Topics: Labor’s campaign launch; polling speculation; comments by Keith De Lacy

E&OE………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

KIERAN GILBERT:

Our panel this morning, we’ve got Labor frontbencher Matt Thistlethwaite and Liberal frontbencher Scott Ryan.

Senator Ryan, first to you, this report in the Fairfax papers saying New South Wales looks like the Government’s weakest link at this stage and that 10-12 seats could be lost nationally. Is that your sense of things?

SCOTT RYAN:

Kieran, not at all. Stories like that are not uncommon during election campaigns. It’s not what the voters are asking about, it’s not what people are asking about when I’m out campaigning, it’s not what small businesses are asking about. People are interested in the issues of the election. That sort of commentary, you know I think it happens during campaigns, but what people are asking us about our plan for jobs and growth and we’re explaining to them and we’re getting a good response.

KIERAN GILBERT:

Well that’s right we do have a lot of discussion about this, there’s speculation four, five weeks out, but Matt Thistlethwaite, beyond interesting those in the beltway, it doesn’t amount to much. Given that you would expect that a lot of people in your seat for example, wouldn’t have even really engaged by now and not even, more focussed on how the Rabbitohs are doing, Matt.

MATT THISTLETHWAITE:

Well the Rabbitohs have won their last two games Kieran, so there have been a few smiles in our electorate, but look the issues that are important to the people in my area are investment in health and education and tackling climate change.

When I’m consistently out talking to people at bus stops and train stations, out doorknocking, these are the issues that are coming up and it’s heartening to see that people appreciate that Labor’s had some solid plans developed in this area. We’ll invest in education in our schools, in TAFE colleges. We won’t have $100 thousand university degrees and we’ll put more money into hospitals to ensure that people get the healthcare they deserve and that we’ll protect Medicare, and of course we’ve had the series of announcements about boosting renewable energy – Bill Shorten on the Great Barrier Reef yesterday talking about protecting that wonderful natural asset for Australia. It’s all about education, it’s all about health, jobs and tackling climate change.

KIERAN GILBERT:

Senator Ryan, this move by Labor to have its campaign launch in Penrith, they obviously think that that is a fertile ground for them in this election campaign, and are the Liberals – is this a blind spot for you? There are a couple of seats, McMahon, [Chris] Bowen’s seat and Jason Clare’s seat of Blaxland, they don’t even have a Liberal candidate yet.

SCOTT RYAN:

Look, Kieran, I think I’ve said before, every one of my colleagues is working very hard, no matter what the notional margin is in a seat. Particularly since what happened in Queensland a few years ago, I’ve often said that every single seat needs to be treated as marginal, and whether you’re going to colleagues in so-called safer seats or so-called marginal seats, all my Liberal and National colleagues are treating every single seat like a campaign you have win from the start of the campaign, and they’re running on the record of having delivered, and what they’ve delivered to their electorates as well as what they’re promising to over the next few years. It doesn’t surprise me that Labor is having a campaign launch in Western Sydney. That’s an area that has quite frankly responded strongly to Labor’s record in government at the state and federal level in New South Wales. The voters of Western Sydney have known that you can’t trust Labor on taxes, you can’t trust them on the economy, you can’t trust them on the budget deficit. Ask Matt for why they’re going out there, but I would imagine that it’s because Labor knows that it has very little credibility in that part of Australia.

KIERAN GILBERT:

All right Matt Thistlethwaite, why is Labor moving to have a launch – I think it’s the first time since the 90s, the early to mid-90s, since we haven’t seen a campaign launch in Brisbane. Is that a sign that New South Wales is looking stronger for Labor as opposed to Queensland? Has that come off the boil a bit for Labor?

MATT THISTLETHWAITE:

It’s because Labor’s looking to the future Kieran, and we’re you talking about the future of Australia, one of the most dynamic and growing areas is Western Sydney and what’s important for that area is proper investment in health, education and growing the jobs of the future. I think that the people of Western Sydney appreciate the fact that Labor’s done a lot of policy work and we’ve spent a lot of time, both our Ministers and our Leader, have spent a lot of time over the last two and a half years in Western Sydney hearing people’s concerns, consulting with them and putting those policies together and that’s why we’ll be going there over the coming weeks to launch our campaign because the people of Western Sydney want investment in education, particularly in schools so their kids can get a decent start at a good job, they want investment in TAFE, they want investment in universities, and they want to know that if they get sick, they’ve got Medicare to protect them and they can go to a hospital that’s well-resourced and well-serviced with top quality staff, and that’s what Labor’s all about.

KIERAN GILBERT:

Those requirements would fit pretty neatly for south-east Queensland, too, I would have thought.

MATT THISTLETHWAITE:

Yeah they would, but as I said, it’s thinking about the future and this is one of the most dynamic and growing areas in the country and it’s pleasing to see that Labor’s spent quite a bit of time in Western Sydney over the course of the last two years and it’s about focussing on the future and I think that’s a great synergy for where our campaign is at, where our policies are focussed on, and the aspirations and needs of Western Sydney.

KIERAN GILBERT:

Let’s move. We’re standing by, I should remind our viewers, to take us to Cairns where the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is speaking shortly.

Let’s talk about the criticism of the Labor policy approach by Keith de Lacy. It’s interesting that Mr Shorten is in Cairns, that’s where Mr De Lacy comes from, a former Queensland treasurer of the Labor Party in the Goss government. This is not helpful timing and quite blunt criticism, Matt Thistlethwaite, of the Labor agenda: anti-business and the most anti-business that he’s seen for generations, according to Mr De Lacy.

MATT THISTLETHWAITE:

Kieran, Labor’s not anti-business at all. It you look at the global financial crisis, it was a Labor government that shielded and protected big and small business in this country from the worst effects of the global financial crisis. It was a Labor government that ensured that unemployment didn’t fall and that Australian businesses continued to grow. That was under Labor policies. We also introduced a number of policies that benefitted small business; the asset write-off scheme, the loss carry-back schemes – these were all instituted under a Labor government. Now we do need to undertake budget repair, that means we need to find savings in the budget, but we also need to ensure that we’re raising enough revenue to properly fund schools and hospitals, and when you talk about the future, you need to talk about schools.

KIERAN GILBERT:

All right we interrupt you there and take you live to the Opposition Leader.

(ENDS)