E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW
TUESDAY, 7 JULY 2020

SUBJECTS: Victorian public housing lockdown; NSW/Vic border closure.

KARL STEFANOVIC, HOST: Inedible and out-of-date food dumped on their doorsteps. Trapped and isolated in a hard lockdown and starved of essential supplies and information. This is the desperate plight faced by more than 3000 residents of Melbourne's public housing tower blocks. To discuss, we're joined by Shadow Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten and Triple M’s Gus Worland, guys, good morning. Bill, to you first of all, one of these towers is smack bang in your constituency. And we have some pictures here of you visiting that tower yesterday, delivering supplies. What is your blunt assessment of the situation they're facing?

BILL SHORTEN, MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG: First of all, the State Government announced immediately a Stage 4 lockdown, which means that these residents are just not allowed to leave their apartments. So this came as quite a shock to the residents, there’s four towers in my electorate. They're upset. You know, they got no notice and they feel that they've been treated to a lesser standard than other people. But we are where we are. My assessment is that we and the Government, the State Government, needs to do a better job communicating with people there. And we need to be a bit more switched on. These are not prisoners. They haven't broken any laws. So I think that we need to make sure that if they've got a phone line to ring, it gets answered in a timely fashion and that they need to know who can actually assist them with their needs. There’s 60 people there with NDIS packages. That means kids with autism. There's elderly people. There's people there whose language is not so good. So, we've got to switch on even more than has been in the last 72 hours.

STEFANOVIC: There is also a tremendous danger, as we know, that this virus may spread like wildfire inside those towers. How do those people in those towers, Bill, have any faith in the authorities to get it right?

SHORTEN: Well, some are relieved that they’re getting more resources. Others are disillusioned. I mean, just to explain these towers, the ones that are in my area. There's 22 levels. There's 9 apartments a level. They have 2 lifts. And sometimes one of the lifts may not be working. So you've got to walk up and down 22 sets of external concrete stairways. It's very windy. The apartments themselves, you know, they're not big. I saw a guest whose name I won't mention yesterday sort of carrying on as if they have the Life of Riley. No, they don't. We've got two or three bedroom apartments. If they've got three or four or five kids, all the little boys in one room, the little girls, the baby may sleep in with the parents in the third. The floors are carpet and lino. there's a small bathroom. But the people who live in these towers, they're not something different or special. They're battlers. They're trying to go to work. There's nurses, there's teachers there. There's a whole lot of people trying to make ends meet. So it is a difficult situation. And I just think that we need to, as best as possibly can be done by the State Government, who are acting for the public health advice, we just need to treat these people as decently as we can.

STEFANOVIC: It just seems to be, and thank you for that tremendous insight, Bill. I think everyone needs to know that information. Gus, when you look at the situation in Victoria now and Victorians, unrightly so, are being looked upon as lepers right now, it's an awful situation, but how do Victorians themselves, have any faith in authorities when they've got it so badly wrong?

GUS WORLAND, TRIPLE M: Yeah, exactly right. And good on you Bill, for doing what you did. Very tough times. But, you know, you look at it from Sydney and think, we've got it so easy, but let's just all remember that we're Aussies. And when we first spoke, the three of us, going back three or four months ago it was all about Team Australia, wasn't it. All about getting in there together. So let's just all look after each other. It's such a difficult situation, but we go with kindness and we listen to the medical professionals then we're a chance of getting it right. But it's very, very difficult times at the moment. Good on you Bill for doing what you've done, mate.

STEFANOVIC: And Bill, has Dan Andrews, in your opinion because he had such good support initially, what is your view of how he has handled the last couple of weeks?

SHORTEN: Well, first of all, this virus has come from overseas. So all the Premiers have had to deal with an unprecedented set of circumstances in our lifetime. I think on balance, he has done a good job. I think there has been mistakes made where some of the quarantine travelers from overseas weren't monitored and kept locked down. And so I think there'll be, you know, heads to roll over that. And that's being investigated. I just want to say back to these public housing tenants. I heard some people, some people will be up in arms saying they're being treated terribly. And I can see that perspective. There'll be other people who are saying, oh they’re migrants, it’s all their fault. We were bagging Asians for this, and then we've been bagging poor people, and then we might bag different migrant groups. These people who are being locked up, just imagine it for a moment in your living room, if you were told you couldn't leave the house. In many cases, you're told you kind of pick your shopping. You see other people who are able to leave their house even though they're in quarantine. What these people are doing is they're taking one for the team. You know, sure they're doing it to keep themselves safe, but because they're sacrificing some of what we all take for granted, their actions are keeping their fellow tenants safe and they're keeping the rest of us safe. So I just, in this time and it doesn't just go for the public housing tenants, anyone who's lost a job, any small business who has lost business, anyone who is locked down. These are not different people or losers. They are, in fact, sacrificing things so that the rest of us can be safe. And it goes back to what Gus said. We're in this together. And I just think we need to switch on and just be as clever and as caring as we can be.

STEFANOVIC: That border, and hear hear on that, that border too Gus, in the meantime, closing. What it presents is another very tough couple of weeks and months for the economy. Those small businesses, I mean, it's just it is very dramatic.

WORLAND: It sure is. You know, and we're in a situation now where we've just all got to buckle down again. We thought we'd got through it and now we're in another one. The rest of the world are having the same situation. This pandemic has been incredible for this world. So, you know, we just have to get through it the best we can. I think the Government have done a great job supporting. I think we just got to do it again. I'm just surprised that we had to wait till sort of midnight tonight to get it done, once we sort of needed to close the border. Why didn't we do it as soon as possible, but those decisions are way above my pay grade.

STEFANOVIC: And the alternate side of it is come Friday Bill, Victorians are going to be throwing things at the telly, when we feature Queensland opening its borders here.

SHORTEN: Well, you know, Annastacia Palaszczuk got bagged by some of her conservative critics, but she seems to have made all the right calls so far. As for holidays, my own suburb’s locked down anyway for the last week, so can we stop bagging all Victorians, please? Maybe that won't happen, a little Christmas wish.

STEFANOVIC: Well, we wish you all the very best. It's a tough spot way. And as Gus said, Bill, you know, keep looking after those people. Someone's got to be the eyes and ears for the rest of the country because the flow of information out of there isn't flash. Appreciate your time. Thank you, Gus. Thank you, Bill

SHORTEN: Good morning gentlemen, stay safe.