E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW
TUESDAY, 25 AUGUST 2020

SUBJECTS: Victorian state of emergency extension; Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck; Quarantine border exemptions; KFC ditching slogan.

ALLISON LANGDON, HOST: Thanks for joining us this morning. Another 12 months, that's how long Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews wants his state of emergency to last, prompting a furious response from, well, plenty this morning. For more, I'm joined by Shadow Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten, who's in Melbourne.

BILL SHORTEN, MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG: Good morning.

LANGDON: And Triple M’s Gus Worland, how are you Gus?

GUS WORLAND, TRIPLE M: Very well.

LANGDON: Well, Bill, Daniel Andrews is facing plenty of anger from human rights groups, the opposition. You've got former Premier Jeff Kennett calling it a grab for power. Has he gone too far?

SHORTEN: No, I heard about this yesterday. And I've got to say, I've received a deluge of emails from concerned constituents. First of all, the good news is that the number of infections yesterday was now under 100. So it's trending in the right direction because Victorians are doing the right thing. Now, as I understand it, Daniel Andrews announced a state of emergency, and that's a lower level than a state of disaster. And I think all he wants to do with it is to be able to still have some powers, to get people to wear masks and make sure workplaces have safety plans. But I think it would be handy if he cleared it up today, because I think that figure of the 12 months had everyone freaking out last night. And I think the explanation is a lot more benign. But probably time for Dan the Man to put his explaining skills on display today and just calm the farm.

LANGDON: Yeah, I think a lot of people heard that and thought that meant lockdown might last for another year. But did you say the figures are coming out today will be less than 100?

SHORTEN: No, I just heard that from yesterday, they've actually revised the numbers down.

LANGDON: From 116?

SHORTEN: Yeah it was to 99 from yesterday. So that's heading in the right direction. Of course, people are still dying. Small businesses are doing it hard. I mean, this is a heavy, heavy time for people in Victoria, people in Melbourne. And I'm on day 56 of stage three or stage four lockdown. So I've got my family seeing more of me than I had planned to, I think.

LANGDON: And read into that what you will. Well, we actually conducted a poll on our Facebook page and the results are in. Sixty six percent of you say yes, Daniel Andrews is right to seek an extension in the state of emergency, while 34 per cent oppose the move. Lyn says, no, it should not be extended, it should only be used as the last emergency. Simone says it absolutely should be, unless we want to see 700 plus cases back every day. What it shows Gus, is that it is still very much an emotional issue and people are very worried.

WORLAND: Yeah, absolutely. And Bill's right off the top, he's got to get the explaining hat on today, because as soon as I heard it, I went straight to the worst case scenario and thought lockdown for another year for all my Victorian mates and everyone else down there, and what that means to the people in the state and all their businesses. So if you can explain exactly what it is, from what I've read this morning, it's all about giving him the legal powers just to put things in place and to keep everyone safe. And if that's just a bit of paperwork that needs to be signed, then of course, he should have that. Whether it needs to be for 12 months, probably not, another 6 month extension would be good. But, yeah, he needs to explain himself because everyone goes straight to that dark place when they hear the type of wording he used yesterday.

LANGDON: Yeah, we don't want anyone going to a dark place. Now, our pollies have returned to Canberra. That’s a bit of a dark place yesterday and it's been a tough few days for Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck. Yesterday in Parliament, he is forced to apologise for not knowing how many aged care residents had died from COVID-19. That's Richard Marles, by the way, not Richard Colbeck, on your screen. And today's Australian now reporting he's been effectively benched by the Prime Minister, cut out of key decisions. Bill, do you think he's being set up to be the fall guy over all the mistakes in aged care?

SHORTEN: Well I start from people in aged care. To me, the politician is a second order issue. 328 people up to yesterday had died in aged care, most in Victoria. There's over thirteen hundred active cases yesterday in Victoria. I mean, the federal aged care system has been under a big test and unfortunately, it's buckled. People perhaps don't realise that whilst our overall number of deaths has been tragic but lower than other parts of the world, in aged care our fatality rate has been amongst some of the worst in the world, if not the worst, certainly right up there. So, yeah, I do think that the Federal Government has been asleep at the wheel and this minister probably does have explaining to do, because there was Newmarch House, where families were distressed and people died back in March in the first outbreak in New South Wales. And it was clear then that when the infections get into a workplace, none of the existing staff can turn up. So you've got to find emergency workforces to replace them. And in Melbourne, just like for my neighbour, Theo, the replacement workforces the Commonwealth brought in were just overwhelmed in some cases.

LANGDON: So do you think Richard Colbeck should resign?

SHORTEN: I think that's ultimately really decision for Scott Morrison. But there's nothing good in the way this has been handled at all.

LANGDON: What also hasn't been handled very well, Melbourne home building magnate Mark Simmonds. He's sailing away from Victoria's tough lockdown. He's been given an exemption to take his family and their super yacht, the Lady Pamela, to Queensland, where he owns a home on the Gold Coast. So he and his family have been tested for COVID-19, but it's unclear whether they’ll now have to start 14 days of quarantine in a government approved hotel like everyone else, Gus, I think the issue here is there can't be one rule for the rich and another for the rest of us.

WORLAND: Yeah, exactly right. He hasn’t probably broken any rules, but he certainly doesn't pass the pub test. And that's the way that I like to look at things anyway, because there's lots of laws that are a little bit wavy and the lines aren't exactly, completely clear. So what would blokes in the pub having a couple of beers think about it? Well, exactly what you said. There's one rule for one, one rule for another. And we've just got to put a line in the sand and say it's either this or it's that. And certainly now that he's up there and, you know, up there at the marina, he should now go into a hotel for a couple of weeks just to let everyone know that there isn't two sets of rules, cause it certainly looks that way.

LANGDON: I mean, good luck to him if you can get out. But Bill, I mean, you're in lockdown in Melbourne. Everyone's doing it tough. It's not a good look, is it not?

SHORTEN: No, It's not a good look. I mean, it does make people sceptical and suspicious. This morning, right across Melbourne, we got aged care workers going into homes. They’re paid twenty three, twenty four bucks an hour. We’ve got the nurses and the doctors at the big hospitals trying to keep people alive. We've got - you know, I had an email last night, 8:30, 9 p.m. I rang him. He's a truck driver up near Bandiana Army Base. He's a contractor. His wife's doing it really hard in Queensland. He's on the verge of tears. How can he get up to see her? Then I read this this morning. I mean, it's just - anyway, maybe it's legal. I mean, I guess you could argue you wish every person had a big seagoing yacht, but we don't. But it's about sharing the burden.

LANGDON: Yeah. I think that's right. As we say, we don't know if he's done anything wrong here. And very, very quickly the biggest debate of the morning on the desk anyway. Our thanks to Karl. KFC is dropping its finger licking good catchphrase due to the pandemic. And Karl thinks this is an absolute outrage. Bill, you thoughts?

SHORTEN: When we go through the drive by to get the Dirty Bird, I like the kids to have a bit of a paper towel actually, the kids love it, but I reckon you should wipe your hands.

WORLAND: Come on, Bill.

LANGDON: Gus, can you explain to Karl that you can eat chicken without licking your fingers?

WORLAND: No, no. I’m with Karl. I'm sorry. I'm with Karl 100 per cent. That's just part of the Dirty Bird experiences. You get yourself involved in it and then you wipe it all on jeans and stuff. They give you that little towelette thing as well. Never, ever opened it in 35 years of me eating KFC. So I reckon as long as you then go sort your hands out, as long as you're not playing with anyone else, you'll be right.

LANGDON: Well, this is how people get COVID.

SHORTEN: Why don’t It you just skip the chicken and lick your fingers?

WORLAND: Or go the nuggets

LANGDON: All right, I think lockdown's getting to Bill. Gents, thanks for joining us this morning.

SHORTEN: See you guys.