TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW ON PAUL MURRAY LIVE, 12 August 2020
E&OE
Subjects: Border Closures, Northern Territory Election;
PAUL MURRAY
Michael McCormack is the Deputy Prime Minister and he joins us now from Darwin ahead of the Territory election, nice to see you, Michael. Now, one issue I have talked about a lot, are people in regional Australia and particularly regional Victoria right now who are basically living with the same restrictions as Melbourne. Yesterday, we talked about the people in Broken Hill. They've got, you know, the “07” in front of their number, they've got the same, you know, times that are different in Summer, but they can’t cross to go to Adelaide and all the rest of it here. Do we have to have a conversation about understanding that regional Australia, while part of States, which are essentially virus free, should be allowed to cross borders?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
I think that conversation should have happened some weeks ago, Paul. You mentioned Broken Hill, let's talk about Mallee, a third of Victoria, 82,000-square-kilometres, represented superbly by Anne Webster. Much of that electorate is actually closer to Adelaide than it is to Melbourne and yet they have so many restrictions now. Of course, stage three lock down, they can't get to South Australia and they've got 13 cases all very much in the recovery mode. It's a situation that has caused such heartache. So many livelihoods and businesses now placed at risk because of the restrictions that that fine electorate is now under and yet very limited cases, all very much in the recovery mode and poor Anne is pulling her hair out.
PAUL MURRAY
Well, we’ve got this scenario in New South Wales where, as you know, there are some people that are trying to make their way from Victoria back to the ACT – I think there's been a bit of a let on that at the moment. But the absurdity, that once you're at the Victorian border where there is zero cases in Wodonga, that you can't cross to the southern New South Wales where there are zero cases right now, it is deeply frustrating.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
It's affecting farmers, Paul, who've got properties either side of the Murray. They've got calving, they've got fruit to pick, crops to harvest, all sorts of issues. But I was told by Mark Coulton of an example where one of his constituents couldn't get over the border for his 12-year-old daughter's important hospital appointment at Toowoomba. He's a single dad. So he drove back having been rebuffed at the border, got in his prime mover and took her across that way. Now, I know there's going be all sorts of anomalies like that. But surely in this day and age, we can work through those things and I appreciate that we're taking the best medical advice, but there are so many border changes made you know, just like that, a snap of the fingers and then people are just getting frustrated.
PAUL MURRAY
Well, you’re in Darwin because that election’s coming up in the next couple of weeks, Michael Gunner, apart from other things, has said, “vote for me because I'm going to save your life.” Fair dinkum, this is a bloke who has taken care of – to put it that way – during his administration, people have left the Territory so much so that they're going to take a federal political seat away. The entire Territory will be represented by one Lower House Member. Thousands of people had lost their jobs before coronavirus. Debt was built up before coronavirus, yet he thinks he can get another few years in power based off the Territory for Territorians only. The real record of Gunner and the years of his administration is very different than locking the gate for COVID.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Lia Finocchiaro said in May, that the debt that had been racked up – $6.2 billion at that time – was going to cost each and every Territorian around $25,000. Well, that's now blown out. It's potentially going to be at the end of this financial year, somewhere in the order of $8.2 billion, who knows? But that's what Labor does, reckless spenders of other people's money. Of course Michael Gunner, the Chief Minister, through this situation, through this campaign is actually in witness protection because we haven't seen him. Yes, he's been talking about coronavirus and that's important and he should because he's the Leader of the Territory. But the only person out there is Lia and her CLP candidates. They're the only ones out there talking policy. She's going to announce her agriculture policy tomorrow. She talked about crime yesterday and crime is rampant under the Gunner Government. But she's talking tough on that, she's in fact actually going to be the Police Minister should the CLP be elected on August 22, which of course, as we know, is Saturday week which is not far away. And so, she's really making a determined effort to become the CLP’s first female Chief Minister and she will do a fantastic job. I've got every faith in her. She’s so, so good, Paul, you need to get her on your show.
PAUL MURRAY
We will, we will do it next week for her, no question and for the people of the Territory. Let's have a look at again, what Michael Gunner said, this sort of vote for me, I’ll save your life, rubbish, have a look.
[Excerpt Plays]
Okay, let's talk about the jobs record though, as I said, people have left the Territory, fewer people in the joint than when he started. Fewer jobs than when he started and that's not COVID.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, you mentioned the number of seats and what we need to do is get the Territory population up such that the AEC then can't actually look at the Northern Territory and say, we need to take a seat away. If you're in Katherine or Alice Springs or Tennant Creek, you don't want your political representative in Darwin because it's a long, long drive. We talk about Mallee being a third of Victoria, the regions of the Territory are just massive and of course, there's two seats. Lingiari and Solomon represented at the moment by Luke Gosling and Warren Snowdon but the fact remains, Territorians deserve representation and I appreciate they deserve good representation and hopefully Lia and her CLP team can be those representatives in the Territory Government after August 22, Paul.
PAUL MURRAY
All the best. Thank you very much Deputy Prime Minister.