E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
LOGAN
MONDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2020

SUBJECTS: Productivity Commission Report; Dominic Perrottet on Federal Tax Reform; Working Holiday Visa Changes; Press Freedom; Climate Change; Coal Fired Power; Liberal National Dysfunction; Paul Parker.

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: There are two contributions out today from the Productivity Commission and from the New South Wales Treasurer and they both tell the same disappointing story. This is a Liberal National Government in its third term and its seventh year and it still doesn't have a plan for the economy, for wages, for productivity, for economic growth, for cheaper and cleaner energy, or for the federation itself. This is a Government which spends all of its time playing politics and pork-barrelling marginal seats instead of coming up with a plan to deal with the big challenges of the future. This is a Government which spends all of its time talking about the Labor Party, playing politics, and neglecting the big challenges in the economy. That's why we have stagnant wages, flat-lining productivity, rising emissions and rising power prices and it's why the federation still doesn't work as it should for all Australians.

These two new contributions out today should be a wake-up call for a Government defined by inaction, incompetence and ineptitude which is costing every Australian in the form of stagnant wages, declining productivity, an economy weaker than it should be, and higher power prices and higher emissions. This do-nothing Morrison Government presides over an economy weaker than it should be which means that we do confront the serious challenges of the fire season and the Coronavirus from a position of relative economic weakness, not strength.

The Government should look at these contributions from the New South Wales Treasurer and from the Productivity Commission. They should stop playing political games; they should stop playing musical chairs in the National partyroom, and they should come up with a plan to deal with the big challenges in our economy so that we can get the economy growing again at a pace fast enough to create the opportunities that ordinary Australians need and deserve in our society.

JOURNALIST: One plan the Government does have is to change working holiday visas to attract backpackers into bushfire-hit regions. What do you think of that idea?

CHALMERS: Labor called for this change some weeks ago and once again the Government's playing catch up. There is a common theme right across the board here. Anthony Albanese, Murray Watt, Kristina Keneally, Chris Bowen and other spokespeople on our side have been making constructive and responsible suggestions to the Government for months now to respond to this summer of devastating fires which has impacted local businesses, families, workers and communities. This is a welcome step that they've picked up and run with the suggestion that Labor has made. We don't want to see businesses and their workers left in the lurch in what is already a very difficult time so this change is appropriate.

JOURNALIST: Are you concerned that the Federal Court has found the AFP warrants to raid the ABC are valid?

CHALMERS: Right from the beginning there's been very concerning elements about this. We want to see press freedom defended. We want to see it advanced. It's a key pillar of a proper democracy like ours. While we don't second-guess the proceedings of the courts or the police involved in this case there's a broader issue here that the Morrison Government and its predecessors have not done enough to protect and advance press freedom in this country. It's very troubling to see the way that some of these raids were conducted and the way that the Government dealt with them in the aftermath. They say that they care about press freedom but they don't have a very admirable record of defending it.

JOURNALIST: So does it point to a need for more protection for public interest journalists and for whistleblowers?

CHALMERS: Clearly we need to find the best possible set of arrangements to protect and advance press freedom, to protect whistleblowers where that's appropriate. It's not for me to second-guess the proceedings of the courts or of the AFP who do a fine job. The issue here is with the Government which pretends that it cares about press freedom but does nothing to protect or advance it in our community.

JOURNALIST: Putting aside any Government funding, do you believe there is a need for a coal fired power station in Collinsville given Queensland unlike other states has surplus energy?

CHALMERS: There are a range of issues here. The Commonwealth money that's being thrown at this study is nothing more than a sop to the right-wing elements in Scott Morrison's partyroom. The highest priority for Scott Morrison is to appease the far right in his partyroom when it comes to energy policy. That's why we've had 19 different policies in almost seven years of Liberal National Government. New coal fired power doesn't make economic sense, the investors have made that very clear. The investment community is interested in new sources of renewable energy because it's cheaper, cleaner, gets emissions down, and gives our businesses a chance of becoming more competitive in a very competitive environment around the world. Our issue with that proposal is that it doesn't make economic sense. It's not just us saying it. The investor community's made that very clear as well.

JOURNALIST: Aside from the Government, would you like to see a 2050 net zero carbon target in line with the UK?

CHALMERS: I'll make my contribution to that conversation in our policy processes. As you know we're going through a process of policy development. My view is that we need to do something ambitious about climate change because I believe that investing in renewable energy is the best way to get cheaper and cleaner energy, to get our emissions down, to create more jobs and new jobs, and to make sure that our businesses are as competitive as possible by getting their energy costs down. I'm on the record as a believer in doing something ambitious about climate change for all the reasons that I've just outlined. The nature and specific targets that we take to the next election are a matter for us to determine collectively under Anthony’s leadership and with Mark Butler's policy leadership as well.

JOURNALIST: [inaudible]

CHALMERS: Foreign students and Chinese students in particular are very important to our economy. They're also obviously very important to the ways that our universities fund themselves and fund their research. We want to see a healthy population here and elsewhere for those reasons, but for broader reasons as well. When it comes to the travel ban, we have been as constructive as possible when it comes to supporting the medical advice from the Government. We've offered our in-principle support for that, we're relying on the same advice that they are. These are very troubling developments overall. Education is extremely important to our economy, as is tourism and other industries and sectors impacted by the Coronavirus.

There will be substantial impacts on our economy here in Australia but this Government should not pretend that the economy was whirring along nicely until the fires and the Coronavirus hit and then things got difficult. The economy has been weaker than it should be for some time now. Josh Frydenberg is hoping Australians forget that before the fires hit and before most people had even heard of Coronavirus we had slowing growth, weak wages, high household debt and they'd more than doubled government debt. The economy was underperforming on Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison's watch before the fires and before the virus. That means that we have approached these substantial difficulties from a position of relative economic weakness rather than strength.

JOURNALIST: Just a quick question on New South Wales. The Treasurer says that federal politicians are ignoring tax reform measures that will lift prosperity because they are too busy focussing on day-to-day political survival. Do you believe that the federal Government needs to [inaudible]?

CHALMERS: The federal Government hasn't had a plan for our economy for some time now. They didn't before the fires and the virus hit and they certainly don't have one now. What the New South Wales Treasurer and the Productivity Commission are saying is that not having a coherent plan has substantial costs for our economy, our people and our workers who are facing stagnant wages, and our businesses which are not investing in productivity. Today the New South Wales Treasurer is launching a pretty stunning critique of his federal colleagues in Canberra, a Coalition which has spent much of this year playing musical chairs in the National partyroom rather than dealing with the big issues that are in our economy and in our society. To the extent that the New South Wales Treasurer and the PC are making the point that it's long past time for the Government to have a plan for the economy, for wages and productivity, cheaper and cleaner energy and for the federation, then those are points well-made and the Government should heed them.

JOURNALIST: What is the latest [inaudible]. What's the go?

CHALMERS: Our understanding is that Paul Parker won't be sacked from the RFS. That's a very sensible outcome. It was concerning to us in the extreme that somebody like Paul Parker and his colleagues who've done so much right around Australia over the last few months would be reprimanded for something like that. If anybody has earned the right to express an opinion during this fire season, it's Paul Parker and his brave colleagues who put themselves in harm's way to protect other people and their property and their livelihoods. This is a welcome development if it stacks up that Paul Parker won't be sacked from the RFS. We would obviously welcome that. It would be extraordinarily inappropriate for him to lose his position over this. If anybody's earned the right to express a view it's Paul Parker and his colleagues. If he can continue to serve the community that he has served so effectively along with his brothers and sisters in the RFS then that's a good thing.

ENDS