JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SKY AFTERNOON AGENDA
TUESDAY, 7 DECEMBER 2021
SUBJECTS: Economy and the election; Queensland border reopening; A Budget full or rorts and waste; Morrison Government chock-full of whack jobs compromising public health; The only way to end this madness is to end this Government.
KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: As Queensland is set to reopen federal Labor is starting to flesh out its economic pitch for post-COVID Australia and for the election. Let's have a look at Jim Chalmers, a video he released overnight.
EXCERPT, LABOR AD: It's been a tough couple of years for Australians. We've had bushfires, COVID-19, and a recession. Now, we need the Australian economy to recover strongly for everyone. Together, we can build an economy and a society which is stronger after COVID-19 than it was before, but only if we plan for the future to grow the economy the right way. That's why an Albanese Labor Government would have three main priorities in the economy. First, to support working families with childcare and the other costs of living. Second, a plan for good, secure, well-paid jobs with better skills. And thirdly, a Future Made In Australia so that we can create new jobs and industries, diversify our economy, and revitalise our regions.
GILBERT: Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers joins me live from Brisbane. You talk about the cost of living , and we know the initiative when it comes to childcare, what else is planned on that cost of living front?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Good afternoon, Kieran. I think the most important reason why working families right across Australia are falling behind is because their wages have been stagnant for much of this decade. So in addition to our policy on childcare, which will ease cost of living pressures for hundreds of thousands of Australian families, we also have a policy on wages, which is all about attacking that job insecurity which has led to stagnant wages for so long. This is the reason why working families are falling behind.
We were delighted when the Prime Minister said he wanted cost of living to be a battleground in the election. The ad that I released is all about setting up the contrast between a Labor team under Anthony Albanese, releasing coherent policy by a cohesive team, versus a government which has been there almost a decade now, asking for another decade, playing footsie with extremists and compromising public health outcomes, which has overseen eight long years of wage stagnation and people falling behind. So that's the contrast that people will consider when they go to the polling booths, whether it's in March or May next year.
GILBERT: On those secure well-paid jobs that you're talking about, how do you stop that trend towards casualisation, which seems to be a trend supported by many workers as well because it suits them?
CHALMERS: Insecure work in this country has a number of sources and it's why we've got a policy for labour hire, for example, so that people who are doing the same job get the same pay. It's why we want to empower Fair Work Australia to create a clearer pathway between insecure and casual jobs into more permanent, more secure jobs. We've got a range of policies that we released almost a year ago now, which are all about trying to boost wages growth again in this country because it's been stagnant for so long.
In lots of ways Kieran, this all relies on growing the economy the right way and making sure that people can grab the opportunities of a recovering economy. That's why we released a policy for cleaner and cheaper energy, which is about more jobs and more investment, more renewables, lower power costs and less emissions. It's why we announced a policy for TAFE, to make sure that we can deal with the skill shortage which exists in this country despite the fact they've got two million unemployed and underemployed. And it's why we released a policy on the National Broadband Network, which would be particularly beneficial for small businesses.
Right across the board, what we're announcing is coherent, cohesive, economic policy, which is all about growing the economy the right way. The other side is playing footsie with Clive Palmer and George Christensen, compromising public public health outcomes and offering nothing better than a return to all the wage stagnation we've seen for much of the last decade.
GILBERT: The Prime Minister and Treasurer clearly want an election framed around the economic debate. A Budget scheduled for March 29, do you feel constrained by how much you will spend given the level of debt post-pandemic?
CHALMERS: We'll certainly be more responsible than the Government, and you measure that responsibility partly by the quantity of money that has been invested in the economy but also...
GILBERT: You'll spend less than the Government? Is that a commitment to spend less than the Government then?
CHALMERS: We've still got two budget updates as you rightly identified Kieran - a Budget in March and a mid-year budget update next week. What we've said, is that our fiscal settings, our budget settings, will be the best match for the economic conditions that we inherit. That's partly a story about the quantity of spending but also about the quality. No objective observer of the Government's Budget, which has got a trillion dollars in debt with not enough to show for it because it's absolutely riddled with rorts and weighed down with waste, the most wasteful government since Federation. We think we can invest taxpayer money more responsibly and more effectively.
GILBERT: Will you commit to spending less?
CHALMERS: We will lay out all of our alternative Budget before people go to the polls, Kieran. We've got two more budget updates. We don't know what kind of budget we would inherit. We will know more about that in a couple of weeks and particularly in the Budget in March. We will do the right and responsible thing, we will be much more responsible than the Government, we will get more bang for buck for taxpayer money. One of the defining stories of the last eight years has been waste and rorts which has meant we've got that trillion dollars in debt with barely anything to show for it.
GILBERT: Now the reopening of Queensland happening a few days earlier, do you welcome that for the embattled tourism industry? And how do you reflect on the fact that that's happening on the one hand yet in WA - which has been quite similar in terms of the border approach throughout the pandemic - it's shut. It's lost the fifth Ashes test as well. That must be very bitter news for tourism industries and the hospitality sector.
CHALMERS: I'm sure that the tourism industry in WA would have preferred to have the Ashes test. I think when it comes to Queensland, whether it's Premier Palaszczuk or Premier McGowan out west, indeed, all the Premiers of all political persuasions, they have to make difficult decisions based on the best health advice that they can access. I think we've had a really good run here in Queensland and that is down to the efforts of Queenslanders but also the inspired leadership of our Premier and I think that what she's announced in the last couple of days, and said again today, is to level with people and say yes, the borders are opening. Yes, we're about to cross that 80% threshold, but we can't be complacent. We've got to make sure that we're getting our vaccinations. We're getting those boosters. We've got to make sure that we're doing the right thing by each other. We've gotten to this point in remarkably good nick, we don't want to compromise that. The borders will open, we need to be upfront about what that means, but we also need to make sure we're not complacent about it.
GILBERT: Would you urge Mark McGowan to follow a similar path because at the moment he's baulking as Palaszczuk reopens?
CHALMERS: I'm not going to give Mark advice via TV about what he should or shouldn't do. They've had a remarkable run out west as well, and Mark McGowan has done and is doing a terrific job. None of these decisions are easy, I don't think anybody is pretending that they're easy decisions to make. You've got to weigh up all of the health considerations and all the economic considerations. Mark's done an outstanding job and will continue to do so. These difficult decisions will continue to be made, they'll be different in different parts of Australia, and it's not for me to second guess them.
GILBERT: Now, you mentioned George Christensen earlier. The Deputy Prime Minister has said in a statement that a conversation was had with Mr Christiansen while the Deputy PM doesn't agree with the comments made. Mr Christensen has the right to say what he believes. That free speech element has been something that a number of his colleagues have said, although they've also condemned him for over overstepping the mark in terms of the type of language he's used here. As David Littleproud said, there are responsibilities that come with free speech. Have they condemned him sufficiently for the behaviour that he's carried out there in that interview?
CHALMERS: It seems everybody has expressed a view today except the Prime Minister. Scott Morrison has gone missing again. That's because he wants to play footsie with extreme elements in our country and try and cosy up to and cuddle up to the extremists to try and get their preferences in the election.
We've got a Government which is chock full of whack jobs and a Prime Minister who's either unwilling or unable to show the leadership necessary to pull them into line, and that does compromise public health outcomes in this country.
The only way to end this madness that we see on an almost daily basis - it doesn't begin or end with George Christiansen, the whole Government is contaminated by these whack jobs – the only way to end this madness is to end this Government.
I think Australians have got an obligation, when they look at this Government - the failure of leadership from Scott Morrison, one after another whack job, which seems to hold sway in the Liberal and National parties – to put an end to that madness and to put an end to the Government.
GILBERT: Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers, thanks for joining us.
CHALMERS: Thank you, Kieran.
ENDS
