SUBJECTS: Visit to Queensland and regions; vaccine rollout; national quarantine facilities; Scott Morrison’s failure; Pfizer approval for children; JobKeeper; wage subsidies; Great Barrier Reef.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, it is terrific to be here today with the state Member, the local Mayor, and with Bundy Rum. And I do want to say that my thoughts go to the 14 million Australians who are currently enduring lockdown. These are really tough times. My thoughts go to parents having to homeschool. My thoughts go to those small businesses who are going through a terrible time. Those casual workers have lost their income and aren't getting enough income support from the Federal Government. My thoughts go out to those communities, those people who can't leave their suburb. What we're seeing is Australians trying to keep each other safe, the best of Australia. And here at Bundaberg Rum, here, they have seen the best of Australian business. During this period, they've donated here something like 100,000 litres of ethanol that's gone towards hand sanitiser. But they've done more than that. They've donated 11.5 million dollars to provide support for businesses, for bars that have needed that support, for PPE to keep going. And it is another example of a business located here in a regional community of Bundaberg that is at the heart of this community. They kicked in when the floods happened here on numerous occasions. And they're kicking in again, not just for the local community, but for the nation. And I thank them for it. The fact is that Australians have done their best and are continuing to do their best. Australian businesses are doing their best. The truth is, though, that the Prime Minister has let the Australians down by failing to do the two jobs that he had. The effective rollout of the vaccine and national quarantine. Until we fix supply, we will continue to have issues and continue to have lockdowns and restrictions. No one wants to see any restrictions on Australians' day-to-day life for one day more than is necessary. But we know because we are last in the developed world with the vaccination rollout, they are necessary at this point in time. So I say to Australians today, stay safe, continue to look after each other. And I reiterate my thanks to the business community, but particularly here today at Bundaberg for the work that you've done providing support for the community.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: We continue to get announcement after announcement from this Government. What I want to say is delivery. Delivery on what they announced. Something like 30 per cent of our population over the age of 70 are fully vaccinated today. We still have one in four aged and disability care workers are fully vaccinated. We were told that they'd be fully vaccinated by Easter. It's now the second half of July. This Government's focus on political management and on having a new announcement every day is one of the things that is causing frustration in the community. I just want, and Australians want, them to deliver what they say they will. And at the moment when we have aged care residents who aren't vaccinated, when we have aged care workers not vaccinated, disability care workers not vaccinated, over-70s not vaccinated, we have real issues with vulnerable people in our community remaining unvaccinated. Of course, we should take every health advice, including with younger Australians, making sure that they're protected as well. And we've seen with these new strains of the virus, that they can, indeed, catch the virus. So we need to protect them. But can this Government go 24 hours without making a new announcement? And how about they just deliver what they say they will do? 

JOURNALIST: Do you think it's not a priority for children to receive the vaccine?

ALBANESE: Look, the Government itself has said that people who are in category 1A was the first priority. They haven't delivered that yet. That was supposed to be delivered by Easter. So I have no problem at all with children being vaccinated, as they are for a range of other diseases, of course. All of us as parents have taken our children to get vaccinated. That's what Australians do. That's a part of being a parent. But this Government just continues to make announcements. And the announcements don't then lead to delivery. The announcements are the end in itself. And then we get another announcement about the previous announcement. And they hoped that no one remembered the previous announcement and they announce it as if it's new. It's just extraordinary that during this period, this Government, whether it's Greg Hunt usually, Scott Morrison when he's not missing for a few days or for six days, will come out, make an announcement about something that's going to happen. And it doesn't lead to action.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: They are talking about sometime towards the end of the year. What people want to know is what's happening right now. 14 million Australians are locked down. We still don't have purpose-built quarantine. We still don't have supply to enable people to be vaccinated. One of the problems we've had during this period is that people see the announcements on the news and then they go to their doctor to get vaccinated. And they get told, 'No, we actually don't have any supply'. That's been happening all year. Or they get told they have to register for an appointment. And they log on, they get given a number, and then they don't get given a date for the appointment. Can we just get the delivery out the way instead of a Government constantly looking for a distraction, constantly looking to blame someone else for its failure to secure enough vaccines early enough, in enough quantity, across a range of vaccines as well to ensure that we didn't face what we're facing right now, which is Scott Morrison's lockdown?

JOURNALIST: How is the Wide Bay going when it comes to the vaccine?

ALBANESE: Well, what I've heard since I've been in this region, it is like everywhere else. There are issues with supply. The Queensland Government, like every state government, Labor and Liberal, are saying they don't have enough supply. So it can be a source of great frustration that we don't have enough people vaccinated, including here in the Wide Bay region. 

JOURNALIST: Why do you think businesses should pay back JobKeeper when they followed the rules set out by the Government at the time?

ALBANESE: Well, what I think is, that like anyone else, if an individual gets a payment from the Government, that they're not entitled to in terms of the need, they have to pay it back. They have to pay it back. And indeed, the Government had to settle a court case over Robodebt in which people had to pay back money that they didn't owe, that they didn't actually owe. The Government got that wrong. So the Government has pursued people, and indeed threatened people with jail terms, threatened people with all sorts of draconian measures, but for businesses that made applications for JobKeeper on the basis of a reduction in their revenue and then actually had an increase in their revenue, they've been allowed to keep, literally in some cases, tens of millions of dollars. Now, at a time when that money could have been used to give support to others who are really struggling, casual workers, people at the moment who are on income support, they might be on JobSeeker or they might be on Austudy or some other form of support, but they've lost income, they're not able to get any additional support, whilst others have received a substantial amount. It's a matter of fairness.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible). Why have you changed since then?

ALBANESE: We haven't changed our stance at all. We support wage subsidies. We called for it. Scott Morrison said it was a dangerous idea. But this is a Government that's always strong against the weak, but weak against the strong.

JOURNALIST: In Bundaberg, Labor still hasn't announced a Federal candidate. When will you do that?

ALBANESE: We'll be doing it in plenty of time before the election. We, of course, know that in seats just to the north of here, the LNP have had a retirement and just got a candidate last week. We're going through our processes. We will have a very strong candidate. And we want to make sure that we have strong candidates right throughout Queensland. We have that in Flynn. We have that in Dawson. We have that in Leichhardt. We have that in Groom. Yesterday, I was with our candidate in Dickson. We will have strong candidates. We think Hinkler deserves a Labor representative. We think Hinkler has had a vote of no confidence in the sitting Member by the fact that he was dumped from the Cabinet just two weeks ago by Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: Well, what I want to do is to make sure that Australia's national interest be protected here. We know that everyone wants the Great Barrier Reef to be in the best condition possible. And I'm certainly committed to that. I don't think it assists to talk down the state of the Reef. We can't underestimate the global issues of climate change and the impact that will have on all of our natural environment. But we need to make sure that future generations get to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef, as generations today can. And I think the tourism industry in Tropical North Queensland does a fantastic job. I'd encourage people to get out there and see the Reef and to support those tourism businesses. Because they're doing it tough, particularly with the lockdowns at the moment.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: Look, we're not going to go through hypotheticals. What we'll do is examine issues as they arise and respond. But the Great Barrier Reef is a great iconic natural asset. We have great assets here in this great country of Australia, particularly here in Queensland. And the tourism industry is so important. And I want to work with the tourism industry to make sure that it's as strong as possible. It is a major job creator. Here of course, we're at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef in this region, which is also an asset from here right up to Tropical North Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef needs protection. I want to protect it. I think every Australian wants it protected.

JOURNALIST: Labor hasn't held the seat of Hinkler since the early 90s. Do you think it is a seat that could be in play?

ALBANESE: I think every seat could be in play. I think this is a Government that has reached the end of its life. They don't have a strategy going forward. They don't have a plan for the future. There's no plan for new job creation. There's no plan for skilling up Australians. They just have a plan for the 24-hour political management through the media cycle. I think this Government and this Prime Minister's failure when it comes to the rollout of the vaccine and to have national quarantine, the Government's failure when it comes to the bushfire crisis, whenever things get tough, this Prime Minister goes missing. What we actually need is leadership in this country, particularly in times of crisis. But leadership as well in terms of planning for a better future, working with business to create jobs, to create new industry, to create thriving regional communities. And that's what I want. That's what I'm committed to. It's why I'm spending time here in Queensland, listening to people, talking to people, including local mayors, local communities. We're a great country, but we can be even better in the future. And I look forward to not just talking about that future but setting about creating it as well. Thank you very much.

ENDS