THE HON.

BILL SHORTEN
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC HOBART 936 DRIVE
MONDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 201
SUBJECT/S: Tony Abbotts debt sentence for uni students; youth
unemployment; Rene!ble Ener"y T!r"et#
LO!ISE ANDREWS" Joining me this afternoon is Bill Shorten. Bill Shorten,
good afternoon.
BILL SHORTEN, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION" Good afternoon Louise.
ANDREWS" In Opposition without the numbers what can you do to help
people in Tasmania when it comes to higher education
SHORTEN" !e can "ght as hard as we possibly can in the #arliament of
$ustralia to ma%e sure that the &ni'ersity of Tasmania doesn(t lose a )**+
million. !e will also, and I thin% we(re successfully running a campaign to
stop the Go'ernment doubling the interest rate on uni'ersity debts that
students currently are going to get under Tony $bbott and ,hristopher
#yne.
ANDREWS" It(s a comple- issue for Tasmania because we do ha'e a
single institution which means students loo%ing to study either loo%
interstate or there compelled to meet the costs and the charges that are
imposed on them by the institution. .o we ha'e I guess the special status
that we perhaps see in oursel'es when it comes to tertiary education
SHORTEN" I thin% the &ni'ersity of Tasmania punches abo'e its weight.
/uite fre0uently, if you loo% at the research ran%ings it(s 1ust outside the
G2, it(s either ninth or tenth competing with say 3ewcastle &ni'ersity. But
at the other end you('e got fantastic, lo'ely participation numbers, what I
mean by that is people who are the "rst in their family to go to the
uni'ersity. So I thin% that &T$S does a pretty good 1ob, ob'iously though if
you ta%e )**+ million out of their funding base either courses are
cancelled, or fees go up or research is cut. 4ou %now, no nation e'er
slashed its education budget cut to greatness.
ANDREWS" !e also ha'e an issue with not 1ust retention in the latter
years of high school in Tasmanian but e'en in s%ills enhancement and
educating young people. If young people do need to mo'e interstate
where costs of education are additional through accommodation and so
on, we run the ris% of further falling behind in Tasmania. 5ow can you in
Opposition assist, I guess, with Tasmanians where this is an issue
SHORTEN" !ell, when Tasmanians loo% at the national #arliament you('e
got the Go'ernment, and Tony $bbott(s prescription is that people can
mo'e away from Tasmania, or you('e got 6ric $bet7 who came up with a
no'el solution where more unemployed people can go and pic% potatoes.
Or you('e got Labor, Labor is committed to the transformati'e power of
education, we want better funding in the early years before children go to
school. !e belie'e in needs8based funding in primary and secondary
school, and we belie'e in a well8funded higher education sector. To get the
1obs of the future, and by that I mean good 1obs, well8paying 1obs, high8
s%illed 1obs, it(s not Tasmania competing with the mainland of $ustralia,
it(s $ustralia competing with the rest of the world. 4ou can only do that
with a well8educated wor%force, and of course the Go'ernment before the
last election said that there would be no cuts to education, they clearly
lied to e'ery Tasmanian.
ANDREWS" 4ou(re in the north8west at the moment, which is one of the
hardest hit areas, not 1ust in Tasmania but in $ustralia when it comes to
particularly youth unemployment. 4ou(re heading down to the !est ,oast
tomorrow, what are the stories people are telling you Bill Shorten
SHORTEN" It(s a really serious problem. !hen you thin% about the
national "gure for youth unemployment, it(s about *+ per cent. In the
north8west, it(s *9 in e'ery *:: are unemployed. If families, if people don(t
get the e-perience of wor% early on in life, you(re setting them up for a
lifetime of po'erty. So I(m 'ery perturbed that the Go'ernment, the
;ederal Go'ernment seems 'ery out of touch about unemployment. $nd I
see these sort of arrogant comments from Liberal <#s where they
basically tell us to toughen up.
I('e got a 0uite here from the local Liberal <#, Brett !hitley is his name,
and he said that, this is young 1ob see%ers need an e-tra prod, and he(s
referring to the fact that the $bbott Go'ernment wants to lea'e all people
under +: who are unemployed, are not recei'ing any income for si-
months. !hat young people don(t need is a lecture from patronising
people who are out of touch. !hat need is to be able to get a trade or go
to uni'ersity or go on to "nd a 1ob. That(s what really matters.
ANDREWS" Tal%ing to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on 9+= $B, 5obart.
.o they tal% to you about issues that a>ect them daily, local issues, bread
and butter issues or are they touching on the bigger picture as well, such
as $ustralia(s commitment to send troops to Ira0
SHORTEN" I ha'en(t had a lot of people stop me in the street about the
commitment to Ira0. I thin% there are people concerned if there(s anyone
in that speci"c con?ict, they might come bac% here and see% to commit
crime or 'iolence here through the s%ills they('e learned there. But in
terms of what people are tal%ing to me about in Burnie, they don(t want
their uni'ersity campus to close, it(s the Budget. They are concerned,
where will the %ids get the 1obs I('e 1ust been meeting with wind power
people who are concerned that the ;ederal Go'ernment(s plans, doing
mon%ey business with @enewable 6nergy Targets and creating in'estor
uncertainty. I thin% there a lot of people in the Tasmanian north8west who
thin% that the $bbott Go'ernment(s 1ust out of touch.
ANDREWS" 4ou(re heading down to the !est ,oast tomorrow, that(s the
area the state has put a tas%force together, the ;ederal Go'ernment I
thin% it(s fair to say lea'ing in the hands of the state go'ernment largely,
what can you tell the wor%ers form the <ount Lyell mine tomorrow when
you meet them
SHORTEN" !ell it(s tough, the "rst thing I can tell them is that I care
about what(s happening to them, that(s why I(m 'isiting. I('e been to
/ueenstown before, periodically when I represented mining wor%ers.
These are highly s%illed people who('e made their li'ing and their choices
for their families based around the continuation of these mines. So the
"rst thing I can say is that we %now you(re here and we %now that you(re
going through 'ery tough circumstances. The second thing we can do is
push harder to get these people opportunities to retrain and see what 1obs
there are in the north8west, that(s not easy. The third thing we can do is
%eep pushing for new construction pro1ects and infrastructure
in'estments, so that people can get wor% without ha'ing to lea'e
Tasmania, and then when metal prices go up again, well then the mining
becomes a 'iable option again.
ANDREWS" Just on another issue too, your 0uotes today in the Guardian
as saying that the Opposition is prepared to negotiate o'er the @6T, that(s
been a crucial issue for Tasmania with our 6nergy <inister heading to
,anberra to discuss it. !hat would negotiations mean in terms of the
Go'ernment(s plans
SHORTEN" !ell I(m 1ust shoc%ed at how the $bbott Go'ernment has
mishandled the renewable energy industry in $ustralia. ;or a year there(s
been a cloud o'er the renewable energy industryA it(s worth billions of
dollars in future in'estment, thousands of 1obs. So the "rst thing in the
negotiation, I thin% the Go'ernment has to commit to ha'ing a @enewable
6nergy Target. They commissioned a report by a chap named !arburton
where they proposed two optionsA one was 1ust to get rid of it altogether
and the other was to emasculate it to a point where you wouldn(t bother
turning up to in'est in it.
So if they want bipartisanship, they need to mo'e away from this almost
paranoia that because renewable energy is an issue that Labor tal%s
about, that somehow they feel the need to bang it on the head with a
stic%. This go'ernment is paranoid, they 'iew e'erything as politics. ;or
me it doesn(t matter if it(s Liberal or Labor, for me what matters in terms
of renewable energy is, is there a target which will create suBcient
incenti'e for in'estors, both domestic and o'erseas, to in'est in our
industry. The !est ,oast of Tasmania is 1ust wind hea'en, if you(re
loo%ing for wind, that(s where you go. The ne-t nearest land mass is
**,::: %ilometres away, a straight line to the !est ,ost of Tasmania. It is
1ust made for renewable energy. I 1ust don(t %now why the ;ederal
Go'ernment can(t wor% it out. Just ha'e a loo% at the map, loo% at the
geography of it.
ANDREWS" I(ll lea'e it there, Bill Shorten than%s for your time this
afternoon.
SHORTEN" <y pleasure to chat to you, ha'e a lo'ely day.
ANDREWS" Than% you, you too. Bill Shorten the Opposition Leader in
Tasmania.
E$%S