Interview with Paul Murray, Sky

1 February 2021

PAUL MURRAY: Here’s our chat from his office a bit earlier today.

PRIME MINISTER: When you've got these new virulent strains like we had in Brisbane, you don't know what you don't know. And they move a lot more quickly. Now the breadth of how far this is applied, obviously is different to what happened in the northern beaches, which was a much more localised lockdown. Right from the outset I mean, I've never had an issue with a localised lockdown. And what you saw in the northern beaches in particular was a good example of that. But it was the same we saw in north west Tasmania quite a long period of time earlier on in the pandemic. You do want to give your contact tracers a head start with something like this, because it can move very fast. I mean what we saw in Victoria with that second wave was devastating. And so, getting on top of it quickly is important. But at the end of the day, these are balanced judgements you've got to make. For those who are watching from Western Australia, I mean, this is quite a shock. I mean, you've had a very good run there and that's great. But this type of event was not unforeseen. And we've always said that, you know, this idea of eradication well, you know, people are coming home. You can't stop Australians coming home.

MURRAY: But also, it feels like several times last year we were talking about the new normal, but it feels like the new normal is one case equals shut it all down? Happened in Brisbane, close the borders to New Zealand, happens now in Perth, there was the Adelaide situation. Is this the new normal where we're going to get used to lockdowns, for one case?

PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't think so. I actually don't think that. I think what we've seen in Brisbane, what we saw in Perth now and what we saw in New Zealand, that was related to new virulent strain cases and you know that one case can turn, you could be at 100 today. In not a very long period of time. And that's what we're seeing overseas. When I speak to European leaders, I mean, they weren’t even doing genomic testing on the strains that were going through their countries, and that's why their case numbers were exploding. And so you get to that stage, you can't stop it then. And so, you know, you've just got to take this one day at a time. So this idea of a new normal, this is how it's going to be- it's just dealing with what's in front of us, now the vaccine starts being implemented our best understanding our best timing at the moment is at the end of this month. And while that's not a guarantee against transmissibility as the vaccine rolls out, I think this will see over the course of the year - because it takes some time, then we'll see the practises change too.

MURRAY: Is this, is there a number written down somewhere that is the tipping point of X number of people vaccinated equals we- when cases pop up we don't have to go back into lockdown? Is there a you know, 25 per cent is good, or it's 100?

PRIME MINISTER: No, it's look, it's all it's all degrees and it's all based on, you know, the situation at the time. I mean, the virus writes the rules, not you or I, and not chief health officers or chief medical officers either. It's their job to try and understand it as best as they possibly can and give us the best advice they can. But at the end of the day, it's leaders that have to make decisions. We don't and I don't delegate my decision making responsibility to the chief medical officer. I listen to him very carefully. But ultimately, I know the decisions I take, are the decisions I have to take. And that's the same for all the premiers and chief ministers as well. And you have got to take responsibility for those. And today I was making that point, that when you're managing something like this, then if there are consequences to the decisions that you've made, well you don't get a free pass on those.

MURRAY: There's a political calculation that seems to be at the heart of some people's operations, which is win state elections by closing the borders and then presumably at some point in the next 18 months, Scott Morrison and a Liberal Party are up for re-election. So if the economy is in any way indented because of closing borders, it'll be his fault. We saw that out of Queensland last week?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, look, the politics of it is not my first sort of focus on this, today I set out pretty clearly that for us to do all the things we want to do this year, and there's really important things this year, people getting back into jobs, people getting their businesses moving again, young people getting trained, going to universities, you know, opening up again, not just domestically, but also hopefully more broadly internationally, for that to happen we've got to nail the the delivery of this vaccine. And we took a big decision at about August of last year because we foresaw that the rush on vaccines was going to be significant. And I don’t just mean rushes from developing countries, developed countries. And we're seeing that in Europe now. And so we took the decision to create a sovereign vaccine manufacturing capability here in Australia. Like we did with masks and a range of other things earlier on in the pandemic. And so we built that, with CSL down in Melbourne. They're producing them now. The first part of our vaccine delivery depends on those international shipments coming out of Pfizer and AstraZeneca, but that moves quite quickly into the broad mainstream balance of population inoculation, and that is from Australian produced doses. So we're one of only a handful of countries that actually have this capability. I can tell you, looking at what's happening overseas right now, pretty happy with that call.

MURRAY: So you said today there is a good chance by October, we could get the best part?

PRIME MINISTER: To get everyone through, that's the plan to get through it all by then, we might get there sooner. Australia- and every country has their challenges in getting vaccines. I was talking to Bibi Netanyahu a little while ago, and they are going great guns over there, they are a much smaller country. It's a very small country, but they've got challenges with temperatures and delivery into quite arid and remote areas. And I said well Bibi we’ve got a few of those as well mate. And, you know, everyone is sharing information about how this is done, you know, even the eskies, and well he doesn't call them eskies, refrigerated transport receptacles or something like that.

MURRAY: Yeah esky mate.

PRIME MINISTER: Eskies, chilly bins, as they’d say across the ditch. But you know that, all of those things that that's what actually rolling out a vaccine strategy- that's what Greg Hunt and Brendan Murphy and these guys, you know, they are talking about eskies, because if you don't talk about the esky no one gets the jab. And it's a very practical process we're now engaged in.

MURRAY: I'm surprised by the number of people who’ll send me an email suggesting some sort of nervousness about getting the vaccine. Now, obviously, I- you or I could not convince the people who think that, you know, there’s microchips and DNA changing and all of that. But what do you want to say to people watching us tonight about why they've got to get that jab as soon as possible and why you can trust that just like you’d trust any other jab?

PRIME MINISTER: I take my kids to get vaccinated in this country, because I want them to be healthy and I want them to be protected from things that can seriously harm them. And when I'm- Jenny and I make that decision, we do it on the basis that we know because if I call Professor Skerritt, who heads the Therapeutic Goods Administration, who's gone over the ins and outs of this vaccine backwards and forwards, up and down every which way. And he's worked out that it's safe to take. And we have that system in this country, which means about 95 per cent of Australian's children inoculation occurs. It's one of the world's leading inoculation and vaccination rates, and it's the same process. We’ve ensured that process has not changed in any way, it is not- we are one of a few countries that have not gone down an emergency vaccination pathway, and that means the TGA has done the job. And so in the same way, I would take my own child to be vaccinated, well it’s usually Jenny that does it most of the time I think as you and I both know,

MURRAY: Lets be honest, lets be honest.

PRIME MINISTER: Anyway, I happily endorse and encourage for that to happen, then I will do the same, and I'll take my mum, you know, I think on this one I know some older Australians might be a bit nervous about it as well. I think we've seen a bit of that in the response maybe many of your viewers listening right now, in the same way that you used to take your kids to get vaccinated. And I remember going with my mum and you walked in and there was a big table of little teaspoons with, with pink, something pink in there, I had no idea what it was but she told me I had to take it and then bang in the arm. And Mum told me took me to that, well, I'll take mum this time, you know, I think families have got to look after each other. And why? Because it helps all of us.

MURRAY: I was interested to see today you were very clear about saying basically the blank cheques are done. You've- you in terms of budget responses, you responded to the emergency triage and now we are in recovery, 90 per cent of jobs lost in the pandemic are back. That all supposes that we don't get third waves, fourth waves, fifth waves, all of that right. But set the expectation for everyone, because I can feel the politics between now and March is about JobKeeper. The politics from March till the end of the year is what about this industry? What about that industry? What do you mean when you say blank cheque is done?

PRIME MINISTER: I think one of the mistakes, and I doubt it’s been your viewers who've made this mistake or you Paul, but some formed the view that when we step forward with JobKeeper, this was some sort of ideological overhaul of the government, that was just complete rubbish. It was necessary. It was an emergency. You know, you throw a life raft in when someone needs assistance in that situation. But when, but times change, you get past the crisis, you get past the immediate emergency. We did it because we needed to do it. And had we not done it, we know, for example, that some 700,000 more Australians would have lost their jobs. And so as we're moving into this year, as 90 per cent of the jobs are back and we know there are still industries and sectors and businesses that are struggling because of the pandemic. But by and large, we're making our way back. And at some point, you gotta flick over and you've got to go from, okay, we don't need the emergency support- it’s a bit like going from ICU to an in-patient. And then you're an outpatient. You go in for a bit of physio and that sort of thing. And then, you know, you're back like you and I and running marathons all the time. And you get to that. But that's where we're going. And so you don't take the antibiotics forever. You know, the course comes to a conclusion.

MURRAY: There's a lot of people in this building and you were at the Press Club, my apologies, where the bubble got it’s chance to ask you-

PRIME MINISTER: I’m sure you were sorely missed,

MURRAY: The feeling is quite mutual. You were asked about if Australia was systemically racist. You were asked about, almost everything other than vaccines, practical things. Last week, endless conversations about Albo's team and all the rest. It feels like there's a lot of people who want to get back to business as normal and politics as normal. And you're not reforming enough this, and you're not doing enough that. What do you say to those who want to drag- I’m not just talking about the media, I’m talking about all the politicians and all the people who want to take us back to pretending that we're not where we are, which is a lovely island in a lot of crazy at the moment?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. So we're not there yet. You know, we are still a long way from where we need to be, and there's still a lot of difficult ground to cover. And so my focus hasn't altered, nor of that of my entire team. We're not back to where we fully were prior to this pandemic. We're not back to where we want to and building for where we need to go in the future. We're dealing with a world that is changing rapidly and COVID-19 has accelerated some of those negative, those negative trends that have really impacted on the world, becoming a lot more unpredictable. And we face a lot of challenges there. You know, in 2021, I know what we have to get through. But, you know, the way we get through as Australians and I said this on Australia Day, is we choose to be optimistic. Chris Richardson said something really good the other day. He said, you know what? The glass is a little bit better than half full. You know, this is the half empty half full thing, it’s a little bit better than half full, and it’s filling up. And the optimism is what gets us through. And it's not a sort of a vain sort of romantic optimism. It is, it's real because it's based on something real, which is Australian's tenacity and the way we get through stuff and we focus and we get there. So we’ve got a lot of that to do this year. I mean down here in this place, you know people talk about elections and all that sort of thing. The election’s due in 2022. This year, I’ve got to get people back in the jobs, I’ve got to get businesses back open, we’ve got to roll out a vaccine. You know, I've got to keep delivering the services in hospitals and in mental health something- and you and I have talked about a lot and there is a lot of goodwill between I and the premiers and chief ministers. I know your listeners would be going, yeah, but you argue about everything else. And there's a fair bit of that, I admit. But, you know, we have one of the few countries that at least we're all talking, you know, we might have been disagreeing, but in so many other countries, in their federations, they weren't even talking. You know I can bring them together. And, you know, you play the percentages on this stuff, to use a rugby league terminology. You know, if you can get 80 per cent of something that's better than 100 per cent of nothing. And and that's how we need to progress this year. And the others, they can make their noise on whatever they like. But I just want Australians in a job. I want them to feel confident about their health and their safety this year and Australia's place in the world, and that when they go to the doctor, when they send their kids to school, when they- there’s some big change we need to make in aged care this year or their mental health needs helping, they know we're focussing on that.

MURRAY: Alright speed round now, because I've taking up too much of your time. I appreciate it very much. OK, when do you expect to speak to President Biden?

PRIME MINISTER: Soon.

MURRAY: He calls you, or you call him? How does it work?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh it’s set up between the two of us yeah. I mean, he's getting to, there's a number of countries now, you know India, South Korea, and Australia who are in a similar- we've already had one conversation a while back and that was good.

MURRAY: I've talked a lot last week about New Zealand maybe changing its priorities a little bit or China helping them change their priorities, they’re part of five eyes, but they wouldn't sign up to a joint statement about Hong Kong. There was the ministerial comments late last week. How important is it that New Zealand is all in on Five Eyes, not trying to keep an eye somewhere else as well?

PRIME MINISTER: I’ll make a couple of points. First one is, what they ultimately signed up to with China only brings effectively their trade agreement to where we already were, but the Five Eyes is really important. And so are liberal market democracies, the OECD - Matthias Cormann that we put forward. He’s doing really well. And we're in the last couple now, which is, you know, it's fantastic. But all of these countries need to align more. You know, there's another view about how the world should run and then there is the view that we hold as liberal democracies, free market democracies, business led economies, and on security issues and intelligence and how we work together to support our region and see them be sovereign and independent, that we can keep open seas, that there aren’t parts of the world's oceans or seas that are inside and outside clubs. And this is very important not just to Australia, but all liberal democracies. I don't take the view that, you know, every systems as good as the other. If that was the case, you know, we’d flip a coin each day, and decide which way you run the country on you know, are we going to run under an authoritarian regime or liberal democracy, nope liberal democracy all the way, forever.

MURRAY: Correct.

PRIME MINISTER: And we've got to continue to maintain our vigilance over this. And to do that, we've got to stick together on this stuff. It's very important.

MURRAY: But just on that, do you believe Google is going to pull the plug on Australia?

PRIME MINISTER: I tell you, Microsoft would be pretty happy if they did. Talking to Satya who runs Microsoft, Bing- Bing would go off. So no, look, I'm going to be having a chat with the head of Google very soon again, I've spoken to them before. We are just trying to find a way through here. We all- neither do we want everybody stuck in the courts forever either, we'll just find a sensible way through here. But the thing about the digital world- and we’ve got kids, I mean, I worry about kids online and all of this as we all do. It can be a very unsafe place. And, you know, the golden rule for me is, is what happens in the real world has to happen on the digital world. Just the same rules. You know, you can't behave in an uncompetitive way. You can't, you know, abuse people and carry on like a goose, although plenty seem to, I don’t think you should have a rule necessarily against all that. But you’re still being a goose. And we have to ensure that that world, which is increasingly part of our lives, runs on the same set of rules. And a lot of the regulation and how taxation works, antitrust competition laws, they've got to catch up. And, you know, you can't have these platforms with a business model, which is about being in the Wild West forever. The sheriff turns up eventually and they might go through a few of them. But I'll tell you what, the sheriff eventually gets the rule of law in place in this world. And it's very important it does, because our media and as much as you and I both love them and at the same time might be frustrated from time to time, that's a good thing. And it's important that our commercial media, not just the taxpayer funded media, is present and thriving. And because that's what upholds liberal democracies.

MURRAY: Bloody oath. Now can I present you with what might be the first potential controversy of 2021.

PRIME MINISTER: Oh dear.

MURRAY: Would you like to declare now early and on national television, will you be going to the football this year?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh yeah.

MURRAY: Okay.

PRIME MINISTER: Oh I can't wait. I'm looking forward to Matty Moylan playing a lot of games this year and he looks like he's pumped for it as well. You know, there's nothing more optimistic than a sharks supporter at the beginning of the season.

MURRAY: Well, I’ll see you for the Tigers towards the end of the season.

PRIME MINISTER: Excellent. Hopefully I'll be feeling exactly the same way.

MURRAY: Thanks for the chat.

PRIME MINISTER: Good on you.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43218

Interview with Tracy Grimshaw, A Current Affair

1 February 2021

TRACY GRIMSHAW:  Prime Minister, thank you for your time. You covered a lot of ground today but I think vaccines are the topic that most people are interested in so let's really talk about those. Once the vaccine roll out starts in Australia, how is life going to change for us here?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we shouldn't expect an immediate change. I mean, what we know is that from the end of February, at this point, we'll be able to start vaccinating those in the most sensitive areas, those most vulnerable, those frontline health workers in particular. And then over the course of the year, we expect to get through the population by October. What that means is people will be protected against severe disease. It means that, you know, we won't see those terrible cases where people go if they get the virus to its worst effect. We still don't know at this point to the extent at which it stops transmission. That doesn't mean it doesn't. It just means that it's too soon from the evidence that we have. And so that means once you get the vaccine, it doesn't mean you can immediately go and fly overseas or things like that. That may well prove to be the case over time. But initially, it's a matter of protecting our most vulnerable and those working with our most vulnerable.

GRIMSHAW: Okay so there are a couple of points out of that and it, you know that’s a valid point that you raise, last March and April, when we were coming to grips with this pandemic, we were told that life wouldn’t return to normal until we had a vaccine and now you know we’re hearing that we’ll still need to socially distance, we’ll still need to be careful, we’ll have to wash our hands, no international travel, quarantine continues, so what now is the path back to normal? If it’s not a vaccine, what?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it still will be a vaccine. That's not what I'm saying, that it won't be. It's just the vaccine at this stage is in its early phases and its full effects on whether it stops the virus transmitting from one person to another is not yet clear. And if that proves to be the case, and that will be quite transformational. But in the first case, what it means is even where you may have outbreaks, that we won't see the legions of those who lose their lives to this virus or experience terrible and severe illness.

GRIMSHAW: To wipe out the virus, we need herd immunity and we need that to be delivered by vaccines and herd immunity most people agree is reached at about 80 per cent of the population, our main vaccine will be the Astrazeneca one which is not yet approved, but it’s not claiming to have 80 per cent effectiveness? So how do we get to herd immunity with a vaccine, our predominant vaccine not offering herd immunity?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, herd immunity we will work towards over the course of the year. The AstraZeneca vaccine will only be approved if the TGA says so and it will be done so to achieve its purpose. So I’ll have great confidence in that should the TGA move to that next step. But you make a good point about us producing vaccines here in Australia. We took that decision, it was last August, because we knew there would be great strains on the production of vaccines from other countries and their supply chains could get very seriously compromised. But what it does mean is once AstraZeneca is approved, and we're very confident about that, then being able to produce it here in Australia with a sovereign manufacturing capability puts us in a much stronger position.

GRIMSHAW: I’m sure you’re staying very close to that TGA assessment process, I mean what sort of timeframe are you thinking that you know that will happen?

PRIME MINISTER: We think it will be soon, but I don't want to pre-empt that. I mean, one of the reasons why I can say to Australians is to get vaccinated, because I can say it will be safe and it will be effective because that's what the TGA is doing. Australians over the course of the last year have bought us valuable time. And that means that we're not in the same place as all those other countries in the world who are in desperate situations and that's why they are rushing in the way that they are. They have no choice and they're seeking to do that as safely as they can.

GRIMSHAW: Part of the reason why we haven’t had the kind of outbreaks and the sort of numbers that they have had around the world is because we’re an island and you closed our borders, so we are pretty much hermetically sealed largely from the rest of the world, but Australians want to travel and people- Australians overseas want to come home and they want to feel free to travel again, they want that normality and they want to see a way that that will happen. What will be the triggers for that to happen?

PRIME MINISTER: I think one of the key things will be a vaccine that prevents transmissibility. I want all the same things that you've just talked about, Tracy, for Australia and we are getting Australians home, we've had over 450,000 have made their way back to Australia over the course of the last year. And so we do want to get Australians back, but we have to manage this as best we can. If anything, the pandemic isn't slowing down. It's speeding up. But Australia, we’ve built good defences and a key part of those defences is the international borders and that's why they remain important for now.

GRIMSHAW: I spoke with Qantas boss Alan Joyce at the end of last year and he thought that things like the rapid antigen testing would be game changers and would become more commonly used in Australia and he thought that maybe this year quarantine would be reduced from maybe 14 days to 5 days, is any of that likely?

PRIME MINISTER: You know we put those questions forward all the time, Tracy and until we can get a clear medical view that that is a safe thing to do, then it wouldn’t be responsible to do it. I've always said from the outset of this, we have to save lives, we’ve got to save livelihoods as well. And whether it's been JobKeeper or the support we’ve put in to businesses with cashflow assistance, keeping people in jobs, the job hiring credit, which claims can start today for younger Australians. All of that is there to get Australians through. 90 per cent of the jobs are back. The comeback in Australia has already begun and is gathering momentum. But you're right to say that the vaccination programme is a very foundational part of us continuing that journey this year.

GRIMSHAW: Anyone in Australia who relies on international tourism whether they work for airlines or hotels or resorts or they’re travel agents, they are going to need ongoing support aren’t they? From some sort of JobKeeper programme?

PRIME MINISTER: The Australian economy cannot be run on taxpayers money forever. I mean, JobKeeper and these programmes have been unprecedented and we've got to be mindful of the burden we place on future generations with our recovery. Now, we have delivered additional support in things like the travel agent sector. And then we'll work, and we'll continue working with the tourism sector to assist them as they adjust through what is a difficult period.

GRIMSHAW: PM is, you seemed to indicate today that there might, there may be supply issues with the Pfizer vaccine? You said that the commencement of rollout in Australia will depend on developments overseas, what did you mean exactly?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've all seen some of the disruptions to the supply of those vaccines coming out of Europe, and that is not impacting on Australia at this point. But what I've learnt through this entire process and what we know through this entire crisis is things can change and they can change quickly. So I'm just being careful with Australians to be very up front with them. I mean, our purchase arrangements compared to what's happening in Europe where people are dying in their thousands every day. And let's just understand that. I mean, that is a very significant global problem, not just there, but in many parts of the world. Now, in Australia that's not occurring.

GRIMSHAW: Alright you also said today that our relationship with China will need communication at Minister and leader level, are you actively pursuing that?

PRIME MINISTER: We've always been actively pursuing that opportunity, but we're not seeking it in any sort of subservient way on the basis of contemplating concessions. We're very open to a dialogue, as we always have been with China.

GRIMSHAW: Does China want a relationship?

PRIME MINISTER: Australia's sovereignty is what matters at the end of it.

GRIMSHAW: Understood, does China want a relationship with us that isn’t subservient?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's not really a question to me, but that's the only relationship that will work. We all need to engage as equals and and respect each other's sovereignty and independence. And Australia will always be very clear about what is in our national interests and China will be clear about what is in theirs. We're interested in trade, but we never we never trade our values or our principles.

GRIMSHAW: Okay thanks for your time PM.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Tracy. Great to be with you.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43217

Q&A, National Press Club - Barton, ACT

1 February 2021

LAURA TINGLE, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB PRESIDENT: Thank you, Prime Minister. You've emphasised the need to wind back spending, that you're not running a ‘blank cheque budget’ as a result of the pandemic. You're also encouraging everyone to get out and get vaccinated. You're spending $24 million of taxpayers funds on a vaccine campaign to build public confidence in the safety of the vaccines on offer. But aren't we wasting taxpayers' money if, at the same time, you don't reign in your own government MPs who are spreading disinformation about both the virus and the vaccines on social media?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've been very clear to point out where you get your information from. You don't get it from Facebook. You get it from official government websites, and that's what I encourage everybody to and that's what we're doing and that's what we're investing in. Don't go to Facebook to find out about the vaccine. Go to official government websites. If you want to understand about vaccines, go and talk to Brendan Murphy over there, that's who I talk to.

LAURA TINGLE: You don't go to Craig Kelly?

PRIME MINISTER: He's not my doctor and he's not yours. But he does a great job in Hughes.

LAURA TINGLE: Well, we will go to our journalists here today, and I remind everybody it is one question, despite what I just did.

PRIME MINISTER: Leading by example, Laura, right from the get-go.

LAURA TINGLE: David Crowe.

DAVID CROWE: Thank you, Laura, thanks, Prime Minister. David Crowe from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. So many big themes in the speech, PM, so little time. So one question on JobSeeker, you talked about the fall in the unemployment rate. We still have a million people  who are on $51 a day. The coronavirus supplement ends at the end of March. What's the reason to keep them in suspense and unsure about what their future is and where they stand on that dollar amount? And what are the factors on your mind when you make a decision about where to set that rate for the longer term? Is it participation? Is it the unemployment rate? What are the factors that are going to decide that rate?

PRIME MINISTER: It is all of those things, David as you would expect. We are awaiting right now some further information on the labour market, particularly on the last step-change, gear-change, on both JobKeeper and JobSeeker at the end of December. Not all that data is in, I‘ll tell you, if there is one thing I've learnt over the course of this last 12 months is in a pandemic, don't get too far ahead of yourself, things have a habit of changing on you. I think that isequally true here. The difference between JobKeeper and JobSeeker is that with JobKeeper, that involves the business community and the arrangements they have to put in place because they are a partner in the delivery of that. The Government makes the arrangements on JobSeeker. We will be continuing to meet, the Treasurer and I, Minister Ruston, in particular, of course, Simon Birmingham, as the Minister for Finance, to work through those many issues. The Australian labour market is coming back and I think it is coming back far more strongly than I think many anticipated but it still got a long way to go. It is true, and Michael McCormack would tell you, and I was up there, in you know, in regional Queensland just last week, the week before I should say. There are real shortages out there. You see, workforce challenges this year is one of, and next year, and going forward, are I would have to say one of the biggest, if not the biggest single economic challenge we have in this country. People having the right skills, people being where the jobs are and where they're needed and ensuring that's plugged into a broader economic understanding of where the opportunities lie ahead. That's why we put so much in skills. That's why we've put so much in additional university places. That's why we're looking to have a new National Skills Agreement. The labour market is very sensitive to all these issues and of course the settings that sit around the unemployment benefit. Now it is true that we've maintained it at a much higher level through the COVID supplement but at some time these arrangements will adjust. Now we haven't made those decisions yet, and we are looking at the many issues that relate to where people are at and their needs, but of course the need to also have them in jobs because you will always get paid more in a job than you will on a benefit. At least, that's how it should be.

LAURA TINGLE: Just, Prime Minister, the way the legislation is written that the Government is still considering, it's basically March 28 and that's it, and it specifically says you can't extend it?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's, I mean, we're still in January- February, today. So there's plenty of time for us to deal with any, any new settings we want to contemplate.

LAURA TINGLE: Lanai Scarr.

LANAI SCARR: Prime Minister, Lanai Scarr from The Western Australian. Thank you for your speech and welcome back to the first sitting week of the Parliamentary year. Right now, WA is experiencing its first case of COVID-19 in the community in 10 months. The outbreaks experienced recently in various states have all originated from returned travellers and we know that there are some very nasty and morphing strains in the UK and South Africa. Is it time to consider a different form of quarantine for returned travellers? Do we need to have custom quarantine facilities rather than using hotels, or do we need to simply not accept travellers from countries where the virus is at its worst until the vaccine can be rolled out in Australia?

PRIME MINISTER: There’s a lot in that Lanai, and obviously we're all thinking of those in Western Australia, they are going to have some difficult days ahead of them, particularly the business owners there. I think one of the things we've learned is we cannot be too careful around these new strains. There is so much still we don't understand about it and they can move very quick. And you don't want to find yourself on the wrong end of that decision when it comes to how quickly you move, I think where these new strains are coming in. So far, we've been very successful. I mean, the localised lockdown that we saw in the Northern Beaches, and I see Jason here, and your community did an amazing job up there, mate, whether it was there or what was done in other places, and the very brief lockdown we had in Brisbane, which you know I supported very strongly. One of the key reasons for that is you don't know what you don't know and with what's happening in Western Australia now, the extent of the geographic area covered, they're matters for the Premier. But the idea that you give your contact tracers a fighting chance I think is sound. When it comes to quarantine, this matter was addressed last year at some length. Now, if you want to see thousands of Australians come home every week, thousands, then as we work through this with the Department of Home Affairs and the many other important agencies that assist us with these matters the advice was very clear that the most effective way to do that was in a partnership with the states which utilised the very significant accommodation capacity and other services that can be brought to bear to manage quarantine in that way, the idea that we could sort of replicate a sort of border protection failure, detention network that was put in place by the previous Government and, somehow, that that's the way we should have gone down, you will remember that alone led to cost blowouts of more than $11 billion at the time. Heaven knows what it would have been now. The idea that you can do that on that scale and that's the best way to manage it, the clear advice from our agencies was that was not the case. And it was also the view of the states and territories, I can tell you, pretty clearly and we've had a good, I think an outstanding partnership with the states and territories, in managing that process. We provide the support. And that is where the bulk of the Defence Force support for quarantine facilities is. But as you know, when we had the recent strain emerge in Queensland we took a decision together to take the pressure off. We took the decision which I know has real consequences for those that, Marise is working every day to try and get home, that had consequences but we believed we had to take the pressure off that system and we've done that until the middle of this month. So I believe we've managed it quite practically. When you think of the, you know, the half-a-million Australians, or thereabouts, that have come home in the last 12 months and, yes there have been outbreaks but that's why we've always said, you can't just rely on that alone. It is the outbreaks and it is the contact tracing and all the other things that follow from that. Now, I can appreciate that after 10 months in Western Australia they would be, understandably anxious about how the public might react having got into other habits. But I'm encouraged by what I saw in Brisbane. That was not dissimilar. And the response that I saw from the people of Brisbane, I was incredibly impressed with. It matched what we saw coming out of Sydney and Melbourne with record levels of people coming forward for testing and understanding what was needed, and the same we'll see in Perth. We'll get it through again. And I'm confident. Because you know when Adelaide had their outbreak, it was the Western Australian contact tracers that came to their aid as well. They've kept their contact tracing system match fit. They haven't had the game time that many of the other states have had and I think they're pretty happy about that but, nevertheless the states have continued working on that and, through the National Cabinet, and particularly the work that we've done about quarantine systems support and tracing systems support, I think that leaves Australia in a pretty good spot.So you know they will get our support. I'm sure they will get on top of this just like the other states have.

LAURA TINGLE: Andrew Probyn.

ANDREW PROBYN: Hi, PM, Andrew Probyn. I've noticed that your, in your speech that you ever so slightly, hardened your language on climate change, net zero by 2050, that you would like to see it preferably by 2050 when it comes to Australia. Given that you’ve said that the solution has to be technology and science based, do you think that in the next months that you will be so assured that you can achieve it by 2050, that you might harden that even further towards a commitment by the time Australia goes to the Glasgow Climate Change talks?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I can say is what I said to the Australian people at the last election. When I can tell you how we get there, that's when I'll tell you when we're going to get there. I gave them that commitment Andrew at the last election, and I'm going to stick to that. When we are in a position to know that, then we’ll be in a position to say potentially more. But that point in time has not yet arrived, and I'm not aware of it arriving, frankly, in too many other places. See we like to think that we can make these commitments and somehow they’ll just make their own way there. If you don't get there by technology, if that's not what actually gets an economy to net zero, there’s only one other way that that’s achieved and that is a tax. That’s the only other way you get there. So my commitment to Australians that I will not tax our way to net zero by 2050 is a very, very important one and I will hold my faith with the Australian people on those issues. So we will see how the technology develops. We will see the great work that Alan Finkel is doing with us and with Angus Taylor and so many others. But Australia’s approach will be technology driven, not taxes driven, not higher electricity prices, not an electricity tax. None of that. The person I have got running our energy policy and emissions reduction hasn't spent a lifetime coming up with new taxes. He's spent a lifetime coming up with new technologies.

LAURA TINGLE: Chris Uhlmann.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Prime Minister, Chris Uhlmann, Nine News. The World Health Organization has said that after countries, rich countries, have vaccinated their frontline workers and their most vulnerable, they should then pause and make sure that poorer countries get the vaccine. Is it your intention to do that?

PRIME MINISTER: We're doing this in partnership with our Pacific family, in particular and we're in those planning phases even now. Marise and Zed have spent much of the summer speaking to those leaders and going through their plans. The first thing, the first challenge we have in many developing countries but particularly in the Pacific is working with their workforce to be able to deliver the vaccine, and that's not a small task. And so that's where we begin and that's work we envisage also doing in South-East Asian countries as well. So I think we'll be acting very much in the spirit of what that is seeking to achieve.

LAURA TINGLE: Rose Lewis.

ROSIE LEWIS: Rosie Lewis from The Australian Prime Minister. If your Government does manage to legislate the media bargaining code and Google makes good on its threat to exit the Australian market, are you confident that alternate search engines are going to be able to fill what would be a massive void left by Google and Australians won't be left worse off?

PRIME MINISTER: I can tell you, Microsoft's pretty confident. When I spoke to Satya the other day, there was a bit of that. Look, these are big technology companies and what's important to Australia, I think is that we set the rules that are right for our people. And having a news environment in this country that is one that is sustainable and is supported commercially, then this is vital to how democracies function. Even when I was Treasurer, as Josh knows, when I would go to the G20 I would be talking not just about are they paying tax and how do we best address that, but I began the conversation, when I was Treasurer, with the G20 about antitrust and competition policy issues that I said we were going to have to address. Now Australia is being true to our word, again. I would like to see more alignment between the world's economies on these sorts of things. You know, our simple rule around the digital, as Paul Fletcher knows, is that we just want the rules in the digital world to be the same that exist in the real world, in the physical world. And that means you can't go around abusing people and carrying on like people do. You wouldn't behave like that in a room like this. Well, I don't think you would. And similarly when it comes to antitrust practices, paying your taxes, all of those things, Australia has just taken a very consistent, and I think, principled stand. We want to work through with the companies on these sorts of things, we want a practical outcome, we don't want things sitting in the courts and all those sorts of things forever. But the world has changed, digital technology has affected that, and we are trying to ensure that our regulatory system keeps pace with that change to ensure that the journalists can do their jobs, not just in taxpayer funded organisations but commercial ones as well. 

LAURA TINGLE: Phil Coorey.

PHIL COOREY: Hi PM, Phil Coorey from the AFR. In your speech you sort of said the year ahead your priority was the vaccine rollout and otherwise a sort of careful stewardship of the economy recovery and getting people back on their feet. To purists probably listening in, there is a lack of bold reform ideas or proposals. You're not talking about large-scale economic reform or anything like that. Is it your view that people just aren't up for that at the moment given what they've been through for the last year, and, in that context, where are you up to at the moment on your thinking on superannuation and having a crack at that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, you're talking to someone who has had pretty heavy involvement in superannuation over the last five years and there were a few more that we've been taking through Parliament. But Phil look, I'm aware of this narrative. I’ve just outlined to you, $29 billion of infrastructure investment, this includes massive projects in Snowy, major transport projects, Sydney West Airport, the Inland Rail. A $5 billion-plus digital transformation strategy. We've taken albeit modest industrial relations reforms forward to the Parliament, I note that’s not proving any easier to get through the Parliament. So I’m now, see I'm not one that likes to pursue things for the sake of vanity. I like to get things done and not waste time on things that don't get done because that doesn't help anybody. The changes help people. The workforce challenges I really think are being underappreciated in a lot of this commentary. I mean when I read those articles, what I hear is, "You want me to put on a carbon tax and you want me to put up the GST." Apparently they are the holy grails of economic reform in this country. I'm not putting on a carbon tax and I'm not putting up the GST. They're just tax increases. That's all they are. Investing in skills, transformationally changing the way that we train our young people based on the skills they're going to need in the future, rather than the rear vision mirror where we just used to throw money around and hope it found its way to someone somewhere, that’s, these are the big changes we need going forward. The trade agenda equally. I mean we are abolishing an entire schedule of personal income tax, an entire schedule. So look, we're doing the things that are needed to grow the economy. And to grow the economy this year in particular, the health strategy around the vaccine is obviously fundamental, but the economic recovery plan that we're pursuing is strong, it's consistent, it's getting done and it's getting results.

LAURA TINGLE: Mark Riley.

MARK RILEY: Mark Riley 7 Network. Prime Minister, what concrete action will you take to ensure those companies that took billions, or tens of millions of dollars from taxpayers for JobKeeper and then funnelled it through to executive bonuses and dividends, pay that money back?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm not in the politics of envy, Mark. I'll leave that to my opponents. We put in place a scheme with JobKeeper that gave this country certainty at the most profoundly challenging period they’ve faced since the Second World War. You know, when you go through a crisis and you're some 10 months down the track, sometimes we forget what it was like 10 months ago. Josh and I don't. And neither does my Cabinet. We were staring into the abyss. And some countries have gone into that abyss. We have not. And the way that was achieved was providing the certainty that those businesses that were facing that environment had the certainty of that support and we legislated it. Six months, it's in. You can bank on that. You can put your plans to work on that. You can employ your people and keep them in jobs. JobKeeper saved 700,000 jobs. I'd say that's pretty significant and I’d say that made a big change. Now, the law is the law. The law that we put in place and passed through the Parliament ensured that those funds were provided into the corporate sector. Now, if there are some companies that feel that they want to hand that back, great! Good for them. But let's not lose sight in some sort of envy narrative that that program did not change the course of the nation.

LAURA TINGLE: Michelle Grattan.

MICHELLE GRATTAN: Michelle Grattan from The Conversation. To go back to your climate and energy remarks, Prime Minister do you expect to attend the Biden climate conference, and do you think this might provide an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting with the President?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, well, look there will be those. At this stage, we haven't received the details or nature of the event at this point. As you can appreciate, things are very busy over in the White House at the moment, and they will be communicating that to us and then I'm sure the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne and I, and Angus Taylor, and others, will discuss what is the best way for us to participate in that and how that will work. But we welcome it and we look forward to supporting it.

LAURA TINGLE: Prime Minister, the ABC is extending by 10 minutes, the broadcast today.

PRIME MINISTER: Sure.

LAURA TINGLE: So we're just wondering whether you're happy to take a few more questions?

PRIME MINISTER: Always, always.

LAURA TINGLE: Excellent. Andrew Clennell.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Prime Minister, Andrew Clennell Sky News.

PRIME MINISTER: Hey, Andrew.

ANDREW CLENNELL: Last year you started out saying the policy was suppression, and that we had to live with the virus. And ensure we had enough ICU beds, that we were flattening the curve. Now you've supported the Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth lockdowns, despite hardly any cases in those jurisdictions. Have you given in to the view of the vast amount of Australians they want zero cases of coronavirus, none at all? Are you pursuing eradication now? And would you therefore consider, given we're looking at a whole bunch of short, sharp, lockdowns now, some sort of programme like JobKeeper where when the government shuts down economies it helps fund business for that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well the answer to your first question is, no, my view hasn't changed. Right from the outset of this pandemic it had always been my view that localised lockdowns were a good way to suppress the virus and its spread through metropolitan areas. Professor Murphy will remember that very, very well. We spoke about it a lot and I think what you saw in the Northern Beaches of Sydney was a good example of that approach and how effective that approach can be. One of the things you learn, as you go through a pandemic like this, is you don't get to set the rules. The pandemic tends to write those, and you need to work and adapt to the things as they change. And I've heard this, there's only one case. It's not just one case. It's a case of a more virulent strain of which we know little about. And so, I would caution an equivalence with earlier strains and the responses there. The other thing, I think, we've learnt is, I'm sure Victorians would agree with me, no-one wants to go into a four-month lockdown again and by giving our contact tracers a weekend's head start, which is effectively what those things were. Then that has avoided something far more significant. All of these are judgements you make at the time based on the evidence you have with the health officers in the room but ultimately Premiers, Chief Ministers, Prime Ministers, Health Ministers have got to make calls on these things and we will seek to make the best possible calls that we possibly can. You know that I’ve been very respectful of the Federation, and I am respectful of the Federation, I'm a federalist at heart, and what that means is, sure, states can make decisions about what they intend to do in areas of their responsibilities, but they're then also responsible for also dealing and mitigating the impacts of those decisions that they make. It is not a blank cheque. And when it comes to what level of government has stepped up and backed-in the Australian economy, small businesses, medium-size businesses, those working right across this country, employees, and those who've lost their job, there has never been a government at a federal level that has provided more support than this one. So I'd say the Federal Government has done its fair share of the heavy lifting here, and we will continue to as my presentation is set out today. JobKeeper is one of many, many initiatives that we're doing to support and sustain the Australian economy, but it changes over time. You don't rent your economy. You actually grow your economy. And that's what we're doing and the states have an important role to play in that. But I would agree that greater certainty about how these rules are put in place, and I've urged the Premiers on this front, they need to keep that in mind as they put these things in place. But suppression is our strategy. Hasn't changed, not a day.

LAURA TINGLE: Peter van Onselen.

PETER VAN ONSELEN: Peter van Onselen, Network Ten. Prime Minister, you mentioned in your speech that the past year has been one of the toughest in Australian history. What have you learned about leadership over the last 12 months?

PRIME MINISTER: Listen. You've got to listen. That's something I've sought to do across my public life. But I tell you what, over the last 12 months, my ears have gotten very sharp and I listen carefully. I really enjoyed getting up to Queensland the other week with Scotty and Michael, and David, and Keith. I spent a bit of time in a lift with Keith. We got out. But the opportunity, and once again, even over that short break I had again back at the Shoalhaven Heads Hotel, to listen where Australians are at. And one of the hardest things over the past 12 months, I have got to say, Peter, is I've been here, necessarily, necessarily but that has prevented me from in so many days from doing what I love to do and that is to get out and about across the country and listen. I listened carefully when I was up in Gladstone the other day and what was happening with the LNG industry and the oil industry, listened very carefully about what they need. And there is no substitute for that. Whether it is listening to Brendan Murphy and his amazing team, Dr Kennedy and his incredible team, we are well served by the public servants of this country but there are many channels of advice in to my Government and the ones I listen to most carefully is those Australians I get to meet all across the country.

LAURA TINGLE: Katherine Murphy.

KATHERINE MURPHY: Hello, PM.

PRIME MINISTER: Hi Katherine.

KATHERINE MURPHY: Science, as you’ve dwelled on a bit today, and in your references to people like Professor Murphy and Dr Kennedy here. Science determined Australia’s response to the coronavirus, that was your decision. And that’s why Australia has fared better than many other countries and many other governments but in today’s speech, you’ve said that technology will determine the pace of decarbonisation. So my question is very simple, if science determines Australia’s response to the pandemic, why doesn't climate science set the trajectory for how fast and far Australia needs to change, given both, given pandemics and climate change both represent existential threats to humanity.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Katherine, well look I’ve got the text of the speech here, I’m quite confident that I said science and technology,

KATHERINE MURPHY: I don’t have the text.

PRIME MINISTER: Science and technology is what I said. And that's true. Technology is the product of science. So I'm not sure the point you're seeking to make. What I am saying is if you go back across the energy history of the world, you will find that the big transformational developments that have happened in economies have happened because of the changes in technology borne by science. Shale oil for example, in the United States, completely changed not only the price of energy, which drove a manufacturing revolution in the United States, but for the first time, I think since Nixon first called for it, the US had energy independence and that had a profound impact on their global outlook. That happened because of science and technology, and research, and major advances, and it changed the world. And if we go back across all of this, whether it's electric vehicles, or whatever it happens to be, batteries, the work we're doing on hydrogen, I mean is going to change the world, then it comes from science and technology. The science I'm talking about is the science that fixes things, that gives you solutions, that actually creates a path. I'm simply saying that if, and I thought, Special Envoy Kerry was making this point the other day, he said the US could reduce their emissions to zero tomorrow and it wouldn't solve the problem. Why? Because all the emissions increases are happening in developing countries. Now, they're not going to switch off their economies. They're not going to do it. I tell you why they will do it, in terms of making a change, if there's commercial technology that enables them to do it. And that's why we want to partner with them, we want to partner with India on these issues, with Indonesia, with Vietnam. We have got to focus on the how, now. That's what we need to do to get emissions down because that is what's going to change things. And that's what we're doing. That's the action we're taking and it's science-led all the way.

LAURA TINGLE: Science does deliver the technology, Prime Minister, but the point is that the science also tells us what we should be trying to achieve. Isn't it going to be better to have opinion galvanised by looking at what the science says about what we need to do?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, as I outlined, we're seeking to get to net zero. We'd preferably like to see it happen by 2050, as I’ve said. It could happen sooner with significant technological change. But I tell you, if there isn't the technological change, then it's just a bit of paper. So we all know where we need to go. Now is the time to focus on how we're going to get there. So if we can produce hydrogen, as Angus tells me at $2 a kilo, then, we can get there. If we can't, it's going to be very hard. And so, they're the targets I'm interested in, achieving those, because I know they'll achieve the bigger target, which is where we're seeking to head. And if we do that, I don't have to put, and will not put that tax burden on Australians, particularly regional Australians, that some seem to want us to do.

LAURA TINGLE: We’ve got time for one more question from Tamsin Rose.

PRIME MINISTER: Sure.

TAMSIN ROSE: Thanks, Prime Minister. Tamsin Rose, from the Herald Sun. A report released yesterday found that Collingwood Football Club has a problem with structural racism and that the club should publicly make amends to those who've paid a high public price for speaking out about it. Does Australia have a problem with racism?

PRIME MINISTER: I'll give you a personal view. This is an issue that has vexed, you know, countries like ours and the United States, Canada, New Zealand for centuries, and we are each struggling to find peace for our nations along this journey. We've had significant challenges in this country but I believe we're working to overcome them. The Closing The Gap initiative that was set up by Prime Minister Rudd, a very noble and I think an outstanding initiative,  one which I supported and our party room supported at the time, but we had to get beyond, we had to get beyond what was a very noble intent and actually get a much more cooperative set of targets that actually got us to the end of the journey. Reconciliation will be achieved in this country when young Indigenous boys and girls in this country can grow up with the same opportunities as every other Australian. That's my goal, and I'm very committed to it. But when we spoke about Australia Day this year, we talked about, of course, our 60,000 years of Indigenous heritage, we talked about those who first came in chains in ships including my fifth great grand-father, and then we talked about the waves of migration that have come. I believe, no, I know that Australia is the most successful multicultural immigration country on the planet. And when I speak to other leaders, they ask me about how we’ve achieved this. That doesn't mean we have our challenges or our issues, but it does mean that we're very conscious of the great benefits of the cohesion of our society, and where there are problems, we try and deal with them, we try and deal with them. And so, I think that is the noble spirit of Australians. And I would encourage us to continue on that path.

LAURA TINGLE: Prime Minister could I just ask you, very finally, to perhaps comment on the developments in Myanmar today?

PRIME MINISTER: These are rather disturbing developments. I am aware of those troubling reports and the Foreign Minister has been following them closely and Marise you’ve already issued a statement on this matter as I understand it. The details I’ve got to say are very limited, because of communications that were reportedly cut and it is still relatively early in Myanmar. We have been a long standing supporter of Myanmar's democratic transition, including the election in November. In fact I was the first minister of our Government first elected in 2013 to visit Myanmar when I was the then Minister for Immigration. So I am somewhat aware of the significant challenges that country has faced over many years, as it seeks to take their path forward. And clearly, there are very significant hurdles for them still to overcome and the tensions are still very present. We have joined in a statement last Friday, opposing any efforts to alter the election outcome and urging the military and all parties to adhere to democratic norms. We have done that with Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the EU countries as well. So we all hope for Myanmar, we all hope for what I know the Myanmarese people want to achieve. I found them the most beautiful of people when I was there, so peaceful in nature but having suffered such terrible violence over the course of their nation's history. And I, I hope.

LAURA TINGLE: Ladies and gentlemen, please help me thank the Prime Minister.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43215

Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Malaysia

27 January 2021

I was delighted to meet virtually with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin tonight, as Australia and Malaysia elevated our bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).

This is a significant step in our longstanding partnership, befitting its breadth, depth and our shared interests in the security and prosperity of our region. It demonstrates the importance both countries place on working closely together into the future.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin and I agreed that the CSP will be underpinned by three streams of cooperation: economic prosperity; society and technology; and defence and regional security. Tonight was our inaugural Annual Leaders’ Meeting and we will continue to meet each year to build further on our ambitious agenda.

With the CSP, we will expand our cooperation to new horizons to address today’s most pressing challenges, collaborating on economic recovery from COVID-19, economic growth, the digital economy, health, education and in new areas of science and innovation.

We will also increase our cooperation on strategic issues, including the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region, and strengthen our dialogue on maritime interests to support our shared vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

As ASEAN’s first dialogue partner, Australia’s commitment to Southeast Asia is enduring. ASEAN remains at the heart of our vision for the Indo-Pacific, and Prime Minister Muhyiddin and I pledged to uphold and support ASEAN centrality. I thanked Prime Minister Muhyiddin for Malaysia’s important work as Australia’s ASEAN Country Coordinator for 2018-21.

Today’s announcement elevates Malaysia to the top tier of Australia’s bilateral relationships and marks the start of a new era in our partnership. I look forward to deepening the already extensive Australia-Malaysia friendship and building on the close ties between our two nations.

The text of the CSP joint statement can be found here: https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/malaysia/joint-statement-comprehensive-strategic-partnership-between-australia-and-malaysia.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-44041

Interview with Ben Fordham, 2GB

26 January 2021

Ben Fordham: Prime minister, happy Australia Day.

Prime Minister: G’day Ben, Happy Australia Day to you and everybody listening.

Fordham: What a fantastic night last night. I loved it.

Prime Minister: It was quite inspirational. I mean, of course, we have the incredible women who were acknowledged in all of those Australians of the year categories. But when you took the field out beyond that, I spent quite a bit of time with them all yesterday and you could not be but humbled by all of their achievements and indeed their humility as well. You had to encourage them to accept the honour and accept the acknowledgement and an amazing group of people.

Fordham: One of my favourite parts of last night was the local Australian of the Year, Rosemary Kariuki, she's from New South Wales. We are going to chat to her later on this morning. And she just told a great story, which I just shared about when she arrived to Australia she didn't know anyone in her apartment block, so she thought, well, I'll just put a Christmas card under everyone's door and tell them what unit I live in. And then all of a sudden, tap, tap, tap people were knocking on the door.

Prime Minister: That's exactly right. And she's worked ever since with migrant communities, with refugee communities, just providing that welcome and opening up her arms. And she's got a smile, brighter than the sun too I can tell you, she's got a great sense of humour as well. And she's an incredibly engaging person. But it's just her care and compassion that just shines through.

Fordham: You say Australia is a unique success story. Our nation has had its dark spots as well as its triumphs. But this of all years, we should reflect on what we've achieved. We feel so lucky to live here, don't we?

Prime Minister: We are. And we're, as we've gone through this terrible pandemic, Australia fared better than pretty much any other country. And that's as a result of everybody's contributions, the contributions of Australians just being patient and dealing with, you know, what has been a disruptive and difficult year. They're just getting through that, getting their families through it. But all the incredible health workers, the logistics people, those- even now as we speak, producing our vaccine down there in Melbourne, you know governments have done a great job, you know, at state level, they're doing all this. And we've been pleased to work with them as part of the National Cabinet to do our bit. So everybody's pitched in this year. And that's the nature of Australia. That's really my point. Over this past year, this generation dealing with the pandemic has found the same strength and courage that previous generations have to deal with overcoming the many things we have had to as a nation.

Fordham: You really realise it when you receive email after email from various corners of the globe, as I have this morning, from people who wish they were here for Australia Day, but they are stuck overseas somewhere or they live overseas and they just miss what we've got here back home. And that's a really tough thing for a lot of people who are away from home, including those Aussies who haven't managed to get back here even though they want to be here.

Prime Minister: Well, that's true. And this is my island home as was sung last night. And that is, you know, that is I think it's capturing the sentiment completely. I mean, over 80,000 we've been able to get back since, you know, we had about just over 20,000- about 26,000 that were trying to get home. And that number increased over time, of course. And then we're still we're still working on that and still getting more people back every week. But we've got to keep people healthy got to keep them safe, got to get our economy back on its feet, we're making great progress on all of that.

Fordham: We mentioned some of the dark chapters of our history and the fact that it's not a day of celebration for everyone. What's your message to those Indigenous Australians who feel a heavy heart on a day like today?

Prime Minister: Well, the first is one of recognition and understanding. This has been, I mean one of the greatest overcomers of all of our peoples in this country, has been our First Nations peoples they have had to overcome dispossession and they have had to overcome colonisation. And they are a thriving, surviving community, the oldest, the world's oldest living culture. And I think their story of overcoming is one of, if not the greatest Australian story. And it's one that we can all combine together and acknowledge but whether it's our First Nations people, you know, the convicts or the settlers or the many who have since come, and made us the most successful immigration country in the world today. All of these stories are important. There are there are more than 25 million stories in Australia right now. And we must respect them all, seek to understand them all. And last night, Miriam-Rose from the Northern Territory, she was the Senior Australian of the Year, also amazing of course Grace Tame congratulations to her, strong, vibrant woman who has just overcome an unimaginable things. But Miriam-Rose just talked about coming together in the middle. And and I thought she had a very powerful message last night. And she's an incredibly wise woman.

Fordham: You announced the winners last night, but it's not you who decides on who receives them. But I'm sure you would have been thrilled when you looked down that list and saw Glenn Wheeler's name on it. He's been made an OAM. We'll be catching up with him in about an hour from now. It's a fantastic recognition of his service to broadcasting, but more so to charity, no one does more for charity than Glenn Wheeler.

Prime Minister: And particularly in our community, down in the Shire too I know Glenn does it everywhere, but I was absolutely thrilled when I saw that. We love Glenn and we celebrate with him today and talking about overcoming, you and I have a pretty good idea of how much he's had to overcome and his family since his accident. And he just keeps fighting on every day. And he gives us, you know, the inspiration, I think, to try and do what we do each day. He's just a wonderful, warm human being and good on you, Glenn. One of my disappointments yesterday is we didn't have the usual Australia Day today- I should say. We don't have the usual Australia Day event down there at Cronulla, which I always see Glenn at. And anyway, I'm sure he'll be celebrating with family today.

Fordham: You've now got to call him Glenn Wheeler OAM.

Prime Minister: I'm sure he'll insist on that too.

Fordham: Now something else to celebrate on Australia Day. The vaccine rollout isn't far away?

Prime Minister: Well, yes, we updated on that yesterday. The Therapeutic Goods Administration, led by Professor Skerritt, approved the Pfizer vaccine, the day before yesterday, late that day. And that's been announced. And so we now go through the process of receiving that delivery and rolling it out, the training and workforce issues that we've already been working on those. And so we anticipate that that will start before the end of February and then it'll scale up. So before the end of March, sorry before the end of February and over the next months and the months that follow will continue to ramp up. They'll now work on the TGA approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine. And so the strategy is going ahead as we anticipated, there'll be the odd bumps here and there with production schedules overseas. One of the reasons we chose to produce the vaccine here in Australia, the AstraZeneca vaccine, and we had to work hard to achieve that and pay a bit of a premium for it. It means that our vaccination programme will not be completely hostage to the production schedules of countries overseas, that sovereign capability to produce the vaccine here we made a high priority.

Fordham: What was it like for you last night when you heard the words in the national anthem, ‘we are one and free’?

Prime Minister: Well, it's the first time I've been in a room where that had happened Ben, or at a place. And I've seen it was at the cricket and a few other things. But to be there, it was, it was, it just seemed so right. That was my honest reaction. That's, that's right. That's good. I'm so pleased we made that change. It's a simple change. That's all it is. We've never pretended it being anything more than that. But I was very pleased with it and weren’t they great that choir, they really brought it out very, very beautifully.

Fordham: They were fantastic. Now, speaking of music, you forced me to make a very difficult phone call yesterday.

Prime Minister: Yeah?

Fordham: I’d locked in John Williamson to join me at 7.15 this morning. And I had to call him and say, listen, the prime minister's offered himself up, so I need to bump you up to after 7.30. And he said, well, for ScoMo I'm happy to make an exception.

Prime Minister: Well, that's very kind of John. I’ve met John a few times along the way. And no one sings that anthem better than he does. And I'm sure you'll enjoy having a good chat to him. But it's a day for John Williamson singing, it’s a day for all of these things. I mean, of course, there are many controversial issues that go around things around this day, but today it's a day just to come together just to be thankful for being Australian. And that's what it is, we all are, regardless of what our stories are, our experiences, our differences or disagreements that may happen. Today is not day to focus on that. Today is a day to focus on who we are, where we've got to, where we're going. And the great thing about Australia is, you know, we're always optimistic. Regardless of what the challenges are, we decide to be optimistic. And that's, I think, been key to how we’ve overcome so much as a country and achieved so much. And we'll continue to. This year too Ben, it's going to be a tough one. I can't, I can't pretend that it won't be, but we will come through it the same way we always do, together.

Fordham: Bloody oath. Have a good Australia Day and we'll catch up soon.

Prime Minister: Good on you Ben, all the best.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43211

Opinion Piece - Australia Day

26 January 2021

As Australians, our fates have always been bound together.

During this past year, we have been reminded once again of our shared fortunes. How much we depend on each other.

In a year where much of the world has struggled under the strain of the global pandemic, Australians, together, have prevailed, in our own Australian way.

Australians patiently doing the right thing.

Health workers collecting samples and tracing the virus; nurses, aged and disability care workers tending to our elderly and vulnerable; medical teams, our ADF and police running our quarantine facilities; farmers, truck drivers, wholesale and retail workers keeping our supermarket shelves stocked and all those working to produce our vaccine.

And, of course, the many business owners of Australia, small and large, struggling with the uncertainty that a pandemic brings, keeping their show together and Australians in work.

On this Australia Day, we say thank you to the many who have once again pulled Australia through.

But this is not a new experience.

From whatever our beginnings or circumstances, Australians have always demonstrated our ability to overcome. To rise above. To better our history. To create our future.

Today, on Australia Day we reflect on that journey, the price that has been paid for our freedom, the lessons of our history and the privilege of being able to call ourselves Australians.

We do it on the day when the course of this land changed forever. 

There is no escaping or cancelling this fact. For better and worse, it was the moment where the journey to our modern nation began.

And it is this continuing Australian journey that we recognise today.

Our stories since that day have been of sorrow and joy. Loss and redemption. Failure and success. 

We are now a nation of more than 25 million stories, all important, all unique and all to be respected. 

Whether it is the story of our first nation peoples’ strong, ancient and proud culture and their survival in the face of dispossession and colonisation.

Or the forsaken souls who came as convicts, not to start a new world, but because they had been banished from the old one. Condemned and outcast by empire, they too overcame.

The settlers and waves of immigrants who have followed seeking a better life for themselves and their families, creating a nation in the process, including the 12,000 people from over 130 nations who become citizens today.

These stories do not compete with each other, they simply coexist. They weave together. 

Today we reflect on how far we have come, and humbly acknowledge the work still ahead of us.

We have risen above our brutal beginnings. 

We have overcome, survived and thrived.

We have learned and are still learning.

And as the many peoples of the world joined our journey, we have become even stronger, 

The most successful and cohesive immigration and multicultural nation on earth. 

The home of the world’s oldest living human culture.

A modern, prosperous and generous nation. Fair minded, hard working. 

A standard bearer for liberal democracy, in a world where authoritarianism is once again pushing itself forward.

An honest nation that continues to confront the truth of our past and to reconcile this with our future.  

Much to appreciate and be thankful for.

This year we will face many more challenges.

But it is Australian to be optimistic and look forward.

It is a choice we make to believe in hope.

Our optimism has enabled us to push past the adversities we have faced and overcome.

We have been made extraordinary by the extraordinary contributions of ordinary Australians. 

In 2021 we will be relying once again on all Australians to be at their best.

To once again exercise their responsibility and make their own unique contributions to our success.

In our families, in our communities, in our places of work, education and worship and in our environment, caring for country. 

The exercise of these responsibilities and contributions are the ones that will continue to make for a successful and resilient nation. 

We do this, because in Australia we believe in the unique value of each Australian as individuals, rather than seeing or indeed allowing ourselves to be defined solely through the identity prism of our age, race, gender, ethnicity or religion. 

As Australians we are more than any and all of these things, and together we share and steward our Australian inheritance.

As Australians we write our own story. We create our own future. And we will do so again this year, together. 

Happy Australia Day. 

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-44040

Pfizer Vaccine Approved

25 January 2021

Prime Minister, Minister for Health and Aged Care

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has today provisionally approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in Australia.

The Pfizer vaccine has met strict standards for safety, quality and efficacy.

The TGA provisional approval is for individuals 16 years of age and older. Two doses will be required – at least 21 days apart.

A priority group of Australians are expected to now receive their first dose of the vaccine as soon as it can be received from Pfizer and the necessary checks are undertaken by the TGA, prior to its distribution.

The latest advice given to the Government from Pfizer is that shipping and the first vaccinations are expected to be in late February.

If there are delays in shipping or production, the possibility remains that commencement could be in early March, however guidance remains for late February.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the TGA approval was an important step in the fight against COVID-19.

“I welcome the TGA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine, with our own Australian experts finding it is safe, effective and of a high standard,” the Prime Minister said.

“Australians should take confidence in the thorough and careful approach taken by our world-class safety regulator.

“Our priority has always been to keep Australians safe and protect lives and livelihoods.  Today’s approval is another big step forward for our community, particularly in the protection of our most vulnerable people.”

Minister for Health Greg Hunt said the-world class regulators at the TGA have been working tirelessly to introduce a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in Australia.

“The TGA’s processes are I believe the best in the world and we have ensured that they are thorough.” Minister Hunt said.

“The TGA has placed safety above all else.”

“Australia’s high bar has been met; the vaccine has been approved as effective in stopping severe disease. I thank all those involved in the development and assessment of this COVID-19 vaccine, including the researchers, Pfizer, BioNTech and the medical experts at the TGA who have worked around the clock and over Christmas.”

“This approval and the upcoming roll out of the vaccine will play an important part in our ability to manage the pandemic in 2021.” 

“Australia’s vaccination program has been based on the medical advice from the medical expert panel led by Professor Brendan Murphy.  As a result we are in the fortunate position of having secured 140 million doses of vaccine, one of the highest per capita rates in the world. We will continue to review the medical advice and monitor and adapt to developments around the world,” Minister Hunt said.

The Government continues to work with Pfizer on the final date of delivery of vaccines, noting that Pfizer has experienced some temporary production delays from its European manufacturing plant as it ramps up production to meet extraordinary global demand.
The Government’s latest advice remains that the first doses of Pfizer are expected to arrive and be rolled out in late February.  Final dates will be confirmed by Pfizer shortly and are subject to shipping and distribution. 

In Australia the vaccine will be rolled out in five phases over the coming months and, over time, will involve more than 1,000 vaccination administration sites.

Head of the TGA, Adjunct Professor John Skerritt said the TGA has been working non-stop to get the Pfizer vaccine assessed, while maintaining the most rigorous standards of safety, quality and efficacy.

“I would like to thank our clinical and medical officers, scientists, pharmacists and experts in statistics, laboratory analysis and manufacturing assessment who have worked tirelessly on assessing this vaccine,” Adjunct Professor Skerritt said.

“We’re thrilled to have this product pass the rigorous regulatory process and receive provisional approval.”

“Our job is by no means done. In fact the monitoring of vaccine safety post-approval is an important part of the regulatory review of vaccines.

“We now check the individual batches of vaccines that are destined for Australians while closely monitoring the safety and efficacy of the vaccine as it is rolled out.

“We will also continue our work on the regulatory review for potential approval of other vaccines, notably the AstraZeneca and Novavax vaccines, as well as vaccines delivered through the COVAX facility.”

As the rollout begins across 30 - 50 hospital sites, people who need protection the most will get the vaccine first. This includes aged care and disability care residents and workers, frontline health care workers, and quarantine and border workers.

The priority groups have been determined based on the advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) which oversees Australia’s highly successful immunisation program.

“There is intense ongoing work which will continue over the coming month, including batch testing of newly arrived doses, establishing cold storage facilities for the vaccine, training health providers to administer it, finalising distribution sites with states and territories, checking sites and protective equipment for safety, and scaling up systems for ongoing safety monitoring,” Minister Hunt said.

The Australia Government, states and territories, regulators and the health and medical sectors are working together to finalise arrangements under the Australian Vaccination Strategy and detailed roll out plans. Further information about the Australian Government’s COVID-19 Vaccine National Roll-out Strategy can be found on the Department of Health website.

About the TGA Provisional Approval Pathway

The provisional approval pathway allows sponsors to apply for time-limited provisional registration on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). Approval through the provisional pathway is on the basis of preliminary clinical data where there is the potential for a substantial benefit to Australian patients. For more information visit the TGA website.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43207

Recognising the Exceptional Work of Australians in the COVID-19 Response

24 January 2021

Australians are being encouraged to nominate those people, professionals and volunteers, who have displayed extraordinary service and achievement during the COVID-19 response and recovery, for an Australian National Honour.

Individuals recognised for their contribution, service or achievement relating to COVID-19 will feature on a dedicated COVID-19 honours roll as well as the official Australian honours database from the Queen’s Birthday in June.

The Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) and Prime Minister agree that the once in a 100-year pandemic has seen an extraordinary period of service for our nation.

The Prime Minister said that Australians have displayed courage and selflessness during the course of COVID-19.

“The pandemic has challenged our nation in a way we have not seen since World War Two, yet we have seen the best of Australia as we have come together, helping one another to keep us safe,” the Prime Minister said.

“There has been heartbreaking loss and hardship but our overall success has been built on the incredible sacrifices of many. From health professionals providing critical care to COVID-19 patients or those in aged care, to mental health counsellors, and workers going above and beyond to keep critical services and the economy going.”

“Australia Day this year will be a day of giving thanks for this service and we want to ensure there is lasting recognition.”

“If you know someone who has made an outstanding contribution, on the front-line or behind the scenes, I urge you to consider nominating them for an award.”

Just like the National Emergency Medal is available to recognise responders to the 2019-20 Bushfires and 2019 North Queensland Floods, and the Bravery Decorations recognise acts of bravery where people selflessly put themselves in jeopardy to protect the lives or property of others, the Australian Honours System includes awards which provide a valuable mechanism to recognise the extraordinary contributions of Australians.

It includes a range of honours and awards that celebrate outstanding achievements and contributions of Australians that make a significant difference to their communities and to Australia. For example the Order of Australia, and specific occupation-based ‘meritorious’ awards for those in emergency and other services.

The Federal Government will recommend that no COVID-19 honour count towards existing quotas for awards where relevant.

The Prime Minister has also asked Premiers and Chief Ministers to gather nominations for work on COVID-19 response and recovery in each of the states and territories.

Nominations can be made now.

For more information on Australian Honours, as well as information on how to make a nomination, visit: covidhonours.pmc.gov.au.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43206

Interview with Neil Breen, 4BC

22 January 2021

Neil Breen: The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, he joins me now. Good morning, Prime Minister.

Prime Minister: G’day Neil.

Breen: You're still in Queensland?

Prime Minister: Yeah, here in Brisbane today we’ve got National Cabinet here today and doing a few other things around Brisbane, catching up with the Premier as well after the meeting. So, yes, but it's been out, throughout Queensland over the last week, way out west, up north, and here we are in Brisbane today.

Breen: Prime Minister, I could tell from your trip around regional Queensland that over the last few days you've learnt the appetite is very small in regional Queensland for international travellers to go to mining camps to do their quarantine period?

Prime Minister: Well, I was listening to people up in Gladstone the other night, including the Labor Mayor up there. And look, I haven't seen the proposal yet, so it's a bit hard to be for or against something I haven't seen. But, you know, I'm just reflecting the concerns and the issues that were raised by the Mayor up there and many others, and Ken O’Dowd. And I think, one of the things I think needs to be worked through is that in Gladstone in particularly there’s about to go through a very significant period of maintenance in a lot of these facilities. So there'll be a lot of people coming in. And one of the reasons I think Australia and Queensland in particular has been successful through COVID economically is these big heavy industries, our mining industry, the gas industries. All of these things have been able to continue to operate and produce. Now we've got to be careful that you know how we manage the health issues around COVID that we don’t put those sorts of things at risk as well. So I'm just simply saying, look, there's a lot of questions over this. I mean, the issues been flagged in the media by the Government. We’ll look forward to seeing an actual proposal, it’s their proposal it’s not the Federal Government’s, and there are a lot of concerns being expressed up there. That's all I've said.

Breen: I think one of the issues the Government and Yvette D'Ath the health minister was just on my show and she said she was disappointed in your comments, saying that it's not a Brisbane problem, it's an Australia wide problem. But then again, Queensland as a state hasn't taken anywhere near as many international travellers as say New South Wales has?

Prime Minister: Well, they’re taking about third. But it wasn't me saying that, it was people in Gladstone saying that, so I mean,

Breen: Yes, well all they all voted for the Labor Party in droves at the last election because of the border policies, people in regional Queensland.

Prime Minister: Yeah they did so look, these are views that have been relayed to me by people in regional Queensland. And I'm simply saying if the Queensland Government if wants to proceed with this well, they're going to have to address those issues up there with the local community and I think that's important. I mean, we've addressed many of these issues, the Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner, addressed these issues up in Howard Springs but that's a different situation, again, because it's close to Darwin, a much bigger hospital, all of those issues but they were all worked through. But that's the job ahead, this is a Queensland proposal. This isn't a federal proposal, its a Queensland proposal. And I think that the locals have set out I think, some pretty fair questions that they need to have addressed.

Breen: Prime Minister, one area where everyone's going to really cooperate is the rollout of the vaccine the Pfizer vaccine could go we've heard a date of February 15 today. Are we looking at mid February for the Pfizer vaccine to roll out to the elderly and front line workers?

Prime Minister: Well, no we haven't announced any date. You know, we've talked about getting things done in mid to late February. These things you know are very conditional upon the supply arrangements coming out of Pfizer in particular. As you know though, we took the decision to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine here in Australia so we'd be less hostage to those international supply arrangements. So that is very dependent on those arrangements. And I know there's a lot of pressure on that group at the moment. I was speaking to a lot of European leaders at the start of this week, and there's been some pressure on the supplies there. So look, we've just got to work with that. But the vaccine strategy and the priorities and the training that needs to be put in place, the distribution system and all of this, that's all being actioned now and getting ready. The TGA has now ensured that they've got about this job, that’s the Therapeutic Goods Administration, that Professor Skerritt who runs that, he gives the ultimate tick off on these things. And if he gives it the tick then I’ll get the jab. I mean, that that works. But, you know, they've got to do all the work and they're proceeding well. They're not cutting any corners. And as we've seen from overseas, that's a very important job. You don’t rush this, and don't delay it. We haven’t delayed it. We’ve just worked quickly, and I think people can have great confidence that if Professor Skerritt and the TGA gives it the tick, then I think we can all get the jab.

Breen: So being my age, you and I we’re in the second group, we're not in the elderly, we're not a frontline worker. But it's important for the Prime Minister to set an example. Will you be one of the first to get it to show Australians your belief in its safety?

Prime Minister: Of course, I said that a fortnight ago and the Health Minister will do the same, and I'm sure the Leader of the Opposition will too. There'll be an opportunity for that as will, premiers. And I think that's a good idea. I mean, that's not  jumping the queue or anything like that. I mean, that's a pretty standard thing that leaders have done around the world.

Breen: It’s not jumping the queue, it's important.

Prime Minister: It is important for public confidence. There'll be a communications campaign as well to inform people about the vaccine and what it is and there'll be information available. I think that's very important. And that's, you know I think I mean, Australia has a very good reputation and history of having high levels of vaccination, they are not mandatory. But Australians sort of make sensible judgements about this. And I trust their judgement. And I know that they put a lot of faith in the work done by Professor Skerritt and the TGA to keep them safe.

Breen: Reading all of your language this week on different topics. You were sympathetic towards continuing JobKeeper for tourism, not so sympathetic for hospitality. Are we going to get targeted JobKeeper after March?

Prime Minister: Well, I don't know that that’s how I’d summarise what I've said. What I've simply said is that Australian taxpayers can't underwrite the Australian economy forever. And JobKeeper JobSeeker, all those big programs that we introduced back in, last year in the early part of last year they did an incredibly important job. But we were pretty clear upfront that that was not something that could be sustained forever. Now, so JobKeeper and JobSeeKer, they've been winding back now. They've gone through two changes already. And at the same time, we've seen more people get jobs. We've seen people come off JobKeeper. Over 2 million people came off it at the end of September. We saw 50,000 jobs created in December and most of those are for women actually and permanent jobs as well. So the Australian economy is getting back on its feet, but it has to get back on its own feet. But we've got other programs that are running whether it’s the the loss carry back on tax for businesses which frees up cash for them to support their employees or with the tax cuts that are already in place and legislated. There's the job hiring credit particularly for young people where we're still working to get that younger unemployment rate down. All of these programs, the HomeBuilder program I mean that has been a cracking-

Breen: That was a booming program.

Prime Minister: Exactly. That created jobs, too. So we've got to look out over this year.

Breen: Yeah.

Prime Minister: I said at the start, we can't just make the Australian economy like it was before, COVID with taxpayers money forever. You just can't do that. And we've got to be realistic about that. We've got to make the adjustments we need to make in our economy so we can be sustainable for the future. It's not free money, and while we've had to commit it, importantly and I think in a targeted, and proportionate way that's not something I think Australians understand can be done forever. We've been sensitive to particular groups, but we've also been mindful of the need to do the right thing more broadly.

Breen: Prime Minister, I know you’re busy, I’ve got to let you go, just before I do, the new President, Joe Biden. Now that he's President, when will you get, face to face meetings are pretty tough these days, but when will Australia yourself, as our Prime Minister interact with him?

Prime Minister: Well, look, I think I don't think that will be too far away. I mean, soon after the election, I mean, we were in the first group of countries that were contacted by the then President elect and so, you know we'd expect to be in contact. We've already been engaging, in these, particularly these last 24 hours, as you have to wait for that formal call to take place. They’d be very aware of Australia's importance, the United States, and the relationship, and that said it's an alliance of mates. It's been going on for a long time, but under all sorts of Presidents and Prime Ministers. And it's gone from strength to strength. I'm looking forward to working with him. He’s a person of extraordinary experience in US politics he knows the world well, knows this part of the world well and there's lots for us to do.

Breen: Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thanks for being our special guest on 4BC Breakfast. Glad you enjoyed your time in Queensland, good luck at National Cabinet today.

Prime Minister: Just before I go Neil, can I just say going into National Cabinet meeting, I mean, I'm not expecting too much there today. I mean, this meeting was set up today, you know a fortnight ago we were going into that lockdown in Brisbane.

Breen: Yeah.

Prime Minister: And I commend the Government for how they handled that. But I really want to thank people of Brisbane, the way they responded to that you know, fair minded. They got it. You know, the masks came off, I think that last night,

Breen: This morning at 1:00 AM.

Prime Minister: This morning or something. And, you know I just want to thank them. I mean, they just responded to it really well. And we've avoided a third wave, you know, by doing that here in Brisbane and elsewhere. So thank you, Brisbane.

Breen: Thank you. Thanks for coming to Queensland to what could be an election year. Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Prime Minister: 2022’s the election year, that’s when it’s due, too much to do this year. This year is about jobs, and that’s where my focus is.

Breen: and the vaccine.

Prime Minister: And the vaccine, [inaudible] jobs. Good on you mate.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43204

National Cabinet Statement

22 January 2021

The National Cabinet met today to discuss Australia’s COVID-19 response, the Australian COVID-19 Vaccination Policy and management of Australia’s borders.

National Cabinet continues to work together to address issues and find solutions to the health and economic consequences of COVID-19.

The Acting Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, provided an update on the latest epidemiological data and medical advice in relation to COVID-19. It is now clear that through the actions of every Australian, we have successfully prevented a third wave of infections, a rare achievement given the significant increase in global cases. Australia has achieved 6 days in a row of zero cases of local transmission.  

There have been 28,754 confirmed cases in Australia and, sadly, 909 people have died. There are now 34 people in hospital. More than 12.6 million tests have been undertaken in Australia.

Australia has done well on both the health and economic fronts compared to most countries around the world. National Cabinet noted the significant increase in COVID-19 cases in many countries and the comparative strength of Australia’s effort in addressing COVID compared to most other developed economies. Globally there have been over 97 million cases and sadly over 2 million deaths, with 674,054 new cases reported in the last 24 hours.

National Cabinet discussed the management of emerging COVID-19 variants. Australia continues to manage the new COVID-19 variants through extended quarantine, testing and mask wearing arrangements.

National Cabinet reaffirmed commitment to the Australian COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, which sets out the roles and responsibilities of the Commonwealth, states and territories in rolling out COVID-19 vaccination.  

National Cabinet will meet again on Friday 5 February 2021.

Vaccine Implementation Strategy

Professor Brendan Murphy, the chair of the COVID-19 Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group and Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Health provided an overview of the extensive arrangements underway to develop the Australian vaccination Strategy and prepare for the roll out of COVID-19 vaccines to priority groups. 

National Cabinet thanked Professor Murphy for the significant work underway, noting the development of the vaccination program implementation plan, and reiterated the importance of close cooperation between the Commonwealth, states and territories on the roll out.

National Cabinet agreed the interim AHPPC advice on COVID vaccination and aged care facilities.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) has provided advice that state and territory public health orders should not be utilised to require the COVID-19 vaccine for aged care workers at this point.

There is currently a lack of evidence regarding effectiveness at preventing transmission and there is not yet a clear date by which all residents, staff, visitors and carers will have had an opportunity to be vaccinated.

The AHHPC will continue to monitor the situation and will reconsider this matter and provide advice once further evidence becomes available.

Currently, AHPPC believes that Commonwealth and jurisdictional efforts should focus on communications to strongly encourage community uptake, which is expected to be high.

International Passenger Arrival Caps

National Cabinet reaffirmed a commitment to return international passenger arrival caps to previous levels on 15 February 2021.

National Cabinet further agreed to prioritise the return of Australians, with a shared focus on improving confidence in, and expanding quarantine capacity safely to accommodate returning Australians.

The Commonwealth will continue to engage with relevant states on earlier return to caps and further increases. 

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-44039

Doorstop - Maryborough West, QLD

21 January 2021

Robert Nioa, Managing Director NIOA: Thank you very much for coming along. It's my great pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister here today to have a look at the progress that's been made in the construction of this artillery shell forging facility here in Maryborough Queensland. This factory is going to create 100 jobs in a new industry in Maryborough, and it's going to go on for generations. And it will benefit tradespeople and young people as they come through from school and progress in the workforce. It's going to provide economic benefit to this town, as I say, for quite a long time to come. This facility is, has only been made possible because of the support of the Federal Government through the regional growth fund. More broadly, the Federal Government has a very solid defence plan for the sovereign industrial capability priorities where they identify what capabilities are essential for the sovereign protection of our nation. Weapons and ammunition was the number one priority identified within those sovereign capabilities. The Government also implemented a policy around Australian industry capability. So to make sure that this product wasn't just imported, that there was local companies benefiting from the defence contracts. On top of that, this Government put in place a defence export strategy. And that formed,  well that strategy informed us to create a partnership with world leading company Rheinmetall and 50 per cent of the product in this factory is already committed to export customers. The last pillar of government support was the Regional Growth Fund itself, which is a fund set up by the Government to target regional areas that were in need of economic support and particularly in areas of high youth unemployment and high unemployment in general. And this Government has backed Maryborough and has backed us as a company and has done it to the tune of $28.5 million dollars to make sure that this factory is built here in Maryborough and is delivering those jobs. This is a rare occurrence to see a factory like this built. This is the first factory of its kind to be built as a greenfield site since World War Two. What we're undertaking here is very challenging, very difficult. We started the construction at the beginning of the COVID period and we had to quickly realign the plans on how we were going to design the floor layout, the robotics in certain areas, the very complex processes. We can't buy these factories off the shelf. The IP and the design and how this has been done has been created by the incredible team, many of which are here and many of which are in Germany. We've had to work on plans instead of being co-located. We've had to do things separately, but everybody's adapted, I’d like to congratulate the team from Badge who's been overseeing the construction and delivering the construction of the project. It's on time, which has been a fantastic outcome given the constraints. I'd like to congratulate Kirk Architects for their work in making sure this very complex project is being brought to life. I like to welcome our first 10 employees who are here today, and it's the start of the 100 jobs that we had promised and that are happening here in town. So I'd like to give the Prime Minister a token, so we know that we want shovel ready jobs and this one is definitely shovel shovel ready. The Prime Minister was keen to come here early on and COVID disrupted that process but nonetheless, we didn't want you to go without a shovel. So I'd like to thank you very much for your support. Also, I think it's a great example of the support that you’ve been able to engender from both state and local governments as well, who’ve got in behind and supported you as well on this project. So we're really looking forward to the next phase, the commencement of the fit out of the forging facility and the heavy equipment and the employing of the remainder of that position. So thank you very much.

Prime Minister: Thank you very much. Well, look, thank you very much, and it's wonderful to be here with you, and can I congratulate everybody that's been involved in this project but can I particularly congratulate you Llew. Llew O’Brien is just a very hardworking member for his electorate. And the number of times he and I've spoken about how we can create jobs, particularly here in Queensland and particularly here around Maryborough especially, you know, with youth unemployment and the challenge of getting young people to jobs can be a big challenge. And so the brainchild of the program, which has delivered almost $30 million dollars to this project, really came from those discussions and advocacy that Llew has always led. You know, we're making things in Australia, we're making things in Queensland, we're making things in Maryborough. And that means we're making jobs, and making jobs through our programs is really how we come out of the COVID-19 recession and how we build for the future with the economic recovery plan, some 50,000 additional jobs, 50,000 more jobs in December. You know, the vast majority of those, almost all of them were for women in this most recent month, and that's great to see. The majority were permanent jobs in this most recent month. We've seen labour force participation rise again to very high levels, we've seen the underemployment rate fall, we've seen the number of working hours increase and all that says that Australia is working its way out of the COVID-19 recession. And the way we're doing that is everybody pulling together, everybody doing what they need to do. And I particularly want to congratulate the team here for pushing through throughout 2020. And the project started in March and they haven't skipped a beat, had a few issues to deal with but they sorted them working together. Whether it was the building company, the architects, Rheinmetall, the whole crew, working together to overcome those problems and get this done. And so they're on track and by about April this year they’ll have it done and they'll move into the next phase. 

I was at the oil production facility earlier today, and we were talking there about our gas plan. And I want to come back to that because our manufacturing plan is built on three key things. The first one is to get the fundamentals right. We've got to get lower energy costs. You've got to get your skills right. You've got to get your taxes low. You've got to ensure that your industrial arrangements are purpose built for the sort of things you're going to do. You've got to get those fundamentals right. That's the first plank of our manufacturing plan. The second thing is, you've got to have focus and priorities and Defence Manufacturing is one of Australia's priorities. Why? Because we're really, really good at it and you can see that here, you can see it. We are building the Boxers up at Rheinmetall in Ipswich, you can see it all over the country where defence manufacturing is becoming something that Australians have been well known for. We’re smart at it, we’re good at it. We work well with partners from overseas and we get it done on the ground. That's why it's a priority. That's why we're investing more. And that works together with the more than 2 per cent of our total size of our economy that we're investing in defence. And that reinforces the priority we have. The third part of our manufacturing plan is about those critical sovereign supply chains. Those critical sovereign capabilities we have to have in manufacturing. And that means what we're doing here, right here. We've got to be able to do what we're doing here with these munitions, in Australia. We can't be relying on other places for that to happen. The last year has taught us more than anything that sovereign reliability for manufacturing in critical areas like this is things we need to do here. And that's what's happening. And so that's why I was really pleased to come here today Llew, because it brought all that together, in this project. So I look forward to coming back. I look forward to seeing the progress that is going to be here. But most of all, Llew I want to thank you and the whole team. The whole team, for the great job you've done, getting the project to this level, but without your advocacy Llew we wouldn’t be standing here mate so well done. It's great to see things being made in Maryborough.

Llew O’Brien MP: Thanks PM. Thanks so much, thanks Rob for your introduction and tour of the facility, it's really my great pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister here to Maryborough. There is probably no greater friend to Wide Bay in Canberra, aside from myself, than the Prime Minister. We have had discussions about the direction that Wide Bay needs to head. And these are discussions that happened before COVID, that involve things like the billion dollar Gympie bypass, the Cooroy to Curra bypass. It was when I sat down with the Prime Minister as then Treasurer, we put the case forward, before that Budget it was delivered. He's a man that understands how this, what this electorate needs. This facility is just a great boost for Maryborough. It's a great boost for the economy, a great boost for employment. But what I said to the Prime Minister when we were down in that forge pit there, what really strikes in my mind is that this is the technology that will keep our diggers safe. And it's these artillery shells that will go further and more accurately. And the reality is we need to keep our diggers safe, we know no one wants to go to war. No one wants these to be used in anger. But as a nation, we need to have the best technology to keep our Australian diggers safe and that's what we're doing here. So I appreciate everything you've done today Rob. As the Prime Minister said, our sovereign manufacturing has never been brought out into the forefront of our mind more than in the last 12 months. We have reliable, good international friends we trade with. But at the end of the day, when you have a global pandemic, when you have a major incident the only country you can really, really rely on is your own country. And for us, we need to secure our sovereign manufacturing capability and that's what the Morrison government is doing here. So thank you very much.

Prime Minister: Thanks Llew, thank you for everything Rob. Very good.

Journalist: How important- sorry just move a bit closer-

Prime Minister: Yeah sure, we covered the national press conference earlier in the day, so happy to take some local questions.

Journalist: Fantastic. How crucial do you see this facility in Australia's overall defence?

Prime Minister: Well I think that the point that Llew just made, I thought was a very important one. I mean, this fits as part of a much bigger plan. No government since the Second World War has invested more in Australia's defence capability than this Government, and that has its strategic defence objectives. But we just didn't pursue that, we saw this as an opportunity by scaling up again to more than, to 2 per cent of GDP, which we hit ahead of target, and now we'll go beyond that. That's now floor, not a ceiling. But we also took the decision that in making such significant investments on behalf of the Australian people that we were going to build more than our defence capability. We were going to build our manufacturing capability because we've seen how that's worked in other countries where defence industries have not just provided the goods for their defence forces, but they’ve become important export markets, they’ve could become important hubs for technology and design, research, and science and the things that are learnt in how you make one of those, can be applied to how you make a whole bunch of other stuff. And then the skills that are developed not just here and working in a plant like this, but the skills that are picked up with working with partners from overseas, with Rheinmetall partners and the work that they are doing and the and the transfer of skills and technology and knowledge that comes through those partnerships, also critically important. So this sits- what we're seeing here, sits at the heart of what the Government's strategy is. To keep Australia safe, but also to get Australians into jobs and to make sure that we have a highly competitive, advanced manufacturing industry. 

Journalist: PM just one from Cairns from our North Queensland bureau, Labor fears North Queensland isn’t prepared for a natural disaster because of a lack of funding. Do you agree with that? 

Prime Minister: Well, that's not the assessment that has been provided to me by our authorities or indeed by the Queensland Government. And we know that in Queensland, and particularly this time of the year, they're no stranger to significant weather events whether they be cyclones or bushfires or floods. And we've been through all those things and on each occasion, Australians have been equal, I think, to the task and I think the authorities, having been through all of those things with Queenslanders in the last couple of years, I think the authorities and the community response has been very strong. Now as we came into this season. As always, we went through those plans. We looked at all the weather information that was there, we actually had to pull ADF people off what was then COVID assist, and make sure that they are available for preparing for any response that we might have to provide to support the State Government in what might happen with any potential disaster situation be it in Queensland or, frankly, anywhere else. And so those plans were put in place. They were put in place months ago and funding to support those, the planning. So that's what we've been doing. Hopefully it's not called upon, but I can tell you, if it is called upon, the federal resources are ready to go. OK, thanks very much. Oh yeah, sure.

Journalist: Why is it important to bring the recruitment of national defence industries such as this to regional centres like Maryborough?

Prime Minister: Jobs, jobs, jobs, that's why. That's why. And I was just saying, I think I was saying to you Rob on the way down, I’ve been to a lot of these places now that are the product of the Government's big investments in advanced manufacturing and defence industries, and so many of them are in regional areas, and there's a range of reasons for that. One is the footprint of this site proves it, and the way that you can develop a facility like this in the sort of greenfields type of infrastructure that you need to do something as sophisticated as this. So I think that's important. I think regional communities around the country have a lot to offer in being able to host this type of a project. Now, that's not to say it doesn't happen in major cities as well, it does. I've visited facilities in south western Sydney and places like that. They tend to be often, sometimes a lot smaller, they’re doing very high tech type things, the componentry that goes in particular weapons systems and all that sort of stuff, but, you know, if you need a forger, the size of Hercules as what's going to be down there, then this is a great place to put it. And the jobs will come. Thanks, cheers.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43203

Interview with Michael Bailey, 4RO

21 January 2021

Michael Bailey: We finally got the Prime Minister, and Kenny O'Dowd, talking about gas and of course, that's going to be the recovery for Queensland. Good morning to you, team. How are you?

Ken O’Dowd MP: Good morning Michael, good morning listeners.

Prime Minister: G’day Michael.

Bailey: Yeah, mate look, I tell you what, it's terrific, Prime Minister, that you spent overnight in Gladstone. Hope the locals treated you well? Did they?

Prime Minister: Yeah they did, we had a great reception here last night, was great to be here with Ken and Shirley. And I even got down to the local Gladstone pool yesterday, late yesterday to get my laps in and caught up with the next sort of, next tribe of Olympians that are going to come out and win medals having been trained here locally in Gladstone, they were pretty impressive. I got to say. They were whizzing past me.

Bailey: That wouldn't be hard, really would it?

Prime Minister: No it’s not that hard.

O’Dowd: Don’t be cheeky Michael.

Bailey: Now look, the gas fired recovery, this is what it's all about because looks like the coal fields are starting to turn. And I know that BHP want out of some of their mines. We really do have to think hard about the future, don't we?

Prime Minister: Yeah well we do and there are a lot of things driving that, many of those forces are well away from here in Australia. You know, we are entering this quite a significant transition period with energy and gas is going to play a huge part in that transition, not just here in Australia, but all around the world. And Australia is one of the biggest producers of LNG in the world, we're market leaders. No one does it better than us. And that's an important, but particularly important up here where we are in Gladstone. But ensuring that gas where we're a world leader is also flowing well into the Australian domestic market. I mean, it's 40 per cent of final energy demand and manufacturing. You want to have a strong manufacturing industry, which is what we want- then you've got to get gas into those manufacturing enterprises and you've got to get it at reduced prices. And that's what this agreement is all about. It's about guaranteeing that all of the non contracted gas gets offered to Australian domestic industry first. And they get it at the netback price, which means that we're getting gas at the comparative prices to what people are getting it for when it goes overseas, mainly out of here, out of Gladstone Ken.

O’Dowd: Yeah that’s right.

Prime Minister: I mean, we're sitting here overlooking exactly where it all comes from. And it's an amazing sight, the scale of the industry up here. And what we're doing today is about ensuring that heavy industry, whether it's up here in Gladstone or anywhere else, is getting the backing of getting the gas.

Bailey: Now I know a couple of gas executives have said it's nigh impossible to offer cheap gas because of the world supply. How are you going to make sure that we do get a good price?

Prime Minister: Well, what it's about is bringing together the domestic price of what's called the netback price of what's going overseas and so it’s making sure that Australian manufacturers and other users here are getting the same opportunities as those overseas are, and letting the market drive those forces. Now, I've no doubt that there will be, you know, energy companies and others who will want to set a sort of a floor on that price and they'll want, you know, government control and all these things to shore up their positions. But that's not what this is about. I mean, there's a strong market for gas around the world, and Australian gas users, particularly manufacturers, should get the benefit of that competition and the lower prices that comes with that. So this is about removing those obstacles out of the way to make sure that that gas can flow to Australian businesses and create Australian jobs.

Bailey: Yeah look, I believe in a free flowing market appeal, but, you know, like at the moment, Japan and other areas are having the coldest, coldest time and gas prices have gone through the roof and they are sucking up all the gas that they can buy. So does that mean in Australia we have to actually pay more because they want to keep warm?

Prime Minister: No, no, look that’s, there is a global surge of gas on the market. It's happening all around the world. There's more gas reserves being found around the world all the time. And, you know, simple economics, as supply goes up, price comes down. And that's what this arrangement is all about. And we have great relationships with the very countries you are talking about and whether it's with South Korea or Japan or other parts of the world where we have the respect of being a great producer and supplier and that the other nations can rely on. And I just want the situation that Australians get the same opportunity. And that's what this is delivering. I mean, this follows on from earlier agreements that we've had. And particularly I was involved in when I was Treasurer, and we’re continuing that on, but it's not the only thing. I mean, the work we're doing on the Strategic Basin Plans, particularly in the Beetaloo Basin, and the work we're doing on other regulation, pipeline transmission, all of these sorts of things, Wallumbilla Hub,  and all of this- very important for the future of gas in Australia. I said it, you know, this was a key part of our recovery plan from COVID-19 was to get the gas and to help that fire up our economy and in particular manufacturing. I mean Ken and I today will be visiting that school of manufacturing and mines with their campus down in Rockhampton, as well as up here in Gladstone, both of those- so that is really supporting the people of Queensland. And that's all about making sure we've got the skills for people who are going into these critical sectors. I mean in many, in some universities today. I mean, people who are going to study mining and engineering degrees are treated a bit like pariahs. And I think that's rubbish. And we should be celebrating them. I mean, these are the people who are going to be driving prosperity in our country for a long time to come.

Bailey: Look, I quite agree with your Prime Minister, Kenny O'Dowd, what about the cattle properties and farms? When people come on and start fracking, are they happy or unhappy or are they getting a good deal as well?

O’Dowd: Yes, most farmers that I speak to and that's all of them, there's about 500 properties between here and the Surat basin that have some sort of gas infrastructure on their properties, whether it be pipelines, or wells or pumping stations, look during the drought times it was a godsend for them, some guys that I know were pulling out $150,000 dollars a year, which pays for a lot of hay, Michael, to feed their cattle. So they're very happy. I haven't heard of the fracking issue for sometime, it was around a lot you know, when you were in Gladstone, and I was in Gladstone at the start of the gas development on Curtis Island, but no it doesn't seem to be an issue. The companies have addressed a lot of the issues that were raised originally. You know, the brackish water and the tracking, those sort of things have disappeared. And, of course, the companies have taken a lot of work in R&D to solve those problems.

Bailey: Look, that's great news, talking with Kenny O'Dowd, the federal member for Flynn, and, of course, the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. Hey ScoMo, a lot of people are concerned because we still got a lot of tourism industry in our region and they're bracing for the end of March with the payments cutting back. And, of course, some pundits are saying we're going to have a huge spike in unemployment. Is that giving you concern? Have you got a plan B?

Prime Minister: Well, we've been monitoring it very closely, and we’ve been making decisions step by step, we don't get too far ahead of ourselves. They said the same thing when JobKeeper and JobSeeker scaled down at the end of September, and the same thing at the end of December. But what we saw after the end of September is 450,000 businesses come off JobKeeper. We saw more than 2 million Australians who had income support courtesy of the taxpayer through JobKeeper, come off that support. And so the Australian economy is strengthening and the plan is to ensure we keep doing that. Now you can't do that unless you're going to continue to back in as we are, the hiring of people. Which we're doing with the job hiring credit, the JobMaker hiring credit, I mean, that picked up where other initiatives have left off, the infrastructure rollout continues, the HomeBuilder programme. I mean, that's $18 billion dollars that is going into the residential construction industry. So, and of course, the support for heavy industry ensuring they get the energy that they need to buy them up as well to create the jobs. And that's really important up here. I mean, heavy industry has a future under a Liberal National Coalition Government, it has a future because we believe in the things that need to be done to keep those heavy industries in place while at the same time dealing with the transition that is underway when it comes to issues of energy and climate.

Bailey: But these people in tourism, they're battling away because, let's face it, no fly in, fly out for 12 months for international terrorism. I mean, that's pretty scary. And you can only take so many caravan trips per year. But we Aussies seem to be doing that on a regular basis now, supporting the locals?

Prime Minister: Well, look, it cuts both ways because while international travel isn't coming in, international travel isn’t going out from Australia, and we actually- I mean there's that there's a deficit when it comes to Australian spending overseas and overseas spending in Australia. And so that money that is not going overseas right now- and I've been talking to a lot of those operators, particularly as I mean, I've been down in Quilpie, I've been in Longreach, I've been out in Cloncurry and Winton. And what we're seeing is people are doing that, with Australians holidaying at home because they have to.

This is a great opportunity for the tourism industry to be able to be taking that up and even I was talking to accommodation operators are seeing more of that, particularly in regional parts of Queensland and in Queensland it's been mainly Queenslanders seeing Queensland. And that's great. And as those borders open up domestically, which is very important. I mean, that is frankly going to be of greater assistance in the short term than anything else. And that will see more Australians particularly getting on planes flying up north and other parts of the country. And that will be providing necessary, you know, a different set of clients than the tourism industry normally would have. But we're going to take it step by step. I think we've demonstrated that we've been prepared to step up where targeted, proportionate support is needed. We've done that in the past. And I think our track record speaks for our self. I mean, JobKeeper and all of these things. I mean, it was necessary at the time and to the extent it remains, has remained necessary, we've kept it in place. But you can't run your economy on taxpayers money forever. I think Australians understand that.

Bailey: Yep correct. Now, can you take off your Prime Minister's hat and just become ScoMo the larrikin, How was it- how did you feel going out west and actually seeing the green stuff this time?

Prime Minister: Well, it was very moving. I’ve got to tell you, I got a bit emotional because it was just over two years ago I’d just become Prime Minister. The first thing I wanted to do was go out and speak to drought affected farmers. And so we went up to the Tully’s property just about an hour and a half outside of Quilpie. And it was just desolate. It was. And it was depressing.

Bailey: I remember the photos, it was just heartbreaking.

Prime Minister: But what amazed me was the optimism and spirit of the Tully's. And Steve Tully pulled out a photo of what the paddock next to that the station property used to look like. And it was grass up to your knees. And it was just hard to imagine, given what I was looking at when I was there, a couple of days ago and it's about up to my ankles now, that grass- a bit more. And so they're not out of drought yet, like 41 other- 41 local government areas across Queensland. But they're on their way back. And, you know, they're able to, they're building up their herds again, which is great. I mean, Steve, I think it's gone from about at its bottom about 5,000 he’s now back up to about 8,000. And he's on his way to 12,000 and he's got some other agistment stock on there at the moment. So whether in the drought affected areas of Quilpie and all around Longreach and all those parts, or then coming further up through to where we were up in Cloncurry, and Julia Creek, and those places, McKinlay Shire and others which were just smashed by those terrible floods and to see them rebuilding. I mean, it's just tremendous to see the resilient spirit of Australians. They're just incredible.

Bailey: Yeah I love the story where Steve said that he asked for money, you know, to actually build a fence to protect the stock and that actually saved his arse as he said, quote unquote?

Prime Minister: As he said it, it's very practical stuff, at the end of the day. And you've got to go there and listen to people like Steve to understand. That's, I mean, that's the job in so many cases. It’s why Kenny does such a good job. You say, have you spoken to the farmers? Yeah, all of them. And that's what you've got to do. And so when Steve raised this issue of the dog fencing, I mean, their stock was getting decimated, the lambs and the ewes decimated by these dogs. And there's no easy way to put these fences in by the way, it's a lot of work. But so we partnered in that programme. There's also the pest and weed management stuff we did all across the district. And we did that in partnership with the Queensland government, too. And I recognise that. And working with them, I mean, in these crises, there might be a few words that go astray here and there between premiers and prime ministers and all the rest of it. But at the end of the day, we have been working very closely together. And I do appreciate that.

Bailey: Look the drought, as you say, is still on, because you like, if you live along the coast, it's nice and green. Sometimes it gets a bit brown, but you only have to go an hour inland. And people like I just had a phone call from Tex this morning saying Michael, stop saying there's no rain. We need it. We need it. We need it. And he’s only an hour away. It just sort of breaks your heart.

Prime Minister: And even where there is I mean, and the Tully’s were saying this to me as well, even where there is rain and they've had a bit you know, the property next door has not. So, you know, and they're very sensitive to that. And so it's while it's been great to see an improvement, we're not there yet. I mean, things are a lot better in New South Wales than they were. I mean, things were very bad there, too, but not for as long as they were in Queensland. I mean, Queensland, all these Shires have been in drought for 8 years. And but, they’ve you know, they're pushing through. And, you know, it's pretty impressive to see how people do that. It's really impressive.

Bailey: The resilience is just amazing. Prime Minister, thank you very much for actually touring Queensland. Thank you very much for staying in Queensland, Gladstone, they treated you well. I'll just leave with one final question. What is what is going to be happening to us in 12 months time? And can you see a light at the end of the tunnel? Should we be worried all the time or just get on with life and enjoy every day above ground?

Prime Minister: Well, that's the plan. What you’ve just said. You know, that is the plan and that's the nature of Australians, you know Australia Day is coming up. And I think it is a time to reflect on the fact that while it has been a pretty tough period, you compare where we are to other countries around the world and we're very grateful to call, and privileged to be able to call Australia home wherever we are in this incredible country. We're going to keep growing the economy, that come back is coming, you know, we're getting through COVID better than almost any other country in the world. We're doing the things that are that are needed to support the jobs and the industries that have, you know, that we must ensure have a future here, whether it's up here around Gladstone or anywhere else, and whether it's, you know, the resurrection of the livestock industry after the floods. And, you know, we're doing the things that make that happen. And so, yeah, I'm mate, I'm always an optimist. But, you know, you've got to choose to be optimistic. You can, you can take solace in grievance and, you know, let that take you over. Or you can be like the Tully’s and look forward, see the light and just keep smashing it out each day. And that’s what we do.

Bailey: Yes, soldiering on, soldiering on. What do you think about Cricket Australia not saying, you know, the Australian you know, cricket is on Australia Day is just January 26? I mean what's going on?

Prime Minister: Look, I think a bit more focus on cricket, and a little less focus on politics would be my message to Cricket Australia. I think that's pretty ordinary. But I mean, you know that's what they're putting on their press releases. I just, that would be my view.

Bailey: Yeah don’t worry, I mentioned it earlier this morning, and everyone is just shaking their head in disbelief. It really is just amazing how- well, I think there’s a bit of a backlash about the whole thing, really-

Prime Minister: Well look, I hope they listen to that and I think they should.

Bailey: Yeah I hope so too. Prime Minister, thank you very much, Kenny O’Dowd, thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of your time in Gladstone and enjoy Australia Day.

Prime Minister: Absolutely, Happy Australia Day too. Cheers.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43201

JobMaker Plan Secures Australia's Domestic Gas Supply

21 January 2021

Prime Minister, Minister for Resources Water and Northern Australia

The Liberal Nationals Coalition Government is keeping downward pressure on energy prices for families and businesses with a new agreement under the Government’s JobMaker plan.

The new Heads of Agreement with east coast liquefied natural gas (LNG) companies will ensure more gas is offered to the domestic market, more often, and on more competitive terms.

The Agreement, signed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and LNG exporters, Australia Pacific LNG, Queensland Curtis LNG and Gladstone LNG will help secure competitively priced gas supply for the east coast market at least until 2023.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said cheaper and more reliable energy was central to Australia’s economic recovery and the Government’s JobMaker plan.

“Gas is critical to our economic recovery and this Agreement ensures Australian businesses and families have the gas supply they need at the cheapest possible price,” the Prime Minster said.

“This is about making Australia’s gas work for all Australians, while also supporting economic growth and backing important regional jobs in our expanding LNG sector.

“As part of our JobMaker plan we are delivering more Australian gas where it is needed at an internationally competitive price, this particularly includes manufacturing businesses who employ more than 850,000 Australians, many of which rely on gas to operate,” the Prime Minister said.

Since the Government first acted in mid-2017 to ensure gas supplies for the domestic market through the introduction of the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism and the first Heads of Agreement, the spot price for gas has dropped from $12.50 to $10.50 a gigajoule to now be between $7 to $5 a gigajoule.

Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said the new Heads of Agreement puts Australian families and businesses first by making sure Australia does not experience a shortfall in supply at the expense of exports.

“The Coalition Government remains committed to delivering lower energy prices, and to make sure all Australians benefit from increased supply and reliability,” Minister Pitt said.

“The strengthened Heads of Agreement commits LNG exporters to offer uncontracted gas to the domestic market first on competitive market terms before it is exported.

“It complements the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism which also references the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) LNG netback price series.

“Both the AEMO and ACCC have found east coast of Australia has a low, but increasing, risk of facing a gas shortfall.

“We are working to get the right balance between affordable gas for manufacturers and a price that encourages new gas resource development.

“I want to also acknowledge the success of our LNG export industry, especially here in regional Queensland.

“It has brought jobs and opportunity to many regional communities in central and southern Queensland and put money in the pockets of farmers who are hosting the gas wells on their farms,” Minister Pitt added.

Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd said the Agreement highlights the key role gas plays in our local industries.

“The gas industry drives significant local exports and is also a big employer in the Gladstone region and the agreement will lay the foundation for future growth aiding the COVID recovery,” Mr O’Dowd said.

The Coalition Government is also continuing with its commitments to unlock new gas supplies through the Strategic Basin Plans with the Beetaloo Basin Plan finalised and work progressing on unlocking gas in the North Bowen and Galilee Basin.

Minister Pitt previously announced a commitment to provide up to $50 million for exploration that occurs before 30 June 2022 in the Basin along with $173 million for road upgrades to support the development of a gas industry based on Beetaloo gas resources.

“The Beetaloo has the potential to mirror the US shale gas revolution – bringing jobs and investment to the North while providing secure and affordable gas supplies to industry,” Minister Pitt said.

“The Australian Government will continue to work with relevant regulators and energy market bodies, including AEMO, ACCC, Australian Energy Market Commission and the Australian Energy Regulator, to build on reforms which improve the functioning of the east coast domestic gas market.

“This includes establishing an effective Gas Hub at our most strategically located and connected gas trading hub at Wallumbilla in Queensland to deliver an open, transparent and liquid gas trading market.”

Affordable gas is also a critical component of the Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy, which seeks to grow Australia’s manufacturing sector by building scale in areas of competitive strength, driving collaboration and better aligning resources across governments, boosting industry and the research community, and strengthening sovereign resilience in areas of strategic importance.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43200

Doorstop - Quilpie, QLD

19 January 2021

THE HON. DAVID LITTLEPROUD MP, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, DROUGHT, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Well, thanks for coming. It’s great to be back at the Tully family- can I thank the Tully’s for having us again back here to their property just outside Quilpie. Can I thank the Prime Minister who, his first visit after ascending to the Prime Ministership was to this family property to see the drought. The drought was gripping this part of the world as it gripped most of the country. The Prime Minister made it a priority by coming and seeing it firsthand, understanding the trials and tribulations, but also the hope of these people. And we've now got hope, we've had rain. The federal government has proudly put over $10 billion dollars worth of commitments into the drought programmes and that's for our national drought strategy being for the here and now, giving families support in the here and now through the farm household allowance, giving them some dignity and respect to put bread and butter on the table every day. Also through interest free repayment free loans, to give them the support to get through those hard times. We've also had our second pillar, which is supporting the communities that support these families, making sure that their economic distress is also addressed through the Building Better Regions funds which the Deputy Prime Minister has administered, or the drought community programme being administered by the local government, having local solutions, supporting these communities. And we also look to the future we’re the first government said we need to look for the next drought. The next drought starts the very first day after it finishes raining. And you have to prepare for it and the $5 billion dollar Future Drought Fund is up and going. And $100 million dollars of that is being spent as we speak. And next year's $100 million dollars is being planned as we speak as well. And we've also had the Deputy Prime Minister who’s been passionate about water infrastructure, plumbing the country, investing in the smarts of this country to make sure that we empower our farmers with the tools to be able to continue to produce the best food and fibre in the world. So I'm glad not only to have the Prime Minister, but to have the Deputy Prime Minister with me who has been passionate about this as I have, Scotty Buchholz the Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Transport, who has bitumened a lot of this country by getting out and getting on the road and seeing it. And to Senator McGrath, can I say who is the member for Maranoa while I'm not here. He's done a sensational job in sitting at kitchen tables and getting the real stories of real people like the Tullys. That is what we are here for. Is to address the real concerns, the aspirations, the hopes, not just of Steve and Annabell but their next generation. The story of agriculture is just [inaudible]. We've lost too many generations of young people in the regional and rural Australian agriculture. Our story is a positive one and this is testament to it, this family is testament to it. And this government will stand with them. So Prime Minister, thanks again for coming. It's a real testament to your commitment to people right across regional and rural Australia that you continue to make this a priority. 

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, well David thank you, and particularly to Steve and Annabell and the whole Tully family. It's great to be back here with you, with the DPM- with Michael, who we've stood here together, David, just over two years ago, a bit beyond that in fact. And we looked out at this place and it looked a little bit different back then, in the paddock behind us over here I remember Steve showed me a photo of what it used to look like. When we came last time it was as dry as what is underneath us right now. But at one time it was grass up about here Steve, that’s about right. And what struck me when I first met Steve and Annabell and the family was just how resilient they were, some 6 years into the drought and they're still in drought - there are 41 local government areas here in Queensland which are still in drought. But the comeback here is well and truly underway. Steve had I think around about 5,000 head of sheep here at that time, well below half or more of the carrying capacity here on this property that's been in their family for generations. And they're coming back now, up around 7 - 8,000 now, carrying some from other stations around the place and, and on their way back. And they're diversifying, bringing in goats and they're finding their way through. The dog fencing, which we spoke about last time we came, is making a huge impact here. It's ensuring that the finance flows. These are the practical things which Steve and Annabell and so many of the heroes of our drought have been doing to get Australia through and to get these regions and rural communities through. We're very pleased, the DPM and I and the whole team that’s here, Scotty and James, that the things we've been doing have been backing them in to achieve them. Whether it's been the work through the drought communities programme, through local government areas, particularly here in Quilpie, who backed in the broader dog fencing initiative and ensured that it went right across the shire area here. And so together, all the stations and properties around here have become more resilient. The investments they’ve made in the water infrastructure, you know in the Tully [inaudible] they’ve continued to sow in and as a result they are now looking for [inaudible] more optimism than I encountered when I was here a couple of years ago, and that's a tremendous encouragement, I think, to all of us around the country. This past year, the country has gone through an incredibly tough period of time through COVID-19 but that toughness was no stranger to the Tully's and the many families in rural and regional communities across our country who have been enduring the drought for many, many years. As we come up here today and we visit more of these communities it's great to see the comeback underway and it's great to see how the hope and the optimism that they sewn in to this property and in so many towns and regions like it across Queensland and across Australia, they're starting to see the benefits of that. So we're pleased that those programmes have been working. We're pleased that the delivery on the ground, which has been helping kids to stay in school, the psychological counselling and support which has been so important to to help people get through these difficult times, the practical things like fences and on farm irrigation, or water infrastructure and things of that nature. All of it making a practical difference, but the main ingredient has been the resilience and has been the resourcefulness and has been the optimism and hope of the people themselves. So it's great to be back here, Steve and Annabell. It's great to be here with the kids as well. And I’m glad they’ve had a summer back here at home and to be able to see what's happening, and I really do love that whole new water park thing you’ve got over there Steve, I think that the people down at Roadshow will come and take a bit of a shot of that, I think you never know what you might see at theme parks around Australia. So it's great to be here. I’m going to ask Michael McCormack to say a few words and then Steve Tully’s going to tell you a bit about what the last years have been like. But I do want to leave you with this. While things have improved, there is still a long way to go. And I think that's the story of our country. Things have improved. We are getting through this together, but there is still a long way to go. And that's why the plans that we've got in place to support that recovery, to aid that comeback, are still so important. Michael?

THE HON MICHAEL MCCORMACK MP, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Thank you Prime Minister, as Liberals and Nationals we don't set and forget. When the Prime Minister came out here with David and I back in August 2018, we saw a landscape vastly different than what we're witnessing today. Dams two thirds full, now there’s a few green shoots on what was once bare earth. I'm really pleased to see Steve and Annabel Tully. I'm even more delighted to see their three children, three of their five children because they are the future. It's the kids who are the future of regional Queensland. It's the kids who are the future of these places, because Steve and Annabell, they can set it up only so much. We want these kids to be able to have a reason to have the hope to stay, to build better regional communities. That's what Scott Buchholz and I are all about, that's what James McGrath and I are all about, that’s what David Littleproud and I are all about, that's what Scott Morrison and the nation are all about. And that's why we're investing heavily in water infrastructure, $3.5 billion dollars. That's why Scott Buchholtz and I yesterday were up in Rockhampton announcing $289.6 million for better roads, safer roads for Queensland. Scott and I were delighted that 92.3 percent of that money is going to regional Queensland. Steve and Annabell, they are the heart and soul of regional Australia. We want them to be their best selves. And that's what we put in the programme under the Drought Communities Programme, under the dog fencing and under the Building Better Regions Fund, which is now open - open to local governments and others to apply for that money. $200 million dollars. $100 million dollars of which is set aside for tourism. We saw in Longreach today, we spoke to the mayor there. We heard just about the visitation numbers, 98 percent of whom are Australians. And we want more Australians, through COVID of course, they can't travel overseas. But they can visit their own country, they can visit the fabulous sites and destinations of regional Queensland and regional Australia. So that's what we're all about, not setting and forgetting, but providing hope, providing the investment. I was really, really pleased to hear Steve and the Prime Minister, talking about how often they’ve shared messages and photos from August 2018 till now. And I'm sure that will go on because the Prime Minister is one who doesn't set and forget, and none of us do in the Liberals and Nationals. And that's why we're back here today and that's why we're delighted to see the progress made. But there's still a long road to go. With that I’ll ask Steve to add to those remarks.

MR STEPHEN TULLY, BUNGINDERRY STATION: Thank you, Scott, very much for coming. It's great to see you back here with the seeds of recovery underway, because I would hate to have you thinking that, you know, we live in a place of, of dirt, not only of dirt, of dust. Because the horizon on that day was just dust as far as you can see, and now we've got the classic crystal clear air. We wouldn’t be here without the fence. We sat down and we had to think about what we're doing. And there was government funding available for the fence, and we built the fence primarily just the family. 130 kilometres of it. That has allowed us to be happy, profitable and positive, even though we've just hit average rain once since then. We are viable, we are continuously adapting to whatever conditions are thrown at us. We believe we have a great future and we are continuously looking to adjust what we do to allow to further drought proof our properties. That’s what [inaudible] to Scott today, and the rest of today, just throw around ideas of what we can do by spending a little bit of money in the right spot, and setting us up to have a very prosperous future and underpinning what happens in a drought. So we don't have to come back here in a disaster when everything is terrible and we are more adaptable to it. That's a never ending process and we look forward to the future. That gives us confidence, that gives the banks confidence, and that gives the kids confidence if they ever want to come back here. That’s my underlying message here.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks. Well, happy to take some questions?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Brendan Murphy said yesterday that he doesn't expect international travel this year. Do you agree with him? And if so, will there be more support for the tourism industry and travel providers? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well I’ll ask Michael also to comment on this, first of all, as we have worked through the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've dealt with the information in front of us. We’ve worked with the experts that we have to put in place the best responses. And in doing that, whether it's been JobKeeper or JobSeeker, or the vaccination programme that we're moving towards, testing and tracing programmes, quarantine and all of these things, the decisions we've taken around international borders, all of it has been based on the information and advice that has come through. And the same will be true when we make decisions over the course of this year, particularly when we get to the other side of vaccines having been introduced in Australia, about what will happen with international borders. Now at the moment, that is the Secretary of Health’s assessment, but we'll see how things play out over the course of the year. I mean Michael McCormack makes a very good point. And as you know, prior to being in politics, I've worked in the tourism industry. The domestic tourism industry accounts for about 70 to 80 percent of the overall tourism industry in Australia, thereabouts. It varies by region of course, some areas of the country are more dependent on international tourism than others. But the bread and butter of the tourism industry in Australia has always been the domestic tourism sector. And in this unusual time, Australians who are big overseas travellers are increasingly in a position and will want to more and more and more see their own country. So that's going to have it's obvious impact. The net import effect of tourism in Australia now, being spent in Australia is not only supporting domestic tourism in this country as the country, we work hard to try and keep open, but it is also finding its way into retail spending and other things and keeping that money within Australia. We've demonstrated, I think, over the course of this pandemic, our commitment, whether it's to the tourism industry, small business owners, the hospitality sector, the arts sector, the manufacturing sector, businesses right across the country, we’ve demonstrated that we're serious about ensuring that Australia gets through this in the best possible way. And so our record speaks for itself, where we need to make targeted investments, proportionate, commensurate with the challenge. Well, we've done that. That's been our way of doing things. And so we'll assess those things as we go forward. As we have up until this time, we don't make big promises. We just get it done and we make the decisions about what's necessary after working closely with those in the sector about what is needed. So that's how we'll continue to approach this. 

JOURNALIST: Bill Shorten this morning said-

PRIME MINISTER: I’ll let Michael make a few comments on it as well. 

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Just on international travel, of course, we want to see our international flights resume as soon as possible, but we also want to make sure that we continue to have the health outcomes here in Australia that we've had, we've been the envy of the world when it comes to health outcomes. That’s because we have followed the best advice from the health authorities, from the health experts all the way through, we will continue to work through the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, take their advice, take the advice of Professor Paul Kelly, who's of course the chief medical officer and, of course, working through the National Cabinet process. I spoke to Alan Joyce yesterday. He's obviously concerned and they opened up the bookings from July. And of course, they're keen to see international flights resume as soon as possible as are we, as are we. And of course, we've got the vaccine coming out, rolling out from next month. We'll address these situations as they occur from week by week and we’ve done that all the way through, we’ve done it successfully and we’ve kept Australia safe.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Bill Shorten suggested just on that issue that JobKeeper- would be a good idea to keep JobKeeper for that industry specifically going past March. Is that something you would consider doing a targeted continuation of JobKeeper for this industry? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, one thing I've noticed is the federal Labor Party have tended to play politics both with the pandemic and the recovery. What we will do is we’ll just make the best decisions for Australia based on the best information. We'll target it, we’ll ensure that it’s well thought through. We won't be making commitments ahead of anytime that they would be needed. And we've done that all the way through. We heard the same calls from Labor last time, we changed out of JobKeeper at the end of September and what did we see happen? We saw 450,000 businesses get themselves off JobKeeper and more than 2 million Australians no longer needing taxpayer funded support. Federal Labor said, we're going to go off a cliff. They said it was all going to fall apart. And that's not what Australia needs to hear. What Australia needs is what we've been seeking to do and that is bring Australians together. To provide the support where it's needed, to do that carefully because it's all taxpayers money and we invest it carefully and wisely and proportionately and we work with those sectors to make sure it's done in the most effective way. So I'll let the federal Labor Party engage in the politics of the recovery and I'll just encourage the economics of it.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, would you be willing to consider regional support packages like JobKeeper for areas like Cairns which have been traditionally more reliant on international tourism? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, again, I'm not going to pre-empt or fly kites on these things, I don't think that's fair to people, we’ve been always upfront with people about what we're going to do, when we're going to do it and how we're going to do it. And I think that has given the nation a lot of confidence. And so it's not for me to speculate. It's for me to make sound decisions in the country's interests. And that's what we've been doing for the past year. You know, last night I was on a call, as I regularly am with many other leaders last night, the Prime Minister of Israel, the Prime Minister of Norway, and a number of others, Greece, Denmark amongst this group, and Austria that we’ve met with regularly. And to hear what is occurring in Europe, that breaks your heart what they're going through. And it's just reinforced I think the thankful position we are here in Australia with the choices we’ve made and the way that Australians have reacted and supported Australia to come through this, is a great testament to this country and it's being noticed by people around the world. They wish they were us. They really wish they were us. And that is a testimony to the Australian people. But I think also to working together with the states and territories in a very bipartisan way, with the Labor premiers, the Liberal premiers, we’ve all worked together to try and do our best to make the best decisions at the right time. And we'll continue to do that. 

JOURNALIST: In your conversations with Mike Pompeo and Mike Pence, did you have- did you raise their support for Australia in our somewhat difficult relationship at the moment with China, our China relationship? 

PRIME MINISTER: Our what sorry?

JOURNALIST: Was the China relationship discussed? And their support for Australia in that somewhat difficult relationship? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I was pleased to be able to talk to Vice President Pence this morning and Secretary Pompeo yesterday. I've worked very closely with both of them in particular, along with the Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and the former Defence Secretary Esper. And they have been a key part of how we've managed that relationship over the last many years. And the cornerstone of that has been an understanding of just how important Australia and the United States are to each other, how shared we are in our outlook about things in the world, the threats to that and how we can work positively together to deal with those in both of our national interests and with those of many other like minded countries. So it was an opportunity to thank both Secretary Pompeo and Vice President Pence for the very constructive way that they've supported that relationship and the very open way that they've engaged with me as a Prime Minister and previously with Secretary Mnuchin as a Treasurer. And so we spoke about how important that relationship is now, probably more important than ever, and really welcomed their offers of the engagements they've had with the incoming administration, which, you know, I welcome the fact that despite all the terrible things we've seen there happen, there is been that positive engagement between them and those who are coming in after them. And there is a handover. And one of the things that will be handed over from the current administration, to the new one this week, is the stewardship of that very important relationship between Australia and the United States.  As Prime Minister, I have the privilege to steward that from Australia's perspective. The incoming President, President-elect Biden, will join me in that stewardship. And it's incredibly important for our region. It's incredibly important for Australia's interests. And I say it's very important for the United States interest as well.

JOURNALIST: Do you expect the Biden administration to defend Australia as strongly when there are disputes with China is what the Trump administration did? 

PRIME MINISTER: I would expect there would be a continuation of those policy settings that have so favoured the Australian alliance. And that's not new. It's been happening for decades. The alliance between Australia and the United States has known many stewards sitting on both sides of the table as Presidents and Prime Ministers. They've come from all sides of politics. But the one thing that has always brought us together has been our understanding of how strategic and significant the relationship is and the best in that relationship is, as I said to Vice President Pence this morning is still to come.

JOURNALIST: Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has raised the prospect of moving quarantine for returning travellers to mining accommodation. Is that something that you'd be willing to consider at National Cabinet on Friday or consider supporting on Friday? And would you have any concerns about it potentially leading to a threat of COVID in regional areas where they don't have the same testing capacity as in the capital city? 

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, two points. One, I'm meeting with Premier Palaszczuk later this week when I go back through Brisbane, and I'm sure I look forward to having that discussion. I haven't seen that proposal as yet, but I've always been very interested in positive proposals that have come forward from Premiers about how we can best manage what are very challenging issues. I mean, we already have these types of arrangements up in the Northern Territory. That's how the 20 extra flights that I agreed to and and endorsed and acted on with the Deputy Prime Minister on the weekend, that's in addition, I think Michael to some 90 I think we’ve already arranged and many of those, particularly more latterly, are being made possible over and above the caps because of what we've been able to do in the Northern Territory with the Chief Minister Gunner. So I'm very open to these sorts of ideas and I look forward to seeing the proposal and then we'll go from there. I- Premier Palaszczuk knows that my door is always open to those sorts of discussions and I look forward to having them with her.

JOURNALIST: When you spoke to Vice President Mike Pence, did you ask at all about or did you speak at all about Donald Trump and his refusal to concede the election at all? 

PRIME MINISTER: No. 

JOURNALIST: Will you be speaking to Donald Trump in the remainder of- before he leaves office? 

PRIME MINISTER: No, I have no plans to do that.

JOURNALIST: And your colleagues, David Littleproud, and Michael McCormack here, they've criticised the Victorian government for, accepting tennis players, but not farm workers. What's your view on that? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, at the December meeting of National Cabinet, we had a very good discussion about the urgent need for seasonal workers and particularly in Victoria. And the Premier raised a number of issues there. And I know there have been some proposals that have come forward. We'd be very interested in progressing those, but that is very much a matter for the Premier. I mean, here in Queensland, there's no partisanship on this. I mean, here in Queensland, they run an on farm quarantine programme. Now, admittedly, that is not in massive numbers, but I think it's a very innovative way of managing that issue. And so we would welcome constructive proposals about how this can be better managed. The agreement we made at the last National Cabinet meeting, we highlighted the need to have some special accommodations around seasonal workers because of the needs and those needs currently, I mean, David, you might want to comment on this, but I believe are most pressing in Victoria at the moment. they really are. And so we'd like to find a way through on this. We really would. But, you know, the tennis open is going ahead too, these things are not mutually exclusive. And, you know, the rules are there. And just just as you have to abide by the rules of the umpire on the court, you've got to abide by the rules of the health officers when it comes to COVID. And so, you know, you can’t call foul on that. That's a pretty fair set of arrangements. 

JOURNALIST: Does it pass the pub test when crops aren't being picked but tennis players are coming in to play a tournament?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not a choice between the two. It doesn't have to be a choice between the two, you know, we're a clever country and we can manage many things at once. And, you know, I think we can manage a tennis open and pick fruit. We should be able to do that. 

JOURNALIST: But we’re not picking fruit?

PRIME MINISTER: Well there is fruit being picked by the way, but we want more of it picked. And that is something I hope that we'll be able to work our way through. And I'm sure it'll get some discussion on Friday.

JOURNALIST: Just for the year ahead, 2021. What can Australians expect?

PRIME MINISTER: 2021, what I'm expecting is that Australians will continue to prove their resilience. They will continue to be optimistic about Australia's future, and they will continue to make plans for how they're going to make that future happen. And what they can expect from me and my government is for us to back them in. For us to share their optimism, to share their passion for their futures and to back them in, whether that's young people or indeed those in advanced age who are looking to change careers with the skills training they need, manufacturing businesses will be able to draw on Australia's manufacturing plans. Those who are looking to get home sooner and safer with the road projects that are being done not just in metropolitan areas, but importantly, as Scotty has been working on with the DPM now for many years, to ensure that the regional and rural roads are safer for people as they move around this country, that our businesses will open up again even more than they have already and that we will see the comeback that began in 2020 move to a whole new level in 2021. But that's going to require all of us to keep working together, to keep believing, to stay optimistic, keep pushing forward, just as the Tully’s have here over the last two and a half years. And way longer than that, they have seen the worst of times here. And now they're seeing better times and there are even better times ahead. And I think that's a good way to look out on the end of 2020. Thanks everyone.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43198

Delivering CopperString 2.0 and Creating Regional Jobs in Queensland (Copy)

20 January 2021

Prime Minister, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, Member for Herbert

The Liberal National Coalition Government is backing regional jobs, industry development and affordable reliable power through continued support for CopperString 2.0. 

The Morrison Government is announcing support of up to $11 million to help progress the project to Final Investment Decision in 2021.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this support will help deliver this important energy project for the people of Queensland.

“Our support for CopperString is an investment in the future of Queensland that will bring power prices down, create 750 direct construction jobs and unlock the significant economic potential of the North West Minerals Province,” Prime Minister Morrison said. 

“Access to affordable and reliable energy supply will help drive new investment and new opportunities, providing a long-term future for families, businesses and local communities from Townsville to Mount Isa”.

Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said as Australia recovers from COVID-19, it is critical that we invest in projects that support our economic recovery.

“The Government is absolutely committed to delivering a fair deal on energy for the families and businesses of central and northern Queensland,” Minister Taylor said. 

“Connecting north Queensland with the National Electricity Market will help deliver lower cost, reliable power to our important job-creating and export oriented regional industries and increase opportunities for the many other energy projects along the corridor.”

Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said continued support for this project is a key part of the Government’s broader commitment to central and north Queensland.

“Queensland’s mining sector is a significant driver of Australia’s economic success story, and cheaper, more reliable power in the north will continue to support this important industry,” Minister Pitt said.

“Affordable reliable electricity is essential in driving downstream manufacturing and creating more local jobs.

“This will help open up new investment and create new, high-paying jobs for the people of Queensland.”

Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson has long been an advocate for CopperString 2.0 as a way to deliver lower power prices and opportunities for North Queenslanders.

“This will be an important boost for the region now as we recover from COVID-19, and well into the future,” Mr Thompson said.

This project will help unlock the full economic promise of the North West Minerals Province and our important job-creating and export oriented regional industries.

The combination of cheaper energy supply will help drive new investment and new opportunities for Australians, providing a long-term future for families and local communities from Townsville to Mount Isa.

Support for CopperString builds on Liberal National Government action already underway in regional Queensland to bring down prices and improve reliability. Today’s announcement builds on previous support for the project of $5.17 million in 2019.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43197

Doorstop - Quilpie, QLD

19 January 2021

THE HON. DAVID LITTLEPROUD MP, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, DROUGHT, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Well, thanks for coming. It’s great to be back at the Tully family- can I thank the Tully’s for having us again back here to their property just outside Quilpie. Can I thank the Prime Minister who, his first visit after ascending to the Prime Ministership was to this family property to see the drought. The drought was gripping this part of the world as it gripped most of the country. The Prime Minister made it a priority by coming and seeing it firsthand, understanding the trials and tribulations, but also the hope of these people. And we've now got hope, we've had rain. The federal government has proudly put over $10 billion dollars worth of commitments into the drought programmes and that's for our national drought strategy being for the here and now, giving families support in the here and now through the farm household allowance, giving them some dignity and respect to put bread and butter on the table every day. Also through interest free repayment free loans, to give them the support to get through those hard times. We've also had our second pillar, which is supporting the communities that support these families, making sure that their economic distress is also addressed through the Building Better Regions funds which the Deputy Prime Minister has administered, or the drought community programme being administered by the local government, having local solutions, supporting these communities. And we also look to the future we’re the first government said we need to look for the next drought. The next drought starts the very first day after it finishes raining. And you have to prepare for it and the $5 billion dollar Future Drought Fund is up and going. And $100 million dollars of that is being spent as we speak. And next year's $100 million dollars is being planned as we speak as well. And we've also had the Deputy Prime Minister who’s been passionate about water infrastructure, plumbing the country, investing in the smarts of this country to make sure that we empower our farmers with the tools to be able to continue to produce the best food and fibre in the world. So I'm glad not only to have the Prime Minister, but to have the Deputy Prime Minister with me who has been passionate about this as I have, Scotty Buchholz the Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Transport, who has bitumened a lot of this country by getting out and getting on the road and seeing it. And to Senator McGrath, can I say who is the member for Maranoa while I'm not here. He's done a sensational job in sitting at kitchen tables and getting the real stories of real people like the Tullys. That is what we are here for. Is to address the real concerns, the aspirations, the hopes, not just of Steve and Annabell but their next generation. The story of agriculture is just [inaudible]. We've lost too many generations of young people in the regional and rural Australian agriculture. Our story is a positive one and this is testament to it, this family is testament to it. And this government will stand with them. So Prime Minister, thanks again for coming. It's a real testament to your commitment to people right across regional and rural Australia that you continue to make this a priority. 

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, well David thank you, and particularly to Steve and Annabell and the whole Tully family. It's great to be back here with you, with the DPM- with Michael, who we've stood here together, David, just over two years ago, a bit beyond that in fact. And we looked out at this place and it looked a little bit different back then, in the paddock behind us over here I remember Steve showed me a photo of what it used to look like. When we came last time it was as dry as what is underneath us right now. But at one time it was grass up about here Steve, that’s about right. And what struck me when I first met Steve and Annabell and the family was just how resilient they were, some 6 years into the drought and they're still in drought - there are 41 local government areas here in Queensland which are still in drought. But the comeback here is well and truly underway. Steve had I think around about 5,000 head of sheep here at that time, well below half or more of the carrying capacity here on this property that's been in their family for generations. And they're coming back now, up around 7 - 8,000 now, carrying some from other stations around the place and, and on their way back. And they're diversifying, bringing in goats and they're finding their way through. The dog fencing, which we spoke about last time we came, is making a huge impact here. It's ensuring that the finance flows. These are the practical things which Steve and Annabell and so many of the heroes of our drought have been doing to get Australia through and to get these regions and rural communities through. We're very pleased, the DPM and I and the whole team that’s here, Scotty and James, that the things we've been doing have been backing them in to achieve them. Whether it's been the work through the drought communities programme, through local government areas, particularly here in Quilpie, who backed in the broader dog fencing initiative and ensured that it went right across the shire area here. And so together, all the stations and properties around here have become more resilient. The investments they’ve made in the water infrastructure, you know in the Tully [inaudible] they’ve continued to sow in and as a result they are now looking for [inaudible] more optimism than I encountered when I was here a couple of years ago, and that's a tremendous encouragement, I think, to all of us around the country. This past year, the country has gone through an incredibly tough period of time through COVID-19 but that toughness was no stranger to the Tully's and the many families in rural and regional communities across our country who have been enduring the drought for many, many years. As we come up here today and we visit more of these communities it's great to see the comeback underway and it's great to see how the hope and the optimism that they sewn in to this property and in so many towns and regions like it across Queensland and across Australia, they're starting to see the benefits of that. So we're pleased that those programmes have been working. We're pleased that the delivery on the ground, which has been helping kids to stay in school, the psychological counselling and support which has been so important to to help people get through these difficult times, the practical things like fences and on farm irrigation, or water infrastructure and things of that nature. All of it making a practical difference, but the main ingredient has been the resilience and has been the resourcefulness and has been the optimism and hope of the people themselves. So it's great to be back here, Steve and Annabell. It's great to be here with the kids as well. And I’m glad they’ve had a summer back here at home and to be able to see what's happening, and I really do love that whole new water park thing you’ve got over there Steve, I think that the people down at Roadshow will come and take a bit of a shot of that, I think you never know what you might see at theme parks around Australia. So it's great to be here. I’m going to ask Michael McCormack to say a few words and then Steve Tully’s going to tell you a bit about what the last years have been like. But I do want to leave you with this. While things have improved, there is still a long way to go. And I think that's the story of our country. Things have improved. We are getting through this together, but there is still a long way to go. And that's why the plans that we've got in place to support that recovery, to aid that comeback, are still so important. Michael?

THE HON MICHAEL MCCORMACK MP, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Thank you Prime Minister, as Liberals and Nationals we don't set and forget. When the Prime Minister came out here with David and I back in August 2018, we saw a landscape vastly different than what we're witnessing today. Dams two thirds full, now there’s a few green shoots on what was once bare earth. I'm really pleased to see Steve and Annabel Tully. I'm even more delighted to see their three children, three of their five children because they are the future. It's the kids who are the future of regional Queensland. It's the kids who are the future of these places, because Steve and Annabell, they can set it up only so much. We want these kids to be able to have a reason to have the hope to stay, to build better regional communities. That's what Scott Buchholz and I are all about, that's what James McGrath and I are all about, that’s what David Littleproud and I are all about, that's what Scott Morrison and the nation are all about. And that's why we're investing heavily in water infrastructure, $3.5 billion dollars. That's why Scott Buchholtz and I yesterday were up in Rockhampton announcing $289.6 million for better roads, safer roads for Queensland. Scott and I were delighted that 92.3 percent of that money is going to regional Queensland. Steve and Annabell, they are the heart and soul of regional Australia. We want them to be their best selves. And that's what we put in the programme under the Drought Communities Programme, under the dog fencing and under the Building Better Regions Fund, which is now open - open to local governments and others to apply for that money. $200 million dollars. $100 million dollars of which is set aside for tourism. We saw in Longreach today, we spoke to the mayor there. We heard just about the visitation numbers, 98 percent of whom are Australians. And we want more Australians, through COVID of course, they can't travel overseas. But they can visit their own country, they can visit the fabulous sites and destinations of regional Queensland and regional Australia. So that's what we're all about, not setting and forgetting, but providing hope, providing the investment. I was really, really pleased to hear Steve and the Prime Minister, talking about how often they’ve shared messages and photos from August 2018 till now. And I'm sure that will go on because the Prime Minister is one who doesn't set and forget, and none of us do in the Liberals and Nationals. And that's why we're back here today and that's why we're delighted to see the progress made. But there's still a long road to go. With that I’ll ask Steve to add to those remarks.

MR STEPHEN TULLY, BUNGINDERRY STATION: Thank you, Scott, very much for coming. It's great to see you back here with the seeds of recovery underway, because I would hate to have you thinking that, you know, we live in a place of, of dirt, not only of dirt, of dust. Because the horizon on that day was just dust as far as you can see, and now we've got the classic crystal clear air. We wouldn’t be here without the fence. We sat down and we had to think about what we're doing. And there was government funding available for the fence, and we built the fence primarily just the family. 130 kilometres of it. That has allowed us to be happy, profitable and positive, even though we've just hit average rain once since then. We are viable, we are continuously adapting to whatever conditions are thrown at us. We believe we have a great future and we are continuously looking to adjust what we do to allow to further drought proof our properties. That’s what [inaudible] to Scott today, and the rest of today, just throw around ideas of what we can do by spending a little bit of money in the right spot, and setting us up to have a very prosperous future and underpinning what happens in a drought. So we don't have to come back here in a disaster when everything is terrible and we are more adaptable to it. That's a never ending process and we look forward to the future. That gives us confidence, that gives the banks confidence, and that gives the kids confidence if they ever want to come back here. That’s my underlying message here.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks. Well, happy to take some questions?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Brendan Murphy said yesterday that he doesn't expect international travel this year. Do you agree with him? And if so, will there be more support for the tourism industry and travel providers? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well I’ll ask Michael also to comment on this, first of all, as we have worked through the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've dealt with the information in front of us. We’ve worked with the experts that we have to put in place the best responses. And in doing that, whether it's been JobKeeper or JobSeeker, or the vaccination programme that we're moving towards, testing and tracing programmes, quarantine and all of these things, the decisions we've taken around international borders, all of it has been based on the information and advice that has come through. And the same will be true when we make decisions over the course of this year, particularly when we get to the other side of vaccines having been introduced in Australia, about what will happen with international borders. Now at the moment, that is the Secretary of Health’s assessment, but we'll see how things play out over the course of the year. I mean Michael McCormack makes a very good point. And as you know, prior to being in politics, I've worked in the tourism industry. The domestic tourism industry accounts for about 70 to 80 percent of the overall tourism industry in Australia, thereabouts. It varies by region of course, some areas of the country are more dependent on international tourism than others. But the bread and butter of the tourism industry in Australia has always been the domestic tourism sector. And in this unusual time, Australians who are big overseas travellers are increasingly in a position and will want to more and more and more see their own country. So that's going to have it's obvious impact. The net import effect of tourism in Australia now, being spent in Australia is not only supporting domestic tourism in this country as the country, we work hard to try and keep open, but it is also finding its way into retail spending and other things and keeping that money within Australia. We've demonstrated, I think, over the course of this pandemic, our commitment, whether it's to the tourism industry, small business owners, the hospitality sector, the arts sector, the manufacturing sector, businesses right across the country, we’ve demonstrated that we're serious about ensuring that Australia gets through this in the best possible way. And so our record speaks for itself, where we need to make targeted investments, proportionate, commensurate with the challenge. Well, we've done that. That's been our way of doing things. And so we'll assess those things as we go forward. As we have up until this time, we don't make big promises. We just get it done and we make the decisions about what's necessary after working closely with those in the sector about what is needed. So that's how we'll continue to approach this. 

JOURNALIST: Bill Shorten this morning said-

PRIME MINISTER: I’ll let Michael make a few comments on it as well. 

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Just on international travel, of course, we want to see our international flights resume as soon as possible, but we also want to make sure that we continue to have the health outcomes here in Australia that we've had, we've been the envy of the world when it comes to health outcomes. That’s because we have followed the best advice from the health authorities, from the health experts all the way through, we will continue to work through the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, take their advice, take the advice of Professor Paul Kelly, who's of course the chief medical officer and, of course, working through the National Cabinet process. I spoke to Alan Joyce yesterday. He's obviously concerned and they opened up the bookings from July. And of course, they're keen to see international flights resume as soon as possible as are we, as are we. And of course, we've got the vaccine coming out, rolling out from next month. We'll address these situations as they occur from week by week and we’ve done that all the way through, we’ve done it successfully and we’ve kept Australia safe.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Bill Shorten suggested just on that issue that JobKeeper- would be a good idea to keep JobKeeper for that industry specifically going past March. Is that something you would consider doing a targeted continuation of JobKeeper for this industry? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, one thing I've noticed is the federal Labor Party have tended to play politics both with the pandemic and the recovery. What we will do is we’ll just make the best decisions for Australia based on the best information. We'll target it, we’ll ensure that it’s well thought through. We won't be making commitments ahead of anytime that they would be needed. And we've done that all the way through. We heard the same calls from Labor last time, we changed out of JobKeeper at the end of September and what did we see happen? We saw 450,000 businesses get themselves off JobKeeper and more than 2 million Australians no longer needing taxpayer funded support. Federal Labor said, we're going to go off a cliff. They said it was all going to fall apart. And that's not what Australia needs to hear. What Australia needs is what we've been seeking to do and that is bring Australians together. To provide the support where it's needed, to do that carefully because it's all taxpayers money and we invest it carefully and wisely and proportionately and we work with those sectors to make sure it's done in the most effective way. So I'll let the federal Labor Party engage in the politics of the recovery and I'll just encourage the economics of it.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, would you be willing to consider regional support packages like JobKeeper for areas like Cairns which have been traditionally more reliant on international tourism? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, again, I'm not going to pre-empt or fly kites on these things, I don't think that's fair to people, we’ve been always upfront with people about what we're going to do, when we're going to do it and how we're going to do it. And I think that has given the nation a lot of confidence. And so it's not for me to speculate. It's for me to make sound decisions in the country's interests. And that's what we've been doing for the past year. You know, last night I was on a call, as I regularly am with many other leaders last night, the Prime Minister of Israel, the Prime Minister of Norway, and a number of others, Greece, Denmark amongst this group, and Austria that we’ve met with regularly. And to hear what is occurring in Europe, that breaks your heart what they're going through. And it's just reinforced I think the thankful position we are here in Australia with the choices we’ve made and the way that Australians have reacted and supported Australia to come through this, is a great testament to this country and it's being noticed by people around the world. They wish they were us. They really wish they were us. And that is a testimony to the Australian people. But I think also to working together with the states and territories in a very bipartisan way, with the Labor premiers, the Liberal premiers, we’ve all worked together to try and do our best to make the best decisions at the right time. And we'll continue to do that. 

JOURNALIST: In your conversations with Mike Pompeo and Mike Pence, did you have- did you raise their support for Australia in our somewhat difficult relationship at the moment with China, our China relationship? 

PRIME MINISTER: Our what sorry?

JOURNALIST: Was the China relationship discussed? And their support for Australia in that somewhat difficult relationship? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I was pleased to be able to talk to Vice President Pence this morning and Secretary Pompeo yesterday. I've worked very closely with both of them in particular, along with the Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and the former Defence Secretary Esper. And they have been a key part of how we've managed that relationship over the last many years. And the cornerstone of that has been an understanding of just how important Australia and the United States are to each other, how shared we are in our outlook about things in the world, the threats to that and how we can work positively together to deal with those in both of our national interests and with those of many other like minded countries. So it was an opportunity to thank both Secretary Pompeo and Vice President Pence for the very constructive way that they've supported that relationship and the very open way that they've engaged with me as a Prime Minister and previously with Secretary Mnuchin as a Treasurer. And so we spoke about how important that relationship is now, probably more important than ever, and really welcomed their offers of the engagements they've had with the incoming administration, which, you know, I welcome the fact that despite all the terrible things we've seen there happen, there is been that positive engagement between them and those who are coming in after them. And there is a handover. And one of the things that will be handed over from the current administration, to the new one this week, is the stewardship of that very important relationship between Australia and the United States.  As Prime Minister, I have the privilege to steward that from Australia's perspective. The incoming President, President-elect Biden, will join me in that stewardship. And it's incredibly important for our region. It's incredibly important for Australia's interests. And I say it's very important for the United States interest as well.

JOURNALIST: Do you expect the Biden administration to defend Australia as strongly when there are disputes with China is what the Trump administration did? 

PRIME MINISTER: I would expect there would be a continuation of those policy settings that have so favoured the Australian alliance. And that's not new. It's been happening for decades. The alliance between Australia and the United States has known many stewards sitting on both sides of the table as Presidents and Prime Ministers. They've come from all sides of politics. But the one thing that has always brought us together has been our understanding of how strategic and significant the relationship is and the best in that relationship is, as I said to Vice President Pence this morning is still to come.

JOURNALIST: Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has raised the prospect of moving quarantine for returning travellers to mining accommodation. Is that something that you'd be willing to consider at National Cabinet on Friday or consider supporting on Friday? And would you have any concerns about it potentially leading to a threat of COVID in regional areas where they don't have the same testing capacity as in the capital city? 

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, two points. One, I'm meeting with Premier Palaszczuk later this week when I go back through Brisbane, and I'm sure I look forward to having that discussion. I haven't seen that proposal as yet, but I've always been very interested in positive proposals that have come forward from Premiers about how we can best manage what are very challenging issues. I mean, we already have these types of arrangements up in the Northern Territory. That's how the 20 extra flights that I agreed to and and endorsed and acted on with the Deputy Prime Minister on the weekend, that's in addition, I think Michael to some 90 I think we’ve already arranged and many of those, particularly more latterly, are being made possible over and above the caps because of what we've been able to do in the Northern Territory with the Chief Minister Gunner. So I'm very open to these sorts of ideas and I look forward to seeing the proposal and then we'll go from there. I- Premier Palaszczuk knows that my door is always open to those sorts of discussions and I look forward to having them with her.

JOURNALIST: When you spoke to Vice President Mike Pence, did you ask at all about or did you speak at all about Donald Trump and his refusal to concede the election at all? 

PRIME MINISTER: No. 

JOURNALIST: Will you be speaking to Donald Trump in the remainder of- before he leaves office? 

PRIME MINISTER: No, I have no plans to do that.

JOURNALIST: And your colleagues, David Littleproud, and Michael McCormack here, they've criticised the Victorian government for, accepting tennis players, but not farm workers. What's your view on that? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, at the December meeting of National Cabinet, we had a very good discussion about the urgent need for seasonal workers and particularly in Victoria. And the Premier raised a number of issues there. And I know there have been some proposals that have come forward. We'd be very interested in progressing those, but that is very much a matter for the Premier. I mean, here in Queensland, there's no partisanship on this. I mean, here in Queensland, they run an on farm quarantine programme. Now, admittedly, that is not in massive numbers, but I think it's a very innovative way of managing that issue. And so we would welcome constructive proposals about how this can be better managed. The agreement we made at the last National Cabinet meeting, we highlighted the need to have some special accommodations around seasonal workers because of the needs and those needs currently, I mean, David, you might want to comment on this, but I believe are most pressing in Victoria at the moment. they really are. And so we'd like to find a way through on this. We really would. But, you know, the tennis open is going ahead too, these things are not mutually exclusive. And, you know, the rules are there. And just just as you have to abide by the rules of the umpire on the court, you've got to abide by the rules of the health officers when it comes to COVID. And so, you know, you can’t call foul on that. That's a pretty fair set of arrangements. 

JOURNALIST: Does it pass the pub test when crops aren't being picked but tennis players are coming in to play a tournament?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not a choice between the two. It doesn't have to be a choice between the two, you know, we're a clever country and we can manage many things at once. And, you know, I think we can manage a tennis open and pick fruit. We should be able to do that. 

JOURNALIST: But we’re not picking fruit?

PRIME MINISTER: Well there is fruit being picked by the way, but we want more of it picked. And that is something I hope that we'll be able to work our way through. And I'm sure it'll get some discussion on Friday.

JOURNALIST: Just for the year ahead, 2021. What can Australians expect?

PRIME MINISTER: 2021, what I'm expecting is that Australians will continue to prove their resilience. They will continue to be optimistic about Australia's future, and they will continue to make plans for how they're going to make that future happen. And what they can expect from me and my government is for us to back them in. For us to share their optimism, to share their passion for their futures and to back them in, whether that's young people or indeed those in advanced age who are looking to change careers with the skills training they need, manufacturing businesses will be able to draw on Australia's manufacturing plans. Those who are looking to get home sooner and safer with the road projects that are being done not just in metropolitan areas, but importantly, as Scotty has been working on with the DPM now for many years, to ensure that the regional and rural roads are safer for people as they move around this country, that our businesses will open up again even more than they have already and that we will see the comeback that began in 2020 move to a whole new level in 2021. But that's going to require all of us to keep working together, to keep believing, to stay optimistic, keep pushing forward, just as the Tully’s have here over the last two and a half years. And way longer than that, they have seen the worst of times here. And now they're seeing better times and there are even better times ahead. And I think that's a good way to look out on the end of 2020. Thanks everyone.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43198

Interview with Jim Wilson, 2GB

18 January 2021

JIM WILSON: And the Prime Minister is on the line right now. Welcome to Drive Prime Minister. 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, happy birthday Jimmy.

WILSON: Good on you. Thanks very much PM. I've had a very nice day. The messages have been terrific, and in the world's best city, it's the world's best day. The weather is just absolutely magnificent. 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I hope you get- there's a few more runs for your birthday mate, we need to score a bit more before the end of this session, I think. 

WILSON: Yeah, I wouldn't mind like 350, 350 plus. But at the moment, an overall lead of 276. How- did you get to have a time away? Did you have a break with Jenny and the kids?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah we did, they're still away but I've come back to work and, but we, we got down the South Coast of New South Wales. I like to get down there. And g’day to everyone down at Shoalhaven Heads. They’re wonderful, wonderful people, very kind to us when we come down there. A bit of bodysurfing and that sort of thing, and a great time with the girls and Jen, so it was a good break, but very much now back and and very focussed on this is going to be a big year and a lot of challenges this year. 

WILSON: Yeah it will be as we, as we have obviously had big challenges in 2020. Let's get down to business, borders. You have a National Cabinet this week, would you be encouraging all states and territories to reopen their borders? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I always encourage them to act on the medical advice and we don't have any- all the hotspot definitions have been lifted at a Commonwealth level that was done on the weekend. So, you know, the states really have to look at their own situation and they make those calls, as you know. But it's always important, I like to keep things as open as possible. But at the end of the day, the state Premiers are the ones who are responsible for public health in their states. I've encouraged them always to take that approach as I did at the last meeting and then, we'll do at this one as well. I mean, also to get some greater transparency and and and predictability about what happens, because it's not just when a border might come in, but it's the disruption that the process by which a border is put in place is, that that can cause you know great, great inconvenience. And you've got to try and minimise that wherever possible. 

WILSON: Do you feel like that some of the responses or reactions from some of the states has been knee jerk as far as just when we look like we're reopening for business, so to speak, they slam shut the door? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's an uncertain environment Jim and nothing's aided by me engaging in a sort of a public commentary on these things. I mean, everyone's got to, everyone's got their responsibilities, they've all got decisions they've got to make and they've all got to make them and be accountable for them. What I encourage them to do is try and harmonise them as best as we possibly can. I've always been a big fan of the way the Northern Territory has run their arrangement up there. They- things come on to hotspots and they come off as quickly as they've come on. And they've done very well up there. And New South Wales has obviously done a fantastic job in both keeping the state as open as possible while dealing with the many challenges of the outbreaks they've had. Now, you know, I don't want to count any chickens before they hatch, but so far, after what has been some very big challenges to our system over the last month, I mean, we've so far avoided this third wave. I mean, we've got over 2 million people who lost their lives to COVID around the world. But here in Australia, while we've had, you know, terrible losses of over 900 people, I mean that is what is being lost in a day in many- many countries overseas now. So, you know, I know that the disruptions that come from borders and some of the restrictions that are in place, it causes great frustration and inconvenience to people. But when you stand back and you look at how Australia is performing against the rest of the world, then I'd much rather be here than anywhere else. 

WILSON: But shouldn’t the other states that have, as I said I'm saying this, the knee jerk reactions you take a look at New South Wales, who have been absolutely world class as far as getting on with business and managing to get on with life with the virus?

PRIME MINISTER: Well all the states are different Jim, I think it's, they’ve all got different circumstances. I mean Western Australia doesn't really have border towns and so the impact there, while it's difficult for people to get in and out of the state for leisure purposes and things like that, you compare that to, say, New South Wales and Queensland, or New South Wales and Victoria, where there's an enormous amount of movement. People live on these borders. So the way borders impact is different from state to state, you take a city like New South Wales- like Sydney and within New South Wales, it's our biggest state. I mean, we've got to keep it open. If New South Wales can't stay open then the national economy will be severely impacted. Similar is true for Victoria and then Queensland but I mean New South Wales is that is the largest state. And I think the approach they've taken there has been good both to the economy, but also have- they've taken, they've had the strongest capacity to deal with outbreaks. And there's been a lot of patience, though, from the people of Sydney. I mean, I haven't been back in Sydney, Jim, oh for over a month because if I go back to Sydney then I, at the moment I, there are a number of places I can’t also go around the country. So I've been in the ACT. And, you know, that's just part of living with this virus for now and hopefully as the year progresses and as the vaccine rolls out, that won't immediately change everything. But over time, that will build up. And as the year progresses, we'll hopefully be in an even stronger position. And states won't feel the need to react in the ways that they sometimes have. But take the most recent Queensland shutdown that we had for those few days. I strongly supported that because that was dealing with a new circumstance. We had a new strain of the virus. We didn't know how it was going to operate and how quickly it was going to move. We knew it was going to move a lot faster than elsewhere. And we knew we had to give our contact tracers the time to get on top of it quickly. Now, it turns out that, you know, we got on top of that and there wasn't a further spread and they did a great job up there. And that was a clear case of being safe than sorry, I suppose. So what all this means Jim is you just got to deal with what's in front of you and make the best calls you can. That's how we've got through it. 

WILSON: There's been a lot of backlash, a lot of talk from the community over allowing hundreds of tennis players, personal trainers, coaches, other members flying to Melbourne and Adelaide for the Australian Open to prepare, yet thousands of Aussies are still stranded overseas or stranded interstate. It reeks of sort of double standards, it’s out of whack, isn't it? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I can certainly tell you that no one is being prevented from coming home from overseas because of the Australian Open. That's not happening. 

WILSON: But the tennis players, the world's best tennis players are getting sort of sort of a priority, if you'd like, and privileges, whereas there are a number of Aussies, not just Victorians, who are who are still- thousands in fact, who are still stranded overseas?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I'll come to those who are still overseas, but I can tell you that there's been no allowances made that would enable people who are waiting to get here from overseas. Their places are not being taken by tennis players, I can tell you that. But there is the issue that you highlight of people trying to get back into Victoria now, and that's why I say to the premiers and again, it's just not my job, I think, to be critical of other premiers or other jurisdictions. And frankly it doesn't help when, you know, there's that discussion that happens between the various premiers because the people want to see us working together and that's what happens by and large, most of the time, if not all of the time. But when premiers make decisions about borders and things like that, then equally they're accountable for those and explaining to those who can't get back into Victoria how that all works and how they've made those decisions. So I'll leave that to them to explain. But, you know, this is the thing with the pandemic, Jim. It's not easy, lots of issues present and it becomes very complicated and you get things that frustrate people. That's true. But I tell you what's more frustrating, what's happening in the UK and the United States and France and Italy and Germany, even now, all across all, I've got a meeting with a number of these European leaders tonight, catching up with them about where they're up with the vaccine and and how they're progressing over there. Israel will be on that call as well. They've done very well with their vaccine. So we're learning a lot from what's happening overseas. But Australia is well out ahead with just a very small handful of countries for people to be living the way we are in Australia right now.

WILSON: We are well ahead. But I'm not comfortable with the fact that there are tennis players and support staff coming from COVID hot spots from around the world, in particular the US and also Europe. Why didn’t the Australian Open tennis officials do what the Australian Grand Prix has done and simply postpone until later in the year?

PRIME MINISTER: I think they’re very different events, Jim, to be fair, and the way that both of those events were looking to engage with the Victorian government and the sort of the sort of arrangements that were being asked of by the Grand Prix were unacceptable and so it was put back. The arrangements that the Victorian government were prepared to accept were agreed and they were laid out. So I think it's just time people follow the rules, do their quarantine, play tennis. They’ll get paid well for it and I'm sure they'll put on a great spectacle and the Australian Open will go ahead. I mean, this is one of those things. You’re trying to keep the balance of keeping things going forward as normal as you can, but it obviously has to happen under some rather extraordinary rules and arrangements.

WILSON: How are we tracking when it comes to a coronavirus vaccine? The Pfizer vaccine is set to be approved this month and handed out from next month. But there are questions being asked over these 30 deaths in Norway. 

PRIME MINISTER: I think this just highlights why we've been prudent. I mean, there's been no delays. We've been moving as quickly as we possibly can. But equally, there's been no rush. There's been no corners cut. I mean, all the processes and examinations are being done and that's what's happening right now. And we've been getting the information from across all those countries where vaccinations have commenced and we're learning from the things that they're doing now. These cases in Norway, they're distressing. But in terms of the total volume of vaccinations that have been provided and those who have been provided with them who have sadly passed away, they are very aged people, and they were in the last phases of life and very frail, and this can happen with these vaccinations. We know that. And that's why it's important that we’re just very careful. People know my view on the vaccine has always been safety first, health first. Let's make sure they're right. Let's make sure all the I's are dotted and all the T's are crossed. Then we can give the tick and then people can safely get the jab. And that's the way we have to do it patiently but as expeditiously as we as we responsibly can. 

WILSON: OK, I’ve got to ask you about the inauguration of President elect Joe Biden. Have you spoken to him recently? 

PRIME MINISTER: I spoke to him not long after the election after he, you know, clearly won the election. And we had a very good conversation at that time. But then there are a whole series of protocols you observe and you need to wait until people are formally sworn in. But we've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes there as a Government and there's been a lot of engagement with other countries around these issues with whom we share similar interests and we wish them all the best. America's going through a very terrible time at the moment, but looking forward to, you know, the country uniting and moving on from these terrible, these terrible last few months and particularly these last few weeks. But, you know, America is an amazing country, they'll bounce back. I believe they'll come together again and again. America is very important to Australia and very important to this part of the world and it's very important that we see them come together in that way and we'll be doing everything we can to support that and encourage that outcome. 

WILSON: How would you describe the actions of behaviour of Donald Trump in recent weeks, in particular, because you are close friends with the President? 

PRIME MINISTER: Look, I've worked closely with the President, as you would expect me to. I didn't know the President before I was Prime Minister in any way. I've worked with others in the Administration. I think the events that we've seen in the United States have been, as I said before I went on leave, I think they’re deeply distressing and I think, you know, the actions have been very disappointing. I join with other leaders who have said what they've said. But, look, it's important, Jim, I mean, this is American politics. It's not Australian politics. 

WILSON: But were disappointed with the actions of the President? That’s what I’m asking.

PRIME MINISTER: I just said, I’ve echoed the comments of other leaders about those things. I think it was disappointing, very disappointing that things were allowed to get to that to that stage and, you know, the things that were said that encouraged others to come to the Capitol and engage in that way were incredibly disappointing, very disappointing. And the outcomes were terrible. But I think what's more important now is not for me to be providing lectures to anybody. That's not my job. It's for the American people now to come together behind their elected President and to come together and go forward in the way that we would hope they would as a close friend and a very strong ally. And I look working very closely with President Biden and his whole team. 

WILSON: That inauguration is later this week. Prime Minister, always good chatting. A belated happy New Year to you, Jenny, and the family. And I appreciate your time, as always. And hopefully the Aussies can get that good lead of 350. It’s the first time we’ve probably chatted that we haven't finished on Cronulla or something Sharks leaning. 

PRIME MINISTER: I’m looking forward to the start of the season. There's no doubt about that. I've been checking the Sharks site, their app, to check and see who is coming through in training. I actually bumped into the Sharks President while I was on leave and we had a chat about a few things. So looking forward to the season. 

WILSON: Good on you. Appreciate your time. And again, a belated happy New Year. And as I said, my first show back, my birthday, I'm speaking to the Prime Minister. I couldn't be more happier. 

PRIME MINISTER: Happy birthday, Jim.

WILSON: Good on you mate. Thanks very much. That's the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43196

Official Leave

11 January 2021

I will be on official leave this week until Monday January 18.  

During my short absence, the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack will be the Acting Prime Minister and undertake my duties for this period, including regular health and economic briefings, the planned roll-out of our vaccine program with the Minister for Health, as well as meeting requests from state and territory governments regarding the National Coordinating Mechanism and support from the ADF. 

While away I remain in contact with the Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, who will brief me on COVID-19 issues as they occur.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-44037

National Cabinet Statement

8 January 2021

The National Cabinet met today to discuss Australia’s COVID-19 response, the Australian COVID-19 Vaccination Policy and management of Australia’s borders in the context of the emergence of new variants.

National Cabinet continues to work together to address issues and find solutions to the health and economic consequences of COVID-19. The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, provided an update on the latest epidemiological data and medical advice in relation to COVID-19.

There have been 28,571 confirmed cases in Australia and, sadly, 909 people have died. There are now 41 people in hospital. More than 11.8 million tests have been undertaken in Australia.

Australia has done well on both the health and economic fronts compared to most countries around the world. National Cabinet noted the significant increase in COVID-19 cases in many countries and the comparative strength of Australia’s effort in addressing COVID compared to most other developed economies. Globally there have been over 87 million cases and sadly over 1.8 million deaths, with 925,628 new cases reported in the last 24 hours.

National Cabinet discussed the management of emerging COVID-19 variants and agreed to a range of measures to further mitigate the risk to Australians.

National Cabinet reaffirmed commitment to the Australian COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, which sets out the roles and responsibilities of the Commonwealth, states and territories in rolling out COVID-19 vaccination. 

National Cabinet will meet fortnightly, or more frequently if required.

Management of COVID-19 Variants and Brisbane Case

Professor Kelly briefed National Cabinet on the emergence of new variants of COVID-19. New variants have a clear higher transmissibility, are rapidly becoming the dominant virus in the UK and are now being seen in more than 30 countries across the world, including Australia where there have been 12 occurrences of the variant.

Additional measures to further mitigate risks of the spread of COVID-19, including new variants, arising from international and domestic air travel were agreed and outlined below.

National Cabinet was briefed on the current situation in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. National Cabinet welcomed the decision taken by the Queensland Government following the confirmation of a positive case of the new variant. In recognition of the increased risk of transmission, National Cabinet agreed to include the Local Government Areas of Brisbane, Logan, Moreton, Redlands and Ipswich as hot spots. 

National Cabinet agreed that the national standard for any worker involved in quarantine arrangements (transport, cleaners etc) will be to have daily COVID-19 tests, with jurisdictions to work towards meeting this standard as soon as possible.

Domestic and International aviation measures

National Cabinet agreed to additional measures to strengthen end-to-end protection of Australians from COVID-19, including new variants.

International passenger caps in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia will be temporarily halved from no later than 15 January 2021 to manage the flow of returning Australians and other travellers who have been potentially exposed to the new variants. Current international passenger caps in Victoria and South Australia and arrangements in the Northern Territory are considered manageable and will remain in place.

Arrangements on international passenger caps will be reviewed by National Cabinet in early February.

National Cabinet also adopted a number of recommendations from the AHPPC in relation to in-flight and in-airport measures.

For international travel:

• Returning Australians and other travellers to Australia must return a negative COVID-19 test prior to departure. Exemptions will only be applied in extenuating circumstances, such as seasonal workers where there is limited access to testing.

• Air crew must take a COVID-19 test every 7 days or on arrival in Australia, continue to quarantine in dedicated quarantine facilities between international flights or for 14 days, and not reposition for an outgoing international flight unless they do so on a crew-only flight.

• All passengers and air crew must wear masks on flights and in airports. 

• Airlines will continue to have appropriate infection prevention and control measures on board aircraft, including crew wearing personal protective equipment where appropriate.

For domestic travel:

• All passengers, excluding children 12 and under or those with particular exemptions, and air crew must wear masks on flights and in airports.

These measures will also be applied to government facilitated commercial flights which already have in place strong mitigating measures for passengers and facilities.

COVID-19 Vaccine Update

National Cabinet reaffirmed their commitment to the Australian Government’s COVID-19 vaccine national roll-out strategy and agreed that heads of Departments of Health in all jurisdictions and the AHPPC will to develop a nationally consistent approach on the use of public health orders for the vaccine roll-out.

Additionally, to protect the most vulnerable, and based on normal vaccination practices, for public health reasons this work will include an assessment of any requirement for vaccinations for priority cohorts in critical and high risk sectors, such as aged care workers for example.

National Cabinet will consider this approach at their meeting in February 2021.  

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-44036

Interview with Mark Levy, 2GB

5 January 2021

MARK LEVY: I'm pleased to say Scott Morrison joins us on the line right now. Prime Minister, good morning.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, g’day Mark from down here in Canberra.
 
LEVY: Lovely to talk to you as always. I was only thinking this morning, last time I saw you, we were down on the south coast enjoying a holiday. And since then, mate, we've been through drought, floods, bushfires, this pandemic. I'll tell you one thing, the resilience of this country, it's something else, isn't it?
 
PRIME MINISTER: It is amazing and that has been the secret ingredient to Australia's success, I think. I think people have worked together well and there's been an enormous amount of spirit and tenacity, but it's been the way that Australians have pushed through. Sure, it's been it's been incredibly difficult. There's no doubt about that and there's been terrible loss for people all around the country, and that continues. But people just keep pushing through. They keep looking forward and we’ve got to just keep that optimistic spirit that has served us so well for so long.
 
LEVY: There's a lot of people holding out hope for the vaccine. That's hopefully not too far away. We're told today the Therapeutic Goods Administration is waiting on this important paperwork and data to be handed over in relation to the AstraZeneca vaccine. Has this delay put us put us back, so to speak, as far as the early rollout, or is March still on track?
 
PRIME MINISTER: No, we're still on track and we're working through the break and our health officials are here in Canberra and the Health Minister, Greg Hunt and I, we're all just working through those issues, particularly further again this week and will be in the weeks ahead. And we've got to get it safe and we've got to get it right. We're not in a situation like the UK is, they had 58,000 cases yesterday. I mean, that is just mind blowing when you think about it. Israel has been in a catastrophic state with where the virus has got to there, as well as across Europe and the United States. So, you know, they're in a position where they have to do emergency vaccine vaccinations in those places. In Australia, as you said in your intro, that's not our situation. So we can't cut corners on the vaccine. It has to be rolled out properly in an orderly way and that's what we'll be working hard to achieve. And we've got our best people working on it and they're working on it right now.
 
LEVY: Can I ask you about the comments from Anthony Albanese? Now, I'm assuming that you keep the Labor Party across all of the details here. Mr Albanese, in the last 24 hours and has done over a number of weeks now, has accused you of dropping the ball on the vaccine. Is that fair? Is he across the details?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no, it's quite an uninformed view. I mean, they were offered a briefing in December which wasn't taken up. I think the last briefing the shadow health minister had was in November. And Mr Albanese, I mean, I talk to the Chief Medical Officer every day and, I mean, he hasn’t. So what's informing his views is only for him to explain, because he certainly hasn't been sitting down with our officials who are running this process. And that's who is running this process, by the way, medical professionals who are working to pull together all the information they need to make the right decision on the vaccine and once you get the tick off from the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which has a very rigorous process, then a key thing that has to happen after that is you've got to go then and test the batches of the vaccines that are distributed across the country. I mean, we just don't, you know, tick it off and then take a wild guess at what people then put in people's arms. I mean, there are further testing that takes place after the TGA approval and that has to be done properly. I mean, the Pfizer vaccine, for example, has to be transferred at minus 70 degrees and so the logistics and distribution issues that have been worked through with Pfizer themselves and so there's a lot of work that's being done. But what's important, because Australians rightly want the vaccine to be safe and they want it to be timely, and that's what we're working to deliver with the we believe, the best people in the world to do that, which are our vaccination experts. I mean, Australia has one of the highest rates of vaccination in the world because people have confidence in the system. So I'm not going to shortcut that system. And if people want to focus on, you know, trying to stir up political issues, that says more about them than me.
 
LEVY: What about the borders, Prime Minister, it's obviously a hot topic for our listeners on 2GB in Sydney and 4BC in Brisbane. You've called on us as early as New Year's Day to unite as a nation as we sing about being one and free. But I've heard from so many listeners who feel anything but one or free because of these border closures. Now, I don't know what you can do constitutionally, whether you can do anything, but surely you would concede we desperately need a national approach instead of allowing the premiers and chief ministers to what appears to be run their own race?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's what the Constitution enables them to do. Should be very clear about that. The Federal Government does not have the powers to direct state authorities on border issues when it comes to public health controls. They have complete authority over public health and where they put those arrangements in place for public health reasons, then they have complete authority over those things. The other thing I don't want, Mark, is a lowest common denominator, which means there'd be more border restrictions, not less. And so I don't want states like New South Wales having to, you know, take a different approach, which would see the more closed up than they, you know, then is there their willingness to do, which is to, you know, keep the show on the road, which I think they've done a fantastic job doing, and manage the virus as they are.
 
LEVY: Do you understand the frustration out there though, Prime Minister?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Of course, there is terrible frustration and that goes along with having a global pandemic. But if you want to have a look at frustration, go to the United Kingdom, go to Europe, go to the United States, and you'll see frustration there. These are health issues and it's difficult in a pandemic. But this is why I say I think the overwhelming majority of Australians, despite those frustrations and, you know, we share them. I mean, right now, Mark, I'm speaking to you from Canberra. Half of my family has gone back to Sydney. But I have to remain here because if I go to Sydney, I can't come back to Canberra. So it affects everybody. I'm not saying my situation is the same as many others, particularly those Victorians trying to get back into Victoria. But these are frustrations that go along with a pandemic. I would love it if there was a hotspot approach followed right across the country. Right now, Queensland is following that approach in relation to New South Wales. That's a bit of a change from what we saw last year. So they're only looking at people coming from Sydney. That's the same for Tasmania. That's the same for Northern Territory. That's the same for the ACT. WA, Victoria and South Australia are taking a different approach. So I'm trying to actually lift it up, not dumb it down, because if you take it down the other way, we'll just have more restrictions. And that's not what that's not what we want.
 
LEVY: And that's fair enough. I take it from your comments there that you're stranded in Canberra at the moment where you're running the country, obviously, but you won’t be, because you and I buy sporting fans, you would no doubt love to be at the SCG to support the pink Test and the McGrath Foundation. We're going to have a capped crowd of 12,000. Are you concerned with a large gathering of people at one of these major sporting events?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I spoke to the Acting Premier yesterday and I was talking to Gladys last week before she went on leave. And, look, they've been working this through and they've made some sensible decisions based on the medical advice. I think it's great the Test is going ahead. I think it's great that it'll be played in front of people. It's been done in a safe way, and they've got a good plan to deal with that based on the medical advice. And I'm sure Tim Paine and the boys are going to come back strongly and looking forward to that and I'm sure Justin Langer has got them all ready and primed to go. So, I mean, there's been a bit of toing and framing on that over the last little while. So hopefully that will settle down and they can just play some great cricket and I'll be doing it, I'll see it here in the corner with a screen, perhaps while doing other things.
 
LEVY: Let's touch on a couple of quick ones if we can. We spoke earlier about Anthony Albanese's comments. He's also claiming the reduction in JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments is a premature withdrawal of support for Australians. But the point I've been making on the on Ray’s programme, Mr Morrison, is that the Government can't keep handing out money while we're seeing people get back into the workforce.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we said it was a temporary, targeted and proportionate measure to get Australians through the worst of this crisis and that's exactly what it's done. I mean, we have supported the Australian economy, as Australians now to the tune of some $77 billion alone with JobKeeper. That's what's gone out the door already and it's still running out till the end of March. And the number of business owners that have stopped me and my colleagues in the street and said that was a life saver for my employees, that kept my business alive and that has continued. We've already gone through one change at the end of September and then subsequent to that, we've seen hundreds of thousands of jobs created. And so the economy is regearing. It's gearing back up again. It's finding its own feet again. And we've got to be careful that the important supports that we put in place during the worst of the pandemic then don't hold back the business led recovery on the other side. I mean, we had 450,000 businesses after the change we made in September when everyone predicted the same thing, they said there'd be all the calamity that would follow and there'd be a cliff. And at the same things they're all saying now, they said that would happen at the end of September. What happened? 450,000 businesses graduated off JobKeeper. They didn't need it anymore. More than two million Australians who were reliant on a taxpayer-funded income support payment in JobKeeper no longer needed it, they were able to be supported by their employers. So the economy is building up again and we have to wean it off these emergency supports. It's like coming out of the ICU into the ward and then becoming an outpatient for the economy. And that's the phases we're moving through. But, you know, we've seen this from the Opposition all last year, Mark. They say they support the measures on the pandemic, but then they bag them at the same time. I mean, has a bet on a win in a place in a two horse race every single time, there's no doubt why they call him each way Albo.
 
LEVY: Well, there's been plenty of commentary around a few international issues, China being one. I do need to ask you as well about Julian Assange, whose extradition to the United States has been struck down in the UK. You've said before that we won't be giving any special treatment to the WikiLeaks founder. But given the decision is based on mental health grounds and he's an Australian, what's your response to the decision overnight?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the justice system is making its way and we're not a party to that. And like any Australian, they're offered consular support and should, you know, the appeal fail, obviously he would be able to return to Australia like any other Australian. So that consular support is continues to be offered and that's the situation as we understand it right now. So, yes, it's just a straightforward process of the legal system in the UK working its way through.
 
LEVY: And one last one, I know you're a footy fan. You love your Sharkys. What are the chances of us watching some finals footy in September, October and also a federal election?
 
PRIME MINISTER: The election is not due to 2022 and I've got to say, well, I'm hoping that the Sharks, particularly with some of the new players coming through this year. I see they're training hard over the summer. I follow them on the Facebook group and I see they're working pretty hard. But look, you know, the election is due in 2022. This year, Mark, we've got a lot to focus on and I'm focused on the pandemic and continuing to get us through that together and together is the key point there, despite the disagreements that occur between states. I mean, overwhelmingly, people are working together. We've got to get the economy back up and get those jobs, 80 per cent of the jobs have come back, over 700,000. And we need to keep those businesses going forward and get through that process. But there's a lot of other things going on. You know, we've got to work through the aged care challenges this next year. Mental health has been a big priority for us. And that safety online programme, you know, taking on the trolls and making sure the big internet companies do the right thing by people and protect our kids. And, you know, there's a lot of work to do this year, and that's where my focus is, mate.
 
LEVY: Prime Minister, as a fellow resident of the Shire these days, it's always good to talk to you. Thanks for joining us on the Ray Hadley Morning Show.
 
PRIME MINISTER: No worries, Mark, perhaps we'll catch up down at Shoalhaven Heads at some point in the future, who knows.
 
LEVY: I think there’s a cold beer waiting for you. Thanks very much.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43193