Media Releases
Doorstop - Fairbairn, ACT
17 October 1018
Prime Minister, Minister for Trade
PRIME MINISTER: This is one of just thousands of businesses around the country that are going to be able to benefit from the TPP new trade deal that has been brought together by our Government. I particularly pay tribute to both the former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Steven Ciobo as the Trade Minister and this process goes back some way. It's a process our Government was very committed to. When others said this couldn't be done, our Government continued on and made sure we could connect Australia to half a billion consumers around the world and some almost $14 trillion worth of economies that are there that we can now access. And so we come along, we talked to Alex and to Charlie, and here they were starting a business back in 2013. Within two years, they were exporting into Singapore and now they have plans to go further afield to places like Japan and this arrangement opens up more opportunities for them.
We're in the business of making small businesses, small family businesses larger businesses. And we make them larger by ensuring that we can keep their taxes low, that we invest in the infrastructure and services that are necessary to support those small and family businesses, that we ensure that they have access to the trade agreements and the markets that are out there where their quality products, their hard work will get the reward by ensuring that they can get into those markets and they can see their businesses grow. That's how you run a strong economy. By backing in Australian businesses, backing in their investment, backing in their vision, backing in their passion to see what they do and what they love, being able to take it as Alex said, the world is the limit. And these agreements help them achieve those goals.
So today in the Senate we will be one of the fourth country out of the TPP-11 to be able to ratify this agreement. It's a big, important day for businesses all around the country, and it’s the product of a Government that gets it. That understands that you need a plan to grow your economy because when you do that, you can guarantee the essential services that all Australians rely on. This is what pays for schools. This is what pays for hospitals. This is what guarantees Medicare. This is what delivers extra funding for headspace and MRI machines and all of these things. It is the engine room of Australian business which Pialligo Estate Smokehouse captures and personifies. A business of just around $2 million in turnover, going out there and growing, making things happen and I congratulate you both, Alex and Charlie, in what you have been able to achieve. I’m going to hand over to Birmo and he’s going to talk a little bit more about the process and we’re happy to take some questions.
MINISTER FOR TRADE, SENATOR THE HON. SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Thanks so much PM. Well today, we trust the Senate will pass the enabling legislation that will allow Australia to be one of the first six countries to bring the Trans Pacific Partnership into fruition, into reality this year. And that’s going to be so important that this agreement comes into effect this year because that’s going to give the maximum benefit to our exporters, to our farmers, businesses who rely on access to international markets for their goods, for their services, to be able to bring income back here to Australia. By ensuring that this agreement comes into effect by the end of October, there will be tariff reductions, not just on its commencement but also then again on the first of January next year. It’s that double effect that maximizes the benefit and that’s the reason why we have been so determined that Australia is part of the first six countries in terms of bringing this agreement into reality.
The benefits, the benefits across the economy are widespread. We will see a lift to our national income, projected by independent analysis from John Hopkins University of $15.6 billion in terms of our national income being greater by 2030 on an annual basis. That’s extra money and extra taxes, as the PM says, that can be invested in our schools and hospitals. But it all comes about because of businesses like this one. Businesses that we invest in by supporting our farmers by taking high-quality farm produce. Who value-add and then who take a punt in terms of export markets, and that punt they take is backed in by our trade agreements to give them better access to those markets, make their goods more cost-competitive because of lower tariff rates. Our Government, our Government over the last five years has delivered in terms of agreements with China, Japan, South Korea, the TPP, with Indonesia. We continue negotiations on a range of fronts. All of that is about helping our small and medium sized businesses to be able to get the best possible access to new export markets so our farmers and businesses can create more income and more jobs for more Australians.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Simon, and again congratulations. Happy to take some questions, let’s start with the TPP-11 and then we can move onto other political issues. Well it seems the press corps is thrilled to see the TPP-11. Can I tell you, I remember when the TPP-11, which now become…when the TPP was then made known. I was Treasurer at the time and I was actually in Germany on some G20 business and the number of countries that came to us and said, “Are you still going to push ahead with this? Are you really going to keep going with this? Isn’t it a waste of time?” And I said, “Absolutely.” The Prime Minister was saying at the time. And I can’t underscore enough how this agreement demonstrates our Government’s commitment to expanding our trade markets. It’s pretty easy to walk away from these sorts of things, and we saw the opposition um and ah over the China free trade agreement, we saw them actually parody this agreement. Parody what we’ve been able to achieve. And I think that says to every small and family business out there, every business out there, that when it comes to trade, we’ll back you in every time. We won’t walk away, we will always stand up. Australia is an open, trading nation, exporting quality products and services all around the world. We know that, we get that, we’ll back it in every single time.
JOURNALIST: What about the genuine fears that people have though that some of the exports have been their jobs over time with free trade agreements?
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry I couldn’t quite hear…
JOURNALIST: What about the genuine fears some workers have that some of the exports they have seen over time have been their jobs?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we’ve created over a million jobs, Chris, over a million jobs…
JOURNALIST: But there are genuine fears about some of these trade agreements.
PRIME MINISTER: Over a million of these jobs have been created over the last five years, and over the last twelve months, more than 100,000 jobs have been created for young people. And so my message is that our Government’s plan to lower taxes, to expand markets, to invest in infrastructure, to transition from industries that weren’t able to be able to keep up like our vehicle industry. But to expand what we’ve seen in our defence industry in supply chain, and our new medical industry plan which is out there creating jobs in the medical industry. Everything from instruments to clinical testing. All of this is driving an economy that is growing faster than the biggest developed countries in the world today. So when you invest in these agreements, when you invest in lower taxes, when you invest in infrastructure, when you invest in technology and in science, which is what our Government has been doing, that gives you the edge that makes sure that Australian companies continue to have the edge, and when you’re opening up the markets for them to go into. That’s how 1.1 million jobs get created, that’s how 100,000 young people get a job in Australia, the strongest job growth in youth jobs in Australia’s economic history.
JOURNALIST: On the issue of resettling refugees to Nauru, isn’t the Government grandstanding if they can’t guarantee that New Zealand will accept the ban on resettling…
PRIME MINISTER: All we’ve simply said is there's been a bill in the Parliament since 2016. That's the Government's bill and it's not supported by the crossbenchers, it's not supported by the Labor Party or Greens. I have simply made that observation. That's all.
JOURNALIST: We understand the crossbench has asked for a briefing as a matter of urgency, will you be providing a briefing?
PRIME MINISTER: We would, I'm wondering what's taken two years to request one.
JOURNALIST: Is the Government hoping to bring that bill on for a vote sometime this week?
PRIME MINISTER: There is no support for that bill at present.
JOURNALIST: There is leaked polling that suggests that Kerryn Phelps is on track to win Wentworth this weekend. Will this be a reflection on your leadership?
PRIME MINISTER: What we are seeing in Wentworth is not a usual contest. What we have got in Wentworth is a three-cornered contest, the Labor Party of course and indeed the Greens, there's four corners to this square because both the Greens and the Labor Party's vote has completely tanked in Wentworth and that means the Independent is running second and the electoral maths of Australia's preferential system means that that is when you can see other candidates come over the top of the leading candidate which is Dave Sharma and win the election. That's the simple electoral maths and that is what it would reflect now. There is no doubt that people in Wentworth, events of several months ago for many of them, they found that a very big issue and I understand that. But what I would urge them to do is a) look at Dave Sharma. Dave Sharma is a great candidate. Dave Sharma has an enormous amount to bring to the Australian Parliament. His experience, his insights, his wisdom and his sheer intellect which is quite impressive. On top of that, it's about maintaining the stability and certainty of the policies that I've just been outlining to you. There are 29,000 small businesses in Wentworth. They’re 29,000 small businesses that our Government has been backing in through all the policies we've been able to not just announce but implement. There's 60,000 people who will be benefitting from the legislated tax plan that our Government was able to put in place for personal income tax. And for young people in Wentworth, looking out over the next decade, I remember the decade that I walked into, it would have been a similar one that Simon walked into, when we left university. I mean, that was the decade which began with recessions and it was a pretty tough decade back then in the early '90s. The decade that those young people are going into as a result of the economic policies that we've put in place means they can look forward with confidence and they can look forward to a tax plan which means the better they do, the more they put in, the more they get to keep for themselves and invest in their own futures. That is what we are delivering for people. And that is what is at risk when you allow Bill Shorten, through an Independent, to get one step closer to putting up your taxes and putting everything else at risk.
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned about the Israeli Embassy announcement affecting trade relations with Indonesia?
PRIME MINISTER: Pardon?
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned about the Israeli Embassy announcement affecting trade relations with Indonesia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I will let the Trade Minister respond to that. But as you know there's been quite a number of direct communication between myself and President Widodo as well as between our Foreign Ministers and with the Trade Ministers. And the Indonesian Trade Minister has made it very clear on the public record that that is not an issue of concern to them. Simon?
MINISTER FOR TRADE, SENATOR THE HON. SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Well PM, I think you've just highlighted the key point there. Yes, every reasonable level our Government has continued to engage with Indonesia, as you would expect. But the thing that the media and the public should be aware of is that Indonesia has made clear on the public record that our agreement with them is on track, the finalisation this year. That is what we are working towards, that is what they are working towards and we continue to undertake that work.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Indonesia goes to election next year though. Don’t you think it is possible that your decision could become a flashpoint and your deal could become a flashpoint in an election like that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think Simon Birmingham has just addressed the second part of your question in relation to the trade agreement. They have made that fairly clear. We have a very good relationship with Indonesia and one that enables us to have direct communication on these issues and I was pleased by the warm exchanges I had yesterday with President Widodo which looks through all the other noise and all the other recording and all the other analysis and just enables two leaders to directly engage with each other and be able to make very clear the positions and the reasoning behind those positions. And I think that's productive. Several weeks ago, as you know, when I was up there that was actually my first outing on international affairs. Going to Indonesia in that first week, that was an important meeting, it was an important relationship to maintain and that remains so today. My other exchanges with the President over the last few weeks have particularly focused on what we’re doing in Sulawesi, what we’re doing to support the Indonesian Government and how quickly we were there to provide whatever support was needed, whenever it was needed, at their invitation. So this is a relationship that spans many different elements, and it’s a relationship that we continue to build upon. It is a relationship of friendship, it is a relationship of trust, it is a relationship of communication that is ongoing. It is not a one-dimensional relationship, it is a very comprehensive relationship and that’s the strength that enables neighbours and partners to have different views on things from time to time. And Australia is a sovereign nation. We are allowed to engage in conversation, we are allowed to do that. We are allowed to raise issues that we think are worthy of discussion that are important to Australian citizens.
JOURNALIST: Do you concede thought that there is a risk that there could be some diplomatic backlash, maybe not from Indonesia, but from other countries around the world based on your considerations?
PRIME MINISTER: Australia is a sovereign country. We’re a sovereign country. We’re allowed to talk about these issues. And you know, when you raise issues from time to time, which may have been seen to be taboo in the past, and of course there will be others who express different views. But Australia is an independent, sovereign nation. We’re allowed to talk about this, we’re allowed to. And I’m not… I’m going to stand up for Australia’s right to be able to talk about these things and we will talk about them in a respectful and an engaging way. That’s why we started yesterday by being very clear with the vote that went through the UN General Assembly this morning and we voted no and there was only a few of us who voted no and everybody know where we stand. People know where I stand on these issues because I like to be fairly upright and forthright and upfront with people. And that’s why I did what I did yesterday so people know my thinking on these things. It’s Ok for Australia to be able to be able to just go out there and initiate conversations in a respectful way and be able to work within all of our existing relationships.
JOURNALIST: Louise Pratt reportedly received a call during a raid on the Department of Home Affairs by a staffer. Do you think there is anything untoward going on there?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s an independent police investigation and I’ll leave it for the police to deal with that independently of government which is the appropriate process.
JOURNALIST: What advice did you get from the Foreign Minister on the diplomatic implications of moving the Australian embassy to Jerusalem?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the Foreign Minister has been part and parcel of this decision and we’ve been working closely together with the Foreign Minister, with the Defence Minister. There was a discussion individually with each of the four NSC Ministers that form up the National Security Committee and as well as a final discussion with all Cabinet Ministers. So this is a process that was worked through those appropriate channels and it’s important that Australia is able to raise issues and talk about issues that are important to Australian citizens. And I think this is simply what we’ve done, we’ve done it in the context of what was a very significant vote in the UN General Assembly and our vote in the UN General Assembly now I think has given broader context by the other issues that I have remarked upon. Not just on the issue of Jerusalem, but also importantly in the issue of Iran, which is another matter of very significant concern and we simply announced that without prejudice we would undertake a review of the Iran nuclear deal. We need to be satisfied that when we’re supporting those sorts of arrangements they’re working in Australians interests and those interests in this case, ensures a peaceful Middle East. And so we will continue to work on those matters.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] do you actually have any intention to move the embassy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well as I said yesterday, you begin this process by highlighting why you would open the question up and the reason why the question has been opened up is this was a matter that was raised with me within days of me becoming Prime Minister. Over the last seven weeks I have been working through this issue and what became clear, particularly with the position when I spoke with Dave Sharma, was that this question could be considered in the context of support for a two-state solution. Now up until that time, no one had been making that case. Up until that time, this issue was considered taboo and not able to be discussed because it was seen to be an anathema to a two-state solution. Now, Dave Sharma’s proposal changes that. Dave Sharma’s proposal says no, this can actually help us get to a two-state solution. This can actually help us achieve a goal that the world has been unable to achieve up until now, and it’s been unable to do it frankly for some time. And you know, if you can’t get somewhere by conventional means, and we’re not getting somewhere by conventional means, Australia has always been a country that has been prepared to consider other options that actually achieve the objective of peace and a two-state solution in the Middle East. So Australia should proudly, should proudly be able to say we’re prepared to have those discussions. We’re prepared to consult with other leaders, which is the next step for me. I’ll be going through a series of summits at the end of this year and so for me, they won’t be just a series of grip and grin photos. What they will be are real conversations about the issues that are germane to Australian passions and national interest. And this will be a good opportunity for me to talk through concerns that they may have on this issue, but also to raise this point about how this could be an opportunity to engage in a new conversation that gets us closer to a two-state solution which has eluded us for so long. You keep doing the same thing, you can’t expect a different outcome. We need a different outcome which is the two-state solution.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister just quickly, Ian Kiernan the founder of Clean Up Australia has died. Could we get some thoughts from you about his legacy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that is news to me. I have met Ian on a number of occasions over the years I think as most Australians in public life. And his passion for our oceans which started all of this for him and Australia’s coastal lifestyle in particular is something that I think struck a real chord with all Australians. And the thing that I think Ian did more than anything else was just tap us all on the shoulder and say, “Hey, we’ve got to take care of this. This is our responsibility to do this. It’s not government’s, it’s ours as Australians. It’s our beautiful Australia and it’s our job to keep it that way and it’s our responsibility and duty as Australians to do just that.” So for that Ian I want to say thank you. I want to say thank you for what you have done for our country and to his friends and his family and his loved ones, we express our deepest sympathies and our condolences. Thank you very much.
2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards Shortlists Announced
17 October 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for Communications and the Arts
The shortlists for this year’s Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have today been announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator Mitch Fifield.
The Awards play an important role in supporting a national appreciation of Australian literature and provide acknowledgement and recognition for authors and illustrators.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Awards reinforce the contribution literary arts make to Australia.
“I am pleased to announce this year’s shortlists. We have a wonderful group of talented authors and I welcome the opportunity to share their works with Australians,” said Prime Minister Morrison.
Minister Fifield said reading has far reaching benefits, it expands our understanding and stimulates our imagination. These Awards reinforce the importance of literature and reading across all ages.
“This year we received more than 500 entries across the six prize categories, an exceptional response from our writers, poets, illustrators and historians,” Minister Fifield said.
“I’d particularly like to acknowledge our panels comprising 15 judges who have read through and shortlisted 30 of this year’s entries.”
For more information about the books, authors and to see the judges’ comments, visit www.arts.gov.au/pmla.
The 2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards shortlists are:
Children’s literature
Feathers, Phil Cummings and Phil Lesnie, Scholastic Australia
Figgy Takes the City, Tamsin Janu, Scholastic Australia
Hark, It’s Me, Ruby Lee!, Lisa Shanahan and Binny Talib, Hachette Australia
Pea Pod Lullaby, Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King, Allen & Unwin
Storm Whale, Sarah Brennan and Jane Tanner, Allen & Unwin
Young Adult literature
Living on Hope Street, Demet Divaroren, Allen & Unwin
My Lovely Frankie, Judith Clarke, Allen & Unwin
Ruben, Bruce Whatley, Scholastic Australia
The Ones that Disappeared, Zana Fraillon, Hachette Australia
This is My Song, Richard Yaxley, Scholastic Australia
Fiction
A Long Way from Home, Peter Carey, Penguin Random House
Border Districts, Gerald Murnane, Giramondo Publishing
First Person, Richard Flanagan, Penguin Random House
Taboo, Kim Scott, Pan Macmillan
The Life to Come, Michelle de Kretser, Allen & Unwin
Poetry
Archipelago, Adam Aitken, Vagabond Press
Blindness and Rage: A Phantasmagoria, Brian Castro, Giramondo Publishing
Chatelaine, Bonny Cassidy, Giramondo Publishing
Domestic Interior, Fiona Wright, Giramondo Publishing
Transparencies, Stephen Edgar, Black Pepper
Non-fiction
Asia’s Reckoning, Ricard McGregor, Penguin Random House UK
Mischka’s War: A European Odyssey of the 1940s, Sheila Fitzpatrick, University of Melbourne Publishing.
No Front Line: Australia’s Special Forces at War in Afghanistan, Chris Masters, Allen & Unwin
The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders, Stuart Kells, Text Publishing
Unbreakable, Jelena Dokic and Jessica Halloran, Penguin Random House
Australian history
Beautiful Balts: From Displaced Persons to New Australians, Jayne Persian, NewSouth Publishing
Hidden in Plain View: The Aboriginal People of Coastal Sydney, Paul Irish, NewSouth Publishing
Indigenous and Other Australians Since 1901, Timothy Rowse, NewSouth Publishing
John Curtin’s War: The coming of war in the Pacific, and reinventing Australia, volume 1, John Edwards, Penguin Random House
The Enigmatic Mr Deakin, Judith Brett, Text Publishing
Interview with Jones & Co, Sky News
16 October 2018
ALAN JONES: Prime Minister, good evening.
PRIME MINISTER: G’day Alan, I don’t know much about horses I must confess.
[Laughter]
JONES: That’s horses as well as sheep.
PETA CREDLIN: Don’t worry PM, he does.
PRIME MINISTER: He does, that’s true. How are you?
JONES: I loved it what you said about drought, I don’t know one end of a sheep from another. You don’t have to. Just on a couple of things that I made earlier, dividend imputation and negative gearing as two Labor policies. No doubt you’ll be having plenty to say about that in the weeks ahead.
PRIME MINISTER: Well what this basically means is you buy a new house and the minute you buy it, it declines in value. It’s a bit like buying a new car and you drive it off the lot and it falls in value because the people you can sell it to after you buy it are different to the ones you’ve just been competing with to buy the first one. I mean, what is basically does is brings down the values of everybody’s house because it means that there are fewer people buying the house you own. And when there are fewer people who want to buy the house you own, guess what happens? Your value goes down. Now Labor don’t understand economics, they don’t understand housing markets. As Peta was saying before, there has been a soft landing in the housing markets and last election, you know you had Sydney house prices running at double digits but now they’re not and there has been a soft landing. And what Labor is proposing on putting up capital gains tax by 50 per cent and by abolishing negative gearing as we know, that means your house will be worth less.
JONES: And dividend imputation?
PRIME MINISTER: Well dividend imputation, for small business in particular, yes it hits all of those retirees you’ve talked about including pensioners, but I know that many small businesses they own Australian shares and in times when things are pretty lean, what they live off, the income that is coming in and they’re not making a profit out of their businesses, is that imputation credits that come through from the Australian shares that they have bought. So it is absolutely true we have retirees all around the country who did nothing more than buy shares in, you know, GIO many years ago, or Commonwealth Bank or Qantas or something like that and they are getting, in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars that are supporting their retirement income. And look, Labor is just going to strip it away. Now, there is no rhyme or reason to it. They’re just coming after your money because they can’t control what they spend so they’ve got to tax you more and they’ve got more than $200 billion in higher taxes that they’re going to whack you with over the next ten years.
JONES: Following that Newspoll this week, one commentator said a view that you were solidly capturing the Coalition vote and also appealing to a fair slice of Labor voters on key issues. What are the key issues?
PRIME MINISTER: How much people pay for everything every day and how they’re able to afford it, and you can’t afford it if you don’t have a job and you can’t afford it if you’re not working in a business that’s doing better and particularly a business, a small and medium sized business, that has to pay more to the Government. That’s means they can’t support you more or their business more. So lower taxes are important, lower electricity prices is important, dealing with the drought obviously is something we have spent a lot of time on. Making sure that you have a strong economy because the Labor Party can promise all they like on what they’re going to spend, but if you don’t run a strong economy, then you can’t pay for it. And we saw that when they were in government. They had to stop listing pharmaceuticals on the PBS because they couldn’t afford it. I mean, things got even that bad for Labor. They would spend money like there was no tomorrow.
But when you don’t run a strong economy and you can’t manage the Budget, well you can’t support hospitals and schools and education more broadly. You can’t pay for pharmaceuticals and be able to have affordable medicines. You can’t pay for Medicare. So that’s why running a strong economy is important to the essential services that Australians rely on. But there’s three things – keeping the economy strong, keeping Australians safe and keeping Australians together. You can’t lead a country that you’re trying to divide.
JONES: Alright you made a point there about electricity prices. Last year, Matt Ridley who is now Lord Ridley, a member of the House of Lords in Britain, and he has been on this energy issue for years, wrote for the Spectator magazine. And he was asked the question, and I quote, “To the nearest whole number, what percentage of the world’s energy consumption was supplied by wind power in 2014?” Which was the last year for which there were reliable figures. To the nearest whole number. What is it, 20 per cent? 10 per cent, or 5 per cent? He answered his own question. None of the above, it was naught per cent. That is to say, to the nearest whole number, there is still no wind power on earth, he made the point, the last year which there are reliable figures wind provided 0.46 per cent of global energy consumption. Solar and tide 0.35 per cent. Now, how much longer are you going to continue subsidising renewable energies and when are we going to get an affirmation that our energy future relies on coal-fired power and nuclear power, which is illegal in this country?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s all forms of reliable power that our future for energy depends upon, and we can’t run an energy system that relies on intermittent power sources like wind and solar. They, look, they form part of the mix but they are never going to be what keeps the lights on and you know there’s increasing investment going into these areas and these subsidies run out in a couple of years under the programme that we affirmed some years back and those subsidies run out. Because you don’t need them anymore because a lot of these technologies on those areas of energy generation, well they stand up on their own two feet. They don’t need subsidies. So I’m not keen to have a system that is subsidised because if you’re subsidising energy generation, guess who pays for it? You do.
JONES: Is that the reason though that when we don’t have people investing in coal-fired power, for example, I was looking at some figures today. Coal-fired power stations are under construction everywhere. 583 in China, 271 in India, 145 in Indonesia, 71 in Turkey, 84 in Vietnam, 45 in Japan. There is none here in Australia. And they are using Australian coal. Are we going to reach the -
PRIME MINISTER: Well they are and I hope they continue to do that, using Australian coal. I mean, all those countries you have just mentioned Alan, they have very different demand profiles going into the future. What I mean by that is when you look at energy consumption in all those countries over the next five to ten years, it’s a curve that looks like that. In Australia, the curve is like that. And so that is obviously going to impact on what adds up from an investment point of view. But what Angus is working on as we speak is working from the ACCC report that I commissioned when I was Treasurer which showed that we need to have a better investment framework for reliable what I call fair dinkum power. And there was a whole range of recommendations but one in particular which looked at ensuring that we were guaranteeing the take-out price of investment in reliable power so that the finance could come so those projects could stack up. We just want to see projects stack up, we don’t want to go around taking money from taxpayers and putting up tax because that’s a false economy. If you put people’s taxes up to bring their electricity prices down, well they won’t thank you.
JONES: But if you don’t have coal-fired power plants, I mean are you going to sort of do something about AGL and Liddell? I mean, if these things close in 2022 we are short of reliable, affordable and available power. No question about it, prices will go through the roof.
PRIME MINISTER: Well we saw that after the closures in Victoria as well and there are a range of things we’ve got to invest in. I mean, down in Tasmania I think last time I was on your program I was talking about what Will Hodgman is doing down there. I mean, Tasmania is completely driven with projects that began in the early 1900’s with using their dams and their hydro power and they want to double the capacity of that so they can actually be a battery of the nation to the rest of the country. And there are other projects that are like that. But whether it’s the traditional sources like coal or gas, you know my views of gas. I’d like to see us get more gas from under the ground, I’d like to see farmers share in the revenue from that. I mean, when I was in the United States earlier this year in Texas, they pay a third to a half of what we do because they have had a gas revolution there and more gas. Make sure it doesn’t go overseas, make sure it stays at home. We’ve got those policies and that gets prices down.
JONES: What about nuclear? I mean there are thirty countries currently operating 450 nuclear reactors, 60 nuclear plants under construction in 15 countries. We’ve got 40 per cent of the world’s uranium and no nuclear energy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well there have been a number of reports that have done this. I remember the Howard Government did one, Ziggy Switkowzki, and the recommendations of that weren’t terribly favourable in terms of stacking up. But as I said on your program last time, where something can stack up and can actually bring prices down, I’m all for it and you’ve just to do the work to make sure it does that.
CREDLIN: Just on that though, Prime Minister, why won’t you move to repeal the prohibition on nuclear power development in this country?
PRIME MINISTER: Well right now I would like to see the work which shows there is a point to that because we could do it on a commercial basis and it would actually bring power prices down. So I’m totally open to that work Peta, I’m totally open to a lot of these propositions. But what we need to do is make sure that it can stack up and we can successfully move in that direction. See, the source of it doesn’t really bother me. What matters is that it is reliable, it can be contracted, it can be priced at lower than what we are getting currently because that’s what brings people power prices down. I’m not too much into an ideological debate about from what source it comes, I just want to make sure it turns up and that it brings power prices down.
CREDLIN: If you are agnostic, if you are truly agnostic, then coal is a no brainer, gas is a no brainer and obviously nuclear because nuclear has the double whammy of being available in baseload and low, actually no emissions. But I want to ask you about Paris, because -
PRIME MINISTER: Well just on that, the only work I have seen, Peta, the only work I have seen on that and it would be the same work you would have seen, is that is only achieved with very significant government subsidies. I mean that’s the available work, but if there’s new work that’s good.
CREDLIN: No less significant, PM, than what has been put into wind turbines and solar panels on roofs and many other things. But I wanted…
PRIME MINISTER: Maybe check the numbers, but I think it’s a pretty big public investment.
JONES: I think those subsidies are $3 billion a year and $30 billion by 2022. So I think -
PRIME MINISTER: The source of it is not the issue. Yeah, go on.
CREDLIN: Let’s turn to Paris. Way back, take your mind back to the Cabinet discussions in 2015 and the announcements made publicly by the then Prime Minister Abbott was that Australia would have the 26-28 per cent Paris provided it was an all-in agreement and everybody else was at the table with us. Australia reserved its right to withdraw if things were to change quite dramatically right now. Of course they did, the United States withdrew. When Malcolm Turnbull went to the Paris conference at the end of that year in 2015 in December, he promised $1 billion from Australia. Now about half of that money has been paid. You’re likely, or at least your representative, to go to that meeting in Poland at the end of the year. You have an opportunity in those meetings to withdraw without penalty from the Paris Agreement and 60 per cent of the big emitters in the Paris Agreement are no longer reducing emissions. It’s business as usual, or increases. So 60 per cent, there is a material change. 1) That’s a precondition to leave and 2) my other question is there has been some lukewarm responses from your Ministers about tipping in this additional money. As I said, the former Prime Minister –
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’re not going to do it.
CREDLIN: So you rule out any further money into the reliable fund?
PRIME MINISTER: We’re not putting any money into it. No, we’re not.
CREDLIN: Terrific. Say that again PM, because it hasn’t been clear from your Ministers.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’ve already said before this program.
JONES: He has said it.
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve said it several times. We’re not chucking money at it. We’re not going to do that.
JONES: Can’t you rip it up, PM, can’t you rip it up?
PRIME MINISTER: I was at the Cabinet meeting back then, I was at that Cabinet meeting. And I recall that we set the target at what was in the middle of the pack in what was something that was very achievable, it wouldn’t have a material impact on electricity prices. That’s what I remember, and that actually hasn’t changed. I mean, our 26 per cent target is not going to have an impact on electricity prices at all. I tell you what is though, a 45 per cent emissions reduction target and that is Labor’s target and what that is the equivalent on and the information I have seen from the University of Wollongong is a Carbon Tax three times of the one we got rid of back in 2013. So if people are worried about impacts on power prices, they should be worried about Bill Shorten’s 45 per cent emissions reduction target. That’s his plan, that’s what he’s going to do.
CREDLIN: By why stay in Paris, PM? Why stay in Paris? You say it’s not a big deal -
PRIME MINISTER: What’s to be gained by getting out? What’s to be gained by getting out?
CREDLIN: What’s to be gained by staying in?
PRIME MINISTER: Well there are very important relationships we have in our Pacific region that you would be very well aware of, you’d be very well aware of the strategic significance of those relationships -
CREDLIN: But they’re not dependent on Paris.
PRIME MINISTER: Well Peta, on the most recent Pacific Islands Forum highlighted just how important the commitments we’ve made are to our neighbours in the region, very important strategic security -
CREDLIN: But that’s not about the Paris Agreement, that’s about funding.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m sorry Peta, I don’t know if you were at the meeting -
CREDLIN: No but I read the documents.
PRIME MINISTER: Sure and you will see the level of concern and it wasn’t about the money Peta. It’s about our commitments, and keeping our commitments Peta. I was there when we made that commitment, right? I was there, we made the commitment as a Government, our Government. Australia, when we make a commitment, we keep them. As we do with every commitment we make. It’s not going to have an impact on power prices, so honestly, people can talk about this until the cows come home, I’m just interested in what’s going to bring power prices down.
JONES: But I’ll note this is about a commitment, you’re also a signatory, or Julie Bishop is, to the global compact on migration. Are going to allow the United Nations to tell us what our migration levels are to be? If not, why did we sign this damn document?
PRIME MINISTER: No we’re not, and that’s been an issue under consideration for some time and I’m not going to say much more about that tonight. But I think I’ll leave it at that.
Thanks for being with Peta and me and thanks particularly to the Prime Minister, being able to discuss these things and give people an insight into it, it’s very, very important.
PM you were just talking about cost of living there about 25 minutes ago. Can I just raise this business, I know everyone seems to have no answers about this, about petrol prices. Now coming down the Pacific Highway in Sydney on Friday, the petrol prices was 169.9, on Monday morning it’s a 147.9. How do you persuade the motorists, the poor coot, no money in his pocket, that he’s not being ripped off?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we’ve been living with these cycles for a long time and petrol prices at the moment, I know they’re quite elevated, they’re much higher and all around the country too. The things that are driving the overall high level of price as we know is the crude price and the exchange rate and the fall in the Australian dollar. I mean that’s the economic reason. But these variations I think have always puzzled us.
One of the things I did as Treasurer was give Rod Simms at the ACCC the power to see not just what happens, how they were pricing it at the bowser at a particular station, but to go right back through the entire fuel supply chain right back into the board rooms and the head offices. Now Rod has been working away on that. I’m keen to get the report back from him as to what he’s found, as to how that’s impacting the cycle. The good thing today though is, you get these apps, you can look at them and you can actually find much better deals –
JONES: Yeah, but you can’t do that when you’re, you can’t be -
PRIME MINISTER: These days, well, people who are into it –
JONES: Driving around Sydney all day?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, but look, many people, they are very into it -
JONES: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Good deal. Well, I used to actually. I get driven around now, they won’t let me drive any more Alan, in a lot of ways that’s probably a good idea I suspect, other motorists are safe. But what’s important though is there are a lot more tools to help you manage it and I think that’s good for families. These things really do hit you, they really do and they hit businesses too. Because if you’re a tradie driving a ute and you’re out there going from site to site or you know, you’re supervising as a boss across a range of sites, you’re chewing up that fuel. So ensuring –
JONES: Have we got a competition, sorry Prime Minister, we’ve got a Competition and Consumer Commission. I don’t know quite what they do, but isn’t there someone somewhere in this gigantic bureaucracy that is able to walk into a petrol station and say: “Look, excuse me, could you turn the bowsers off. You were selling this stuff for 149 on Friday, it’s now 169, please explain to me how you put the same product up by 22 per cent.” Isn’t there someone who could do that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well there is, his name is Rod Sims and that’s what he has the power to do. He is at the ACCC and that’s when they’ll take the suppliers to court and he will seek remedies against them and he has been successful, I understand, in doing that. That is his job, we have an independent watchdog, a cop on the beat when it comes to petrol prices. That’s his job.
CREDLIN: PM I want to ask you about some of the issues that you had, I think, drag the vote down in 2016 and where you might go at the next election. One of those key to supporters of the Liberal Party was superannuation. People who feel ripped off by policy changes, having put something away so that they’re not on the pension, they’re standing independently from the government teat. Now, as you’re preparing all your polices as you go into the next election, do you have anything on the table for superannuation? Are you going to make changes? Do you rule out any adverse changes if you are elected?
PRIME MINISTER: I do 100 per cent, absolutely, we’re not doing it. You know we made some changes a number of years ago and they were difficult decisions. The Budget is coming back into balance next year, that’s the projection, that’s been a big task. I mean you can’t underestimate the size – and I know you wouldn’t, you were there at the start Peta – but in five years, we will have been able to get the Budget back from the horrendous deficit we inherited from Labor, back into balance. Now everyone, I think, out there would probably agree that in New Zealand under John Key and Bill English, they did a great job on getting the New Zealand finances back on track. It took them six years to achieve that, we’ve done it in five. That’s been a big, hard effort over many years. We tried a number of things and it has – as you recall – some of those or many of those, we were unable to get through and we had to come at it another way. But what we’ve done, which the Liberal Party-led Governments always do is we don’t make excuses about it, we just get on with it. We needed to rebalance the books and that’s what we’ve done.
And we’re not touching super. The only person who is touching people’s super is Bill Shorten, with the dividend imputation refund, which he will strip away.
CREDLIN: That’s right.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s $5 billion a year he is going to be stealing from Australians who did nothing other than buy Australian shares. Their taxes were paid on it and they should be treated exactly the same as those who are high income earners who actually can access the imputation credits.
JONES: PM, alright, on what’s affordable. I know that you’ve managed to drag Bill Shorten into the net in relations to company tax. He has essentially agreed to what you were proposing last week, for companies with a turnover of $50 billion or less. But could I just put this to you. Companies don’t vote, individuals vote. For some poor coot out there who is only on $65,000 a year, okay he gets the first $18,000 tax free but one he gets to $37,000 he’s paying 32.5 cents in the dollar tax. That’s one dollar in every three is going to the tax man. Is there any likelihood that you will be able to provide relief to these people?
PRIME MINISTER: We legislated in this year’s Budget, that taxpayers in particular, will get just over $500 in tax relief in this financial year alone. Going forward, we’ve got further tax relief going right across the spectrum, whether it’s at the top end and right through the middle, we’re going to get rid of the 37 cent tax bracket. Like completely abolish it. So 94 per cent of Australians will not face a marginal tax rate higher than 32.5 cents. But what I was also saying – you mentioned small business – well more than half of Australians work for a business that will be getting the tax cuts that we are taking through the House of Representatives today and they’ll got through the Senate. Now you say that the Labor Party is going to support me, well they had to be dragged kicking and screaming to that. But I tell you what they’re still going to tax small business with; they’re still going to hit them with the family business trust taxes. They’re still going to hit them with the higher personal income tax rates because they’re putting – we’ve got $144 billion of tax relief for personal income tax, Labor is going to cut that in half, to just 70 billion. So they’re going to steal away the tax cuts we’ve already made law.
Let’s say you’re a young person out there in Wentworth this afternoon, this evening, over the next ten years it will be your ambition to earn more and more as you have more experience in the work force and do much better for yourself. Over the next ten years under Bill Shorten’s plan, you’ll pay more tax. Under our plan you’ll pay less. Because we believe lower taxes are right, because we believe Australians should keep more of what they earn. That’s what a fair go for those who have a go means. It’s what we believe. That’s why we want taxes to be lower.
CREDLIN: Prime Minister why should Liberals vote for your Government, why should they vote for Dave Sharma on Saturday?
PRIME MINISTER: Because if they want the certainty of a strong economy and to keep the strong economic performance which has been empowering the 29,000 small businesses that are in Wentworth, the 60,000 Australians that will benefit from the income tax cuts that we’ve legislated, if they want to continue to benefit from the strong economy that is enabling us and has enabled us to bring the Budget back into balance, so we can afford the essential services Australian can rely on, then Dave Sharma is the Liberal candidate that delivers that certainty and that continuity on all of those things. If you want to keep Australians safe, if you want to ensure that there is a Liberal and National Government that knows to do the right thing when it comes to national security and frankly do the right thing when it comes to our stand on important issues like the security of Israel. Thirdly, if you want to keep Australians together - and not have militant unions run the country and come and picket outside your business - and reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission, a vote for anyone else other than Dave Sharma is a vote that brings Bill Shorten closer to your wallet, to your business, to your house.
JONES: Thank you PM, I think the best reason why people should vote for Dave Sharma is he’s an outstanding candidate, I would hope that we’ve reached the point where merit is the criterion.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely.
JONES: One thing before you go, are Muslim communities for example, I know there’s talk about Indonesia, going to be upset with this proposal about moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, given that they believe many of the holy sites, Muslim and Arab holy sites are also within the precinct of Jerusalem? Is there going to be a backlash from Muslim and Arab communities towards Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’ve been in contact throughout the day with President Widodo as has the Foreign Minister with her counterpart in Indonesia as well. I mean we’re a sovereign, independent country, where we explain what we’re doing which is what we’ve done today and over the last night. I think people respect that countries will take positions on things from time to time. But what both Indonesia and Australia are committed to is a two state solution when it comes to the Middle East. Now what Dave Sharma has proposed is a way to achieve that, to pursue that goal while at the same time providing recognition for Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and indeed for the capital of Palestine, for Palestine in east Jerusalem, Israel in west Jerusalem. Also, by the time everyone gets up in the morning, we would have voted against – oftentimes before they’d abstain, abstain, abstain – we will have voted against an important motion in the United Nations General Assembly that would see Palestine conferred a special status to chair what’s called the G77 of all the developing nations.
CREDLIN: Hear hear PM.
PRIME MINISTER: Now we don’t think providing that reward…
JONES: Yep, absolutely.
PRIME MINISTER: We’re voting no. We’ll be voting with Israel and of course the United States and we’ll take that position as well. You’ve got to just stand up for what you believe and you can do that when you’ve got good relationships with your neighbours, which we do. If you’re honest with your reasons for it, we’re not rushing into anything, we’re being consultative but we‘re being up front with people. When you’re up front with people, I find you’ve got a better chance of convincing of the merits of your argument.
JONES: Good to talk to you, thank you for your time. There’s many more other things we could discuss but that’s it for tonight. We’ve run out of time, we’d be here forever. That you for your time, it’s much appreciated by us and our listeners.
PRIME MINISTER: See ya guys.
Joint Media Statement
16 October 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs
The Australian Government has today made a number of important announcements in support of Australia’s interests in the Middle East and our continuing support for a durable and resilient two-state solution. As a package, these announcements reinforce our commitment to efforts towards resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, further strengthen our valuable relationship with Israel, and will review Australia’s policy in relation to Iran’s nuclear program.
In making these announcements, the Government underlines its enduring commitment to the Middle East Peace Process, and to a two-state solution that allows Israel and a future Palestinian state to exist side-by-side, in peace and security, within internationally recognised borders. We will continue to encourage both sides to continue dialogue and negotiations towards a peaceful settlement. The Government reaffirms its commitment to constructive engagement with Iran.
First, Australia will vote no in the upcoming UN General Assembly resolution on the Palestinian Authority chairing the G77. This draft resolution seeks to confer an official status on the Palestinian Authority it does not have, and therefore has the potential to undermine efforts to bring parties together to work towards a peaceful settlement.
Second, the Government will carefully examine the arguments put forward by Australia's former Ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, that we should consider recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, without prejudice to its final boundaries, while acknowledging East Jerusalem as the expected capital of a future Palestinian state. Specifically, the Government will examine the merits of moving Australia’s embassy to West Jerusalem, in the context of our support for a two-state solution. Any decision will be subject to a rigorous assessment of the potential impact of such a move on our broader national interests.
Third, given Australia’s increased engagement with Israel on defence and security matters, the Government will appoint a resident Australian Defence Attaché in Tel Aviv and has invited Israel to appoint its own resident Defence Attaché in Canberra.
Fourth, the Government will review, without prejudice, Australia's approach to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to determine whether our current policy settings remain fit for purpose. The review will reassess whether the Plan remains the best vehicle to address the international community’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The Government aims to finalise and announce the findings of this review by December this year.
Doorstop - Glenelg, SA
14 October 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for Defence, Premier of South Australia
NICOLLE FLINT MP, MEMBER FOR BOOTHBY: Well good morning everyone. I’m Nicolle Flint, the Federal Member for Boothby. We are in beautiful Glenelg this morning, I’m delighted to have the Prime Minister Scott Morrison visit what will be part of the federal seat of Boothby at the next federal election. So welcome to the Prime Minister, welcome to the Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne and also welcome to Premier Steven Marshall. We’ve had a fantastic morning this morning and I’m going to hand over to the Prime Minister, because he has the most fabulous announcement. Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Nicolle. How good is headspace? How good is headspace, we’re backing headspace and this is now new and it’s great to have Pat McGorry here, the founders of headspace, the whole team as you can see behind me here today. It’s also great to have Christopher Pyne here today, who was the Minister at the time was headspace was set up, he worked closely with Pat and the whole team to establish what I think has been one of the most successful mental health initiatives that we have seen in this country. Its success lies in the fact it’s just holistic, it actually deals with the whole person. It looks at all of their needs, all of the pressures.
I have worked with Pat now over three different portfolios, in immigration, in social services, as Treasurer and now as Prime Minister and there are few programs I get more excited about than headspace. I really want to commend Christopher for his vision at the time of setting all this up and working with the mental health community. But particularly for Pat and his vision about where he saw this going in the future. There’s nothing better than when you’re seeing a program, which is changing the lives of young Australians and setting them on a path that is completely different to the one they were probably on when they walked in the doors of that headspace clinic, or when they met one of the ambassadors at a club or a shopping centre or in the community somewhere. They have put them on a different path, a path where they’re making choices about their lives, where they’re making positive decisions for their future. That is being enabled by headspace.
Because headspace isn't just about getting counselling services. It's everything from helping young people get a job to supporting their physical activity, to improving their relationships. It’s dealing with the whole person. That's why today I'm very pleased to announce that our government is putting $51.8 million extra into headspace.
[Applause]
Thank you. What that’s going to do is create 14,000 extra visits into our headspace clinics around the country. It also includes $12.8 million to ensure e-health services right around the country.
Now recently, as you’ve seen, I have been getting out and about to some of the most remote parts of the country, but also the inner city parts of our major cities. Out there in rural and remote Australia they need these services. The way we can deliver the services today – and it is everything, the holistic service which headspace provides - that can be now done through digital formats. So, to be getting more services through the conventional way that headspace is delivered and getting more services out to rural and regional parts of the country and remote parts of the country through this service, is tremendously exciting. So I'm pretty jacked about it, I’m pumped up about it. I'm really exited about it because this is going to make a big difference. Our Government is pleased to do it, it’s all about keeping Australians together. Those who are hurting, we need to embrace them and keep them together as part of our community. That is what headspace does, it treats people as a community, within the community.
Well done to Pat and Christopher and the whole team at headspace and to Greg Hunt, I particularly want to acknowledge him here, who couldn't be here today. But Greg, well done to you mate, in ensuring you could bring forward this tremendous proposal that we could back in. We're backing in headspace, more clinical services. It means lower wait times, and a greater reach out to all the young people who need this service. Thank you very much. I'm going to pass over now to the Premier and then we will throw to Pat.
THE HON. STEVEN MARSHALL MP, PREMIER OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Well, I’m going to be very quick but I do want to welcome the Prime Minister and thank him very much for this wonderful new spend on an area which really speaks to their ambition, as a Government in Canberra, putting people who are living with difficult situations around mental health, putting them first. We really welcome this new spend. We really welcome the Coalition's focus on supporting people who are finding it tough. We particularly are pleased that some of this money is going to go to people living regionally and remotely, who often miss out on services, they are not in this situation. Headspace has done a great job for a long period of time, it's a proven methodology and we are absolutely delighted that the Prime Minister is going to back it going forward.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Steve, now my friend Pat McGorry.
PROF. PATRICK MCGORRY: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. One million young Australians every year, probably more than that, are affected by mental ill-health. It is going to threaten their lives, their futures. So every parent and every young person knows this, much more than they did say 12 years ago, when headspace started. So it’s one of the massive health priorities for Australia. I'm extremely grateful to the Prime Minister today and to the Government for supporting the strengthening of headspace. Headspace is already strong, but it could do a lot more, we have a lot more work to do. This is another brick in the wall and we're grateful. It’s great to be here with Christopher Pyne too, because I worked closely with him at the beginning of headspace and he’s always been a great supporter so it’s very fortunate he's here today. Greg Hunt too, he played a great role over the last couple of years. I remember when he first took up the portfolio, he and I travelled together to Grafton in New South Wales where 15 young people had died in a cluster suicide in that town. Greg went there, he spent the whole day meeting with the bereaved parents and within a few months, there was a headspace. There hasn't been, to my knowledge, a suicide in that town since then.
So, headspace saves lives, it saves futures. It's the main lever that we have in turning back the tide of mental ill-health in young people. I have just come back from Boston, where a major international conference on early intervention looks to Australia for new ideas, looks to Australia for reform, looks to Australia for progress in mental health. Mental health is the sleeping giant, really, in the health system. We have neglected it in every country in the world, for decades. Last week was World Mental Health Day where young people were front and centre. Every country acknowledged it was not spending enough money on mental health care. So Australia is the country that can really transform the way things are done around the world. We've done that already and we have to keep doing it. I want to acknowledge Jason Trethowan and John. Jason is the CEO of headspace and he's done an amazing job since he's been in place. We can keep doing great work as long as we get the support of the Australian Government, which we've always had, 110 per cent, in fact from either side of politics. So it’s a national reform that every everyone should be proud of and support. So thank you very much Prime Minister for this today and we look forward to the future.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Pat. Well said.
[Applause]
MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, HON CHRISTOPHER PYNE MP: There’s just two things I would like to add to what has been said. The first is that when Pat and I created headspace a dozen years ago, there wasn't even a Minister for mental health in Australia and there was a great dispute that had been continuing for years about whether it was a state government responsibility or a Commonwealth government responsibility. But we cut through that and we created headspace and mental health has come in from the cold and is very much a focus for our health outcomes here in Australia and particularly for young people.
I'm very pleased to see that we now have a proper understanding of the needs of mental health and we've stopped the arguments about who's paying for what and are just getting on with it. It is one of the achievements of the last 10 years in health in Australia. As Pat said, we are actually exporting this headspace model. When I was in Israel in July, they’ve adopted the headspace model of mental health for young people. They are about to open their second centre. The second thing I would say is that the Government can only do this today, this $51 million investment, because we're running a strong Budget and we are running a strong economy. We are growing the economy, which means more revenue. We’ve got spending under control in the last four or five years which means we have got more money for the things that really matter. Rather than paying off debt and interest, we're paying for things like today's announcement, because we can. That's why a strong economy and good budgetary management is vital for the delivery of services that people expect. Thank you.
[Applause]
PRIME MINISTER: Let's have questions on the announcement today and then if there are questions about politics, we can deal with those a little later, I don't think I’ll be troubling Pat and others. Because I’m sure you might want to ask Pat and the team, Jason and so on, if questions relate to today’s announcement. So any questions about headspace?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister in 2015 you said that a job was a prescription for someone suffering from depression, do you stand by that?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes I do and the person who told me that was Pat McGorry. Because Pat came and sat in my office when I was Social Services Minister and told me that was part of the whole-of-person treatment that was necessary. And I’ve met a young woman here today who has been the beneficiary of our thinking like that, we funded that program like we're funding these programs. That’s changing the lives of young people. So of course I do.
JOURNALIST: Would you be expecting headspace to open more centres, particularly in regional areas, as a result of this extra funding?
JASON TRETHOWAN, HEADSPACE CEO: This announcement today again, is most welcome by headspace and thank you to all the young people who have accessed headspace. We know more young people are seeking help. More young people are seeking help because they are a bit braver than perhaps generations that have gone by. What we know today is that headspace has been struggling to keep pace with the demand coming through the doors and onto our online services. But today’s announcement strengthens what we have already, which is so critical. The funding today is all about strengthening and building capacity for more clinical support in the headspace centres today and also the online environment, to reduce wait times, to allow young people to get the support early when they need it. We look forward to working with the Government on future headspace developments and expansions across the country. But today we want to say thank you, a huge thanks to the Prime Minister for his commitment to headspace of today, and for backing in those young people who are brave enough to have a chat about their mental health wellbeing and for us to be able to provide those coping strategies to help them on their way, to get the job, to stay in work, to stay connected to family and friends.
JOURNALIST: So the majority of that funding goes toward online services so you can reach those regional areas?
JASON TRETHOWAN, HEADSPACE CEO: 12.8 million will go towards our online service e-headspace. That operates 9:00am to 1:00am, seven days a week. That specifically targets rural and remote communities and also young Australians in other regional and metropolitan settings as well. But the bulk of the money is actually going into the 107 headspace services via the primary health networks. So we work with those services on the ground to ensure we get greater capacity to reduce wait times and give young people a chance to get help and the support they need.
As the Prime Minister said, it's not just about counselling, it's about understanding their entire needs, so they can actually stay connected to school, work and study.
JOURNALIST: Will there be any left over then, to open new centres in regional areas?
JASON TRETHOWAN, HEADSPACE CEO: The way in which the funding has been constructed, it's not about new centres. It is about strengthening what we have already got which is so fundamentally important. It is what, actually, headspace asked of the Government. Minister Greg Hunt has been terrific in listening, through his visits around the country headspace centres, realising that more young people are seeking help and more young people are getting help. But we've had experiences where there have been wait times and we don't want young people to be waiting any longer than they need to. So, this is really welcome, to have a strengthening of the headspace network before we build on more down the track.
JOURNALIST: So headspace was [inaudible] experiencing, prior to this announcement?
JASON TRETHOWAN, HEADSPACE CEO: Headspace across the country experienced variability in terms of how quickly they can see a young person. We will always see someone or listen to understand their needs. We won't judge them, we're not going to put them aside. All young people who come to headspace get a chance for a conversation. But what this funding will allow is for greater clinical capacity, more clinicians, more online services to be able to reach those young people. Because obviously we have more young people today than we did in the last decade and we have also got more young people in psychological distress than perhaps there was in 2007. So we have got multiple factor occurring.
headspace is vibrant, headspace is extremely welcoming, headspace is great for young people to come and have a very good chat, conversation. This money will be actually all about helping them get the services they need earlier.
JOURNALIST: What about Indigenous communities and particularly remote areas, suicide and youth suicide are at a very high level, how will this funding contribute to the [inaudible]?
JASON TRETHOWAN, HEADSPACE CEO: Well any young person in high levels of distress, who are feeling suicidal, or any of those feelings, by having headspace reducing the stigma - we have got a lot of young people here today who have experienced their own mental health journeys. They have sought help through encouragement of family and friends. They have come to headspace and from there, they have been given the strategy and the coping mechanisms to help reduce those levels of distress and give them lifelong coping strategies.
So, while we cannot say that all suicides will be reduced or be avoided, of course early intervention is the key. As Pat McGorry said before the ages of 12 to 25 are so critical for a young person to seek help early and get on top of those feelings of anxiety and depression. Headspace is here for them, as the Prime Minister has said.
JOURNALIST: Unfortunately that demand doesn’t seem like it’s going to ease any time soon, is $51 million enough?
JASON TRETHOWAN, HEADSPACE CEO: Look, I'm not going to go into “is 51 enough”. $51 million is more than what we had yesterday. $51 million is not to be sneezed at. It's going to be extremely welcome across the country. It's about getting those services in place. The funding starts flowing this financial year. So, from that point of view it's fantastic, it's an immediate support. We look forward to actually realising the expectations, the high level of expectations that the Government have handed over this money for Headspace services and primary health networks to deliver on.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] where are we at with youth suicide and the rates that we’re seeing and how big of a crisis is it in our country?
PROF. PATRICK MCGORRY: Look, that is a great question. Every single one of those suicides is a preventable death. These young people and even in other parts of the lifespan, do not have terminal illnesses. Every single one of those people could be saved. So we have got a huge challenge in the Australian health system generally to take mental health much more seriously, as a state and federal responsibility. There is a sense and there are data to show that the mental health of the community is actually getting a bit worse. We are seeing a rise in ED presentations and we need to look very carefully at this. What we need to do is not more of the same. This is why programs like headspace are so important. These are reform programs, these are new ways of doing things and we need to reform the whole mental health system. 20 years ago we got rid of our old mental hospitals and replaced it with a sort of mark 1 version of a new model of care. That's clearly struggling. We need to do a lot more. But it needs and the Government has announced a Productivity Commission inquiry into mental health, which we welcome. We appreciate the Prime Minister's decision on that too. That's going to be a vital thing, because we need to spend more money, but we will save money if we do that. Because mental health across the whole of the health system, is the one area where if you spend money, you will get a return on investment. You won't see that in cancer, you won't see that in heart disease, but you will see it in mental health. So we can solve this and people are dying so we have to solve it quickly.
JOURNALIST: What else would ou like to see then, done to try and reduce that.
PROF. PATRICK MCGORRY: Well as Jason said, I don't want to shift the focus away from today's announcement, which is very positive about strengthening – it’s exactly in the right area - strengthening community-based mental health care. That's what we're doing today. We're doing it in an innovative way online too. But it’s more of that, more investment where people live. Built on to the primary care system, which is what headspace is, strengthening it from the grassroots up, not from hospitals down. That's what I would say. That's the new way and it’s great the Premier is here today too because it’s a dialogue between state and federal governments that is going to solve this problem. We, in Australia are the country that will solve it. I really believe that, I’ve worked in Australia my whole professional life, we’re the most innovative and decisive country when we put our minds to these things. So I’ve got great confidence we will do it but lives are in the balance so we’ve got to actually take it a lot more seriously.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Pat. Pat and I have had an ongoing meeting and discussion, about this for years. In fact, we’re meeting in Canberra tomorrow to talk about “where to from here”. That’s what we will continue to do as a Government in this space.
As a Prime Minister, I want to ensure we give hope to young people, whether it’s hope to young people who are struggling with mental health, whether it’s hope to young people who don't feel they will find a job, whether it’s hope to young people anxious about their futures and their education. We want to give - as Steven here is in South Australia – I mean this is a tremendous country, it’s full of great opportunities. We want all young people in the country to be able to see those opportunities and go out and reach them. Headspace is helping those young Australians do just that.
In the last financial year over 100,000 young Australians got a job. That is the biggest growth in youth employment our country has ever seen on economic record. So whether it's getting them support on mental health or getting them into a job because we're running a strong economy, which then backs in the services that does that again, this is about giving young Australians hope.
Any other questions?
JOURNALIST: Same question, is $51 million enough?
PRIME MINISTER: Well this is why we’re in a constant dialogue with headspace. This is why we’ve got a Productivity Commission report. I mean, these questions are constantly being answered, we’re answering one of those questions today with $51.8 million and you keep running a strong economy, you keep working closely with organisations like headspace and particularly people like Pat who know more about this than any of the rest of us, then you keep making the right decisions.
We’ve made the right decision today to put $51.8 million into these services and we’re going to keep making those right decisions into the future. But as Christopher says, headspace is a success because of those who pioneered it, those who work in it every day. It’s also a success because of the strong economy that we’ve been running that can back it in and we’re backing it in today.
JOURNALIST: Can you just clarify then, is the $51.8 million [right now they’ll have access to that, or is it rolled out over two or three years?
PRIME MINISTER: This rolls out, as you’ve just heard, from this financial year.
JOURNALIST: Will there be any additional funding to put programs like this into schools?
PRIME MINISTER: There are already programs which reach out into schools, there are programs here that reach out through headspace into football clubs, into netball clubs, into community organisations. This is my point about headspace; headspace reaches everywhere, it reaches out. They don’t just stand there in the office and wait for people to walk in the front door, they are a proactive organisation. The great thing about the headspace brand is it’s an accessible, connectable symbol for people, to know that they can come and connect with people from headspace and do it in a way that is on their terms and they can get the help they need on their terms and they can change their life.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] are you completely certain within your party there aren’t pockets of resistance to the Bill?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes I am certain.
JOURNALIST: Would you be prepared to contemplate any changes [inaudible] the Party?
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t foresee any problems with this from the Coalition’s point of view with what I outlined yesterday, whatsoever. I’ve only had strong messages of support from my colleagues. There was a discussion I took through both our leadership group and through Cabinet as well, before coming to that position and received very strong support for that and I expect to see that.
But the Attorney-General will work through the precise nature of this and work closely with the other parties in the Parliament. I’ve also spoken to religious organisations who also support this. This is where, over the next fortnight, we’ve just got to ensure that we get the thing done and no one plays politics with it. We just fix it.
There was unnecessary anxiety created by this. Schools aren’t running around doing this sort of thing at the moment, by the way. They don’t do it. The Labor Party actually created the power for them to do it, but no one’s being doing it. That’s why we should just get the words right, let’s focus on the principle issue here; which is the concern that a school could potentially expel a student because of their sexuality and no one agrees with that. Religious schools don’t agree with that and we know that because they’re not doing it.
So we’ll just get that sorted in the next fortnight, I hope we can do that without a whole bunch of posturing and hoopla. That we just actually get on with it, no one goes into the point scoring, we just get it done.
JOURNALIST: Just in relation to the storms in Queensland, what’s been your reaction to seeing that damage?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s very distressing. We’re supporting the agencies and the services that particularly turn up in the first response from the state governments and we wish them all the best. I’m sure they’ll be reaching out to the Commonwealth as and when is necessary.
JOURNALIST: And the woman who shielded her child from the hail storm, do you think she’d be worthy of a bravery award?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, others make those decisions but I certainly think she’s one of the bravest people I’ve read of lately. You know, there are so many brave souls in Australia. There are so many courageous souls in Australia.
But I’ve got to tell you, it takes a lot of courage if you’re a young person and you’re struggling with things and you’re thinking the darkest of thoughts. It takes a lot of courage for you to reach out for help, to pick up the phone, to talk to headspace, to see someone wearing a green cap or bandanna or t-shirt in a shopping centre and to approach them. It takes a lot of courage for a young person who struggles with mental illness or who has been out of work for a year to go and fill out a job application and turn up and try and get a job and that’s happening. That’s what I call courage.
JOURNALIST: Where do you stand on striking a deal with the state government to revitalise the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site?
PRIME MINISTER: This is exciting and Steven might want to comment on this as well. Look, we are working quite constructively on this. What I’m excited about with Steven Marshall, I’m calling it the “Marshall smile,” that’s across South Australia at the moment. People are smiling across South Australia because of the great hope and vision that Steven is bringing to the state as Premier. But one of the reasons that's happening, is Steven looks like at a site like the Royal Adelaide Hospital, he doesn't imagine just a bunch of flats. What he imagines is a new technology hub. What he imagines is a new hospitality training centre of world class. Now, that's his vision. As a Government, what we want to do is we want to back in the visions of people like Steven Marshall or Will Hodgman down in Australia or what Gladys Berejiklian is doing up in New South Wales with Western Sydney Airport, where we’re making investments. Where states have great plans, of course we want to play a role and we're working through those details. The events of a few months ago means that we’re now having those conversations but we’re had a lot of progress on that and I suspect we will able to get to an arrangement, hopefully before year's end.
JOURNALIST: Has an financial support for that project been [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: We haven't got to that point yet, but I tell you what I do back; I back his vision. I back Steven Marshall's vision for South Australia and so do the people of South Australia.
JOURNALIST: There will be [inaudible] Senate this week to call for an inquiry into the ABC. Will the Government support that?
PRIME MINISTER: We already have one, we’ve been doing one. The Department has been doing one. Honestly, I think if the Senate wants to do one, they’re at liberty to go and have an inquiry into the ABC. But as I said couple of weeks ago, I think people want to stop talking about the ABC, they want to ABC to do their job well and get on with it. I don't see how that's going to do anything to bring people's electricity prices down, or do anything to help them get a job or deal with the drought.
I remember the day when I was being asked about this. Macca from Australia All Over, broadcasting this morning again, he is coming to speak at our Drought Summit in a couple of weeks. Because I wanted Macca to come and relay to all of the participants in the Drought Summit the stories that they tell Macca every week. He talks to people all over the country and as we consider what we're doing on the drought and work to coordinate better, I think Macca's stories are going to be very helpful.
You know, what Macca does on a Sunday morning is the ABC at its best.
JOURNALIST: Labor have promised [inaudible] towards reducing the rate of stillbirth today, is that something you’ll look at?
PRIME MINISTER: I will have a look at that announcement and what they are planning, I think this is an issue of tremendous sadness for so many families.
I was just down this week in Melbourne and I was at, as Christopher will know, the Beth Wiseman Centre down there in Melbourne. I walked past a counselling room for bereaved parents. Whether that’s through stillbirth or children you’ve lost early in their lives, I cannot think of anything just more heartbreaking. So we will look at the proposals in a very empathetic way and we will look at the detail. But, certainly, the area is one we would share a strong concern.
JOURNALIST: It’s six a day that we lose at the moment.
PRIME MINSTER: Yes, it’s terribly shocking.
JOURNALIST: Yesterday you announced a new measure to help fill farm labour shortages, but some farm groups say the workers are not in the areas they need them. How is this actually going to support them?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I announced three things yesterday, not one. The first thing I announced was I want all farmers go and register their labour needs with the harvest service, the job harvest service, so we know where the jobs are. That’s step one, so get on and do that. The second is, what we will do is make sure that that goes through the Jobactive service, so where there are people, fit and able and ready to work if those areas, they should go and do those jobs. Australians should do those jobs first. And third, what we said is where there are gaps, then what we will do is target assistance through two programs, the Working Holiday Maker Visa program and importantly and in a primary sense, the Pacific Island Labour Scheme. So this is a holistic package. But what I need the farmers to do first is register the job needs. When do you immediate the workers? Where do you need the workers? For how long and how much are you going to pay them? What I don't want to see happen in Australia is illegal work going on on farms and cash work going on on farms. What I want to see is this to be all done in a very transparent, open way.
You need workers. Our plan will help get workers to you to pick that fruit. But you need to tell us where the jobs are and when you need them and we will work with you to solve the problems.
Great! Thank you very much.
Support for Headspace Boosts Youth Mental Health
14 October 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for Health
Mental health care for young Australians is set for a $51.8 million funding boost.
Our Government’s extra investment in the national network of headspace centres and the digital portal, eheadspace, means young people will have access to around 14,000 additional services, shorter wait times and extra clinical staff.
We want young people to know they are not alone on their journey, and that we’re backing quality frontline support.
Our Government understands the huge mental health challenge facing many Australians, particularly young Australians. Around 560,000 children and adolescents are estimated to have mental illness, and one in four young Australians experience it in any given year.
Our support for headspace gives young Australians a single entry point to friendly primary care that includes early intervention services and support for physical and mental wellbeing.
Within our funding injection for headspace, $39 million will go towards services and staff while $12.8 million will ensure headspace National can continue to run eheadspace so young people can access support when they need it.
The additional investment is on top of the $95.7 million per year we have already committed to the 107 headspace centres running across the country.
headspace has increased the number of services it delivers from around 259,000 in 2014/15 to around 382,000 in 2017/18. Last year, approximately 33,800 young people accessed eheadspace. Our funding boost will help headspace meet the increasing demands for their services, today and in coming years.
headspace is just one plank in our government’s work to support Australia’s mental health services.
We’re committed to ensuring that Australians can get information, advice, understanding, counselling and treatment, when and where they need it.
Our plan for a stronger economy means we can guarantee essential services like mental health support, with an unprecedented $4.7 billion investment being made in mental health this year alone.
Doorstop - Murray Bridge, SA
13 October 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Member for Barker
TONY PASIN MP, MEMBER FOR BARKER: Prime Minister welcome to Murray Bridge and the Murray Lands. It’s always a special privilege to have the Prime Minister visit an electorate and my electorate in particular and I acknowledge Senator Ruston and also our Senate candidate Alex Antic who has joined us today as well. Thank you to the Webbs who have opened their small business, their family farm, to us, so that I could take the opportunity to show the Prime Minister one of the 19,000 small businesses in my electorate and one of the 11,000 farming families that are producing exceptional food, fibre and produce for the world.
Prime Minister, you’ve seen here today some of the great work that we’re doing in our electorate and I’d like to take the opportunity to invite you to address the press.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks you very much Tony, it’s great to be here with you and congratulations on what you’re achieving here in Barker. Anne, it’s great to have you here as well particularly in your capacity as Assistant Minister for International Development and how important the Pacific Islander worker scheme is to supporting farmers all around the country. We are working very closely with our Pacific neighbours on how we’re supporting an expanding the program. But to Keith and Oriana, Melissa and particularly to little Avery, thank you for that lovely welcome, that was very kind. Thank you Avery.
I'm here because this is a great family business, this is a great family small business. I believe passionately in family small businesses, the jobs they create, the economies that they create. This is what makes Australia so strong.
Small and family businesses can always trust the Liberal and National parties to back them in. We don’t have to be dragged kicking and screaming to support them. we are there right from the get-go. That’s why this week, I announced that we are reducing the taxes for small and family businesses all around the country. Whether they are growers here or whether they are cafes in Adelaide, or whether they are light manufacturing businesses up on the outskirts of Rockhampton, or wherever they happen to be; family businesses making sacrifices, making a life together, where they want to make their life together. Whether it’s in agriculture in rural areas, or it’s in our big suburbs in our cities. So that is why am so passionate be here.
The other reason I am here today is because the Government are announcing today that we will be working with farmers all around the country and working with jobactive providers and working with the National Harvest Labour Information Service to ensure that agricultural producers all around the country can get access to the workers they need, to get the fruit off the vine. And whether it’s here picking the tomatoes, or whether it’s picking the strawberries up on the Sunshine Coast, or it’s picking apples or pears or mangoes up in the Northern Territory, you need the labour to get that done. If you don't, the investments that are poured in can go to rot. We can't allow that to happen.
So what I am asking all agricultural producers do, is to go to the National Harvest Labour Information Service, to call 1800 062 332. Or go to jobsearch.gov.au/harvest tomorrow. Today, sit down, work out what your labour needs are and tomorrow, get on the phone, the phones are open from 10am to 4pm tomorrow and 8am to 8pm during the course of the week. Or you can go, they will be available tomorrow to do this online at jobserach.gov.au/harvest and register what your labour needs are. Now, what that does is that connects into the jobactive network. And those Australians who are living in those areas can have those jobs available to them. We want Australians to go and do those jobs and have access to those jobs. We have programs that enable those who are currently on Newstart or other welfare programs to be able to continue to earn by coming and doing these jobs without sacrificing what they’re currently getting on benefits as well. They can go and do that and we want them to come and take this work. Because the farmers need you to do the work and the Australian economy needs you to do it as well. It would be a great shot in the arm for those of you who haven’t been in work for some time, to go and get onto a worksite and be able to take the opportunity to earn some extra dollars and to be able support you and the decisions that you want to make.
Now the next step in that plan that we’re outlining today is once we’ve assessed where will that need is and we have worked with the jobactive providers, and where there are acute areas of shortage and we can't get the Australians to the farms to do the work that is necessary, then together particularly with Anne and her team working with the Pacific labour scheme as well as working on the 462 and 417 visas working holidaymaker visa programs, we will seek to have targeted arrangements to ensure that those workers can get to those sites and we can get the fruit off the vine.
So it’s a pretty clear plan. One, register your need, two, we will assess that need and get Australians into those jobs wherever and whenever we can. And three, where there is a shortage, we will ensure that the Pacific labour scheme and the Working Holiday Maker scheme will be able to make up that gap. We’re very focused on this coming harvest season and I know the harvest season is different for all types of produce. I’m not pretending to know my way from one end of an orchard to another, either. But I do take advice on these things and we do know that there is an urgent need to get this labour onto the farms to ensure that it can get picked and we can get it off to market, whether it’s in major metro markets here in Australia, or going offshore. So it’s just all part of a practical plan to help small and family businesses, in particular in rural districts, but larger operations as well, to ensure that we can just keep our economy humming.
For the 19,000 odd small businesses that are here in Barker - and a very large proportion of them, as Tony will tell you, will be agricultural producers, ag is the biggest employer in this electorate here in Barker – as you can see, the investment that is going in, the technology, the smart investment that we are seeing here from Keith and Oriana is very impressive. That’s what I'm seeing with small and family businesses all around the country.
So we are going to back them in. We are going to totally back them in with lower taxes, better investment allowances, through the instant asset write-off. One of these little trays here that I went up on, that cost less than $20,000. This business could write that off in one year as a result of the policies we have been pursuing in our Government for the last five years. That is enabling this investment to take place. So Tony, it’s great to be here. It’s exciting to be here, to see what is happening in South Australia, and we are here for small and family businesses and we’re here for agriculture in Australia. I also particularly want to thank Michael McCormack the Deputy Prime Minister, who has been working very closely with me on this plan to get the labour we need onto farms. It’s a major issue for the Deputy Prime Minister and we have been working on it from the day that I became Prime Minister. I am pleased to be able to make this announcement today as part of that plan has been formed together with Michael McCormack.
JOURNALIST: Can you confirm that Australians would have their Centrelink payments stopped if there are local jobs and they choose not to take them?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah there’s a process for that. As you know, there are a series of warnings and breaches and if there is the successive number of breaches for people who are offered work and who are in a position to take it and don’t take it - I think it’s after three instances - then they can lose access to those benefits. That’s how the scheme works. We’re not making any changes to what the current arrangements are in terms of how people can lose access to their welfare payments, their dole payments. What we’re doing is making sure that the jobs and the work that is there is being put in front of them. That seems to have been a problem in the past, that the actual jobs are not being relayed to the people who are in a position to go and do those jobs. What I’m trying to do, with Michael McCormack, is close that gap.
The jobs that are needed here or anywhere else around the country, need to be on the register with jobactive so when they’re talking to those who are on Newstart now and looking for work, they can know that that job is available. But we also have programmes and those programmes include the Seasonal Workers Trial. You can earn up to $5,000 for seasonal work when you enlist and become part of the programme. Now there’s 7,600 Australians who have joined that program. So Australians can get involved in that, they can come and do the work and they don’t even necessarily have any change to the benefits they’re currently receiving. But if you don’t, if you’re not going to have a go, you’re not going to get a go. If you are going to have a go, you are going to get a go, under our Government. They’re the things we believe in and that’s what we’re rolling out whether it’s here on farms or in small business anywhere else in the country.
JOURNALIST: What would you see as a valid excuse for a jobseeker not to take up a job on a farm?
PRIME MINISTER: Well look, it all depends on the individual to be honest. I’m not going to get into a hypothetical. Every case is considered by those who assess these things on the ground and every individual is different. But if you’re fit and you’re able and you’re available, then you should be working, not taking the dole.
JOURNALIST: These jobs have always been here, I mean, you say you want Australians but what is going to entice them, if nothing has?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it is about better connecting the availability of the jobs and the presentation of those jobs to locals who are living in the districts where that work is available. Now I was up at the Glasshouse Mountains a couple of weeks ago when I was visiting the strawberry farmers. There are people up there that are on the dole and there are jobs up there to pick strawberries, particularly at the moment because the great news is - I was out at the Sydney Markets yesterday and I was with a whole bunch of guys last night at a police ball in Sydney and a lot of the Markets guys were there as well - and I was asking them about the strawberries; they said the demand, the response of Australians to the strawberries over the last few weeks has been fantastic. So that is really lifting the need in those areas.
So, there’s work out there. We need Australians to go out there and take those jobs. The scheme, the system that is there to ensure the integrity of our welfare system, that will continue as we’ve designed it. But we’ve got to connect the people with the jobs.
Now actually, if you go to JobSearch, that same website, if you go to JobSearch – I’ve got it here on my phone – to jobactive, you can go on there and it says “find harvest jobs”. It says here; “Third of October 2018 - 500 people required for cherry season in Griffith and Hillston New South Wales. Approximate start date 20 October for six weeks”. So maybe you’re not out there in those districts, but you want to go get some work picking cherries, off you go, you can find that on the app, on the website. You can go out there and you can take those jobs and you can help our farmers.
JOURNALIST: The Farmers Federation this morning have described this policy as a shallow attempt at solving a deep problem. We know that they’ve been pushing for different skilled visas and so forth, do you think that that’s the next step if this doesn’t work? Is that where we will head?
PRIME MINISTER: What I’ve flagged is, let’s find out where the jobs are needed right now and there’s all sorts of rubbery estimates about how many jobs are needed. But when I ask the question: “Well, what jobs, where, when do they start? How long are they running for? What are they paying? Have those jobs been offered to Australians?” They’re the questions as Prime Minister, I want answered before I start inviting foreign workers into the country.
So I’m very supportive of wanting to ensure we get the fruit off the vine. But I also want to be absolutely assured that we are taking every step that we must take to get Australians into those jobs first. So this is my invitation to producers all over the country; register the need for those jobs, let’s get it into the jobactive network. Let’s get those jobs in front of Australians and at the same time in parallel, what will be happening is Anne Ruston as the Minister for International Development will be working along over the next couple of weeks to ensure that we have any changes to the Pacific Islander scheme that we need to kick in. I’m already working with David Coleman as the Minister for Immigration to ensure that we’re working along across possible changes with the Working Holiday Visa program so they can kick in.
So I’ll have that ready to go, but what I want to know first is; which jobs, where, how much, when do they start? Let’s get the data, let’s look at where the need is, because what I want to do is target these initiatives.
See, you can just go around and come up with a new visa and all you’ll end up doing is having people coming and serving coffee in metropolitan cities and driving Ubers. Now, that’s not going to get any fruit off the vine. What you want is the workers in the places where they’re needed. I’m all about targeting these things and solving the problem, not just making announcements for announcements’ sake. I’ve got a plan here to solve the problem, with Michael McCormack and again I want to thank Michael for his strong work on this, working together with him.
JOURNALIST: On the dole proposal, the RDA’s had success locally with a programme that’s holistic and supports jobseekers. Do you believe the stick is more effective than the carrot?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think both work. I’m all for the programmes that I’ve mentioned like the Seasonal Workers Trial which means you can earn up to $5,000 a year doing these jobs and it not affect your welfare payments. I mean I’ve proven that with other programs, when I initiated the Youth Jobs PaTH. What that Youth Jobs PaTH was about was actually paying people $200 more than their dole if they were on unemployment benefits and they were a young person, while they went and worked in an actual business.
Now I’m all for trying to get people with the right incentives, but at the end of the day, Australians aren’t mugs. If people aren’t going to take jobs that are there, well, they shouldn’t be getting the dole. If they’re available and fit and ready for work and can go and do it, they shouldn’t be taking dole payments when they can work.
JOURNALIST: Just on something else, what made you change the position on the Discrimination Act to stop religious students from expelling gay students?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, as you know, it was actually the Gillard Labor Government that introduced the laws which Tanya Plibersek had only said yesterday and the day before, that didn’t need changing. Now, Bill Shorten’s expressed his view. Those laws that the Labor Party brought in actually do allow a religious school to expel a child on the basis of their sexuality. In my discussions over the course of the week with religious schools and leaders, they don't do it and they don't want to do it.
So I was disappointed with the way that this issue was raised in the media, because it misrepresented what Philip Ruddock was actually saying. He was saying that there was a problem with the law that the Labor Party introduced. He said it should be constrained and the rights and primacy of the child should be paramount in these things. Now, that’s have why I have taken the step that was announced overnight. I'm happy to work with the Opposition to this end. I don't want to play politics with it, I just want to fix it. I think it's really distressing that the way this issue was reported, has caused unnecessary anxiety amongst parents and amongst children. So I want to see that addressed over the next fortnight. We will work quietly and privately to achieve that, I don't want to kick up dust on this, I just want to get on and provide that surety to parents and families as well as religious schools and others involved in the system.
They don't want to discriminate on this basis, in terms of expelling students on this basis. It's not actually happening in schools, to the best of our knowledge. So we’ll just work to ensure that we close that loophole as quickly as possible and in as cooperative a way as possible. I would just hope we can do this sensibly and in good faith and not to pile on a whole bunch of other agendas and arguments. There's a problem here, we should just get on and fix it in a cooperative way.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister will religious schools still be able to reject gay teachers?
PRIME MINISTER: There are other issues raised in the report and the recommendations are out there, we will go through the process as I said, which is to consider those recommendations and for the Government to provide a response. We will do that in a timely and careful and respectful and sensitive way and there will be further opportunities to discuss broader questions.
What I'm most concerned about now, is that children at risk of being expelled from schools, religious schools, because of the laws that were introduced by the previous government. I think we should just fix that up. So everyone can just be clear about that. I think there is clear agreement on that point right across the political divide. So let's just fix that. I'm sure there are plenty of other issues to discuss and we can do that, I think, in a civilised way down the track.
JOURNALIST: How will you actually be able to police it though? If schools are rejecting kids or expelling kids on the basis of their sexuality?
PRIME MINISTER: In the same way you police any law. I mean if you break the law, the police come and knock on your door, if you break the tax law the Tax Office comes and knocks on your door. If you break the law when it comes to sexual discrimination, I mean, these are offences. So it's enforced like any other law in the country.
JOURNALIST: How has the Wentworth by-election changed your views?
PRIME MINISTER: It has nothing to do with it. What concerned me was the misreporting and misinformation that had been put into the media. I thought that was very disappointing. I thought it lacked some real empathy and judgement on behalf of those who did that. It caused unnecessary concern and stress to children and families. I want to see that fixed and I'd love to see it fixed as soon as we practically can. I don't think there is any real immediate risk of any schools actually expelling any student anywhere in the country. I know, having spoken to some religious leaders yesterday and they don't, they love all kids.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask quickly, the kids who have seen the stories this week, seen the stories and headlines, kids who are gay, what would you say to them?
PRIME MINISTER: That their PM understands and is going to take action to fix it.
JOURNALIST: Internal polling in the Australian suggests it’s neck-and-neck in Wentworth, if you lose will you call a general election?
PRIME MINISTER: I have no plans to lose that election, but I would say to everybody in Wentworth as you saw, those polls make it clear. There's only one way to ensure the continued certainty that is needed in our economy and in our Parliament, that is to not create a hung Parliament.
If you don't vote for the Liberal candidate Dave Sharma at this election, whatever concerns you may have about events of several weeks ago, if you don't vote for the Liberal candidate, then you risk a hung Parliament. You risk creating unnecessary uncertainty in our economy and the stability of our Government more broadly. Dave Sharma is one of the best candidates I've ever seen. This is a man who has gone from being an immigrant to our country to bringing one of the youngest ever ambassadors for our country. He’s a person of absolutely incredible standing and intellect and compassion. Dave Sharma I think he will make an outstanding Member of Parliament.
So he is someone that you can personally vote for with great confidence. He's also someone who you can vote for as a member of the Liberal team that will ensure the continuity of strong economic management, the economic management which is guaranteeing the essential services, whether it's Medicare or affordable medicines, record funding of hospitals and schools. You can't deliver that unless you have a strong economy. Throwing the Parliament into a hung Parliament would only create instability and uncertainty which is not necessary.
I mean, an independent candidate only needs to come second, it doesn't matter where they send their preferences if they come second. This is a three horse race it would seem, particularly between the Liberals, the Labor Party and the independent Kerryn Phelps. Liberals who are thinking about voting for the independent should think about that carefully. She's clearly running strongly second and if she continues in that place, she can still be a long way behind on primaries and then she can come over the top and win that by-election. On the Sunday, waking up to a hung Parliament is not something I think that the people in Wentworth would want to see. So I would encourage people to think about that carefully.
Dave Sharma is someone that you can support and you can trust. He is an outstanding candidate and will do an outstanding job, just like the last member for Wentworth.
Thank you.
More Workers for Regional Australia
13 October 2018
Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations
Our Government is taking action to get people off welfare and into work while backing the needs of farmers for their harvests.
We’re calling on all farmers to report their workforce needs as part of a new initiative to ensure those positions can then be matched with eligible Australian job seekers.
Whilst many Australian farmers are doing it tough right now because of the drought, others are gearing up for a healthy harvest.
Our plan will help tackle farm labour shortages and ensure Australian workers are filling Australian jobs. We want to help job seekers find a great local job, and help farmers find great workers.
This new initiative will:
Call on farmers with vacant positions around the country to report their employment needs to the National Harvest Labour Information Service (NHLIS). They’ll be asked about their workforce needs like short-term harvest work as well as vacancy information such as the location of the work, the types of roles to be filled, the number of people they require, the length of time required and the level of payment.
Then match job seekers with job opportunities, including through the Government’s jobactive service providers across the country.
Australian taxpayers expect genuine job seekers to be looking for work. If a jobseeker turns down a suitable job offer without reasonable excuse, they will lose their taxpayer funded income support payments for up to 4 weeks.
Our Government will use the information gathered through the NHLIS to better understand Australia’s seasonal labour shortages and to inform potential adjustments to the Seasonal Worker Programme, Pacific Labour Scheme and Working Holiday Maker visa arrangements in future. That includes ensuring people coming to Australia with work rights can help fill vacancies not taken up by Australian workers.
If you want a go, you’ll get a go, and as part of our plan for a stronger economy, we’re backing our farmers by driving policies to get more people into jobs.
We urge farmers and job seekers to get in touch with the National Harvest Labour Information Service through their national free-call telephone information service call: 1800 062 332 (Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm EST).
Media Statement
13 October 2018
This week, there have been numerous misrepresentations of proposals by the Ruddock Review in relation to laws regarding discrimination against children attending religious schools.
Contrary to what has been reported, the Ruddock Review proposes to strengthen the protections for students from discrimination. The Ruddock Review actually proposes restrictions to the laws introduced by the previous Labor Government, which gave religious schools greater ability to expel students where the school considered that was necessary according to the doctrines of the religion in question.
This misreporting has created unnecessary confusion and anxiety for parents and students alike.
To address this issue I will be taking action to ensure amendments are introduced as soon as practicable to make it clear that no student of a non-state school should be expelled on the basis of their sexuality. I believe this view is shared across the Parliament and we should use the next fortnight to ensure this matter is addressed.
To this end, I have asked the Attorney General to prepare amendments and consult with the Opposition. I will be writing to the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to invite him to work with the Government on a bipartisan basis to provide certainty in this area.
Our Government does not support expulsion of students from religious non-state schools on the basis of their sexuality. I also know that this view is widely shared by religious schools and communities across the country.
Amending the legislation will give all students and parents the certainty they require.
In relation to the Ruddock Review more broadly, the Government will work through our response through the normal Cabinet process and engage with the Opposition and the Parliament on those issues, once our consideration has been completed.
Any changes in this area should always take into account the best interests of children. Given recent misreporting, we have an opportunity here to bring forward a simple amendment to end the confusion.
Interview with Sky News
12 October 2018
LAURA JAYES: To the Prime Minister now, he’s in Sydney at the Sydney Markets. Prime Minister, thank you for your time this morning. There’s a lot of happy small business people behind you no doubt, after your announcement yesterday.
PRIME MINISTER: There are!
JAYES: So I’m sorry to get to the technical aspects but it’s important. How will the small business tax cuts to be paid for and has this been modelled by Treasury, in terms of the overall economic benefit?
PRIME MINISTER: Well first of all it is being paid for over the medium term because we’re not proceeding with the tax cuts for large businesses. The measures kick in once the Budget is back in surplus and that’s in 2021. That’s when the tax rate falls to 26 per cent and then to 25 per cent the following year. So we’re in surplus then and we’re also not going ahead with those tax cuts for large businesses and that’s what enables the programme to be supported. I should stress, it’s not just the incorporated tax rate that comes down, the increase in the tax offset for unincorporated businesses, that doubles from 8 per cent to 16 per cent. So we’re supporting all of these small and family businesses.
The Liberal and National parties, we’re about supporting small businesses, family businesses, making sure that they get bigger. The Labor Party takes large businesses and tries to turn them into small businesses with their tax policies.
JAYES: As I said I’m sure you’ve had a wonderful reception there at the Sydney Markets this morning with this announcement. This is great to be campaigning in marginal seats. But the original corporate tax plan under Malcolm Turnbull, which involved big business as well, that delivered a 1 per cent growth in GDP over ten years. What does this revised plan do for the economy? Do you have modelling?
PRIME MINISTER: What it does is it enables every single small and family business and medium sized business in the country to invest more in their business. That’s what it does. I mean this is common sense economics. If you enable small and family businesses to not have to pay so much tax to the government, they can invest it in their employees, in growing their business, invest it in new equipment and that’s what has been growing the economy. That’s what our tax plans are already delivering. That’s how over 100,000 young people got a job in the last financial year, the strongest growth in youth employment in Australia’s economic history. And it’s all being done by businesses around the country, but particularly by small and medium-sized family businesses like the hundreds that are out here.
KIERAN GILBERT: So Prime Minister you’ve got the plan for small and medium sized business. What’s the plan now, what’s your idea now to make our larger businesses internationally competitive?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, talk about our $75 billion infrastructure plan, the Defence Industry recruitment plan, the medical industry plan, these are just three plans we’ve outlined in the last few Budgets. All of these things are creating the right environment for investment. We’re going to get energy prices down, that’s already turned the corner with the reliability guarantee that is continuing to go through the states process as we speak, by ensuring we’ve got the right investment environment for investing in reliable power around the country. Also supporting small and family businesses, again by ensuring that their electricity bills would be between $500 and $1,500 better off as a result of the measures we’re pursuing out of the ACCC report. So lower electricity prices, investing in those industries that are helping us transition, particularly out of some of the things like the car industry and others which as we know we’ve transitioned out of and we’ve got new industries and new sectors soaking up those jobs. You can see it happening Kieran because more than 1 million job have been created under our Government over the last five years under these plans.
GILBERT: Mr Morrison, but if you’re a CEO of a multinational, you’ve got 200 or 300 million dollars to invest, do you invest here, or do you invest in the US or the UK where their corporate rate is 21 per cent and 19 per cent respectively?
PRIME MINISTER: Well you invest here because of not only the investment that we’re making in our infrastructure around the country, but the strong economic management that is being provided by the Government. It has added to the fact that we’ve now had 27 years of consecutive economic growth in Australia. I mean Australia’s economy is resilient, it’s well-positioned because of our trade agreements, not just with China but with the United States and all throughout the region. We’ve had a pro-trade, open access market environment in this country. We’ve got a pro-investment policy environment for foreign investment in Australia which encourages it. We’ve got the most liberal arrangements of anywhere in this part of the world.
So people who come to invest in Australia are getting their money back because of the strength of our economy and we have to keep our economy strong. Labor’s plan for higher taxes, over $200 billion in higher taxes will suffocate our economy. We’re liberating our economy from those taxes, both on personal income tax which we’ve already legislated to cut - and Labor wants to cut that personal income tax plan in half. We’re lowering taxes for small and medium sized businesses that employ half of the people who go to work every day in this country, including those who get up early to come to work here and frankly, you guys get up early yourselves.
JAYES: We certainly do.
GILBERT: Sure do.
JAYES: 3 am actually. Now Prime Minister back in 2016 when you were Treasurer – it may seem like a long time ago now - but you were considering broadening the base or increasing the rate of the GST. You had support there from people like now Cabinet Minister Dan Tehan. Can you rule out broadening the base or raising the rate of the GST in the next term? Will you rule that out?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, we’re not doing that.
JAYES: Okay, so you rule it out, it’s not going to happen at all in the next term?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I mean if you were to do something like that, you’d have to take it to an election. That’s not what we’re doing.
JAYES: Okay.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s what we said at the last election. I mean, you know, if anything I’m pretty up front. I think I’m pretty clear about things and you know, if we wanted to do something like that, we’d take it to the Australian people and we don’t plan to do that, no.
GILBERT: Obviously one of your achievements as Immigration Minister was to get some control over the boat arrivals. We know that and it’s something you’re proud of, but does it frustrate you that we see another report, this one from Médecins Sans Frontières that it’s absolutely devastating the mental state of some of the asylum seekers still on Nauru five years on? Does it frustrate you that the Government hasn’t been able to resettle all of these individuals?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think we’ve made a lot of progress on that, but it’s a very difficult job and as you know, the people are living in the community on Nauru these days and the medical support is there. Where there are medical cases that require further attention, then we put those arrangements in place. We don’t go around making a big song and dance about it, we just get on and help people and provide the care that is necessary. The Government will continue to do that, but you’re right, yes it’s five years on and we’re still dealing with the legacies of Labor’s border protection failures. I mean Bill Shorten runs around saying “trust me,” you know, “I’ll keep our borders strong.” Well, that’s what Kevin Rudd said. I mean you just can’t trust Labor on border protection. You can trust our government on that because we have got the runs on the board. You know, we came up with the policies to actually stop the boats. We did do it and you just cannot take it for granted. I’d urge people not to take it for granted, because it turns pear-shaped really quickly when Labor gets in, whether it’s on the borders or whether it’s on the Budget.
GILBERT: One final question, on a very different note, a lighter note in fact. You’re going to be hosting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex next week and they’re making their visit to Australia. I’m just wondering, I don’t think you’ve ever been asked before, are you a republican or a constitutional monarchist?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m a constitutional monarchist, so the picture of the Queen is back up in the PM’s office. It was one of the things Malcolm and I disagreed on, but look, I respect all Australians view on this. It’s not something I go around beating my chest about. It’s just I think I’ve got a lot of respect for the constitutional monarchy and if it ain’t broke, I don’t see the need to fix it.
JAYES: I like it.
PRIME MINISTER: But I respect all Australian’s views on that and I’m looking forward to seeing them. I’m going for a bridge climb with the prince so I recon he’ll get up there a bit quicker than I will.
[Laughter]
GILBERT: Yeah I think he might, no offence.
PRIME MINISTER: You’ll see me puffing and panting at the top, it won’t be a good look Keiran.
[Laughter]
JAYES: Prime Minister it’s a bit disappointing not to see you in the Shire this morning, why is the Shire God’s country do you think? I’ve got to get that last question in to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’m missing it very much as you know. We’ve had to move house under these new arrangements but I am missing the Shire. I’m missing Cronulla more and there are a lot of people from the Shire here I can tell you, at Sydney Markets.
JAYES: Yep.
PRIME MINISTER: But the thing I always love about my community is it’s such a hard-working, self-made community. A lot of small and family businesses there, it really is and it’s just got a great sense of identity about itself as you know. So to all of my friends down in the Shire, I miss you guys. I get back as often as I can and you know, it’s a great part of the country. But what I’m learning - and what I’ve always known I suppose – but as Prime Minister, getting all the way around the country as you’ve seen and I really appreciate just the feedback and the stories Australians are telling me direct. It’s the best part of the job, Australians just come and share stories with you. They share their heartbreaks and they share their joys as well. That is, I find, a real shot in the arm and it’s a great inspiration to just get on and get the job done.
JAYES: Prime Minister, thank you.
GILBERT: Prime Minister, thank you for your time, we’ll talk to you soon. Prime Minister Scott Morrison there at Sydney Markets.
Interview with ABC TV
12 October 2018
MICHAEL ROWLAND: A big week in federal politics and the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, I’m pleased to say, joins us from the always bustling Sydney Markets. Prime Minister good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: G’day Michael. I’m here supporting people who get up early for a living.
ROWLAND: Yeah.
PRIME MINISTER: That would include you too mate.
ROWLAND: We like people who get up early here. Hey, let's talk about the economy. Former Treasurer Peter Costello says your Government does not have an economic narrative. With friends like that, you don't need enemies.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that was before I gave my speech yesterday at a lunch that he was at, I'm sure I turned him around by lunchtime. But Peter was a great Treasurer and our Government has been continuing the great legacy of Liberal and National governments. More than a million jobs have been created under our Government. The AAA credit rating has been preserved under our Government and we’re particularly getting jobs for young people. That is happening because of small and family businesses, like the hundreds that are out here at the Sydney markets. We are reducing their taxes because we’re backing them in every single day.
ROWLAND: Okay to another issue, now just a week before the very critical Wentworth by-election, Alex Turnbull, the son of the former the Prime Minister, weighed into the by-election campaign. He says in his view, the Liberal Party has been overtaken by extremists and he went on to say this.
ALEX TURNBULL – RECORDING: If you want to send a signal as to which way the Liberal Party is going and your displeasure with where it is going, then this is your opportunity. Don't vote for the Liberal Party in the Wentworth by-election if you want to pull the Liberal Party back from the brink, it’s the one clear signal you can send.
ROWLAND: Scott Morrison that doesn't make your task any easier does it, with a week to go?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Alex is his own person. His father Malcolm Turnbull is heavily supporting Dave Sharma, the only Liberal candidate running for Wentworth. If you want to see the continuation of support for small businesses, we're cutting small business taxes to 25 per cent. The Labor Party wants to put taxes up to 27.5 per cent. So if you want lower taxes for small and family businesses, if you want lower taxes for all working Australians, which we're delivering, it’s only the Liberal Party who can do that. You know, at the Wentworth by-election, I’ve got a simple message; if you want to see a continuation of the certainty for our economy and of economic management, then voting for anyone other than Dave Sharma puts all of that at risk.
If an independent is elected at the Wentworth by-election, that will throw us into a hung Parliament and a lot of uncertainty, at a time when the country doesn't need it. So I disagree with Alex, his father disagrees with him too.
ROWALND: Yes, well, Malcolm Turnbull came out at the very start of the campaign and backed in Dave Sharma. But he’s been noticeably silent since?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, he’s left Australian public life. I mean, he has left politics. He’s very supportive of Dave as you said and so that’s why Malcolm is over in New York at the moment and he's keeping a low profile, I totally understand that.
ROWALND: Hey a bit to get through in a really limited amount of time, friendly fire coming your way from all directions. The business community seemingly your natural constituency, is walking away from your Government. They are fed up, they argue, with the lack of a clear, coherent stable energy policy. What do you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well look the top end of town is often critical of the Liberal Party but I tell you what, small and family businesses here that I’m standing with out here in the Sydney Markets, they know we're supporting them. Family businesses know that we're backing them. The top end of town might have their disagreements with us from time to time, but what we do is we back small and family businesses, medium sized businesses. They’re the businesses all across Australia and what we're doing for those businesses is getting their taxes down and we’re going to get their electricity prices down, which we’ve already started to see.
Because we’re focusing on the things that gets more energy into the system, more fair dinkum power into the system, reliable energy. That’s why we're pursuing the reliability guarantee. That’s we’re taking on the big energy companies. So I'm not surprised the big end of town and the big energy companies are turning against us, because frankly they know that we’ll take them to task.
ROWLAND: It’s not the big energy companies, the Business Council of Australia represents all of the blue chip companies, the big, the top end of town –
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, the big banks and the big energy companies.
ROWLAND: They employ lots of Australians and as you know, as a former Treasurer, business craves certainty. They are very big employers, they’re important to the Australian economy, they say they do not have that when it comes to energy policy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I disagree with them and what we’ve been doing as a Government is generating the certainty that has enabled our economy to generate over a million jobs.
When it comes right down to it, the Liberal and National Parties, we stand for those small and family businesses that are here today, that are here every morning, working hard. We're giving them tax relief. We’re going to give them the certainty of lower electricity prices by focusing on the things that gets those electricity prices down.
If the big businesses want to go out there and play footsie with the Labor Party, well, that's often what they do.
What we’ll do is focus on small and family businesses like we always have, because they know we've got their back.
ROWLAND: Okay just about out of time, lots of speculation this morning about just who will be the next Governor General. You colleague Julian Leeser a Sydney Liberal MP last night told a that gathering he wouldn't be opposed to either Prince Harry or Prince William taking the job, what do you think about that?
PRIME MINISTER: You know what, I’m not really thinking about who the next Governor General is. What I’m thinking about is how I'm going to get electricity prices down, how I’m going to deal with the drought. I’m thinking about the aged care royal commission which I’ve announced this week so Australians can have confidence about the care that senior Australians are receiving and their loved ones.
They're my priorities. That's my focus. Look, I welcome the debate about who people think it should be, but it's a very important position and Sir Peter Cosgrove has been doing an amazing job. I want to thank him for his service to our country but right now, I'm focused on getting taxes down, electricity prices down, focusing on the drought and growing our economy.
Because only if you have a strong economy, can you guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on. The people at Sydney Markets working hard, they’re guaranteeing those essential services by growing their businesses.
ROWLAND: Okay in all seriousness, there is speculation about Sir Angus Houston, as the next Governor General, the former Defence chief, would he have your support?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll make a decision in due course, but it’s not something that's burning a hole in my agenda at the moment. The things that are burning a hole in my agenda is how I can continue to support Australian households and families, and small and family businesses around the country and make sure that we have got their back. Because we do; lowering taxes for all of them, driving an economy that will support better wages and higher living standards. That's what the Liberal and National parties have always been about, that's what is in our DNA. That's what I will continue to focus on.
ROWLAND: Okay Scott Morrison, thank you very much for joining News Breakfast, don't be a stranger, hope to see you again.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Michael, great to be here.
Doorstop - Homebush West, NSW
12 October 2018
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s great to be here with my good mate Craig Laundy, the Member for Reid but it’s particularly good for both us to be back here at the Sydney Markets. You want to know the capital of small and family businesses around Australia, well it’s right here. Like so many markets like this round the country, as you move around these markets, you talk to business after business and they’re fourth-generation family businesses or they’re new family businesses that are being created. The kids are here on school holidays, helping out their mum or their uncle or dad or their brother or whoever. These are family businesses and our Government is backing in small and family businesses by reducing their taxes, by increasing the definition of what a small business is, up to $10 million, which we’ve already legislated. Giving them the tax relief and the support which enables them to invest more in their businesses and in their future, to create a future for the next generation that are going to come up and take on those family businesses. We’ve met seven and eight and nine year olds, you know, fourth in line, third in line, who are going to be taking over these businesses. So it’s been great to get the reaction here from these businesses that know that if they pay more money to the Government in taxes, then that restricts their opportunities for them and their workers. That’s why we’re delivering this tax relief for small and family businesses all around the country. So, down to 25 per cent five years earlier. It’s all affordable, it’s all in the Budget, it’s there when we go back into surplus. We’re not going ahead with those big business tax cuts. What we’re doing is focusing on the small and family businesses that are really the backbone of this country. We’re backing them in as we’ve always backed them in as Liberal and National parties. They know that they can always trust us and that we always have their back, because we always stump up for them?
Craig do you want to say anything mate? You’re a third generation.
CRAIG LAUNDY MP: I am a third generation. Look, it’s great to have you here Scott. The reality is that the only way that the Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten or the shadow treasurer will ever run a small business is if someone gave them a big business to start with. They have no idea of how business works. This is the epicenter of it, we’ve been touring today talking to second, third, fourth generation school kids on their holidays who are helping out mum and dad. That’s my earliest memory of business life. If you talk to most parliamentarians, when we make our maiden speech, you talk about the work that they’ve done with their families. You see it here at the coal face. Scott, always great to have you mate.
PRIME MINISTER: Good on you Craig. Ok, happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister what are your thoughts on the prospect of Angus Houston becoming Governor General?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’m not really thinking about who the next Governor General is to be honest, what I’m thinking about is getting people’s electricity prices down. Getting taxes down for small business. Making sure we do the right thing particularly over there in Western Australia, about how we fix the GST. We’ve announced the residential aged care Royal Commission just this week. There are a lot of frankly very pressing issues that are impacting on the household budgets of Australians and on businesses around the country and that’s where my focus is. We’ll make that important decision in due course but it’s not something that’s dominating my focus at the moment. We’ve got a great Governor General at the moment who is doing a terrific job. I know he finishes up next year and we’ll make that decision in due course.
JOURNALIST: Who will your pick be?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think I’ve just answered the question. I’m not even thinking about it at the moment.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said last night you don’t want gay children discriminated against [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: That’s right.
JOURNALIST: What steps have you taken to ensure that they won’t be?
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t want to see any child discriminated against in our schools, whether its because of their gender or their sexuality or their race or their religion. I don’t want any child discriminated against and what the proposal is to the Government, is that we should be targeting and better protecting children in those laws around religious schools. It was actually the Labor Party that introduced the laws which this report is actually critical of. So I found it a bit rich actually, for the Labor Party to be going around trying to beat this up the other day, when they themselves were the ones who introduced the laws which leaves it open for that discriminating to take place. Now I don’t want to see any child discriminated against on this basis and we have that report in front of us now. So we’ll be looking carefully at what that recommendation is and we’ll be making further decisions on that.
But I want to make it really clear to kids and to parents of kids in this situation that the Liberal and National parties do not support the discrimination of children based on their sexuality, based on their race or based on the religion or anything else. Because you know, in Australia, if you have a go, you get a go. Ensuring that people are free from discrimination, particularly children, that is the agenda of our Government and we won’t cop anything else.
JOURNALIST: You’re saying that you want to make sure that gay children aren’t discriminated against, but [inaudible] existing - ?
PRIME MINISTER: That’s why I’m saying that we’ll be bringing forward our response to that report once we’ve gone through the proper process of considering it. That’s what we’re in the process of doing right now.
JOURNALIST: The raids that took place yesterday, the Home Affairs Minister and Secretary of the Department referred this to the AFP and those raids took place. What is your reaction to the searches? Why do you think or suspect this happened?
PRIME MINISTER: This is an independent police operation they make their own decisions and they’re driving that investigation as they should. So while I’m aware as anyone else is that they’re conducting that investigation, it’s entirely an operational matter for the police.
What I’m disappointed about is that the Labor Party would call into question the independence of the Australian Federal Police. I mean my dad was a police officer and you know, I get pretty annoyed when people start having a go at the police. They put themselves in harm’s way for us, every single day. For the Labor Party to go out there and play politics and try to suggest that the Australian Federal Police are not independent, well, I think that’s just frankly a bit disappointing. I’d ask them to step back from those comments.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] Wentworth voters not to vote for the Liberal Party, do you think that’s [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: What I know is Malcolm Turnbull wants people in Wentworth to be voting for the Liberal Party and for Dave Sharma. Alex is his own man, that’s how Malcolm has raised his kids, Malcolm is a great dad and his family are entitled to have their own views. But I do know this about the Wentworth by-election, if you’ve voted Liberal in Wentworth, then know this; it’s a three horse race and all that Kerryn Phelps has to do is come second. She can be a fair way behind on primary vote, but that means, because she’s getting the support of the Labor Party and ultimately the Greens and a lot of the independents in the field, then she can be elected as the Member for Wentworth. So if you think you can, you know, take an option to maybe vote for Kerryn and still think that the Liberal Party will get elected, that’s not how the system works. The maths are quite simple. It doesn’t matter whether she’s giving her preferences to the Liberal Party or not, if she finishes second, her preferences don’t go anywhere and she’ll be supported by the preferences of the Labor Party and the Greens and all of those parties that will be expecting for taxes to go up and all of the Labor Party’s destructive policies for our economy. I mean it’s a very tight Parliament. There is a one seat majority for the Government and if we were to go to a minority government then that would have very, very significant impact on the certainty that we need right now.
There are a lot of threats out there in our economy, because I know that 29,000 business owners, small business owners in Wentworth understand and those who are running large businesses as well. They know the threats. So if you want the certainty of the continuation of the policies that have led to more than 1 million Australians in work – I understand that many Liberal Wentworth voters might be feeling quite aggrieved at the events of several weeks ago. But you know, the future of the nation, the future of the nation and the certainty of economic policy in this nation is in focus for this Wentworth by-election. Dave Sharma, his story, coming from an immigrant, to an ambassador for Australia, is a remarkable Australian story. He’s got the goods to be an outstanding member for Wentworth, just like the last one was and I know Malcolm Turnbull is heavily supporting Dave Sharma to be the Liberal Member for Wentworth and he’ll do a fantastic job. I would urge all Liberals, don’t risk your vote. You may think you’re voting for Kerryn Phelps but at the end of the day, it’s Bill Shorten who will be most happy.
JOURNALIST: Just finally on energy, the Energy Security Board head Kerry Schott, I can see here has said if politicians can’t agree on an approach to the issues [inaudible] ten years, they think that industry should go it alone. Has she mischaracterized the policy paralysis and why shouldn’t businesses take further action if [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the comments Kerry has made I think recognise an important point. That is that the Government’s policies on our emissions reduction target are clear and we’ve had a 26 per cent emissions reduction target now for several years. We’ve been consistent about that all along. We’ve reaffirmed our commitment to that. It’s not going to affect electricity prices one way or the other. I’ll tell you what will though; Labor’s emissions reduction target of 45 per cent. That will see an impact on household electricity bills almost three times the size of the carbon tax we had to abolish when we first came to government.
So if you want to see electricity prices go up, then vote Labor. Because their emissions reduction target can increase household power bills on one study which says by around $1400 per household. Now our emissions reduction targets are clear and I believe businesses will just get on and do it. As time continues to go on, investment in renewable technologies is just good economic sense, you don’t need subsidies for it. They just go and they invest in it. To that extent, business will go it on their own, just like they are in the United States. They will just go an invest in those technologies. That’s why I’m so confident about us hitting our targets in 2030. Emissions reduction has become part of a business as usual approach for business. So we’ve sent the clear message on what our targets are. Business will, you know, adjust and get on with things as they always will. What they actually need in our electricity markets is reliable power supply. That’s been the missing link and that’s why we’re encouraging the state and territory governments to back our reliable energy guarantee so we can get more fair dinkum power contracted and into the system and we can support more investment in fair dinkum power. Stuff that works when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, that can be anything from hydro and pumped hydro initiatives down in Tasmania or indeed in the Snowy, or it can be in more traditional forms of power generation, whether it’s coal or gas or any of those other sources. We want more certainty around those investments to get power prices down.
JOURNALIST: Just one more quickly, will you be announcing any comprehensive energy policies before the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course. Thanks a lot, cheers.
Interview with Ross Greenwood, 2GB
11 October 2018
ROSS GREENWOOD: Our special guest on the program this evening, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison, many thanks for your time
PRIME MINISTER: G’day Ross, good to be with you mate.
GREENWOOD: Always great to have you on the program. I want to say, for what reason have you brought forward these, these small business tax cuts?
PRIME MINISTER: Because we believe small business deserve it, I think they work very hard and we want to see them pay lower taxes. We want them to keep more of what the earn so they can invest it back in their businesses, invest it in their employees, invest it in developing new products, new markets and continuing to drive the incredible jobs growth we’ve seen, which they played such a key role in. We were unable to get the full enterprise tax plan through the Parliament and so we’re not proceeding with that and invested that back into small and family sized businesses, up to a turnover of around $50 million annually. So that’s all going to happen five years earlier. Our Government will seek to legislate that next week. That would mean in the next term of Parliament we would have those businesses paying a 25 per cent tax rate and under Labor, they would force them to pay a 27.5 per cent tax rate.
GREENWOOD: Of course the difference there is that Labor indicates that it wants to put more of the tax cuts into the hands of individuals, personal tax cuts.
PRIME MINISTER: No.
GREENWOOD: Well, that’s what they’re saying.
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s not true.
GREENWOOD: That’s what again today you heard Bill Shorten out there saying, that their preference would be they may very well look at this proposal but they would prefer to see more of the tax cuts go towards individuals rather than going to businesses.
PRIME MINISTER: No, that’s not the case. What they want to do is cut in half the $144 billion personal income tax cuts that we’ve legislated through the Parliament, which includes abolishing a whole tier of the tax system which means that 94 per cent of Australians will pay no more than 32.5 cents in tax. Labor want to abolish that. They actually want to chop our personal, legislated tax cuts, in half. What they want to do Ross, is just spend more money. They can’t control their spending, so they’re going to put taxes up and tell households and businesses to make savings so they can pay the higher taxes.
GREENWOOD: Okay a couple of other bits and pieces, savings from the big business tax cuts were around $1.3 billion, however some of the reports today indicate that moving forward these tax cuts to smaller businesses will cost the best part of $3.2 billion over four years. Where does the difference in the money come from?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll over the four years -
GREENWOOD: Around $ 1.9 billion.
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I’ll let you finish.
GREENWOOD: Yes, around $ 1.9 billion?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it’s higher than that, this is costing $3.2 over the forward estimates and around about, just over $2 billion is what we’re saving by not proceeding with the full enterprise tax plan. But over the ten years this is costing us just over $10.3 billion and as you know, the other one was costing around about $35 billion. So over the medium term it’s fully covered and in when we get to the third and fourth years of the forward estimates, then we’re back in a surplus position. These latest changes won’t come into effect until 2021 and that is when the Budget is back in balance.
GREENWOOD: Alright I was going to ask you about that because a lot of people would say, why do any of this until the Budget is back in surplus and the debts are under control? A lot of people are still concerned about the debts of the Australian Federal Government and they’re conscious of the fact that maybe there’s not as much money around and maybe we don’t really have, if you like, the reserves if there is an economic shock. We’ve seen the stock market fall very heavily today and some people are concerned that there could be a shock down the trail.
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s why you want businesses not to be tied down with higher taxes. This next change won’t happen until the Budget is back into surplus. That is projected to happen in 2019/20 and this kicks in the following year in 2020/21. What you want - and I said this at the event I spoke at today – yes, there is this uncertainty so why, with additional pressure, would you want to be putting even more pressure on small and family businesses by forcing them to pay higher taxes to the Government? You want them to be in a position of having greater flexibility so they can keep staff on and they can keep their businesses churning.
GREENWOOD: Okay I was going to say that today, at the function you were at, was also the former treasurer Peter Costello, here’s just a little of what he had to say.
PETER COSTELLO – RECORDING: When Malcolm Turnbull launched a challenge against Tony Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party he said two things; he said the Coalition had lost 30 newspolls in a row and they had no economic narrative. I would agree with that. But then I kept on waiting for the economic narrative to come and I’m not sure that it did. I think this is the problem today, I’m not sure what the narrative is amongst those who are making these decisions for us.
GREENWOOD: So you were the Treasurer and you’re now the Prime Minister, is it embarrassing to hear that from a Coalition treasurer who is considered one of the finest treasurers in our history.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I tell you what did happen since that change; 600,000 people got a job. That’s a pretty strong narrative. And we legislated to reduce taxes for small businesses, we legislated to reduce taxes for personal income, right across the board. We saw record growth, jobs growth, youth employment at the highest level we’ve ever seen in our economic history. But I think the point Peter is trying to make is this – and this is what I was addressing today in my speech which he was at and he warmly received, I must say – that was that we’ve talked a lot about what we’ve achieved and I was just mentioning some of those things to you. But we’ve also got to tell people why we want to see business taxes lower for small and family businesses; because we know that people who have a go, should get a go. That’s what fairness should mean in this country. It’s about the “why” not just the “what”. That’s what I’ve been spending the majority of my time doing since becoming Prime Minister when I’ve been out talking to people; explaining to them what we believe. We believe that people should keep more of what they earn. We believe that the best form of welfare is a job. We believe that the promise Australians make, is to make a contribution, not take one. We believe that you don’t have to drag people down by taxing them more, to tax other people less.
GREENWOOD: But you’d understand politically, surely Prime Minister that if you’ve got the former treasurer coming out and saying that the Turnbull-Morrison government had no economic narrative and that’s supposed to be one of your strengths, that clearly isn’t going to help you politically?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I don’t share Peter’s view. You know I respect Peter I think he was Australia’s greatest ever treasurer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he and I have to agree on everything. But what I do know is as Treasurer and working with the previous Prime Minister, we achieved the single largest growth in jobs in a year, that we’ve ever seen on economic record. I know that what we achieved on the Budget is the lowest rate of expenditure growth of any Government in the last 50 year. That 50 years, that included that time as well, by the way.
GREENWOOD: Okay one other thing I want to take you to is the fall in the stock market today, now that shows nerves and perhaps potentially volatility around the place. I do note also that the US President Donald Trump has made a very pointed conversation towards the US Federal Reserve, the equivalent of our Reserve Bank. Here’s what he said.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP- RECORDING: I think the Fed is making a mistake. It’s so tight, I think the Fed has gone crazy. So you could say that, well, that’s a lot of safety actually and it is a lot of safety. It gives you a lot of margin, but I think the Fed has gone crazy.
GREENWOOD: He thinks the Fed has gone crazy by putting up interest rates. He says that’s hurting the US economy. The US economy clearly has baulked today through the stock market as a result of partly higher interest rates. Do you imagine that you as the Prime Minister would ever talk about the Reserve Bank or the Reserve Bank Governor in those terms.
PRIME MINISTER: Well no I wouldn’t and you know I wouldn’t Ross. I certainly didn’t when I was Treasurer but it’s not for me to offer commentary on other leaders and the choices that they make. I mean you did see a number of years ago, when the Fed made its first movement, we did see a pretty similar reaction in markets at that time. We did see them stabilize some time soon after that. But on top of that, I think there is a fair bit of global uncertainty at the moment, particularly around the trade issues. That’s why we’re working hard and Josh Frydenberg has just landed up there in Indonesia at the moment, in Bali, for the meetings with the IMF and the G20. What Josh will be doing is seeking to take these tensions down, not to bid them up. That’s what we’ve always done as an open, trading nation. We are for seeing greater and more open free trade because that’s what’s made Australia a prosperous country. We will continue to use our excellent relationships with all of the key countries in the G20 to achieve that for the benefit of the global economy, but importantly for the regional economy and our own prosperity.
GREENWOOD: I was going to ask you about one thing and that is Australia does sit at a very interesting crossroad. We have a free trade agreement with the United States, a free trade agreement with China and so therefore China is very important to our economic wellbeing and we are important to its wellbeing. Yet clearly the trade war that’s occurring between the US and China right now means that we find ourselves almost like the meat in the sandwich, with especially China now seemingly exerting its economic and even perhaps its political muscle. As Prime Minister how do you deal with that? How do you deal with China now seeking to become stronger internationally and also stronger from an economic point of view.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we trade with them and we work with them and we have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with them and we continue to pursue Australia’s national interest in that relationship. Just as we do in our relationship with the United States –
GREENWOOD: Are we frightened of them?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course not, why would we be?
GREENWOOD: Well because China of course wants to have more economic impact here in Australia with the foreign investments it makes, with the type of -
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah but we have -
GREENWOOD: Shall I say and there’s been even a conversation with Angus McGibbon [sic] in the last little while – in regards to where national interests are trying to get into our own intelligence here in Australia. I mean these are important national issues, surely Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: I know and we have national interest protections in our foreign investment rules and law, as people know from the decisions I’ve taken on a number of occasions. As long as you’re clear about that and you explain the reason, which we do, and we protect Australia’s national interest. Always have, I mean you don’t have to be a submissive party to have a productive relationship. I mean that’s not a relationship. We have a constructive partnership with China and we’ll continue to do that. We’ll be very clear about what our interests are and we’ll always stand up for them. But we don’t need to go round poking people in the eye about it, we just need to do it constructively and maturely and professionally.
So look, I think we’ve done very well out of the relationship. But trade is a two-way thing, it’s deal. Both parties are intended to benefit from trade and when you conduct yourself in trade in that way, then I think it is beneficial for both parties. Now with a lot of what’s happening in the trade environment at the moment, I mean I know there are instances where Australian companies are actually seeing opportunities where both countries are now having to turn to Australia if they’re not turning to each or China or the United States when it comes to the trade that was occurring between those two countries. But the other thing I’ve noticed with the US is this; I mean you’ve seen the US land now, agreements with Canada, you’ve seen them land deals with Mexico and everyone was saying that these were never going to happen and the US had overstated the position. But they’ve been able to do those deals and I’m confident that as time goes on, what we’re looking for here, or I suspect what the US is looking for is to land a better deal for US interests. Now there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with Australia seeking to pursue our interests or for China to pursue theirs, as long as we do it in an open trading environment and we all do it in a way which ensures both parties to the transaction do well. Well, that’s what trade is. That’s how Australia has become prosperous.
GREENWOOD: Prime Minister Scott Morrison always good to have you on the program.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot Ross and congratulations to all those small and family businesses, we’re backing you.
Q&A session - Melbourne Institute 2018 Outlook Conference
11 October 2018
Question: You were very complimentary about Peter Costello before, I’m not sure whether you had a chance to listen to his comments earlier. I’ll quote them to you. “The day Malcolm Turnbull challenged Tony Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party, he had two things to say. He said we’d lost 30 Newspolls in a row, and the Government had no economic narrative. Now that’s fine, but I kept waiting for the economic narrative to come and I’m not sure that it did.”
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it was acknowledged today. There he goes, he’s nodding away.
QUESTIONS: It wasn’t particularly complimentary and I just wonder whether you share his views.
PRIME MINISTER: No look, I do and I don’t. What I mean by that is, you know what our Government, as I’ve set out today I think very plainly, what we’ve been seeking to achieve. And I think we’ve talked a lot over the last three years about what we’ve been doing. We have and there have been many achievements and I ran through those today. What I have been seeking to do, particularly over the last seven weeks in coming into this role, is explain to Australians why we are seeking to achieve that. I think that’s a very important part of the economic narrative. Today, people may have felt a little uncomfortable because in a conference like this, where I’ve spoken before, it has been a bit dry, the topics can be very economic. Well, you know what? An economic narrative is about what you believe as well. What I’m seeking to do is connect with Australians about what our Government passionately believes in and why we think taxes should be lower. Why we think some people should not be dragged down and demonised for the simple reality that they go out there and they create jobs and they foster prosperity in our society, which means we can have a fairer society. Now, if I’m reading into what Peter was saying, I think that’s what he was getting at and that’s what our Government had to get better at. It’s that we had to explain the “why” - what was in here, not just what was in here. Because that is what motivates Australians.
One of the reasons I think John Howard was a great Prime Minister and Peter was a great Treasurer is whether you agreed with them or didn't agree with them, you always had a pretty good idea about where they were going and what they believed. Paul made this point before; there are uncertainties in our world today economically, not the least being what is happening with international trade and what that can mean for our economy. So what Australians want to be confident about, is what are the things that are going to drive us in meeting those challenges in future? What are the principles that we are working off and what are the fundamental beliefs that will determine our decisions? What I’m saying today is that I am all about ensuring that those who are going to invest and create jobs and give it an absolute go, we know that that is our best way to ensure that despite all those challenges, we will succeed and be prosperous. And as a result, we’ll be able to guarantee the essential services Australians rely on and have an even fairer society. And that’s my argument.
QUESTION: Yes, I'm from the Melbourne Institute. G’day, Prime Minister. I’ve got a question about the funding of the Great Barrier Reef support program and I really appreciate the Government's recognition of the role of climate change and needing to really support areas that really depend upon sort of, things like the Great Barrier Reef. Can you tell me what kinds of programs are being run with the $500 million and what do you think are going to be a sort of marquee kind of programs that will come out of that support program?
PRIME MINISTER: Sure, look, it’s everything from research that is being done on the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish, through to water quality and its impact, working with the commercial fishing industry, I mean the Reef is arguably Australia's greatest environmental assets. There are a lot of others too, by the way, but it’s arguably one of Australia's greatest environmental assets and is also one of Australia’s economic assets as well. I mean it sustains the livelihoods of millions of Australians, particularly those who live in north Queensland and the plethora of research and scientific studies that take place all the way up north Queensland are very disparate and they’re extensive. Now we had the opportunity at the end of last year to make an additional investment in the future of the Reef and that’s what we chose to do. We were in an economic position to do that. If we’d sought to do it year after year after year as an ongoing programme, then I don’t think we would have been able, the investment could not have been as significant as it actually was. That’s why we chose the method that we did to deliver that investment in that form. We also strangely formed the view - which I know is not shared by everyone in Canberra - that there actually are people outside of Canberra who know a bit about the Reef as well, and people outside of the public service well.
We wanted to be able to ensure that the resource was being deployed across the whole range of different projects and was being done away from interference or the intervention of government and that those programs could be considered on their merits, against a whole range of different priorities that were set out in the agreement that was done with the organization. So look, the projects are vast, the task is huge, but what we’ve invested in is the future of our Reef. We were able to do that in one go and that will provide a legacy not just over one or two years, I would say, but over decades. Because of that major injection that we made, at that one opportunity when we had the means to do it.
QUESTION: Thank you, Prime Minister. This is a difficult question for a forum like this and a difficult question for you, but I think it’s really important to ask; if you look back over the last two decades or little bit longer, it’s clear that Australia's economic interests owe much more to the rapid growth of China than it has to the change in the United States and one of the worrying phenomena now is the Trump activities too, I think, reduce the rate of growth in China. In particular, we’re now seeing not only the direct attempt by the US to do this, but through the new trade agreements, to get allies to do things to slow down the growth of China. This is a very difficult problem for us, because you know we’ve already been integrated with the US for defence reasons. But on the other hand, our bread increasingly is coming from the China area. Could you comment in any way on where you think the current Trump strategies might go? And secondly, how can we protect ourselves in some way from being caught up in this conflict between these great nations?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it’s one of the areas where Australia, over many years, has been very effective. We have been very able, for a long time, to manage the sensitivities and delicacies of both relationships. They are different relationships, I think all Australians understand that. Our relationship with the United States like our relationship with the United Kingdom, or Canada for that matter, these countries are deeply centered in our values and alliances. But equally in our relationship with China, as you say, it’s been growing year on year and year. The integration between our economies is becoming stronger and stronger. Now it is true that the overwhelmingly largest pool of capital invested in this country is from the United States. From Asia and even particularly from China it’s not even close to that level of stock that is invested in Australia. But it is rapidly growing as you said and there has been a strong alignment in our economic trajectories over the last 10 years, to what we’ve seen with the growth not just in China, but I would say also within South East Asia. For many years now our economic success has looked far more to our own region than it has to places further afield. So it is our role to be careful, to understand both relationships intimately and to try and understand the objectives of both of our partners.
Now I have had some involvement with this as Treasurer through the G20. What I believe the United States wants is a better deal for the United States in the international trading environment. That’s what I think they want.
Now you could say that they’re taking a rather unconventional approach to how that can be achieved. But I would muse that the President would argue that taking a conventional approach hasn't worked out too well for them. His mandate, from his election, is to change that up and to seek to achieve that outcome of a better deal for his country, whether it’s on trade or the economy more generally and to protect their interests in the way that they best see fit. Now, we share a lot of values with them and interest on that score, but it is not our job to go around pushing the economic interests of the United States or the economic interests of China. It’s our job to push Australia’s national economic interests, and we have been successful at that. Whether it was the former Prime Minister's success in pursuing the TPP, starting with Prime Minister Key and Prime Minister Abe and securing a deal that no-one said could be made to stick. Now, we have interest from the United Kingdom in joining that arrangement which was actually a discussion that I had several years ago with the Chancellor once Brexit had just been voted on.
So we continue to be a champion of free trade and an advocate for it in Australia, in a way that seeks to bring countries together to see the benefit of that approach. What do I mean by that? Whether it’s on the TPP or when we’re arranging with the United States to ensure that aluminum and steel tariffs, that they didn't apply those tariffs to our country, our argument was simple; we don't have any tariffs on your products. That’s actually what you want. We should be the standard of what people want in a trading environment; an open, trading economy looking to put our best foot forward with no leg-ups, but a level playing field. I think Australia and our role in all of this, is to hold ourselves out as the standard bearer for free and open trade today.
We are a pro- trade country. We’re also a pro-investment country. We’re a pro-immigration country - three of the great pillars of Australia's economic prosperity over 200 years and more. So it’s to stand up for those values and stand up for those mechanisms in the global market place, whether it be the G20 or the WTO or anywhere else. We are not for closed shops, on trade or the shop floor and Australia has an important role to champion free trade, open trade. We must continue to do that without allies and our strategic economic partners, which the United States and China fall into respectively
QUESTION: Prime Minister three questions ago in your answer, you made reference to risks in the international situation to our prosperity and continued growth. You have just responded to Bob Gregory on the risks in the China-US relationship. Did you have in mind, wider risks? And could you say something about how you see international developments more generally affecting Australian growth, over the period ahead?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think Bob hit this nail on the head, I mean it’s hard to go past that one. More significant, potential risks in regional stability, strategic stability, these are obvious risks. But you know, there are some things you can control and there are some things you can't. I’ve always found the best way to manage against risks that you can't, is to manage the risk that you can control. How do you do that? You make sure you have lower taxes for businesses, that you’ve got a competitive and productive economy that reward effort, that we’re doing everything we can to ensure that the inputs to our production processes - whether it be energy or anything else - are at a competitive rate for prices so our firms can compete. I mean, we have always made our way. 27 years of consecutive economic growth is not an accident and it doesn't just have to stop. It can continue and I believe it will continue. I think the Australian economy has shown an incredible resilience. It is not luck. There is some good fortune every now and then, but it is not luck. It is the result of good economic management.
You sit around the G20 table, go back over 100 years - and I feel for what is happening for people in Argentina. At that time, you go back in the early 1900s. We shared all the same opportunities, they were one of the most wealthy countries in the world. What’s the difference over 100 years? Good government. That’s not a commentary on the current government in Argentina, don't misunderstand me, that is not my point. My point is that you manage the things that you manage, in your own jurisdictions and you get them right. You can't control all these other things that happen out there and those risks are real, of course they are. But we can talk about it endlessly, our better use of time is to focus on the things we have to do to make our own economy and our own businesses more robust and more successful. That’s how you protect jobs, that’s how you protect income. That is why we have had 27 years of consecutive economic growth.
QUESTION: Thank you Prime Minister, congratulations if I may on promoting a war of ideas, I think a Royal Commission into aged care and an inquiry into nuclear power are just fantastic. But my question is about small business taxation. If I may, SMEs per capita are only a bit over half the United States and that must be of great concern. Taxation is a big issue and there’s 2.2 million small businesses in Australia and only one third of them are incorporated. Now you propose to charge 25 cents for the third that are incorporated and the other two thirds are paying 47 or recently 49. So you’re cutting the rate in half for the incorporated and if that’s not [inaudible]. It’s not helping us, I’m a retired timber importer but I know a number of professionals and a number of accountants and solicitors who were supporters of the Liberal Party but are now paying double the incorporated rate. They have professional reasons for not incorporating, so I am really puzzled about that and I’d appreciate an answer.
PRIME MINISTER: You may not know that the legislated changes introduce the tax offset, it’s now 8 percent for unincorporated entities of up to $5 million in turnover and under this plan, that will double to 16 per cent tax offset for unincorporated entities. So we are mirroring what we are doing for incorporated entities in the unincorporated space. We are delivering equivalent tax relief to those businesses as well. So, it isn't just on the incorporated side, it’s on the unincorporated side as well, so we are doing it for both.
QUESTION: Thank you Prime Minister for the opportunity to ask one more question. I am from RMIT University and I’m also part of the Women in Economics Network which has been newly formed. My question revolves around diversity. We know that policy-making will be more robust if you have a greater diversity of views and inputs and life experience. What is your Government doing to foster and encourage greater diversity within your own Parliament and how can you be more of a role model for the rest of society and businesses to also follow suit? Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’ll tell you one thing. The people that sit on our benches, 95 per cent of them aren’t former union officials. I mean I wouldn’t call that diversity.
They’re people who run small businesses, they’re people who have worked in science and technology they’re people who have worked in the public service, people who have worked as teachers, people who come from a broad array of different backgrounds in our society and our community.
Now where we need to do better obviously is of course I want to see a greater level of female representation in our Parliamentary ranks and just this morning I was with Kate Ashmor here and she is our candidate for McNamara here in Melbourne. Last night we were with Jane Hume who has just come into the Parliament more recently in the Liberal Senate seat. We have two great new female candidates who are on the winnable positions of the Tasmanian Senate ticket. I was with Lucy Wicks yesterday up in Robertson on the Central Coast and she came in 2010 and is doing an outstanding job. I’m pleased that we now have six women in the federal Cabinet under our Government. The first Cabinet I served in five years ago under this government, there was one. So I am pleased that there are six today and I want to see that increase. I was working, I was in WA the other day and I was sitting down with Danielle Blaine who was the female President over there of the Party in Western Australia. She’s developing a great programme to mentor and get more women, particularly those of a professional background and to take them through the process of how you can succeed in going through what is a robust and difficult process in politics, to find your way. I has been a lot easier for blokes to find themselves, just by the process, in federal Parliament, than it has been for women. We believe in our Party, that always, that should be done – yes we’ve got targets – but that has to be backed up by programmes in the organizational wing to ensure that people can get in there and make that contribution. But I’m very pleased about the contribution that my female colleagues are making, none less so than Kelly O’Dwyer, who is really demonstrating. Her success as a Cabinet minister and a mother of two very young children in a very tight seat in the seat of Higgins here, I think demonstrates and says to all young women; “You can do it and you can have amazing influence on Australia public life.” I think Kelly holds that out better than almost anyone.
So they’re our objectives. That’s the direction we’ll keep moving in. But what you will see and I joked about it, I mean people in the Labor Party taunt me when I asked everyone in the Labor Party could you please lift your hands if you used to be a union official. And no one did. I don’t know what they were ashamed of, they all put their hands under the desk, but that is the truth. Labor claim diversity but they certainly have no diversity of economic experience. They have no diversity on that front, they basically bring the union shop view to the Parliament and as Bill said, he wants to run the country like a union. Over to you, thank you.
Interview with Neil Mitchell, 3AW
11 October 2018
NEIL MITCHELL: Prime Minister is with me, Scott Morrison, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER: G’day, Neil.
MITCHELL: Your predecessor always caught a tram, mightn’t be a bad idea.
PRIME MINISTER: I was a bit slow this morning, but anyway. Good to be here.
MITCHELL: OK. Grassroots stuff. You’re bringing forward your tax cuts for small business.
PRIME MINISTER: Yep.
MITCHELL: Can you guarantee that any of that will flow through to wages, to the worker?
PRIME MINISTER: Well small businesses will make those calls as they do every day and what I do know about small businesses is particularly when they went through tough times they kept their staff on and they took it out of their own pocket to keep their staff on. So you know, I’ve seen small and family businesses do this for a long time. So where they have the opportunity to support their employees more they do.
MITCHELL: So you would expect it means pay rises?
PRIME MINISTER: I would expect that would be part of the response, absolutely. They’ll also invest it back in their businesses. What we saw in the first round of tax cuts for small and family businesses is they do put it back into their businesses. They are building their businesses up and that’s why it’s such a good thing to do to drive the economy forward. So more than half of Australians work in businesses with a turnover of less than $50 million. So they’ll be getting those tax cuts five years earlier.
MITCHELL: OK so what’s the detail? Businesses, well where does it cut in and what is it…
PRIME MINISTER: It goes up to businesses of $50 million of turnover and they’ll come down to 26 per cent in 2021 and in 2021-22 it will go to 25 per cent. We’ll be looking to legislate that next week and as you know, the Labor Party said they would reverse the reductions in tax down to 25 per cent. So I assume they remain opposed to us cutting these taxes to 25 per cent in the next term of parliament. But we’ll be seeking to make it law next week.
MITCHELL: Because we’ve had our L.A.W. tax cuts before. Paul Keating did it and they were reversed. It’s not really a guarantee to have them in law is it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we won’t reverse them. We are absolutely…
MITCHELL: That’s what he said.
PRIME MINISTER: … committed to them. Well you can’t trust Labor on taxes. That’s true. You can’t trust Labor on taxes, only to increase them. But we’ve legislated tax cuts and followed through on those. At the last election I went to the election with the Prime Minister then saying we were going to cut taxes, and we did, and we legislated them for businesses up to $50 million and we’ll be brining those forward. So that’s every hairdresser, every tradie, all of these businesses out there and in particularly in regional Australia, Neil, that’s where those businesses are and they’re family businesses and they deserve to get a go because they’re having a go. And that’s what our policies do.
MITCHELL: Well you’ve got to be fairly profitable to make the money out of them don’t you?
PRIME MINISTER: Well you go into business to make a profit. That’s the whole point.
MITCHELL: Yeah true.
PRIME MINISTER: I was at a business yesterday up on the Central Coast of New South Wales, and they’re growing at 20 per cent a month. And they’re knocking down walls to expand…
MITCHELL: What’s their business?
PRIME MINISTER: They make, it’s a sort of fermented tea. I think it’s called… I can’t remember the name of this thing. Zest is the name of the company.
MITCHELL: Kombucha?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah that’s it, Kombucha. I’d never heard of it before. This thing is growing at 20 per cent a month, they’re putting new people on, and this is happening with small and family businesses all around the country and I want them to keep more of what they earn – they’re putting the hours in.
MITCHELL: If you’re making half a million in profit, which is a very good profit in a small business, how much are you getting tax relief?
PRIME MINISTER: Ah, that’s about $12,000 I think.
MITCHELL: Hmmmm. Well it’s better than nothing but is that going to churned back into the workforce do you think?
PRIME MINISTER: I believe that it will amongst other things. They’ll make the decisions which are best for the business and what’s good for the business is good for the employees. And that’s what employees in small and family businesses know because they’ve worked these businesses as a team, as a family.
MITCHELL: You’re wedging Labor here because if they don’t do it then you prove your point about higher taxing, if they do it they might be undermining some of what they’ve promised in terms of the money they’re spending. Where are you getting the money?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we’re not going ahead with the big business tax cuts and that’s what is fundamentally supporting this. It doesn’t kick in until 2021 and so the Budget is due to come back into balance in 2019-20 so we’ll be in surplus.
MITCHELL: So you don’t have to cut anything to pay for it?
PRIME MINISTER: No we don’t. Absolutely not. I mean we are not going ahead with the big business tax cuts; they’re off the table. And what we are going ahead with is faster tracked small business and family business tax cuts which means they can invest back in their businesses.
MITCHELL: So it’s in law, and it’s a good law?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah it’s a great law and it’s an encouragement. I mean, small and family businesses, they’re the people who get up early just like everyone who goes out there and goes out to work every day.
MITCHELL: If you’d like to speak with the Prime Minister give us a call – 96900 693 13 13 32. Speaking of laws: the existing law that allows religious schools to ban gay kids, is that a good law?
PRIME MINISTER: That was introduced by the Labor Party and Tanya Plibersek was there and Bill Shorten were all there. What the report that we’ve received from Philip Ruddock say that should be fine-tuned and the needs and interests and protection of the child should be what is most at issue. So the report also finds that there’s been no evidence of this, by the way.
MITCHELL: But is it a good law to say any organisation can discrimination against a child on their sexuality?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I don’t think so. I have that view and that’s why I think what Philip has proposed is quite a sensible way to deal with this because it puts the protection and interests of the child at the centre, which is not what that law currently does.
MITCHELL: But his recommendation also, I’ll read it to you, “to provide that religious schools may discriminate in relation to students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or relationships.”
PRIME MINISTER: And as I said, that is the current law. That actually talks about the current law. What I’m saying is that law, as recommended by Philip, should be fine-tuned to protect the interest of the child and make that paramount in any consideration and I think that should be the primary consideration.
MITCHELL: But you say it’s a bad law but will it survive in some form?
PRIME MINISTER: Well what I’m saying is that I should be fine-tuned to protect the interests of the child.
MITCHELL: But that right to refuse a child on their sexuality will continue?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m saying that the child’s interest should be paramount.
MITCHELL: No I understand that…
PRIME MINISTER: That’s my point, Neil.
MITCHELL: But will the schools retain the ability to do that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well religious schools should be able to run their schools based on their religious principles.
MITCHELL: So what does that mean? They can ban… you want to maintain a situation where they can ban a child on their sexuality?
PRIME MINISTER: There’s no evidence that they have been doing that.
MITCHELL: I accept that. Good.
PRIME MINISTER: They’re not doing it and I don’t think they are going to do it. And I think with the law that’s currently there, it needs the added protection for the child, and that’s what’s been recommended. But you know, this hasn’t gone through the Cabinet yet. That process hasn’t been concluded. I only became Prime Minister seven weeks ago. It was handed to the previous Prime Minister. We are going to deal with this in a respectful way, in an orderly way, and my timetable is to deal with this before the end of the year. So these are the issues we’ve got to work through Neil.
MITCHELL: But in fairness, Prime Minister, you haven’t made it clear whether you want to keep that ability for the schools. I understand we want the priority of the kids to be taken into account as well and they are the most important thing in this, I agree with that. But do you want that to remain as a situation where the schools have got that right?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Neil, we’re working through this. This is my point. I’m going to carefully consider the report and all the consultation that Philip did to come to that view. As will the rest of the Cabinet. Now as I said, we are dealing with a law that was introduced by the Labor Party that doesn’t have that additional protection. Now no one is suggesting to me that that law should be abolished…
MITCHELL: Well I think there would be a few in the community that would.
PRIME MINISTER: Well what I’m dealing with is the law as the Labor Party wrote it. What the suggestion based on all the consultation that Philip and his team have done is that it needs to be improved and so we’ll consider that as well as any other alternatives that we wish to consider.
MITCHELL: OK so we do need to keep that facility somehow.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we will make a decision when we are ready to make one, Neil.
MITCHELL: OK. So no decision yet?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
MITCHELL: Hmmm. OK. Will you release the details of all the recommendations, the inquiry?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course we will.
MITCHELL: The review, all of it?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah of course we will.
MITCHELL: When?
PRIME MINISTER: Before the end of the year.
MITCHELL: Immigration policies…
PRIME MINISTER: And we’ll do that with our response too at the same time so people know what our view is.
MITCHELL: OK. Immigration…Well personally, are you personally comfortable with the idea of discriminating against anybody on the grounds of their gender or their sexuality…
PRIME MINISTER: Or their religion. I’m not comfortable with discrimination against people’s religious faith, against their gender, against their sexuality, against their race. And what this report is about is ensuring that people can’t be discriminated against because of their religious beliefs.
MITCHELL: The immigration policies, I spoke to Alan Tudge this week about encouraging people into the regions.
PRIME MINISTER: Yep.
MITCHELL: Have you drawn up…there wasn’t much detail there. Have you got detail yet how you would enforce that, what if someone breached it, would they be thrown out of the country? Have you got any of that yet?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that will be released over the next few months as well. But what Alan did the other day is just set out the challenge that he’s seeking to address as the population Minister. I mean, Victoria has the strongest population growth of any state and territory that’s why I asked a Victorian to be the Minister for Population to get Melbourne eyes on what is a particular Melbourne problem. I think previously we’ve had a lot of Sydney eyes on this and we have population pressures there as well. But as we’ve discussed I think many times, Neil, on your program, average population growth is as useful a statistic as average rainfall. I mean it can be pouring in parts of the country and we need rain in others and population is a bit the same. WA for example, they want more people in WA. They want more people in South Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, but in Melbourne and Sydney we need to ease the population pressure.
MITCHELL: Well forget the figures, but 60 per cent of our population growth is migration and most of that from China and India. Is that good for the country?
PRIME MINISTER: Well also most of that population growth for immigration is from temporary migration…
MITCHELL: No no, 60 per cent of permanent population growth is…
PRIME MINISTER: It is not permanent migration. That is not the case, no.
MITCHELL: Well that’s what the Minister told me.
PRIME MINISTER: This is what it is. Let me go through. Population growth: 10 extra people get on the bus, OK? Just over four of those are temporary migrants. Around just under 4 of those is natural…
MITCHELL: Students.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, tourists, short term working visas, things like that. Just under four of those are people who are born here and two of those are permanent migrants. That’s the breakdown. About 40, 40, 20. So the biggest driver of population growth when it comes to immigration is actually temporary migration. And so what Alan is saying…
MITCHELL: But that still affects the nature of the country, the social fabric.
PRIME MINISTER: Of course it does. I’m not disagreeing with that.
MITCHELL: Is that good?
PRIME MINISTER: What I’m saying is that you need to ensure that you manage the increase in that population and it gets to the places which need more population and you take the pressure off in the suburbs of Sydney and the suburbs of Melbourne. On the Central Coast of New South Wales and places like that, that’s how you need to manage it and that’s what Alan’s plan will do.
MITCHELL: Will you consider a pause or a review or a freezing or even a drop in the immigration rate?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s already happened.
MITCHELL: Well you’ve paused at what, about 160,000?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s come down to just round a 160,000 from 190,000 and that, by the way, is the level that was reached at the…
MITCHELL: So is that the right…
PRIME MINISTER: Hang on, let me finish. That’s the level that was reached at the end of the Howard Government. So people talk about the Howard level – Howard migration level…
MITCHELL: Well he increased it initially.
PRIME MINISTER: It was about 160,000 permanent a year. That’s where the Howard Government got to and that’s where we are now. We look at that closely each year. Just yesterday, for example, New South Wales has made it clear that they want to, sort of, ease back there, so the extra migration that they were looking for we can channel that to South Australia, Northern Territory, WA, Tassie.
MITCHELL: What does Victoria want?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven’t…I don’t have those figures in front of me but all of the states and territories each year actually do ask for more under the regional programs and the state programs.
MITCHELL: So is the figure we’re at at the moment the right figure?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s a question that we look at every year. And at the moment, where it’s set, what I’m unhappy about, what I think needs to change, is how we are dispersing it. OK? Because I know that there are parts of the country that really want more people and there are parts of the country that want less. And that’s what I want my policies to deliver.
MITCHELL: Would you mind putting the headphones on? We have a caller on a very specific area. Yes, Duncan, go ahead.
CALLER: Oh hello, Prime Minister. My name is Duncan.
PRIME MINISTER: G’day.
CALLER: I want to know why the Commonwealth Super Corporation is being excluded from scrutiny by the Royal Commission into financial services?
MITCHELL: Is that what…they cover military, etcetera?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. I mean, those issues have been dealt with under other inquiries and we are dealing with recommendations out of those other inquiries.
MITCHELL: OK. Thanks, Duncan. The Chair of the Energy Security Board, Kerry Schott, says our energy policy is in a state of anarchy?
PRIME MINISTER: Is there a call?
MITCHELL: No, no. Sorry.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh sorry. I thought there was another call coming.
MITCHELL: No sorry. Take your headphones off. A state of anarchy? Out of control?
PRIME MINISTER: No I don’t agree with that at all.
MITCHELL: Businesses are going it alone to reduce greenhouse gases according to reports today. Are you out of control with energy policy?
PRIME MINISTER: No I think that’s rubbish. I mean, what is necessary is that we need to get more reliability into the national energy market which covers the east coast of Australia. The reliability guarantee that our government has been pursuing for some time now through the states and territories is still a very live proposal and measure. And that is actually going through the states and territories now. The big missing link when we work through the issue of the National Energy Guarantee: it had two components. One was to provide reliability and increase contracting in the energy market for reliable power supply. That was the big missing piece and that part of the package goes forward. The other part was in relation to emissions reduction. Now what I don’t accept is that there’s any lack of certainty about what the emissions reduction commitments of our Government is. I mean, everybody knows what they are and we are meeting them.
MITCHELL: Report of a fire in Laverton North; we’ll check that in a moment. China, how tense are relationships with China? We’ve got a trade war, we’ve got military tensions. How difficult, at the moment, are our relations with China?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh I wouldn’t describe them as difficult.
MITCHELL: How would you describe them?
PRIME MINISTER: I would describe them as an important relationship which we just manage carefully, Neil. I’m not one for going around poking people in the eye, our allies our friends, our partners. I think it’s important that we just deal in a measured way and a constructive way.
MITCHELL: But this is a country that lives with a totally different set of morality to we do. I mean, there are re-education camps; they’re locking up millions of people to re-educate them. One of the world’s top policemen has been taken into custody when he went home to China.
PRIME MINISTER: Sure. And these are issues that have been raised by Australian Governments over decades. The reality is that we have a, I think, a very constructive commercial relationship with China. We don’t share all the same values and beliefs of China.
MITCHELL: But do we object to the fact that they are locking up millions of people to re-educate them.
PRIME MINISTER: These issues are raised and they’re raised at many levels.
MITCHELL: Have those been raised recently? The re-education camps?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven’t had any meetings directly.
MITCHELL: Because it’s not a free country is it?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s an important relationship for Australia and it’s an important relationship that we manage, I think, in a global scenario as well. We share deep values with the United States and a deep alliance with the United States and we have a very constructive strategic partnership with China and we play, I think, a positive role in trying to bridge this gap.
MITCHELL: Famously before the last election Malcolm Turnbull and your government took on the United Firefighters Union over the CFA issue. Have you got any other plans with the UFU? They’ve just disaffiliated with the Trades Hall Council here.
PRIME MINISTER: Well what I don’t want to see happen is a country where leaders seek to drive wedges between workers and employers. I mean you can’t lead a country that you’re seeking to divide. This is my problem with Bill Shorten. He wants to pick fights between Australians. He wants parents of children who go to state schools to be arguing with parents of children who go independent schools. He wants to set up conflict between workers and those they work for and I don’t think that’s a constructive way to build a stronger economy and so when militant unions want to come and drive the agenda and take our industrial relations system back 50 years, what that will do is slow the economy, it will take away jobs, it’ll ensure revenues to the Government which support essential services will be weaker, and that’s not how you run the show.
MITCHELL: Are you concerned about, what do I call it, social engineering and political correctness? A group advising the Victorian Government, the Equality Institute, wants to ban the term ‘pregnant women’.
PRIME MINISTER: [Laughter] Do they?
MITCHELL: They want it to be pregnant people because any gender… And then there’s this group overseas that want to spell woman W.O.M.X.N.
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s ridiculous.
MITCHELL: Hmmm.
PRIME MINISTER: [Laughter] I can’t put it more bluntly than that, Neil. I mean honestly. Seriously. People should just honestly just get over themselves. I mean we want gender equality, we don’t want people discriminated against on the basis of their sexuality.
MITCHELL: Even in schools?
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. And we want all of that but we don’t have to carry on with that sort of nonsense, surely.
MITCHELL: A very serious point: the UK has appointed a Minister for suicide prevention even though their suicide rate is down. Ours isn’t down, ours is very bad as you would know.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s very concerning.
MITCHELL: Would you consider a Minister for suicide prevention?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it is the responsibility of the Minister for Health. And that’s Greg Hunt as you know, and I know he takes that incredibly seriously. And we’ve invested significantly more in mental health than…
MITCHELL: It needs more.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I don’t disagree and it needs to be effectively spent. Particularly for young people and at the moment where there’s been a big focus for us has been mental health for rural and regional areas particularly around the drought. We’ve increased the amount of mental health councillors going into those regions and I’m encouraging those in drought affected areas, if you are experiencing that depression or you’re down, reach out to those mental health councillors. That’s what they’re there for and they’re there to help you in a very difficult time.
MITCHELL: Are you having fun?
PRIME MINISTER: I did last Sunday when I went to Bathurst. Lily and I went for a hot lap with Mark Skaife and that was pretty cool.
MITCHELL: And is the job fun? How would you describe it?
PRIME MINISTER: I would describe it…well of course it’s a privilege, but the thing I love about the job most is people talk to you. When you’re Prime Minister people want to talk to you.
MITCHELL: Is it a bit overwhelming though? You get up in the morning and you’re shaving and you think “gee I’m Prime Minister”?
PRIME MINISTER: [Laughter] Well you don’t have much time to think about that, Neil. You really don’t. But it is cool that you can…people will just come and tell you their story. And I love that. If you don’t like people then don’t go into politics. I’m enjoying the opportunity to talk to Australians from all walks of life, rural areas, metropolitan areas, teachers, students, parents, and they’re giving me a lot of feedback and they’re really driving my priorities.
MITCHELL: Thank you so much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Neil. Great to be here, mate, thanks.
Interview with Chrissie, Sam and Browny - Nova 100
11 October 2018
HOST: Prime Minister Morrison.
PRIME MINISTER: Great to be here.
HOST: We can’t believe that you’re actually here and as Sam Pang say…
HOST: Yeah my first question is who thought this was a good idea?
PRIME MINISTER: [Laughter] We’ll find out whether it is or not in a sec I suspect.
HOST: It’s most unusual to have the actual Prime Minister in here with us, I mean…
HOST: Yeah I don’t think I’ve interviewed a Prime Minister before.
HOST: No. So far on the show we’ve done the Honey Badger expose… um…
HOST: [INAUDIBLE]
HOST: Who’s starting, who’s kicking off, Swannie?
HOST: Um, I’ll ask. I would love to know, why do you want to be Prime Minister? It seems like a terrible job.
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s a great job. I love the job. The best thing about this job is it doesn’t matter where you go in the country everybody is happy to have a chat with you. That is actually the best part of the job. It doesn’t matter where I am; I was up at Bathurst on the weekend and we’re chatting to families who are there and that event was amazing. I got to do a hot lap with Mark Skaife and my little girl Lilly came with me for the day. I didn’t tell her she was going to be on national television and she’s sitting there in the back of the hot lap and we’re coming down off the mountain and it was literally like being on the Wild Mouse. And we were rolling around and her pig tails were up in the air and she was having a great time. So look, the serious part of the job is a great privilege and you can make a difference everyday – how good is that?
HOST: Did you step up when Peter Dutton got interested? Because him wanting to be Prime Minister is a little bit like when the drummer turns up and says “I’ve written some songs”. Did you just go “Pete, come on mate…” Because you’re like a bass player I think.
PRIME MINISTER: I came pretty late to the party, I’ve got to say. I was there right at the end. But look, when people ask you to step up, you do, and that’s what I’ve done and we are getting on with it.
HOST: Were you embarrassed about the situation?
HOST: With Malcolm?
HOST: Because we were embarrassed for you.
PRIME MINISTER: It was messy. It was a really messy week. But the important thing is that you’ve got to move quickly to get things on track again and we’ve done that. I mean today we are announcing that we are cutting taxes for small business again. We are bringing forward the small business tax rate down to 25 per cent. So every hairdresser in the country, every tradie who’s out there working this morning running their own business, you’re going to pay 25 per cent under us.
HOST: I did read this but do you know what else I read…
HOST: You’ve misread the room. I don’t know if you know this but I’m anti small business… [INAUDIBLE]. By the way, there’s a bit of heat on outside the studio. As I ask my questions if you see a red dot… just… [laughter]… I can be accused of being a bit cynical, you know what I mean. Largely caused by a lifetime of inconsistencies by politicians. So I thought what I’d do is I’d actually go to a school last night for a fete and I’ve asked some kids, I’ve said you were here that you’re coming on, so I’ve actually got some questions from the kids if that’s alright.
PRIME MINISTER: Sure.
HOST: By the way no money changed hands, it was not a cashier, Scott. In case you’re wondering.
HOST: This one’s from Molly, who’s seven, says I was so excited when I heard the Prime Minister was going to be on Chrissie, Sam, and Brownie. Please thank Alan Jones for allowing him to appear on your show.
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER: Molly’s pretty switched on.
HOST: What did you think about Alan Jones, the way he spoke to the CEO of the Opera House?
PRIME MINISTER: Well he did apologise for it.
HOST: He apologised?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah he did apologise for it. As I said at the time, they weren’t painting it on, it’s all sort of passed now. It became a bit of a kerfuffle up there in Sydney, but you know, it’s all passed now. You know, the Opera House is still standing.
HOST: Red dot on your head right now.
HOST: With education, because I see you guys are in charge of the Government schools and as someone who sends their kids to Government schools very proudly, you send your kids to private schools. How can we trust that you’re going to have Government schools in the best, you know, efforts?
PRIME MINISTER: Well state governments run the state government schools…
HOST: [INAUDIBLE]
PRIME MINISTER: No no. The state government runs them but we’ve put $29 billion extra into our public schools and into our independent schools and into our Catholic schools. You know, everybody should have a choice about what they do. I went to public schools all of my life, so did my wife, and we took a decision to send our kids to a Christian school because that’s how we are bringing our kids up and when parents want to do that they should have that choice. But state schools, they are the heart of the education system for the overwhelming majority of families. About 30 per cent of kids actually go to non-state schools and we want all kids to have the best education regardless of what school they go to and our funding package backs that up.
HOST: It’s like you guys run a fish and chip shop but you send your kids to the sushi shop next door.
PRIME MINISTER: No look my kids…
HOST: Don’t have the fish and chips, go to the shop next door. So it’s like, how can you actually support government schools when you’re not supporting themselves.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I do support state government schools but you know what, if I want to send my kids to a Christian school, why shouldn’t I be able to do that?
HOST: Yeah, but I don’t think everybody has a choice though because it involves money doesn’t it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it can. There are some schools which are non-state schools that don’t cost much and there are others that cost more and parents make their own choices. But all parents should have their choices and as I said, I went to state government schools…
HOST: And had a great time.
PRIME MINISTER: I did. I enjoyed my time at state government schools and I went to great schools. And there are great schools where my electorate is in Sydney and my kids were going to those schools and then we made a decision to send them to a Christian school. Look, you know what I really don’t like about the education debate? It’s not an us and them thing.
HOST: Well it is though.
PRIME MINISTER: No it’s not. It’s not an us and them.
HOST: Of course it is.
PRIME MINISTER: No. I mean, why do we have to set parents against each other? Why do we do that?
HOST: Yeah but… it’s not… just because…
PRIME MINISTER: Why do we have to put kids who go to one school against kids who go to another school? How about parents just make their own decisions be supported in their choices and let them all have a great education?
HOST: Because there is a culture that says that private school is better than state school…
PRIME MINISTER: That’s not my view.
HOST: Well it’s back to $14 billion or something that’s just been slashed off public school education…
PRIME MINISTER: No they haven’t. We are increasing the amount of funding going into public schools by around $20 billion over the next five years and we are increasing the amount that’s going into independent schools and into Catholic schools. We are spending more and more money on education but what I want to see is I want to see us get good results for that money. I mean you can’t just splash money around and think that’s the answer. We are investing more in schools, I mean, the Commonwealth Government has increased our funding to public schools five times faster than state governments have. So we are in there and we are backing them in, but you know what, I don’t think…
HOST: The results for state schools are often on par or better than the private schools.
PRIME MINISTER: Of course they are. The reason I’ve decided to send my kids, because you guys have raised it, to an independent school is because I want them to go to a Christian school. I think the education quality they were getting in the public school was as good; I just wanted them to go to a Christian school.
HOST: I want to talk to you about this because the two big headlines in the last few days has been the tax cuts that you were talking about for new business but also this, and I don’t really understand it but I don’t like the way it smells, Scott Morrison. I’m going to read you the front of it then you can explain it to me. Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, that’s you, has backed the right of religious schools, so Catholic private schools, I went to one, to discriminate against gay students in a political row over a confidential report into religious freedom. That sounds really bad.
PRIME MINISTER: Well it also sounds untrue.
HOST: Great. Explain it then.
PRIME MINISTER: Well what happens is under current law, which was introduced under the Labor Government, by the way, Tanya Plibersek, they introduced the law which allows religious schools to exercise their judgement about who can work in schools and all the rest. But what the proposal is to us is that that should be refined to make it better to ensure that the interest of the child is put at the centre of any decisions. The report also finds that there has been no practice where these schools have been doing this either. So all I said yesterday was what is being talked about is currently the law and it was actually a law introduced by the Labor Party when they were in Government. Now what has been proposed to us by Philip Ruddock is we should be tightening that law to ensure that the interest of the child is put at the centre of the consideration and I think religious schools will support that strongly. So you know, once again, people go out there and say I’ve said something that I haven’t said at all.
HOST: But shouldn’t it just be scrapped anyway? Like, no one should really have the right to discriminate against somebody according to their sexuality.
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t think people should have a right to discriminate against people on the basis of their race, on the basis of their gender, or on the basis of their religion, or any of these things…
HOST: Or their sexuality.
PRIME MINISTER: … or their sexuality. I genuinely believe that and protecting people’s faith is as important as protecting their discrimination on their race. So there’s been a report on that, we are going to look at that carefully. But I want to stress, what we are looking to do, what’s been proposed to us, is to ensure that the children at the centre of these issues are at the centre of consideration. And the law that we currently have, which the Labor Party brought in actually doesn’t do that.
HOST: Scott, I’ll just give the last word to little Andy, last night who was eight years. Sorry mate, we’ve got to go because we’ve got the mystery word coming up.
PRIME MINISTER: [Laughter]
HOST: So little Andy who is eight said, this is a question from last night, your predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull finished his tenure looking like a broken man crippled by the compromises he’s had to make to placate the hard-right members of his party…
HOST: How old is this kid?
HOST: Eight. Now that you’re PM, is it comforting to know that Tony Abbott and Peter Dutton have got your back? Like is that a comfort to you?
PRIME MINISTER: What I’m really comfortable about is that I come in here with you guys and I can hear from these young children who clearly spend a lot of time… [INAUDIBLE]. I’m encouraged by the state school system here in Victoria which shows such an intense level of understanding of modern politics.
HOST: The fete was at Scotch College…
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we are righting the ship really quickly, we are getting on with it, we are backing small businesses. It’s been fun to come in here with you guys to talk about important issues. Schools are an important issue, discrimination is an important issue, and making sure we create jobs and young people… you know last year 100,000 jobs created for young people: the strongest ever year of growth for youth employment in Australia’s economic history. You get a young kid into a job, it changes their life forever.
HOST: You’re looking at Deano when you’re saying that. Was he one of those jobs?
HOST: Mr Prime Minister, Deano, I’m glad to have you here…
HOST: And also, he’s 56 by the way.
PRIME MINISTER: [Laughter]
HOST: You know what… this man is cooked out of his mind…
HOST: Can I ask you about marijuana laws? Where are we at with legalising weed, boss?
PRIME MINISTER: We are nowhere near it.
HOST: Oh come on.
Interview with Sabra Lane, ABC AM
11 October 2018
SABRA LANE: Scott Morrison, thanks for joining the program.
PRIME MINISTER: G’day Sabra.
LANE: Fast tracking this tax relief, what boost in wages will that deliver?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that will always be up to the small and medium sized businesses but what we found last time when we provided business tax relief is that small businesses did provide support for wages in some cases. In other cases, they invested more in their businesses. Because small and medium sized businesses, that’s what they do. They don’t just walk away and put their money in their pocket. They invest back in their businesses and in their people. This is a very big boost to businesses that employ more than half the Australian workforce and last time they reacted very well with strong investment and strong support for their employees, boosting employment and creating new opportunities in local towns right across the country to our big cities.
LANE: Can you quantify though what kind of benefit workers will get, given that it is one of the Government’s biggest weaknesses right now. Workers want to know when the low wages growth they’ve been experiencing will come to an end.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I know that if small businesses and medium sized businesses are paying less tax to the Government, then they are more able to provide better wages to their employees. And I know small and medium sized businesses, they put their employees at the center of their business because they know they are the key to the success of their business. So every business will have that opportunity and will have that decision. But I do know one thing – if they have to pay more tax to the Government, which is what Labor will have them do, then they will have less flexibility to pay their staff more.
LANE: The Senate crossbench approved the original plan, are they on side with this idea to fast track the relief?
PRIME MINISTER: Well they’ll have the opportunity, and they’ll have it fairly soon. I intend to bring forward this legislation next week into the House of Representatives. It’s important that I think small and medium sized businesses employing more than half of Australians around the country should have the opportunity to have that legislated as soon as possible. Under the Liberal Party, under the National Party, small and medium sized businesses’ taxes will fall to 25 per cent. Under the Labor Party, they are currently even going to reverse the legislated tax cuts to 25 per cent currently scheduled to 2026-27. Now we are going to bring that forward by five years. Every business less than $50 million in turnover will have a lower rate of tax in the next term of Parliament down to 25 per cent. Under the Labor Party, it’ll be higher. It’s a pretty clear contrast.
LANE: It’s a contrast that’s also about choices. Labor has opposed, as you mentioned, dropping the tax rate below 27.5 per cent. But it is also promising to boost spending in education and health and voters might actually prefer that plan to yours.
PRIME MINISTER: Labor is going to tax Australians more. They are going to tax Australians more than $250 billion more over the next ten years. Labor’s plan, five point plan, is tax, tax, tax, tax and tax. Every time you hear Bill Shorten talking, he is increasing your taxes. And what we’ve done is keep taxes under control, we’ve kept spending under control, we’re bringing the Budget back into balance, we’ve preserved our Triple A credit rating, more than a million jobs have been created. In the last twelve months, more than 100,000 jobs for young people have been created, the strongest youth jobs growth we’ve seen on economic record in Australia. So our plan of keeping taxes and spending under control, spending wisely in infrastructure and services, that’s the guarantee that people can rely on in services. When you manage a Budget and manage an economy, you can actually deliver those services that Labor promises, but we can guarantee we can pay for.
LANE: We’ve seen in recent by-elections though that voters are really concerned about health spending and Labor’s messages about health spending are resonating with the electorate.
PRIME MINISTER: You can’t trust Labor to be able to meet their promises because they can’t run a strong economy and if you put taxes up, you slow the economy down. Our promises, our commitments, can be guaranteed on essential services because we run a strong economy, we run a strong Budget. That’s the guarantee that Australians need and I think demand. It’s no good talking about it, you’ve got to deliver it, and that’s what our Government has been doing. A strong economy and a strong Budget is the guarantee of essential services and that’s what we can offer.
LANE: There is a discussion right now about cutting the immigration intake. What do you want to see it drop to?
PRIME MINISTER: Well already we’ve seen the permanent intake fall to just over 160,000 and that’s basically the same level it was when the Howard Government left office back in 2007.
LANE: Do you want to see it go further?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we’ve got a cap, we don’t have a target. We changed that a while ago and what this does is largely respond to demand. What we want to do is make sure particularly that the temporary migration program, now that has been what is driving population growth. More than 40 per cent of population growth in Australia has been as a result of temporary migration. Just under 40 per cent has basically been natural increase, and only around 20 per cent of it has been permanent migration. So managing temporary migration is the key to managing population growth, and that’s actually where you’ve got the most levers. That’s why we’ve been talking about using the migration program to back in state and territory plans where they want to see population spread in a different way than it is now, to get people to the places they want them and to ensure that where congestion is a big issue like in Sydney and in Melbourne or I would say even the Central Coast of NSW where I was yesterday, that we can alleviate that pressure.
LANE: I was going to say, but according to respected demographers like Professor Peter McDonald a drop in that immigration rate could see the nation’s growth rate cut, create a worker shortage and an ageing population and shrink the number of taxpayers to foot the bill for the things that we’re going to need in the future like the aged pension. How seriously are you weighing up those things?
PRIME MINISTER: Well you must have misunderstood me, Sabra. What I’m saying it’s a bit like average rainfall is about as useful as the statistic of average population growth. What I’m talking about is managing where the population goes, where the temporary migration goes. That means you can maintain a healthy migration program, but what you’re doing is making sure it’s getting to the places that need it, just like you need rainfall where you need it. There’s no pint talking about national averages, you’ve got to talk about what’s the population growth in Melbourne? What’s the population growth in Adelaide, or in Western Australia? In both of those states, they’re places where they want more people. I was down in Tasmania just last weekend, they have a plan to lift the population of that state and we want our migration program to support it. But you’ve got to have a policy for Sydney, you’ve got to have a policy for Melbourne, for south east Queensland, for Cairns, for Townsville, and that’s what our population policies are about. I mean just to talk about figures at a headline level, I think it’d very superficial and it’d be very misleading and I don’t think that’s the way you actually solve congestion problems in cities where you need to do that or solving the need for more population in others areas where those cities, those towns, those regions are urgently looking for it.
LANE: Mr Morrison, the latest IPCC report on carbon emissions – how reliable do you think it is?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we’re looking at that report and it’s a global report, it’s not a report to Australia I should stress. We take all of those reports seriously, we’re part of that process but we’ve got our commitments and we’re meeting our commitments and we’ll continue to do that. We’re very confident about our ability to meet those. Why? Because we’ve met the targets we’ve already set for ourselves, and we will continue to be able to do that.
LANE: But you’ve said that Australia will meet the 2030 targets in a canter. Who is giving you that advice?
PRIME MINISTER: I believe that is what we’ll meet, because not only the policy…
LANE: But who is giving you… is there a credible, respected independent scientist who backs you on that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is the advice that we’re working through as a Government. But what it’s based on also is we’ve crossed a threshold point, Sabra. No longer in order to see large investment in renewable technologies do you need these heavy subsidies, because it’s now making economic sense all on its own. We have been through a period in the past where those subsidies have been very important to the build-up of the renewable energy sector. But when a sector can stand on its two feet and when you look out over the next decade and you see the investment that is coming in renewables, not because governments are throwing money at it but because it just makes good economic financial sense, then that’s how you start to meet these arrangements. Now also on the demand management side we’ve seen major improvements happening there. We’ve still got the small scale RET and the large scale RET programs, they remain in place. And look, everybody can say what they think is going to happen by 2030, Sabra. I believe, our Government believes we’re going to meet those targets comfortably and in 2030 we can all meet up again and we can sit down and do the interview again, Sabra, but you know we can all have our crystal ball.
LANE: Not sure I’ll be here or you’ll be here.
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s for the Australian people to judge on us both, isn’t it?
LANE: Prime Minister on religious freedom, your government seems to be intent on tying itself in knots over religious freedoms. What is the problem that needs fixing here?
PRIME MINISTER: In the same way that all Australians, regardless of their gender or their race in Australia, they can go about their lives each day with important protections that protect them from discrimination. What the report, which is yet to go fully through a Cabinet process yet, what the report is saying well those sort of same protections and those sort of freedoms, people of different of faiths, of which there are millions in Australia, should have that same level of confidence. Now we’re working through that report, I’ve only been in the job Sabra as you know for seven weeks or so. This was a report that had been received by the previous Prime Minister and it was held by the Attorney as well. It hadn’t gone to Cabinet, Cabinet Ministers hadn’t seen it at that time. I’ve been working through that, I’ve got a timetable to deal with this by the end of the year, but frankly, my priority immediately was to deal particularly with issues around education which we have been dealing with strongly. We have been dealing with the issues around the economy and the measures I’m announcing today for lower taxes for small businesses and medium sized businesses. I’ve been dealing with issues of the drought, the aged care Royal Commission we announced this week. We’ve had some important priorities we’ve been dealing with.
Religious freedom is an important priority to me as well as all Australians and we’ll work through that in a methodical process but I want to make something really clear, particularly in terms of the reporting that was yesterday. There is no proposal before the Government to in any way weaken the protections that exist for people of same-sex marriages or for people or children who may be gay or lesbian or the many other descriptions. There is no law that is proposing from that report to change that in any negative way. In fact, as Phillip Ruddock made clear yesterday, what the proposal was is to actually put in place better guidelines, more clarity to ensure that the child is at the center of the protection of what that law would do. Now the law that is currently in place was introduced by the Labor Party. Tanya Plibersek sat around the Cabinet table when it was out in place, Bill Shorten was part of the Government that put in place the existing law which reflects the protection that is already there for those schools.
LANE: Alright Prime Minister, thanks for joining the program.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot Sabra.
Interview with David Koch, Sunrise
11 October 2018
DAVID KOCH: Prime Minister, thanks for joining us. This isn’t a promise is it, you’re actually going to legislate this, maybe as soon as next week. Why?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to legislate it next week because small and family businesses deserve to have the support of this plan of lower taxes which helps them invest in their business, grow their business, and employ more Australians. Businesses of less than $50 million, as you know, employ more than half the Australian workforce and we want their taxes to be lower. This plan will deliver that five years ahead of the current legislated schedule. Under the Liberal and National parties, small businesses and family businesses will pay 25 per cent tax in the next term of Parliament, and under Labor you’ll pay higher taxes. You’ll pay higher taxes for everything by the way, but small and family businesses will pay higher taxes under Labor, lower taxes under the Liberal and National parties.
KOCH: This is interesting isn’t is, Labor have already said they will not go through with the tax cuts for small business when they were five years out. So are you going to get support from the crossbenchers to get this through next week? Obviously Labor will vote against it.
PRIME MINISTER: Well it will go through the House of a Representatives first, and obviously we are quite confident that we will be able to take that through the House of Representatives. You’re right, it will then go to the Senate. The Senate, last time when we took the taxes changes through, supported the plan that we put through for businesses under $50 million, so they have good form on supporting tax cuts for small and family businesses, and that’s what’s being offered here again. As you know, we were unable to get the other tax plan through the Senate. And by reversing that out, we can now bring this in. It doesn’t delay a return to surplus at all. And it means that those small and family businesses, they are having a go, they deserve to get a fair go, and I am going to give them that fair go. I’m going to put it in law next week.
KOCH: So you are using the money from not being able to pass the tax cuts to big business, that money will now bring forward the small business tax cuts? Because a lot of people will be saying where is the money coming from, how can we afford it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that is the answer David, you had just spelled it out. Particularly over the forward estimates, that is how we are doing that. When you are going out to 2021-22, the Budget is back in surplus then and it’s in a position to support those lower taxes and it won’t affect the outcome in 2019-20.
KOCH: Ok, let’s focus on the International Monetary Fund, which has downgraded the economic growth forecast for Australia because of the potential trade war between America and China. We’ve got the Dow right now just closing twenty minutes ago, down over 800 points, 830 points. Scared because of the impact of this trade war, should be keeping our powder dry? Are you nervous about this trade war and the impact on us?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we have to act I think calmly and in a measured way. But I think it only underscores with the broader global economic uncertainty - which we have no control over - it is important that businesses continue to invest. It is important that businesses continue to have confidence. That’s why we think that lower taxes for businesses in this environment is better for the economy, because if they’ve got to pay more to the Government, if they are crippled by higher taxes and they have got to compete with what is happening globally, then that only makes it harder for them to keep people at work. So this is an investment in the strength of our economy, and in the heart of our economy, which is small and medium-sized family businesses who are the backbone of our nation when it comes to our economic success.
KOCH: Prime Minister, great news for small business owners, thanks for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot David, cheers.
Interview with Karl Stefanovic, Today Show
11 October 2018
KARL STEFANOVIC: Prime Minister, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: G'day, Karl, how you, mate?
STEFANOVIC: Boy oh boy, the Budget must be in very good shape, you are dropping it like it is hot.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what you know is that we weren't able to go ahead with the broader Enterprise Tax Plan and what we are doing is we’re taking the savings from that and we're pooling all of that into supporting small and medium sized businesses. So half of Australians, more than half of Australians that work every day, that work for businesses of less than $50 million in turnover and their taxes are coming to 25 per cent during the next parliamentary term. Labor will have them at 27.5 per cent. We will have them at 25. If you want lower taxes for small and medium-sized businesses, then our Government is the government that will deliver that and we will be looking to legislate it next week.
STEFANOVIC: It just seems like at the moment you have this really, really big lolly bag and you are trick or treating your way past Halloween to the next election.
PRIME MINISTER: No, we've been working on this for months. We had the previous Enterprise Tax Plan as you know. That was rejected by the Senate. We said at the time that we would be coming back with another plan. That is what I am doing now. That plan sees small and medium-sized businesses paying less tax sooner, bringing that forward by five years. Labor already said that they were going to reverse the tax cuts for small business to 25 per cent. That means small businesses from the smallest hairdresser up to mining-based businesses, servicing mining areas, they will all pay higher taxes under Labor. They will all pay lower taxes under our Government.
STEFANOVIC: This wasn't Malcolm's plan was it, before you unceremoniously executed him?
PRIME MINISTER: We'd been working on it. I was the Treasurer, as you will recall, and we’ve been working on this together for some period of time. It was always our plan in the event that the other tax cuts didn't pass the Parliament that we would come back with a new plan that was going to drive jobs, drive investment, support better wages for people working in these businesses because if you are paying less money to the government in tax, you are more able to support more of your own business, invest in your business, invest more in the training of your own staff, new markets. That is how small businesses and medium-sized businesses grow.
STEFANOVIC: He had some good ideas, Malcolm.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we worked together, Karl. We worked together. I was the Treasurer for three years. Our economic policies were policies we worked closely together on. I've been part of our Government for five years. I stopped the boats with Tony Abbott too. So these are all great achievements.
STEFANOVIC: They're all your ideas. You have done it all, PM.
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER: I've been part of the government for five years, Karl. I think people know that. It is no great secret.
STEFANOVIC: Ok.
PRIME MINISTER: We have been in office since 2013 and created more than a million jobs. Isn't that great news?
STEFANOVIC: So will you get these changes through or not?
PRIME MINISTER: I believe so. I mean, why would the Senate want to stand in the way of tax cuts for small and medium-sized businesses? They voted for them before and they voted for them for the right reasons. The only people standing in the way of lower taxes for small and medium-sized businesses is Bill Shorten. Bill Shorten's small business policy is about making larger businesses smaller by making them all pay higher taxes.
STEFANOVIC: Does it feel good to jam him?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it feels good to support small and medium-sized businesses and family businesses. I was on the Central Coast yesterday with family small businesses, people had left their jobs in Sydney and gone and created businesses up on the Central Coast. They've done that creating a lifestyle, they were employing people and that's what grows our economy. If you don't grow the economy, you don't have a strong Budget. You can't make promises about education and health like Bill Shorten is doing if you can't run a strong economy. When he says that, he just jacks your taxes up.
STEFANOVIC: Ok let's move on.
PRIME MINISTER: Tax, tax and tax.
STEFANOVIC: Let's move through. Are you going to protect the faithful by drafting laws to protect religious belief and activity? Do you believe in a school's rights to turn away gay students and teachers?
PRIME MINISTER: Well on the second point, that is the current law that was introduced by the Labor Party. Tanya Plibersek and Bill Shorten sat around the table that introduced the laws that currently provide that exact protection for religious schools. Now, what the report that has come to us has said is that needs to be tightened and there needs to be specific protections for children in those cases. That seems to me to be a pretty sensible suggestion. So we will be making that law more effective if we choose to go with that proposal. But we are going through that process, Karl. That hasn't come fully through Cabinet yet. We will consider those things carefully and respectfully.
STEFANOVIC: Ok, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian wants to halve migration numbers, so does the Opposition Leader Luke Foley in New South Wales. Whether you like it or not, there is an appetite for this is in the electorate, especially in Sydney. Are all those people wrong?
PRIME MINISTER: No I'm not saying they are. What I am simply saying is that in states like Western Australia, Tasmania, up in the Northern Territory and South Australia, they want more people. In states I agree, like NSW and Victoria, where you have had much stronger population growth, you have got to get the spread of that population growth much more effective. That is what our policies...
STEFANOVIC: So you're open to it?
PRIME MINISTER: What we are open to ensuring we back in the population plans that states want to pursue. So in Tasmania, they want more and we want to help them do that. In NSW, I think we have got to work with them to manage that more effectively. But you know, there are parts of NSW that are looking for more population, but in suburbs of Sydney and on the Central Coast, they are under a lot of pressure. We have to help manage that, I do agree with that. We have got to work together on how best we achieve it without tanking the economy.
STEFANOVIC: Ok the door is open. Finally, the Melbourne Cup Racing Committee will approach you today and want to broadcast the barrier draw on Parliament House in a couple of weeks. You open to that idea?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, last time I looked, the Melbourne Cup was run in Melbourne, not Canberra. I think the whole point about what was happening in Sydney…
STEFANOVIC: Is that a yes or no?
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if they want to run the Melbourne Cup in Canberra, you know, maybe we can think about it. But I don't think they want to do that down here. They're gearing up for what will be a tremendous event once again. I mean, these events, whether it is the Melbourne Cup, whether it is The Everest, whether it’s the big rugby and rugby league games, the AFL grand finals, these bring massive investments into our cities. They create thousands of jobs. I'm all for creating jobs, Karl.
STEFANOVIC: On big billboards.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m also supporting businesses that want to create jobs, you know.
STEFANOVIC: Alright PM, thanks for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: You always know what I think Karl, just like you mate. You will always know what we think.
STEFANOVIC: Rightly or wrongly. Thanks PM, good to talk to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good on you mate.
Fast Tracking Tax Relief for Small and Medium Businesses
11 October 2018
Prime Minister, Treasurer
Millions of small and medium sized businesses will pay less tax, sooner – with the Coalition Government delivering its tax relief five years earlier than planned.
This will mean more investment, more jobs and higher wages.
We will introduce legislation during the next session of Parliament, fast-tracking our business tax relief for more than three million businesses that employ nearly seven million Australians.
This means businesses with a turnover below $50 million will face a tax rate of just 25 per cent in 2021-22 rather than from 2026-27 as currently legislated. Similar timing changes will apply to the roll out of the 16 per cent tax discount for unincorporated businesses.
This means that a small business, such as an independent supermarket or a pub, that makes $500,000 profit, will have an additional $7,500 in 2020-21 and $12,500 in 2021-22 to invest back into the business or staff, or help to manage cash flow.
This builds on the first stage of company tax relief that our Government delivered in May 2017, because we believe in a fair go for those who have a go – that’s what our tax plan is all about.
This change will help to ensure Australian businesses are competitive, to protect our economy and jobs.
The legislation that delivers this additional tax relief will be a major test for Bill Shorten – does he support Australian businesses, Australian workers and Australian jobs? Or is Bill Shorten’s only plan for the economy to introduce an extra $200 billion in taxes?
Our economic plan is working and the fast tracking of tax relief for small and medium businesses is an important investment in the future economic growth of our nation.