CATHY O'TOOLE, MEMBER FOR HERBERT: ..the Honourable Chris Bowen, the Shadow Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Small Business. This is just another indication of Labors commitment to regional Queensland and particularly here in Herbert. So Chris has come today to shortly go out to the University and have some conversations around some of the marine sciences and our STEM ambitions for the north. He will also be meeting with business leaders and leaders of the Townsville community talking about the needs that we have

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OTOOLE: Chris is here to talk to business leaders and community leaders to get a grip on what it is that we need for our community. Of course the major issue for us here in Townsville is jobs. We have very high unemployment in our normal unemployment and also our youth unemployment hovering between 18 and 20 per cent so the opportunity for Chris to hear about the sorts of infrastructure projects that we need to create those new jobs for our young people and for people in this community is absolutely essential.

CHRIS BOWEN, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks Cathy its always a pleasure to be back in Townsville particularly with Cathy, what a strong advocate for the people of Herbert in the Federal Parliament and of course we want her to be a strong advocate for the people of Herbert in a Shorten Labor Government should we be elected. And of course she has worked incredibly hard and its always a pleasure to spend time with Cathy and importantly she has been delivering in opposition. Labors commitment, $100 million for water security for Townsville. $200 million for a Hydro facility unmatched by the Liberal National Government which talks a big talk about Queensland and north Queensland but its Cathy and Labor who have delivered and will continue to deliver particularly if we win the next federal election. Im really looking forward to the next day or day and a half of meetings. The regional economy of north Queensland is very important for Australia, very important for me as the alternative Treasurer. You cant be a Sydney and Melbourne focused Government, you cant be a Sydney and Melbourne focused Treasurer. Of course I cant compete with Bill Shorten who has been here 16 times since 2015. Im not going to match that but I have been a regular visitor to Queensland, to central and north Queensland and will continue to be so, including as Treasurer.

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BOWEN: Just on a national issue. Today we see the Final Budget Outcome. I see Josh Frydenberg and Mathias Cormann patting themselves on the back, patting the Liberal National Party on the back for a Budget deficit which is four times bigger than what they predicted in their first Budget when they came to office. Of course when I say they I mean the Liberal National Party. I am now facing my third Treasurer, it was Joe Hockey who made that prediction. It seems like a long time ago but it was at the beginning of this Liberal and National Government. Now this is a Government which has seen net debt double, has seen gross debt stuck over half a trillion dollars. This is a Government which has given up on Budget repair, Josh Frydenberg scrapping the Governments Budget rules, scrapping the fiscal responsibility saying they will pay for all their promises, simply putting their cash spending on the never never. Well its not what Labor will do.

Labor will maintain our fiscal discipline. We have committed to have bigger Budget surpluses over the forward estimates cumulatively than what is predicted in the last federal Budget. We will deliver on that commitment. We will deliver substantially bigger surpluses over the medium term because the nation needs a bigger buffer, the nation needs those bigger surpluses. We need to fund important initiatives in health and education and in other important social initiatives like making superannuation fairer for women. Putting superannuation to work in a better and fairer way for Australias women as we announced last week. All these things need to be funded but we also need bigger Budget surpluses.

But of course as I said at the outset I am very much looking forward to the two days worth of meetings. Im here with Cathy, she has put together a very good itinerary for me. Youth unemployment remains a problem, unemployment in Townsville and other parts of north Queensland remains a problem. We need a federal Government focused on those issues, focused on delivering for the people of regional and north Queensland and we will continue to do that in Opposition and Im sure we will do that in Government if we are given that opportunity.

Happy to take any questions.

JOURNALIST: In a Shorten Labor Government what would Townsvilles role be in bringing the Budget back into surplus and that fiscal responsibility you mentioned?

BOWEN: Well Townsvilles role in a Shorten Labor Government will be an area which is worthy of investment, an area which is worthy of special focus to get that unemployment rate down. I mean we want an Australia where every young person can get a job. Now Townsville has a lot to offer. Im particularly looking forward to our meetings with James Cook University and their focus on science and technology, engineering and maths because I think regional areas of Australia have a lot to offer in that journey as we tackle a rapidly changing world economy.

Now Townsville is an important part of the economy hence our regular visits, hence central and north Queensland will be at important focus for me as Treasurer but it is about working with the community to get that economic growth going. To deal with what has been a rapidly changing economy and with the decline of the mining investment boom which happened right up and down the Queensland coast but there is enormous opportunities and particularly focused on our universities and our vocational education and training sector. That will be the focus as well of course as tourism with our $1 billion tourism infrastructure fund which we have already announced which well be focusing on starting tomorrow and right up to the next election and beyond.

JOURNALIST: Shadow Treasurer, the predicted deficit was around $30 billion, it has come back at $10 billion. Would you admit that that is a small win for the Government?

BOWEN: Well as I said, its four times bigger what they predicted when they came to office. I mean this is a Government which has failed their own tests and of course this is built on the back of massive cuts to schools and hospitals as well. Cuts which we will deal with on coming to office. We have already announced even in the last little while further announcements in relation to education and on the weekend in relation to Health. So we will have a better plan, a plan which invests in those essential services of health and education and other important priorities and delivers bigger budget surpluses as well because of the important decisions we have made all through the term in relation to important reforms. We will deliver those in office.

JOURNALIST: You say it is four times larger than what was predicted back in 2013 however it is three times smaller than what it was predicted for this period. Are you worried that that will be a good look for the Government?

BOWEN: The Government will be out there spinning, thats what Josh Frydenberg does best. I give him credit for that, hes a very good spin doctor. But the Australian people know that it has been delivered on the back of cuts to health, cuts to education. This is a Government which has refused to make the difficult decisions like Labor has done and is refusing to now apply their own rules, their own rules say that they should offset all new spending with cuts elsewhere. Josh Frydenberg has thrown that out the window in his first act as Federal Treasurer. We will maintain the fiscal discipline that Jim Chalmers and I impose in Labors Budget processes. Josh Frydenberg has simply given up the task.

JOURNALIST: For a large science and engineering centre at JCU the university has dipped into NAIF funding which was obviously announced here some months ago by Matt Canavan. Under Labor is that the kind of thing that will be funded by the Government or would the universities still be expected to pay their own way?

BOWEN: We will work very closely with the universities and we will look at very favourably at current investments which have a dividend for the local community and for the country. I mean the work that James Cook University does will have a dividend for the entire nation as well as for the local community and so whether it is through the NAIF which weve supported, we think it has taken far too long. I remember sitting there when Joe Hockey announced the plan, it was a long time ago, it was in his first Budget a long time ago since the NAIF was announced and we have seen a trickle of dollars for northern Australia. It should have been done much better. We will invest in communities, we will invest in universities, we will have more to say but first youve got to listen. Thats the important first task and many of the meetings Cathy has put together for me today and tomorrow are a very important part of that policy development.

JOURNALIST: You are going to be meeting with James Cook University, can you give us a quick elevator pitch as to what thats going to involve?

BOWEN: I might get Cathy to talk about that, shes already given me a briefing on landing, I have already read the briefing notes and Im looking forward to the meeting but Cathy has been working seriously on the proposals, so shes better placed to run through them with you..

OTOOLE: Thank you. We have an opportunity here in Townsville working in partnership with Townsville Enterprise, with James Cook University and also working with our STEM Ambassador Sarah Chapman who is a scientist and a teacher here at Townsville State High to put together an opportunity to have a STEM Centre of Excellence where we will look at how we can put a vision together and to educate children from early childhood right through past University and post graduate studies so that we have the vision for what STEM means for our community here and for north Queensland. We will also be talking about how that can interplay with re-HQ which is the oldest facility of its nature in Australia. Its over 40 years old but is in need of repair and also James Cook University have substantial industry investment in our agricultural centre, that needs to be completely revitalized because technology has moved on.

So those projects can intertwine together to provide wonderful educational opportunities for our young people, jobs of the future and the skills that they will need to undertake those jobs with industry in partnership. It is a really exciting project, we have an opportunity to lead the world internationally in that space and as people in our community would be aware James Cook is the number one university internationally for marine science and tropical science so we could not be in a better place.

JOURNALIST: Townsvilles unemployment just spiked at 9.5 per cent last month and its over 17 per cent for youths. The only worst place in Queensland is the outback. What would a Labor Government do to generate jobs?

BOWEN: Well I mean this is the key point, this is what Im talking about: investment in our regions. I mean a lot of economic activity in Australia in the last couple of years has been sucked towards Sydney and Melbourne. A majority of jobs created in Australia are in Sydney and Melbourne. Now the Government pats itself on the back about job creation but what they dont do is say there has been a big shift towards Sydney and Melbourne. Now I come from Sydney, of course jobs created in Sydney is a good thing but youve got to make sure that the growth is shared and that means investment, it means working with communities, it means taking ideas from the grass roots up, Ill be hearing some in just a little while, and investing in them and getting that youth unemployment in particular down, as well as the general unemployment rate. Youth unemployment and general unemployment in regional Queensland is too high. Now unless you try and fix it, you are not going to. Here is the Labor Party, engaged in our very extensive consultations in Queensland; Bill Shorten, Jason Clare, Anthony Albanese and myself, Jim Chalmers regular visitors, the entire Shadow Cabinet in fairness. Right up and down the Queensland coast, its not just about Townsville. Townsville is very important. Its about Gladstone, its about Cairns, its about the entire area of central and far north Queensland and it needs that investment. And as Ive said, theres been a trickle of dollars from the NAIF. What we need is proper plans which deal with things like water and hydro; Cathy wouldnt let me forget that, she is constantly lobbying on behalf of water for Townsville, but that also has an important economic impact, a job creating impact, while solving a local problem. Thats two commitments right up front and I look forward to consulting more on what else we should be doing in Townsville in particular.

JOURNALIST: What sectors are best to help tackle the youth employment problem?

BOWEN: Well I think the university sector here is very important, the university and tourism sectors combined, working closely together. I see this right around the country, when I go to regional areas, those where the university is focused on the challenges and opportunities of that region, do that much better. Thats why my first meeting will be with James Cook University. We will also be meeting with local business leaders and Townsville leaders tomorrow. Tourism is an area that is always in needing investment, youve got out $1 billion Tourism Investment Fund for Northern Australia, which is very important for us going forward. Theyre the sorts of things were looking at as well as general, old-fashioned infrastructure, which is important also.

Cathys priorities have been water and hydro and we have responded in kind with those commitments which have not, till this day, been matched by the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Governments.

JOURNALIST: Labor has committed to Stage 2 of (Inaudible)

BOWEN: Ill get Cathy to add to this, but this is a very important investment from us. This is an opportunity to partner with the Commonwealth. Look, Ive got to tell you, we dont make $100 million commitments lightly, we dont make them very often. This is a very important indication of our commitment to Townsville.

OTOOLE: We are waiting for the Water Taskforce to deliver their report which should come down at the end of this month. We will see what the actual cost is. There are conversations occurring now between Federal and State departments in terms of what the final build cost will be. The first stage was delivered by the State Government and that was $25 million. Our $100 million commitment is substantial and real to get stage 2 delivered. Stage 2 will get us fifty to sixty years of water security. We cannot grow as an economy or community without having water security. If you just look at new housing demand, water security is a crucial issue for us. So this is a great step forward and it will deliver, we need it to deliver.

JOURNALIST: Speaking of commitment, the Government still has $75 million of the (inaudible). What do you think it should be spent on?

OTOOLE: Youre talking aboutyes, theyve committed $75 million to the Port Expansion Project. We committed that 190 days earlier. We committed $75 million to the Port Expansion Project in February 2018, it took the Government 197 days to catch-up to Labor. That is a no brainer for this community, this project is critical for this community, because we will have dual hull ships coming in with fuel. If we dont have the Port Expansion Project, the ships cannot come in, the ships will go to Brisbane and the fuel will be trucked up. Our fuel is already at very high prices, it would be even worse. Not to mention the important import export opportunities for our community. So Labor was well ahead of the game, we have led the debate. As far as the port expansion is concerned, you look at what happened with the Townsville stadium, Labor committed to the stadium in November 2015 and the Government committed to it the day before pre-poll opened. Labor has a history in this community of leading with the front foot, we have committed to the projects that have been essential for the infrastructure and jobs for this community.

BOWEN: Okay, I think were all done. Thanks.