TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MEMBER FOR SYDNEY
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
RADIO 4CA CAIRNS BREAKFAST SHOW WITH MURRAY JONES
THURSDAY, 5 AUGUST 2021
SUBJECTS: Sydney lockdown; AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19; Labor’s $300 vaccination incentive; Labor’s policy changes on taxation; ‘Ms Represented’.
MURRAY JONES, PRESENTER: Good morning, it's 8.46, 4CA. Well the cooperation between state, local and of course, the federal government has come into question and I was talking to the Prime Minister about that when it came to the Olympics just recently, and he said that's a great example of us working together and it happens more than we probably realise. Obviously in Sydney with the deep issues that are happening there with Covid-19, interested to find out how things are working, particularly for the Member for Sydney federally. Tanya Plibersek, she joins me this morning. Good morning Tanya and always nice to talk to you.
TANYA PLIBERSEK, SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN: Yeah, lovely to be with you Murray.
JONES: Tell me a little bit more about the ins and outs of what's a concerning situation that continues to unfold with some fairly high numbers - certainly in the Sydney area between state and federal governments and your position in Opposition federally, how are things going with working together to deal with some deep issues in Sydney?
PLIBERSEK: Look, we do have a really serious problem in Sydney at the moment. I'm sure your listeners are watching the numbers here in Sydney with some concern and I'm here in lockdown, getting calls every day from businesses, from my constituents, who are really worried about how they're going to make it through, businesses that just made it through the last lockdown are talking to me now saying: 'I don't know whether we'll survive', and I've had constituents, so many people who’ve just basically slipped through the cracks, you know, they're not eligible for assistance for one reason or another, but they're really doing it tough. So we need to get it right to those people. I think there has been a lot of cooperation and the very last thing that people want to hear at the moment is politicians sniping at each other. They just want us to get together, put our heads together, get it right, so we can get through the other side of this and get back to something a bit more like normal life. And that's why Anthony Albanese, our Leader, has suggested this $300 payment to encourage people to get vaccinated before December. The fastest way through to a post Covid-19 normal is for more Australians to get vaccinated as soon as they can.
JONES: Let's talk a little bit more about, particularly, AstraZeneca because I understand in the last week or so the Leader Anthony Albanese has been under a bit of pressure with respect to his support of AstraZeneca and I did hear you quoted as well and you made a guess quite a funny situation where you talked about how much you fly and deep bone (sic) thrombosis. You're a fairly statuesque, tall woman as well so I should imagine the issue of blood clots is something that you probably deal with to a degree just flying.
PLIBERSEK: Well I had my second jab of AstraZeneca this week, a couple of weeks earlier than I was due for it because of the situation here in Sydney. Our most recent health advice is go early and I, of course, talked to my doctor when I had my first jab and my second jab and he really reassured me, he reminded me that of course with anything like this, there is a tiny risk but it is such a small risk and he reminded me that I've got a bigger risk of - I'm flying all the time, I could get Deep Vein Thrombosis, I was on the Pill for years - that can be associated with blood clots - and look, let's be honest about it, every time I get in my car, driving in Sydney traffic, there's a risk to that as well. So I've made an assessment that I want to do my bit for my community, for my family, I want to be able to see my Mum safely, she's 89. I, after talking to my doctor, I decided it was worth - absolutely worth doing and I've got to say, I feel really relieved now I've had my second jab.
JONES: Sure.
PLIBERSEK: I'll take a couple weeks for that to be fully operational and then I just can't wait because I want for the businesses that are in my community, for the people who are lonely, I've got people that live on their own in my community, I want things to open up as soon as they can.
JONES: And when you consider that the deaths and the sickness that are a result of even taking paracetamol and aspirin, the risk to, the risk of AstraZeneca is just so small at the end of the day, we need to widen the gamut even with respect to the Moderna, so I think anything that we can do has got to assist moving forward and look, I did have some concerns about some of the incentives for people to get vaccinated. And as I understand what's been put forward by the Labor Party is retrospective to a degree. It's not encouraging people to get future vaccinated. If you've been vaccinated by a certain date, you may be eligible for that $300, that's the proposal?
PLIBERSEK: Yeah, the proposal is if you're vaccinated by the 1st of December, you'll be eligible for the $300 and that, you know, we know that a lot of people have done the right thing and they've done the right thing because they're worried about their own health, to protect their family, to do their bit for our nation. We want to reward them as well. We don't want to just say to people from now on, if anybody gets vaccinated - that wouldn't be fair. So we say everybody who has been vaccinated by a certain date would get this payment and the other benefit of course is - businesses are really struggling at the moment. We know that the economy is in trouble. This means about a $6 billion spend in our economy that would help businesses, that stimulus-
JONES: Sure.
PLIBERSEK: -going into Christmas, and we know for a lot of households, the 300 bucks per adult getting vaccinated, that makes a difference. Makes a big difference.
JONES: That nomination of the date of the first of December poses more questions than it answers. But we'll leave that one sit for a minute. I find that day to be quite interesting. Can I talk to you a little bit more about tax. Just in the last couple of weeks we've heard about negative gearing and look, you know, there's solid arguments for why negative gearing is a bit of an issue .The costs for the Australian public, particularly for the people who are not in a position to be having investment homes. But look, I understand from talking to you just before we came on air, franking credits have also been basically cast aside. I was unaware of that. I won't go into that the ins and outs of what happened with Bill Shorten at the last election. But he actually made quite a cogent argument about franking credits being a gift to a generation that are probably the most wealthy generation in Australia. What's Labor's position? Can you provide a bit more clarity about what the situation is moving forward with respect to franking credits?
PLIBERSEK: Yeah, absolutely. Our leader Anthony Albanese has ruled out taking the same franking credits policy to the next election as we did to the last election. As you mentioned, he said the same about negative gearing and the capital gains tax on investment properties. We've had a discussion. We think now is not the time to introduce new uncertainty into people's lives. They've had a really tough year or two with Covid-19 and we want to make sure that people have certainty, predictability, moving forward.
JONES: And I guess that predictability is important particularly in this situation despite the cost and I guess that's the basis of my concern. Look, before we wrap up, I've got to ask a question on behalf of Mum. She knows that you've been watching 'Ms Represented'. What are your thoughts about, even this week I saw Amanda Vanstone made some fairly solid comments when it came to quotas and women in Parliament. What are your thoughts on this ABC program 'Ms Represented'?
PLIBERSEK: Well, I'm glad your Mum's been enjoying the show. I think it's fantastic as well. It's well worth a watch. Look I think it's a great program because it reminds us how recently - it's a series of women who were first: the first woman elected to the House of Representatives, the first woman elected to the Senate and so on and so on, and the fact that so many of these women were the first and it wasn't so long ago that they are elected, I think that tells you everything you need to know about how slow we've been in Australia in getting to 50/50 in our Parliament. And Murray, my view is if we're talking about merit, the parliament would already be 50/50. We need targets to make sure that our Parliament properly represents the whole of the community, and that means that we've got better gender balance. It means we've got a range of ages, different professional backgrounds, the works. The more diverse our Parliament, the better decisions we make.
JONES: And certainly when it comes to merit I think there's an argument there about a glass ceiling that unfortunately a lot of the decisionmakers still can't quite comprehend but I know from having a male boss up until fairly recently, and he was, he was really aware and he made a point, certainly with the staff here at the radio station, he had a real understanding of that concept of there's a glass ceiling that so often I think is misunderstood particularly by some older men, you know, in the community these days but great to talk to you and of course, Shadow Minister for Education and Women, that's why I was particularly keen to talk to you about that, and also Mum asked me to ask you that particular question. Always great to talk to you.
PLIBERSEK: Give her my love, Murray.
JONES: I shall do.
PLIBERSEK: She sounds like a great woman.
JONES: We're looking forward to seeing you here in the tropical North but I know you've got some issues in Sydney, but Tanya Plibersek, Member for Sydney, been great to talk to you this morning.
PLIBERSEK: Thanks Murray.
ENDS
