Media Releases
National Agreement on Closing the Gap
30 July 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Indigenous Australians
The new National Agreement on Closing the Gap has today come into effect, upon signature by the First Ministers of all Australian Governments, the Lead convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, and the President of the Australian Local Government Association.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the new Closing the Gap agreement is an historic achievement.
“Today finally marks a new chapter in our efforts to close the gap – one built on mutual trust, shared responsibility, dignity and respect,” Prime Minister Morrison said.
“The gaps we are now seeking to close are the gaps that have now been defined by the representatives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This is as it should be. This creates a shared commitment and a shared responsibility.”
“This is the first time a National Agreement designed to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been negotiated directly with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives.”
“By focusing our efforts on these more specific, practical and shared objectives we can expect to make much greater progress.”
Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP, said the National Agreement demonstrates the Government’s commitment to work in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“The way all levels of government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives have come together to negotiate this National Agreement and collectively determine how we strive to close the gap demonstrates our commitment to working together through meaningful partnerships,” Minister Wyatt said.
“We know that the best out comes are achieved when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are equal partners with governments, and when they have a direct say in how we are going to be successful in driving the desired outcomes.”
The Lead convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, Ms Pat Turner AM, said “for the first time, First Nations people will share decision-making with governments on Closing the Gap. The National Agreement makes this a reality, not just for the Coalition of Peaks, but for all First Nations people that want to have a say on how things should be working in their communities.”
“If the Priority Reforms are implemented in full by governments and through shared decision making with First Nations people, we should see changes over time to the lives and experiences of our people.”
At the centre of the National Agreement are four priority reforms that commit governments to change the way they work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
These reforms will embed joint-decision making; build the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled service sector; transform mainstream government services; and improve data to support informed decision-making.
The new National Agreement builds on the draft targets endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments in 2018. It establishes 16 targets in areas such as education, employment, health and wellbeing, justice, safety, housing, land and waters, and languages.
For the first time, all governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations share responsibility for achieving targets and significantly more reporting will increase accountability for all parties This acknowledges that all parties have a role to play in improving outcomes for Indigenous Australians.
Each jurisdiction will report annually on their progress and contribution towards Closing the Gap, and the Productivity Commission will make more data publicly available and conduct an independent review of progress every three years.
Parties to the National Agreement – the Commonwealth Government, State and Territory governments, the Coalition of Peaks, and the Australian Local Government Association – will now develop plans that set out how they will implement the priority reforms and contribute towards achieving the targets.
The National Agreement is available on the National Indigenous Australians Agency website.
Doorstop - Mooloolaba, QLD
28 July 2020
ANDREW WALLACE MP, MEMBER FOR FISHER: A very, very warm Sunshine Coast welcome to the Prime Minister. It’s wonderful to have you here, Prime Minister, on this winter’s day on the Sunshine Coast. Every day is just like this on the Sunshine Coast. On behalf of my colleague Ted O’Brien I want to welcome you to the Sunshine Coast. It’s absolutely fantastic to have you here. Today is a great day but also a sad day. We know that many of our southern cousins are doing it tough down in Victoria and our hearts go out to them. Our hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to them. On the Sunshine Coast here, we’re not immune from that. Whilst we haven’t experienced the same extent of this crisis from a health perspective, we’re certainly experiencing the troubles that are flowing from the economic consequences. Now, there’s 20,400 businesses on the Sunshine Coast that employ tens of thousands of Sunshine Coast locals that are doing it tough. And those 20,400 businesses are getting JobKeeper and almost every day, when I go out and talk to businesses throughout the electorate, they all say one thing, PM, and that is thank you so much for JobKeeper. Because but for JobKeeper, they wouldn’t have businesses today. If they didn’t have businesses today, the tens of thousands of employees that they keep in work would be unemployed. So on behalf of those 20,400 employers, PM, on behalf of all those employees, I say thank you. And many of them have expressed to me and said please tell the PM how grateful we are for the assistance that we have provided as a government. So thank you for your leadership PM, thank you for the leadership of the Treasurer. It’s been a difficult time but Sunshine Coast locals are resilient, they are tough. Just like all Australians, we will get through this together. PM, welcome to the Sunny Coast, it’s great to have you here.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Andrew and Ted and thank you, particularly, to Heidi and Pavo. It’s great to be here at Walker Seafoods. I’d like to make a few comments, though, before I talk about the reason for us being here today, about the situation in Victoria.
Each day I’ve been, obviously, connecting with the Aged Care Minister, the Health Care Minister, I’ve been in contact with Premier Andrews, the Secretary of the Health Department, the Chief Medical Officer, the Acting Chief Medical Officer, who has been working closely with their counterparts in Victoria. The situation remains very concerning and particularly in relation to the aged care situation in Victoria. We have just over 80 facilities out of just over 430 in Victoria which have been affected. Not all severely, but some of those cases have been far more severe. And I'll be returning to Canberra later this morning to engage directly again. Over the course of this week, I had been planning to be in Queensland for the next few days. Because we really are dealing with a health crisis and we are dealing with an economic crisis and here we are today to be highlighting the important steps we're taking to support the Australian economy through the economic crisis, the COVID recession, and Walker Seafoods is a great example of businesses that are taking advantage of the supports that are there, to ensure that they can keep people in work and they can look forward and see their business recover, and move forward into the future with confidence.
In relation to Victoria and aged care, the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre has been stood up now for several days. That brings together the Commonwealth officers, both in emergency management and the Federal Department of Health with their counterparts in Victoria. Now, the situation in Victoria aged care is very complex. You have a combination of the community transmission, which is widespread in Melbourne, finding its way into many facilities and in particular it has found its way into the aged care workforce. Now, the standing-down, necessarily, of many in that workforce has had a very significant disruption to the provision of care in those facilities. The Commonwealth has been working, including with other states, to ensure that we can plug those gaps wherever we possibly can. But I want to be up-front with you - it's very difficult and it's very hard to get people into those positions, particularly given the complexity and difficulty of the situations they're facing. And last night, in particular, we had ADF officers, nurses, being put into a night shift in a Melbourne facility and we were able to arrange that quite late in the evening, about 11:00pm. And so there is no effort being spared to ensure that we can get the people to the places they need to be.
An important part of the process that we have been following has been to transfer those who have COVID, in particular, out of aged care facilities into both public and private hospitals. This is a very important part of the plan that is being implemented that relieves the stress on those facilities where there are patients - I should say residents - who are able to be accommodated in those facilities in single rooms, in appropriate facilities. There has been significant PPE that has been provided to the aged care sector in Victoria, both leading up to this time over many weeks, and more is being provided. The training was provided but it's important, with the leadership in these facilities, that that is being adhered to and further steps are being taken to ensure that that is taking place. The disruption to the workforce, which has included the disruption of the management workforce in those facilities, means that you have significant problems ensuring a continuity of communication with families. And I know that must be terribly heartbreaking for those families, and incredibly difficult, and Richard Colbeck, the Minister for Aged Care, I have tasked specifically to be focusing on ensuring that we do everything we can to fill those holes when it comes to communications with families. There is disruption and we would ask for patience. But I understand that that patience is very hard to come by when you're talking about a loved one who's been affected by COVID and what's been occurring in these facilities.
COVID is a difficult beast to manage, and it means that there will be difficult tasks, and there will be hard times, and there will be complex solutions that are necessary. But the way we get on top of it is the way we're acting, by working together. The Victorian and the Federal Government are working together. Whether it's on the issues that the state government have been pursuing, whether it's on their testing or tracing regime, as I said in previous press conferences, we've got over 1,400 ADF personnel on the ground and many hundreds more of Commonwealth officers who are available to support that work. And that includes now in getting nursing workforces into aged care facilities. That is a key task at the moment and I want to thank, particularly, the South Australian government. I spoke yesterday with the Premier to seek his support in getting additional nursing care resources into Victoria and we're working through those issues and where other states are able to assist and in a position to do so, then we will be welcoming that as well.
So, I'll be returning to Canberra, obviously, to work closely with our Department of Health and Minister Hunt, as well as Minister Colbeck, to ensure we're doing everything we can to address that situation in Victoria, particularly in relation to aged care and we will provide further updates. Minister Hunt will be standing up later today. I have been in constant contact with him, as well as the regular briefings that we have on a daily basis and after discussing the matter with him earlier today, I thought it was best that, as much as there are some tremendous things and I wanted to hear from up here in Queensland over the next few days, I think the urgency of the situation requires me to return to Canberra.
But to come back to the reason we're here today and to be joining Walker Seafoods. What is encouraging about Walker Seafoods' story is, despite the challenges of COVID and as Andrew said, while Queensland has been spared the worst of the health circumstances of the COVID crisis, they have not been immune to the economic impacts. But what I have been inspired by, by businesses all around the country, whether it's been in my own electorate in Southern Sydney, or here, or over in Western Australia, or the Northern Territory, has been the determination of Australian businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, to find their way through, to look at the assets and the resources they have. Whether it's the fishing vessel we see there, whether it's the equipment we see behind us, the people and the staff that they have and how they can adapt to find their way through. And with the support of the instant asset write-off to get the blast freezer, with the support of JobKeeper, which has kept 13 employees out of a staff of 50 on the tools here at Walker Seafoods, and the cash flow support, and the subsidies of freight flights, which has enabled them to get their tuna to Japan and to the Americas, I should particularly say, means they have been able to find their way through. And after taking an extremely heavy hit, they're building their business back up and that's the way out for Australia. This is a business which has not let its head drop. This is a business that has kept its eyes forward and looking at their opportunities and how they can adapt. That is the way through and that is why we've put in place the measures that we have, whether it's what I've already referred to, with the instant asset write-off, with JobKeeper, with the cash flow support, which continues. Or, on top of that, it's the work we've done in the construction sector or entertainment sector. Or up at Australia Zoo, not too far from here, more than $3 million of support in JobKeeper, in support through our grants program to help them feed their animals and keep the zoo running. All of these businesses we have been taking a very micro view on to see how we can help them and support their plans. They're leading it. We're supporting them. And that's what my Government will continue to do to ensure we not only address the very real health crisis that we face, but that we address the economic crisis as well, and we keep Australians in jobs, and we emerge more strongly.
Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, would you be expecting more help from Queensland to help with resources in the Victorian situation?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we appreciate the support the Queensland government has already been providing. All states and territories have come to the aid of Victoria, and I know Premier Andrews is also very grateful for that, as am I. And there is largely a standing offer from all states and territories where they can. It's a matter of matching what they have available to the need that's there. But through the National Cabinet, it's been a very transparent process, needs have been openly shared, and support has been very forthcoming. So, I would have no doubt that if we sought something from Queensland that they were able to assist us with, they'd move very quickly to help.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given the risk of cross infection in aged care homes has been known since March, why has it taken so long until this week to prevent workers working in those homes to stay within one facility?
PRIME MINISTER: The difficulty is the nature of the workforce and the necessity to keep a workforce in place to provide care to residents. Otherwise, those residents would be abandoned and the infiltration of the community spread of the virus through staff has been of particular concern, and it has happened very, very quickly. So managing the aged care workforce has been very difficult in Victoria. It's not a simple issue. It would be nice to say that there are simple solutions to these complex problems, but there are not and there are no fail-safe or foolproof solutions that you can put in place. All we can do is what we are doing, and that is working together and being very transparent and up-front with people. I established the Aged Care Royal Commission and the Aged Care Royal Commission is already looking at issues relating to COVID in terms of what occurred in New South Wales and I would expect them to be looking at what has occurred in Victoria as well. We're very open to that. You can expect me to be very open with the Australian people about the challenges we face there and how we're dealing with them.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given that aged care is a federal responsibility and this coronavirus crisis in Victoria has been unfolding for some weeks, why today has it hit crisis level for you?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, today we had planned to be here over several days, but the escalation of the workforce challenges necessitates me to return. It is a shared responsibility with Victoria in the following sense - that when a public health issue arises, obviously public health is a matter for state governments, and whether there's a public health issue in a school or an aged care facility or a museum or a workplace or anything like that, the state governments have public health responsibility for those things. For the regulation of aged care facilities, of course, that's a matter for the Federal Government. So there are shared responsibilities there and that's why the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre has been set up, bringing together all of those who work on these problems. The workforce issues are very challenging and that's why it's important that the workforce, the nursing workforce in both private and public hospitals, is available to support those needs. Now, that can be with the direct transfer of residents who have become patients into those facilities, or otherwise freeing up those nursing staff availabilities to support in those aged care centres.
JOURNALIST: What do you make of the State Government's handling up here of the crisis? There's been a lot of criticism with closing borders, but given what's happening in Victoria, what do you think of the State Government's handling here?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, the Queensland Government have worked closely as part of the National Cabinet process. We've all worked together. I’ve worked closely with the Queensland Premier on numerous items and I thank her for the way she's engaged in such good faith, as I do all the premiers. That's been the way we've sought to handle this crisis. We haven't been running a commentary on each other. There's plenty in the media to do that. What we’ve done is just simply tried to work with each other and help each other. There are disagreements from time to time. That's to be expected, but it is important that we get the resources to where they need to go and that we take the health advice, which we have been doing, and the principal source of health advice for the National Cabinet is the national expert medical panel, which has representatives of all the chief health officers of all the states and territories, together with the Chief Medical Officer, and we have been following their advice together as a group now since the inception of this crisis.
JOURNALIST: What would you say to those people, given the gravity of the situation, those people that have tried to turn the public response into a civil rights issue? Are they hampering our ability to be able to respond to the crisis?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, it's important that we follow health advice. That's important for your own personal health. It's important for your public health. There is no agenda behind public health advice. They are simply trying to give us as leaders the best possible expert opinion on how we can keep Australians safe. And it's important that together, collectively, we share the responsibility in doing the right thing by each other. Now, governments are looking to keep people safe. It's our first responsibility. Governments are working to try and keep people in jobs, to ensure that people do not get into hardship. And we've been able to ensure that hundreds of thousands, if not more than that, have been supported through this COVID recession, and will continue to be, so that economic hardship doesn't wreak even worse outcomes on Australians. So I think it's important for people to remain practical, to leave all the politics and everything else aside. That's what we're doing as premiers and prime ministers and chief ministers, we’re just leaving all that to one side and we're just focusing on the problems and seeking to solve them together.
JOURNALIST: The United States has flagged ambitious and coordinated defence initiatives with Australia. What would that look like here and is it necessary?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Australia makes its decisions based on our own national interests and our own timings and our own assessments of what decisions we make. We have the greatest of alliances and friendships with the United States and our Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs is in Washington as we speak and having the regular AUSMIN dialogue. And so we work closely together in seeking to secure peace and stability in our region. That's what's good for Australia. And where our actions together contribute to peace and stability in our region, then that is very much in Australia's national interests. But we make those decisions as a National Security Committee, and as a Cabinet, based on the merits of each and every call.
JOURNALIST: What risk does that potentially pose to Australia from China?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't believe it poses a risk when we're acting to secure the peace and stability of the region. The peace and stability of the region is in the interests of everybody in our region, and that would include China.
JOURNALIST: In Queensland, we’ve seen the state become somewhat of a home away from home for major industries and sporting teams. How else can the state help keeping key industries going and do you have any ideas?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I welcome from the states is where they add to the initiatives that the Commonwealth is putting in place and the Commonwealth, in economic support, has already committed some $290 billion. Now, the states have added about $40 billion in support on top of that collectively and we welcome that. But I think where states can go that extra yard, where they can deal with a specific issue that is very germane to their state and seek to create opportunities, then we encourage that. In my home state, they just made an announcement yesterday about stamp duty. Now, I'm not saying Queensland should do that. What I'm saying is that states will make an assessment of what they consider is going to build on the economic platform that the Federal Government has provided and we would welcome that. We already are doing quite a lot together on the infrastructure side, on roads and many important projects, which we brought forward. Almost $10 billion worth of projects around the country were brought forward with the support of the state governments. Queensland were one of the first to come on board with our skills initiative. We put half a billion dollars down and Queensland have come on board with that. Queensland have also indicated they will be supporting moving to single-touch approvals on the EPBC Act. We welcome that as well. So we've got to get the cost of doing business down. And Olivia and Pavo were telling me about some of that today and a few things we can think about on that front. But equally, the regulation, whether at the local government level or state level, we've got to reduce the time delays in getting new investments going so businesses can invest. We can't continue to have confidence about jobs unless we continue to do the things that will support businesses to make investments and, you know, a $60,000 investment in a blast freezer here at Walker Seafoods is supporting the 50 jobs that are here because it means that Pavo can go and catch different fish because he can freeze them in the blast furnace and send it to a different market, which Heidi has been able to identify. So that's how businesses will make their way, and where the state governments can add to what we're doing, then we appreciate that effort.
JOURNALIST: How frustrating is it that there's a project on the Darling Downs ready to go, the New Acland coal mine, but the State Government won't let it go ahead? How frustrating is that with jobs ready to go?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's a matter for the State Government and, you know, it's about walking the talk.
JOURNALIST: The Queensland Premier says she won't hesitate to slam the border shut again should the situation get worse, say, in New South Wales. Do you think that's a good approach? Do you see a situation where we might have to close the borders down?
PRIME MINISTER: The approach we've taken as a Commonwealth Government is we're one country, but there are parts of the country which need to be contained from other parts of the country, and Victoria is clearly in that situation. And when the New South Wales-Victorian border was hardened, that was done after the New South Wales Premier, the Victorian Premier and I met and agreed to do that and then put the resources in behind how that would be managed. For example, now we have the New South Wales government doing tracing on cases along the border towns as part of that border management operation between New South Wales and Victoria and that is hopefully ensuring even better management of how the borders are working. States are making their own decisions about when they decide to put up borders or not. They assert their right to do that and I'm not getting into that conversation. But I follow the health advice. I certainly would agree that where there are parts of the country, whether there are outbreak zones in Sydney which the New South Wales government is well on top of or certainly across Victoria, or if, for example, it were to occur in Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast, then clearly it would be the right thing to do to prevent movement out of those areas into any part of Australia, into any part of Queensland, let alone the rest of the country. So dealing with outbreaks is going to continue until we have a vaccine. We're making unprecedented investments in securing a vaccine and working through many international forums to ensure we're supporting the development of a vaccine and ensuring that we can both manufacture and distribute a vaccine to ensure we have the licensing arrangements that Commonwealth CSL will be in a position to manufacture it and get it to Australia. We're making big steps there.
So until we get to that point, we have to manage outbreaks in a way which doesn't shut the economy down and I think New South Wales right now are demonstrating this very well. There are some concerning outbreaks in New South Wales but they're getting on top of them extremely quickly and containing them and they're able to keep their economy open and they're able to get on top of an outbreak and it is in Australia's national interests that they be successful. It's important that they can demonstrate that success as we right the situation in Victoria which, in concluding, I stress again to all of those, particularly those with families in aged care facilities, I want to assure you this has my number one focus. That's why I'm returning to Canberra and to work closely with Minister Hunt and Minister Colbeck, Brendan Murphy, the Secretary of the Department of Health, continue working closely with Premier Andrews and his government and his ministers, emergency management Australia, Lieutenant-General Frewen and Commodore Hill, who are heading up the Defence Force operations, both nationally and in the state of Victoria. There is a considerable and significant resource that is being applied and senior-level decision-making to ensure we do everything we can to get on top of this.
But I don't want to kid Australians. It's not easy. And there will be setbacks. And there are heartbreaks and there will be heartbreaks and we want to do everything we can to prevent that. But the only way we will succeed is by focusing on the job at hand, focusing on working together and just working methodically through these very difficult challenges, but I don't want anyone to underestimate how serious those challenges are. Thank you, all, very much and thank you, Heidi and Pavo for being able to join you here today. It's a tremendous commendation to you and the business that you've built that it showed the resilience it has through these very difficult times. They're a great example to the rest of the country. Thank you all very much.
COVID-19 Commission Turns Full Focus on Recovery
27 July 2020
I am pleased to announce today that the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission is moving into a new mode, shifting its focus to concentrate on creating jobs and stimulating our economy as we learn to live with this pandemic.
While the health response continues to be of the utmost importance in managing outbreaks as they arise, we have to continue our focus on recovery and reform.
The Government’s JobMaker Plan is built on enabling a business-led economic recovery. We are driving skills and training reform, bringing business and unions together to create the industrial relations conditions to get people into work, locking in affordable and reliable energy, expanding opportunities for small business in the digital economy, boosting our manufacturing capability, underpinning renewed housing construction, delivering a record infrastructure investment pipeline, deregulation and streamlining project approvals and federation reform. And there is more to do on issues such as taxation, research collaboration and ensuring regional Australia prospers in the years ahead.
I have asked the Commission to concentrate its efforts and business expertise on providing advice on what more could be done to create as many jobs as quickly as possible to accelerate Australia’s economic recovery.
When I announced the establishment of the Commission, I said its key task was to fix problems. It has certainly done that – from sourcing personal protective equipment and helping address supply chain challenges to ensuring businesses have the tools to stay open or to reopen safely.
Under the leadership of Nev Power as Chair, the Commission will continue to work closely with business leaders and key industry sectors, focusing on areas where we can make the most gains, most quickly.
Joining this effort as part of the new Commission Board will be Mike Hirst, Samantha Hogg, Su McCluskey, Bao Hoang, Laura Berry and Paul Howes. Together they bring valuable expertise in the sectors of finance, resources and infrastructure, regional Australia, small business and workforce issues. I look forward to their contribution to our economic recovery.
They join existing members Nev Power (Chair), Jane Halton, Paul Little and David Thodey. Catherine Tanna has advised me that once existing projects on utilities and energy are completed she intends to step down from the Commission. I thank her for the contribution she has made over recent months.
The group will now be called the National COVID-19 Commission (NCC) Advisory Board, to better reflect its role. I look forward to continuing to receive advice from the NCC on how Australia can best recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
New Board member biographies PDF 522KB are attached.
Interview with Tracy Grimshaw, ACA
24 July 2020
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Prime Minister, thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Great to be here. Thank you for the opportunity.
GRIMSHAW: A month or so ago, you probably thought that today's figures, today's sobering figures would be delivered to a nation that was getting back to work. Largely, you know internal borders were open. Everyone was looking to the future. And now with the situation in Victoria, that's certainly not the case, is it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is that is exactly the situation. But I, go back further. I mean, a year ago, we couldn't have contemplated any of us I think, the world we're living in today, and that has been the swift change and the terrible impact that has that has occurred not just here in Australia but all around the rest of the world. And we were on we were we were doing very well. And I've got to say we still are doing very well. Seven states and territories even in the New South Wales where they're under pressure, they're doing very, very well. Victoria is obviously a different situation. And we feel for all of those in Victoria at the moment. And we're putting every resource in to helping them and standing by them, whether it's the Defence Forces or our public health officials at a Commonwealth level. I’m speaking very regularly to the Premier, and giving him every support we can, Australia doesn't win if Victoria doesn't win. And we've all got to win together.
GRIMSHAW: Today's figures assume that Victoria's lockdown finishes in four weeks. It assumes the best case scenario. Are you working on the theory that that's probably unrealistic now?
PRIME MINISTER: It's very hard to say. We, in what I've learnt over this COVID period is it's very hard to make long term assumptions. Situations can change swiftly and you've got to be prepared to respond. So those figures we've put out today are based on what we know today, what could happen four weeks from now, three months from now, could be very different. I'm an optimist. And so I'm I'm hopeful that as the year progresses, we can get back on that same trajectory we were in sort of May, June. So we've done it once. Even within the COVID pandemic, we can do it again. And I know Victorians can. So that's why I'm encouraging them to hang in there.
GRIMSHAW: I think Australians want some certainty. I think they want to know how their lives are going to look next year. I don't know if it's an unrealistic question to ask you, but you're probably the best person to ask. Do you know?
PRIME MINISTER: No one knows. But what I do know is the goal that I have. And what I'm working towards. And I do want Australians to feel more safe in their jobs, more safe in their health, more confident about the future at the end of this year than they are today. Just like I wanted them to be confident several months ago. And I remember when the pandemic first hit, even as difficult as things are now, they are better than they were several months ago. Even in Victoria, where we're going through another wave, for the rest of the country, I mean, in Victoria, many months ago, the whole country was going through that process with no real understanding, potentially of how the the virus worked and what it could mean and what the fatality rate would be. I mean, back in March, April, we were we were thinking about tens of thousands of people within a month contracting the virus and many thousands of Australians dying. Now, that's what we were planning for. We built the the health system up. We've put the ICU beds in place. We've got the masks. We've got the ventilators. So even now with the situation in Victoria, we know that our health system can cope with it.
GRIMSHAW: I want to ask you a question about JobSeeker and JobKeeper, because, you know, you've said that you will continue them both until March next year. But given that the virus charts its own path and given what it's done in Victoria and that New South Wales is under a shadow at the moment. Can you see a scenario where you would have to continue JobSeeker and JobKeeper after March next year? Or will you say, will you reach a point where you'll say we can't afford to do that anymore? We have to pull that support?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it is certainly my hope that we can get ourselves to a point where these sorts of supports aren’t necessary. I mean, that's where we want to be. And that's what we're working towards. And that's why the health response is so important and that's why the economic response is so important. But the point I was going to make is you don't fix the health situation by sacrificing your economy either. I mean, what you do is you build up your health response capability and what you're seeing in New South Wales is the evidence of that. I mean, they, even though there's extra cases, they've been able to source every case and they've been able to do it in a very short period of time, and that's the strength in the system that you need all around the country. Now New South Wales was always going to be under the most strain because that's where most Australians return home to Australia. Let's not forget that what we've seen in Victoria started because of the outbreak from the quarantine. This wasn't community transmission. This was a failure of of quarantine. And that went out into the rest of the community. Now, we've had people arriving from overseas in their thousands for months now. And the quarantine, by and large, has been very successful. But it only takes one failure. And that's why we've doubled down. There's a review of all the quarantine arrangements that’s underway right now, in states where there's no community transmission, but whether it's in W.A. or Brisbane or elsewhere. We are doubling down to ensure those systems can work.
GRIMSHAW: Are you cranky about what's happened in Victoria. I mean, you've spent billions, broken the economy. Asked people to sacrifice so much. Some people have sacrificed everything. And now because of some government mistakes and a few randy security guards, ill-disciplined security guards. We're back to square one there. Are you cranky?
PRIME MINISTER: Getting cranky doesn't help. No one elected me to be cranky.
GRIMSHAW: But you’re human?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, Prime Ministers aren’t often given that indulgence either sometimes. But that's not why we're here. That's not why I'm here. You've got to just focus on the task ahead. We're just focussing on the problem and getting the solution to the problem. And strong leadership in these circumstances does that. It just focuses on what needs to be done and it blacks out, frankly, the distractions. And there's a lot of noise. You know, there's lots of opinions. Everyone's a pandemic expert these days.
GRIMSHAW: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: But I'll take the advice from those who are accountable.
GRIMSHAW: If the enquiry finds, if it makes damning findings, you know if it finds that laws were broken, or that bad mistakes were made. Will you expect there to be penalties? Will you expect charges to be laid or heads to roll?
PRIME MINISTER: I would of course, I'd expect there to be accountability for any failings. And I'm sure the Premier would too. The inquiry’s been set up for that purpose. But my point is that that's being looked at. That's someone else's task to go through. We've certainly formed an understanding, some understanding of what some some of the failures were so that we're not replicating them elsewhere. So one of the other things, I think that's been really important in the pandemic and how we’ve all worked together, there are going to be things that don't go right in an, in a world as uncertain as this. It's almost impossible to avoid that. I'm not excusing what's happening in Victoria by the way, that's not my point. But you all got to learn fast. And learning fast and quick builds our capacity to better manage this response. And I've been engaging with world leaders as well who are going through exactly the same thing as I am, I probably speak to Jacinda Ardern the most, because we’re locals. But I was just talking to Prime Minister Trudeau, yesterday and and President Trump as well recently as these calls are constant because we're constantly learning from each other.
GRIMSHAW: In March, you told us that you'd build a bridge and carry us to the other side and then the economy would snap back. When did it become clear to you that that wasn't going to happen?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, those comments were made quite a long time ago. And a lot has happened since then. And frankly, I think I only ever used the phrase about once. And I think it's been amplified well beyond well beyond how it represented my view. But, you know, events have changed significantly since then.
GRIMSHAW: That question is not an accusation by the way. I’m just, I just want to know at what moment it became clear to you that it wasn't going to be that simple?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I mean, I think we we were well into April, when you know that that was obvious and frankly, early April when we're in that situation. And so it was important that we could see that we put the supports in place over time. Now, if I go back to the start of this year in February, I mean, we were getting advice from the Governor of the Reserve Bank, which was saying that the June quarter would be fine and it would bounce back in June. So, look, things happen fast. They change quickly. And what you do is you change with them.
GRIMSHAW: You've said that we will pay off this debt by growing our economy. How are we going to grow our economy in a global recession when businesses have failed and people are out of work and there’s poor consumer confidence and we’re feuding with our biggest trading partner? How are we going to do that?
PRIME MINISTER: The way you create jobs is you ensure that you can give businesses as much confidence as you possibly can to open their doors, to employ people, to invest, to look beyond the pandemic and to look to their future. Now, you're right, the COVID safe world is a more constrained one than the one before it. But Australia is faring better than almost, if not any other developed country in the world. So what have we been doing? We've been doing subsidising airfreight to make sure that our seafood exports can get up into the rest of the world. Our iron ore exports, are now higher than they were at the start of the pandemic. And so the issues that have been raised about trading relationships and particularly with China, I mean, the facts on the ground, are they are buying more than they ever have. Because it's a mutually beneficial relationship.
GRIMSHAW: Will that last though? Will that last? Because they’re looking for other markets, other sources aren’t they?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, but Australia's products, Australia's reliability and Australia's performance is what drives the trade. I mean, you trade with people that you know are going to give you a good product and the right price. And that's what we do. And so that's what will drive it. That's what's always driven it. There's always noise around all of these things and people rush to conclusions. The facts on the ground are, is our trading performance with China has never been stronger.
GRIMSHAW: Will you bring forward tax cuts, are you open to that?
PRIME MINISTER: What we will do as a government is do things that create jobs. You asked before how are we going to grow again. Well jobs are at the centre of our plan. Because if someone is in a job, they're paying taxes. If someone, so they're not on welfare benefits, and hopefully not even needing JobKeeper as well. It's why we put $1.5 billion dollars into ensuring 180,000 apprentices are going to keep their jobs. It's why we put $1 billion dollars together with the states to create 340,000 training places. It's why we put money into zoos. It's why we put money into getting new films. It's why we’ve supported the entertainment industry as well, to get shows on the road again in a COVID safe way. That's how you create the jobs. And when people are in jobs, our economy is growing.
GRIMSHAW: Is it that easy?
PRIME MINISTER: It's not easy. It’s hard. And it's costly, but it's what's necessary. This is like nothing we've seen in generations. And in those times, that's when governments have to do what they do now, because the private economy, the broader economy has been so suppressed. That's why you run a strong economy in the first place. That's why you get your budget back into balance. It's so in these times you can respond. And I believe that's what we've demonstrated. We've demonstrated that it wasn't just to put some certificate on the wall about having a balanced budget. Who cares. What matters is that you put yourselves in a position, as we did, to respond like we are right now.
GRIMSHAW: How many years will it take to pay it back? Will your daughters be still paying off this debt? When they’re adults?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the previous forecasts we had on our debt on where it was before, it was going to take us a decade to get back to zero debt. Now, we haven't done the new debt projections out over the medium term, that will be done in the budget. So there'll be more numbers available about what we think the medium term scenario might look at. But we're, look we’re seeing our debt rise to levels that we haven't seen in this country for a very long time. We've seen them before after the war. And that's the situation we're in. But as as the Finance Minister said today, what was the alternative? The alternative would have seen not only hundreds of thousands of Australians become destitute. It would have seen thousands of Australians die. So when you're faced with those rather existential threats and challenges as a Prime Minister, there's only one response. And we've provided it.
GRIMSHAW: How many times can we go in and out of this sort of lockdown? That they are doing in Victoria right now? I mean, how many times can we sustain that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's why it's so important that what we're seeing in New South Wales is successful so it is possible to avoid this. That is doable. And the lessons,
GRIMSHAW: And Victoria didn’t?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is true. That is true. And that is why the lessons of what has occurred in Victoria are being applied in all the other states and territories now. But what New South Wales is demonstrating is they are dealing with the same problem. But we're not seeing the number of cases in New South Wales. We're not seeing that at all. And their response and this isn't a criticism of Victoria, I want to be clear about that. This is difficult. It's extremely difficult. But in New South Wales, they're having more success. And I think that demonstrates it can be done.
GRIMSHAW: Is the ADF tracking and tracing in Victoria now? What's the ADF doing?
PRIME MINISTER: They’re, well they’re involved in everything from door-knocking to supporting, particularly the leadership of the public health officials and emergency management people in Victoria, we've got about fourteen hundred people out of the ADF in Victoria at the moment. The national resource has just been laid at the feet of Victoria, and say, you’ll get what you need because unless you win, we don't.
GRIMSHAW: It better work.
PRIME MINISTER: Well of course it will. That's why we're leaving nothing on the field on this.
GRIMSHAW: It seems that there has been a shift in Australian's attitude towards this pandemic since the first time around. So now we're in the second wave. It’s a much more serious wave it seems to me, because there's so much uncontrolled community transmission. The first time around, it felt to me like Australians were afraid and they were keen to do their bit. Now it feels like they're fed up and they're almost willing to take their chances with the virus. Do you get a sense of that, that there's a sense of pushback and rebellion now?
PRIME MINISTER: I think there's a sense of frustration. I think, to be honest, the first time round there was arguably even greater fear because of the unknown. As I said before, people, remember, we were coming home at night watching ACA I'm sure, as many other programmes. And we were seeing mass graves dug in New York. We were seeing large tents in fields in the UK with bodies in them, now, and we saw the horrific signs out of Italy and and I remember one I saw, which was chilling, as they went through an ICU unit in Italy. So I think people on that occasion, there was far more unknowns. I think there is more of a known element of the virus now, that can cause some complacency as well, which we have to guard against. And so while we look at Victoria and people are wearing face masks, mandatorily in Victoria, over in the West, in Western Australia, they can't be complacent there either because it only takes one outbreak out of quarantine for a virus to move through. And so the social distancing, the one and a half meters, all of the things that people know. Just because your case numbers are low doesn't mean you have to, you get out of the habit. That's what concerns a lot of us. And that's not a criticism. It's just saying, let's stay in the habit.
GRIMSHAW: How are you going to manage that community attitude, though, if there is that push back, if they are fed up and they're feeling a bit rebellious and they're not as afraid anymore because we haven't had the kind of death rates that we had seen overseas as the virus cranked up here. How are you going to manage that? I mean, do you penalise it? Do you win hearts and minds back? What do you do?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I have a more positive sort of view of the Australian people. I know people get fed up, I know they get cranky. I know they get disappointed and I know they get angry. All of those things. But I also know that Australians are pretty sensible by and large, and we just have to keep reminding people about doing the right thing, you know, I mean, this is not a political comment, but there are a lot of Australians out there, I call them quiet Australians. But, you know, they don’t talk a lot about this stuff. They just get on with their lives and they know that part of their lives now is being more safe about these things. And it's important that people just stay on their guard and and hold each other and support each other. And so if people are coming round to your house and you're in a state or territory where that can happen. Okay. It is important not to have that hug. If they’re not someone who's in your household. Sure, they can come around, you can have a barbecue and you can do all that, and that's wonderful, but you've got to do the elbow, and you don't do those things. There were no police in your house. There's no one watching you or anything like that. It's what we do in those circumstances that I think is really important and not having that sense of complacency. And I think the answer is to encourage one another, because here's the prize. The prize is life getting back to as close to normal as we can get it. People getting back into jobs, people not having to rely on welfare. People being able to do the things they would they would hope they could normally do as much as possible.
GRIMSHAW: What if we don't get a vaccine? Vaccines for coronavirus’ are notoriously difficult. Still don't have a vaccine for SARS, what if we don’t get a vaccine?
PRIME MINISTER: Well you keep washing your hands, you keep your one and a half metres distance. You keep your health systems capacity up and strong. You keep opening your businesses. You keep ensuring that people book and sit at tables. That's what you do. You run your country. You run your society in a COVID safe way.
GRIMSHAW: So if we don't get a vaccine, you say we have to keep washing our hands and keeping our distance and be COVID safe.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
GRIMSHAW: But do we never to go overseas again? Do we never reopen our international borders, if we don't get a vaccine how are we going to reopen our international borders?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that will be very challenging. I mean, I would hope and expect that before the end of the year, New Zealand and Australia will be able to agree a safe travel zone between Australia and New Zealand. The Prime Minister Ardern and I have had that, we were talking about that last week, and she remains as committed to that, as I do. And we're progressing that. There are many Pacific nations equally that want to be able to be part of that, the discussions I had with the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, they're keen to see more safe travel. So we will adjust. And we can adjust and and we will.
GRIMSHAW: I don't want to be a Debbie Downer. And I know you're painting an optimistic view of this, but if there's no vaccine and all we can do is travel to New Zealand, as lovely as that is. What about people whose grandchildren are growing up in Europe and unseen by them? And what about people whose families are overseas? Do we never go on holidays again overseas? Is that what our life is like if there's no vaccine? What's the plan?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, right, right now, the opportunity for large scale travel beyond our borders is not foreseeable.
GRIMSHAW: That's right.
PRIME MINISTER: That's right. But this is what I mean, Tracy when I say Australians can focus on that, what if there's never a vaccine? And that means your head is to the floor. And when your head is to the floor, you can't see what your opportunities are ahead. And that's where I need Australians heads. I need them looking up. I need them looking forward because when they're doing that, they're going to be encouraging each other. They're going to be opening their businesses. They're going to be doing whatever it takes to try and, keeping people in jobs. They're going to be doing courses because they believe and rightly that there's going to be an opportunity because that's how Australia works. We will crack this. And whether there's a vaccine, which I believe there will be and I hope there will be, or not, then we will deal with whatever circumstance confronts us, because that's what Australians do.
GRIMSHAW: You've been talking to lots of international leaders, have you tried to talk to Xi Jinping. Have you tried to make a call to him?
PRIME MINISTER: They're not connecting with us on those things at the moment. We have contact through our embassy up there, but we're working with other countries all around the world. They're not seeking any support from us. I mean, back at the time in February, we had a lot of contact with China because we were getting our our our people out of Wuhan Province. And we had a lot of contact back then. And that process worked very effectively and we appreciate the contact we had with them then and what we were able to achieve. We had a lot of contact working through, trying to get access to a whole range of supplies which we achieved. So, you know, we're making that work.
GRIMSHAW: Does it worry you? Does it worry you that this relationship appears to be broken?
PRIME MINISTER: It would worry me if Australia had in any way not acted consistently with who we are. It would worry me if we didn't act in accordance with our interests. It would worry me if we responded to threats or coercion. It would worry me if we just didn't stand up for ourselves and I’ll always do that.
GRIMSHAW: Prime Minister, thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot Tracy. Great to have you here.
National Cabinet Statement
24 July 2020
The National Cabinet met today to discuss Australia’s COVID-19 response, the Victoria outbreak, easing restrictions, helping Australians prepare to go back to work in a COVID-safe environment and getting the economy moving again.
The Acting Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, provided an update on the measures underway, the latest data and medical advice in relation to COVID-19.
There have been over 13,000 confirmed cases in Australia and sadly 139 people have died.
The Victorian outbreak has meant that there are now around 4,000 active cases in Australia. Daily infection rates have remained low in all states and territories, other than Victoria. Testing remains high, with more than 3.7 million tests undertaken in Australia.
National Cabinet discussed the Victorian outbreak, the health response underway and recommitted to providing as much support as necessary to Victoria. All states and territories welcomed the support that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is providing, with more than 3,100 personnel assisting with planning and logistics, testing, quarantine and control points across the country. The ADF is there to work with state and territory health responses as needed.
National Cabinet agreed to a new set of data and metrics to ensure that the Commonwealth, states and territories all have access to transparent up-to-date jurisdictional data on contact tracing, tracking and other metrics to ensure health system capacity. This will better help guide the public health response and support the coordination of efforts by the Commonwealth, states and territories.
National Cabinet recommitted to the suppression strategy for COVID-19, with the goal of no community transmission, and to the Three-Step Framework to a COVID-safe Australia. National Cabinet further recommitted to the need to adequately integrate the emergency and the health response.
We need to continue to have the right controls in place to test more people, trace those who test positive and respond to local outbreaks when they occur. These are Precedent Conditions to enable Australia to relax baseline restrictions and enable Australians to live and work in a COVID-safe economy.
Treasury Secretary Dr Steven Kennedy addressed National Cabinet and provided an economic update, including the economic and fiscal update delivered by the Treasurer this week, and the extension of the JobSeeker and JobKeeper programs. Combined with the health response, the Commonwealth economic and balance sheet measures total around $300 billion and along with the response from the state and territories of $42 billion, significant economic support is flowing into the economy. The national goal of job creation was reaffirmed with a discussion on the positive reduction in the effective unemployment rate seen from April to June.
National Cabinet will meet again on 7 August 2020.
Suppression Strategy
National Cabinet recommitted to the suppression strategy to address COVID-19. The goal remains suppression of COVID-19 until a point in time a vaccine or effective treatments are available, with the goal of no local community transmission.
National Cabinet further reaffirmed the need to adequately integrate the emergency and the health response is vitally important that the coordination of efforts continues. While this is largely occurring, National Cabinet agreed to work to strengthen these efforts, noting the support the ADF is able to provide and the need to coordinate emergency management, policing and health responses.
Streamlining environmental approvals for job-creating projects
The National Cabinet agreed to move to single-touch environmental approvals underpinned by national environmental standards for Commonwealth environmental matters.
Some states are able to transition to this system faster than others. The Commonwealth will move immediately to enter into bilateral approval agreements and interim standards with the states that are able to progress now.
We will simultaneously be developing formal national standards through further public consultation.
The National Cabinet also endorsed the list of 15 major projects for which Commonwealth environmental approvals will be fast-tracked.
For major projects at the start of the approvals process, we will target a 50 per cent reduction in Commonwealth assessment and approval times for major projects, from an average of 3.5 years to 21 months.
For major projects which are already at an advanced stage of assessment, governments will seek to progress them through the process as fast as possible and within statutory timeframes.
Joint assessment teams will work on accelerating these projects, which are worth more than $72 billion in public and private investment and will support over 66,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Transport
National Cabinet considered and agreed a Domestic Border Control Freight Movement Protocol to allow freight to move safely and efficiently across borders, and to upgrade the Protocol to an Enforceable Code by state and territory jurisdictions.
The Protocol was developed between all jurisdictions with the involvement of members of the Transport and Infrastructure Council and had previously been endorsed by the AHPPC.
National Cabinet also agreed that further work be carried out by jurisdictions on the implementation and enforcement of an industry code which, in-conjunction with the Protocol, will minimise risks and exposure to workers and the community from COVID-19.
Interview with Ben Fordham, 2GB
22 July 2020
BEN FORDHAM: The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison is on the line this Wednesday morning. PM, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Ben. Good to be with you and also I should note, and thanks for that run through the figures. That is for businesses that have had a continuous 30 percent fall in their turnover. For small or medium sized businesses, and and for large businesses, a 50 percent fall.
FORDHAM: Yes. You're also tightening up the eligibility there, right? I mean, it was always there, those eligibility tests. But you want to make even more certain that anyone who's claiming it, deserves it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we actually waive some of those for that period during the pandemic's early phases and through till now. But from the 4th of August you can't knock back a job offered to you through the system and expect to get JobSeeker. We'll also be reintroducing the need to re-engage with employment services providers, starting at four searches. And that will roll through to the end of September with the reintroduction of the assets test and the liquid assets waiting test. So that means that we're going back to the normal mutual obligation rules, pretty much. But I should say that the partner income test for JobSeeker, that we're keeping that up at the level we increased it to, which is just shy of $80,000 because we know there are many people who would have had part time jobs and other things like that. And in households where they may be now reduced to just single income earners.
FORDHAM: On JobKeeper, it drops from $1,500 to $1,200 and then to $1,000 by January 1. Is that based on our hope that things are going to be a lot better in 6 months than they are now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's based on the assessment that you can't keep burning $11 billion dollars of cash every month Ben, at those higher rates. And you've got to start weaning the Australian economy off these income supports. And that means we are phasing them back. We're tapering them down. And that's the assessment that was made by Treasury, its an assessment that's been made by the government. We always said that these were temporary payments. They were targeted payments for those businesses that are still enduring those drops in revenue. Then they'll continue to get support. And, we are seeing is that many businesses now are being able to top up those JobKeeper payments, which is great. So there seems to be an assumption that $750, for example, is all that a part-time employee might get. Well, that's what the JobKeeper payment is, but they would hopefully be getting a few extra shifts and also those on lower incomes. And that is people on, say that $750 only JobKeeper payment, then they'd be able to apply for JobSeeker as well.
FORDHAM: Just on JobSeeker, it's coming down from $1,100 to $800. That's a temporary payment. Will there be a permanent change to the base rate of JobSeeker?
PRIME MINISTER: We haven't made any decisions on that yet. I mean, I understand the issues that are being raised there, but I said very clearly yesterday that we'd be leaning into the COVID supplement, being there in some shape or form post December. But we will make that decision closer to the time, see where you set JobSeeker and how you make people eligible for JobSeeker, that can be, as Treasury has also advised, a real incentive or disincentive for people to actually go out and go to work. Now, we don't want to have our payments being more of a hindrance than a help. And we've got to make these decisions closer to when we know what the economic conditions are.
FORDHAM: Just on those economic conditions. Tomorrow, we have the mini budget. Josh Frydenberg, the Treasurer, told me this week that the debt and deficit figures are eye watering. Is this the most expensive issue that we've ever had to manage as a country?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes. And daylight's second and third. But I should stress Ben, it's not a mini budget tomorrow. What it is, is just a reconciliation of all the commitments that have been made in the programmes which everyone's heard from. No one should expect any new announcements tomorrow. There is a budget in October. Tomorrow is about just reconciling the books for last year and this year in terms of all the commitments that have been made. So it's to be transparent with people about what the cost is. As you say, this has been the single largest economic impact that the government has had to face since the Second World War.
FORDHAM: A few other quick ones. Have you got a mask?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah I do.
FORDHAM: Have you worn it?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah I wore it at the optometrist the other day.
FORDHAM: Donald Trump took some time to wear one in public. Are we going to see you in public with a mask at some stage?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if the medical advice is wherever I am, I'm required to do so of course I would.
FORDHAM: What about public transport? Do you like the idea of people wearing them on public transport?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
FORDHAM: The COVIDSafe app, it's been a bit of a misfire...
PRIME MINISTER: I should say, that’s what the New South Wales government is saying, by the way.
FORDHAM: Yeah they’re saying we should do it. They're not saying that we have to do it.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think, that the approach is for people to exercise that common sense. I mean, the situation in Sydney, in particular in New South Wales more broadly, is not the situation in Melbourne. It could not be more different.
FORDHAM: Let's hope it remains that way,
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely.
FORDHAM: On the COVIDSafe app. And you’ve really encouraged everyone to download it. And we can understand why you've got to throw everything at a problem like Coronavirus. But we spent about $2 million bucks on the app and about $60 million dollars on advertising. It hasn't been used to find a single case of community transmission, though, yet has it on its own?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that wasn't its point. Its point was to support the manual contact tracing that was being done by the contact tracers and it has identified hundreds and hundreds of cases alongside the manual contact tracing. So it's there as a support Ben, it’s belts and braces, you say. I mean, it's another point in the armoury and it's one that we continue to strongly recommend people to download. I mean, about 40 percent of the population who can download, have. That means 60 percent hasn't. So obviously, if someone hasn't downloaded, it can't help you can it?
FORDHAM: There's another Black Lives Matter protest planned for Sydney next week. The police are trying to stop it, but the organisers are saying it'll go ahead. What's your message?
PRIME MINISTER: I just think that's appalling. Where the police and where the state government has said that there's a mass gathering that can't go ahead. Well, people should obey the law. I mean there's no special rule for people to not obey the law. And this is what the state government, they'll be making decisions about all of these things as they do every day. I mean, what gives people a ticket to not obey the law?
FORDHAM: The Centre Alliance, Senator Rex Patrick, says politicians should have their pay docked while Parliament's not sitting. What do you say, PM?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if he's not working while the parliament's not sitting, that's a matter for him. I can tell you my government members are working as hard outside of the Parliament as they do, and I can certainly assure you that I am. I think that sort of stuff is just political clickbait for people looking to put their head above the parapet. I mean, it doesn't help anybody, it doesn't get us anywhere.
FORDHAM: The community support issue is a big one. We learnt today that thousands of clubs could go bust by the end of the year unless,
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry I missed that Ben what was that? I missed that?
FORDHAM: Community sport, we're being asked today for a lifeline for community sport, because thousands of clubs say they can't survive till the end of the year. Is there likely to be more help for community sport?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we did a, well the state governments in particular would be the first port of call for something like that Ben. And I'm sure if that's an issue that they're getting that feedback on, that they may be looking at that. It's great, though that community support is getting back on the field. I think it's so important for communities as long as people are, you know, observing and practising the rules around them. And there was a couple of little flareups, down in my own electorate the other week, last weekend I think it was. They got on top of those and they dealt with them. But people just need to, I think, be careful about these things. I thought it was great that, you know, some of the rugby league clubs were, I have an interest, but they were, you know, filming some of these things so grandparents could watch it and things like that. I thought that was really clever. I mean, my girls’ grandparents used to come and watch the girls when they were playing netball in the Shire. It's a very important family sort of time.
FORDHAM: You were filmed on the weekend kicking off the club rugby game, Southern Districts,
PRIME MINISTER: Not well.
FORDHAM: How many times did you practise in Kirribilli House before you got there?
PRIME MINISTER: Not enough! Not enough clearly, at least it went 10 and went the air. But it’s something I've been doing, I've been kicking off that season now. Oh, gosh. I don't know, maybe seven, eight years. And so it's always a bit of a kick and a giggle. But I was pleased to see that the Southern District boys got a very good win over Eastwood in the opening round. So, good for them. I wasn't able to stay for the rest of the game, but I was, I had a friend who was there. He kept me up to date with the score. So I was very pleased they got an early win.
FORDHAM: Well, you’re brave doing that with the cameras around. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks so much.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Ben.
Interview with Leigh Sales, ABC 730
22 July 2020
LEIGH SALES: Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Leigh.
SALES: You’re shifting JobSeeker and JobKeeper to lower amounts, why would you pull any money out of the economy during what will be one of the worst recessions in a century?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's important to note that the existing payments as they’ve been running now for some months will run out till the end of September. At that point, it will move to the next phase. Now, I think Australians understand that running, say, JobKeeper at $11 billion dollars a month is not something that's sustainable. These are much elevated payments. The nature of how things are unfolding is changing. And quite a number of businesses now are coming up above that 30 per cent downturn threshold. And so it was always the plan to to stage us out of this to make sure that we could be tapering off as things improve. And it's our intention to ensure that things do improve. But the nature of these payments and the way they're designed is they flow towards where the need is greatest. They’re an automatic stabiliser, if you like. And that's what we've been doing now for many months, putting that automatic shock absorber in to cushion that blow as I said some months ago.
SALES: You mentioned it goes to where it's needed the most. Universities don't qualify for JobKeeper and universities are putting off thousands of workers across the country. Why doesn't the government put the same value on a job in a university as a job in a cafe or a shop?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we do. I mean, the university sector is the only sector that receives that the single largest or most support through our guarantee of student placements. On top of that, they are organisations with very large reserves in the billions. Their CEOs are paid multi-million dollar salaries. They're not unlike large corporates and for large corporates to qualify for this programme they've had to have a 50 per cent downturn in revenue. So we're applying the same test, Leigh.
SALES: Universities are also one of Australia's biggest export industries. They contribute innumerable direct and indirect benefits to the economy. They've taken a big hit because of the inability to have foreign students travelling here. Surely that's a case that they do deserve JobKeeper, they hire a lot of Australians?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the test is whether they’ve had a 50 per cent fall in revenue. That's what's applied to other large organisations. I mean, universities, I think we should remember, these are very large organisations with billion dollar reserves and they've got multi-million dollar CEOs and they're making decisions about how they're running their own organisations, just like many large businesses are going through this. Now JobKeeper only applies to those large businesses where they've had a 50 per cent fall in their turnover and the reason for that is because they're expected to draw on their reserves. So those private companies are doing that. Now universities get income support, revenue support through the guarantee of places which we've continued to provide, regardless of whether those domestic places are filled. Certainly they have their challenges with the international market. We'll be doing what we can to try and restore that. But universities are just not getting a special deal Leigh.
SALES: The arts, if we can take the arts film, TV, books, music that has really sustained people a lot during the lockdown, that sector contributes billions to the Australian economy and they employ 600,000 people, fewer than half of whom are eligible for JobKeeper. Again, why are their jobs valued less?
PRIME MINISTER: That’s not true.
SALES: Well it is, if you are somebody who works in the arts-
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm sorry-
SALES: Because the nature of your job, the nature of your job in the arts usually means you don't have one employer.
PRIME MINISTER: The eligibility that sits there for JobKeeper and the companies that are involved in the entertainment sector means that those employees have been and the number of employees and employees who've worked in the arts sector who say JobKeeper has been an absolute lifeline to them Leigh and on top of that-
SALES: That’s the thing. A lot of people in the arts sector don't work for companies. They're freelancers.
PRIME MINISTER: And that's why JobSeeker is there also to support them as it has. See, I see JobSeeker and JobKeeper working together, but recognising the significant impact in the entertainment sector that's why we put the $250 million dollar support package in. That's why we've put the $400 million support for films. I was just announcing that just on the weekend. We understand that there are sectors that are being hit harder than others. So whether it's in entertainment or in film, just yesterday I was meeting with those in the business events sector who have also been hit hard. The aviation sector is another one. All areas where we've provided additional supports because of the structural nature of the problems that they face.
SALES: Even your political opponents accept that JobKeeper has been a crucial lifeline for the economy. So take that as a given. But there have been flaws, notably the waste in the overpayment of part time workers and that $60 billion dollar accounting error. If labor in power had made those errors, the Coalition would be screaming absolutely bloody murder about economic mismanagement.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not interested in the politics Leigh, but let me address the point you made about the payments that were made to people who were part time and who were long term casuals. Now, we had to move these payments quickly and we deliberately put in place a payment that was flat across all employees. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to direct payments to people on lower hours and we would have had to exclude them and we didn't want to do that. But the other point is it ignores the fact - and this was in the JobKeeper review, that 39 per cent of those jobs lost were for people who had second jobs and third jobs. So they'd lost those jobs. They weren't getting JobKeeper payments for those jobs. So we made sure JobKeeper was just paid through one employer and that made up for the income that they might have got from other jobs. So it would be wrong, I think, to make that analysis and that analysis which Labor have made, I think, betrays a lack of understanding about the challenge at the time and the way that people work.
SALES: Given the state of the economy and given that interest rates will be functionally zero for the indefinite future, do you accept that there is no urgency to pay down debt or return the budget to surplus by slashing government spending that it would, in fact, be detrimental to the economy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you've always got to be careful with government expenditure, and you’ve always got to spend it wisely. It's certainly not an invitation for inefficiency. It's certainly not an invitation to treat taxpayers money carelessly. And we’re not doing any of that-
SALES: No, no sorry to interrupt, Prime Minister. But the point I'm trying to get to is that we're not going to see next year you saying that we're slashing government spending so we can get debt paid down in a rapid fashion?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I made this very clear several weeks ago. Months ago, in fact. I said we have a number of goals here, and that is to provide the economic support that is necessary to ensure the Australian economy can emerge out of this COVID-19 recession that we guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on. We remain committed to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, our record aged care funding, our record schools funding, our record hospitals funding, we remain committed to all of those things -
SALES: So does that mean you’ll be keeping those commitments high and not looking for areas to slash government spending in the short to medium term?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll be keeping our commitments, Leigh. That's what we'll be doing. And we've made those commitments budget after budget. And we’ll be keeping those commitments-
SALES: Sorry to keep interrupting. I'm just trying to get to a first principles issue here, which is do you accept that the state of the economy at the moment is going to require debt for a long time and government spending to remain high to prop it up?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it requires the Australian government to provide the supports that are necessary. And that's what we're doing. We provided temporary income supports. We've provided one off payments to those on welfare benefits to stimulate the economy. We're providing underwriting support for people to get their products into market by underwriting airfreight. We're providing incentives and loans and grants and tax arrangements for businesses to invest. We're supporting concessional loans both through the banking system and directly. And we haven't forgotten about those who were affected by drought and we haven't forgotten about those who are affected by bushfires. We continue to roll those commitments out at record levels as well. So, Leigh, we will continue to do what Australians are asking of us. And I think one of the things we've done as a government is we've been responding to that and we've done it with a lot of discipline, respecting taxpayers’ dollars, but with a lot of compassion to ensure that the needs are met.
SALES: If we can turn to the health side of the pandemic, the public keeps being told that we have to learn to live with COVID, when authorities say that, is the logical conclusion that you're saying that we have to be prepared to live with a particular number of cases and therefore a number of deaths?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't think that's what it means. And we've been pursuing a suppression strategy, some would say a very aggressive suppression strategy. And in seven states and territories and not that long ago in Victoria, that had proved to be very successful. But in a world where the pandemic is running rife, then you cannot assume that in all cases that you are going to be able to prevent cases appearing. Now what we’ve seen in Victoria-
SALES: So what’s living with COVID look like then? What’s living with COVID going to look like?
PRIME MINISTER: It means keeping the discipline, it means keeping the discipline, keeping the distancing, keeping your registration on the COVIDSafe app. It means working through all of the disciplines that are necessary. It means keeping your health system’s supports in place. It means maintaining your contact tracing capabilities, maintaining the testing regime. It will mean for some period of time, certainly in Victoria and potentially in other states where there are outbreaks, the wearing of masks. It means that it hasn't gone anywhere and we can't live like it has.
SALES: With this aggressive suppression strategy doesn't Victoria illustrate the real difficulty with that is that you are relying on infallible competence from leaders at every level and you're relying on every individual doing the right thing all the time, and that's impossible to achieve?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what's the alternative Leigh? I mean, what we're doing is we're in uncharted waters. The whole world is, I mean, everyone is working together and learning together where there are mistakes that have been made, I think people have learnt from that. I mean, what we've learnt from things like Newmarch, for example, as we're dealing with the aged care challenges in Victoria at the moment, that's been very instructive, it's been very helpful, a key part of that is not just the health response in those aged case situations, but also the communications with families. Critically important, I mean Leigh, all leaders, all governments are seeking to work together, learn from each other and deal with what is a rapidly changing situation. And I think everyone's endeavouring to put their best foot forward. And that's what living with this is like and Australia I must stress, both economically and on the health front, is doing better than almost any other developed country in the world.
SALES: The New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian, is adamant at the moment that her state won't lock down. She says you can't keep opening and shutting it all the time. So if Sydney reported 376 cases in a single day like Melbourne did today, it wouldn't be in mass lockdown?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you're making a number of assumptions there. I mean, you don't get to 376 overnight. And this is where I think the New South Wales government have moved incredibly quickly. They have the largest industrial scale tracing system in the country and they were able to move very quickly on that Crossroads outbreak and to be able to track that through incredibly fast and even in the cases they announced over the course of today, they all have all had known sources. And so this is what I'm mainly about, living with it. You've got to keep those tracing and public health response capabilities dealing with outbreaks up to match standard all the time-
SALES: In the case-
PRIME MINISTER: What happened in Victoria is we had an outbreak from quarantine and that riddled through sections of the Melbourne community and it is now escalated to where it is today -
SALES: Well on that point-
PRIME MINISTER: Commodore Hill is on the ground, the ADF support is in there - sorry.
SALES: Prime Minister, sorry. Can I ask, did Victoria do anything differently to the other states when it came to following the advice of the National Cabinet on how to run quarantine?
PRIME MINISTER: Well all states and territories were running quarantine and they were responsible each and every state for running their quarantine. And there was clearly breaches in the Victorian quarantine-
SALES: What I'm what I'm asking -
PRIME MINISTER: The Victorian government has acknowledged that -
SALES: Sorry Prime Minister. What I'm keen to know is, was the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, advised at the national cabinet to use police and military to run quarantine in Victoria and was that advice rejected?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, certainly military were always available to all the states to run those services-
SALES: Was it the recommendation?
PRIME MINISTER: In New South Wales they were using police. In Victoria - No, well, we don't seek to micromanage how the states run their states. I mean, this is a federation and in the federation that works best where there's a respect for states to run their own shows in their own jurisdictions. And I got to tell you, the states are very protective of their own jurisdictions and and and being in charge of the decisions made in their own state. Now, of course, that means they're accountable for those things. And I believe they are. And they will take accountability for the decisions that they've made. Victoria had made some different decisions to New South Wales.
SALES: You’ve previously said that the COVID app was the ticket to a COVIDSafe Australia. Today, no state or territory to point 730 to an instance where the app had located a close contact not already identified by manual traces. Is it time to bin that app and go for something more effective?
PRIME MINISTER: No, that would be ridiculous. That would be dangerous.
SALES: Well, I just told you no state can point to where it’s helped.
PRIME MINISTER: No, but that's- what it does, is it works with the manual tracing. The two go together. I mean, there are hundreds and hundreds of cases that have been identified that have also been identified by the manual tracing. Now, in many parts of what we saw in Victoria, that app wasn't downloaded amongst many parts of that community. We're at about 40 per cent downloads across the potential population who can download that app. Now, that means there's 60 per cent of the population who hasn't, but at 40 per cent, that's one of the highest rates for an app of that sort in the world. And so it is an important safeguard. It is an important assistance and it is available. Now in many other states and territories they haven't had any cases for community transmission where it could have provided any role because you're able to track the source to a quarantine case or something of that nature. So I found the COVIDSafe sledges that have been coming just a little bit politically opportunistic.
SALES: Have you worn a mask anywhere yet?
PRIME MINISTER: I went to see an optometrist and I wore it for the consultation.
SALES: And if you went to say, see the Sharks play a game, would you wear a mask now given what's happening?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that would all depend. I mean, the recommendation in New South Wales is if you are unable to have social distancing in place, then you should. And if that were the case, then I would.
SALES: Just briefly on another matter. Australia's relationship with China. When did you last speak to President Xi Jinping?
PRIME MINISTER: That would have been at the G20.
SALES: Does Australia's new defence strategy, along with your recent language about China, the tearing up of the extradition treaty with Hong Kong signal a shift in thinking towards China, that we now clearly view it as a potential threat and as untrustworthy?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it signals that the Australian government will always be consistent with its values and its interests. And that's what we've always done. And we have taken no steps to seek to injure that relationship at all. In fact, our trade volumes are up, particularly in the resources sector at present. And so we will always just be consistently and that's all we've done and we'll continue to do that.
SALES: Would the world-
PRIME MINISTER: The relationship is important and we have no intention of injuring it, but nor do we intend to do things that are contrary to our interests.
SALES: Would the world and the US be better off if Donald Trump lost the US presidential election?
PRIME MINISTER: It's a matter for the American people. I think it'd be highly presumptuous for an Australian Prime Minister to be engaged in that level of political commentary. It’s a bit of a strange question.
SALES: Prime Minister, thanks for your time today.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot Leigh.
JobKeeper Payment and Income Support Extended
21 July 2020
Prime Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Families and Social Services
The Morrison Government will deliver more support for households and businesses to help Australians through the COVID-19 pandemic and bolster our economic recovery.
The JobKeeper Payment will be extended by six months to 28 March 2021 and the temporary Coronavirus Supplement for those on income support will be extended until 31 December 2020.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the extra assistance would continue supporting hundreds of thousands of Australians who are without work, and offer businesses and their workers a lifeline to not only get through this crisis, but recover on the other side.
“We will have Australian’s backs as we face the ongoing impacts of COVID-19,” the Prime Minister said.
“There is no silver bullet and this is about delivering the support Australians need and the policies our economy requires to reopen, recover and create jobs.
“These supports are a lifeline but our JobMaker plan is also setting Australia up for our country’s recovery. We’re delivering the initiatives and reforms that will help grow our economy and create the jobs we need for the years ahead.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the extension of support recognised Australia’s economic recovery was still in its early stages and a number of businesses and individuals remained significantly affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Government’s focus remains on reopening the economy where it is safe to do so, but the extension of these measures recognises that some parts of the economy will continue to be affected and need continued support,” the Treasurer said.
“Sadly, as a result of this global health pandemic, businesses will close and people will lose their jobs, but that is why we have extended the Coronavirus Supplement and announced a new skills package to help people transition from welfare to work.
“It is also why we are extending the JobKeeper Payment beyond September to help keep businesses in business and Australians in jobs as our economy reopens.”
Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said the extension of the Coronavirus supplement would support many Australians who may have found themselves out of work, through no fault of their own.
“The Government has acted decisively to support hundreds of thousands of Australians, many who are receiving income support for the first time,” Minister Ruston said.
“We are extending the Coronavirus Supplement and enhanced eligibility criteria for a further three months to cushion against the economic impact of the pandemic.
“We are also increasing the income free area for JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance (other) to $300 a fortnight to encourage and support recipients to take up job opportunities as businesses reopen.”
JobKeeper Payment
The JobKeeper Payment has been instrumental in supporting job retention, maintaining employment links and business cash flow, as well as providing income support to eligible employees.
This extension will provide further support to significantly impacted businesses so more Australians can retain their jobs and continue to earn an income.
The JobKeeper Payment is currently due to finish on 27 September 2020, but will now remain available for eligible employers until 28 March 2021.
As the economy reopens the payment will be tapered in the December and March quarters to encourage businesses to adjust to the new environment, supporting a gradual transition to economic recovery, while ensuring those businesses who most need support continue to receive it. A two-tiered payment will also be introduced from 28 September, to better align the payment with the incomes of employees before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees who were employed for less than 20 hours a week on average in the four weekly pay periods ending before 1 March 2020 will receive the lower payment rate.
JobKeeper Payment rates from 28 September 2020 to 28 March 2021:
DateFull rate per fortnightLess than 20hrs worked per fortnight rate28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021$1,200$7504 January 2021 to 28 March 2021$1,000$650
From 28 September 2020, businesses, and not-for-profits will be required to reassess their eligibility by reference to their actual June and September quarter turnovers to demonstrate that they have suffered an ongoing significant decline in turnover. Organisations will need to demonstrate that they have experienced the relevant decline in turnover in both of those quarters to be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment in the December quarter.
Employers will need to again reassess their eligibility for the JobKeeper Payment for the March quarter. Employers will need to demonstrate that they have met the relevant decline in actual turnover in each of the previous three quarters ending on 31 December 2020 to remain eligible for the JobKeeper Payment in the March quarter 2021.
If they do not meet the turnover test in the extension period this does not affect their eligibility prior to 28 September 2020. The continuation of JobKeeper for these businesses will help support the economic recovery and provide them with sufficient time to adjust.
The JobKeeper Payment will continue to remain open to new participants that meet the eligibility requirements.
Also, as the Review recommended, an independent evaluation will be conducted at the conclusion of the program.
The new arrangements for the JobKeeper Payment are expected to cost an additional $16.6 billion.
COVID-19 supplement
The Government will extend the payment period of the temporary Coronavirus Supplement for those on income support from 25 September 2020 to 31 December 2020 to continue to provide elevated assistance while the economy is still in its early stages of recovery.
As the economy reopens, the Coronavirus Supplement will be extended at the rate of $250 per fortnight. The extended Coronavirus Supplement reflects the gradually improving economic and labour market conditions and is designed to ensure there are appropriate incentives for all payment recipients to seek out employment or study opportunities.
Both existing and new income support recipients will continue to be paid the Coronavirus Supplement.
The Government will also ensure income support is appropriately targeted as the economy recovers by reintroducing a range of means testing arrangements.
From 25 September 2020, the assets test and the Liquid Assets Waiting Period will be reintroduced and the JobSeeker Payment partner income test will increase from 25 cents for every dollar of partner income earned over $996 per fortnight to 27 cents for every dollar of partner income earned over $1,165 per fortnight.
The Government will also improve incentives to work by increasing the income free area for JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance (Other) from $106 per fortnight to $300 per fortnight and will simplify the taper rate from a dual taper of 50 cents and 60 cents to a single taper of 60 cents. This will mean recipients are more easily able to calculate the value of every dollar they earn.
These changes will mean individuals will be able to earn up to $300 per fortnight without foregoing any JobSeeker payment or affecting their eligibility for the Coronavirus Supplement.
The expanded criteria for JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance (Other) will continue to provide payment access for permanent employees who are stood down or lose their employment, sole traders, and the self-employed until 31 December 2020.
Reduced waiting times, including the Ordinary Waiting Period, Newly Arrived Resident’s Waiting Period (NARWP) and the Seasonal Work Preclusion Period, will continue to be waived until 31 December 2020.
The new arrangements for the Coronavirus Supplement are expected to cost an additional $3.8 billion.
Further details are available at The Treasury.
Sitting of Parliament
18 July 2020
I have received medical advice from the acting Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Professor Paul Kelly, regarding the upcoming sitting of Parliament.
The acting CMO has advised that there is significant risk associated with a meeting of Parliament in the context of the increased community transmission of COVID-19 in Victoria and the trends in New South Wales.
He advises that, despite proposed mitigation measures, the risks posed by a parliamentary sitting are significantly higher and unlikely to be resolved in the next month.
The acting CMO’s advice is that: “The entry of a high-risk group of individuals could jeopardise the health situation in the ACT and place residents at unnecessary risk of infection. In addition, the health risk to Members and Senators and their staff from other jurisdictions is a material concern. It is my medical advice that, despite proposed mitigation measures, these risks would be significantly higher in the context of a parliamentary sitting period due to the number of persons travelling from Victoria and the inevitable mixing with ACT residents, Members, Senators, staff and visitors within Parliament House.”
The Government cannot ignore the risk to parliamentarians, their staff, the staff within the Parliament, and the broader community of the ACT that holding a parliamentary sitting would create.
In addition, it is not feasible nor desirable to hold a sitting of Parliament that would exclude parliamentarians from a single state. Our Commonwealth Parliament should have representatives from all members of our federation and it is the duty of Parliamentarians to attend parliament, if it is scheduled.
I have consulted with the Leader of the Opposition, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate and provided them with a copy of the advice. I have written to the Speaker to request that the sitting fortnight commencing August 4th 2020 not be held. This would mean Parliament will next meet on August 24th 2020. I have written to the Leader of the Government in the Senate to write to the President in similar terms.
Interview with Studio 10
17 July 2020
NARELDA JACOBS: PM you're angling to be the unsung hero of the Aussie Screen industry with a $400 million cash splash to lure productions here while the rest of the world still grapples with coronavirus shutdowns. We thank you once again for joining us. $400 million is that going to be enough to entice filmmakers to come down under?
PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON: Well, it's it's extending a program we've been running very successfully now for several years and making it even more generous than it has been. We do have a big opportunity with the success we've had in virtually all states and territories. I know we've got a problem in Victoria right now, and the world's noticed that, and particularly the screen industry have noticed that. And so there's a good opportunity, just not to do one film now, as we've been sort of doing the one offs up until now. But to get particularly with these big productions that are doing multiple series, both on television for streaming as well as the big movie productions, to get multiple films over many years. This goes out over seven years and so we can really take those deals and working together with the states as well. I know South Australia, I was in contact with Premier Marshall this morning. He's mad keen to get on this. I spoke to the Premier Palaszczuk last night. I know Gladys Berejiklian has always been keen on this, as has, of course, Dan Andrews when, but they're a bit focussed on other things at the moment. So this means eight thousand jobs is the bottom line. And it's not just actors, of course, it's it's sparkies, it's caterers, it's the other suppliers. It's water bottle providers to to sets. And it is, as you know, who work in the industry, it's it it reaches to so many jobs and eight thousand jobs we expect from this.
JOE HILDEBRAND: It sounds like a no brainer PM. It sounds like a great idea. I think everyone across both sides of the aisle would love to embrace it. Just earlier you mentioned that the world was watching Australia. What are you and your ministers hearing about how they are feeling? Has the experience in Victoria unnerved them as it made people a bit shakey about maybe sending these big investments here? Or are they seeing this is a kind of experiment as to how suppression strategy is working? What is the world perception of Australia right now?
PRIME MINISTER: Extremely positive. And as countries around the world have opened up, they've had their own outbreaks. I mean, I participate in a group of of leaders from an interesting collection of countries from Austria to Costa Rica to Israel to Norway. And we're all countries that have had relatively good experiences. Israel is going through a much tougher period now. But in Austria, for example, they've had outbreaks. I was talking to Shinzo Abe just the other day up in Japan. They've had an outbreak in Tokyo. I was talking to Prime Minister Lee in Singapore. They've had their challenges. They've got on top of those. And so we all know that the outbreaks can occur. And the issue is how you get on top of them. And we've got a very good record on tracing and on testing. And Australia, you know, seven states and territories, pretty much no community transmission. A bit more of a challenge in New South Wales, but they're getting on top of that. So our reputation is very strong and not just on the health side, but on the economic side, as you know, of all the developed economies around the world. It's been Korea and Australia that have had the least impact, and that is something that Australians have worked very hard to achieve. And when we're going to keep working hard on that, we're going to make jobs. That's what we have to do.
KERRI-ANNE KENNERLEY: Yeah big congratulations there. Before I get to the spike in Victoria, could I just say, in terms of the camaraderie in Canberra, have you this morning with all these calls that you've made, called your Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to wish him a 49th happy birthday?
PRIME MINISTER: Josh and I haven't spoken as yet, but he's catching up with me Josh, with his age. But he's weathering it very well. I got to say, he looks far more athletic than than I do. And he's he's doing a great job. He's hard at work at the moment. Of course we've got the economic statement coming down next week. He and I have been working together with Mathias Cormann on also the the announcements we'll make next week about JobKeeper and ensuring we've got continued income support. And that's particularly going to be of comfort to people in Victoria and the many other parts of the country we should remember, who are also very affected by COVID-19. It's not just Victoria. There are parts of Queensland of course. I'm heading up there today. Frankly looking forward to that, it's a bit chilly in Canberra, as you can see today. It's a good day to go to Queensland. I can assure you if you're in Canberra.
KENNERLEY: But also, we do know Victoria's doing it very, very tough and Australia cannot heal until Victoria does. So what extra has to be done?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've put in over a thousand additional Defence Force personnel into Victoria. They're arriving now and will continue over the week ahead. And they're supporting everything from the testing centres to logistics and command support with how the tracing activities are done. They're out on the road with paramedics. They're assisting with the lockdown. But it's not just the Commonwealth, the other states and territories are pitching in as well. New South Wales is supporting with tracing and testing, as is South Australia, I believe Queensland is assisting with public health officials, Tasmania is supporting. I mean, this is a national effort because you're absolutely right for Australia to win, Victoria has got to win. Melbourne's got to win. And so we're all backing them in and we want them to succeed. And it's been a very constructive and collaborative effort. I know there's a lot of criticisms, but that's not for me to get into. My job is to support Dan Andrews to get that job done. And that's exactly what we're doing.
JACOBS: Prime Minister, last weekend you copped some criticism about going to the footy while Melbourne was recording record numbers. And a few days before that, you said we are all Melburnians. Are we all still Melburnians? And are you going to the footy again this weekend?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course we are. And I thought, you know, that was all a bit ridiculous, that response. I was in New South Wales. I wasn't in Victoria. I won't be getting there this weekend because they're not playing at home. But I can tell you, I want to thank all those Australians who who leapt to my defence, particularly those in Victoria. I think people have got to get a grip around these things. I mean, there was social distancing applied there, as you'd expect it to. We've got to get on with things. We've got to lift our heads. I said this yesterday, we can't get all downcast. And I know in Victoria things are incredibly tough. But to use a sporting analogy, if you put your head down when you're in a game, then you're your opponents know this and the virus is like this. You know, we've got to keep our heads up. We've got to keep looking forward. Yesterday, we the job figures came out for June. Now, there were 210,000 jobs that came back into the economy in June. That is the single biggest month's increase that we've ever seen in our economic statistics in Australia. Now, that's coming back off more than 800,000 fall. But most of those jobs that came back were for young people. And it shows that as we open up, as we get on top of this, the jobs come back and that gives us hope. So we need to lift our heads. We can't be downcast. We can't be getting around in a hairshirt on this. And we've got to take the action we need to take. We've got to look forward and we've got to go forward confidently.
HILDEBRAND: That is absolutely true PM but one thing that is gathering a lot of momentum at the moment because of these huge unemployment numbers still, is whether or not there will be some kind of substantive, long lasting increase to the JobSeeker payment. I know people on your side of politics have now joined calls from people on the other side of politics for this. Business and welfare groups are as one with this. Can we look forward to some substantial increase in the dole, in job seeker payments and other welfare payments in the mini budget statement next week?
PRIME MINISTER: Those issues aren't being addressed. The longer term issues aren't being addressed in the economic statement next week. It'll be dealing with the immediate issues that will apply after September, when the JobSeeker payment is now is currently double what it is and that is in place. And so we have already provided that additional support for the here and now. Those longer term questions are not being addressed at this point. That is a matter for another time. What matters now and I've got to say, the other thing we saw in the job figures yesterday, is that the flexibility for industrial relations that employees have had has meant they've been able to keep people in jobs. The income support through JobKeeper is is one thing. It's very important. It's kept businesses and employees, you know, in in a in a good place, relatively speaking. But it's also been the flexibility of the industrial relations changes. And if that ends, if we don't get the support to keep that going for businesses, then that is going to cost people their jobs and we saw that yesterday. The flexibility meant more people got to keep their jobs.
HILDEBRAND: I certainly understand. So just to clarify, in September, will JobSeeker go down to its previous level? Will it be halved or will it be higher than it was in March?
PRIME MINISTER: There will be continuing income support and we'll be making announcements about that next week.
ANDREW ROCHFORD: Good. One of the major challenges globally, PM is, is when the virus starts taking out our frontline healthcare workers. And we're starting to see that here probably for the first time in large clumps in Victoria. The Australian Medical Association has come out and demanded that the state governments commit to a zero death target for our health care workers. New South Wales and Victoria are refusing to sign that target. Where do you sit federally?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, there's a practical issue here, and you're right to particularly observe the impact that we've got. And it's been especially the case with aged care employees. And one of the challenges we're dealing with in Victoria at the moment is many aged care employees work in more than one facility. And there has been a concerning level of cases amongst aged care employees, and we're seeking to restrict their movement between facilities. So I've got to say, I mean, our more practical focus at the moment is managing issues like that. Obviously, we want our health care workforce to be as healthy as they possibly can be. And that's why we've put five million masks out of the national stockpile into Victoria for aged care workers to ensure that they can have those in place and they're mandatory in all of those facilities. So I totally agree that the health of our health workforce is absolutely vital, both for their own benefit, but also because of the critical role they play. And we've seen overseas where when your health workforce gets deteriorated because of their own health condition, that only makes the problem harder.
KENNERLEY: Yeah, Tony Abbott has said very recently said that perhaps taking a percentage cut from people in the bureaucracy as well as in the government, people over $150,000 taking a cut of pay, because to be quite frank, we're really not in all this together. What's your view of taking a pay cut and along with the bureaucracy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, we've frozen pay in all of those areas in the federal bureaucracy. It's the same response that was made during the GFC when Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister. Look, I think, you know, those sort of things grab headlines, but they don't actually solve problems. We put the freeze in place. I think that's appropriate. And we're just getting on with the job.
JACOBS: Prime Minister, thank you very much for your time. Before you go, AFL grand final, Optus Stadium in Perth. Is that an option?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look. Look, I'm sure wherever it's played, people will enjoy it. I think they're glad to see that it is still being played and and I commend the AFL for their flexibility. They've moved it up there to Queensland. I know they're very happy in Queensland about that. Where they end up playing the grand final, look we'll see. Who knows? I'm just hoping the Sharks have a better outing this weekend.
JACOBS: Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thank you very much for joining us on Studio 10.
HILDEBRAND: Thanks PM.
Interview with Neil Mitchell, 3AW
17 July 2020
NEIL MITCHELL: Scott Morrison, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON: Good morning Neil.
MITCHELL: Thank you for your time. Prime Minister, rightly, you urged us all to follow the COVID safe rules and stay home, social distance, good distancing, good hygiene, etc. That's good. Most people did it, but Victoria's in a dangerous situation not because we didn't do it, but because our state government failed us. That failure is holding back the entire country now. Okay, it is time for recriminations later. We're in the middle of crisis but I think the people of Victoria are angry and worried. Can you now play a bigger role in the decision making in this state?
PRIME MINISTER: We what the Commonwealth can do is what we are doing, and that is over a thousand additional Defence Force Force personnel coming into Victoria, and that's across a range of functions from supporting testing to Victoria Police control points; emergency vehicle crews quarantining compliance; but also importantly, there's 70 ADF personnel going in the planning logistics. And that includes Commodore Hill, who can provide, I think, some much needed leadership direction within the public service effort, particularly around the contact tracing.
MITCHELL: Sorry, did I get that clear -
PRIME MINISTER: The Constitution doesn't let us make the decisions, though Neil, as you know -
MITCHELL: No, I do, but -
PRIME MINISTER: But there's a Victorian problem and it requires the Victorian Government to deal with it and we will give them every help and support we can for the decisions that they need to make, and obviously they will ultimately be accountable.
MITCHELL: Okay, so you say you cannot play a greater role. But it sounds like the Commodore will be. What would he be doing?
PRIME MINISTER: He'll be there working particularly in with the public health team in supporting the tasking of a lot of the tracing calls, as well as the broader logistical support for the effort for the lockdown. The ADF are very good at just managing these very significant logistical tasks, and that is something that is becoming an even greater burden in Victoria as the scale of this has ramped up. And I'm pleased that they're finally there now. And I'm very pleased that the Premier accepted our offer.
MITCHELL: Did you want, you wanted to see you and have seen them in a long time ago didn't you?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that the offer has been standing um, as it is across all states and territories. I mean at one point we actually, um, and sort of it should cross over at about today, I would think that we've had more people up in New South Wales, particularly supporting around the border arrangements. But the ADF there support all the states and territories in. And it's not just the Commonwealth that's supporting Victoria. I mean, every state and territory is doing their bit to help them at the moment. Whether it's tracing resources, testing and all of that, and the premiers and chief ministers, together with myself as a National Cabinet, we've been backing them in to get it fixed.
MITCHELL: But you said the Commodore will provide much leader, leadership, much needed leadership. What do you mean? Is the leadership, the leadership has it been inadequate hasn't it? Let let's face it, we've made mistakes.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, look within the public service capabilities you've got people who are very good public health officers and they have a job to do. But when when it gets to this scale, it needs a different skill set, and this is what the Defence Forces can bring in. So that's not a criticism, it is just a need that is there. And we're very happy to provide because our Defence Force people have those skills. And I'm hoping that that will provide it with a much needed oomph, particularly in the tracing area. That is where New South Wales has been particularly doing quite well in response to the outbreak they've had. Getting on top of that within a very quick period of time to understand that genomic link back to the Victorian outbreak and they're tracing work has been very strong. But I mean, Victoria's getting every help they can. It is a big national effort.
MITCHELL: Look, I don't doubt that and I think Victorians are very appreciative of that. But obviously, the rest of Australia has to learn from Victoria because I don't want the rest of Australia to go down this path. What have you learnt? What did we do wrong?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, obviously, the quarantine issues are very significant. And that's a reminder to every other state and territory that you can be a pretty much zero community transmission, which is where Victoria was at, and with a breakdown in quarantine, then that can quickly move through your community. And so that's a warning to all other states and territories that particularly those hiding behind borders, that if you let go of your tracing and your social distancing and other disciplines, then the virus can move very quickly through your community. The borders won't protect you from that, a strong health system will protect you from that. Now, having strong quarantine arrangements will protect you from that, and I think that's a timely reminder. I mean, I'll be up in Queensland later today and they're doing well. That's great but if they were to have a failure in their quarantine system like Victoria had, well that they could suffer quite similar results. And so it's important that we stay on our guard. But I'd also say, Neil, that there are lessons that have been learnt from New South Wales, particularly in the aged care, impacts that we had there around the New March facility that's being applied in Melbourne now, in terms of how people are being transferred, the communication with the families. There are a lot of lessons from that New South Wales experience that are being applied to Victoria. And I think this is one of the keys, Neil, because this is such unchartered territory, and I talk to leaders of other countries all the time, we're all dealing with the unknown and we're all learning from each other. And you're saying...
MITCHELL: Of course, and what I'm saying we be doing with Victoria, you say we are doing that. Do you do you agree, some of our health officials have said if we get this wrong here in Victoria, it could cost thousands of lives. Is that your advice?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have seen that experience overseas.
MITCHELL: In a place like Victoria it could cost thousands of lives?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, one of the things that I think will mitigate against that is that we have put a lot of effort into over the last four months, building up our ICU and respirator capability. So right now, if I could take us back to April, I'm far less concerned today than I was then about the capability of our health systems to cope with a big surge in cases and presentations.
MITCHELL: On what basis? I mean, on April 1st Victoria announced we're going to have 4,500 ICU beds within a few weeks, we got 650.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah but we've got capability in other states and territories.
MITCHELL: Oh so we can use ICU, can we use ICU beds in other states?
PRIME MINISTER: And respirators mate you put them on a plane you can move to Victoria.
MITCHELL: Yeah but can Victoria move patients to ICU beds in other states?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've discussed at National Cabinet is the importance of sharing our resources and saying, look, we're not at that stage. We're nowhere near at that stage.
MITCHELL: I know but is it possible? It is possible? Our health officials are talking about the possibility of thousands of lives if we don't get on top of this?
PRIME MINISTER: And that, that is not my concern right now, Neil. I think if you take it to an nth degree then as we've seen overseas then, though, there are those potential outcomes. But that is not, I think, the likely scenario right now. What the likely scenario right now is, and what everyone's focussed on, is we haven't seen yet the impacts on the daily case, declarations of the lockdown. I wouldn't be expecting to see that now. So for Victorians listening to you today going, "Oh why aren't we seeing that?". Well, no one would be expecting to see that yet. I heard you just as I was coming on I think you were saying about 48 hours. Whether it's that or a little longer, Neil, it's hard to say.
MITCHELL: Fair enough .
PRIME MINISTER: We would want to see what the impact of, of these of these lockdowns are. The lockdown was regrettably necessary. I wish that hadn't become necessary. I think from New South Wales perspective, it's good that they're not thinking they will have to move to anything like that. And that's welcome. It shows it can get on top of this, and I think there's less doubt in Victoria for everyone else.
MITCHELL: Just finally in that area, have you asked Daniel Andrews what went wrong? Have you asked for an explanation from him?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've got to say in his dialogue with all the other premiers in the National Cabinet, and myself, he's been very candid about the challenges that they've had, and there's been a lot of...
MITCHELL: So he has explained what went wrong has he? Because he hasn't explained it to us. The people
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, that's a matter for the Premier...
MITCHELL: Of course.
PRIME MINISTER: And a matter for Victoria.
MITCHELL: But he has explained it to the cabinet has he, what went wrong?
PRIME MINISTER: Not in the level of detail that I suspect the reviews and inquiries that are underway would provide that level of detail. But obviously our system, our Chief Medical Officer, the expert medical panel, the AHPPC, all of them have been focussing very acutely on what's been happening in Victoria and, but the sharing of information, having you know, clear the metrics as we call them. We've found this very important in managing these crises. And a key metric is how quickly you're tracking down cases and the bar is pretty straightforward. Someone is is is contracting Coronavirus and has a positive test, they have to be isolated on the same day. And the ideal is to have -
MITCHELL: Well, that's the other area of Victoria that's been failing, though, isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I was just going to finish the point.
MITCHELL: I'm sorry.
PRIME MINISTER: But you've got to, you've got to trace them, you've got to get them isolated to one day. And you have to get through all their tracing contacts, preferably as no later than 24 hours after that. Now, if you're if you're working within that, you can get on top of it easily.
MITCHELL: So is Victoria working within that guideline?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I haven't seen specific metrics on that.
MITCHELL: So, we, we don't know? Because we're getting lots of evidence that we're not. I mean the many, many cases of them not.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the cumulative stats which show the number of unexplained cases are, you know, are in the hundreds, and that's what we've got to get on top of and that's why we put that additional resources to support that you mapped out.
MITCHELL: You mentioned New South Wales, you know, hopefully doesn't have to lock down. I really hope that. Now that Victoria will need a special deal, won't we? When you make your economic announcements next week, we will need special attention. We're holding the country back. But we're in big trouble ourselves in terms of the economy.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think Victoria will disproportionately benefit from the national measures we're putting in place. And the reason for that is is they're they're assessed based on the need and the impact of the virus on people's businesses. And that is clearly going to be greater in Victoria than many other parts of the country. So the way we've designed these supports Neil will mean they will naturally find those places which need the most help. Now, that's true in Victoria, but it's going to be equally true in parts of you know Queensland, which have been devastated by the international tourism collapse and things like that, so that they're designed to fall to those places, which needs our help, and sadly, that will mean that Victoria will be drawing a lot more on federal taxpayers support and income support than otherwise would have been the case.
MITCHELL: The special deal with the unions, does that still stand?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have an arrangement in place after the end of JobKeeper, but yesterday's employment numbers were very interesting. I know the unemployment went up 7.4 per cent. But interestingly, you know, we've always said that the real rate of unemployment is much higher, and in May was at 13.9 per cent, what we call the effective rate of unemployment. Now, that fell to 11.3 per cent in June. We had 210,000 jobs that came back into the economy in June. Most of those were for young people, which were the most affected. That's a positive sign which shows that when you're moving in the right direction, the economy will come back, the jobs will come back. But the challenge here is to get yourself on top of the crisis -
MITCHELL: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: And the health and the economic effects are actually highly related. So we're pleased about what's happened there, but for it to continue to be successful, you've got to get on top of it and open up your economies.
MITCHELL: The reports of something of a run on the banks in China, which is a bit scary, does that concern you?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven't seen those reports, Neil. I'm having further updates this morning on a whole raft of issues and that they may present that then. But no, I haven't seen those reports. But I mean, our exports with China, particularly our commodities exports, are actually increasing. And the iron ore prices today is you know, last time I saw it was over 100. So this is actually providing a bit of mitigation to the economic impact at the moment. But, you know, you can't rely on that. But what we are doing is, is providing unprecedented support. And I know a lot of your listeners may all be going, you know, why do we have to spend all this money? Well, the truth of it is we have never been in a situation like this since the Great Depression. Now, the way we've been designing these things is they're temporary. They don't go on for 10 years. They are there, they're here and now to provide a much needed balanced and support for the economy, for people to get through. And it's one of the reasons, one of the most important reasons that the Australian economy has been able to limit the impact that many others most, in fact, developed economies have had hit them out in Australia versus New Zealand. I mean New Zealand has had a much bigger impact on their economy than Australia has.
MITCHELL: Speaking of New Zealand, what about the bubble? Is there still a chance of the trans-Tasman bubble, excluding Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I spoke to Prime Minister Ardern on Friday evening and and she raised that very issue with me. And we're progressing those discussions. Obviously, it's got to be a little bit moderated for what's happening in Victoria, but we discussed it at National Cabinet last Friday, and so we're working with the states and territories about how they can participate in that. So no no, she was keen for us to continue with that.
MITCHELL: Good. Prime Minister, just on something quickly. The United Kingdom has today accused Russia of spying on UK, Canada and the US, particularly stealing COVID research. Are you concerned that Russia's been spying on us as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, as I flagged a couple of weeks ago, there's been quite a large amount of cyber activity going on and intrusions into Australia and and attributing it to a country is not something I do lightly. But all I'd simply say is that's why we've put a $1.4 billion into our cyber security over the next decade, $470 million investment to expand our cyber security workforce. So we take it pretty seriously and we know it's a big risk and it's out there. And this stuff does go on and it goes on around the world. But I know people will be anxious about that, and that's why we're bolstering our defences.
MITCHELL: Good.
PRIME MINISTER: But I'm on the cure though, on this, or on the vaccine, that is, those sorts of things as you've just mentioned are occurring. But the broader international effort, I've got to tell you, is not about that. The broader international effort is finding the vaccine, working together and importantly, getting a manufacturing capability package to produce the vaccine and distribute it as far and wide as possible. That's where a lot of the discussions I have with other leaders are.
MITCHELL: Just finally, TikTok, do you trust it?
PRIME MINISTER: We're having a good look at it. And -
MITCHELL: What about your kids, are they on it?
PRIME MINISTER: No. My kids aren't allowed on social media.
MITCHELL: Oh, fair enough.
PRIME MINISTER: I think that's pretty wise.
MITCHELL: But there are suspicions around TikTok though, aren't there? The significance -
PRIME MINISTER: There are. There are. And I've seen all that. And we are, well let me just say this. We are always very mindful of those risks and we are always monitoring them very, very closely. And if we consider there is a need to take further action than we are taking now, then I can tell you we won't be shy about it.
MITCHELL: Thank you for your time. You're going to the footy this weekend?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh no, they're playing up on the Central Coast, so I wont get up there, but I will be watching. I hope they have a better outing last week than we did last week.
MITCHELL: I hope you don't have a cameraman in there while you're cheering, having a beer.
PRIME MINISTER: There wasn’t much to cheer for last week but anyway, look I appreciate that Neil, and look to everyone in Melbourne and Victoria more broadly, just know the country's with you. This is tough, it's really tough, but keep your heads up and if we keep our heads up. We'll get through it.
MITCHELL: Thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Cheers, Neil.
Interview with Sabra Lane, ABC AM
17 July 2020
SABRA LANE: Welcome back to the program.
PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON: G'day, Sabra.
LANE: Just on that report we heard, Australian scientists, they're at the forefront of COVID vaccine research as well, are spies targeting their work?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't typically go into these things, as our cyber attributions have a pretty high standard that you apply to them but we're aware of a lot of cyber intrusions that are occurring across Australia at the moment. I made reference to that some time ago. Some of those are by State actors, others are by criminal syndicates and that's why it's important that right across the board that we continue to strengthen what we're doing in the cyberspace. We've made a $470 million investment to expand our cyber security workforce. We just announced the $1.35 billion over the next decade and this builds on the work that we announced going back from 2016. So our cyber strategy continues to strengthen in response to what are real and genuine threats.
LANE: To the mini-budget, you've stopped using the "snap back" language but many people are quite worried the Government will suddenly reduce they've got JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments, what is the Government thinking?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the reference you made was to something that was said months and months ago, Sabra, and a lot has changed since then. I don't think anyone has a crystal ball here when it relates to the pandemic and circumstances change and the Government has changed with those. I mean our support for JobKeeper and JobSeeker is unprecedented in Australia. $70 billion of support and I've made it clear now for some time that there would be a further phase of income support that would extend beyond where we are with JobKeeper and JobSeeker. We'll have more to say about that next week. It will be targeted, it will be a national program, it will address those businesses in most need wherever they are.
But I would expect that that would particularly be the case, because of what's occurred in Victoria and around Melbourne. But also those parts of the country like in North Queensland and parts of the Gold Coast and others which have also been very affected by the downturn in international tourism.
LANE: Yesterday you said we've not been locked into thinking of the past or constrained in any way. Could you just sort of flesh that out. What do you mean?
PRIME MINISTER: I mean practical problems require practical solutions. They're not driven by ideology or anything like that. We're doing what's needed. Whether it's the incredible support that's been going in, not just from the Commonwealth Government but all States and Territories, to help Victoria right now to give them everything they need to get on top of this and we've got Commodore Hill down there now down in Victoria as part of that leadership effort to ensure we can get on top of the situation in Victoria or it's, you know, the announcement we made yesterday,
$2 billion to support apprentices and skills training. It's the $250 million we put into supporting the entertainment sector, the $400 million I’ll announce later today for getting more screen productions in Australia and the 8,000 jobs that will produce, the HomeBuilder program, which is getting a great response and has proved to be a very effective stimulus or, indeed, the $750 payments that went out again this week to pensioners in particular and other welfare recipients to ensure that money goes back into the economy to support businesses, particularly as they're opening up in seven States and Territories and look forward to a time where that can happen in Victoria, too.
LANE: The youth unemployment rate, it is now at 16.4 per cent. You asked Australians to keep their heads up yesterday but many are finding it tough. A recent Headspace survey found 51 per cent of young people say their mental health has declined since March. How should they keep their heads up, especially if they don't have work or not many hours?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is why we've just put half a billion dollars, matched by the states, 340,000 training places, 180,000 apprenticeship places. I mean the jobs figures yesterday, and the effective rate of unemployment, I've heard in your introduction that it's much higher than what the headline rate is, you're right, it was at 13.9 per cent in May and it's fallen to 11.3 per cent in June and there's 210,000 jobs that were created in June that came back into the economy. That's the biggest number ever in recorded economic history in Australia, and that shows that as the economy opens up, half of those jobs went to young people and so those most affected by the downturn are those who are most getting jobs back into the economy we’ve seen in those most recent numbers. And that's welcome.
It's got a long way to go, don't get me wrong, we've still got a long way to go and things are very tough out there but it shows that as we open things up, we're on top of it and that means the jobs come back and they come back particularly for those who have been most impacted which are young people and women.
LANE: Those jobs, unfortunately most of them were part-time, at least it was work but they were part-time, they weren't full-time jobs.
PRIME MINISTER: That doesn't surprise me in this economy. I mean the hours, the underemployment rate also fell from 13.1 to 11.7 per cent and the hours worked went up. But because of the benefit of the flexible industrial arrangements we have at the moment, it means that people are keeping jobs. They may not have as many hours as they had before but in this economy, in this COVID-19 recession, being in a job comes at a premium and I welcome the fact that businesses are choosing to keep more people on and sharing those hours around a bit and that's going to be necessary into the future.
I mean a big part of the JobKeeper program has been the industrial relations flexibility that's attached to those businesses and even for those that are doing much better now, that will continue to be very important for them, otherwise people will lose jobs.
LANE: Just on the JobTrainer package yesterday, employers did welcome the wage subsidy program saying it's good support rather than an incentive and AI Group's Innes Willox says if the economy continues to decline, new measures will be required to encourage employers to take on school leavers. Is the Government open to that?
PRIME MINISTER: We're always open to how we're going to do better to create jobs and this is what I was referring before, where there's practical problems we need to fix, we will be there to fix them with the States and Territories and we've demonstrated that at every turn, Sabra. At every single turn, when it comes to creating jobs, supporting people with income support from those who are beneficiary recipients, all the way through, the young people coming out of school looking for training places, people in their 50s who are going to have to change jobs, the support we put into the aviation sector, the home building sector, the entertainment sector, I mean we are looking at all the areas where we can get Australia through this and we're having relatively good results compared to developed economies around the world.
I mean our economy has not fallen as much in places like New Zealand, for example, who had a much heavier lockdown and have paid a much heavier economic price for that. We've been steering a more middle course on this and that's been benefiting our economy and where there's outbreaks like we have in Victoria we've got to get on top of them and that's what we're working to achieve right now. But an outbreak from quarantine could easily occur in New Zealand as it could in Australia.
LANE: To Victoria, Premier Andrews has signalled that all options are on the table and he's mentioned stage 4 restrictions meaning that office work might be banned. How bad do you think it might get?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think it's still a bit premature, as the premier has said, for those options and we still, yet, wouldn't expect to see in the numbers the impacts of the lockdown yet. So I said earlier in the week that I was expecting to see the sort of numbers that we've been seeing, I thought over 300, that was concerning. But I wasn't expecting to see those numbers falling in the immediate term. But we will be watching those closely and that's why it's so important to get those extra Defence Force personnel down there on the ground, supporting in all the tasks, whether they're out there helping paramedics, they're out there supporting the lockdown, they're getting supplies to people, supporting the testing clinics and importantly the leadership through our One-star Commodore who is down there ensuring that we're getting greater tasking of the tracing work that needs to be done, not just in Victoria but New South Wales is helping there, I understand I think Queensland is helping as well. There's a big national effort to help Victoria and I thank all those premiers and chief ministers for the support they're giving to Victoria and I know Dan feels the same way.
LANE: Given the national effort, there are no answers yet on what caused the spikes there, why there were shortfalls in contact tracing, no results on the genomic testing have been made public to show how infection is spreading. The Premier says the inquiry in September will deliver those answers but given the national effort and the lessons that everyone could take from those answers, should those results be out now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're working closely with Victorians on all of those issues and as you probably would have noted last Friday we agreed at National Cabinet to do a full review of quarantine arrangements all around the country and that was being done out of caution and good practice and Jane Holton is doing that review and she's getting underway now with all of that. Because if you have those problems in quarantine in Queensland or Western Australia, you know, you can't hide behind borders on that.
I mean we can't think that borders and restrictions are the defence against the virus. The defence against the virus is strong contact tracing. It's stronger testing regimes, it's the CovidSafe app, all it's all of these things working together, that's the defence you need, that's what's been borne out in New South Wales right now. They've had a shock, too, with the Crossroads incident and the transmission there that came out of Victoria, and they have moved very quickly, and I commend them for the great job they've done.
LANE: Restrictions are about saving lives but there are some voices out there who say the restrictions are too onerous and that COVID is mild in most cases. What do you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the death rate for coronavirus is at least five times higher than for the flu. I mean for those most vulnerable, it is a fatal disease - infection, potentially. So you can't just dismiss it. I mean just look around the world. I mean in New York they were digging mass graves for goodness sake and so I think to dismiss this it would be a mistake. But equally, it is true that the vast majority of people who contract coronavirus have a mild illness. That's true. But for most of those, particularly those who are younger, they can spread the virus very, very quickly.
The real issue with this coronavirus is just how fast it spreads and the way it spreads and transmits which presents a real challenge. And if it gets a head of steam up then it can disable your entire economy, and so that's why it's important. We've done a lot of work with the States and Territories and funded significant resources to get our health systems able to withstand an outbreak and so issues like ICU beds and respirators, all of that, PPE equipment, we've done enormous work on there to ensure Australia is well placed to deal with that. I mean we've released 5 million masks into the aged care sector in Victoria and it's mandatory to have those masks in place in all of those facilities. We've learnt the lessons from earlier things in the aged care sectors, things like Newmarch and so on and those lessons are now being applied.
This is unchartered territory so we've all got to keep learning with every incident that occurs and the National Cabinet's been a good forum for that learning to come to that table and the premiers and the chief ministers and I have been very candid with each other in talking through the issues and understanding the lessons and I thank Premier Andrews for the way he's been candid with his colleagues about this.
LANE: Prime Minister, thanks for joining the program this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Sabra.
Interview with Neil Breen, 4BC
17 July 2020
NEIL BREEN: And promoting Australia as a safe place to come and make movies, TV and stimulate the economy.
SCOTT MORRISON: That's right, it's about 8,000 jobs - that's basically what it's about. And we have been running this program at a lower level now for some years, from year to year. This enables us to go out and get multiple reductions over multiple years, you know getting series two and series three from a lot of those big production houses and run it out, and so you get not just jobs now, but you get jobs into the future. Because everything we're focussed on as part of our JobMaker program going through this COVID-19 pandemic and COVID recession is about getting people back into work. And in the entertainment sector, the film sector, the screen sector, whether you're a caterer, whether you're a supplier, whether you're a sparky or whether you're an actor or whatever your talents are, we know that industry really generates jobs and we know it will do that. It has in the past, and this gives us a unique opportunity to capture more of this so we get more of these jobs long-term. And I know the Gold Coast in particular will be a big beneficiary of that, and I'm looking forward to being up there later today.
BREEN: Oh you're gonna come up Queensland later today?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm looking forward to it Breeny. It's been awhile since I've been back -
BREEN: It's been a while. The borders open and you're back.
PRIME MINISTER: That's it mate. I'll be there later today.
BREEN: That's fantastic. It would be great to have you in Queensland. Now, I've got to know, are you going to be driving? Are you going to have the three hour delay at the border or are you flying?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll take the RAAF option as well. I spoke to the Premier last night and I let her know I was on my way, so you know, I'm looking forward to being there. I mean, Queensland has, like all the rest of the country, has had its challenges as we've dealt with COVID-19, but it's great to see those jobs coming back as you mentioned. I mean, there was 210,000 jobs across Australia. It came back into the economy in June. That is the biggest number of jobs in a single month in our recorded history. Now, I know the unemployment rate went up a bit, but what I can tell you is we've always known that the, what we call the effective rate, of unemployment is much higher than that. And back in May, it was at 13.1 per cent and in the June figures it came down to 11.7 per cent. So we are seeing improvement. And these numbers are going to bounce around with what's happened in Victoria, then that's kind of hit as well. But it was good to see that when we opened things up, when we get things moving again, when the businesses can open and people can have confidence - and that's what's so important now - that the jobs come back. More than half of those jobs, by the way, went to young people who were the biggest hit from the Corona in the first instance. So, now we can do it. That's the, that's the message.
BREEN: That's right. And that's what we are saying on this show, that it's up to us to get out and spend and support each other. It's the only way. One of the, one of the things is that on July 23, so next Wednesday, we're going to find out about the future plans for JobKeeper. I get a lot of correspondence here. So a lot of people say it's too generous. I've had an accountant from a business writing into me today called Jackie telling me it's too generous. Are we looking at some sort of a drip feed off JobKeeper next Wednesday?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we always said it could never be permanent. I mean, it's burning cash at around about $11 billion a month, and that's, you know, it's the most expensive income support program the country has ever run. But these aren't ordinary times and it required something very out of the ordinary to keep the show together. And it's been incredibly important, and the number of businesses I've spoken to over the last few months said, look JobKeeper has saved my business. It saved my employees. And we're really pleased to hear that. But we go into another phase of it at the end of September. There'll be continuing income support. There'll be more focus on those who need it most. And for those who are up in north Queensland for example, those areas most hit by the international tourism sector collapse. I mean, they'll continue to get support because of the, of how their businesses are travelling and those down in Victoria will more hit, will of course, they'll be in a position to continue to be getting support. But it'll be based on need and it will be a national program. It's not focussing on those sectors, per se, but the way it's structured is to make sure the support goes to where it's needed most.
BREEN: We know Victoria is a huge concern for all of us, but Queensland with zero cases yet again yesterday, four active cases overall. How important is the fact that Queensland is so clear of COVID-19 to the national economy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look the success so far is great, but no-one can get complacent. I mean, Victoria was in a similar position and you get one quarantine problem and that can change very quickly. And if people aren't social distancing, if they're not buying the 1.5 metres, if they're not downloading the app, if they're not washing their hands - you can't live in Queensland behind a border and think that you're immune from this thing. You're not. And if there were to be an outbreak in Queensland, then that would put a lot of pressure on. And now everyone's working hard to make sure that doesn't happen. But a review of quarantine arrangements that we agreed at National Cabinet last Friday, and appreciate the Premiers' support for that, and that's underway, but I think we've got to be very mindful and particularly for younger people and those who are visiting Queensland or coming from other places. Queensland is not immune from the Coronavirus. And if there are outbreaks and they can occur, then then it can move through the community very quickly, as we've seen in Victoria. So the results so far are great, but no-one can get cocky or complacent about it.
BREEN: Prime Minister, I'm going to the footy tonight. I'm going see the Reds play the Western Force at SunCorp, it's a Rugby Union game. And no one will bag me for going there. I just wanted to say that our listeners wanted you to know that you shouldn't be bagged for going to the footy last weekend because you were just practicing what you preach. If you can get out and about, spend the money in the economy, do it.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's right. I mean, the NRL, I congratulate them for how they're managing the crowds at the game. There was an empty seat on either side of me and in front of me. I think there was a whole empty row in front of me, that's how they spacing people out. I think, I mean that ground has a capacity of around about 20,000, and just under 4,000 people there. So that was all well managed. And I was watching the Broncos get a win the other night. Which I'm sure was a -
BREEN: We were shocked to don't worry.
PRIME MINISTER: But, I saw the crowd there and how they were gauged, and you know, but the spacing was there, and that's great. It'll work when we all do that. If we all follow the rules, it's fine. We don't get around the hairshirt. But what we have to do is just make sure we follow the rules. And we've also all got to support Victoria at the moment. I mean, all the parochialism of states, that's just got to it's got to go away because they need our help at the moment. They're doing it really tough down there at the moment. And and we're supporting them do that. I know Queensland is supporting Victoria, the state government, to help them with what's going on. And so yeah, I think that's we're all in this together doesn’t matter where you live in the country.
BREEN: Just really quickly, I know you've got to go. And the politics of Canberra is one thing. The politics of AFL is another. Should Queensland host the AFL Grand Final 'cos we're hosting all the teams here.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look mate, I’ve got plenty of decisions to make and I'm not going to get into one as contentious as that, I can assure you. And look, I'm pleased the AFL has that opportunity to rebase things up there in Queensland. I know the fans of the AFL would be very happy about that, but I want to keep seeing their games in as they, in Victoria in particular, have to watch it from their living rooms, but that'll be some comfort to them as they go through a really difficult spot. But, you know, I'm I'm looking forward, though, to coming up to Queensland a bit like the AFL looking [inaudible]. And I know Deb Frecklington was pretty happy about that when I called the last night as well about the film incentives. Queensland really, I think is in a position to really capitalise that. I know other states are keen to do the same and there'll be a lot of competition. But those productions, we've had so much success with them. And on the Gold Coast too, I mean, they've been really hit by the tourism and hospitality drop. I'm glad to see there are people able to get back into Queensland now, in most cases. I know still a border there, but that said, I think this will be a real boost for them in the Gold Coast. And they need that boost. And we're glad to provide it.
BREEN: Prime Minister, thanks so much for joining us on for 4BC Breakfast.
New $400 Million Incentive to Boost Jobs for Screen Industry
17 July 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts
Thousands of jobs are set to flow to carpenters, lighting technicians, local actors, set designers, extras, crews and special effects experts with a $400 million incentive to attract film and television productions to Australia, both now and over the next seven years.
Australia’s relative success in managing COVID-19, compared to so many other parts of the world, means we are now in a unique position to attract a longer term pipeline of major screen productions here in Australia.
To help achieve this we are extending our screen incentive over seven years, working together with the tax system, to ensure that studios can commit to multiple productions over multiple years, guaranteeing jobs both now and into the future.
The incentive adds to a strong pipeline of international screen production activity, jobs and investment by boosting the Location Incentive program over the next three years and extending it for four more years to 2026-27.
The additional $400 million will help Australia capitalise on a growing demand to produce films and television series in Australia, attracting an estimated $3 billion in foreign expenditure and creating 8,000 new employment opportunities for Australians each year. This complements projects already supported through the existing program.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the announcement would create thousands of extra jobs across the country and would help back the screen sector’s recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.
“This investment is key to our JobMaker plan to create jobs, boost local business activity, and provide training and skills,” the Prime Minister said.
“Behind these projects are thousands of workers that build and light the stages, that feed, house and cater for the huge cast and crew and that bring the productions to life. This is backing thousands of Australians who make their living working in front of the camera and behind the scenes in the creative economy.”
Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts Paul Fletcher said the expanded Location Incentive program was designed to attract back-to-back productions and establish an ongoing pipeline of work for Australia’s screen sector, which will strengthen the local industry and provide certainty for businesses to invest in skills and development.
“The Location Incentive is an economic multiplier. It will sustain the vitality of Australian screen production and support jobs and local businesses,” Minister Fletcher said.
“Through this additional commitment, the Government is telling the world that Australia is a desirable destination for screen production – with great locations, skilled crews, world-class talent, post-production expertise and state of the art facilities.”
The Location Incentive is designed to complement the Morrison Government’s existing Location Offset, providing an effective increase in the tax offset rate from 16.5 per cent to 30 per cent for eligible large budget international productions that film in Australia and are successful through the application process.
To date, the Government has announced funding of $123 million for 10 productions through the existing Location Incentive including Thor: Love and Thunder and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Sydney, Godzilla vs Kong on the Gold Coast, Shantaram and The Alchemyst in Melbourne. These 10 projects are estimated to generate spending of around $1 billion, support 8,500 local jobs over multiple years and engage more than 9,000 Australian businesses.
The expansion of the Location Incentive comes on top of $250 million over the next 12 months to help restart the creative economy, including $50 million for a Temporary Interruption Fund that will support local film and television producers to secure finance and recommence filming for productions that have largely been halted due to the challenges in accessing insurance coverage for COVID-19. It also builds on the Government’s investment of $749 million in the arts and cultural industry in 2019-20 – the largest amount ever provided to the sector.
Interview with Today
17 July 2020
KARL STEFANOVIC: I'm pleased to say the Prime Minister joins us now. PM good morning to you. Thank you for your time. Do you have faith in the Victorian government to handle this crisis from here, given the magnitude and results and fall out from the hotel breaches?
PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON: Well, the Victorian situation is very serious. It will continue to be serious for some time. But it's my job to support them, Karl. That’s my job and to rally the support of all the other premiers and chief ministers to give them all they need. More than 1,000 Australian Defence Force personnel there are on their way supporting every task to supporting the lockdown, to the tracing which is so critical to getting on top of this. Even supporting paramedics out there in the field. So I’m talking to the Premier quite regularly. We're giving him every support to get on top of this that we can and all of our government ministers doing the same and all the other premiers and chief ministers there to help them. It's a time to help not for me to run a commentary.
STEFANOVIC: You had to have found out what happened in the hotels, in terms of hotel security and also poor contract tracing protocols, the Victorian Government has done thus far. You must know what went wrong?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the quarantine breach obviously is very, been very significant. It's a reminder that with where this has occurred it's got out through that method. If those who are proposing an eradication strategy – well, if you get a breach in quarantine that doesn't matter. It will just seep out into the community. It's a reminder of the need to keep on with the social distancing. To keep on with all those other protections. Keep the tracing capacity up to scratch. All of these things. Because that is your effective defence against a break out like what we've seen in Victoria. We've seen similar things in NSW, the situation there is going much better. But right now, all my focus on is supporting people in Victoria. Supporting Melburnians in particular and ensuring that we are giving them all the support they need for the Victorian Government and Premier Andrews to get on top of this and he has our full support to do that.
STEFANOVIC: You are a straight shooter. You must have been filthy.
PRIME MINISTER: It's not about how I feel. It's about what I do. And what I do is give Victoria support to get this job done. That's the only thing that matters, Karl. The only thing that matters is getting on top of this and I will give Dan Andrews every support he needs to be able to achieve that. Because that's what Melburnians and Victorians need. If Victoria isn't successful Australia isn't successful. And that’s why we need Melburnians and Victorians to win here.
STEFANOVIC: It does matter how you feel.
PRIME MINISTER: No not for me it doesn't mate, I'm sorry. Prime Ministers don't get that indulgence. We just got a job to do and get on with it.
STEFANOVIC: OK, Senator Matthew Canavan on our show three days ago, he was feeling it. He called it a ‘Dan-Made disaster’. PM, I know you like Daniel Andrews. I also think he's done incredible jobs in parts. Great leaders own their mistakes. You did. Otherwise, how do we know they're not going to make it again.
PRIME MINISTER: Of course we're all accountable for our own decisions and nothing changes that. But it's not about who we like or who we don't like. It's about what is needed now on the ground and the task that need to be done. We've got our Commodore down there. Our one star down there supporting the effort in Victoria. I think that will provide a lot of direction. A lot of leadership support there. That's about getting the job done. That's all that matters now.
STEFANOVIC: You helped lead this country into a great position to tackle this virus. The stakes were high and still are. Victorians, I can't help but feel this, were let down no matter what way you look at it. Badly let down and now people are dying. It wasn’t even their fault. Can they with any certainty feel like their leadership isn't going to let them down again?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're putting the support into ensure that they do get the things they need to get on top of this and there is a very big collaborative effort and that support has been received and Victoria has been very grateful for that and it's not just the Commonwealth government. In NSW, they're doing tracing for the Victorian government. There's the cooperation that's occurring along the Victorian NSW border. There's testing being done in South Australia, Tasmania and there’s support also coming out of Queensland and WA. So this a national effort and that's what I think Victorians can have confidence in that the whole country is working together to help them and to help their government in this time of their crisis.
STEFANOVIC: PM there's an 80-year-old man in Glendale Aged Care facility. His name is Graeme Smith. He is scared, he is upset. He spoke to Ally earlier in the week about losing his friend to the virus. Have a look.
GRAEME SMITH: A little scared, it brings it very close to home. [inaudible] not far from where I am and it was a bit of shock.
STEFANOVIC: Breaks my heart watching that. Prime Minister can you explain to Graham and thousands of others, why they shouldn't feel that fear?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there is uncertainty and I know people are anxious. There is a reason to be anxious. The coronavirus spreads very, very rapidly. For all those who want to seek to dismiss it and think we can treat it lightly, you have got to remember that on the broad figures, the fatality rate on the coronavirus is more than five times what it is for the flu each year so it is serious, particularly for the most vulnerable and people like Graham fall into that category. But what we've been doing there are about 45 cases we had in facilities yesterday. There are masks being worn across all aged care facilities across Victoria. Some 5 million masks have been put into support that out of the national stockpile. So I'd say to Graham 'I understand you're worried' and I know his family would be worried too. We learn a lot of lessons from up in Newmarch and that's been put in place in the Victoria situation in the facilities that are affected there. The Communication with the families I believe is much improved. People have been moved out of those most affected facilities. Both into hospitals and also the private hospitals that we freed up through the agreement we had with the private hospitals to make that happen. So everything is being done to keep Graham and everyone else in those facilities as safe as is possible. But what it is a reminder to everyone else, who thinks that this thing doesn't affect people think of Graham, think of the most vulnerable in the community. Other people, younger people, are far more resistant to this. But they're super-spreaders of it and how they conduct themselves can affect people like Graham very significantly. But as well as people who are on cancer treatments and things like that. So we've got to be mindful of everyone in how we conduct ourselves, so that means 1. 5 metres, wash your hands. Download the COVIDSafe app. Follow the rules, and we get through this.
STEFANOVIC: OK well said. Just finally, I know with interest I know there is going to be some big announcements next week on Jobkeeper, Jobseeker and all that and that will be reassuring for businesses we hope. I note with interest too you're investing in some big Hollywood productions coming to Australia and local productions. 400 million dollars you're putting into it just for the Today Show, how generous.
PRIME MINISTER: 8,000 jobs that is what this about. It's about caterers, it’s about sparkies it’s about cleaners. They're the jobs that come from these productions and it runs out over 7 years. This isn't about just about one-offs. This is about getting repeat productions and getting those jobs and basis of jobs across our production facilities all around the country. That comes on top of the significant entertainment package we did for the performing arts and other arts a few weeks ago. Yesterday Karl, we had 210,000 jobs that came back into the economy in June. That’s the biggest increase in jobs we've ever seen in a month and it shows that there is hope that we can get on top of the virus when we do open up our economy, the jobs came back. More than 50% of those jobs were for young Australians, and the effective rate of unemployment fell from just over 13%, because we know the effective rate is much higher than the head loan rate, that came down to just over 11%. So we're making progress. We've got a long way to go. We have to hang together and support each other. Particularly everyone down there in Melbourne and across Victoria, we're with you.
STEFANOVIC: OK. Well done, PM. Thank you for your time.
Interview with Sunrise
17 July 2020
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE: Well, the government has unveiled a new plan to create jobs in the struggling entertainment industry it's investing $400 million dollars to attract movie productions to Australia that's a boost of around 8,000 jobs a year. It comes as the latest unemployment figures show close to a million people are now out of work. The jobless rate rose to 7.4% in June that's, the highest in 22 years. But the real number is likely to be double that it's set to worsen with Melbourne back in lockdown and thousands of Aussies on JobKeep up waiting to learn their fate and joining us now is the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Prime Minister, good morning, let's start with the unemployment figures, the real rate is estimated to be around 13.3% how bad will that figure get in the next few months?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the results yesterday showed that that 13% estimate that we previously had has fallen now to about just over 11% and that's welcome news because in June we had 210,000 jobs come back into the economy now, that is the biggest surge in jobs in one month that we've ever seen on the figures. Now, that is encouraging now we've got a long way to go there's no doubt about that. The headline rate of unemployment much less than that 11% figure but we know that the figure is up around that mark and so that's why it's so important that we just keep our focus on creating jobs and opening up the economy. Making sure we get on top and stay on top of the health challenges because these things work together to create jobs and yesterday we announced $2 billion dollars of additional investment for apprentices for skills training. Some 340,000 places, 180,000 apprentices, our businesses is creating jobs because that's what Australians need.
ARMYTAGE: Okay, you've got a report coming out next week on JobKeeper. I know Josh Frydenberg is making some big announcements then but why not give some people some certainty now? Especially in Melbourne for Melbourne businesses there who are really terrified in this second lockdown.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've already done that, I've been saying now for some time that there'll be further income support. There'll be a new phase of that, that will succeed the arrangements we have right now. We've been putting the final touches on those arrangements. Even just this week as we've been working on that over the last few weeks since we've received the job keeper review, so we'll be making those announcements next week. We've made it very clear and I made this very clear to Dan Andrews, the Premier when we've been speaking about the crisis there, that there will be continued support and it'll be targeted to those who need it most. It will be there for everyone who needs it based on the impact on their businesses and the impact on their employers.
ARMYTAGE: Okay, so there will be ongoing support past September that's good news, now today's announcement is new funding to attract blockbuster movies to our shore. The entertainment industry has been crying out for help. 8,000 jobs a year, is that going to be enough?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that's 8,000 jobs and it's an important part of our arts and entertainment sector and it comes on top of the $100 multi-million dollar package that we put $250 million, I should say, a few weeks back and that was for the broader entertainment industry but this is about 8,000 jobs. It's about the sparkies, it's about the caterers, it's about those working on set it’s the production people, it's those who provide the accommodation and the motor homes and all of those. People often think this is just jobs for actors no, well, there is jobs for actors, but there importantly for all the trades and other skills that go into making that sector and 8,000 jobs is a lot of jobs and that's extending that support out. We know because Australia has done so well remember, seven states and territories are still in a very, very good situation and that has been noticed around the world and we're seen as a place that can handle these issues and we are and that is an opportunity for us to attract these, more of these productions. Our existing supports already do that but this will go even further and I'm looking forward to making that announcement up in Queensland later today.
ARMYTAGE: Okay, there's some unbelievable claims coming out of the northern hemisphere today, Prime Minister I want to get your thoughts on them. The global race for a Covid vaccine is creating a lot of tensions. Russia is now being accused of trying to steal information. Hacking into researchers. Are you aware of any Russian attempts to hack our own systems or elections in Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we don't make attributions lightly on these things and a few weeks ago, I made some very strong statements about the cyber intrusions that were occurring from state based actors and we're very aware and of those issues and that's why we take the measures and the protections that we do. Hundreds of millions of more being put into our cyber security but I've got to encourage people that the broader conversation that is being held between leaders and I speak to them every week. I was just seeking to the Prime Minister of Singapore yesterday, it has been about searching for that vaccine but not just searching for that vaccine together but ensuring that when one is found that there is the production and distribution capabilities to ensure it can get as far and wide as quickly as possible and I believe that will be the focus of the global effort and certainly the effort that Australia will be putting in.
ARMYTAGE: Okay, Prime Minister just quickly on this one on the top experts are backing calls for Melbourne residents to wear masks in public. There have been some calls for you to be seen in a mask in public. Should they be mandatory in public for Australian?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll be following the medical advice and the medical advice in Melbourne and across Victoria particular in aged care facilities is to wear masks where you can't social distance and that in obvious in places where there are gatherings indoor in particular where you're in public transport and things of that nature that's the medical advice that is not the case in New South Wales or the ACT or Queensland, Western Australia. All the other parts of the country and were that to be the advice that's what we would be recommending so in Victoria and Melbourne in particular it's important that people do do that that's what the recommendation is and as we track the impact of the virus, then if further measures are necessary, then they'll be taken. So we've been following the medical advice and that's what it says.
ARMYTAGE: Okay, we know you've got another interview we'll let you go, Prime Minister. Thanks for your time today.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Sam.
Our United States Will Get Through This Together
17 July 2020
Australians have faced the COVID-19 pandemic with resilience, courage and compassion.
We have seen many tough days.
Victorians, especially Melburnians, are now experiencing some of the toughest.
It is important to know that all Australians are willing you on to success. For Australia to succeed, we are all backing in Victoria to succeed.
That’s why as Prime Minister, together with all the Premiers and Chief Ministers, we are working together, pulling out all stops, to help Victoria beat this latest outbreak. Interstate rivalries are put aside. Political differences are left at the door. We all just want to back you in, and we know you can succeed.
As a federal level, in addition to the hundreds of public servants and health experts we have provided to support the Victorian Government, over 1,000 Australian Defence Force personnel are either on the ground lending a hand, or soon to be in Victoria.
This includes almost 200 ADF medical personnel supporting testing, almost 200 ADF personnel supporting Victoria Police control points, 150 ADF personnel supporting emergency vehicle crews, 100 ADF personnel supporting quarantine compliance, 50 ADF personnel augmenting contact tracing support and around 70 ADF personnel providing planning and logistics support.
Commodore Mark Hill has also been deployed to provide senior military logistics and planning support to the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Team. We have an open offer on all ADF resources - whatever is required, will be provided.
For recently reopened businesses to be forced to shut down again is more than frustrating.
It’s heartbreaking.
However, we’ve consistently said there will be a further phase of support that goes beyond September.
I can assure people in industries, businesses or parts of the country more affected by COVID-19, support will continue where it is needed.
We acknowledge the obvious fact that the need in Victoria will be far greater and we will provide that assurance of support. The need will be met.
The Government has delivered unprecedented support to Australians with the biggest economic lifeline in the nation’s history.
The JobKeeper program has supported 3.5 million workers in more than 950,000 businesses, including more than 250,000 Victorian businesses. Payments of up to $100,000 to boost cash flow have supported 750,000 businesses, including more than 190,000 businesses in Victoria.
Together, JobKeeper and the cash flow boost have already injected more than $10 billion into the Victorian economy.
Other measures to support Australians have included:
Up to 180,000 apprentices with a 50 per cent wage subsidy
Up to 340,700 JobTrainer places for school leavers and job seekers to upskill
1.6 million Australians are now receiving JobSeeker support payments
The first $750 economic support payment to more than 7 million Australians was made in April, with a second $750 payment top up made to more than 5 million Australians from this week
During the pandemic, our priority has been to suppress the virus and keep the economy going, ensuring we save lives and livelihoods.
Whatever support is needed, we will make available.
I want to thank Victorians for the way they are dealing with these very hard times.
It’s a test and a strain but you will prevail because you have done it before and will do it again.
And together, we will rebuild and get Australia back on track.
Interview with Tracy Grimshaw, ACA - Channel 9
16 July 2020
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Prime Minister, thanks for your time. Good to talk with you. Today's unemployment figures are pretty sobering, but in a sense, they don't paint a real picture of what's happening, do they, while businesses and while employees are being underpinned by JobKeeper.
PRIME MINISTER: These are tough times, but the figures we saw today showed that over 200,000 jobs came back into our economy in June and that's very welcome, particularly when half of those jobs are going to young people who were most affected by the downturn in recent months. And more than half, 60 per cent, actually went to women as well. So that's welcome news, but we've still got a long way to go. But it does show that there's hope that as the economy was opening up again, the jobs were coming back. We've got a lot further to go, but it shows that if we can stick to the plan, if we can open the economy back up again, we can get people back into jobs.
GRIMSHAW: Do you know what percentage of businesses are going to make it back after September once, well, I mean, we don't know exactly, we won't know until next week, what you’ll be doing with JobKeeper and JobSeeker. I would imagine that you are crunching those numbers while you try to calculate what is going to happen with JobSeeker and JobKeeper after September.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, recent events in Victoria, I think, demonstrate just how uncertain the environment is. I mean, it's very hard to know what's going to happen in the months ahead. What we'll be doing is making sure that the continuing support we're giving to people for the income support through these programmes will be there to help those who are most in need of it. It's targeted to those businesses and their employees who are most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and we know there are many sectors like aviation, the entertainment sector and the like who are more impacted than others, and particularly in Victoria at the moment and parts of New South Wales. They'll be affected more. And so it'll be based on people's need.
GRIMSHAW: Let's talk about JobTrainer. Do you expect that it will mostly be taken up by young Australians, by school leavers, for example?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't. I mean, more than or about 50 per cent of people currently in vocational education and training on the most recent numbers are aged over 30. Over 15 per cent of them are aged over 50. But there'll be many opportunities for young school leavers, as well as those who have found themselves out of work terribly and sadly, as a result of the COVID-19 recession. So there's some 340,000 places for training, vocational education and training, that we're creating between now and the end of June next year. On top of that, this programme is going to support 180,000 apprentices, which is across a whole range of different skills and industries. And that's up from the 80,000 we're already supporting now. So if you're an apprentice at the moment or your kids are apprentices, then you'll know that their extra support is coming to keep them in that training. Because we want young people to have jobs for the future, but we want everyone who's been affected by this COVID-19 pandemic to get the opportunity to up-skill, to re-skill, to be able to change from one type of job to another where the jobs can be in the future.
GRIMSHAW: You've said that the jobs of the future won't necessarily be the jobs that have been lost. Are you saying, therefore, to a school leaver who maybe always dreamed of being a pilot or maybe dreamed of being a journalist, that they should think about being a plumber or an IT specialist?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, not necessarily. I mean, the aviation industry will come back. There's no doubt about that. And I would be confident too that in media and communications and the entertainment sector, those jobs will eventually come back. But in the short term, I mean, there'll be people who may have been working in, say, the tourism and hospitality sector who may be looking for different skills and we'll be providing those training opportunities. What we want to give people is the hope and the choices that where they find themselves, regrettably, in this situation, that they've got the options and that this time where they may be out of work won't be idle time, that they can up-skill, they can re-skill or for the very first time train when they're coming out of school and there'll be those places to help them do that. But the agreement I have with the premiers and chief ministers is we're going to focus these places on those skills and those areas that our National Skills Commission believe are going to be most in need over the next few years.
GRIMSHAW: The Victorian crisis has knocked everyone's confidence. We all thought that we've nailed this and that we were through the worst of it. And of course, now five million Victorians are potentially looking at stage four restrictions, the worst ever. It is hard to look to the future and be optimistic when these sorts of setbacks come this fast and this hard, isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's the world we're living in with COVID-19 and we can't become complacent about it. And as a Government and as Prime Minister, I've always wanted to be very clear about that until there's a vaccine then these are the uncertainties that we deal with. But I think Australians can have confidence that they were able to do so well and remember, seven out of the states and territories are still doing extremely well. And even in Victoria, where the challenge is great, we're all in there backing in Victorians. We've got over a thousand Defence Force personnel who are joining that effort on top of the hundreds of other Commonwealth public servants and health professionals who've been supporting them. States and territories all around the country are helping Victoria at the moment because for Australia to win, Victoria needs to win. And so while it is very uncertain and I know people will be very anxious, Australia is doing best than almost all of the developed economies around the world. And while this is a setback, there's no doubt about that and that can cause anxiety, they've done it once, and I have no doubt Melburnians and Victorians can do it again, and they're doing it with the full support of everyone around the country.
GRIMSHAW: All right. Thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Tracey, good to be with you.
JobTrainer Skills Package for Economic Recovery and Growth
16 July 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business
The Morrison Government will invest $2 billion to give hundreds of thousands of Australians access to new skills by retraining and upskilling them into sectors with job opportunities, as the economy recovers from COVID-19.
The JobTrainer skills package will also guarantee support for thousands of apprentices in jobs across the country by subsidising their wages to keep them employed and their training secured.
The new $1 billion JobTrainer program will provide up to an additional 340,700 training places to help school leavers and job seekers access short and long courses to develop new skills in growth sectors and create a pathway to more qualifications.
Courses will be free or low cost in areas of identified need, with the Federal Government providing $500 million with matched contributions from state and territory governments.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the JobTrainer package was focused on getting people into jobs.
“JobTrainer will ensure more Australians have the chance to reskill or upskill to fill the jobs on the other side of this crisis,” the Prime Minister said.
“COVID-19 is unprecedented but I want Australians to be ready for the sorts of jobs that will come as we build back and recover.
“The jobs and skills we’ll need as we come out of the crisis are not likely to be the same as those that were lost.”
The package also includes an additional $1.5 billion to expand the wage incentive to help keep apprentices in work. It builds on the initial $1.3 billion package announced in March.
In addition to small businesses already covered, the wage subsidy will now be available to medium businesses with less than 200 employees for apprentices employed as at 1 July 2020. Around 180,000 apprentices and 90,000 small and medium businesses that employ them will now be supported, with the program extended by six months to March 2021.
The initiative covers 50 per cent of the wages paid to apprentices and trainees, up to $7,000 per quarter.
Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Michaelia Cash said the JobTrainer package would form a vital part of the national recovery efforts.
“Our nation has faced many challenges, and it is critical that we keep our apprentices in jobs and help those looking for work,” Minister Cash said.
“This package will be essential as the economy rebuilds so that people looking for work can reskill and upskill for in-demand jobs, provide school leavers with a pathway into their careers, and ensure businesses are able to get the skilled workers they need.”
Minister Cash said the National Skills Commission would play a critical role in identifying current and future skills needed in a challenging and changing labour market.
“We will work with States and Territories to develop a list of qualifications and skill sets that will provide job seekers with the skills that are in demand by employers and are critical to the economic recovery.”
Assistant Minister for Vocational Education, Training and Apprenticeships Steve Irons said the expanded waged subsidy would more than double the number of supported apprentices and trainees.
“The Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy will now help almost 90,000 businesses employing around 180,000 apprentices and trainees throughout Australia,” Assistant Minister Irons said.
“This will dramatically improve the viability of tens of thousands of apprenticeships and the businesses employing them right across the country.”
States and territories need to sign up to a new Heads of Agreement to access JobTrainer funding, with the agreement setting out immediate reforms to improve the vocational education and training sector, and providing the foundation for long term improvements as outlined by the Prime Minister in his recent speech to the National Press Club.
More Australian Defence Force Personnel to Join Victoria’s Coronavirus Response
14 July 2020
Prime Minister, Premier of Victoria
A further 1000 Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed to Victoria to support the coronavirus response.
Since the offer from the Commonwealth Government of additional resources was accepted on Sunday, the Victorian Government has been working with the Emergency Management Commissioner and the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police to determine their best use.
Due to the evolving situation, from today an open Request for Assistance model will be in place for ADF personnel to be deployed. The additional ADF support will be deployed across the following areas, based on need:
State Control Centre planning, logistics and intelligence reporting
Public health response focusing on contact tracing data management and analysis, information flow as well as the allocation and tracking of tasks and the onboarding staff to undertake interviews
Support for supply and logistics to ensure physical care packages such as food and toys and other essential supplies are provided to public housing residents
Support focusing on testing in metro, regional/rural and tourist locations
Assisting relevant agencies with community engagement focusing on community awareness and outreach, particularly in high risk areas as well as critical infrastructure and regional workplaces
Partnering with Ambulance Victoria paramedic response crews to expand Ambulance Victoria’s response capabilities by providing personnel to act as a second crew member that can support paramedics at scenes and drive back to hospital
Compliance checking to support Victoria Police’s enforcement of the Chief Health Officer’s stay at home orders
Surge capacity as required in relation to vehicle check points
It is expected this will see the current contingent of over 400 personnel remain in Victoria for at least the duration of the Stage 3 restrictions set to conclude on Wednesday 19 August. The extra 1,000 ADF personnel will begin to deploy in coming days and it is expected this will continue over the next four weeks.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Commonwealth Government would continue to work with Victoria to support the state’s response to the deadly virus.
“We will help Victoria with whatever it takes to save lives and to save livelihoods,” the Prime Minister said.
“Our highly trained ADF personnel will work alongside state authorities to surge support for Victoria to ensure they get the backing they need to help respond to the situation. This is a serious situation facing not just Victoria, but the whole country.”
Premier Daniel Andrews thanked the Commonwealth and other states for their continued support and collaboration to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
“This is a public health bushfire – just as we help out other states in summer, help is coming from across the nation now, including Australian Defence Force personnel in addition to the strong support provided over recent months – and we are grateful for that,” the Premier said.
“As all Victorians work together to follow the rules they should be assured we have a massive team working around the clock to keep every Victorian family safe.”
At the request of the Victorian Government, the Commonwealth through the National Cabinet last week also agreed to extend the cancellation of all scheduled international passenger airline services to Victoria until further notice.