E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
CANBERRA
MONDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 2019

SUBJECTS: Government distractions from failures on the economy; ‘Big Stick’ legislation; Saudi Arabian strikes and oil prices; Gladys Liu.

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: The Liberal Government is into its seventh year and into its third term, and the defining feature of that government is that they're always looking for fights to distract from their failures on the economy. The economy is slowing not because business leaders have a view about social issues; the economy is slowing because the Morrison Government doesn't have a plan to turn things around.

Every day as they try to point the finger and try to shift the blame there's a new target. Sometimes it's business leaders, sometimes it's GetUp, sometimes it's the unions. Almost always it's the Labor Party, sometimes it's the states. These characters never take responsibility for the fact that the economy is growing at its slowest pace in ten years, household debt is at record highs, Australians are struggling under the rising cost of living, wages are stagnant. The list goes on and on and on.

Australians need a government 100 per cent focussed on them, on the economy, on living standards, on cost of living pressures, on stagnant wages. Instead they have a government 100 per cent focussed on shifting the blame and picking fights to distract from their failures on the economy.

Now the mainstream view of many employers around the country, is that Australia does need responsible and affordable stimulus to get the economy going again. The Government doesn't have to choose between a surplus and some responsible stimulus. The budget should, if anything, be strengthened by the fact that higher resource prices and a lower dollar have bolstered profits and the budget bottom line. So the Government doesn't have to choose between surplus and stimulus. It's possible in the current circumstances for the
Government to do both. We call on them to come up with a plan to turn the floundering economy around, come up with a plan to responsibly and affordably stimulate the economy so that we get wages and living standards going again. So we can turn around an economy which is floundering on the Liberals' watch.

JOURNALIST: Just in relation to the Liberals' 'Big Stick' legislation that they are set to re-introduce this week - will you be supporting it?

CHALMERS: I haven't seen the legislation yet. We'll be examining it very carefully to see what if anything has changed since the last time that they presented it to the Parliament. This legislation on its own won't turn around the floundering economy. This is a government which has had 16 different energy policies over the last more than six years. That has been a recipe for slowing business investment. It's been a recipe for slowing economic growth. It's been a recipe for the slowest growth in 10 years since the Global Financial Crisis. We'll have a look at the legislation when it appears. We'll discuss it with colleagues. We've expressed our concerns in the past but we'll have a fresh look at it and see if anything's changed since we last raised concerns about the Government's approach.

JOURNALIST: And oil prices could be set to rise due to airstrikes in Saudi Arabia. Are you concerned at all?

CHALMERS: Incredibly concerning events in Saudi Arabia and when you consider that alongside other issues in the Strait of Hormuz, other issues in the global economy, those issues are concerning. But our challenges in the Australian economy are still primarily home-grown. Our challenges in the domestic economy are all about the government which doesn't have a plan to deal with the weakest business investment for example since the 1990s recession. No plan to deal with weak consumption, stagnant wages, record household debt. All of these issues which are bedevilling the Australian domestic economy under the Liberals which have been around for much longer than some of these tensions that we are seeing in the global economy.

JOURNALIST: Will Labor continue to call on Gladys Liu [inaudible]?

CHALMERS: Every day there are new questions raised by the media about the affiliations and actions and donations involved with Gladys Liu. Every day the Prime Minister tries to duck and weave from these questions. Every day he tries to evade responsibility for what's going on here. We call on the Prime Minister and Gladys Liu to come clean on these donations and these affiliations. The best place for Gladys Liu to do that is in the Parliament. She needs to make a full, complete statement about what's gone on here. Remember that this Prime Minister may have put winning a marginal seat ahead of Australia's national security and that's a very, very serious thing if it's true. So we do need to get to the bottom of it. Scott Morrison needs to stop ducking and weaving, and Gladys Liu needs to front up to the Parliament and make a complete statement about what's gone on.

JOURNALIST: Do you think it's rubbish that the Government is saying that this is a racist attack?

CHALMERS: I do. I think the only person in this conversation who is trying to pretend that what is going on around Gladys Liu is about an entire community in Australia is Scott Morrison. That is entirely reprehensible. It is offensive and absurd and unfortunately for Scott Morrison, true to form that he has made this ridiculous smear. All we are asking for, all the media is asking for, all the Australian community is asking for, is an assurance from the Prime Minister that he hasn't put winning a marginal seat ahead of Australia's national security. All we're asking for is for Gladys Liu, as a Member of Parliament, to stand up in that Parliament and give a complete statement. The time for Prime Ministerial ducking and weaving is over. The time for Gladys Liu avoiding her parliamentary responsibilities with a full statement is over. We need to get assurances that Scott Morrison hasn't put winning a marginal seat ahead of national security in this country.

Thank you.

ENDS