TRANSCRIPT - Sky News Newsday with Kieran Gilbert

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

TRANSCRIPT

SKY NEWS NEWSDAY

10 October 2024

Kieran Gilbert: I want to bring in the Opposition, the Manager of Opposition Business, Paul Fletcher. We've just seen the calendar of the sitting for next year. What do you make of it? It looks like a March 25 budget. Does that mean we're heading to pretty much confirmed an election in early May? Is that your read?

Paul Fletcher: Well, I'm sure there'll be people speculating about that. I'll leave it to the commentators to speculate. We're of course, going to spend every day between now and the election, whenever it's called, making the point to the Australian people that just about everybody feels worse off than they did at the last election, in May 2022. 

Because, you know, real per capita after tax household income or after tax income is now down over 8%. Inflation persistent and sticky. People feel worse off and this next election will be a chance to vote for a party that has a plan to fix that.

Kieran Gilbert: On this report or complaint by the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Prime Minister, what's your response to that?

Paul Fletcher: Well, everybody has a right to a safe workplace and employees who are complaining of bullying or other matters obviously need to have a place to go to report that. Look, I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the case. It may be that the Deputy Prime Minister's former Chief of Staff may ultimately down the track, take legal action.

For those reasons and others I'm not going to comment on the specifics. What I would say is it was our government, the Morrison Government, which commissioned the Jenkins Review, which has led to a whole series of changes. Of course, the legislation has been introduced to establish the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission. There's already a Parliamentary Workplace Support Service. As to the specifics of the allegations that have been made by Richard Marles’, former Chief of Staff, that's really a matter for him to address and he’ll, be asked questions by the media and others about it.

Kieran Gilbert: But is it something you will take up in Question Time?

Paul Fletcher: Look there's always a wide range of matters for us to consider in Question Time and there's a lot of questions we want to ask on behalf of the Australian people about this government's economic mismanagement, about this government being on both sides, trying to walk both sides of the street when it comes to Israel, walking away from decades of bipartisanship on Israel, mismanagement of immigration, the circumstances in which people have come in from Gaza on tourist visas without adequate security checks.

Kieran Gilbert:  When it comes to Israel though, you're saying they're walking both sides of the street. Is that reference to the fact that they're saying Israel can defend itself, has a right to defend itself, but calling for a ceasefire?

Paul Fletcher: Well, the Leader of the Opposition wrote to the Prime Minister over the weekend proposing that there be a motion that we hope could be a bipartisan motion expressing support for the people of Israel. Recognising the one-year anniversary of the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks with 1,200 innocent people killed, the Prime Minister insisted on inserting a provision, which called upon Israel essentially to cease its acts of self-defence.

And that was why we were unable to arrive at bipartisan language. Very disappointing. Subsequently, we had the Senate pass a motion where Labor did agree to amendments, referencing Israel's right to defend itself. We've seen a weak, inconsistent position by the Prime Minister, not based on moral clarity, but based on domestic political consideration.

Kieran Gilbert: Paul Fletcher, thanks for your time.