E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA
THURSDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2018

SUBJECT/S: Gender pay gap; Barnaby Joyce; Murray Darling Basin.

BILL SHORTEN, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Good morning everybody, I don't have time for a lot of questions, I just wanted to say about the function we've been at that the women of Australia are the ones who are creating the jobs growth Australia is experiencing, but women in Australia are still treated as second class when it comes to pay and conditions. Until women are paid equally this country won't be the best country in the world, and I want us to be the best country in the world.

Happy to take any questions.

JOURNALIST: Mr Shorten, on Murray, on Murray -

SHORTEN: I'll come to you next.

JOURNALIST: It appears Barnaby Joyce has survived this scandal. What's your reaction to that?

SHORTEN: I don't think Mr Joyce's position is tenable. I think that Prime Minister Turnbull has to act. It's not about Barnaby Joyce's personal life, it's about the integrity of the Government, it's about whether or not there are Ministerial standards and I think every day that goes on, the Parliament of Australia is turning into a circus. It's time for Turnbull to end the circus and to suggest to Barnaby Joyce, time's up.

JOURNALIST: How do you think, how do you think -

SHORTEN: Sorry, I said I'd come to you next.

JOURNALIST: Just quickly on the Murray Darling Basin. As it stands, the plan is at risk of collapse. Is Labor committed to trying to work out some sort of negotiated solution with the Government or are you comfortable with it falling in a heap?

SHORTEN: I think there's a deal to be done. I think that people of goodwill can make it work, but the government really has left it at five minutes to midnight. Labor is always prepared to make it work, but the Government, you know, they've really - their eyes are off the ball, the Turnbull Government. They're so consumed about their own soap opera that the big issues, the issues which affect jobs, and agriculturalists and affect climate - that's just not getting the attention it deserves, because this government is so wracked with its own internal crisis.

Perhaps one last question.

JOURNALIST: Will you call for him to resign today?

SHORTEN: I think I reflect what most Australians think. Most Australians are not interested in Barnaby Joyce's private life, that's his. But there are conflicts of interest coming out daily which are being revealed. The Prime Minister has a Ministerial Code of Conduct which if he doesn't uphold, is not worth the paper it's written on. The circus has got to end. 2017, I said that was a low point in the way Australians viewed Parliament, but it was never in my wildest imaginations we would see the circus we've got now. Australians want us to stop talking about ourselves and get on with talking about them. I think Mr Joyce's position is untennable and I think Malcolm Turnbull, time for leadership, you need to act.

Thanks everybody, I did say I'd only take a few questions, but I'll be back and see you in Question Time.

ENDS