E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
MELBOURNE 
THURSDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2020
 
SUBJECT: Morrison Government cruel crackdown on welfare payments, 2020 reflections

BILL SHORTEN, MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG: The Morrison Government. What a surprise.  Announcing a welfare crackdown the day before they kick millions of unemployed Australians in the gut, taking away their money tomorrow. 100 dollars that unemployed people are losing tomorrow. This is the Morrison Government's marketing con man stunt. They're trying to distract people on New Year's Eve with a welfare fraud crackdown because on New Year's Day, there'll be millions of Australians losing 100 dollars a fortnight on JobSeeker and JobKeeper. The Morrison Government's giving millions of Australians one massive New Year's hangover, which is going to last for a long time. Happy to take any questions.
 
REPORTER: Thanks very much for that.  The Government says that 650 incidents are being referred to prosecutors, 13 million dollars in welfare clawed back. You’re saying in reality, they’re just about to rob millions of Australians of a lot more?
 
SHORTEN: Well, the Morrison Government is about to rob millions of Australians, literally billions of dollars on New Year's Day. So, they're trying to con everyone with welfare fraud crisis. It's the classic distraction tactics from marketing central, which is the Morrison Government. These people are running a big confidence sting on Aussies. We all know that we're still in the middle of COVID in Sydney and now in Melbourne. We know that there's millions of people searching for fewer jobs than ever. And this Government, on New Year's Day, is going to cut millions of people. It's too harsh, too mean, too stingy, too soon, and it shouldn't be happening New Year's Day. 
 
REPORTER: If you were in the PM’s shoes, how would you handle the situation? They have to get out of the economic hit somehow. Would you be scaling back JobSeeker [inaudible]?
 
SHORTEN: Well, you can't continue government benefits indefinitely, but we are in the middle of COVID, if you're living on the northern beaches or in greater Sydney, you're in lockdown. Small businesses are doing it hard. In Melbourne, the State Government's announced new restrictions tonight, New Year's Eve. We're not out of COVID yet. Millions of people are unemployed. There's far fewer jobs available for all the people looking for them. This is the wrong time to take 20 dollars a day off, people. This is the wrong time to do it. 
 
REPORTER: Bill just on JobSeeker generally, do you think there is a need to increase the permanent rate? And if so, how much by?
 
SHORTEN: Yeah, we've got well over a million people who are unemployed. You've got about 12 adults competing for every single job in the country. You can't just tell people who have lost their jobs, especially during COVID, that they should just get by on forty dollars a day. It's too low. This government is going out of its way to punish the unemployed. There's a lot of small businesses and a lot of unemployed people who've taken one for the national team. They've lost their jobs, not for any mistake that they've made, but because we have a pandemic which is ravaging the world. Why is it that this government can waste hundreds of millions of dollars on their mates in rorts? Yet when it comes to knockabout everyday Aussies in the country and in the city, who can't get a job, they're just going to take 10 or 20 dollars a day off them. This is a stingy, mean government. New Years Eve should be a time to say goodbye to 2020. But it looks like the Morrison Government is going to continue the pain. And this time it's not due to a virus that's due to the Morrison Government being too mean, too stingy, too harsh.
 
REPORTER: Mate, 2020 has been a tough year for everybody. What’s your hopes for 2021, you’ve lived through the Melbourne lockdown, what’s your hopes for next year?

SHORTEN: I hope the next is better than this year. I hope that small businesses are able to get back on their feet. I hope that the Year 12 kids next year won’t do it as hard as this year. And I hope that we can get to lowering our borders and getting back to being one country again.
 
REPORTER: 10 News, just following on Minister Robert’s announcement this morning, talking welfare fraud. Would you classify Robodebt as welfare fraud?
 
SHORTEN: Yeah. Stuart Robert is the classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. The biggest welfare fraudsters in this country are the Morrison Government. They've had to repay 1.2 billion dollars to nearly half a million Aussies. This was welfare fraud by the Commonwealth Government. Now they've got the cheque to come after people for ten or twenty dollars a day. Just this government is out of touch with the lives of ordinary people.
 
REPORTER: What do you think of them, talking about 13 million dollars being recovered in this operation. How does 13 million compare to 1.2 billion?
 
SHORTEN: The Morrison Government's having a New Year's Eve joke with Australians, they want to boast about recovering 13 million dollars, yet they ripped 1.2 billion dollars illegally, off nearly half a million Aussies. If there was a gold medal for being a welfare fraud in this country, the Morrison Government gets the gold.
 
REPORTER: You said before that we can’t keep government benefits indefinitely, but do you think that Government should say outright a kind of benchmark of where we should get to, to continue the benefits until the economy recovers to a particular point?
 
SHORTEN: Australia has been hard hit by the COVID virus. The tourism industry is doing a really tough a whole lot of sectors are doing it tough. This Government shouldn't stop winding back JobKeeper, which has helped keep people in work and JobSeeker for the millions of people who are unemployed yet. Let's wait till we get through COVID. Let's wait till we get through the shutdowns and all the closures and all the lockdowns before the government starts getting out the razor gang into and starts cutting people's benefits, when people are doing it hard, not because of themselves, but because of a virus which came in from overseas. Why should ordinary Aussies be kicked in the guts by this government? All good? Happy New Year, everyone.