TRANSCRIPT - DOORSTOP - MONDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2026

PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: Labor comes here to fight for things that make a real difference to working Australians. Tax cuts, increases to minimum wage, and Free TAFE. And what we've seen today in the papers from the conservatives is a plan to take Australia's economy backwards.

It has taken 30 years for Senator Hanson to put her migration policy together, and it has fallen apart in just 30 minutes. The National Farmers' Federation this morning have described Senator Hanson's policy as "terrible." And that's because it will run a wrecking ball through the Australian economy.

Not only will it mean that farms on the Scenic Rim in Queensland will struggle to get the workers they need. It will mean that we see aged care facilities on the Sunshine Coast have to close. We will see hospitals like Rockingham Hospital in Western Australia struggle to get the nurses that they need to make sure they can support their communities. And Senator Hanson needs to answer, which construction projects will she close? Because if we can't get the construction workers that we need to build homes for Australians, then more people will struggle to get into a home of their own.

Now, I would think after 30 years of promising this migration policy, Senator Hanson and her conservative colleagues would have a very carefully costed, very carefully modelled policy, but what is becoming increasingly clear, as the National Farmers' Federation president outlined this morning, this policy is terrible. And it will result in business closures and service closures across Australia, including for our regional universities like the University of New England. I don't know if Senator Hanson or Barnaby Joyce have spoken to the University of New England about what impact this will have on their university, but I am incredibly concerned about the unforeseen, or actually, in fact, very foreseeable impacts of what Senator Hanson has put forward. And if we don't see modelling released in the next hour or so, we will know this is all politics, and it is very bad policy for the Australian people.

JOURNALIST: Just your thoughts on international students. Obviously, One Nation had flagged them as an area to cut. I know the Nationals are also keen to cut that area. Labor - where does it sit on, obviously, getting its own net overseas migration target?

GORMAN: We have done a lot of work when it comes to international students to make sure that we have international student policy settings that are right for Australia and the Australian people. Obviously, it is a large export, and it's a way that we welcome people into Australia for a temporary period of time, so we can sell them an education product.

One of the things we have required of higher education providers is that, if they are bringing more international students in, they provide the housing for those students to reduce pressure on other parts of the economy.

And in my electorate of Perth, I am seeing that. I am seeing new student accommodation popping out of the ground, so that there's something appropriate for students, but it is taking pressure off other parts of the economy. That is the smart way through, and that's the way where we can get all of the economic benefits for Australia and for Australian workers of international students, without having some of those other pressures on the economy.

JOUNALIST: Can we expect additional cuts to temporary visa holders as part of the Government's immigration policy going forward?

GORMAN: Look, we have said really clearly that we are working on a migration policy that is in the interests of Australians, and we will do it in a calm and orderly way. That is what we are doing. We are not going to be rushed by the Liberal Party or the National Party or the One Nation political party. We will do this in an orderly way. Minister Burke will make those announcements.

JOURNALIST: Just your thoughts as well on potentially reinstating a discount to the fuel excise if we see prices at the bowser return to their record peaks, is that something that's on the table for Labor?

GORMAN: We obviously put in that temporary relief when we had the first impacts of this horrible conflict, that we have been calling for many months to come to an end. What we have done is look at a range of different ways to provide cost-of-living relief to Australian families on everything from cheaper medicines through to the tax cuts that kicked in on the 1st of July. I believe that when you are dealing with an international conflict like what we're seeing between the United States and Iran, you have to monitor it day-by-day and respond to the circumstances. But it is not something that we have announced at this point.

JOURNALIST: The Business Council's warning productivity this decade is going to be the worst since records began. They are suggesting slashing red tape, tax overhaul, making the business settings for international investment more competitive. Is the Government going to look to implement those recommendations?

GORMAN: We have taken the recommendations that came out of the Economic Reform Roundtable that the Treasurer hosted last year. We have got public servants implementing those recommendations. We have got partnerships with business to deliver on those recommendations. I welcome anyone who comes to the productivity discussion with good ideas, but I will just note that this Government has done substantial tax reform.

We have done substantial productivity reform. We have kept the door open for new ideas when it comes to productivity, but right now there is one idea that is on the table that will absolutely smash productivity in this country, and that is this proposal when it comes to migration.

A proposal that will mean that we have closures of aged care facilities. Closures of hospitals. Closure of construction sites across this country, and we won't be able to get the next generation of skilled workers because we will see closures and bankruptcy for regional universities because of the plans that have been put forward by Senator Hanson.

JOURNALIST: The Business Council says we will need to lift productivity to a 3 per cent growth rate to get to the growth we had in the 2010s. Is that possible by the end of this decade?

GORMAN: We have a substantial productivity agenda. It cuts across everything from housing regulation, through to how do we make sure that we have better productivity advice to government when we're making decisions. And of course, the investments that are in the Budget, around making sure we have more incentives for small businesses to invest in productive capital. And that was a massive package of support for small business, which we know is the engine room of the Australian economy.

So, we will keep going down that path. We will keep welcoming in ideas, and of course, the Treasurer has said very clearly that it is his goal to increase productivity in this country, and that's what we're working on.

JOUNALIST: Do you think you're selling the message, though, with the latest poll in the Sydney Morning Herald saying that the majority of Australians don't think the Government is handling the economy well?

GORMAN: As we were just talking about, with the huge shocks that our economy has faced because of a war in Iran that we have called for months for a return to dialogue. A return to a ceasefire, and to a diplomatic outcome. But we know that as long as that conflict continues, there are going to be shocks through the economy that are compounding the shocks we've already had from other conflicts, including the Ukraine conflict. So, we will keep working through how we can best support the Australian people, in the circumstances which we didn't choose, and we would like to see change. But I'm a realist about the global economy. We will keep doing what we can do here.

And what I always think when I see any piece of polling, and there's a lot in the papers these days, is what the Australian people want us to do is the job we're elected to do, which is to make decisions in the Australian national interest. That is what we'll continue to do.

JOURNALIST: Just thank you for [inaudible] immigration. What - we were supposed to see it announced [inaudible] Tony Burke has been at the National Press Club a month or so ago. What are the key sticking points within the Government for stopping that policy from being announced? And even if you've got a general timeline, could we expect that perhaps over the next month that migration process?

GORMAN: I will outline the principles that we have when it comes to forming policy. That is, that we do it in an orderly, consultative way. We do it with the best advice from the Australian Public Service and we do it making sure that we're going to deliver benefits for the Australian people who we serve. And that's why I am so critical of the rushed migration policy that we've seen from Senator Hanson today.

After 30 years, in and out of politics, I would have thought that Senator Hanson had put a little bit more detail in her policy and thought through a little bit more the consequences of what she has proposed to do. It will be a wrecking ball through the Australian economy. I can guarantee you that Australian Labor wants to make the economy stronger, not weaker, and that is now the big difference between Labor and the conservative side of politics. Thank you.

ENDS