TRANSCRIPT: RADIO INTERVIEW - 2GB WITH ALAN JONES - THURSDAY, 19 MARCH 2020

E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
RADIO INTERVIEW
2GB RADIO WITH ALAN JONESTHURSDAY, 19 MARCH 2019

SUBJECT: Arts industry in crisis.

ALAN JONES: Tony Burke is a Federal Labor MP. He's got a very simple and significant posting on social media where he just makes the point which will rock your socks: 65,000 events, his social media post says, cancelled already. He's on the line. Tony Burke good morning.

TONY BURKE: G’day Alan.

JONES: Thank you for your time. This is this is really devastating isn't it?
BURKE: People in the industry, they understand why the Government's had to make these decisions, like they get it. But from their perspective they've also, in the course of one media conference, watched the next four months of work just disappear.

JONES: That's correct. That's correct. I had a violinist, a violinist who is in one of the musicals that's been terminated in Melbourne, a very successful musical, wrote to me to say all my gigs for the next six months are gone. How do I pay my bills? I can't answer the question, nor can you I guess?

BURKE: For the artists we’re very hopeful that when this second stimulus package comes out there's something that helps carry forward, and it’s all industries you raise right through to the security guards out the front. People just watched everything disappear. So we're hopeful that the next package reaches these people, because sole traders missed out on the first one so hopefully they make the second one. And in the meantime for the rest of us, the thing that we can do is be listening to Australian music. If you're going to stream music, they get a small royalty every time you listen to their music. Don't send the royalties overseas send them to Australian artists.

JONES: Tony two things because you've got influence as a senior political figure. I'm just wondering whether we're talking about, and there's got to be as you said another stimulus package, but would it be sensible for someone like Evelyn Richardson, who is the chief executive of Live Performance Australia, for people to be able to say look every musician who has been affected by this, register with her, indicate, and you have to prove your legitimacy, and the money then could be allocated directly to those people to enable them to continue to pay the bills. Should there be also a provision whereby Government releases or reduces the demands in relation to superannuation and give people access to a component of their superannuation for a defined period, it might be the next five or six months.

BURKE: Yeah look, very few of these workers have super. The ones who are sole traders, super doesn’t tend to reach them.

JONES: Or do we need a HELP scheme for them you know as we have with university students, we say alright you can go to university and we will meet, we'll underwrite as a Government the cost of going to union, and when you get to $45,000 you can start paying it back. Should we have a HELP scheme of that kind where in these circumstances the Government is underwriting their ability to continue.

BURKE: There's a few different ways the Government can do it and to be honest I don't mind which way they choose. And what you've described are different ways that might work. All that I want to make sure of is that this industry – you know when the bushfires were on they were the first people we went to saying “Will you work for free?” And they did, they did. They had our back. And right now they're the ones in crisis and I just want to make sure that Australia has got their back.

JONES: Good on you. Wonderful stuff Tony. Wonderful stuff. Thank you for your time. Keep in touch.

BURKE: Great to talk again Alan.

JONES: You too. That's nice stuff isn't it, Tony Burke the Federal Labor MP.

ENDS