JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW
MONDAY, 31 MAY 2021
SUBJECTS: Victoria lockdown, Morrison Government’s failure on vaccines and quarantine.
ALLISON LANGDON, HOST: Well I'm very sorry to say it but another bleak start to the week for 7 million Victorians. We have that mystery COVID case in a Melbourne aged care home. We have businesses on their knees. And vaccination centres swamped by demand. There is plenty to talk about and I'm joined by Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers who's in Canberra and in Melbourne through 3AW's Neil Mitchell. Neil let's start with you because you're down there in Ground Zero. What is the number one priority right now?
NEIL MITCHELL, 3AW: Getting it over with. I think people are obsessed, concerned, worried about how long it'll run for. It's due to finish Thursday, we're more than halfway through it, I don't think many people are optimistic that we'll get out of it within a week but that's what's obsessing people because they've got to make a living, they've got to get on with life, and they've got to get back to normal. Last year when we end up going through 111 days in one stint, I think that's at the back of everybody's mind, I think that's the worry.
LANGDON: Jim, I think there was a moment for all of us when we heard that there was an aged care worker test positive and I think that just brought back all those memories and what we saw last year, aged care facilities being locked-down. Your reaction?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: I think everybody's heart sank when they saw that news from the aged care facility in particular but also more broadly. Right around Australia, I think everybody's hearts are with Victorians going through this yet again. I think Neil's right to say that there's a lot of uncertainty, a lot of anxiety about how long this goes for. And I think that's reflected in the frustration that Chris showed when he was speaking to you a little while ago.
LANGDON: Yeah I mean I think that's it, isn't it, I just don't think anyone in Victoria at the moment feels like this ends in seven days. And what I didn't think was very helpful yesterday is this stoush between who should be footing the bill. Should it be the federal Government? Should it be the state Government? Stuck in the middle of course businesses who are really struggling. Neil, we're not in this together are we?
MITCHELL: No, and I'm glad to hear Jim say that he thinks everybody's heart goes out to Victorians because his mates in Victoria, the Labor Government, were saying exactly the opposite. They said it's fake sympathy from Scott Morrison. For heaven's sake. We are what matters in this, the people matter in this, not the politicians. And they're running around playing political games. Jim, sort them out. Change the talking points. Let's all work in the same direction and stop playing politics with us. This isn't a game.
CHALMERS: Neil, I think that the workers and small businesses of Victoria should be front and centre. And that's why it is a problem that the failures on vaccinations, and quarantine, and all the rest of it, are strangling small businesses in your home state. I think that is a problem. Victorians aren't asking for too much from their federal Government. They're asking from Scott Morrison for some compassion and some competence, and they're getting neither of those things. So I think it's entirely reasonable for the state Government and for us to point that out.
MITCHELL: The language, you used yourself. Like, are you seriously saying the Prime Minister lacks compassion in this? Are you seriously saying it's fake sympathy that we're getting here. Okay, we'll make you Treasurer, how much money are you throwing trying to Victoria today? How much money are you going to give Victorians? You going to match the $250 million? The Victorians put $13 billion in, the feds have put $46 billion in. OK, we need help, and if it goes longer than a week I'd be very angry if we don't get it. The politics, can't we rise above it, can't you all get on the same page, can't you work for us for heaven’s sake.
CHALMERS: Ideally, Neil. Ideally, the federal Government would work closely with the Victorian Government, and with the federal Opposition, to do the right thing by workers and small businesses in Victoria. We are arguing for some kind of assistance here. If the Government says that JobKeeper doesn't work any more than come up with a better idea. But these characters are leaving Victorians hanging. Workers and small businesses are being strangled by that lack of competence and compassion. And it's fine for us to point that out.
LANGDON: What would you do Jim, if you were Treasurer right now, what would you be doing?
CHALMERS: We've said for some time that the way that JobKeeper is designed means that you could've extended it for a longer period for the businesses that still genuinely need it. There's all of this money spraying around for companies that didn't need it. If they hadn't had done that, there'd be more room to support those businesses and workers that genuinely do. If there's a better idea, if Josh Frydenberg or Scott Morrison has a better idea, let's hear it. But right now they're leaving Victorians hanging. We do want to work together, Neil, I think you're right about that, there is a lot of frustration about politics. But let's get the federal Opposition, the federal Government, and the state Government in Victoria on the same page and do the right thing by people.
MITCHELL: We're in a pandemic, the last thing we need is a political abuse and that's what's happened.
LANGDON: We saw Scott Morrison, he made the point we've had previous short lockdowns in Queensland and WA, that it has been the States who have taken responsibility. Jim, we can sort of put this on the federal Government but we did have Chris Lucas on the show earlier and I'll tell you what he was scathing of the Victorian Labor Government, just take a listen to what he said.
“Why is it that the State Government constantly reaches out to the lockdown mechanism when States like New South Wales are able to quarantine properly, are able to cordon off small suburbs or areas of the city and be able to keep the states afloat and still open.”
LANGDON: I don't think the Victorian Government can buck pass this on to the feds entirely, Jim.
CHALMERS: I'm saying that all levels of government should work together, Ally. I think the frustration that Chris is showing there - and I watched his interview a little while ago - I think that's fairly common right around Australia. Nobody wants to see these lockdowns. They're made necessary by the fact that we haven't vaccinated enough people, we haven't sorted out quarantine, which is the source of this issue here and a Commonwealth responsibility. So of the four things that we need to do - we need to fix the vaccine rollout, we need to build purpose-built quarantine, we need an ad campaign to get people vaccinated, and we need to make sure that we can manufacture these vaccines. We need to do all of those things at the federal level, and if we do that, than these lockdowns will be less necessary.
LANGDON: Neil, we are hearing today that there is going to be a new ad campaign to target those under 40 to get the vaccine, but to see yesterday and hear people talking about not being able to get through to the vaccine line to call into to book in for an appointment, the rollout of the vaccine has been a little underwhelming?
MITCHELL: I agree with Jim, I think the vaccine, I think not having a purpose-built facility, but he's just targeting on the federal areas. We're champion of the errors here in Victoria, stuff up after stuff up, and quite probably we're in the middle of this problem because of another failure by the State Government. But people talking about the rollout and getting a campaign going, I tell you what will sell it, fear. People in Victoria have lined up suddenly to get vaccinated because they're frightened. Maybe we've got to go back to something like the Grim Reaper campaign for the rest of the country, which was in the very early days of the AIDS scare, which really terrified people and got them paying attention. Maybe we've got to say to people look at Victoria, look at these sort of campaigns, and be frightened. Let's not muck around. You should be vaccinated and in some industries it's got to be compulsory.
LANGDON: Neil, we're feeling for you and everyone in Victoria at the moment, definitely hoping this thing doesn't go beyond seven days, we appreciate your time this morning. It's a critical day today. Thank you.
ENDS
