Transcript - Sky News Interview with Kieran Gilbert
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
AFTERNOON AGENDA WITH KIERAN GILBERT
THURSDAY, 18 JUNE 2020
SUBJECTS: Unemployment figures, JobKeeper, JobSeeker, Question Time, Victorian Labor
KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Welcome back to the program. Joining me now is Liberal MP Jason Falinski and Labor MP Patrick Gorman. Gentlemen thanks for your time this afternoon, appreciate it. Jason first to you, the unemployment rate is 7.1 per cent, but it is, it's much worse than that isn't it. The effective unemployment rate most likely upwards of 11 per cent.
JASON FALINSKI, LIBERAL MP: Look it is a stark reminder of the challenges that we have ahead, Kieran. As though we needed a reminder, this is it. And you know behind each of those numbers is a real person with a real family who is looking for economic hope and opportunity. And that's why the government is focused on job creation and economic growth.
GILBERT: Patrick, when you look to the next couple of months, it's going to be so important not just to get that economic growth moving, as Jason rightly points out, but the way that the supports are removed they've got to be removed at some point but obviously there are many in, you know the insolvency rates have been down for a reason, basically because some companies are being propped up by that government support, Patrick.
PATRICK GORMAN, MEMBER FOR PERTH: Well I think the challenge is that we're talking about removing, and the government today, and Jason I remember wanting to remove JobKeeper the minute the schools went back, but we are talking about removing JobKeeper when the reality is that there are some people who never even had the benefit of this support package in the first place. I talk about casual workers, we've spoken a lot about Dnata workers, there a lot of people who never even got access to this support and we see some of those people showing up in the unemployment numbers that you mentioned. We also know that it's starting to become a patchy recovery. I look at the data in Western Australia where unemployment is now the highest in the nation, 8.3 per cent. It is a huge challenge. And the reality is that the government could step in and do more to help workers within their existing framework before they start tearing things apart.
GILBERT: The other factor that we've got to look at when we look at this, Jason, is the JobSeeker arrangement. It's been doubled for this period effectively, it can't go back to what it was obviously in terms of you know not just equity but in terms of the economic demand that would simply be pulled from the economy if that were to happen with such a high unemployment rate right now.
FALINSKI: Well look Kieran, the truth is that the best way to get people back into work is by creating jobs. You don't create jobs by paying people not to work. This Government is focused on helping people who want to have a go getting a go and ensuring that whatever we can do to make sure that people are getting work they get work. And this is going to be a long hard road out of the valley that we find ourselves in. No one should be under any illusions to that effect but if we are going to do this it is going to be as one as a nation sticking together and doing what is in the best interests of all Australians not just some Australians. There is no way that any government and this is the absurdity of the Labor Party's position can continue with a $70 billion program. It will bankrupt our nation not just for this generation but for generations to come. We need to now flick the switch from support to growth that is what Cabinet is considering at the moment. It is not going to be easy. There are some tough choices to be made ahead. And you know, getting into the pandemic was in economic terms the easy bit, getting out of it's going to be the challenge.
GILBERT: Yet Patrick, and to be honest I think most Australians would recognise this is an extraordinary time, that the government has had to take emergency measures. But there also has to be an end date to those surely you can see that?
GORMAN: What worries me is that we're sort of now snapping back to the old “have a go, get a go” language. The reality is that there were some things that were problems before this pandemic started that will continue to be problems after this pandemic is hopefully well and truly under control here in Australia. Noting that will continue around the world for probably years to come. One of those is as you mention the need to do something about Newstart or JobSeeker, that is making sure that it is at an amount where people aren't living month on month in poverty. Obviously we've seen some reports that the Government is looking at doing something in that space in those sort of forums, and that hard work that Jason refers to, I do agree that it is a very tough time for the Government in doing these things, but they do need to give certainty to people about what it looks like in the coming months. Otherwise you just going to add uncertainty for local businesses in my electorate and indeed uncertainty for people who at the moment feel they have no hope of finding a job.
GILBERT: Now that's obviously the big issue of the day. There was some theatre though, some drama in Question Time, I do want to get you both to react to that if I can. Jason Falinski, it was quite a tense moment there with the Prime Minister and the Speaker demanding that he withdraw a statement that he made in relation to the drama out of Victoria. What did you make of that?
FALINSKI: Look I think that the Prime Minister was making the obvious point that there are some serious concerns about what's going on in the Labor Party in Victoria at the moment. I mean it's almost like “Underbelly: the Spring Street Chapter” begins. You know, what we know has happened here is there's been a hit. We don't know who committed the hit and we don't know why it happened but we know there'll be retribution in Victorian Labor and what is it about the Labor Party and state governments. I mean, you know, what is it about. You know, we saw in New South Wales with Eddie Obeid the sort of corruption that occurs, and what's going on in Victoria at the moment that's really a huge question for Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party to answer, I mean the amount of early onset dementia that has afflicted the Federal Labor Party this week has been extraordinary. Albo couldn't pick him out of a line-up apparently, Bill Shorten's, you know, hardly ever spoken to the man, you know, how soon we forget Kieran, how soon they forget.
GILBERT: Patrick, Jason’s right. That's the main controversy of the week, some terse words sure in Question Time, that won't distract from the drama that's really emanated from your party in Victoria.
GORMAN: Well I think what we're seeing is a bit of overreach, we saw overreach from the Prime Minister and then some very stubborn refusals to withdraw, eventually he did but it was a very tense moment in the chamber, we saw Jason kind of making light of dementia just then, I mean dementia something that affects hundreds of thousands of Australians. So I don't know if the Liberal Party should be going down that path. But these are serious issues and I think what you're seeing is that Anthony Albanese has taken them seriously and not only taking them seriously but taken some pretty serious action, which is what people would expect. You can't hide from the fact that what we saw on our televisions was shocking and it made many people, myself and many party members in Western Australia very angry because it's not why most people join political parties. Most people join us they want to change the world, they want to do something, they want to talk about policy, they want to do something for their local school, they want to make things better for their fellow citizens. I know that's why Jason's in politics, it's definitely why I'm in politics. So of course these are challenging times for the Labor Party but I don't think you can fault the actions that Anthony Albanese has taken, indeed he's taken exactly the sort of strong action people would expect.
GILBERT: Patrick and Jason, I appreciate your time. Liberal MP Jason Falinski, Labor MP Patrick Gorman.
ENDS