Anika Wells MP on 4BC with Scott Emerson

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
4BC DRIVE WITH SCOTT EMERSON
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022
 
SUBJECTS: Aged care crisis, Leaked text messages, PM backflip on WA border closure

SCOTT EMERSON, HOST: Well it’s that time of the week when we have our own version of Question Time. We're joined by Labor's member for Lilley Anika Wells and the LNP Member for Ryan, Julian Simmons. How are you Anika?

ANIKA WELLS, MEMBER FOR LILLEY: I am well, Scott. How are you?

EMERSON: Very well, thank you. Julian?

JULIAN SIMMONDS, MEMBER FOR RYAN: Yeah, very good. Thanks for having us on.

EMERSON: All right, then. Let's start with you, Julian today. There obviously is a crisis in the aged care sector at the moment. Should we be sending in ADF to help out?

SIMMONDS: Well, look, as we've done throughout this pandemic, every resource is on the table. You know, we've…right throughout this, the COVID response, we’ve recognised that these are very vulnerable Australians. They were first in line for the for the vaccine. We've already pushed surge workforces out there into aged care facilities. So I think it's a recognition that this government will, as the situation evolves, put every resource to the wheel to ensure that we continue to have a response to COVID, which sees as many Australians kept safe as possible.

EMERSON: A couple of weeks ago, Julian, the Prime Minister said that wouldn't be happening. Today, we heard Peter Dutton, the defence minister, saying well, he's considering it. So what's it going to be? One or the other?

SIMMONDS: Well, you deal with the situation, that you have in front of you. You know, this is a global pandemic without a rulebook. But, you know, throughout the, throughout the pandemic, Labor have been using the benefit of 20/20 hindsight to pretend like they knew the answer to everything. There is no bigger…big logistical challenges. And I for one, I'm glad grownups are in the room. And we've got the Coalition in there to make these decisions when they arise to keep Australians safe.

EMERSON: Anika Wells, is Labor backing the idea of sending the ADF into nursing homes.

WELLS: Well, talking about the grownups in the room. The PM spent his day today, washing someone's hair for a photo op. Maybe, he could have spent the day going into a nursing home and taking a RAT and helping wash and dress our elderly. Who are currently locked down in this aged care crisis with huge staff shortages. I'm not convinced with Minister Colbeck being at the cricket for three days last week, rather than spending his time addressing the aged care crisis that the adults are in the room or that they're taking it seriously. Particularly, when we know that the Prime Minister ruled out sending in the ADF, just last month.

EMERSON: But again, would Labor do it? Do they back the idea of the ADF going in?

WELLS: We have always said that we will work constructively where we need to. And that's what we have done the entire COVID pandemic, which is now…

SIMMONDS: You haven’t worked constructively with us at all. What are you talking about?

WELLS: What are you talking about Julian? We passed through so much legislation through the parliament without a vote. We passed through all the substantive stuff.

SIMMONDS: You opposed JobKeeper. Something that kept businesses open and people in jobs as well.

WELLS: We suggested JobKeeper Julian. We suggested JobKeeper. What are you talking about?

SIMMONDS: You opposed it. You’re not working with us. You can’t take credit for it after the fact, after it works. Sorry. You’ve got to actually support it at the time you know.

WELLS: We suggested it. We suggested it. We were the ones who proposed it in the first place.

EMERSON: All right. You've suggested it. Julian, what's your response to that?

SIMMONDS: Well, simply that we were the ones that enacted JobKeeper, they fought us every step of the way.

WELLS: You’re in government!

SIMMONDS: To the extent that they were trying to get data out of the tax office to shame the businesses who used it. And this is something that has kept some of my…

WELLS: Oh, my goodness, this is a fairytale. This is a fairytale, Julian. We've been asking the tax office for information about which businesses profited and decided to keep their JobKeeper billions. Because we are talking about tens of billions and, you know, we're in an aged care crisis. The system has had 22 reports and a Royal Commission. It needs billions of dollars. Maybe we could have used some of that money to fund our aged care crisis.

SIMMONDS: I just don’t think any Australian’s going to believe you guys are constructive, working constructively with the government on anything frankly. Every gain that we have made during the pandemic to keep Australians safe has been because this government has pushed forward through the opposition of Labor.

EMERSON: Well look, I think we're getting insight listeners, into what's going to be the next five or four months until the federal election.

WELLS: An absolute fantasy it sounds like.

EMERSON: I'm talking to the Member for Lilley, Anika Wells, and the LNP Member for Ryan, Julian Simmonds. Anika Wells, is it bad form for a senior Cabinet Minister to leak text messages about their leader, calling them in this case, horrible and a psycho.

WELLS: Well, it's not a good look is it, when the Prime Minister's own colleagues are calling him a complete psycho and a fraud and someone who is obsessed with politics instead of people. Given we're just talking about our aged care crisis and our vulnerable people, and the workers who look after them. It demonstrates where our Liberal government is now at. It is chaos and it is infighting and it is a tired government that has lost interest in actually governing the country and is only obsessed with themselves.

EMERSON: Well, Julian Simmons, it wasn't a good look. Was it?

SIMMONDS: So first of all, you know, my first job was as a pizza delivery driver. Gee I’d hate for anyone to read the text messages that I sent around about my boss on a bad day. But regardless, this is dodgy journalism at its most, at its worst. You know, this journo, kept these text messages to embarrass Gladys and the PM until a nationally televised event, for maximum damage. And I just want to be really clear, that is not my experience of the PM at all. My experience of the PM is that every day he wakes up, with a great deal of heart, to keep Australians safe and to try and do the best job that he can do, and the government can do, to encourage people to help them look after their families. And if people want to read other political motivations into that, then that's their problem. That is not the Scott Morrison that I know.

EMERSON: You’re talking about Peter van Onselen, reading them out at the National Press Club, and that's really shooting the messenger. The point here is that, and it hasn't been denied, that Gladys Berejiklian was texting a senior minister. She said that Scott Morrison was horrible. She says she has, can't recall that. But then this minister comes out and says, look, he is a psycho, he's a fraud.

SIMMONDS: Now hang on, hang on. If you want to talk about character tests, how much character does that show for somebody to leak text messages to embarrass Gladys and the PM. How much character does it show, to sit on that for maximum embarrassment?

WELLS: But Julian, you’re talking about the character of a senior Cabinet Minister.

SIMMONDS: Well I don’t know…

WELLS: You just said that a senior Cabinet Minister, one of your own colleagues who holds one of the highest offices in the land has no character. That’s what you just said.

SIMMONDS: Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on we don’t know that it’s one of our, one of the federal cabinet ministers.  The journo hasn't said that.

WELLS: Yes he did. Yes he has. Yes he has.

SIMMONDS: He's refused to reveal…he’s refused to reveal that. No sorry, that's not my understanding. If he wants to clarify that he should say who that person is.

WELLS: Well he has.

SIMMONDS: Because I speak to all the cabinet ministers when we're in Canberra.

WELLS: Very nice.

SIMMONDS: And I've never heard anybody express that in the slightest. And frankly, I haven't seen that. And yeah, nobody's expressed that contrary to what...

EMERSON: Julian Simmonds I heard, I heard Barnaby Joyce saying that 3000 people know who it is. Well, it sounds like Barnaby Joyce knows who it is. Do you know who it is?

SIMMONDS: No, I don't know who it is.

EMERSON: And I do remind you, Anika Wells, Labor's got a history of this itself. I remember those messages, the comments being made about Kevin Rudd, before he was knifed as Prime Minister with his ministerial colleagues, saying they wouldn't even work with him in the future.

WELLS: Absolutely. And look how that panned out at the election.

SIMMONDS: You knifed him in the back.

EMERSON: You’re not suggesting they’re going to do that Scott Morrison, about Scott Morrison are they?

SIMMONDS: No, no way.

EMERSON: Why?

SIMMONDS: Because that is not the Scott Morrison that that wakes up every day to help protect Australians. You know, he…

WELLS: Washes people’s hair.

SIMMONDS: No look, his motives are to protect Australians and to help lift them and their families up as much as possible. Other people are reading those political motives into him. And that's not been my experience.

EMERSON: Alright then, Julian Simmonds, the PM today has backed the stance of the West Australian Government in terms of its borders remaining closed. Previously, he's talked about opening up borders. Is this all just about trying to win votes in WA ahead of the election?

SIMMONDS: Well no look, I think he's been pretty clear. I mean, of course, we want the borders open. We want it for the economy. We want families to be back in order together, to enjoy those milestones we spoke about a couple of weeks ago. But you know, the PM has been clear. He's got a State Premier who's saying to him, our state health system is not ready for the surge. Right? So if you've got a State Premier who said we're not… our state health system is not ready. Well, you know, they know that better than than we do. I think you've got to back that in. But I think someone's going to ask McGowan the hard question. Why after two and a half years of pandemic is your health system not ready? Because you know, due credit, here in Queensland, we haven't seen the health system collapse under the weight. In fact, we’ve seen lower numbers than was, was modelled in ICUs, and all the rest of it. So McGowan’s got some hard questions to answer.

EMERSON: Anika Wells, I saw that Anthony Albanese, your leader, he also well, this is a couple of weeks ago, backed the decision to keep the borders closed. So what was right? WA to keep its borders closed? Why wasn't it right then for Queensland to keep the borders closed?

WELLS: Well, he did. Anthony Albanese has backed Premiers the whole way through. And we talked about this last week, Scott. The word on the ground from industry, from retailers, from hospitality, from people in aged care, was that WA wasn't in a position for the Omicron surge, having watched what's happened on the eastern seaboard. So it's not surprising that McGowan has made this decision. What is surprising is that it took the PM three years to jump on board and support him and back the Premiers on their COVID management.

EMERSON: All right, then, Labor Member for Lilley, Anika Wells and the LNP Member for Ryan Julian Simmonds, always good to have you on the show. A bit of fire in there today. We'll catch you again next week.

WELLS: Bad week Julian. Have a good weekend.

SIMMONDS: Thanks team. See you. Bye.

ENDS