JIM CHALMERS MP 
SHADOW TREASURER 
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

ANTHONY CHISHOLM
SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND

RUSSELL ROBERTSON
LABOR CANDIDATE FOR CAPRICORNIA

E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW 
ROCKHAMPTON
TUESDAY, 20 JULY 2021 

SUBJECTS: Two-speed economy; Morrison’s failures on vaccines putting the economy and recovery at risk; Central Queensland industries; Future made in Australia.

RUSSELL ROBERTSON, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR CAPRICORNIA: I'm here with the Member for Rockhampton Barry O’Rourke, Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers, and Queensland Senator Anthony Chisholm. We're here at the Capricorn Sandstone Quarries and it's a good news story for the local area. It’s about producing our own quality materials, with our own skill sets, and with a grant from a great state Labor Government, showing what can be done locally. It highlights how in this scary pandemic time there's an opportunity to grow local manufacturing here. We’ve got the skill set. We've got the ability. And we've got the drive to make great local products. It's something we should be doing. And it's something that a stale, lazy LNP government has let go. We saw that Barry’s released a white paper just recently, something I'm completely behind. We need to be producing and training more locally, and that will produce a safer and better economy. And a strong economy with local jobs and more training opportunities to value add. We’ve seen that this quarry has got some state government grants, and they've increased some automation value adding to their product, so they're not only supplying sandstone to New South Wales, but to our own Parliament House. So now I want to give Jim the opportunity to touch more on manufacturing by a potential Labor Government.

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks very much, Robbo and thanks in particular to Reece and Tamsin from here at Capricorn Sandstone Quarries. This is an exciting story here. It's been exciting to hear about the people that the company's been able to put on here, something like 50% growth in employment just in the last couple of years. So well done to Reece and Tamsin, the family, and all the workers who are making this success story here in Central Queensland. Really this is a reminder that the national economy is operating at two different speeds. There’s parts of the economy going well, parts of the economy doing it tough. And the difference between the parts doing it well and the parts doing it tough are the parts doing it well are a consequence of a bit of vision from a state government like Annastacia Palaszczuk, with input from Barry O’Rourke, but most of all the decisions taken by business and by workers to create these kinds of success stories. The parts of the Australian economy which are struggling are a consequence of Scott Morrison's inability to get vaccines and quarantine right. 
 
The people of Central Queensland have risen to the occasion. The people of Sydney and Victoria are rising to the occasion. During this pandemic, their government is falling short when it comes to vaccines and quarantine. 
 
What we need to see here is a strong national recovery in the economy. That means recognising the crucial contribution made by Central Queensland, regional Queensland, the regions right around Australia - whether it be manufacturing, construction, mining, tourism, transport and logistics. And the reason we are through here so frequently with Senator Anthony Chisholm, with great candidates like Russell Robertson, and Shane Hamilton, and Matt Burnett, right throughout regional Queensland, is we want to give this part of Australia a much bigger voice in the nation's politics. We want to give this part of Queensland a much bigger role when it comes to this economic recovery. 
 
We want the economy to recover strongly. That means regional Queensland needs to be a much bigger part of the story. That's why we are talking about a future made in Australia. We were at the rail workshops in Rocky earlier today, talking about a future made in Australia when it comes to building trains. It's why we're talking about a national reconstruction fund so we can co-invest in great ideas, particularly in manufacturing, but not just manufacturing, so that we can assist business like the state government has done here at Capricorn Sandstone Quarries. There’s no reason why, when parts of the economy succeed, and businesses and industries like this one succeed, that the whole country can’t benefit. 
 
What we need to see is a federal government doing as good a job on vaccines and quarantine as workers and businesses are doing right around Australia to make sure that our economy can recover strongly from this pandemic. Happy to take some questions.

JOURNALIST: Do you think that New South Wales needs to allow some construction to start up again, given that during Victoria's harshest lockdown that type of restriction didn't occur?

CHALMERS: State governments of either political persuasion have to make the best decisions that they can based on the health advice that they receive. And what we've tried to do all along, whether it's a state government led by a Liberal Premier or a Labor Premier, is to respect that there are difficult decisions being made based on the health advice. Where those decisions are made based on the health advice, we try not to quibble with it. The main issue here is the federal government's inability to get vaccines and quarantine right. Whether it's vaccines, quarantine, the premature end of JobKeeper - all of the issues that we're seeing now in Sydney and in Victoria in one way or another are traced back to Scott Morrison's failures when it comes to those important areas. 
 
Whether it's the vaccine rollout, purpose-built quarantine, or a decision which looks dumber and dumber by the day, which was to prematurely end JobKeeper. The people of Sydney, the people of Victoria, are crying out for JobKeeper to be reinstated, or for something just as good. The Government’s had multiple cracks now trying to do that and they’ve fallen short, each time. People are crying out for help. If we are genuinely all in this together, we need to recognise the contribution of Central Queensland, but equally, the sacrifices being made in Sydney, and in Victoria, and in South Australia, and right around the country. That means doing the right thing by people. We call on Scott Morrison to fix the bungled vaccine rollout, build purpose-built quarantine, and come back with something, if it's not JobKeeper, then something just as good.

JOURNALIST: There are people under the age of 40 with COVID-19 in hospitals should the vaccine rollout be expanded now so that people under 40 can get Pfizer?

CHALMERS: There’s a number of ways that the vaccine rollout needs to be fixed. I mean this is probably the defining failure of Scott Morrison's Government, his inability to get vaccines rolled out. We are actually last in the developed world when it comes to rolling out these vaccines and we're seeing the costs and consequences of that in locked down cities and locked down communities around Australia. So we need to see the vaccine rollout fixed. We need to see that based on health advice. But the primary problem here isn't just the issues with younger Australians or older Australians, the primary problem here is we don't have enough vaccines. We've got enough arms, we’ve got enough willingness, we don't have enough vaccines. That’s because Scott Morrison didn't do enough deals, didn't do it urgently enough, and we're paying the price for that now.

JOURNALIST: So you were saying that there needs to be a bigger push to use local resources. Do you know how much money we spend on international resources every year?

CHALMERS: We want to see a future made in Australia. You think about the work that's being done here, which is servicing the construction industry right around Australia, which is a terrific success story, and there's no reason why we can't be as successful in other areas as the company has managed to be at the sandstone quarry here. Our view is we should be doing a better job of manufacturing trains here. We should be doing a better job ensuring a future made in Australia. We are doing some value-adding in important industries like this, but not enough. And there's tens-of-billions-of-dollars to be earned for Australia if we get better at adding value to the products that we dig up and grow. That's why we're spending so much time in Central Queensland, understanding these industries, not just manufacturing, not just mining, but also transport and logistics. We’re off to a couple of different farms in or near Emerald in the next 24 hours as well. These are all crucial parts of the story. We want a future made in Australia. That means more success stories like this one.

JOURNALIST: So you’re heading to farms and you're looking at transport and mining. Can you be more specific as to what resources we’re currently getting from international locations that we should be finding from here?

CHALMERS: We’re talking about adding value to our resources. We have always been a successful nation when it comes to digging things up, when it comes to growing things. Primary industries have always been a strength of this nation. This quarry here turns 150 years old next year, which gives you a sense of how long we've been doing this. But I think the secret to the success of this place, and we're seeing it all around us right now, is the way that they're been able to add value to our resources and to our goods. And we want to see more of that, not less. We want a future made in Australia and this is what we're talking about.

JOURNALIST: Just back on vaccines sorry, we've seen a large take up of the number of people under 14 Taking AstraZeneca. Are you supportive of that figure?

CHALMERS: We want to see people vaccinated, consistent with the health advice. One of the troubling situations here is the uncertainty created firstly, something like 200,000 Queenslanders can't get a vaccine in the first place. Before we even get to some of these other questions that's obviously a diabolical situation and Scott Morrison's responsibility. So there's issues around supply. There's issues around uncertainty around the advice. From time to time the federal government seems to be telling people to hurry up and wait, which is causing a lot of confusion for obvious reasons. So get the supply right, get the advice right. It’s not for me to quibble with the health advice around the various age cut-offs. The role of the federal government, the role of the federal opposition, is to make sure that there's enough vaccines so that it can be swiftly, efficiently and appropriately delivered into enough arms consistent with that advice.

JOURNALIST: What are your biggest concerns about vaccine hesitancy?

CHALMERS: Vaccine hesitancy is an issue, but the primary issue is the people who want to get vaccinated and can’t. Something like 200,000 Queenslanders, and many more around Australia, are making these appointments and completely unable to get the vaccine or waiting months for it. We all know stories of people who are in that situation. The federal government says they want people to get vaccinated, but they haven't secured enough vaccines for people to do that. And that is a big problem. And if you look at the challenges in the broader national economy, in one way or another, they all come back to the government's failure on vaccines. There’s willingness to get vaccinated, there's just not the vaccines from Scott Morrison to do it.

JOURNALIST: Russell, when you say we need to get more resources sourced locally. What should be sourced locally?

ROBERTSON: Well, we've seen things like masks, we've seen the vacuum created by this Morison Government pushing manufacturing. We can look at a global picture, and particularly things like the car industry, we see industries like that just pushed overseas, simply with no care, no responsibility, and no concern for jobs. We should bring that stuff back. We should bring manufacturing particularly around clothes. And most of our medical supplies we need to bring back, manufacturer here, and make sure that we can future proof ourselves and make sure that any pandemic in the future doesn't cause so much chaos in our manufacturing sector.

JOURNALIST: We’re talking about supply more local jobs. What industries are you hoping to supply more local jobs in?

ROBERTSON: Across the board. What we're seeing is a slashing in TAFE and training. We've seen thousands of trainees and apprentices, my son's an apprentice, so I've seen the detrimental effects that the Morrison Government cutting millions of dollars out of the TAFE system, what it's done. The ability for businesses like this to make sure they can get access to skilled training is so important. And if we're going to grow a good strong economy, with the next generation trained in these particular roles, we need a strong TAFE system.

JOURNALIST: You're talking about a White Paper, can you talk me through what you would have done?

BARRY O'ROURKE, STATE MEMBER FOR ROCKHAMPTON: What I’ve developed up is Rockhampton 2030. And it's actually just a white paper and it's a starting point for members of the community to actually sit down and work through. One of the things I find is that when I'm out talking to people, they get annoyed with politicians, that they only work for their two or three year election cycle. Well, this is a 10 year cycle, trying to build that future. And it covers a whole lot of areas from education and training, to manufacturing, building businesses, all those sorts of things. And we have so many opportunities here in Rockhampton that we haven't tapped into. We have 272 days of sunshine. So you've got solar, you've got wind power, got hydrogen. We've got Stanwell power station. We've got a whole group of power assets here, and we're actually seeing prices drop in electricity costs. So now's the time to actually be trying to attract more businesses to our reach. I'd love to see a State Development area here where we can actually attract more businesses to our area, creating more jobs into the future. So there's a whole gamut of things that we can be doing if we work together, and that's the important part.

JOURNALIST: Tell us some of the benefits this State Development Area will have?

O'ROURKE: When you look at the State Development Area a lot of the planning processes have already been done. So maybe it's looking at incentives to actually get businesses here. Can it be interest free loans, can it be tax incentives to have to be working in Central Queensland, payroll tax, all those sorts of things. But it needs to be all levels of government working together for the betterment of the regions.

JOURNALIST: Russell, you're the candidate for an election. Is this an attempt to gain some trust among the public of Central Queensland? Promising jobs, this is a commitment?

ROBERTSON: I've always been jobs focused. There's no just out and out campaign idea, the idea is to bring the whole community along with access. So we've seen through this pandemic, as Jim has spoken about, there's a two-speed economy. And the idea is to make sure that we can give the next generation of kids the opportunity to train and be skilled up to get roles in great businesses like this one.

JOURNALIST: And tell us how Rockhampton can be competitive with the manufacturing industry as compared to places like Brisbane and Melbourne.

ROBERTSON: What Rockhampton highlights and the Greater Capricornia highlights the fact that we have a number of things. Space, which the Southeast corner is struggling for. And easy access to power, and be it coal-fired, hydrogen, or solar. So we've got all of the assets, we need some groundwork. And what we simply need is somebody who's willing to work for Capricornia, somebody who wants to see growth here in the sector, and not someone who just continually votes like the LNP do for the next rort, to see where they can get their next handful of cash from.

JOURNALIST: Do you think a lot of this policy relies on the Inland Rail going up to Gladstone? 

ROBERTSON: Inland Rail is going to be a crucial part, it's something that the Labor team, such as Matt Burnett and myself, are pushing hard for but it's not going to stop the growth of Capricornia. It can simply add and that's what I want to do, continue to add to the manufacturing and the potential growth of my region.

JOURNALIST: Anthony, what potential do you think Central Queensland has?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM, QUEENSLAND SENATOR: I think the great opportunity we've had with Barry and Russell today was to visit the rail workshops that Horizon had used previously. Doing a tour there you get to see so much potential of what could be used for rail manufacturing. Obviously, I'm someone who's been advocating around inland rail and I think that there'd be some great flow on benefits for Rockhampton as a result, along through Gladstone and the rest of the community. And then seeing the potential of the Rockhampton Airport as well with cold storage, when you look what's happening at Roockwood Weir, the potential increase that we could see from agriculture in this region. There's so many opportunities and avenues for there to be support for further production, whether it be rail, whether it be agricultural, whether it be through the airport, and through businesses like this. So it's been a great opportunity for us to hear from Russell and Barry, I know I've got a lot out of today and I'm sure Jim has as well. And the thing that we know within federal Labor is that for national economies to do well, local economies like Rockhampton need to be booming at the same time, And that'll be a significant focus of federaL Labor.

JOURNALIST: Just one more question. Will Labor be advocating for an increased military presence in Central Queensland at Shoalwater Bay.

CHISHOLM: It's certainly something that we've had some conversation about with Barry and Russell. We think there's tremendous opportunity around that and so far I think Queensland misses out on a lot of that investment when it comes to some of the maintenance issues, whether it be through the Army, whether it be further north through the Air Force and through the Navy as well. So that's something that federal Labor will be strongly advocating for. I know that the Shadow Minister Brendan O'Connor is very keen to get to this part of the world and explore those options. We think there is again growth opportunities for local business and local workers if we can get those settings right for local businesses to get those opportunities.

JOURNALIST: Today we're having a look at what Central Queenslanders are capable of. What do you take from things?

CHISHOLM: It’s amazing watching the operations at work, that's been fantastic. And I think that it just shows you that there's business operators in Rockhampton, that are entrepreneurial. They want to take risks, but what they need is a government that will support them. They’ve had that in the state government, but how many more opportunities would there be in this region if you had a federal Member like Russell Robertson who was committed to local jobs, committed to local businesses, and giving all those businesses the opportunities to grow and employ more people. That would be fantastic for this region.

CHALMERS: Thanks very much everyone, appreciate you trekking out.
 
ENDS