SUBJECTS: 2022 Federal Budget Reply; Federal election; Labor’s policy agenda; Andrew Charlton; Labor’s plan for aged care; national security; Solomon Islands.
 
ANDREW CHARLTON, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR PARRAMATTA: Well, welcome, everybody. It's fantastic to have Anthony here with us in Parramatta, and so many of our wonderful nurses. I'm honoured to have been selected as Labor's candidate for Parramatta and to have the opportunity to seek to represent this incredibly strong community. I want to pay tribute to Julie Owens, who has been a dedicated and passionate local Member since 2004. And I'm humbled to be given the opportunity to continue Julie's important work. My focus now is on meeting and talking to people right across Parramatta. I started at 6:30 in the morning on Parramatta Train Station after the preselection was finalised. And I will not stop until the last vote is cast on election day. I've spent the last 20 years as an economist and a business owner, building stronger economies and stronger communities. And that is exactly what I want to do as the Member for Parramatta. Helping people with the financial pressures on families, especially child care costs. Creating the building blocks of opportunity, skills and infrastructure. And helping to ensure that Parramatta is a jobs hub for good, high-paid, high-skilled jobs and strong small businesses. In many ways, the future of Parramatta is the future of Australia. And I look forward to presenting my plans for Parramatta to voters over the next few weeks and months. And with that, I'll hand over to Anthony.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Thanks very much, Andrew. And I want to say that I'm very proud and pleased that Andrew accepted the nomination to be Labor's candidate for Parramatta. Andrew will bring extraordinary capacity to represent this amazing, vibrant community. He is someone who is part of the Labor story that I want to represent the two issues that I keep talking about. No one left behind, which is what part of our aged care policy announcements last night are about. But also, no one held back. Andrew is a success story. I want success stories. Labor embraces aspiration. Andrew established the business and was successful at it. He will bring an enormous capacity to the Federal Caucus and to represent the people of Parramatta. And I believe he is an outstanding candidate. He will make a great Member of Parliament here in Parramatta. He will be part of a team that has a vision for the country. A vision that is about growth and opportunity. About supporting child care for our youngest Australians. Medicare throughout people's lives. Aged care for when people get older. Childcare, Medicare, aged care because Labor cares.
 
That will be a major theme of this election campaign. And I outlined last night a comprehensive plan for aged care based upon the Royal Commission. Why is it that the Government set up a Royal Commission into the aged care crisis but isn't prepared to act on its recommendations? In particular, they have provided some additional funding but absolutely no idea of any program to meet the challenge of the big essential which is workforce. These nurses behind us are people who have a tough job. It's physically demanding. It is emotionally traumatic at times to look after older people in the later years, to make friends with them, to know that they are dependent upon health, but to not be able to have the hours or even the minutes to give the care that they really want to give, and that the residents need. That is why our plan to put a nurse in every nursing home, 24/7, is not only a recommendation of the Royal Commission, it's just common sense. Our plan to provide for additional minutes based upon the Royal Commission recommendations of care, so that people can get not just showered and changed and fed properly, but also have the opportunity to have a bit of human interaction. It's not too much to ask. Thirdly, our plan for better wages. We need to address that. We will put in a submission for the aged care worker force to be paid better through the Fair Work Commission. We know that's been identified by the Royal Commission as necessary if we are going to attract and, indeed, retain aged care staff. They deserve more than just our thanks. They deserve a decent rate of pay. Fourthly, issues like food. How is that that an interim Royal Commission put forward a clear finding that over half of aged care residents weren't getting the nutrition that they need? They are literally starving. And yet, no response from this Government. And fifthly, proper regulation. Making sure every dollar that goes into aged care, there is transparency of where the money goes to so that it goes to care, to better food, to better provisions, goes to assist what aged care residents really need.
 
These nurses with us today in Parramatta are heroes. They are heroes not just of the pandemic, they are heroes every day. And they deserve our thanks and gratitude. But they also deserve the respect to be listened to about what their needs are. And over the last years, since I became the Labor Leader, I sat down with hundreds of nurses and aged care workers. I heard the stories. I listened. And last night, we announced what we would do to act on their concerns. It is practical measures that we have put forward with the cost of $2.5 billion over four years. It is fully costed. We are being transparent of what is there. And yet, this Government had nothing to say, had nothing to say, about aged care in a Budget after a Royal Commission was handed down. It is not good enough, Australia deserves better. This is a tired Government that has been an office for almost a decade. They had no plan for anything beyond the next six weeks. One-off handouts won't cut it. Labor has applied for child care. We have a plan for healthcare. And we will have more to say about that during the campaign. We have a plan for aged care and new industries, a fully costed plan on climate change and energy. We have a plan for jobs and skills. We have a plan to lift wages and living standards. We have a plan or a better future. Because Australia is the greatest country on earth. But with a better Government, we can have a better future. Happy to take questions.
 
JOURNALIST: You described Andrew Charlton would have extraordinary capacity to represent Parramatta. Considering Parramatta is one of the most multicultural communities, and Andrew Charlton was preselected, what capacity do you see in him?
 
ALBANESE: Andrew was in fact chosen unanimously by the Labor Party here in Parramatta. He was elected on opposed. I certainly spoke to a range of people here in Parramatta, including Julie Owens. And I want to join with Andrew and pay tribute to Julie Owens, who has been a fantastic member, over a long period of time. He was preselected on opposed. There were a range of options and people themselves forward. And that is a good thing that people have been prepared to consider being a candidate for the Labor Party. We are a vibrant Party. But I am pleased that Andrew received the support, unanimously, by being elected unopposed as Labor candidate for Parramatta. People who meet Andrew are instantly are attracted towards his qualities that he has. That certainly has been my experience over a long period of time. I have been looking for a range of candidates across a range of seats that fulfil the sort of qualities that make up a good government. And we have a diverse range of candidates indeed, in the four seats that were chosen this week with nominations to conclude all of our processes. We have Andrew. We have Cassandra in Holt, someone who is of Sri Lankan background, in what has historically been a safe Labor seat. We have Jana for the Senate from Victoria who is the first Indigenous person selected by the Labor Party to run for a clear position that she will be elected to the Senate. Jana is someone who ran for us last time around in a safe Liberal seat of Kooyong. She showed credentials. And I got meet her there. And I'm very pleased. We had Linda White, who was a former Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union. She has represented particularly poorer paid women in the airline industry and the services industry as the Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union. And she will bring that capacity. We have Andrew, who has a background in business, establishing his own small business. And being a success. We have a diverse range of candidates being put forward at this election. And that is what you need. You need a range of experiences to drive through the change so that you are in touch with all of the views. I cannot think of a better seat than Parramatta, with the CBD here being the fourth largest in Australia, and being so important and continuing to grow. Someone with the connections that Andrew has in the business community, here in Western Sydney, someone who I think, people who come to Australia, of course, come because they aspire to a better future for themselves and their children. This is a community made up of so many people who have established businesses themselves. And I think Andrew will be able to not just relate to all of the people of Parramatta, but be an outstanding representative for them.
 
JOURNALIST: You said you think (inaudible). Can you explain that further?
 
ALBANESE: He will. Because he is someone who engages with people from across the spectrum. You don't set up a successful business without being able to engage with them. And I had a lot of contact with Parramatta over the years. I spoke before about my experience as the son of a single mother. I used to come for holidays at the housing commission at Ermington where my cousin, who was one day younger than me, grew up. And we used to come into Parramatta as kids regularly. I been coming here my whole life. I've seen Parramatta grow and be successful. This theatre here itself is an example of something that wasn't here when I was growing up. The sort of expansion that we have seen with the University of Western Sydney, the expansion of businesses, the CBD here. It is dynamic. And I think that Andrew will be an outstanding representative for the people of Parramatta.
 
JOURNALIST: Where are you going to find nurses to cover your plan?
 
ALBANESE: One of the things that we have announced previously is 20,000 additional university places in areas of skill shortage. That is important. We also announced 465,000 fee-free TAFE places to train, carers and people in white-collar and blue-collar industries where there is a workforce shortage. You can't do it overnight. That is true. What you can do is make sure that you focus on it. I tell you this. If you have no plan to even try to get additional nurses, then you won't get any. And what you will have is what is happening at the moment, which is people leaving the industry. I have spoken to people who are leaving the industry, whether they be nurses, or carers. And what we need to do is give, as these fantastic people said to me this morning, you have given us hope. We need hope for this industry that things won’t just stay at the same as they are now. And that is my objective to make a difference. And we will make a difference. We will ensure that people are trained. We have announced those programs in terms of training, including floor nurses. We will work with state and territory governments as well. Because anyone who looks at the Royal Commission report has to be moved by what the findings are.
 
JOURNALIST: Will nurses be welcomed to come from overseas?
 
ALBANESE: Of course, we already know that. I know from my experience, from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, lots of Irish accents from the fantastic nurses who looked after me and others. Of course, that is important, in terms of short-term issues. Migration, including in areas of skill shortage, plays an important role. I tell you what has happened under this Government is that they have forgotten about the need to up-skill Australians. They have been dependent on short-term visa holders coming to Australia to fill the gap that are there in skills. What I want is for that to continue to play a short-term role, but for us to actually plan for what the jobs are that will be needed in the future. And we know there will be significant growth in the care economy. We have an ageing population. So, we need to train and skill Australians to do those jobs. In order to make it more attractive as well, we have to make the very task of undertaking this work more attractive. None of these workers behind me do it for the money. They do it because of their commitment to their fellow Australians and their fellow human beings. They do it out of the care that they have in their heart. But we also need to appeal not just to people's hearts, we need to appeal to their brains as well. People have to pay bills. They have to be satisfied at work. That they are not going to go home and be devastated because they couldn't give an older person the care that they wanted to and that was needed at the time.
 
JOURNALIST: How long would it really take to build a workplace to actually staff aged care?
 
ALBANESE: We will get started. We will get started on day one. We’ve put out the announcement. The election will be called sometime. I say to the Prime Minister, enough of the pantomime. Call the election. Call the election. Let the Australian people decide. This business of not calling the election, so that he can use taxpayers’ money for ads, is just yet the latest example of a Prime Minister who thinks that taxpayers’ money is the same as Liberal Party money. That is why yesterday, in court, in the High Court of Australia, the Solicitor General, the second-highest law officer of the land after the Attorney-General, in terms of the Commonwealth position, was making representations on behalf of one side of a Liberal Party faction fight here in New South Wales. A Liberal Party faction fight that is the responsibility of Scott Morrison and Alex Hawke, who want to control absolutely everything, and have received a response from the Liberal Party membership, which is division. That is why they don't even have a candidate here in Parramatta. Whilst I am here talking with aged care, with the Labor candidate for Parramatta, Andrew Charlton, meeting aged care workers, talking about the difference that we will make, the Liberal Party don't have a candidate and are using taxpayer funds to appear in court to intervene in this faction fight. It is a disgrace. And it is an abuse of taxpayer funding.
 
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: Of course, they should. Because the Fair Work Commission, when they make a decision on wages, it, of course, has to follow through. That is the law. That is the way it works. I tell you what Scott Morrison should do, and what he hasn't done. He should, as Prime Minister, and leading a government, make a submission saying that he supports a wage increase for people in the aged care sector. That's what I'll do if I'm elected Prime Minister.
 
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).
 
ALBANESE: The Fair Work Commission operate independently of government. Independently. So, it's up to them to determine any wage increase. But government has a role. And there's precedent for this. In 2012, the Social and Community Services Award was adjusted after the then-Labor Government, of which I was a proud member, made a strong submission to the Fair Work case for a wage increase for those workers. And it's no accident that some of the most underpaid people in Australia are all in feminised industries. Child care, cleaners, aged care. No wonder we have a gender pay gap in this country. And the Fair Work Commission should bear that in mind when they make their decision.
 
JOURNALIST: Solomon Islands is going ahead in their deal with China. (Inaudible). Is this concerning to you? And do you think it's a failure of our soft diplomacy approach in the Indo-Pacific? What would you do differently?
 
ALBANESE: Well, this is a major concern for Australia. There is no logical reason why China needs to have that presence in the Solomon Islands. But Australia, of course, under this Government, cut aid when it came into office. They cut aid. That is one issue that has undermined our presence in the region. But the other thing that has undermined Australia's standing in the region is a Government that doesn't take climate change seriously. A Government that goes to Glasgow, where the Prime Minister gives an empty speech to an empty room with empty promises, and offers nothing for a conference that was about increasing 2030 targets. Australia sits in the naughty corner with Saudi Arabia and Brazil at these conferences. Now, I've attended climate change conferences, as has Andrew Charlton as part of Australia's delegation. And I assure you, that for the Pacific, for our friends, it is the number one issue. It's a threat to their very existence. And the fact that you have a Government with key players, including Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, who our Pacific Island friends know that they stood there in Parliament House and made a joke about countries going underwater, made a joke, and the only response was that there was a boom mic there so that they got caught out. Sometimes, at moments like that, it's a moment of candour. It's a moment of candour that's caused great damage. Because when you have the Australian Prime Minister and the Australian Defence Minister making jokes, having a laugh at the expense of people whose very existence of their countries, like Tuvalu and Kiribati, is under threat, then it undermines our standing in the region. Thank you.
 
ENDS