The Hon Jim Chalmers MP

Treasurer

The Hon Justine Elliot MP
Assistant Minister for Social Services
Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence

TRANSCRIPT

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERENCE

OCEAN SHORES, NORTHERN NSW
SATURDAY, 18 JANUARY 2025

SUBJECTS: Labor campaign launch for the federal seat of Richmond, inflation moderating, 1.1 million jobs created under the Albanese Government, billions of dollars invested in NBN, ceasefire in the Middle East, Liberal pre-selection in Bradfield.

JUSTINE ELLIOT, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES, ASSISTANT MINISTER THE PREVENTION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE AND MEMBER FOR RICHMOND: Well, we're here today in Ocean Shores to launch my campaign for the 2025 Federal Election and I'm so pleased my good friend the Treasurer Jim Chalmers is here today to launch our campaign.

And of course, this year's coming election is a really crucial one for Australia's future. It's about either building Australia's future with the Albanese Labor Government or going backwards with Peter Dutton and the Liberals and Nationals.

And of course our Labor team, headed by our Treasurer and the finance team have done a remarkable job in providing assistance to so many people across the country particularly in terms of cost of living whether that's a tax cut for every taxpayer, $300 in energy bill relief, whether it's about fee free TAFE or cheaper medicines or cheaper childcare, Labor understands that people are doing it tough but we certainly are working hard to deliver for them.

So today we officially launch my campaign here in Richmond and we're all working towards the return of an Albanese Labor Government so we can take this country forward. Thanks Jim.

JIM CHALMERS: Thanks so much, Justine. I'm here because I'm a massive supporter of Justine's, big believer in Justine and her work and admirer of what she's been able to achieve here. We desperately need to see Justine Elliot returned as the Member for Richmond because of the choice that Justine has outlined.

The choice here in this community and right around Australia is between Anthony Albanese and Labor helping with the cost of living and building Australia's future or Peter Dutton and the Coalition making people worse off and taking Australia backwards. That's what the choice boils down to in this election and in the last couple of days we got some very encouraging news in the economy. When we see that unemployment is still remarkably low under this Albanese Labor Government, 1.1 million jobs created at the same time as we've made substantial and sustained progress on inflation and got wages up as well.

Labor's record on the economy is inflation down, wages up, unemployment low and 1.1 million opportunities created in the labour market on our watch. What we're seeing under this Albanese Labor Government is the lowest average unemployment of any government in the last 50 years and the lowest average unemployment for any single parliamentary term in the last 50 years as well. And we know that Peter Dutton is a risk to all of that because we know his record. When he was Health Minister, he came after Medicare, Coalition governments come after wages, they didn't support us on cost‑of‑living help, and we know that Peter Dutton's nuclear insanity will push electricity prices up, not down.

The biggest risk to household budgets and to economic progress more broadly is the return of Peter Dutton and the Coalition and that's why communities like this one are so important, not just in the election but so important to the national economy, so important more broadly, and that's why we've got one of our best people running to continue to work for and with the wonderful people of this local community.

Now one of the dividends of Justine Elliot's advocacy is the fact that we are investing billions of dollars in the NBN and that means that thousands of small businesses and families and pensioners in this community will benefit from our extra investment in the NBN.

Because of Justine's advocacy, because of Anthony Albanese's leadership and the work of Michelle Rowland, what we are talking about today is thousands of small businesses in Richmond, thousands of households and families and pensioners who will have access to the faster internet that they need and deserve to continue to ensure that this community is one of the best communities, the most beautiful places to live and work anywhere in Australia.

I just want to touch briefly on developments in the Middle East then happy to take some questions. We welcome the progress that's been made on the ceasefire and the return of hostages and the passage of aid in the Middle East. We desperately need this peace deal, the ceasefire deal to stick, because we want peace in the Middle East to be enduring and not fleeting. We desperately need to see the end of the loss of innocent lives and the bloodshed that we've seen in the Middle East over the last 15 months or so.

We welcome these developments. We need to make sure that all sides of this agreement stick to and adhere to the terms of the agreement because too many lives have already been lost, too many families have already been destroyed, too much blood has already been shed in that part of the world. 

We've been calling for some time for a ceasefire, the return of hostages, and proper access for the aid that the families in the region desperately need. We want to see this deal followed through. Any positive developments on that front overnight are welcome but we need to make sure that we continue to monitor the situation so that we can see an enduring peace in the Middle East and not just a fleeting glimmer of hope.

Happy to take any questions.

JOURNALIST: Liberal Party pre‑selection for Bradfield is today, whether Warren Mundine or Gisele Kapterian are chosen. Will it make a difference to the chances of the Liberals holding the seat of Bradfield and could this cost them at the upcoming election?

CHALMERS: Well, when you've got a divisive Liberal leader it's no surprise you've got a divided Liberal Party and that's what we're seeing in this Bradfield pre‑selection, a divisive Liberal leader and a divided Liberal Party.

We are focused on the cost of living and building the future, Peter Dutton and the Coalition are focused on internal conflict and culture wars and that again boils down to the choice that people will have at the election later in the year.

Peter Dutton is always trying to pick fights, he's always trying to start culture wars, he's trying to distract from the fact that he has no costed, credible or coherent economic policies, so what we're seeing in Bradfield today is just more of the same Liberal Party - a divisive leader, a divided party, and we'll see that play out in this pre‑selection.

JOURNALIST: It's not just the Liberals under threat from the Teals though, is it? Labor is going to have to put up a pretty strong fight. Can you save those precious seats?

CHALMERS: We take no outcome for granted in any seat or in any community including this one. We know that elections are tight, we know that they are contested.

My personal view is this election will be incredibly tight in lots of communities and in lots of electorates right around Australia, so we take no outcome in any seat for granted, that's why we're working so hard. Justine Elliot is working hard, I'm working hard, the whole Labor team is working hard because we know it will be a tight election, we know that there's an important choice for the Australian people to make and we take no outcome for granted.

Thanks very much.

JOURNALIST: I also have some questions for Justine. The Greens only require a small swing to get in here. What will Labor do to ensure that that doesn't happen?

ELLIOT: Look, I'm out every day talking with locals about Labor's plans and particularly our cost‑of‑living relief and of course this election is about who will be forming government in terms of our nation's future, and I'm part of Anthony Albanese's team. We're building Australia's future and of course Peter Dutton and the Liberals and Nationals will take us backwards.

So I'm out saying to our community every day - I am your Labor candidate, I am Anthony Albanese's candidate here in Richmond, and we are looking to form a majority government so we can stop Peter Dutton becoming Prime Minister and bringing in cuts to Medicare, aged pensions and important services.

JOURNALIST: And what are the main priorities for the region as well?

ELLIOT: Well, look, of course the main issue here is cost of living and we have had a whole suite of measures to assist people in our region. We know people are doing it tough but all of those measures, things like the tax cuts for every taxpayer, the $300 energy bill relief, cheaper medicines, cheaper childcare, and also lower student loans as well and fee‑free TAFE - more than 5000 people in this region were able to go to TAFE because of that policy. Now remember all of those initiatives, all those important cost-of-living initiatives, they were opposed by Peter Dutton and the Liberals and Nationals. We are committed as a team to make sure we address all of the issues in our community.

JOURNALIST: And crime is a big issue here as well for locals. What's Labor doing about that? 

ELLIOT: It certainly is a major issue and I've had many meetings with people in our local community. We have seen an increase of crime in our villages and towns right across the North Coast and as I've said to many people in the community, I've commended the New South Wales Government, 17 more police recruits to our region, we also saw a change in their youth offender bail laws and we saw the implementation of Jack's Law as well which is really important in terms of stopping offenders being able to carry knives within the community.

I have continued to work with everyone in the community - the councils, the police, the state government. I do want to see more action on the ground here because we have seen a huge increase when it comes to youth crime. I currently have my crime survey and I ask people to fill that out, tell me about their experiences and their views on local crime and I'll be sending all of that to the New South Wales Police Minister and the Attorney‑General and the Police Commissioner and certainly, as a former police officer myself, community safety and security is my priority.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. That's it.

ENDS