Christopher Pyne took away training facilities from Launceston, to save a seat in South Australia. And now what we're seeing is Scott Morrison doing exactly the same thing by trying to win seats and hold seats in Queensland. It's not good enough. The fact that the Minister for Defence is on sick leave does not help the AMC's case, or Northern Tasmania. I have to say I'm bitterley disappointed that Bridget Archer has failed again to stand up for Northern Tasmania. Now, the AMC has always had support in a bipartisan manner, for decades, because it's been valued, not only nationally, but internationally. Losing eight to twelve jobs may seem like a small number, but $36 million worth of training, undermining the skills and the expertise in the AMC, is another attack by the Liberal government. Enough is enough. Keep your hands off. And when you don't provide alternative jobs - and the Morison government has no plans for Tasmania when it comes to jobs - then we on the Labor side are going to stand up every single day to defend our important institutions, like the AMC.
GEOFF LYONS, STATE LABOR CANDIDATE: I've been doing some work at the Australian Maritime College, helping with their shipboard safety. Now, taking these jobs out of Tasmania means that the shipboard safety jobs are also at risk because they were doing some of those things part time. This is basically giving up on Tasmania, and trying to develop seats in Queensland for the Liberal government. This is not about looking after Tasmania. This is quite the reverse. This is a pull-out from Tasmania, and we should ask Scott Morrison, what are the jobs? What are you replacing these with? Come on Scott. This is not a football field, or doing up some rubbish heap, this is serious jobs in Northern Tasmania, and we want your help.
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Well, thanks very much Helen, and Geoff as well, for the opportunity to be here today with my colleague from the federal parliament, Helen Polley, and also Geoff Lyons, who really is just one of the most community-minded people I've ever come across in politics. It’s great to see you again, Geoff, and all the best for the election.
We've been speaking with a number of employers, a number of businesses, the local industries, here in Northern Tasmania and yesterday in the South. What we've learned from speaking to so many pf them is that while parts of the Tasmanian economy are recovering, there are still many businesses, and many workers, and many industries, and communities, which are doing it tough. That's why it's too soon for the Morison Government to cut the JobKeeper program at the end of this month. Something like 14,000 Tasmanian workers and 4,500 Tasmanian businesses are still relying on the JobKeeper payment to get them through a difficult period.
We don't want to see thousands of Tasmanian workers and businesses hit the wall because Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison want to cut JobKeeper too soon. Nobody's saying JobKeeper should go on forever, but what we need to see is a tailored, and targeted, and responsible extension of JobKeeper, for those businesses which might be relying on international visitors, or are in other kinds of difficulties, to make sure that they can get through a difficult period and emerge on the other side without losing their jobs, and opportunities, and experience that is so important to communities like these in Northern Tassie. So, we call on the government to do the right thing by those thousands of Tasmanian workers and small businesses.
The OECD overnight made a really important point. It said that we shouldn't be withdrawing support from the economy while things are still so uncertain. And for a lot of businesses and workers in Tassie, and right around Australia, things are still very difficult. We need to recognise that. That was also a point made by the Reserve Bank Governor this morning, who's pointed out that Australia is a long way from full employment, and that the cuts to JobKeeper this month will mean job losses in this country. We don't want to see the recovery from this recession stall because the government is in a rush to cut JobKeeper and other forms of economic support. We welcome the recovery, we welcome the OECD upgrade of our growth expectations, but we need to recognise that there are still people doing it tough. Two million Australians can't find a job or enough hours to support their loved ones. One million Australians are still on the JobKeeper payment. We've got millions more struggling on wages which have been stagnant for too long in this country.
Now, there's some speculation that the government will announce in the coming days, another package of support in the economy. We would welcome any support, and be constructive about any support, that the government announces, but it would be no substitute for a responsible, temporary extension of the JobKeeper payment. We obviously will be constructive about whatever the government comes forward with. We recognise that any support is better than no support, but it's no substitute for doing the right thing when it comes to the JobKeeper payment.
We've even heard this mad speculation that the government might cut JobKeeper this month and have a replacement from July, creating a valley of death for some months for so many workers and businesses in this country. We don't want to see some kind of bizarre Hunger Games created by bad government decisions. We don't want to see the weaker workers and companies sacrificed, while the stronger companies are subsidised. So we'll wait and see what the government announces, we want to see them extend JobKeeper in a temporary way, we'll be constructive with anything else that comes forward. But we're sceptical, given some of the whispers that have been coming out of Canberra, that the government will do the right thing.
I'll just touch on another issue before we take your questions. Some of you have shown some interest in the Quad meeting with President Biden which is happening on the weekend. This meeting of the Quad is a really important opportunity for Australia and we want to make sure that our voice is heard. We welcome, in particular, President Biden's engagement in our region. This meeting will be a really important opportunity, but it will take more than meetings, it will take the hard yards of diplomatic work, to make sure that we're engaging in the region, to ensure that our recovery from this pandemic is strong, and that we're doing what we responsibly can to shape the future of our region, which is the most important region in the world when it comes to our economic prospects.
Finally, we all convey our best wishes to Premier Dan Andrews who has had a nasty fall. We wish him a speedy recovery from that fall. It sounds like a very trying time for him and for his family, and for Victorians more broadly. So, we wish him well. Over to you.
JOURNALIST: What level would Labor retain JobKeeper at? And how long for?
CHALMERS: Well, our argument is that JobKeeper should be tailored to the economic situation on the ground in local communities, and local economies, like this one. So, we need to be flexible about it. It should be a temporary extension. It should be something which is constantly under review, so that we're responding to what's happening on the ground. And we acknowledge, and we welcome, that some businesses are back on their feet. We acknowledge and welcome some of the pleasing signals we've had out of the economic data, but there are troubling signals as well and we just want the government to be responsive to that.
My fear is that government doesn't have a clue what's happening in Northern Tasmania, or Tasmania more broadly, or around Australia, when it comes to the difficulties that travel agents, some other parts of the travel industry, which are relying on international visitors, and other industries, are going through. We don't want the government to declare victory prematurely over this recession. That was the point that the OECD and the Reserve Bank Governor have both made in the last 24 hours. So, be responsive to what's happening, extend JobKeeper in a responsible way at a responsible level, which takes into account conditions on the ground.
JOURNALIST: What's responsible? You don't have a tangible level you'd like to see?
CHALMERS: Well, for some time, some businesses will be doing a tough. If you take, for example, those companies and workers, which rely on the international visitor market. Nobody's anticipating that will open anytime soon, so there is a case for a few more months, at something like the current level, for the government to extend JobKeeper.
Remember, JobKeeper has got a test built into it, so the companies that are going well are excluded from the program. That's a good thing. They haven't got the program exactly right, but in principle, that's a good way to go about it. Many companies in Tassie, and around Australia, would still fail that test. And so, we want to make sure that they're supported, so that good businesses, employing workers in communities like Launceston, can hold on to those workers, get through this difficult period, and emerge on the other side with their skills and jobs intact.
JOURNALIST: So, you're saying only businesses that heavily rely on international tourists should be kept on JobKeeper?
CHALMERS: I'm saying that businesses which are doing it tough because of the pandemic, including those small businesses in the tourism sector in particular, which are relying on international visitors, that they should be part of the government's thinking and the government's planning. We've had some speculation in recent days that there'll be some kind of package of loans, maybe some support for the aviation sector, maybe some kind of grants, and I'd say this about those initiatives which have been floated: we will welcome any support for small businesses and workers, but they’re no substitute for JobKeeper.
This government has form when it comes to making big announcements and not following through so that the support actually reaches local communities. We don't want to see the communities and local economies of Northern Tasmania left in the lurch and left behind in the aftermath of this recession. That means extending JobKeeper in a responsible and temporary manner and it means doing what we responsibly can to support employment in this part of the world.
JOURNALIST: On the Quad talks, does Labor welcome them and is it about China?
CHALMERS: We welcome, absolutely, the opportunity to engage with Quad partners, especially President Biden, to engage with them on the future of our region. This is a crucial opportunity for the Prime Minister, and the government, and for our country more broadly, to make sure that our voice is heard in this important forum. There are issues to be discussed here which go beyond the rise of China. There are issues to be discussed here around our response to the pandemic, the future of our region more broadly, how we seize the economic opportunities in particular, how we cooperate on defence and other matters. So, this is a crucial conversation that Australia is involved in. Labor welcomes that. We want the government's voice to be heard loud and clear. We want Australia's voice to be heard loud and clear in an important forum like this.
JOURNALIST: But it does have something, partly, to do with China, you think?
CHALMERS: The Quad is about the region more broadly. And it's about ensuring that some of the big players in the region have the opportunity to coordinate our efforts, when it comes to responding to the pandemic, down the track reopening borders, defence cooperation, economic cooperation, jobs and opportunities, which flow to Australians from that kind of cooperation. So, it's much broader than any one country. But it is a good opportunity to make our voice heard.
JOURNALIST: If JobKeeper was to be extended, like you say, for the next couple of months, how much would that cost Australia? Do you have a figure?
CHALMERS: Well, it's clear from the costings that have already been provided by the government, that JobKeeper is an extremely expensive program and we've acknowledged that throughout. It depends at what level, and how many companies and workers qualify for the payment, that determines how much it costs. The government has pointed out, as have we, that every dollar is borrowed. So we need to get maximum bang for buck and we measure that effectiveness by what it means for jobs.
What we would say is, if the budget wasn't riddled with rorts, if we didn't have sports rorts, and land deal rorts, and JobKeeper puffing-up executive bonuses in Sydney and Melbourne, then we'd have the opportunity to support jobs in local communities like this one. Under Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison, we're more likely to see millions of dollars flow to profitable companies in Sydney paying executive bonuses, then to tourism operators and small businesses in Tasmania after March, and we don't think that's right.
JOURNALIST: So, is it feasible that the JobKeeper payments are extended for how many months would you say? Three? Four?
CHALMERS: Well, unfortunately, the government has made it clear that they don't intend to extend JobKeeper. They've got a couple of weeks to change their mind on behalf of local workers, and local small businesses, in particular. It's certainly feasible to do it. The government already has the architecture in place. They've already extended it once before. So, we call on them to do the right thing here. This money would be much better spent supporting jobs in local communities, then engaging in sports rorts, or land rorts, or paying executive bonuses. This is a government that's racked up more than a trillion dollars in debt, in a budget which is absolutely riddled with rorts. That money would be better spent on jobs and opportunities in regional Australia, and in communities like this one.
JOURNALIST: So Labor doesn't have a cap on how much it would spend on JobKeeper?
CHALMERS: Well, what we're saying to the government, is come forward with a plan to responsibly extend JobKeeper. We don't know how many companies will take up that offer. They will be subject to the similar kind of tests that they're subject to now. It's not a cheap program and obody's pretending it is. Nor is anybody pretending it should go on forever. JobKeeper will end at some point, when small businesses and workers can stand on their own two feet. Our fear is that it's being ended prematurely. These cuts to JobKeeper from the Morison Government at the end of this month will be devastating for thousands of Tasmanian workers and small businesses, and we don't want to see that happen.
JOURNALIST: What did Labor's leadership team decipher when it comes to what went wrong in Tasmania in the last election? Because I dare say, if you don't win back Bass or Braddon, you won't win government.
CHALMERS: We're gonna give Bass and Braddon a red-hot crack again at the next election because Tasmania is important to us. Already, you send some terrific colleagues to us, as part of the Labor team in the national parliament and we want to add to that. The best way to do that is to spend time, as Helen and I have been doing today, listening to people on the ground, to workers, small businesses, industries and communities, to make sure that our primary focus in federal Labor is secure, well-paid jobs, with fair conditions. You only get that if the business community is thriving in this part of Australia. So that'll be central to our pitch. I'm confident that we can do well here. We've done well here before. We underperformed at the last election. It's a source of some obvious disappointment for us.
JOURNALIST: What went wrong though?
CHALMERS: Well, we had a full review of the election, the last election, and what went wrong. Clearly, the conclusions of that review, were that some of the proposals that we put forward weren't supported in the community. Perhaps we tried to do too much. So our task at this coming election is to not be any less ambitious, but to be more focused. And our focus is on secure, well-paid jobs with fair conditions. We recognise that in order to get that, we've got to support local industry. We've got to support the local business community. That's why Helen and I have spent today talking with so many representatives from those communities.
JOURNALIST: So, you weren't listening to Tasmanians, essentially?
CHALMERS: I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is, we underperformed here last time and we want to do better. We lost a couple of really good colleagues here last time, as you know. We will make Tasmania a focus at the coming election, not just to win back those two seats, but to win the kinds of jobs and opportunities that we want to see here. See, we want the national economy to recover strongly and it won't do that unless regional economies, and state economies, like the Tasmanian economy, are a bigger part of that story. And that's what we want to see.
JOURNALIST: Should the Prime Minister seek legal advice from the Solicitor-General about whether Christian Porter is a fit and proper person to remain Attorney-General?
CHALMERS: I think it's surprising that he hasn't. What we've said all along, is that the Prime Minister needs to satisfy the country that the Attorney-General is a fit and proper person to be the first law officer of the land. There are precedents here for independent external inquiries. It wouldn't be unprecedented for him to go down that path. I don't think it's true that this matter is done and dusted, just because the Prime Minister says it is. He needs to give Australians confidence that the Attorney- General is a fit and proper person to fulfil a really important role in the cabinet.
JOURNALIST: Greg Hunt is expected to be back at work this week, but there'll already be two ministers down, how are you expecting that will play out?
CHALMERS: Well, obviously, on a personal level, we wish Greg Hunt and Linda Reynolds, a speedy recovery from their ailments. We want to see them recover. On a personal level, we want to see them back on their feet and healthy.
But this is true as well: this is a government in crisis. This is a government where the wheels are falling off. They've been in office now for eight years, and the next election they'll be asking for twelve years in office. And all of these problems are piling up. We don't have a Defence Minister, as Helen said, in a really crucial time for our defence industry in particular. We don't have an A-G. So I think Australians are entitled to ask, well, who's running the show while so many people are away? And I think it speaks to a broader truth about this government. This is a government in crisis. And for as long as this government will be in crisis, people won't get a look-in. We won't get the proper focus on wages, and conditions, and extending economic support, and all the other things that we've talked about today.
JOURNALIST: I just have two more, if that's okay?
CHALMERS: Sure.
JOURNALIST: Will Labor guarantee pairs for any Ministers who are away?
CHALMERS: The matter of pairs is a matter for Tony Burke, my colleague. I don't get involved in the arrangements that are made in the parliament. I think we've been pretty constructive in the past, but I'll leave any specific questions on that to Burkey.
JOURNALIST: And this is a long one. The Leppington Triangle deal has been discussed as at a state hearing today, with the National Audit Office raising concerns the Department of Infrastructure is only investigating possible misconduct by one of two employees. How confident are you that the Department is treating this manner with the appropriate seriousness?
CHALMERS: Well, I'm worried the government's not taking it seriously enough. What we're talking about here is a budget with a trillion dollars in debt, which is riddled with rorts. What we're talking about here, is a Morison Government which treats taxpayers money as its own. We've seen sports rorts, we've seen this particular rorts around the land deal around Western Sydney Airport, we've seen taxpayer funded executive bonuses, they've been flying ex-Ministers around Europe campaigning for the OECD job. We've got a billion dollars spent on advertising. We've had more money spent on market research.
For all of these reasons, I think Australians are entitled to conclude that this is a government which treats taxpayer money like its own. No wonder there's a trillion dollars of debt. No wonder the budget’s riddled with rorts, when we've got this kind of behaviour which has been discussed today, which others have concluded was a dodgy deal done dirt cheap, which has benefited a Liberal Party donor. I mean, this stinks from top to bottom. And, unfortunately, it's part of a pattern of behaviour from this government, treating taxpayer money as its own, racking up a trillion dollars in debt, in a budget riddled with rorts. Thanks very much.
ENDS
