E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW
MONDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2020

SUBJECTS: Melbourne’s restrictions ease; hotel quarantine inquiry; JobKeeper; Dreamworld decision announcement; AFL Grand Final asks performers to work free.

ALLISON LANGDON, HOST: Life just got a little better for five million Melburnians this morning, as the curfew was lifted and other restrictions eased. But major freedom for the city is still three long weeks away. Pubs, cafes, restaurants and retail all remain closed. To discuss, I'm joined by Shadow Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten

BILL SHORTEN, MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG: Good morning.

LANGDON: And in Brisbane, 4BC’s Scott Emerson. Good morning, gentlemen. Bill. It is a start, but the Prime Minister says it's still not quick enough.

SHORTEN: Well, I've been under restrictions, like Melburnians, for 88 days. I actually think yesterday's news is good news. Kids are going back to school, including my two. So this is a good thing. Yeah, I think there is progress. And I'm really proud of Melburnians and Victorians for getting the infection rate down,

LANGDON: Bill, I think there's a twinkle in your eye today that I haven't seen for 88 days.

SHORTEN: I've enjoyed getting to know my kids really well. And I tell you what, I will not hear anyone bag teachers in front of me for at least the next year.

LANGDON: I was thinking you were going to say a lifetime. But Scott, at a similar stage, New South Wales was fundamentally open. Is Daniel Andrews right or wrong not to rush things?

SCOTT EMERSON, 4BC: I think he's going too slowly. I can understand why Bill and many Melburnians would be so pleased today to have a bit more freedom. But you have to think that maybe it could have gone a lot further, a lot faster than this. And you've got to think about there's still a lot of people with a lot of restrictions there, under a lot of pressure, including mental pressure. You do want to actually say, look, let's do the right thing. Let's be safe. But also let them out when they can.

LANGDON: I mean, that was the concern of the Prime Minister, the mental health impact of this. But Bill, the hotel quarantine inquiry frustratingly ended on Friday with really no answers to the big questions. You had the Health Minister, Jenny Mikakos, she fell on her sword. But what happened to the buck stopping at the top? Should Daniel Andrews shoulder some of the responsibility here?

SHORTEN: He's accepted overall responsibility. He set up the inquiry to get to the bottom of what had happened. It'll report in the next five or six weeks. It's no small thing to be a health minister during a pandemic. And Minister Mikakos has now done the honourable thing and resigned. Listen, I notice Mr Morrison saying Melbourne and Victoria should just open up quicker. The last thing we want is a third wave. I understand the mental health pressure. I see the economic devastation of small business and plenty of people doing it incredibly hard. But if Mr Morrison wanted to be constructive, I'm still concerned that we haven't got aged care right. I think what stopped the spread has been the lack of interaction between people, the very things that Mr Morrison's complaining about now. But I'm concerned that aged care isn't right yet. I'm concerned that if there is an outbreak, it takes them days and days to do the testing, not hours. So I think he needs to just keep a weather eye on what he's contributing in this regard. Also in Victoria, we're not out of the restrictions, he may not like that, but he's cutting the JobKeeper payments, which has been pretty helpful to keeping hundreds of thousands of people in work. So perhaps he could lend a hand rather than just the free advice.

LANGDON: Scott, should he be extending JobKeeper at the rate it was, not bringing it back?

EMERSON: The problem here is you can't keep affording this. Look, JobKeeper wouldn't be so vital in Melbourne if Daniel Andrews had done a better job and was lifting some of these restrictions. There's a massive impact on the economy continuing because Daniel Andrews continues to keep these restrictions in place. And on Mikakos, Daniel Andrews still claims complete ignorance of this, it’s extraordinary. We've had this inquiry that was forced on him because of the debacle over the hotel quarantine. And he still claims to have no knowledge, had no awareness. He throws Mikakos under a bus, but he still is unwilling to sheet home blame to himself over this debacle.

LANGDON: Well, I'll tell you what is good news today, though. We are bringing home thousands of Aussies who've been stranded overseas. Each state is going increase the limit on how many they allow in. It's going to be six thousand a week. Bill, this has been something you've been pushing for.

SHORTEN: Yes.

LANGDON: You've heard firsthand how many people are suffering.

SHORTEN: I've raised it on the show and I've raised this in parliament. This is not a new problem. People think - maybe some Australians here think that those overseas were just on a holiday and couldn't be bothered coming home. I have read hundreds of heartbreaking emails from people with little families who are over on work. They were told not to rush home. Their contracts have now expired. Airlines have been putting up airfares. People with economy class tickets have been bumped for business class. This has been mentally distressing. And I still think that even with the slight increase, there's a lot of Aussies doing it really tough overseas. I've had a constituent say that why couldn't they set up a quarantine hub in Singapore? I've had another constituent contact me, there's defence bases around the country where they could put people. I just think the government needs to sharpen its efforts. But this is good news today.

LANGDON: And big news in Queensland today. Dreamworld on the Gold Coast will learn its punishment over the deaths of four people on the Thunder River Rapids in 2016. Scott, Dreamworld is facing a multi-million dollar fine today. But how do you think the families feel about this seventy thousand dollar loan from the state government given to the theme park to reopen?

EMERSON: You'd have to think there's strong emotions there today. You must feel for these families who saw their loved ones lost in that that terrible tragedy. Yeah, we'll get the fines today against Dreamworld. And that is completely appropriate. But they must be wondering about whether an organisation like Dreamworld, that clearly had massive failings that led to this tragedy, deserve to have this money. Now, I appreciate it’s a big business. It employs a lot of people and it's important for them to have jobs. But you have to think if you’re the family there who lost loved ones, you'd be asking, why is the government doing this?

LANGDON: And my apologies there, I think I said seventy thousand dollar loan. It's a seventy million dollar loan. But just finally, the AFL Grand Final at the Gabba is facing an angry backlash, asking performers to provide entertainment on the big day for free. Bill, we know how many artists and performers have been out of work for months. Your thoughts on this?

SHORTEN: Well, they say that in politics, like show business, timing is everything. This is not the time for the AFL to go stingy on employing some of the unemployed artists. I mean, this isn't just getting the local schoolkids, the 10 year olds, to run around. They're asking for strong dancers of working age to come and volunteer. The CEO earns a million bucks, good luck to him. But I would've thought the AFL could have given some of our unemployed artists a chance to earn some income and perform on the big day. I mean, these are special circumstances, but tough times.

LANGDON: Scott, your thoughts?

EMERSON: Yeah look, terribly bad look for the AFL. They've done well out of Queensland in terms of the hub and the Grand Final’s coming up here. They should be trying to hand some back and support the local artistic community here rather than being a bit stingy, or perceived as being a bit stingy by doing this.

LANGDON: All right, gents, thanks for joining us this Monday morning. You enjoy your week.

SHORTEN: Shall do, bye.

LANGDON: And good to see the twinkle back in your eye, Bill.

SHORTEN: Homeschooling. Not gonna miss it.

LANGDON: They’re going back. A lot of parents in Melbourne this morning happy with that. Thank you.