E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC STEPHEN CENATIEMPO BREAKFAST SHOW 
TUESDAY, 17 AUGUST 2021 

SUBJECTS: Political Panel with Zed Seselja; Canberra Lockdown; Vaccination rate; ACT Government response.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, HOST: We're joined by the Labor member for Canberra, Alicia Payne. Alicia, Good morning. 

ALICIA PAYNE, LABOR MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Good morning, Stephen. 

CENATIEMPO: And Zed Seselja, ACT Liberal Senator and Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Zed good morning. 

ZED SESELJA, LIBERAL SENATOR FOR THE ACT: Good morning Stephen, morning Alicia. 

PAYNE: Good morning Zed. 

CENATIEMPO: Now Alicia, Zed, I'm throwing the script out here. Have either of you got something positive you want to share with us? 

PAYNE: You go first Zed, then I'll say something positive too. 

SESELJA: Yeah look, I'm happy to. Look the first thing I'd say Stephen is first to acknowledge just how challenging these lockdowns are, there's no doubt about it. And I've been talking to the construction industry and others, and we'll get to that in a minute. I think it's an important discussion. But what is positive is what we've seen last week with the huge numbers of vaccinations. We're now, we're soon going to be at a point where we're vaccinating around 2 million Australians every week. And you know, you talk about a path to recovery, and you rightly raise these issues, Stephen, these are very important, I know there's great challenges out there. But when you're vaccinating 2 million Australians a week, what we are going to see is over the, over the coming weeks, the situation change. So the situation is very difficult right now, I think we need to continue to have discussions about how we support people through this, I think we need to have the discussion about how over these next couple of weeks in Canberra, we look at industries that can open up like construction and I'm keen to have that discussion. But when we're vaccinating 2 million Australians a week and soon and we're ramping up to that, then there is hope. And there is a pathway out of this. But I understand the frustration that you're expressing Stephen because there's a lot of frustration out there. But that is the pathway out and we are ramping it up to record amounts. 

CENATIEMPO: I want to talk about that in a moment. But Alicia, have you got something positive you want to share with us? 

PAYNE: Yeah, I just want to say that obviously this is a really worrying time, difficult time for Canberrans but I have just been really touched by how great our community is, how caring we are about each other and the things that people have been doing to keep each other safe. The way that people have turned out on mass to get tested, you know, and we're quite patient with some long wait times. But really doing the right things and have been staying home. And I see lots of people out doing their hour of exercise with their masks on and I know that we're a community that are going to look after one another through this. And I do need to respond to what you said before Stephen, the ACT Government has done a fantastic job and I feel really safe to know that we have their leadership on this. So they're doing the right things that Canberrans need. You know, on the first day of this lockdown they managed to get a testing site, a second testing site open. They are monitoring the situation closely and taking the steps that we need. And I think that we saw with what happened in New South Wales the risks of not going into a sharp and short lockdown immediately. If that had happened earlier in New South Wales I think we would not be, Canberra would not be impacted now. 

CENATIEMPO: Well, I don't know that there's any guarantees with that. But Alicia, what I was getting at and the point is and if you look at those, and I call them pantomimes not press conferences, because they're designed to, if you look at Andrew Barr's demeanour, now what we should, the message that should be delivered here in Canberra is look, we've got a bit of a problem we need to sort out we've had all of these tests, most of them been negative, there's a few positives, we've got to address that, let's do these few things and we'll get through this rather than we're in the middle of a crisis, everybody needs to hide under their bed. I mean, it's the it's the language and the demeanour that is the problem. I mean, in New South Wales Zed, we've got a premier now saying even if we do get the 80% vaccination, we're still going to have lockdowns and restrictions. I mean, there is no way out of this. 

SESELJA: Well Stephen, I mean, I mean, I don't know if that was addressed at me or Alicia, but I'll take it. The roadmap that's been put out there absolutely does say that those restrictions will be lifted. 

CENATIEMPO: Well yes, but the state leaders will come out and said, well we don't care what the roadmap is, we're doing it, making our own arrangements. 

SESELJA: Well, I don't think that's most of the state leaders. I think you could possibly point to Mark McGowan and and some of the comments that he made recently, but let's wait and see. I think there will be pressure on WA to lift its efforts when it comes to vaccination rates. They are they are lagging behind places like New South Wales and indeed the ACT and Tasmania and others. So it absolutely is the pathway out. One of the things I'm immediately concerned about Stephen is looking at these next few days beyond this first seven days, and I think what's going to be really important is that the ACT Government makes some sensible decisions about industries that actually can operate quite safely and construction is at the top of that list, but won't be the only one. It's one thing I think to say you're shutting everything for seven days, but it's another thing entirely to say, you do it for 14 days or 21 days or even potentially beyond that, so some really important decisions need to be made now. And I would say that construction and other industries that can operate safely, should be operating safely because whilst they can be all sorts of supports, we're better off where we can, having the economic activity going ahead, and those people who have invested in their businesses, who are employing people continuing to be able to do that. So I think that's going to be very, very important over these next few days. And I'd call on the ACT Government to make some, I think, cautious but sensible decisions to allow industries like construction to continue. 

CENATIEMPO: Alright, let's try and raise the mood. Alicia, what's the best thing about being in lockdown? 

PAYNE: Oh, trackpants. I don't know. Look, it's I suppose for parents with with young children, it's a double edge sword of it's very difficult to work from home and be looking after your children at the same time. And I'm of course doing that, like so many parents, but in a way it is nice to be home with them, I’ll say that. 

CENATIEMPO: Zed, what about you? What's the best thing about being in lockdown? 

SESELJA: Yeah, look, there's no doubt it's, it is a bit more time with the kids. And you know, some of that's helping them with the schoolwork. And some of that's just hanging out with them. And you know, we're all, we're all busy all the time, most of us. And you know, just spending a little bit more time together is a good thing to do. And it's a good time to reflect but we've also got to be as as you say, working to make sure that it's as short as possible. 

CENATIEMPO: Absolutely. Well for me as a single bloke, it's experimenting in the kitchen, Alicia and Zed good to talk to you this morning. 

SESELJA: Thanks very much. 

PAYNE: Thanks, Stephen. Stay safe everyone. 

CENATIEMPO: Thank you. Alicia Payne, Labor member for Canberra and Zed Seselja, Zed Seselja is the ACT Liberal Senator.

ENDS
 
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