E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
THE PROJECT
SUNDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 2018
SUBJECTS: Victorian Election; Democracy sausages.
LISA WILKINSON, HOST: Well Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten joins us now. Mr Shorten, good evening to you.
BILL SHORTEN, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Good evening Lisa.
WILKINSON: You’ve got to tell us, do you own a Burberry trench coat at this point, and if you do, I’d get rid of it very quickly.
SHORTEN: No, I haven’t quite got around to that.
WILKINSON: Right, that's probably a very good move. It was a huge result though. No one predicted such a wipe out as this. Do you think it happened because Labor was so good, the Opposition was so bad, or do you think a lot of it has got to do with what’s happening at the Federal level?
SHORTEN: Well first of all, full credit to Daniel Andrews and the State Labor Government. They submitted their record and got a renewed mandate, a bigger mandate, so nothing takes away from that. I travel around Victoria, I live in Victoria, there’s no doubt though that the Labor message; better schools, better hospitals, not more cuts and chaos and division, that’s what people are looking for. They just want us to get on with our jobs. That's all they want.
TOMMY LITTLE, HOST: Mr Shorten, you are in Canberra now. Let’s just be honest, are you measuring up the drapes in the Lodge? What’s going on?
SHORTEN: No. You know I did the shopping today in Moonee Ponds where I live and people were saying bring on the Federal Election, and some people would say that Labor has it in the bag, Idon't think that at all. How the Liberal Party interpret this loss is up to them, and I’m not going to spend a lot of time talking about the Government or the Prime Minister. What people want from me and what people want from politics in general is focus on policies that help everyday people.
LITTLE: But hypothetically, would you think about putting heat lamps in the bathroom?
SHORTEN: Yeah no, that’s somewhere with the Burberry trench coat.
LITTLE: Dan Andrews has said the Victorian State Government is the most progressive state government in the country. Does that mean that Matthew Guy would have had a better chance if his last name was Mathew non-binary?
SHORTEN: Listen, I think what happened is that people just want you to get on with the job. I don’t think everyone agrees with everything that Labor says, and people don’t agree with everything the Liberals say. What they want in their politicians in 2018 and next year, is that you’re just getting on with business. Are you going to look after the kids and provide universal preschool? Have we got enough aged care places for older Australians? Have we got good public transport to deal with congestion? Have you got a plan to deal with renewable energy and getting the power bills down? People just want us to get on with things that affect them, not always slagging each other off like we’re at the footy in the outer.
HAMISH MACDONALD, HOST: Bill, I know you don’t want to get carried away with expectations ahead of next year’s election, but if things go on as they are, you will be our next Prime Minister and I feel bad asking you this, because I think we have to ask you every time you come on. You’re the least of the preferred Prime Ministers, what are you going to do between now and the election to make us all feel excited about you being the Prime Minister?
SHORTEN: Oh Hamish, I think there is a little bit of excitement in your heart, you just need to find it. Only a little though, let's not really debate that. It's all about the ideas, it's about people, like I am excited -
MACDONALD: It is a little bit about you, you've got to admit that, and you know you've got not that much time until the next election.
SHORTEN: Well I tell you what the numbers on me were the same before the State Election as they are now, but we’re doing pretty well. We’re doing well because we focus on people. I’m not - more and more I've decided between now and the election, talk less about the government and more about the people. People just want us to get on with our job, and you know, when your kids can't get an apprenticeship or your kids in their 20s and 30s are trying to buy their first home and they haven't got enough for the deposit because that house – the price of housing is high. That’s what people are worried about, isn’t it?
SARAH HARRIS, HOST: Mr Shorten, well what about your sausage eating style, could that play into it? On Saturday, you know, you were doing a better job of it after going for the sideways bite. Do you think you can get it together before the next election? The important issues.
SHORTEN: Sarah, you know, it’s about time we buried the sausage scandal of 2016. I did eat it sideways but, you know I had very good reasons. Because the crusty bread - it was like a loaf, not a bit of proper bread. You needed the teeth of jaws to eat it, you know. Anyway, you don't want to get too many carbs do you? Whatever.
WILKINSON: Bill Shorten, thank you very much.
SHORTEN: See you guys. Thank you.
ENDS
