JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
NITA GREEN
LABOR SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND
JOHN RING
LABOR CANDIDATE FOR HERBERT
EDWINA ANDREW
LABOR SENATE CANDIDATE FOR QUEENSLAND
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
TOWNSVILLE
TUESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2021
SUBJECTS: John Ring Labor’s candidate for Herbert; LNP all announcement and no delivery for Townsville; Scott Morrison mightn’t hold a hose but John Ring does; If Australians want integrity in government, they have to end this Government; Josh Frydenberg thinks secret donations to Porter were fine; Liberals and Nationals divided over energy and North Queenslanders are paying the price; Morrison Government cutting JobKeeper to North Queensland tourism operators but sprayed around $13 billion to companies that didn’t need it.
NITA GREEN, LABOR SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND: My name is Nita Green, Labor Senator for Queensland, and it's an incredible privilege to be here in Townsville today. What's been clear over the last two years is that we have a federal government that is more concerned about spin and headlines and making announcements instead of actually delivering and getting things done. And that's why I'm so proud to be in town here today for a special announcement, so that Labor's candidate for Herbert, John Ring, can tell you all about why he's putting his hand up for the seat of Herbert. We know that in this seat, particularly, we've had a local Member who's been very keen to pick fights but hasn't been able to pick the fights that matter, to go to Canberra and deliver for Townsville. That's why we've got John Ring announcing his leadership today and his candidacy because we need to get things done for Townsville. We need promises delivered. We need not just announcements but actually getting things done here in such a special place. Very glad to be introducing John Ring to you today. Thank you.
JOHN RING, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR HERBERT: G'day all, how are you all this morning? A beautiful day here in sunny Townsville. My name is John Ring, I'm the Labor candidate for Herbert for the next federal election. I'll be here today with Jim Chalmers and we'll be looking at community announcements and community details that the community want to get projects together for Townsville to build the city. My opponent seeks to divide our community, I know that our community works best when we work together. And that's what we'll be doing. We'll be here listening to people from the community, businesses, local council, Townsville Enterprise, so we can find out the ideas of the future for Townsville and not be dragged back in the past time and time again like the LNP does. There's been a lack of leadership from the LNP and that's what's driven me to step forward today, for the community, to bring us all together. Thank you.
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Good on you John and thank you so much for putting your hand up to represent this community as part of Anthony Albanese's Labor team, in the same way that Edwina Andrew has put her hand up as part of our Senate ticket and working of course with Nita Green and myself amongst the Queensland Labor colleagues in that team.
We desperately need to give regional Queensland a much more prominent voice in Canberra and that's why it's so crucial that we do win then retain this seat of Herbert. This is a fantastic part of Australia and it deserves a fantastic candidate like John Ring. He is born and bred here. He is a local champion. He's a father of three. He's ex-service. And he is an aerial firefighter working at the Townsville Airport. There could not be a better local champion for Townsville and the surrounding areas than John Ring, as part of our Labor team. So it's a very, very exciting day, to be talking about a genuine local champion for the working families of Townsville, for secure jobs, and for a future made in Australia.
This is such a crucial part of Australia and such a crucial part of the Australian economy. And that's why today we've already met with Mayor Jenny Hill who is a big supporter of John's. We will be going shortly to meet with Townsville Enterprise and the Port so that we can listen properly to the local industry of this town and of North Queensland and so that John can best represent the needs and aspirations of this crucial part of Australia.
For too long, the LNP has taken North Queensland for granted. We know that from this farce which has become of the City Deal, where time and time again, press release after press release, this LNP Government re-announces a City Deal at the same time as they leave tens of millions of dollars on the table and not committed for the people, and communities, and small businesses, and industry of Townsville. We're talking about a City Deal which has been re-announced so many times, press release after press release, at the same time is something like $140 million is still uncommitted as we get really close to the next federal election.
I think Nita made a really good point about the choice in this election here in Herbert, here in North Queensland. It's a choice between John Ring, who is a team leader at Townsville Airport, an aerial firefighter, ex-military, a family man, he was born and bred and grew up here in Townsville and is now raising his kids here - somebody who wants to bring the community together and work closely with the State Government and the local council to deliver tangible improvements to the people of Townsville and North Queensland - versus someone who just picks unnecessary fights as part of a Morison Government which is divisive, which is long on announcement and short on delivery. The people of Herbert deserve so much better than their local MP and this LNP Government under Scott Morrison. With the support of the people of Townsville in this electorate of Herbert, we can elect John Ring to the national parliament, we can give Townsville a much more prominent voice in the conduct of the nation's affairs, we can make sure that we recognise that if the national economy is going to recover strongly, then we need the economy of North Queensland to be a much, much bigger part of the story. We need to make sure that this community can get a bigger slice of the action when it comes to new energy, for example. When it comes to hydrogen. When it comes to batteries. When it comes to advanced manufacturing and a future made in Australia. That's what this election is all about.
We couldn't have asked for a better candidate to fly the Labor flag here, but more importantly to fly the flag for Townsville and North Queensland in Canberra if and when he's elected.
There's one more reason why that's important before we take your questions. If Australians want integrity in government, they have to end this Government. If they want to end the dodgy deals and the rorts, then they need to end this Government and introduce a National Integrity Commission. We now know why this Government is not fair dinkum about a National Integrity Commission, because we have cabinet Ministers accepting anonymous donations from anonymous sources, secret donations from anonymous sources. What does Scott Morrison have to hide that he won't come clean on the sources of Christian Porter's secret donations? It was only last week that Scott Morrison said that he needed to take advice on whether it was wrong for a cabinet Minister to accept up to a million dollars in secret donations without disclosing where they came from.
Josh Frydenberg is up to his neck in this as well. Josh Frydenberg said publicly that this was entirely above board. Josh Frydenberg thinks that it is entirely fine and consistent with the standards for Christian Porter to accept up to a million dollars in secret donations without disclosing their source. If Australians want to end the dodgy deals, and the rorts, and the secret donations, they need to end this Morison Government. Only an Albanese Labor Government will bring in a National Integrity Commission. That's yet another reason why we need to see John Ring supported here in Herbert and to be become a meaningful and important part of an Albanese Labor Government. Happy to take your questions.
JOURNALIST: John, what are you offering at this next election that Phil Thompson isn't?
RING: What I'm offering in this next election is actually results. Phil Thompson is very big on announcements, just like his boss in Canberra, but he's very little on results. He's had two and a half years to deliver on the City Deal and he's hasn't delivered. He's had lots of announcements, he continues to announce the City Deal, and now it seems like he's saving it up for a nice big pork-barrel. That's the LNP way unfortunately. I want to deliver for Townsville. I'll be on this guy's doorstep asking for more money for Townsville and making sure we get a good deal.
JOURNALIST: In terms of your policy as well then, what do you think Townsville needs to have more of?
RING: Townsville needs more jobs, Townsville needs more commerce, Townsville needs to take advantage of all of the new energy solutions and new energy opportunities we've got on our doorstep from the north-eastern and north-western mineral province. There are companies around the world knocking on our door and they're being ignored by this Government. We need to bring those opportunities forward. And that's why we'll be talking with Townsville Enterprise today and we've been speaking with the Mayor and Council today about those opportunities and where a Labor federal Government can help because the LNP federal Government is not helping.
JOURNALIST: You spoke about the City Deal there are well. Phil has outlined exactly where he'd like the money to go from the City Deal and where he believes those projects should be. What do you think about what he's actually outlined in those plans?
RING: Well, those are very good projects and they should have been funded normally by a federal government, they shouldn't be part of the City Deal. The City's deal was a deal that was supposed to be brokered between all levels of government and my opponent has failed to actually work with those levels of government. He's gone against the memorandum of understanding and he's then sat down with his Liberal Party mates and decided where he thinks the money should go, instead of sitting down with all levels of government. Those levels of government have got plans, planes that were being fashioned before he was even a politician. Those plans need to be looked at and we need funding for those plans so we don't miss out on the new energy solutions of the future that will help not just our economy, not just Queensland, but Australia's economy.
JOURNALIST: Does that not delay the spend of the money sooner? Sorry, it would not delay it further?
RING: No, well, that's the whole point. He's been delaying the money, he's been delaying the funding, he's been ignoring these projects that are ready to go. They just need that infrastructure money to come through and to be implemented.
JOURNALIST: What are some of those projects that you think should be funded?
RING: The Lansdown Project, that needs more funding. There's lots of new energy jobs with hydrogen, with a lot of businesses around town that are looking into getting hydrogen production in Townsville. We need to get that here. Those businesses that wish to bring that manufacturing and that refining here, we need them to know that there's a federal government in place that will support that kind of new energy solution for Australia and the world and to support jobs.
JOURNALIST: John, what was the number one motivation for you to put your hand up?
RING: So one of the things that motivated me was seeing a piece of legislation that affected my workplace. About four years ago, the LNP Government bought through some legislation that would have closed fire stations at regional airports around Australia and it would have prevented new fire stations from opening up at airports. That really affected me, not just because of my job, but because I knew that that would lower the safety of Australians in regional airports. And so it showed me, it highlighted that the LNP Government doesn't really care about the people. It just cares about saving money for large aviation industries. The aviation industry is important, but it must be done safely, and lowering safety legislation is not the way we do aviation safety.
JOURNALIST: What do you think then, in terms of Phil when he was voted in had an 8% swing, quite popular in the community from that perspective, why do you think then that you have a good chance of winning this election?
RING: I believe I have a good chance because I've got a better messaging to put forward. And we are in different times. We've seen the LNP fail for the last few years. From my perspective, they have just confirmed over and over again, they're not governing for the people, they have a lack of leadership, they're big on announcements and not delivery. So if we don't have a change of government, we'll get more of the same.
CHALMERS: Can I add to that? This town prides itself on authenticity, and who were pre-selecting today and announcing today is an authentic leader. Somebody who has served his country, somebody who wants to serve the people of North Queensland in the national parliament.
Now, we've all heard the Prime Minister say he doesn't hold a hose. We're announcing today a firefighter to carry the flag for Townsville and North Queensland in the national parliament. John knows what it means to hold a hose. He knows that leadership is taking responsibility not buck-passing, or picking unnecessary fights, or blame-shifting.
This guy's whole career has been about service. It's about making sure that people are safe and secure. And so the choice here is really stark - it's between a guy who issues all the press releases, just like his boss, makes all the announcements but has not delivered for Townsville and North Queensland. Versus a guy who spent his whole life delivering, making people more safe and more secure, a champion for working families, and secure jobs, and a future made in Australia, who has indicated on his first day as our candidate that he wants to spend time with local industry and local enterprise and local government and in time the State Government so that we can see what we can achieve together in this part of Queensland. This is a crucial part of Australia. It's one of the best parts of the best nation on Earth, it deserves the best representation and that's what John is.
JOURNALIST: Did the Labor Party feel it was necessary to choose an ex-service member following the last election in 2019 to go up against Phil?
CHALMERS: We think it's crucial that servicemen and women are represented in the nation's parliament. We've got Luke Gosling, we've had other servicemen and women through time, and we hope that we can add John to their ranks. I think it's true of both sides of Parliament, that we respect our military men and women. And in John's case, as I said, a lifetime of service. He wants to serve this community in another way. He wants to make people safe and secure in another way. He wants to make sure that the working families of Townsville and North Queensland who work hard can get ahead. And I think his experience is absolutely perfect for that important task.
JOURNALIST: Are you looking at it as a likely seat that you can pick up?
CHALMERS: Obviously we're targeting Herbert, for sure. We held it last term. It's been a difficult seat for us historically. We need to do the hard work here, that's why Nita and Edwina, they work their tails off here. It's why I'm here very regularly, Anthony Albanese is, the whole Shadow Cabinet, and why we pre-select somebody of John's calibre here. We've got work to do in Regional Queensland and here in North Queensland and Townsville, we're aware of that.
We did cop a kick in the pants last time here in Townsville so we need to do better. So we listen to the result from the last election. We know that people here are prepared to vote Labor, we saw it not that long ago in the state election. We know that people are prepared to vote Labor, they voted for us last term of parliament. And we hope to demonstrate that we can do better for this part of the world by earning their trust and in time earning their support as well.
JOURNALIST: Phil Thompson has quite a high profile in the community. Do you think John's got enough time before the election to build his?
CHALMERS: Well, we've got no choice. We've got an election bearing down on us, whether it's two months away or five months away. And I know from spending a lot of time with John this morning and knowing his reputation he'll work his bum off in this election but more importantly for this community. And so we'll make the most of the time available to us. Profile is one thing, but it's what you actually do with that profile that matters most. And I'm confident that John's experience, his work ethic, his values, and beliefs will suit him well for what will be a difficult campaign. But we are confident that we can win back Herbert. We need to win back seats in regional Queensland otherwise we're not a show nationally. So we'll put our best foot forward, and we'll put our best candidates forward, and that's what John is.
JOURNALIST: Dave Sharma has called for an emissions reduction target of 40% to 45% by 2035. Do you think Labor should support that move?
CHALMERS: One of the reasons why Scott Morrison is incapable of grabbing the jobs and opportunities that flow from new sources of energy is because he is constantly pandering to the extreme elements of his backbench and his cabinet, which think that we should do absolutely nothing about cleaner and cheaper energy. And I think Dave Sharma is the latest indication that the Government is hopelessly split on this.
Our view in Labor has been clear for some time - we believe in net zero emissions, we think that we can build new sources of cleaner and cheaper energy without abandoning our traditional economic strengths. We believe that Australians are practical people. They want us to be more ambitious on emissions. They want us to have cleaner and cheaper energy. They want us to find a way to do that, where we're talking about building additional sources of energy, new jobs, and new opportunities, in more parts of Australia, including here, without abandoning our traditional strengths.
One of the reasons why Scott Morrison is so isolated in the international community on climate change, is he puts a higher premium on placating Barnaby Joyce and some of the extreme elements of the backbench over jobs and opportunities and cleaner and cheaper energy and doing the right thing by communities like this one.
JOURNALIST: Does Labor not face similar issues though given Joel Fitzgibbon's stance on these issues?
CHALMERS: We're united around net zero emissions by mid-century. And we have the same view as the business community, the mining sector, the farming sector, all of the states and territories - including the liberal ones - the peak business groups, and most of the countries we compare ourselves with. Scott Morrison is hopelessly isolated here and that's because his party room is hopelessly split. And we're seeing that again today.
JOURNALIST: Barnaby Joyce has described getting states on the same page about border reopening. Does that risk inflaming tensions here in Queensland and WA?
CHALMERS: I think whether it's Barnaby Joyce or Scott Morrison, throughout this whole period they've been more interested in picking needless fights with state Premiers than actually making sure that we can open up safely, and confidently, and responsibly when it's safest to do that. What we want to see here is a federal government that genuinely wants to work with the states and territories and local governments of this country to get the right outcome for people. We don't want these lockdowns to go on even one day longer than is necessary. We want Australia to open up responsibly, and safely, and confidently. That means listening to the advice and working together. Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce have shown themselves incapable of doing that.
JOURNALIST: Just following on from that, a couple of questions regarding tourism please for Jim and Nita. We've got calls from the industry for a wage subsidy program for operators. How concerning is it that we still haven't seen this arise?
CHALMERS: I want to pay tribute to Nita, who has spent a lot of time working very closely with the tourism industry of North Queensland and Far North Queensland, to represent their interests and their needs and their jobs in the federal parliament. I want to pay tribute to Nita and I'll throw to her in a minute. It's very clear that ending JobKeeper was one of the dumbest decisions that the Government made, at the same time as they were throwing around $13 billion in money JobKeeper money for businesses that didn't need it. If this Government hadn't wasted $13 billion on businesses whose profits were going up, they could afford to support the tourism operators of North Queensland and Far North Queensland who still need help.
56,000 Australians lost their job when the Government cut JobKeeper at the same time as they are spraying around JobKeeper money on businesses that didn't need it. JobKeeper is a good idea badly mangled by this Treasurer. The Parliament wanted wage subsidies to do some good in the economy. What the Treasurer did instead was to implement this program in a way that $13 billion was wasted at the same time as small businesses and workers in tourism and other important industries went begging. And that mistake has been very costly for the industries and small businesses of this part of the world. I'll let Nita add to that for a moment.
GREEN: Thanks, Jim. It's an important question for this part of the world. Last week, I was in the Whitsundays with operators at Airlie Beach and I know Jim is heading down that way today, because we are still concerned that the Government is refusing to deliver a wage subsidy that would save jobs in North Queensland. We are still months away from opening up, to reaching that 80% target nationally, so there needs to be something done. We've got a federal government talking about when we open up but we've got operators saying that they are not going to make it there, that they are going to close their doors before that even happens. And the reason that a wage subsidy is so important is because it saves skills. It's not just about the jobs. It's about the investment in skills that these businesses have made over years and years and saving those skills so that when we are ready to open up, not only to the rest of the country but to the rest of the world, we have the best trained people in the world to deliver a first class product. We are at risk of losing that first class product and all of those skilled workers. That's because we have a federal government who doesn't value skills, apprenticeships, and training. They don't appreciate that it is costly to train someone and that is costly to lose someone. And that's why they don't want to deliver a wage subsidy. I want to see that these operators' voices get heard. That's why I continue to raise this in federal parliament. Jim is joining me in those calls. He's heading down to talk to those operators and people in Mackay and around, because we know that this is something that we need to get right now. Not something that can wait until next year.
JOURNALIST: Operators are now calling for a roadmap from the Palaszczuk State Government to align with other states. Should federal Labor be putting pressure on them to deliver this roadmap?
GREEN: Federal Labor has been putting pressure on the federal government to do its job. Let's remember that we wouldn't have those lockdowns in Melbourne, we wouldn't have those lockdowns in New South Wales, if the federal government had done its job - if they had delivered a quarantine system that kept Australia safe and if they'd have gotten vaccinations into people's arms quick enough. That is why tourism operators are losing out right now. So it is up to the federal government to deliver a response and support to those people. When it comes to opening up through Queensland and what the Palaszczuk Government doe, I think Jim's right, we need to listen to that health advice. That's exactly what the Palaszczuk Government is doing. We've got a federal government out there who is not leading. What they are doing is picking fights with states, pitting states against states. We had the Treasurer out there saying that people in Sydney would be able to travel to Canada before they could travel to Cairns, and that's because of their failings. People in Cairns and in Far North Queensland have done everything in their power to keep their businesses open, to keep staff trained, to get through this pandemic. And now you've got the federal Treasurer threatening to let people travel to other places overseas before they can travel to Cairns, was absolutely not good enough. We need a federal government that's on our side. And the quicker that we can get rid of this government at the next election and get people like John Ring into parliament, we'll have people who care about our community, who are there talking about these important things, instead of just trying to get headlines and grabs.
JOURNALIST: More than 3,000 jobs in the Far North are expected to be lost by this Christmas. How can the industry be saved by that or can the industry be saved by that?
GREEN: The industry can be saved if the Treasurer stands up today and delivers a wage subsidy scheme for the tourism industry. That's what we've been calling for for over six months now It's why we asked the Government to taper and target JobKeeper in the first place but the federal government has washed its hands of Far North Queensland. It is letting down people throughout Regional Queensland by making these decisions. They've decided that they're going to bet their fortune on talking about what's going to happen down the track. Well, those 3,000 people who are about to lose their jobs in Far North Queensland, are losing their jobs because of Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison failing to do their jobs.
CHALMERS: Thanks very much, everyone.
ENDS
