TANYA PLIBERSEK MP 
SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MEMBER FOR SYDNEY
 
 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
ABC AFTERNOON BRIEFING
MONDAY, 9 AUGUST 2021 

SUBJECTS: JobKeeper transparency; Liberals’ lack of support for home learning; Year 12 students; NSW Lockdown. 

PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: The Federal Opposition has withdrawn its support for changes which would require companies to reveal how much JobKeeper funding they received. Now Labor initially supported the amendments from Independent Senator Rex Patrick and they've since changed that position. Tanya Plibersek is Labor's Shadow Minister for Education and Women and she joins me now, welcome to the program.

TANYA PLIBERSEK, SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN: Good morning, oh good afternoon Patricia, how are you?

KARVELAS: You're in lockdown how would you possibly even know the time? Amazing. At least $4.6 billion in JobKeeper support went to businesses that saw profits increase, why has Labor withdrawn its support to name those?

PLIBERSEK: Well, we are absolutely still committed to transparency and accountability from the businesses that have seen record profits, in some cases, despite also getting JobKeeper. We think about $13 billion has gone to companies that saw their profits increase, while they were getting JobKeeper payments from taxpayers. We do think there should be transparency around this. We don't think that the amendment to this bill was the right way to achieve that. What we were going to see, is the Government delaying money going into the pockets of ordinary Australians if we had persisted with demanding a change to this bill. This bill is about making sure that people don't pay tax if they get assistance from the government - ordinary Australians don't pay tax if they get assistance from the government. We still want to see the transparency around companies getting JobKeeper, this just wasn't the best way to do it. 

KARVELAS: OK. So it's just about pragmatism. But Senator Rex Patrick who introduced this amendment - 

PLIBERSEK: It's not pragmatism it's about making sure people get much-needed assistance. 

KARVELAS: But he says, he's accused you, of Labor, of swerving in a game of chicken. He says, you're not standing up for something that you believe in. Given this is such an important issue for so many people, this transparency, why squib it here?

PLIBERSEK: The transparency is absolutely vital but so is - 

KARVELAS: This is a way of getting it isn't it? 

PLIBERSEK: But this is about making sure people who are desperate for help in the middle of a lockdown, making sure that they get the full amount that they're entitled to, that they're not paying tax on the meagre amount of money that the Government is giving them, putting in their pocket. So how awful to even talk about playing chicken with people's lives and livelihood in that way. We do want to see these companies named. We think it's important that if companies are taking big subsidies from taxpayers, that is transparent. We want the Government to be open about the money that's going to these companies, but we're not going to play with people's lives when the government is prepared to give them a few hundred bucks. We don't want to see that disappear in taxes.

KARVELAS: You claim continuing to support these amendments, as you say, would delay payments to those affected by current lockdowns. How? Doesn't it just force the Government actually to have to deal with this? Doesn't it put them in the position where they have to answer this? 

PLIBERSEK: What it would do Patricia, is mean that people who are getting a little bit of assistance from the government would be giving it back to the government in tax dollars. We don't want that to happen. And there are other pieces of legislation, other means of the Parliament that we can use to make sure that companies are transparent about the assistance that they're getting through JobKeeper, through taxpayers, even when they have been very profitable. My colleague Andrew Leigh is the guy who has been doing all of the work to ascertain how much different companies have been getting with JobKeeper. He is the person who has managed to track money going to executive bonuses, money that's gone overseas to overseas shareholders. Andrew Leigh has been the main person uncovering these payments. I think it's important to pursue this information but we're not going to do it at the expense of people who are desperate for a little bit of help from their government. 

KARVELAS: Australia could soon have a third coronavirus vaccine in its arsenal. With the Government flagging Moderna will get TGA approval in the next couple of weeks. Will that speed up the vaccine roll out?

PLIBERSEK: We hope so. We are watching this very closely indeed. The support for Moderna overseas is very strong, a lot of countries are using it as one of the main pillars of their vaccination program. We are obviously very keen to get more jabs in people's arms here in Australia, and it would have been best practice if the Government had organised a number of different vaccines early on, certainly Labor was urging that last year. We suggested that it was best practice to pursue five or six different deals with five or six different companies. We would like to see this added to Australia's arsenal.

KARVELAS: Moderna has said in its latest financial report that it's planning on conducting trials of its vaccine on children aged between six months and twelve years, and that Australia could be a potential site. Is that something the Opposition would support? Do you think that's a good idea?

PLIBERSEK: Look, I don't think it's wise to engage in hypotheticals. It's important for our medical experts, our scientists, to be in contact with Moderna about that possibility. We would take their advice about whether that should be offered to young Australians.

KARVELAS: Okay, but as Shadow Education Minister, would you support this if it could mean more children get vaccinated and it limits disruption to schooling which we're seeing so profoundly?

PLIBERSEK: Well, as Shadow Education Minister and as a mother of three, I would say if there is a safe vaccine for younger people, under the age of 16 - my kids are so desperate to get back into the classroom, they're so desperate to see their friends again. This has been very, very hard on the mental health of young Australians. I'd love to see a safe vaccine for kids. 

KARVELAS: You mentioned you're a mother of three, I'm a mother of two who are now in their second year of being essentially deprived a classroom education because of this virus and it begs the question: what kind of supports will this generation, both the Greater Sydney children but also the many in Victoria who are again enduring this, what kind of supports do you think the Federal Government should be providing for, not only catch up education, but those wraparound services to get these kids in a situation that where they're up to speed again? I mean they have been hit so hard by this pandemic.

PLIBERSEK: Well, the first thing to say is thanks so much to all the teachers and school staff that have just been doing such an amazing job in helping kids learn from home. And thank you to all the parents and carers who are doing their very best in very difficult circumstances to support their kids' learning. I am really concerned about how much time the kids have missed out on in the classroom, with face-to-face teaching, and there should be support from the Federal government to assist with catch up. What we found Patricia, is that the Federal government announced that there would be support and then didn't manage to spend any of that money on helping kids catch up. It just beggars belief, frankly, given the need that's out there. But it won't just be help with catching up academically - small group tuition, one-on-one tuition, if that's needed - we also need to make sure that the social and emotional well-being of kids is looked after. These kids have missed out on so much of their social development. They've missed out on so many milestones. I'm really concerned about their social and emotional well-being. And I'm particularly concerned about the kids in Year 12 this year, the kids who finished high school last year. We know that more have been applying to go to university. We know that gap year jobs and travel obviously are out of the question. They've had incredibly disrupted learning, and at this time this government is making it harder to get an apprenticeship and harder to get a place at university. We've lost about a 115,000 apprentices since the Liberals came to office and we're more than doubling the cost of thousands of degrees. So how's that for those young people who have struggled through Year 11 and 12 over the last couple of years?

KARVELAS: The Greater Sydney outbreak continues to spread to the regions with Tamworth to enter this lockdown from 5.00pm. Are you satisfied with the New South Wales government’s handling of the lockdowns, given we're seeing some of these incursions in regional areas?

PLIBERSEK: Well, we wouldn't be having this conversation if Scott Morrison had got vaccinations and quarantine right. I know people are sick of hearing it, but it's true. He had two jobs as the Prime Minister - vaccination and quarantine - and he stuffed up both, and we've got 15 million Australians not able to leave their homes when they want because of that. Of course I'm worried about those regional communities, but we wouldn't be having this conversation if our Prime Minister had got the vaccine rollout right.

KARVELAS: Tanya Plibersek, we're out of time. The Prime Minister is standing up, here's the Prime Minister giving his press conference.

ENDS