Media Releases
Delivering skilled workers for a stronger economy
28 November 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for Small and Family Business Skills and Vocational Education
The Liberal National Government has commissioned an independent review of the vocational education and training (VET) sector to ensure Australians have the right skills to succeed in a changing labour market, and businesses have access to the skills they need to grow the business.
“The Review will ensure Australians have the right skills to get a job,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
More than 1.1 million jobs have been created since our Government was elected and in 2017-18, more than 100,000 young Australians got a job – the strongest growth in youth jobs in our recorded economic history. I want even more Australians to get jobs, and that means ensuring they have the right skills to drive an even stronger economy. Getting our investments in skills education and training right is a core prerequisite for driving economic and jobs growth in the future. I want to make sure we are getting these investments right, both now and in the future, supporting Australians throughout their working lives.
“It will also mean businesses, including small and family businesses and businesses in rural and regional areas, will be able to access the skills they need to grow their business.”
Steven Joyce, the former New Zealand Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, and Minister of Finance, will lead the Review. Mr Joyce was the architect of significant reforms to the apprenticeship and industry training system in New Zealand, and one of the most senior ministers in John Key’s government.
Mr Joyce will engage with stakeholders all across the country and across sectors, and report to the Government in March.
We look forward to hearing how we can ensure Australian industry is future-proofed with a new generation of skilled workers.
“The review will focus on the skills people need when they leave school, but also later in life when they might be looking to improve their skills, change industries or build on general literacy and numeracy,” said the Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education, Senator Michaelia Cash.
“The VET sector is central to growing Australian businesses and building our economy. By examining ways to strengthen the VET sector, we can ensure our workforce and our economy is ready for the opportunities of the decades ahead.
“It will ensure our workforce can easily adapt to changing employer demands. This includes meeting the demand for higher level skills, building digital capability, and building skills in rural and regional Australia.”
We’re serious about creating a better future for Australians and that means giving everyone the best chance to make a success of the career they choose.
This country benefits most when all Australians achieve their full potential and make a contribution. Having the right people with the right skills is key to achieving this and key to growing business and creating jobs for Australians.
Attachment: Expert review of Australia’s vocational education and training system - Terms of Reference
Condolence - Bonita Mabo
27 November 2018
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister) (14:01): Mr Speaker, on indulgence, I rise to acknowledge the passing yesterday of Bonita Mabo AO. Bonita Mabo was a remarkable woman who possessed a deep, quiet strength. The wife of Eddie Mabo for 32 years, whose long fight for Indigenous land rights made him part of our national pantheon, Bonita was once described as the silent woman behind the man. But while she was reserved, she was much, much more than a supportive spouse. Bonita was a leader in her on right and in her own way, and we honour that today as we mark her passing.
For many years Bonita worked in the background. As Eddie attracted the headlines, continuing what Bonita called his fight, she held the family together and raised the couple's 10 children—an extraordinary achievement. Bonita's children often said, 'Mum, I don't know how you did it.' She'd reply, 'I don't even know myself.' But she instilled in them what she knew, a lesson to us all: love, honesty, generosity and humility. Bonita had the instincts of a teacher, and it was during those years that she cofounded the first Aboriginal community school because she was unhappy with the education her children were receiving. Eddie saw his wife's talents and more than once encouraged her to study, but fear would always take hold, and Bonita thought she would be laughed away. Fortunately, those fears lessened as the years passed.
Eddie's death in 1992, while devastating for Bonita and her family, was a turning point. That was when her quiet strength truly emerged. Bonita was determined to fight her own battles. As an Australian South Sea Islander woman, she spent decades seeking greater understanding of the history of her people, of the suffering and pain inflicted on them. She would travel, she would talk and she would listen, and people listened to her, captivated by the strength of her character and the depths of her integrity. Eddie was a constant presence for her, even after his death. As Bonita said back in 2004:
Any time I go for conferences or anything like that he [Eddie] seems to show up. When I went down to Adelaide he was dancing—all hours of the morning it was. While he was dancing he just looked at me and had the biggest smile. He gives me strength to do the things I do.
Bonita was a firm believer in smiling. 'A smile goes a long way,' she would say. It helped her to persuade, to reassure and to calm. It helped her to move the interests of her people forward whilst also advocating passionately for Indigenous schooling and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In this building we know a lot about leaders. Every leader is different, and so was Bonita—different from the all the others and different from her husband, Eddie. Bonita was often quiet, sometimes unassuming, but no less effective and no less powerful. Her strength was quiet, drawn from her history, her family and her deep sense of justice. Bonita's wisdom and her generous, open heart will be missed, especially by her family. As someone who's grown up in a family where, fortunately, my parents have been together all of their lives, and to also be blessed to be in such a marriage myself, I know how much it must grieve the family to lose both of their parents now. They saw so much love, so much connection, so much inspiration from their partnership over so many years, and saw that carry on even after their father passed away and the achievements we've seen. Bonita's warm and generous and open heart will be missed; her legacy, however, will endure. Like her husband, Eddie, Bonita will always be part of the story and the heart of her land, of our land. To her beloved family, I offer the heartfelt sympathy of this parliament and our nation.
Honourable members: Hear, hear!
Interview, Sunrise
23 November 2018
NATALIE BARR: Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins me now from Sydney, morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Natalie.
BARR: How would we get rid of them? Why would another country take a convicted terrorist?
PRIME MINISTER: Well what the new law will do is if we have a reasonable view that someone has citizenship - it may be by descent or they may have been born somewhere else - then we will be able to strip them of their Australian citizenship and we’ll be able to have them deported back to the country from which they do have a citizenship. If they’re in a position not to be deported, well they’ll remain in immigration detention. The point is, we’re not going to cop people who act contrary to what their citizenship has granted them and that is the freedom and the liberties that goes with that responsibility. So, we’re not going to cop it Nat, that’s simple as that. Their citizenship should go if you commit a terrorist act in Australia.
BARR: So you said, if they’re unable to be deported they’ll remain in detention. So, some of them won’t be able to be deported? It’s going to be hard to get all of them out.
PRIME MINISTER: The point is - we just saw this recently, remember all the stuff around citizenship in the Parliament and it became clear that people had citizenship by descent by any number of countries. So their citizenship will be determined and they’ll be deported back to those host countries. I mean that’s how it will work. But the point has to be very clear; if you commit a terrorist act against Australia, we will strip your citizenship. This is the important issue that I think we need to make very clear to people. They are committing crimes, not only against their fellow Australians, but against the nation that has actually given them the liberty under which they live.
BARR: Yeah but that’s my point, if another- just how will it work? Because another country won’t necessarily take them back, will they?
PRIME MINISTER: Well if they’re a citizen of that country they have to take them back Nat. If they were born in the UK for example and they’re a citizen by descent, they’re a citizen. That’s what we know to be the case and off they’ll go.
BARR: We know the counter terrorism police have stopped many terror attack plans - you angered many in the Muslim community by saying that Islamic leaders need to be doing more on this. Do you regret that or do you stand by that?
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t regret it at all. In fact I took quite a bit of advice before saying it, from our security agencies. I was simply calling out what we have to call out in this country; that is extremist, radical, violent Islam is the biggest threat of religious extremism in this country and I need us all to focus on that issue and do whatever we can to make sure that that violent, hatred-filled ideology does not take root in religious communities in Australia. We all have jobs to do. I’ve got a job to do, everyone in the community has a job to do and so do the clerics and the religious leaders who have responsibility for protecting the integrity of their religious communities and what’s taught in those religious communities.
BARR: Okay. The feud between two former prime ministers, Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott, seems to be intensifying. Abbott now says Turnbull’s downfall was political suicide, Turnbull has apparently followed an Instagram page dedicated to getting Abbott out of office. You cannot ignore the fact that this surely is hurting your party's chances in Victoria over the weekend?
PRIME MINISTER: I entirely intend to ignore it Nat and I’ll leave that to the Twitterverse to be outraged about. What I’m focused on is making Australia safe. What I’m focused on is keeping our economy strong, making sure that we don't have a 45 per cent, reckless target that Labor wants to put on everybody’s electricity price, which will push their electricity prices up and crush the Australian economy. It's a dangerous plan and it's that on I’m focused, ensuring that Australians will never have to live under.
BARR: So, people don't care about Liberal leadership woes? That’s not on any Australian’s radar, Mr Morrison?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s old history and it’s in the Twittersphere and I’ll let the Twittersphere go into outrage about it. I’m focused on my job of keeping Australians safe and keeping the economy strong.
BARR: Okay Mr Morrison, thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Nat.
Interview - Today, Nine Network
23 November 2018
KARL STEFANOVIC: PM good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: G'day Karl.
STEFANOVIC: Nice to see you this morning. Can you do this legally?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, of course. What we’re doing is that where we have the reasonable belief someone is a citizen of another country as well as Australia - and that could be because they were born overseas or they inherited it by descent, as we saw many Australians actually are citizens of other countries by descend - if you are convicted of a terrorist offence you lose your Australian citizenship. That’s what we can do, that’s what the law will be. It won't be if you have a sentence of six years as it currently is, all you have to do is be convicted, citizenship gone.
STEFANOVIC: I don't feel sorry for them at all. But I just wonder, there are always questions about legalities surrounding these sort of things. You are trying to push for a change but you don't know if it works legally at this point.
PRIME MINISTER: I absolutely believe it does and we have that ability to do that under our law. That's what we should be doing. We need to toughen these laws up and people need to know if you commit a crime, not just against fellow Australians, a violent crime, but against Australia, the country that gave you your liberty, then that will be taken from you.
STEFANOVIC: You would know the Law Council has warned attempts to strip potential terrorists of their citizenship could breach international obligations by leaving people like that stateless.
PRIME MINISTER: Of course they would, those who oppose these laws always say this. I dealt with that when I was Immigration Minister and they said I couldn't turn back boats and they said that wasn't legal. Well you know, they make all these claims, but what I do is press on and I just get it done.
STEFANOVIC: So you are not worried about it at all?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
STEFANOVIC: Okay, some are suggesting you might be capitalising on people's fears, is that the case?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm keeping Australians safe. Those who often say that, don't want me to address these issues. They want to provide excuses for others not to address those issues. I'm not going to give them those excuses, I'm going to keep Australians safer.
STEFANOVIC: Okay, so how would these laws have prevented attacks like Bourke Street?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what it meant in this case is, that individual, if they had a citizenship of another country and they had actually survived the attack, in that case they would have had their citizenship stripped. I mean, Australians need to understand that they just can't operate with some sort of leave pass on all of this. But I mean, there are cases before the courts and will be before the courts where people do have citizenship, we believe, of another country. Then, they would be facing that sanction as well. It's not one measure, it's all the measures.
That's why I've been calling out extremist, violent radical Islam as being a real threat to religion in this country and religious extremism. It's the biggest religious extremism threat we have in this country. We’ve got to call that out because we’ve all got a job to try and do something about that. I've got one, the federal police have got one, ASIO have got one, but so do communities. I know many of them do just that, but we need to do more because we need to be safer.
STEFANOVIC: What happens, given an example of someone who perpetrates a crime, you send them home, what happens if the country they also have dual citizenship with, doesn't want them in their country?
PRIME MINISTER: If they have got citizenship of that country we will just deport them there. That's what we do. We do it now. We do it for others who we deport back, who commit crimes in Australia. We cancel their visas and deport them. They would fall into this category, just like someone who was on a visa who has committed a crime; once they get out of jail they get on a plane and we send them home.
STEFANOVIC: The Bourke Street attacker was known to police, his passport was cancelled in 2015 over plans to travel to Syria. Three years later he has killed an innocent man in an act of terror. Why did it take a tragedy of this magnitude for something to change?
PRIME MINISTER: Things are always changing. We have had ten separate pieces of terrorist legislation, national security legislation go in and 15 attacks have been thwarted. Seven have gone forward, that's true. That's why I'm saying that the police and others can do so much, but what we need is ensuring that within communities themselves we are getting the intelligence that is necessary to prevent these attacks. On 15 occasions that has proved to be successful. I think that is a very strong record for Australia. The level of cooperation we have is outstanding between state and federal authorities. That's what has been keeping Australians more often safe.
STEFANOVIC: My biggest concern - and I fully respect the work that ASIO does, fully and completely respect - there are 400 terrorists in our country being monitored by ASIO. What do we do? Wait, watch and hope it doesn't happen again?
PRIME MINISTER: What happens is you are constantly looking at things that might be triggering someone to get into a higher risk category. One of the other things I announced yesterday is orders which prevent foreign fighters coming back to Australia. They would have to get an exclusion order put on them if they were to come back and would basically have to live like they are under parole. It would be illegal for them to enter the country again without permission. We are stopping people coming back who have been over there fighting with terrorists against Australia's interests, against Australia, and back here we are taking stronger position on the laws, so if you are convicted of a terrorist offence it doesn't matter how long the sentence is, we will take your citizenship away.
STEFANOVIC: Why don't you support an NEG given you said it would lower prices?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Bill Shorten, they haven't learned, the pink batts. What happened last time we let the Labor Party come and put something in your house? I mean, roofs burned down for goodness sake. They’ve learned nothing, absolutely nothing.
STEFANOVIC: You said repeatedly, with respect, you said repeatedly time after time than an NEG would lead to lower prices.
PRIME MINISTER: With a 26 per cent target, not a 45 per cent target. This is the point Karl; a 45 per cent target is reckless. It will shut down industries all around the country. And on these batteries, he told you yesterday they would cost $10,000. We know that the Tesla battery costs over $20,000. I mean, what families in Australia on the incomes they are talking about have a lazy $10,000 or $20,000 hanging around to go and put these things in?
STEFANOVIC: Do you at least concede you've got to do more?
PRIME MINISTER: On electricity prices, always. I totally agree, I totally agree. That's why we are taking the strong position we are with the big electricity companies.
Bill Shorten says he won't work with us to actually put the wood on the electricity companies to get their prices down. He is not going to vote for legislation that gives us divestment powers, he is not going to support us in taking a tougher approach with big electricity companies. That's the approach we are taking and we are putting the wood on them and we want to see those prices come down. What he is saying is going to put prices up. Electricity prices will be higher under Labor.
STEFANOVIC: I'm seeing you later - on the subject of electricity and things being heated - I'm seeing you for a charity game of cricket at Kirribilli. I hear you are generously opening the cellar for Fitzy, Wippa and myself.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s true.
STEFANOVIC: We look forward to that, it advances women's cricket in disadvantaged countries, a great cause.
PRIME MINISTER: Good on you Karl.
Radio interview with Fitzy & Wippa
23 November 2018
RYAN FITZGERALD: I tell you what; we’ve asked quite a few Prime Ministers if we could play at Kirribilli House. We were getting a lukewarm response.
MICHEAL WIPFLI: Bit quiet wasn’t it?
FITZY: I mean we know how busy Prime Ministers can be, but step up Scott Morrison, he jumped on board and today at Kirribilli House, the backyard cricket game is on!
[Promo plays]
FITZY: Brett Lee has confirmed this morning, we’ve got Ed Cowan as well, a former cricketer. There is going to be some great cricketers out there but all eyes, all of Australia will be looking at our Prime Minister Scott Morrison, to see what he can do with a bat and a ball. He joins us now, Prime Minister welcome!
WIPPA: Welcome!
PRIME MINISTER: Hey Fitzy, hey Wippa.
WIPPA: ScoMo have you had a look at the pitch this morning, how is it looking?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve had the heavy roller out last night, up and back.
[Laughter]
WIPPA: Oh no.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s looking good mate.
FITZY: Do you get a key to Kirribilli House, do you have a key? Do you and the missus get one Scott and you can go in and out whenever you like?
PRIME MINISTER: Not one that I’ve found, but the door tends to be open when I get home.
[Laughter]
WIPPA: That’s not bad.
PRIME MINISTER: All hours of the night.
WIPPA: Not bad at all.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s all good, but maybe the dog has got the key, I dunno.
WIPPA: Some smart-talking from Karl Stefanovic, we saw that interview also this morning, suggesting that the hunt for the cellar will still continue on as part of today. Have you got a key to that one ScoMo?
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t know where it is. We’ll have to try and find it together.
FITZY: Alright. Now Scott you have been at Kirribilli House this morning, winds – I’m looking right now – 37 kmph at the moment.
WIPPA: Wow.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah it’s breezy.
FITZY: It is a bit breezy.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s coming in from the Randwick end.
FITZY: We didn’t ask you last time, what are you better at, batting or bowling?
PRIME MINISTER: Neither.
[Laughter]
WIPPA: I know that feeling mate. So does that make you nervous?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, I’m more for effort. More effort than skill.
WIPPA: ‘A’ for effort. Well, if we played with a league ball you’d be alright wouldn’t you Scott?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh I mean if I had to put it between the posts, it’d be alright, yeah.
WIPPA: But ScoMo, this is a big moment. Because prime ministers have failed famously in sporting events, do you feel the pressure of today?
PRIME MINISTER: A little. I’ve been watching those images of Bob Hawke getting one in the nut.
[Laughter]
WIPPA: Yes!
PRIME MINISTER: And of course John’s famous ball. But you know, I’ll see how I go, it should be a great day.
WIPPA: It’s going to be amazing.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s a great cause, it’s a really great cause.
FITZY: Yeah, Batting For Change and we’re going to have quite a few representatives there today. They are doing a brilliant job and we thank them so much for letting us be involved today. You need to choose a team though Prime Minister. Wippa’s XI or Fitzy’s XI? Wippa is in the red today, I am in the white, we are currently wearing our baggy reds. What is your decision Scott?
PRIME MINISTER: Well mate I’ve ‘umed and ahed’ over it but I’m going to go with Wippa and all because Wippa’s mum is coming.
[Laughter]
WIPPA: Oh ScoMo!
PRIME MINISTER: He played the big card, bringing mum in and you know, how do you say no to Wippa’s mum?
WIPPA: Well there’s not an actual offer from my mother at this stage Prime Minister and she hasn’t had an offer from a Prime Minister before either, so anything could happen.
FITZY: Well, wait until you see her before you get your bet in Prime Minister.
WIPPA: Could be quite distracting depending on how tight the top is.
FITZY: No, she’s lovely.
WIPPA: Let’s stop worrying about that Prime Minister.
FITZY: Okay so you’re choosing Wippa, teams are complete.
WIPPA: Bang, you’re in mate.
PRIME MINISTER: I want to play against Karl, I want to play against Karl.
WIPPA: Done.
FITZY: Karlos will be steaming in, but today, Kirribilli House?
PRIME MINISTER: Yep.
WIPPA: Love it.
FITZY: It all happens, Batting For Change, it is a great cause. We can’t wait to see you there Scott and thanks again for letting us use the grounds.
PRIME MINISTER: No, we’re really happy to have you here and Buddy the dog, he will be on the field, I see the rules allow him to be one of my fielders.
WIPPA: You’re bringing the dog!
PRIME MINISTER: If he gets the ball, you’re not going to catch him.
FITZY: Who is Buddy the dog Scott, is that your personal or is he a Kirribilli House dog?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah he’s our little dog.
FITZY: Oh beautiful, so Buddy is coming along?
PRIME MINISTER: Buddy will be there, little black dog, he’ll be running around. He loves getting the ball and taking off.
[Laughter]
Oh, and congratulations, can I say, to Ryan Carter, a great bloke who has founded this Batting For Change.
WIPPA: Absolutely.
PRIME MINISTER: I was talking to the Indian President about it yesterday when he was out, he’s going to the t20 and I said: “Well, we’ve got a bit of a match going on over at our place”.
[Laughter]
He decided to stay with the t20. Anyway, it should be a great day and well done guys.
FITZY: We love it, well done mate.
WIPPA: See you soon, really looking forward to it.
PRIME MINISTER: Okay, cheers.
Combatting Australian terrorists
22 November 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for Home Affairs
The Government is taking strong action to keep Australians safe.
The Government will seek to change the Australian Citizenship Act so dual citizens convicted of a terrorism offence in Australia could lose Australian citizenship irrespective of the sentence they receive.
Similar to the United Kingdom, the Government will develop a new Temporary Exclusion Orders scheme so Australians involved in terrorism overseas would be legally unable to return to Australia for up to two years.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government was constantly reviewing Australia’s laws and capabilities.
“We’ll do everything we can to stay ahead of the evolving threat of terrorism to keep Australians safe,” the Prime Minister said.
“The terrorist attack on Bourke Street in Melbourne on 9 November, and the recent arrests which thwarted an alleged terrorist attack, highlight once again the importance of robust measures to protect our community.
“Australia cannot be complacent.
“Our changes will make it easier to strip terrorists of their Australian citizenship. Terrorists forfeit their rights to be Australians when they carry out their evil acts.”
Mr Dutton said while three more dual citizens had lost Australian citizenship under the existing legislation because of their involvement with terrorist organisations offshore, taking the total to nine, more needed to be done.
“We now need to focus attention on strengthening the citizenship loss provisions which commenced in 2015 as they relate to terrorists within Australia, in order to protect our community.”
The proposed changes would enable the Minister to cease the citizenship of anyone who is convicted of a terrorism offence in Australia, irrespective of the sentence they receive. This removes the current requirement that a terrorist offender must be sentenced to at least six years’ imprisonment.
The Government will also change the threshold for determining dual citizenship. This change aims to improve the Minister’s scope to determine a person’s foreign citizenship status.
“We assess there are around 50 Australian dual citizens who may be eligible to lose citizenship under the current provisions, and even more with the changes we are announcing today,” Mr Dutton said.
The new Temporary Exclusion Orders scheme would enable authorities to delay, and then monitor and control, the return and re-entry to our community of Australian foreign fighters.
“We don’t want these people in our country,” the Prime Minister said.
“These Orders will mean we deal with Australians who travelled to the conflict zone in Iraq and Syria as far from our shores as possible.”
“The Australian Government’s first priority is to keep our community safe from those who seek to do us harm, and we will continue to keep our legislation and capabilities under constant review to meet emerging needs,” Mr Dutton said.
Boosting our economic ties with India
22 November 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Trade Tourism and Investment
Today the Liberal National Government is pleased to release Australia’s response to the India Economic Strategy; a blueprint to transform our economic engagement.
The Government commissioned Mr Peter Varghese AO to write the report which was released in July 2018. An India Economic Strategy to 2035: Navigating from Potential to Delivery recommended practical measures to cement India as a top economic partner.
“This report provides a roadmap for our economic future with India,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“India is the world’s fastest growing major economy and offers more opportunity for Australian business over the next 20 years than any other single market.”
The Government endorses the report and provides in-principle support to its 20 priority recommendations.
“Our work will focus on greater economic engagement targeting ten Indian states and ten key sectors, while providing practical support for Australian businesses entering or expanding operations in India,” said Minister Simon Birmingham.
“We thank Mr Varghese AO for his important work.”
India is now one of Australia’s key international partners.
“India and Australia are both committed to strengthening regional institutions and ensure markets remain open and facilitate the free flow of trade, capital and ideas,” Minister Payne said.
“India is set to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030 and reaching this goal will see India as a key driver of continued global economic growth.”
With a span out to 2035, the Government has agreed on an initial implementation plan. Key actions for the first 12 months include:
A Memorandum of Understanding between Austrade and Invest India to promote bilateral investment flows
The establishment of an Australia-India Food Partnership, opening up new opportunities for our agri-tech and services companies
Australia-India Strategic Research Fund grants of up to $500,000 designed to help researchers solve challenges shared by both nations, including energy storage, marine science and plant genomics
The expansion of the Australia-India Mining Partnership at the Indian School of Mines, connecting Australian companies to India’s minerals-rich North Eastern states, supported by the new Consulate-General in Kolkata
Engagement with airlines to increase direct flights through the Australia-India air services agreement.
Ministers across education, agribusiness, resources and tourism will oversee progress of the Government’s response and ongoing implementation of the India Economic Strategy.
The Prime Minister is hosting President Kovind in Australia this week, the first Indian President to visit our shores.
The Prime Minister, along with the Minister for Trade, and Minister for Resources will join President Kovind today at the launch of the Australian chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry – India Business Forum, which will serve as a platform for networking and policy advocacy for Indian businesses here in Australia.
“I look forward to continue discussing the opportunities presented in the India Economic Strategy with President Kovind, and how we can continue to work together to develop enhanced economic ties,” said the Prime Minister.
“Today’s steps are only the first on a long journey that will see Australia and India grow together.”
Global Compact for Migration
21 November 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Australia is the most successful immigration nation on earth.
The rest of the world looks to Australia as an example of how to effectively manage borders and run a successful migration and humanitarian program.
That’s why when we are asked to sign up to international agreements that we believe will compromise our successful way of doing things, we will pass.
That’s why we have decided that Australia will not adopt the Global Compact for Migration in mid-December.
We believe that the Compact is inconsistent with our well-established policies and not in Australia’s interest.
We do not believe that adopting this agreement will add anything to enhancing our capacity to control our borders and manage our successful immigration program.
The Compact was promoted as way to promote safe, orderly and regular migration. We already achieve all of these goals.
We also believe that adopting the Compact would directly conflict with important principles that have underpinned our successful approach.
The Compact fails to adequately distinguish between people who enter Australia illegally and those who come to Australia the right way, particularly with respect to the provision of welfare and other benefits.
This is inconsistent with the management of Australia’s strong and orderly migration program under the Liberal National Government.
The Compact would risk encouraging illegal entry to Australia and reverse Australia’s hard-won successes in combating the people smuggling trade.
It would also be used by those who have sought to undermine Australia’s strong border protection laws and practices.
Australia is a nation built on migration. We have a long and successful history of well-managed migration that is designed to meet Australia’s economic and social needs.
Our settlement programs, focused on integration and inclusion, are the best in the world.
Australia will continue to strengthen our responses to people smuggling and human trafficking, promote regional cooperation and reinforce the obligation of countries to accept the return of their nationals.
Australia remains strongly committed to the Bali Process and similar regional cooperation to prevent people smuggling. We deeply value our partnerships in the region.
We will continue to make decisions in Australia’s best interest.
Interview with Alan Jones, 2GB
21 November 2018
ALAN JONES: Change negative gearing, that means your rent will go up because fewer people will be investing in property to take advantage of negative gearing. And if you own a property, well there will be fewer bidders for your property when you want to sell it, so your price goes down. Then, a 50 per cent increase in capital gains tax – my view, and I’ve told you this many times - is if the Coalition sticks to those arguments and doesn’t get side-tracked, there’s no way in the world Labor can win an election, but he’s got a fight on his hands, the Prime Minister. He’s on the line, Prime Minister good morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning Alan.
JONES: How hard is it to prosecute that case?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think it’s changing because of what we’ve seen in the housing market most recently, which has been a real softening, which I know is of real concern to many Australians. The value of the most important asset that you have, what Labor is proposing is to smash the value of your house. It’s that simple. I mean when Paul Keating went and changed negative gearing back in the 80s he said: “Oh, this will be good and it won’t affect anything.” And guess what happened? Rents in Parramatta went up 20 per cent, 20 per cent. They had to be shamed into changing it back and now we’ve got Chris Bowen trying to emulate Paul Keating on that same change, beating his chest and saying; “It won’t be a problem”. Yeah it will. Your rents will go up and it will crash the value of your home.
JONES: This is, I’ve got to say Prime Minister, this was not a free kick to the Prime Minister, I’m raising these issues because this affects every Australian. There has to be an awareness of what the risk is, what risk is involved when you walk into that ballot box. Now, just on capital gains tax this doesn’t only apply to negative geared housing sales. I mean as I understand it – this point hasn’t been hammered – but all capital gains. This is if you’ve got shares, or a small business, or whatever, isn’t it?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s on everything.
JONES: That’s it.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s on everything, that goes up by 50 per cent. It’s an increased tax, as you say, of 50 percent on investment in everything. I mean how you think you can grow an economy – and there are lots of issues out there -
JONES: Everyone loves a bit of capital gain.
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s the point, that’s why you invest, that your asset will appreciate. That’s why you do it, that’s how people pay for their retirement.
JONES: So just to explain again to our listeners, 50 per cent as things stand. 50 percent of the capital gain is now assessable for income tax rates?
PRIME MINISTER: That’s right.
JONES: That will rise to 75 per cent of the capital gain will be taxed?
PRIME MINISTER: Correct.
JONES: That’s a tax increase of 50 per cent.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah and that’s one of $200 billion of extra taxes which will be one big wet blanket on an economy that we’ve got back into shape, which is ensuring that over 100,000 young people got a job last year. That is the strongest youth jobs growth that this country has ever seen on economic record. So, growing jobs, getting unemployment down, getting the economy moving forward. And Bill Shorten thinks the best thing you can do for that in the future is throw a $200 billion wet blanket of tax over the top of it, by abolishing negative gearing as we know it, putting up capital gains tax, as you say taxing retirees. What I’ve said about that is, that’s a $5 billion slug every year by the way. What it is, is those retirees, those Australians -
JONES: Well let’s come to retirees, sorry I’ll just cut you off there. Let’s come to retirees. This specific issue now, retirees. Complicated language, “dividend imputation” – I hate it - “franking credits”, I hate that sort of stuff. This is to avoid double tax, because already, company tax has been paid. But the issue that has been scrapped by the Labor Party here, is the same issue that the shadow treasurer Simon Crean addressed in 1999 when he said: “We have no difficulty supporting the proposal because it’s our policy. It builds on the major reforms accomplished by Labor all those 15 years ago and improves the current taxation system faced by low income investors especially retired Australians.” Now the Labor Party is saying –
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah they’re abandoning that. Basically, retirees won’t get their tax refund.
JONES: That’s it.
PRIME MINISTER: I mean if I came up to anyone listening to this program who isn’t retired and I said: “Oh, that tax refund by the way, we’re going to take that back, you’re not going to get that.” Well, that is exactly what Bill Shorten and the Labor Party are saying to retirees, to small business owners all around the country. The reason they’re doing this Alan, is because they’re making big promises and –
JONES: They have to be paid for.
PRIME MINISTER: They have to be paid for and the way they’re going to do it – they say they’re going to do it – is by increasing taxes. But it’s a dumb game, because if you throw these taxes on the economy, you slow the economy down, which means you make less revenue because the economy isn’t performing as well. You get people going off paying taxes to going back onto receiving welfare – which is what happened under Labor last time. That is one of the key reasons we’ve been able to get our Budget going back into surplus next year.
JONES: Okay. Now, look you’re the leader here, are you confident though that every one of your people are singing off the same sheet of music? I mean those are the stories that win elections, is everyone singing that song?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah they are Alan. I mean there will be people outside of the Parliament, there will be people that aren’t in the team that runs onto the field, they’ll have their views and that’s alright. But the people in the team, the people lining up at the election, the people going to the people of Australia at the next election, we’re committed to having a stronger economy. We’re committed to delivering that for Australians. And not just to put the trophy on the shelf which says “AAA-rated economy, growing at over 3 per cent, unemployment down to five percent” – which as you said is full employment according to economists. We’re doing it because that’s what pays for hospitals and schools and the pension and affordable medicines and Medicare. See if you’re committed to Medicare you’ve got to be committed to a strong economy, because that’s what pays for it. This is the bit Labor never understands. They think they can pay for Medicare by jacking your taxes up. You know, it doesn’t work that way.
JONES: Right.
PRIME MINISTER: Businesses doing well, the economy doing well, employing people, that’s what pays for Medicare.
JONES: Okay, the Bradfield Oration – well done. But one sentence stood out and we talked about this yesterday on air here. “Australians are saying enough, enough, enough. The roads are closed, the buses and trains are full and the schools are taking no more enrollments. I hear what you’re saying, I hear you loud and clear,” and you’re talking about population. Now that’s all rhetoric. When are you going to announce that we are going to cut the rate of growth of migration? When will you announce that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that will go in next year’s Budget, because -
JONES: They want this next week.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah but Alan, what I announced the other night is a fair dinkum process to actually get the actual level right. I suggested the other night that we’re currently running about 30,000 below the cap -
JONES: But the cap’s too high.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s what I’m saying Alan.
JONES: Well, can’t you announce today?
PRIME MINISTER: No, because I do my homework before I make decisions. What I’m -
JONES: Well, the public are wanting a decision. It’s a big issue.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I know and this year’s migration program is set -
JONES: So you spelt the issue out -
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I’ll just finish.
JONES: Sorry –
PRIME MINISTER: What I’m saying is the migration program is set a year in advance. This year’s program is already set. We’re going to have to make a decision in next year’s Budget for the program that follows that.
What I’m saying is I’m asking each of the states and territories to tell me how many people they believe they can have next year. It’s up to the states to actually tell me that, because they’re the ones who build the hospitals and run the schools and put the roads in. They need to tell me what their infrastructure can carry.
JONES: I know, but out there the voter is very impatient. See, you made the case the other day -
PRIME MINISTER: I think that was a pretty big hint Alan. And people will know that I’ll follow the process and come to the right answer. But I’m not going to pull a figure out of the air. That’s not how you run a country.
JONES: Well we don’t like these hints but you said, just to clarify for our listeners, 54 per cent of Australia’s population increase in the two decades to 2016 came from migration, 54 per cent. But 75 per cent of that went to Sydney, Melbourne and south east Queensland.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s right.
JONES: Now you said; “We hear you, we hear you, we hear you.” We can’t pump in a million people every three years.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah but then there are - as we discussed last time Alan, that’s true, that’s what is happening in south eastern Australia - but you go to northern Australia, you go to Darwin as I was just last week, if you go to Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, they’re wanting more people.
JONES: Are you sure?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes I am Alan, absolutely. I’ve been in all of those places.
JONES: Because people from Rocky wrote to me and said; “Look, he’s going to build a Ring Road, we want jobs. Why is he talking about bringing people to Rocky? We want jobs, we haven’t got them.”
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s why we’re building the Ring Road Alan. It’s a pretty big project.
JONES: They’re not the sort of jobs they’re talking about.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s the biggest project they’ve seen in Rocky for a very long time. What the advice I got from the officers up there - you know the people who run the show up there – is, their infrastructure can cope with more.
JONES: So you’re telling me that people are saying to you; “We want more people”?
PRIME MINISTER: You go to Adelaide, that’s what they’re telling you. Go to Tasmania, that’s what they’re telling you. Go to Western Australia -
JONES: Who is “they”, who’s telling you that?
PRIME MINISTER: People I walk into in the street Alan, and the Premiers of these states. I mean, not everywhere in Australia is Sydney or Melbourne. Every state, every place has a different experience.
JONES: Right just on that, okay. Last night, late last night, and you’re going to make an announcement today - very quick stuff this - you’re not going to sign up to the global compact on migration?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I’m not.
JONES: Okay, but are you going to sign up to the global compact on refugees?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it doesn’t work the same way. The global compact on migration would compromise Australia’s interest. Because, amongst many things, it doesn’t distinguish between those who legally enter Australia and those who come the right way.
JONES: No, but you’ve taken the debate a step further last night - and I agree with you, everyone agrees with what you said; “We don’t feel the need to join the internationalist clubs to work out how to get this done.” Now I’m just asking you; why do we need to join the internationalist club to work out how to deal with refugees? Why do we need to join the internationalist club to join to know what we’re going to do about climate change?
PRIME MINISTER: Well let me answer both of those questions. In terms of the one about refugees, it’s not a signed-up compact like this one on migration, it’s a completely different process. There’s no document you sign and when it went through the UN with a whole bunch of other issues which are completely inoffensive - and both Peter Dutton and Marise Payne when they advised me about this, made it really clear that that one wasn’t compromising.
JONES: Well, the Global Compact is about resettling more refugees. Is someone going to tell us how many refugees you can take?
PRIME MINISTER: No they’re not. That’s not what that does and we said very clearly -
JONES: Labor will sign up to all this stuff.
PRIME MINISTER: If I could just finish, what I’m saying is, on the other one, we put our clear reservations, we put those on the record. So it doesn’t bind us into anything and it doesn’t compromise what we do on our borders.
I would never allow something to compromise our borders, I worked too hard to ensure that we weren’t in that position. This Global Compact on Migration, it’s not a good deal. We’re not going to sign up to it because I believe it would compromise us. But I will consider each of these on their merits and I’ll do what I believe is right.
JONES: Well, I understand the Global Compact on Refugees is going to commit countries to resettling more refugees and that worries people.
PRIME MINISTER: Well we’re not going to do that.
JONES: Okay, well then don’t bloody sign the thing. Now look, next week it is, they’re off to Poland to ratify the Paris Agreement. Do we need to join the internationalist club to work out what we will be doing about energy and global warming and all that nonsense? Are you sending someone to Poland next week to ratify Paris?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s not high on my agenda, about who we’re sending, Alan. But I simply make this point, as I’ve made on your program now on numerous occasions. There is no loss to Australia, no loss to Australia by keeping to the commitment we sent early in our Government, which is the 26 per cent. It doesn’t change electricity prices.
JONES: Therefore, there is no need to go to Poland?
PRIME MINISTER: Let me tell you this though; I’ve just spent the last several weeks re-engaging, stepping up in the Southwest Pacific, which is an incredibly important issue for Australia’s security interests and Australia’s national interests. Now this is the number one issue amongst our Pacific Island partners.
JONES: Okay now we’ve been beaten by the bell. Therefore -
PRIME MINISTER: Just let me finish, this is very important. To not go ahead with where we are on this – I’m not putting any money into global climate funds, I’m not doing any of that rubbish – what I am doing though, is ensuring that we secure Australia’s national interest by working closely with our Pacific partners.
There is something to be lost if we were to walk away from the position we’re in and there’d be nothing to gain by walking away from the position we have. So I’ve made that call.
JONES: All right, we’ll resume the discussion next week. As the Prime Minister, you’ve also affected the programming here but don’t worry about that.
Thank you for your time, we’ll talk next week.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Alan.
Paying small business on time
21 November 2018
Prime Minister, Minister for Small and Family Business Skills and Vocational Education
Our Government is continuing to back millions of small and medium sized businesses with a new plan to ensure they get paid on time, boosting cash flow and helping them grow.
Cash flow is crucial to the health of any business, but especially small business.
Although there have been significant improvements, small businesses are still being shouldered with the burden of long payment times.
We have listened and we heard loud and clear from small business owners around Australia, and we are taking action to ensure small business is not being used as a bank.
To address this issue, we will work with the sector to develop an annual reporting framework, requiring large businesses over $100 million turnover to publish payment information on how they engage with small businesses.
It will cover 3,000 of the largest businesses in Australia – including foreign companies and government entities.
Through a new procurement policy we will require those same large businesses seeking to tender for government contracts to match our 20 day payment policy.
Small business is the backbone of our country and they need to get a fair go.
Trade between small, medium and large businesses totals more than $550 billion a year and the improvements we make through this action will improve our economic growth.
The Government currently pays invoices under $1 million within 30 days but we must do better.
By 1 July 2019 our commitment is to pay invoices under $1 million within 20 days.
All levels of government should set the standard and there should be no excuses for not paying small businesses on time.
We want all states to follow the lead of New South Wales and adopt this practice.
At our request, small business payment times will be placed on the COAG agenda for our next meeting on 12 December in Adelaide.
We will also do more to help small and medium sized business compete for government contracts with a new commitment to have 35 per cent of all contracts up to $20 million delivered by small businesses.
This builds on our existing 10 per cent procurement policy for small businesses.
Our commitment to small business is clear, we want them to pay less tax, deal with less red tape and have better access to finance to help grow their businesses.
We’re lowering the cost of funding for smaller banks and non-banks with a $2 billion fund, meaning cheaper loans for small and family businesses.
Because of our plan 3.3 million small and medium businesses will pay less tax, down to 25 per in 2021-22.
We’ve cut nearly $6 billion in Commonwealth red tape, while improving the ability of small business to offer employee share schemes and giving small business access to the $20,000 instant asset write off.
The Liberal National Government is backing small business.
Doorstop - HMAS Adelaide, Port Moresby
19 November 2018
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you so much for the opportunity to visit the crew here of the HMAS Adelaide and all the other parties who’ve been joining us here. Our allies, our supporters, our partners who have been part of this very important effort around the APEC Conference here in Port Moresby. It was a great privilege today to thank everyone on board today for their service and to remind them that our Government will always have their back while their serving and after they’ve served in supporting them in civilian life as veterans.
Earlier today, I had the very unique honour to be able to visit the Bomana War Cemetery, which is a place I’ve visited many times before. It was a great privilege to revisit today as a Prime Minister and to walk through the headstones, to go to the grave of Johnny French and Bruce Kingsbury – our VC recipients here in the Pacific – and it was a telling reminder of the deep commitment that we have here in the Pacific. Our position here in the Pacific, our friendship we have here in the Pacific, has been paid for with a very, very steep price and the men and women serving here today are serving in the same way. To enable the APEC Conference to go on here, under their cover, with their support, as part of a broader operation so people can gather in peace and talk about future prosperity. That’s what we’re about as a people. Our instincts are always towards peace, our instincts are always towards looking out from our shores and ensuring that we can deliver prosperity for our own people and for those in our region. So, I want to commend all those involved in the operation here over the last few months but not only those who’ve served in the Defence Forces but the volunteers who’ve come and been part of this effort here in APEC to ensure that PNG have put on such a tremendous performance when it comes to hosting APEC. The civilians, the volunteers and others who’ve been working on the ground – whether it’s St John’s Ambulance or others – they’ve done a fantastic job so we thank them for all of that.
Can I also thank Prime Minister O’Neill and all the people of Papua New Guinea for putting on such a successful APEC. You know, it’s not easy to host a meeting of this nature and for PNG to step up to do that over the last few weeks, obviously here but also the last year as the Chair of APEC, has been a very testing time. We all know there are lots of tensions presently when it comes to issues of trade and for APEC to be chaired by PNG at a time when there are tensions adds an additional burden and I think the way Prime Minister O’Neill chaired the meetings and chaired the year is a great credit to him and his wisdom and his commitment to the APEC principles which he observed to the letter and so I commend him on the way he did that and I also commend him on taking the actions yesterday – he’ll be issuing a Chair’s statement from the meeting which is how APEC works – and I’m sure that is a statement that will reflect his views about what was able to be achieved here and I know you’ll look forward to seeing it.
JOURNALIST: But no communique, Prime Minister, does that mean APEC is a failure?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it doesn’t. I mean, people have got to understand when there isn’t agreement that just means that the dialogue continues. I mean, we’ve got to stop kidding ourselves that everyone’s going to agree all the time. I mean, what family does that happen in?
JOURNALIST: It’s been happening for a long time.
PRIME MINISTER: Not everybody agrees all the time.
JOURNALIST: But they haven’t…
PRIME MINISTER: And on other occasions, when they do, fine, and when they don’t, they don’t. The issues we’re dealing with are real, the issues we’re dealing with are difficult and what was able to be achieved here were many areas of agreement and particularly in areas of a connectedness in the digital economy, we’re all still absolutely committed to stronger trading outcomes because we understand it here in the APEC family. We’ve been able to reduce tariffs, we’ve been able to increase the level and size of our economies and that’s all welcome but there are still some points of disagreement between the major players here at APEC and the fact that they disagree on a number of things that will be picked up at the G20 and this will be an ongoing discussion but that’s a matter for those parties. In terms of PNG, I think they’ve had a very successful chairing of APEC and I commend them strongly for their leadership here at APEC because, you know, sometimes if they’re not going to agree, you’ve just got to call it out and that’s what Papua New Guinea did. That’s what we did.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’re going to have, obviously, very important meetings [inaudible]. Will the stakes for that meeting be raised by the failures to reach a consensus here in Papua New Guinea?
PRIME MINISTER: I think they’ve just being focused. Again, expectations in these sorts of environments that everybody’s going to agree all the time, I think, is sometimes very unrealistic. You know, whether a communique is reached or not I don’t think is the point. The outcome is the point. There was plenty of sound and fury when it came to NAFTA and NAFTA was realised. The agreements were landed with Mexico and with Canada and there’s plenty of noise at the moment about these issues now but what Australia has been doing is pursuing our interests and our interests are to continue to work with our partners in the region. Our comprehensive strategic partner in China, of course, but also our dear and long-held friend and ally, the United States. So we’ll continue to pursue our specific interests here and work together with our other partners – whether it was at the East Asia Summit or here at APEC and particularly last night, I was able to host our Pacific family and friends at the residence and we were able to talk about these issues together as well and our step-up initiative has been very warmly received by them and we announced last night, a number of other initiatives in Vanuatu and the Office of the Pacific and they were well-received.
So, we’ll keep pursuing our interests, these dialogues and these debates will continue, the Chair will issue a statement, I thought that took a lot of courage from the Chair to do that yesterday because if they’re not going to agree, if the major powers here are not going to agree, we shouldn’t be pretending that they do and we shouldn’t be trying to smooth that over for the sake of a communique and we should call it out. I can say very clearly that the other economies around the table here and nations that sat around the East Asia Summit, it has been made very clear to both the United States and China that we want to see these issues resolved. That’s what’s in our interest and we’ve reflected those positions to both China and the United States with the opportunities we’ve had here and as well in Singapore.
JOURNALIST: Is it fair to say that China and the United States are now further apart on trade and diplomacy in many respects than they had been in many decades and is it also fair to say that Australia is caught in the middle?
PRIME MINISTER: Australia will always be caught pursuing our interests.
JOURNALIST: But are we in the middle?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have partnerships with both and I’ve made that pretty clear. What I would say is I think we are making progress, just in the same way that progress was always being made to the landing of NAFTA when there was plenty of commentary which was suggesting otherwise and so I would just caution people not to get overly excited in their commentary about these sorts of things. The G20 will be coming up, we’ll see where that goes and I think there’s a clear frustration that has been expressed by many of the countries around the table and economies around the table at APEC that these matters need to be resolved and let’s not forget, there are real issues here. I mean, the WTO and the multilateral trading system was built largely by the Americans and it has been responsible for the biggest period of prosperity in the world’s history. I mean, we’ve had over a billion people come out of poverty as a result of what we’ve been able to achieve through these systems.
Now, something that was acknowledged and agreed at APEC was that systems like the WTO need a service simply because the economy is changing, and in particular the digital economy and the role that services are playing in our global economy. And the WTO has never really been well-geared to deal with those modern challenges of a modern trading environment. So of course the WTO needs a service. It’s not a perfect institution, there are no perfect institutions. And when you have large powers which have rapidly advanced economically over a relatively brief period of time in the space of history, then of course that is going to present issues that now have to be resolved between countries like the United States and China. So my point about all of this is, is these types of debates, these types of differences I don’t think are surprising. I really don’t think they’re surprising. What matters is getting the result.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] that the level of the two superpowers, is it now dangerous for our region and the rest of the world?
PRIME MINISTER: No I haven’t moved to that assessment. I think what can be dangerous is overstating these things.
JOURNALIST: PM, you’re just on an aircraft carrier off the coast of PNG. We had the Lombrum announcement. When will the Defence Force personnel on board vessels like this and Australians have a bit more clarity about what that trilateral agreement will mean for them?
PRIME MINISTER: Well as I said yesterday, we are participating in a PNG initiative. This is not a US-Australia initiative in Lombrum, this is a PNG initiative which the United States and Australia have been invited to participate in. So it will proceed at the progress and pace that is set by Papua New Guinea and there has already been quite a lot of work done on that leading into this announcement and more will be done and when we are in a position to make further announcements we will. But I just want to stress, we must absolutely respect the fact that this is a PNG initiative and we are working with them.
JOURNALIST: What does initiative mean though? What do you mean by initiative?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s their base and how the base is developed and what takes place there and how we cooperate there will be done at their invitation and on their terms.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on the WTO. Do you think it’s appropriate to consider China a developing country within that organisation given its depths these days?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s certainly the position that China has been presenting quite passionately over the last couple of weeks, and look I think it’s a judgement that countries are going to have to make ultimately in some time. But you look across the span of China’s development and of course, when you go to places like when you go to Shanghai and Guangzhou and Beijing and so on, well they’re great cities of the world with as much sophistication and developed status as, you know, Singapore, Sydney, London and New York. But when you look at the broad expanse of China’s population, I mean China is much bigger than Beijing and Shanghai. And there are hundreds of millions of people still who live in China who live in quite difficult circumstances. So look, I don’t think the question is as easy as that. I think it’s a much more complex position.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on domestic issues the Channel 9 and Fairfax merger [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s a matter for shareholders, and the law permits it and it’s been through the ACCC. So, you know, I always have a live and let live view of the Australian economy and this is what people have decided to do with the companies they own and they’ve come to those arrangements in a market-based system and good for them and it’s up to their shareholders to say yay or nay. So it’s not for me to suggest one way or the other. I have shares in neither operation so they’ll make their call and off they’ll go.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can we just get a word on your interaction with the troops on board today please?
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you for the question and I’m happy to take another one. It was a great privilege, it was a great privilege to be able to talk to men and women right across many services here as well as our partners from PNG who you’ve been working with closely. And just the enthusiasm, the commitment and also to be sharing a few stories about my trips here and walking Kokoda and the Black Cat Track and some of the marvellous places here in PNG and to connect back to that tradition of service and values. I thought it was very special and I want to thank them very much for the honour of inviting me on board to share some time and I hope they liked the eggs.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, briefly on Nauru. You’ve said the Government that the children currently temporarily in Australia will be returned to Nauru at some point. When will that happen, is that a likely prospect?
PRIME MINISTER: Well there are no changes to the Government policy and we’ll continue to administer that in accordance with Government policy. But last one here?
JOURNALIST: I was going to ask, what have you learnt personally from the past seven or eight days during this diplomatic period? How have you found it face to face with other foreign leaders and what have you taken away from that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the first thing is Australia always has to stand up for its interests. Australian interests must be defined in Australia and that Australia must pursue that very independently as its own sovereign nation. And that’s what the other countries are doing and I think what I’ve learnt and what I was of the view before I came here is that we all work well in this region because we respect each other. And we work with other countries and we respect their independence and the more we connect, and this is Indonesia's position, President Widodo’s vision of the Indo Pacific, it’s about a connectedness of independent, sovereign states and economies respecting each other that within our economies, within our countries, we make our own decisions, we make our own way. But we look for opportunities to work together and that’s what makes our region prosperous. It’s not about control, it’s about collaboration and it’s about partnership.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your shirt last night. How did the barbeque go, did they like the kangaroo snags? First of all, who were you wearing and what designer was it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well who knew that there was a Sharks Pacifica shirt? But there was and you’ll get to see it pretty regularly when season opens next year down at Shark Park. But it was a lot of fun, it was a great gathering. It really was a Sunday night family barbeque, it really was. We got together, we talked about the events of the last few days. They were very, very appreciative to Prime Minister O’Neill and myself and I must say Prime Minister Ardern as well for ensuring that the Pacific Island voice was given such a focus here. And I think that was a real achievement of Prime Minister O’Neill and we heard, we heard very carefully and we listened very carefully again last night. So the step up program will enable us to continue on with that, Assistant Minister Ruston was here with me last night and she’s now following through with all of those leaders and we were very happy to provide assistance where we did for them to be here and we’ll continue with all of those initiatives. So step up is stepping up and it’s now time for me to step up and get back to Australia, I’m looking forward to returning. Thanks very much.
Statement from the Prime Minister on APEC
19 November 2018
I congratulate Papua New Guinea for its excellent hosting of APEC 2018.
Over the course of a year of events, Papua New Guinea did an outstanding job under Prime Minister O’Neill’s leadership and stewardship.
Like other APEC delegations, Australia enjoyed PNG’s very warm hospitality and hosting arrangements, done in true PNG style. And Prime Minister O’Neill deftly chaired Leaders’ Week events. This was no easy task given the range of differing views in the room.
It’s important to remember the outstanding achievements of APEC economies. The economic growth, trade growth and improvements in the ease of doing business in the region have been nothing short of remarkable.
Australia remains a strong supporter of free trade, and the principles underpinning the global trading system. We are also a leading supporter of APEC, and a close friend of PNG and other APEC members.
The Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership
18 November 2018
Papua New Guinea has invited Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States to work together to support its enhanced connectivity and the goal of connecting 70% of its population to electricity by 2030. Currently only about 13% of Papua New Guinea’s population have reliable access to electricity.
Access to electricity is key to Papua New Guinea’s economic growth. Electricity lifts the living standards of communities in cities, towns and remote villages. It allows schools and hospitals to deliver essential services. It is also an essential precursor for the growth of the private sector and industry, including small and medium enterprises.
Progress towards Papua New Guinea’s ambitious objectives will require large scale investment by both the public and private sectors. This includes investment in new generation capacity as well as transmission and distribution lines to connect households, service providers and businesses to the grid. Continued efforts to improve institutional and regulatory frameworks are also required in order to unlock private investment.
Papua New Guinea, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States intend to join together in a Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership in support of Papua New Guinea’s objectives for electrification. This high level partnership forms part of the enduring economic and security partnership between our countries. This initiative will also be open to other partners that support principles and values which help maintain and promote a free, open, prosperous and rules based region.
The Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership is intended to focus on the importance of principles-based, sustainable infrastructure development that is transparent, non-discriminatory, environmentally responsible, promotes fair and open competition, upholds robust standards, meets the genuine needs of the people of Papua New Guinea and avoids unsustainable debt burdens. It is intended to adopt a strong focus on investments that provide employment and training opportunities for local contractors and communities. It is also intended to focus not only on delivering high impact investments but ensuring improved coordination and governance within the energy sector.
Importantly, this initiative represents a true partnership between Papua New Guinea and its key partners to drive growth and development for communities throughout Papua New Guinea. The partnership is intended to be delivered in alignment with Papua New Guinea’s own plans and priorities and implemented in close conjunction with PNG Power Limited.
The Prime Ministers of Papua New Guinea (O’Neill), Australia (Morrison), Japan (Abe), New Zealand (Ardern) and the Vice President of the United States (Pence) have signed this Joint Statement to mark the announcement of this new multi-country initiative at APEC House. The announcement signals a strong commitment from these countries to supporting growth enabling investment in key economic infrastructure in Papua New Guinea.
Enhanced Security Cooperation with Vanuatu
18 November 2018
The Prime Ministers of Australia and Vanuatu are today announcing enhanced engagement to further build Vanuatu’s security capability.
This initiative underscores Australia’s commitment to working with Pacific partners to build a region that is secure strategically, stable economically and sovereign politically.
Australia’s enhanced engagement will include significant infrastructure upgrades for the Vanuatu Mobile Force and Police Maritime Wing, enhanced training and leadership opportunities for all three arms of the Vanuatu Police Force, and a new Defence Advisor in Vanuatu to support the strengthening of this important security relationship.
Australia will also provide additional support to the Vanuatu Police Force for new policing priorities including training for over 300 new police recruits.
Vanuatu and Australia will continue to deepen our security relationship, including through advancing a Bilateral Security Treaty.
Barbeque with Pacific Leaders
18 November 2018
Today I hosted a barbeque for my fellow Pacific leaders following the conclusion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Port Moresby.
We discussed opportunities for strengthening our cooperation as members of the Pacific family, including Australia’s recently announced initiatives for our region.
Building on these recent announcements, we will streamline access to Australia through the launch of a Pacific–Australia Card (PAC), an initiative designed to improve the travel experience of visiting Pacific Island leaders, including from the political, business and sporting spheres.
We will also deepen educational links by providing a new package of scholarships for Pacific students to study in Australian secondary schools, increase opportunities for technical education, and expand our school partnerships program (BRIDGE) to build teacher-to-teacher links with the Pacific.
Finally, we will encourage our churches to work more closely together through a new Church Partnerships Program.
These programs build on my joint announcement with the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the 15th of November, when we outlined plans to expand the Pacific Labour Scheme and establish a dedicated Office of the Pacific in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
I look forward to working closely together with my Pacific friends to implement these initiatives.
New Infrastructure at the University of Papua New Guinea
18 November 2018
Today I opened the new School of Business and Public Policy at the University of Papua New Guinea with Prime Minister the Hon Peter O’Neill CMG MP.
The new School is a symbol of the strong partnership between Papua New Guinea and Australia.
It forms part of the Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct, a partnership between Papua New Guinea and Australia that is supporting the development of the next generation of public sector leaders.
More than 5,000 Papua New Guineans have already benefitted from the Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct through participation in courses, academic programs and public discussion events.
In addition, the construction of the School has made a significant contribution to the local economy. Working with local companies, the project created hundreds of jobs and training opportunities for Papua New Guineans.
Prime Minister O’Neill and I are committed to building a closer partnership for our future, and the new School will support that partnership.
Doorstop, Port Moresby
18 November 2018
PRIME MINISTER: It’s great to be here in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. This is a very significant occasion for the people of Papua New Guinea and it’s just great to see people here swelling with pride about what their nation has been able to achieve in the space of just over a generation.
As I remarked to some of you yesterday, my grandfather was here on these wharves during the Second World War, he was over in Milne Bay and to see where this country has come to over that period of time, I think is tremendous. It clearly has many challenges in the future, but Australia will always be a deeply committed partner to the people of Papua New Guinea. It goes beyond economics, it goes beyond trade, it goes beyond everything. It is a deep-seated family commitment to the people of Papua New Guinea and they know that they will always be able to rely on us. We are their single largest provider of overseas development assistance, but the people-to-people contact is extraordinary.
It has been great to see Prime Minister O’Neill be able host this conference with such professionalism and such skill, I think it’s a great showcase to the Pacific. It’s provided an excellent backdrop also for Australia to be reinforcing the ‘step up’ initiative I announced just over a week ago. That has been incredibly well received by partners directly, whether it was the trilateral relationship we announced this week that has followed through into the announcement yesterday by Vice President Pence, how we’re working together as part of the PNG-led initiative at Lombrum, and here today joining also together with Prime Minister Abe and Prime Minister Adern, working to power up Papua New Guinea into the future. This is what ‘step up’ is all about. It’s about delivering on the ground, working with partners.
I can also say that yesterday I had the opportunity for a brief meeting with President Xi, which I welcomed. We were able to work on the very positive meetings that I had with Premier Li Keqiang in Singapore and that followed also the very positive meetings that our Foreign Ministers have had previously both in New York and here. This has been good progress that we have been making in each of our relationships. This was recognised of course by President Xi, but also the progress we’ve made at these more recent meetings. There was also a commitment that we would work together where there are opportunities to work together. There is no exclusion in the way we seek to work in the Pacific and where we can work together on important projects and partner for the good of the Pacific, well that’s what we want. We want the good of the Pacific. Because what’s good for the Pacific is good for Australia.
JOURNALIST: PM is Australia still seeking to build the domestic, PNG’s domestic undersea cable project, or is that one lost to Huawei?
PRIME MINISTER: Well there are a range of different projects. What we are here to talk about today is not that project. We have been involved with other projects that have also impacted other parts of the region and they are separate to that. That is a different project to the one we are talking about today.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask you about Lombrum, how big is the fund? How much is Australia going to spend and over what period of time?
PRIME MINISTER: We haven’t made those announcements yet. When we are in a position to do so we will. I should mention that in relation to the electrification project that Australia is putting in $25 million a year to support that project and we’ll be bringing other elements of the package that I announced in the ‘step up’ programme as required or as considered that will also work in with the other partners that are part of that project. But we need to stress very clearly, the Lombrum initiative is a PNG-led initiative. They are leading this project. They have invited ourselves and the United States, we were together with the United States part of the work up programme back in August and that has been able to inform our ongoing participation at this stage. As the project becomes more detailed then obviously we will be in a position to add to that.
JOURNALIST: What does it mean for our security umbrella?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s an important part of the strategic set of arrangements we have in place in our region, I think it’s fairly obvious. It not only provides the opportunity for the collaboration from a defence support point of view. But the other thing it does is it will also be the base for where the Pacific Patrol boats that we are gifting to Papua New Guinea will also be based. Now, ensuring that they have integrity over their fisheries that they possess in the Pacific is massively important to their economic security. So there are both civil as well as strategic elements to what we are doing. But at the end of the day Lombrum is a sovereign Papua New Guinea base. We are there at their invitation and we will work this project up at their pace and on their leadership.
JOURNALIST: It’s already been said by Christopher Pyne that he believes subject to consultations with PNG that it is likely, or probable, that Australian vessels will eventually be based at Lombrum. Do you think that it is probable also that over time US vessels could also be based at Lombrum?
PRIME MINISTER: Well they’re matters for the US to comment on.
JOURNALIST: Did you discuss the Lombrum initiative with President Xi?
PRIME MINISTER: It was a very brief meeting, so he didn’t raise it with me and I didn’t raise it with him. We were focused on our relationship and what we were doing together. That was particularly focusing on the very positive and quite lengthy meeting that Premier Li Keqiang and I had in Singapore and we were both very happy with the outcomes at that meeting and all the issues that we were able to address there. I left the discussion very encouraged.
JOURNALIST: The message being sent by the US in relation to China yesterday was very, very strong, particularly with the announcement about the former naval base on Manus Island. Do you share those same views that Vice President Pence shared yesterday about the Chinese risk to the region particularly the South Pacific?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I express Australia’s views and Australia’s view is that of course we want to see an Indo Pacific which is open and which is free and which respects all independent sovereign states and nations that are within the Indo Pacific. I believe that is ultimately what everybody wants and I think that’s the objective that we stay focussed on.
So I don’t get drawn in to the commentary on the various announcements or initiatives of the various parties that are involved here. Our role here is to ensure that we maximise Australia’s interests and that is done by working incredibly constructively with our long-term partner in the United States - a great friend and ally - and working very closely with the Chinese government with whom we also have an excellent Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which is advancing Australia’s economic interests.
Let’s not forget, Australia is home to a large number – over a million – Australians of Chinese descent and so there is a rich people to people contact between Australia and China as well. It is not beyond our wits and ability and interest to be able to draw both of these relationships together and work constructively with both.
JOURNALIST: Would you like to see the airport on Manus Island be a part of this base and that airport used for surveillance?
PRIME MINISTER: That’s detail we’re not getting into at this stage.
JOURNALIST: The Vice President said that, he would, the Unites States would work with PNG and Australia to protect the sovereignty of the waters surrounding PNG. Are we to read into that that would include increased freedom of navigation patrols, and secondly, when did you learn from the Vice President that the US was signing on to Manus?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, we’ve been aware of that over the last little while.
JOURNALIST: And in terms of the freedom of navigation, do you think -
PRIME MINISTER: Again, that is getting into a level of operational detail that I wouldn’t be commenting on here.
JOURNALIST: Article 4 and 5 of the 1951 ANZUS Treaty is still in very non-realistic language. Do you think the Pacific Island Defence Force and the sovereign states will seek the ANZUS treaty partners to review those two particular provisions of the 1951 Treaty, which still denies the ability of the Pacific Island States to raise their own army?
PRIME MINISTER: Well all aspects of our involvement at Lombrum are at the invitation of the Papua New Guinean Government. Anything we are doing there in partnership and cooperation with the government of Papua New Guinea, or any of the other partners who are involved there whether it’s the United States or anyone else, that is being done under the sovereignty and at the invitation of the Papua New Guinean Government. So, to the extent that other issues are raised in the context of that, well that is purely at the opportunity of the Papua New Guinean Government.
JOURNALIST: So what would you say to the Governor and others in Manus, the province, who are a bit concerned about this? They say it’s sort of PNG, the wording is - excuse me - what they have referred to as prostituting themselves out to Australia and the United States. What would you say to that criticism?
PRIME MINISTER: I’d say that’s an internal matter for Papua New Guinea and I’ll leave that internal within Papua New Guinea. I’m no stranger to dealing with those issues when it comes to Manus Island and the issues between provinces and the central government. I know full well to leave that to direct discussions between those participants.
JOURNALIST: PM, there has been a lot of internal wrangling over the wording of the communique, there’s obviously some very fiery words from both President Xi and Vice President Pence yesterday in terms of the trade dispute and things like that, and warnings from China about the dangers of trade wars and cold wars and hot wars.
Do you think we are no closer, and if anything we are further apart, to having a resolution to the trade war between China and the US?
PRIME MINISTER: I think every day brings us closer to a resolution of it. That was the nature of the discussion I had with Vice President Pence yesterday, the remarks that were made by the President in the White House I understand, yesterday. While there is much commentary and there are many things that are said, I think the practical elements of what all the other member economies here at APEC have made very clear in our discussions is, that of course we want to see these matters resolved sooner rather than later. It doesn’t assist broader economic growth. In fact, the IMF today made their contribution and highlighted that this could potentially, over a longer period of time if it were not to be resolved – not that they were highlighting that as a likelihood – but that that would have an impact on global and regional economic growth. We all understand that and those sentiments have been expressed both to the United States and to China.
So, I think they’re fully aware, fully aware, because these things also impact their economies, about the need to have a sensible resolution of these issues. The issues have become very well known, whether it’s on WTO, whether it’s on other matters like intellectual property and the like. These are all openly discussed and I think there is a lot more progress being made here than I think is probably being acknowledged. It is certainly not taking place in the context of the more excitable language about how some of these debates are occurring.
JOURNALIST: We are hearing some reports about a bit of a diplomatic blow up between Chinese officials and Papua New Guinean officials. Do you think the Chinese are perhaps a little surprised by the push back by some of the traditionally Western allies on their movements into the region and their keenness to expand?
PRIME MINISTER: In our role here we’ve been very supportive of Papua New Guinea obviously, not just in hosting this event. As you can see the HMAS Adelaide is out there in the waters and provided a backdrop to the Leaders’ meeting there as they looked out the window, so we’ve been here, we’ve had everyone from our Federal Police and other security assistance, we’ve had health officials here, I’ve even had my own brother here who is a paramedic and has been part of the St Johns Ambulance arrangements up here. I caught up with him yesterday and they have been doing a fantastic job.
So, we’ve all been very involved up here and that includes paying absolute respect to our host as Chair of the meeting to bring the communique to a final position. That is their responsibility as the Chair and we’re providing very strong support to the Chair in Papua New Guinea, PM O’Neill, to bring those matters to a head.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister APEC is about cooperation, but given the comments by Vice President Pence and President Xi in the last 24 hours, is this a fractious family relationship and how can it be repaired?
PRIME MINISTER: Well no, I don’t agree with your assessment. I think that overly exaggerates the situation and what I can tell you is, I think there is a lot more pragmatism going on here than people have been prepared to acknowledge in the commentary. There’s a lot of movement under the water, you know, like the duck that’ll paddle pretty quickly under the water. There’s a lot of that going on and I’m encouraged by that and I’m encouraged by the disposition at the end of the day to try and have something resolved. Because it’s basically in everybody’s interest, it’s in everybody’s interest for these matters to be resolved. If we’re patient, if we just stay measured, I think in both of our contributions and our assessment of these things, then I think we’ll continue to make a lot of progress.
JOURNALIST: If feels a bit like a security summit, doesn’t it?
PRIME MINISTER: I want to reassure Australians that what we are doing here is everything we can, to ensure that these matters are addressed pragmatically, constructively and at the end of the day in a way that will see our regional economy, and our regional partners here, that their interests are protected.
I mean, APEC is a group of economies and whether it was at the East Asian Summit earlier, independent sovereign states and nations who simply just want to get on with business. We’re all getting on with each other and we just want to keep getting on with each other. Because I observed that under APEC we have seen a more than a doubling, since it was first established, more than a doubling in the real GDP of these participating economies. On top of that the tariff barriers have fallen from an average of about 16 per cent down to 6 per cent.
So this is an organisation that has got some good results, that has really increased the prosperity of our region. That’s why we’re here. That’s why people come along here. They come here because they want to see the economies cooperate more for our mutual benefit. So today for example, I was focussed in my interventions on how we are taking fintech forward, how we’re taking forward financial technology which supports the digitisation of our economy, which is more inclusive to people in our region. What we were just talking about here, with the electrification initiative, this is about connecting remote areas of what is a very remote country where people live in poverty, to a future. Now how good is that? That’s why we’re here. That’s why we’re doing it. That’s what ‘step up’ is all about, but I better step up and get back to the meeting.
JOURNALIST: PM just one more question on the bilateral relationship? China has extended visa free movement between Papua New Guinean politicians and diplomats and China, reciprocal. Would Australia consider that for its nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea?
A: The Papua New Guinean Government, as well as all the other Pacific Island Forum nations are very well aware of the facilitation mechanisms that we are putting in place for each of them. This is an important part of how we are managing these relationships. As you know, we have provided some assistance for some of those states to be able to be represented here at the Forum. This is what we do, we’re friends, we’re family. We support our friends and family so they can participate. I think that has been one of the most important parts of APEC, that Papua New Guinea was able to bring the voice of the Pacific Island Forums to the strongest powers in the world. I think they should be commended for doing that. They have really raised the voice of Pacific Islands in this forum and Australia has always understood that voice and will continue to be a very strong supporter of that voice.
JOURNALIST: PM, I couldn’t help but notice the Chilean delegation chastised you for wearing a tie this morning, is this a gift that you’re wearing this afternoon?
PRIME MINISTER: [Laughter]
This was given to me by Rimbink Pato some years ago, when I was up here quite frequently and I thought I should wear it out of respect to our host. But the tie was actually designed by Peter O’Neill himself - so he’s not only a strong Prime Minister, he’s not too bad on the tie design either.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you’ve got a barbeque with the Pacific Leaders tonight?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes we have, well, I’ll just comment quickly on that.
JOURNALIST: A bit of snags, a bit of kangaroo?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they’re all looking forward to it, which is great and I’m looking forward to hosting the Pacific Island Forum Leaders at the residence tonight.
JOURNALIST: Are you cooking?
PRIME MINISTER: I suspect I’ll turn a few things over on the barbeque and there’s a lot of interest and I just think it’s a great time. It’s a family BBQ, that’s what it is. It’s a Pacific family barbeque and we can talk about the events of the last couple of days and I can also be sharing with them a lot more about where we’re looking to work with them on, so many initiatives as part of our ‘step up’ programme in the Pacific. It’s been incredibly well received, both by Pacific Island Forum members, as well as our key partners in the region.
As I said to President Xi, we’ll work with everybody when we’re trying to focus on the development and the advancement of the Pacific. That’s what it’s about. There’s an opportunity to work together and we need to assist these countries to be stronger, because when they’re stronger both in their sovereignty, in their independence, in their economy, that’s all very good news for Australia. Important for Australia that we achieve those objectives. That’s why we’re doing it, because it helps individual Australians, that the Pacific Islands do better than they do now.
Thanks very much.
Doorstop - Port Moresby
17 November 2018
JOURNALIST: What can you tell us about the meeting Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: It was great to meet with Vice President Pence, it’s great to have the United States here in Papua New Guinea as part of the APEC Leaders Forum.
The partnership that we have with the United States is a broad one and it’s importantly focused here in the Pacific. That relationship is now going to a new level, we’ve got the trilateral partnership with the United States and Japan and Australia, investing and supporting infrastructure development throughout the region. But on top of that we’ll be working closely together with the United States under the PNG-led initiative at Lombrum in Manus Island.
So, by working together there under the leadership of the PNG initiative at Lombrum, that further enhances our level of cooperation.
The Australian Government is stepping up in the Pacific and we’re stepping up with important partners like the United States, like Japan. We’re keen to work with others but this initiative at Lombrum together under the PNG-led process, is I think, just another step in our big step up.
JOURNALIST: Won’t the US involvement in the naval base redevelopment be seen as the US trying to counter China in this region?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the US’s participation at Manus at Lombrum is at PNG’s invitation, as is ours. It’s their sovereign territory, that’s why we’re working together under their leadership. It’s their initiative and we’re pleased to be part of it. We will be working with Pacific Island nations at their invitation wherever we have that opportunity consistent with the programmes that we’re running. Those programmes are cultural programmes, they’re educational programmes, they’re strategic defence programmes, they’re communications and infrastructure and the cable and all of these sorts of measures. We’re looking to build up the Pacific.
JOURNALIST: Will US and Australian ships be based at the naval base?
PRIME MINISTER: All of the details we’ll be working through in the time ahead and the investments that we’ll be making. But the key thing here is the PNG Government has invited us to participate at Manus Island in the Lombrum initiative and they’ve invited the United States to do the same thing, so we’re pleased to be working together. This is a strong partnership designed to make a stronger Pacific, a more prosperous Pacific. For Australia, this is our family of nations that we work with here in the Pacific and we’ll be there very much as an equal family member.
Thank you.
Joint Statement of the Governments of Australia, Japan and the United States
17 November 2018
Joint Statement of The Governments of Australia, Japan, and the United States of America on the Trilateral Partnership for infrastructure investment in the Indo-Pacific
Today, the governments of Australia, Japan and the United States, sharing a commitment to maintain and promote an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, inclusive, prosperous, and secure, announce important progress in our shared dedication to addressing the infrastructure needs of the region.
On 12 November, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (Efic), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) signed a Trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to operationalize the Trilateral Partnership for Infrastructure Investment in the Indo-Pacific announced in Washington, D.C., on 30 July. Through the MOU, we intend to work together to mobilize and support the deployment of private sector investment capital to deliver major new infrastructure projects, enhance digital connectivity and energy infrastructure, and achieve mutual development goals in the Indo-Pacific.
The Trilateral Partnership seeks to be a force-multiplier in the Indo-Pacific, providing a new vehicle through which countries in the region can coordinate to advance their infrastructure priorities. Importantly, the Trilateral Partnership intends to work with governments of the Indo-Pacific to support and encourage infrastructure projects that adhere to international standards and principles for development, including openness, transparency, and fiscal sustainability. This approach will help to meet the region’s genuine needs while avoiding unsustainable debt burdens for the nations of the region.
In the lead-up to the 2019 G20 Summit in Osaka, our three governments intend to work with other members of the G20 to promote quality infrastructure development.
The Trilateral Partnership intends to consult with governments of Indo-Pacific countries, including Papua New Guinea, to identify infrastructure projects for potential development and financing. In consultation with investors and infrastructure companies, the Trilateral Partners will evaluate priority infrastructure projects for possible joint development and financing, and consider sending trilateral project identification and pre-feasibility missions to work through a deliberative process with regional governments to develop specific project proposals.
These announcements, together with the underlying MOU, represent a substantial new commitment from Australia, Japan and the United States to the economic development of the Indo-Pacific through principles-based, sustainable investment in infrastructure.
Doorstop - Port Moresby
17 November 2018
PRIME MINISTER: Good, well great to be here in Port Moresby again, great to be speaking at the ABAC forum and very pleased to have had the opportunity to do so. I set out my views in the presentation, so I’m happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: You talked about the World Trade Organisation and how it needs to be reformed, how hard are some nations pushing to undermine the WTO at the moment, particularly the United States?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it’s very important in the bilateral discussions I’ve been having - both before coming here and as I’ll have here over the next few days - that we’re just listening carefully and we’re hearing what the various views are about what some of the frustrations are in relation to the WTO. There’s a lot of good work that has been done by Japan, the EU and others who are seeking to find a way forward on this issue. We’re very supportive of those efforts and so look, our role here is to listen carefully and to assist how we to collectively move this issue forward.
JOURNALIST: President Donald Trump has been one of the biggest supporters of protectionism, saying “America first,” were your comments in regards to the United States?
PRIME MINISTER: No, as I’ve said before coming here, I believe the United States wants to see open, freer trade. I think that’s their objective, I think that’s their goal. Now they are pursuing a particular course as to how they might wish to achieve it, but I believe their ultimate goal is to want to see more open and free trade around the world. Obviously, they will always pursue their national interest, like any sovereign, independent nation would. I welcome continued stronger involvement and investment of the United States, here particularly in the Pacific. I just referred to the trilateral arrangement we’ve been able to conclude with United States and Japan. The point I was making in my presentation is this – and it is as true in Australia as anywhere else - in Australia, we have always done well by looking outside our country and our people have prospered significantly as a result of that. It’s our job to articulate that back into our communities, into our local constituencies and actually make the case and that’s what I’ll be doing today. The reason you come to these event, the reason you’d be at APEC, or East Asia Summit, or the G20 – it’s not for the coffee, as good as the coffee might be - it’s actually to ensure that we can have better trading relationships, which means jobs, which means improved prosperity for our peoples. That’s why we do these things, that’s why I’m here.
JOURNALIST: When you say it’s more of a risk now than it ever has been, who are you referring to?
PRIME MINISTER: There is a view within our constituencies that protectionism is the way forward for some. That is an expression of people’s concerns about the way that economics and economic benefits have not reached all parts of our society and all parts of our economy. I talk about this frequently in Australia. That’s why it’s important that we continue to focus on the strong economic plan we have in Australia. I spoke about it in Darwin yesterday in relation to the regional City Deal; these arrangements are designed to improve our economy so the benefits of economic growth can be felt right across all of our people. What I’m talking about today is the need to make that case back into our communities. It’s good for our communities and that’s the argument I’m making.
JOURNALIST: But we’ve had a very clear message from Mike Pence that they’re contemplating escalating the trade war with China. Would that be a mistake and what would the consequences of that escalation be for Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: I tend to deal with issues as they occur not to offer commentary in a sort of prospective way, because I don’t think the alternative is helpful. What I’m stating and have said, actually consistently now, in my previous role and this one, is that I believe the objective of the United States is to achieve a more open and free trading environment, ultimately. That’s their ultimate goal. As we’ve seen them arrive at agreements with Canada and Mexico – at one point people said that was never going to happen – well, it did happen.
So my observation has been to, I suppose, take the advice when President Trump says; “Let’s just see what happens”. He says it quite a bit and I think there’s a bit of a hint in that. So why don’t we just see where this goes. I think it’s important that countries like Australia and Japan – and I discussed this at length with Prime Minister Abe yesterday – continue to have that positive engagement, listening very carefully to the issues -and I’ve said before, the many legitimate issues - that the United States raise and others raise and be careful stewards of how we can take the agenda forward together.
JOURNALIST: Do you share the American view about the theft of intellectual property that the Americans have accused China of doing, do you think that’s a real issue?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, these are concerns that have not just been raised recently, they have been raised by successive administrations and they’re issues that Australia confronts as well.
JOURNALIST: What risk does China play to us and our allies in the Pacific with their aggressive infrastructure expansion?
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t know if I’d describe it like that. I said when I outlined our ‘step-up’ initiative, that we were happy to work with all partners through the region, whether it’s the United States or China or indeed of course Japan. We have that trilateral arrangement that I referred to, but there are many others. I set out in the presentation then that those investments though, have got to be considered on their case, they’ve got to be transparent, they’ve got the be focused on the needs of the economy they’re in, they’ve got to be carefully put together so they don’t create a debt burden that is not sustainable for that country. So, I’ve set out some very clear markers and criteria of where countries can work together. Now, that’s what we’re doing with the United States and Japan and as cases present themselves we’d be very pleased to do that with China as well.
JOURNALIST: Do you believe that trilateral cooperation is plausible with China on infrastructure within the Pacific?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the trilateral arrangement is with the United States and -
JOURNALIST: I know, I appreciate that, but I mean when we had Wang Yi referring to trilateral cooperation and a prospect with Australia and Pacific nations, is that something that Australia would be willing to contemplate?
PRIME MINISTER: I have said it is.
JOURNALIST: Will you be getting any face time with the Chinese President while he is here?
PRIME MINISTER: I suspect we will come across each other, yeah, we’re all in the same place and we will also be in the G20 in a few weeks’ time. I had a very, very constructive and very lengthy meeting with Premier Li Keqiang in Singapore and we covered, as you know, a very wide range of issues at that meeting. So there will be, I’m sure, opportunities here and also Buenos Aires in a few weeks.
JOURNALIST: How much appetite do you actually think there is for Pacific countries to take on more debt? A lot of the analysts have said that they’re already very highly leveraged. Do you think there is actually much of a demand among Pacific countries that they can afford to take loans from Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: This is why projects effectively have to be bankable. We follow that discipline when it comes to infrastructure projects and that’s why the sort of projects we’ve been getting involved in, these are projects that have revenue streams as well. So that’s why they have to be carefully commercially considered and it’s not always just governments, it’s private partnerships as well. There’s private capital involved in these projects. So, I think we need to not limit ourselves to the very old notion of; “Well, here’s a loan to another Government and they build a road”. That’s now how things have been happening for some time. I pointed out in my presentation a number of examples where we’ve had good public-private partnerships which involved multiple countries and multiple corporates. I think that’s the way we can manage those things in the future.
Australia has an enormous amount of experience in the corporate sector for bringing these deals together, so I remain very optimistic as to how that can be achieved in the Pacific. The point I’m seeking to make is, Australia is very, very focused on our priority here in the Pacific, because we believe that it is very much in our interests. Australia, we have always been here. Our relationship with our Pacific Island friends and family is based on our deep connection and particularly here. I mean grandfather was here, in Port Moresby, on these wharves back in the ‘40s. He was here, working on these wharves, as a member of the Australian Defence Force, so our relationship goes deep, very deep. It’s based on real values and real connections. That’s why we’re here and that’s why we will always be here.
JOURNALIST: What’s our most important allegiance, America or China?
PRIME MINISTER: Pardon?
JOURNALIST: What’s our most important allegiance, America or China?
PRIME MINISTER: They’re both important. Thank you.