MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, FORESTRY & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Well, what a beautiful day here in Cairns in tropical North Queensland. And it’s a pleasure to have our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese in town for what is Australia’s largest regional show, here at the Cairns Regional Show. We’ve had the opportunity to meet some of the show Queens, the show Kings, rural ambassadors and lots of friendly people here in far north Queensland. The Prime Minister’s got some big news for us today, so I’ll hand over to him and it’s great to have you in town.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well thanks very much, Murray, and thanks for what you do representing Queensland in the Senate, and also the extraordinary work that you do as Agriculture Minister, particularly here in the great state of Queensland. Well it is fantastic to be back at the Cairns Show. It’s not my first Cairns Show, and it is indeed the largest regional show held anywhere in Australia. And on this beautiful day you can feel a really positive vibe around the Show and it’s a great opportunity to get out in a completely uncontrolled environment and just to talk with people about issues that they have, or just say g’day and meet people, young and old. From the youngest kids competing to win a toy, and cuddly one at that, and there’s been some cuddly toys won, including here by my friend who I’m about to introduce to you. Who of course not surprisingly, won at shooting hoops. But also to meet people with their vintage cars, to meet people right around this show, including champion show jumpers and others who are coming here. This of course is also a great contributor to the local economy in this great area of Queensland. But today we’ve got a really exciting announcement. As people would be aware Warren Entsch has announced his retirement at the next election. I was elected at the same election on the 2nd of March 1996, as Warren Entsch and I do want to pay tribute to him, and to thank him for what he’s done as a parliamentarian over a long period of time. He was a champion of some unpopular issues within his party like marriage equality, and he advocated very strongly for that. And he’s someone who I have respect for and has always shown me respect as Prime Minister and as a minister in the former government as well, as well as just a parliamentarian. So I wish Warren all the best for the future. This area has had a very open and easily recognised local member, and I’m hopeful that after the next election they have someone who will also stand out and be easily recognised, and that is Matty Smith. I am just stunned and so stoked that Matty has agreed to be the Labor candidate for Leichhardt. We met about a year ago and we had a chat about the prospect of him running for the seat of Leichhardt. And Matty, of course is a champion basketballer for the Cairns Taipans, but in addition to that he’s a champion off the court. He’s someone who’s made a contribution to the local community here over a long period of time as a volunteer in mentoring young people through schools programs, and in getting out and about and of course having his family who are with us here today. He’s lived in this community for two decades now. Someone who came here, fell in love with this local community, which is a pretty easy thing to do I’ve got to say. And I’m very jealous of everyone who gets to live in this wonderful part of Australia with its unparalleled beauty, but also its culture which is it’s a very welcoming place. And we’ve felt that today at Cairns Show. This is an electorate that for a long period of time was held by the Labor Party, by people like John Gayler, by Peter Dodd. He’s someone who I’m very confident will be able to return the seat to Labor and I introduce you today to Matty Smith.
MATT SMITH, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR LEICHHARDT: Thanks, Prime Minister. And I note that you’re quite a regular visitor up here obviously, probably most importantly was immediately after Cyclone Jasper and the ongoing flooding. And it was just, it was great for you to be on the ground so soon to see and commiserate with us and understand what we were going through as a community. So yeah, I thank you for that on behalf of the community. My name is Matt Smith, I am a former Cairns Taipan and as of right now, I guess the Australian Labor Party’s candidate for the federal seat of Leichhardt. I came to Cairns 19 years ago this week, actually, and I know that because it’s Cairns Show week. It’s a very important week in Cairns. The night before I arrived I was playing basketball in Warrnambool, the wind was howling off the Southern Ocean, it was about five degrees. It was a truly miserable experience. I arrived in Cairns, it was 27 I got out, I warmed up, I thought my joints are feeling alright here, got a nice sweat, like this is great. Let me tell you it’s been great. In the 15 years since I finished playing with the Taipans I’ve been given everything in the Far North than I could have possibly wanted. I’ve got an ongoing legacy and a connection to the NBL and the Taipans, I’ve got my loving partner Renee, my two daughters, a career, a friendship group. I’ve got a community. I’ve got a home. I belong to Cairns. I genuinely love it here. And if you look around, what’s not to love? From the Torres Strait through the Cape, the Reef, the rainforest and we’re on the edge of a really great future. A future made in Australia as the Prime Minister is telling people. We have a tourism industry that is absolutely second to none. We’re developing into manufacturing, if renewable energy is your thing we’ve got the wind, we’ve got the sun, we’ve got the water – we are on the edge of greatness. And that’s the future. And one of the reasons I’m really proud to stand up here as part of Anthony Albanese’s team is that it’s not just about the future, we’re also responsive to the present. And that’s why the tax cuts have been so important, and the cost of living relief is coming through the energy relief bill. That’s money back into people’s pockets. That’s taking the kids to the show, that birthday party at Sugarworld, maybe going out to dinner once a month. Not being afraid of the bill that’s coming down the way. Those things matter, they make a massive, massive difference. And those things are what’s at risk with Peter Dutton and the LNP. So it is an exciting day, it’s a really great day and I’m pumped because this is day one. This part is awesome, I’m really enjoying it. But after today we’re going to get out in the community and I’m really looking forward to speaking to people and getting a better understanding of what’s important to the people of Leichhardt and Cairns. So if you see me out there, I’m pretty easy to spot, come up and say g’day, let me know what’s important to you. Because ultimately, it’s not about me. It’s about we and what we can achieve together. I’ll just leave you with this, when I was playing for the Taipans I was a hardnosed, hardworking player. I was a team first guy. My coaches knew it, my teammates knew it, the crowd knew it. When my time came, I was going to go out and do whatever was necessary, and that’s what I’m going to bring to this. And should I be fortunate enough to be elected as part of Anthony Albanese’s team in the Labor government, that’s the attitude and energy that I will be taking down to Canberra for us. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Are we able to ask questions now or after? I do want to know some of your policies, it’ll be tough race for you with someone retiring. Gives us a bit of a rundown as to why people should vote for you?
SMITH: Well, I’ve been a part of the community here for nearly 20 years. People have been trying to pigeonhole me as just a basketballer and that’s fine. But I’ve also been working in the sport and rec industry, working with community groups trying to get them to be able to improve because our community is something for all of us. Now, Cairns has given back so much to me, and when you get an opportunity to actually put your hand up and help on a level which you can do as a Federal Parliamentarian, you’ve got to take that. And so what I’m trying to bring, I guess is [inaudible]. Throughout, with any team sport, it’s important to listen to those around you. And that’s what I think I bring to the table that I’m willing to go out sit down, talk to people, understand what those issues are and then relay them back up.
JOURNALIST: What are some of the priorities that you have in mind if elected?
SMITH: Well, I think the tax cuts are obviously very important. Cost of living relief is front and foremost on everybody’s mind. You know, whether I’m out playing golf with my guys, or having lunch with people, or just throughout work on a day to day basis – that’s what everybody’s talking about. And that’s why these tax cuts are so, so important. Moving forward, getting that money back into the pockets and then relieving that stress on people because when you’re stressed about money, everything else is harder. Once we get that relief going, we can move on from that.
JOURNALIST: The Far North is the food bowl, it’s a bit turbulent at the moment with the [inaudible] and all the costs of production rising, what would you be doing with agriculture?
SMITH: This is day one of my candidacy so far. So I haven’t been actually able to get out there and speak to people on behalf of Labor Party as a candidate. So that’s something I’m going to spend a bit more time on once I get my feet under the desk a bit more.
JOURNALIST: You have been here for 19 years though, what do you believe are some of the issues here in Cairns that you want to fight for?
SMITH: I think there needs to be a bit of a diversification in the economy. The tourism industry here is absolutely fantastic. We get a shock every 10 years or so which is completely out of our control, be it Covid, the GFC, Ansett collapsing – every time that happens Cairns suffers. So things like bringing in manufacturing, we’ve got the largest sorry, the furthest north naval base – we’re the gateway to the South Pacific. Bringing in trade and commerce from those areas to give us a little bit of under structure, just in case something else happened again, it is really important.
JOURNALIST: You’re obviously a really, already a notable figure in the community. Do you feel like you have that ability to connect with the community and really understand what their needs are?
SMITH: I’ve been living in the community, like away from basketball, for longer than I was in basketball now. You know, I was working in local government, as frontline directly with sporting clubs and community clubs. So I’ve been out there talking to people for 15 years about what’s important to them. Playing basketball is fantastic and you are a part of the community, but I guess as more of a focal point, but being in the community and being able to help I find it to be much more rewarding.
JOURNALIST: Did your experiences as a union organiser, how did that sort of inform your decision to run? And I guess more recently, what sort of insights did it give you to Tropical Cyclone Jasper?
SMITH: I’ll start with the Tropical Cyclone Jasper. As an organiser, we’ve got relationships with people, my patch is from Cardwell right the way up to the Torres Strait. So I have a lot of members in Wujal Wujal and we were in communication, I was in communication with them throughout the disaster. Finding out where people were, making sure that they are okay, visiting people while they were in Cairns, ensuring, you know, they felt like they were being supported. They were obviously very keen to get back to country as soon as possible. Being an organiser there gave me an insight beyond what I could consider your own local community, like I live out at Trinity Beach – that was annoying, but not that sort of a disaster. Holloways was a disaster, Wujal Wujal was a disaster and having the ability as an organiser to be traveling and speaking to people which is what you do, gave me that greater insight into what people were really experiencing. And hearing from firsthand what they’ve gone through, and being I guess an ear as well. Sometimes just being able to talk about something that’s happened to you is to start of that catharsis, the start of that healing process.
JOURNALIST: Just following on from that, I guess for now six months on from Jasper there are councils looking at eight or nine figure fees to clean up from this mess. I mean, you’ve lived through it, I mean how do you reflect on the recovery efforts, given the fact that you live in Far North Queensland? As you say, you’ve got firsthand experience, or not firsthand experience, but immediate familiarity with Wujal Wujal and Holloways, I mean how do you look at how we’ve recovered post-Jasper?
SMITH: I’ll relay to you a story, in the weeks after Jasper, once the road reopened, I drove up to Mosman to check on everybody out there because obviously they were pretty heavily impacted by the flooding as well. And one of the women in the admin pool there at the hospital was telling me that she’d never felt as good in her life when Ergon arrived. And they arrived en masse with trucks and they set up on the oval. And she looked down and she saw that this is this, is a government responding. This is people caring about our community. Said it was like something out of a movie. So anytime there’s a disaster, hindsight being 2020, but everyone did what they could when they could. The people of the Torres Cape Health Service who talked their employees through the night who was stuck in the roof of Wujal Wujal was above and beyond, that was Executive Directors, that was admin staff, that was union officials calling to make sure everyone was okay. So anytime anything like this happens, you see the community pull together. When you look back at it, now are there some things that can be done differently? Maybe. But like I said, this is day one, I haven’t had a chance to really get out there as an official representative of the Labor Party and have a chat to people. It’s a bit harder when you’re just Matt Smith, l knock knock, hey, what do you reckon? But now, you know, I’m going to be able to sit down officially and say ‘hey, how did we do? What can we do better?’ And relay that back.
JOURNALIST: Warren fought quite strongly for the navy base here in Cairns, and it’s his passion. I guess, what’s your comment, how do you hope to see that in the future if you do get elected?
SMITH: The naval base is an integral part of not only Cairns, but the Cairns community and culture. You know, it’s a large employer here – it’s also the furthest north, most north, that’s a really tricky word to say. It’s north, it’s a long way up. And given the strategic importance increasingly of PNG, the South Pacific, the Solomon Islands and the gateway to Asia, it’s an incredibly important piece of infrastructure and we will absolutely continue to support it.
PRIME MINISTER: Got anything for me?
JOURNALIST: For sure. Prime Minister, there’s still ongoing issues surrounding healthcare workforce shortages in this region, what is your Government going to do to alleviate these issues that have been longstanding for such a long time now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we’re prioritising making sure that the labour market is fit for purpose. That’s why we’ve established Jobs and Skills Australia. That’s why we’re targeting particular areas such as GPs to get more into regional communities. We want to turn this around. We know there have been workforce shortages. Fee Free TAFE has made an incredible difference. Right around the country, every TAFE that I go into, and now we’re pretty close to 500,000 Australians getting Fee Free TAFE in areas of skill shortage importantly. So nurses, early educators, people in the services sector, as well as your traditional trades, carpenters, electricians, in areas that are needed. And that’s made an enormous difference. Already it’s providing people with an opportunity. As I go into TAFEs there are people that I’ve met, who when you ask them ‘what made you enrol in this course?’, so many of them, the first thing they say is, ‘well, it was free, I heard about it, I decided to have a crack, see if I liked it, if it’s something I wanted to do and pursue.’ And earlier, just last week, I was in the Forde electorate in Loganlea in Queensland, at the TAFE, talking with people there who were doing their nursing educators training there, their Certificate, they were about to go on prac training. So one of the other things we’ve done is too, we’re going to pay people to do their prac. Now I reckon most people out there if you went at random, and said around this show, ‘do you think people when they’re doing their nursing, or in a school, or in a hospital doing their prac training as part of their getting a qualification, do you think they’re doing that as volunteers or do you think they’re getting paid?’ They would think that they’re getting paid. But up to now, up until my Government making this decision and putting funding in our Budget this year, that wasn’t the case. So those practical measures that we’re doing to make sure that we identify these areas that regional Queensland in particular has. I share Matt’s enthusiasm for what we can do this decade. This is a decade that will define Australia, over whether we take advantage of the opportunities which are there for us to have advanced manufacturing, clean energy, to expand and diversify our economy. To be even stronger than we are today in the future. If we don’t seize those opportunities, we will go backwards. And that’s why being in government and having long term plans and delivering on them is so important.
JOURNALIST: We’re also hearing from local optometrists that eye care, specialist eye care services aren’t available to those regional areas and it’s meaning that some of the eye conditions they have to go down south to see it. Is that concerning from your perspective that so many of these conditions aren’t being seen to because of the lack of regional support?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, it is. And that’s why we need more people trained in those areas. We need to make sure that regional communities are looked after. It’s something my Government’s absolutely committed to doing. We’re seeing enormous growth, but potentially even more so in regional cities, like Cairns. I was in Townsville yesterday, another city that is experiencing enormous growth and opportunity through the expansion of the Port there. Here in Cairns I visited, to go to Matt’s point about diversification, I visited a solar panel factory that’s here, I visited, of course, the port that has such a critical role. The Defence facilities, where our Defence Strategic Review is looking at and is doing an expansion of our capacity in Northern Australia. That’s what makes sense of course for us. But in services as well, we need to make sure that they’re kept up, which is why issues like tripling the bulk billing incentive for Medicare is one way in which we’re encouraging those medical services across the board to be located here. The Medicare Urgent Care Clinics where we promised 50, we delivered 58 on the timeframe that we had, there’s now 65 open and more to come are making a difference as well.
JOURNALIST: We know Queensland is a target in this federal election, you are obviously announced the candidate for Leichhardt. Do you think Kennedy is winnable as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Kennedy is a bigger challenge. Bob Katter has been there for a long period of time. If you combine state and federal, he’s been there for 50 years, and we’ve actually made a decision to give him a portrait in Parliament House. And that was a bipartisan decision. Milton Dick, the Speaker was the initiator of that. So it’s a tough seat, but we’ll have a strong candidate in Kennedy. We, of course, will be running in every seat. We announced Edwina Andrew, who ran for the Senate last time as our candidate for Herbert yesterday, and we’re announcing Leichhardt today in Matt Smith. We see this as prime to change hands at the next election. The fact there’s a retiring sitting member and the fact that Matt is such a strong candidate and will be such a strong advocate. The fact that he’s so well known in this community. It’s often very hard as a first-time candidate to be successful, to get your name recognition out there. In Matt Smith, we’ve got someone who has the name recognition already. In Edwina Andrew, we have someone who was our regional Senate candidate at the last election. And in Ali France in Dickson, we’ve got someone who’s running for the third time in a seat that has a margin of 1.7 per cent. Rowan Holzberger is running for Forde for the second time, which is very positive. And Madonna Jarrett is running for Brisbane for the second time. A few hundred votes change hands in Brisbane and there’s a different local member, that’s a three-way contest there and I think people who voted Green at the last election will be pretty disappointed that essentially all their representatives have done is hold up our agenda to build more homes to make a positive difference.
JOURNALIST: Would you shed a tear for your great mate, Bob Katter if Labor were to win Kennedy after you had a portrait commissioned for him?
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t take these issues personally. And I would wish Bob Katter very well if that if that were to happen, just like I wish Warren Entsch well. I think there’s too much unnecessary conflict in politics. We can have our differences on policy, without engaging in some of the conduct, which I think just drags down the whole system and the whole standing of politics. It’s an honourable profession, and most people go into politics for all of the right reasons. Bob Katter has done that, Warren Entsch has done that, Matt Smith is putting himself forward in order to do that. That’s a positive thing. And I think that we should be able to have that respectful contest of ideas. My view is that only Labor has the plans for both the short term and what Australia needs to take us forward. In the short term what we’ve done with the tax cut for every taxpayer, $1300 energy bill relief, the increase in wages, real wages are increasing now. We’ve created on our watch 930,000 jobs, more jobs than any government in any term in Australian history since Federation. And we’ve done all of that while producing two budget surpluses to make sure that we continue to put that downward pressure on inflation. And on a future made in Australia – we have a plan for renewables, we have a plan for advanced manufacturing, we have a plan for Australia’s future to make more things here to be more resilient. Peter Dutton has no positive plans. He has a plan for nuclear reactors, where he won’t tell you how much it’ll cost, he won’t tell you where they’ll go if the proposed sites are not backed because they’re actually already being used for other purposes. He won’t tell you what the impact on agriculture is of the use of water. He won’t tell you any of the detail. I mean frankly, this isn’t worthy of an alternative government. We have a serious plan going forward, and we’ll continue to advocate for that.
JOURNALIST: There’s reports this morning that people, speaking about international politics now, close to Joe Biden, believe he has begun to accept that he might have to bow out of the race. Barack Obama has also reportedly said that Biden’s chance has greatly diminished. Do you think that it’s inevitable that the President will step down?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it’s very important as Australia’s Prime Minister, that I not only not interfere in the internal politics in the United States, but that I be seen to be not interfering as well. I wish Joe Biden well. As President of the United States, I’ve had a very positive relationship with him and, on a personal level. But the relationship between our two great nations is a relationship based upon our common values, our support for democratic values and human rights, our support for our relationship through our alliances as well. So we will deal with whoever comes out of the November race. Obviously, there’ll be a great deal of interest in the US presidential race, and all of us will have personal views on those issues. But it’s important as Prime Minister, that I allow those democratic processes to take place.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, MediSecure has revealed nearly 13 million Australians had data stolen. Is enough being done to stop cyber threats?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we need to be ever vigilant. Cybersecurity is a threat to individuals, to corporations, most importantly to their customers, but to us as a nation as well. That’s why we’ve ramped up our funding of the Australian Signals Directorate. That’s why we have a cybersecurity task force working with the business community on these issues. I understand that many Australians will be very concerned about this data breach that affects up to half of the Australian population. This is a very significant cyber event. It’s not the first and it won’t be the last. It is something that we are very conscious of as a government and we’re working with the private sector as well as with our agencies, because these issues can be an issue of national security, that they can be an issue as well of the privacy of individuals.
JOURNALIST: Could that information be retrieved?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we will be, the AFP are continuing to investigate this incident. Can I say this, that more advice on how people can protect themselves is available at cyber.gov.au. And I really encourage people to become cyber aware, cyber security aware. Because it is something that we have seen and through the financial sector, through now the health sector, through so many areas these breaches occur, and it’s something that we all need to be very conscious of.
JOURNALIST: Obviously it is a fact that 13 million people have had their private medical records leaked. Have you been caught up in this scam?
PRIME MINISTER: I am not aware of that. One of the things that we need to make sure that I give this advice: that people should not respond to unsolicited contact that references the data breach experienced by MediSecure. That will be just like the scams which are out there, will be an attempt to get you to click on a link. Be very wary about clicking on links from banks or from companies or organisations like MediSecure, because quite often that will be an attempt to engage. We know that some state actors have been involved in cyber-attacks, but we know also that criminal elements both here and overseas have been involved as well.
JOURNALIST: A woman was arrested for trespassing at your Marrickville office. Are your staff okay and do you think MPs need more security?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the security of MPs is an issue and security of MPs staff can be an issue. I won’t comment on individuals of cases that are there. But people should show respect for, MPs offices are there to provide services, to provide assistance. They’re not the political front line. They’re public servants who are doing a job to assist locals with Medicare, with Social Security, with migration and other issues.
JOURNALIST: Why was she arrested? It is reported she was trying to seek visa help, I understand.
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s, no one is prevented from seeking help. That’s not what it’s about. There has been issues at my office all year. They’ve been pretty obvious what those issues have been. The police have taken action. That’s action by the police, not by my office, by the police who take action to make sure that safety occurs. We provide assistance to people on migration without fear or favour. And my office, I’m very proud of the record that my office does in providing assistance to people.
JOURNALIST: But did your electorate office write a letter to protesters asking them to leave?
PRIME MINISTER: This is an issue to do with the Australian Federal Police. There has been issues at my office of disruption, issues not aimed at getting assistance, aimed at securing, I’m not quite sure what the aims are. Prime Minister Netanyahu is not looking at what’s happening on Marrickville Road before decisions are made. My Government is very clear, we continue to call for a ceasefire. We continue to want peace and security. We continue to express our concern at what has happened and is ongoing in Gaza. We’ve consistently voted that way. We’ve issued media releases in that direction as well. We are not participants in the conflict that is occurring in the Middle East and the idea that we are, and that people should be subject to the sort of abuse that has occurred is just inappropriate and unproductive.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will Australia continue to need baseload power by 2040?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course, we always need baseload power, but that’s one of the reasons why we’re making sure that renewables can be connected, of course, to the grid. That batteries and firming capacity, of course, will continue to play a role as well. That’s why we say that gas has an ongoing role. Projects here in North Queensland, like the project to connect up all of the renewables from Mount Isa all the way to Townsville and to supply energy through the CopperString project, are very important in that. What we don’t need, and what Queensland doesn’t need, is a nuclear reactor here in Cairns or in Townsville or anywhere else. That is something that’s way off into the 2040s. Twenty-four coal fired power stations announced their closure under the former government, and the former government did nothing to actually have an energy policy. They made 22 announcements and didn’t deliver on any of them. What we’ve done is have one plan, a plan that will deliver 82 per cent renewables by 2030. A plan that will make sure that you have that security of power by having batteries and storage and having firming capacity of gas. A plan that will, through the Capacity Investment Scheme, make a difference, as well as a Safeguard Mechanism. We have a plan going forward. What the Opposition want is for all of that plan to stop. I’m not sure what happens when coal fired power leaves the system before 2040, and 2040 occurs? But I do know that it leads to more insecure energy supply, it will be more expensive, and it will take too long. Which is why the business community are not supporting this plan. That’s why everyone in the energy sector know that this makes no sense whatsoever.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, another army truck was stolen from the Enoggera Army Barracks in Brisbane and vandalised on Wednesday night. How can the public be confident in the defence’s ability to defend our country if it can’t even defend its own barracks?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that’s just inappropriate activity has taken place. I certainly know that there will be an investigation into all of those events. And these things aren’t something that’s humorous, this is something that’s reckless, that’s dangerous and should never have occurred. And I certainly hope that the perpetrators are held to account.
JOURNALIST: The Guardian has published vision of children inside Queensland watch houses and the ongoing detention of young people in them has been compared to abuse. Does Queensland need to ban the practice?
PRIME MINISTER: Those matters are matters for the Queensland Government.
JOURNALIST: Back to the Defence question. Defence is refusing to explain how someone gained access into one of its sites, got into the trucks and drove away completely unnoticed. Doesn’t the public have a right to an explanation?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Defence will make decisions based upon national security interests. Defence is an organisation that do an enormous job for Australians in keeping us safe and secure. They do that here in Cairns. They do it right around the country.
JOURNALIST: The Coalition said that whoever is appointed as the independent administrator for the CFMEU should be completely independent and have no union or political affiliations. Can you guarantee that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’m not quite sure what that means. The Coalition would probably want Michaelia Cash to be appointed as the administrator. And unless it’s Michaelia Cash, they’d probably find some reason to object. I’ll make this point – the last time the Coalition were in government, they had a Royal Commission into unions. That Royal Commission heard from Bill Shorten for two days as the Labor Leader. They recalled the former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, to ask her countless questions over many, many hours over issues that had occurred decades beforehand. That was a political exercise in which a fun fact for you is that John Setka, who was Secretary of the CFMEU, was not called to give one minutes evidence before that Royal Commission. It shows what a farce it was. The ABCC was put in place by the Coalition and during the entire time they were in government, John Setka increased his influence not just in Victoria, but took over the South Australian branch, expanded the influence of the Victorian branch so it effectively controlled Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. We won’t take lectures from the Coalition who have such a pathetic record on these issues. My Government has acted decisively. We will put administrators in because we will ensure that culture changes and we’ll make sure that anyone with any links is removed from the union movement. Overwhelmingly what unions do is they represent their members to improve wages and conditions each and every day. That should be what they do. And that’s why the elements like John Setka have no place. Thanks very much. Thank you.
