E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2GB WITH BEN FORDHAM
MONDAY, 6 JULY 2020

SUBJECTS: COVID919; Victorian housing tower lockdown.

BEN FORDHAM, HOST: These people in lock down in Victoria, more than 3000 of them in nine housing commission towers. And they're not allowed out of their homes because 27 people have the virus. The rest will be tested over coming days. They are trying to prevent another mass outbreak. The Acting Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, describes these towers as vertical cruise ships. These nine towers are spread across the suburbs of Flemington and North Melbourne. The local member for Flemington is Bill Shorten. He spent the day yesterday meeting and speaking with residents in the towers. And he's on the line, the former Labor leader, Bill Shorten. Good morning to you.

BILL SHORTEN, MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG: Good morning, Ben.

FORDHAM: How are they?

SHORTEN: Listen, there's a range of emotions, a lot of them are, they're all anxious. Some are relieved that they now think that they're going to make sure that this will make them safe. But I have to say that whilst the Government, the State Government, says they had to act Saturday afternoon and that’ll be right, I don't have the evidence they've got, because it was done straight away, a lot of the residents are feeling quite stigmatised. They look around and say, well, everyone else got a little bit of notice. Everyone else is still able to go do their shopping or, you know, do the essentials. So I think this is a massive exercise in communication that's got to go on for these people, to explain what's going on and why, and making sure that the next few days they're able to get through it.

FORDHAM: Would some of them, be saying, can't we get out of here? If this location is deemed to be a problem, why can't we get the hell out of here?

SHORTEN: Yeah, I'm sure that's the reaction of some people. I think because it's such a big police presence, I think quite a few of them are feeling, just, why are we being treated like criminals, there should be doctors and nurses, not police. But, you know, I accept that if the public health experts say we've got to stop it spreading, then that's what they say. And we've just got to try and explain it to people. Probably the way I'd put it is that they are all public housing tenants. A lot of them came from other countries, but they're all Australians. And in some ways, what I tried to say to some of the residents and their leaders is, you know, you doing this makes your family safer and it makes everyone else safer. So I think what they're concerned about is that somehow they’re second class. And I've just got to explain to them, to the extent that I can without being in control of everything is saying, listen, you're taking one for the team here. I hope no employers penalise the people who can't turn up to work today because they’re not allowed to leave their house. It's just a matter of us trying get behind people as we've done when other people have been in quarantine.

FORDHAM: This is the problem of Daniel Andrews making though, he didn't think about the dangers of outsourcing, the policing of locked down in quarantine hotels to private security contractors. And that's how it leaked out of those hotels. And as you say, the communication on this one with the public housing tenants has left a lot to be desired.

SHORTEN: Well, on the second point you make. I mean, I've spoken to State Government reps. They say, listen, Bill, we just didn’t want it to spread. And it's difficult. And so because they're crowded, they’re big towers, I'm just encouraging the government to communicate and hear what the residents are saying. In terms of how it's spread, I don't know how it's got into some of the households in my electorate, but we've got a problem so it’s got to be dealt with. The virus hasn't gone away. And therefore, we’ve got to just do everything we can to keep people safe. My concern is in other housing commission towers, there's even a higher proportion of older people. And I just really don’t want to see the virus get into those towers because that could be very lethal.

FORDHAM: We feel so sorry for all those people who were locked up at the moment, 3000 of them. And thank you so much for jumping on the line.

SHORTEN: Thanks Ben, cheers.

FORDHAM: Bill Shorten, who's the local member for the Flemington area. He spent the day yesterday meeting and speaking with residents in the towers. And there's now speculation that Gladys Berejiklian is under more pressure than ever before to shut the border between New South Wales and Victoria.