Doorstop - Murrarie, QLD
12 October 2020
ROSS VASTA MP, MEMBER FOR BONNER: Good afternoon everyone, my name’s Ross Vasta, I’m the federal member for Bonner. I’d like to acknowledge the Quandamooka people, the local traditional custodians of the land on which we gather and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. I would also like to welcome the Prime Minister back to Queensland, especially to the electorate of Bonner. So Prime Minister, welcome back. And I would also like to acknowledge my good friend and colleague the Honourable Trevor Evans, the Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management. And Trevor, you are doing a great job in cleaning up our waterways and working with ocean crusaders. So keep up the good work. Now, this Budget has been able to deliver for so many people and since the Budget was delivered on Tuesday night, my office has been inundated with phone calls saying how good this Budget has been for them. And so on my return back to Brisbane, I went and saw a food manufacturer who said to me for the first time that they would be able to hire a new apprentice and purchase new capital equipment with the instant asset write off. This Budget is creating jobs, it’s growing our economy, and this is what the LNP does. We’re a Government that invests in the future, it’s in our DNA. So without any further ado, could I introduce the Honourable Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Ross. Well, thank you Ross, and thank you Trevor, and thank you Ian for having us here at Visy and to all of your staff here who do a tremendous job. You know, we’re very good at mining in this country and we’re used to digging resources out of the ground. But what you can see around me here is a resource. It is a resource that is going to continue to power our economy into the future and thousands and thousands of jobs. What you see around me here is our waste and that means it is our responsibility. And our Government is committed to making sure that our waste doesn’t end up in landfill, that our waste is turned into a resource that can be used in so many different applications and industries all around the country.
Our manufacturing plan that is part of the Budget set aside recycling as a key manufacturing industry for Australia. And the reason we did that is we know it has great potential. Visy itself is one of the world's leaders in recycling technology all around the world, not just here. I've seen it firsthand in the United States as well. They are a powerhouse of an organisation when it comes to bringing forward the best technology, the best processes and world’s best practice when it comes to the recycling sector.
We made a commitment, to the children of Australia, that we said we would stop exporting our waste, the glass, the plastics, the paper, the tyres, and I made that same commitment to the leaders of Pacific islands, and those throughout Southeast Asia. Because as much as we want to keep our own waterways and our own environment as clean as possible, we want to ensure that we are doing what's right for our neighbours as well when it comes to how we deal with our own waste. But it's just not about, as Trevor knows, being good environmental citizens. It's also a very big business and it's a very big industry. Our plan will see 10 million tonnes of waste not go into landfill. Not go overseas but to be reused in our reuse economy, our circular economy. That will create around 10,000 jobs. Just to give you an idea of the scale of that, that is equivalent to the waste, not just what you put in the recycling bin, of a city the size of Canberra, not putting anything into landfill for 10 years. It is the equivalent of the waste that, on average, would be produced every year from Noosa to the Gold Coast and everywhere in between. That's how much waste our plan will be delivering to save the environment and to create jobs in this country. In this budget there is a $190 million fund which goes together with the states and the territories and industry, a one for one for one. It will leverage some $600 million in the technology and scale of recycling places just like this one and in other parts of the production process. On the Gold Coast on the weekend, I was at Neumann Steel and they, through recycled plastic, are making mouldings that go into the slabs of residential homes. That's where raw materials are going into the future and Australia wants to be part of that.
So the plans we’ve outlined in the Budget, plans to boost recycling as a major industry here in Australia, create jobs and do the right thing about our environment is something we are very committed to. It was something we outlined before the election and it is something we have kept our commitment to during the COVID-19 recession. It's become part of the answer to how we get out of this recession by investing in sectors like this to create the jobs, to ensure that industries in this area can access the investment incentives and the many other things, through job hiring and apprenticeships and so on and traineeships that will get Australians into work. So it's an exciting project, something I think very much speaks to our future. This Budget is about getting people into work but it is also about doing the right thing by the environment in very practical ways, stopping all of this ending up in waterways, whether here in Australia or in the beautiful oceans of the Indian Ocean or the Pacific or throughout Southeast Asia. That is something worth doing, creating jobs and looking after the planet. Trevor has done a tremendous job in leading the initiative here with the work we do with states and territories and with industry and I am going to ask him to say a few words about the plans. Thank you Trevor.
THE HON. TREVOR EVANS, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR WASTE REDUCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: Well, thank you, Prime Minister, and thank you everyone for being here. It's great to be here at the Visy Recycling Plant at Murarrie. It's great to be here with my colleague the Federal member for Bonner, Ross Vasta. We do a lot of work with some of the local creek catchments, bush care and other community groups like the Ocean Crusaders. And can I say how fantastic it is to be here and to have the Prime Minister in Brisbane, focused as we are on the recent federal Budget and on the opportunities that sit in front of us to rebuild our economy and secure Australia's future.
We are here at this recycling centre focused on the potential that there is for recycling as we go about rebuilding our economy. And that's been brought forward very clearly with the federal Budget. Never before has a federal Budget positioned recycling so strongly, and never before has a federal Budget called out recycling as a key plan for the future of Australia and linked it, very clearly, to the opportunities that exist in Australia for manufacturing and for remanufacturing. Here in Australia, our Federal Government has laws before the Federal Parliament right now which will be Australia's very first Recycling Act. We are stopping the export of waste plastics and other waste streams around other countries in our region. And we are bringing forwards in this federal Budget the biggest one off investment in Australia's recycling sector because we want to see, right around Australia, the resources, the facilities and the recycling infrastructure that we need to recover our recyclables, to stop them getting into landfill, to grab the value that is inherent in those values and feed it back into Australia's manufacturing supply chain.
So, between our new recycling laws, between the record funding that we have got on offer, and so many of our other recycling reforms, this is a game changer. And here, we believe, that the Federal Government will be able to support the creation of over 10,000 new jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries, going forwards in Australia, as a consequence of all of these initiatives. This is about jobs, this is about Australia being more self-sufficient, and self-reliant. And it's also about achieving those fantastic environmental outcomes that we all want to see. Less of this waste going into landfill, less of this waste being sent around the rest of the world and less of it ending up in our rivers and oceans. I'm very proud to have played a part in positioning recycling in the federal Budget and a key plank of our plan going forwards and I think all Australians, young and old, can be very, very excited about the role of recycling as we rebuild our economy and build a stronger future. Over to questions with the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Trevor. Great job on the Budget, great job on getting this front and centre. Happy to take questions on this matter probably first and if you would like to talk about other matters, happy to.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you confident that this will be enough to replace the outgoing export arrangement we have with China? Will we be able to recycle as much as we did with them?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, look, I am, and as further need is there then we are very committed to this. So this will not be the last word when it comes to this because we see this as such a strategic opportunity for Australia, and when we made the decision and I took it to the premiers, not long after I became Prime Minister, actually, I said we have got to stop the export of our waste, we’ve got to stop it, and it's a big commitment to our own environment but our regional environment as well. I was pleased to get the support of the other premiers and chief ministers and pleased to get their commitment to ensure we had an export ban in place. But we also said we have got to take the time to get it right to ensure we can get the technologies and the scale in our own recycling industries, whether it is here in Queensland or down in New South Wales, Victoria or over in the West, wherever it happens to be. We need to get that scale up and getting the new technology. I mean, here at Visy you saw the technology and what is being done here and there is new technology here at the last five years, in other plants around Australia there is optical scanning technology that is being used in New South Wales. That's fantastic, there is so much ground we can take and there is so much opportunity we can take through these initiatives. But it is a partnership with the private sector. I mean, Visy is investing $2 billion in their industries in Australia at the moment. That’s how much they’re investing. That’s a big vote of confidence in Australia and state governments will be investing, federal government will be investing.
JOURNALIST: Mr Morrison, what did you make of the behaviour of the protestors at the University of Queensland a little earlier today?
PRIME MINISTER: I thought that was very disappointing. I was there today to be both briefed on and see and say thank you to the amazing Queensland scientists and researchers who are developing the vaccine here at the University of Queensland. I know all Queenslanders will be incredibly proud of the work they are doing and I am certainly proud of them as a Prime Minister. And to be able to briefed on the molecular clamp research and how that is factoring into the new vaccine, a very unique way of tackling this problem, they are not just solving Australia's problems with a vaccine, they’re potentially the world's problems. So as I said to them today, if they are getting a hard time for getting home from work late, cut them some slack, they’re doing some very important work and they get a leave pass from me. So I was very proud of what they are doing, incredibly proud of what they were doing, so I thought it was unfortunate that what they are doing was disrespected in that way today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, should New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian resign after being in a relationship with an MP being investigated by ICAC?
PRIME MINISTER: I think the news came today, which was a surprise to many people, that has been revealed today. And look, I have no knowledge of these matters, it is a matter that is before that Commission, it’s a matter for the New South Wales government. I have worked well with the New South Wales Premier over many years, but that is a matter for her and an ongoing inquiry and I don't intend to make commentary on those matters, as you would expect.
JOURNALIST: Is it appropriate for her to be involved with someone who is the subject of an inquiry?
PRIME MINISTER: Again, there is evidence presented today and heard today. I'm going to allow that process to follow its own course, as you would expect, and the matters there are for the Premier and for her government.
JOURNALIST: Does it lower your opinion of Gladys [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: These are very new revelations, and obviously came as some news to me, but that said, the work the Premier has done in New South Wales in managing the COVID-19 crisis has been exemplary. It really has. New South Wales has shown the way when it comes to managing the COVID-19 health pandemic, as well as the recession. I mean, there has been a 70 per cent clawback of jobs in New South Wales, that actually compares to 44 per cent here in Queensland. So while those matters, of course, will have their proper attention in a commission of inquiry as is being undertaken by ICAC, it would be inappropriate for me to reflect on those matters while it is under inquiry.
JOURNALIST: Are you disappointed that given the strength of the New South Wales COVID response that this has emerged in light of that?
PRIME MINISTER: What I want to assure Australians of whether it is these matters in New South Wales or the ongoing matters in Victoria, that my government just remains absolutely focused on the jobs of Australians. Nothing will ever distract me from the jobs of Australians and the stable leadership my Government is providing to this country at a time of great crisis. I will continue to work with all the premiers and the chief ministers, with mayors around the country and private industry like we are here or many other places around the country to get Australians back into work. That's my job, get Australians back into work, ensure that we have the economic plan to lift us out of this COVID-19 recession and that is what we are delivering with this Budget. The jobs that come from those investments and that economic management which Australians are relying on. Australians are relying on the government to get the private sector kickstarted again and out there creating jobs. They know eight out of 10 jobs come out of private businesses that employ them, they know that those private businesses need to succeed for their jobs to be secure and to continue to see hundreds of thousands of Australians, including Queenslanders, getting back into jobs. I want to see Queenslanders working again and that is why we are making these investments.
JOURNALIST: Does the New South Wales Premier have your support though [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I will continue to, obviously, work with the Premier of New South Wales. I mean, these are matters that have come up in the Commission. I will let them deal with those matters in the Commission and I will continue to work with the Premier of New South Wales each and every day to get jobs back, to keep the health and safety of Australians in New South Wales as you would expect me to do and as I'm sure I will continue to with Premier Berejiklian.
JOURNALIST: PM, are you aware of moves afoot to dump Victorian Premier Dan Andrews? Do you think he should resign?
PRIME MINISTER: I have no knowledge of those matters, they are matters for the Victorian government. See, my job, regardless of what is happening in the states, my job is to keep taking the country forward and I want to assure Australians that we are totally focused on that task and we will work with everybody to get you back in a job, whether it is the private businesses that we need to encourage to invest again and hire new people. Whether it is the tax cuts that have now been made law. Let me stress that, there are 2.3 million Queenslanders who on Friday we made law to give them those tax cuts. 2 million of them on low and middle incomes. That is the first time I have seen in a very long time that I can recall a budget delivered on Tuesday and made law by Friday. That shows you how serious we are about ensuring that you can keep more of what you earn and we can put more money back in your pocket so you can put more money back into our economy and play your role in Australia's recovery from the COVID-19 recession on the plan that we have laid out.
JOURNALIST: Just back on Victoria, the head of the public service has resigned this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: Do you think enough is being done [inaudible] made the decisions?
PRIME MINISTER: Again, they are matters for the Victorian inquiry and the Victorian government. My focus is on getting Australians into work and they are all entirely appropriate processes. And I support those processes and I think they should do their job and I will keep doing mine, which is getting Australians into a job.
JOURNALIST: Are you in the final stages of reaching a deal with the Northern Territory to expand its quarantine arrangement at Howard Springs to include...?
PRIME MINISTER: As I have already flagged, we have always had that option available to us, to work with the Northern Territory government to make Howard Springs available to us. It has already been used quite extensively, particularly in terms of some of the seasonal labour issues that the Northern Territory have been needing so we can get the harvest in. And so it has not been sitting idle, it has actually been used quite extensively and Marise Payne the Foreign Minister is leading a team which is ensuring we are getting Australians home from overseas and where that facility may be needed to achieve that, well, it will be. And of course I have had very good discussions with Chief Minister Gunner on those matters and I will see him again this Friday. He is actually in Sydney and we will sit down to have a broader meeting.
JOURNALIST: You were in America in a Visy factory around last year.
PRIME MINISTER: I was. Yes, I was.
JOURNALIST: You were with Donald trump and the polls show he is severely behind in the election. Are you ready to work with a new Democratic administration, should they win that election?
PRIME MINISTER: The great thing about the Australia-US relationship is that it is bigger than any one individual. It is bigger than me, it is bigger than the President, whoever they happen to be. The relationship between Australia and the United States is wide and it is deep and it is incredibly important. And so it is a matter for the people of the United States about who they choose and elect as their president. They are world's most amazing democracy of its scale and size. Australia is one of the oldest democracies and we would say we are a pretty good one too, right up with the world's leading democracies. So we value that process and we respect it and I respect it. And so I will always respect the decisions of the people who elect their leader and I have no doubt that Australia would work very well with the government of the United States because that has been the form. Over 100 years, that has been the form at an administration level, at a defence level, at a business to business level, at a people to people level. It is a deep and wide relationship and it has always been a very high priority for me to ensure that that relationship is in good order and it has never been stronger. Thanks very much. Thank you.
