Transcript - Television Interview - Sky News with Tom Connell - Monday, 31 January 2022
TOM CONNELL, HOST: Time now for the most honest political panel you will get in the business. So honest that their two parties hate them coming on this program, but they will not be stopped. I'm talking about Patrick Gorman and, eventually, Jason Falinski, who I think, maybe there's a bit of sabotage happening, Patrick, with the polls today, and I don't know the head of the NBN has made sure he can't phone into us just yet. We're doing our best, so I'll have to start with you on this, what do you think this Newspoll means? 56-44 towards your side, is this really going to lock in a small target strategy for Labor? We won't hear much from, you know, big ideas no inspiring themes, you just need to get into power.
PATRICK GORMAN, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Well, I think we saw some very big ideas from Anthony Albanese last week when he spoke at the National Press Club, talking about investing in our schools, making sure that we plan for our education system throughout the, hopefully towards the end of this, pandemic. So, I don't agree with that suggestion that Labor isn't thinking big. About the big, better future that we need to get Australia through and out of this COVID pandemic. So I don't agree with that. What we do know is that this poll is probably about four months from Election Day, so we are going to see them go up and down and all over the place. I'm not reading too much into it. I know that we have to work incredibly hard to win the trust of the Australian people. That's what myself, Anthony Albanese, and the whole team will be doing every single day as we put forward our positive plans to the Australian people.
CONNELL: Is there a concern that eventually for you in WA there, because Labor has its eye on about three seats, that Mark McGowan might become a bit of an issue? When you're talking about opening up the borders, there's no plan right now. And we've got medical experts in the program today say that opening up and waiting until 80 per cent or 90 per cent of the state is boosted might never happen because people keep becoming eligible. Do you need him to come to the party with an opening-up date to show that he is serious about it?
GORMAN: We know that Australian voters and indeed Western Australian voters know the difference between state and federal elections. When it comes to the very complex health policy decisions made around borders, we've always said, as Federal Labor, that we're not going to be in the business of criticising Premiers when they're acting on health advice. And indeed, I've said that on your program last week. When the Premier here in Western Australia acts on health advice, we will support them. We saw Anthony Albanese saying that yesterday.
CONNELL: No matter what? There's never any critical though? Whatever any Premier ever does, if they just say health advice, those two words, no matter what, it's fine? Even if they have completely different views to the state next to them. How does that make sense?
GORMAN: Different states are in different stages of this pandemic. And I know many West Australians will be concerned today that we saw reports that there are COVID outbreaks on mine sites in Western Australia. Our whole country, from the Prime Minister and the Treasurer down, have been fortunate that we haven't had a huge large-scale COVID outbreaks in the Western Australian mining industry. That is a good thing, and that's a credit to Mark McGowan. It's a credit to the people of Western Australia.
CONNELL: We've got Jason Falinski.
GORMAN: Is Jason going to come and talk to us about this poll though? He's here?
CONNELL: The sabotage has been ended, the party's let him out.
GORMAN: Because there's good news in this poll for Jason!
JASON FALINSKI, LIBERAL MP: What's that?
CONNELL: Go on Pat, you take over. What is the good news?
GORMAN: Well, it was pointed out to me as I headed into the Sky News studio here in Perth that Jason's odds of becoming the next leader of the Liberal Party, if you go to Sportsbet at the moment, you can get ninety-one dollars to one for Jason to take over from Scott Morrison. Now that is the best investment I've heard of all year. It's a great opportunity for the people of Australia, and I look forward to Sportsbet paying out on that Falinski leadership whenever it should happen.
CONNELL: Well, there'll only be a few of them left, so someone has to be leader. Jason, you are straight talking. What did you think when you saw 56-44?
FALINSKI: Look, I was really disappointed, to be blunt. I mean, I think it's an accurate reflection of the frustration that a lot of people in our community are feeling, especially over summer. You know, the health establishment told us all that if we got vaccinated and if we got vaccinated to 80 per cent, then they changed that to 90 per cent, that we could go back to our lives as normal. And that just that hasn't happened. And you know, we're in government. People are frustrated. They're rightfully holding us responsible for that and we just need to get on and fix it so that people get back on with their lives.
CONNELL: So, the government was misled about, what 80 or 90 per cent would mean, is that what you're saying?
FALINSKI: Oh, I don't think the government was misled, Tom, I think that all of us, I mean, you were broadcasting those messages and I would never accuse you of misleading us, that once Australians reached 80 per cent double vaccinated the restrictions would be removed and we could go back to our lives as normal with very few restrictions. It's quite clear, over summer, that hasn't happened, and people been frustrated with long queues at testing points, as state governments closed PCR labs. They've been frustrated when they're just trying to see their families, either Western Australia or Queensland, and either have to wait five hours in line to get tested or couldn't actually make that happen. And all these things, I think, have weighed down on Australians over two years. So, it's, you know, it's kind of hard to believe that we're still here. And I think the health establishment keeps saying one thing to Australians and then doing another, and we need to have some plain speaking.
CONNELL: OK. Let me just ask you finally about Scott Morrison. Do you feel as though he's lost some voters, and those voters have stopped listening?
FALINSKI: He certainly, I mean, the poll says that he has lost some voters. No, I don't think, Australians are fair minded, so I think that when this is behind us, they will listen to both Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison, and what they have to offer for the next three years. So that's where the election will be fought and that's where we'll be fighting it. On the future, not the past.
CONNELL: The next topic is close to your heart, but I'll bring Pat in on this first of all, because I'm sure he's got some insight as to what Labor's going to do. You mentioned big ideas, Patrick Gorman! Housing affordability, Labor had some big ideas last time. The issue has only become more acute for Australians. Are you going to have some more big ones? You've got nothing on the table from what I can see at the moment on this.
GORMAN: We will have more to say when it comes to housing affordability. Labor is committed to making sure that more Australians can get into an affordable home and indeed own a home. We have already outlined one big idea, which is our Housing Affordability Future Fund, which is to make sure that we build 30,000 more social and affordable homes across Australia. There will be more to come.
CONNELL: But a social home is not ownership, is it?
GORMAN: As I said, there will be more to come. I'm not in a position to outline all of our policies today, but that is one big commitment. And it will be a big change from where we've been over the last few years. Where we haven't had that rolling continuous ongoing investment secure from one budget to the next. So, we'll take it out of the sort of ordinary, argy-bargy budget cycle and make sure there's this Future Fund, putting dividends in and funds each year, to build social housing. I know in my electorate it's something that people raise with me on a regular basis. I was out doorknocking on the weekend, and a pension raised with me their concerns about the ongoing increases in rent, and I explained to him this policy, and he said that makes a bit of sense.
CONNELL: Jason, I know you've spoken about this before, and I know you mainly point the blame at state and local governments, but will you, as in the federal government, bring something serious for housing affordability to this election, a major policy to be announced?
FALINSKI: Well, Tom, we've already brought a lot to the table about getting young Australians into a home that they own. And I mean, these discussions between the three of us are quite difficult, because I know Patrick to be a good person and I know he recognizes that more public housing is not home ownership. And I know that there are good people in the Labor Party who understand the importance of homeownership, that if you don't have large scale homeownership, you have wealth inequality across the country. You know, you have high levels of domestic violence, high levels of homelessness, low levels of economic growth and participation. And most importantly, you have a low of levels of family formation. And if any nation is to mean anything, it is to mean that all of us have the capacity, not only the capacity, but the opportunity to develop ourselves and to lead the best way possible.
CONNELL: Right. We're nearly out of time, but you said you've got policies there, they're in place, there are various of them. The housing affordability issue remains. I'm just asking you, is this something up your sleeves here that that potential or aspiring homeowners can look forward to?
FALINSKI: Well, there will be a report in a couple of weeks’ time that will be brought down by the Tax Revenue Committee. I'm hoping that it will be a unanimous report and it will have a lot of ideas in it, and I hope that both sides of Parliament pick up them so that it becomes a bipartisan issue.
CONNELL: Alright, well maybe between the two of you once said that we can thrash something out and sort out the issue altogether. Patrick Jason, we'll talk next week. Jason, I hope you feel well.