JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW

LOGAN

MONDAY, 12 JULY 2021

SUBJECTS: Support for workers and small businesses in Sydney; Scott Morrison’s ad campaign telling Australians to hurry up and wait for vaccines he has failed to provide; Return of parliament; Scott Morrison’s failure of leadership and Kevin Rudd.

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks very much for coming out today.

Workers and small businesses in Sydney are the victims of Scott Morrison's incompetence and Scott Morrison's lockdowns. The workers and small businesses of Sydney and the surrounding areas are the victims of Scott Morrison's inability to roll out the vaccines and to build purpose-built quarantine. Those workers and small businesses are hurting. Small businesses are finding it hard to pay the bills, to pay their workers, to pay their rent. Workers are finding it hard to hold on to jobs, and also forced to make that difficult decision about getting tested and that hard call between doing the right thing by their colleagues and doing the right thing by their families by putting food on the table.

We call on Scott Morrison to reinstate JobKeeper or something better as soon as possible. Every day that Scott Morrison delays means more workers and more small businesses are at risk. Every day that Scott Morrison goes to ground, and shifts responsibility, and hopes that somebody else picks up the tab, could have dire consequences for workers and small businesses in Sydney.

Scott Morrison: don't make the same mistake in Sydney that Josh Frydenberg made in Melbourne. Don't leave Sydney in the lurch like you left Melbourne in the lurch. Don't come in too late, with too little, and too narrowly defined support, which doesn't do enough to look after people who are doing it tough as a consequence of your Government's own failures.

We call on Scott Morrison, as soon as possible, to come forward with a proper package of support, which recognises that the damage done to the workers and small businesses of the economy in Sydney is his fault and they are his responsibility. Stop trying to duck shove responsibility. Stop trying to hope that somebody else picks up the tab for your incompetence, Prime Minister. These lockdowns are your fault. These workers and small businesses are your responsibility. It's time for you to provide the support that they need and deserve to get through a difficult period.

These are the costs and consequences of a Prime Minister who was too quick to withdraw support and too slow to roll out the vaccine. We said all along, we didn't want the Prime Minister to end the pandemic support before the pandemic was ended. This is the defining mistake that this Government has made. In failing to get vaccines and quarantine right, and in pulling support too quickly, that has meant that so many workers and small businesses are in this horrible position that they find themselves in today. That's a consequence of Scott Morrison's failures and his incompetence. So we call on the Prime Minister to do the right thing. Don't leave Sydney in the lurch like you left Melbourne in the lurch. Do the right thing by the workers and small businesses of Sydney, reinstate JobKeeper or something better as soon as possible. This Prime Minister's first instinct is always to try and avoid responsibility, or go into hiding, or hope that somebody else picks up the tab. The workers and small businesses of Sydney need and deserve better.

I've been asked to cover off on three other related topics, so let me turn to those now. The first one is the advertising campaign. We've got enough arms we just don't have enough vaccines. The Prime Minister appears to be telling people in this advertising to hurry up and get vaccines that he has failed to supply. You'd think that this advertising man could do better than a message which says 'hurry up and wait'. When it comes to vaccines Scott Morrison has left the country in the lurch. When it comes to Scott Morrison and vaccines, it's the cupboard that's bare.

I've also been asked to comment on the parliament and also Kevin Rudd's intervention when it comes to the Pfizer vaccines. Our preference, subject to sensible health advice, is for the parliament to sit. We don't want Scott Morrison to avoid responsibility for his failures to do vaccines and quarantines right. We don't want Scott Morrison to avoid responsibility and scrutiny when it comes to failing to do those two key jobs. Our preference, subject to sensible health advice, is for the parliament to sit and for the Government to be accountable.

When it comes to Kevin Rudd's intervention in the supply of vaccines. This is what happens when the current Prime Minister is unwilling or unable to do his job. Australians stepped up, Scott Morrison stuffed-up and Kevin Rudd stepped in. And that's what we've seen with this intervention by the former Prime Minister.

Now look, there's been some commentary today from the Liberal Party and there's been a statement released by Pfizer. Kevin Rudd wasn't saying that he was looking to sign a contract on Australia's behalf, what Kevin Rudd was doing was responding to the genuine sense of concern in the business community and the broader community, that there's been a failure of leadership here when it comes to Scott Morrison and vaccines.

Kevin Rudd is one of millions of Australians who thinks that Scott Morrison has failed when it comes to this key leadership task of securing these vaccines. Those concerns were relayed to Kevin, what he's done here is stepped in, where the Prime Minister has left the void. We need to know how many times the Prime Minister has spoken to the head of the Pfizer company before today. We need to know whether he's made any efforts along these lines. What we're seeing here is the natural consequence of a Prime Minister who has failed to lead. The current Prime Minister is unable or unwilling to do that and a former Prime Minister is trying to do his bit. Thanks very much.

ENDS