E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS AM AGENDA
THURSDAY, 4 JUNE 2020
SUBJECTS: Recession; Recovery; HomeBuilder; Social housing; Childcare; Debt; Delayed budget update.
TOM CONNELL, HOST: Let's go live now to the Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers who has been standing-by for us. Thanks for your time. Recession: we're not technically in it yet, but it's going to happen. This was unavoidable, wasn't it?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: We've acknowledged from the beginning, Tom, that this health crisis is having devastating economic consequences. To some extent obviously we are a victim of that. But we need to recognise that we came into this crisis from a position of economic weakness, and also that the necessary response to it has in many ways been bungled and botched, particularly when it comes to the JobKeeper program. I'm here now with a whole bunch of dnata workers who've been excluded from the JobKeeper program. That means that they're off to Centerlink unfortunately. The unemployment queues are longer than they need to be. It's important, how we respond to this recession. We're not confident that the Government's got it right.
CONNELL: The HomeBuilder scheme as well; you put out a release on this citing the Master Builders Association, saying that more could have been done. The CEO Denita Wawn was actually at the news conference today and sounded pretty happy. Are they unhappy with the announcement?
CHALMERS: I think all of the affected sectors and particularly the badly affected ones like construction will take support where they can get it. That's our approach too. That support for this sector is really important. There's a lot of workers there. The point that we're making is if you really want to support jobs in the building industry, then you need a more comprehensive plan. It's pretty amazing really when you think about it that they found $700 million for a program but not a cent for example for public housing. I would have thought public housing would have been a good way to invest in jobs, but also to create lasting benefit for vulnerable people in our society. In that respect it's a bit of a missed opportunity.
CONNELL: Given what Labor has been saying today on public housing, would you expect the Opposition to take a major policy on this to the next election? It's a crisis according to Anthony Albanese.
CHALMERS: We haven't just been saying this today. To give Anthony Albanese and Jason Clare their due, for more than a month now we've been saying that this industry is headed for a really difficult period and it needs support. We put ideas on the table in a really constructive way. The issue about what we take to the election, that will be determined closer to the election. But clearly the pointy end of the problem will be well before then. This is an industry that needs support now. In the coming months it will be extremely difficult. We'll have a comprehensive set of policies at the election which will take into account the budget circumstances at the time. But there is a more pressing need here. The problem that we've got with the package, any support is welcome, but it's just not comprehensive enough to make a big enough difference.
CONNELL: Is childcare a big focus too? There’s a lot of focus on the short-term when the free childcare ends in June, but longer-term, not perhaps free childcare for every single person but something approaching that? You might have 95 per cent subsidies, for example, to cover most of the workforce? Would Labor be willing to spend money in this area?
CHALMERS: We've got a good record of investing in early education. I think the next step is to see what the Government comes up with. In the coming weeks, they'll be saying more about childcare. We need to know what kind of system we would inherit if and when the Government changes hands. We've always made it a priority. We're very concerned that even with all the fanfare around what the Government's doing in childcare at the moment, it's still not investing more in early education. We know in communities like the one that I represent how important that is. If we can do better at the election, we will, but first let's see what the Government proposes to do.
CONNELL: We've got 30 seconds left, but what about debt-to-GDP? Some sort of limit that would mean we're not in danger of having our AAA credit status revoked? Would that be a priority for Labor?
CHALMERS: One of the problems with the Government delaying the budget update, which they were going to deliver next week and now will deliver towards the end of July, is that we don't know what kind of budget we would inherit. We need that to make those kinds of decisions. The business community and the broader community shouldn't be kept in the dark for this long about what the budget condition is, and what the expectations are for the economy are going forward.
CONNELL: All right. Short and sharp today, Jim Chalmers. We'll talk again soon Thank you.
ENDS
