Media Releases
A message to the Year 12 Class of 2020
18 October 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Education
Starting this week, Year 12 students across Australia will begin their final examinations.
Like every Year 12 student before you, this marks the end of your formal school education.
After this, you may decide to study a university degree, learn a trade, study a vocational qualification, upskill with a microcredential, start a business or get a job.
There is no single pathway to success in life and you may find that life takes you down many different paths. That’s OK.
However you choose to pursue success in life, good luck.
COVID-19 has presented additional challenges and it has taken a lot from your final year of schooling.
Know that it won’t take your hard work or diminish the quality of your years in school. Your results will be as valuable this year as any previous year.
It may not feel like it now, but the challenges of 2020 have made you more resilient, stronger, self-motivated and adaptable. These will be useful qualities for the rest of your life.
So to the Class of 2020, good luck with your final exams and beyond.
More Flights Helping Australians Return
16 October 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Women
The Australian Government is facilitating additional commercial flights from the United Kingdom, India and South Africa to help more Australians return amid the unprecedented travel disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Government has finalised an initial programme with Qantas of eight flights over coming weeks from London, New Delhi and Johannesburg.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) officials will work with Qantas to ensure the most vulnerable Australians registered are given priority access to these flights.
We are doing everything we can to help Australians who have faced difficulty returning because of the pandemic.
The first two flights will depart London on 22 October and New Delhi on 26 October. Each flight will carry 175 passengers. As more quarantine facility space has become available with fewer domestic travellers needing to quarantine, we have been working with the Northern Territory Government so Australian passengers from overseas can undertake their 14 days’ quarantine on return at the Howard Springs facility.
This arrangement will create the capacity for more than 5,000 Australians to return over the next six months.
We thank the Northern Territory Government for its assistance in this effort.
In parallel, we are continuing to work with state and territory authorities to increase quarantine capacity through major airports, as well as for further facilitated flights. We are also continuing discussions to increase the number of airports receiving Australians from overseas.
The Government continues to assist vulnerable Australians overseas through consular assistance and through the Hardship Program. Financial assistance is available to help cover the costs of flights where other sources of finance have been exhausted.
There are more than 29,000 Australians currently registered with DFAT wishing to return to Australia.
Around 398,000 Australians have returned since 13 March. The Australian Government has helped over 29,100 Australians return, including on 64 directly facilitated flights.
More than 4,100 Australians registered with DFAT have returned since 18 September, including over a quarter who were considered vulnerable.
We continue to encourage Australians trying to return to Australia from overseas to register with DFAT through the nearest embassy or high commission or via Smartraveller.
The Government is underwriting the cost of the flights, and airfares will be available at commercial rates to passengers, with loans through DFAT available to those who need assistance.
More details on the flights are available on smartraveller.gov.au and qantas.com
Doorstop - Portsmith, QLD
15 October 2020
The Hon. Warren Entsch MP, Member for Leichhardt: Here this morning at CSF industries here with the Prime Minister. Just showing him around and I guess it's great to have him back here at our beautiful city. Couple of things that I wanted to highlight to him. One was looking at our manufacturing, and our industry here a lot of people don't realise this and I know we're very competitive with Townsville, but we've actually got more blue collar manufacturing jobs here in Cairns than what we have in Townsville, lot of people find that quite surprising, and it's businesses like the one we're standing in here now, CSF industries that contributes to that. Through the Budget, the Budget that we've just had we've certainly seen a very significant increase in incentive for employment of apprentices and also an opportunity for businesses to be able to continue to upgrade their equipment, to become more competitive and again, we see some of this amazing equipment here that's being installed into this business. The other thing from my perspective, which is very exciting, is that another $200 odd million dollars has been released, bringing forward to see the continued work on the Bruce Highway upgrade, which is very, very important to our city. But with those few words I’d now like to invite our Prime Minister here, to say something. Thank you.
Prime Minister: Thank you, Warren. And thank you to you, Mel, and to you, Sean, and all of your family for having us here today at CSF steel fabricators here in Cairns and a business that was established back in 1979 with a ute and a welding machine and look where it is today. And I'm really pleased, Warren, that you sort of made the point. I mean, oftentimes, I don’t know how many times we've been here together mate, and even going back to times before I was in politics and up here, you know, supporting the tourism industry. And we know a lot about the tourism economy of North Queensland, but not as much is known around the country of the industrial beating heart of North Queensland here, here in Cairns. To see the innovation, as we just saw, demonstrated, just over the way there with their new loading vehicles and what's happening inside this, this workshop where young people are getting trained, young people are getting jobs. And in Queensland, in fact, right here in North Queensland, in Warren’s electorate, some 7,000 businesses have been supported by JobKeeper, 7,000 businesses. And there are just so many thousands of people living here and in and around Cairns who have benefited from that program, keeping them attached to their businesses. And CSF has been one of those, one of those businesses who's been able to access JobKeeper to keep their skills and their people together so they can't, so they don't miss a beat because we're coming out of this COVID-19 recession.
Our Budget is a recovery plan to come out of the COVID-19 recession. And there are so many measures that are going to that. I just want to go through a couple of them as they apply to businesses here and North Queensland more generally. Of course, Warren’s already told you that the more than $200 million dollars for the Bruce Highway here and Warren’s the mailman, you know, he just keeps delivering up here for North Queensland and he’s been doing for a long, long time. And he doesn't lose pace. I tell you what, sometimes I think the older that you get, the quicker you get Warren, around these things because you're pretty masterful at it. I got to say, and that's to the great benefit of North Queensland and I think that's tremendous. But beyond that, I mentioned the important investment that is being made through investment allowances in many of the businesses that I've visited, particularly this week, being able to write off immediately, to immediately expense new equipment and like the new machinery that we saw in this plant. More of that being invested in here means that these businesses can remain competitive and stay on the cutting edge so they can keep people in work. Our Budget plan has three components. The first has been to ensure that we cushion the blow. And here at CSF and right across North Queensland, we have been cushioning the blow, whether it's through the COVID supplement for those who found themselves out of work or the JobKeeper payment, which has kept people in work and attached to their employers, or indeed the cash flow allowances and supports that we've put in place.
The second, though, is about ensuring that we recover by getting people to bring forward decisions. Now, that’s bring forward hiring decisions, through our JobMaker hiring credit, bringing forward decisions to invest through the immediate expensing initiatives. But for so many businesses here in North Queensland, whether they're manufacturing businesses like this or they’re tourism and hospitality businesses or agribusinesses, or and we'll be visiting other businesses here today. The ability to carry back your losses. This is a North Queensland initiative I think, it really has application here, because here in North Queensland, particularly here in Cairns and particularly in the tourism and hospitality industry, there will be so many operators who won't make money this year. They'll go backwards this year, through no fault of their own. They didn't shut down the tourism economy. That had to be done for health reasons. And up here, the blow has been felt probably arguably more so than anywhere else in the country other than right now what's happening down in Victoria. And so that loss carry back means that the COVID losses they had this year, they'll be able to offset that against the money they were making before they came into the recession. They won’t have to wait three or five years to get back on their feet when they'll be able to use those losses to reduce their tax burden, they can do it right now. They get money back from the tax that they paid in previous years in this tax year as a result of their tax return this year. Now, that's going to mean much needed cash flow boost support for these businesses to help them get through. A really important measure.
The third phase, of course, is building back for the future, and that is to ensure that we are investing in manufacturing businesses with a manufacturing plan that gets people back into jobs not just today, but for the future to ensure that we're investing in lower costs, more affordable lower emissions energy here in Australia, to support manufacturing and I've got to say Deb Frecklington’s plan on that for lower cost energy for manufacturers in Queensland is a great plan. We're investing in the water infrastructure, the road infrastructure. We're lowering taxes. Everyone here in this workshop would have got a tax cut last Friday, as a result of what we passed through into law last Friday straight after the Budget. And so that's really important. Because building back for the future is what you need to get the jobs back and keep the jobs back and keep them growing. Now, the unemployment figures, the employment figures have come out today. And what they show is that, bar for what we've seen in Victoria, we would have continued to grow the number of jobs in Australia. We've already had a very strong bounce back over the last few months. I mean, in the last two months alone, more than 170,000 jobs all around the country, bar Victoria, have come back into the economy. Now, sadly, 70,000, just over that, jobs have been lost in Victoria, and up here in Cairns they know what it feels like to lose jobs in a downturn. And down in Victoria, I know they're feeling it incredibly hard. Yesterday in Victoria, we learnt of the mental health impact of what the shutdown is required. Today, we're seeing what the economic cost of that shutdown is, 70,000 jobs lost in Victoria in the last two months. That's why we've got to get Victoria open safely again so people can open their businesses again. People can get back to work again and people can get on with building back that Victorian economy. And we're going to be standing with them to do that, just like we're standing with the people of North Queensland here, which Warren has represented so ably for so long. So the Budget is about that plan. It is about businesses like CSF. It is about the tourism and hospitality sector and the agribusinesses that make up the North Queensland economy. It's about cushioning that blow. It's about recovering what was lost and it's about building for the future.
Happy to take some questions.
Journalist: Prime Minister are you expecting more Australians to return home in a matter of days and weeks?
Prime Minister: Yes.
Journalist: And how many will be going to Howard Springs and what preparations are underway for people to be received there?
Prime Minister: There have been extensive preparations undertaken on that, on that matter, and we're in the final stages of concluding those arrangements. We've been working now for some months as we've been getting more and more Australians home, particularly those in vulnerable situations. And just under, that's probably ticked over by that now, about a quarter of those who have been identified as vulnerable when I first made announcements on this several weeks ago, we've already got back. And that's been great. But, you know, I'm a bit disappointed at one level because, you know, we were keen when we had those extra slots opened up for people to come back and quarantine, that Cairns could have played a role in that. And I know Warren was pushing for that. You know, there are empty hotel rooms here in Cairns that could have been used for that quarantine. And look, you'd have to ask the Premier as to why she said no to it being done here in Cairns. But that's where the decision was made. There was one big no for Cairns when it came to how the quarantine would be done. It was all going to be contained down there in South East Queensland, down there in Brisbane, and there’s capacity here. But the Queensland Government decided not to do that and that's their decision. I respect that. But obviously, that would have, I think, given a lot of support to the hoteliers and the accommodation providers here in Cairns. And I can also tell you that as of tomorrow, Kiwis will be having holidays in New South Wales. They'll be having holidays in the ACT and they'll be having holidays in the Northern Territory. I'll tell you what, there's no North Queensland in New Zealand. And, and they'll want to have holidays up here Warren. I have no doubt, I know that the Japanese and the Chinese markets have been very important up here in Cairns for a very long time. But you're also, but so has been the Kiwi market. And importantly, so is the New South Wales and Victorian market. They're both really important for tourism and hospitality. And the only reason the Kiwis aren’t coming to North Queensland is the Queensland Government insists on a two week quarantine for visitors who would come from New Zealand. And if, we all know that while they've had a far more significant economic downturn in New Zealand, their health performance has been very good. Extremely good.
Journalist: Prime Minister, [inaudible] sorry, the state governments insisted it’s waiting for more funding to support the health response for establishing that [inaudible] can you say that any-
Prime Minister: Sorry?
Journalist: The state government’s insisting it’s awaiting a Commonwealth contribution to put further health support,
Prime Minister: Health support for what?
Journalist: The health response if we end up getting COVID [inaudible] quarantine bubble?
Prime Minister: That’s nonsense. That's complete nonsense. I mean, our agreement with the Queensland Government is we pay 50 per cent of everything, that was announced in the first few weeks of the COVID-19 recession. That's just a complete excuse. It's a cop out. I'm quite surprised by that, it’s the first I've heard of that.
Journalist: New statistics overnight show that-
Prime Minister: They might want to contact me rather than putting it through journalists, at press conferences. Maybe we could actually have a conversation about it.
Journalist: Prime Minister you mentioned jobs, the latest jobs figures show that 30,000 jobs lost in September, does that sound an alarm that JobSeeker and JobKeeper should be extended beyond the timeframes that are currently in place?
Prime Minister: Well including here in Queensland, the number of jobs has been increasing around the rest of the country. As I said in the last two months, we've had 170,000 extra jobs that have come in outside of Victoria. We've had 70,000 job losses in Victoria. So I think the real story of today's jobs numbers is the economic impact and the job loss impact of the shutdown in Victoria. That's what those job numbers say today, if we hadn't had that second Victorian wave, then there'd be 70,000 more people in work.
Journalist: Prime Minister, given the border, you were just talking about the border and quarantine, from your perspective do you think Queensland should open its borders given how good we’re going?
Prime Minister: Look, I’ve been very clear about this. That is a decision for the Queensland Government. And I respect their decisions, but these decisions should be based on health advice and credible health advice, that is very transparent. And so that's for the Premier to explain to the people of Queensland why people from New South Wales can't be spending money in North Queensland. That's for her to explain. That's not for me to explain. But it's important that those border arrangements have been in place, particularly when the Victorian second wave hit. New South Wales has border arrangements with Victoria and that's been important. But, you know, the borders should only be in place for as long as they have to because the borders come at a cost. Yes, they can provide some support on the management of the health side of the COVID pandemic. But to be fair to the Queensland Government, they've got a good public health system in order to respond to the COVID-19 tracing. Their tracing mechanism here in Queensland is much better than the one that was in Victoria. And so I think, you know, that should weigh into the decisions about how you manage these issues. But I said from the outset of this pandemic, it was going to hit us in two ways. It was going to hit us from a health point of view and it was going to hit us economically. And sensible governments work both of those issues at the same time. Because people losing jobs, not a good thing. People's health being affected, not a good thing. So you've got to work both of them together and that's why I do look to New South Wales, that really has I think, led the way by doing both.
Journalist: The WA Chief Health Officer says he has given guidance to Premier McGowan to say further exemptions should be considered, such as quarantining from states that have no community transmission. Thoughts on that advice? Should WA be opening up now?
Prime Minister: Well, again, it's a matter for Premier McGowan. I am not here to give advice or instructions to Premiers. I mean, the way the Federation works is we've got to both respect what we're responsible for and I've sought to do that throughout this pandemic. The Federal Government doesn't come in and tell the states what to do on their areas of responsibility and neither does that happen in reverse. Now, in Western Australia, the impacts of the borders have been very different to here in Queensland. The impact of the border restrictions here in Queensland have been far more severe than what has happened in Western Australia. But my point about borders is this. They should be there for health reasons and not for a day longer than necessary. Boasting about borders for politics is not health policy. Having borders for health reasons is health policy and should only be justified on those grounds and it shouldn't be done in a double standards way. It should be done fairly and it should be done compassionately and I've made many private representations on those issues over the last few months.
Journalist: New figures overnight reveal that three quarters of the COVID deaths in Australia have been in nursing homes, the second highest proportion behind Canada. What are your concerns around those figures?
Prime Minister: Look, this is because the success in our hospital system, I mean, the people most vulnerable to COVID-19 are the elderly. And so those results are what you would necessarily assume that those most vulnerable are going to be the most affected and that's what we've seen in Australia. And I think to make the comparison when you've had in Australia relatively a much better performance on the health front when it comes to those who have sadly lost their lives to COVID-19, and every single one of those losses is a terrible tragedy for them and their families. But the truth is, in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany and all of those places, they have had thousands upon thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people indeed who passed away as a result of COVID-19. The fact that as a country we've been able to limit those deaths, the fact that our IC units haven't been overrun, that there hasn't been a respirator shortage and that we'd be able to treat and support people with a strong health system is I think, a credit to Australia. It's a credit to all those working on the front line and our health system and the states and territories, which together with the Commonwealth, share in the burden of the cost of that I think has ensured that Australia has one of the best health and economic responses to the COVID-19 recession and pandemic of any country in the world.
Last one.
Journalist: [Inaudible] opening up travel between Australia and parts of China where COVID is under control and in similar ways…
Prime Minister: Thanks for that question. There are a number of countries where we're looking at to see what we can do and probably next year. We're not going to rush into this because we've got to get the systems right. I already discussed this with both the current and former Prime Minister of Japan. I’ve also discussed it with the President of South Korea. They are two countries that have done particularly well and I know for both of those markets, that would be very important in North Queensland. So that, together with Singapore, are my current priorities in how we would pursue that. New Zealand, as I said, that starts tomorrow. I'm just disappointed that North Queensland is going to miss out because of the decisions of the Queensland Government. But they are very important. But it's also an opportunity to look at how we can get safely the international students coming back. That's really important. I know Warren's been red hot on that. We've got trials running in the Northern Territory now, as well as in South Australia and that in South Australia involves students coming back through Singapore. So we're always thinking of the next decision when it comes to COVID-19. The next health decision, as we've demonstrated with things like the massive support we’ve put into mental health care, particularly in Victoria where they're doing it so tough. So I'm hoping to see a positive response this weekend to see Victoria able to ease up and take that terrible burden, economic and mental health burden, off Melburnians, off Victorians this weekend. But whether it's responding there or moving forward on the next economic opportunity, that's what we've been seeking to do. And this year's Budget, Warren, you've seen a lot of budgets, I don't think you've quite seen one responded too like this in a long time. It's the Budget that Australia needs. It's the Budget that North Queensland needs. And we're going to continue working with people up here in North Queensland to ensure that our supports continue to be there to help them get through. Thanks very much.
Interview with John Mackenzie, 4CA
15 October 2020
John Mackenzie: Good morning.
Prime Minister: Good morning, John.
Mackenzie: Oh, clear as a bell. You're in town, obviously?
Prime Minister: Oh on my way, I’m in Townsville at the moment, so we won't be, there too long.
Mackenzie: Okay. I'm pleased to hear that, you've got an excellent day's weather up here. Obviously, lots of people wanting to speak to you. Scott Morrison, let's go straight to the pandemic. It's had this crippling impact on tourism. No surprises to you, your early days of course, your working career was in tourism. So I'm pleased to be here to talk to you today about a crisis on our doorstep up here. In fact, perhaps nowhere else in the country when it comes to, with the impact on our tourism industry is suffering like we are up here, the thousands of people basically living one day at a time, some of them wondering if they'll ever work again. You're getting daily updates, I presume, from the people who would know best about how this is going to play out over the next few months. What are you hearing about, for example, the possibility of getting these international borders open, whether it be bubbles or otherwise, about the sort of response we might expect in international visitors when these borders are open to ultimately bring us some relief from this nightmare up here?
Prime Minister: Well, I'd love to see Kiwi holidaymakers coming to Queensland from Friday, but they won't be, they'll be going to New South Wales. They'll be going to the Northern Territory and they'll be going to the ACT. The Queensland Government is still insisting on two weeks quarantine for visitors coming from New Zealand, but New South Wales is not. And they'll be arriving from Friday. So we're, we're opening up to New Zealand visitors to Australia, and that's the only thing that stands in the way. And as you know, New Zealand has a very good COVID record. And as we move through the back end of this year and into next year, of course, we're working to get a vaccine. And I was down at University of Queensland the other day. To see the great work that's being done there. But we've got a plan with or without a vaccine, and that means we've got to start looking at ways to, to be able to have people come to Australia, safely and that's possible. And so we've already had discussions at an early, very early stage I stress, I wouldn’t want to raise expectations, but with countries like Japan and South Korea in particular, and we'll continue to progress that and ways that we can get, start getting some of the international education business back as well.
Mackenzie: Yes.
Prime Minister: We've got to proceed cautiously for that. But the big part of it, though, John, is domestic tourism, now you know, everyone knows that about seventy or eighty per cent, depending on where you are in the country, of our tourism industry is domestic. And the Queensland tourism industry, which has had a claw back of jobs since the fall off of 44 per cent, in New South Wales they have had 70, in South Australia that had 70 per cent. And I think that goes to the point you’re making, that the tourism and hospitality industry in Queensland has been the most affected. And that's why we've put the measures in to support through JobKeeper and JobSeeker and all of these things. And that has supported a large number of businesses and people up in \North Queensland, as you know. And that support will continue. It's saved, you know, thousands and thousands, tens of thousands of jobs, almost 17,000 people, it received the coronavirus supplement up there, 7,000 businesses are being supported by JobKeeper. Our cash flow boost has helped 6,200 small and medium businesses stay afloat. And then there's the additional payments to pensioners. So, but, you know, the domestic tourism industry can have an enormous help to Queensland. And that's why I mean, health borders should only be there for health reasons and only so long as it is absolutely necessary. And, I understand why the Queensland government made the decision to have a border. But, you know, it should only be there as long as possible as needed, I should say.
Mackenzie: Let me just ask you about the point you've made about JobKeeper. What is it? March isn’t it, I just had a lengthy discussion with one of the operators going out to the reef this morning who said their wage bill is, is very, very high indeed. I won't go into the details of how much, but he has said, this deadline coming up in March is terrifying for him and of course, for his employees. The point he was making was, our low season is fundamentally February through to June. And with that support drying up in March, he is really, really fearful about the fate of those people that won't be able to have the income that they've got at the moment, even though it's only a relatively small amount. The point he's making is, please take on board how difficult it's going to be up here at the end of March and consider some sort of drip feed situation, at least through to June and possibly a bit beyond.
Prime Minister: What we've demonstrated, John, is a willingness to deal with the situation as we find it, and in COVID-19 right from the start, we've dealt with the information as it's presented now we've extended it out to the end of March. That's still six months away at the moment. And a lot can happen we've learnt in six months. I mean, in the last six months across the country, in fact, just the last three months or thereabouts, we've seen 760,000 jobs come back into the Australian economy. And now, you know, this is why things like getting the domestic tourism market open again, getting New Zealanders coming and holidaying in Australia, you know how many Kiwis come on holiday in North Queensland, they haven't got a North Queensland in New Zealand. So they come there and there will still be, for the foreseeable future, restrictions on Australians leaving the country. So there are still great opportunities for Queensland so long as it can receive visitors from all around the country. I mean, there is a net import of tourism to Australia. What that means is the amount spent by Australians overseas is very significant. And so there will be a period of time while those external - you know those borders for people going out of the country except for business and compassionate grounds, then Queensland, and particularly North Queensland, having the opportunity to capture that market. So I think a lot can happen between now and the end of March. We'll watch it closely. But I can tell you, particularly in the aviation sector, the tourism sector, travel agents, all of them we know are feeling the full force of this and so we're working with that sector very closely.
Mackenzie: Scott Morrison, I’d get you to hark back to your early days in tourism. Back in the mid 90s, you would remember very well what was happening up here. We were enjoying the visitation of up to a quarter of a million Japanese visitors per year. You just intimated a few minutes ago that Japan's in the, if you like, the early hitlist. When you're thinking about when I mean, even if you talk about early next year to mid next year or whatever, when might we be able to open the borders again to Japan?
Prime Minister: I can't give you an honest answer to that at the moment, John and when I can I will and because I don't want to falsely raise expectations. What I can tell you is we're working on it. And I know, I mean, I've spoken to both the current and former Japanese Prime Ministers about this and we're in a lot of discussions with the Japanese about a range of issues at the moment. The Foreign Minister was just in Japan the other day. So look, that is, I mean, Japan has done very well through the COVID-19 crisis. So has South Korea as well,
Mackenzie: Yes.
Prime Minister: and that is also an important market, but parts of obviously of China have also done very well. So, and Singapore is another one that I've mentioned that I think we can work with. And then there's the issues within the Pacific. But that's a separate I think, set of issues to the ones that we're talking about here. So what I can say is it is very high on my agenda. The other one is I mean, we're still trying to get a lot of Australians home. And it's a decision of the Queensland Government whether the quarantine arrangements are done. But I do know there's been quite a few empty rooms in Cairns which could have been doing that. But the Queensland Government decided that that was all to be done down south, not up north.
Mackenzie: Let me ask you.
Prime Minister: That was that was a shame.
Mackenzie: It is certainly a shame, according to some of the operators up here and the people desperate for work. I'm sure Warren Entsch would have taken this up with you. I think it's a really creative idea. We've got these freight flights exiting Cairns four times a week. They're going into South-East Asia. The point he's making is they're coming back to Australia empty. All those seats at the top level are empty. He's saying why can't we look at bringing those students back to finish their studies perhaps, or even start studies here in Far North Queensland, and they can do their 14 day quarantine when they get here et cetera. And we'll be giving ourselves a little early mark. Given the sort of misery being endured up here, I thought it was a great idea.
Prime Minister: These are the sort of things we already are working on and we've got a trial running now in the Northern Territory and South Australia because those governments are working with us on those issues.
Mackenzie: Yes.
Prime Minister: and with the trial, bringing students back into both of those states. I would like to see how we can get to the start of next year’s university year and seek to restore as much of what we had safely for next year. And that can be done through proper quarantine arrangements. As you know, the health orders, they are decided by the states. The Commonwealth Government doesn't decide who has to quarantine and who doesn’t. That's the subject of state health orders and those quarantine arrangements require people currently to quarantine in those officially designated state health facilities, which are the hotels down south. So the hotels down south are getting quite a lot of that but up north, there hasn't been the opportunity to do that because of those decisions in Brisbane by the Labor Government. So, that's one of the roadblocks in the way of it and I hope we might be able to work through that with the Queensland Government. And I am pretty sure I know which way Deb Fecklington will be going on that. So it is important because I know it's so tough up in North Queensland. I know how important the tourism industry is to North Queensland. And, you know, you've seen these tough times before. I remember when, you know, when the Japanese market collapsed and those short haul flights out of Japan were going to Guam and other places, the closer flights to Japan and we lost out there and, of course, the pilots strike of many, many, many years ago. You know, Cairns understands these things and they push through, but, you know, we're trying to give as much help as we can. And Warren has been, you know, a lion on this. He has really been great trying to connect as much and those freight flights you talking were about, they’re a god send too to your fishing industry and we've been supporting, subsidising those flights from the get go.
Mackenzie: I want to take this one up because I know you know a hell of a hurry. I was listening to your Health Minister yesterday, Greg Hunt. I thought this was fascinating, this national definition of a hotspot. This has got to be addressed because this is aiding in this, I think, ridiculously over extended period of having our border closed between Queensland and New South Wales. Can you explain to the listeners the importance of this national definition of a hotspot?
Prime Minister: Well, our Chief Medical Officer, so you know it wasn't dreamed up by, you know a couple of Treasury officials, it was by Professor Paul Kelly, who's an epidemiologist, was able to define our hotspot as one where there was a three day average of 10 cases. Now, you know, the Chief Health Officer here in Queensland has a different view to that and they have a more stringent definition. And what that means is they won't allow people to come from anywhere else in the country, I think it's 28 days, with zero cases. I mean, that's very different as you can see and the likelihood of that being achieved out of New South Wales and indeed Victoria. I mean, Victoria's done amazingly well to get back to where they are now. But you've got to have realistic goals. I mean, you've got to do with the health issues. I totally agree with that. So I understand why the borders were put there. But a national hotspot definition, which I think balances the economic and the health interests is, I think, wisely is what is needed. So, I mean, New South Wales, I mean, put a border in with Victoria. I was part of that process and it was needed. But I can assure you, the New South Wales Premier does not want that border there a day longer than it has to be. She’ll get rid of it the second it's safe to do so and we're working towards that at the moment and Victoria's doing so much better now. But when New South Wales and Victorians can travel to Queensland again safely, then that's going to be great for North Queensland.
Mackenzie: Scott Morrison…
Prime Minister: Actually probably more important, John, in many respects than some of the international business. Particularly because when you had that big drop off Japanese tourism all those years ago, you still have the domestic business. I mean, this is a double whammy.
Mackenzie: I know what you're saying, but I've just had a discussion this morning with one of the top operators and he said there's an aspect to this that most people don't understand. Australians coming to Far North Queensland at the moment, they're largely from the southern part of our state. They're coming up here, they're getting their hotel accommodation or whatever, but they don't do the activities. They don't go on a raft, they don't go sky diving. They don't even go out to the Reef very often. So as much as, yes, we're pleased to see our accommodation houses getting some help, the operators of those experiences up here have been left disappointed.
Prime Minister: You know, that is true. Domestic travellers behave differently in a place like North Queensland or for that matter, you know, other parts of the country, Tasmania or wherever they're going, differently from international experiences.
Mackenzie: Exactly.
Prime Minister: Let's not forget that once these borders open up again, Australians aren't going to be travelling to, you know, Mexico for those experiences or South America or India or places like this. People who are looking for those sorts of experiences will be travelling within Australia.
Mackenzie: Yes.
Prime Minister: And so I think there is an opportunity to connect with them as operators and so much of the tourism, I mean, I think sometimes people think the tourism industry is just hotels. Of course it's not. It's all of these, those operators and the investment, the capital investment that's made in, you know, in marine infrastructure and all these sorts of things, it's significant. And so we're going to continue to stand by the tourism industry there and the hospitality industry and, look, it is an area of passion for me and I'm looking forward to coming up and sitting down with business leaders up there today and hearing more from them. Warren's got a lot of them together today, and I'll sit down with them and Entschy and we’ll work through some of those issues.
Mackenzie: Well, that early career of yours is coming in very handy, your career all those years in tourism so that insight is going to be very, very handy indeed in handling this crisis up here. As is your past in job creation. You'll certainly be needing to be on your toes in that regard as well.
Prime Minister: Well, that's true. And we've got the job hiring credit, which has come in as a result of the Budget. This will be important for tourism businesses, too, and I know we're focusing a lot on tourism this morning, John, but that's very relevant. The loss carryback, now, it's not an easy thing to explain, but what it basically means is, is if you make a loss this year and there'll be many tourism and hospitality business, restaurants, others, tour operators, reef operators, all of them, aviation and so on, they'll make a loss this year at no fault of theirs. And what we're saying is you can take that loss for your business this year and you can set that against the tax you paid in the years going into this recession. So that means you'll be able to get a rebate on your tax return, you'll be able to get that from this year's tax year. Normally, what would happen, you'd get hit with that loss. You'd have to wait several years while you trade yourself out of the situation, and then you can use those losses against future. Well, we're saying we're shareholders for you guys now. You've got those losses now, through no fault of your own, we'll give you tax back from what you paid before in your good years to get you through this period. Now, obviously you can't use your losses twice down the road, but we're going to take the risk with you.
Mackenzie: Ok. This is really interesting, but I'm getting an urgent flashing message from Townsville, let the Prime Minister go. Good to talk to you, Scott Morrison.
Prime Minister: It's always good to talk to you, John, it’s always good to talk to you and I look forward to coming up there today. All the best
Mackenzie: Excellent. Prime Minister Scott Morrison actually is in Townsville at the moment and probably boarding a plane in the next hour or so to come to Cairns.
Doorstop - Brendale, QLD
13 October 2020
The Hon. Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Home Affairs: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for being here today. I want to say firstly thank you very much to Dave and Donna Aplin for hosting us here today at an amazing business. I really am very proud that as the local member, we have businesses like this here where they are employing young people, young apprentices, and really contribute back to the local economy. This is a business that started out in a garage and now is a multi-million dollar business, employing locals, helping local families pay off their mortgages and send their kids to school. So it's an incredible story of Aplin’s and of the staff here. It's quite a really revolutionary business and to have the family involved in the business as well is quite remarkable. Prime Minister, thank you very much for being here today. This is a business that has really benefited from the Federal Government Budget and decisions that we've made before this Budget as well. And I think this is representative of small businesses around the country where they are going to create those jobs. And this business really relied on JobSeeker and has spoken quite openly about the downturn in their business in the run up to COVID and through the course of COVID. So PM, thank you very much for being here and I’ll invite you to say some words.
Prime Minister: Thanks Peter and thanks Dave for having us here today. It's great getting out and talking to businesses that run our economy and put Australians into work. The COVID-19 rescission, it's been tough, but our recovery plan to take Australia out of the COVID-19 recession is based on the men and women who run Australian businesses, the men and women who work in Australian businesses, who are having a go in some of the toughest times. And it's great to be here at Dave’s business, just as I was at several other businesses this morning. A Mazda dealership not too far away. After that a smash repairing business, businesses over the course of the weekend making steel, involved in recycling, the minerals industry. Businesses digging in, getting through and looking forward. And this business is no different. And this year's Budget, our recovery plan has an impact here as well. Of course, as Peter has just said, the JobKeeper program kept people at work in this business. But this business has now graduated out of the JobKeeper program, just like the two other businesses I've visited here in Queensland and in southeast Queensland this morning. Graduating out of a program that kept their employees together and kept their show together throughout the worst of this COVID-19 recession and now getting back optimistically on their feet. Now starting to see that business coming back. Now talking about employing people, not just holding on to people in their businesses and particularly here a number of really important initiatives.
First of all, we're in the road safety business here and in our budget this year, $2 billion is being spent on critical road safety works that are ready to go all around the country on a use it or lose it basis with the states and territories. So we've put that $2 billion down every six months and you've got to meet your marks to get these jobs happening on the ground. There's a billion dollars also for councils all around the country on the same basis. So I'm looking forward to seeing more of these signs on roads as we're putting important safety works into places to make our roads safer, particularly in rural and regional areas, but in metro areas as well. Whether it's in the Brisbane City Council area or up in Cloncurry Shire. Wherever you are in Queensland, there's support for those works. And Dave, I'm looking forward to seeing some more orders coming in, mate, and you guys being even more busy in the months ahead, in the years ahead because of that investment.
But the instant expensing initiative. I mean, this business in particular, as so many others did well, particularly here in Queensland I'm seeing, when we extended the instant asset write off and now to complete instant expensing. That is going to boost investment. Our economic recovery plan is about bringing decisions forward to get things happening sooner. That means more people being employed and more businesses that are a part of the supply chain feeding off each other. One success of one business is also the success of another business, as we were hearing this morning. And I think that's really, really important. Today's consumer confidence numbers back that up. It shows that we’re 93 per cent of the way back from where we were when we had that big confidence shock as a result of the COVID-19 recession. So the plans we have put in place, the plans we are putting in place, are getting Australia out of the COVID-19 recession and its business led. Because when businesses are making decisions to invest and to hire, that's when the Australian economy grows. It doesn't grow by putting more public servants in public office buildings. That's a role in the process that helps support the initiatives that roll out around the country and they do fantastic work. They do important work, but where the real engine of growth in our economy, where eight out of 10 people work, is where businesses employ people and businesses do better. And we're seeing that right here.
But the other thing we're doing is we're ensuring that Australians get to keep more of what they earn. At the last election, we took to the election our pledge that we would legislate a plan that would see 94 per cent of Australians pay no more than 30 cents in the dollar in tax. Now, we took that to an election and the Australian public backed us and we went into that Parliament, Peter will remember it well, Labor opposed us and we legislated it and we made it law. And that's what Australians have still to look forward to. But it's also what they're able to realise now. 2.3 million Queenslanders had a legislated tax cut last Friday. We announced it in the Budget on Tuesday and we were able to make it law through the Parliament by Friday. That's called getting on with it. And that's exactly what we're going to continue to do with this plan and we want to see that benefiting businesses right across Queensland, getting Queenslanders working again because of a clear Budget plan that is delivering. Peter and I are happy to take questions.
Journalist: You mentioned getting on with the job. When you promise money or promise funding for projects or anything that is shovel ready, what do you mean by shovel ready?
Prime Minister: Well, it's different for the size of the project. And what I'm talking about with the projects we've currently got in the program I was just referring to, and that's $3 billion and they've got to be pretty much ready to go. Now, that means they can still be in planning, but they need to be able to move into these projects for a scheme that is focused on the urgency of the spend. And that's why in those programs, we did it on a use it or lose it and councils and state governments will have to meet their marks. And if they can't get the money spent in that period, well, we'll give it to another state. We'll give it to another council and someone else is prepared to get on with it. And so with sort of the smaller projects like that, there's those arrangements. But on larger projects, it's based on what the states tell us about what they can bring forward. It still may be in some planning phases or the late stages, but it's over a different timeframe over the next year or two or so. But importantly, we want it to happen as soon as we can. This, our economic recovery plan from the COVID-19 recession that we've laid out in this Budget, is about bringing those decisions forward, bringing business decisions forward to invest, bringing government decisions forward to build, bringing business decisions forward to hire people right across the economy, and bringing forward decisions of Australians, getting tax cuts to be able to spend that money in the economy or young people taking up apprenticeships. I heard the story this morning. It was up at Caboolture Smash Repairs. It was, we've been down there working away, putting these plans together for many, many months. Peter's been just an integral part of that process, as well as on the national security front. But I met Ian up there at Caboolture Smash Repairs this morning. He was going to have to let four young people go in his business. He already had the letters written and his wife was feeling absolutely sick at the prospect of what he was going to have to do. This was a small family business. Then the Treasurer and I walked out in the courtyard in Canberra and we announced JobKeeper. All of those four young people kept their jobs. And I can't tell you how that made me feel, that we know that that program meant so much to that business. Now, they not only kept those four, they're now putting more on. They’ve graduated out of JobKeeper and they've got a new contract because they kept this staff on and they’re set. They’re set. That’s what our plans are doing.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Senior Liberals are standing by New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Is she the victim in this situation?
Prime Minister: Gladys is a, been a tremendous Premier and she has my absolute support. And I thought she showed a lot of courage yesterday. But I also thought she showed a lot of humility, which is the Gladys I know. You know, we're all human. And particularly in those areas of our lives, and Gladys is an extremely private person, and a person of tremendous integrity. She's a great friend. And I know she's been getting many messages of support from her friends and colleagues and including from me from yesterday and Jenny. That would have been really tough to have that all out there in front of everybody yesterday. I just thought she showed a lot of strength to deal with that and to deal with the choices that she's made in her own life. And how she just dealt with it yesterday, I thought was a real credit to her and to her family as well. And I want to thank particularly Dom Perrottet and Brad Hazzard and the whole team down there in the New South Wales Government getting in behind her. And certainly they were the messages we sent yesterday.
Journalist: Do you concede that she’s erred in her judgement by continuing this relationship, after-
Prime Minister: Look, Gladys has made her statement on that and I support her and her statement. What I do note is that she's shown the way, particularly when it comes to how to grow a state like New South Wales and get the balance right between how you're managing COVID and how you're growing your economy, I said yesterday, New South Wales has had a 70 per cent turnaround in their employment since the pit of the COVID recession, 70 per cent. In Queensland it's been 44 per cent, in South Australia it's also close to 70 per cent. And I think the way Gladys Berejiklian has led New South Wales in this crisis as part of the National Cabinet, she's been a key figure that I've relied on so many occasions. And I'm really pleased with what she said yesterday. I'm thrilled that, you know, I can guarantee you one thing, Gladys is someone who keeps on keeping on.
Journalist: Prime Minister, is it a good idea for politicians to invite political donors to fundraising events during an election campaign?
Prime Minister: All political parties should comply with the laws. The laws are different in different states. They’re different at federal levels, they’re different at a state level. Everyone should comply with the law. It's pretty straightforward.
Journalist: Prime Minister there are reports that China is blocking the import of coal, do you, what are your thoughts about that?
Prime Minister: Well, I've seen those reports and the Trade Minister has had a bit to say about that this morning. They, and we're looking at those reports and obviously raising those issues as appropriate with the relevant authorities. It's not uncommon for domestic quotas to be in place in China. That often happens, particularly when it comes to coal in China, that they do have their own coal industry. And it is not uncommon that from time to time, the Chinese government will have domestic quotas to support local production and local jobs in China. So that is not a new thing. And I'd just seek to condition how people look at those reports. That is not uncommon to see that. And I can only assume, based on our relationship and based on the discussions we have with the Chinese Government, that that is just part of their normal process.
So you’re having a good go, there’s a few others here I’m sure there’s some local journos too?
Journalist: Prime Minister, is there a chance that this ban could be challenged by Australia, and would it be a breach of the WTO?
Prime Minister: Well, I think it's important not to get ahead of ourselves here. As I said, the arrangements they've put around domestic quotas in coal production is not unusual. At the moment these are speculations and the Trade Minister is running that [inaudible].
Journalist: Prime Minister, is the Federal Government doing enough to bring stranded Australians back home during this coronavirus pandemic?
Prime Minister: Well, we're moving heaven and earth, frankly. And with Howard Springs, we're concluding arrangements up there. I'm also concluding arrangements with airlines. But already of the just around 4,000 that I mentioned that were in an urgent situation, we've got almost a thousand of them home since I made those remarks. I was getting an update on the progress of that this morning. Look, we are just quietly getting on about that. Our consular officials around the world are linking up getting people onto planes, we're freeing up places in our hotel quarantine. This Friday, there'll be Kiwis coming to Australia on holiday. And that does two things. Well, it'll be good for New South Wales, the Northern Territory and the ACT. If Queensland doesn't want to apply two weeks quarantine on Kiwis coming into Queensland, they'd be able to benefit from it as well. So that's a matter for the Queensland Government. And New Zealand has a very good record when it comes to their COVID arrangements, but they would be able to do that. But the other key part of it is that it doesn't- it is freeing up spaces in the New South Wales quarantine for more Australians to come home. So we're working on the air capacity to get people back. We're getting people who are triaged on our lists to get them onto those planes. We put $65 million dollars into a support fund. And Peter and I worked on that together some months ago to try and get more and more people onto these seats, to get them home, to maximise the number of quarantine places available. And that New Zealand decision, I want to thank Gladys again in New South Wales for taking the decision on the Kiwis, which meant Australians coming back from New Zealand also won't be taking up places. So we're getting people home and we're working to that commitment that I gave earlier.
Journalist: What do you make of Anthony Albanese saying he’ll consider repealing stage three of the tax cuts?
Prime Minister: Well, first of all, I'm not surprised that Anthony Albanese wants to take away people's tax cuts. And let's think about it. These tax cuts mean that if you're earning $50,000 dollars a year, then you will be paying 30 cents on every extra dollar you earn, not 32.5 cents. That's important. Now, these tax cuts are designed to ensure that 94 per cent of Australians won't pay more than 30 cents in the dollar in tax. Now, this is just a reheat of Bill Shorten with what Anthony Albanese's saying. I mean, they had that argument at the last election and the Australian people made their decision on it. So what you can always know from Labor, when you hear that they want to spend more, always know that they want to tax you more. That's how it works with Labor. That's how it always works with Labor. Spend with one hand, take it back on the other. And- but, you know, I have no confidence in any plan that they would put forward. When you can't even understand that the COVID-19 recession was caused by COVID-19 then how can you have any confidence in an alternative plan that can't even get that one simple fact right.
Journalist: What about IR reform, how much do you think employee groups are a roadblock to IR, the ACTU says that worker’s rights are being infringed?
Prime Minister: Well, I wouldn't share that view. And I think it's been good though, that both employee and employer groups have been working together under the Attorney-General's stewardship now for many months. When I first announced that, and we have been working through what has come back from that process, but there's one objective of that, and that is to get people into jobs. And that is the rule that we'll put over it as a Cabinet, as Peter knows, and we look at all the proposals that came forward. I just want things that can get more people into work. Now, it has been good that during the period of the COVID-19 recession that we were able to agree to more flexible arrangements, which I know kept people in jobs and knowing that that has kept people in jobs, I want arrangements that are going to get people, even more people into jobs. And so that is our objective. And we will be looking at that carefully. But, you know, on things like the waterfront, for example, we talked about here before, and Peter, you might want to comment on this, but we need our waterfront to be at its best at the moment. Supply chains are under enormous pressure both on going out and coming in, and being able to get access to the inputs you need to your business, but also, you know, to keep the crayfish going north and all the rest of it, we need things to be at their best. Whether its airfreight or elsewhere. And Peter's responsibility in border protection and particularly the Border Force, I think is critical to keeping that going. So, Peter?
The Hon. Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Home Affairs: Well, it was an important point that David made today. He's got workplace health and safety gear that's stuck on a port and can't get that out to work sites to keep workers safe. And that's because the unions are holding up these ships and this very vital part of the economy from doing its business. And that means that if those workers can't perform the work on the job site, then that business is not getting paid and they're worried about their own employment arrangements. So that's the real society impact of the union's decisions. And that sort of militant behaviour I hoped was in the past. But we need to make sure that we can get the goods, including medicines, everything else, off those ships and out into communities. Otherwise, Australians suffer.
Journalist: Minister Dutton, are you confident that you haven’t broken any donation laws?
The Hon. Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Home Affairs: Absolutely.
Prime Minister: Ok. Thanks everyone.
Doorstop - Murrarie, QLD
12 October 2020
ROSS VASTA MP, MEMBER FOR BONNER: Good afternoon everyone, my name’s Ross Vasta, I’m the federal member for Bonner. I’d like to acknowledge the Quandamooka people, the local traditional custodians of the land on which we gather and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. I would also like to welcome the Prime Minister back to Queensland, especially to the electorate of Bonner. So Prime Minister, welcome back. And I would also like to acknowledge my good friend and colleague the Honourable Trevor Evans, the Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management. And Trevor, you are doing a great job in cleaning up our waterways and working with ocean crusaders. So keep up the good work. Now, this Budget has been able to deliver for so many people and since the Budget was delivered on Tuesday night, my office has been inundated with phone calls saying how good this Budget has been for them. And so on my return back to Brisbane, I went and saw a food manufacturer who said to me for the first time that they would be able to hire a new apprentice and purchase new capital equipment with the instant asset write off. This Budget is creating jobs, it’s growing our economy, and this is what the LNP does. We’re a Government that invests in the future, it’s in our DNA. So without any further ado, could I introduce the Honourable Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Ross. Well, thank you Ross, and thank you Trevor, and thank you Ian for having us here at Visy and to all of your staff here who do a tremendous job. You know, we’re very good at mining in this country and we’re used to digging resources out of the ground. But what you can see around me here is a resource. It is a resource that is going to continue to power our economy into the future and thousands and thousands of jobs. What you see around me here is our waste and that means it is our responsibility. And our Government is committed to making sure that our waste doesn’t end up in landfill, that our waste is turned into a resource that can be used in so many different applications and industries all around the country.
Our manufacturing plan that is part of the Budget set aside recycling as a key manufacturing industry for Australia. And the reason we did that is we know it has great potential. Visy itself is one of the world's leaders in recycling technology all around the world, not just here. I've seen it firsthand in the United States as well. They are a powerhouse of an organisation when it comes to bringing forward the best technology, the best processes and world’s best practice when it comes to the recycling sector.
We made a commitment, to the children of Australia, that we said we would stop exporting our waste, the glass, the plastics, the paper, the tyres, and I made that same commitment to the leaders of Pacific islands, and those throughout Southeast Asia. Because as much as we want to keep our own waterways and our own environment as clean as possible, we want to ensure that we are doing what's right for our neighbours as well when it comes to how we deal with our own waste. But it's just not about, as Trevor knows, being good environmental citizens. It's also a very big business and it's a very big industry. Our plan will see 10 million tonnes of waste not go into landfill. Not go overseas but to be reused in our reuse economy, our circular economy. That will create around 10,000 jobs. Just to give you an idea of the scale of that, that is equivalent to the waste, not just what you put in the recycling bin, of a city the size of Canberra, not putting anything into landfill for 10 years. It is the equivalent of the waste that, on average, would be produced every year from Noosa to the Gold Coast and everywhere in between. That's how much waste our plan will be delivering to save the environment and to create jobs in this country. In this budget there is a $190 million fund which goes together with the states and the territories and industry, a one for one for one. It will leverage some $600 million in the technology and scale of recycling places just like this one and in other parts of the production process. On the Gold Coast on the weekend, I was at Neumann Steel and they, through recycled plastic, are making mouldings that go into the slabs of residential homes. That's where raw materials are going into the future and Australia wants to be part of that.
So the plans we’ve outlined in the Budget, plans to boost recycling as a major industry here in Australia, create jobs and do the right thing about our environment is something we are very committed to. It was something we outlined before the election and it is something we have kept our commitment to during the COVID-19 recession. It's become part of the answer to how we get out of this recession by investing in sectors like this to create the jobs, to ensure that industries in this area can access the investment incentives and the many other things, through job hiring and apprenticeships and so on and traineeships that will get Australians into work. So it's an exciting project, something I think very much speaks to our future. This Budget is about getting people into work but it is also about doing the right thing by the environment in very practical ways, stopping all of this ending up in waterways, whether here in Australia or in the beautiful oceans of the Indian Ocean or the Pacific or throughout Southeast Asia. That is something worth doing, creating jobs and looking after the planet. Trevor has done a tremendous job in leading the initiative here with the work we do with states and territories and with industry and I am going to ask him to say a few words about the plans. Thank you Trevor.
THE HON. TREVOR EVANS, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR WASTE REDUCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: Well, thank you, Prime Minister, and thank you everyone for being here. It's great to be here at the Visy Recycling Plant at Murarrie. It's great to be here with my colleague the Federal member for Bonner, Ross Vasta. We do a lot of work with some of the local creek catchments, bush care and other community groups like the Ocean Crusaders. And can I say how fantastic it is to be here and to have the Prime Minister in Brisbane, focused as we are on the recent federal Budget and on the opportunities that sit in front of us to rebuild our economy and secure Australia's future.
We are here at this recycling centre focused on the potential that there is for recycling as we go about rebuilding our economy. And that's been brought forward very clearly with the federal Budget. Never before has a federal Budget positioned recycling so strongly, and never before has a federal Budget called out recycling as a key plan for the future of Australia and linked it, very clearly, to the opportunities that exist in Australia for manufacturing and for remanufacturing. Here in Australia, our Federal Government has laws before the Federal Parliament right now which will be Australia's very first Recycling Act. We are stopping the export of waste plastics and other waste streams around other countries in our region. And we are bringing forwards in this federal Budget the biggest one off investment in Australia's recycling sector because we want to see, right around Australia, the resources, the facilities and the recycling infrastructure that we need to recover our recyclables, to stop them getting into landfill, to grab the value that is inherent in those values and feed it back into Australia's manufacturing supply chain.
So, between our new recycling laws, between the record funding that we have got on offer, and so many of our other recycling reforms, this is a game changer. And here, we believe, that the Federal Government will be able to support the creation of over 10,000 new jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries, going forwards in Australia, as a consequence of all of these initiatives. This is about jobs, this is about Australia being more self-sufficient, and self-reliant. And it's also about achieving those fantastic environmental outcomes that we all want to see. Less of this waste going into landfill, less of this waste being sent around the rest of the world and less of it ending up in our rivers and oceans. I'm very proud to have played a part in positioning recycling in the federal Budget and a key plank of our plan going forwards and I think all Australians, young and old, can be very, very excited about the role of recycling as we rebuild our economy and build a stronger future. Over to questions with the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Trevor. Great job on the Budget, great job on getting this front and centre. Happy to take questions on this matter probably first and if you would like to talk about other matters, happy to.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you confident that this will be enough to replace the outgoing export arrangement we have with China? Will we be able to recycle as much as we did with them?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, look, I am, and as further need is there then we are very committed to this. So this will not be the last word when it comes to this because we see this as such a strategic opportunity for Australia, and when we made the decision and I took it to the premiers, not long after I became Prime Minister, actually, I said we have got to stop the export of our waste, we’ve got to stop it, and it's a big commitment to our own environment but our regional environment as well. I was pleased to get the support of the other premiers and chief ministers and pleased to get their commitment to ensure we had an export ban in place. But we also said we have got to take the time to get it right to ensure we can get the technologies and the scale in our own recycling industries, whether it is here in Queensland or down in New South Wales, Victoria or over in the West, wherever it happens to be. We need to get that scale up and getting the new technology. I mean, here at Visy you saw the technology and what is being done here and there is new technology here at the last five years, in other plants around Australia there is optical scanning technology that is being used in New South Wales. That's fantastic, there is so much ground we can take and there is so much opportunity we can take through these initiatives. But it is a partnership with the private sector. I mean, Visy is investing $2 billion in their industries in Australia at the moment. That’s how much they’re investing. That’s a big vote of confidence in Australia and state governments will be investing, federal government will be investing.
JOURNALIST: Mr Morrison, what did you make of the behaviour of the protestors at the University of Queensland a little earlier today?
PRIME MINISTER: I thought that was very disappointing. I was there today to be both briefed on and see and say thank you to the amazing Queensland scientists and researchers who are developing the vaccine here at the University of Queensland. I know all Queenslanders will be incredibly proud of the work they are doing and I am certainly proud of them as a Prime Minister. And to be able to briefed on the molecular clamp research and how that is factoring into the new vaccine, a very unique way of tackling this problem, they are not just solving Australia's problems with a vaccine, they’re potentially the world's problems. So as I said to them today, if they are getting a hard time for getting home from work late, cut them some slack, they’re doing some very important work and they get a leave pass from me. So I was very proud of what they are doing, incredibly proud of what they were doing, so I thought it was unfortunate that what they are doing was disrespected in that way today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, should New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian resign after being in a relationship with an MP being investigated by ICAC?
PRIME MINISTER: I think the news came today, which was a surprise to many people, that has been revealed today. And look, I have no knowledge of these matters, it is a matter that is before that Commission, it’s a matter for the New South Wales government. I have worked well with the New South Wales Premier over many years, but that is a matter for her and an ongoing inquiry and I don't intend to make commentary on those matters, as you would expect.
JOURNALIST: Is it appropriate for her to be involved with someone who is the subject of an inquiry?
PRIME MINISTER: Again, there is evidence presented today and heard today. I'm going to allow that process to follow its own course, as you would expect, and the matters there are for the Premier and for her government.
JOURNALIST: Does it lower your opinion of Gladys [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: These are very new revelations, and obviously came as some news to me, but that said, the work the Premier has done in New South Wales in managing the COVID-19 crisis has been exemplary. It really has. New South Wales has shown the way when it comes to managing the COVID-19 health pandemic, as well as the recession. I mean, there has been a 70 per cent clawback of jobs in New South Wales, that actually compares to 44 per cent here in Queensland. So while those matters, of course, will have their proper attention in a commission of inquiry as is being undertaken by ICAC, it would be inappropriate for me to reflect on those matters while it is under inquiry.
JOURNALIST: Are you disappointed that given the strength of the New South Wales COVID response that this has emerged in light of that?
PRIME MINISTER: What I want to assure Australians of whether it is these matters in New South Wales or the ongoing matters in Victoria, that my government just remains absolutely focused on the jobs of Australians. Nothing will ever distract me from the jobs of Australians and the stable leadership my Government is providing to this country at a time of great crisis. I will continue to work with all the premiers and the chief ministers, with mayors around the country and private industry like we are here or many other places around the country to get Australians back into work. That's my job, get Australians back into work, ensure that we have the economic plan to lift us out of this COVID-19 recession and that is what we are delivering with this Budget. The jobs that come from those investments and that economic management which Australians are relying on. Australians are relying on the government to get the private sector kickstarted again and out there creating jobs. They know eight out of 10 jobs come out of private businesses that employ them, they know that those private businesses need to succeed for their jobs to be secure and to continue to see hundreds of thousands of Australians, including Queenslanders, getting back into jobs. I want to see Queenslanders working again and that is why we are making these investments.
JOURNALIST: Does the New South Wales Premier have your support though [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I will continue to, obviously, work with the Premier of New South Wales. I mean, these are matters that have come up in the Commission. I will let them deal with those matters in the Commission and I will continue to work with the Premier of New South Wales each and every day to get jobs back, to keep the health and safety of Australians in New South Wales as you would expect me to do and as I'm sure I will continue to with Premier Berejiklian.
JOURNALIST: PM, are you aware of moves afoot to dump Victorian Premier Dan Andrews? Do you think he should resign?
PRIME MINISTER: I have no knowledge of those matters, they are matters for the Victorian government. See, my job, regardless of what is happening in the states, my job is to keep taking the country forward and I want to assure Australians that we are totally focused on that task and we will work with everybody to get you back in a job, whether it is the private businesses that we need to encourage to invest again and hire new people. Whether it is the tax cuts that have now been made law. Let me stress that, there are 2.3 million Queenslanders who on Friday we made law to give them those tax cuts. 2 million of them on low and middle incomes. That is the first time I have seen in a very long time that I can recall a budget delivered on Tuesday and made law by Friday. That shows you how serious we are about ensuring that you can keep more of what you earn and we can put more money back in your pocket so you can put more money back into our economy and play your role in Australia's recovery from the COVID-19 recession on the plan that we have laid out.
JOURNALIST: Just back on Victoria, the head of the public service has resigned this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: Do you think enough is being done [inaudible] made the decisions?
PRIME MINISTER: Again, they are matters for the Victorian inquiry and the Victorian government. My focus is on getting Australians into work and they are all entirely appropriate processes. And I support those processes and I think they should do their job and I will keep doing mine, which is getting Australians into a job.
JOURNALIST: Are you in the final stages of reaching a deal with the Northern Territory to expand its quarantine arrangement at Howard Springs to include...?
PRIME MINISTER: As I have already flagged, we have always had that option available to us, to work with the Northern Territory government to make Howard Springs available to us. It has already been used quite extensively, particularly in terms of some of the seasonal labour issues that the Northern Territory have been needing so we can get the harvest in. And so it has not been sitting idle, it has actually been used quite extensively and Marise Payne the Foreign Minister is leading a team which is ensuring we are getting Australians home from overseas and where that facility may be needed to achieve that, well, it will be. And of course I have had very good discussions with Chief Minister Gunner on those matters and I will see him again this Friday. He is actually in Sydney and we will sit down to have a broader meeting.
JOURNALIST: You were in America in a Visy factory around last year.
PRIME MINISTER: I was. Yes, I was.
JOURNALIST: You were with Donald trump and the polls show he is severely behind in the election. Are you ready to work with a new Democratic administration, should they win that election?
PRIME MINISTER: The great thing about the Australia-US relationship is that it is bigger than any one individual. It is bigger than me, it is bigger than the President, whoever they happen to be. The relationship between Australia and the United States is wide and it is deep and it is incredibly important. And so it is a matter for the people of the United States about who they choose and elect as their president. They are world's most amazing democracy of its scale and size. Australia is one of the oldest democracies and we would say we are a pretty good one too, right up with the world's leading democracies. So we value that process and we respect it and I respect it. And so I will always respect the decisions of the people who elect their leader and I have no doubt that Australia would work very well with the government of the United States because that has been the form. Over 100 years, that has been the form at an administration level, at a defence level, at a business to business level, at a people to people level. It is a deep and wide relationship and it has always been a very high priority for me to ensure that that relationship is in good order and it has never been stronger. Thanks very much. Thank you.
Interview with Neil Breen, 4BC
12 October 2020
NEIL BREEN: Now, good morning, Prime Minister, welcome to Queensland.
PRIME MINISTER: It's great to be here, Neil, how good are hot chips at the footy.
BREEN: I’ll give you the answer to that - they’re too good.
PRIME MINISTER: They are a bit too good.
BREEN: I'll tell you what else is too good is Queensland and the weather here. And we're happy to have you here in the state. Do you feel welcome here, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, very. Obviously, I was here over the weekend and we weren't always just at our official events, the mega-facility out there near Ipswich on the weekend building those new boxer armoured vehicles, hundreds and job, a terrific project. But just getting out and about. Stopped into a quiet pub to watch the rest of the Wallabies -All Blacks match and that was tremendous.
BREEN: Wow, wasn’t that a game?
PRIME MINISTER: Field goal, though, a bit of field goal practice needed I think.
BREEN: Why wouldn’t anyone take a field goal?
PRIME MINISTER: They had their heads up and they were going for the line. But tremendous courage at the end, I thought, it was great to see it again. Jacinda Ardern and I have to carry over our bet til next week so that’ll be fun.
BREEN: Talking about Jacinda Ardern, how are discussions with regards to a border bubble between Australia and New Zealand? And particularly Queensland's inclusion in it if we want to be in it.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the only thing… well, it starts with New South Wales. The only thing that’s preventing Queensland is your border arrangements here in Queensland. And the reason Kiwis can't come to Queensland is because they'll be taking up places in hotel quarantine, which we need to get Queenslanders home to Queensland from overseas. So New South Wales won't have that restriction. Neither will the Northern Territory, the ACT, I suspect South Australia will follow fairly soon. And so that's the only thing standing in the way of it. It's a decision for the Queensland Premier.
BREEN: It is disappointing that we seem to be slow on the uptake with all of these things. We seem to be in a defensive frame of mind, our government in Queensland, about New South Wales and they've got to get it under control and we're slow with New Zealand. 480,000 Kiwis a year come here. They spend $600 million. Obviously, you've spoken about it a lot, but you'd like to see them to be more proactive and on the front foot rather than trying to be 20 not out at lunch.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you've got to walk and chew gum at the same time. I think New South Wales has done very well in keeping their economy open, but also staying on top of COVID. That doesn’t mean there aren't outbreaks, there are. But they get on top of them with their testing and their tracing and their COVID safe behaviours. I mean, we've got to be careful, though. I mean, and this isn't about whether you have a border or you don't have a border. You've got to do that on the basis of health advice and health advice alone. There can't be any other reasons for it. And the reason for that is, Neil, as I'm sure Queenslanders understand who support borders and the vast majority, of course, do and I understand that. But they don't, they're not cost free. They do have an economic impact. There's no doubt about that. I mean, in Queensland, we've seen 44 per cent of the jobs come back from the pit of the COVID-19 recession already and that's great. But in New South Wales, it's been 70 per cent. In South Australia, it's been 70 percent. So, you know, we've got to get Queenslanders working again here. And our Budget is designed to do just that and get private businesses, you know, companies, businesses, small businesses, large businesses, employing again. That's how you get people back into jobs. You get businesses investing and hiring again. And that's what our Budget is about with the tax incentives to do that. But also the tax cuts for 2.3 million Queenslanders, two million of which are on low to middle incomes.
BREEN: Well, we've seen what the public thinks of the federal Budget in today's Newspoll in The Australian. Just a poll, I know polls are polls, but there's some good results for you in there in that poll today. Two-party preferred 52 to 48. But there is one in there, it's about wage subsidies. And basically, 50 per cent of the people surveyed for this poll thought the government should have allowed the wage subsidy to be paid for all new jobs offered to unemployed people regardless of the age of the person, rather than just under 35s. Is that a criticism you would take on board? And would you look at extending it to all Australians?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, to get ourselves out of the COVID recession, we've got to be very smart about it and we've got to focus on the big challenges that are there. And, you know, we said we'd be targeted, we’d be proportionate would be temporary. 90 per cent of the additional spending is in this year or next year. Now, what is true is that for people under the age of 35, they have seen their numbers of people employed there fall by 6.2 per cent. Now, for those over 35, it's 1.7 per cent. And for those hours lost too it's over 8 percent, for people are over... under 35, I should say. But the youth unemployment rate is double what it is for the rest of the population. So we've got a real problem. And the COVID-19 recession has hit those younger people even harder. That's not to say others haven't been hit, of course they have. But you've got to focus and put priorities on the problem where it's been most acute. And that's why it has been designed that way, because that's where we've seen the big impact, biggest impact. Now, what happens we know, Neil, is if you're a younger person starting out your working life, your working age, if you started out on the dole, on JobSeeker, then you're more likely to spend more of your life on welfare. And that is not something I want to see for anyone.
BREEN: So you’re trying to break the cycle? You want to break the cycle.
PRIME MINISTER: We are trying to break the cycle and that's what happens in recessions. Recessions can bake in unemployment and welfare dependency potentially for a lifetime. Older workers like myself, you and others, you know, we've been around a bit. We've seen a few things. We've got skills and experiences and a resilience that others who are younger might not have and not experienced. And so, I mean, I lived through, as I'm sure you did, to know the last recession of the early 1990s. That's when I came out. And back then, Paul Keating put in a programme called Jobstart and it was for the same younger people. The only difference was he did it for 50,000. We've done this for 450,000. So it's about where you focus your effort. That's why it's you’ve got to look at the measures in the Budget, pulling them all together, because we’ve got 340,000 training places this year, that's not age dependent. We've got, you know, we've got our workplace adult apprenticeship scheme. We've got additional university places. We've got the investment incentives for businesses and they'll be employing people of all ages. We've got the Restart programme, which provides up to $10,000 of a wage subsidy for workers over the age of 50 who have been on unemployment for six months or more. So the Budget, both the measures in this one and the ones we've already put in place are there designed to support people in the whole range of different situations.
BREEN: You know how there's no interest like self-interest? I like this one from the Newspoll because everyone's like, you know, they don't like this, they don't like that. Do you approve or disapprove of tax cuts? Are you surprised that 81 percent of Australians approve of tax cuts?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, sometimes I'm surprised that there's still 20 per cent.
BREEN: Who don’t approve.
PRIME MINISTER: And look, we're passionate about lowering people’s taxes and we've been doing it for years and years. I mean, the tax cuts for 2.3 million Queenslanders that have been brought forward in this Budget, they didn't come out of nowhere. They were part of a plan that we'd already put in before, but they weren't going to happen for another two years. So we’ve just brought it forward. So we've always been for lower taxes. Lower taxes means people keep more of what they earn. And I believe passionately that if you've worked hard for it, I want you to keep as much of it as you possibly can and for us to use as little of what you earn as we need to get things done. That's why you've got to be targeted. That's why you can't just do things right across everywhere. You're sensible and you're careful and you prioritise. I mean, that's why we're focused on the things that need to be fixed.
BREEN: I don't think anyone on the planet except for one person could accuse you of not being a hard worker. I think it's in your DNA. Do you, were you disappointed that you came to Queensland and you hadn't been allowed here for a while then when you got here, our Deputy Premier accused you of being here on a holiday?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, I had a few things to say about that yesterday. I mean, politics and some people just treat politics like it's a game, Neil. And this is a serious election in Queensland and the people of Queensland will make their decision. Obviously, I think Deb Freckligton will make a great premier. I've worked with the current Premier as part of the National Cabinet, and Queenslanders will make their decision about that. And of course, I'm strongly supporting what Deb is doing here and a plan for jobs, getting Queenslanders working again. And of course I would. But, you know, politics is not a game. And I just see what some politicians like this character, you know, they just treat it like it's, you know, some sort of reality television show. It's not. It's really serious. People's lives, livelihoods in the middle of a COVID-19 recession. The world is very uncertain, you know, we are rebuilding Australia's defence forces and we're doing it here in Queensland. That’s what I was doing yesterday, opening a defence manufacturing facility employing hundreds of Queenslanders, which was delivering on a commitment that we had made as a government several years ago and followed through on. So, you know, I think sometimes people get pretty sick of that sort of behaviour.
BREEN: I know your travels have to be kept under wraps. Are we allowed to know where you are today at this stage, or is it still a bit of a secret?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm in Brisbane today and I'm looking forward to doing a number of things today. I'm going to get an update on the UQ vaccine today, which is very important. That's a huge part of what was also in the Budget, $1.7 billion to support should a vaccine prove successful, particularly here in Queensland, then we can make sure that can be manufactured here in Australia.
BREEN: That’s right. So you are working today?
PRIME MINISTER: Every day. I might take a bit of time out when the Sharks were still in the game or going to church Sunday morning and, you know, taking the odd day with the kids and Jen when we can. But, I mean, the medical manufacturing too and we were talking yesterday about defence manufacturing, but we've got six key areas that we're focusing on, areas like recycling, food and beverage manufacturing. But also on medical manufacturing, on medicines and medical instruments and things like this. Many highly skilled jobs there, but also many low skilled jobs as well in manufacturing. And so that's how you get people back to work. You don't get Australians back to work by employing more public servants. I mean, what we will need to run many of these programmes some more people to assist with those programmes as a result of the Budget. But that's not what turns the country around. They do a great job and I respect what they do. But the way people get back into work is when someone who's, you know, at work this morning and they’re perhaps may be on the way in, but if they're a small business person I suspect they've already been there several hours. And they're thinking about, you know, am I going to take that apprentice on? And am I going to purchase that new piece of equipment? And in the Budget, we gave them the reason to say yes to that.
BREEN: Say yes to both.
PRIME MINISTER: Then off we go.
BREEN: Rightio, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Enjoy your time in Queensland and thanks for visiting.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Neil. Great to be here. We’ll try and keep away from those hot chips, mate, the best way we can.
BREEN: I know. They’re hard to stay away from.
Interview with Allison Langdon, Today
12 October 2020
Allison Langdon: A very good morning to you, PM. There is lots to get to this morning. But first, as we just heard from Karl, it's a day for us all to reflect and remember those we lost.
Prime Minister: That's very true and right across the country, particularly down by Wiley's Baths there in Coogee they will be gathering as they always do each year, over in Perth and indeed down in my own Shire community where we also lost so many. It's a very sad day and our thoughts and prayers with all of those who are just, it's another hard day for them particularly today. But they never forget and neither should we.
Langdon: It's really tough to believe it's been 18 years. But let's shift focus a little bit now. How is the campaign in Queensland going? Can you win this for Deb Frecklington?
Prime Minister: Oh, well, that's a matter for Deb Frecklington and the people of Queensland. I mean, I'm here talking about the Budget that we've had. It's a Budget to get people back into jobs and to get Queenslanders working again. A Budget that has 2.3 million Queenslanders going to see tax cuts from and talking to them about how we're moving forward with recycling and manufacturing. It's a Budget for all Australians and particularly Queenslanders.
Langdon: Come on, you are spruiking the Budget but you happen to be there two weeks before the State election. It's good timing.
Prime Minister: Well, look, I'm happy to be here with Deb Frecklington. She has got a plan to get Queenslanders working again. I would look forward to working with her. I work with every state and territory as we demonstrated as best we possibly can through the National Cabinet and we will continue to. But it's important that we get businesses investing again and hiring again. And the way you do that is not by filling your buildings with public servants. You do it by getting businesses investing because eight of 10 jobs are in the private sector. We need our businesses to be able to spark up. That's what the Budget is designed to do.
Langdon: There is a spiralling debt that Queensland needs to deal with. It's quite eye-watering, that one. But look, the Deputy Premier, he's accused of you taking a week off to campaign for the LNP. You told him to grow up. We can't believe they allowed you in in the first place.
Prime Minister: Well, there were no special rules for me. Nor should there be for anyone. I mean, there shouldn't be any double standards on these things. They're the rules. I abide by those rules. I understand that Queenslanders are very supportive of the border arrangements they have here. They have just got to be done in a fair way and with no double standards. Importantly, they should only be there as long as they really have to be. Because while they have played a role, they also come at a cost. Here in Queensland, the bounce back from the COVID recession hasn't been as strong as in other states and territories. 44 per cent of jobs have come back here compared to 70 per cent in New South Wales and 70 per cent in South Australia. So, we need to get Queenslanders working again and our Budget plan for coming back from the COVID-19 recession, I think, will be very important here in Queensland, all the way across this great state.
Langdon: You want the borders down. You want them open. Will Deb Frecklington do that if she wins?
Prime Minister: Well, that's a judgment based on the health advice for the Queensland government and the Queensland Premier, whoever that happens to be after the next election. And we've always worked with the Queensland government and every state and territory government on these issues, they have to make those calls based on health advice.
Langdon: Come on, Prime Minister, come on. There has been a stoush between you and Annastacia Palaszczuk about borders. You haven't remained quiet on this one.
Prime Minister: No, I think I have been consistent, Ally. I'm not looking to get into an argument about this at all. I just think it should be based on the health advice. On a couple of occasions there I have raised specific cases which I thought were raised with me and sought compassion. On both of those occasions we eventually got a better outcome. But that was about trying to help people.
Langdon: From this week our wonderful Kiwi neighbours they can come visit, come to NSW, Canberra and Northern Territory. Why not Queensland?
Prime Minister: First of all congratulations to the Wallabies, given we're talking about Queensland - sorry talking about New Zealand. That was inspiring.
Langdon: That was a good game yesterday.
Prime Minister: An inspiring game yesterday. So congratulations to everyone that was involved with that. Looking forward to the next one. Jacinda Ardern and I have decided to double down on our bet from the weekend and maybe I should have taken a few points start. But my faith in the Wallabies was strong. Didn't seek a points start. But no, we are, we've got the Kiwis coming and that's great. And potentially we are having discussion with the Pacific islanders. But we have got to be careful. The risk there is that COVID can get into those communities. They have done a fantastic job protecting their communities. Places like Singapore, Japan, South Korea have all done a tremendous job also. We’ve had some initial discussions with those countries. But I wouldn't want to raise expectations too high there. Australians are still travelling overseas, I should stress, for work or compassionate reasons. I think there's been about 60,000 Australians who have gone overseas since the start of the crisis under those arrangements. Those approvals are turned around pretty quick on the circumstances. But we have to be careful of that because we're also trying to get as many Australians home as possible. And with Kiwis coming in to particularly NSW, that is going to free up a lot more of the quarantine spaces in NSW so we can get more Australians home.
Langdon: I mean, you have got so many of them still stuck overseas who can't wait to get back and want to get back for Christmas no doubt.
Prime Minister: True.
Langdon: But just going back to this travel bubble. Interesting that you say don't get our hopes up, which sort of suggests it is not going to happen anytime soon. We know the US and Europe are off the cards until there is a vaccine. So potentially no travel there next year. But how will the travel bubble work exactly? What happens when they first arrive in Australia and how do you ensure they're not exposed to COVID at an airport on their way in?
Prime Minister: We're treating New Zealand just like people coming from South Australia into New South Wales or New South Wales into South Australia. I mean, New Zealand's also had great success on the health side. And so there are no greater COVID risks of someone coming from Christchurch to Sydney than there is someone coming from Brisbane to Sydney. So those arrangements are put in place.
Langdon: Isn't the issue when you are at an international airport…
Prime Minister: They're separate lanes.
Langdon: Ok.
Prime Minister: There are green lanes and those processes are done through both on the New Zealand side and on the Australian side. Those who have come from New Zealand to Australia, they will still have to quarantine back in New Zealand. That's a matter for the New Zealand government. They will make their own calls on that. For the New South Wales and the Northern Territory and the ACT, this is going to be good for their tourism. Our tourism and hospitality industries have been battered and this will be good for those states. It will be great when it can happen here in Queensland as well. But we can't do that at the moment because if Kiwis are coming to Queensland they have to quarantine and that takes up places for Queenslanders to be able to come home from overseas.
Langdon: Your Budget has been widely applauded, particularly the tax cuts. But did you miss an opportunity with childcare because it's been a free kick for Albo?
Prime Minister: We have $9.2 billion being invested in childcare and it's means tested. When you are investing in important services, and childcare is an important service, that's why we actually increased our investment and we saw the labour force participation rate, people looking at getting into jobs, go up. In particular, female labour force participation increased as well and when we put changes in place the cost of childcare, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, actually started to come down. So our plan was working before the COVID-19 recession...
Langdon: Fees will go up this year, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: We will have to wait and see what happens on that. But our means tested supports for people to have their children in childcare, our view has always been pretty consistent. When taxpayers money is being used in these sorts of supports it should be means tested. Labor is offering families on half a million dollars $11,000 of subsidies. That's their plan. That's not our plan. Our plan is means tested and targeting the support to those who need it most.
Langdon: So just very quickly, do you think childcare is affordable in this country?
Prime Minister: We have made it more affordable. There's no doubt about that. We always look at these policies, Ally. But we do think things like this should be means tested. All the supports we provide across the economy for individuals are means tested, Family Tax Benefits and other supports, they're there to help people, but we target them. You have to target things because, you know, money doesn't grow on trees and what we're focusing our Budget effort on, 90 per cent of what we're spending additionally in this Budget is in this year and next year to kickstart the economy and get people back into jobs. That's the most important priority. Getting Australians back to work. And what we're focusing is on is that task.
Langdon: A trillion dollars debt. I think money does grow on trees. Prime Minister, thank you for joining us this morning. No, look, I make fun of that, I shouldn't, that's a serious comment. It's a big debt.
Prime Minister: Every dollar we spend is carefully spent and carefully targeted, I can assure you.
Langdon: Appreciate your time this morning, Prime Minister, thank you.
Interview with Samantha Armytage, Sunrise
12 October 2020
Samantha Armytage: Prime Minister, good morning, welcome.
Prime Minister: Good morning.
Armytage: Last week's polls showed strong support for the Queensland Premier, is that why you’ve hit the campaign trail over the weekend?
Prime Minister: I am here for jobs and to create jobs and yesterday, we announced the opening of a major facility in defence manufacturing, employing hundreds and hundreds of Queenslanders in jobs. The Budget is about jobs, that’s the sole figure I am focused on, is getting more and more Australians into work as a result of our COVID-19 recession recovery plan and that is what we're here talking to Queenslanders about this week. 2.3 million Queenslanders have a tax cut from what we legislated last Friday, 2 million of those are on low to middle incomes. We're going to get Australia out of recession by getting Australians back into the work, by incentivising those businesses that employ 8 out of 10 Australians. You want Australia to get back on its feet again, you’ve got to get businesses investing in hiring and that’s what our plan is doing.
Armytage: What are Queenslanders telling you? Because this is a highly political campaign and a really important time for Queensland. A lot of debate around the border. Are Queenslanders saying to you that they support the harsh lockdowns or do they think Annastacia Palaszczuk is playing politics in a pandemic?
Prime Minister: That is a matter for the state election. What I am focused on is our Budget and how that is helping Queenslanders get working again and getting back into work. I mean, the borders, I know, have strong support in many parts of the country. I understand that. They have to be for health reasons but they should only be there for as long as they have to be because while they do provide some benefits, of course we recognise that, at the same time, borders always come at a cost and you have to balance those two things up and they are important matters for the state government to consider.
Armytage: How is the LNP looking in particular in country areas? Are we going to see a two-horse race in this Queensland election where the country areas go one way and the south-east corner of Queenslander goes another?
Prime Minister: I will leave that to Mark Riley and other political commentators. As I said...
Armytage: What is your internal polling telling you?
Prime Minister: I wouldn't know. I'm not part of the Queensland state election, you would have to ask the Queenslanders who are involved in that. I'm here talking to Queenslanders about how our plan is getting back into jobs and the only way you can get people back into the jobs is if you get those businesses to invest and hire again.
So whether it is the hiring credit we are putting in place, or whether it’s the incentives for businesses to immediately expense all their capital equipment. I have been to businesses across the weekend up here in Queensland, manufacturing businesses, talking to women who have gone into apprenticeships in the steel industry, in the recycling industry, in the defence manufacturing industry. I mean, the facility we opened yesterday, Rheinmatall, they are building the Land 400 boxers, these are the new armoured vehicles. There are 140 going to be built specifically here in Queensland. The investment in this project is massive and that is advanced manufacturing. The most advanced land-based military vehicles complex in the world of its type. That is how you create jobs, that’s how you create manufacturing jobs.
Armytage: Yes, these are amazing pictures we're seeing from the weekend in Queensland. Now, Simon Birmingham has indicated Europe and the US might not be an option for Aussie travellers in 2021, that Australians may not be able to travel until 2022. How far off could it potentially be and what sort of bubble could we see with New Zealand or the Pacific?
Prime Minister: Well, New Zealand starts very, very soon, on Friday I believe. And we have been working towards that over the last fortnight. But also, I have talked to Pacific leaders, they are keen but we also want to ensure that we get no COVID transmission into those Pacific Island communities. Their health systems are different and we have got to be very careful about the risk and they want us to be careful also. Further afield, places like South Korea, Singapore and Japan, we have had good discussions with them. I think that is a bit further off, but you only need to look at what is happening in Europe at the moment, where they are going through a horrific further wave of COVID-19 and of course we have got to be extremely careful about that. Tens of thousands of Australians have still gone overseas, I think the figure now is around 60,000 throughout the course of the last six months and exceptions that have been provided for people to travel overseas for compassionate reasons or employment reasons and we understand that and the safety and health rules are put in place for that. But there are still more work to go there, Sam.
Armytage: Ok, Prime Minister, while we have got you, we have to talk about Newspoll. There is a new one out this morning. It shows widespread support for your Budget from last week, 4 out of 5 voters back your tax cuts. 42 per cent believe the Budget is good for the economy, 20 per cent say it is bad. Are you pleased with these numbers?
Prime Minister: I am pleased that Australians are seeing that it is a plan for recovery from the COVID-19 recession. That is what it is intended to do. The numbers I'm most interested in are those jobs numbers. This is a Budget for all Australians. We’re trying to get Australians back into work, we’re trying to get Queenslanders back into the work and the policies that support that. It is a plan for doing that job as well as building for the future and whether that is, as I said, in manufacturing or in the services industries or other parts of the economy, we just want to see businesses investing and hiring again and that is why the Budget brings forward those decisions with tax incentives to get Australians working again and particularly get businesses out there and employing and hiring and investing again because that is where you will get an economic recovery from.
Armytage: Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thank you for your time today. We appreciate it.
Prime Minister: Thank you, Sam. Great to be in Queensland.
Doorstop - Redbank, QLD
12 October 2020
GARY STEWART, MANAGING DIRECTOR RHEINMETALL: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for taking the time to celebrate and recognise the opening of this incredible military vehicle centre of excellence here today opened by the Prime Minister of Australia and attended by by dignitaries from the Australian Defence Force, the federal government and the state opposition. So it's a wonderful day, representing a lot of hard work over five years to create the world's best integrated military vehicle manufacturing and design centre, employing over 450 people in and around Australia with 330 here in Queensland right now and growing to over 450 Queenslanders working from this facility from the end of next year. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, Gary. And it's great to be here again with Deb Frecklington. Can I also acknowledge the Chief of Army, who has also been here with us today. It's also great to have my colleagues here with me here today. And can I say to you, Ted, in particular, as I know Deb would, in many respects because I remember when Land 400 was going through the process you were there and led quite a Queensland charge amongst my Queensland colleagues. And we always took the view that we would make these amazing vehicles where it was in the national interest to do so and where that capability can be best established and that's right here in Queensland. And today is a very exciting day to be opening this MILVEHCOE facility. The MILVEHCOE facility here is the best in its class anywhere in the world, not just in Australia, not just in the southern hemisphere, but anywhere in the world. And I think that speaks volumes about what Australians can do. This facility is state of the art. And out of this facility, we will see Land 400 Boxers, some $5 billion investment, both in the manufacturing of these incredible vehicles, together with how they're training and and put into place in Australia. A $5 billion investment that our Government has put in place and seen through. What we're doing here, some years ago, we made the decision as a Government that we were going to rebuild Australia's defence manufacturing capability. And what you see here is the realisation of that vision from announcement to delivery once again for our Government. Two per cent of GDP for our defence spending is not a target. It's reality. It is now the floor for our investment in Australia's sovereign manufacturing capability in defence. We're building armoured vehicles. We're building ships. We're building planes and the components, importantly thereof, for the Joint Strike Fighter in Australia. That is all being made possible because our Government made a decision to make the defence of our country and its capability a reality. And that reality is now before you. Australia is safer because of this facility and the investments that go behind it. Australia will also be more prosperous as a result of it because of the capabilities that have been developed.
This facility is about jobs. Importantly, jobs for Queenslanders. And this facility demonstrates the manufacturing plan and its future as we outlined it in the Budget. We want to see more of this in Australia. We want to see this advanced manufacturing capability boosted into the future. And our manufacturing plan, which sits within this year's Budget, is all designed to see this that we can not just do this here in defence as we're demonstrating but we can do it in space, we can do it in food and beverage. We can do it in the mining sector. We can do it in the recycling sector. And all these core sectors that we've identified and we've demonstrated here in this facility, Gary, about what Australians can do and the skills that we have and the capabilities that we have.
So I'm excited to be here today to open this incredible facility. It's another page turned in Australia's advanced manufacturing story. And there'll be many more pages into the future, and that will mean many more jobs right here in Queensland. This is how we come back from the COVID-19 recession. This is how we build back from the COVID-19 recession by pressing forward with these investments to building our capabilities across all industries. And another area that will be benefiting these types of operations significantly is what we've announced about the full expensing of capital equipment. Investing in the advanced systems and the advanced machinery that goes into a plant like this to ensure that they can have the equipment necessary to be competitive and the immediate expense will be a big part of ensuring that our manufacturers can get access to all of the equipment in the capital leads that they have to grow their businesses. Because these businesses will grow, as we already heard today, and congratulations, Gary, on the order of some $150 million for the Hungarian military putting our turrets on their armoured vehicles. That demonstrates that once you can do it here, you can do it anywhere. And I loved what you had to say, Gary, about our defence industry, our defence purchasing and procurement here in Australia. We're going from importer to exporter. That's a full 180 degree turnaround. And that's what's being achieved by advancing our manufacturing capability here in Australia.
So, Deb, I'm very pleased to have you here with me, because this is also going to be part of a precinct. Not only, I note today, that rego is going to be cheaper under an LNP government here in Queensland, perhaps, we might wait a few more months. We might register these vehicles here in Queensland, their rego will be cheaper under an LNP government. But seriously, I want to congratulate you for your keen interest in this facility here and I know what you have planned if you were to be elected premier about how this facility will sit with another facility very nearby, which will create the critical mass both in the technology and the design and the services and support systems and the many other industries that feed into a massive project like this. That's how you get Queenslanders working and that's how you get jobs happening here. Our plans of the Government that I lead and the one that Deb would hope to will mesh strongly. They'll go together well, whether it's building infrastructure, whether it's advanced manufacturing or whether it's taking the burden off families and lowering their costs. Whether it's in the tax cuts that we've already provided. 2.3 million Queenslanders benefiting from those tax cuts, which are law. They’re as real as this building and the many other things that Deb has planned for the state. So I'm going to hand over to Deb and then we might take a few questions.
THE HON. DEB FRECKLINGTON, LEADER OF THE QUEENSLAND LNP: Thank you very much, PM. And can I as well thank the Rheinmetall people for inviting me here today. Gary, it's been a wonderful, wonderful day. Great to see the PM getting around in that armoured vehicle, PM. Well done. But today, it is a really exciting day for Queensland to have the Prime Minister of Australia here in Queensland talking about their plan for manufacturing and growing those advanced manufacturing industries. And that's exactly what a future LNP government wants to do right here in Queensland. Now, this is an incredible facility. We need to train up the people to work here. And that's exactly why an LNP government will partner with Rheinmetall, $135 million co-contribution towards a Defence Industries Technology Precinct. We want those advanced manufacturing, those future jobs to be trained right here in this facility. So it's a very exciting day. We know that Queenslanders deserve those jobs. Highest unemployment rate for the last four years. Queenslanders deserve better. And we know that our kids who were looking to train up, whether it's to be engineers or designers, welders, any of those types of jobs like Gary was talking about, they should be able to learn and train here and very importantly, secure a job here, right in Queensland. So it's great to be here, PM. Wonderful to be here with you. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Happy to take questions, particularly on the facility. I know Gary is available for questions on that if you like, as well. Why don’t we sort of start on that space, then come and join us, and then if there are issues you want to move to, very happy to do that. First of all, about this facility.
JOURNALIST: It's on the same topic. There's talk that the government is looking to replace the 22 Tiger air choppers that we have, the helicopters we have, with 29 Apache choppers. That'll take away 500 jobs from Queensland. Is there any truth to that?
PRIME MINISTER: All of all the decisions we make around the defence procurement are as a result of long-term planning. Those all go through our National Security Committee of Cabinet, so, look, I don't indulge rumours when it comes to these things. If there are ever announcements about those things, we've always been quite transparent about that when and if decisions are made. What we're here today to do is demonstrate that no government has been committed to defence jobs here in Queensland like our Government. And this is the proof that this is the absolute proof of that. And the Land 400 programme demonstrates Queensland's capability. As I said, the reason it's being built here is because Queensland has the capability and that's why they'll always do very well when it comes to our defence procurement and the manufacturing capability that's been established here.
JOURNALIST: How come you couldn’t find a spot for Deb in that tank today?
PRIME MINISTER: There was only two slots at the top.
JOURNALIST: Some more down the bottom though…
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm sure that there was some safety issues around how these things work. I would only assume. But I was pleased to be up here to be able to open this facility as Prime Minister. This is the realisation of a very big vision for our defence capability and jobs in this country. As Prime Minister and as someone who's been in our Cabinet since we were first elected seven years ago, this is the proof of our commitments and what we announced today was sure to deliver that as what we've announced in the past of delivering that promise.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] travel to the UK in 2022…
PRIME MINISTER: Just before we move off this topic, I'm happy to come to these questions but are there any more questions on this topic?
JOURNALIST: Gary, [inaudible] why do you need $135 million of state government money to build additional facilities here?
GARY STEWART, MANAGING DIRECTOR RHEINMETALL: So the whole purpose of building a viable Australian industrial capability is somewhere that we can train the next generation of apprentices and graduates in the core manufacturing and design skills and also alongside that in research and development necessary to not just be able to build the existing products well, but to be able to develop, create and introduce the new technologies that will go on to improve defence capability here in Australia and export to the world.
JOURNALIST: So would you build the facility without that contribution from the state government? Have you had conversations with the Labor Government about a similar contribution, $135 million?
GARY STEWART, MANAGING DIRECTOR RHEINMETALL: This has not been initiated by us. It's a plan about how we can expand our existing [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: So thank you very much, Gary, and thanks for having us here today and congratulations again on such a tremendous achievement.
JOURNALIST: A question from our Canberra bureau regarding the Restart wage subsidy for older Australians. Has it been as successful as you had hoped?
PRIME MINISTER: 50,000 Australians over the age of 50 got themselves into a job because of the program. And so I'm very pleased with the progress of that program. There are thousands of people right now who are actually taking advantage of that program as we speak. And that's in addition to the adult apprentices. That's about a $4,000 subsidy that supports adult apprentices change their skills mid-career and that increasingly occurs. And when you think about this place and you think about Queensland, too, I think, and obviously the hospitality sector here in Queensland is going through some really tough times. And as we know with COVID-19, it's hard to predict how long those times will be difficult. But that said, there will be many as a result of the COVID-19 recession, who will look at their skills and they'll look at where they are. They may have lost employment. They may have been in the aviation sector, for example, and they may be looking to redeploy. There are so many programmes that support Australians looking to change and train up on the skills. 340,000 places that we made available through for the JobTrainer program around the country. That program is delivering training places for people of all ages. When we put that together, we are very conscious of the need not only to train younger people, but to train those who may be shifting careers in their 50s or their 40s. And regardless of what your gender is or what your age is or what your experiences, these programs are designed to find the meet and meet the need. And that's why our economic recovery plan from the COVID-19 recession is going to benefit people right across the country. It's a plan for all of Australia and for all Australians.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if the incentives in the Budget aren’t enough to get businesses hiring people again before there's a vaccine where would the government look to to get more people back into jobs?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think a key part of what we've been able to do is continue not just to plan and put programs in place, but we've been able to respond and respond fast. This is why we've been careful to announce initiatives, taking into account the best information we have at the time. Back in March very little was known about the COVID-19 virus and we had to proceed carefully. We gave ourselves time. We put the JobKeeper and JobSeeker supports in place, the doubling of the safety net for Australians in JobSeeker. What that enabled us to do is look towards a budget in October where we could put new initiatives in place to drive job creation, to drive investment, to get people to bring forward decisions. A key part of our plan to get Australia out of the COVID-19 recession is to bring forward the decisions that would otherwise not be made. Decisions to hire, the decisions to invest, bringing forward the tax cuts that we'd already legislated. Our tax cuts, both stage two, stage three, they were already law. And we've brought forward stage two to bring forward some of those spending decisions by low and middle income earners in particular. And so what you'll find from our Government as we manage the Australian economy through its biggest set of challenges since the Great Depression is you'll find us highly responsive. You'll find us highly cautious. We'll be targeted. We will be proportionate. And where necessary, it will be temporary and has been. That has been necessary with the stimulus we put into the economy. But the longer term prospects like we're seeing here in our manufacturing industries in particular, we will make the investments that build the strength of the economy longer term. But whether it's in manufacturing or in digital transformation, in this Budget, there was $800 million that was going towards digital transformation of our economy. That's going to support everything from a local coffee shop to get paid more quickly and to pay their suppliers more quickly to some of the largest companies in this country. So this is a broad-based plan. So we will continue to implement our plans, but be careful to monitor the situation very carefully and to respond and upgrade as necessary.
JOURNALIST: You sit on the National Security Council, we're told that this is a done deal to buy the Apaches. That’s 496 jobs.
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve already given my response to that.
JOURNALIST: You didn’t answer the question.
PRIME MINISTER: These are matters of national security and I don't discuss matters of national security during press conferences.
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned about keeping the manufacturing jobs here in Queensland?
PRIME MINISTER: I am and that's why we're here today. We are keeping manufacturing jobs in Queensland through the record investments we have in our defence industry.
JOURNALIST: Steven Miles has accused you of taking a week off running the country to run the LNP’s campaign. What do you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: I think this guy's got to grow up. I really think he does. The defence of our country is a serious business. Managing the Australia economy out of the worst recession, the COVID recession, since the Great Depression, is serious. And I think those sort of careless and juvenile remarks reflect terribly on him. Being Prime Minister is the greatest responsibility that anyone could have in public life. And to be here to talk to Queenslanders this week about how our Budget and our economic plans are going to get Queenslanders back into work. That may have been something that has escaped him, but it certainly hasn't escaped me. So I've noticed that he's made the odd remark about us. And I’d encourage him to focus on doing his job and to frankly grow up.
JOURNALIST: If we can’t travel to the UK and Europe until 2022, where can we go and what is the plan for a travel bubble?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the first step of that is New Zealand And it will be very soon that New Zealanders who are on the paddock I think right about now with the Wallabies over there in Wellington - go the Wallabies, I haven't seen the score - but they will be the first and they will be able to come to New South Wales and to the ACT and the Northern Territory. Now, the reason they won't be able to come to Queensland is because there is still a requirement for them to quarantine for two weeks here in Queensland. Now, when that is no longer necessary, great, it will be tremendous for the Queensland tourism industry that that would be possible. But the reason we can't have it up in there because it will take up places in the quarantine capacity here in Queensland that will prevent Australians, Queenslanders, coming home to Queensland from overseas. So I look forward to a time when that can be safely done.
From there, we are already talking to those in the Pacific family. I have had a number of discussions with Pacific leaders this week. There have also been discussions that I've had a number of discussions with Pacific leaders this week. There have also been discussions I have had with the Prime Minister of Japan. The Foreign Minister this week has been talking to the Prime Minister of Singapore. And so there are a number of other countries. I've already also had discussions with the President of Korea, South Korea. There are a number of countries that have performed well on the health front and Australia and those countries are one of a handful of countries that have had the same level of success. But we have to go cautiously, very, very cautiously. COVID-19 hasn't gone anywhere. It's still there. And it is no less aggressive today than it was six months ago. And we need to keep the habit of COVID safe behaviours, whether it's here in Queensland or New South Wales or Victoria or Western Australia or anywhere else. Borders don't protect you from the virus. The virus moves. And if infections are created here in Queensland or anywhere else, for that matter, it is the testing and the tracing regimes and of course, the social distancing and other COVID safe behaviours that are really, really necessary. So we've got to keep our guard up. And that guard is not just about borders where they've been put in place. We only want borders to be there for as long as they have to be there and only for medical reasons. As I said yesterday, there's no quibble with the border. The issue is that they should only be there as long as they have to be, because you've got to balance the economics with the health and then they can be safely opened. I hope that's very soon, but that is not a decision for me to make.
JOURNALIST: On your youth wage subsidy scheme, are you prepared to make any concessions to get that through the Senate by Christmas?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I wouldn't see why I'd have to. Why would the Labor Party want to oppose getting young people into work? I mean, if the Labor Party wants to oppose young people going into work, I’ll let them explain that. And I think the Australian people will make their own judgement on them. I'm not aware that that's their position. I'm not aware of many of their positions, to be honest. There was an opportunity this week for the Leader of the Opposition to put aside once and for all their plan for higher taxes. They took them to the last election and they're still standing by all of them. And so it's hard to know what their positions are. The Leader of the Opposition likes to have a bet each way on pretty much everything and he seems to be having that on taxes.
JOURNALIST: On those lines on party politics, yesterday you suggested that if the Fecklington government is elected, that it would be good for Queensland because more projects would come through. Are you saying you will disadvantage the state if they have a Labor government?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, I'm always happy to work with the Queensland government. Always happy to. We've had some frustrations, they haven't been, I mean, I have been pretty transparent about that. We've made progress. I'd like to make more progress. Always do. I just want to see Queenslanders in jobs. And anyone who's got a plan to get Queenslanders has jobs, which Deb Frecklington has and the LNP, well, we've got a lot to work with, a lot in common, a lot in common when it comes to getting Queenslanders into it. Thanks very much for your time.
Prime Minister Opens New Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence
11 October 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Defence, Minister for Defence Industry
The Morrison Government has officially opened Rheinmetall Defence Australia’s Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) in Redbank, Queensland, which will see hundreds of long-term jobs created for Queensland workers.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the new defence industry facility in Redbank is part of the Economic Recovery Plan to create jobs as the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are committed to keeping Australians safe, while protecting the nation’s interests in a rapidly changing global environment,” the Prime Minister said.
“This week’s budget has seen the Federal Government bring forward $1 billion worth of capability projects and reservist days to support jobs, the Australian defence industry and the wider economy.”
“This Queensland centre will be where some of the most advanced armoured vehicles in the world will be produced, by Australian workers.”
“The MILVEHCOE will create more than 450 long-term jobs and become a national asset for military vehicles.”
The Prime Minister also congratulated Rheinmetall Defence Australia for securing work to export at least 30 Lance Turrets from MILVEHCOE to Hungary.
“This is a significant export order, and a clear demonstration of the Government’s commitment to supporting Australian defence industry to achieve export success,” Mr Morrison said.
“We make things in Australia. We do it well. And this is an example of how we are continuing to make things in Australia.”
“Defence is one of six priority areas under our $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy and is backed by measures from Tuesday’s budget. This includes the JobMaker hiring credits to boost employment, a $2.8 billion programme to support apprenticeship and trainee jobs through wage subsidies and tax incentives so businesses can deduct the full cost of any eligible assets and to offset loss against previous profits, for businesses with a turnover of under $5 billion.
Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said the vehicles from MILVEHCOE represent a new level of capability for the Army.
“As outlined in the 2020 Force Structure Plan, the Boxer will provide enhanced mobility, firepower, protection and situational awareness to our troops,” Minister Reynolds said.
“They will allow our Australian Defence Force personnel to rapidly deploy, achieve their missions and importantly, return home safely.”
“I join the Prime Minister in congratulating Rheinmetall Defence Australia on securing new export opportunities. A resilient and internationally competitive defence industry is essential to Australia’s national security.
Minister for Defence Industry, Hon Melissa Price said MILVEHCOE represented a watershed in Defence self-reliance, backed by a secure domestic supply chain provided by home-grown Australian businesses.
“Australian industry will play a vital role delivering and sustaining key Australian defence capabilities at the facility,” Minister Price said.
“Rheinmetall will use suppliers across Australia to design, build, assemble, test and support the Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles and training systems.”
“The work at this facility is terrific news for Queensland workers and defence companies across the country.”
Rheinmetall will use the MILVEHCOE facility to build and assemble the majority of Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles, which are being delivered to the Australian Army under the $5 billion LAND 400 Phase 2 project.
The facility will also be used to conduct integration, support and heavy grade repair for the logistics trucks and modules being delivered under the LAND 121 Phase 3B and 5B projects.
Imagery of recent Australian Army driver training on the Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles is available at:
Doorstop - Currumbin Waters, QLD
10 October 2020
The Hon. Karen Andrews MP, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology: Well, hello. It's an absolute pleasure to be here at Neumanns here on the Gold Coast. Neumanns are, quite frankly, a shining lot of local manufacturing here on the Gold Coast, employing about 160 workers on this site, 350 across the Gold Coast and then more broadly, about 550. They’re a great example of the work that the Morrison government is promoting to build manufacturing, not just here on the Gold Coast but right across Australia. Now, this week, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer unveiled the jobs plan for Australia to lead us out of the recovery. A central part of that is the manufacturing strategy, the modern manufacturing strategy to make it happen here in Australia. We are a proud nation. We want to build things and the manufacturing strategy is going to lead us to continue to make things right here in Australia. It is a strategy that is built on competitiveness, resilience and scale. So today we have here the Prime Minister of Australia. We have the state leader of the LNP, Deb Frecklington. We have my federal colleague, the Member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell, and the state member for Currumbin, Laura Gerber. It's a pleasure, Prime Minister, to have you here, and to say a few words.
Prime Minister: Thank you very much, Karen, and it's great to be here at Neumann Steel. They make things here at Neumann Steel, they've been making them for a long time. They're going to keep making them here and they're going to keep making them here because of the plans and the policies that we are putting in place to support what they're doing. They're going to keep making things here because of their commitment to their business. This is a family business, which has been running for a long time. There are three generations of Australians working here in this business and there'll be more generations to come. But that will only happen, so long as we have the plans and support to back them in. And particularly during these incredibly difficult times over the last six months, being able to keep people in jobs, being able to keep producing here out of this plant and particularly being able to draw on the increased demand in the residential building industry because our plans are integrated. They work together to reinforce everything that we're seeking to have happen. I'm here to get Queenslanders working again, and that's it’s great to be here with Deb Frecklington. But I particularly want to thank Karen Andrews, we’re in Karen's electorate today, and here locally they'll know Karen as their great local member. Others will know her as an engineer. I know her as my fantastic Minister for Industry. And she's not just an engineer. She's an architect of this plan and what she has done to bring this plan together, her knowledge of plants just like this one and the ones around the corner there, whether it's sophisticated recycling technologies and manufacturing or it’s the production work that is happening here in these big sheds. I mean, this is where we want to see Australia continue to go. Australian manufacturing is competitive and can continue to be competitive, but it needs to have the right settings to be able to keep going forward.
In this week's Budget, we continued to lay down those settings and supports to ensure that companies like Neumann Steel can continue to see success in the future. To ensure they have the right tax settings, to ensure they can invest in new equipment as they seek out new markets. We've just seen the exciting work that is being done with recycled plastics to be used in the residential building industry. Innovation, recycling, manufacturing, heavy industry; all happening here on the Gold Coast and we need to keep that happening. And for that to happen, you've got to keep innovating. You've got to have research and development. You've got to invest in new plant and equipment. All of the policies we announced this week are doing just that. Supporting that R&D, supporting in particular as part of this plan, supporting recycling industries here in Queensland to ensure that we can compete and we can go forward.
Now, the other thing we announced this week, and there are many, many workers here as part of Neumann Steel, but there are 2.3 million Queenslanders who will be getting the tax cut that we legislated yesterday in Canberra. Two million of those Queensland workers are on low to middle incomes. That's where our focus has been. And that's going to put money back in the pockets of Queenslanders. And the more Queenslanders we get working, Deb, the more they're going to benefit from those tax plans. And that's why we put the job hiring credit in place here. And that means here in Queensland, people are coming off the JobSeeker payment. Young people going into a job will get a $200 a week, job hiring credit for companies like this and so many of them around Queensland to ensure that they can put people back on again. Now, that's really important because here in Queensland, while states like New South Wales have seen a grow-back in their employment by some 70 per cent since the pit of the COVID-19 recession. Same true down in South Australia, just under 70 per cent here in Queensland, that those jobs coming back have only come back at 44 per cent. So we've got a lot more to do to get Queenslanders working again. And these plans, combined with the excellent plans that Deb Frederickton is putting in place here in Queensland, will really get Queensland working again. It'll get Australia working again. And it will see Queensland being increasingly more competitive, not just here in Australia, but we're a country that makes things to export them offshore and to sell things around the world. And the technology and the know how we have. That's what Karen’s plan, the make it happen plan for Australian manufacturing, achieves.
The last point is about getting more reliable and affordable energy and whether it's the gas or, indeed, the plans that Deb has for lower and more affordable and reliable energy. This is what supports industries like this. If you can't get the gas to support our energy industry, our manufacturing industry, you can't support the jobs that rely on that. And that's exactly what our plan that we announced in the Budget this week is all about.
So it's great to be here in Queensland. I've been itching to come back to Queensland and it's wonderful to be here and in the blue sky state. And it's got a blue sky future, there's no doubt about that. And by lower taxes and getting people back into jobs, supporting the manufacturing industries as we're doing here, particularly things like recycling, that leads into supporting what's happening here in the residential building industry. That makes me pretty excited. Every time I come to Queensland, you know, I get revved up by the energy that's up here and we know it can be just so much better. And we're looking to make sure that's a reality. So on that note, a Queenslander that I know who works very hard, Deb Frecklington. Deb.
Deb Frecklington, Leader of the Queensland LNP: Thank you very much, PM. Let's make it happen and get Queensland working again. It is fantastic to have the Prime Minister of Australia here in the Sunshine State with his strong economic leadership that has saved Queenslanders. Thank you, PM. Thank you to your government. Thank you to the Morrison government for what you've done to save Queenslanders and their jobs during these hard, hard times. The PM's just talked about it. The Queensland highest unemployment rate in the nation for four years. Completely unacceptable. Now, we do need, the LNP’s strong economic plan, partnering with the strong economic leadership of the Scott Morrison federal government to get Queensland working again. And here at Neumanns, we've seen it. We've seen the next generation of workers right here on the Gold Coast. We've seen Neumanns want to expand, become a powerhouse manufacturer. And they can do that if we end up with the LNP in government here in Queensland with the exciting announcements that I have been making this week up and down the coast of Queensland. About reducing manufacturers electricity costs by 20 per cent. Now, it's the LNP that have got that strong economic plan to get Queenslanders working again. So, PM, I cannot wait to get to work for Queensland with you and the federal government after October 31.
Prime Minister: Thank you. We're happy to take some questions.
Journalist: Prime Minister, should Queensland’s borders open on November 1 if that’s not the health advice?
Prime Minister: Well, everything should be driven by the health advice and that health advice should be transparent, it should be clear to all. It should be backed up by the medical evidence that is available and that should be openly shared. That's what I've always said. It's important that as borders are imposed and where state governments have made those decisions, that it be done in a consistent way. There can't be double standards. There needs to be a clear understanding of how these rules work. Just talking to one of our senior apprentices here today who has just become a grandfather, having to travel up from the Tweed and the fact that he hasn't been able to see his granddaughter for six months since she was born. That must be really tough. I have no doubt that that's really tough. The borders had been put in place to deal with health protections in the middle of COVID-19. I’m not having a quibble with that. I’m just saying that wherever possible they’ve got to be clear, they've got to be transparent and they've got to be done without double standards. It's not about the borders. It's about how you implement them and how you can compassionately work with the needs that need to be worked with, and to ensure that you can keep the economic impact of those borders as minimised as possible. Here in Queensland, of course, you can't escape the fact that, I mean, Queensland depends very heavily on its tourism and hospitality industry. And the domestic tourism industry is incredibly important to Queensland. I know that from my own experience before I went into parliament and Queensland's domestic tourism industry has always relied heavily on the New South Wales and Victorian markets coming up for what is always a great holiday in Queensland. And of course, with what has happened in Victoria, then that has had a big impact here in Queensland. But that's why you would only have borders in for as long as you absolutely have to have them. They're not something, I suppose, to boast of. They’re things that are necessary but are regrettably necessary in many occasions. And so when you have to have them, well, let's have them based on medical advice and for only as long as you absolutely have to, because the longer they're there, the more they do stop jobs.
Journalist: The Queensland Government has granted exemptions to an airline boss and we’ve also got other families who have had things like families dying and cancer patients having to serve out hotel quarantine. What do you make of that?
Prime Minister: Well, again, exemptions apply to all rules. And I've argued for exemptions for those, whether it's to ensure that people can convalesce at home rather than in their hotels or particularly in the case which I had intended to raise privately about allowing a young girl to go to her father’s funeral. So exemptions should be there, but they should be applied consistently and they can't be one rule for some and a different rule for others when it comes to exemptions. I spent 14 days in the ACT before coming up here. I didn't seek any special rules to come to Queensland. I noticed that the Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese, didn't spend 14 days. Maybe Anthony is not so keen to come up here, I don’t know.
Deb Frecklington, Leader of the Queensland LNP: We’re happy to have him here.
Prime Minister: Deb has been keen for me to come for some time. I'm happy to be here with Deb and to be here supporting what she's trying to do to get Queenslanders working again here. But they’re the rules, you abide by the rules, but the rules have got to be applied even handedly. Queenslanders are fair-minded people. And they understand when you've got to put borders in place and I have no doubt the vast majority of Queenslanders have been very supportive of that, as has Deb. But you’ve just got to apply them fairly. People understand what a fair go means.
Journalist: Prime Minister, sorry, Deb Frecklington has promised to widen the Bruce Highway. It's going to cost $33 million. 80 per cent federal funding is needed. Are you going to give her the money?
Prime Minister: Well, we've got over $10 billion right now as part of our building the Bruce plan, and that continues to roll out. The majority of that funding is still to hit the ground. What we have done in this Budget is we've set up a longer-term design and plan that can support the type of programme that Deb’s laid out. So we're getting ready. We're getting ready for should Deb be elected and the LNP be elected here soon, which is a decision for Queenslanders, of course. But I can assure you, because I've seen this already happen. When Steven Marshall became, when Steven Marshall became the Premier of South Australia, for years down in South Australia, you had the same old thing. You had the Labor Premier always looking to pick fights with Canberra and I see that happens here. That's just politics. It doesn't get anything done. And when Steve Marshall became the Premier of South Australia, we were able to get so much done in South Australia. The National Space Agency's based down there. You've got the big shipyards that have been built down there. We just got on with stuff. It just became so much easier because you're working with people who wanted to work with you, not pick fights with you all the time. I'm not looking to pick fights with anyone in Queensland. I just want to get things done. And if Deb Frecklington is elected, then I can tell you what, it's going to really change things up here in Queensland because we've got to be able to get moving.
Journalist: Your Budget is based on Queensland’s borders opening on November 1st and Western Australia opening in April. But the Victorian shutdown is already costing $14 billion. What is the cost of other border closures to the country and how can your Budget plan possibly succeed if these borders stay closed?
Prime Minister: Well, the assumptions that go into any budget are a mix of issues. I mean, it's everything from we made those assumptions about the Western Australian borders, if they opened sooner than that would be better. If they open later, that will come at a further cost. We’re assuming in the Budget that the iron ore price is going to be at $55 a tonne and most recently it's been up over a $100 a tonne. So there were swings and roundabouts in any budget. And then there are provisions in the contingency reserve in that budget, which is at a historic level in this budget because we know how uncertain it is. And, you know, that's how you budget properly. And I know Deb understands this well, Karen certainly understands it sitting around the Cabinet table, she hears it from me and Josh all the time. You know, you've got to make sensible judgements about the best information you have at the time and then you've got to keep making judgements. And during this COVID-19 recession, from the very day it hit, the Treasurer and I have been very keen to ensure that we just keep trying to get the best information and you make the decisions you need to make when you have that best information. You’ve got to make them in a timely way. And I think that's what we've shown, whether it's, you know, keeping millions of Australians in work through JobKeeper and supporting those who've lost jobs with a doubling of the JobSeeker payment or now getting Australians back into work, getting Queenslanders working again with our JobMaker hiring credit here. I think that's going to be great for the people looking to get back into jobs while keeping everybody who's in one in a job. And things like our adult apprentice scheme and the Restart Program, which provides up to $10,000 wage subsidies for people over the age of 50 who have been on JobSeeker for six months, then they can get access to those hiring subsidies as well for those workers. So your budget lays out a plan. It's based on the best information that you can have. But this Budget, as I say, 2.3 million Queenslanders as of yesterday were sent a message by the Australian Parliament that you can keep more of what you earn and I'm very pleased that we're able to move so swiftly.
Journalist: When people see that money in their pay packets?
Prime Minister: Well, that will flow towards the end of the year. The two things that need to happen. First thing has happened, we passed it through the Parliament. The Tax Office then needs to provide those schedules, which they already hard at work doing now. And then that goes through into the pay cycle and the accounting systems are then updated and then that will start to find its way in once businesses are able to make the adjustments to people's withholding tax. There are others that come later in the year because they're tied around your end of year assessment. And what we don't want to have happen is get to the end of the year where people have been having to pay extra tax because they might have been taxed too low a rate or too high a rate or however it might pan out. So that's the standard way to deal with those things and what I do know is, this Government has delivered tax cuts like none other, and we haven't done it by raising taxes in other areas. What we've done is we know Australians should keep more of what they earn and that is even more important during a COVID-19 recession like we see here. We want Australians to be able to draw more on what they've earned and not for that to go to Canberra.
Journalist: Just one from Canberra, more than half a million young Aussies have completely wiped out their super accounts with the early withdrawal scheme. Has the scheme set them up for a less funded retirement which would lead to the pension earlier? Or do you stand by it?
Prime Minister: I totally stand by it. What we’ve enabled people to do is use their own money. It's not Canberra's money. It's not the union's money. It's not the industry fund’s money. I'm always surprised by the argument that comes from the union movement and the Labor Party. They think your super, the money you earned and you saved, belongs to them. To rack up the fees year after year after year. But when you really need it, which is right now, and this is helping Australians ensure that they don't get behind on their mortgage payments and they can keep their house, that they can keep their kids in a low-cost independent school, or it's ensuring that despite these really hard times, they might get to go away and have a short holiday this year, whereas otherwise they'd be holidaying at home. These are the things, from paying the bills to paying for school excursions and things like this, or whatever it happens to be. It's their money. It's their choice. I'm not going to go around telling Australians how to spend their own money. That's not my job. They're quite, quite able to know what they should be doing with their own money and I'll always stand up for what people earn. I want them to keep more of it and I want them to have access to it when they need it.
Journalist: Just back on the Bruce, you mentioned you’re getting ready. Does that mean you’re getting ready to fund it 80-20 should Deb win?
Prime Minister: We're getting ready to ensure we understand the full cost and what's involved. But what I stress again is that we are building projects on the Bruce from Brisbane to Cairns. That's happening now, all the way up. And over the course of this week, I'll have the opportunity to see how a few of those are going. But we've been building the Bruce as a Government for many years now and we're going to be building it in the future. Whether it's down here, Karen, you might want to talk about the work we're doing on the M1 and other things and Angie as well. You know, our road programme here in Queensland was held back for many years, trying to get agreement. I was pleased that I was able to come up here, it was about this time last year, I think it was, Deb, and we finally got the Queensland government over the line on a number of projects and I announced those with the premier. And I appreciate that. But, gosh, it took a long time to get there. I suspect Deb and I will come to an agreement a lot more quickly than that because she’s not looking to pick a fight with me or carry on with any politics.
Journalist: How is Annastacia Palaszczuk [inaudible]?
Prime Minister: Well, I've worked very closely with the Queensland government and the Premier and the National Cabinet, the Premier has played an important role in that National Cabinet process and her officials. So I make no criticism of that. I appreciate the opportunity that people, officials, politicians of different stripes and all of that have been able to band together to deal with a health crisis. And I have no doubt Deb would strongly support that as well. If she were to have the opportunity and became elected Premier, I have absolutely no doubt that she would do an outstanding role sitting around that National Cabinet table as well. So I don't think that's an issue that's at risk in terms of managing the COVID-19 pandemic from a health perspective. I'd be very confident that the work that Deb and her team would do would match that, that as has been done by the current Queensland government and that we will continue to keep Australians safe and healthy.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Australian…
Prime Minister: I couldn’t quite hear that.
Journalist: Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been formally charged with espionage in China. What’s your reaction to that?
Prime Minister: Well, we've been providing consular support there for some time and it never assists, I think, in these circumstances for me to offer any real extensive commentary on these issues and I'm sure you'd understand that. We will continue to provide that consular assistance. We're obviously keen and have been stressing in all our diplomatic engagements around this issue that there should be transparency, there should be a fair and just process. And these are the things that we stand for as Australians and there's no reason why we shouldn't expect the same for any Australian, wherever they are in the world, including in the PRC. So we'll continue to provide that support there and work with the processes that have been established. The system there is very different to the system here in Australia, and that can cause some anxiety. But I can assure you that the Australian Government and, you know, I'm often very impressed with the work that our public servants do, particularly during this pandemic. And Karen would know that working together, putting plants together like this, we've got some amazing people who do work here. But I never fail to be impressed by the work of our Department of Foreign Affairs Consular Service. They do extraordinary work. I mean, these are the same people that went into Wuhan when no one knew really what was going on there and the size of the risks there. And, you know, they got in a car, drove to Wuhan and got hundreds of Australians out of that in the initial part of that pandemic phase. So they know what they're doing and they'll be providing tremendous support.
Journalist: Are you going to be campaigning with Deb in the regions?
Prime Minister: Looking forward to being with Deb wherever. She is free to join me at any time and because we know each other well.
Deb Frecklington, Leader of the Queensland LNP: Just you wait and see.
Prime Minister: We work well together and what I love about what Deb is putting forward is it’s a positive plan. I mean, this is a positive plan. The Budget is a positive plan for the economic recovery of Australia from the COVID-19 recession. It’s a positive plan to get Queenslanders working again. Deb also has a positive plan to get Queenslanders working again. And so that’s why you’ll find us joined at the elbow and at the hip when it comes to our economic policies and getting Queenslanders working again. But thank you also to Neumann Steel, it’s been tremendous to be here with you. I am blown away by what you’re doing with that recycling, really excited by that. That is just Aussie ingenuity, innovation at its best and I’m looking forward to seeing that not only on the slabs of Australian homes being built under our HomeBuilder program but on the slabs of homes being built, whether it is in China or the United States or Canada, and also across the ditch. And by the way, go the Wallabies. Cheers.
50th Anniversary of Fiji's Independence
10 October 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Women, Minister for International Development and the Pacific
Australia joins the Government and people of the Republic of Fiji in celebrating 50 years of Fiji’s independence. On 10 October 1970, Fiji took its place in the international community as an independent state.
Since that time, Fiji has made its mark – globally and regionally – as a strong voice for sustainable development, a valued contributor to peacekeeping and a formidable force on the sporting field.
While COVID-19 is keeping us apart physically, we stand in spirit with our Fiji vuvale to celebrate this milestone, which also marks 50 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries.
The Australia-Fiji relationship is one built on strong political, security, economic and people-to-people links, and one that continues to grow stronger through the Fiji-Australia vuvale Partnership and Australia’s Pacific Step-Up.
It is a relationship marked by mutual respect and mutual regard; as we have shown during this testing year, Australia and Fiji are there for each other.
Australia is deeply grateful for the support provided by Fiji’s Bula Force to assist communities affected by bushfires earlier this year.
We have been proud to support Fiji’s response to COVID-19 and Tropical Cyclone Harold, with urgent medical and humanitarian supplies, and with budget support to assist Fiji in these unprecedented times.
Australia looks forward to the next 50 years – and beyond – standing with Fiji and forging an even stronger future in our Pacific.
Tax Relief to Back Hard-Working Australians and Create More Jobs Passes the Parliament
9 October 2020
Prime Minister, Treasurer
Tax cuts for 11 million Australians will flow in the coming weeks after the Morrison Government secured the passage of the legislation through the Federal Parliament today.
The tax relief package, for both individuals and business, is part of our COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan for Australia to create jobs, rebuild our economy and secure Australia’s future.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will update its schedules next week, with software payroll companies to update over the coming weeks, to get more money into the pockets of hard-working Australians as quickly as possible.
Getting money into the pockets of Australians will give them more to spend at their local shops helping to create more jobs.
Our business tax relief measures will also help to keep businesses to stay afloat, to grow and to hire more people.
It is estimated our tax relief package to reduce the personal income tax burden and encourage business investment will create around 100,000 jobs by the end of 2021-22 and boost GDP by around $6 billion in 2020‑21 and $19 billion in 2021-22.
Tax relief for individuals
The package brings forward Stage two of our Personal Income Tax Plan by two years. From 1 July 2020:
the low income tax offset will increase from $445 to $700;
the top threshold of the 19 per cent tax bracket will increase from $37,000 to $45,000; and
the top threshold of the 32.5 per cent tax bracket will increase from $90,000 to $120,000.
The Government is also providing additional targeted support to low-and middle-income Australians.
In 2020‑21, low-and middle-income earners will receive a one-off additional benefit of up to $1,080 from the low and middle income tax offset (LMITO).
Together, bringing forward Stage two and providing the additional LMITO means more than 11 million Australian taxpayers will get a tax cut, with effect from 1 July this year.
Tax relief for business
Businesses with a turnover of up to $5 billion are now able to immediately deduct the full cost of eligible depreciable assets as long as they are first used or installed by 30 June 2022.
This will help to rebuild our economy and create more jobs by kick-starting activity in the private sector.
To complement this, the Government will also temporarily allow companies with a turnover of up to $5 billion to offset tax losses against previous profits on which tax has been paid.
This will provide a targeted cash flow boost to help keep businesses in business and Australians in jobs.
Businesses with an aggregated annual turnover between $10 million and $50 million will, for the first time, be able to access up to ten small business tax concessions.
This will reduce red tape and support around 20,000 businesses to attract workers and retain jobs.
Under the changes passed by the Parliament the Government will also enhance previously announced reforms to invest an additional $2 billion through the Research and Development Tax Incentive.
This will help more than 11,400 companies that invest in research and development to create the jobs of today and tomorrow.
Tax relief for hard-working Australians and businesses is part of the Government’s Economic Recovery Plan to create jobs, rebuild the economy and secure Australia’s future.
Interview with Oliver Peterson, 6PR
8 October 2020
Oliver Peterson: Scott Morrison, welcome back to Perth Live.
Prime Minister: G’day, Oly.
Peterson: The state budget has been handed down this afternoon with a one and a half billion dollar surplus. The WA government is, of course, taking credit. But is that fair or is that due to high iron ore prices and federal government stimulus?
Prime Minister: Well, I'd add to that, the GST arrangements that I was able to introduce when I was Treasurer, which finally gave Western Australia the fair deal that it deserved. So whether it's the GST deal for Western Australia the federal government delivered or there are other elements impacting on the Budget, as you rightly say, iron ore prices in particular. But look, we work well with the Western Australian government, to deliver so many projects. I mean, particularly in the area of infrastructure, we've always had a very solid programme there, NorthLink WA, which is already completed. We're working with them on METRONET. That's underway. And there's new money in this Budget, over a billion dollars for 29 new projects, including on the Reid Highway and the Roe Highway. So we'll keep working with them. But all state governments at the moment, whether in Western Australia or anywhere else around the country, they've got an important role to play in getting Australia through this and out of this COVID-19 recession. I mean, we've invested a significant amount, hundreds of billions of dollars to get Australians, whether it's through JobKeeper or JobSeeker or the cash flow allowance. And now the job hiring credit in the Budget, the bringing forward of tax cuts they all benefit everybody in Western Australia. And the federal government is pouring significant resources to support Western Australia through this great crisis. And it's important that the state governments do the same thing. And that's why the Reserve Bank governor was calling on the state governments to put an extra $40 billion dollars into things like social housing developments, local governments and so on. And so it really is a matter for the WA government, how they achieve that, but they have a very important role to play. It's just not the federal government that has to get the nation through this crisis.
Peterson: Is it the Commonwealth Treasury's view that WA’s borders being closed is having an effect on the state's economy because the state government is saying it is providing economically beneficial outcomes?
Prime Minister: Well, I have always agreed that the situation in Western Australia is just geographically and economically quite different to the rest of the country. I mean, I'll give you a good example. I mean, we don't have the same sort of border town issues that we have on the, in the eastern states I mean along the Queensland border, the Victorian border, the South Australian border and so on. There's a lot of movement of people just in their ordinary daily lives between quite large population areas. I mean, take Albury-Wodonga, for example, and it's one town effectively on either side of a river, which is the border between two states. So the way that the borders work on the eastern states is very different. So you get a border on the eastern states and it has a very big disruption of people. Take Queensland. I mean, so much of their economy depends on people coming from New South Wales and Victoria on holidays. And that's why Queensland is doing it really tough at the moment. They're shut off from both states and that really affects their tourism industry. Now, in Western Australia, we've worked very well with the Premier to remove any sort of impediments around freight moving across that border. But there's no doubting the fact that Australia is better off as a whole when it's open and every state is better off as a whole, ultimately, when it's open. But that's a matter for the W.A. government. We supported them in the decisions that they've made. But it can only be on health grounds. The only reason to have a border is on health grounds. And even with COVID-19, the protection against COVID-19 can't be a border. It has to be your public health response capability because COVID-19 could come in. New Zealand tried this. New Zealand thought it could go for eradication and just hide behind borders. But there are cases in New Zealand and if there are cases that come in Western Australia, it will be contact tracing, it will be testing capabilities, it will be ability to outbreak contain and all of this. That's the protection that needs to be there. So, look, you know, that's why we've had people federally over there looking at their quarantine arrangements, looking at their tracing capabilities, and we'll work with them to improve them. We've got over 200 ADF personnel in Western Australia right now supporting particularly things like quarantine.
Peterson: The Premier, Mark McGowan, is listening to us right now. What would your message be to him about that hard border?
Prime Minister: Well, we'll just continue to work together to manage it. I mean, when the health conditions are such that it can be lifted. Well, obviously, we would welcome that, as is the case as we've seen in Tasmania. They've announced a time for opening up the border. We've seen South Australia do that. I was in South Australia last - the weekend before last I think, as soon as they opened their border and they are going to be better by about $800 million dollars as a result of reopening their border. I've always acknowledged that Western Australia is a bit different from the rest of the country for its size and scale, the way it operates its mining industry. But, you know, these things can be done for a period of time, but there- they will have to end it sometime. And they should end when the health situation no longer warrants it. And states like South Australia are doing incredibly well, as are territories like the Northern Territory. New South Wales is doing tremendously well. I mean, New South Wales has had to face so many different challenges, but it's been able to keep its border open and at the same time suppress the number of cases very effectively. And they'll be welcoming Kiwi tourists very soon.
Peterson: Why does your Budget predict all state borders will come down by the end of the year. But WA April 2021?
Prime Minister: Because that's what, that's what I anticipate the movement from the Western Australian government will be. I'm just sort of being honest. I hope it's earlier than that, I really do. What if that happens, then great. But I'm just being honest with people. I've seen no indications that the Premier would be looking to pull that down before the state election.
Peterson: Telethon is on in two weeks. I think that was the last time you were here in Western Australia. So it's almost a year. Will you be coming over this year?
Prime Minister: Well, I can’t. The borders are closed, I’m not allowed.
Peterson: On your Budget, is the incentive to subsidise young people's wages under 35? Is it going to cost other already employed people to lose their jobs? In other words,
Prime Minister: No.
Peterson: May an employer look to say a 40 or 50 or 60 year old and think I can hire somebody in their 20s and the government will put 200 bucks towards their wages?
Prime Minister: No, the way this works is that it's got to be additional jobs, additional jobs. And so if you're already working for a place, they can't reduce your hours or get rid of you to appoint someone else, they wouldn't get the subsidy under that arrangement.
Peterson: What if you're a 23 year old already employed? Will your boss be able to apply for the wage subsidy for you?
Prime Minister: No, it's for new jobs. It's for additional jobs,
Peterson: So could there be unintended consequences say that 23 year old will lose their job and somebody else is hired under the wage subsidy scheme?
Prime Minister: No, that doesn't work either. You can't let someone go on, then employ someone else in their place and get the subsidy. This is for additional jobs. So it's going to be above your existing number of people working there. And the hours that have been worked there. And that is necessary to qualify for this arrangement because it's about getting more people into jobs. We've been supporting the people you've been talking about through the JobKeeper programme. It's kept them attached to their employers. Now, in Western Australia, I mean, we've seen a lot of jobs come back in Western Australia. That's fantastic. We welcome that, but young people, though, they have been even more hard hit. I know there have been people who lost their jobs right across all age groups, but our youth unemployment rate is twice what it is for the economy as a whole. And the loss of hours and the loss of jobs for those aged under 35 is three and four times that what has been for other workers? And, you know, Oly, we can't have people, young people start their working life on the dole. That's just no way to start your working life. You've got to get people in jobs because, you know, you don't want that to become something that keeps them in the trap of welfare. For those of us who are well over the age of 35 and have had many jobs, we know the value of that work. We know that, how a job gives you choices and focus and the ability to move forward in your life. But if you start off your working life on the dole and don't get a job and you're out of work for some time, well, that can create a habit and that can keep you out of work. We know this from experience. We know through the work that has been done. I know it as a former Social Services Minister. They'll stay on the dole. And I don't want Australians being a lost generation because of this COVID crisis.
Peterson: One of our listeners, Pat, who is on the pension, she said she would love to be able to go pick some fruit to top up her income. Would you consider that, Prime Minister?
Prime Minister: Well, she can.
Peterson: She wouldn't lose any pension if she took a job in the regions?
Prime Minister: I welcome her doing it, there are issues that relate to how the pension works, but we've already on, for those who are on JobSeeker, for example, the last change we made to JobSeeker as we're transitioning past the pandemic phase, what we have done is meant you could earn up to 300 bucks a fortnight and that wouldn't affect your JobSeeker payments. And we're looking across all the ways that we get people back into work, particularly in the sorts of things that you're talking about in terms of getting the harvest in, amongst all the horror and the terrible businesses as occurred with the COVID pandemic and people losing jobs. The one bright spot is that in rural Australia, from- a lot of rural Australia, especially, I'd say particularly on the east coast, where there has been the drought running for a really long time, particularly up in Queensland. There's been a lot more rain. And whether it's in the eastern states or the Western- or in the West, we need to get that harvest in. So we're keen to get all hands on deck.
Peterson: Will there be another WA Federal member in your Cabinet to replace Mathias Cormann?
Prime Minister: Well, we've made the announcement today we're backing Mathias Cormann in for the role of the Secretary-General of the OECD. It's a very important international organisation. I can't think of anyone better than Mathias that we can get behind and nominate for that position, I'll be making announcements later in the year on what we'll be doing when it comes to the Ministry, we've got a Budget to now take through the Parliament, Mathias will be doing that till the end of this, end of this month. But I would stress that as a share of our team, the Western Australian contingent makes up a disproportionate amount of our Cabinet, our Ministry, and that has been the case. And we've just appointed Michaelia Cash. Senator Cash to be Deputy Leader of the Senate. And she's going to do a great job, but Oly the bells are ringing, which means I've got to get into the chamber to vote, so I'm going to have to leave it there. So I apologise, but it's been great to talk to you and I wish everyone there all the best. And I hope I can come to WA soon.
Peterson: Prime Minister, appreciate your time. Thank you.
Prime Minister: Cheers.
Interview with Richard King and Kim Bauer, 2GB
8 October 2020
Richard King: We’re joined now by our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. Good morning Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Good morning, Richard.
King: Thank you very much for your time and, look, I’ve got to say, you’ve obviously been busy as all get out in the last 48 hours or so, not that you haven’t been for a long, long time. But I’ve been in and out of this game a long, long time and I don’t think I’ve seen such a concerted effort by a government to sell a Budget. But you’re really going overboard, I’ve had calls from different ministers asking if we would like a chat and I have never experienced that before.
Prime Minister: Well, we’ve got, we’re trying to get the message out for the simple reason that we want to encourage Australians that at a time of great national crisis and economic crisis, at a global scale we haven't seen since the Second World War, that we're here and we're backing Australians in. We're backing Australians in to get back into jobs, we’re backing them in, in particular those heavy, more heavy industry regions. And, you know, the Hunter is a good example of that. But I know the Hunter has a much more diverse economic base than that. But I want to let everyone know that we know you're doing it tough and the Government is turning up and has been throughout this crisis and will continue to get people back into jobs to help the economy recover. Eight out of 10 people work in the private sector, not in government, and it's in those private sector jobs where we need businesses to have that confidence to invest, bring forward decisions to hire more people. We've got to get that unemployment rate down and particularly the youth unemployment rate down, which is twice what the national unemployment rate is. And so getting younger people back into jobs, in particular. So if you’re coming out of school or you’re coming out of training or university and you spend time out of work for enough period of time, your chances of just then becoming a welfare client for the rest of your life go up.
Kim Bauer: We understand that, Prime Minister. A lot of our listeners are older, and they are very, very concerned that they now have to compete with someone who is basically getting a subsidy versus an older person who's unemployed. We have to work until we're at least 67 to get the pension. We figure we're lost. We've not got any chance now.
Prime Minister: Well, some budgets ago, I introduced a measure called the Restart Program. And that is actually a wage subsidy for people who have been unemployed more than six months and over 50, and they get a $10,000 wage subsidy. And that's got 50,000 Australians over the age of 50 into work. So the idea for dealing with what is a very high rate of youth unemployment actually came from getting those over 50, we can call them older Australians, I’m in that category. We could call them however you like to describe it. But we've got the older apprentices, the adult apprentices scheme. That's a $4,000 wage subsidy for people changing. The 340,000 places that we've put in place for training this year is not just for those who are young. It's for those who might be having to shift industries, maybe workers who are in the hospitality industry who maybe are now wanting to get into a different sector, the care industry, for example, where there are a lot of jobs coming forward. So this is a Budget for all Australians and it's designed to get all Australians into work and to deal with particular challenges in some areas. And, you know, we're already seeing a lot of jobs come back. And one of the ways we’ve got to see those jobs come back is ensuring that the energy we need to drive a lot of these industries, particularly those in the Hunter, whether that's in the renewable sector where we had record investments in that area or in particular when I was up there recently and I outlined our gas strategy to get more gas into the energy grid, but also into powering up manufacturing across the country, but particularly up there in the Hunter. And there was even money in the recent Budget for the Vales Point Power Station, some $8.7 million there. So we’ve got to the power down, the costs down. It's got to be reliable, it’s got to be low emissions. All of those things. But that's what's got to secure jobs in the Hunter and I think people in the Hunter can be of no doubt that we're backing an energy plan that will secure their jobs.
King: As far as I can see, there wasn't any allocation for the gas fired generator that's being proposed for Kurri by the Snowy Hydro, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Yeah, that is done separately in the Snowy Hydro balance sheet. That is a company which is owned by the Commonwealth Government. And what was set out there very clearly is by April of next year if - and it’s AGL - if they do not make a final investment decision on going ahead with their 250-gig plant, then we will go ahead with ours. And so that will be a decision that will be done through the Snowy Hydro board. They are doing all the prep work on that out at Kurri and they'll be ready to go on - sorry, not at Kurri, that’s a different project.
King: Yes.
Prime Minister: But we'll be ready to go.
King: Right.
Prime Minister: But it is conditional on whether AGL goes ahead with their plant. We just want to see the plant.
King: Ok. Now, $920 million, which is a great deal of money committed to the Singleton bypass, the final stage of the Newcastle bypass, which is terrific. But not the $67 million for the upgrade of Newcastle Airport. And local member Meryl Swanson is absolutely outraged about that and had this to say.
Audio, Meryl Swanson: In all honesty, I thought it was a done deal. I really did. And that's why I described it as the single biggest treachery that I have seen out of this government.
King: The single biggest piece of treachery she's seen out of this government. Prime Minister?
Prime Minister: Well, I think that is quite [inaudible] to be honest, particularly as you just mentioned $560 million for the Singleton bypass, $360 million for the Newcastle inner city bypass. I mean, she represents a party who wants to shut down the coal industry in Australia and doesn't want the gas turned on to fire up the manufacturing jobs. I'd call that treachery to jobs in the Hunter. But putting that aside, I mean, that project yet is not at a go phase. It's not off the table. It is a project that our teams are still working on, taking advice from the various agencies and the Defence Force who also uses facilities in the area. So that it's not off the table, it's just not at the position where we can proceed with it at this time.
King: But as I understand it, Defence do regular upgrades, but they only do it every two decades. It's got to be done in the first half of next year. So unless there's a commitment of the Newcastle Airport upgrade, it might not happen for another 20 years.
Prime Minister: No, I don't accept that. And I think things are in a much more favourable position than that right now.
Bauer: Now, PM, you know, obviously a lot of money coming back into our pockets via the tax cuts with the expectation that we're going to be spending that money to grow businesses and the economy, as you've outlined. We got some feedback yesterday saying, you know, we're not going to spend it. We are actually going to hang onto it because we don't know where this pandemic is going to go or end and they would rather save the money. How are you going to get them to open up their pockets and spend the money as you are hoping?
Prime Minister: Well, the majority of the tax cuts go to those who are earning less than $90,000 a year and that's why we've targeted that way, because we know people on those incomes will spend the money and that's been the economic experience. I mean, this is my fifth budget as either Prime Minister or Treasurer, and one before that as a member of the Expenditure Review Committee, and that's a well understood response that people on those lower and middle incomes are more likely to spend it. Now, how people spend it, though, I want to be really clear - that's their business. It's not for me to tell people how to spend their own money. This is a tax cut. And this is even more significant because a tax cut isn't money the government is spending, it's money that someone else has earned. And we're saying you should keep more of what you earn and what you do with your money is up to you. But we know that those on lower and middle incomes are doing it really tough at the moment. And we think this tax cut, which has a boosted lower to middle income tax offset, is going put a bit more money in people's pockets. And that's going to help them get through what has been a very difficult time. And that is also what we saw with the, you know, we had the $750 payments, two of them, payments going to those were welfare benefits and the pension. And there's two more of those payments coming, $250 before Christmas and another one in the first quarter of next year. And that will have a similar effect because, as we know, the pension is indexed, it is tracked, to a series of inflation and other measures. And we know because of the pandemic, that means that wouldn't see a rise otherwise. So we've decided to go over and above that and put these payments into support pensioners.
King: Yesterday morning, very early when we tried to summarise the Budget, we had a caller from, well, Daryl, one of our listeners who had this to say
Audio, Caller Daryl: There's no choice but to spend all this money. They got rid of our manufacturing. That got rid of the car industry. Everything was taken off-shore, all these call centres. Now they’re caught out, that’s the only reason they’re doing anything. Whoever was in government has to do it now. So they don’t deserve any special praise.
King: ‘Well, whoever was in government would have to do. it’ Do you accept that?
Prime Minister: Well, I'm not looking for any special praise. I agree that the necessity of the global recession, which is 45 times worse than the GFC, means that this is the response that's absolutely required. But this is why we put the $1.5 billion manufacturing plan in place, to focus on industries, whether it is the defence industry, space industry, the minerals and resources sectors. This is why we put the money into an energy plan, which includes everything from guaranteeing liquid fuel security, storage facilities for diesel and so on, and in particular, opening up the big gas basins to fire up industries in heavy sectors like your caller was saying. That's what the plan is all about. And that's why we're investing that. That's why I'm disappointed that the Labor Party aren’t for gas. And if you're not the gas, you're not for jobs in manufacturing. Simple as that.
King: And another thing you’re disappointed about is the demise of the Sharks in the NRL 2020 season, as I'm disappointed about the demise of the Newcastle Knights. But are you prepared to pick a winner for the NRL grand final?
Prime Minister: Look, I'd love to see Penrith win it. I think they've been the standout team of the season. And it was great to see, I thought the Knights had a really good season by the way. And, you know, I thought they played tremendously well and I certainly towelled us up there recently and they showed, you know, they're coming back. They've been building, the Knights have been building this side up for the last few years and it's good to see them coming through. And so all the best to them. But it would be great to see Penrith, I think. I think it will be a Penrith-Roosters final, is my pick, but who knows. It's been wonderful just to have the footy on, I’ve got to tell you.
King: And it's been wonderful having a chat. Thank you very much for your time, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Thanks very much to both of you, good to talk.
Interview with Will Goodings and David Penberthy, FiveAA
8 October 2020
WILL GOODINGS: Joins us on FiveAA Breakfast Prime Minister, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning.
DAVID PENBERTHY: Thanks for joining us, PM. Now the budget's been generally very well received. There's clearly a lot of measures in it to encourage people back into work after the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown. I've got to say, though, one issue and bearing in mind our radio station here is predominantly listened to by people in their 40s, 50s, 60s. A lot of them are scratching their heads about why it was that the government decided to put this 35 year old cut-off on the application of wage subsidies?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, because it's youth unemployment that is double the rate of unemployment around the country. And that's where the job hit has been greatest. And you know, we’ve got a youth unemployment rate and this is just the measured unemployment rate and as you know Penbo, the effective rate when you consider people are no longer in the workforce, or hours reduced to zero and things like that, I mean, it's at 14.3 per cent, across the country it’s 6.8 per cent. And so obviously, for young people, if you can't get young people back into jobs, particularly when they're, you know, early on in their working age life, we know that the risk of them then becoming conditioned to being on welfare increases. And then you get a generational problem.
So our government has always tried to focus on getting youth unemployment down and before the crisis. We'd got it, you know, significantly down from where it had been from its peak. And, you know, we need to get young people back and we need to get everyone back into work. I mean, people of all ages, they all pay tax and there's tax and this tax cut, they all benefit from the massive incentives we put in for people to invest, businesses to invest in new equipment and move their businesses forward. And that's all there. And in lost carry-backs, that helps people hire people and keep people in work, JobKeeper is for everyone of all ages. And but there is a particular need that if we allow a generation to fall out of work, then they don't go back in and the scarring will last a lot longer. I mean, you and I are about the same age. We remember what happened in the early 90s, that’s when you and I were coming out of university. And if people don't get into work or out of school at that time and get those skills and get that experience, then a habit establishes and it gets really hard to take to break that.
PENBERTHY: Yeah, I get all of that. How do you make sure, though, PM, that you don't have a situation where some employers try to sideline older staff knowing that they can hire younger people and pocket 200 or 100 dollars a week for doing so?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you can't do that. I mean, it's an additional staff. You can't let people go. And it's - the mark has made before the programme started. So if you let someone go and employ a younger person, you don't get the subsidy. You only get it for additional jobs. Now, JobKeeper has kept a lot more of those older workers in place. I mean, not older I mean, talking about people in their 40s and things like that, because they've got experience, they've got skills and younger people, last one on, first one off. And that's what we saw happen when the COVID recession hit.
I mean, we saw, you know, significant job losses, almost 50,000 job losses in South Australia. Now, the good news is 33,300 have come back. But unemployment is still too high in South Australia and we need to get that down. And not just today, but for the future. And you get a young person back into work early then they're more likely to stay in the job over the course of their life.
PENBERTHY: Prime Minister, infrastructure spending in South Australia's been a major talking point since the release of the federal budget and the data point that underscores South Australian concern the best is this that by 2022, 23, infrastructure spending in South Australia will be under 4 per cent of the of the national total. Our state's population share is about twice that?
PRIME MINISTER: South Australia has been a massive beneficiary of the investments we're putting in in infrastructure and between, since we were first elected back in 2013, more than $4 billion has been spent on land transport projects and infrastructure alone. We’ve got 21 that are done. 15 that are under construction and 43 that are now under way with planning. There’s 11 projects specifically in this Budget, where it's the 136 million for the stage 2 of the Main South Road duplication, between adding Aldinga, and Sellicks Beach. There’s 100 million for the Strzelecki track upgrade. There's 200 million for the Handorf township improvements-
PRIME MINISTER: But our share is dropping away. And so you're saying that's because we've done well previously, under your administration?
PRIME MINISTER: Plus, and let's not forget, I mean, I was just in Adelaide the other day, the half a billion dollars we put into building what is the most advanced shipyard of anywhere in the world for a, that's for the frigates programme. $45 billion dollar build programme in South Australia. And then we haven’t even got to the submarines yet, they’re in place in place out there at Osborn. So there are trucks full of investments that have been put into South Australia to create jobs and-
PENBERTHY: Was that always the trade off? Was that always the trade off for the Subs jobs?
PRIME MINISTER: No, what I’m simply saying is the amount of investment that the Commonwealth government is putting into infrastructure in South Australia, whether it's industrial infrastructure like the Osborne shipyards or it's the transport infrastructure. And I was just with the Premier the other day. And, you know, we're obviously looking at a lot of the important interconnectors, the interconnector between South Wales and South Australia. That's very important to South Australia's energy future. There's those projects. So, look, there's a lot there. But what we do every year is you look at the infrastructure spending profile and you look where projects are up to. And that does move about a bit in the years from now. So, look, as we move forward and as projects get to higher levels of readiness and if we can move things more quickly, then I think you see those numbers change. They do move around quite a bit.
PENBERTHY: PM in this crazy year you've spent a awful lot of time with our various premiers. Probably more than you’d normally care to spend with the Premiers-
PRIME MINISTER: 29 meetings of the National Cabinet, Penbo. More meetings than we’ve had in 15 years, in one year.
PENBERTHY: How would you rate South Australia’s performance in terms of managing the pandemic?
PRIME MINISTER: Steve Marshall has been an absolute champion in that National Cabinet process.
And what Steven has done, is he's come to the table in the national interest. And the National Cabinet, I know, has copped a bit of flak lately for some disagreements. But I've got to tell you, and Steven's been a key contributor to this, we do get in the room and we do sort it out. Sure there’s disagreements from time to time. But, I mean, you've been around federal politics in your working career for and state, for that matter, in various states for a long time. And, you know, more often than not, we agree than we don't. And the fact that we meet so regularly sort of forces us to resolve those things and not having them go on for months and months and months. Now, the way it- when it does work best is when people from whatever state they come from or territory come and focus on the national interest.
PENBERTHY: Given how mature and level headed we've been here in South Australia and-
PRIME MINISTER: That's fair.
PENBERTHY: And given we’ve got Western Australia effectively cutting itself adrift from the mainland. Why not just give us the sub's jobs?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that decision is not yet made because we've been making a few others and I've made that point when I was down there. But the thing that disappointed me about what was said in Western Australia the other day, I mean, states will make decisions and in South Australia had borders closed for health reasons. And they still do to Victoria, which is understandable as does New South Wales. It can only be for health reasons, if it's not for health reasons, and the Premier said the other day, and I was surprised more than anything, that there seemed to be just some suggestion is well we won’t open the borders because Western Australians will spend their money in South Australia. Well, sorry, that's not a reason. That is not a reason to have a border up. And I do think that falls foul of the Constitution.
PENBERTHY: Just finally, PM, the Budget. I thought one of the most interesting things, it's predicated on the fact that we are going to have a working vaccine rolled out by by late 2021. Is that is that a hope or a predictable reality?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, Penbo it doesn't- it doesn't predicate you know, is there a hiring credit? Are these infrastructure projects going ahead? Will there be tax cuts? None of that is dependent on whether there's a vaccine or not. It's an assumption in the Budget. There is an assumption in the Budget about iron ore and metallurgical coal and thermal coal. And as you know, with Budgets, there are a lot of assumptions. And on the swings and roundabouts, you know, some will prove to be more conservative. Some will be, prove to be optimistic. But on balance, it means that the overall assessment of the state of the Budget can end up being very reasonable, as the vast majority of our Budgets have.
PENBERTHY: Does that mean you had to cost, that you've had to cost what a delay in a vaccine would be? What does six months cost the budget?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's no there's not those sort of costs. You’ve just got to make an assumption about where you think things currently are. I mean, there's an assumption that the Western Australian border won't be open till March. It could be November. It could be December. Lots of things could move either side of the line. And it's when all of these things combined together that determines what the ultimate outcome is. Now, it's for the back end of next year. And that's our best understanding now. But you put a Budget together based on the information you have right now. And one of the reasons we delayed the Budget till October was because back in May. It was like, you know, kicking a ball into a hurricane. You had no idea back at that stage what certainty you could put around anything. And so we enabled six months to pass to get JobKeeper in, JobSeeker, deal with all those immediate things and then build to the Budget of this week, which is a plan for economic recovery. It's a plan for a longer term future. I mean, things like our gas recovery, our manufacturing plan, which includes particularly the space sector as a high priority, which you know, down there at Lot 14, which I saw when I was just there the other day. And that's that's one of the most exciting urban projects I've seen anywhere in the country. It's obviously a beautiful part of the city, but it's what's going on in there- cyber technology, space. This is one of the most exciting things I see going on in Australia at the moment, is what is happening in South Australia.
PENBERTHY: Good to talk to you, Scott Morrison, Prime Minister Thanks very much for joining us on fiveAA.
Interview with Leigh Sales, 7.30
8 October 2020
LEIGH SALES: Prime Minister Scott Morrison joined me a short time ago from Parliament House. Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Leigh.
SALES: People are still very anxious and tentative because of coronavirus and because of the layoffs we've seen, what happens to your economic recovery plan if people go, oh, thanks, I'll save the tax cut in case I lose my job and businesses go, well, no way am I hiring or expanding in this environment?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is why we've designed the budget the way we have, Leigh, and this is why we've done it at such a scale, we're dealing with an enormous challenge when it comes to the coronavirus recession and the pandemic that caused it. And that's why we've targeted the measures to those particularly on low and middle incomes, because we know that they are more likely to spend it. Now we'd never tell an Australian how to spend their own money. It's for their own decision. But the way we've designed and targeted these measures has been to ensure that there's the right incentives to do just that. And particularly for businesses as well. I mean, the investment allowance opportunities are through what we've put in the Budget are quite significant, but they all are designed about bringing a whole range of decisions forwards, whether it's bringing forward the tax cuts or bringing forward investment decisions by businesses or bringing forward their decision to hire, bringing forward decisions to get infrastructure moving. That is what fills the gap that we're seeking to do with this budget and then build for the future.
SALES: On the point about targeting low and middle income earners because they'll spend, wouldn't the most guaranteed way to do that be to keep JobSeeker at its doubled rate because on the regular rate, people are below the poverty line. So you give them an extra $40 a day and they will definitely spend that on essentials.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, JobSeeker is already at elevated levels and it will be maintained at those elevated levels-
SALES: It’s going off though.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've got those arrangements for the end of the year, and I've made it pretty clear that beyond that period of time that we'd be leaning into seeing some form of extension of that when we have a better understanding of where things are at later in the year. I mean, JobSeeker was doubled during the course of the most vicious parts of the pandemic and those more difficult parts have also been more recently in Victoria, JobKeeper was in place. And now we're changing gear in our recovery. And we're seeing that happen right before us. We're seeing more businesses coming back online. We're seeing more jobs come back in. 60 per cent of those jobs that have come back in recent months have actually been for women. And we welcome that. So the economy is coming back, but it's still got a long way to go. And this budget will give it the important boost for now, but also building it back for the future.
SALES: A big part of your budget is aimed at creating new jobs, a million of them you're hoping for, but there's no additional funding for childcare. Who do you think's going to look after the children of the new workers?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's $9 Billion for childcare, Leigh-
SALES: No additional funding for childcare.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have put significant amounts during the course of this COVID recession to ensure that the childcare operators have been able to come through the recession-
SALES: No, no, I'm talking about you want to create a million new jobs. Where are those workers going to put their kids?
PRIME MINISTER: Well 85, there's an 85 per cent rebate for low and middle income earners. And when we had this reform first introduced, Leigh, we saw the participation rate for women in the economy reach record levels-
SALES: Why do you assume I'm talking about women? Men are parents too, they’re 50 per cent responsible.
PRIME MINISTER: What I'm telling you, Leigh is- sorry, I'll let you finish.
SALES: Men are responsible for childcare as well. You've pivoted to talking about women, but men should be 50 per cent responsible for childcare too.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not disagreeing with that, Leigh. What I'm saying is that when we put the reforms of childcare in place, what we saw is not just women's participation soar. We also saw the men's participation rate and the overall participation rate in the economy also increase. So the reforms we put into childcare had their desired effect. And we're now continuing on with those settings. I mean, now under childcare, there's no cap. I mean, 85 per cent of what low and middle income - particularly low income people - are able to access gives them an 85 per cent rebate. These were significant changes when we introduced them and those changes produced some really good results.
SALES: Prime Minister, you ask anyone who tries to get a childcare place for their child and they'll tell you, it's really difficult and you go on a waiting list. You put another million more people into the workforce, it's going to be increasingly hard.
PRIME MINISTER: Well Leigh we've seen a million people come out of the workforce and we're trying to get them back. And so we're talking about an economy getting back and recovering the lost ground that we've had. And those, that childcare system was supporting that workforce before we hit this COVID recession with record levels of participation in the economy. And we also saw fee levels actually fall by just over three per cent as a result of the reforms we put in place. But Leigh if you're suggesting that we should have free childcare for everybody well that's not something we're proposing. One of the key responses that we've been able to put in place to this COVID recession is we haven't baked in long term spending. It's temporary and it's targeted and 90 per cent of the additional spending in this budget is in these two years. We saw the problems that have happened before when people bake spending in over a decade. That's not a way to run an economy.
SALES: Australian debt will be at $1 trillion in a few years. There's no prospect of a surplus on the horizon to start paying that down. That's okay while interest rates are low, but even if rates go up by only 1 per cent and they almost certainly will before all of that debt is paid off, that's going to add a stupendous amount of money to what Australians owe. Are we about to see the first generation of Australians have lower living standards than their parents?
PRIME MINISTER: No I don't believe so Leigh. Had we not acted in the way that we have and I'm not sure what the alternative is that others are suggesting, but had we not acted in the way we had, we would have seen a generation go out of work and spend a lifetime on welfare for many of them. I know for a fact Leigh, I used to be the Social Services Minister. When you have Australians, particularly young Australians, go out of work when they're young and they don't get back into a job, their risk of spending a lifetime on welfare actually increases. And that's why we've acted so quickly and in this budget with the hiring credit to ensure that we're avoiding those outcomes. But it's not just that, it's 340,000 training places. It's 29,000 additional university places next year. It's 100,000 additional apprenticeships. And these apprenticeships and these training places and the university places and the short courses, they apply to all ages. There'll be many Australians who will be changing course as a result of this recession. And that support is there for them to achieve that.
SALES: Prime Minister, I'd like to spend quite a bit of time tonight talking about aged care. Three quarters of the COVID-19 deaths have been in this country in aged care facilities. That's 673 people. Those facilities are the responsibility of the federal government. In the past, gastro and flu epidemics have ripped through aged care facilities. We knew from Newmarch House in April how horrific coronavirus in aged care care could be. How did the federal government fail so comprehensively to prevent this tragedy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Leigh first of all, on a couple of points, the Commonwealth government put in $1.5 billion extra in support to deal with everything from workforce support to PPE and training and equipment to assist the aged care sector as it dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. What we saw in particular-
SALES: And there are still-
PRIME MINISTER: Leigh, if you can just let me finish, if you could just let me finish, It's a big question.
SALES: As long as you address the question I'm very happy for you to finish.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I am talking about what we've been doing to address the COVID-19 pandemic in aged care-
SALES: I'm asking why you've failed.
PRIME MINISTER: Well Leigh, I don't agree with your assessment. What I'm saying is that in aged care, what we have seen is the community transmission, in particular that occurred in Victoria, find its way into aged care facilities. But in comparison to what we've seen around the world, 8 per cent of Australia's aged care facilities had COVID-19 cases. Now, that compares to 56 per cent in the United Kingdom. We have acted. There have been half a dozen cases where I'd agree that the failings were acute, but they were not system wide. In the vast majority of aged care facilities what we saw is the system actually deal with the pandemic and prevent the horrific results that were seen all around the rest of the world-
SALES: Still 673 people is still a terrible result. You're pointing out the steps that you've taken since all of this happened. They've been done in reaction.
PRIME MINISTER: No, that was during what was happening.
SALES: They've been done during what was happening in an ad hoc kind of way because you've had to respond in reaction to the crisis. The Royal Commission finds-
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t agree with that, Leigh-
SALES: The royal commission finds, I'm quoting from the royal commission. It finds that part of the problem with aged care is that continually making band-aid fixes on the run means we have not been able to resolve the underlying problems with a system that has failed to provide the Australian community with the assurance of quality and safety in aged care that it expects.
PRIME MINISTER: That's why I called the Royal Commission. I called the Royal Commission because I've been aware for some time of the serious needs that are there and we've got an ageing population and more and more people demanding appropriately services in aged care and particularly in residential aged care, that the needs are far more acute. This is not something that has just happened in the past couple of years. This has been something that has been transitioning now for over a decade and beyond which the Royal Commission has also acknowledged. That's why I called the Royal Commission-
SALES: Prime Minister on the point of you calling it. Sorry to interrupt you.
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry I'll let you go again.
SALES: On the point of you calling the Royal Commission, since 1997 there have been 18 reports or inquiries into aged care. 12 in the past three years alone. Time after time in these reports, we hear of neglect, indifference, malnutrition, festering wounds, a lack of respect for human dignity. Isn't the only conclusion a rational person can draw from all of that, that over the years our political leaders have not cared enough about the elderly to stop the buck passing and to somehow end this sustained political neglect.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think that's a very unkind assessment.
SALES: 18 reports.
PRIME MINISTER: The challenges in aged care are real. And in aged care, funding increases every year by a billion dollars and then the needs become more acute. It's a challenging environment and the workforce training is continuing to increase. But the challenges continue to arise. And what we're committed to do is respond to this Royal Commission of the aged care enquiry, as we said last night, and we will do that properly when we get those recommendations. We have already responded to the recommendations they have made. One of the most important recommendations they've been making is about in aged care. Now, since we've been in government, we have more than tripled the number of in-home aged care places that are available in this Budget alone, 23,000 additional, the single largest increase in in-home aged care that has been done on any one occasion. Now, there’s 185,000 in-home aged care places now, there were just over 60,000 when we came to government. 97 per cent of people who are waiting for an aged care place are already either on some form of in-home aged care or receiving other in-home assistance. So I'm not disputing that the nature of the challenge, Leigh, but I'm saying that it's a huge challenge-
SALES: But everyone knew. We've been hearing this for years Prime Minister. We've been hearing this sort of stuff for years and we get the same reports out of aged care of neglect and horror.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's a difficult challenge, Leigh, and that's why we continue to spend more on it and we continue to learn more about how we can improve in this area. Now, we've all had our own experiences with age. Clearly, we've all had to go through those difficult decisions. I mean, and I've got to say, the aged care experience that fortunately my family has had was it was a positive one. But the needs are greater when people are going into residential aged care. And that's why the transition is to people going into in-home aged care. That is an important shift and it's a shift that we have supported. I'm not denying the challenge, Leigh. The challenge is great and the investments are being made and the commitment is there from me and my government to address the royal commission that we, in fact, called.
SALES: Last week the report of the royal commission into aged care, specifically looking at the pandemic, noted that despite the Newmarch House outbreak in Sydney in April, causing 17 deaths, and I quote, It is unclear whether the lessons learnt from those outbreaks were shared widely before community transmission put people living and working in aged care in Victoria at risk. How is that possible?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the lessons from Newmarch were in many different areas, and they were applied as we sought to deal with what was the significant community outbreak-
SALES: I just said they weren't shared widely. They weren't shared widely, the royal commission found.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Leigh I was there and I know what came out, we commissioned those reports into Newmarch and the lessons from - in particular in terms of transferring of residents are dealing with communications and many of the other issues that were identified in those reports - were being put into practise by the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre. And that was done over many weeks and many months. And it ensured that we avoided a far more severe outcome. As I said, about half a dozen of those centres out of hundreds and hundreds of centres in Victoria were the ones where we had terrible results. But in the vast majority of cases, we were able to avoid that. As I said, Leigh, I think there needs to be acknowledgement in the UK and throughout the rest of the world where you get a community outbreak of the coronavirus, that is being reflected in what has happened not only in aged care, but also in hospitals and other health settings, because the people who work in these settings live in the community. Now, as the coronavirus cases have receded in Victoria, well, we have also seen the number of cases in aged care in Victoria recede. So I think it is not possible to disconnect what happened with the Victorian wave from the impact in the aged care area. That is that would be nonsensical.
SALES: Let's whip around a few other matters. How would you describe Donald Trump's leadership during the past week around his diagnosis of coronavirus?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not for me to engage in commentary on other world leaders. It's for me to work with them and, and the Australia US relationship couldn't be at a more, in a more strong state. And that's what's important to Australians Leigh. It's not important for me to offer commentary on other political leaders whether it's there or anywhere else.
SALES: He's mocked mask wearing Prime Minister. He's refused to social distance. He's misled the public re his condition. He's exposed his close staff to danger of a potentially fatal illness. He's deliberately downplayed the threat of coronavirus to his nation. 200,000 Americans are dead. You don't think that deserves public condemnation from other world leaders?
PRIME MINISTER: As Australia's Prime Minister it's my job to work with every world leader in Australia's national interests.
SALES: It's also your job to stand up for what's right.
PRIME MINISTER: Leigh, what I'm focussed on is what's right for Australians. And that's why we're putting in place our Australian response to coronavirus. That's why Australia's relative success compared to the rest of the world, whether it's on our economic results or on the health results when compared to the rest of the world, Australia sits in a handful of countries who've been getting the balance right. And I'm pleased with how Australians have responded and enabled us to achieve these results, working together with the states and territories. I think Australia in so many ways has shown the way, not just on ensuring that we've been able to suppress the virus, but ensuring that the impact on our economy has been cushioned. I mean, Australia's economic performance during this time, when you compare a 7 per cent fall in our economy in June to almost 20 per cent, 20 per cent in the United Kingdom, 12.2 per cent in New Zealand. I mean, countries like Sweden, they had bigger impacts on their economy. In Australia, we've been able to get the balance far better than in most places. It's a difficult challenge to address, but we've been doing it better than most.
SALES: Would Australia prefer a Biden presidency to four more years of Trump?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Leigh, you would know that there is an election on in the United States and to ask me to commentate on the candidates in a US election, that's a bit of an irresponsible question to be frank.
SALES: When the same question was asked of John Howard in 2007 of McCain versus Obama. He said that terrorists in Iraq would be praying for an Obama victory. There is precedent, actually, for putting on the record what you think is in Australia's best interests.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what's in Australia's best interests is that we have an outstanding relationship with the United States and we have one. And I'm confident that I'll be able to pursue that relationship with ever whom the people of the United States choose to elect. I think I've demonstrated that with leaders from around the world of various different political persuasions because I focus on Australia's national interest. I don't get involved in the politics of other countries, Leigh. And so I don't commentate on the politics of other countries.
SALES: Prime Minister, can I ask you to level with the Australian public? Has this country been through the worst or is the worst yet to come?
PRIME MINISTER: I hope we have, Leigh. That's the honest answer. But this is an uncertain time. If we continue to manage the suppression of the virus in the way that we have, then I think we can have greater hope that that indeed is the case. And I think Australia, as I just said, has had compared to the rest of the world much better results. But we need to keep that up. The COVID-19 virus hasn't gone anywhere. It's still there. There is no vaccine at this point. And we hope that one will be able to be established and prove successful. And we've made the provision to ensure that all Australians would benefit from that should it be successful and go through the trials. But we need to keep the habit of the COVIDSafe behaviours. We need to keep the habit and strengthen our public health systems to deal with any outbreaks. But we can't shut Australia away either internally or otherwise. We need to ensure that we get these jobs back. And that's what last night's budget was about, a recovery plan for the COVID-19 recession and to build our economy, the future. Getting those jobs back, getting those investments happening, getting the businesses opening and moving forward. And then moving on to the big challenges like ensuring that our manufacturing industries, particularly advanced manufacturing and we can establish a new future there over the next decade. They're getting the energy costs that are low and that are affordable and lower emissions and reliable to drive the industries and the jobs that are needed.
SALES: Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot Leigh. Good to be with you.
Interview with Paul Murray, Sky News
8 October 2020
PRIME MINISTER: The success criteria is more jobs and businesses employing more people. Businesses responding to what we've put in this budget, which is a recovery plan. It's a recovery plan for their businesses, a recovery plan for people's livelihoods. And an enormous part of what this budget does is seeks to bring forward decisions that we're keen for people to make, you know, bring forward the tax cut so people can bring forward spending decisions that they're going to make. We want to bring forward the investments that businesses are going to put in place with this new, very large investment allowance. And we're going to bring forward what we want to see people do in terms of the hiring decisions they're making as businesses with the JobMaker hiring credit. So there's a lot of bring forward and plans, bring forward the infrastructure investments, some $7.5 Billion extra we'd put in this programme to have like Dunheved Road, which you'd know out there in western Sydney and a range of other important projects, Mulgoa Road and others. These are important bring forwards that will get the economy moving forward. And when that happens, then if people get into jobs, people get that confidence that businesses are moving forward again. I mean, 8 out of 10 jobs, you know this, your viewers know this, 8 out of 10 jobs are in the private sector. And so that's what has to go forward. 8 out of 10 jobs aren't in the public sector. They're in the private sector by people who risk their own money and employ people. And they believe in their fellow Australians to give them a job. And that's what we have to get going again. And so far, 760,000 jobs have come back that were either lost or reduced to zero hours. And and we've seen, of the jobs that came back, some 60 per cent of those were actually for women. So that's that's good news because they're, women lost a lot of jobs, in particular during the course of the COVID recession. And of course, when we put JobKeeper in all those things in place, as Treasury told us we prevented another 700,000 people becoming unemployed. So what we've done so far as has had the effect, but it's still been a big blow Paul. It's I mean, this COVID recession is a big hit to everyone. But, you know, Australia is faring so much better than most of the other countries around the world. We're in a very small handful of countries that are managing to cushion the blow like we have.
PAUL MURRAY: Which gives us the advantage to really just start to unblock the pipe and, you know, I'd liked it when you were Treasurer and I've advocated it since you've been Prime Minister about that asset write off, which was pretty good the first time it got announced. But now basically you could run off anything that you buy for your business. And that means the only way to get that used to be able to go and physically buy something. And it doesn't matter if you're a bloke who's running a business or a woman running a business. This sort of gendered stuff about the budget, I'll get to in a second because I think it's garbage, but the whole point is that if you are a worker, male, female, gay, straight, black, white, brindle, you're going to get a tax cut. And if you run a business, gay, straight, young, thin, fat, whatever, you're going to be able to go and buy something for your business and write it all off on tax.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's right, in this year. And better than that, the losses that you might make this year and most businesses will be in that situation, many businesses will be in that situation through no fault of their own. But basically, the customers and the business went away because of what has happened with COVID-19. Now, normally, what you'd have to do is you would have to wait several years if you can get through to that when you're making a profit again so you can write that loss off against that future income. We're saying no no, you can write that loss off this year, your COVID loss against the tax that you paid a couple of years ago. And that means you can get a rebate through your tax return, which means you can invest it either back into your business or it might help you with the cash flow. You need to keep people in work. But again Paul it's about bringing forward decisions, things that might have been put off for a couple of years because of a lack of confidence or how they were seeing things. This is saying, let's go, let's get through this. And we're backing people who are going to make those decisions and the whole country will benefit from them doing it. The government will benefit, obviously, because people will be in jobs and paying taxes, businesses will be making money and paying taxes. And that means we can keep all the other parts of the programme going as well. So it is a massive vote of confidence in Australians who are going to have a go.
MURRAY: I remember way back when they have one for yourself, one for the country about baby bonuses. But when it comes to tax cuts, there are people who obviously have bills that always rack up. But is there a scenario here where you need to spend a dollar for yourself and a dollar for the country?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, we'd like people to be spending it in the economy, but, you know, I feel very strongly about this Paul and particularly when it comes to tax cuts. A tax cut is not something the government has spent. The Labor Party talks about it that way. We've spent this much money on tax cuts. No, you haven't. Well, I never give a tax cut. But what does happen is it just says, you know, that money you earned, it might have been in your small business or the wage you got. You got to keep more of that. So it's your money. You earned it. And I would never be so, so rude to say to any Australian how they should spend their own money. That's their business. But the way we've targeted these measures and it is a very targeted plan, we've targeted those on low and middle incomes, particularly those on incomes less than $90,000, that's where the majority of the money is going, because that's where the majority of the taxpayers are. You know, we know that in those income ranges, the people are more likely to spend it than they are to save it because they've got many commitments. They've got kids, they have their challenges that they're facing each and every day. And this will help them get through and make life just that, just that little bit easier because it's really tough.
MURRAY: For my sins I watched a little bit of channel two last night and the best that they could throw at the Treasurer was word games about what you said during the GFC, versus what you said now. Means you've probably got a pretty good budget if they can't throw any numbers back at the Treasurer in instant analysis. For those who want to say, you know, something happened 10 years ago versus now, how is this different than the GFC? And how is this response better than the one that obviously we all criticised 10 years ago?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. Look, I stand by all those comments. I mean, first of all, I think people facing challenges now probably couldn't care less what happened 10 years ago. They're more worried about what's happening right now, which is what we're concerned about. But I mean, what the Labor Party taught everybody when the GFC happened is what not to do in a crisis. And they made every mistake you could possibly make. And the key mistakes they made is it wasn't targeted. It just sprayed everywhere. I mean, cheques went to dead people. It was not temporary. I mean, they, when we came to government, they were still trying to build school halls, almost six years after the GFC actually happened. And they built school halls in places where the schools actually closed down. This was a stimulus programme where they just created new programmes that they couldn't implement and they baked in spending for years and years and years to come, which has been one of the big challenges that we've had in getting the budget back into balance before we hit this crisis. So Cash for Clunkers and I said today in the parliament, the last time that the Labor Party put money into housing, they put it into people's roofs and they caught on fire with the programmes that they ran. So Labor showed everyone how you don't do it. I think, you know, they had not been those those those instances because the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg and I and Mathias Cormann and the whole team we've been very careful to to engage in what is, I know, a very big investment to get Australia out of this COVID recession. But we've done that in a way that's targeted 90 per cent of the additional spending that's happening in this budget happens this year. Next year. Done. Okay. It doesn't run for five years. It's not used as an opportunity to bulk up all sorts of public spending for years and years to come, employing more and more public servants. That's not what this is. We know we need to act now. I mean, take, for example, the funding that we're putting in some $2 Billion into road safety and the $1 Billion we're putting into local governments to get all those little projects done right around the shires, whether they're the shires out of the bush or my own Shire down in southern Sydney. These projects are use it or lose it money. It's there to happen now. We don't want that money spent five years from now, six years from now. That's not the plan. The plan is to make it happen now because they're the things we need to bring forward to create the jobs and the confidence right now.
MURRAY: I know that you can't pick a favourite, but I'll make you do it anyway, which is regardless of the headlines, regardless of the big numbers. What is one of the decisions that have been made in this budget that you are genuinely pleased you were able to get through? It seems that things like the changes about superannuation was something that Josh was talking about a lot last night and this morning didn't quite translate to the front pages. But is there a pet project you've got in this budget?
PRIME MINISTER: Look there are so many things in this budget Paul. I mean, I always do get quite moved when we're able to do things in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and by listing these drugs for ovarian cancer. I mean, we all know someone I suspect. ovarian cancer touches so many lives and ends them around the country. And the fact that we can do that in the middle of a COVID-19 recession, I think says a lot about us as Australians, and it says a lot about what we prioritise as a government. Yep. We've got to do all these things which we've talked about - the tax cuts and bring forward investment and all of these things, the infrastructure, that's all true, but the essential services that Australians rely on each and every day. And if you've got ovarian cancer, that is a game changer for you, a drug that costs about $140,000 and if you're not a concession card holder it'll cost you around $41 and around $6.60 if you have the concession card. I mean that's important. The other one, I mean, there's about $100 Million for veterans. And I know that will be really important to you, Paul, and continue to deal with the challenges there, the money we're putting into mental health. All of this is continuing to make a big difference in people's lives each and every day. So, look, I could mention many more programmes, but, you know, these are the things you've got to keep doing as a government. You've got to walk and chew gum at the same time. You've got to fight the virus. You've got to fight this recession. You've got to create the jobs. And then you've got to give people confidence to go out there and hit it again. And I I thought about it again last night, and Josh and I were talking yesterday morning. We wanted people to wake up this morning and just know this government's got our back. We know this is a big commitment, but, you know, the alternative would have been just devastating. You can't let people fall out of work and not get back into jobs. We would pay for that for a generation, a lost generation, in fact. And that's why we're so keen to see young people get back into work, because I know well, our Social Service Minister probably told you many times Paul, but we know that if a young person starts their working age life on welfare, they are more likely to stay on it than any other person who goes onto a welfare payment. And I don't want Australians, young Australians to do that. I want them to have a fulfilled life where they have a job, where they have choices, where they can make a contribution. Where they can participate and you get to do that with a job. And that's what this budget's about.
MURRAY: Well, Prime Minister, we had no doubt today that the government's got our back and you certainly know many of the people watching this show and myself have got yours. Thank you also about the ovarian cancer stuff. It's how we lost my wife's mum, beautiful Noni 10 years ago, so well and truly something that we noticed in the budget and plenty of families who are fighting that battle. There's lots of those things that go onto the PBS that I always think are the great mark of our country, the safety net and trying to make those drugs as affordable as possible.
PRIME MINISTER: And Paul that reminds me of another thing in his budget, sorry, and another thing in this budget, which got a lot of publicity for sufferers from thalidomide. We are righting that wrong in this budget. There's some $45 million in this budget to support those who are affected by this. It happened many years ago and they live with it each and every day. And I've met many of the sufferers from that. And we are righting that wrong in this budget. We haven't, you know, made it a big deal about it. But I know it's going to be a big deal to them, and I'm so pleased we're able to do that.
MURRAY: Good man. So, as I say, you know, trillion dollar debt. There'll be people watching. And certainly if we had had this conversation two years ago about what the budget would be in two years, both of us would have gotten no chance. Have we fired every shot? Is this every, every silver bullet’s been fired out of the cannon at once?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've certainly thrown everything at this and we have to add it in this budget, and this is the most important one to to make these investments that we're doing to get Australia out of this COVID recession and to create jobs and and build our economy back for the future. That's certainly the case that we came into this Paul with a balanced budget. Having seen the economy generate 1.5 Million jobs since we were first elected in a triple-A credit rating. And that gave us the firepower to deal with this, whether it was JobKeeper of the start or indeed this budget. And we will continue to deal with the information and deal with the situation as we find it. But in each of these decisions, I think Australians have seen us on every occasion stump up to do what's best for them, their families, for their jobs and their futures, so look we will continue to do what is necessary. But we believe that the plan that we put into this budget will enable Australians to get back up on their feet. I know they're working hard to do that. This is a budget that I think matches the spirit of Australians that they've shown during this very difficult time. And we're meeting their mark. They've said it and, and we will meet it and we'll walk this journey with them.
Interview with Ben Fordham, 2GB
8 October 2020
BEN FORDHAM: The Prime Minister Scott Morrison is on the line this morning. PM, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: G'day Ben.
FORDHAM: Labor says the only language that matters is the language of love.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they would say that. I mean, Ben I used to be an Immigration Minister, as people know. And English is Australia's first language. And for people to get into jobs, for people to be able to be protected in our society, for people to have access to government services and function in the community, having a basic level of English is actually really important. Now the way we're doing this test is as you said, people can still come to Australia. They're on a provisional visa while they're here. They don't have to pass the tests before they come into Australia. But once they get here, they have to make a reasonable effort to learn the language at a basic level. And we don't think that's unreasonable. So it's not stopping anyone from coming. It's saying that once you're here that we will actually support you through the English language classes we already provide to migrants when they come to Australia. And you've gotta have a crack, you've got to have a go to learn English. Now, I know I know that in many communities and that a lack of English language for, particularly for wives well, you know, we know that that can lead to women being put in very vulnerable positions in the workplace, even in the home and domestic situations. Now, that's that's an unhappy fact, but it's a reality. And this is designed to help people be more involved in Australia when they come to Australia and to have those English language skills so they can maximise and fulfil their life in Australia. So I think it's pro migrant, but it's also pro Australia, even more importantly.
FORDHAM: Let's talk about coronavirus. We have three mystery cases in Sydney and we're worried now that Queensland is going to reset the clock as far as travel to Queensland. What would you say to the Queensland premier on that one?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, is she for jobs or not. That's what I'd say as simple as that, she's saying she's all for jobs. Well, you know, being for jobs means you've got to balance the risks that you face, like New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian is. And they're managing to basically keep cases to an incredibly low level. They are doing a great job with their testing and tracing regime and everything they're doing here, dealing with outbreaks, getting New South Wales open, Queensland can do the same thing. I want to see people back in jobs and to give you an example of this. I mean, the number of people have come back into jobs in New South Wales since we hit the tip of that type of recession, a 70 per cent increase. In Queensland, it's 44 per cent. So we need Queenslanders back in jobs. I want to see Queenslanders back in jobs. That's why we've done the hiring credit and that's why we've put the incentive for investment. That's why we bringing forward tax cuts. That's why we're bringing forward infrastructure projects. I want to get Queenslanders and jobs just like I want to get New South Wales people in jobs. But for that, we've got to be open.
FORDHAM: The W.A. Premier Mark McGowan can't escape criticism here because West Australians will be locked out if they live on the East Coast for 12 months, possibly by the time they get in. I spoke to a friend last night called Jess and she's got a baby boy, Frank. Frank hasn't met his grandparents. You've got others missing births, deaths and marriages. And meanwhile, the W.A. Premier, Mark McGowan, was cracking jokes online yesterday about Santa Claus getting a special exemption. Well, what about everyone else who's from Western Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I understand those concerns. Absolutely. My position on these things has been very consistent. While I respect the premiers, I mean, these arrangements had only been in place for health reasons only. And the health reasons have to be clearly stated and they have to be reasonable. And it's up to the premiers to justify those things now. I worked with the Premier of New South Wales and Victoria and South Australia on the New South Wales/Victoria border. I think people understand why that has been there and they've been liberalising that now for some weeks. And we hope to go further in the weeks ahead. But it's all about health. West Australian Premier the other day, I was disappointed to hear him say, that the border seems to be there is some form of economic protectionism to lock Western Australians in so they spend their money there and they don't spend it elsewhere in the country. Well, that's no, that's not a health reason to have a border. I haven't been overly critical of the Western Australian Premier. They will make the decisions to try and deal with how they manage the COVID-19 and they've had a lot of success there. But at the same time, you know, economic protectionism, locking people in the state so they won't spend money in other parts of this country. Well, that's that's not the Australian way.
FORDHAM: We're going to look at this research firm in Brisbane, Ellume, that says it's developed a 15 minute COVID test. They've got $40 million from America but says at the moment they haven't had any bites here.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the medical expert panel is looking at that and many other things. We've seen, you know, quite a lot of false dawns around the world on, you know, miracle tests which enable people to go and do whatever they like. And we've got to be very careful about this Ben. We look at every, we, if this is a viable proposition our medical experts will, of course, look at that with all seriousness and pursue the ones that we believe can make a big difference. So, you know, we're open to all of these things. But at the same time, we've got to be careful. You can't have a drug put out there or a test put out there in the community. It would give people a false sense of security. And we're back where we started. So we'll be careful about it. But we're very open to all of these things. But we've got to do it right.
FORDHAM: Quick one. I know you don't often get asked about bikini's and probably for good reason, but we shared this story yesterday, that's now on the front page of the paper today about a girl called Christy who was in an apartment block swimming pool that she lives in and she's having a swim. A security guard said, no, sorry, you can't go wearing that kind of swimwear. Here was a normal bikini. Now, are we going to head back to the days of the 1950s where inspectors are walking around with measuring tapes? Should Aussie women be allowed to wear what they want within reason when they're having a swim?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, I thought they always could. I wasn't aware that any of that had been constricted. So yeah Ben I'm not aware of this story you're talking about. It's not one that sort of came to my attention that you wouldn't be surprised to learn. I'm surprised that even applies, I tell you what though. I mean, as a father of daughters, I can assure you as they get older, I might apply some dress standards and conditions but that's for families to sort out.
FORDHAM: Oh yeah do tell, do tell.
PRIME MINISTER: They're a bit young yet. It's all good.
FORDHAM: We'll leave that for another day. Thanks so much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Ben.