JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
SPRINGWOOD
SUNDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2021

SUBJECTS: We need Josh Frydenberg to be right for once about the recovery; It’s not a recovery if too many Australians are left behind and working families can’t get ahead; Australians paying the price for the Morrison Government’s complacency; 'Can do capitalism' code for ‘you're on your own’; Glasgow Climate Summit; Scott Morrison pretending to care about climate change on the eve of an election.
 

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER:  The Treasurer is out there again this morning patting himself on the back for the beginnings of this economic recovery but we've heard this story before. Josh Frydenberg said in October last year, he said last Christmas, he said in May, that the economy was coming roaring back. Instead, we've just been through one of the most difficult quarters in the economy in the history of this country. We need this time to be the time that Josh Frydenberg's right about the recovery. He said in October, he said last Christmas, he said in May, he's saying now that the economy is about to come roaring back - we need him to be right for once.

We need this to be the beginnings of a recovery, but not just any kind of recovery, a broad and sustainable recovery, where ordinary working families who work hard aren't left behind and they can get ahead. It's not a recovery if ordinary working people are left behind. It's not a recovery if working families can't get ahead. It's not a recovery if we continue to see tens of thousands of job losses like we've seen in recent months.

This is a Government that likes to take credit when things are starting to improve but never takes responsibility when times are tough. 

Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg are always there to take credit, never there to take responsibility. This Government wants us to believe that the beginnings of a recovery are all because of them, but the 200,000 jobs which have been lost in the last two months are somebody else's fault. That speaks volumes about this Government, a government that always takes credit and never takes responsibility. 

We've heard this story before and we've seen these headlines before from Josh Frydenberg. We desperately need this time to be the first time that he's right about the economy. We want the economy to recover strongly, in a way that ordinary working families can get a slice of the action.

We hear from the Prime Minister all of these slogans about 'can do capitalism'. That's just code for ‘you're on your own’. This is a Government that wants Australians to think that looking out for each other and looking after each other like we have the last couple of years is something for the past and not something for the future. 

Australians have done a remarkable job looking out for each other, looking after each other, trying to get through the worst of this pandemic and they deserve the credit for the beginnings of an economic recovery. They deserve better than a return to all of the wage stagnation, and rorting and waste in the Budget, which has defined the last eight years of this Liberal National Government.

This has been a wasted decade of missed opportunities on climate change and in the economy. Because of that, new jobs, and investment, and opportunities, have gone begging. If this Government is re-elected, we know now from the Prime Minister's language that Australians will be left all on their own once again. When the Prime Minister talks about 'can do capitalism' it's code for more attacks on wages, more attacks on super, more attacks on Medicare and renewables, and all of the rest. 

Australians are on notice that Scott Morrison thinks that what we've achieved together the last two years is something for the past and not something for the future. This Government will leave people all on their own, there will be more attacks on wages, and living standards, and working families if this Government is re-elected. 

We desperately need the economy to recover in a way that ordinary working people can share in the benefits of that recovery. What we know from this Government - from almost a decade now of missed opportunities - is that this Government will never put working families front and centre when it comes to the recovery. This Government sees an economic recovery as an opportunity to pat themselves on the back, and not an opportunity to create new jobs and new opportunities for more people in more parts of Australia.

JOURNALIST: The ATO has come out and has basically said that the end of lockdowns kickstarted about $1 billion worth of spending. The Government's been pretty to take some kind of credit for that. Do you see that continuing? What's your reaction to that?

CHALMERS: We want to see people spending in the economy, we want to see our small businesses supported, we want people to have that disposable income, we want more money circulating in the economy as we head into Christmas. But this is not a consequence of Government policy that we're seeing the beginnings of this recovery. Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg like to take the credit, but they never take responsibility. They want to pretend that this pickup in spending is their doing at the same time as 200,000 jobs lost in the last two months are absolutely nothing to do with them. I think people are on to this Government. They know that this Government is always looking for an opportunity to pat themselves on the back and not looking for an opportunity for working families to get ahead. That's what we're seeing again today.

JOURNALIST: And seeing the number of new workers coming up, a 13% bump at this stage. And Frydenberg said that he thinks that's indicative of a pretty strong Christmas period. Do you think that's the case? Does he have a right to the optimistic?

CHALMERS: We want the Australian economy to recover strongly as we head into Christmas. Josh Frydenberg said last Christmas that it was the beginnings of a strong recovery, instead his complacency on quarantine, and vaccines, and economic support, meant that the economy in 2021 was almost as bad as the economy in 2020. We've heard Josh Frydenberg make these claims before - all of this spin and marketing, all of this headline seeking and patting himself on the back - but he said this last year and things turned out much worse than he anticipated. We desperately need him to be right this time around.

JOURNALIST: What do you think we need to do correctly to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself? Again?

CHALMERS: We can't be complacent about this recovery. The Government might say that everything is fine in the economy and everything is starting to gallop, but almost 200,000 people lost their job in the last two months. We want this to be a recovery where ordinary working people aren't left behind and working families can get ahead, and this Government doesn't understand that.

They see an economic recovery in purely political terms, in the context of the coming election. They don't understand that what really matters about an economic recovery is how ordinary working families fare in that recovery, whether they can get reward for their effort. The Government's own Budget says that real wages will go backwards over the next four years. And we know if they are re-elected there'll be more attacks on wages, and super, and Medicare, and renewables, and all the rest of it, because we've seen that for the last eight years.

JOURNALIST: We've seen a lot of excitement - and rightly so - about the country opening back up. Do you think the worst is behind us? Or can we maybe potentially see something like what's happening in Europe, where you see the occasional lock-down after reopening?

CHALMERS: We desperately want things to pick up, but we can't be complacent about it. This time last year, the Government was saying that everything was coming good, but we know that the reality turned out to be very, very different. So we can't be complacent on vaccines. We can't be complacent on opening up. We can't be complacent about the economy. That complacency has been incredibly damaging over the last 12 months. That complacency and self-congratulation - which defined the Government a year ago and defines them today - has sold the country short.

We need to be vigilant about the virus, we need to be vigilant about the economy. It's not a recovery if ordinary people are left behind. And we need to be conscious that elsewhere around the world, it hasn't been smooth sailing as economies have opened up. We want our economies and our communities to open up safely and responsibly as soon as that's possible. But in order for that to happen, we need to keep getting vaccinated, we need to keep being vigilant, and we can't be complacent about the pandemic or about the economy.

JOURNALIST: And just on Glasgow. Are you disappointed in the changing of the language around what we're trying to achieve over there, from "phasing out" to "phasing down"?

CHALMERS: I welcome any progress in Glasgow but I think it's terribly disappointing that Australia has not played a constructive role in the outcomes in Glasgow. Very, very, clearly, Australians wanted the Government to be more ambitious with their nearer term targets. The global community wanted Australia to be more ambitious on those interim targets. Instead, we've got a Government which is part of the problem when it comes to climate change and not part of the solution. This is a Government which has overseen a decade of missed opportunities over their period in office. Doing something meaningful on cleaner and cheaper energy, means more jobs and more opportunities and more investment for more of our people. The Government can't get their head around that and so their heart's not in it.

JOURNALIST: I suppose it's probably one of the first occasions recently that Australia's had to really go up and be front and centre on the world stage talking about this issue. How do you feel our reputation is coming out of Glasgow?

CHALMERS: I think the global community is disappointed in Australia's lack of effort. but more importantly I think Australians are disappointed in the Morrison Government's lack of effort when it comes to climate change

Australians understand - as do all the state governments of both political persuasion, all the peak employer groups, the biggest employers in Australia - right around Australia, there is a view that Australia should be doing more on cleaner and cheaper energy, to grab those jobs and opportunities and grab that new investment. But the Morrison Government just doesn't believe in doing anything meaningful. When Australia needed a plan, Scott Morrison gave them a pamphlet. As always, it's a political exercise on the eve of an election to try and make people believe that he cares about climate change.

I think Australians are on to Scott Morrison when it comes to climate change. They know that he couldn't give a stuff about it. They know that he doesn't understand the jobs and opportunities and investment that comes from doing something meaningful here, and the global community is coming to the same conclusion.

JOURNALIST: Do you think that damages our position as a leader? Do you think this is damaging?

CHALMERS: I think Australia is one of the biggest beneficiaries of meaningful global engagement. One of the lessons from our proud history of engaging with the world, is that when we engage with the world confidently then there is a lot in it for us. There's a lot of upside for us. And the big disappointment when it comes to Scott Morrison and Glasgow, is that he has signalled to the world that Australia under his leadership is not prepared to do its bit, and I think Australians need and deserve something better than that. They certainly want their Government to be more ambitious on cleaner and cheaper energy. They understand what Scott Morrison doesn't, and that is that meaningful action on climate change and energy is good for the economy, good for jobs, good for investment, and good for the country. Thank you.

ENDS