E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
MELBOURNE
SUNDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2018
SUBJECT/S: Labor’s commitment to deliver the Suburban Rail Link; Wentworth by-election; Liberals’ “plan A” tax handout for big business; Ruddock review; GST distribution; IR reform.
JENNIFER YANG, CANDIDATE FOR CHISHOLM: Good morning everyone. I'm Jennifer Yang, Labor's federal candidate for Chisholm. Today we have a very exciting announcement here right in the heart of Chisholm and that is Box Hill.
I would like to now introduce and welcome the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, to say a few words.
BILL SHORTEN, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Thanks Jennifer, hello everyone, what a fantastic day in Melbourne, and what a fantastic announcement we're making for the future of Melbourne and indeed Victoria.
I am pleased to announce that if a Daniel Andrews Government is re-elected, Labor nationally will help contribute $300 million to turn the dream of a suburban circle railway for Melbourne into a reality. Our $300 million, along with the Victorian Government's, contribution means that there will be no turning back.
At long last, over a hundred years, we will have a circle railway connecting the airport to the north, to the west and of course, starting in the east and the south east, from Cheltenham through to Box Hill.
This is a fantastic announcement. Everyone knows that the challenge for Melbourne is congestion. Everyone knows, be you a public transport user or indeed a road user, that the old map of Melbourne, where everyone had to go into the middle of the city to get to any other part of Melbourne, just simply doesn't work anymore.
What this visionary, long term project, which will take 30 years to complete, but starts now, what it will mean is that we'll have 90 kilometres of extra railway, we'll have people able to travel right around Melbourne without having to go into the middle of Melbourne.
This is good for jobs, it's good for congestion, it's good for family life as people can spend more time with their family, rather than getting two and from work, and it's great for the environment as well.
This is great news, no turning back. Every dollar that Victoria needs to make this city railway a reality is committed as of today. And I think that what's really important here as well, when we look at all of this, is that only Labor can be trusted to invest infrastructure spending in Victoria. It is a sad fact that under five years of Liberal Government in Canberra, we now see something like seven or eight per cent of total national infrastructure spend going to Melbourne and Victoria, which is 25 per cent of the nation’s population.
We're going to end the drought on infrastructure investment in Victoria, and now it's my pleasure to hand over to Premier Dan Andrews to outline his exciting vision for the future of this city and this state, and then we'll hear further detail provided by the state Transport Minister and of course, my colleague Anthony Albanese.
DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: Thanks very much Bill and can I welcome the decision to invest, on behalf of the Federal Labor Opposition, if they form government, as a partner in the Suburban Rail Loop. This is exactly the project that our city and our state needs. Taking 200,000 cars off the road every single day, it'll be our busiest train line, and instead of sending people to the centre of the city on one train line and then back out to the destination they need to get to on another train line, this connects people, no matter where they live, to hospitals, to universities, to TAFE, to employment precincts. It is a big project, there's no denying that. We've been very clear about the fact that we will be honoured, if we are re-elected, to begin this project, but it will be completed by another government. And I think those are the sorts of projects that our city and state and indeed our nation needs.
So I want to thank Bill for his leadership, I want to thank Bill and his team for their vision to become part of this project. With $600 million of funding for planning, engineering, design, preconstruction work, we may even be able to make a start earlier than 2022 on that very first stage between Cheltenham and Box Hill. The Suburban Rail Loop connecting 10 different lines, 12 different stations, all those journeys that won't have to be made into the centre of the city to only then travel back.
Let me give you one important example that comes from further work from Development Victoria, PWC and other experts have done for us. We will see a 20 per cent reduction on the Glen Waverly line, 20 per cent reduction in passenger numbers on the Glen Waverley line in the peak. That is the equivalent of two full trains no longer having to travel to the city to take people back out to their destination of choice. They will instead be able to catch the Suburban Rail Loop, a tunnel that runs at speed and gets people exactly where they want to go.
The other key point here as well is that construction will be underway in 2022, we will complete the stages as quick as we can, and we aim to be ahead of those schedules - just as we have been with Mernda Rail, Metro Tunnel, level crossing removals - we're up to 29 of those are gone when we had committed to having 20 gone by the end of 2018.
But this project also creates an enormous number of jobs, the best part of 20,000 livelihoods. And that's why we're investing in TAFE, particularly in specialist courses like tunnel bordering out of Holmesglen, so that we can have the workforce required with the skills that are essential to deliver this really important project.
We can't imagine Melbourne and Victoria without the city loop, and we don't want to imagine Melbourne's suburbs without the Suburban Rail Loop. This is the project that is needed, and I can't thank Bill enough, and his team, for their partnership, their leadership and vision to get this project built.
I'm now happy to throw to Anthony Albanese to speak about the federal commitment in more detail and then Jacinta is going to take us through a few of the travel time details that we've been able to work through with DV and other experts.
ANTHONY ALBANESE: Well thanks very much Daniel and Bill, this is an exciting project. It is transformative for Melbourne and for Victoria. And Federal Labor's approach stands in very stark contrast with that of the current Federal Coalition Government, which is contributing, 7.7 per cent of the federal infrastructure funds in the last financial year came to Victoria.
Here we are, Australia's fastest growing state and Melbourne is Australia's fastest growing city. In order to deal with urban congestion we need more than speeches, we need investment. That is how you deal with it. That's why when we were last in office, we funded Australia's largest ever commitment to any single public transport project, was the regional rail link, and made an enormous difference. That's why we want a partner in projects like airport rail, with the Victorian Government
This project does what all the experts say is needed, which is to move away from the hub and spoke approach, whereby all destinations go into the city and then you've got to go out again. What this does is change that game and that's a game changer for jobs in suburban Melbourne, because the other thing we need to do is to make sure that jobs are located closer to where people live.
So I congratulate very much the Victorian Government. Bill and I are very proud to be partnering on this work which will consist of the business case, the planning, the pre-construction work - all of that so it's ready to go, at the latest, by 2022.
And we'll also make sure, as we've said, with all federal funds going to infrastructure projects, that ten per cent minimum of all employees on projects are apprentices. We want to deal with the skills shortages which are there and to use the Commonwealth’s investment to leverage that investment in people as well as in infrastructure. Jacinta.
JACINTA ALLAN, VICTORIAN TRANSPORT MINISTER: Thanks Anthony. It is absolutely terrific today to welcome Federal Labor's commitment and it's great to have Federal Labor on board with the Suburban Rail Loop. And as we've heard already from the Premier and Bill Shorten, we've heard how the Suburban Rail Loop is really going to transform the way people move around our city and state. And when it's completed, the Suburban Rail Loop will carry 400,000 passengers a day, making it the busiest train line on our network. And it will free up space on our network, it will slash travel times, and we're releasing today some further details on those points.
And that's because the Suburban Rail Loop will now mean that people can go around the city, rather than having to come in and out of the city to go around the city, will become a thing of the past with the Suburban Rail Loop. Meaning faster, easier connections to universities and TAFEs, to hospitals, to jobs, to the airport for all Victorians, including, can I emphasise too, for regional Victorians who will be able to connect in to the Suburban Rail Loop, no matter what part of the regional network they're coming in on.
And just to give a couple of further examples to those that have already been given, in terms of the travel time savings, the slashing of travel times that you'll see with the delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop. You'll be able to travel from here in Box Hill to Monash Clayton in around 15 minutes, significantly reducing the time it currently takes on the road network. From Burwood around to the airport, that will be around a 30 minute travel time, again a significant saving in time, giving people a much faster, easier connection to Melbourne and Victoria's airport.
And also too, the capacity, the space that is going to be freed up across the existing metropolitan network is also a significant benefit of the Suburban Rail Loop. The Premier gave some details for the Glen Waverley line, for the Frankston line for another example, that will free up around 10 per cent of extra space will be created on the Frankston line, meaning there'll be more space on the Frankston line and the option for people to travel on the Suburban Rail Loop.
So it's great to have Federal Labor on board and it further underscores that point, that it's Labor Governments that invest, do the hard work to plan and deliver the big and important public transport projects. Whether it's here in Victoria, the Metro Tunnel, the level crossings, the rail line extension to Mernda, the regional rail revival works – these are projects that are happening now, and we've got a very keen eye to deliver more projects into the future. And that stands in quite sharp contrast to the Liberal Party who, when they had their chance in government, they did not lay one single kilometre of track in the metropolitan network. On our regional network they cut funding to V-Line, which of course built on their previous program of closing train lines.
We are very proud of the hard work we do in public transport and we want to continue that work, and it's great to have this partnership with Federal Labor, with Bill, Anthony and the team.
SHORTEN: Thanks everybody, are there any questions on this or?
JOURNALIST: I was just going to say, what does this allow to be done that wasn't being done before under the $300 million?
ANDREWS: Well the $300 million commitment that we made which you'll recall is exactly the same amount of money that we committed back in 2014 to the Metro Tunnel, is all about design, pre-construction, and all the engineering work. Obviously with $600 million and a commitment, a partnership to deliver the project beyond that, that's great news for Victoria.
That'll mean we'll be able to get more of that work done faster and moving perhaps beyond engineering and design into that important pre-construction work. So this just means that I think we're more likely now to be able to perhaps beat that 2022 start time, and maybe get this project underway before then. We'll have further announcements to make about different elements of Suburban Rail Loop between now and November 24.
But at the time, when you asked the obvious question, how will this be paid for, I said that there would be a strong support from a very strong Victorian budget that's in surplus, and the best set of accounts anywhere in our nation, there would be enormous interest from the private sector - and I think we've seen lots of commentary to support that - and now we have a Federal Labor team, and if they form government at the election next year, they will want to be a partner in this quite amazing project as well.
So I think we were right to say that there would be private sector interest, a state contribution and a Federal Labor Government, at the very least, a Federal Labor Government that's committed to building the infrastructure that we need today and the infrastructure that we most certainly need into the future.
JOURNALIST: Bill, as a representative of Melbourne's west, do you think there's scope for a few more stops on this project in the western suburbs?
SHORTEN: Well I understand that's a possibility, there's no firm decisions made, but I must say that the Andrews Government knows where the western suburbs of Melbourne are. You can't say that about the Liberals, they treat the western suburbs of Melbourne as fly-over country or drive-through country to their beachside houses down on the coast.
The reality is that from what Dan is doing with road connections in the west, plus Airport Link, plus the level crossings, I mean I'll pick - this level crossings removal shouldn't be underestimated, the impact that's already having.
At St Albans there have been fatalities, there have been 12 or 14 fatalities, in the last two decades, sadly. And because of this crossing that's just, you know that's just another tragedy which now is not going to be the case. So I think the west is getting a fair deal out of the Andrews Government.
For us nationally, we're equally committed to partnering up, funding the projects. We're also committed to making sure the West gets its fair share of social infrastructure, hospital funding, and I noticed the Andrews Government has announced a new hospital, a new campus for Footscray Hospital, the Western Hospital in Footscray. We want to make sure that people in the West are getting proper wage rises, their schools are properly funded, that TAFE is a real option, and that university places are uncapped.
The western suburbs’ best deal is under a Labor Government, state and national.
JOURNALIST: But there is quite a bit of space between all the stations in the west, quite a few of them are reliant on V-Line rather than Metro. So isn't this a really good opportunity to put more stations in there?
SHORTEN: I'll get the state brothers and sisters to supplement, but it's very clear that this $600 million announcement means that every dollar required to start the most visionary urban public transport plan in decades can start. That you know, the proverbial train has left the station, every dollar needed to start it is there both by state and federal Labor.
And then there are the options to provide more railway stations and in the west. I'll get the state people to talk about that.
ANDREWS: And the thing to remember here is, of course, Airport Rail Link which will begin through that Sunshine corridor at the same time as the first stage of Suburban Rail Loop.
We'll have more to say, I think you've already heard us talk in some length, in some detail and at length about further electrification into the western part of our metropolitan train network. All of those developments make it not just possible, but indeed likely that there will be further stops, further stations, further features to this important plan.
We've talked about, a lot of people have talked about these sorts of projects for a very long time. We are determined to get on and get them done. The election on 24th November really is a referendum on who gets things done. And whether it's level crossings, hospitals, schools, repairing the damage in TAFE and setting it up to be better than it's ever been, or big - in fact, the biggest infrastructure project the nation has ever seen, Suburban Rail Loop. We are determined to get on and get this done and now we can be clear that we've got a strong partner, a visionary partner in Federal Labor. That's great news for Victorians.
ALBANESE: Can I make this point, that - and I make it as a proud Sydneysider, this project here in Melbourne is the most transformative project for any capital city anywhere in Australia, bar none. There is no other program that will make such an enormous difference, other than this one.
And the attitude of this government, the Andrews Government, stands in stark contrast to its predecessor. I as the Federal Minister and Bill as the Member for Maribyrnong, we wrote to the then Victorian Transport Minister about fixing the level crossing at St Albans. We offered money on the table, to pay for half of it federally, and they wrote back to us and said no thank you. And then they ripped, in terms of federally, they ripped three billion dollars out of the federal budget that was allocated for the Melbourne Metro project. We had a federal departmental representative, the Assistant Secretary of the Federal Infrastructure Department, was on the board to deliver the Melbourne Metro Project in cooperation with the Victorian State Government. The Coalition came to office federally and ripped that money away.
So I think what's very clear today is it just reinforces to me there's only federal and state Labor that are really committed to making the big difference, a big investment that really changes the nature of our cities
ANDREWS: Much like, can I just quickly, much like Metro Tunnel, which is nine kilometres of track, five new underground stations, taking our busiest line out of the current very congested, city loop, a fully 12 months ahead of schedule. We had to get on and build that project without a dollar of support from a Liberal National Federal Government.
That's why today's news, a partnership to deliver Suburban Rail Loop is so welcome. We're very grateful and this is all about Labor, both nationally and at a state level, getting on and getting things done. That's the most important thing.
JOURNALIST: So is there any detail yet, I know it's early days, about how much should be used on pre-construction in terms of that funding and how much would go to business case?
ANDREWS: Well obviously the announcement has only been made today. We'll have more to say about Suburban Rail Loop between now and the 24th of November. But obviously twice the planning, design engineering and pre-construction funding means that we'll be able to get twice as much done.
Everything that's needed to get this away and potentially have its started, in the ground, under construction before 2022, all of that funding, those commitments, that partnership is there. And that's great news for the project and in turn, great news for jobs. And great news for everybody, not just in Melbourne, because of course, the Sunshine, Broadmeadows and Clayton superstations allow all of our regional passenger lines to travel to destinations around Melbourne without having to go to the centre of Melbourne. This is a big boost for regional Victoria as well.
We'll have more to say about different milestones, more information. We think this is a critical part of the choice that Victorians will make on the 24th of November.
JOURNALIST: If there's a Coalition Government in Victoria after November would you still commit this much money to their alternative rail project for regional rail.
SHORTEN: Well we'd have to see the homework. I know that Matthew Guy has floated a thought bubble. You know, let's see, let's see the homework before we start giving it a pass mark.
One thing you can't take away from the Andrews Government is that they said they would get on with public transport and they have. This is a well thought out proposition. Anthony and I will always listen to good ideas from whatever quarter. The only game in town is Suburban Rail Loop. That is the only game in town and I think the Liberals, rather than trying to be jealous of the Andrews Government, rather than just being jealous of a government who has had a good idea, they should get on board the idea and move it beyond politics.
I'm a Melbourne boy, I've lived in Melbourne my whole life. I know, and every Melbournian knows that we need outer circle railway. People might not be aware but in 1890 they built an outer circle railway, between 1890 in 1893. It had to close because Melbourne went through a big downturn back then. But ever since then, it has been the missing link - an outer railway, an outer suburban railway.
The Andrews Government is just doing what has been in the DNA of Victoria since Federation, which is to link up our suburbs rather than to have to go into Flinders Street.
JOURNALIST: Bill, can we just ask you on a federal level, how confident are you in the candidate for Wentworth - Labor's candidate?
SHORTEN: I think he's an excellent fellow. In terms of the outcome for the election, this is Liberal heartland, 18 per cent margin. It's - some of the land in the Wentworth electorate is almost as expensive as land in Manhattan. It's got more billionaires per square mile than any other part of Australia. I mean, the fact that the Liberals are even contemplating it running close is breathtaking.
But the real issue here is that I've noticed that Mr Morrison has said that somehow he can't govern if he doesn't win Wentworth. Mr Morrison's being mischievous, deliberately mischievous. The fact of the matter is that next Saturday night, whoever wins Wentworth, Scott Morrison will still be Prime Minister on Sunday. I'm not saying I'm happy about that, but that is just the fact. He will be the Prime Minister. A couple of the crossbenchers have guaranteed the Government confidence. So some argument that people in Wentworth are going to bring down the whole Government, as much as I wish it might be true, it is simply not true.
So what voters in Wentworth have is an opportunity to send a message. To send a message to the current Liberal Government, to express a view. Are they happy or not happy with the direction of the country? Are they happy or not happy with the lack of action on climate change? Are they happy or not happy with the way that their former Member, Mr Turnbull, was treated by the Liberal Party and the numbers men of the Liberal Party? Are they happy or not happy about the way this government is respecting the people? So the people of Wentworth can send an unmistakable message, which I guarantee will be heard in Canberra by the Government. If you want to see more action on climate change put Liberals last. If you want to see more action in terms of a better standard of politics, send a message - the way Malcolm Turnbull was treated was not the right way.
This morning the Finance Minister, Senator Cormann, popped his head up and he conceded that corporate tax cuts for the big end of town are their Plan A. He said he couldn't get them through the Senate at the moment, but the point about it is, these tax cuts, the corporate tax cuts, looking after the big end of town, will be back if the Liberals are successful in the next election. So we can send a message, that's the wrong priority too.
JOURNALIST: This weekend marks five years with you as Opposition Leader. What do you think the chances are that you'll have another five? Will you still be Opposition Leader in five years’ time?
SHORTEN: One way or the other the next election will decide that. But the real issue is that five years ago Labor was in a pretty bad place, and some of that had been self-inflicted. Let's be honest.
But I think the secret asset, the best asset which I've had in the last five years is actually my team. We've got Anthony here, we’ve got Tanya Plibersek, Chris Bowen, Penny Wong - I could name all of them.
The reality is that my frontbench is better than Mr Morrison's frontbench. The reality is that my frontbench are in touch, they're intelligent, they're passionate. Many of them are working parents, but they are committed and idealistic. We've been getting on and providing a vision for Australia. Everywhere I travel in Australia people say, where is the vision for this nation? They want Canberra to set out a vision.
We could take a leaf out of Premier Andrews book. This Suburban Rail Loop is visionary. It is how we make sure that Melbourne keeps pace with its growth. It's how we make sure that Melbourne and Victoria continue to do well. It's about long term planning, not short term, and that marks Labor's policies across the nation.
From infrastructure, through to early years, early childhood education, through to schools, through to TAFE, through the universities, through to health care, through to getting wages moving. We have got a long term vision for clean energy which is cheaper energy. What people want and what I've learnt in the last five years is that they want the long term vision. They want to see what the plan is and are you committed to doing it.
JOURNALIST: Politicians have talked about the impact of the Ruddock review on same sex students. Do you think same sex teachers need legislative protection?
SHORTEN: Well first of all I think we need to see the Ruddock review. The Government commissioned a report which they've had since May, it's been sitting in a drawer somewhere in the Government.
I do not know why Mr Morrison and his team are so committed to hiding the review from the voters in the Wentworth by-election before the by-election. The first thing we need to do is find out what is this review, what have the experts said? I'm sure the experts don't mind telling us, but what we have is a government who doesn't trust the people of Australia. If they're fair dinkum they'll tell the voters before next Saturday.
When we go to the specific issue of kids and teachers who might be gay or not in your standard marriage relationships. What I want to say is this, there should be no discrimination against kids, no discrimination against gay kids, there should be no discrimination against kids because every child is entitled to human dignity. And I think it's probably time to have a conversation about what other exemptions to discrimination we provide against teachers in our schools system.
So let's have that conversation, but it would be well informed by this review into religious freedom. So I think the first step to the conversation you're raising is for Mr Morrison to come clean, trust the Australian people, put the review out there so we can all work on this together. This should not be a political football.
JOURNLAIST: Premier just that on that, on that note, why not legislate to better protect gay kids in Victorian schools?
ANDREWS: My record and the record of our Government on equality, inclusion, respect and standing up for LGBTI Victorians is well known and well understood I think. In terms of the conversation that Bill's talking about, I wholeheartedly endorse that. If we can move this beyond politics, if we can see the review and if - I saw comments from Scott Morrison last night about moving beyond this and putting it beyond doubt as far as students are concerned.
If such a law, if such changes were made at a national level, we'd have to get advice on whether we needed to. It may well mean that we don't need to do that because that safeguard is there. That's the logical answer to your question. But our record of reform and investment and the different policy positions we've taken, always been consistent, stand up for those in Victoria where there is no place for discrimination in any form and where equality is not negotiable. That is very well understood.
JOURNALIST: The GST distribution deal is up in parliament in the next fortnight, will Labor categorically support that plan to even out the GST share between states?
SHORTEN: What we want to do is make sure that no state gets less than 70 cents floor and then 75 cents floor. What I mean by that is, we want, for people in any particular state who pay their GST to Canberra, we want to see a guaranteed proportion go back to all states.
Western Australia has been on the receiving end of this problem and they've got as low as 34 cents, so Labor's campaigned to lift and improve the deal that the West is getting. But you don't solve one problem by causing another.
That is why Federal Labor, after consultation with all the states, wants to make sure that no state is worse off, that no state gets disadvantaged. I think this is sensible. What people want is the various levels of government to work together. They want to make sure they get a fair deal for their community, and that the state and federal government and indeed local government work together better.
All we're doing is making sure that when we solve the problem which Western Australia's experienced, that there are no unintended consequences which cause problems for schools funding and hospital funding elsewhere. Now I think that can be easily done. I noticed that Liberal state representatives and a range of states are supporting our position. I think once again this is an opportunity for the current government to step above the day to day political rubbish and just say, alright, this is what the states are saying - Liberal and Labor, let's make this work in the interests of everyone, and you know, Mr Morrison will have my hand and co-operation.
JOURNLAIST: Mr Shorten, on the IR front, would you like to see employees unable to - sorry employers unable to bump employees back to industrial awards as part of negotiations?
SHORTEN: Yeah, the problem in Australia under the Coalition Government, is that everything is going up except your wages.
So the workplace relations system has become a bit uneven. It's tending to favour employers with a lot of clout. In particular, the example you go to is that when a group of workers negotiate a wage rise for their employer, they move from one position to the next, at the end of that agreement it expires. Now customary practice has been that until a new agreement is negotiated, you stay on the wages you were on the end of the old agreement. But what we've seen is literally hundreds of terminations of agreements where, because the workers wouldn't accept a wage cut, they're threatened with going right back to the award which they left years ago.
So we've got a system which now artificially favours legalistic and tough minded employers, that they can threaten their workers to take a massive wage cut or take a smaller wage cut. That's not the deal. Australia can only advance in terms of productivity, jobs security and profitability, if we don't treat workers like commodities but if we treat them as valued team members in the enterprise.
So Labor wants to make it illegal for an employer to simply blackmail and coerce a group of workers into accepting some wage cuts, rather than have to go right back to the award. We want to stop that practice, we think that's unhealthy. In other words we want to keep the existing pay and conditions in place til both parties to an agreement negotiate a better deal.
JOURNALIST: Premier just quickly, what do you make of the idea of free textbooks for students?
ANDREWS: I am not here to talk about Liberal Party offerings. They are completely irrelevant to my positive plans for our state. They're completely irrelevant certainly, to the delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop - Australia's biggest transport infrastructure project, one that I'm proud today to say is a true Labor project, one where there's a partnership between Bill and me to get this done.
Thanks very much everyone.
ENDS
