E&OE TRANSCRIPT

DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
MELBOURNE

SUNDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2016 

 

SUBJECT/S: Labor’s plan to fund health & education – and balance the Budget; Liberal Party’s chaos and division.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) ministries are too young, will be ready to sort of bring out the Budget?

SHORTEN: I think that the Turnbull Government's in a bit of chaos really. It's bad form to lose 14 ministers in the last six months. We're about two months or three months away from a Budget and we've got a whole lot of L-plate ministers trying to work out how to get the Budget back in the black, how to make big decisions about the future of Australia. This ministerial reshuffle, no amount of camouflage can disguise what it is: it's a response to the Stuart Robert scandal. Malcolm Turnbull promised a stronger form of government after he rolled Tony Abbott. Everyone in Australia is just wondering when it begins.

JOURNALIST: With some of the key players gone, do you think that Labor will benefit from this ahead of the election?

SHORTEN: It's all about the Australian people. The Australian people just want stable government. There's a real contrast between Malcolm Turnbull's Liberals and my Labor team. We're united, they're divided and we've got a clear view on what to do about education and funding our schools. We're not attacking Medicare or making life harder for sick people, whereas Mr Turnbull's just cutting schools funding and he's cutting Medicare. Big difference between Liberal and Labor, we're stable, we're united, we know what we're doing; Mr Turnbull's Liberals, well they're all at sea.

JOURNALIST: Mr Shorten, on negative gearing, Scott Morrison has likened your policy to the mining tax, saying it promises big but delivers little revenue. Is this as courageous policy as you’re billing it?

SHORTEN: Scott Morrison's not ready to be Treasurer of Australia. He only got the job because he did a deal to help roll Tony Abbott. For the last six months they've been talking about a GST, Labor for the time being has discouraged that and we've stopped a 15 per cent price on everything. Now Scott Morrison - all he can do is criticise Labor, he's the guy in charge of the Budget of Australia and the deficit has doubled under the time the Liberals have been in.

JOURNALIST: What's your response to today's Galaxy poll showing Australians would prefer the Government to cut superannuation tax breaks for the wealthy rather than raise the GST?

SHORTEN: Labor will never increase the GST, we will never go to a 15 per cent GST, and we'll never expand it to all matters. In fact, Chinese New Year is underway here and they're not happy with the GST either I understand. Yes, Labor's got policies about superannuation tax concessions, in this country the really wealthy don't need taxpayers helping them become even wealthier.

ENDS

 

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