E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AM AGENDA
TUESDAY, 17 MARCH 2020
SUBJECTS: Economic impact of Coronavirus; Parliament; Further stimulus; Support for affected airlines; Support for casual workers.
ANNELISE NIELSEN, SKY NEWS: Jim, thank you for your time. If we can start with what's in that breaking news about just 90 MPs representing the Government and the Opposition in Parliament. This is pretty extraordinary. Do you think it's the right call?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: We're in the hands of the negotiations between Tony Burke and Christian Porter here. I'm happy to go along with whatever they've negotiated on our behalf. These are pretty extraordinary times which require extraordinary steps like this and so long as we make the right and sensible decision about how we keep the wheels of democracy rolling then that's fine. We've got some legislation that we need to pass from the Government's first stimulus package. We haven't seen that legislation yet but it's important that we get that support out the door as soon as possible and that's why Parliament needs to meet.
NIELSEN: We're almost certainly facing quantitative easing at this point. We’re almost certainly facing a recession. Do you think the Government's doing enough?
CHALMERS: Clearly the first stimulus package that the Government announced in the second half of last week was too small and too slow. We said at the time that it was unlikely to be sufficient to get enough support out the door quickly enough to make a genuine difference. We're pleased that the Government has come to that same conclusion now and flagged that they will be doing more. There are some obvious gaps in the Government's first package, whether it be sick leave for casuals, sole traders, or childcare workers who are very concerned and who are relaying that concern, there's an issue with the airline industry which Catherine King has been talking about for some time now. There were gaps in the first package. By the Government's own admission now, it was too small and too slow and more needs to be done.
NIELSEN: The Government did say that the package was designed to be scalable so that they can quickly turn it up if they need to, which is almost undoubtedly what is happening. What's wrong with that approach?
CHALMERS: Clearly it needs to be scaled up. That's the point that we've been making for some time now. The Government said on Thursday that the package was proportionate to the challenge that we face in the economy. That's clearly not right. I'm not making a political point there, I'm making an economic point that that was not sufficient then and it's certainly not sufficient now. We welcome the news that the Government is going to do more. We need to see more urgency with this package that they are about to release, and subsequent packages after that no doubt, than we saw with the first one. The Government left it too late to act with the first stimulus package. They need to do more. They need to get that support out the door faster and there are groups who've been ignored who need to be accommodated in some way.
NIELSEN: The approach from Labor to deal with Coronavirus has been very bipartisan. This is quite an escalation in your rhetoric. What's caused this?
CHALMERS: No, this is entirely consistent, Annelise. This is what we've been saying for some time. We are being constructive, responsible and supportive. From 20 minutes after the Government's stimulus package was announced we said that we'll be supportive of it. That's what people expect of us, that kind of bipartisanship. But we also have a responsibility to inject a sense of urgency where it's absent or lacking. We have a responsibility to the Australian people, particularly workers and businesses, to make sure that we identify any gaps and put pressure on the Government to fill them. I don't think it's in any way an escalation of what we've been saying for some time. People expressed their concerns last Thursday that more would need to be done. That's clearly the case. It's good that the Government's going to do more. We need to see it urgently.
NIELSEN: Simon Birmingham, the Trade and Tourism Minister, said to Laura Jayes this morning on First Edition that we need a national aircraft carrier. Qantas is obviously under extreme stress, cutting 90 per cent of flights. Would Labor support a bailout of the airline if that's what it comes to?
CHALMERS: Absolutely there needs to be action in the aviation industry. Something like 50,000 Australians work in this really crucial part of our economy. It's a problem not just for Qantas but for Virgin and for all of the other carriers as well. It's a really big and substantial problem which flows from the serious reduction in flights and all of the work that goes on behind the scenes to make those flights possible. Catherine King in particular and Anthony Albanese and others have been saying since the weekend that action needs to be taken here. Again, consistent with our approach to the health measures and to the economic measures, we will be very supportive of the Government if they come out with a decent package of support for the airlines. That's one of the pressing needs that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
NIELSEN: Just before you mentioned that you want to see more support in the second round of stimulus for casual workers who might need to take sick leave. The Government did announce that they can go to get those payments from Centrelink if they need to. What's wrong with that approach?
CHALMERS: We're worried that that's not a sufficient incentive for people to stay home if they're crook. Our overriding objective, not a political objective, but for Australians and workplaces all around the country, is if people are sick we need them to stay home from work. We're worried that $40 a day would not be a sufficient incentive for people to do that. The point that we've made for some time now is when Australians do the right thing by their colleagues at work, then businesses and Governments should do the right thing by them. Some businesses have come to the table and taken steps to pay sick leave in these extraordinary times. That's a good thing and we want to see more businesses do that. But I think there's an opportunity for the Government to do more than they have done so far to make sure that people who are very vulnerable in the workplace don't have to choose between doing the right thing by their co-workers and being able to feed themselves.
NIELSEN: We've had both the Finance Minister and the Trade Minister today say that the Government can't save every job and can't save every business. Do you think that's fair enough, to be saying that Australians?
CHALMERS: Clearly a substantial number of jobs and businesses are at risk. This time last week Scott Morrison told the Australian Financial Review summit that his objective was to prevent job losses and to prevent business closures. They’re the objectives the Government has set for itself. Clearly we're in for a really rough time and we need to do as much as we can, as soon as we can, to protect jobs and businesses. When the Government does the right thing we will be supportive. If there is more that can be done or there are gaps in what the Government is proposing, then we'll point that out as well. We are all in this together. We all want to see people stay in their jobs and we want to see businesses continue to operate. This is a very difficult time. The economic circumstances are extraordinarily choppy and so we'll do the right and responsible thing at every turn to support the Government in their attempts to prevent job losses and business closures.
NIELSEN: Are you in any doubt now that we're going to be in recession this year?
CHALMERS: I don't get into the prediction game, Annelise, as you know. There's a strong expectation amongst most of the forecasters that that is a very real prospect. We haven't seen from the Government an assessment of where they think the economy was at before and after the first stimulus package. That would be useful to help inform the public and to establish a baseline so that we can determine whether or not the measures that are being put in place are successful or not. Clearly people are expecting a very difficult time ahead in the economy. That's for obvious reasons. It's not that hard to understand why things are slowing up. It's good that the Reserve Bank is doing what they are doing. We want to see the Government come up with what is a genuinely proportionate response to the challenge that we face. We want to see businesses continue to do the right thing where that's possible, too. If everybody does what they can and puts their shoulders to the wheel then we can get Australia through a difficult period that everyone expects to be extremely challenging in the economy in particular.
NIELSEN: Jim Chalmers, thank you for your time.
CHALMERS: Thanks, Annelise.
ENDS
