JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW
MONDAY, 11 APRIL 2022
SUBJECTS: Federal election; Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese; Labor’s plans for a Better Future; Australian Grand Prix.
ALLISON LANGDON, JOURNALIST: For more, we're joined by Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers and 6PR's Gareth Parker. Nice to see you both this morning. Jim, 40 days and you know what, we're all counting aren't we?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: It's going to be a long, tough slog Ally, I think that's the truth.
LANGDON: Yep. And look, what did you think of this Newspoll today showing Scott Morrison pulling ahead as preferred Prime Minister? I mean, that's gonna be a huge issue for you when you wanted this election to be based on character?
CHALMERS: This election is partly about the Prime Minister's character. This is a guy that goes missing when we need him most, he never takes responsibility, and he tries to divide us. So I think that is an issue at this election, no matter what the polls say, and there'll be so many of them now. There'll be a poll every couple of days now, but I think the choice between leaders is pretty clear. Anthony Albanese actually shows up and takes responsibility, wants to bring the country together, and that's how we get a better future for people.
LANGDON: But as you say, if you want this based on character, it is a big problem for Albanese when people - you know, your whole thing is you think your strength is that people will know the Prime Minister and they don't like him - that he's preferred over Albo.
CHALMERS: I think the more that people get to know Anthony, the more that they will appreciate that this is somebody who - his whole life - has showed up for other people. He takes responsibility, he tries to bring people together around outcomes and solutions. He's looking to fix things and not just to fight over things, and I think that is the difference between the two sets of leaders, no matter what the polls say each time that they come out. That's the difference. The more people get to know Albo, the more they like him. The more people who have got to know Scott Morrison over the last four years, the less they've trusted him.
LANGDON: But they don't know Albo do they? The people?
CHALMERS: I think they do and I think the people that know Albo, they see him as someone who is very genuine, very authentic. He's the real deal. He's spent his life working for other people and that's what we want in a Prime Minister. We've had enough of a Prime Minister who always takes the credit but never takes the responsibility. He's always looking to divide us and when we really need him - whether it's during the floods or the bushfires or the pandemic - he goes missing on us.
LANGDON: Hey, Gareth, what do you think about what Jim's just said there? And do you think that people know and trust Albo enough to lead the country?
GARETH PARKER, 6PR: Well, certainly the Coalition don't think they do, which is why it's all they're talking about. And we've just heard Jim spend a few minutes saying that people know the Prime Minister really well, and they don't like him. So it'd be nice Ally, if over these next 40 days - are we there yet, I think there's going to be a bit of that - but it'd be nice if at some point the two parties stopped slagging off at the people at the top of the tree from the other side and actually told people what they might do differently, or how they might actually govern the country, how that might help people.
LANGDON: Hang on Gareth, are you saying you don't want this election to be grubby?
PARKER: Well, I don't mind a bit of down and dirty Ally - that's fine - but let's at least at some point, see if we can get some policies in there in the mix as well. So we might actually have a bit of an idea about what people might do after they win.
LANGDON: Yeah, look, I mean, we saw in 2019, Scott Morrison's miracle victory. Jim, he is closing the gap. Are you worried about that? How close it's looking?
CHALMERS: I think everybody expects the election to tighten up. Typically in Australia national elections are really tight, and this will be no different. We take no vote for granted, no seat for granted, no outcome for granted, and we'll work twice as hard as our opponents. To pick up on what Gareth said, I think it is important that we have a contest over policy, and our big criticism of the Budget that was handed down was that it's got a shelf life of six or seven weeks. It's just a plan to get them through an election and not a plan for a better future. So let's have a conversation about the policy differences. For us, it's about cheaper child care, getting people's energy bills down, getting real wages growing again, a future made in Australia with cleaner and cheaper energy. These are the crucial issues in the election. You asked me about the two leaders and I think there's a big difference there, but there's a difference on policy as well. The difference is, we can have a better future under Labor or we can have another three years of real wages falling, and all the rorts and waste in the Budget, and all of the rest of it. Or we can have something better. Something better is within our reach and within our grasp, but people have to vote for it, as Anthony Albanese said yesterday. We can't risk another three years of people going backwards.
LANGDON: But I think people do want to hear a whole lot more detail. I mean Jim, beyond the Coalition's one-off payments that you're supporting, what will Labor do to make life more affordable?
CHALMERS: We've got a plan for cheaper child care because that's one of the issues which is preventing people from working more and earning more.
LANGDON: Could that backfire on you that policy do you reckon Jim? Is there a chance that it backfires? That if you're someone who's not impacted by the cost of child care, it is a big costing promise, could that backfire?
CHALMERS: Well, only if it was the only thing that we're doing Ally and it's not. We've got a plan to address the skill shortages with fee-free TAFE places and more university places. We've got a plan to get people's power bills down with cleaner and cheaper energy. We've got a plan to boost advanced manufacturing and create the industries of the future with our National Reconstruction Fund. We've got a plan to modernise the NBN to make it easier for people in this economy where people are making choices about how they work and where they work from. We've got big ambitious plans for the economy which go beyond the election, the Government's got a plan to get them through an election. We think that they should be the big differences that people are talking about, as Gareth rightly pointed out.
LANGDON: I feel Gareth, that we've been in election mode since before Christmas. Is there a rush here? Or is there an issue here where you think that people just won't engage?
PARKER: I think, you know, out and about over the weekend, what were people doing? I know in Melbourne - we'll talk about it in a moment - there were hundreds of thousands of them watching the Grand Prix. There's kids’ sport, it was all the things that people normally do. I didn't get any sort of sense that people were hanging out and really excited about the fact that the Prime Minister visited the Governor-General, and I suspect that that enthusiasm is unlikely to build over the next 40 days and nights.
LANGDON: You don't think everyone was sitting at home watching him drive that long, long drive to call the election? I mean, it was rivetting TV, what are you talking about Gareth!
PARKER: Glued to the descent down the steps and the salute from the bloke from the army who I'm sure was very important.
CHALMERS: I think they taped it and watched it back.
(LAUGHTER)
PARKER: Jim has outlined some policy areas and it's good to hear. I want to hear more of that from both sides as the campaign continues, but I also want to hear them explain how they're going to pay for them too.
LANGDON: Yep, just on what you touched on though, how good was it to see the crowds at the Grand Prix over the weekend. More than 400,000 fans. That's breaking an attendance record. Melbourne coming back to life, it's been brilliant to see hasn't it Jim?
CHALMERS: It's been absolutely beautiful to see the big crowds in Melbourne for the Grand Prix. It's something that Australia does really well, puts on these big events. I think it augurs well for the Olympics here in South East Queensland as well. But to see those crowds together and see people having such a great time - well done to all the organisers, the hundreds of volunteers, everyone that was involved in putting that together - it looked like an absolute beauty.
LANGDON: Hey Gareth, I've been obsessed with the Drive to Survive series on Netflix, I reckon that's brought a whole lot more people to F1 and I reckon it's brought a whole lot of females.
PARKER: There's no doubt about that. I was actually in Melbourne yesterday. I wasn't organised enough to make sure that my flights meant that I could actually hang around for the Grand Prix, but I walked along Southbank yesterday morning and there were so many people out and about checking out all the exhibitions, all of the team displays, wearing their polo shirts and their team colors. Lots of orange for Perth's own, Dan Ricciardo, will give him a plug. But yeah look, fabulous to see big crowds back. It's a big event town, Melbourne, and it's had a really tough couple of years, so fantastic to see it roaring back to life.
LANGDON: Absolutely. And a few revolting shooeys done yesterday too which, you know, I just don't get it. Nice to talk to you both this morning. We'll chat soon, enjoy the rest of your week.
ENDS
