E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW
TUESDAY, 21 JULY 2020

SUBJECTS: Victorian coronavirus outbreak; JobSeeker & JobKeeper extension; Mandatory face masks across Melbourne; Melbourne face mask sale surge; Making face masks at home.

KARL STEFANOVIC, HOST: I’m joined by Shadow Minister for Government Services, Bill Shorten and Triple M's Margaux Parker, good morning guys, thank you for your time today. Bill, these are very difficult times for Victoria, there are many, many people falling through the cracks, aren't there? [Reference to Shane Tuck:] He was only 38, such a tragedy.

BILL SHORTEN, MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG: It is a shocking tragedy, I mean, he was a great Richmond football, his father, Michael Tuck, one of the best people to ever put on the boots to play Aussie Rules, two kids. We’ve just got to keep looking after each other.

STEFANOVIC: Yes, beautifully said, and if you or someone you know is struggling to cope you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, more on that a little bit later. The countdown clock is ticking this morning as well and panic is growing. In a little over 17 hours, five million Melburnians will be required to wear mandatory face masks in public. But just look at these pictures yesterday, huge queues forming at retailers across the city. People desperate to get their hands on masks before the cover-up order is enforced from midnight. Bill, when you look at those panic buying pictures, it is a desperate situation, people are feeling it.

SHORTEN: Absolutely. I guess a couple of quick comments, first thing is, for individuals: please don't panic buy, for companies who were selling masks: don't price gouge. If we're making people wear masks we want to make sure there's enough of them. But, of course, in South Korea, in Taiwan, in Japan, wearing masks has been the trick towards reopening the economy. So I think that the trick here is for Australians to start making more masks, there's a lot of companies doing the work right now, and I think we can step up to this challenge.

STEFANOVIC: Yes there is one on the front cover of The Age today, that has transferred from denim into making masks and I think that's a good thing. Margaux, the whole country feeling for what Victoria is going through, is it time for everyone to now start wearing masks in public across the nation?

MARGAUX PARKER, TRIPLE M: Yeah, I think most definitely Karl, I think we have a responsibility and we need to be accountable for ourselves, I mean, I'm not even in Victoria and I've got mine. So there's plenty of companies out there who are diverging into different areas and this is a great little local business here in Brisbane, up in Queensland, and it comes in an array of colours and animal print is my theme, so I went with that one.

STEFANOVIC: We'll get onto that in just a second, I'm going get Bill to show us his, but let's talk about JobKeeper and JobSeeker [Stefanovic laughs].

SHORTEN: I understood what you meant Karl, just rise above your production team [all laugh].

STEFANOVIC: Just trying to have a go. An announcement on JobKeeper, actually, you know what? That is much less interesting, let's talk about masks, Bill, show us your mask.

SHORTEN: It's only a standard doctor mask [places face mask on].

PARKER: Mask yourself!

STEFANOVIC: See it’s not that hard is it?

SHORTEN: No, no, I think Greg Hunt has been having lessons [all laugh]. I've been wearing one, I have to say, I want to especially say to blokes, I've noticed in the last couple of weeks since I started wearing a mask, at first it feels awkward . But going into shops, can I just say that all the blokes who think it's not manly, I've noticed women more than men tend to wear masks in Melbourne, when you wear a mask, it is an act of courtesy towards your fellow shoppers and the people you are in the buildings with. A mask, If you have COVID-19, will make it harder for you to give it to anyone one else. So when you wear a mask, it's just good manners now and you know, maybe good manners is an argument which we should all be pushing as well as getting the economy back on track.

STEFANOVIC: I agree with you a hundred per cent, I'm going to come back to masks in just a second, but let me just get you quickly on JobKeeper and JobSeeker. It looks like it's going to run through to March, reduced rates, tighter rules on who qualifies, are you going to support all that?

SHORTEN: Well, I'm glad that we seem to be talking about extending it, Labor's been arguing for that. There's a lot of businesses who are going to shed more people in October because it's going on, as you have spikes in various states, I think it is a sensible move to extend JobKeeper and JobSeeker. We want to also make sure that people aren't getting overpaid, believe it or not, some of that's been happening, and I'd like to see sole traders and casuals included in this next version because they've been totally wiped under the previous regime.

STEFANOVIC: Agreed. Okay, now, I want to ask you both about some worrying research today, Margaux, these are pictures from the Nine entrance lobby this morning when we arrived at oh-dark-hundred. It was, that's Jennifer there and she's taking temperatures, taking all the details just to see if your temperature is right and that's all part of the COVID safety screening process that's happening here. A new survey by Clean Corp meantime, reveals that even during the pandemic, 70 per cent of Aussies would still come to work, even if they have symptoms of cold or the flu. Margaux, are some people still not getting it?

PARKER: I find that outstanding that figure because us Aussies, any excuse to take a day off and we will, I would like to see the stats if you're hungover and still going to work, I think you might find that that's a little less than 70 per cent. But, you know, we've been told, it's been bred into to us, that you soldier on, you go to work. You don't want to be judged and you don't want to come off as being soft so I think the thing now is, though, that we need to be considerate of the current situation that we are in. I know that all workplaces across Australia would have a COVID safe plan in place and everybody's being a little bit extra precautionary. But I think if you are sick, stay home, do the right thing, wear a mask when you're out and about and try and do the right thing by others because we're all in this together at the end of the day.

STEFANOVIC: Is TRIPLE M safe in Brisbane or is it a cesspool of germs?

PARKER: It's really safe, they’re on a skeleton staff here in the studio, we even have tape at our desk, showing how far we're allowed to be away from each other. There are hand sanitisation booths everywhere, so you can't get away with anything in here. I mean, we had at one point, we had red lines on the floor saying which way we can go, it was one way into the coffee machine, one way out of the coffee machine, so they're taking it really seriously and I think that we all need to.

STEFANOVIC: What you don't have is one of your team members, vis a vis our Safety Officer Ali Langdon, who's managed to make a mask of dirty socks.

ALLY LANGDON, HOST: I got this off the floor in your change room [holds a beige coloured sock], so I assume it's clean [all laugh]. Now, this is really interesting because there's an issue in trying to get masks in Melbourne right? Take a sock, I saw this online right, if you hold it up Karl for me, you chop the sock and chop the foot part off, so you get it like that [shows cut sock] and then you open it up.

PARKER: Is this a new TikTok challenge?

LANGDON: Yeah and then you cut two little slips, I’m super quick! Two cuts, two littler bits there and there, and then you open it, and you do it better than Greg Hunt [places sock face mask on face].

PARKER: I reckon you’ve just helped all of the mothers of Australia out Ally because in my house I have four children and there is not a pair of socks in sight so we've got plenty of odd socks in our house, so I could make a business out of this.

STEFANOVIC: And look Ali just there, I mean she's saving bank robbers money everywhere [all laugh].

SHORTEN: Yeah five weeks ago if she had gone into a bank she would have been arrested!

LANGDON: Exactly! It does smell a bit funky Karl, but you know other than that.

STEFANOVIC: Doing your bit for the country I reckon.

LANGDON: Well it just means if you can’t get one then you can make one at home, just wash the sock first.

STEFANOVIC: Round of applause for Ally everyone [all clap], thanks to you Bill, thank you Margaux.