JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
WEEKEND TODAY
SUNDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2022
SUBJECTS: Chinese laser incident; Australians need a Prime Minister who is strong and calm and rational, not panicked and political and desperate; Trashing bipartisanship on national security makes Australians less safe and risks our national security; Coalition playing a dangerous game of footsie with extreme groups on the eve of an election.
JAYNE AZZOPARDI, HOST: Well, the Prime Minister is accusing China of an act of intimidation calling on the country to explain why a military naval vessel in Australia's economic zone would target an Australian aircraft with a laser. Joining us now to discuss is Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie and Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Good morning to both of you. We'll start with you this morning, Jim. Your reaction to the Prime Minister's comments this morning. Do you think what has happened is proof that the Government has been right to be talking tough on China?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: I certainly think that it was a really concerning and really dangerous and reckless incident. It does put the safety of some of our people at risk, and so we should condemn it in the strongest possible terms, as the Prime Minister has.
I don't think what we've seen during the week though has strengthened our national security, I think it's undermined it. At a time when we need a Prime Minister to be strong and calm and rational, instead we've had a Prime Minister who has been panicked and political and desperate. What we really need here, is we need unity. We need bipartisanship where we can find it, particularly in relation to China and all of the issues that we have. Because if we are divided, then that risks our national security and it makes Australians less safe rather than more safe.
AZZOPARDI: Bridget, is Jim right there? Do we need unity when it comes to national security?
BRIDGET MCKENZIE, NATIONALS SENATOR: Well, great to be with you Jayne. Obviously, this unwarranted and unprovoked attack on our ADF could have seriously had very, very serious implications. I think it's all good and well for Jim to talk the talk here on Weekend Breakfast (sic) but you've got to look at what the Labor Party does when they're in government. And last time, they actually cut defence funding. We live in a very uncertain global time. We've got Russia on the Ukraine border, we've got increasing militarisation in our own region, and this incident that we're talking about this morning, only highlights the issues and significant economic coercion through sanctions being put on a lot of our products from China. So, it's all good to talk tough to China and about this sort of issue, but you've actually got a look at what people do when they have the opportunity to keep Australians safe. And as Chris Uhlmann said earlier this morning on your program, China and how to deal with that nation in our region over the coming decades, is going to be the challenge for our era. And I couldn't agree more.
AZZOPARDI: Well, he also said Bridget, that we need both sides of politics to have a united front here when they're talking about China. Do you agree with that?
MCKENZIE: Well Jayne, that's all good and well and that is typically how we conduct our foreign affairs here in Australia...
AZZOPARDI: But there's been a lot of accusations this week Bridget, against the Labor Party, of being soft on China. In an election year especially, shouldn't the Government be trying to bring everyone together on this issue?
MCKENZIE: Well Jayne, I don't apologise for being the side of politics that takes this issue very seriously, invests, economically, in funding to support our ADF and intelligence agencies, who actually brokers alliances with our strategic partners around the globe to actually ensure that we're fit for purpose and strategically focused on the challenges. But when you've got an official Chinese publication coming out and saying Anthony Albanese is safe...
CHALMERS: Oh come on Bridget, this is ridiculous.
MCKENZIE:....Anthony Albanese shone positively against the PM.
CHALMERS: This is ridiculous, it was an Australian who wrote an opinion piece in there.
MCKENZIE:It's not our side of politics politicising this, China has already chosen that. Sorry Jim, it's in the Global Times. This is an official Chinese publication.
CHALMERS: This is ridiculous, Bridget. Come on, you should be better than this.
MCKENZIE:No, Jim. I don't apologise or back away from being the side of politics that takes keeping Australians safe very, very seriously.
AZZOPARDI: Okay, let's move on to another issue now.
CHALMERS: Just very briefly, Jayne.
AZZOPARDI: OK, I'll let you have your say Jim.
CHALMERS: I can't let that stand. If it's about deeds and not words, this is the Government that let the Darwin Port be sold to the Chinese. There should be a bipartisan approach to defence. There should be a bipartisan approach to China, where that's possible.
What we saw last week was the ridiculous spectacle of a Prime Minister prepared to trash that bipartisanship, trash that unity in the interest of petty political point-scoring on the eve of an election. And all of the leading lights of the Australian Defence and national security community and establishment came out to condemn it for what it was - as something that made us less safe rather than more safe.
We want a united approach to these issues. That's the strongest, most confident way we can deal with it. This panicked and political desperate effort from the Prime Minister and from his Ministers, makes Australians less safe and risks our national security.
AZZOPARDI: Let's move on to another issue now, an issue at home. Particularly in relation to your party, Bridget. We've seen your leader Barnaby Joyce, in an interview with Nine Newspapers just this morning, saying the National Party needs to listen to the concerns of the protesters who've been protesting against vaccine mandates. And they need to differentiate themselves more from their Coalition partners, the Liberal Party. Would you agree with that, Bridget? Do you think you need to show more difference and are you worried about losing votes to people like Pauline Hanson and Clive Palmer's party?
MCKENZIE:Well Jayne, I think we need to all acknowledge that there are a number of Australians who are incredibly frustrated on how the pandemic has been managed - particularly Queensland, Jim's home state of Queensland. They've got vaccine mandates in place. And there are a group of Australians that are very, very frustrated about it, similarly in my home state of Victoria. We've been locked-down for months and there is a frustrated group of Australians there as well. And they are expressing that frustration, right, of government intervention in their lives. The last time I checked, we were a free country and they have a right to do that. The good news is that over 95% of Australians have gotten vaccinated and done the right thing, and we are one of the leading lights in the world in terms of vaccination rates on COVID, and how we've responded particularly economically. But there is this group of Australians they, they, need to be able to have their say. They're not far-right fringe groups, as often is made out. These are regular people - mums and dads, grandparents - who are incredibly frustrated and are having their say. And they shouldn't be rubbished and ridiculed by the Labor Party.
AZZOPARDI: OK, do you agree Jim? Do you think we should be listening to people with these views?
CHALMERS: I think whenever people raise their concerns, that governments and oppositions should listen to them. My concern - just to pick up on something Bridget said - is the infiltration by some of the extreme groups in this. We don't want to see disinformation spread about these really important issues in a way that undermines public health, and we don't want a government to play footsie with some of those extreme groups in the search for preferences on the eve of an election.
I agree with Bridget, we want to see those vaccination rates as high as possible. 95% is good, let's see if we can get even higher, and throughout listen to the concerns that people raise. If there are protests they need to be safe and peaceful, and that's right across the board not just on this issue. We can listen but what the Government should be doing with this is not play footsie with extreme groups, but try and build on our public health response rather than undermine it. Unfortunately, I think there are too many in the Government - because of those preferences, and because we're on the eve of an election - who are prepared to play a pretty dangerous game with some of these groups.
AZZOPARDI: I'm so sorry, for time we have to leave it there. Thank you both for joining us this morning.
ENDS
