As the by-election of the federal seat of Bennelong draws close, Labor candidate Kristina Keneally talks to SBS Cantonese.
Ms Keneally says Opposition Leader Bill Shorten did what he had to in relation to the allegations against Sam Dastyari, removing him from his Senate positions.
On Tuesday, Mr Dastyari then from the Senate after the mounting pressure for him to do so.
He explained that the decision was guided by his Labor values, telling him that it would be best for him to quit if his "ongoing presence detracts from the pursuit of Labor's mission."
In the interview, Ms Keneally also says voters in the electorate are concerned with what she called "China-phobic" rhetoric made by the Liberals, their candidate John Alexander and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in recent days, which is "hurting him [John Alexander] in Bennelong."
Ms Keneally also addresses other issues surrounding the Bennelong community including the NBN, electricity prices, over-development, education, and infrastructure.
Below is the transcript of the conversation.
Do you think the Dastyari incident will tarnish voters’ confidence in the Labor party?
Firstly, Tanya Plibersek in her role as our Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs did not change the meeting - she went ahead, she met with this particular activist.
I think that speaks volumes about her and the Labor Party’s position in terms of China.
But I do think it’s concerning that what I’m picking up here in Bennelong is that, people of Chinese background, people of Korean backgroun, are alarmed by what they see is a real China-phobia from the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
He, in his language, seems to be suggesting that all Chinese-Australians should be viewed with some suspicion.
And I think there’s a lot of Chinese-Australians here at Bennelong who are saying… you know, we haven’t heard this type of language since Pauline Hanson 20 years ago, and it’s quite concerning for them to hear it coming from Malcolm Turnbull.
So, don’t you think our Prime Minister should put Australia’s interest first?
The Prime Minister of Australia should always put Australia’s interest first, but what Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals are doing is risking our crucial relationship with China.
They are risking the cohesion that exists in multicultural Australia, in modern Australia. They are risking the sense and the values that we place on people coming from China to work, to study, to raise their families here in Australia.
That’s what at risk here and Malcolm Turnbull is doing that and he is doing it not for Australia’s benefit but for his own political survival. He has seized upon an issue and is using it in a political way - not for Australia’s best interest but for his own.
How would you react if you were the Prime Minister?
First of all, I am not the Prime Minister - that’s Malcolm Turnbull’s job and he’s doing it quite badly - I am the Labor candidate for Bennelong.
All I can say on this matter is that Bill Shorten as the leader of the opposition has been quite clear with Sam Dastyari - he sacked him from his position in the Senate, he has made clear that Mr Dastyari’s career is going nowhere far, and that Senator Dastyari is on his last notice.
That’s the strong leadership that Mr Shorten has taken, and I support it.
Do you think this incident will diminish your chance to win the by-election?
I think what is happening here is that Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals are doing what they often do, which is to go too far with their language and their arguments. Because, instead of raising what they say are their concern, they have now made a bad situation… it’s not a good situation with Sam Dastyari, but they have made it so much worse, and they’ve made it worse for themselves.
They’ve made it worse for Australia. They have put our relationship, our important economic relationship with China.
The number of students to come here to study from China is essential to our university system. And they have put all of that at risk with their rhetoric but more concerning for Bennelong is they’re doing real harm to their Liberal candidate in Bennelong, John Alexander.
Mr Alexander runs a million miles from this language because he knows it’s hurting him in Bennelong, but Malcolm Turnbull and our Liberal colleagues, when they stand up and they push this China-phobia, they’re actually doing themselves and Mr Alexander damage in the local Chinese community.
So, are you still confident that you can win?
Look, I have never been confident about any election until the polls are closed and the votes are counted. I always knew that this is going to be a tough fight.
It requires a 10 per cent swing. But I do think that this is a fight we’re having… and I have to say, the response I’m getting from the local community has been tremendous - it’s been enthusiastic.
People are keen to see a change, they’re keen to see a local member get up here, who has the energy and who will fight for them. And so I’m feeling quite a lot of support. But you know what, until the ballots are counted, I’m not willing to make a prediction.
Do you think that Mr Shorten should sack Mr Dastyari to give people the confidence in Labor?
Well, Mr Shorten has sacked Mr Dastyari from all of his positions. What Mr Shorten can’t do is remove him from the Senate.
That is because he’s elected by the people of NSW - they put Sam Dastyari in the Senate - that would be up to him to resign.
And I do think, he needs to think very carefully about his future, and how he will conduct himself as a Senator in the future. But I made clear that Mr Shorten has sacked Mr Dastyari from all of his positions.
What are your plans in mind to improve the transportation and education problems in your electorate?
Well, I do know there are a lot of frustrations on the ground in Bennelong about over-development.
The Liberal Government in NSW has approved 13 thousand dwellings, over the local community’s objection.
What we’re seeing is that local schools are crowded - we’ve got five schools that are absolute capacity. And the Liberals are taking 11 million dollars this year alone, out of the local schools in Bennelong, you know, that’s teachers, that’s buildings… that’s a lot that are cut - it’s hurting our children.
So Labor’s very clear. We will stop the cuts to education, we will put that 11 million back into Bennelong, we’ll put 70 billion back into schools across Australia.
And I know… I’m a professor at Macquarie University… I know what the Liberals proposed 3.8-billion-dollar cut would do to our university sector, in terms of research and teaching.
I know that their plan to have a hundred thousand dollar university degrees, would mean a lot of kids would not be able to leave high school and go to university. So we’re also making clear that we will stop… we oppose those cuts, we oppose them in the Senate, and if elected we would not implement them.
How about the alleged over-development issue in the electorate?
What I think people are frustrated by is the number of units that have been developed and the lack of investment in rail or road infrastructure to support it, or new hospitals or schools to support it.
That’s the frustration that I’ve picked up at every single guy. You know, when I was the Premier of NSW, I funded a rail linked between Parramatta to Epping. When Barry O'Farrell and the Liberals were elected in NSW, they cancelled it.
There would be a rail line today, there would be a connection between Parramatta, Carlingford, Epping and over to Macquarie Park.
Any final comments on why should the voters vote for you?
Three things.
One. We know that the electricity prices keep going up and up, hurting families, hurting local businesses. We’ve seen a 20 per cent increase just the last two months in NSW. So we want to invest in renewable energy - it’s cheaper and it’s cleaner. We want to reserve a portion of our domestic gas for our use here in Australia. So we want to put downward pressure on electricity prices.
When it comes to the NBN, there are thousands of homes in Bennelong, they were just told they’re not going to get the NBN for another nine months. This NBN is slow, and it costs about the same or more than people who’ve been paying their Internet before. We want an NBN that work, we want an NBN that has fiber to reach the premise, we want the Government to stop playing cable, we want to go back to the plan to connect people with fiber to the NBN.
And lastly, we’ve had in Bennelong, which is the area that I live, we’ve had a local member for a long time, who is a nice guy.
He’s a nice man, John Alexander. But he doesn’t have the energy, he doesn’t have the enthusiasm to stand up and fight for our community.
I’m constantly amazed at how little he says in the Parliament about these issues that are affecting this constituents. He’s barely said a word about our over-development, he’s barely said a word about the NBN, he’s barely said anything about electricity prices.
I want to stand up and fight for our community. I want to be an energetic voice for our local area. And if I’m elected, that’s what I’ll do.
