Visit to Australia by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands

30 September 2019

Prime Minister

I am pleased to announce Mr Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, will visit Australia from 9 to 11 October.

This will be the second time we welcome Prime Minister Rutte to our shores, and I look forward to discussing ways to strengthen our already close ties.

Our relationship with the Netherlands is founded on strong trade and investment ties, shared cultural values and people-to-people links.

Our discussions will focus on strengthening our two-way trade, international collaboration on finding justice for the families of MH17 victims and opportunities for broader cooperation.

During Prime Minister Rutte’s visit, he will meet members of the Dutch community, business people and a range of government officials including from the Victorian and New South Wales governments.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42444

Cheaper Medicine for over 500,000 patients

30 September 2019

Prime Minister, Minister for Health

Cheaper medicine is on the way for more than 500,000 patients from October 1, with price reductions for common scripts and new medicines added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), in some cases saving over $100,000 per patient.

Medicines to treat lung cancer, lymphoblastic and acute leukaemia, and nausea associated with chemotherapy will now be available to patients on the PBS from tomorrow for just $40.30 per script, or $6.50 with a concession card.

Cheaper medicine is on the way for more than 500,000 patients from October 1, with price reductions for common scripts and new medicines added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), in some cases saving over $100,000 per patient.

Medicines to treat lung cancer, lymphoblastic and acute leukaemia, and nausea associated with chemotherapy will now be available to patients on the PBS from tomorrow for just $40.30 per script, or $6.50 with a concession card.

A further $390 million in mandated price reductions across 175 medicine brands will also flow through to patients from tomorrow, making medicines more affordable.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Coalition would continue to list medicine on the PBS as quickly as possible.

“Our strong budget management means we can give Australian patients with access to life-saving and life-changing medicines quicker than ever before, without raising taxes,” the Prime Minister said. 

“This stands in stark contrast to Labor whose failed budget management drove the budget into deep deficit, forcing them to stop listing lifesaving and life changing medicines.”

“From tomorrow, some of our most unwell Australians, many battling cancer, will receive a significant boost in the fight for their health.”

The new or extending PBS listings from tomorrow include:

• Tecentriq® and Avastin®, will be extended on the PBS to include first line treatment of patients with stage IV metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. Without PBS subsidy it would cost patients more than $11,400 per script (around 16 scripts per course of treatment); or more than $189,100 per course of treatment. An average of 755 patients per year (for six years) could benefit from this listing.

• Besponsa®, will be extended on the PBS to include patients with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome positive (B-CELL precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia). Without PBS subsidy, patients would pay more than $44,500 per script (around 3 scripts per course of treatment); or more than $122,900 per course of treatment without subsidised access through the PBS. An average of 16 patients per year (for six years) could benefit from this listing.

• Blincyto®, will be extended on the PBS to include patients with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome positive (B-CELL precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia). Without PBS subsidy, patients would pay more than more than $74,900 per script (around 2 scripts per course of treatment); or more than $122,900 per course of treatment. An average of 16 patients per year (for six years) could benefit from this listing.

• Aprepitant APOTEX®, will be made available through the PBS for the treatment of patients with Nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy. Without PBS subsidy, patients would pay more than $80 per script (around 1 script per course of treatment). In 2018, 7,269 patients accessed a comparable treatment for this condition.

Minister for Health Greg Hunt said every six months, prices on a range of PBS medicines are also reduced as a result of the Government’s Price Disclosure Policy.

“With these price reductions, a trip to the pharmacist will be cheaper for thousands of Australians, and more life-saving drugs can be listed on the PBS,” Minister Hunt said. 

Fifteen common medicines - sold as 175 medicine brands will be cheaper for general (non-concessional) patients, and these include:

• Pregabalin: around 208,000 patients per year who have seizures or nerve pain will now pay $28.27 per script for 75 mg capsules, a saving of up to $5.11 per script

• Ezetimibe: around 60,000 patients per year with high cholesterol levels will now pay $33.86 per script for 10 mg tablets, a saving of up to $6.44 per script

• Ezetimibe with Simvastatin: about 245,000 patients with high cholesterol levels will now pay $37.77 per script for 10 mg tablets, a saving of up to $2.53 per script.

Every medicine was recommended to the PBS by the independent expert Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. By law the Federal Government cannot list a new medicine without a positive recommendation from the PBAC. 

The Government’s commitment to ensuring that Australians can access affordable medicines, when they need them, is rock solid. This includes continuing to cut the cost of medicines for patients through the PBS safety net. 

From 1 January 2020 the threshold to receive free or further discounted medicines through the PBS will be lowered by 12 scripts for pensioners and concession card holders and the equivalent of 2 scripts for non-concession card holders.

Since 2013, the Morrison Government has listed over 2,100 new or amended items on the PBS.

This represents an average of around 31 listings per month – or one each day – at an overall cost of around $10.6 billion.

Our plan for a strong economy continues to deliver record funding for essential health services that saves lives.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42442

Doorstop - Dalby, Queensland

27 September 2019

Drought assistance; Farm Household Allowance; Drought Envoy; RBA cash rate; Saudi-Arabian comments; Jock Palfreedman; ACT cannabis legislation; AFL grandfinal

Prime Minister

DAVID LITTLEPROUD:   Well, welcome, firstly, the Prime Minister who only touched down this morning, had a quick [inaudible] and up to Queensland.  Hence is the responsibility that he has borne since he became Prime Minister.  Three days after being sworn in, was in Quilpie.  We have never forgotten about this drought and we continue to be agile and we continue to consult and listen.  And today we're making further announcements on top of what we've already put out there: a commitment of over seven billion dollars.  It is real money.  It's going to go and hit the ground of regional rural communities to get these communities and get farmers through this drought. We will not stop and we'll continue to work with communities and primary producers to make sure that the response is adequate.  Let me make this clear.  It will rain and, when it rains, we're going to make a lot of money.  But we've got a lot of families to get through - through this drought and we're going to make sure we work with them.  And today is about making sure that they understand you have a government that is standing shoulder to shoulder with you.  That is going to make sure we do our utmost to support you and your community.  And can I also welcome Jack, from, a Fiver from a Farmer.  A real national hero.  $1.6 million this young man has raised.  It goes to show what a great country we live in, when a young man with one idea can do so much for these communities.  And I represent a lot of them, Jack, and I can tell you it means more than what the government gives sometimes, because it comes from someone from Sydney, just to show that they care.  And that's a fantastic thing you've done.  You should be so proud and so should your family.   To Senator- my good mate, Bridget McKenzie, to the mayor, it's great to have you here and to Dave Gooding, thank you for having us, and from AgForce, Brendan Taylor.  This is about letting the entire community, not just the Western Downs know that we are here with you.  So PM, thank you for coming.

PRIME MINISTER:   Thanks mate.  Thanks David.  Well, it's great to be here with everyone, particularly great to be here with Jack, who we flew up from Sydney together this morning.  Jack and I met on the radio a little while ago.

JACK BERNE:   Yeah.

PRIME MINISTER:   Benny Fordham and I, we set you up a bit.

JACK BERNE:   Yeah.

PRIME MINISTER: Got a good rise out of you.  But I said we'd meet and here we are, we've flown up today and thought it was a good opportunity for Jack and I to have a talk about what the government's doing because that's what he wanted to know about, and there was no better way to show that than coming here today and seeing what we're doing on the ground. It was just around about a year ago when we had our National Drought Summit and following that National Drought Summit which brought together people from right across the country, all states and territories, those in the farming communities, those who are in scientific communities, corporate sector, agribusiness, all came together at Old Parliament House and what flowed from that was a multi-channel flow of support;  whether it was on new programs in how we're managing our weather information and how we're collecting and reporting that information, what we're doing in geoscience, importantly, the significant support that was being provided through the Farm Household Allowance, extending our support on mental health, the financial counsellors, and the work we were doing there.  Our water infrastructure was – some $50 million we put into on-farm water infrastructure grants; $750 million going into water, bigger water infrastructure, larger-scale projects.  You know, we've currently got almost a billion dollars right now committed in projects, many of them underway as we speak on some 21 major water infrastructure projects around the country today.  And we've got about 50 more plus, which are being assessed in partnership with state and territory governments.  So whether it's water infrastructure, whether it's the science, whether it's the important income support that goes into communities, a big part of that plan was what we put into community organisations at two levels: the charitable organisations, not unlike what Jack's been doing, but through Vinnies and organisations- and the Salvos, we put that initial $30 million in, and we also put money into things like bores and pests and weeds. So, my point is, it has been a comprehensive response to this point in time.  The Future Drought Fund which we were able to pass through the Parliament, provides ongoing support drawing down $100 million every year to go into important water infrastructure projects and that will rise to $5 billion in the future, in terms of the overall capital fund.  So, it's been a comprehensive response.  But we said at the time that when we made our response, it wasn't set-and-forget; that we would continue to listen, that we would continue to respond and as- so long as the drought goes on, then so does our response and, frankly, beyond that.  Because then there's the rebuilding that follows after the drought breaks and taking the opportunities for farming communities right across Australia to get strongly back on their feet. And so part of that response is what we're announcing today, and we had the Farm Household Allowance review, and I'll ask Bridget to speak more to what it found.  We've got some 56 million in estimate- additional assistance will be going into farming families because of- we're going to loosen up, make more flexible, the Farm Household Allowance payments; more flexible on things like off-farm income, agistment, things like this, and to ensure that it is more accessible, more readily available.  And that will lead to some $56 million, we estimate, over the next few years which will deliver more money in the pockets of farmers right across the country as they continue to deal with what, in Queensland, has been seven years of drought. The second part is extending our community support program.  We already had over 100 councils - 111, I think, to be specific - who would receive the million dollars each to support local works in their communities; and that can be everything from water carting to important local capital works projects that keeps contractors and others locally employed.  Now, we're putting another 13 of those councils on that list and that includes councils here in Queensland, down in Victoria, across into South Australia, and New South Wales of course, where the drought is particularly severe.  And so that program continues and there'll be some 123 councils and that's another $13 million that goes into that program. The other program is backing again the Salvos and Vinnies with an additional $30 million and some additional support to help them administer this funding.  And that 30 million is just going in programs in local communities and drought-affected areas all across the country.  All up, this is around about $100 million, just over it in fact, that will be going in.  And just over 40% of that will actually be spent in this financial year - this very financial year.  So there won't be any delay, particularly on the Farm Household Allowance.  That kicks in once we get the legislation through the Parliament and that will be a high priority when we get back into Parliament in a couple of weeks from now. So that's a further response.  It's not set-and-forget, our drought response, it's ongoing.  We are listening very carefully.  That's why we're here today.  That's why my feet barely touched the ground after getting back from New York yesterday and straight back up here, to both commend Dave and his family on the amazing work they do, living through this drought.  And it's always great, even when you come to places like this and people talk to you with optimism, just like Dave was saying, looking forward to the rain, planning for it, being ready when the conditions permit, and to be able to get out there and make things happen.  And that gives us a lot of encouragement, doesn't it mate.

JACK BERNE:   Yeah.

PRIME MINISTER: So what do you think about being up here?  This is about the fourth or fifth district you've been to?

JACK BERNE:   Yeah, it's really amazing and thank you very much for taking me up here.  It's a great experience because I come from the northern beaches so there's no farms around.  I live on the beach and I'm very fortunate for that.  Um, but to see how bad it is out here and seeing where all the money goes is really amazing, just to help out the farmers that really need help.  So thank you for having me.

PRIME MINISTER: Good boy.  Top bloke.

(Applause)

PRIME MINISTER: Bridget, come and tell us more about the allowance program -

BRIDGET McKENZIE:   Yeah, sure.  Well, our future is in bright hands, isn't it, when someone like Jack really stands up and - and calls us all to action.  Dave, thanks for having us and lovely to meet your next generation on this farm.  And our government's doing everything we can do to make sure that farming families like yours are able to continue to produce fabulous, safe, clean green product that we love to enjoy here at home but, importantly, are going to increase in the export to markets around the world in the coming decades. As Agriculture Minister, I'm in charge of the Farm Household Allowance.  This is our government's number one program to get money onto the tables, into the pockets and bank accounts of our farming families who are doing it tough.  And we have continually adapted this program over the four years that it's been in place.  But following the review instigated by David Littleproud last year and made public in May, our government's responding to each and every one of those six recommendations in a very fulsome way.  We're radically simplifying access and eligibility criteria to Farm Household Allowance. When I'm out on the ground talking to farmers, as far as I can remember, there is sort of a lot of chatter out there around how difficult it is to apply for and "You'll never be eligible", etcetera, etcetera.  Well, it's actually not true.  And for those, over 34,000 farmers out there across rural and regional Australia who are eligible, I would ask you to get in touch with your rural financial counsellor and make sure you're going through the process and the simplified assessment process that we're instigating on the back of this review to ensure that that happens. We're also making some changes to how we assess and treat on-farm and off-farm income, off-farm asset classes and also, if your farm's making a loss, how we treat that in combination to actually sort of flatten out the variability of income that's heading into farm households, as they're having to traditionally do that fortnightly reconciliation with Centrelink, which has driven everybody mad.  So we're getting rid of that, making sure that you will have certainty around your payments. And we're also recognising that you just don't go through one drought in your lifetime as a farmer in this country.  Every couple of decades we do it tough as a community, and so rather than this form of assistance being only available four years out of your entire lifetime, we're making sure that you can access this vital payment for four years in every decade, which really, I think, goes to the reality of farming in a country like Australia, because we don't want to make sure that you're on Farm Household Allowance for your entire career but that it is a much needed stopgap and support to ensure that your farm and your farm business can get back on to a sustainable footing, which is why we're also announcing today an additional, out of our contingency funding, $740,000 to give those regions who are doing it specifically tough, getting more rural financial counsellors and services rolled out in places like here in David Littleproud's electorate, down in Central West New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Northern Territory and South Australia; making sure that farmers that need that financial assistance, to make those tough decisions in times like this when you're going through hardship: Am I going to get serious about succession planning?  Am I going to make system changes on farms to make this business sustainable going forward or am I going to sell up and do something else? And our government has a suite of measures to assist you to do all of those because we want you sustainably farming, going forward and making the best decisions for your family and your businesses.  So, as the PM said, we are not a government that does this lightly.  We are embedded in the future of rural and regional Australia communities and agriculture, not just now in the drought but for decades to come and we are tireless in our efforts to do that.  Thank you.

DAVID LITTLEPROUD:  I might just ask the Mayor of Western Downs, this million dollars that is going to go into further in regional councils.  Well, one of them is right here, Western Downs.  This is a stimulus that's about driving the business sector in town, keeping people employed and making sure there's a legacy out of what's being built out there. 

MAYOR PAUL McVEIGH:   Thanks David.  Well, first, a very, very big thank you to the Prime Minister.  What a great effort to be flying back from America last night and to be here in our paddocks in our region today.  And we thank you too, Minister McKenzie and Minister Littleproud.  I see everyone out here shaking flies off at the moment and that's - we call them harvest flies, for anyone that doesn't know that.  And, unfortunately, Prime Minister, as you've been down the paddock, there'll be no harvest this year in our region and across heaps of the states, across the eastern parts of Australia. So a very, very big thank you to the Federal Government and to our Prime Minister and to our Ministers. They've actually made an effort to come here and look for themselves how devastating this drought is not just to our farmers, to our towns and everywhere we see the impacts of drought.  We do need assistance and need the million dollar grant that we are receiving today. I do thank the Federal Government but, as a council, we will use that wisely. We will look at our capacity to be able to employ more people and also a lot of the mental health issues that are really resonating at the moment in our community for people who are really struggling. We are very, very proud farmers.  I'm a fifth generation farmer.  We're very, very proud farmers to be part of our agricultural land.  And our community is struggling.  It's a step.  If it gets worse, we'll have to do another step but I'm sure our Federal colleagues are well aware of that.  What they've done today is another step in supporting our communities, our regional communities.  And I do thank very much our Federal Government, especially you, Prime Minister: a tremendous effort to come back from America and be here with us today in what is a critical situation.  So, once again, thank you very much.  We do look forward to working more with Federal Government and utilising this million dollars very well in our community.  Thank you. 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD:   David, did you want to say anything?

DAVID GOODING:  Yeah.  I'd just like to say thank you very much for coming to our farm and releasing these packages because it does help the farmers that are in need.  It does give them hope.  And, um, that is a positive thing because, like Paul was just saying, is saying, the mental issue is very tough on farmers with maintaining a level of positiveness with the way the weather's been for so long.  But I can assure you it will rain.  We've just got to hang in there.  People like Jack here that is raising this money, I can assure you the charities that he is raising this money for and it's going out to, it is going to the people that need it.  And that is a great thing.  So those - those little gifts, those little bits and pieces are a big help to those that are struggling.  And it's not just farmers, it's our communities, um, which concerns us as well. We - my son was at a windscreen shop yesterday just getting a truck windscreen fixed and they said - he said, "Oh, you guys been going alright?" and they said "No, when it's dry, people don't go in and get a coffee and they don't break their windscreens.  So, no, we're very quiet also."   So it's a flow-on effect across all industries in our towns.  We need our people in our towns to get through this as well.  So thank you for these grants, and we all appreciate it very much, thank you.

DAVID LITTLEPROUD:   We've got Brendan Taylor from AgForce, a State representative body for farmers.  Brendan, do you want to say something about the package mate?

BRENDAN TAYLOR:   Yeah, sure.  Look, we commend the Federal Government for this announcement today.  Funding for our regions in these dire times is always welcome.  And, you know, just to echo the sentiments of the mayor and David that, you know, when farmers do it tough, the whole communities do it tough and it flows right through the communities.  And we need keep our communities strong and viable for when it does start to rain again, so that we can get back to doing what we do best and that's producing food and fodder.

PRIME MINISTER:   Any questions?  We'll take some questions.  Let's just stay on the announcement and then we're happy to go to other matters and we'll give Jack a leave pass on that one.

JOURNALIST:  Prime minister --

JOURNALIST:   You mentioned making it easier for families and farmers to access this.  How much is it about the farmers encouraging them to stick their hand up and - and accept the help that's on offer? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's why making it easier, I think, is a big part of it.  I mean, there are - there are many reasons why often people in rural communities and farmers won't reach out and sometimes, you know, they - they feel like they shouldn't and my message to them is you should.  You work hard.  This isn't - this isn't welfare.  This is really just helping people make sure that they maintain a viability. I mean what we are doing here is important assets for our country, our farming assets, they’re lands, they can remain productive; that they can stay on the land is really important to Australia.  So it's an important investment, and so we would encourage them to reach out to those financial counsellors.  That's why this package includes, as the previous ones had, support for those financial counsellors.  Now, those counsellors, I think, have been angels in these communities.  They've done a tremendous job just helping people make sense of a lot of these forms, but also their own financial planning and - and for many farming communities, some hard decisions some of them are having to make.  And so we just want to help them by providing the right support network for them to make those - those often very difficult decisions.  So, look, it's a mixture of both things.  It can be a bit complicated, the process, so we'll ease that up.  Some of the rules have been a bit tight.  So, as Bridget said, particularly how you treat off-farm income, that's been an important thing to recognise and change, both on assets and income. Also, this - this program provides additional payments for those who are going through some reskilling as well.  Some of the decisions they're making about maybe boosting their capability for off-farm income or even potentially career transitioning, and potentially moving off the land.  And if that's the decision they're making then we want to have supports that help them make that decision.

BRIDGET MCKENZIE:   One of the ridiculous things - can I just? 

PRIME MINISTER: Sure, Bridget --

BRIDGET MCKENZIE:   Is that 80% of farmers have partners, and right now, if you want to apply for Farm Household Allowance you and your partner have to fill in the paperwork separately.  So a very simple quick change we can make, you know, ASAP, no legislation required, is actually to make sure one partnered couple make one application.  So there's a lot we can do both within Centrelink offices now whilst we wait for legislation to get through.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've just returned from the United States -- a place where farming is subsidised.  I know for a fact, I've been there myself this year, that farmers get a cheque for lost income from extreme weather conditions.  Is that something the Australian Government would consider? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, look, we have a different means of income support here in Australia than they have in the United States and that's what we're talking about today.  We have different systems and we have different trading arrangements with other countries, and our access to markets, whether they're in Japan or China or Korea or Indonesia, our access to those markets is incredibly important.  I mean, the prices you get, and the markets you can sell them to, when you do get a bit of a break are massively important.  And we're not going to do anything that would jeopardise access that our farmers have to these important markets.  So we'll find other ways to provide that support, and today we're talking about 100 million.  And I said around 40%, just over that actually in this year alone, and if there needs to be more, there'll be more.  I've made no secret about that and I think today's announcement is further demonstration about resolving that.

JOURNALIST: Would you consider --

JOURNALIST: I know the announcement has been welcomed by farmers but there's still some concerns about long-term drought planning.  We still don't have a national drought policy.  Is that something the government will look at? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, no, I don't agree we don't have a national drought policy.  We do have a national drought policy.  It was launched at the National Drought Summit last year.  I went through the vast array of measures that form part of that, everything from looking after people's mental health to [inaudible] water infrastructure grants because there's 21 water projects currently committed to, almost a million dollars.  So we have a very broad-ranging response in terms of the long-term national water grid which is being stood up next month and that's just being established now.  I mean, that will complete the broader planning and the priorities for other major water infrastructure projects all across Australia.  So this has been a $7 billion now, plus an extra $100 million today response that has been rolled out over the last 12 months.  So I call that both strategic, comprehensive and very focused on both the short-term immediacy needs of farming families and the longer-term future for agriculture in this country. 

JOURNALIST: You've just said if there needs to be more, there will be more.

PRIME MINISTER:   Yeah.

JOURNALIST: Is there a timeline in which to make that decision in? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, there are - there's a budget update at the end of the year of which this will now be incorporated into.  There's a budget next year, and there's a budget update after that, and there's a budget after that.  So the government regularly makes these decisions and we do it on the basis of listening to what's happening with farming communities around the country.  Remember this, what we've announced today, is a product of the review we initiated late last year into how the Farm Household Allowance was working.  When we first were responding to this, that was a big issue and it wasn't something you could just flick a switch and it would fix overnight.  It needed some careful listening and analysis and we've done that and now we're able to make these changes.

JOURNALIST: So councils that have missed out on that $13 million, is there a chance they could be added to- receive a million dollars? 

PRIME MINISTER:   We do it on the basis of the assessments we get about the future projections on weather, and what their current needs are, and we make those – that’s why we've added another 13 today and we started out with under a hundred in the first round - it was 75, I think --

BRIDGET MCKENZIE:   Yeah.

PRIME MINISTER:   -- when we first kicked it off.  So it's gone from 75 to 123 since we initiated this program.  So where it needs to be placed, it will be.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've spoken very strongly about the gravity of the situation, the drought crisis.  We've learnt in recent days that your Special Drought Envoy, Barnaby Joyce didn’t file a final formal report about the drought.  Is that good enough for drought-affected farmers?  Do you think they deserve more? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, Barnaby, when I appointed this role, provided constant reports.  I mean, I didn't ask him to write a book.  I asked him to give us some advice on what he was hearing from farmers.  And that's what he did.  And he did that through quite a bit of correspondence with me and meetings with me and he presented all that to Cabinet.  So, that was his job.  It wasn't to be an author and a publisher.  It was to actually give us some candid feedback from drought-affected communities around the country.  And he did his job and he - and he did it well and I thank him for that.  And so I think, you know, I think people are getting a bit caught up in the semantics of a final report.  There were plenty of reports, I can assure of that, as there was from the National Drought Coordinator General and - and we're working through our response to his suggestions as well.  So, yeah, I think people have over-analysed that issue.

JOURNALIST: Will you be making all of those reports to [inaudible].

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they've all gone into Cabinet and the normal processes will apply as to what applies to Cabinet documents.

JOURNALIST:  We can see them in 30 years?

PRIME MINISTER:   It's the Cabinet.

JOURNALIST: Do you think considering the amount of paperwork farmers have to go through to get the Farm Household Allowance that a text message is really an appropriate way to report to Cabinet? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, you said a text message, not me.  I said he wrote to us.  He presented reports-

JOURNALIST:   He said he wrote text messages.

PRIME MINISTER:   Yeah, well, he did.  And Barnaby is a, you know, a master of all forms of communication.  He spoke to me on the phone.  He spoke to me in my office.  He presented to Cabinet.  He wrote me letters about this issue, which is what I asked him to do.  So it was a pretty comprehensive set of advice that we received and I was very pleased to receive it.  It has informed much of what we've done.  I mean, one of the key issues that Barnaby raised with me and - and with the team, was the issues around off-farm income and how that was impacting on families. Now, here we are today, making major changes as a result of that.  So I'd say he was pretty - pretty helpful.

JOURNALIST: Do you think 100 million package announced today is enough for 80,000 farmers around the country? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, it's not just 100 million today.  It's seven billion that we've announced over the last year.  So it's -

JOURNALIST: But you don't have a seven billion in the bank -

PRIME MINISTER:   -- seven billion plus -

JOURNALIST: -- do you? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Sorry? 

JOURNALIST: You don't have seven billion in the bank today for drought.  That's building up over time?

PRIME MINISTER:   That is building up over time but already, you know, we've had hundreds of millions already which has been provided through the Farm Household Allowance, through the Drought Communities Program.  This is money that's already there.  It's already in communities.  This is another 100 million on top of that, and there's the 100 million drawdown that starts from 1st of July next year as well, which is going into water infrastructure.  So this is a constant investment.  Constant.  And we're responding and we're listening, carefully, to how this drought is playing out on the ground, and responding each time.  So we listen and then we act.  And we're going to keep doing that.

JOURNALIST: One on another topic if possible?

PRIME MINISTER:   Sure. We can go off - yeah, off this in a second.  Is it on this issue? 

JOURNALIST: I've got something separate.

PRIME MINISTER:   That's alright, yeah.

JOURNALIST: Separate also.

PRIME MINISTER:   Okay.

JOURNALIST: I have one final question, if that's okay related to drought.

PRIME MINISTER:   Yeah, sure.

JOURNALIST:  Prime Minister, would you consider a drought levy on fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy, given the current drought crisis and increased costs that farmers wouldn't normally face? 

PRIME MINISTER:   So you're saying a drought levy to go back to the farmers? 

JOURNALIST: Yep.  Exactly.  When you go to the supermarket, you pay an extra few cents or dollars to go direct to the farmer?

PRIME MINISTER:   As I said before, what we do is we channel our income support through the programs that I've announced.  That's the - that's the efficient measure which we've chosen to do this.  The agricultural sector has levies on a range of different things for various purposes and that's actually run by industry, as you’d know.  But that is not a measure that the government is considering, because we're providing the financial support direct out of the budget.  See, we'll be in a surplus budget this year.  And it was a while ago actually when the terrible floods hit Queensland, Brisbane.  The government had to put a levy on because their budget was in deficit and they couldn't afford to actually provide the support. Now we can afford to do this because we've done the hard work of getting the budget back into surplus.  So we don't have to go and tax people to help our farmers.  We can just help them and that's what we're doing here.  And so we'll continue to do that.  But it shows the wisdom of good budget management to get your budget in shape.  It means you can respond and you can support people, whether it's from, you know, natural disasters such as floods and effects like that, or longer-term natural events like drought.  On that, I'm going to thank particularly Jack.  Good on you, mate.  Well done, mate.  And the other guys John, David, the Mayor and AgForce for being with us and we’ll take another more general questions and we'll catch up with you in just a sec.

JOURNALIST:  [Inaudible] further cuts to interest rate [inaudible] RBA might not actually help the economy and there's a further risk that further cuts will hurt consumer confidence? 

PRIME MINISTER:   I agree with the independence of the Reserve Bank in being able to set decisions on cash rates without prime ministers offering to give any external advice to them.

JOURNALIST: On Saudi Arabia, Riyadh's Ambassador to the UN has given a speech.  He labelled Australia racist and guilty of human atrocities.  Given those remarks, will you reconsider your commitment of a navy ship to their region to protect their assets? 

PRIME MINISTER:   No.  We joined 20 other countries, I think it was, in calling out human rights abuses like we do all around the world and that’s what we've always done, that and will continue to do that and we also condemn the outrageous attacks on the Saudi refineries as well, appalling attacks, disgraceful attacks.  And so we call things as we see them and we have in both cases here our commitments in the Strait of Hormuz as part of the maritime construct is you know, we make commitments, we keep them.

JOURNALIST: Why do you think Australia was singled out in that speech the other day? 

PRIME MINISTER: You would have to ask them.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, as Prime Minister, what are you doing for Jock Palfreeman? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Working very, very closely with the government.  Our Foreign Minister is engaging directly on these matters and like in any of these very sensitive consular cases they are never assisted by public commentary.

JOURNALIST: Will you be intervening in the case and contact your Bulgarian counterpart directly? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, I’d just refer you to what I just said.  We are directly engaging with the government and the Foreign Minister is doing that with her counterpart and it's best that there's no further commentary on these issues it never helps resolve these situations.

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] on the ACT’s decision to legalise recreational cannabis use, [inaudible] public servants and policy makers recreationally using cannabis in the ACT?

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, it's a decision that's been made recently by the ACT Government.  The Attorney-General has already had a bit to say on this issue and I'd reinforce what he has already said.  And the government will look at this issue and consider it, and we'll do that carefully and patiently, it doesn’t come into effect for some time, so I think there's ample time for us to do that as a government.  And so we'll be considering that in the months ahead.

JOURNALIST: What's your personal view on the law?

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, where I have personal views, I'll express them in the Cabinet as the government makes a decision.

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] who are you backing this weekend?

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, I'm with Jack.  We're both Sydney boys.  So obviously I don't follow AFL, as people famously know.  It's always a grand spectacle, the AFL Grand Final, and I'm looking forward to going down there and Dan Tehan and I'm sure Greg Hunt and a few others will be very upset, saying- I think they'd expect me to be supporting GWS.  But, you know, they've got a lot of great fans.  I mean, Chris Bowen is the Shadow Treasurer, he's a big GWS fan.  So it will be probably one of the few occasions where we're on the same team tomorrow, I suspect.  Fantastic. Cheers.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42441

Interview with Karl Stefanovic, 2GB

27 September 2019

Prime Minister

KARL STEFANOVIC:  But for now, I'm joined by the Prime Minister himself, Scott Morrison. Prime Minister, good afternoon to you.  State-side to the country-side, you must be exhausted but our farmers are doing it pretty tough, aren't they? 

PRIME MINISTER:   Well, they are up here in Dalby and right across the country.  But you're right, yeah, New York yesterday or what seemed like yesterday and Dalby today.  But they are doing it tough and that's why we made the announcement today of further measures.  And today was all about further  income support type measures and relief.  So we've put the Farm Household Allowance, we've made that simpler.  We've relaxed some of the rules around that, and about $56 million going into that.  And then we have got the second part which is putting more money into our Drought Communities Program.  So we put 13 more local government areas.  So about a million for each of those councils, including where we were today.  And the other one is 30 million we're putting into Vinnies and Salvos and because they're doing great work all around the country, and that just really fills up their tank to go out and keep doing what they're doing.

STEFANOVIC:   You've been out and about.  You've seen it all over the last couple of months.  It just goes from bad to worse, doesn't it?  Is this enough? 

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well - well, it'll be more.  And I mean so long as the drought goes on, you know, we'll keep responding.  I said that, you know, a year ago.  And when we had the drought summit and we kicked off a lot of big programs there and you know, we've put seven billion in since then and we'll keep responding as the situation demands.  And, I mean, one thing that's great that is when you come out to these places, as you know, people are still - they're positive, they're optimistic, they're talking about they're one day closer to rain and they're not giving up.  And I had young Jack Berne with me today and, as you know, and he's well known to your listeners.

STEFANOVIC:   Yeah.

PRIME MINISTER: And what he's done with Fiver for a Farmer, it's not just the money, as they were saying to him up there today.  It's just the fact that a great little kid like him cares and other people care that gives them a real boost.

STEFANOVIC:   Yeah, Jack's on our show a little bit later today, he's going to be joining us live.  But it is that sentiment that is helping in the bush.  I guess, to a large extent though, a lot of these farmers feel like they're not being looked after.  I noticed with interest too, today, Labor leader, Anthony Albanese and Joel Fitzgibbon both said it's all too little too late.  What do you say about that? 

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, I don't think people should politicise the drought.

STEFANOVIC:   Yeah.

PRIME MINISTER: We're all doing everything we can to provide the support that we are.  And, you know, we don't set-and-forget on these things.  We just keep rolling out more, I mean everything from mental health, financial counsellors, even the work we've done in geoscience and the work with the Bureau of Meterology, which is providing support for farmers.  Your response has to be far and wide.  But it also has to be about water infrastructure.  I mean, we've currently got just under a billion dollars going to 21 dam and water projects right now.  And there's another 50 on the board that we're trying to get up with the state governments, and there's three and a half billion dollars that we want to put into that water infrastructure.  So you've got to plan long-term with those projects but you've also got to put food on the table and put money in people's pockets.

STEFANOVIC:   I agree with you, and I think a lot of people out there are incredibly frustrated.  They can't understand or comprehend why the state governments aren't playing ball.  You're coming to the table.  You're trying to get these drought relief projects, like the big infrastructure projects, like dams, up and they're not coming to the table.  What is going on with them? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it is frustrating.  I mean, New South Wales has come to the table very recently and we welcome that.  And I met with the Premier over the phone last week, with the Deputy Prime Minister and John Barilaro, the Deputy Premier.  And so we'll have a fast track list of projects which they've committed to try and take through the planning and environmental --

STEFANOVIC:   Queensland's a dog's breakfast, though.

PRIME MINISTER:   Oh, look, I mean, now they're squibbing on the size of dam projects.

STEFANOVIC:   Yeah.

PRIME MINISTER: I mean, they actually haven't formally told us this yet but, you know, they can pay public servants more but they can't live up to the dam promise.  So that's frustrating.  But, again, I don't want to politicise drought; I just want to get the support out there.  We just want to get these dam projects underway and they're done by state governments.  I mean, the Commonwealth does its bit but fundamentally that's where it's done.

STEFANOVIC:   These people are hurting, aren't they? 

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, they are.  But, as I say, they're supporting each other.  The mental health side of this is incredibly important.  I spoke to a rural financial counsellor up here in Dalby today who has a lot of clients and she was just taking me through some of the issues that they're facing.  One of the things we did today was we relaxed the rules on what's called off-farm income to access the Farm Household Allowance because people are getting - you know, supplementing their income by getting other jobs and doing things off the farm.  And that can sometimes crib them getting access to this allowance.  And so we've changed that rule, both on the assets they can own off-farm but as well as the income they can earn off-farm.  And we just want to try and keep people who make the decisions that they want to tough this out, we want to keep them there because it is going to rain and then there's an opportunity on the other side, like there always is.

STEFANOVIC:   And if we forward plan well enough. You just got from this historic visit to the US.  Well done on that trip.  A lot of love between you and Donald Trump.  What's he like?  It seems half the world thinks he's going crazy.  How do you find him personally? 

PRIME MINISTER: He's just a straight-up sort of guy.  I mean, he says what he thinks.  You're never wondering.

STEFANOVIC:   He put you on the spot there a couple of times.  Were you nervous? 

PRIME MINISTER: No.  No, look, we've met several times now, and this was a very generous visit.  But, to be honest, I mean yes, you know, I get on quite well and have developed a good understanding early.  But, frankly, the bigger thing, and we both acknowledge this, it's about the broader bigger relationship between the countries.  Australia and the United States see the world through very similar eyes.  We've got our differences but we get on pretty well and we stand up for the same things.  And it was - I was just so proud of the way Australia was celebrated, you know, there in the White House in their capital.  And it was a great tribute, to particularly our serving men and women.  And if there are any of them listening, thank you for your service.

STEFANOVIC:   There seems to be some growing tension on the China front.  They feel like a bit of a jilted lover at the moment.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they've got a trade deficit with China.  We've got a trade surplus, and so we come at that issue slightly differently.  And so he's working that issue from his end.  But for Australia, the China relationship is very important.  So, you know, we've got to walk a very clear line there.  And I appreciated the fact that the President understood and respected that.  And I think we've been very consistent in how we've dealt with that issue: where there are things to call out, we call them out.  We're very consistent about that.  And we also want to ensure the economic relationship continues to deliver benefits and jobs for Australia.

STEFANOVIC:   That's a tricky balance.

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, it is, but that's what you're elected to do.

STEFANOVIC:   Yeah.  Well, Prime Minister, we've run out of time now.  We really appreciate you coming on the program.  I know you've caught up with Jack Berne today.  How was he? 

PRIME MINISTER: Mate, he's great.  He's such a great - he had - it's the last day of school today.  So it was either, he could have gone bowling, I think, today.  And so he grabbed the chance to come with me and it was just great to see him talking to the farmers.  And for a young fellow like that, to see the dividend of, you know, what he's put all his heart and soul into.  And his mum, Prue couldn't be more proud and she should be.  He's a great boy, a credit to - you know, practical things.  I know young people, they're concerned about many things and that's fair enough.  And I think Jack's an example of the response, you know, just roll your sleeves up, get in there, do something positive like he has.  And what a great kid.

STEFANOVIC:   Some of them more concentrating on other things and doing it in a very different way, aren't they, overseas.  Very tense, aren't they, some of these kids.  Hopefully they'll have --

PRIME MINISTER: Jack showed the Aussie way.

STEFANOVIC:   Alright.  Prime Minister, well done on your trip to the United States and I think even better coming back from that trip and working so hard and rolling your sleeves up and getting out on the land.  It's a good look.  Well done.

PRIME MINISTER:   It’s been good to be here.  Thanks.

STEFANOVIC:   Thanks Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: Cheers, Karl.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42440

Backing Our Farmers and Drought Affected Communities

27 September 2019

Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Water Resources Drought Rural Finance Natural Disaster and Emergency Management, Deputy Prime Minister

Farmers and their communities will have access to more support with the Coalition Government announcing it will provide more funding, cut red tape and increase services. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a new support package will deliver nearly $100 million to drought-hit communities, which is on top of more than $7 billion in drought support funding already provided by the Government.

“Supporting drought affected communities remains our Government’s most urgent priority,” the Prime Minister said.

“I know that things are only getting harder for many farmers and rural communities, and that’s why we are taking further action and providing even more support.

“We’ve been in constant contact with farmers and businesses, and we’re using their feedback to keep improving our response.

“As I’ve said before, this isn’t set and forget. We need to keep listening and keep taking action.

“We know we can’t make it rain, but we must keep finding ways to do everything we can to make life just a bit easier and remove some of the burden. That’s why our Government is providing more money to help people with bills, more money for counselling and more money to local councils.

“We’ve got to get more cash into these communities and cut more red tape, making it easier to access support.

“I will do everything in my power to ease the burden on farmers and their communities. That’s our Government’s promise.”

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the package of measures would provide an immediate economic stimulus at the local level as well as employment for people whose work has been affected by drought.

“We are delivering $33.42 million to resume the Drought Community Support Initiative, which will deliver up to $3000 to eligible farming households experiencing hardship due to drought,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

“And we are providing a $13 million extension to the Drought Community Programme to deliver support at the local government level where it counts.

“Thirteen Local Government Areas will be provided up to $1 million for local infrastructure and drought relief products.”

Minister for Agriculture, Senator Bridget McKenzie, said targeted relief followed careful assessment of the current challenges farmers were facing.

“We know that FHA is a vital hand-up for farmers in times of need—but the Independent Review of Farm Household Allowance told us it could be improved,” Minister McKenzie said.

“Farming families have told me that the FHA program does not currently treat them as business owners and places a real burden on farmers already doing it tough. This was reflected in the review.

“Today we are announcing a radical simplification of the FHA application process and key settings.

“We will remove the requirement for business income reconciliation, change the time limit on payment from four years in total to four out of every  ten years, simplify the assets test, recognise agistment as being part of primary production income, and redesign the application process. For the first time, couples will be able to apply for the payment using just one application.

“These changes will make FHA quicker and easier to access, better reflect the nature of farm businesses, and to acknowledge that farmers may experience more than one period of hardship in their lifetime.

“Some of these changes will require amendments to legislation, but through Centrelink we will implement as many of the changes to the application process immediately.”

Minister McKenzie also announced today an injection of $740,000 of contingency funding to five Rural Financial Counselling Service providers who are experiencing pressure from increased demand for their services.

Minister for Drought David Littleproud said the Coalition Government was delivering a comprehensive suite of support measures to farmers in hardship.

“This shows our commitment to stay flexible and respond as needed,” Minister Littleproud said.

“Today’s announcement further strengthens our drought response which includes concessional loans, farm management deposits, tax breaks, and mental health support.

“The government is already providing more than $7 billion in assistance and concessional loans to support those affected by drought.”

“This shows the Coalition Government’s commitment and belief in hard working farming families.”

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42438

Doorstop - Sunset Park Materials Recovery Facility, New York City

25 September 2019

Prime Minister

ALISTAIR FIELD, CEO SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT:  Good morning everybody, my name is Alistair Field. I’m the Chief Executive Officer of Sims Metal Management, headquartered here in the United States, but an Australian listed company. Today we have the privilege of the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Morrison, joining us here in our Brooklyn facility here in New York. This is a contract we have with New York City to manage all their recycling. So a lot of the technology that we deploy here is something that we’re very proud of and we’ll extend through some of our global operations as well. Mr Prime Minister, welcome sir.

PRIME MINISTER:  Thank you, thank you Alistair. It’s a great thrill to be here. This is an Australian company that started 102 years ago with a bloke from Sydney and a wheelbarrow, and here they are, the biggest recycler of waste in the United States - and arguably the technology and the size of this plant possibly anywhere in the world. They are leading the way and they’ve been doing it a long time.

What I get excited about when I come and see this is that this is the sort of technology, this is the sort of scale of operations which means that, if we can get this in place, as we’ve seen it in other, less scaled forms in Australia, then that promise of when you put that little plastic bottle or you put the other waste that you put in the recycling bins, that it actually gets recycled and that it doesn’t go to landfill.

I mean, Sims is doing some amazing things. They are big in Australia as well. About a third of their total turnover is based in Australia and the rest is around the world. There are many countries around the world taking their process engineering, taking their systems, and realising the promise of a truly circular economy.

Today, when I speak to the United Nations General Assembly, this is an issue that I’m going to be focussing on, and the other global environmental challenges we face and the action that we’re taking. But what we’re seeing here, I think, is truly exciting, and it is truly achievable because it is commercial, and it’s a partnership between the public and the private sectors. I mean, up to about two thirds of the revenue that is generated here doesn’t come from the contracts they have with governments, it comes from the products and the revenue streams that are generated by selling that outside of this facility.

And it’s also about jobs. The circular economy, you’ve seen the scale of this plant, you’ve seen the scale of the technology and the investment that goes into this. This is a big business. This is a big economy supporting business. But it’s also making this city a very clean city in terms of how it is recycling its waste. I mean it’s said if you make it here, you can make it anywhere and it seems it’s certainly making it here in New York, and that means that this type of technology, this type of plant offers, I think, real scope and hope in terms of what we can achieve for our circular economy in Australia.

There are many environmental challenges that we face, and we need to take action on all of them, but this one for Australia, in a highly urbanised society, one where our waste is our responsibility, these are the commercial solutions that we need to have in place. And this will be a centrepiece of our focus, not only on our domestic environmental agenda, but on our international environmental agenda.

Waste management, the security and the protection of our oceans, particularly preserving their environmental integrity. All of this is a big part of Australia’s outlook on the world, and we have an enormous contribution to make as Sims is demonstrating right here, right here, in the great big city of New York.

JOURNALIST: Prime minister, as we’ve seen-

PRIME MINISTER:  Just on this one, we’re going to take some questions together on the facility, and then we might excuse Alistair.

JOURNALIST: So you’ve seen here this facility and you’ve been to the Pratt plant in Ohio, if Australians have this technology and the ability to do it on this scale, how come they’re not doing it in Australia?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I think one of the reasons is that you’ve got some of the incentives in the wrong place. I mean, let’s not forget there are some things where we are leading in Australia. I mean, the way we collect waste in Australia is actually quite efficient. We have a lot of big private companies who do that in Australia, that’s not actually the case here, that’s something they can learn from us. But one of the challenges I think is getting the scale of operations in Australia and that is what we are going to have to work closely with State governments and the Commonwealth to ensure we can achieve this scale.

JOURNALIST: How?

PRIME MINISTER: Some of you would be familiar when I was last out in the Dow plant in Sydney, I mean they have 87 per cent recycled bitumen.  Now one of the things we are looking at there is the procurement practices of our road building agencies, to ensure that they are incorporating recycled asphalt into their procurement in the tens of billions of dollars that we are spending on roads. Here is about getting the partnerships right. But you might want to comment on how it has worked here.

ALISTAIR FIELD: Obviously, any contractual arrangement with a city government has to be mutually beneficial, I think that is one of the aspects for us, we work very closely with New York City and in the times that we have ebbs and flows and commodity cycles, there has to be an understanding of how our business can manage through those cycles. We have seen instances here in the US and throughout the world where that has not worked. So that’s a really key arrangement and our commercial arrangement with business and government.

PRIME MINISTER:  And, we have got to put an end point to this as well this is why we announced with the State and Territories, we are putting an end to the export of Australia’s waste to other countries. Now we’ve learned some important things this morning about how we need to structure that and a key issue when you’re doing these things is the standards in which you set. Making sure you are being compliant in a regional and more broadly global setting, and ensuring that there is still the ability for products that come out of plants like this to be sold and to generate revenue streams. So we are learning a lot about this and but actually making it clear by an end date, you are not going to be able to send it off shore. By ensuring that we have clear directions about what you can and can’t put in landfill then that will create the incentive that will create, I think, the spark for commercial solutions to then have value. I mean if you could just more cheaply, chuck it in the ocean or dig a hole and bury it under the ground, then, you know, people are going to do that. But if you can’t do that, then these solutions become very, very commercial.

JOURANLIST: Prime Minister, two pronged question, Alistair have you had any government help, tax breaks or anything like that with the setting up of this plant? And if so, is there something that the Federal government should consider in the way of providing some sort of financial incentive for companies--

PRIME MINISTER:  -- or state

JOURNALIST: Or state -- to ensure that this type of facility helps with our environment?

ALISTAIR FIELD: I think part of what the Prime Minister was also alluding to is the actual aspect of managing waste where it is generated, and part of that means those councils and those states need to be supportive, particularly in terms of land. New York City owns this land, but the actual infrastructure and the cost of the capital we provided, so I think that arrangement or that type of arrangement is really important if you want a sustainable operation going forward.

PRIME MINISTER: And the discussion I had with the states at the last meeting of COAG was a very enthusiastic one, I think there’s a real willingness to identify the things that can facilitate this sort of commercial activity.

Many of the levers are in the hands of the states when it comes to what they can access in terms of land, but also the energy costs in Australia are higher than they are here, and that needs to be addressed. And one of the exciting things about waste management is that waste management can generate its own energy, and plants like this can potentially become – can become -- fully energy self-sufficient through the recycling of the waste, and converting that through gasification and other processes into energy.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Pacific Nations, particularly have called on other Members here at this summit to commit to limiting global warming to 1.5-

PRIME MINISTER: As we’re going to move on, Alistair – thank you Alistair.

ALISTAIR FIELD: Thank you sir.

PRIME MINISTER:  Mate it’s been great to be here. And that bloke from Sydney with his wheelbarrow would be very proud of what you’ve achieved.

JOURNALIST: Still tied into this. I mean, do these kind of projects help achieve that? And what’s Australia’s position on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees?

PRIME MINISTER:  Well we make our commitments and we keep our commitments, in fact, we better our commitments when it comes to addressing climate change and the targets that we’ve set. That will be clear from the 2020 results.

I mean, when I entered Parliament – I entered Parliament in the 2007 election and that was about Kyoto – and here we are, meeting and beating Kyoto, and there is lots of concern about whether we would do that, there was lots of anxiety about that, but you know, we met it, and we’ve beaten it, and that’s what will happen in Australia. So, this is a key point I’m going to be making in my national statement today. Australia has a strong track record of delivering. There will be very few countries who are members of the UN who will be able to stand at that podium today and talk about beating their Kyoto commitments by 367 million tonnes. So, Australia’s got nothing at all to apologise for and everything to commend the actions that we’ve taken and the results we’re getting.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there are reports in China that the Chinese government believes that the US and Australia are being selfish in suggesting that China should self-declare as a developed nation. Is it selfish?

PRIME MINISTER  Australia’s view is based on our national interests on all of these things and that’s what guides our own comments, our own discussions. But I’m very enthused and encouraged by the Foreign Minister’s comments in the last 24 hours, which have recognised, I think, the way that Australia has been sensibly addressing the broader relationship issues around our comprehensive strategic partnership. There’s even editorials in the ‘People’s Daily’ that say similar things. So I think there are far too many data points now that are out there to ignore, that Australia is actually managing our great and powerful friends very well, both, through our significant and long standing alliances as well as our strategic and comprehensive partnerships.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’re coming to the end of your trip and have had a pretty remarkable few days here in the US. Two questions: firstly, was there anything surprising or anything that you found that you’ve learnt that you didn’t know beforehand, that you found potentially surprising? And secondly, going forward, with what’s happened over the last few days, how’s that going to springboard the country and the relationship?

PRIME MINISTER: Well one thing that has never gone from my mind while I’ve been here is the hardship that is being faced in our rural and regional communities due to drought and the second I touch down, I’ll be taking off again and heading out to drought affected communities in Australia. And so that has been very close to my thinking and I’ll make a few remarks about that today.

More broadly, what I’ve been enthused by and encouraged by, is the confirmation that Australia’s economy is seen as strong, performing, stable, reliable and a great place to invest. That is highly respected here in the United States. Yesterday, I had the opportunity, both before and after meeting with you all yesterday afternoon, to speak to the biggest investors in the United States who are the biggest investors in Australia, and they all see Australia the same way. A place of stability, certainty, of good governance with a pro-business, pro-growth agenda which will be supportive of the investments that they would want to make and continue to make in Australia. So, we are seen, I think, in the global economy as a very safe port in the storm and I think that’s always been one of our strengths.

The third point I’d make, is that, it was reinforced to me just today here with Alistair, and as we were talking to others yesterday, that we’ve just got to keep working hard to get our energy costs down and I keep coming back to this issue of gas and looking at all the alternatives on the table. We can’t railroad ourselves out of cheap energy in Australia, we’ve got to make sure that we’re meeting our environmental commitments getting that balance right and ensuring that our businesses have access, whether it’s the gas feedstock or lower energy or micro-grid operations or any of these sorts of things, to make sure that they can compete globally. It’s tough. It’s a tough climate and I think there have been a lot of lessons.

But Australia and the United States have a wonderful security relationship, alliance relationship, but particularly being here in New York and in Chicago, we’ve also got a fantastic economic relationship and investment relationship.

JOURNALIST: PM, prosecutors in Bulgaria have detained Australian Jock Palfreeman, can you, have you had any…

PRIME MINISTER: Pardon?

JOURNALIST: Prosecutors in Bulgaria have detained Australian Jock Palfreeman, even though he’s been granted parole. Do you have any information at all on what’s happening there?

PRIME MINISTER: Nothing that I can comment on here publically.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you mentioned that the 2007 election when you came in was fought on Kyoto, what does it say that here we are five election cycles later, still arguing about Australia’s climate action. Does it show there’s been failures on both sides, both governments?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don’t think we are arguing. Everyone agrees that we need to take action on climate change.

JOURNALIST: But what action?

PRIME MINISTER: The action that meets, that we meet our 2020 targets and we meet our 2030 targets. And that we have a three billion dollar climate solutions fund, a policy for meeting our 2030 emissions reduction targets, that I took to the election and we were successful at that election. So the argument is no longer about whether you need to take action on climate change, that argument is settled in Australian politics, in terms of the major parties. The issue is, how governments responsibly manage and balance those commitments to secure Australia’s future. And that’s what our government is doing, and I believe we’ve got the balance right and I think at the last election our opponents inability to explain their policies and the impact of their policies on everyday Australians, I think got the response that I would have expected to get. See, we’re quite transparent about this. We say what we’re going to do, we put the policies in place to achieve it and then we achieve it. And you know what? We better it. Now I hope we better it on 2030, I hope we better it.

JOURNALIST: PM, just on energy prices, you say you went to Parliament in 2007. Acknowledging that energy prices have almost doubled in some places around Australia since then…

PRIME MINISTER: They did double under Labor, that’s true.

JOURNALIST: No, but they’ve increased under you as well…

PRIME MINISTER: No, I’ve got to correct you on this. They came down by 500 per household after we abolished the carbon tax.

JOURNALIST: And they’ve gone back up…

PRIME MINISTER: And then they’ve risen back up since then. That’s true, so I don’t disagree with that. But your point about electricity prices doubling – that happened under Labor.

JOURNALIST: I put it to you though, but, do you agree that both sides of politics have actually failed voters, failed Australians because of the rising cost of electricity?

PRIME MINISTER: I think there is more work to be done, and it’s a constant challenge. But I think that one of the things that we also have to acknowledge that the Commonwealth Government is not the primary agency of government that actually impacts on electricity prices. We all know that it’s the State Governments that who basically are in charge of the assets and resources access that principally determines these costs and the cost of the system and the utilities and so on. And the poles and wires and how they manage all those things. But they also determine whether you can get gas out from under people’s feet. Now the reason electricity prices are as low as they are in the United States, and particularly down south, is because of access to gas, we’ve got heaps of gas and it’s being kept under people’s feet. So that’s something we’ve got to change.

JOURNALIST: But there’s not much you can do about it, is there Prime Minister, as you say, it’s up to the states?

PRIME MINISTER: No we need the states to change those rules, that’s true.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you spoke about transparency a minute ago, can we be transparent about two things in relation to climate policy? Will Australia update its commitment under the Paris agreement next year before the COP in Glasgow, which is part of the Paris process?

PRIME MINISTER: We have our commitments and we are sticking to those commitments

JOURNALIST: Will be updating them?

PRIME MINISTER: These are our commitments and these are the commitments we’ve set.

JOURNALIST: So it that a no, sorry, just so I understand you correctly?

PRIME MINISTER: We are keeping with the commitments we have set, and you know why? Because that’s what I took to the Australian people.

JOURNALIST: And on the 2050 strategy, I asked you this in Chicago, in the PIF communiqué Australia signed up to a communiqué that says nations will develop in 2020, a 2050 strategy, will Australia do that?

PRIME MINISTER: We said that we would assess that as part of our statement and we will assess that as we have said we would do, but my priority is meeting 2020 and 2030. We will look at the broader context, but honestly our focus is on meeting the commitments that we’ve set, by keeping the commitments that we gave to the Australian people, and we will meet those and I hope we beat them. Just as we have been able to beat our 2020 commitments and there will be a lot that happens over the next 10 years. I would hope that over that time, with the technological advancement and many other changes that will take place, is that we won’t just meet our 2030 commitments, I suspect we will hopefully be able to do better than that.

But, what makes these things happen is frankly not people meeting in rooms, it’s what governments do. I mean, here in the United States, their emissions trajectory is also falling, and they’re not even signatories to these arrangements. They’re seeing a transformation and a transitioning of their economy which is influenced by many things, not least being the supply of gas, and replacing a lot of the coal fired generation that occurs in the United States.

So, we can all get very excited about what happens at global summits, but what is actually more important is what happens on the ground. Whether you build the world’s largest pumped hydro project in the southern hemisphere, which is what we’re doing. Whether you actually have a climate solutions fund that runs reverse options to reduce emissions, that’s the stuff that matters. People can say whatever they like at the United Nations, and they often do, but at least Australia when we say it, we actually do it.

JOURNALIST: What do you say to the Pacific neighbours though who have said quite personally as friends and family, which is how you describe them, that they need more from Australia. What do you say to them when you say no, what do you explain to them?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I don’t, I don’t say no. Because I mean this is one of the misrepresentations that are out there…

JOURNALIST: Well they’re asking for a 2050...

PRIME MINISTER: And what I’ve found when I’ve sat down with Pacific leaders, is they’ve been quite surprised when I’ve told them that our emissions per capita is at 29 year lows. That we have the highest investment in renewables per capita of any country in the world. And when you put the next two together, it’s about the same, in fact just a little bit less than us. See what I’ve found in engaging with neighbours, and even here, is often times the criticisms that have been made about Australia are completely false and they’re completely misleading and people have had a prejudiced view about what Australia is actually doing. They get their information now, where do they get their information from? Who knows? Maybe they read it, maybe they read it. But from what’s come out in the media and other things like this, how they get their information…

JOURNALIST: No, no, don’t do that…

PRIME MINISTER: All I am saying is when I’ve spoken to them, they’ve been surprised to learn about the facts about what Australia has been doing. I’ve had those conversations as recently as when Frank Bainimarama came to Australia. Or when the Prime Minister of Samoa was. Or in Papua New Guinea, or in other places. They are very pleased to learn, and they are also very pleased to learn that we’re putting $500 million out of our aid program, into actually addressing the resilience and other issues associated with climate change into the Pacific.

I’m not writing a $500 million cheque to the UN, I won’t be doing that. There’s no way I’m going to do that to Australian taxpayers. What I’m doing to do is make sure we make our commitments out of our overseas development assistance so that money gets to those projects quicker and in a more transparent way. I think Australian taxpayers deserve that, rather than just generically writing cheques to funds here in New York, or in Geneva, or anywhere else.

JOURNALIST: Do you have a highlight? Do you have one stand out moment in your trip?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, I’d say this. Standing on the South Lawn of the White House and to be able to reflect on more than 100 years of being a sure and steadfast ally to our largest and most significant alliance partner, and to talk about my confidence about how we can do that for another hundred years, that goes well beyond any Prime Minister or President, it speaks to the deep relationship that we have with the US. A relationship that has produced $1.7 trillion in investment in both of our economies, that actually ensured that Australians can live peacefully in our region. I always say when I come overseas, that it’s about the safety of Australians and it’s about the jobs of Australians. 1 in 5 jobs. And this is a big relationship when it comes to jobs in Australia and whether that’s jobs in the agricultural sector, in the technology sector, in the space sector or anywhere else, and it’s about the safety of our service men and women who serve alongside our American allies.

So standing on the South Lawn of the White House and to be able to talk about that record of relationship and the fact that Australians carry their own weight and I’ll be making those same points today at the United Nations. We do our share of the heavy lifting, whether it’s on the peace and security of the world, particularly in our own region, or whether it’s to confront the great global environmental challenges through the sort of practical steps like we’re seeing here, an Aussie company here in New York doing this. Or whether indeed the successful actions we’ve taken on climate change and will continue to do. Thanks very much.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42437

Doorstop - United Nations, New York

24 September 2019

Prime Minister

PRIME MINISTER: I’m very pleased to be here with the Foreign Minister to be participating in the UN General Assembly Leaders’ Week and I’ll be looking forward tomorrow to be providing the national statement, I’ll be focusing very much on Australia’s policy action in relation to key environmental challenges which don’t just include climate change but importantly the issue of our oceans, the management of our oceans, the impact of plastics on our oceans, waste management, and illegal fishing - important issues for Australia. I look forward to having the opportunity on addressing those issues tomorrow. Today though it’s been a busy day for the Foreign Minister and I with a series of bilateral meetings. Today I met earlier with the King of Jordan, the Prime Minister of Thailand, the new Prime Minister of Greece, who we hope to be welcoming to Australia next year, in the first half of next year. And I know there’ll be about 400 000 thousand Australians of Greek decent will be saying Yasou to that. Absolutely we’re looking forward to a great visit. And of course the President of Korea with whom I’ve met on many occasions. They’re our fourth largest trading partner and this was also a very good opportunity to talk about a whole raft of issues both on our economic relationship ­– where they’re involved in everything from major infrastructure projects in Australia, defence procurement projects - but also looking to our broader partnership which we’re seeking to establish around rare earths and critical minerals. The Foreign Minister, who I’ll ask to make a few comments today, Minister Payne earlier today met with her counterpart from China, in what has been the second of those meetings in the last six months – the last two months. We welcome that opportunity as well. And there have been many other engagements, we were there for the earlier presentations to the General Assembly and while I’m here in New York I’m also taking the opportunity to be talking to some of the biggest investors in Australia and understanding how they’re seeing the road ahead. And we’re very encouraged by their enthusiasm about the strength of the Australian economy, which really stands out in the globe at the moment. So, Marise.

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SENATOR THE HON MARISE PAYNE: Thanks Prime Minister. Looking forward to your national statement tomorrow. It’s been an opportunity the past few days to participate in the key events here for UNGA Leaders’ Week and importantly on cyber security in particular yesterday with our partners in the Netherlands, and the United States convening a joint statement of twenty seven signatories around the importance of lawful behaviour in cyberspace. Also, participating in the forum on universal health coverage where Australia provides significant support, regionally, and more broadly to ensure that we are supporting countries in delivering primary health care and secondary health care to their populations. A number of key bilaterals as you’ve already pointed out, Prime Minister, including today with the new Israeli Foreign Minister Katz, with State Councillor Wang Yi, with my counterpart in Poland, and a range of others. And of course some key engagements coming this afternoon, particularly around Myanmar and the status of the Rohingyas, which will follow on from my recent visit to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. So the Bangladeshi Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina convening that forum this afternoon.

JOURNALIST: Senator Payne, in your meeting with Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister, did he raise the tenor of this trip with the Prime Minister’s speech, you know about the developing status -- sorry the developing nation status with you?

PAYNE: Well it’s not my practice to go into the details of my private bilateral meetings. But I can say it was a very positive meeting. As the Prime Minister said it’s my second meeting with State Councillor Wang Yi in the last two months. We also met in Bangkok in the sidelines of the EAS and for Foreign Ministers meeting. But most importantly we acknowledge that our relationship is based on our comprehensive strategic partnership and that’s the premise from which we begin.

JOURNALIST: Do you share the PM’s views that China isn’t a developing country now?

PAYNE: Well, I think the Prime Minister has outlined Australia’s position in his speech in Chicago yesterday. But more importantly, consistently for many, many months now and particularly in his Asia link speech in Australia

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Greta Thunberg. She’s warning of impending extinction. Her message to you and other leaders is “how dare you?” What’s your response?

PRIME MINISTER: Well first of all, I think that it’s important to acknowledge how deeply people feel about this issue. And we feel deeply about it to – that’s why we’re taking the action that we are taking. That’s why I’ll be addressing the actions Australia’s been taking on climate change in my remarks tomorrow. I think there’s a lot of disinformation out there, about frankly, what Australia is doing. You’ve heard me say on so many occasions now the progress we’ve been able to make., the fact that we meet our targets that we set. And in fact, we exceed them. It often comes as news to people when I share with them that Australia has the highest per capita investments in renewable energy of any country in the world. And in fact when put two and three together they still don’t believe us. And so I think there is a bit of lack of awareness about the action Australia has been taking. And so tomorrow will be a good opportunity I think to set all these issues out. But I do understand that people do feel strongly about this, but I think we also have to take stock and we have to ensure that we get a proper context and perspective. You know, I want children growing up in Australia to feel positive about their future. And I think it’s important that we give them that confidence that they will not only have a wonderful country and pristine environment to live in, but they’ll also have an economy they can live in as well. And so, I would, I think we’ve got to caution against raising the anxieties of children in our country. Yeah we’ve got to deal with the policy issues, and we’ve got to take it seriously, but I don’t want our children having anxieties about these issues. Australia has dealt with so many issues in the past and the world has dealt with so many difficult issues in the past. And here we’re reminded of that. I mean the very institution that we stand adjacent to was the product of coming out of one of the greatest, well the greatest conflict the world has ever seen. So previous generations have seen quite existential threats in the past and these days I think it’s important – and I say this as a parent too – we’ve got to make sure that our kids understand the facts but they also have the context and the perspective and we do not create an anxiety amongst children in how we talk about and deal with these very real issues.

JOURNALIST: What did you make of António Guterres’ warning about a great fracture in the world, the world being split between China and the United States? And do you think we’re already seeing this happening in the Pacific Islands?

PRIME MINISTER: Again, I think this is what Australia brings to the table so often, as I remarked yesterday in Chicago. I’m a lot more optimistic about this. I’m a lot more optimistic about it. As I explained in the Chicago speech yesterday, the world has reached – the world global economy and the biggest players in that economy have reached a new level and that just means that the global institutions and settings that sit around that have to be recalibrated to recognise that. We don’t have to see this in the great conquest of ideologies and belief systems. It’s just the economy moving through a new phase, and the international community adjusting to that. That’s what we’re seeing. And whether it’s on technologies – and I’ve just had a meeting with some of the biggest investors here in the country – they understand like we do, that there will be different platforms and different systems. But if you get the standards right, then you can get interoperability between those. So, I’m not fatalistic about these things. And it’s important I think for Australians not to be, because our experience always proves that we have no need to be. And so, I would say, whether it’s to young kids, or people in their retirement, or people in their middle age or in whatever stage in life they’re at, if you live in Australia there’s a great reason to be optimistic, and experience always proves that.

JOURNALIST: Anthony Albanese said that your trip is a failure on trade because you failed to convince Mr Trump and that it was too partisan. How do you react to those?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh look… I’m afraid Anthony and the Labor Party have become a weapon of mass confusion. Whether it’s on issues of the economy or issues of border security, or immigration, and now on issues of foreign affairs. They change their position in the desperate search for relevance on a day-to-day basis. I would urge them to take a more mature reading of these sorts of things. The position I’ve been outlining on these issues about managing our relationship between our comprehensive strategic partner and our most significant and greatest ally is a position that I’ve been setting out now for a very long period of time. And it’s been the consistency in that position that I think has ensured that we’ve maintained the credibility of these relationships. I’m not in the business of surprises. I’m in the business of being very clear about why we saying things, what we’re doing, and engaging in the relationships we have. And I think the meeting between Marise Payne, the foreign minister and her counterpart today is a further demonstration of the fact that relationship continues to be in good shape.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister one of the things that the President spoke about in his joint press conference with you the other day in Washington was Robert O’Brien’s hostage negotiations skills. We’ve got Australians in Iranian prison at the moment. Have you spoken to the US about that at all, or Foreign Minister have you spoken to [inaudible] at all?

PRIME MINISTER: I’ll ask Marise to comment separately, but I’ve said on a number of occasions now that it is never in interest of those who are the subject of these issues for them to be canvassed in discussions in forums like this, it’s just not in their interests and that’s why I don’t.

JOURNALIST: Foreign Minister?

PAYNE: We are very focused on diplomatic negotiations as you would expect.

JOURNALIST: On plastics, Prime Minister. Can you describe or outline what you would like the world to do when it comes to this issue? Secondly, can you describe your feelings about what sort of threat plastics pose to the environment and to the ocean?

PRIME MINISTER: Sure. Well, first of all, what needs to be done when it comes to plastics recycling, and for that matter, any area of waste management, is it needs to be commercially sustainable as a model. We don’t want to see you know, taxes, and large levels of state intervention, and massive summits, and these sorts of things. What we want to see is industry leadership, and support for that leadership, and research, and design, and the identification of new products and markets, and how we can facilitate that, so you get a commercially sustainable waste management operation. Now, this is one of the issues I discussed with the Thai Prime Minister today. It is an important issue for them. It will be an important issue that’s been, was raised in last year’s East Asia Summit. So where you have commercially-led models, where resource in the same way Anthony Pratt has been able to build a very successful recycling business, both in Australia and the United States. We want to see that same sort of model be successful in the plastics recycling industry. And Australia has an enormous amount to offer here and it’s not only going to make our environment cleaner and the world’s oceans cleaner, but I think it’s going to be a real jobs opportunity for Australia. So, what does it mean for the oceans? Well, look. We need to take action on climate change, but there are actually issues like plastics in our oceans which present even more immediate threats. Not only to the wellbeing of our oceans from an environmental perspective, but they have quite significant impacts on health, particularly in the Pacific Island communities, particularly when you’re talking about nano plastics. This actually gets into the reproductive system of the food chain and of human beings themselves. So, this is a very real and present threat and is something that we clearly have the ability to address. And, I am sure that we can take action on climate change and actually raise the priority and focus on dealing with the world’s waste management and plastics problems and be able to achieve both.

JOURNALIST: President Trump in his address today noted his view was that the future doesn’t belong to globalists, it belongs to patriots. I wonder if you share that view? He also made a reflection about China’s status as a developing country. Is he echoing you? Or are you echoing him? And on Iran, he seems to say that the really tough decision is not to have a war there and to try and extract a peace, that must have given you some comfort?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me start with the last point first and I said this when we were in the Oval Office together and that was, I commend the restraint that the President is showing on the issue of Iran. Now, our involvement on that matter is on a separate issue regarding the freedom of navigation. And I’ve been very clear about the nature of that involvement. But, the President has been very clear that this is by no means a preferred option. I think he is showing restraint and seeking to work the issue through and I do welcome that. And as he said in the Oval Office, people may have had preconceptions of what his position on these things might be, but I think his practice, he’s shown they got those preconceptions completely wrong. On the first issue that you raised, I thought a very important point the President made this morning was about respecting the independence and sovereignty of independent nation states. And our Indo-Pacific vision, which is shared with Indonesia, with Japan, with India, with Korea – who call it by a different name – but, that is the fundamental building block of peace and stability in our region. It is respecting the independence and sovereignty of all of these nations that we live alongside with. And this is why we have always looked to ASEAN, those ASEAN countries, whether it be Thailand, or Singapore, or Indonesia, or Malaysia or others. They have coexisted quite happily on this basis for some period of time, operating with that as their guiding principle and I think the President reflected that sentiment today and I think that’s an endorsement of the view of how you maintain a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. You’ll have to remind me of the second part of your question…

JOURNALIST: China - developing country-

PRIME MINISTER: Look, we often come to same, similar conclusions, but we come from a different perspective on occasions. As I said also, we also have a trade surplus with China, they have a trade deficit. But the issues that are being raised are really about this gear change that I have said we have got to with the maturity of the Chinese economy. Now, that’s happened. I mean, when you look at the level of investment that China makes in countries outside of their own borders, when you look at the level of military expansion within their own ranks. They are not the actions of a developing country. They are the actions of the second largest economy in the world and I think for Anthony Albanese to dismiss that today in the way that he has, I think shows the very confused position and he needs to update himself on the scale of the achievements that I think China have been able to amass at rapid rate, at record rates. So, it is really coming to the same conclusion that we need to move into this next phase and moving into that next phase does mean ensuring that we are all sort of playing on a level playing field, so I wish them both well in coming to an agreement that recognises this. I don’t see this as an issue of conflict, I see this as a set of issues that were inevitable, and they would have to be addressed at some point. They are now being addressed at this point and I look forward to their conclusion.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister. Britain’s in the midst of a constitutional crisis. You’re a great friend of Great Britain and Boris Johnson. Are you concerned about that? Will you have an opportunity to speak to the Prime Minister?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I spoke to him yesterday actually. We were sitting alongside each other, as Marise was arriving. We had a bit of a chat while we were sitting there. It is obviously a period of great uncertainty and instability at the moment, but that’s not really news in that situation. It’s been like that now for several years. And so we would just hope like everybody else that this matter can be brought to some sort of conclusion and stability can be restored and I think that’s what is important for the people of Great Britain. But also more broadly in terms of seeking to settle arrangements with the European Union. The uncertainty that sits around a lot of these global issues at the moment, obviously it has an impact on the confidence and sentiment in the global economy. Australia is not immune to that. We are seeing that impact on Australia more recently. So, we are always keen to see these things resolved.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minster. Just back to kids being anxious about climate change. Do you think kids in Australia would be less anxious about climate change if emissions were falling rather than rising and if there was a clear commitment from your government to develop a 2050 strategy for emissions reduction that sees Australia get to net zero? And also, if I may, on China, what do you say to people who think, given the alignment between your language and Donald Trump’s in relation to developing economy status, in relation to climate change, that Australia has already made a decision between its major security partner and its major economic partner and that we are firmly now in America’s corner?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I would say in relation to the last point that you made, that’s a flawed analysis of the situation. The United States is our great ally and China is our comprehensive strategic partner and we continue to maintain that this isn’t a matter of choosing. This is a matter of working closely with both nations and in the spirit of both of those histories and those relationships. So, no, I’ve been saying for some time now Katherine, that I reject the binary narrative that keeps being thrust towards me on this. I don’t buy it. And I don’t support it. And I am not going to make decisions based on it. I think it is a very narrow-cast analysis. On the former issue, I’m talking about 10 and 12 year old kids. And 10 and 12 year old kids need to have discussions about these issues, which have perspective and context. So that it doesn’t create needless anxiety.

JOURNALIST: I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude or cut across you-

PRIME MINISTER: You’ll give it a go anyway-

JOURNALIST: No, no. I don’t mean to be rude, but they are not dumb. These kids are not dumb.

PRIME MINISTER: I’m not saying they are. I have a 10 and 12 year old child myself.

JOURNALIST: Exactly.

PRIME MINISTER: And we don’t have deep conversations about emissions reduction targets and what’s happening with the Kyoto Protocol and Paris, but we talk about fossil fuels and we talk about what they learn at school. And I encourage them to have a passionate, independent view about how they see the world, but I also give them a lot of context. I don’t allow them to be basically contorted into one particular view, I like them to make up their own mind. But I also like to give them reassurance, because the worst thing I would impose on any child, is needless anxiety. They have got enough things to be anxious about. I always like kids to be kids. We have got to let kids be kids. We can’t have them sort of growing up as mushrooms either, but at the same time, I think we’ve got to get a bit of context and perspective into this. We’re taking action on climate change. We are meeting our targets. We are planning for Australian’s future. Australia’s best days are ahead of it. And young children growing up in Australia should feel great about Australia’s future. I do. I feel great about my future- for my children, our children as Australians and whatever challenges come our way, we’ll deal with them, like we always have.

JOURNALIST: Just on the situation in West Papua. It seems to be deteriorating, with reports Indonesian forces have used live ammunition, the internet has been shut down. What do you both make of that situation and have you been lobbying on behalf of the Pacific who raised this and, if they were quite keen for a UN visit at some point in the next year?

PAYNE: Well, we are obviously very concerned about the reports of violence in Papua and West Papua. And they are matters which our Post in Jakarta is obviously following up with authorities there. We have indicated consistently that we urge absolute restraint from both sides in actions that are happening on the ground there and most particularly support President Widodo’s calls for calm as well. But, I expect to be updated on that in the coming days.

JOURNALIST: Minister, When you spoke to your Chinese counterpart, did you raise the Uyghurs, especially the disturbing footage that came out and what did he respond?

PAYNE: Well, Andrew I did say previously that it’s not my practice to go into the details of my conversations, but I do consistently raise in an appropriate way and with my counterpart our concerns around human rights issues. That does include Xinjiang and in this case it also includes Dr Yang Hengjun, who of course continues to be detained in China and I have encouraged the Chinese authorities again to provide him with access to a lawyer.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42435

Doorstop Interview - Chicago, USA

23 September 2019

Prime Minister

PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you for joining us here today and in this great city of Chicago. This morning I had the opportunity to set out in front of one of the longest running global foreign affairs institutions anywhere in the world about how we saw this great alliance we have with the United States impacting and playing out into the future, but as it all comes down to the important things for Australia and our national interests- and that’s our jobs. Whether it’s the investment we’re making in Australian businesses, in Australian technology, in Australian workers to ensure that they can be part of and benefit from the NASA space program. No cheques going to NASA. Cheques are going to actually support Australian businesses and Australian jobs so we can have that capability to participate to have benefit for Australians. As I said on the day some 20,000 Australians jobs we want in our space industry, and a 12 billion dollar industry and to do that you’ve got to plug in. And to be able to plug in you need to make the improvements and build the capability in our own businesses and in our own workforce to ensure that we can realise those opportunities. Because whether it’s in our technology relationship and here in Chicago having just been at the 1871 venture and seeing Australian businesses coming out here and putting in place new ground for them, growing their businesses back in Australia while extending their borders over here in the United States. When the scale, the sheer scale, of the investment relationship between Australia and the United States is 1.7 trillion dollars, it is the biggest investment partnership there is. So to be here, is about those jobs, it’s about the jobs that flow from that investment that goes into the United States. It's about our businesses that can then take what they’re learning as test labs in Australia and take it to the biggest market in the world - in terms of the size of the US economy.

So at the end of this day this stuff is always about jobs but you know, while we’ve been here, all of us, of course the issues of the drought in Australia continue to persist. And we’re going to continue to be there for our rural and regional communities in providing the support that has already seen our commitments of some 200 million or thereabouts in the farm household allowance program. 110 million going into the drought communities program investing into individual Shires. Money we’re putting in to supporting financial counselling, additional mental health counselling, ensuring we are supporting the charitable organisations. Getting that support into communities. All of these initiatives which were set out after last year’s drought summit. We are currently going through the process of working out, working through a second round of support for our drought affected communities around the country.

Later this week, the Treasurer, will be visiting some of those communities. The deputy Prime Minister is doing that over the next few days as well. As we work towards finalising the second round of our support. Those programs we put in, whether it was on the drought communities program, which was a million dollars to each local government area, we’ve also de-complicated to a significant extent how people can access the financial assistance that comes in the form of the farm household allowance. These are important ways of providing that support. We have always said cannot make it rain, but what we can do is both invest in the immediate income supports and needs that Australians in these communities have whether that’s their mental health or their children in school or just putting food on the table through income support or indeed looking at the longer term water infrastructure issues. I mean in the first round of announcements we had over 700 million for that, there was 50 million dollars that went into the grants and support for people that put on farm and water infrastructure projects in place. We got the drought fund of course we were able to get through parliament and we were pleased to do that which is providing ongoing commitments of over one hundred million dollars once that rolls into effect on the first of July next year, having gone through those consultations.

So, while we’re here talking about the economy, the alliance, the wonderful opportunities that come from that and the positive role Australia is playing in a very complex world at the moment, my thoughts are also very much about what’s happening in these drought communities in Australia. And I look forward to when I return the first thing I’m going to do is get out there and reconnect and speak with those communities as we put the final touches over the next little while on that next round of the drought system.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, why have you chosen to come here, to Chicago, to speak to a foreign policy institute and not join other world leaders at the UN talking about climate change today?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is one of the oldest global foreign affairs policy institutions in the world. New York, there’s a lot of people there this week and so I had the opportunity here to speak through a different channel. World leaders have come from all over the place to speak at this august organisation. And I was pleased to have the invitation and I was pleased to accept it. At the forum this morning in New York, we will be represented by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne who’s got a speaking role on behalf of Australia today and Australia will be well represented there.  I’ll be there this afternoon as we engage in some issues around counter terrorism and the internet. I will be meeting with Pacific leaders over the course of this week. On Wednesday when I give the national statement at the UN General Assembly. I’ll be focusing very much on Australia’s response to the global environmental challenges. Which isn’t just climate change as I said today it’s about plastics, it’s about oceans, it’s about recycling. And one of the really exciting things about yesterday, about being in Ohio is that what the Pratt industries organisation is doing is bringing the common sense practical achievements and research and technological development they’ve learned in Australia, in paper recycling and they’re bringing it to the United States. I mean, they have very low levels of paper recycling here in the US so the opportunity for their business is great. So I was going to be- When Australian businesses are doing well, I want to be there to back them in and encourage them.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Australian for quite a long time have accepted that in climate change negotiations, there is a framework for which to make contributions. Does Australia no longer accept this framework and does China need to make a developed economic contribution in global climate change agreements?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I think when you look at the projections on emissions out to 2030, what you’ll see is Australia meeting its commitments, you’ll see the United States who aren’t even a signatory to the Paris agreement, their emissions are heading in the same direction they are flat lining. But, the emissions increase is actually happening in a lot of those countries, China included. If the goal is to reduce emissions then we have obviously got to focus on the places which have the largest emissions-that just seems like common sense to me.

JOURNALIST: So China has to take responsibility as a developing nation?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, all nations have to take responsibility, and Australia is taking our responsibly seriously. We set our targets, we meet our targets. I mean, the 2020 Kyoto target commitment that we will meet next year has been a significant achievement for Australia. It has been achieved through many, many different initiatives. A profound part of that has been just the scale of technological change that has occurred in Australia over that period as well as the specific initiatives we have put in place. So we will exceed our commitments by 367 million tonnes. Now, that is Australia backing up its action, backing up its commitments and so we do that and other countries, I would hope should do the same thing.

JOURNALIST: At the Pratt factory yesterday both Donald Trump and Mr Pratt sighted the company tax cuts by Mr Trump as responsible for that investment. I know you ruled it out in the immediate term but sometime in the distant dark future do you think Australia could revisit a lower corporate tax rate?

PRIME MINISTER: Well look, I will keep the commitments that I made at the last election and that’s what I’m doing. But as you know, my view has always been that I want people to keep more of what they earn and I want to see investment in Australia and there are many ways to achieve that. I meant what I said, when I [inaudible] about corporate tax at the last election and I’ll be keeping that promise.

JOURNALIST: The investment environment that Donald Trump has created in America has allowed him to expand his business so company tax cuts aside [inaudible] did you learn any lesson that might make our investment environment better?

PRIME MINISTER: A, our first lesson is there’s a great alignment I think, in the economic policy settings of the United States and Australia and that’s largely what the President and I were saying yesterday and the job performance record of both countries I think speaks to that. One of the urgent issues though that we have to address more, is the competitive price of energy in Australia for commercial industrial users and to make sure we can get cheaper energy and particularly gas feed stock into our Commercial industrial users in Australia and that’s why for many years now I have been one of, in the biggest cheer squad for ‘let’s get the gas out from under our feet’. Why has America actually got a trajectory on emissions which is one that is not dissimilar from Australia despite the fact that we are in Paris and they are not? One of the biggest reasons for that has been the gas revolution here in the United States. Now, we are not short of gas either. That’s why accessing our gas is really important for Australia’s competitive future and for jobs in Australia and that is why we have to keep pressure on to get the access to that gas and ensure that we can produce the lower cost energy which is needed for industries in Australia and to be able to do.  Now I think that has been a big take out for the United States but I have to tell you it is no different for when I was here as Treasurer and I was in Texas at the beginning of last year. Their gas revolution down there is putting their industries and their businesses on a very solid footing and I am very keen to get us on a similar footing.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on re-tooling the trade environment for the 21st Century, what would like to see around that, have you got other countries support on that? Specifically talking about China just basically no longer being seen as a developing nation, rather as a developed one.

PRIME MINISTER: Well I think you’ll see the latter start to immerge in new arrangements that are put in place. I think you’ll see some encouraging signs of that. I’ve talked about the work Australian is doing with the WTO at the moment on e-commerce rules which is basically just writing new rules because that obviously wasn’t in place when the organisation was formed and then you’ve got agreements like we have that we are putting together with Singapore which really do, sort of, provide a lab if you like, for how those rules between those two nations can be more broadly applied. So look it’s a painstaking process with the WTO, like it is with any multilateral organisation, there seem to be a lot more brakes than accelerators in these organisations. That’s why I don’t raise my expectations too high about these sort of multilateral forums or summits. We participate in it, we take our responsibilities, when there is an opportunity to speak with a clear voice here in the United States and focus on that alliance which has been the reason for my visit to the United States. That’s why I’ve come here.

JOURNALIST: Donald Trump said yesterday that you won the election in part because you believe in a lot of the same things as him and he thought you would go a long way, would you similarly endorse him for a second term?

PRIME MINISTER: Well look, it’s not the job of the Prime Ministers of foreign countries to involve themselves in domestic politics. But as you can see we do share a lot of the same views. We do believe that people can keep, should keep more of what they earn; we do think the best form of welfare is a job; we do think that if you can stimulate and ensure that your small business entrepreneurs, like we’re seeing this morning, it was great to see so many Australians there as part of that lab, getting out there and creating jobs, and that’s the way you can pay for the hospitals, pay for schools, ensure that the aspirations and standard of living that your people look forward to, that that is how it’s achieved. He clearly has tremendous support for that and I think you could see that on display as we made our way to the Pratt plant.

JOURNALIST: One of the things that the President spoke to you on this morning is religious freedom, how confident are you that you are going to be able to get that religious freedoms bill passed in Parliament and that there won’t continue to be fractions within your own party?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’re not having any of those fractions that you have alluded to and so I’m very appreciative of the very mature way that my colleagues have worked together to fashion a draft bill, which is the starting point for those consultations outside of the government, and I think that’s going really well.  I think that’s going really, really well. And we’ve been I think quite patient as we’ve sought to take this bill forward, and we will keep doing that and we’ll listen very carefully in consultations that we are having. And if there are further amendments that are necessary before the bill is introduced into Parliament then we will make those judgments, as a Cabinet. I have said from the outset on the Religious Discrimination Act that I want this to be a process that is actually bringing people together, not forcing them apart. I think there is a broad level of agreement here and I think we are achieving that. I am encouraged particularly whether it is the role that the Attorney General has played or others to keep this agenda very much in the mainstream of the Australian community.

JOURNALIST: One of the goals today at the United Nations is to get leaders to commit further to cut emissions. What is your position on that and one of the other ideas is net zero emissions over the long term, do you think net zero emissions is even possible?

PRIME MINISTER: I am committed to what I took to the Australian people. That was 26% by 2030. That is what we will achieve, that is what I promised we will do, and that’s what I told the Australian people we will do.

JOURNALIST: And after that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well we are making our commitments to 2030, that’s what we are doing. And we’re going to meet them. See, we keep meeting the targets, we keep setting them, and we keep meeting them.

JOURNALIST: But don’t you feel you need to say something further in the long term?

PRIME MINISTER: Not at this point.

JOURNALIST: Do you think [inaudible] at the Pacific Islands’ forum to do a 2050 strategy next year?  

PRIME MINISTER: We’d certainly look at that as part of the communique.

JOURNALIST: A rugby league question. Israel Folau apparently wants to play for Tonga. Tonga wants him to play for them as well, but the Australian Rugby League are trying to oppose it. What’s your view?

PRIME MINISTER: I leave the NRL’s management to the NRL. I don’t pretend to give them any advice, other than the odd courteous suggestion for the Prime Minister’s XIII, which will be up playing in Fiji in a little while.

JOURNALIST: Would you like to see him play?

PRIME MINISTER: I don’t think it needs my input frankly.

JOURNALIST: Back on China for a tic, In your speech you talked about great powers having great responsibility, what exactly do you want China to do that they are not doing or abiding by at the moment?

PRIME MINISTER: I think it is fairly plain. What I have been arguing for is just a simple recognition that the purpose of our effort over three decades or more has been to see the economic development and growth of China, which has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, I mean, that is fantastic, I celebrate that. I said when I was in Washington, that we celebrate the economic success of other nations, because it means that we can go and trade with them and that brings more growth, so I celebrate that and I just want to see it keep happening. But obviously, as nations progress and develop then the obligations and how the rules apply to them also shift. We have not seen the emergence of a nation economically like China since the United States frankly, and at a pace which has even outstripped that. So that obviously is going to impact on how the global institutions and rules work.  So mine is a fairly obvious point, that this was an inevitable point that we would arrive at, because of the objectives and purposes of the policies and the enthusiasm with which we pursued them over all of that time. So similar rules will apply to countries of similar capabilities, whether it is your obligations on environment or obligations on trade, and to do it transparently with other countries, and certainly when it comes to debt arrangements and things of that nature, that should apply to us, it should apply to the US and should apply more broadly. And what does that produce? It produces a more certain, more prosperous, more positive future for all of us.

JOURNALIST: On the Pacific Islands - Have you talked to Donald Trump about the US investing more in the Pacific Islands so that China does not win over their allegiance?

PRIME MINISTER: That’s not necessarily the purpose. You would have seen in the document that was released and the agreements that we were able to come to involved having a closer coordination on investments we are making in the southwest Pacific together. So we have discussed these issues very, very directly about how we can partner more in the programs that we are running in the southwest Pacific. That is in a broader context of the same conversations I have had with Great Britain and with Japan and India and other nations that have got an interest in the area. We welcome the same from China.

JOURNALIST: But more money, more investment?

PRIME MINISTER: We are there. If we are all doing it, I think it is a good idea to coordinate it and align it and not be running off in different directions. That is the way it can be of most effect. Australia invests significantly in our overseas development programme in the southwest Pacific. And as you know, I have focused that program on the southwest Pacific, I have made it the priority. That is where we can do the most good, have the most help, and I think do the most in promoting Australia’s national interest. Whether it’s our strategic or economic security. That is where our focus needs to be.

JOURNALIST: Did you feel like you were at a Trump rally yesterday? Was it a concern to you? And on this trip, have you also played part diplomat? Have you reached out to the other side of politics at all?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I have been here to see the President, that was the intention. We had a magnificent night the other night. What was more important was that we reaffirmed the very foundations of this relationship. While I have been here today, particularly in this city, is I wanted to stress the economic side of that relationship. Yesterday, we were in Ohio, because I wanted to highlight the economic dimension of our alliance and partnership with the United States. And that’s what we are there to do. That’s what we are here for. Earlier in the day, the President was with Prime Minister Modi [inaudible] He spoke Hindi at his rally, and I didn’t. it was there to be the opening of Australian business. Pratt Industries they are in twenty-seven states. That’s an impressive growth and expansion they’ve had here taking their business model that has been so successful in Australia. I don’t know if you picked it up when we were upstairs. I talked to the guys from Coates. Australia is in so many ways for a lot of new technology and a lot of industries, is very much a tester for larger economies like the United States and throughout Europe and other places. And that puts us in a real positon of advantage, so we were in Iowa- in Ohio, we’ll go to Iowa the next time, we were in Ohio on this occasion to celebrate a great Australian business that has been incredibly successful. And I’m into backing Australian businesses, there’s one that succeeded. Thank you.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42434

Backing Australian business, jobs for the US Moon to Mars Mission

21 September 2019

Prime Minister, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology

The Morrison Government is positioning Australia for lift-off with a $150 million investment into our local businesses and new technologies that will support NASA on its inspirational campaign to return to the Moon and travel to Mars.

The five year investment will see the Australian Space Agency foster the new ideas and hi-tech skilled jobs that will make Australian businesses a partner of choice to fit out NASA missions.

The Government’s support means Australian businesses and researchers will have the opportunity to showcase their immense knowledge and capabilities in projects that can support NASA’s Moon to Mars mission, such as Project Artemis and the Lunar Gateway.

It will also support Australian businesses to become more competitive in international space supply chains and to increase Australia’s share in a growing US$350 billion global space market.

The Australian Space Agency will work closely with NASA to identify how they can best support their missions after the signing of a joint Statement of Intent on expanding cooperation.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the investment would benefit all Australians with more jobs, new technologies and more investment in businesses that would grow the economy.

“We’re backing Australian businesses to the moon, and even Mars, and back,” the Prime Minister said.

“We’re getting behind Australian businesses so they can take advantage of the pipeline of work NASA has committed to.

“There is enormous opportunity for Australia’s space sector which is why we want to triple its size to $12 billion to create around 20,000 extra jobs by 2030.

“We’ve partnered with the US in almost all of their missions to space for the last 60 years and this investment paves the way for the next 60. The growing amount of space sector work and innovation will also inspire the next generation to see the future of a career in these fields for the long term.

“The historic commitment continues an already strong alliance and enduring friendship between the U.S. and Australia.”

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews said this was a milestone moment for the booming Australian space industry, but would also benefit everyday Australians.

“This agreement is all about opportunity, for us to take the Australian space sector to the next level, grow our economy and create new local jobs,” Minister Andrews said.

“Space also drives technology which has a profound and everyday impact on the lives of Australians – from disaster management, to helping farmers better manage their land and predict drought, through to improving GPS.

“That’s why as a Government we established the Australian Space Agency just over 12 months ago and are investing strongly.”

The Government also welcomed greater cooperation with the US on a number of other cutting-edge science and technology issues – including holding a joint senior level dialogue to further collaboration on frontier technologies central to the national interest and security.

Enhanced cooperation on hydrogen safety, lithium-ion battery recycling and collaborative science was also announced.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42425

Transcript - Doorstop Interview - Washington

21 September 2019

Prime Minister

PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone. And it's been great to be here with Ambassador Hockey and Melissa. At what's been a very convivial event here, at the residence and to see so many from so many different walks of life here in Washington and across the United States and Joe Hockey has done an extraordinary job here as our ambassador and he's built some incredible relationships and that's provided wonderful opportunities for Australia. And you've seen those on display particularly over the last 48 hours. Last night was a tremendous event for Australia because what it said was how much the United States deeply respects Australia and how much it deeply respects the relationship that we have and the work that we do together to advance our respective national interests. We're about jobs. We're about the security of our region. And these are things we spent a lot of time talking about over the last few days. And it sets us up for those discussions in the future as we're setting up new opportunities whether it's the space investment which I discussed this morning and we announced, or the work that we're doing on Critical Minerals. It's the work that we're doing in the Southwest Pacific and setting up more integrated opportunities for us to work together there, and in supporting the development of those Southwest Pacific nations. It's about aligning our views on where we're heading in Indo-China. And in the Indo-Pacific. These are important parts of the world in which we live. And so there's been great opportunities in the last 48 hours to do all of that as well as having good discussions whether it was the with the Defence Secretary or the Secretary of State. And aligning and calibrating our positions in Afghanistan and other places. So this has been a good opportunity. But last night I really want to thank President Trump and Mrs. Trump again for the incredible hosting that they had of Jenny and I and the entire Australian team who were there last night. It showed a level of detail and care which is greatly appreciated. And this was at the initiation of the United States it was at the initiation of the President and Mrs. Trump to go out of their way to say just how much they value this relationship and that's good news for Australia, because every time we go out beyond our own shores it's for one reason and that's to advance our national interests. The issues at home are never far from our minds and they have our constant attention. But advancing those issues at home means advancing Australian's interests whether it's here in the United States or elsewhere where those interests are paramount. And we'll continue to do that. So I want to thank in particular Joe Hockey for the great job he's done here. And we look forward to the next hundred years. We've just gone through 100 years of mateship here in the United States and we we've laid the foundation for another hundred years and moving on some of these new frontier technologies and other issues that will define our relationship into the future. So it's been a it's been quite an amazing last 48 hours I think for Australia. What it was really about though, was about the nature of the relationship and how that can really deliver for Australia.

JOURNALIST: Mr Morrison, President Trump in the Oval Office yesterday said the stand-off with China over trade could go on until next year's election, may not be resolved which is over a year away, do you have to recalibrate your thinking in terms of the budget the domestic economy if that's going to be the reality?

PRIME MINISTER: Well we as you know, we look we'll look at that in MYEFO, we will look at it in next year's budget. They're the normal time frames. And we had a discussion about that yesterday and I've obviously urged that the sooner we can get to an outcome on that- but as I said in the press conference yesterday with the President, it's got to be a sustainable outcome, it's got to be a durable outcome, it's going to deal with the real issues that are there in their relationship. And I'm quite confident that's what the President is seeking to achieve. So I don't think there's any delay there. It's just it's a there's a lot of issues to deal with and we'll continue to encourage them to get to an outcome.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on Iran, obviously that was an issue yesterday in the Oval Office and afterwards, the U.S. media reports suggest that Trump will use the opportunity of the UN meeting this week to try and build a military coalition with other leaders, just so we're clear, what is Australia's position, are we in such a coalition or are we not in such a coalition?

PRIME MINISTER: We're part of the International Maritime construct. And that's where our involvement is and there's been no discussion about anything else.

JOURNALIST: Does the tenor of your discussions with Mr. Trump yesterday on Iran and also his public statements yesterday give you confidence that Australia's contribution that you just mentioned is what the US wants it to be?

PRIME MINISTER: There was no discussion about anything else. There was an appreciation of our involvement in that particular operation which was I remind everyone is about freedom of navigation in the Straits of Hormuz. That's what that is about. The other matters that are being pursued by the United States are matters that they're pursuing. And I made it very clear when we announced our involvement in that arrangement that it was very much about that freedom of navigation issue and that's what it is about and that's appreciated. And when I met with Secretary Esper yesterday afternoon we had a further discussion about those arrangements and how they're working with some other partners as well. And I welcome that. So I think that's all.

JOURNALIST: Did you feel a little bit awkward yesterday when the President said that China is a threat to the world and will you be seeking to travel to China because you did say in your response to how you feel about China that you see China as a partner and a friend. So will you be seeking to travel to China in the next year?

PRIME MINISTER: Well we we we meet each year. We particularly do it around the margins of the various summits that's taking place. I mean last year I met with the Premier Li Keqiang in Singapore as part of the East Asia Summit, those summits are coming up again through the course of this year. I mean we've had senior level meetings at the Foreign Affairs level, Trade level, Defence level and these have been I think important meetings. I had the opportunity on the sidelines of the various summits, I have been able to have some discussions with President Xi so, look we do have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with China and I thought I set out Australia's position fairly clearly yesterday. And that's where Australia's position is, we're very consistent about what our view is in relation to the issues where we're dealing with China. I think we've set out some very clear lines of how we're dealing with issues whether it be foreign investment or anything else and so I think we've been quite certain. And by being quite certain and consistent I think that provides the basis of ensuring that a comprehensive strategic partnership with China remains on sound footing.

JOURNALIST: Back to Iran, when did you find out about the US plan to increase those sanctions and when were you told about the Saudi troop deployment. And just finally what do you say to Australians who are worried about potentially being dragged into another conflict in the Middle East should they be concerned?

PRIME MINISTER: Well let me deal particularly with the last point you make, I made a point of commending the President yesterday on what I understand to be his natural instinct of restraint on these matters and he said that I think fairly plainly yesterday in the Oval Office I think there is an instinct towards restraint from the President and I commended him for that. And it was good to have the opportunity to confirm that again in the course of our discussions. So I think that should provide some some assurance. I mean Australia will make its decisions in our national interest. I said at the press conference yesterday that where we've worked together it's because we have shared objectives. It's not because they ask us to do this, or we ask them to do that. It's because we share objectives and where those objectives are shared then you can expect an alignment of activities and operations. And we've…

JOURNALIST: Where are they not shared?

PRIME MINISTER: We've been very clear that the construct that we're engaged in in the Straits of Hormuz is very much in our interest and that's why we're participating. And there are no other areas where we have any discussions of other operations. So we will, I think people need to be careful about getting ahead of themselves and in running off on where these things might go I mean these matters that are dealt with I think in a very iterative way and I think that's what you're seeing. We appreciate the opportunity to be very heavily engaged. Now you wouldn't expect me to go into the private details and timing of discussions but of course Secretary Mnuchin was there in the Oval Office. I know the Secretary quite well from my times as a Treasurer. So I knew why he was there.

JOURNALIST: It was reported in the Wall Street Journal that an invitation was sought to the White House for Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston who's a friend of yours and that was not backed? Can you tell us what happened there?

PRIME MINISTER: I don't comment on gossip.

JOURNALIST: So it's not true?

JOURNALIST: Did you actually put a request in for him to…

PRIME MINISTER: I don't comment on gossip or stories about other stories.

JOURNALIST: Does that mean it's not true though?

PRIME MINISTER: It means it's gossip.

JOURNALIST: But it…

PRIME MINISTER: It means it's gossip.

JOURNALIST: But not true?

PRIME MINISTER: I’ve answered the question.  

JOURNALIST: True or not true?

JOURNALIST: You said that you urged President Trump to settle the trade war with China. Would you also urge China to do the same, and do you see the APEC meeting in Santiago as a last chance saloon for a chance for a settlement?

PRIME MINISTER: Well no I don't see it as that I have been consistent in advocating to both China and the United States, as have many others in our region, to come together and ensure that they can resolve the issues that they have before them but it has to be done in a sustainable way, it has to be done which genuinely deals with the issues that are before both countries. And so we would hope that they would take every opportunity whether it's at that meeting or any other meeting that they have the opportunity to bring together and I got a clear sense from the President yesterday that this is something that he continues to pursue but you need both parties are the table to do that.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister. Massive amounts of announcements and details that have come out of your trip here, it's something that some people back home feel is probably not the best thing to pursue, do you feel vindicated that your decision to create a) space agency and b) go into partnership with America on the moon mission has well been vindicated?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, 20,000 jobs and a $12 billion dollar industry by 2030. That's why we're in, That's why we're in it. And it has a great alignment I think with our other cooperation with the United States in other areas so, and that's some of the discussions I've had around here this afternoon. I think it seen very much as Australia understanding about where this is heading and positioning ourselves well to be part of what is going to be a very important and valuable supply chain into the future. And the same can be said for the work that we're doing on Critical Minerals and rare earths, that's incredibly important. Frontier technologies, quantum computing, all of this, this is, AI, these are areas where Australia is highly respected. And we want to ensure that we're very much part of those supply chains in the future.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, was there any discussion about steel tariffs. Did you get an extension of the commitment that Donald Trump made a year ago about Australia being exempt from those tariffs and was there any commitment from you that you would put the hard word on not flooding the market from some of those Australian companies?

PRIME MINISTER: Well the President actually addressed that yesterday in terms of the fact that it was discussed and then with that arrangements in [inaudible].

JOURNALIST: There's been an extension essentially?

PRIME MINISTER: We're in good shape.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister just on China again, yesterday the President said that you had very strong views on China, now at risk of over interpreting Donald Trump, he was very suggestive of that that perhaps you share his views on China?

PRIME MINISTER: I think you're…

JOURNALIST: Thus the question, what do you agree when it comes from China and more importantly where do you disagree?

PRIME MINISTER: Well what's important is what Australia's view is. And I set that out in the Oval Office yesterday. And we've always been very consistent about that. I mean you need to, I think, understand that Australia's economic relationship with China is different to the United States economic relationship with China. We have a surplus, they have a deficit, and they have a very different economic experience of their relationship. For Australia it has been an important source of trade growth and economic growth. And there's no doubt about that it has been an absolute boon for Australia and that's why I have always made it clear that we have always welcomed China's economic growth and will continue to, this is why we have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with them. At the same time we've been very clear about a whole range of other issues whether it comes to intellectual property, technology transfer, or how foreign investment operates. And none of that is of any surprise. We've been very transparent and very clear. But most importantly we've been incredibly consistent. So what matters is what, from Australia's point of view, is what our view is, and and so we'll continue to put that very plainly and clearly and that's what I did yesterday.

JOURNALIST: Was he was betraying…

JOURNALIST: …come up at all in your discussions with Donald Trump given some of the protests around the world?

PRIME MINISTER: That wasn't a matter we discussed yesterday.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister meeting on the sidelines of summits with the Chinese is very different to going to visit them in their country. So why you say if you will go and visit China within a year or not?

PRIME MINISTER: Well you have to be invited to go.

JOURNALIST: Would you like to be invited?

PRIME MINISTER: Well of course we would go if there was an invitation to attend. But it's not something that is overly vexing us because we have this partnership. We continue to work closely with China. And we continue to work closely with our partners throughout the Indo-Pacific but also of course with our great ally here in the United States. So it is not an issue that's troubling me at all.

JOURNALIST: Any discussion around documents being declassified relating to Alexander Downer and a certain meeting in London? Did that come up at all?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I'm not going to into private conversations but what we were discussing yesterday were issues about our strategic relationship from trade. The frontier technologies, our defence relationships, these were not issues that were there for discussion.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister did you seek an assurance from Mr. Trump in terms of the trade war not to sell out Australian agricultural contracts and so forth as part of any deal with China. I think you made a similar representation at Osaka. You know so they don't do a deal with say, agriculture from the Chinese?

PRIME MINISTER: We've always been consistent about this and we've always wanted people to be trading consistently by the rules. I mean Australia has now 70 per cent of our trade now covered by those agreements. I mean for example when the President was able to conclude an arrangement with Shinzo Abe, when we were at G7, I mean that was an arrangement which was done that was consistent also with Australia's interests. So this is the point about what's been happening here for the last 24-48 hours, we're partners, we're friends, we're allies, we work together, we talk to each other, and why? Why does that matter to Australia. Because it means jobs, it means Australia's regional security, it means that we're creating jobs for the future through the economic partnership and then, the United States is our single largest investor in Australia. Australia's single largest investment is in the United States. I mean this is the big deal, and Australian jobs hang off it. Australia's both security and economic future has been and will continue to be very closely tied to the relationship we have here in the United States and so to see the relationship in such great shape, and to see it appreciated in the way, I mean, yes there was, it was a very pleasant evening. It was a marvellous evening. And that was all great. But what it means for Australians, what it really means to Australians back at home is this relationship with the United States which has been so important to our prosperity and our security for the last hundred years has never been in better shape. And it's set up for the next hundred years and that's good news for Australia. And that's why we're here. That's why we're always here and wherever we are it's there to promote Australia's national interest to keep Australians safe and to keep our economy strong.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42424

Outcomes from White House meetings

20 September 2019

Prime Minister

• The United States and Australia agreed to develop a new mechanism to strengthen and align coordination of their Indo-Pacific strategies.

• The U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will sign a Memorandum of Cooperation to further support infrastructure development in the Indo-Pacific Region, with a new focus on the Pacific Island Countries

• In recognizing over 60 years of successful cooperation between the United States and Australia in space, and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, the Australian Space Agency will sign a Joint Statement of Intent in support of NASA’s plans to return to the Moon by 2024, through the Artemis program, and onto Mars, and to expand collaboration in areas of mutual interest such as robotics, automation, and remote medicine including through industry-industry collaboration and research solutions.

• The United States and Australia agreed to hold high-level discussions in Washington, DC in November, and to develop a US-Australia Critical Minerals Action Plan that will:
  

  • Improve the security and supply of rare earths and other critical minerals in the United States and Australia;

  • Increase U.S.-Australia interconnectivity throughout the supply chain of critical minerals;

  • Leverage the interest of other like-minded partners to improve the health of the global critical minerals supply chain.

• To enhance cooperation between the world-class scientific communities in the United States and Australia, President Trump and Prime Minister Morrison agreed to hold a joint senior-level dialogue on advancing frontier technologies, supported by the existing U.S.—Australia Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) on Science and Technology.

• The United States and Australia agreed to work together to support the G20 Implementation Framework on marine plastic debris and the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision by supporting efforts in large source countries on improved waste management, recycling, and innovation

• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, is deepening its U.S. collaboration on lithium-ion recycling by joining the U.S. Department of Energy-funded ReCell Center’s Industrial Advisory Council.

• Australia will join the United States Hydrogen Safety Center. As part of this Australia will send emergency services personnel to work with the United States in better developing best practices in hydrogen safety.

• The National Science Foundation will send a MULTIPLIER (MULTIPlying Impact Leveraging International Expertise in Research Missions) delegation of subject matter experts to Australia.  They will engage with Australia’s scientific, engineering, and education communities to identify follow-on research activities in areas of mutual and strategic interest.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42443

Joint press conference with the President of the United States of America

20 September 2019

Prime Minister

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you very much. Please. We had a spectacular morning. And it's an honour being with the Prime Minister and Mrs. Morrison. Thank you very much. Australia is a fantastic country and a brilliant ally. We just spent a lot of time together with our representatives, and they, they get along very well. And we're doing a lot of deals. And we talked military; we talked trade; we talked about everything you can talk about. And we came to the same conclusion, I think, in every case. But I just want to say, it's an honour having both of you here. Thank you very much. You have a truly great country, and I don't think we've ever had a better relationship than we have right now. And tonight we're going to have something very special in the Rose Garden. And based on all of that money we spend on all of that weather-predicting equipment, they're saying, no chance of rain. Let's see if that's right. If it is, we'll run right back into this room. But we're going to have a fantastic evening. And, First Lady, thank you very much. You worked very hard on this. So it's not going to rain. It's going to be a beautiful evening. And great job, really great job, honey. Thank you. Please. Scott?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Thank you, Mr. President and Mrs. Trump. We thank you all so very much for the incredibly warm and generous welcome that Jenny and I and our delegation have had here in Washington and this great home of the American presidency and indeed your home. One of the many things that the President and I share in common is a passion for jobs. And the job performance here in the United States, the jobs that are being created in Australia, the jobs that change people's lives, you know, when people get a job, they've got choices. And Australia and the United States, we're committed to creating jobs. And whether it's in trade or it's whether it’s in looking at the future and where those jobs are going to come from, we want our people to have those economic opportunities. I commend the President on the great work he's done in creating jobs here in the United States, and we're doing the same thing in Australia. And we want to keep creating jobs, and this partnership is a big part of that. And that's why we're pleased to come together here. We share objectives in so many areas. We share common values. We share beliefs. We've shared a wonderful century together and now we're going to have another great century together of mateship. So thank you, Mr. President. And thank you for the opportunity for the discussions we've had today. We are very much looking forward to the state dinner this evening. And, Mrs. Trump, you're doing something special there tonight. We don't know if it's the first ever, but as the President said, perhaps the first ever. And that's just another great innovation which is part of this wonderful visit. So thank you very much.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, thank you very much, Scott. It's a great honour. Go ahead, please?

JOURNALIST: Mr. President, you've been negotiating with the Chinese and there seems to be a possibility in terms of a China trade deal, that they might actually offer some agricultural purchases. Is that going to be enough for you, sir...

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No.

JOURNALIST: ... in order to get a deal done? What do you need to see at this point to get that deal past the finish line?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We're looking for a complete deal. I'm not looking for a partial deal. China has been starting to buy our agricultural product, if you noticed, over the last week, and actually some very big purchases. But that's not what I'm looking for. We're looking for the big deal. We've taken it to this level. We're taking in billions and billions of dollars of tariffs. China has devalued their currency and they are putting a lot of money into their economy. And they have a very bad economy right now. And I don't want them to have a bad economy. But it's the worst in, they say, 57 years. Two weeks ago it was the worst in 22 years, now it's 57 years, and it's only going to get worse. Their supply chain is being broken up very badly. And companies are leaving because they can't pay the 25, soon to go to 30 per cent tariff. And we have 30 per cent very shortly on $250 billion. We have another tariff that is a slightly smaller number, as you know, on other, on about $300 billion worth of goods and products. So they would like to do something. As you know, we are talking a little bit this week. Talking a lot next week. And then top people are going to be speaking the week following. But I'm not looking for a partial deal. I'm looking for a complete deal.

JOURNALIST:  Do you feel you need that deal before the election, sir?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, I don't think I need it before the election. I think people know that we are doing a great job. I have rebuilt the military. We've, Scott and I were talking about that. We've spent $1.5 trillion. When I came in, our military was depleted. Frankly, we didn't have ammunition, OK? But our military was in very bad shape. We have rebuilt the military. We have got one of the strongest economies. Mike Pence actually got some, who is right here, our great Vice President. He was talking yesterday and he called me, says, boy, these numbers, these consumer numbers are incredible. The retail numbers that came out two days ago that really weren't really reported were, really, I mean, just incredible numbers. You know that very well. That's your world. And some other numbers. We're doing very well. Our economy is very strong. And China is being affected very badly. We are not. We are not being affected. In fact, we are taking in many billions of dollars. And China is eating that. You know, China is eating the tariffs because of the devaluation. Now that doesn't happen with all countries. China is China. And they know what they're doing as well as anybody. My relationship with President Xi is a very amazing one. A very good one. But we have right now a little spat. But I think we are doing very well. Our country is doing well. You look at so many different things, look at all of the regulation-cutting that allows us to do what we did. Look at what happens three days ago, where you have an attack like that and it takes out a big chunk out of all oil, and the price goes up $4, $5. And now it's heading down rapidly. That tells you that would have happened years ago, it would have gone up $50. It would have doubled. And this was a blip. So it has been really amazing what we have been able to do. I think the voters understand that. I don't think it has any impact on the election. Now if something happened I think that would probably be a positive for the election, but that's OK. I do think signing USMCA on a bipartisan basis with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and everybody else, very bipartisan, I think that's very important for our country. I would certainly be willing to say that's a bipartisan deal. But I think that's very important for manufacturers, for our farmers, even for unions. They want that deal done. And so hopefully that's going to be put up to a vote very soon. There will be very little cajoling of the Democrats because most Democrats want it, too. But the USMCA is ready to be voted on. It is finished. Mexico has taken their final votes. Canada is willing to do that any time we want them to. They are all set to go. And we need that for all of the, we need that for our country. It's a great deal. It's a great deal. Thank you.

JOURNALIST:  And for the Prime Minister. Sir, your economy is to some degree caught in the cross currents between the United States and China. What did you say to the President about what your ideal outcome is here for a China trade agreement between the United States China?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Thank you. Look, obviously, we're keen to see the United States and China be able to come to an agreement. But what is always necessary is that deals have got to be fair, deals have got to be good deals. Deals have got to be sustainable deals. And I think one of the things we've seen, Australia has benefited greatly from the economic growth of China. We have a comprehensive strategic partnership with China and a free trade agreement with China. And they have grown and they have become, you know, a substantive economy in the world. And once you sort of get into that level, then you need to be able to be playing under the same rules as those other developed nations. And I think this is, you know, the new generation of deals I think we will see China do, which the President has been working on. And he has been working on it for some time. And we wish him well in that process. There are some real serious issues that have to be addressed in that deal. Things like intellectual property. That's a big issue and it needs to be addressed. So we look forward to them achieving it. And that providing, I think, the broader certainty and stability to the global economy, which all nations will benefit from.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And we can do, Scott, a very big deal with China. And it could go very quickly, as you know. But it wouldn't be the appropriate deal. We have to do it right. And it's a very complicated deal, with intellectual property protection. We have to do that, and other things. I could leave lots out and have a deal very quickly but we want to do it right. Please?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON: Sure. Andrew?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I assume Andrew is a nice person?

JOURNALIST:  Thank you, Mr. President, the best. Thank you very much for hosting us. Also on China and tariffs, what do you say to Australian businesses and to Australian people who say that your trade war with President Xi threatens their prosperity? And to the Prime Minister, a linked question. Do you think that Australians are going to be collateral damage in President Trump's tariff war with China?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well first of all, you know, I look at numbers, I love numbers, and the numbers of Australia are doing incredibly well. You're doing unbelievably well. When we have a deal with China or not, but when we have a deal with China, cause they want to make it perhaps more than I want to make it, cause I actually love all that billions of dollars that's pouring into our Treasury, billions and billions of dollars. We've never seen that before from China, it's always been the other way. But when, and I'm taking care of our farmers out of that. We're helping our farmers, our farmers were targeted and they were targeted for $16 billion and I made that up to them. We paid them the $16 billion and had tens of billions of dollars left over. So I will say, though, that Australia's doing very well. If we do end up doing a deal, Australia will do even better and we were discussing that. But Australia will be one of the big beneficiaries of a deal. And in the meantime, as you know, I did tariff relief with respect to a certain product in particular coming out of Australia and that's something that we wouldn't do for anybody else. This has been a truly great ally and we work very well together. But your, your numbers are absolutely fantastic, your economy is strong like ours and I think we're two real examples of two countries doing extremely well. Some countries aren't doing so well. Europe is not doing well, Asia is not doing, large parts of Asia are not doing well, China's not doing well. Please?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Thanks Mr. President, Australia's in its 29th year of consecutive economic growth, which is an extraordinary national achievement and we will continue to grow, as our most recent, as our most recent national accounts demonstrated. Australia is also very used to dealing with a complex and changing world and that's why we've diversified our trade base and have been doing that for many years. I mean six years ago, when our Government came to office, only about 27 per cent of our trade was covered by agreements around the world. That figure is now 70 per cent and we're going to take that to 90 per cent and that's important and that's opening up opportunities. So there are, there are ebbs and flows that go in the, in the global economy and Australia has built up a resilience through the broad-based nature in which we're taking our economy to the world. I mean Australia has never got rich selling things to itself and we've always had an outward looking perspective when it comes to engaging our economic opportunities. And a big part of what we've been discussing here is some new opportunities, whether it's in the [inaudible], the critical minerals, frontier technologies, space. You know, this is where jobs are going to be in the future, as well. And so we will deal with those ebbs and flows as they come but the President's right, the arrangement they will come to, and I'm confident they will, with China will be one that will set, you know, a new bar in terms of how China's economy then deals with a lot of these complicated issues in the future with developed economies like Australia. So we look on with interest and I think ultimately when we arrive at that point, it's going to put global trade on a stronger footing.

PRESIDENT:  And Australia's really been so focused on the economy. They do minerals, they have incredible wealth in minerals and coal and other things, and they are really at the leading edge of coal technology. It's clean coal, we call it, clean coal, but it's also great for the workers. And things that would happen to, ‘cause it was very dangerous years ago and very bad for a lot of people and you've rectified that 100 percent. It's incredible. I looked, I looked at your statistics the other day and coal miners are very, very safe in Australia. It's incredible what you've done. In fact, we're looking at what you've done but ...

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  We can do a deal on that.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We'll do a deal, we'll make a deal. Yeah, go ahead, please.

JOURNALIST:  Thank you. In the midst of these escalating tensions with Iran, you've now named a new National Security Advisor, Robert O'Brien.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yes.

JOURNALIST:  What is he recommending to you in terms of dealing with the latest strikes on Saudi Arabia and the response? And then secondly, you announced new sanctions on Iran. Secretary Mnuchin said that this affects the last available funds for that regime. Have we now exhausted sanctions in regards to Iran?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, these are the strongest sanctions ever put on a country. We are at a level of sanction that is far greater than ever before with respect to Iran. Today we did Central Bank, as you know. And we'll see. We'll see. They're having a lot of problems, not only with us. They're having problems within their own country. And I think they have a lot of self-made problems. We are by far the strongest military in the world. Going into Iran would be a very easy decision. As I said before, it would be very easy, the easiest thing. Most people thought I would go in within two seconds, but plenty of time, plenty of time. In the meantime, they have a lot of problems within Iran. Iran could be a great country. It could be a rich country. But they are choosing to go a different way. There will be a point at which they'll be very sorry for that choice. But I think I'm showing great restraint. A lot of people respect it. Some people don't. Some people say, "Oh, you should go in immediately." And other people are so thrilled at what I'm doing. And I don't do it for anybody. I do it for what's good for the United States, what's good for our allies. And it's working out really very well. As far as Robert is concerned, he's, Robert, maybe you could stand up. Robert O'Brien has done a fantastic job for us with hostage negotiations. I think we can say that there has never been anybody that's done better than you and I as a combination. We've brought many people home. And we brought them home quickly. Speed is a very important thing, I find, with hostages. It's, it's really something. I had dinner the other night with the Warmbier family, an incredible family, the whole family and some of Otto's friends, in addition to the family. We had 25 people over on Saturday night. And we did that dinner in Otto, really in Otto's honour. And it was a beautiful thing. It was a beautiful thing. The first lady and I, it was very, it was very touching and really very beautiful. We talked about Otto. And I will tell you that people should have moved faster. And Robert and I were talking about that. They should have moved faster. He was there for a long time. You've got to move fast. With hostages, you have to move fast. All of a sudden, it gets very hard for the other side to do anything. And sometimes it's just too late. In the case of Otto, it was very late. We got him home, but he was in a horrible, horrible condition. What happened to him was actually incredible, just horrible. But you have to move fast. Robert and I have been really successful. And the reason I know him so well I actually worked hard on hostages, I think you would say. I think most Presidents wouldn't do that, but I do. These are great, I guess in almost all cases, American lives. We help other people also. We've also helped other countries with their hostage situation where we have some strength that they don't. But these are great people, and we get them home. We got them home from North Korea, as you know. And we got them home from a lot of different locations. Egypt, we get them home. We get them home from many different locations, Turkey. President Erdogan was very good, and we got a hostage home, our great pastor, who everyone in this room knows and loves. But we've had tremendous success. And what surprised me, I didn't know too many people knew Robert. And when it came time to pick somebody for the position - it's a very critical time - I had so many people. I shouldn't say this in front of Robert. He'll be embarrassed. But I had so many people that called me and they - they recommended Robert O'Brien. So I think he's going to do a great job. And he was here, I can tell you this. He started about 12 minutes after he was chosen. He sat in with us. And he's very much involved now in what we're doing.

JOURNALIST:  One quick follow-up on that in regards to Iran. If sanctions don't work and they continue their malign activity, are there any other measures outside of a military option that can be taken, that (inaudible)?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I don't want to talk about that, but I will say I think the sanctions work, and the military would work. But that's a very severe form of winning. But we win. Nobody can beat us militarily. Nobody can even come close. What we've done for our military in the last three years is incredible. All made in the USA, by the way, and it's, it's really incredible. Our nuclear was getting very tired. They hadn't spent the money on it and now we have it in, as we would say, tippy top shape, tippy top. It's - we have new and we have renovated and it's incredible. And we all should pray that we never have to use it. We should never have to use it. And our military itself is in phenomenal shape. And we have a great gentleman, as you know, going to be taking over Joint Chief of Staff. Joe Dunford has been fantastic, he's a great, great man and a friend of mine. But General Milley is going to be taking over and it's going to be, we're going to have a little bit of a celebration, both for Joe and for, more for everybody. And, you know, as you know, our Secretary of Defense has just come in, Mark Esper, and he's been here for a short period of time but he's got tremendous energy. He's got it. He knows, he knows that that's what he's been doing for a long period of time, from the day he graduated or maybe, I should say, from the day he started at West Point, where he was a top, top scholar, et cetera. So we have a, we have an incredible people and Steve Mnuchin's here. We did the sanctions today and I think they're probably, Steve, the strongest that have ever been put on a country. We, we will certainly never do that to Australia, I promise you.

JOURNALIST:  And one for the Prime Minister, if I may? Mr. Prime Minister, you have been very tough on Huawei, even under pressure. You've been very consistent with the ban, even though you've said you have a good working relationship with China and they're important for your economy. Do you plan to continue to support the United States and the tough stance on China? And can you give any more specifics about what you've told the President you would do to help in his measures to reach a fair trade deal?

PRIME MINISTER:  Well first of all, I mean, we have a, the most perfect of relationships with the United States and goes back a century and more, as the President was reminding us on the lawn this morning. We have a comprehensive strategic partnership with China. This is the part of the world in which we live and managing that relationships is important to Australia's national interests. One thing I can always assure you and I think the President can say the same, we will always, both of us, act in the national interests of our countries. We will always put our countries interests first and that means engaging countries in our own region, not just economically but in a people to people level as well. We have a lot of operations we do together right across the world militarily and we'll continue to do those, but the focus I think at the end of the day has to be what's best for our people and that means a stable, secure region and the presence of the United States in the Indo-Pacific, where they have been for a very long time, is a stabilising force in the region. And what does that mean? It means that countries can trade with each other, economies can develop, people come out of poverty. The United States has had a positive presence in our region and that's why we always work together, because we share objectives. It isn't a matter of the United States saying to us we need you to do this or Australia saying to the United States we need you to do this. It's about us having shared objectives and looking through the world through a similar lens. And so that just naturally brings us together to focus on the things that promote prosperity. As I started out in my remarks today, we love jobs, the President and I, we love jobs and we like the jobs here and we like jobs everywhere. And when people have jobs, well, they tend to focus a bit more on the things that are going on in their lives every day and making sure they can live peacefully with each other.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And one of the things, important, I think, is during our meeting, we discussed, I said what percentage of our, of your military do you buy from the United States? And it's, the answer was we work it together or it's about 100 per cent - it's close to 100 per cent. And we make the best equipment, he understands that, but it's a real relationship. They buy 100 per cent of their military and it's a massive purchase. And it's gotten bigger- I guess you said the biggest purchase since World War II.

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Yeah, we'll be at two per cent of GDP next year and that comes up from what was the lowest level of defence spending as a share of the economy since prior to the Second World War. So that's a $200 billion investment and a lot of that, that's being built in Australia but it's also being built in partnership with the United States and other allies. So it's a -- it's an important part of what we're doing. But I think -- I think David Crowe from Australia was next?

JOURNALIST:  Thank you very much. David Crowe from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Further on the questions on Iran. Mr. President, you've, you've praised the Australian commitment today to deal with Iran in the Persian Gulf and in your talks today with Mr. Morrison, did you discuss further military action? In ordered to keep the pressure on Iran. What might those military actions be and what could Australia contribute to that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  So we did ...

JOURNALIST:  And Mr. Morrison on that-

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah … Hold it one second, you'll, you'll get a second crack, you'll get a - you'll get a shot at your Prime Minister. I'm sure you're looking forward to it. We didn't discuss too much Iran. We discussed more trade, more China. We discussed Afghanistan. Where Australia's helping us and we're slowly reducing in Afghanistan, as people know. We've been very effective in Afghanistan and if we wanted to do a certain method of war, we would win that very quickly, but many, many, really, tens of millions of people would be killed. And we think it's unnecessary. But they've been, Australia's been of great help to us in Afghanistan. But we're reducing in Afghanistan. We're reducing in Syria, where we had, you know, we've taken over 100 per cent of the caliphate. We have 100 per cent. When I came in, it was smaller but it was a mess, it was all over and now it's, it's in a position and I won't repeat what I said before with the prisoners but we have thousands of ISIS fighters from our work in capturing 100 per cent of the caliphate and we're asking the countries from where they came, whether it's Germany or France or other countries, to take those people back, put them on trial, do what they have to do with them. But the United States will not keep thousands and thousands of people for the next possibly 50 years or whatever it may be. It's going to be up to those countries. We did them a big favour. We went in, we took them down. The ISIS fighters, in the end, weren't very good fighters against the United States. But we have thousands of them and we want them to be taken over by Germany, France and all of those countries from where they came. OK?

JOURNALIST:  Thank you. And Mr. Morrison, on the same issue of Iran, are you open to further military action against Iran or is the Australia commitment solely contained to a freedom of navigation patrol exercise?

PRIME MINISTER: MORRISON: Well as the President said, I mean there are no further activities planned or requested for assistance from Australia so the question to that extent is moot. And I want to commend the President, who's demonstrating, as he said in the earlier press conference in the Oval Office, you know, restraint. There are other measures that he and the Secretary have announced today and they are pursuing those, those channels. So the calibrated, I think very measured response that the United States is taking has been a matter for them and obviously at any time when issues are raised with us as an ally, we consider them on their merits at the time in Australia's national interests. So I think that's where that's heading.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well thank you very much and Jennifer, thank you very much, First Lady, thank you, and I hope you're going to be able to see tonight - to the media-  because really it's going to be a beautiful evening in honour of Australia and the Morrisons. Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42428

Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Unites States of America

20 September 2019

Prime Minister

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much everybody.  It’s a great honour to have the Prime Minister of Australia.  And congratulations and thank you very much, Mrs. Morrison.  Thank you very much for being here.  We appreciate it.  This was a lovely ceremony.  I hope you liked it.

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Absolutely.

MRS. MORRISON:  We absolutely loved it.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It was in honour of you and Australia.

MRS. MORRISON:  Thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Okay?  Thank you very much. So we have a lot of things to talk about.  We’re talking trade.  We’re talking military.  We’ve been great allies for a long time.  There’s no better partnership. And we’ve developed, on a personal basis, a tremendous friendship, and that helps. that helps a lot. But we'll be meeting after this and having some very serious discussions about many things. I do want to, if I may, intercede for just a second. We have just sanctioned the Iranian national bank. That is their central banking system, and it's going to be at the highest level of sanctions. So that just took place, and a couple of other things. We have our Secretary of Treasury here, Steve Mnuchin. If you want to say just a word, Steve, before we begin?

SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Mr. President, as you instructed me, we are continuing the maximum pressure campaign. This is the last remaining source of funds, so both the Central Bank of Iran as well as the National Development Fund, which is their sovereign wealth fund, will be cut off from our banking system. So this will mean no more funds going to the IRGC or to fund terror. And this is on top of our oil sanctions and our financial institutions' sanctions. Thank you, Mr. President.

JOURNALIST:  How big are the sanctions, Mr. Secretary, Mr. President?

SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  This is very big. We've now cut off all source of funds to Iran.

JOURNALIST:  It goes all the way up to the very top?

SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  That does.

JOURNALIST:  The President?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Right to the top.

JOURNALIST:  Supreme Leader?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Right to the top. OK, yes, right to the top. Thank you very much, Steve.

 SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Thank you, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Appreciate it. So we're dealing with many nations, we're dealing with some of the neighbours to Saudi Arabia, and of course we're dealing with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is very much involved from the standpoint of what we're doing and what they're doing. And we're working together with others. We're also working on the cost of this whole endeavour. And Saudi Arabia's been very generous. We want to see if it works out. And if it works out, that's great, and if it doesn't work out, that's great. In the end, it always works out. That's the way it is, it always works out. So you'll be seeing certain things happening but a very major factor is what we did. These are the highest sanctions ever imposed on a country. We've never done it to this level. And it's too bad what's happening with Iran. It's going to hell, doing poorly. They're practically broke. They are broke. And they could, they could solve the problem very easily. All they have to do is stop with the terror. They have been the number one - as you know, Scott, very well -number one country worldwide of terror, between sponsoring it and doing it themselves. And we can't have it. They have a tremendous potential, they have an incredible potential. I can- think I can speak on behalf of Australia, too, in the sense they would like to see them do very well. We were discussing it before, the prime minister and myself, we want to see them to do well, but it looks to me like with what's happening, maybe they want to keep going at it. And when they go at it with us, there's no way they win - no way they win in any way or in any capacity. So we wanted to let you know about that and that's the way it is. And thank you all very much. We're going to spend a lot of time with Australia today. Today is our - a very special day for the United States because we're honouring a great ally and a great friend. Thank you. Thank you. Scott, would you like to say something?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  It's a tremendous honour for Australians, for Jenny and I to be here with the President and Mrs. Trump. It's a very gracious invitation, but it's an invitation that recognises not just, you know, the great relationship the President and I have been able to forge so early but this goes back a long way, this relationship. As the President often says, we've been in a lot of battles. And those battles -- of course, there's happened in the fields of conflict but we're battling continuously for a prosperous and a free world.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And we've never lost.

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  We've been doing great and we're going to keep doing great because we're going to keep this  partnership together. And it's a partnership where we both carry our own weight. As I said outside, we look to America but we don't leave it to America.

JOURNALIST:  Prime Minister, the President said he spoke for Australia on Iran. Does he?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Well, he was saying that we both would like to see a prosperous Iran. We'd like to see the people of Iran -- we'd like to see the people right across the world to be able to benefit from prosperous economies doing well. That's what we want. This is why Australia and the United States have always worked so closely together, is because that's what we want for our own people, that's what we want for everyone.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ve been speaking a lot about this subject the two of us. I think we have very similar views on the subject.

JOURNALIST: Do you want to address this whistleblower story, sir? Do you want to address this whistle blower story?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  What story?

JOURNALIST: The whistle blower, when it was...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  A ridiculous story. It's a partisan whistleblower that shouldn't even have information. I've had conversations with many leaders; they're always appropriate. I think Scott can tell you that, always appropriate, at the highest level always appropriate. And anything I do, I fight for this country. I fight so strongly for this country. It's just another political hack job. That's all it is.

JOURNALIST: On that point, did you discuss Joe Biden, his son or his family with the leader...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It doesn't matter what I discussed. But I will say this, somebody ought to look into Joe Biden's statement, 'cause it was disgraceful, where he talked about billions of dollars that he's not giving to a certain country unless a certain prosecutor's taken off the case. So somebody ought to look into that. And you wouldn't because he's a Democrat and the fake news doesn't look into things like that. It's a disgrace. But I had a, I had a great conversation with numerous people. I don't even know exactly who you're talking about. But I had a great conversation with numerous people, numerous leaders. And I always look for the conversation that's going to help the United States the most. That's very important.

JOURNALIST: Do you know the identity...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I don't know the identity of the whistleblower. I just hear it's a partisan person, meaning it comes out from another party. But I don't have any idea. But I can say that it was a totally appropriate conversation, it was actually a beautiful conversation. And this is no different than, you know, the press has had a very bad week with Justice Kavanaugh and all of those ridiculous charges and all of the mistakes made at the New York Times and other places. You've had a very bad week, and this will be better than all of them. This is another one. So keep, so keep, so keep playing it up, because you're going to look really bad when it falls. You know, I guess I'm about... I guess I'm about 22 and 0 and I'll keep it that way.

JOURNALIST: Did you mention Joe Biden during the conversation?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I don't want to talk about any conversation other than to say, great conversation, totally appropriate conversation, couldn't have been better. And keep asking questions and build it up as big as possible so you can have a bigger downfall.

JOURNALIST: Mr President will you be asking Australia to do more when it comes to China?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Say it -- what?

JOURNALIST: Will you be asking Australia to do more when it comes to China?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we're talking about China all the time. And Scott has very strong opinions on China. And I think I'd let him, maybe, express those opinions. Maybe you'd do it right now? You're not going to get a better audience than this.

PRIME MINISTER:  We have a comprehensive, strategic partnership with China. We work well with China. But as we've spoken many times, we need to ensure that, as countries develop and realise their potential, well, they come onto a whole new level. And that means there can't be special rules around that. And we have a great relationship with China. China's growth has been great for Australia. But we need to make sure that we all compete on the same playing field. And this something that United States and Australia have been very consistent on, that we need to move into this new world where economies are changing. China is a big economy -- not as big as the United States, but it's a big economy. And that means we've all got to get on the same page with how the rules work. And that's what we're working to achieve.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I will say this. We're making a lot of progress with China. They're having a very bad year, worst year in 57 years. The tariffs are coming in to us. We're taking in billions and billions of dollars of tariffs. They're devaluing their currency, which means the tariffs are not costing us probably anything, but certainly not very much. They're also adding a lot of money into their economy. They're pouring money into their economy. But we're taking in many billions of dollars. At some point in the not-too-distant future, it'll be over $100 billion. We've never taken in 100 cents from China. It was always the other way around. With that, they've lost over 3 million jobs there. Supply chain is crashing. And they have a lot of problems. And I can tell you they want to make a deal. That I can tell you. They want to make a deal. So we’ll see what happens.

JOURNALIST:  Are you prepared for military action against Iran, Mr. President?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Always prepared. There's never been a country more prepared. There has never been a country more prepared. Look, I spent, I spent $1.5 trillion, and we're spending another $738 billion now. But I've spent $1.5 trillion rebuilding our military. We have the finest ships, the finest planes, the finest everything. And, actually, Scott, and Australia, they've purchased a lot of great stuff from the United States, some of the best military equipment that you have. We have the greatest missiles in the world, rockets in the world, jet fighters in the world, planes in the world, ships. And we have under construction a number of the most powerful submarines ever built. And they're getting very close to completion. We have the largest ship in the world right now, the President Gerald Ford, the aircraft carrier. It's the largest ship ever built. And just flew over it yesterday, actually. It's massive and beautiful. We have the greatest - and I have to say this. When I got here, Scott, it was a different world. It was a different world. We were very depleted. And I actually saw one of the related networks today saying how strongly and good and how well we've done with ISIS. I defeated the Caliphate. When I came, the Caliphate was all over the place. I defeated the Caliphate, ISIS. And now we have thousands of prisoners of war, ISIS fighters that are prisoners of war. And we're asking the countries from which they came, Scott, from Europe. We're asking them to take back these prisoners of war. And they can try them, do what they want. So far they've refused. And at some point I'm going to have to say, "I'm sorry, but you either take them back or we're going to let them go at your border." But they came out from Germany. They came out from France. We captured them. We did everyone a big favour. We've taken over the Caliphate 100 percent. If you remember, I was thinking about getting out when it was at 96 per cent, 97 per cent, but they were all over the place. And we did it. We did it in record time. It was a total Caliphate victory. And now I want the countries to take back the captured ISIS fighters. And if they don't take them back, we're going to probably put them at the border and then they'll have to capture them again.

JOURNALIST: Mr. President...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Because the United States is not going to have thousands and thousands of people that we've captured stationed at Guantanamo Bay, held captive at Guantanamo Bay for the next 50 years, and us spending billions and billions of dollars. We've done Europe a tremendous favour. They mostly come out of Europe. And we've done them a tremendous favour. And the United States is not going to pay the cost of thousands and thousands of ISIS fighter prisoners in Guantanamo Bay or someplace else. We won't do it. So they have to make their decision otherwise we're releasing them at the border. Go ahead, next.

JOURNALIST: Your national security team on Iran today, and what do you expect to hear from them?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yes, I have a great new person. You know Robert O'Brien. A lot of people wanted Robert very badly. He was, look, I had 10, 12 people I thought were fantastic for the job. I think Robert...

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  He's a good friend of Australia too.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  He is a great friend of Australia. Scott was telling me, he was very happy with the choice. Robert is going to be outstanding. He just picked a deputy who was in the administration. You all know him. You know who the deputy is. I guess they have to announce that separately. But he is fantastic. And essentially he is already on the job. But, you know, he did a tremendous job as hostage negotiator. We are, we have a tremendous record. Nobody comes close to our record with hostages.

JOURNALIST: Are you going to be discussing options for Iran today with your team?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Sure. But also with Secretary of Defence, Secretary of State. We're discussing with everybody. And, you know, the early move today was the Central Bank of Iran. OK?

JOURNALIST:  ... military conflict? And would you support that, Mr. Prime Minister, a military strike?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It's always possible.

JOURNALIST: Would you expect Australia to join any military action?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We haven't discussed that. We'll be discussing that later. But we haven't discussed that yet.

JOURNALIST: Would you consider 50 per cent tariff or even 100 per cent tariff on China, as some have suggested?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I'm not going to get into that. Right now China is paying 30 per cent on $250 billion. That starts in another couple of weeks. As you know, President Xi called through his top people and they have a 70th anniversary. A very important day for them. And it happens to be October 1st, which is the exact date of the increase in the tariff. And they asked us out of respect, would I delay the tariff a little bit. I said, how about if I move it forward? Let me move it forward a little bit, because they didn't want it to fall on the same day. It's exactly October 1st. So I said, let me move it up a couple of weeks. They said, no, no, no, could you, so out of respect for President Xi, who I do have great respect for, I moved it back two weeks. But right now it's 25 per cent. It goes up to 30 percent on October 15th.

JOURNALIST:  ... have you read the complaint?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, I haven't. It's, I just tell you, it is, everybody has read it. They laugh at it. And it's a...

JOURNALIST: You haven't read it?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It's another media disaster. The media has lost so much credibility in this country. Our media has become the laughing stock of the world. When you look at what they did to Justice Kavanaugh and so many other things last week. I think this is one of the worst weeks in the history of the fake news media. You have been wrong on so many things and this one will be I wouldn't say it will top the list because I think you can't do worse than some of the stories you missed over the last week or two, but the media of our country is laughed at all over the world now. You are a joke. OK, what else?

JOURNALIST: ... when you talk about the conversation that you...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Which conversation?

JOURNALIST: Well, we're trying to figure out what conversation...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, figure it out. You are supposed to be the media, figure it out. It was...

JOURNALIST: ... July 25th, it was some...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Which conversation?

JOURNALIST: July 25th with the President of...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I really don't know. I don't know.

JOURNALIST: ... Mr. Trump, can you talk about the exciting new space program to the moon, sir, what was that...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  So we're doing a great program. We have Vice President Pence is very much involved. And we have a tremendous space program. If you look at our facilities, they were virtually closed up. There was crabgrass growing on the runways. And now they're vital and, you know, we're doing, we're going to Mars. We're stopping at the moon. The moon is actually a launching pad. That's why we're stopping at the moon. I said, hey, we've already done the moon. That's not so exciting. They said, no, sir, it's a launching pad for Mars. So we'll be doing the moon but we'll really be doing Mars and we'll be, we're making tremendous progress. In addition, rich people like to send up rocket ships. So between Bezos and Elon Musk and others, we're leasing them our launch facilities, which you can't get. There are no launch facilities like this. This is big stuff. So we're leasing, in Texas and Florida, we're leasing them our facilities so they can send up whatever they want to send up. We're, it's OK with us. And they've actually done very well. They've said they've had great success. But rich people in this country, I don't know about your country, but they like building rocket ships and sending them up and it's OK with us.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Say it?

JOURNALIST: Will an Australian astronaut be on board?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I'll let it - I think Scott and I would rather take a pass. So, I don't know, would you like to be on there? I think -- I think, I'm not sure, but I know him pretty well. I think he and I will take a pass...

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Yeah.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: but there are a lot of people that want to go up. And I have great respect for the astronauts, that's it. That's an incredible...

JOURNALIST:... minerals from Australia. And how important is that industry?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Say it again?

JOURNALIST: Do you want to buy more critical minerals from Australia? And how important is that industry?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah. Well, Australia's mineral industry is massive. It's far, far bigger than that. I mean, very few - very few countries have anything approaching what Australia has in terms of mineral wealth. And you've really taken advantage of it, and you've done it in a very environmentally sensitive way.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  That's true.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I know that's very important to you. It's very important to Scott. We talk about it a lot because that business can get out of control a little bit, from the standpoint of environment. And you have really approached it in an environmentally sensitive way. Coal is, as an example, you're the leader of safety in coal-digging. And we've actually studied it because we're doing a lot of coal, and you have very little, you almost have no -- you know, you used to have a thing, black lung disease. And in Australia, you almost don't have it anymore. You've got all of the dust down and, you know, they're very -- they become wet mines, basically.

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  It's a, it's a very technologically advanced industry.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Incredible.

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  That's right. All our resources industry are, from the robotics that's involved in the production, and all the way through. But that critical mineral space, these are the things we're going to be talking about because Australia has a wonderful partnership with the United States, not just militarily and not just strategically, but also economically. And that's going to be a big part of this conversation we have today.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And environmentally, I have to say, and environmentally, the things that they've done environmentally, with digging - digging is a - you know, when you talk minerals, it's about digging. And what you've been able to do with the environment, having to do with taking minerals out of the ground, including -- and, you know, I would say, even especially, because you're leading on coal. I will tell you, I sent a whole crew over because your record is so good, in terms of illnesses from digging, better than anybody in the world. So we're going to catch you on that, OK?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have you invited the President to Australia? And have you introduced him to the term "bubble" yet?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Oh. We'll talk about that over dinner tonight, I'm sure. He has another term for it, I hear, in Washington, I understand. But, no, we have talked about whether if his schedule and Mrs. Trump, permits whether they take in the Presidents Cup later in the year, which is going to be a great tournament, a tremendous tournament. The President knows a lot more about golf than I do, and he certainly swings a club way better than I do. But he's got a busy year coming up. Next year, he's going to do great there and if he has the opportunity, if Mrs. Trump has the opportunity, it's going to be a great spectacle, down in Australia, to see.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Interestingly, the PGA tour invited me to go. And I would love to do it. We'll have to see what the schedule is, but I would love to do it. It's a very exciting tournament, nothing more exciting. And having it in Australia, where you have so many great golfers -- Greg Norman...

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Yeah.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  ... is a friend of mine, and a great friend of yours, I know. And I think he's going to be here tonight?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Yeah, he is. Yeah.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  The First Lady has done an incredible job tonight we're going to have it - for either the first time or certainly one of the few times, in the Rose Garden. And it's going to be - I watched, yesterday, the rehearsal and she was out there, and it's going to be incredible. Tonight's going to be a beautiful night. And the only thing that can dampen it would be rain, and we're not expecting any rain. But if it rains, we head over to the State Room and we'll be just fine. But we're really expecting- I hope you're going to be able to see it, tonight, for a little while. Probably you will. Well, we'll sort of make sure that you do. It's beautiful.

JOURNALIST: Mr. President, how critical is it that you build coalition to address Iran? Iran and it’s provocations. And does that start today?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I always like a coalition. Sometimes you find that people have made a lot of money - that you'd want in the coalition, they've made a lot of money with Iran which is, you know - when President Obama made that deal, not only was it a bad deal but the United States didn't partake in a business sense. And other countries - Germany, France, Russia, many other countries - made a lot of money with Iran. And we didn't make money with Iran, which - that was just one of the many bad parts about the deal. Everyone else is making money, and we're not. So we'll see what - we'll see what happens. Look, the United States is in a class by itself. We have the most powerful military in the world, by far. There's nobody close. As you know, we've spent tremendous and hopefully, and we pray to God, we never have to use it, but we've totally renovated and bought new nuclear. And the rest of our military is all brand-new. The nuclear, now, is at a level that it's never been before. And I can only tell you because I know, I know the problems of nuclear, I know the damages that, I know what happens. And I want to tell you, we all hope and Scott hopes we all pray that we never have to use nuclear. But there's nobody that has anywhere close to what we have.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well UNGA is going to be very exciting, we look forward to it, we'll be there. You'll be there?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Yeah, I'll be there later in the week.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And for you, it's a much longer trip.

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  It is a bit, yeah.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  But we look forward to it. We have a big message for UNGA -- we have a big message and I very much I haven't been back to New York in a long time. I see that our part time mayor will be now going back to New York so they'll be able to work a little bit harder. But he dropped out of the presidential race a little while ago. Too bad, he had tremendous potential. He only had one real asset. You know what it was? Height. Other than, other than that, he had nothing going. OK, what else?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given that President Trump has indicated that he will be discussing military action in Iran, what’s Australia’s attitude?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Well I think the United States has taken a very measured and calibrated approach to date and the thing about our partnership is we always listened to whatever requests are made and Australia always considers them in our national interests and we have good conversations about these things. But the thing is the both of us, we never get ahead of ourselves on these things. We just you know, you take this one step at a time and we keep talking to each other, that's what we've always done wherever we've worked together and we're going to keep doing that. We've got such an open line of communication. I appreciate the fact the President and I talk about these things even when we're not together and we're going to keep doing that and we'll just take these things one step at a time.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  You know, the easiest thing for me to do, and maybe it's even a natural instinct, maybe I have to hold myself back, I remember during the debates and when I was running against Hillary and the Democrats and the media, I view them all the same, I view that partnership very much the same but when I was running, everybody said oh, he's going to get into war, he's going to get into war, he's going to blow everybody up, he's going to get into war. Well the easiest thing I could do, in fact, I could do it while you're here, would say go ahead, fellas, go do it. And that would be a very bad day for Iran. That's the easiest thing I could do, it's so easy, and for all of those that say oh, they should do it, it shows weakness, it just actually, in my opinion, it shows strength because the easiest thing I could do, OK, go ahead, knock out 15 different major things in Iran. I could do that and, all set to go, it's all set to go. But I'm not looking to do that if I can. I think I've changed a lot of minds. People are very surprised at and many people are extremely happy, many people are thrilled and many people are saying oh, I wish you'd hit the hell out of them. Well let's see what happens but it will take place in one minute. I could do it right here in front of you and that would be it and then you'd have a nice, big story to report. And I think it shows far more strength to do it the way we're doing it. And again, whether it's next week or two weeks or three weeks, doesn't make any difference. Whether it's now or in three weeks, doesn't make any difference. But I think the strong person's approach and the thing that does show strength would be showing a little bit of restraint. Much easier to do it the other way. It's much easier and Iran knows if they misbehave, they're on borrowed time. They're not doing well. I'd like to see them do great, I'd love to see them do great but they're not doing well, they're doing very poorly. They're doing far worse than they've ever done before. They're having riots in their streets, they're having a lot of problems in Iran right now. They could solve it very quickly. But the easiest thing for me to do is say OK, let's go, let's just do it. Very easy for me to do. But it is interesting because when I was campaigning, everybody here thought that I was going to be like, it would be one day. But what I have done is I've defeated ISIS, I've rebuilt our military to a level that it's never been before, spent a lot of money. The budgets are not so hard to fix for me but when you're spending $1.5 trillion so far, now another $738 million -- billion on the military, but think of it, $1.5 trillion and we have the greatest in the world. But I think restraint is a good thing, I think it's a good thing.

JOURNALIST: Peace in Afghanistan, peace in Afghanistan, another process ...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, well we were thinking about having a meeting. I didn't like the idea that they couldn't produce a ceasefire. I wasn't in favor of that. I said no, if they can't produce a ceasefire, why are we bothering? And they thought that it was a sign of strength that killed 12 people, wound others, badly wound some others and one of those 12 people was a young man, young soldier from Puerto Rico, from our country. And when I heard that, I said I don't want to deal with them anymore. We have hit -- in Afghanistan, we have hit the Taliban harder than they've ever been hit in the entire 19 years of war. They have been hit harder. It's come back to me through absolutely impeccable sources that they're saying, "Wow, we made a mistake with this guy; we made a big" they made a mistake. I was totally willing to have a meeting. I'll meet with anybody. I think meetings are good. I think meetings are good. There's no such thing as, "Oh, gee, we shouldn't." I really believe meetings are good. Worst that happens, it doesn't work out. That's OK. Even then, you get to know your opposition. Don't forget. I'm looking at them like they're looking at me. You get to know your opposition. You can see if they're real. Sometimes you develop a relationship, like we do. But sometimes you develop and many times you won't. But you get to know your opposition. I think the best thing that's happened to this country is the fact that, at least for three years, the fact that I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un. I think that's a positive. His country has tremendous potential. He knows that. But our country has been playing around for 50 years and getting nothing. And we have a relationship. There's never been a relationship with them. We'll see what happens. It might work out; it might not work out. I'm not saying it will. But in the meantime he hasn't been testing any nuclear. You've had no nuclear tests since, since, for a long time. And he has been doing some short-range missiles, but so does every other country do short-range missiles. Every country is doing them. They're pretty standard fare. But, no, I will tell you that we've never had a country so strong. We're just a couple of points away from a new stock market all-time high. And I think we've done it over 112 times. There's a certain number, whatever it may be. I don't want to be specific because, if I give you the wrong number, we'll have breaking news. It will be on every newspaper that I said -- I said 112 and it was actually 111, and it will be breaking news. They'll give me a Pinocchio.

JOURNALIST: Mr. President...

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  But let me just say let me just say the country has never been in this position. We have the strongest military we've ever had. And now we've rebuilt it. After the $738 billion we really have a built we have a rebuilt military. It's a great thing. And some of our friends are doing the same thing. I can tell you Australia's military is unbelievable. I saw the order that they put in for some of our most sophisticated equipment. And I said that's really great what you're doing. They've really upped it. And I want to congratulate you. I mean, you have really done a job on your military.

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  We have, up to 2 per cent of GDP next year. So we're in the middle of a $200 billion upgrade.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Great.

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON: The biggest increase in our defence as a share of GDP since the Second World War.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.

JOURNALIST: Mr. President, you prosecuted wikileaks continuously during the election campaign. Is it right that the United States is prosecuting its Australian founder Julian Assange?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, you know, that's a question I haven't heard in a long time. I'll leave that for you to determine.

JOURNALIST: Mr. President, your reaction...

JOURNALIST:... from you on your opinion on China? Is it just a trade issue for you or do you see China as a strategic threat to the United States?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, obviously China is a threat to the world in a sense because they're building a military faster than anybody. And frankly, they're using U.S. money. Presidents before me have allowed China to take out $500 billion a year. And it's really more than that. They've allowed China to steal our intellectual property and property rights. And I'm not doing that. And we actually are very close to having a deal. You know, we were very close. We had intellectual property -- all of the tough things were negotiated. And then, at the last moment, Scott, they said "We cannot agree to this." I said, "That's all right; we're charging you 25 per cent tariffs, and then it's going up." And it will continue to go up. And frankly, we're making so many hundreds of -- the numbers that we're taking in to our Treasury. And you see it. Because sometimes you'll see -- look at the good reports. Look at the great reports that came out two days ago on retailing, on consumers, numbers that nobody believes. Well, I think a lot of it, we're taking hundreds of millions, potentially, over a short period of time. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of money is coming in from China that never came in before. So China wants to make a deal. I think we want to make a deal. We'll see what happens. But I view China in many different ways. But right now I'm thinking about trade. But, you know, trade equals military because, if we allow China to take $500 billion out of the hide of the United States, that money goes into military and other things.

JOURNALIST: Mr. President, your reaction to Justin Trudeau? Can he survive this controversy?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I was hoping I wouldn't be asked that question. It had to be you that asks it. You had to ask me that question, right? Justin. I'm surprised. And I was more surprised when I saw the number of times. And, you know, I've always had a good relationship with Justin. I just don't know what to tell you. I was surprised by it, actually.

JOURNALIST: Mr. President, the last Australian Prime Minister to receive an official state visit was described by the then-president as "a man of steel." How do you describe our Prime Minister?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I would say a man of titanium. You know, titanium is much tougher than steel. He's a man of titanium. Believe me, I have to deal with this guy. He's not easy. You might think he is a nice guy, OK? He is a man of real, real strength and a great guy. And his wife is lovely. And I want to thank you and I want to thank Melania for the work. And I hope you're going to be able to see it, because Melania has, she has worked very hard for Australia.

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  Yes, she has.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And you've done a fantastic, it's so beautiful and it will be so different. And we look up to the skies and we're just going to hope that it's not going rain. And if it is, that's OK, too, because that will work out also. It always works out. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: There is nothing. It's nothing. What?

JOURNALIST: What does Mr. Morrison think of his first time in the White House?

PRIME MINISTER MORRISON:  It's a great honour to be here, a tremendous honour to be here.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you very much, everybody.

[END]

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42426

Interview with David Koch, Sunrise

18 September 2019

Prime Minister

DAVID KOCH: Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins me from the Lodge. Prime Minister thanks for your time. Look, the nature of the Family Court means it isn't a place where everyone is gonna walk away happy it is such an emotional issue. What sort of balance are you trying to achieve here?

PRIME MINISTER: Well balance is exactly the right way to put it David it's been some years, about 15 or thereabouts since there were major changes that were made following an inquiry of this nature going out and talking to Australians about what's happening in their experience. You're absolutely right. Relationship, family breakdown has a devastating impact on Australians, on dads, on moms, on children, on grandparents, everybody involved. It's a horrific experience to go through and then going through the Family Court process, the child support process, can add greater difficulty and we want to look to see whether there are ways where we can improve how that system works. We can't solve necessarily the issues have led to these breakdowns but we can try and help people be able to move on and get on with their lives, protect their safety and protect the kids in particular.

KOCH: So where do you think the balance has skewed off centre?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I'm not suggesting it has one way or the other. This isn't about picking sides. It's about listening to Australians and ensuring that we're taking a timely review, talking directly to them. I mean the lawyers have had their say through the Law Reform Commission and you know that's a process which has been important but as we consider that I think it's very important we go and hear directly. I think this will be an important opportunity for Australians we will travel far and wide, a number of people who want to tell their story about their experiences and I think parliamentarians can learn from that. I mean I've been a parliamentarian a long time and this would have to be one of the most significant issues constantly raised.

KOCH: Yep.

PRIME MINISTER: People's experience as a local member. So this is our job to go and listen and we've got to stop talking and listen carefully about Australians’ experiences and try to improve the system.

KOCH: As you point out it is a long time since there was fundamental change in the system but since then there have been a lot of inquiries, a lot of commissions. You just mentioned the Law Reform Commission. That- their report only came out in March, 60 recommendations there. Why not just act on some of them rather than just launch another inquiry? A lot of your critics would say oh we’re going to have to wait another year for change.

PRIME MINISTER: Well that's not necessarily the case. The Government will consider its response directly to those issues. There are some parts of that report that we don't agree with. For example returning a Family Court to the States, we don't agree with that and we'll be looking to merge the Family Court with other sections of the courts at a federal level but- and we can move on others. But this is bigger than that David. This is far bigger than just what was the subject of that Law Reform Commission and as I said we've heard from the lawyers I want to hear from Australians on this. And yes there were positive changes made last time when this was looked at, the Family Relationship Centres tried to get people out of the courts and into rooms where they can try and mediate these issues and we need to learn from what worked well from that and what has to work better. Kevin Andrews who will be chairing this inquiry, when he was a new member of the parliament he went and was one on this inquiry back in the early 90s. So he's got a lot of experience you know and a lot of times you know you can repeat history here and I think having Kevin's experience both as a Minister and a longtime parliamentarian I think will bring the sensitivity and the experience to what is a very emotionally charged issue.

KOCH: Yes it sure is. Hey while we’ve got you I'd love your thoughts on this class action which is being launched against the robo debt system where an estimated 160,000 errors may have been made. Now the government itself has admitted 22 per cent of the letters chasing the debts were found to be wrong, does this need a clean up and particularly when the recipient of the letter is assumed guilty and has to prove themselves innocent it’s sort of turning the law on its head and it’s a bit unfair?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I don't accept that characterisation David and I think some of the things the Labour Party have been saying of this have been overstated. But it's important that the government ensures that you know when people are overpaid that the taxpayers money that has been overpaid to them is recovered and the Labor Party did that when they were in Government, now they had similar processes and we're following those processes and we're actually recovering more debts now as a result. Where the system needs to be improved then we’ll always continue to do that. But we won't make any apologies for actually making sure that recovery of the taxpayers-

KOCH: No no, but all the mistakes you’re putting pressure on people?

PRIME MINISTER: Well we want to make that process better but I think the extent of this is I think has been overstated by the Labor Party, for obvious reasons, and they used to run the same processes themselves. They just weren’t as a forward leaning on ensuring that taxpayers money when it was handed out and welfare and things like this it was recovered where it should be, but the best way to avoid it is making sure that people are always updating their income details through the proper processes. And I encourage people to do that and then all of this can be avoided.

KOCH: All right. You're off to Washington tomorrow. Have a good trip. Are you told what you can talk about and what you can't talk about with President Trump? Is it like going to see the Queen, you’re given a bit of a briefing?

PRIME MINISTER: No, no. We have a very good relationship and the President and I've met on quite a number of occasions now. There are a few issues that we've flagged that we're obviously both going to talk about. I mean it's a very complex time at the moment. There are a lot of tensions globally and the U.S. is our biggest and greatest ally and a very important partner both strategically and economically. And this is another important opportunity to cement that relationship. You know David, we can never take our relationship with the United States for granted. It is a foundational part of our foreign policy and our economy. I take it seriously and it is bigger than Prime Ministers and Presidents, it's about our people, it's about our shared values. So it's a great opportunity for Australia. I'm looking- Jenny and I are looking forward to it. And I think Jenny's gonna look fantastic.

KOCH: Okay she could talk fashion with Melania as well while she’s there by the sound of it, alright Prime Minister safe travels thank you, here’s Sam.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42420

Interview with Deb Knight, Today

18 September 2019

Prime Minister

DEB KNIGHT: Prime Minister Scott Morrison has launched a 12 month inquiry. He joins us now from Canberra. Scott Morrison, Good morning to you.

PRIME MINISTER: Good Morning.

KNIGHT: Is the family law system as it stands in your view broken?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I don't know if I’d use that phrase but I mean it's always moving, in need of improvements. This isn’t the first time we've looked at these issues, previous governments have, the Howard government did made some important changes and it's timely that the Parliament again looks at this and this will be Senators and Members going around the country and listening to the stories of Australians who are going through, you know it’s one of the most traumatic periods of their life, through family and relationship breakdown so you know the system always needs to be improved and to do that we need to listen carefully to those who have had to live with it. I mean family and relationship breakdown is one of the prime causes of suicide and other terrible things that happen in our community. And when families break down that's always, I mean it breaks my heart, but for that process to be made even more difficult through the system, well we need to make further improvements.

KNIGHT: One of the key criticism centres on the issue of custody of children, is the Family Court unfair to men?

PRIME MINISTER: This isn't about picking sides. I mean you literally do need the wisdom of Solomon in dealing with these issues. They're very vexed, they're very difficult. They're highly emotionally charged. And that's why you know you need to constantly make sure you get the settings of how you're getting information, you're sharing information, between state and federal jurisdictions. And the way evidence is treated, all of this needs to be taken into account. And one area that we're specifically looking at which hasn't really been done before has been looking at the role of grandparents in all of this because they get involved in custody issues, as these issues get more complex it's always timely to look at this. We had the Law Reform Commission report which we've received and we’ll make a response to that. This inquiry doesn't necessarily prevent us from doing that, but at the same time I want to hear from Australians and their stories and it'll be a good opportunity for politicians to just sit there and listen.

KNIGHT: But don't we need to simply take action on that report that you mentioned, the 60 recommendations which you had before you, isn’t more urgent action needed rather than another inquiry? We've had calls for change, three years ago from a parliamentary inquiry as well.

PRIME MINISTER: Well there are recommendations we feel we can and should act on in the meantime, then we will. I mean, we don't agree with necessarily all the recommendations that they've come forward with particularly on the issue of moving the family court to the state level. We don't agree with that, and we're proceeding down our own path on that. So we'll be taking action on that and whether other matters we think we can and should then obviously we wouldn't delay where we think that's urgent and necessary. But that doesn't I think take away from the important opportunity there is for people to come and stand or sit with their elected representatives and share their heartache stories of how this system is impacting on their lives, on their children, on their families, and their ability to move on with their lives when these things happen. I mean this is the absolute definition of human frailty that we're dealing with here and we need to deal with it sensitively and justly.

KNIGHT: Senator Pauline Hanson who we had on the show earlier has lobbied for this for some time she's applauded the inquiry. She's keen to co-chair it. Is that likely?

PRIME MINISTER: Well we will be supporting that, she has been an advocate on this I think for a long time like many members of parliament have, you know I've been a Member of Parliament for 12 years and this would be one of the most frequent issues that is raised with me and my office as a local member, that would be the same I think for pretty much every member if not all, that is a member of our parliament- Senate or House. And so we're all very quite familiar with these issues and so this isn't about parties it's not about politicians, it's about the people who are living with this system and the people who work in this system they do their best. They're dealing with one of the hardest issues to deal with and we want to help them help people in this situation as well.

KNIGHT: Do you expect that Pauline Hanson who's vote you need to get important legislation passed in the Senate will look more favourably at government bills now that you've backed her calls for this?

PRIME MINISTER: I have no idea what she'll do on that front that'll be up to her if she agrees with the bills we're putting forward then, I assume she’ll support them. I mean it doesn't matter what party you come from. If you're interested in trying to address the serious issues faced by people going through the Family Law system, that's what counts. I think that's what Australians would think too.

KNIGHT: Now you're heading to Washington tomorrow. A timely visit given the uncertainty with Iran. President Trump says he is locked and loaded to strike after the bombing of Saudi oil refineries, we’re already part of this U.S. led coalition in the Gulf of Hormuz would Australia offer support for any military action?

PRIME MINISTER: I think it’s very premature and none’s being asked for and the US statement was a statement of capability not necessarily intention. And so I think we have to act cautiously and sensitively in this area. I'm sure it will be one of many issues that get discussed about the geostrategic situation at the moment. More importantly here in Australia what's happening close to our own region in the Indo-Pacific in the partnerships we have with the United States, with our Pacific Island neighbours and how we're working together there to make a peaceful and stable region that we live in and that we do business in and that jobs depend on, one in five jobs depend on trade and our alliance with the United States is foundational to our security interests and the peace and prosperity that we enjoy here in Australia. And so this is an important opportunity. I thank the President for it but I think both he and I know that our relationship goes well beyond what is a very good personal relationship should an outstanding relationship between our nations over a very long time.

KNIGHT: Traditionally you do give a gift to the US president on a trip like this. We've seen in the past some quirky ones, the Northern Territory Chief Minister once gave President Obama an insurance policy against a crocodile attack. Have you got something unique picked out for President Trump this time round?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah I have and we’ll unveil that when we’re there but it'll speak to the hundred years of mateship that we've had between Australia and the United States. We've been in many battles together, out there fighting for freedom and liberty all around the world. And it'll be very much reflecting that spirit of mateship supporting each other in so many fields of endeavour particularly on the battlefield, and I think that's something that is also foundational to our relationship.

KNIGHT: Wow, we look forward to seeing what that could be. We look forward to seeing the visit and how it unfolds, Scott Morrison we thank you for your time this morning.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, appreciate it.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42421

Joint Parliamentary Inquiry into Family Law and Child Support

17 September 2019

Prime Minister

The Prime Minister has announced the Government will undertake a Joint Parliamentary Committee of both the House and the Senate to conduct a wide-ranging inquiry into the family law system.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the review would look at whether the current system, which is intended to support parents and children during the end of a relationship, is fit for purpose. 

“We want to ensure families can resolve issues as quickly and fairly as possible, so everyone can move on with their lives,” the Prime Minister said.

“This inquiry will allow the Parliament to hear directly from families and listen to them as they give their accounts of how the family law system has been impacting them and how it interacts with the child support system. 

“This is a serious issue that has been raised by Members and Senators across the Parliament and I look forward to the Parliament working together through this Committee to bring forward recommendations that look at how the system can be improved.”

The inquiry will have broad terms of reference and be led by the Hon Kevin Andrews MP, who has considerable experience as both an MP and Minister in dealing with these issues.

The Government has already proposed substantial reform in some relevant family law structures, such as the merger of the two courts that primarily deal with family law matters – the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court.  This reform, which will be re-introduced before the end of 2019, is focused on helping parents resolve issues at the end of their relationship as simply, quickly and cheaply as possible.

The Government is also considering the recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission report into family law which was released in April this year and will respond in full to all of those recommendations relating to the design of multiple important provisions in the Family Law Act 1975.

Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations the Hon Christian Porter MP said the Select Committee’s focus would be on specific areas where there may be scope for improvement in the family law system, the courts or other policy areas such as child support.

It will also look at how the family law system, state and territory child protection systems and family and domestic violence jurisdictions can communicate better.

“Amongst other issues, it will address important operational issues of enforcement of court orders and legal costs to families of family law proceedings, with a particular focus on instances where legal fees are disproportionate to the total asset pool or issues in dispute,” said the Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations.

“Importantly for older Australians who find themselves taking on the parental role for grandchildren, the Committee will have a particular focus on issues affecting grandparent carers in family law matters and family court proceedings.”

A motion to establish the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee will today be considered by the Senate.

The proposed Terms of Reference, to be considered by the Senate this afternoon, are attached.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42419

Media Statement - Visit to the United States of America

16 September 2019

Prime Minister

I will travel to the United States of America with my wife Jenny, from 19-27 September, visiting Washington D.C, Chicago, Ohio and New York.

It was an honour to accept President Trump’s generous invitation for an official visit with a State Dinner at the White House.

I look forward to meeting again with President Trump and members of his Cabinet, including Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Esper to discuss how we can further strengthen our alliance and already close partnership.

There is no deeper friendship than that which exists between Australia and the United States.

We see the world through the same eyes, with shared values and a deep commitment to promoting peace, liberty and prosperity.

This visit will be a valuable opportunity to further strengthen our security and economic partnership.

Our alliance is stronger than ever – a partnership first forged on the battlefield, when we fought alongside one another at the Battle of Hamel in 1918.

Since then, we have stood side by side in every major conflict since the First World War – in the defence of freedom, liberty and democracy.

Our economic partnership is just as strong and this visit will further strengthen it.

The United States is Australia’s largest economic partner.

Investment between our two nations is worth more than $1.2 trillion, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The Australia-US Free Trade Agreement itself is a shining example of our shared commitment to economic growth and prosperity – with our two way trade growing by almost 60 per cent since it was signed.

However, our economic partnership is more than just trade.

I will visit the NASA headquarters and welcome greater US-Australia cooperation on space, and other cutting-edge science and technology initiatives.

I will also meet young Australian tech entrepreneurs working in the Midwest.

I also look forward to taking the opportunity while in the United States for this official visit to engage with our other partners at the 74th regular Session of the General Assembly at the United Nations. I will deliver Australia’s national statement and advance Australia’s interests in the protection of the oceans and preventing terrorist use of the internet.

While in New York, I will also meet senior business representatives to further enhance the economic partnership between Australia and the United States.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42417

Doorstop - Launceston TAS

14 September 2019

Prime Minister

BRIDGET ARCHER MP: It's fantastic to welcome Prime Minister Scott Morrison back to Launceston today for the opening of Macquarie House with Premier Will Hodgman and state colleague Michael Ferguson and Wendy Askew. We've just conducted the ribbon-cutting ceremony for this fantastic redeveloped space here and I'll hand over to the Prime Minister to say some words about that. 

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. Great to be back here in Launceston with you Bridget and of course with the Premier Will Hodgman and his team. It's wonderful coming to Launceston on a day like today and it's not just because it's the northern Tasmania Football League Grand Final, the Parrots v Sharks. I'll be backing the Parrots and J-Rod. I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with J-Rod from many months ago when we caught up for that first time. I understand he’s got a serious knee injury so he won't be taking the field but he will be running the water I understand. 

But when you look at this wonderful building here which is why we are here in Tasmania today this speaks to both the past and the future of Tasmania. As I said upstairs this speaks of the wonderful heritage that is being preserved and respected here in Launceston in this wonderful city that has also been the subject of our city deal. But it also talks to the future of innovation and not just technical innovation but agricultural innovation and many other sectors that are the mainstay of the northern Tasmanian economy. And to just be upstairs talking to some of the entrepreneurs who are going to be resident in here and pursuing their businesses. I was just talking to Ram and, you know, Ram is putting business processing systems into our farms all around northern Tasmania. He's got 25 clients now and what that is doing is two things - it is making the farms more efficient, it's making the farms more profitable and it's also giving the farmers more time with their families. And so that has win-win written all over it. And these are the sorts of innovations and the opportunities we want to see birthed here in the Macquarie House Innovation Hub. 

I want to thank also the Mayor here for his wonderful support for this project and getting it up and running. This has been a long time in the making and it's taken the vision of a lot of people over a long period of time. And as you walk through this building you will just be blown away, I think, by the wonderful architecture challenges that have been overcome, the merging of energy efficiency with celebrating what is the heritage and you get a couple of great views of the clock tower too out of this building as well which are pretty special. So that's what making a wonderful city is all about, projects like this. We've put in over $2.8 million dollars into this project because we believed in it and now it's for the Innovation Hub to make it the reality for the northern Tasmanian economy. The northern Tasmanian economy looks forward, it's optimistic, it's part of what I think we see in many parts of the country. But it's so exciting to see an optimistic, forward-looking regional economy. There are many regions facing challenges around the country today. Many of them, in particular, devastated by drought and doing it really tough. Others, where I was yesterday up in Canungra which are doing it tough by fire. Tasmania is no stranger to fire, Will and I were up in the Huon Valley last year and seeing what was happening there. And those communities have bounced back and I know they will up there in Canungra and the many other parts of Queensland and New South Wales that are affected. 

But here in regional Tasmania wonderful leadership, a wonderful project and we're so pleased to be here backing in Launceston, backing in Tasmania and that backs in Australia. I’m going to hand it over to Will who's been a great partner on so many things and it's great to be here with him and I really appreciate the wonderful working relationship that our governments have together. Will.

THE HON WILL HODGMAN MP, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: Well, thanks ScoMo. Excellent. And can I also acknowledge federal colleagues and my state Minister Michael Ferguson the Minister for State Growth, Science and Innovation. And of course this is a hub for another thing that Tasmania does exceptionally well and that's create, innovate and in so many areas we are world leaders. So it's wonderful to have a new premises that will inspire Tasmanians to be at their creative best and to ensure that we continue to be a place that's growing, that's expanding our capabilities and also an attractive place to come and live and work. The Prime Minister is a former Treasurer who would've no doubt noticed the recent national data that shows that Tasmania's economy is the fastest-growing in the country. We are the best-performing state. Our state final demand is twice the national average and 10,000 jobs lost under a Labor government, 13,000 jobs now for Tasmanians under Liberal governments in Tasmania and nationally. And importantly, what we are determined to do as governments is work together. That's what Tasmanians expect of us and that's the best way to deliver results. I will not spend too much time dwelling on what I described is like a reality TV show this week that is the Labor Party. It is really more like a soap opera and to see a party so internally divided, focused on itself and less focused on Tasmanians is an appalling reflection of how far the Labor Party has not come in this state. But under my government, working very closely with the Morrison government, we're delivering for Tasmanians. I want to again acknowledge the significant commitments that the Morrison government has made to our state. Close to a billion dollars in infrastructure investments right across Tasmania to support our growing economy and in so many ways complementing what we are doing as a state government. And also to acknowledge the recent decision by the Commonwealth to retire Tasmania's housing debt. Now that just gives us so much more capacity to support those in Tasmania who need a roof over their heads and to invest more into affordable housing which we are doing at a fast pace and that in itself is not only providing more homes for Tasmanians but also creating more jobs for our building and construction sector to keep Tasmania's economy the strongest performing in the country. So we will continue, unlike our opponents, to focus on what's important to Tasmanians to keep our economy the strongest performing in the country as it has been and we will also work very closely with the Commonwealth to invest in things that are important to Tasmanians. So that's our track record and it's great to have the Prime Minister back in the state again.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Will. Happy to take questions. And to the Mayor Albert Van Zetten again can I say thank you to him for his leadership, not just on this project. We're doing many projects together and it's making Launceston an even greater city. But happy to take questions on this project and if we have time one or two others.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you agree with Tasmania's new transgender laws which allow birth certificates... gender is to be removed from birth certificates. What do you think? Should that be scrapped?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia. I'm not a member of the Tasmanian Parliament and when they are issues like this, whether they be in the Tasmanian Parliament or New South Wales Parliament or Western Australian Parliament, I respect those parliaments to work through their issues in their jurisdictions. These aren't matters before the Federal Parliament and so I'm sure state parliamentarians here are more than capable of dealing with issues in their jurisdiction.

JOURNALIST: But do you think that should be a law?

PRIME MINISTER: It’s not for me to venture opinions on these things. It's for those who have the responsibility in those parliaments for these decisions to make here and I don't think they need any interference from me in Canberra.

JOURNALIST: Have you been briefed at all about job uncertainty with TEMCO in the Tamar Valley? Have you got a message for those workers?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, and Will may want to comment on this as well. But look, we'll work closely as Bridget Archer has been working with particularly our ministers, Minister Andrews, at what the options are here. But things are still a bit uncertain in terms of where their decisions are at and so we'll work closely with them on this issue, as we would in similar circumstances in other places. And so it's about understanding what the challenges are and it's about understanding what they say the future as. But it's also... these things are a reminder that your economy can never stay still. Your economy needs to be constantly diversifying and expanding and looking at new opportunities in new sectors. And really that's what today is all about. So, you know, I am concerned about that issue as I would be about any similar plant in any part of the country. But what I've also seen around the country is when these economic circumstances impact on regional communities I’ve seen an enormous capability of those places to bounce back and to seek out new opportunities as well. So you’ve got to work on both and we are. But the Premier might want to comment that as well.

THE HON. WILL HODGMAN MP, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: Yeah look, it is something that State, Commonwealth and local governments will work closely on - another great feature of this beautiful city - yeah look, certainly we're continuing to ensure that we are kept abreast of any plans at Bell Bay. We are working closely with the Commonwealth government, local government and also with the company to understand what their plans are but there's still some time to go in the process. But I think it's also important to acknowledge and to recognise that we're doing a lot to ensure there are more job opportunities, more investment in this state, more diversification in our economy. Our collective efforts to transform Tasmania, to be Australia's renewable energy battery is one such example. And the projects that are being co-funded by the Commonwealth and the state and which will deliver potentially thousands of jobs, millions of dollars of investment into Tasmania. This is the sort of planning work that we are undertaking to keep our economy strong and Tasmanians employed.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will you be visiting the Launceston General Hospital during your visit? There's been a lot of issues raised at the Hospital even as early as this week with the Four Corners report. 

PRIME MINISTER: I won't have the opportunity to do that on this occasion. But on my many visits to Launceston this year one of those visits involved the outlining of our plan for over $90 million dollars of investment throughout the north of Tasmania in particular, which is investing in those health services. From mental health services to anti-natal services, to ensuring the cutting down the waiting lists here and in hospitals in Tasmania. The state government and the Commonwealth government entered into an agreement some time ago to ensure that there is the sustainable resourcing and funding of hospitals not just here in Tasmania, but all around the country. So we have record funding, record funding both now and in the future which is going into providing health care. We have bulk billing rates now for GP services at record highs - record highs - and we've got PBS listings funding those lifesaving and life-improving drugs also at record levels and ensuring that anything that is recommended by the advisory board is actually listed. And so, you know, there's a lot of investment going into health and the reason that is happening is because we know how to manage a budget. There are many calls on the budget all the time and we prioritise that investment in health and the well-being of our citizens, whether here in Launceston or anywhere else in the country.

JOURNALIST: Have you spoken to Jacqui Lambie about gaining her support for the Ensuring Integrity Bill?

PRIME MINISTER: Well look, we're working with all the crossbench members and that's because the Labor Party will not vote to kick out union bosses who behave in an ugly way in the Australian economy. Now, the Labor Party says it wants to get rid of John Setka. John Setka is staging a sit-in in the Labor Party which they seem to be completely unable to deal with. Now, whether it's the sit-in of John said here in Western Australia... sorry, in Victoria, the sit-in of John Setka in Victoria or the walkout in Western Australia of factions warring with each other in the Labor Party in Western Australia. The chaos that is occurring here that the Premier has referred to in Tasmania. The Aldi plastic bags in New South Wales and goodness knows what's going on in Queensland. I mean, all of this I think says a lot about a Labor Party characterised by chaos and confusion. Now, why would the Labor Party not want to vote for a Bill that outlawed people who are serial lawbreakers in our workplaces? Why would you vote not to do that? I welcome the engagement we've had with Senator Lambie, I respect Senator Lambie and I think the sort of abuse that Senator Lambie has copped from John Setka is absolutely unacceptable. But frankly, the guy has form. He has massive form and I can tell you, there's more John Setka’s in the union movement and the Labor Party where he came from. And so they, you know, they can try and get rid of john Setka - try, and they seem to be failing. But there's a lot more where he came from and his remarks that have been reported about Jacqui Lambie I think are very, very offensive and very disappointing. We'll treat all members of Parliament with respect. All of them. Jacqui Lambie, I respect the fact that she's overcome some really significant challenges in her own life. She’s served our country. She's found a way back into the Parliament. She deserves respect, not the sort of abuse that we've seen levelled at her, particularly for being prepared to consider voting for the Bill. And even just by being prepared to consider voting for it she's being subject to all this bullying of her. But you know, I reckon Jackie's made of tougher stuff than that. I reckon Jackie can deal with that. But that doesn't it.

JOURNALIST: On to Gladys Liu, you've said there are grubby undertones to the accusations being levelled against her. What are those undertones?

PRIME MINISTER: I've made my remarks on that earlier this week, I should say, and I don't propose to say any more. I think I was pretty fulsome in that press conference and I stand by every word. Thanks very much.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42416

Doorstop Interview - Canungra Queensland

13 September 2019

Prime Minister

SCOTT BUCHHOLZ: Firstly I want to acknowledge the Mayor Greg Christensen who's done an outstanding job communicating not only with the community, but to the rest of the state and the country as these disasters have been unfolding. And I know Greg's task is still ahead of him yet in working with the community as we move through this phase and into to rebuild. Can I acknowledge John Krause the state- local state member here who's been basically my eyes and ears on the ground for the last couple of days. Thank you John from me to you for all the work that you've done and I noticed today that you're joined with the Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington today. It's always good to have you here in the electorate. Unfortunately these are not the circumstances that we we look for these visits but nevertheless we welcome you here today. To the emergency services personnel. Ben Markus from Queensland Police. Thank you Ben for the work that you're doing and the leadership that you're showing in this space. Ben and I unfortunately worked together on Grantham floods some nine years ago and I don't know, we just always seem to catch up in under these disastrous situation. So Ben thank you for the work that you've been doing. And please pass on our appreciation to all your team. Kevin Welsh from the Queensland Fire Brigade thank you Kev. Not only just for the amazing work that you're doing but the work that you guys do with your volunteers and coordinating the rural fire, the SEC and the fire brigade through the comms, we've been this morning up to the ICC and it is just nothing short of exhilarating to see those those people at work. They're professionals. The best advice we have, from people on the ground is when they ask you to do something do it. But the Prime Minister, can I say thank you again for making your way to our electorate. I remember when you were first elected you showed a compassion and an empathy for those that had been affected by the drought. You- your presence here today I've seen it firsthand once again has lifted the spirits of those that have been affected by this disastrous- this disastrous event. Before I pass on to the PM I just want to acknowledge also the resources here at Canungra barracks under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Arran Hassell. Arran's an amazing operator and he is currently housing in excess of 100 volunteers from the different states that have come here to lend their shoulder and their hand to help out while this disaster unfolds. He's also made available water assets for our aerial- aerial aviation pieces of equipment to fight the fires. He's provided mapping and of course his leadership will be at the fore as we move forward in this place, to everyone that's contributed. Thank you. The volunteers from our CWA personnel, it's nothing short of outstanding. The rebuild is still in front of us but without further ado can I please ask the Prime Minister to come forward, PM thank you for coming to Canungra.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Scotty. It's great to have my state colleagues and also David Littleproud, the Minister that deals with natural disasters and our response to them and its, this is why we're here today. I'm glad that Jenny and I could come here today to offer our comfort and to offer our support on the scene of what were inferno fires just a few days ago. And to be able to be here today and see the incredible spirit of the response of those directly affected that have lost their homes, through to those who are standing in canteens, standing in response groups, organising accommodation and logistics. It really is a tremendously impressive operation but it is one that is completely motivated by the great spirit and the big heart of Australians. These these natural disasters always have the most terrible of impacts but they bring out the best in Australians in every aspect whether it's those who are fighting fires who have come from locally here in Canungra or those who have come from South Australia and we met one of those Adelaide crews up there today near Binna Burra, or those who have already been here from New South Wales or the ACT particularly while the local firefighters here can get a well-earned break. I mean for some of them they are out there about 10 days and they need that break because when they're fighting fires we need to keep them safe as well. And that's what I'm so impressed about today when we see how the national coordination effort comes together so quickly, so professionally and it's so focussed on dealing with what might come, with what's already happened and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of everybody who's involved. Now Scotty's right. We gotta fight the fires that are still happening and there's another wind change this afternoon and those from the fire service are better placed to advise you on on those issues, and I'd be happy for them to do that but there's also the impacts of the rebuild and I'm ensuring that people get support during that period of time as well.

I mean the area within this morning I remember camping there when I only was about 17, many many years ago with my brother and a few other mates. And this is a tourist area. One of the most beautiful parts of the country and it'll be some time before these areas can open up again and the visitors can come back through. And so it's important that during this period where business is obviously going to be soft and jobs are going to be affected. Binna Burra itself they've had to lay off 70 people and that's heartbreaking. I was talking to the chairman Steve this morning, who I've known for many years from my days back in the tourism industry and you know these are local people and Binna Burra is an important part of their local economy. And so today we're announcing a Disaster Recovery Allowance will be payable in these circumstances and that will be payable from Monday and I'll allow Minister Littleproud to go through the details of that but it supports people who are suffering income loss as a result of the economic impact of this disaster and of these fires.

So if you can't get those shifts or you've had to go back from full time to part time or you've lost your job completely as a result of these things this is an allowance that helps you work through that very difficult period when you're waiting for the businesses to reopen on things like that. Now these payments have been very important in other disaster areas it was great to see some people up on the instant response centre where I've got to say Kaye's doing an absolutely amazing job. We got people there from Townsville and they were seeing the same coordinated response swing into action on that case and it was floods, here it's fires but it's the same support structures that come together to support people in these circumstances. I've also been really pleased to see, and Roxy from Emergency Management Australia and I know that David would be particularly pleased about that the work that's been going on over many years now to better coordinate the national effort in getting assets and resources and systems in place to respond to these disasters.

These are not the only fires that are going on as we know these fires over in Stanthorpe in David's electorate, up on the Sunshine Coast, down in northern New South Wales fires even further south in Lithgow a week ago. But to see how the nationally coordinated effort is actually really working now in place it is very encouraging. And when people can see the crews turn up the resources coming to back them in, the digital communication systems working this I think is it should be of great assurance to Australians all over the country where we face a difficult environment and particularly the moment with the drought. These are the additional risks that are being realised. I want to thank all of the volunteers whether you're fighting on the frontline of the fire or you're coordinating all of the wonderful donations that I've just seen just here, all the things that people need and they've been working just as hard in there as others have been out there on the fire front. I want to thank them all for being wonderful Australians and showing that tremendous Australian spirit in the depths and the difficulty of the fires, as always we're seeing the best of our country. Now I'm going to ask David to just briefly run through the nature of the DRA payment and a couple of other matters and then I'll ask Deb to have a few words and it's great to be here with Deb and I'm glad we've been here together today Deb and I want to thank also I should say the Queensland Government for the work we're doing with them in these in these circumstances. These are these are joint efforts that are done in these circumstances. There's no politics here. You've just got to get in and help people and that's what we did in the floods up in Townsville. That's what we'll do with the fires here in Canungra. And people can expect the same level of support and the same level of cooperation. Thank you, David.

DAVID LITTLEPROUD: Thank you PM and to Scotty and to Deb, and John it's great to be up here with you today and today's announcement around the Disaster Recovery Allowance is to look after those that are most vulnerable who have lost their income as a result of these fires. This is a temporary 13 week payment to allow people to get back up on their feet. It is predicated on their own personal circumstances and what we would say to people is please do not self assess. It is important that you reach out to human services. These payments are live and well on Monday. So please do not self-assess in your own individual circumstances. You need to understand that these payments are there to help you but it is a temporary support payment for 13 weeks but it also complements the already arrangements that we put in place in partnership with the Queensland Government and the New South Wales Government around support payments where individuals can get up to $180 or $900 per family there is also allowances for rebuilding of infrastructure as well as household items, as well as freight subsidies for farmers to bring to bring fodder and water. And in addition, there's also which I think is most important there are some small grants for those not for profit community groups that are- put the shoulder to the wheel for their fellow Australians here today and over the last couple of weeks it is important we understand the risk has not passed and the brave men and women who have put their lives on the line for you need to be respected and listened to. Tragically we had one New South Wales firefighter that was hospitalised and I'm pleased to say that he is recovering he didn't- despite that his own property came under threat he sacrificed his safety for each and every one of us. And in my mind these people, these great men and women are true Australian heroes and they need to be respected and we are not out of the woods yet. Please listen to them as we go through these next couple of weeks. But you can have confidence as the Prime Minister said we have a world class emergency management system predicated and supported by world class emergency management personnel. So we'll continue to work with the state government. They'll make further assessments around further support that both Queensland and New South Wales and the federal government will make. But we can only do that when it's safe for them to go in and make those assessments. So we're collaborating with those state governments very closely and we'll continue to be agile and if they make application as we've got a very strong track record as was in the case up in north west floods in Townsville we act very quickly and we will make sure that the assessment of those applications is done straight away. So thank you for coming today. But we hope that over the coming weekend that conditions continue to ease otherwise these brave men and women are going to have to put the shoulder wheel again but can I thank them, from behalf of a grateful nation. Thank you.

DEB FRECKLINGTON: Thank you very much Minister, and thank you to you and to Scotty Buchholz, local members Scotty Buchholz and John Krause. Thank you so much to the Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny for coming here today to actually just see on the ground, PM it's really heartfelt and thank you so very much. I know that people like Pamela and Stewart who we met up here earlier this week were just so grateful to see your smiling face and and to really just understand what has been going on here in this local community. And of course my thanks go out to each and every one of the volunteers- the emergency services, the rural firies who are desperately needing a break right now. And I know they're desperate to get back out and contain the fires that are still going but they do need to have that break. It is very heartwarming to hear of the recovery payments that the Prime Minister has announced here today and particularly for those volunteer groups who have given up their time to help coordinate this recovery effort that we're going into. So we thank you again very much Prime Minister and to his lovely wife Jenny. It's just been wonderful to be able to spend this morning with you, thanking those hardworking firefighters, the volunteers, and to this local community just all I say, is just hang in there and everyone's here to help. Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Deb. Let's take some questions on the fire issues and then we'll go from there.

JOURNALIST: Do you think 13 weeks of payments is enough to help people get back on their feet here?

PRIME MINISTER: That's what we've, that's the standard arrangement that we've had and that we've applied in similar circumstances. And these are things that then can be ongoing, assessed for those payments. The whole point is here is it's based on the level of, and time period that we think people might have their businesses and other things disrupted, it may will get much longer than that. And if that's the case then obviously we'll address that at that time. But it is a help or support payment and you can still access it even though as I said you might have had an income of that amount, and it's been reduced to that. I mean it's there there are rules around the payment that's why I think David makes the right point. You know you can get in touch online on the phone or go into the centre of which ever way you choose to do it. But those processes work very well and the Department of Human Services I think has done a great job up in North Queensland when we turned round those payments so quickly, so incredibly quickly and people just need to know when these things happen that you know we're here and look and look around everybody's here. Everybody is here to help and we're part of that team that's here to help.

JOURNALIST: Will the payment amount vary for each person?

PRIME MINISTER: Yes. Well it depends on their circumstances and what their loss of income is and things like that.

JOURNALIST: What was it like seeing area that's usually rainforest been burnt?

PRIME MINISTER: Whether you walk into a community that's been devastated by flood or fire what I notice is the people. There are the charred remains of buildings or the or the mud soaked carpets of people's homes. But what I see are the people and I see two things I see great sadness. But at the same time an indomitable spirit. And that's when you see the best of people. So what do I see when I see disasters I see amazing Australians.

JOURNALIST: In terms of specifically the rainforest, you said it's quite beautiful up there?

PRIME MINISTER: It is. And it's quite uncommon for rainforest to burn as the firies here were telling me I mean at Pam and Stewart's place I mean they've been there 25 years and they've never seen fire over that period of time. And so you know we are dealing with challenging conditions and it is very dry at the moment, I mean that's, that's what happens in droughts. And I'm pleased to hear that a lot of the water that's been able to be used with the with the water bombing has been able to have been taken here at a Canungra in other parts of New South Wales for example I mean having taken out pretty much almost empty dams and that's just compounding the problem but here as Scotty and David mentioned there's also the issue was there was a lot of feed here and it's going up in smoke and that feed while these and some of these places aren't big big big runs at the same time, I mean their feed’s gone. And so that's that's going to put further stress on that but the feed drops are happening and that's an important part of the immediate response. But Australians I think and all the agencies state federal working together, local are quite good at planning out now I think, ok I will need this this week we'll need this next month, we'll need this two months from now and even up there this afternoon the South Australians are up there charting the course of where the fire might go with a change in the wind direction this afternoon and what it's force might be and how they can forward plan where they can get people and how they can sustain them. So it's you know it's a, it's a pretty calibrated effort.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Binna Burra resident Lisa Groom has linked to emergency here to climate change. She said the government urgently needs to declare a climate emergency. What do you think her thoughts?

PRIME MINISTER: Well the government believes we need to take action on climate change and we are and we'll continue to do that. We're one of the few countries that will actually exceed our Kyoto 2020 targets. In fact we'll exceed the by three hundred and sixty seven million tonne. We make commitments, we keep them. We've made commitments for 2030 and we'll keep them. This is one of many factors that go into these incidents. One of many factors. I mean one of the key factors here has been the ferocious winds. I mean the houses that burned down at Binna Burra, the fire started, what was it, around 30 kilometres Scotty? And the carry on the embers was multiple times over what they would normally anticipate. And this is this is quite complicated terrain too. And so that's why rain here is very important in seeing a lot of these fires go out. So look it's one of many conditions and that's why the government does take action on climate change.

JOURNALIST: Should a climate emergency be declared?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I'm not even sure what the policy response that that entails, if it entails that you should take action on climate change then we have already responded. We have already responded and we will continue to respond to take action on climate change. But I'll tell you what people here are very focussed on, just helping people. There's not a lot of philosophical or ideological scientific arguments taking place here. There is a discussion taking place about how to support crews how to help people get sustained. How do they get their income back in their pocket while they have to go through a difficult time. I mean in disasters that's what matters and to be honest my focus is on that. But you know the broader issues that are at play, well this is why we take action on climate change and we are. And I I don't accept any suggestion that we don't, because we do.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister it's so early in the year to be seeing these conditions, are you concerned for the fire season ahead?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm always concerned for the fire season ahead. I remember this time last year I was concerned for the fire season ahead and we had some very debilitating fires last season as well these, I mean fires are not strangers to Australia whether it's here or anywhere else. And that's why so much of the planning and the coordination and the management and the placement and organization of assets and resources and training and systems and communications. We've done all this over many years now because we are always concerned about the fire season approaching. And that's what good governments should do. They should focus on putting the resources in to ensuring our preparedness. And so you can see the sort of response you've seen here. I mean the sophistication of this response here you've seen right before you is very impressive. Now that doesn't happen by accident that happens because of good planning and good people and the resources that go in behind those planning programs and that's what you're seeing on show here. And I think that is one of the things that really set Australia apart. We have to deal with a lot of natural disasters and we got very good at responding to them and managing them and we've learned some very difficult lessons from some horrific, some horrific fires, some horrific floods. And each time they happen we always learn from them and we always increase our preparedness for the next one because we always know there will always be a next one.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister why was it racist to question Gladys Liu's connections to China but it wasn't racist to call Sam Dastyari Shanghai Sam?

PRIME MINISTER: I didn't use either of those phrases so, I think people here today are focussed on the fires, not Canberra. Thanks very much.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42415

Additional Australian Government assistance to help people affected by the Queensland and New South Wales bushfires

13 September 2019

Prime Minister, Minister for Water Resources Drought Rural Finance Natural Disaster and Emergency Management

The Australian Government will deliver new income assistance to people affected by the bushfires in Queensland and New South Wales.

We have activated the Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA) to ensure assistance is directed to those who need it most.

The devastation we have seen on the ground in South East Queensland today was heartbreaking and we want to be there to help the communities rebuild. There are hundreds of these stories of survival across NSW and Queensland in the face of tough odds, and hope for the future.

Multiple bushfires continue to burn across large parts of southern Queensland and northern NSW.

These fires have had significant impacts on many communities and businesses, both direct and indirect, and are impacting people’s livelihoods and incomes.

Our assistance is designed to help those who have lost their income and need additional support to get back on their feet.

The DRA provides a short-term support payment to assist those whose income has been affected as a direct result of the bushfires.

People eligible for DRA can access income assistance for up to 13 weeks, equivalent to the maximum rate of Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance.

In Queensland, the DRA has been activated in the local government areas of Noosa, Scenic Rim, Southern Downs and Sunshine Coast.

In New South Wales, the DRA has been activated in the local government areas of Armidale, Bellingen, Clarence Valley, Glen Innes, Inverell, Tenterfield, Uralla and Walcha.

Claims for DRA can be made through the Australian Government Department of Human Services (DHS) from Monday 16 September 2019.

Customers can call DHS on 180 22 66, visit www.humanservices.gov.au or visit a DHS Service Centre.

Equivalent financial assistance will also be available to eligible New Zealand citizens (‘non-protected’ Special Category Visa, subclass 444 holders) affected by the bushfires.

The Australian Government assistance being announced today is over and above the support already being provided for under the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

We stand ready to provide further support if it is requested.

We are monitoring the impacts of the bushfires closely and will ensure bushfire affected communities receive the support they need, including:

Northern NSW Bushfires

• personal hardship and distress assistance for individuals and families;

  • Includes immediate emergency assistance, grants for essential household contents and grants for essential structural repairs to homes.

  • The amounts granted depend on the assessed needs of the affected individuals/households.

• support for affected local councils and state agencies to help with operational response costs and restoring damaged essential public assets;

  • Includes funding for counter disaster operations (e.g. firefighting operations) and to repair damaged assets.

  • The amount available is uncapped.

• concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations;

  • Includes loans of up to $130,000 at a fixed concessional interest rate for small businesses and primary producers and up to $25,000 for non-profit organisations.

• freight subsidies for primary producers, and

  • Includes subsidies up to $15,000 per annum.

• grants to eligible non-profit organisations.

  • Includes grants of up to $2,000.

This assistance is administered by the NSW Government.

For personal hardship and distress assistance contact the NSW Government Disaster Welfare Assistance Line on 1800 018 444 (8.30am – 4.30pm Monday to Friday). For concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations contact the Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593.

Southern Queensland Bushfires

Disaster recovery assistance is being provided under the jointly funded Commonwealth-state DRFA.

DRFA assistance is available in the local government areas of Noosa, Scenic Rim, Southern Downs and Sunshine Coast.

A range of assistance is available, including:

• Personal hardship and distress assistance for individuals and families; and

• Emergency Hardship Assistance Grant – provides assistance as a contribution to support people directly impacted by an eligible disaster to meet their immediate essential needs for food, clothing, medical supplies or temporary accommodation. $180 per individual and up to $900 for families of five or more.

• Essential Services Hardship Assistance – provides assistance for people directly impacted by an eligible disaster to meet their immediate needs where they have experienced the loss of one or more essential services for more than five days. $150 for individuals and up to $750 for families of five or more.

• Essential Household Contents Grant – provides a contribution towards replacing or repairing essential household contents, such as beds, linen and whitegoods that have been lost or damaged by an eligible disaster. $1,765 per individual or $5,300 for couples or families. Assistance is subject to means testing.

• Structural Assistance Grant – provides a contribution towards repairs or replacement of a dwelling damaged by an eligible disaster, to return it to a safe, habitable and secure condition. $10,995 for single adults or $14,685 for couples or families. Assistance is subject to means testing.

• Essential Services Safety and Reconnection Scheme – To assist residents with the inspection and reconnection of essential services that have been damaged by an eligible disaster. The scheme provides financial assistance to individuals and families as a contribution towards safety inspections of and repairs to residential essential services (i.e. electricity, gas, water and sewerage) damaged by an eligible disaster. Up to $5,000 per household. Assistance is subject to means testing.

• Support for affected local councils and state agencies to help with operational response costs (CATEGORY B).

• Counter Disaster Operations – To assist local governments and state agencies to undertake activities that alleviate personal hardship and distress, address the immediate needs of individuals and protect the general public, immediately prior to, during or immediately after an eligible disaster.  The amount available is not capped.

In addition, assistance for the restoration of damaged essential public assets has been made available in Scenic Rim (CATEGORY B).

This assistance is administered by the Queensland Government.

Anyone in need of assistance should contact the Queensland Government Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349.

Other Australian Government assistance:

• Firebombing aircraft have been in action against these fires. We are proud that our national aerial firefighting arrangements are ensuring the best possible aerial firefighting equipment is available to protect Australians.

• The Australian Government annually invests around $14.8 million in aerial firefighting.

With the early start to this bushfire season, it is important that all members of the community are well prepared and have a plan.

More information on Australian Government disaster assistance is available at www.disasterassist.gov.au