Interview with David Koch, Sunrise
26 October 2018
DAVID KOCH: Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins us now from Canberra. Prime Minister, good morning to you. Just how will this $5 billion fund operate?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it starts off with $3.9 billion that we put in immediately and then each year we will draw down from the earnings, about $100 million each year, which will go into important water infrastructure and other drought proofing projects each and every year. And over the next ten years, this will build up to a $5 billion fund. It really is about putting money away for a non-rainy day. It is about ensuring that we improve our resilience in the long-term. We’ve focused a lot on the relief side of the drought and that is important. We are increasing farm household assistance and a range of those measures on mental health but we’ve also got to go through to the recovery and to the resilience in the long-term. This Future Drought Fund, I think, provides some certainty and security for farmers and rural communities into the future and says we’re investing to drought proof into the future, you’re investing to drought proof into the future. We live in a land sadly where there will always be droughts, but we plan for them.
KOCH: Ok, so this is like a future fund against drought and to protect our agricultural community? It’s not handouts to farmers. It’s building infrastructure to make the country more resilient to drought.
PRIME MINISTER: That's right, and to build up to the fund itself over time we will be reinvesting earnings back into the fund so it can grow from $3.9 billion to $5 billion. But we will also be drawing on those earnings of the fund to invest in those important resilience projects over time. This has been one of the key messages that we have had as we’ve gone around the country with Major General Stephen Day, who has been our Coordinator General on drought, and that is that we need to invest and build resilience for the future.
KOCH: Yeah. So, in terms of going forward, are you open to new ideas at your Summit today? Some of the farming groups are saying, "Give tax incentives to the farmers to take out more insurance to protect themselves into the future." Because they have really cut back on their insurance coverage. Are you going to look at those sorts of initiatives?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we will be listening to all those initiatives and we have already announced the increased accelerated depreciation for investments in silage and that sort of on-farm infrastructure. Today I’ll be making other announcements about grant programs for on-farm water infrastructure, we’ll be looking for further support through the charitable sector and better targeting that. We'll be looking at expanding the existing drought communities programme which is investing in all of those councils to ensure that we keep those local towns going. Because you know, David, when you go through drought, that takes the money out of the towns as well. So it is not just the farmers, it is the local grocery store, it’s the local pub, it’s everything in the town. And so we need to keep those economies alive and we’ll be announcing more measures today on that as well.
KOCH: Yeah the ripple effect is enormous. Hey while we’ve got you, another matter. This week you made a promise to Australians that we will stopped being ripped off by electricity companies. Will your tougher regulations on power suppliers deter them from investing in more power plants, that’s what some of them have said. More regulation means they’re not going to invest into the future.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’m sure the big energy companies don’t like the fact that we’re going to hold them to account with tougher laws and regulations to make sure they don’t rip off customers. But the other thing we’re doing is we’ve got a plan to see more investment in reliable, fair dinkum power and that is everything from offtake agreements to a range of other practical measures which will support investment in new power generation, in upgrading existing fair dinkum power generation so we can get more power into the market. So incentives and other supports that actually improve the investment environment for new power generation. Particularly for new players as well. I mean, one of the problems is that there are a lot of big players in the market that pretty much dominate the show and what our laws are going to do is balance that up for customers, but also for the new players who want to get in there and generate some more fair dinkum power and get that into the market.
KOCH: On a lighter note, there is a focus in some media this morning on - you’re like Meghan Markle I suppose - on your weight loss over the last couple of weeks. Have you got a book coming out, or an app? The Prime Minister’s weight loss tips? What are you doing?
PRIME MINISTER: I have got no idea. I still enjoy a beer, I’m still doing all of the things I used to do. Maybe it is just the frenetic energy and pace that I’m setting, Kochie. I really don't know.
KOCH: You’ve lost weight, how much weight have you lost?
PRIME MINISTER: I actually don't know if I've lost any, Kochie. This came as quite a surprise to me when someone mentioned this to me yesterday. I looked down and looked across and I thought it sort of looks like it always does, I don’t know.
KOCH: Did Mrs Morrison laugh?
PRIME MINISTER: She did actually, but you know, I suppose it’s just hard work. And today, you know, our farmers work hard and we are backing them.
KOCH: Alright, good to see you. Thank you for that.
