E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
GOSFORD
SATURDAY, 13 APRIL 2019

SUBJECTS: Labor’s $8.6 million to the Cancer Council; Labor's $2.3 billion Medicare cancer plan; Melissa Parke; Peter Dutton’s attack on Labor’s candidate for Dickson; Adani

ANNE CHARLTON, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR ROBERTSON: I’m Anne Charlton, I’m Labor’s candidate for Robertson in the upcoming federal election and welcome to the sunny central coast. It’s great to have you all here today. Today I am joined by Leader of the Labor Party and the next Prime Minister of Australia, Bill Shorten, and our fabulous Shadow Minister for Health, Catherine King, and the rest of the Labor team. Bill’s been a regular visitor to this patch and it’s great to have him back here with 4,000 young women and girls who play netball. It’s such an important part of our local sporting family and to have Bill here today, meeting and greeting and talking about such important things like sunscreen and making sure that we have got what we need in our local community. So thank you Bill for coming and it is great to have you.

BILL SHORTEN, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Thanks Anne and good morning everybody. It’s great to be here on the Central Coast. I’m feeling a little bit of parent guilt. I’m a netball dad, I love seeing netball and my own daughters play it. We’re here today though for a very good purpose. Australia is the skin cancer capital of the world. Two out of every three Australians by the time they're 70 will get a diagnosis of skin cancer. Even worse, over 2,000 Australians will die this year because of skin cancer-related illnesses. And the thing about skin cancer, unlike perhaps some of the other cancers, is it's almost entirely preventable. I think it is very clever when Anne Charlton and the team suggested coming here because what these young girls who are playing netball are told every day by their parents when they go out to play netball is make sure that you put on some sunscreen. That's what Chloe always tells our kids when they walk out the door. But it is now overdue for the nation to take a guide from the parents of Australia and have a national campaign to tackle skin cancer by preventing it. This is one cancer where we can actually have a massive impact through sensible prevention. It has been over 10 years since the nation has had a national campaign to encourage young people - all Australians in fact - to slip, slop, slap. So today we're announcing, in conjunction with the Cancer Council, Slip, Slop, Slap 2.0. After a decade of inaction we now want to have a national advertising campaign to encourage Australians to take preventive action when they go out into the sun. We don't have to be the skin cancer capital of the world. It's up to us to prevent it. We've learnt a lot in recent decades but it is now time, just as we have done with our tobacco prevention campaigns, just as we’ve done with the rest of our packages to fight the scourge of cancer. It’s now time after a decade of not taking action, to have a national Slip, Slop, Slap campaign 2.0. I would like to invite Catherine King to talk further and then we will have a guest from the Cancer Council to talk even more about what we're going to do.

CATHERINE KING, SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND MEDICARE: Thanks very much Bill and all week we've been talking about Labor's $2.3 billion Medicare cancer plan. We've talked about how we want to make scans cheaper. We’ve talked about how we want to make consultations cheaper. We've talked about how we want to deal with the waiting lists in our public hospitals. And today we are talking about prevention. Skin cancer is preventable and it is a decade since we've had a skin cancer prevention campaign. We all remember the fantastic Slip, Slop, Slap campaign. That of course is the basis of which we want to talk today, $8.6 million to the Cancer Council to actually again show national leadership on what is one of our biggest cancers. Australia is the world leader when it comes to skin cancer. Two in three Australians will have a skin cancer by the time they are 70 and each year 2,200 Australians die of melanoma - that is more than the nation's road toll. I'm very proud that we're here with Anne, with Emma, with Cat and with Deb O'Neill and with Kristina Kenneally here where many Australians are every single day, outside playing sport in our fantastic environment. But we do want people to get the message to slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen, slap on a hat, slip into the shade and slide on your sunnies. Thanks very much and I am going to hand over to Anita from the Cancer Council to talk about this initiative a little more.

ANITA DESSAIX, CHAIR CANCER COUNCIL: This is a very welcome commitment from the Cancer Council’s point of view. We've heard today about the reasons why this is so incredibly important. We are the skin cancer capital of the world, and that's a title that we shouldn't be proud of. This is a cancer that we're talking about that is highly preventable. The statistics are actually quite shocking. We know that two-in-three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer before the age of 70. We all know somebody who has been diagnosed with skin cancer. This is highly preventable. Not only that, we also know that this is the most costly cancer on the health system. It is estimated to cost the health system $700 million and that estimate is growing. This is a big concern not only from a public health point of view and this is highly preventable, but also from the point of view that this is an investment, this is an investment that needs to be made from a cancer prevention point of view. So from the Cancer Council's perspective, an investment in sun protection awareness campaigns is a strong investment. We know research shows that for every dollar invested in skin cancer prevention it has a three-to-one return on investment. From our point of view, we know that these campaigns work. They work on a number of fronts. They remind Australians particularly adults, of the risks of over exposure to the sun. We know that it raises awareness of skin cancer as an issue but most importantly it puts sun protection back on the agenda and that's what’s been missing for the last 10 years. So from our point of view it is an extremely welcome commitment. We look forward to hearing more, and look forward to seeing those hard-hitting very effective sun protection messages grace our screens again.

SHORTEN: Just before we get into questions I should acknowledge that arguably Australia’s best mare is going to be racing later today, Winx I obviously refer to. She is history on four legs. And whilst getting a big bet on her is hard, because she is such low odds, her value isn't in the bet, it’s in the fact that we have got a horse like this which has brought such excitement and passion to racing. I wish her and her connections all the very best for today’s big race.

JOURNALIST: What did Melissa Parke say wrong?

SHORTEN: First of all, let me say about Melissa Parke, she has done the right thing - she doesn't want to be a distraction in the campaign. She has very strong views. I don't share those views but she has very strong views. She has felt in the context of this election campaign that she would become a distraction and she has stepped down. Because Melissa, like all our candidates, cares more about having the Labor Party succeed, than a particular individual.

JOURNALIST: She said her views were very well known for many years, why was she preselected in the first place?

SHORTEN: Well first of all, we didn't have a candidate in Curtin until recently. To be fair, neither did the Liberals. She thought she might have another go at politics but she has decided it’s not for her, she’s done the right thing.

JOURNALIST: Which views don't you agree with?

SHORTEN: She has very strong views. I’ve got different views. My view is that a two-state solution in the Middle East is the way to go. And I also have a view that Israel has the right to security behind its own borders and the Palestinian people have a legitimate interest in statehood.

JOURNALIST: Did the party ask her to stand down?

SHORTEN: She made that decision.

JOURNALIST: But this isn’t about her views, it’s about an unfounded claim about Israeli soldiers. Isn’t that a bit more serious?

SHORTEN: No, what it is, it’s about a candidate who has decided she doesn't want to be a distraction.

JOURNALIST: You have called her a fine foreign policy thinker and internationalist in a tribute to her. Do you stand by that assessment today and, if you do, shouldn't a Shorten Government at least factor in her views on the Palestinians?

SHORTEN: There are plenty of views about the Middle East, longer than we have time to debate here at this press conference. In terms of Melissa Parke, she has served the United Nations working with refugees. I'm not about to start attacking her. But she has made a principled decision that she doesn't want her views on a particular topic to become a distraction to the election. I just say to Australians, this shows you how determined Labor is to be united and to present its best foot forward for the people of Australia. What we have here is a team who are determined to get on to the issues that matter most to Australians - that is, of course, turning back the cuts to hospitals and education by this current government. Making sure we can get wages moving again, because at the moment everything is going up but your wages. Seeking real action on climate change and encouraging greater investment in renewable energy, and if we do that of course that will lower energy prices.

JOURNALIST: [inaudible]

SHORTEN: Yes, Labor will choose a new candidate.

JOURNALIST: She made claims that she saw a pregnant woman forced to drink bleach at the Gaza crossing. Now either that didn't happen and she shouldn't have said it, or it did happen and you should agree with it and say it was the right thing to say.

SHORTEN: Well I wasn't there so I don’t know. What this is a story of is that we have is a candidate who is determined that her views might distract the election and she doesn't want to do that. I respect that. Over to you.

JOURNALIST: I'll take you to a different matter, Alex Turnbull has said on Twitter that he's trying to roll climate change deniers within the Liberal Party. Do you think that party does have climate change deniers, and what do you make of Alex Turnbull?

SHORTEN: The Liberal Party is full of climate change deniers. If they weren't, Malcolm Turnbull would still be the Prime Minister of Australia. The Liberal Party is full of climate change deniers because for six years they've been incapable of forming an energy policy. You would be aware there have been 13 different energy policies in Australia. No wonder energy prices have been going up. Because we have a Government who's paralysed. As for Mr Turnbull's personal actions, I mean, his party bailed out the Liberal Party, the Liberals didn't object to Turnbull money when it was going to them but, clearly, they have a problem with their support going to independents. I think the Liberals - do you know how they'd avoid this whole mess? Take real action on climate change.

JOURNALIST: What were you hoping to achieve in your meeting with Anthony Pratt.

SHORTEN: It was a fundraising function which many people were at and what I was hoping to do was raise money.

JOURNALIST: Mr Shorten, the Liberal Party has lost three candidates because of section 44 concerns. Can you guarantee there are no such concerns for any Labor candidates?

SHORTEN: Well I've answered this question before. I'm very conscious and I can guarantee that my party is doing everything it can to eliminate any constitutional doubt over any of its candidates. We have had the advantage that a lot of our candidates have been in place. The Liberal Party has, to be honest, had to rush. In plenty of places they've only just got their candidates last week. So I guarantee Australians that my party and the processes of my administrative officials are do everything we can to make sure there is no controversy. You're next.

JOURNALIST: You said Newstart will rise under a Labor Government. Do you envision that being a small, modest or large increase and when would welfare recipients start to see that increase?

SHORTEN: What I envisaged when I said that Newstart should rise is it's pretty low now. I don't know how many of you could live on 260-plus bucks a week. Most Australians couldn't. So I do think it should rise. In terms of how much, we have said we will review it. I wouldn't pre-empt a review. But what I say to people on welfare is a Labor government is not into poor shaming. We’re not into making you the cheap target to divide our community. What we want to see is a robust economy. Obviously the best solution to unemployment is a job. But I don't want to be dividing this country and attacking vulnerable people who could well be unemployed for a whole lot of reasons and making them the target of community resentment. 

JOURNALIST: Franking credits and this electorate of Robertson. This electorate has plenty of retirees, many whom might be affected by your policy on franking credits. What is your message to them?

SHORTEN: First of all, this electorate has many pensioners on a fixed income. Literally thousands were kicked off the pension or part-pension by this Government. So I say to the pensioners I haven't forgotten you. And I say to older Australians more generally, be they people getting a Government payment with no means test - which is what these franking credits are - or a Government payment with a means test, which is what our age pension is – I am determined to help reduce the cost of living pressures on you. So for instance we have been very successful in forcing the government in recent weeks, with the hot breath of an election on the neck of the government, to make sure that they unfreeze the Medicare payment. What I will do is make it less unaffordable to go and see the doctor. When you're old you need to see a doctor more. I am going to make sure that in our health system on the Central Coast, just as in every other part of Australia, that what we have is a system where it’s your Medicare card not your credit card. I also say to older Australians a vote for Labor will see downward pressure on electricity prices. It becomes almost like a Steven King film to go and get your electricity bill under this government. They have had no plan on climate and as a result there has been very little investment in new generation. So when it comes to cost of living, when it comes to standing up for the pensioners, when it comes to healthcare costs, we'll be right alongside you.

JOURNALIST: When will the Newstart review start, finish and the increase go into people's bank balances.

SHORTEN: I haven't determined the end of the review but it will start after the election of a Labor Government.

JOURNALIST: ACOSS says $75 would be an appropriate increase to Newstart. What do you think of that figure?

SHORTEN: I think ACOSS is entitled to their point of view. If you are saying that is what ACOSS says then I am sure that is their opinion.

JOURNALIST: Peter Dutton is doubling down on his attacks on Ali France. What is your response to that?

SHORTEN: I am shocked that, one, Mr Dutton hasn't had the good grace to apologise and, two, that Mr Morrison hasn't asked him to apologise. It just shows me how weak this Government is. Peter Dutton was within three votes of becoming the Liberal Prime Minister of Australia. I think Mr Morrison is acutely conscious of that. So to some extent I don’t understand why Mr Morrison hasn’t asked him to apologise other than I can only conclude that he is a hostage of Mr Dutton. But why don’t we get Kristina Keneally’s point of view. She has been campaigning with Ali France and she was also a Minister for Disabilities in the State Government. So I think she will bring some perspective to these offensive remarks.

KRISTINA KENEALLY, SENATOR FOR NSW: Thank you. Last week, Scott Morrison stood in front of the nation, called a royal commission into the abuse of people with a disability and he shed tears, he shed tears there in the court yard. I give him credit for bearing his heart, showing his compassion and standing up for people with disability. But this week, Peter Dutton launches a mean, low, despicable attack against a woman with disability, Ali France, a mother who lost her leg shielding her child from a car accident, and Mr Morrison has remained silent. Mr Morrison has said nothing. You cannot stand in the court yard and shed a tear for people with a disability and then the very next week turn a blind eye to a low, despicable attack by Peter Dutton against Ali France. Now, why has Mr Morrison not stood up to Peter Dutton? Why has Mr Morrison not demanded that Mr Dutton apologise? Not just to Ali France but to all the people who live with a disability in Australia, who struggle to find appropriate accommodation, who have to face the challenge of doing the normal day-to-day tasks all of us take for granted with that extra hurdle that disability brings? Quite simply, is Mr Morrison afraid of Mr Dutton? Mr Dutton, after all, is a thug. Mr Dutton is the most toxic man in the Liberal Party. Mr Dutton is mean and despicable. And Mr Dutton came within a few votes of becoming the Liberal Party Prime Minister. This is a Liberal Party that is divided. This is a Liberal Party divided by anger, fear and loathing for one another. Somebody in the Liberal Party needs to stand up to Peter Dutton. That somebody should be Mr Morrison, the Prime Minister. If the Prime Minister, who showed compassion, who showed the nation his heart last week when he stood there, tears in his eyes, talking about people with a disability, well, Mr Morrison, I say to you - have the courage of your compassion and your convictions. Tell Peter Dutton to apologise, apologise to Ali France, apologise to all people with a disability. It is the right and the decent thing to do.

JOURNALIST: Senator, do you think an apology would suffice? Should they go further?

KENEALLY: An apology is where it needs to start. Does Mr Morrison not even have the courage to pick up the phone and call Mr Dutton and say, "Hey, you remember last week when I said” – the Prime Minister said – that was you Mr Morrison saying it, you said – “we need a new culture of respect." He should just pick up the phone and say to Mr Dutton, "You remember when I said that, we need a new culture of respect in Australia for people with a disability.” Well, what you did, Peter Dutton, was not respectful. It was mean, it was low. It was despicable. It was below the belt. It was wrong. That's not how this campaign should be conducted but it's not how anybody should treat a person with a disability. So that's where it needs to start. I am, quite frankly, gobsmacked that Scott Morrison has not yet had the courage to call Mr Dutton and tell him just basically that's not respectful and that's not the standard that I want my team to uphold.

JOURNALIST: On the Easter weekend it appears that GetUp is going to be campaigning during the Easter long weekend. Do you think it is appropriate, given that GetUp is an independent organisation as you say, is it appropriate though?

SHORTEN: I think you answered your own question. It is independent. I wrote to the current Prime Minister and said I thought we should respect days that are sacred  to the nation like Anzac Day and also Good Friday and we put in Easter Sunday. But it is a free country. I can't make everyone else do things. You did say they're independent and that's right. I just also want to go to a deeper point here in light of Kristina's quite impassioned statement there. I met parents back on the court. They are an all-abilities team. So their daughters have actually played for Australia overseas in netball. But they have an intellectual disability, some have been in the Special Olympics. In case there are some people out there who say, “Oh, well, politicians say mean things about other politicians with a disability, that's just part of the the political debate." I just want to say to every Australian parent who has got a child with a disability, we do not accept what has just happened. See, when you are the parent of a child who might be autistic or have an intellectual disability you are frequently judged by ignorant people in your own community. If your child might be acting out, people might say, "You're a bad parent." I’ve got friends who have a disabled child and someone in the crown slipped up to them and said, "Why did you have another child?" when they have two disabled children. Words hurt. Words hurt. We are having a royal commission into abuse of people with disability. Not all vicious words end in abuse, but all abuse of people with a disability started with vicious words.

JOURNALIST: Can we go back to Melissa Parke for a second. I know you said it was her decision to step down so as not to be a distraction but is there not room within the Labor Party for differing views on a major issue like this?

SHORTEN: Our party is democratic and Ms Parke has made a decision to step down.

JOURNALIST: Mr Shorten, it's been reported that you had lunch with [Anthony] Pratt, yesterday, Australia's richest man. Can I ask, did you make any assurances that you'll be looking after the top end of town?

SHORTEN: No, it was a fundraising function. All donations in the Labor Party over $1,000 are reported. Did you know the current Government only reports donations over $13,000. It is a fundraising function, part of the job - for better or for worse.

JOURNALIST: Should the children of ISIS fighters be brought home to Australia?

SHORTEN: It's not the children's fault for what their parents did. I think we have to work out the best approach for the children's welfare. So, that's not a "no". I don't know all the circumstances, I don't know if they have family here to look after them but I don't blame the kids for their parents' stupidity.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask a question about Adani. Do you absolutely rule out revisiting the groundwater management plan in government?

SHORTEN: We'll adhere to the law. We’ll adhere to the science. I think, though, that what we saw in the last few days was decision making at its worst. The poor, old, beleaguered Environment Minister, who hasn’t appeared comfortable in the job anyway, she gets the letters from the LNP colleagues, the thug brigade of the LNP in Queensland saying unless you do this we will publicly call for your resignation. Then they miraculously leak the threatening letters. I think that is the worst possible way to do business. The sooner this Government is shown the door the better. And the sooner we have a national anticorruption commission, that can't be too soon in this country. Thanks everybody, see you at the town hall meeting.

ENDS