Stephen Jones:
Well, after 15 years and 5 elections, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to hand the baton on to somebody else and this will be my last term of office as the member for Whitlam. I want to start by thanking this fantastic community for the trust and the faith that they’ve placed in me over 15 years, together we’ve done lots of great things. I want to thank the members of the Australian Labor Party who supported me over 5 elections. I’ve held our values dearly and always have had those values in the forefront as I’ve made the decisions that I’ve made as a local member and as a Minister in the Albanese government.
I want to thank the Prime Minister who’s been a friend of mine for many decades. I want to thank him for the faith that he’s placed in me and allowing me to be the Assistant Treasurer and the Minister for Financial Services in his government. The toughest job and the best job that I’ve ever had and it’s been an enormous honour. I want to thank all the amazing staff who are standing behind you, who are working for me and the staff that have worked with me over the last 15 years. Everything that I’ve done has been a group effort and in large part, it’s been a result of the amazing commitment, the loyalty, the dedication, and the brilliance of the people who’ve worked for them from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for everything that you’ve done for me.
I want to thank my family, my wife Brooke, Jess is with me here today, my daughter, my son, Patty. For the love and affection and my huge friendship network, for the support that they’ve given me over those 15 years. It’s been a long journey, but a great one. And an enormous honour. Together, we’ve done lots of things. I have had the pleasure of growing up in this fantastic region. And lived most of my life here and I’ve seen enormous changes over those years. We still make steel here and we still mine coal, but as a region, we’re much, much more.
We’ve got a world‑class university, which is on a yearly basis, graduating thousands of students, many of whom are the first in their generation ever go to university. And it’s giving them a great opportunity in life. We’re rebuilding the TAFE system, which is actually the reason I first came to the Illawarra when my father moved down here to be a TAFE teacher at Wollongong TAFE and its a sense of great pride to me that my government is prioritising TAFE and apprenticeships and fee‑free TAFE to ensure that whether you go to university or whether you take up a trade, you’ve got a path in life, which is going to give you a secure and decent job.
There’s new infrastructure for new suburbs. Anyone who has lived down here in the southern part of the Illawarra or up in the Southern Highlands will know where once there was farmland, there are now suburbs. Large parts of the electorate that I represent weren’t actually there when I was first to elected to parliament. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know and representing a diverse and vibrant community from the coast to the Hume Highway, and all the challenges that has entailed.
We’re building new infrastructure. More needs to be done in that area. I look with pride at the fact that we’re investing in social housing. There are kids who are down the road living in social and supported housing in Warilla because of the investments that we’ve put into this region. We’ve connected every house and business to the NBN. It was a big feature of my first campaign back in 2010 to connect the region and connect the businesses, and the things we now take for granted had to be fought for and had to be delivered. More to come in that area.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme, I worked in the disability sector here in the Illawarra before I was elected and I have a sense of great pride that I belong to a government that said, now’s the time and we’re going to make this second. Not perfect, more needs to be done, but we’ve got a scheme and people’s lives are immeasurably better because it took the courage and the conviction of the government that I was a part of back in 2010 to put that in place.
We’re rebuilding Medicare. It’s a huge priority. GP services are stretched here in the Illawarra, both the availability and the affordability, so Medicare, which I believe will be a key feature of the campaign, is more important now than ever and rebuilding Medicare after years of neglect, is a national priority.
I have also had the great honour of being a member of the government’s economic team. When we came into government, inflation was double what it is today, so we put a lot of work into bringing inflation down while supporting people. Many people who are saying we should just slash and burn. Australia would be in a recession today if we followed their advice and that would mean instead of millions of people being in work, there’d be millions of people who are out of work.
I left school in 1983 in this region. Some of you might remember, I remember what it was like when people were leaving school and couldn’t get a job and didn’t have hope for their future. So people will criticise the decisions we’ve made, but they were right. It means Australians, particularly young Australians are in jobs today and I’m proud of that. We’ve balanced our budgets, but we’ve done that in a responsible way. We’ve got full employment, something that I haven’t seen in my adult lifetime.
And as a minister, I’ve been really proud to prioritise consumer protections, new rights, and new methods for consumers to ensure that whether it’s at the supermarket or online, their rights are protected and their money is kept safe. I’ve got a bill in parliament next week, which I want to get passed. The Scams Prevention Framework, I’ve put a lot of work into that over the last 5 or 6 years when I started talking about it nobody was. Now everyone’s talking about it. I want to ensure that Australia is the safest place for Australians to do their business and the hardest place for criminals to rip Australians off. So my job is not done. I’ve got some work to do. I want to get legislation through parliament. The Prime Minister has asked that I stay on until the election in the role as Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, I’ll continue to do that.
I’ll continue to fight for something I started as a scruffy union official in the mid‑80s. To fight for superannuation. I feel passionate about that. I want to ensure that this great national institution that started from zero is now the fourth largest pool of private savings anywhere in the world, tenth largest economy, fourth largest pool of superannuation savings. That’s an amazing achievement. A lot of people want to pull it apart, I’ve put a lot of work into saving it and ensuring that as of July this year, every worker gets 12 per cent of their salary on a fortnightly basis going into their pay. Nobody at the age of sixty thinks ‘I’ve got too much money in super’, nobody and that’s because of the great system that we have built.
We’re building financial advice so that people who retire and have access to the information and advice that they need. Now in a moment I’ll take some questions, and my media advisors will hate when I say this, people sometimes ask you into moments like this, what’s your legacy? I’ve always thought that people in my position they brag about their legacy, they’re Wallys. This is always a collective and a group effort and I strongly believe that we’re custodians. We look after something while we’re here. The truly greats have a legacy and the rest of us, we’re custodians and we do our best, we ensure that the system we inherited is looked after and improved along the way. And that’s where I put myself and it has been one of the great honours of my life to be the member for this amazing area, and a Minister in this fantastic government. Happy to take your questions.
Journalist:
I guess the big question is what has prompted the decision to call it quits?
Jones:
Thanks Glen. Fifteen years is a long time. The average length of time for a member of Parliament is 5 and a bit years. I’ve done 15. I’ve just reached the stage in my life where I think, it’s time for me to do something else, I don’t know what that is yet, frankly. I don’t know what that is yet. I’m taking a decision which some people might describe as courageous. I’m going to do something different, and I’m confident that the Labor party will select a candidate who’ll run in this election and uphold the values and stand for the things that people in this region need. Whether it’s free TAFE, better infrastructure, the future for our steel industry, rebuilding Medicare, I didn’t say enough about the steel industry by the way. There were times over my 15 years where it was touch and go. I remember in that first term of one between 2010 and 2013, it was direct intervention by the Gillard government which ensured that Port Kembla Steelworks continued to exist and if it didn’t make those interventions, which I was involved in, it wouldn’t have. It’s going from strength to strength today, it’s turning a profit and that’s a great thing and I’m proud to have been a part of that. Wherever I am, whatever I’m doing, I’ll be fighting for the future of manufacturing in this country and this region, that’s really important.
Journalist:
What achievements are you most proud of Stephen?
Jones:
Proud of being a part of a government that delivered the NDIS, delivered the National Broadband Network. I’m proud of a bunch of the conversations that I’ve either been a part of or lead or been a leader in. When I first stood up in, if you look back through your archives, Glen, you’ll see some front pages of the Illawarra Mercury, saying perhaps some unfavourable things about me for standing up on marriage equality. It was controversial then it’s the law of the land today. It was a part about trying to make that a mainstream issue. It’s about equality. I was proud of how an issue that’s on the agenda again today.
Some you might remember a bloke by the name of Robbie Waterhouse who was on our TV screens every 15 seconds back in 2012/13. I was annoyed that I’d take my kids to the sport and they’d hear more about the odds than the rules of the game and there weren’t a lot of voices jumping up then and saying, yeah, we’ve got knock this gambling advertising on the head and we reformed it and it’ll fall to others to do more in that space down the track.
Really proud of protecting superannuation, the former government tried to cancel the superannuation guarantee levy increases from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent. I was proud back then when a lot of people thought that was a campaign that couldn’t be won, I said, this is a campaign that must be won. Worked with my good mate, Paul Keating, who I was talking to this morning and we agree this is a campaign that must be won, this is a Labor story, that must be protected for generations to come. Proud of that. We’ll continue to fight for superannuation.
Almost 3 years to the day. I was talking to my sister a couple days ago, the anniversary of the death of my nephew almost 3 years to the day, I got up in parliament and gave a speech which was very heartfelt as a father and an uncle about the conversation that the country was headed down. I don’t think it’s the role of parliament to be telling individuals who their identity is or parents how they should be parenting, and I felt that very personally, and more than that, I thought the conversation that the nation was involved in about people’s sexual identity and gender identity was not only wrong, it was incredibly harmful because this was sending a very clear message to people that they weren’t right and they weren’t loved. I thought that was not only wrong, I thought it was dangerous. What we say in parliament matters, the tone with which we use our voice matters and it was important to me. So, when you talk about legacy, I think some of it is how we set the public conversation and how we talk about things that matter and I’ve always tried to use my voice responsibly and that way to ensure, the people’s rights and values and dignity and individualism is protected.
Journalist:
And when did you use your voice to tell the prime minister that you were going to step down and what was his response for hearing that news?
Jones:
Anthony, the Prime Minister is a very old mate of mine and a great Australian and a great Prime Minister. I had the first conversation with him about 6 months ago just thinking about this, I love what I’m doing but I don’t know if I’ve another 3 years in me, I had the conversation again before Christmas and went away on leave to see whether it was going to pass, it didn’t. Anyone – some of you have – worked alongside me for many years know, I chuck everything at it. There’s no off button and you can only do that for so long. These people behind me deserve a bit more time. I’m not going to use that cliche line. But I actually do want my weekends back. And I want to spend a bit more time with the people I love. It’s true. It’s a bit hacky, but more than anything, I want to hand the baton over, I want to leave well, and I want to ensure that I go on and lead a new chapter in my life.
Journalist:
Are you confident that Whitlam will remain Labor heartland?
Jones:
I’ve never taken this seat for granted. I’ve always treated it as a seat that is marginal, and if you act like that the people will see that you’re not taking them or their issues for granted and they’ll respect that. And that’s the advice I will give to whoever succeeds me.
Journalist:
Any regrets? Anything you wish you could re‑do?
Jones:
There’s always things you thought you might have gone harder at, you might have gone, maybe I shouldn’t have said that this way, but, I always look forward, not backwards again, Liv, it’s been an honour of my life to represent a region that I love and that I grew up in and that has given so much to me. I hope people reflect on my time here and agree that I’ve given everything I could to it.
Journalist:
Are you going to remain here?
Jones:
I love this region and I’ll always be attached to it. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do next. In large part that’ll be driven by that. But frankly, if you had a choice between spending a summer afternoon on a beach in Sydney or a summer afternoon on any of the beaches around here, you wouldn’t linger too long on which place you’d go to, would you?
Journalist:
And in terms of the replacement, will the branches get to preselect their own candidate, or is that going to be something parachuted in by the Prime Minister?
Jones:
That’ll be a matter for the party to work through and I deeply respect the views and aspirations of the members in that respect, but I’m only one voice in that. I will continue to serve with all my heart, energy and strength until the election is determined. But matters of succession will be dealt with by others, I’m just one just one voice in it.
Journalist:
What does Labor need to do to stay in government given the polls are suggesting we’re heading towards a minority government?
Jones:
I think if people look at the bare facts and ask themselves, who’s got the better plan for the future, there is only one answer to that. If your concern is energy, then ensuring that you vote for the party that backed you in and gave you energy relief, instead of the party that voted against energy relief is a rational decision. If your concern is about having a new energy generation system, which is fit for the future, has got the best technology and is online over the next year or 2. You’ll go with Labor’s plan, not this nuclear fantasy which won’t generate one new watt of power for another 20 years. That is a recipe to provide every Australian household with an increase in their power bills of $1,200 a year. That’s nuts.
I think we’ve done a lot in the last 2 and a half years. We’ve restored workers rights, we’re rebuilding Medicare, we’ve balanced the budget twice, paid down $80 billion worth of debt, we’ve got a million Australians who are in work who wouldn’t otherwise be. We need another term to finish the job to ensure that we rebuild manufacturing in this region in this country through a Future Made in Australia. We rebuilt Medicare, we fixed the National Disability Insurance Scheme. And more than anything can I say this to you?
Australia’s got to have a big story. Australia is a great country and a big continent, it’s got to have a big story and there’s got to be a place in it for everyone. We don’t want to have a prime minister and a government that goes down the route of saying, my path to government is by dividing Australians and saying to some Australians there is no place in our national conversation for you and you’ve got to be invisible because I’ve got this view about Australia looks like and that’s the only view of Australia that I’m comfortable with and I think we’re better than that. I think the story of Australia, as I said once before, it’s the story of Breaker Morant, It’s the story of Puberty Blues, it’s the story Priscilla Queen of the Desert, it’s the story of Jedda, it’s the story of The Chant of Jimmie – it’s all of these stories. And to ignore one or some of them and say the only way to be Australian is the one that looks like me is un‑Australian.
Journalist:
And what’s it been like to be serving in an electorate named for perhaps the party’s greatest leader?
Jones:
He’s a great man. And it’s a great honour. As you can see I’ve got some of his key photos on the wall. He was a great man. Australia’s largest trading partner is China. You talk about economic management, Scott Morrison and the Liberals left our trading relationship with China in tatters. Over 3 years we’ve rebuilt it. It means farmers are selling produce into China that they were locked out of. It means iron ore is flowing into Chinese ports. It means our traded goods are moving into China and Australians are wealthier for it. That started with Gough Whitlam. That started with the Labor government when it was controversial to say we need to trade with every country in Asia, a Labor government did it and we are immeasurably wealthier as a country to today and we will be immeasurably wealthier as a country, over the next 3 years if we back in the Albanese government, the Future Made in Australia and a plan to build a better future that has a place in it for every Australian. Unless there’s any further questions.
Journalist:
Just one last one Stephen. I just want to ask one just about the news bargaining code. Who would you like to see take up the work negotiating with the tech giants?
Jones:
I will continue the work until the election on the news media bargaining code. I’ve been working closely with my colleague Michelle Roland on this, we will continue that work. I want to see a unity ticket across the parliament on this because when we are talking to the rest of the world, we should talk with one voice. Not as the blue team, or the red team or the green team or the brown team, or whatever, we should be talking with one voice. So I want a unity ticket across the parliament and I’ll continue to put as much energy over the next few months into that as I did over the last 6 months. Thanks so much.