Doorstop - Bruce, ACT
18 October 2018
PRIME MINISTER: Let’s go straight to questions.
JOURNALIST: Barnaby Joyce, would you welcome him back as Nationals leader?
PRIME MINISTER: They are matters for the National Party but what I do know is that the Coalition between the Nationals and the Liberals has never been stronger. Michael McCormack, I continue to work with him enthusiastically, passionately and just announcing what I have this morning - well it wasn't really an announcement, our position has never changed. Of course we have been working towards an agricultural visa and we’ve got a plan for how to get there. And so Michael McCormack has been critical in that process and I continue to enjoy working with him and I think he does a fantastic job.
JOURNALIST: Is his leadership under threat?
PRIME MINISTER: That is a matter for the National Party.
JOURNALIST: Did you ask Malcolm Turnbull to write a letter of support for Dave Sharma? Is it disappointing he hasn’t played a greater role in the campaign?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Malcolm I think made it pretty clear. I mean, Dave Sharma was Malcolm's hand-picked candidate, as everybody knows. I think he was the best candidate in the field and the pre-selectors endorsed that position at the end of the day. Malcolm decided that he was leaving public life, he tweeted in favour of Dave, I know he supports Dave, but he decided to no longer be playing a role in national politics here in Australia and I respect that decision.
JOURNALIST: The fake email about Kerryn Phelps…
PRIME MINISTER: I couldn't hear you.
JOURNALIST: The fake email about Kerryn Phelps circulating around, who do you think would do something…
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think it is disgraceful, I think It is outrageous. And as Kerryn herself has said, she doesn’t believe it had anything to do, and I'd be horrified if it did - and it didn't - with the Liberal Party. So that is the ugly side of Australian politics and it has no place in any such contest.
JOURNALIST: A number of the Nationals were quite critical of the Liberals back in August when the Liberals had their leadership spill. What sort of message do you for your Coalition partner now?
PRIME MINISTER: That we've a strong Coalition.
JOURNALIST: Are you frustrated there's talk around leadership again, and that it's creating an aura of instability around the Coalition?
PRIME MINISTER: The Canberra bubble is always the Canberra bubble and I'm not distracted by it. Never am. I know, I know the Gallery does get distracted by these things. I don't. Because you know, I’m here today to talk to farmers who are getting through drought. I'm here today with farmers who are looking to how they're going to manage the harvest. I'm here today to talk about the trade partnership which is opening up half a billion new customers for our agricultural sector, delivering $15 billion or more to our economy. We're working on getting electricity prices down. We've cut taxes, legislated - legislated - for businesses under $50 million to get them to 25 per cent. That's what I'm focused on. You guys can focus on the politics all you like. I'm focused on what the Australian people are focused on.
JOURNALIST: So Prime Minister, can we have a rural-focused question, then?
PRIME MINISTER: Sure, that would be great.
JOURNALIST: What measures are going to be on the table next week at the drought summit?
PRIME MINISTER: They'll be announced when we go into the summit next week. But as you know, we have been working hard on improving the administration and reducing the complexity of the Farm Household Allowance Scheme.
JOURNALIST: There is a review of that Farm Household Allowance Scheme that's going to return in 2019. That's kind of a long time frame?
PRIME MINISTER: Well as I say, we'll have more to say on that between now and next week. The drought summit will provide a great opportunity, I think, to do two things - well, three things. First of all, to get a common operating picture among all the stakeholders about where the needs are, where the sensitivities are, where the pressure is, where the towns are that need more support, where perhaps we're seeing the drought now drift into other parts of the country and getting a good understanding of that. Secondly, to ensure we've all got a good understanding of the measures that are already on foot. There's $1.8 billion of support and measures that are already out there working to support our rural and regional areas that are impacted by the drought. Now, that includes the million dollars for every single council in drought-affected areas, and Bridget McKenzie is working through that process with those councils now. Those applications are coming in and we need to make sure that's targeted and that those projects are getting the money circulating in those local economies that is supporting not just obviously the farmers, but is supporting the many others who aren't farmers who are living in those rural and regional areas. But it's also a good opportunity to go further with some additional measures and some additional work that is going to be needed in terms of our ongoing response. But it's not just about the relief. It's not just about the recovery. It's the long-term resilience in the future plan to ensure that we are more prepared, we are more resilient when it comes to dealing with droughts of this scale into the future. So that's what I'm focused on. That's what the National Party is focused on. That's what Michael McCormack is focused on. They're the issues that we're working on together, doing the right thing for rural and regional Australians, together with my Liberal colleagues from rural and regional areas. I see Tony Pasin here today this morning at the NFF. That's what we're focused on. You know, politics, others can go and bang on about. I'm not interested in that. I'm not distracted by it. I think people are starting to work that out by me. I don't get distracted by what goes on here in Canberra. I keep 100 per cent focused on what you need me to be focused on out in the rest of the country. Thanks very much.
