E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW
TUESDAY, 22 DECEMBER 2020
 
SUBJECTS: Coronavirus; Hotel Quarantine; US Embassy workers; Christmas lights.
 
DAVID CAMPBELL, HOST:  Hope of a Christmas miracle. The headline today summing up the next crucial twenty four hours, which could decide whether Sydney can contain the Northern Beaches COVID outbreak and avoid an extended festive season lockdown. It comes after every state and territory slammed its borders with New South Wales. Joining me to discuss from Melbourne is the Shadow Minister for Government Services, Bill Shorten, and in Sydney, Triple M’s Gus Worland. Boys, good morning to both of you. But Gus, to you first in Curl Curl there, are you praying for a miracle? How are you coping?
 
GUS WORLAND, TRIPLE M: Yeah no, I am praying for a miracle. Everyone's been fantastic, everyone has got their testing done. People are wearing their masks. Everyone is sort of doing what they're meant to be doing. So over 40,000 people are being tested now. And everyone just hoping that the good work we put in the last three or four days will allow us just not to have that lockdown over the Christmas period. Most of us are probably thinking that we're going to have some sort of restrictions. But yeah, I think we are feeling and hoping that Wednesday will give us some really good news.
 
CAMPBELL: We are holding out for Wednesday with bated breath. Bill, the Premier, Gladys Berejiklian said yesterday that other Premiers should actually have a heart. Don't automatically close all the borders with New South Wales, particularly at Christmas time. I know we spoke to the mayor of Albury before, Kevin Mack. He said it was confusing. It was a blow to businesses down there as well as self-esteem. What do you make of all this?
 
BILL SHORTEN, MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG: Oh, listen, I can sympathise with ordinary Sydneysiders. I was at the Brisbane airport last night. And I was just literally watching the departures board and flights from Brisbane to Sydney were being cancelled as people were just cancelling their trips. So as for border closures, my experience in Melbourne is go hard, go early. Let's just keep our fingers crossed for Wednesday. As Gus says, let's hope we get a miracle on December the 23rd, two days early.
 
CAMPBELL: Well, the miracle is science, really. Everyone's doing the right thing, going in there and getting tested. And Gus, I mean, to add to this now the threat of maybe that we won't have a Christmas with our families. Sydney Mayor Clover Moore is saying maybe the New Year's Eve fireworks aren’t a good idea. Maybe we should cancel those. It could be a super spreader event. Do you agree?
 
WORLAND: Yeah, I actually do agree. I've been on brekkie radio for a long time and disagreed with the Mayor most of the time, but I think she's right on this one. I think it'd be irresponsible to get a million people down there, you know, and the chances of what's going to happen with COVID with that situation, 2020 has been a ‘you know what’ type of year. So why don't we just put a line through it and spend that money and give that as bonuses to the nurses or to the frontline workers? I think the money can be much better spent this year than on fireworks, that's for sure.
 
CAMPBELL: Yeah, we're used to staying home. But I tell you, I'm going to put a call into Clover Moore, tell her that you've agreed with her because she'll just fall off her seat. She'll be like 2020. So many surprises. Let's move on. Victorians deserve better than this rather than a masterclass in political deflection. That was the stinging criticism of Premier Daniel Andrews from his former Health Minister, Jenny Mikakos, as the hotel quarantine report blamed the system rather than any one individual for that catastrophic mistake, which led to Melbourne's second wave and claimed tragically more than 800 lives. Bill, she did not hold back in her criticism for the Premier. Is it justified?
 
SHORTEN: Well, clearly, people have fallen out with each other. Listen, for me, what I'm trying to get out of the report and it only came down yesterday, is have we learnt the lessons? For me, what really matters is to make sure that whatever went wrong doesn't happen again. So I think the system has changed. In fact, I know the system has changed on quarantine, but can I just say, again for me, like the only story today is COVID in Sydney. We've just got to make sure that rules like quarantine are just observed completely. Everyone's got to have 100 per cent confidence in the system. But certainly the Victorian failure has been roundly and rightly criticised in this report. I just don't want to happen again in Sydney or Melbourne or anywhere.
 
CAMPBELL: And look, I don't love a Dan pile on. I don’t think it's very constructive. But he has stood up and said that he is accountable for this. But he said, I'm not going to stand down. In fact, you'll see me run again in 2022. Was that the right thing for him to say or should he have just said, look, I'll take accountability. We're going to obviously work with the families on this and try to be more empathetic and maybe leave the politics to later on.
 
SHORTEN: I think he's probably defending himself from the politics. So, you know, I can understand what Dan is saying there. Listen, I must say the breach in Victoria was incredibly frustrating. It was bad. Words fail me. But when I look around at the rest of the world and I think of all the stranded Aussies trying to get home to Australia, Australia, on balance, has just shot the lights out. We have done so much better than the rest of the world, I suspect from New York to London to, you name it, around the world, they would like to have had Australia's outcome. So on balance, as we approach the end of 2020, I think Australians have got more to be proud of than to be disappointed in ourselves.
 
CAMPBELL: Gus, Bill makes a good point, obviously, compared to the rest of the world. It's - we look fantastic. However, these phone records were redacted in the report yesterday. Should they be released now so the public can know the truth?
 
WORLAND: Yeah, I believe that I think Australia is all about the truth and making sure that we have all the information so we can make our minds up correctly, and you can't do that if you've got 80 per cent of the detail. So, you know, I think we should have those details and have them as soon as possible.
 
CAMPBELL: Bill, quickly, I want to ask you about a story which Nine News broke last night revealing a group of American contractors who are allowed to just fly into Australia, mid-pandemic, carry out construction work on the US consulate in Sydney. Now, there's some serious questions to answer here, considering the whole country's going back into lockdown over this cluster.
 
SHORTEN: Yes, I'd just seen that Channel Nine broke the story last night - 20 to 30 American construction labourers coming in on an American plane. I hope they've done the quarantine. We've got tens of thousands of Australians right now who want to come home. How on earth can they get the VIP treatment, legal or not? It doesn't quite, to me, pass the pub test. The other thing is, you know, it's an Australian construction site. Why can't some Australian construction workers get some of this work? So it's the trifecta. I hope they've quarantined, for goodness sakes. Otherwise, people will go, you know, off their brains. How and why are we not getting tens of thousands of Aussies home? And by the way, why aren't Australian construction building trades doing the work? Why do we need someone from America to work on an air conditioning system in Australia? We can do that.
 
CAMPBELL: Here, here. Just quickly, I want to just draw your attention to something, boys. We sent our cameras to your home last night. Bill, I don't know if you know this, but, gee, you've got a talent and you're a busy bloke. Have a look at this. 
 
VIDEO PACKAGE: Get On The Beers.
 
CAMPBELL: It’s on Bill, the beat’s dropped, we’re on, the fist pumping in the air, that's not your house, but that is the best Australian Christmas thing I've ever seen. And it's so good, isn't it?
 
SHORTEN: Yeah. I'll tell you what, I hope Dan Murphy's is sponsoring it because that electricity bill will, again, do your head in. But I love that. You know, don't worry about Chevy Chase and his American Hollywood Christmas films. Just get that on camera. That'll sell out. That'll be box office success.
 
CAMPBELL: Gus, It should be everyone's ringtone from now on in Australia leading into Christmas, don't you reckon? And everyone needs to do what this guy's done. Get your house going, a bit of Dan and a bit of the beers.
 
WORLAND: Exactly right. We love the beers, and that's the one real positive to come out of this. Dan's obviously been hammered now for so long and that's why I'm positive that comes out of it. I just love the Australian way of taking the mickey at every opportunity. And it's just perfect and it's just the little laugh that we needed.
 
CAMPBELL: Well, look, we're hoping for good news today at eleven o'clock. But guys, have a great Christmas and thank you both for being on today, this year. It's great to have you both on.
 
SHORTEN: See you, gentlemen, thank you.
 
WORLAND: Love it, take it easy.