PRIME MINISTER:
It’s really good to be here in Morningside with Bill Glasson who has been endorsed as the LNP candidate for Griffith, for the coming by-election now that Mr Rudd has stepped down.
I know Bill very well. When I was the Health Minister and Bill was the President of the Australian Medical Association, we worked together hand in glove to help solve the medical indemnity crisis.
Bill Glasson is one of the best people you’d ever meet. He’s a well-respected doctor. He served in the Australian military forces for many years. He does a lot of pro bono work in the west of Queensland helping Indigenous people who would otherwise not get ophthalmic treatment. He’s lived in this part of Brisbane for just about all of his adult life. He is a truly outstanding citizen and patriot and I’m proud to call him a friend and I think the people of Griffith are really lucky to have a man of this calibre running for the seat again.
Obviously, Bill had a go in the general election. I think there was a five per cent swing towards him – not quite enough to get there, but I think there’s a real chance of Bill Glasson taking this seat at the by-election due now in February because he is just about as good a local candidate, just about as outstanding a citizen as you could hope to have as a member of Parliament and as a potential member of a government. So really good to be here Bill. Good to see that you’re already out campaigning. Obviously the issues here are the sorts of issues that we see right around Australia. People are anxious about their cost of living. They’re concerned about job security and this is why it’s so important that the Labor Party is not allowed to stand in the way of the repeal of the carbon tax.
The people voted on the carbon tax in the general election. The Labor Party has not yet got the message and one of the things that I hope the voters of Griffith will do in the by-election is just say to the Labor Party, you’ve got to heed the message of the people and the message of the Australian people is, we want to axe this toxic tax. So it’s good to be here with Bill. I look forward to spending a bit more time with Bill in January and February in the run up to the by-election.
Bill do you want to say a few words?
BILL GLASSON:
Thanks very much Tony. Thanks for those kind words. Look, once again I just want to say that it’s a great privilege to once again be endorsed as the LNP candidate for Griffith. I consider it a great privilege and again I look forward to the possible opportunity if I was elected to represent the people of Griffith at a local level. I think that’s an important message, who do you want as your member of Parliament – Federal Parliament who can actually go to Canberra and represent your voice. It’s my job to get around the electorate and to continue to meet as many people as possible and the electorate across the board, hear their concerns and reflect those concerns back to the Federal Parliament and Tony Abbott and his team. So I am your voice and if I’m elected I should tell you that will be a proud voice and once again, thank you for the opportunity to stand in this by-election.
QUESTION:
Dr Glasson, do you have any misgivings about going again?
BILL GLASSON:
No, not at all. Obviously I thought the by-election was going to be a little bit later than it has turned out to be. So I just got my life back into order and now I’ve re-jigged it again, but no, I was always in the position that he was going to stand down. When he stood down, I knew he was going to stand down, that I would actually put my hand up because I believe in the people of Griffith. I’ve lived in Griffith all my life. I’m a great believer in local politics. Politics is about people and politics is about things local and so if you walk around the electorate and you talk to people, they will tell you what the problems are and they’ll often give you what the solutions are. Talking to business over here, we’ve heard the problems around the carbon tax, the cost of refrigeration, electricity bills, that’s just reinforced the message I’m getting from business to business and again the other issue is jobs – job security. People are worried about their jobs. They’re cautious to spend. We want to give them confidence to get out there, spend that money they have, drive this economy and drive a better future for us and importantly for our children.
QUESTION:
Are you expecting a tough race?
BILL GLASSON:
Look, it will be, obviously it’s a by-election and if you look at the history of by-elections, they are very tough to win. Having said that we have a wonderful team of Glasson gladiators. They’ll be out in the streets. I’ll be out in the streets and with the support of Tony Abbott and a lot of our federal counterparts, I think we can get the people of Griffith to realise this is about either Bill Glasson or whoever the Labor candidate is. I ask them to vote for Bill over whoever they select.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, could Bill Glasson get over the line this time because of backlash again Kevin Rudd resigning?
PRIME MINISTER:
Kevin Rudd was the Prime Minister. Let’s give him that due and he was the Prime Minister and normally you are a Prime Minister contesting a general election. There’s a certain added vote that you’ve got. Now of course he’s gone, it’s a pity he was sworn in on the Tuesday and he resigned on the Wednesday and having said that he would resign that week. I thought that was a pity. I thought arguably that wasn’t playing fair with the people of Griffith. So, I think Bill has a terrific chance, but in the end, what I want for the people of Griffith is the best possible member and that’s what I know Bill Glasson will be. He’s not in it for himself, he’s not in it to grandstand, he’s in it to be a very good member for Griffith and no-one has more quality and more capacity when it comes to doing that kind of job than Bill Glasson.
QUESTION:
Are you going to do something about the aircraft noise?
BILL GLASSON:
We’re listening to all of the issues about aircraft noise and hopefully for the people of Griffith we have that second runway built. It wasn’t built as you know because our previous incumbent member blocked it, then I think that will make a difference in terms of the noise across this city, particularly at night and so just wait for the second runway. Let’s listen again to the people of Griffith and talk to the Brisbane Airport Corporation to make sure that we actually try and get a solution that doesn’t hurt the economy, because at the end of the day, the commerce that comes to that airport is so important and so we’ve got to make sure that the planes run, we’ve also got to make sure that we get a good night’s sleep as well. So, it is a major issue and I’m certainly listening to the people of Griffith about that issue.
QUESTION:
What sort of money does the carbon tax – is it affecting that business over there?
BILL GLASSON:
This business is roughly 12 per cent. So, I think he’s paying a bit over $2,500 a year. So do the maths on that and for a business that has small margins – a family business with small margins, that 12 per cent makes a difference between viable and not viable and so it is around the cost of doing business. The carbon tax is just another impost that Richard and Maree don’t want.
[ends]