Speeches
Address, University of the South Pacific - Fiji
18 January 2019
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, everyone. It’s wonderful to be here at USP and to see so many of you here. It’s a great privilege to be here as the Australian Prime Minister and to bring the greetings and the kind affections from the Australian people to all of you.
Can I start by saying vinaka to Professor Pal Ahluwalia for his very warm welcome earlier, and congratulate him on his new role as Vice-Chancellor. Professor, I know you’ll do a tremendous job leading this very important and prestigious institution. I’d also like to acknowledge the sterling efforts of Professor Rajesh Chandra, both to this University and to the Pacific during his decade-long tenure as Vice-Chancellor. To The Hon. Rosy Akbar, Minister for Education, Heritage and the Arts, it’s a pleasure to meet you here today and thank you also for your welcome. To Mr Winston Thompson, the Pro-Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific as well as my colleagues who join me here from Australia, Senator Anne Ruston, the Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific and the High Commissioner John Feakes. I congratulate you again, John, on the tremendous job you have been doing here representing us as our High Commissioner.
I’ve given plenty of speeches at universities in my time but never in a garland like this. I think it’s quite good.
[Laughter]
But it’s all part of the welcome and the culture of respect that is so evident in Pacific cultures all around our region. It’s fair to say there is a lot of affection here today and I appreciate that very much. I understand that is an affection for Australia and while Jenny and I have greatly appreciated the very warm personal welcomes we have had since we have been here, what we understand and all of my delegation understand is that’s a reflection of the affection and the kindness and the warmth that is extended by the peoples of Fiji to Australia and our people.
We are more than neighbours, we are more than partners. As Prime Minister Bainimarama and I have said on each of our discussions so far, we are family. We are vuvale and this principle of vuvale is something we feel very deeply about. It’s a different kind of relationship. Australia has many relationships all around the world and they come by many different names. Some of them are spoken in that special language of diplomacy which diplomats understand and the rest of us would shake our heads at I suppose. But to talk about vuvale is to go beyond diplomacy, it’s to talk about something deep and something rich, something that is very local, something that is very ‘home’ and something which connects peoples more than any words or any documents can.
When you see yourselves as family, a relationship moves beyond a shallow transactional lens. Our relationships, what we do as countries, can’t just be the sum of our transactions and our deals any more than our engagements with each other are the sum of deals, transactions. They extend far more than that and we need to look at them far more than that and our Government is doing exactly as we look out into the Pacific and particularly here in Fiji.
Because when we see things, I think, in a very transactional way, we sell ourselves short and we sell our opportunities short. So it’s an approach, vuvale, in the Pacific that I intend to follow and our Government intends to follow and Australia intends to follow because we believe that is the way that will have the deepest and richest of relationships, because it will reflect our character and our values.
Now it’s true that Australia and Fiji as we are tied also by our geography and our history and for many years our coins even pointed to a shared history as they pointed to a shared crown. Evidence of the confluence of our early histories as nations. On different trajectories when it comes to those issues today, but when you share those beginnings as nations, when you share the beginnings of colonisation and these issues there is an understanding there is an appreciation, I think, whether it’s Australia or New Zealand can have with Pacific nations, particularly Fiji, that many others will struggle to understand. But we have lived it so we get it and I think that provides for a very open and honest and very meaningful dialogue and conversation.
Every day new stories are being created about the connections that are being forged between us. There are thousands of them. They happen on our sports fields, in our churches, in our schools and indeed in our universities. They emerge between our defence and our police forces, our businesses. They are great stories of human connectedness, which is why we are so committed.
I have seen firsthand the enormous potential here in Fiji over a long period of time and I very much welcome the vibrancy of the economy here. Nine years of uninterrupted economic growth bear testament to this, and it’s a credit to all of those who have been able to achieve it, be it through the leadership of the government and their policies or indeed the hard-working people of Fiji, every single day. They’re going out there, running businesses, working hard. That is work that’s respected, delivering an important dividend for Fiji and indeed for our region. A relatively small country, but a big country in many other ways - a diverse and dynamic tourism sector, a country that has produced iconic global brands like Kookai and Fiji Water.
I’ve experienced the talent, the generosity and the energy of the Fijian people and of course - I suppose particularly our rugby players - don’t want to see too much of that energy on September 21 when the Flying Fijians meet the Wallabies in the opening round of Rugby World Cup.
[Laughter]
But somehow I suspect we will and it will be a great contest as always. I saw some of the boys down on the rugby league site there this morning. Of course, we can’t forget the fine young men and women who serve alongside Australians as part of the Australian Defence Force. Three of them, Apaitia Matalau, Tevita Vula and Apete Turuva, proudly returned to Fiji as part of the Australian Navy HMAS Canberra relief operation team assigned to help in Koro Island during 2016’s Cyclone Winston.
Fiji’s leadership role in the region is welcomed and it is understood. Fiji has earned respect for its decades-long commitment to UN peacekeeping operations in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. Let me place on record my deep appreciation and that of Australia, for the sacrifice of Fijians in keeping the peace around the world. More than 50 Fijians have lost their lives, sacrificed their lives serving in peacekeeping missions all around the world. Yesterday my wife Jenny and I went and paid tribute to them. Not only to them, but also to lives lost in the First and Second World Wars in Malaya and other places. But I must admit I was struck by just how many and how great a price has been paid by Fiji serving the cause of peace with the UN. That is something that should be deeply respected by all nations who form part of the UN and by the United Nations themselves. Fijians have paid a great price and they deserve great respect. That is certainly the position Australia holds.
I know it’s a relationship worth nurturing and the same goes for all nations in our Pacific family and that is reciprocated. That’s what we’re doing. Playing our part in our region to secure its strategic place in the world, a stable economically and sovereignty, independence. I saw this firsthand when Prime Minister O’Neil as Chair of APEC drew together the leaders of Pacific nations from right across this region to hear their clear and articulate voice advocating the outlook of the Pacific peoples. It’s a voice we need to hear and pay attention to.
So here, I’m attending to voice my commitment and that of my Government, to listen and to hear all of you. It’s fitting that I’m doing it here at this remarkable university, which is owned by the governments of 12 island nations, proud nations, and has locations in all of them. The University of the South Pacific understands respect, equality and openness. Indeed, it thrives because of all of these things. There is unity of purpose, whether it’s here in Suva, or in Port Vila where I was earlier in the week, or Atafu in Tokelau or any of the other eleven campuses.
We need to take that spirit, and apply it to the leadership of our region as indeed USP is raising up the leaders of Pacific nations in so many roles in business, in politics, in sport, in culture, in family. They’re important jobs, but there are many challenges, global challenges confronting us - and I say ‘us’, and not ‘you’, because we live here. Australia is not a remote observer of the Pacific, it is our home also and we’ve got a stake in what happens here. So we stand with you as we look to those challenges. We know that to succeed, we must work together.
Climate change is one of those challenges and it is an important priority for the Pacific and for Australia. We recognises this and the need for global action. We have a role to play and a responsibility and we’re playing it. If there’s anything that Australia should be known for - and I believe are known for - is that when we make commitments, we stick with them. We have made commitments in the area of climate change and we’re keeping them and we’ll keep them and stick with them and act on them. We will do that particularly here in the Pacific. We remain firmly committed to our international agreements and the targets we’ve committed to under those agreements. We’ve committed to reduce our emissions by 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. This is an ambitious target but we will meet it as we have met Kyoto 1, as we will meet Kyoto 2 and as indeed I have said on many occasions, we will meet our 2030 targets at a canter. All so, because we will do what is necessary to meet them. But as we have shown though those earlier protocols, when Australia makes those commitments we have a track record of getting there.
We have helped amplify the voice of the Pacific in critical climate talks, as indeed occurred at the recent APEC meeting in Port Moresby. I particularly want to commend Prime Minister Bainimarama for his role in Fiji’s Presidency of COP23, where you were instrumental in guiding the world’s progress on the rulebook underpinning the Agreement. Just over a month ago at COP24, that hard work paid off with an agreement reached on that very rulebook. We now have a common platform for all countries to account for their commitments and this will guide global climate action for years to come. Fiji’s leadership was critical to this outcome and it would not have been possible without Prime Minister Bainimarama’s drive and energy. He’s a forceful advocate, I’m sure you all know that.
Australia’s commitment to the agreement sits alongside our other efforts across the Pacific to respond to and address climate change with our family partners.
We’ve already committed $300 million on climate and disaster resilience support for the Pacific, more than $200 million of which has already been delivered. In Fiji, Australia has spent $13 million on climate-related activities over the last two years alone, from the reconstruction of health and education facilities following Cyclone Winston, to building climate-related skills and knowledge through Australia Award scholarships. This work will continue well into the future but it will continue directly and in partnership with our Pacific neighbours, partners and friends and family.
So climate change is a significant challenge and an important priority both for us as Australians and for us as a region and I know that is shared with Fiji.
But there are other challenges where we must work together as well. Oceans management is another. We’ve done well to date. The Pacific Ocean is one of the best-managed oceans in the world. In fact, you could even say it’s the best managed. That’s a credit to all of us who call our ‘Blue Pacific’ home. We’re a blueprint for the world - no pun intended - and that’s because we have the right architecture in place and we’re taking the right action. We must do more. For instance, Australia is working with the Forum Fisheries Agency to maximise economic benefits from tuna fisheries for Pacific island countries. We’re also working with the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Program to support marine conservation. We proudly support the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner in its role strengthening regional oceans governance.
Australia’s interest is not commercial, and never has been. Our only interest has been to support the region and maximise the incomes for Pacific countries that come from your resources in a sustainable way. Fisheries in the Pacific is not unlike resources and mining in Australia and they both have to be sensitively managed for the future prosperity and sustainability of those sectors and for our economies. So we’ll do that by working in partnership.
Now, beyond climate change and oceans, the years ahead will see us confront continued uncertainty around the global economy and trade. We’re very alert to this uncertainty and as a former Treasurer having dealt in many of the international forums, whether it’s the G20 or others. As we face 2019, the global economy is a much more uncertain place than it was 12 months ago and 12 months ago you wouldn’t say it was the most certain of all time. So, we do face a troubled global environment, whether it’s the trade tensions we see between the great powers, or what we’ve seen more recently in Great Britain and Europe. These are interesting times and they do require careful economic management to secure the prosperity of our people. Because it is a strong economy and only a strong economy that you can rely on to ensure that the health services and the other important social services that are provided throughout the Pacific and at home in Australia, can be delivered. Economic management is a necessity, it’s not a luxury, it’s not an add-on. It’s the central and most important challenge of governments.
We’re alive to this and that’s why we’re focused on putting the “P” into “APEC” and to make sure our region’s voice is heard loud and clear, as it was most recently. We’re pushing the ratification of PACER Plus - Australia ratified it at the end of last year. Fiji will make up its own mind, but I think it’s a good deal, I commend it to you. A regional trade agreement that will open new markets and economic opportunities for the Pacific, PACER Plus will be a better and stronger regional agreement with Fiji in it. We see Fiji very much as an economic hub in our region. Every deal is better with Fiji in it in the Pacific, for the leadership role that Fiji plays. I welcome and thank Prime Minister Bainimarama and his Cabinet for the discussions we had on this yesterday and as I announced yesterday, we’re undertaking a new joint study of both the trade and economic impacts of these arrangements and to further pursue those discussions in the weeks and months ahead to assist, facilitate I think, a good outcome in that area. But we’ll do it by partnership, we’ll do it with patience and we’ll do it with respect.
I’d like to also say that human rights and supporting the equal participation of Pacific men and women is also important to our collective future and I congratulate Fiji on your election to the UN Human Rights Council. As the first two members to serve on the Council from our region, I look forward to Australia and Fiji working together to elevate Pacific issues on the Council’s agenda.
Let me now turn to that new chapter I talked about, the vuvale chapter in our relationship now in the Pacific. I’ve returned the Pacific in Australia’s outlook to where it always should have been be; front and centre of Australia’s strategic outlook and foreign policy. This new chapter, our ‘Pacific step-up’ as I’ve termed it, is genuine and authentic. It’s fair dinkum, as I would say. It’s based on respect, equality and on openness. It doesn’t mean we will always agree - I think this is one of the important principles of vuvale - hands up those families in which everybody agrees all the time?
[Laughter]
Not many hands. But you know, the principle of vuvale is that families stay together and they stay at the table, as Prime Minister Bainimarama said yesterday, and they continue to work together and they put family first. That’s how we will work together in this new relationship. If you’re going to step up, you’ve got to show up, as I’ve said in these recent days. Here we are, showing up and the Assistant Minister Anne Ruston will be showing up, our officials and our High Commission will be showing up in the weeks to come. There are more senior officials who will be coming and working through various issues, whether it’s on education, culture or sport, the economy, security, all of these areas. In 1990, the then interim Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara said that Australia and Fiji had “a very strong relationship that may bend, but not break.” I would say it does bend and it must not break and we have a responsibility. They were very wise words.
So when we disagree, we disagree as equals with candour and respect, as family does. The Prime Minister and I have each other’s mobile number, we text each other, we talk about our families, we talk about football and it is a very warm relationship. When we pick up the phone when we have differences, we have a chat and we talk it through. The days of ‘take it or leave it’ are over when it comes to resolving issues. It’s not my style, it’s not Australia’s style, it’s not Fiji’s style. So this is truly a new chapter.
In keeping with our commitment to the Pacific last year I announced a package of measures to deepen Australia’s engagement in the Pacific. One of our most important new initiatives is the joint redevelopment of the Blackrock Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Camp into a regional hub for police and peacekeeping training and pre-deployment preparation. It’s an important project and later today, I’ll be travelling to Nadi to break new ground and mark the start of construction.
Australia is also cooperating to develop the PNG Defence Force’s Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island, a move that will improve the interoperability between our defence forces and deepen regional maritime security cooperation. In Vanuatu, Australia is providing support to the police force so it can train more than 300 new recruits, and pursue other policing priorities. I was there to open the college earlier in the week.
On the economic front, I announced two major initiatives. The first was the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, a $2 billion infrastructure initiative to significantly boost Australia’s support for infrastructure development in Pacific countries. Just yesterday, when we spoke with the Prime Minister, we have put the Nadi River Project as one that we would very much like to progress and discuss further. We’re looking forward to those discussions. It will be a very important project, I believe, to Fiji’s future prosperity. It will use grant funding, this $2 billion infrastructure initiative, working together with longer-term responsible and sustainable loans to support high-priority infrastructure in areas like energy, transport and water.
In addition to that fund, there is also the announcement regarding the Australia Export Financing agency Efic, with an extra $1 billion in callable capital and increased flexibility to support investments in the Pacific. Efic has always played an important role, it was announced as part of this package from the outset, to work together with the new measures that we announced as well.
Australia’s diplomatic footprint is also changing. We’re extending our diplomatic presence to every Pacific Islands Forum member and over the next few years, we’ll work with countries to establish five new diplomatic missions in the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. These missions and the ones already established across the Pacific will boast Australia’s best and brightest diplomats with the skills, the energy and the dedication to move our relationships forward. We’re going to clone John Feakes in a special laboratory at the University of the South Pacific.
[Laughter]
We have outstanding people who work in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and in our missions across the South Pacific. You know John, but John and his male and female counterparts around the region are also well respected, as you know, and you would have come across them in various parts of your work. So together with the ones already established across the Pacific, we will have that infrastructure in place.
We’re also creating a dedicated Office of the Pacific within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to give a loud and authoritative voice with my backing, to be working within or Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Following my commitments to step up our Pacific engagement, the Office will drive the implementation, not just from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but from a whole-of-government perspective. Countries will continue to engage, no doubt, essentially with each of the individual partners and agencies of the Australian Government. But there will be a champion sitting within the Government which is the Office of the Pacific. And I’m pleased to announce, and he is with us today, that the Office will be headed by Ewen McDonald, whom the Government has asked to return early from his current position as High Commissioner of New Zealand where he has been doing an outstanding job with accreditation also to the Cook Islands and Niue, to take up this important role. Mr McDonald has engaged closely with Pacific counterparts on foreign policy, development and humanitarian issues and has worked hard to ensure Pacific perspectives are heard in international bodies, including the UN. He will build on this even further in his new position. I commend you on this appointment and I thank you very much for taking up the role.
There are practical steps that will make a difference in the Pacific and yesterday, Australia and Fiji took further steps forward in our relationship. They were historic, they were win-win, they were vuvale. That agreement, the Australia Fiji Vuvale Partnership Agreement, will now be negotiated by officials in the coming months, and we look forward to signing it when we welcome Prime Minister Bainimarama to Australia as our official guest later this year.
We also found a lot of common ground as you’d expect, with our shared interests and values and reached agreements across several other areas. We agreed to hold more regular ministerial and high-level meetings and exchanges to explore new opportunities and discuss challenges. We agreed to continue to strengthen our defence and security cooperation. We agreed to deepen our trade and investment relationship and explore future opportunities. We welcome Fiji into the Pacific Medicines Testing Program and we committed to immediately start work on Fiji’s entry into the Pacific Labour Scheme later this year.
And no doubt we will continue to work on our relationship to ensure we can compete on the sporting field, but also building capability with Fiji there. We’ve seen wonderful success with the Fiji Drua in the
National Rugby Championship, winning the grand final in the competition’s second year. So with that in mind, Australia will fund NRL pre-season trial matches in the Pacific in 2020, ‘21 and ‘22 and will support team travel costs for Fiji to compete in the NSW Rugby League Intrust Super Premiership in 2020 which I announced this morning. Netball Australia will receive funding so it can help the Fijian national team prepare for the Netball World Cup later this year.
Before I finish - you’ll be pleased to know it’s almost done -
[Laughter]
I’d like to add one more thing to the measures I’ve listed. Today I announce a new partnership between Australia and the University of the South Pacific - see, it was worth waiting for - $84 million over the next six years.
[Applause]
We do this because it matters and it counts and you get results. USP has a unique role in developing the skills needed to drive the region’s development and economic growth long into the future. Last year, USP - as you noted earlier - celebrated its 50th Anniversary. So did I, by the way. This is a remarkable achievement - not for me, for you -
[Laughter]
Australia is proud to have been associated with USP over the longer term. This agreement will see Australia support efforts to invest in the young people of our region, passionate people, vibrant people, intelligent people, through the focus on improving the quality of teacher education and through the education of students at the tertiary level in fields such as economics, human resource management and tourism management.
It will also promote greater linkages between the USP and Australia’s tertiary education sector. These resources will enable USP to fulfil its bold mission to make higher education accessible around the region, by making university more affordable for young Pacific students. It will also enable USP to lead research of the region in the region, and to showcase Pacific heritage and talent worldwide, like the wonderful performance we have just been able to experience in our time here.
One of the great qualities that Australians admire in Fijians is they have a great sense of what matters in life; family, relationships, community, faith, being connected to home and caring for the environment of home.
I have learned much from Fijians over a long period of time and Fijians and Australians have learned much from each other. Our countries are deeply connected, we are there for each other when things are tough and when things are great.
That’s why I’m confident, together, we can make our region and all of our communities stronger and more prosperous – wananavu, I would say. A common effort, united leadership and purpose. So vinaka vakalevu everyone for coming today and to the University of the South Pacific for being such a generous host and a fine institution.
Thank you.
Remarks at Blackrock Camp, Fiji
18 January 2019
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. I’m very proud to be here at the Blackrock Camp. I have known for some time about these plans, the plan to develop this camp into a world-class training centre. For the past few days, my wife and I and our delegation have been here and we have been talking and progressing many important issues for the relationship between Australia and Fiji. I have spoken a lot about how committed we are to that relationship, for the benefits that flow to both countries and in particular to remark on the benefits to Fiji. But today I also want to talk to my countrymen and women in Australia and say why it is so important that we are here today. A stable and secure Pacific is important for the prosperity of Australia, as much as it is for Fiji and the other Pacific Island nations. The participation that has provided for by Fiji all around the world, is a demonstration of their commitment to a peaceful world but also a stable and secure region.
So this is in our interests too, as Australians. This is in our national interest. I am not just here because I love Fiji - I do, I think that is fairly evident - but I love Australia and having this partnership particularly in these areas for the redevelopment of this site for the purposes for which it is being committed, is very important to Australia also.
Australia and Fiji’s partnership and the partnership between our defence forces is grounded in a shared history of service and sacrifice. Jenny and I were reminded of that sacrifice yesterday afternoon in Suva. 53 Fijians have lost their lives serving in peacekeeping missions around the world and just as I was inspecting the guard and asking them where they had served - Syria, Golan Heights, places such as these - I was reminded again of the great passion for service there is here. Our soldiers have deployed together from Bougainville in the Second World War to peacekeeping operations in the places I have mentioned and also including the Sinai. So I commend Fiji for it’s global contribution to peace and security and acknowledge the great, ultimate sacrifice paid by so many. It must be respected. I know it is here in Fiji, it is respected in Australia and it must be respected by the United Nations also.
You have gone the distance. Last year Fiji celebrated 40 years of continuous peacekeeping service. Your soldiers have served with great bravery and distinction, including in places where others have refused to venture. Not the Fijians. They have come, they have served, they have turned up and shown up and I know that because you often serve alongside Australian Defence Force personnel in these peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. It’s a record of service and sacrifice for which you should be very proud. You have lent a hand also when natural disasters have struck and this camp will be also a place where the skills are learned and passed on about how those roles can be most successfully performed.
The redevelopment of Blackrock is not just about the bricks and mortar. It is a symbol of our partnership, a long-term and enduring commitment. Blackrock will increase the interoperability between our militaries as well as our police forces. Crucially, it will also build the personal links between the men and women of Australia and Fiji who serve in our uniforms, under our flags, to protect our values all around the world. Those men and women who serve in our defence forces are the ballast of our friendship.
So again, I want to say vinaka to you for hosting me and Jenny, my wife, here at Blackrock and all of our delegation. I know this base will help to achieve our shared aspirations for a more prosperous, resilient and secure Pacific. This is what we want for our region - because we want it for our region, but in saying that, we also acknowledge that this is very much in the interests of protecting Australia and ensuring Australian interests are able to be pursued and the prosperity and partnership and peaceful relationship that we share in our region can be maintained as much for Australia as also for Fiji. So I commend those who have got us to today, we have done out bit, we’ve dug a hole, put a bit of concrete in there. The Defence Minister showed a lot of talent there. It’s now over to you to train the men and women who will continue the great work to which they have been called.
Thank you very much. Vinaka vakalevu.
Remarks, Albert Park - Fiji
18 January 2019
Albert Park, Fiji
PRIME MINISTER: Well bula vinaka, it’s great to be here. Back home I’m quite a rugby league tragic, particularly when it comes to my Sharks. But I’m more passionate frankly about how sport can play such a wonderful role in communities. Not just in Australia, but here in Fiji and across the Pacific and we see that in the wonderful boys and girls we’ve just been seeing running around showing us their skills. Some great champions there no doubt for the future. But the great thing when you see kids playing sports - whether it’s rugby league or rugby union or it’s football or netball or any of the things - the great thing you see particularly among the kids here in Fiji, are these teeth! All these smiles, big smiles, they’re having a great time. They’re getting on with each other and it’s a great way to bring communities together, it’s a great way to bring countries together around sport. And nowhere more important than here on this very important oval here in Fiji, which has seen many great contests for Fiji and particularly in the contests domestically here in the local season.
So I’m very pleased to be here and I’m very pleased to be making a number of announcements as part of our arrangements here as part of our Pacific ‘step-up’ program. I said that if you’re going to step up, you’ve got to show up and that’s why I’m very pleased to be showing up here with the Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific Anne Ruston, who is also here with me as part of this visit as we’re making a series of announcements.
Over the years, my own local club has had great arrangements and great associations here with local Fijian football. Over the years, we’ve boasted the likes of Junior Roqica as well as – you know Junior well of course – but right now, there’s Jayson Bukuya and I have got to know Jayson quite well over the last few years. He’s not just a great player with a lot of heart and a lot of spirit, he’s a great bloke as well and he shows a real example of leadership within the club and within the community. Beyond the Sharks of course we’ve got the talents of Lote Tuqiri and Noa Nadruku and Petero as well who is well known. It’s great to have everybody here celebrating the great achievements of Fijian rugby league.
So it’s not hard to see why Fiji’s national team the Bati, is such a powerhouse, now ranked fifth in the world and a World Cup semi-finalist in 2017. I know that was a great sense of achievement and the whole nation was very excited about that at the time. Few can forget the win over the Kiwis in the quarterfinals, how good was that?
[Laughter]
Sorry Jacinda, I couldn’t help it and nor could our Fijian friends as well. Australians want to see more of the Bati. Australians, we love the team that does so well and showcases such great sporting talents and we want to see Fiji’s best playing week in, week out against Australian opposition. That’s why today I’m excited to announce that as part of the new Australia-Pacific Sports Linkages Program, Australia will facilitate Fiji’s pathway into the Intrust Super Premiership in NSW in 2020. It’s a dream of many, including Petero who has long wanted to see Fiji compete in one of Australia’s most beloved competitions and I know that I will be tuning in to watch and getting along to a few games, maybe when they’re playing the Jets out there on the weekend, which is a link to the Sharks club.
We also know that we want to see Australian players too enjoying more of their rugby league right here. So we’re going to have preseason NRL matches here, played in the Pacific, starting with PNG in 2020 and Fiji in the following year. I want to particularly thank the NRL and Jaymes Boland-Rudder who is here today, I want to thank them for their participation with the Government in facilitating the entry of those preseason games here in the Pacific and specifically here in Fiji.
And of course, we’re celebrating women’s sport. How good is it see the girls out there playing and matching it up with the boys there, equal skills if not better. We have just had the women’s Rugby League World Cup in Australia just recently and many of the games were played down in my local electorate in Sydney. It was great to see the talent on display and how that part of the code is developing year on year. To see so many girls out there enjoying rugby league and being part of the rugby league community I think is a very positive thing. But in addition to that, they love their netball as well and they’re very, very good at it as we’ve seen with the Fijian players that are participating in our national league.
Our weekends for me and Jenny and our family are very much mixed up between Church, netball during netball season and getting down to see the football when we can. So this morning, it’s a great combination of all three, having just come from the prayer breakfast across the way. Netball is a great sport, it does have a rich history here in Fiji as it does in Australia. Not just for kids, but for adults as well. Over half a million Australian women play netball, it’s second only to swimming in participation and it’s great fun. It’s great to tell you that the Australian Government will be working with Netball Australia so we can help the Fijian national team prepare for the Netball World Cup later this year. We’re also looking forward to seeing the Pearls compete in Liverpool and hopefully go toe-to-toe with our Aussie Diamond girls.
And for our two sporting–obsessed nations, this is really about sharing our common love of sport. These are one of the many values and one of the many things that we share in common as peoples. It lies at the heart of the new relationship, the new stepped-up relationship, the landmark relationship, the Vuvale Partnership that Prime Minister Bainimarama and I have been able to bring together, not just in this visit but in the last few visits that the Prime Minister has made to Australia as well.
So I think it is very fitting that this is part of the new relationship and a growing part of the relationship and I want to thank everybody who has played a role in bringing these announcements together today. Thank you very much to the Minister for your kind words and we look forward to working closely with your Department and your Ministry as our nations become even closer. Thank you very much, vinaka vakalevu.
Joint remarks with the Prime Minister of Fiji
17 January 2019
PRIME MINISTER BAINIMARAMA: Thank you members of the press, I am confident when I say that today’s bilateral was not only a clear success, it truly marks a new chapter in the Fiji-Australian relationship.
The Fijian economy is in the midst of record growth, our people are welcoming unprecedented opportunity and our voice is being amplified around the world. It’s refreshing to see that with Prime Minister Morrison and this new ‘step up’ in diplomacy, this new era of Fijian achievement is finally being given the attention it deserves.
I don’t need to dwell on the fact that in the years after 2006, the Fijian-Australian relationship was put to the test. From my conversation with Prime Minister Morrison, it’s clear now more than ever that we can put this behind us in the past, letting bygones be bygones. As our diplomatic relationship deepens from this meeting, it is my hope that our economies, our people and our partnership will rise to new heights.
Now that we have established a relationship based on trust and mutual respect, I am glad that we will no longer see diplomacy through headlines and hurried phone calls. I look forward to building on this progress with a more open, candid and direct line of communication with Canberra. I am proud to say that Prime Minister Morrison and I have dubbed a new Fiji-Australia Vuvale partnership aiming to consolidate our two countries’ relations in order to leverage new opportunities and address common challenges. In the Indigenous i-Taukei language, Vuvale means family. So I cannot think of a more appropriate name as we reset our relationship with the nation that more than 70,000 Fijians now call home, maybe a little bit more than that.
Prime Minister Morrison and I discussed security and defence cooperation including peace-keeping, border and maritime security, to strengthen relations in this area Fiji and Australia will jointly develop the Blackrock peace-keeping and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief camp in Nadi, something we will see much more of at tomorrow’s site visit. Once completed, the facility will provide an unprecedented level of assistance and safety to Fiji and the Pacific region.
Meanwhile it’s important to recognise that our partnerships today are broadening far beyond security, with Australia offering invaluable technical assistance and capacity-building to reshape and modernise Fijian institutions. Nowhere will this be more evident than in the Fijian classroom as we continue to build upon our ongoing education revolution that is transforming the way Fijians teach and learn, using lessons from the Aussies along the way, to make a more efficient and effective education sector.
We are also committed to further deepening trade and investment between Australia and Fiji. I am passionate about opening up new markets that will allow a new age of ambitious Fijian farmers and entrepreneurs to financial success, while giving Australians access to the quality of Fijian-made goods.
On this note, I thank the Prime Minister for yesterday’s landmark announcement that Australia will be easing restrictions on kava imports, a move that will undoubtedly enrich the lives of Fijian farmers for generations to come. As we look to loosen the flow of goods, we hope to do the same with our people, from easing visa applications, to enacting the Pacific Labour Scheme for the benefit of Fijian workers and Australia.
I hope to see great progress in the establishment of our people-to-people relationships across a broad front in 2019. I’ll have more to say tonight and I look forward to seeing you all at our official welcome dinner this evening. Vinaka vakalevu, thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: It is a great privilege and pleasure to be here with Prime Minister Bainimarama. As we’ve already said today I congratulate him on his re-election and I also congratulate him on his leadership of COP23. It is a privilege to be here with a leader of the Pacific and a leader of his nation and for us to be now taking our relationship between Australia and Fiji to a landmark level, a new level. I want to thank you Prime Minister for the way you’ve described where we’re now heading and what we’re going to achieve in the years ahead. To elevate our relationship, our bilateral relationship to a Fiji-Australia Vuvale partnership, this is really a centerpiece partnership in the Pacific, which speaks volumes about the type of relationship Australia is now looking to establish right across this region. We are different in our association with the Pacific, than almost any other developed nation anywhere else in the world, with the exception of New Zealand; and that is, we live together as a family of nations in the Pacific. Our interactions with each other, our engagement with each other, our partnership with each other, has to be done in the spirit of a family relationship. I think that’s what we’ve been able to achieve here today, in addressing the many issues that are before us and as the Prime Minister has said, they encompass quite a few issues.
Now I’ve learned a few things about the Prime Minister over the last couple of days and in our other meetings we’ve had in Australia. I’ve worked out particularly on this visit that we’ve both chosen well, in terms of Mrs Bainimarama and Jen and it was great for them to be able to meet here and I think we’ve done pretty well, you and I. Maybe punching a bit above our weight, but nevertheless I think we’ve done well and it’s great to have Jenny here as part of this visit. I know she’s been enjoying what she’s been doing this afternoon, visiting schools and other places. But also we share a very strong commitment to understanding that unless our countries have strong economies, then we cannot achieve what we want to achieve for our people.
A strong economy is what delivers our health services, our educations services, our schools, our nurses, our doctors, our disability support, all of these things. I want to commend the Prime Minister for the work that he has done here in Fiji, to strengthen the Fijian economy, an economy which can be battered by natural disasters and Australia is always the first to turn up and assist Fiji when those disasters strike. But it’s the resilience and the planning for the Fijian Government and its leader that enables and has enabled Fiji’s economy to strengthen, particularly over recent times and become able to deal with challenges that we all face into the future.
That’s why our economic relationship is so important to the Vuvale partnership. An economic relationship which sees Fiji very much as a hub in the Pacific economy. That’s why we were pleased today to announce and discuss the new trade and economic scoping study that will assist and inform both parties as we work through the Pacer Plus programme and to also deal with any double tax treaty arrangements which have been raised by Fiji with Australia.
So we have a process to carry those issues forward as to how we can strengthen our economic relationship. But that economic relationship is also strengthened by our investments in education, by our investments in stability within the region more broadly. Because out of stability, prosperity always flows and that’s what our economic agreements - whether they relate to the Seasonal Workers Program and the Pacific Labour Program, it is designed for the shared skilling of our labour forces. In Australia, we have major demands, particularly in our agricultural sector, our hospitality sector, our aged care and disability sector and we believe these programs can really provide support to both skill Fijian workers who will have the opportunity to work in Australia, but also share those skills when they come back and work in Fiji. Dealing with our short-term skills requirements, as well as dealing with the longer-term economic needs of Fiji.
Our comprehensive border security assistance package will help reinforce the integrity of Fiji’s borders and in the weeks ahead there will be high-level delegations coming from our border officials and others across our agencies, who will begin the work of putting the details into those arrangements. Of course there’s the Pacific Maritime Security Program which includes a $2 billion program over 30 years which consists of the replacement of the Guardian Class Patrol Boats, integrated aerial surveillance and enhancements to regional cooperation. Fiji will receive two replacement Guardian Class Patrol Boats under this program.
We’re beginning work on Fiji’s entry into the Australian Pacific Labour Scheme as I’ve mentioned. That has already occurred and we look forward to that playing out over the course of the next year and beyond.
We also welcome Fiji into the Pacific Medicines Testing Program. That’s a joint initiative of the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Fiji will join nine other Pacific Island countries that are participating in that program.
The Australia University of the South Pacific Partnership will be worth more than $84 million over the next six years and that is Australia’s investment ensuring the tertiary education system that has been provided here, will be able to meet future needs.
We’re also announcing the Australian Government, in partnership with Free TV Australia will commit some $17.1 million to provide 1,000 hours of new Australian television content each year for three years to Pacific broadcasters across the region. That would include opportunities obviously here in Fiji.
Finally, one thing we also have greatly in common is our passion for sport. I welcome the fact that Prime Minister Bainimarama is a Wallabies fan before he’s an All Blacks fan, but he’s always a Fiji fan first. But it is very encouraging to our boys, I’m sure Michael Cheika will be very pleased as I’m sure he already knows about your interest in the Wallabies. But what we’re pleased to say is, that shared passion has a practical element to the relationship between our countries; our Government will be providing support for the travel costs associated with Fiji entering a team to compete in the NSW Rugby League Intrust Super Premiership in 2020. We also look forward to pre-season NRL matches being played in the Pacific, including a match in Fiji in 2021. We’re also celebrating women in sports, particularly in these codes but also the Australian Government will work with Netball Australia to assist the Fijian national team prepare for the Netball World Cup in the UK in July 2019 through in-country support.
So you can see across all these initiatives, whether it’s in the economy, whether it’s in security, whether it’s in culture, whether it’s in sport, this is a broad based relationship. Today I’m just so pleased that Prime Minister Bainimarama and I were able to take that relationship to a new landmark level in the spirit of Vuvale and for that I say to him, vinaka vakalevu.
State Dinner Speech - Fiji
17 January 2019
Suva, Fiji
PRIME MINISTER: Bula. Your Excellency Major General Konrote, President of the Republic of Fiji, who I had the honour of meeting earlier today.
Your Excellency Vice President with us tonight. Prime Minister Bainimarama and Mrs Bainimarama, can I thank you on behalf of Jenny and I and our entire delegation for the warm embrace with which you have met us today and on so many other occasions.
Prime Minister Bainimarama, it has been a wonderful start to our friendship over the past few months. We come here today together with Jenny and our delegation, you have expressed a warmth that has laid the foundation for everything you have just spoken about. Thank you.
The other Ministers who are here this evening to distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attendance.
It is a great honour to attend the State Dinner tonight at this marvellous hotel. This venue and locality, for many of you I know, has a great place in the story of Australia.
Just over 90 years ago, the intrepid and fearless Charles Kingsford-Smith set out on the Southern Cross to make the first trans-Pacific flight.
The flight was to have three legs.
The first: California to Hawaii.
The second: Hawaii to Suva.
And the third was from Suva to Australia.
The longest leg was from Hawaii to Suva and during it Kingsford-Smith and his crew encountered storms, mighty storms.
They were in the air for about 32 hours and mid-flight it appeared for all intents and purposes there would not be enough fuel for them to reach Suva. According to their mid-flight calculations, they were short by about 170 miles.
Not good news. But they improvised, as Australians do and fortunately the weather and fate turned their way and luck was a bit on their side too.
And on that day, 90 years ago, thousands of Fijians waited patiently at Albert Park just next to this hotel.
But it’s not really the place to land a plane, particularly one that doesn’t have any brakes.
One of the crewman laid a rope that from the sky Albert Park was about ‘as large as a pocket handkerchief and not half as useful.’
And with fuel low, Kingsford-Smith flew close to the earth. So close, he scurried over the top of the roof of this very hotel and I suspect if he had hit this hotel you wouldn’t have invited an Australian Prime Minister to have dinner here.
[Laughter]
But thankfully he cleared it.
On that fateful leg, one of the crew had a catastrophic wardrobe failure, a disaster. Let’s just say it was the result of the extreme turbulence.
It was so bad the crewman had to strip naked for the last part of the flight and so as they were landing the plane bounced on the ground and as it hit the ground so hard, that naked crewman fell out of the back of the plane.
He survived, but his pride, I suspect, may have been a little hurt. I can tell you though that Australian national pride wasn’t injured because of the naked crewman.
He was an America.
[Laughter]
To this day, Charles Kingsford-Smith and his memory - and that of his crew - are revered in Australia and Suva played a pivotal role, a vital role in that ultimate achievement [inaudible] about Fiji and Australia and our peoples and our relationship.
And in this Fijian-Australian relationship there is another son I think we should revere tonight and he is Trooper Edgar Wright.
He is a son of Fiji and he is a son of Australia.
He was born in 1892 and home to Edgar was the lush green coconut plantations of Bua. He attended school in Levuka and Suva.
During his formative years he and his brothers made it to Australia.
And Edgar, with his brothers Maitland and George joined the Australian Infantry Force after the start of the First World War.
George landed in Gallipoli and was subsequently injured.
Edgar and Maitland fought in the Sinai as part of the 6th Light Horse.
On the 4th of August 1916, Edgar was in hospital having taken sick and he was in no fit state to be on the front.
But in hospital he heard that fighting had erupted at El Maler and that’s where his brother was and that’s where his mates were.
So Edgar left his sick bed, he obtained a horse, and he rode out to join his mates.
That day Trooper Edgar Wright was struck down by enemy fire.
He was just 24.
This son of Fiji and this son of Australia has written on his tombstone the words, “Not what I am but I do is my kingdom.”
Tonight we pay respect to our peoples, who demonstrate every day that it’s what we do that counts.
What we do as government, and indeed, Prime Minister, what we do as leaders of governments as we are demonstrating.
It should be for them, our peoples as our objectives are here together as we have met today and on other occasions.
Deeds more than words.
Our relationship is anchored by geography, but it is much more than that.
We are not just our geography, we are not just the sum of our deals or funding arrangement, our transactions.
We are the product of values that we share as peoples.
We are both island nations united by a love of family, of community, of sport, of faith, a deep respect for each other in the very proud words but very true words spoken by Prime Minister Bainimarama - that no Fijian is greater than another and no Australian is greater than another.
These are deeply-held values that we share as countries and that when we come together, we demonstrate as to how things should be done.
Our societies are shaped by these beliefs and common traditions and ours is relationship that is the result of deep respect and understanding.
I want to pay respect in particular to Prime Minister Bainimarama’s international leadership on climate change and oceans, I should also note. And your earnestness and passion about this this evening and it was that same passion you took into the leadership of the whole process over the past 12 months.
But not just on behalf, I know, of Fiji, but as a true leader in the Pacific.
So in coming together in the way we’ve done over these months, I’ve come to recognize not just the Prime Minister and leader of Fiji who has shown exemplary leadership and the achievements he’s been able to deliver for his people for so many years.
But a leader in the Pacific, a leader that other leaders of the Pacific look to as well.
Now we also respect Fiji’s service as peacekeepers in some of the most challenging parts of the world.
Jenny and I earlier this evening had the real honour to be able to go and pay our respects to those Fijian servicemen who have laid down their lives in the cause of peace, whether it was in Lebanon, Syria, the Sinai.
Few Australians would know just how many Fijians have made the ultimate sacrifice for world peace in each of these missions, at very difficult times.
It was a great honour as Australia’s Prime Minister to be able to be able to pay our respects, not just for their service but also those Fijians who served in conflicts in World War I, World War II, Malaya and serving in many other nation’s militaries.
But still defending the same values and beliefs they held so dearly and motivated their service.
We pay respect to your government’s ambitious programme of economic reforms. We both have a strong view about a strong economy.
Because without a strong economy, as Prime Minister Bainimarama has been able to lead here for nine years, then you can’t deliver on the health and education services and many other things that progressive societies need to ensure they can deliver for their people.
And we respect – or I should probably say fear – the prowess of Fijians on the sporting field.
For many Australians including me, the links between Australia and Fiji are deeply personal.
360,000 Australians visit Fiji every year.
Jenny and I are often two of them and with Lily and Abbey, four of us.
We’re also proud to be home in Australia, to 70,000 Fijian-born Australians and it’s because of these deep and enduring personal links that Australia and Fiji are more than partners or neighbors.
We are family: vuvale.
One of the risks of close relationships is that sometimes they can be taken for granted and there are periods in our past where that has been the case.
Not now and not in the future, if there’s anything my Government has to do with it.
One of the risks is we take it for granted and we cannot allow those risks to be realised.
Which is why tonight, I announce that Prime Minister Bainimarama and I have agreed to enhance our bilateral relationship through the Australia-Fiji Vuvale Agreement, as we announced earlier also today.
The agreement will add structure to our bilateral relationship.
We will establish those mechanisms, those annual leaders meetings, so these events are not one-offs. That they are part of a process of how we manage our relationship together as family.
The agreement will identify new areas to expand our trade and our investment relationship.
To build our personal connections, including those between our schools and churches and expand our cooperation in areas like peacekeeping, policing and border security.
The agreement will be negotiated by officials in the coming months and we look forward to signing the agreement later in the year, when I have invited Prime Minister Bainimarama and Mrs Bainimarama to visit Australia as our official guest.
Through our Vuvale Agreement we will continue the enormous progress that has been made on the Australia-Fiji relationship.
It will further cement the relationship between our two countries.
Many years ago when I came to Fiji, I learned a word.
I’ve learned many Fijian words over time, I’m not that great at languages, so there must be something special about Fijian and our relationship with the Fijian language.
I was just checking it again today with the Prime Minister, because it does summarise how I feel about what Fiji means to me; it’s wananavu.
[Laughter]
Now, I’m glad people knew what that meant because that could have been very embarrassing.
[Laughter]
I had a friend here many, many years ago who used the word all the time and he would express it with such passion. Everything was wananavu.
And that I think, demonstrates the passion for life and the passion for family, for friendship, for fun and for sport, for togetherness, for fellowship that is so much expressed in the Fijian way of life.
That is something that I think Australians find and indeed I find, completely intoxicating.
It is a way of life that is a real lesson I think to people around the world, when we look at the simple appreciation of the most important things in life, you find that with the families and the people of Fiji.
Prime Minister, it’s been our pleasure to be able to come and share in this few days with you here and with the people of Fiji, as we have built on what I know will continue to be a great relationship.
So I thank you for your leadership and thank you for your hospitality, I commend you on your achievements and particularly on your recent re-election as Prime Minister.
I’m hoping a bit of that rubs off on me while I’m here before I go back to Australia.
But it’s demonstrated that you’re achieving in this country what Australia wants for Fiji and all the nations of the Pacific; independence, sovereignty, prosperity, a bright future, peace and stability.
To see a smile on our children’s faces, it doesn’t get any better than that.
So thank you very much. Vinaka vakalevu.
Joint Remarks with the Prime Minister of Vanuatu
16 January 2019
Port Vila, Vanuatu
THE HON. CHARLOT SALAWI TABIMASMAS MP, PRIME MINISTER OF VANUATU: Welcome Prime Minister, Senator Anne Ruston and other Ministers, senior officials, members of the media. Let me again take the opportunity honourable Prime Minister, to welcome you and the members of your delegation. To the Prime Minister's Office, the [inaudible] of Port Vila, welcome to Vanuatu. I wish to convey that the honourable Scott Morrison, I had a very fruitful discussion with this morning.
I also expressed my delight at meeting him again soon after our very cordial meeting in the margins of APEC in Port Moresby. We had a barbecue and he was kind to invite us leaders of the Pacific to his barbecue.
I also recall my very successful guests of government visits to Canberra in June last year 2018. The honorable Scott Morrison's visit to Vanuatu at this time not only comes at a critical juncture between Australia's and Vanuatu's relationships but also marks a historical milestone for the government to receive such a high-level visit of Australia to Vanuatu. Australia-Vanuatu relations have never been better and will continue to grow stronger on the basis of the principles of mutual respect and equal partnership.
During our discussions this morning, I had also conveyed my desire to this visit to continue to build on recent development in Australia-Vanuatu relations and to strengthen our strategic partnership and mutual development cooperation. Specifically, Australia's assistance throughout the years in the areas of economic governance and financial development, education, health and law and justice has continued to mean the difference of the average people in Vanuatu.
With regards to trade and economic relations, the Vanuatu Government continues to place a specific emphasis on increased trade with Australia. Particularly, incremental increases to its export base and other initiatives. The Productive Sector 2019 is one such initiative, which is aimed at increasing productions and promoting value addition, especially of primary products with cooperative and competitive advantages, both in the domestic and export markets, which is also in line with general efforts to adequately prepare Vanuatu’s smooth transition and [inaudible] status in 2020.
The Vanuatu Government also continues to value its participation in labour mobility initiatives such as the Seasonal Workers Program and the Pacific Labour Scheme, which not only provides important conduits for socio-economic development in Vanuatu but also hopefully address labour shortages in the Australian market.
I also convey the appreciation of the government of Vanuatu and the people of Vanuatu for Australian assistance in the infrastructure development, which remains one of the biggest priorities and challenges for the Vanuatu Government, particularly in the development of climate resilience and quality infrastructure.
The Australian Government also continues to remain an important partner in police cooperation and security, both at the national and regional level. This is also true for the Australian contribution to [inaudible] and assistance in times of great devastation and distress, something which Vanuatu is also thankful. We also discussed opportunities to enhance cooperation in the social sectors of health, education and increased cooperation in sports.
Finally, I would like to commend and thank the Australian Prime Minister for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit Vanuatu and for the ongoing commitment by the Australian Government and people, of Vanuatu's development priorities and aspirations.
Thank you. Thank you, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Prime Minister, and it’s a great pleasure for myself and my wife Jenny and the Minister to be here today, to be at this historic first visit between an Australian Prime Minister and a Prime Minister of Vanuatu on a bilateral visit outside of the Pacific Island Forum. It was indeed back in 1990 when Prime Minister Hawke visited here in Vanuatu as part of that Pacific Island Forum.
The first time I came here was off a cruise ship with my parents, I was under 10. It was pre-independence and it is a great thrill to see what has happened here in Vanuatu under independence.
Australia believes in an independent, sovereign, prosperous, free, stable, successful Vanuatu. That's why we're here. Late last year after some months of very detailed work, my Government announced that we were going to ‘step up’ in the Pacific. And if you're going to ‘step up’, you've got to show up, you've got to turn up. With the announcements that we have made last year about our infrastructure facility, about the work we're doing in the Seasonal Labour Programme, the work we're doing to expand skills development across the region, the work that had already been done on things like PACER Plus and initiatives such as this, security partnerships across the region.
Then the task is to show up, turn up and start to roll out the programmes and that's why I'm here today. That's why I was very happy to accept the invitation of the Prime Minister to come. When a family member or a friend invites you to visit their home, Australians more than often say: "Yes, of course we'll come,” and who would ever turn down an invitation to visit Vanuatu? So it’s wonderful to be here and to be with you Prime Minister and to talk about the multi-faceted nature of our very deep relationship. I would agree that it has never been in a better place than it has today.
Our people share so much in common, whether it’s culturally, whether it’s a diaspora of people from across the Pacific including here from Vanuatu, who have made their home in Australia or who come to work in Australia under the various programmes. There is a lot in common in sport, in religion, in any number of issues. So part of our programmes that we’re announcing here today involve those cultural exchanges. They involve supporting the broadcaster here in Vanuatu and the services they’re providing.
We have discussed a range of issues from the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister’s strong commitments to ensuring climate change is addressed here in the Pacific and we share his commitment and we share in our involvement in the programmes which we know can provide the resilience in the
Pacific. Australia has not only maintained our commitment to our targets when it comes to addressing climate change globally, we are stepping up on our commitments here in the Pacific to support Pacific Island nations, including here in Vanuatu, to build the resilience and the capability, whether it’s how roads are constructed, how schools are developed, to ensure that there is a resilience against the impact of climate change here in the Pacific. It is our intention into the future to ensure that more of that investment is done directly with Vanuatu, not through third party agencies or international organisations, but directly partnering directly with our friends and family here in the Pacific to deliver on the programmes which we know can make a real difference to addressing the impacts of climate change here in this region.
But whether it’s PACER Plus – and I’m pleased to announce that today, in response to some outstanding advocacy done by the Prime Minister, because I know this has been an issue for some time - we have agreed that we would be working to put a pilot program together to ease some of the limitations on importation of kava into Australia. But that is for personal use I should stress, and we will run that as a trial program and we’ll get the arrangements in place to ensure that’s properly managed. But that is an expression of our interest in developing trade in the region. Kava is an important product which is produced here and has a great and successful market around the world. We have done a lot of work with Vanuatu to ensure that some of those markets are opened up and that can include now, to a greater extent that has currently existed in Australia, for that to be realised as well.
But of course, our security relationship is incredibly important. Later today we'll have a bit more to say about the commitment we're making to community policing. I want to commend the Prime Minister for the work and the priority he has placed on law and order and community policing and the security of Vanuatu. We're very pleased to work with him and the internal affairs agencies and other departments here in Vanuatu to ensure that it remains the friendly, happy, safe place that visitors who come from all over the world have come to enjoy and come back to enjoy again and again and again.
So there are many commitments, it is a deep and wide relationship. It is one that is based on the principles of family, working together, sharing notes, seeing how we can assist each other as we continue to be independent, sovereign and prosperous countries in our own rights and great friends and equal partners.
Thank you very much.
Remarks, McGrath Foundation Tea
5 January 2019
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney NSW
Well thank you very much Adam and thank you for everything you’re doing here for us here today. Please thank Adam Spencer everyone.
[Applause]
Including being a part-time roadie there for a while mate, you’ve got a big future there as well. Can I particularly acknowledge Gladys Berejiklian the Premier of New South Wales, she’s here with us today, thank you Gladys, looking stunning in pink.
[Applause]
Can I also of course welcome our great hosts here, Glenn McGrath and Sarah. Let’s pay tribute to Glenn and Sarah for the wonderful job they do in leading the Foundation. I’m here with my WAG, Jenny Morrison, there she is.
[Applause]
In our house it’s wife and girls and our two girls are riding their bikes down the South Coast today, so they send their apologies. But this is a fabulous luncheon to be at. I remember not long after coming into Parliament, when Jane passed away. I didn’t know Glenn at the time very well. But both of us are from the Shire and I remember how it affected me. I remember how, I think, it affected blokes all over the country. Of course we had a sort of, we knew who Glenn was; he was the great champion and he is a great champion, he is. But in some way, shape or form, we all connected in some way to that great loss at that time.
We held special tributes in the Parliament to Jane, which I led as the local Member for Cook at the time, and it reminded us all - and it was a huge wake-up call - into the insidious issue of breast cancer and how it has affected so many lives, of so many Australians all around the country.
I didn’t come here today to talk about cricket - but I did appreciate the introduction Adam. I was bowled, but it was by Brett Lee – one of my mates said; “Oh you got clean bowled mate.” I said: “But it was Brett Lee for goodness sake!”
[Laughter]
Hope. When I look at this logo here for the McGrath Foundation, that’s the word that springs to mind and how good is Sarah and how good is Rikki?
[Applause]
Because that’s why we’re here today, to support the hope that comes through what the McGrath Foundation does all around the country. I’ve got two young girls, Jenny and I have got two young girls and I’ve been blessed to have my life shaped by so many wonderful women, whether it’s Jen – we’re going on 29 years married next week –
[Applause]
Yeah she deserves congratulations, I assure you, for that. That is quite an innings. But my young girls, who are nine and eleven, Abbey and Lily, if I think about those girls what do I want for them? I want them to have choices in life. I want them to have opportunities in life, like every single little girl growing up in the country today and every woman in this country today; to have that hope, to have those choices. But there are important things we have to do. Of course - as our Government is - of course we’ve got to address issues on everything from parental leave and child care and we’re doing that. We have to address the very difficult issues of things like domestic violence, which we’ve done with some $300 million worth of investment right across the board. We’ve got to invest in economic opportunities, protect women’s super. We’ve got to do all of these things and we are doing all of these things. We’ve seen record jobs growth for women and the gender gap closing on pay.
This is all great. But for that hope to be there, there has to be the health and the wellbeing of women all around the country when they are facing some of life’s biggest battles and there is no bigger battle, as we’ve just heard from Sarah, than when you confront cancer.
We’re making a lot of progress in this area today. Some 90 per cent in fact, of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer now over five years are surviving. That’s a big achievement. It’s the product of many years of research, treatments and advances. Yet 50 women are still diagnosed with breast cancer every day across Australia, making it the most commonly-diagnosed cancer among Australian women. While it’s true that the current five-year relative survival rate is now 90 per cent, I think we can do better. I think we must do better and I think we will do better. We also must remember, it’s not just breast cancer that confronts women, it’s also issues of ovarian cancer as well, which is a terrible claimer of womens’ lives all around Australia.
There’s a programme we recently funded on top of the more than $100 million we’ve put into breast cancer research over the last few years; we’ve just funded a programme which is called Traceback. This programme, this research programme, it’s estimated that genetics and family history are responsible for at least 15 per cent of ovarian cancers . This programme is focusing on women who have previously not been identified as at risk and is an effort to reduce the incidence of ovarian and breast cancers caused by gene mutations. The results will help understand their risks and allow them to take preventative action. Now, Ovarian Cancer Australia believes that this work could prevent more than 2,000 instances of breast cancer and 800 ovarian cancers. This is important research work which we must undertake and we are undertaking. In addition to that, some $17 million was put into PBS medicines in the first Budget I handed down back in 2016/17, for the treatment of ovarian cancer. We have just recently put on a new listing for a drug called Lynparza for serious, high grade ovarian cancer, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer and that cancer has very low survival rates. That caused a reduction in the cost of those drugs for those women who are accessing those drugs, from $90,000 a year, to $40 dollars.
Now there are many things I think we can be very proud of in this country - but the fact that we can list these drugs on our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and because we’re a prosperous country with a strong economy and a sound Budget, we can invest in those lifesaving medicines. It makes all the difference.
In this year’s Budget, we invested $703 million to list Kisqali on the PBS. This is a breast cancer medicine, it’s life-changing. This will reduce the cost of that medicine from $71,820 a year for patients, now down also to just $40. This investment will mean more than 3,000 Australian patients with inoperable or metastatic hormone receptor positive breast cancer will benefit from the 1st of July last year. In addition we listed a new Medicare item on 1 November a few months ago, for 3D breast cancer scans, to help 240,00 women each year and a further Medicare item for the genetic testing of breast and ovarian cancer with a $1,200 Medicare rebate.
So we’ve been putting in. We really believe that we can do even better and today I’m announcing that we’re going to do better. As some of you already may have read, today I’m announcing that our Liberal National Government will increase the number of breast care nurses funded by the Federal Government to almost 100, with a funding injection of $27 million to the McGrath Foundation to support women with breast cancer.
[Applause]
We’re pleased to be able to do it but we can only do it because of the hard work of Australians. The Australians who have gone out there, started businesses, worked hard, generated the strong economy we have today. It means we can do this.
That’s what the strong economy is for; it’s for this. It’s for the same reason you’re gathered here today, the same reason Gladys and I often talk about this. It’s not an end in itself, it enables us to have a strong society where we can invest in the care and the medical needs of our people, whether they’re women suffering from breast cancer and living through and defeating breast cancer, as you’re hearing today from Sarah, or they’re young children dealing with other life-threatening diseases and conditions. A strong and prosperous society can win against these things and that’s why it’s so important we keep on that track. The doubling of funding will ensure 98 specialist breast care nurses by 2022/23. That builds on the $20.5 million already invested by our Government in this initiative. The funding will add another 41 nurses to the current team of 57 funded by the Government.
[Applause]
That means more than 30 specialist nurses will now be dedicated to supporting – I’m going to get this word right by the end of this speech – metastatic, metastatic – you can tell I’m not a doctor. But it’s important, metastatic breast cancer requires complex care and these nurses will now be able to spend more time supporting patients and their families, as you’ve already heard about how Rikki has done.
The McGrath Breast Care Nurse Initiative has supported more than 33,000 people since 2008 and was created to support women everywhere suffering from breast cancer, particularly in rural and regional areas. When I go out into rural and regional areas, there are so many places - particularly in New South Wales, but I know it’s all across the country - where people speak so fondly of the mercy and the hope that was delivered by the McGrath Foundation.
Now Jenny and I had the opportunity to host the Indian and Australian Cricket Teams at Kirribilli earlier this week and now I have the opportunity to say some things about Glenn McGrath. He’s a very special guy and it’s not just because he lives in the Shire – although that’s pretty good thing, as Glenn would agree.
[Laughter]
For most cricketers, their record is found in the stats. But there are a few whose record goes well beyond the stats of what is earned out there on the field and Glenn has done that. He’s a great cricketer, he’s a great Australian and he’s proudly still calling my beloved Shire home. He played in 124 tests and took 563 test wickets – “Ooh Ahh!”
[Applause]
A tremendous record. But it doesn’t compare to something I’ve gotten to know about Glenn over the last decade; he’s a great dad, he’s a wonderful husband and he’s a true community leader. He has turned the most – I couldn’t imagine and I don’t want to imagine, but we have to – he’s turned one of the most terrible of circumstances in life that you could imagine, for him and his then very young family, the loss of his wife and mum in Jane, to something amazing. Out of the ashes he has built something incredible; he has made other lives better and the country loves him for it. So they should.
[Applause]
In closing can I thank all the dedicated staff and the volunteers at the McGrath Foundation who are here working amongst you today, for their hard work and outstanding efforts. Congratulations to you.
[Applause]
I particularly thank all those amazing breast care nurses all across Australia for looking after up to around 200 cases a year.
[Applause]
What you do every day is inspirational. And finally, thanks to all of you for being here and showing your support for the McGrath Foundation. As your Government, we’re putting in and you being here, you’re putting in. As a country, as a community, we’re having a go so those with breast cancer get a go.
Thank you very much.
New Year's Day Cricket Reception remarks
1 January 2019
Kirribilli House, Sydney
Well thank you very much Bridget, welcome everyone. It’s wonderful to have you here at Kirribilli House. Can I particularly extend a very warm welcome to His Excellency the Governor-General who is here with us today. He is my neighbour, he has popped across. I was going for a swim yesterday afternoon and he said, “You got all those cricketers coming over tomorrow?” He was standing up on the balcony. I said, “Yeah.” He said, “Do you mind if I pop over?” I said, “Sure, that’s what neighbours do at this time of year when you have people around. So Your Excellency, it’s great to have you. High Commissioner, it’s wonderful to have you here. Consul-General, to Michael and Catherine, Deputy Prime Minister, thank you for being here today. Michael is an absolute cricket tragic, he is the one who you know keeps that spirit alive in our Government in particular and it’s great to have you both here, just come down from Queensland this morning. To Bridget and David, of course, to Marise Payne and Stuart Ayres - there’s fewer people more passionate about sport in New South Wales than Stuart Ayres, also the Sports Minister here in NSW - great to have you here with Marise. David and Dotte Coleman, the Minister for Immigration, thank you so much for coming.
Can I also particularly acknowledge all of the teams that are here today, both of them, and they will I think want to welcome a couple of legends of the game who are with us today. That’s of course Greg Chappell who is here, who I grew up watching, and Ravi Shastri of course, the coach of the Indian team. And there are few better than ‘Ooh Aah’, Glenn McGrath. Here he is. Glenn, it is wonderful to have you here today because you are not just here because you’re one of the greatest to ever play for Australia but you’re here because you have shown, I think, Australians that when you’ve achieved something remarkable in sport how you can translate that to an enormous gift to the Australian people that you have been able to do with the McGrath Foundation. So to Sara and to Glenn, we really appreciate having you here, and Holly as well who is head of the McGrath Foundation. Over 100 breast cancer nurses now right across the country. It is one of the organisations that I often refer to when I’m talking to people coming from overseas and they want to know about various organisations in the country. And it’s not just because he was born in the Shire but it is more to than that, it says so much about how in Australia we are able to link sport, the community of sport and to able to convert that into something, giving back to a community and to people who really need it. And Glenn is someone who have never forgotten where he is from, and to understand the challenges faced by women facing breast cancer in rural and regional areas, that’s something he knows about. In fact, when I was with Michael and we went up to Quilpie not long after I became Prime Minister, the family we met, the Tullys, they had had their own battle with breast cancer when we were there and they were very well aware of the McGrath Foundation and the work they do. So Glenn, it is wonderful to have you here.
I won’t go on too much today other than to say that this is a great tradition, having both of the teams, the Indian team and the Australian national team here together at Kirribilli House. It was something that was initiated by the first Prime Minister to make this his residence, John Howard, many years ago. And he was truly Australia’s greatest cricket tragic. And remains so to this day and he sends his apologies today. He was invited along today but he is away on holiday. But he wanted me to pass on his best wishes, and also from Jeanette. It’s also a great tradition of the Pink Test. The Pink Test has been completely embraced by Australians, particularly by Sydneysiders. And it’s going to be tremendous for those players who haven’t experienced it before who are visiting or even in our national team, you will be able to take part in something truly that is part of Australia’s both sporting calendar but also I think our cultural and community calendar. It’s a tremendous day that everyone gets involved in, we all don the pink as many of us have today and I think that’ll be tremendous.
It was Alfred Deakin, our second Prime Minister, who first talked about the relationship between Australia and India. He visited and he came back and he said that the distance will be diminished year by year between Australia and India. And that is no more true than where we are today. There is some - as David Coleman knows - there is some 700,000 people living in Australia today of Indian descent, and there is 87,000 Indian students here in Australia. Which explains all those cheers you can hear down at the G or anywhere else. There is a pretty big following when it comes to the Indian national team coming and playing here. And so it is a very strong people to people relationship. But the great thing about the relationship is it is built on shared values. We believe the same things. We have the same passions. And there is no greater example of that than our shared passion for cricket, our national game in both of our countries. And this particular exchange we have seen between our two teams over this Test Series has been enthralling. This is about the only time of the year I get to sit in front of the box and watch a bit of it, signing Christmas cards and doing those sorts of things as I enjoy doing over recent days and recent weeks. This series, despite the Australians loss in the Boxing Day Test, but to pick up the win in Perth and the first Test over in Adelaide, it has been an enthralling series. And I’ve got to tell you - particularly the Australia boys - when I was over in Iraq, visiting our troops, that was one of the first things that they wanted to know about. They wanted to know all about the Test and how that was going and what was going on back home when it came to the cricket. And the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has got a great history. Now, there is a lot to play for in this Test. There is a lot to play for. If the Indians can secure this Test Series, it’ll be their first win on Australian soil. So no pressure, no pressure.
[Laughter]
But also, it is a great thing for the Australians to defend that record, and I am reliably informed that in the Border-Gavaskar Series going back now over 20 years, India has won 19, Australia has won 18 and there are 9 draws. So looking forward, Justin and Tim, to seeing that levelled off as we wrap up the Test Series here in Sydney.
Can I congratulate Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli for the way that your team have played in this Series and the great exhibition you have put on all around Australia. I think Australians have enjoyed it thoroughly and there is still a lot more to enjoy in what I understand will be a turning wicket. So Nathan, do you best mate. Do your best. Live up to that ‘GOAT’ nickname and ensure it turns to your favour.
[Laughter]
But also, can I congratulate Justin and Tim. Leadership comes to you on occasions and you’ve got to step up. And in very difficult circumstances, to both Justin and Tim, I want to commend you for the way you have conducted yourselves, for the way that you have led your team and for the way you have stood up into the role into the role that you’ve been called on to play. And you’ve done it, I think, with tremendous humility, with a real sense of purpose and despite the challenges that have come your way, you have the best of Australian cricket in both of your roles and I’d like everyone to congratulate Tim and Justin.
[Applause]
Buddy agrees.
[Laughter]
So look, thank you all for coming today. I wish the players all the best in the coming days as we go into this last epic Test. It’ll be a great showcase for the game, it’ll be a great showcase for the talent on display. But most importantly, I think it’ll be a great showcase for the heart of Australians as they all reach out and they seek to support the McGrath Foundation, Glenn, in memory of Jane in particular, and I think everyone will be out there remembering here great legacy and a legacy that has been able to be lived on through the McGrath Foundation and particularly through the Pink Test. It is going to be a cracker. Thank you very much.
Address to the Sydney Institute
15 December 2018
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, Gerard, and particularly to my ministerial colleague Senator Payne, it’s great to have her back straight off the plane from Myanmar where she’s been over the weekend, to Nick Greiner who’s here as well, I see an old Treasury secretary over there John Fraser, good to see you Frase. Thank you all for coming together on a Saturday and I want to particularly thank Gerard and Anne for bringing the members of the Sydney Institute here together on a Saturday, and so I thank you for your attendance.
What is most important to me as Prime Minister is that I seek to humbly do everyday things that make Australia even stronger than we are today, both now and in the future.
To protect what we already have as Australians, and to do everything we can to ensure that we are stronger so Australians can realise their opportunities for the future.
Keeping our economy strong through lower taxes, supporting small and medium sized family businesses, supporting infrastructure in our cities and our regions and all across our vast country, so I can guarantee the essential services Australians rely on. That’s what the stronger economy’s for. Medicare, hospitals, schools, affordable medicines, aged care, support for our veterans. That’s why I am so focussed on achieving a stronger economy because that’s what realises those services.
Keeping Australians safe, whether it’s protecting our kids on-line from cyber bullying, keeping families safe from domestic violence, protecting Australians from the threat of terrorism, keeping our borders strong, and the institutions and frameworks that keep our borders strong, or defending our values and our freedoms at home and around the world through our Australian Defence Force.
And keeping Australians together, by ensuring we show respect for each other, for older Australians in residential aged care, removing needless- and preventing needless conflict and provocation in our workplaces – so employees and employers can work together for the good of themselves and their enterprise. Listening to young Australians, in particular, who want to ensure our environment is protected for the future – and that we address climate change. And respecting migrants who came to Australia, whether recently or many generations ago, because we are a successful multicultural society and because they believe we would respect religious freedoms.
Even stronger, that’s what I want Australia to be.
And to protect Australia from the things that would make us weaker - a weaker economy, weaker borders, weaker protections for our national security, weaker respect for the freedoms and the values that have made Australia the great country we are today.
A stronger Australia will always stand up for what we believe in. And that’s why I have come here to address you today.
In my first major foreign policy speech in Australia as Prime Minister, I said that our foreign policy “defines what we believe about the world and our place in it”. Foreign policy must speak of our character and our values. What we stand for. What we believe in and, if need be, what we’ll defend. And I made this point: Those who see foreign relations through a narrow, transactional lens sell Australia short.
Australian is more than the sum of our deals. We’re much bigger than that. We are a principled and pragmatic people. Clear about our beliefs yet realistic about the world that is around us. We pursue an ambitious agenda in the Indo-Pacific, we are a regional power with global interests. We have a responsibility to contribute to debates that shape our world, and the world does listen. And to do so in a constructive and innovative fashion. Always seeking to focus on the problem we are trying to solve.
So much of our prosperity and security is dependent on the world beyond our borders, we’ve always been an outward looking country. Almost 40 years ago, Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, in the context of debates over the Middle East, the Cold War and Apartheid, explained why Australia should always participate in global debates.
He gave three reasons.
First, “Too many Australians have died in places remote from their home – in Europe, in the Middle East, in South-East Asia – for us to be unconcerned about the preservation of world peace. Their sacrifice not only confers a right but imposes a duty on Australia to speak on these issues”. Second, “the middle-ranking countries of the world should recognise they have a role to play. It would not only be foolish,” he said, “but a political and moral failing to assume that nations such as Australia should be seen and not heard on the great issues” as he described them. And third, “in a Western world characterised by a great deal of self-doubt and division, and by a degree of disillusionment which has not yet been wholly overcome, every contribution to clarifying issues and strengthening resolve is valuable”. I agree. In an age of renewed global uncertainty, Australia should seek to clarify issues and strengthen resolve based on the principles and the beliefs we hold dear.
To that end, today I want to update you on steps our Government is taking, as Liberals and Nationals, to add clarity to our voice on important issues, consistent with our values and our national interests.
The first issue I want to address is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA as it is known – otherwise known as the ‘Iran nuclear deal’. Struck in 2015, the JCPOA resulted from a decade of negotiation. It included the United States, China, France, Germany, Russia, the EU and the UK, as well as Iran as its signatories. As we know, the United States withdrew from the agreement in May of this year.
Criticisms were made of the agreement including inadequate inspection and verification mechanisms and its narrow scope. In response to this, on the 16th of October I announced a without prejudice review of the JCPOA. We should take a look, we should assess these suggestions in light of concerns raised with me about its effectiveness including concerns raised here at home. I asked my department to lead a team of experts drawn from across government to examine these and other criticisms and potential weaknesses. The Review team consulted widely with Australia’s international partners in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia and with the International Atomic Energy Agency. I sought views from experts outside government, I also discussed the matter with a number of foreign leaders during the recent summit season.
The review team examined if the JCPOA is delivering what is intended. The conclusion from the Review team is that, on balance, it is, and that’s welcome news.
Substantial restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activity remain in place. The International Atomic Energy Agency has verified on 13 occasions that Iran’s actions remain in keeping with the deal’s limits. The deal took Iran from the brink of having enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon to a place where the international community has daily oversight of its nuclear activities.
These are worthy achievements.
Iran is well-placed to expand its enrichment capacity rapidly if the deal were to break down. So maintaining support for the JCPOA serves our interests in nuclear non-proliferation and in reinforcing the rules-based international system. It is consistent with Australia’s position on other non-proliferation issues, for example, support for a negotiated deal on verifiable de-nuclearisation on the Korean peninsula. And it serves our interest in encouraging rules-based approaches to resolving other issues of international concern, including the South China Sea.
But as the deal was only ever designed to cover nuclear issues, it’s not the full story and that’s where most of the frustration I think has been.
Our concerns about Iran relate not to what is in the agreement, but what’s not in the agreement. The agreement does not address Iran’s destabilising activities in the Middle East and beyond. It does not address Iran’s proliferation of ballistic missiles and technology, and activities undermining Israel’s security, and support for terrorist groups. These activities are ones the global community must act on.
So today I am announcing that Australia will add to our already substantial support for international efforts, particularly in relation to Iran’s ballistic missile proliferation and Iran’s support for destabilising activity.
Australia continues to apply sanctions required under UNSC Resolution 2231 on nuclear and ballistic-missile related materials. We will also continue to apply autonomous sanctions on the export of arms and related materials. Working with our partners, and consistent with our obligations under UN Security Council resolutions, Australia will work to tighten the net on Iran’s missile proliferation networks and support for activities that are destabilising the region. We will keep the option of additional autonomous sanctions under active review.
In the Financial Action Task Force – an international body tasked with combating counter-terrorism financing – we will support the imposition of countermeasures if Iran does not meet its commitments to address its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing deficiencies.
Now turning to broader Middle East issues, I have also been concerned for some time about the ratcheting up of rhetoric and action aimed at isolating Israel.
We regard the biased and unfair targeting of Israel in the UN General Assembly in particular as deeply unhelpful to efforts to build peace and stability. The UN General Assembly is now the place where Israel is bullied and where anti-Semitism is cloaked in language about human rights. It is where Israel is regularly accused of what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks called the “five cardinal sins against human rights: racism, apartheid, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and attempted genocide.”
Think about it: a nation of immigrants; with a free press; parliamentary democracy; financially prosperous; the source of tremendous innovation in the world; and a refuge from persecution and genocide, is somehow the centre of cruelty in the world.
It's ridiculous. It is intellectual fraud.
To the point where we seem to be heading closer, now, to the dispiriting decade of the 1970s when it comes to ritualistic denunciations of Israel, compromised and hypocritical global processes, a capacity to look the other way when it comes to terrorist organisations, and widespread fatigue in Western societies about the lack of progress.
Last year, there were 17 UN General Assembly resolutions critical of Israel. This compared with a total of five for all other countries: Myanmar, the Syrian Arab Republic, Russia’s actions in Crimea and Ukraine; Iran and North Korea. But 17 in relation to Israel.
This year, the UN Human Rights Council passed six motions condemning Israel, compared to a total of 14 across the rest of the world. And last month, at my direction, Australia opposed six resolutions that attacked Israel in the UN General Assembly. These included the ‘Jerusalem’ resolution, which contains biased and one-sided language attacking Israel and denies its historical connection to the city, and the ‘Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine’ resolution, which confers on the Palestinian Authority a status it does not have. In the past, we had abstained on these resolutions. Not anymore and not on my watch.
The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. We all know that principle.
We won’t turn a blind eye to an anti-Semitic agenda masquerading as defence of human rights as a nation like Australia.
Last week, Australia supported a UN General Assembly resolution to condemn the egregious and ongoing violent acts of the terrorist organisation Hamas. Hamas are violent extremists. Terrorists who use the Israel-Palestinian conflict as an excuse to inflict terror. They should have no friends at the UN. The failure of the resolution to pass with the requisite majority was appalling.
Australia condemns Hamas’ activities in the strongest possible terms. Why others failed to do so is evidence of the stalemate that has been reached where sticking with your side is blind to denouncing terrorism. That’s how bad it’s got.
Now that is not to say that we are not ever critical of Israel. Indeed, we will, if need be, openly rebuke a sincere friend, because friends should speak freely. The Australian Government has expressed our strong concern over Israel’s land appropriations, demolitions and settlement activity. I indeed have done that directly, Prime Minister to Prime Minister. The settlements undermine peace – and contribute to the stalemate we now see.
But we make the point, the international community must move beyond ritual denunciations of Israel, to urge a return to negotiations towards a two-state solution.
If anything, the ritual denunciations are getting in the way of that progress. Australia’s national interests are well served by our productive and increasingly diverse relationship with Israel. Australia has always been one of Israel’s greatest friends and I intend for that to remain the case. This is underpinned by our nation’s shared values, including our commitment to democracy and the rule of law.
Australia also benefits from a vigorous, creative Jewish community here in Australia who most recently welcomed not that long ago, along with all Australians, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Australia in February 2017, the first by a serving Israeli Prime Minister. Modern Israel is a vibrant multicultural democracy with a strong economy and world-leading industrial, science and research capabilities.
Despite having the most powerful military in the region, Israelis live each day under existential threat. Since 1948 Israel has fought numerous wars with their neighbours and thousands of skirmishes which are a constant reminder of the daily threats they face. My own visit to Israel many years ago and my interactions since have confirmed to me the future is not something Israelis take for granted. It’s not something they can take for granted. We should also not allow ourselves the indulgence of thinking otherwise for our great friend. We should understand what they live with everyday.
Over the past two years alone, Australia and Israel have expanded cooperation in defence industry and aviation security. It remains in our national interests to see Israel succeed as a liberal participatory democracy in the Middle East, and we regard it as imperative that Australia continues to strongly support its right to exist within secure and internationally recognised borders.
So this brings me to the Middle East peace process itself, including the status of Jerusalem.
Australia has a deep interest in seeing the emergence of a successful two-state solution. Not just as a country seeking to strengthen resolve and clarify issues, but because of our history as well. Last year, Australia commemorated the centenary of the Battle of Beersheba – a battle that is a proud part of Australia’s history. We proudly recall that it was Australia that chaired the Committee that recommended to the UN General Assembly the creation of the state of Israel and then voted in favour of the partition of Mandate Palestine. We are also proud to have been the first nation-state to vote to do so – and we did so because after the horrors of World War II, we wanted a refuge from man’s inhumanity to man.
We have turned up; we have played our part; we have done our share and we have paid the price through great sacrifice. That’s what gives us a microphone on this topic.
As a practical demonstration of our ongoing commitment to peace in the Middle East, Australia has had military observers with the UN’s Truce Supervision Organisation since 1956. Our contribution to UNTSO forms the fifth largest contingent of the entire operation and represents Australia’s longest commitment to any operation. We continue to make substantial contributions to security and stability in the Middle East because it is in our interests to do so. Around 1,200 ADF personnel in the Middle East are promoting regional security including as part of the Global anti-Daesh Coalition and, at the request of the Iraqi Government, training Iraqi security forces. An Australian frigate patrols in the Gulf and Bab al Mandab Straits in support of regional security and freedom of navigation as part of a multinational naval force. An Australian commands the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai overseeing the Camp David Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel. We have made a difference to thousands of refugees in the region through our humanitarian contribution of over $600 million to Syrian and Iraqi refugees since 2011. And we continue donations to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East of $41 million in 2017-19.
In short, our credentials as a force for security and stability in the Middle East are beyond question.
Our commitment to supporting peace in the Middle East and for Israel to peacefully exist within secure and internationally recognised borders has always been accompanied by our commitment to the two state solution.
The UN Security Council has consistently endorsed a two-state solution, negotiated directly between Israel and the Palestinians, as the way in which ‘final status’ issues are to be resolved. These ‘final status’ issues include the status of Jerusalem, the right of return of refugees, the status of Israeli settlements, and the provision of security and the future borders of a Palestinian state.
Successive UN Security Council resolutions have laid down expectations of UN member states on a range of related issues. Since the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, public support for a two-state solution has now diminished inside both Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Today, neither Israel nor the Palestinians view the other side really as a genuine partner for peace. Though a two state solution remains the only viable way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the obstacles, we must admit, to achieving such a solution are becoming insurmountable. We hope not.
The lapse of time and the failure to progress the negotiations I believe has changed the Israeli-Palestinian situation.
A rancid stalemate has emerged. Slavish adherence to the conventional wisdom over decades appears only to be further entrenching this stalemate, providing a leave pass for continued inaction. For everyone to just keeping doing what they’re doing, and looking the other way. Don’t raise the issue, just keep doing what you’re doing.
Pious assertions about a commitment to a two-state solution strain credibility if we’re not prepared to question the conventional wisdom about how we believe this goal can be achieved. Expecting a different outcome while continuing to do the same old thing is not the way, as particularly my Cabinet colleagues know, is not the way I deal with problems.
So, Australia acknowledges that Jerusalem’s ultimate status, including its borders and boundaries, is a final status issue to be resolved between the parties. That’s uncontested.
We also know that as those issues are debated they are hotly contested in terms of their detail, and there are a range of strong views on these issues around the world. We acknowledge there are other views, and remain committed to engaging positively with all of our partners and neighbours who have different views on this topic. That’s OK. And we are confident that others will respect the views we ourselves form when we do so in a respectful and honest way.
Fundamentally, it is the right of every country to determine its national capital.
That is why the Government I lead asked the question about the position we have long adopted in relation to Jerusalem, with respect to achieving a two state solution. This very act of daring to ask that question drew the usual criticism. We hadn’t made a decision, we said we want to take a look at this, there are some rather persuasive arguments out there. As a country we should stop and look at this. And our very decision to do that was decried, it was mocked even, including from our political opponents. Now they either wittingly or otherwise wish to remain wedded to a status quo that is failing. They’re in the ‘leave it well alone category’. They can’t even tell us today whether they think we should ask the question, or even the answer we propose they can’t even agree with. Well people will know where we stand.
So on the 16th of October in asking this question I announced a review of Australia’s policy on the status of Jerusalem.
I asked the departmental secretaries from Prime Minister and Cabinet, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence and Home Affairs to conduct the review. They met with a broad range of Australian community representatives, including some eminent Australian policymakers: former heads of various agencies and departments whether in Defence, Foreign Affairs or Prime Minister and Cabinet; they consulted Australia’s partners and allies overseas, including those most closely involved in the Middle East peace process. I did similarly as I went through a range of bilaterals over the last month or so.
The starting point for their deliberation was Australia’s absolute commitment to a two-state solution, these are the guard rails, with a secure Israel and future Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security within internationally recognised borders. I also required that their deliberations respect Australia’s obligations under international law and UN Security Council resolutions – two things that are fundamental, I think, to Australia’s interests in a rules-based order. You can’t look at these things in isolation. Our foreign policy is guided by our fundamental interest in ensuring that internationally agreed rules continue to safeguard our security and prosperity. We don’t get to pick and choose.
In the United Nations and G20 we have promoted the benefits of a rules based order and in holding states to account. We have imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its violation of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty. We have called on states to comply with Security Council Resolutions on a range of matters, including the downing of MH17, North Korea’s weapons programme and the Syrian conflict. Accordingly, respect for UN Security Council resolutions is a relevant factor for Australia that we can’t put to one side as we consider our position on these issues.
Now, Australia is subject to UN Security Council resolutions that apply to the Jerusalem issue, including Resolutions 478 and 2334.
The review team made recommendations after they’d completed their considerations to the National Security Committee earlier this week, with the resolution of the NSC then confirmed by Cabinet the following day. Since then the Government has engaged in briefings with our neighbours and allies to outline Australia’s new position.
The Government has resolved that Australia’s position is now as follows: Australia now recognises West Jerusalem, being the seat of the Knesset and many of the institutions of government, is the capital of Israel. West Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. And we look forward to moving our Embassy to West Jerusalem when practical, in support of, and after final status determination. We have decided to start the work though now to identify a suitable site for an Australian embassy in West Jerusalem.
Out of respect for the clearly communicated preference of the Israeli Government for countries to not establish consulates or honorary consular offices in West Jerusalem, the Australian Government will establish a Trade and Defence Office in West Jerusalem. With deepening defence industry ties and Australia-Israel trade now running at over $1.3 billion per year, this will help continue to build our strong bilateral relationship.
Furthermore, recognising our commitment to a two state solution, the Australian Government has also resolved to acknowledge the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a future state with its capital in East Jerusalem.
Australia believes this position respects both our commitment to a two-state solution and longstanding respect for relevant UN Security Council resolutions. It’s a balanced view, it’s a measured view, it’s a well considered view. It reinforces our clear view that the status of Jerusalem can only be resolved through direct negotiations between the parties consistent with relevant Security Council resolutions.
All of our actions, from our efforts in the Pacific to our peacekeeping forces and our presence in the Middle East, are reflections of our commitment to an international order that encourages freedom, peace and prosperity.
So in conclusion, I’m about hope for better. I’m optimistic by nature and by spirit. All of our actions, from our efforts in the Pacific – and I particularly want to commend Marise Payne and Christopher Pyne for the work that is being done on our ‘step up’ initiative in the Pacific – it has had an extraordinary response. From the Southwest Pacific nations themselves who we just see as family and who just see us as family. But to the broader world of France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Germany, all very keen to work with Australia and New Zealand in terms of our leadership of that initiative in the Pacific. To our peacekeeping forces and our presence in the Middle East. These are reflections of our commitment to an international order that encourages freedom, peace and prosperity.
Jerusalem - the home of the Al Aqsa Mosque, the Wailing Wall and the Via Dolorosa - deserves better than the rancid stalemate and better than the polarisation that marks its peoples.
When Anwar Sadat courageously addressed the Knesset just over 40 years ago, he said “there is no happiness to the detriment of others”. Those words are still true.
The Israeli and Palestinian people deserve a peace as worthy as the promise of their lands – and they deserve a lasting happiness that can only spring from a shared peace.
Australians have earned the right to call for such a peace and to make our contributions on how that peace can be realised, consistent with who we are and what we believe in.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to what you believe in.
Press Conference with the Attorney General
13 December 2018
Prime Minister, Attorney General
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you for joining us today, I’m joined by the Attorney General to announce two important decisions the Government has made that I believe are absolutely central, along with so many others, to the proper functioning of the successful modern democracy in which we live. The first of those is the Government's response to the religious freedoms report that was undertaken by Phillip Ruddock and his panel. The second is to announce the establishment of a Commonwealth Integrity Commission. Let me deal with each of the issues in turn and I'll ask the Attorney then to do likewise in some detail for these announcements.
There is no more fundamental liberty that any human being has, than their fundamental right to decide what they believe, or not believe, for that matter. To have a religious faith or not to have a religious faith and of that religious faith, what particular religious faith they may wish to pursue. Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, but equally within all of these religions we know there are different aspects of the way people practise those faiths.
What you believe should always be a matter for you and it has always been very tightly identified with who you are as a person. It has been one of the key issues of identity going back centuries, this is not a new thing. What people believe has always determined, in so many ways, what they're about. As I say, whether it's to believe in a particular religious faith or not to. These equally I think, go to who people are and they should be able to get about that, free of harassment or intimidation or discrimination in any way, shape or form. Just as you should be able to do depending on your sex or your gender or sexual identity or your ethnicity or any of the other protections that currently exist in our laws today. Anti-discrimination is an important principle in a modern democracy and so it’s important that that principle of anti-discrimination and the protection of people's religious liberty are addressed in this country. There is some unfinished business that we’re seeking to address in the announcements that we're making today and I want to thank Phillip Ruddock for the recommendations that they've made.
The protection of religious freedoms is therefore synonymous with our identity and it's particularly so and relevant in Australia, because in our incredibly diverse multicultural society, 70 per cent of Australians identify as having a particular religious belief. Now, much has been made of the fact that the 30 per cent of those who don't, has been growing. That is, I think, a description of the diversity that exists in Australian society. But let's not forget 70 per cent actually do identify with having a particular religious faith. But if you look at some of our largest, our most long-established, as well as some of our most recent arrivals to Australia, the proportion of those in those communities expressing an identification with a religious belief, is far higher. 95 per cent of Indian-born Australians, Greek Australians, Filipino Australians, over 90 per cent of Italian and Lebanese Australians identify with having a particular religious faith - and those faiths are many, Hindu, Christian, Muslim - across each of those nationalities.
So if you support an open, tolerant, multicultural Australia - and we are the most successful immigration country, immigrant country, in the world, daylight second - we have shown the world over centuries, as we've continued to improve, as we've continued to strive to ensure that we protect the social cohesion that has gone along with the most successful immigration programme that any country has ever run - that we maintain those protections of tolerance and respect.
So if you support a multicultural Australia, then you'll be a supporter of religious freedoms. You'll understand that religious faith is synonymous with so many different ethnic cultures in Australia. You can't know where one stops and one starts, it's a way of life and that way of life is part of a harmonious Australian culture overall, it’s critically important for our continued success.
We know that not all Australians share the same religious beliefs and we know that the religious composition of Australia is changing. That's fine, of course it's fine. It's part of a modern society that respects and tolerates each other. But I do know this; that Australians are substantially united, that all beliefs and all Australians, including not having a belief, should always be respected deeply by each and every citizen.
Now, the protections that we're announcing today, that we intend to introduce, they're not about protecting any religious institution, they're not about protecting any individual religion. In fact, they're not about those religions. It's about protecting Australians and an Australian’s right to believe in what they want to believe. Those individual Australians, if they're of faith, or not, but who just go about their daily lives - quietly, they don't seem to impose their religious beliefs on others, they are a guide and a light to their own lives, how they want to raise their families, how they live in their communities - these protections are about them. They’re about their right to choose. They’re about the choices they want to make for them and their families and their communities, choices that they believe makes them stronger, equips them better to deal with the many challenges that life brings them. So it is important, it needs to be protected and that is the basis upon which we asked Philip to go and look at these issues, to consult widely, as he did - Christian may speak more about that - and to listen.
So, we have listened, we have heard and we believe there are three things that fundamentally need to be done.
The first of those is what I'd call administrative tidy-ups. I mean there are some things in our laws which frankly, have just got a bit outdated. I don't think we're as offended today by the blasphemy of sailors that we once probably were over 100 years ago. So, laws against blasphemy in the Maritime Act probably need to be updated and I don't really say this flippantly. Our laws always have to be updated to reflect where we are today. There are a range of issues that we need to address; there are a range that deal the Charities Act and things like that, which are sensible. I would describe them as low-hanging fruit, just things that should be completely uncontentious and enabling this to go forward.
There are also the issues that we've sought to try and address in recent weeks through the Parliament and regrettably, we've been unable to do that. As you know - and my offer still stands - that if the Parliament were to be able to have a conscience vote for all members of the Parliament to resolve the issue on the Bill that I sought to put forward, it does three things. It protects students from discrimination on the basis of their sexual identity, it ensures that schools can have reasonable rules, and it ensures that religions can teach according to their faith. Then, I think these are three commonsense principles that I'd be more than happy for the Parliament to be able to debate and vote on, on the free conscience of every single member. So that offer stands.
But what we are proposing in relation to those issues and the broader employment issues, is there is a requirement under the Fair Work Act that these matters would be consulted on with states and territories and the response from the Government will be to refer those matters off to a process where the Australian Law Reform Commission, who would report in the second half of next year and bring forward some further recommendations about how they might be addressed.
The third area is to really address this fundamental issue of anti-discrimination and ensuring we complete the work. That is, to establish a Religious Discrimination Act and to appoint a Religious Freedom Commissioner within the Human Rights Commission. The latter will be particularly responsible for issues around collecting information and understanding the issue more fully, working closely with communities, as well as engaging in education programs and the like.
The protections that have been afforded to ensuring anti-discrimination against a person on the basis of their religion or choice not to have a religion, would be set out in the same way that those anti-discrimination protections already exist in relation to other issues such as ethnicity, gender and so on. The Attorney can go into that.
Now, on the second matter, on the establishment of a Commonwealth Integrity Commission, this is an exercise we embarked on in January of this year. We haven't kicked up a lot of dust about this because we've just been working on it. We think it is always important to raise the bar and maintain the bar to ensure the public can have confidence in the integrity of Commonwealth public administration. These are sensible changes we're outlining today. They learn the lessons, I think, from many of the failed experiments we've seen at a state jurisdiction level. I have no interest in establishing kangaroo courts that frankly have been used - sadly too often - for the pursuit of political, commercial or bureaucratic agendas in the public space. I think those exercises have sought to undermine public confidence, not improve it. They have not added to the integrity of public administration and they've become playthings of the usual actors. That’s not what we're about.
We're about having a robust, resourced, real system that will protect the integrity of Commonwealth and public administration. Now it is true to say that when this comes to these issues, Australia is a long way ahead and in fact leads the world when it comes to protecting the integrity of our administration. We are a standard-bearer in this area and what we're announcing today I think will enable us to continue to play that role. We will continue to be a model.
We have looked at all the alternatives and we believe that this is the best way to achieve this. It is the most sensible, measured, carefully considered way to address these issues. We're not interested in jumping on a bandwagon or anything like that, so that’s why we've been quietly getting about this work since January of this year.
We actually have a formal, carefully considered proposal, unlike the Labor Party who are yet to even define what on earth it is they're talking about. This is a real proposal, with real resources, real teeth, but one that I think protects our Commonwealth public administration from the weaknesses of many other systems.
I'll hand to the Attorney to go over those matters, thank you for your attention.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL, THE HON CHRISTIAN PORTER MP: Thank you PM. Perhaps if I start with the Religious Freedom Review, today of course, we'll be releasing Phillip Ruddock's full report, a very fulsome and detailed response by the Government to that report. It's probably notable that there were 15,000 public submissions to that process, 90 consultation meetings. The panel report - I think when you read it you’ll agree - is a balanced and sensible document, as you'd expect from the quality of the people who delivered that document. Essentially, the Ruddock Report concludes that we now in Australia have an opportunity to better protect freedom of religion and a means of doing that. They suggest in many of their recommendations what that means, what that methodology of better protecting religious freedom will be. You'll see from the recommendations that Phillip Ruddock has produced, that some are legislative, some are administrative and policy-based. As the Prime Minister has noted, we've responded in three stages, if you like. We've accepted 15 of the 20 recommendations directly. A final five we agree with the principle underpinning those five recommendations, but they will be the subject of a referral to the Australian Law Reform Commission that I'll speak to in a moment.
The first stage of response, as the Prime Minister noted, is to immediately move to legislate in a general omnibus bill, some fixes to some problems across the statutory landscape at the Commonwealth level. The types of things that are recommended there, I don't expect will be particularly contentious, but things like amending the Charities Act to make it clear that the advocacy for the traditional view of marriage can't be a disqualifying purpose. So, charities can keep that view of marriage if they wish to and still be a charity. Clarifying in the Marriage Act that religious schools can't be compelled to have their facilities used for same-sex weddings, really rather simple things in line with other amendments that have already happened.
There are also important administrative issues. The Commonwealth will take a lead role in developing a set of model guidelines which will be meant to, after consultation with the state, have a consistent national framework that explains to parents what their rights, responsibilities and duties are, when they want to withdraw a child from a part of education at a school that might contain moral or religious matters that are contrary to the doctrine of that family. So these are matters that we'll move on directly.
Secondly, there will be the drafting of a Religious Discrimination Bill and I'll come back to that in a moment. Thirdly, five recommendations, which are recommendations one, five, six, seven and eight - which effectively pertain to this central issue, as to how you best balance, with respect to schoolchildren and teachers at schools, the rights of religious schools to maintain conduct and teaching in accordance with their faith, but also ensure that there is not discrimination against teachers or students.
Now, with those five recommendations, the Ruddock Report itself suggests a potential way to draft going forward to better balance those two competing rights. Of course the Prime Minister, with respect to schoolchildren, has produced a bill and offered a conscience vote which is another way of balancing those rights and one that we as a Government think is a very appropriate way. But it's quite clear that there is an inability of Parliament to resolve this issue. The concept that we have landed on here, is to move those five recommendations around those two central principles after consultation with the states and territories on terms of reference, to the Australian Law Reform Commission, so people who are expert and knowledgeable in matters of drafting can produce specific drafting that may be capable of bipartisan support.
Had the process that we'd followed earlier been successful, that may not have been necessary. But that is an excellent institution. It's also notable that the Ruddock Review recommendations go to finding better balances between those two competing principles, not merely in Commonwealth law - so in our Sex Discrimination Act - but also in the Fair Work Act and also in the state variants of anti-discrimination legislation. So, if we can come out of an Australian Law Reform Commission process with a better way of balancing those two competing principles that works consistently across the states, the territories and the Commonwealth, then that will be a very good outcome. This I think is the appropriate mechanism to try and drive that outcome forward.
It's also notable that this touches on the Fair Work Act which requires the Commonwealth, if there are any potential changes to that piece of legislation, to consult with the states.
Then finally, the Religious Discrimination Bill, which we are well-advanced on the drafting of and which we would have out early next year, so that people can see it. The architecture for discrimination legislation in Australia is well-known, it's not overly complicated. An attribute is defined - such as age or race or sex or disability or, in this case, the adherence to a religion or the right to not adhere to a religion - and then certain prohibitions are placed on people in terms of their treatment of other Australians based on that attribute. So you are protected from discrimination because of that attribute and then there are certain exemptions drafted as is appropriate. I don't think that that would be a very contentious bill, necessarily, it follows a very standard architecture. But what the Ruddock Report said, is that there is a need for such a bill.
I would put it to you all this way. In Australia at the moment, if you're invited to a function at Parliament and at entry to the room of that function, you were denied entry because of the fact that you had a disability or because of your race, or because of your age, or because of your sex, that would be unlawful. But if you were turned away from that same room because of your religion, that would not be unlawful in Australia. So this, if you like, is the fifth and final pillar of an overarching architecture that prevents discrimination for Australians, directed to Australians, based on attributes which should never be the basis for discrimination.
So if I can leave that summary just there, of the religious discrimination issues and just move on to the Commonwealth Integrity Commission. There are quite large amounts of material that are now available on my Department's website and we have hard copies to distribute to you here. That's the result, as the Prime Minister noted, of work that commenced in January.
If I could describe that work this way; the first step that we took in assessing whether a Commonwealth Integrity Commission was necessary and if so, how it should be designed and operated, was to completely process-map all of the integrity arrangements that exist at a Commonwealth level. You'll see that process map. What that process map said to us was that whilst the present multiagency response - where a variety of agencies respond to integrity and corruption issues across the public sector in different parts of the public sector - that there was something missing. That something was a single, dedicated, specialist and peak body to investigate criminal corruption across the public sector. So we have created that body, a model for that body and that is what we are going to describe very briefly now.
The Commonwealth Integrity Commission would have two divisions; a law enforcement integrity division and a public sector integrity division. So there would be a Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner, a Public Sector Integrity Commissioner and an overarching Commonwealth Integrity Commissioner. The Law Enforcement Integrity Division is, in effect, an enlarged variant of a present body which many of you will be familiar with is the Australian Law Enforcement Integrity Commission. Now, that body operates very well. It has jurisdiction at the moment over the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Australian Federal Police, AUSTRAC, Department of Home Affairs, and some parts of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. This part of the new Commonwealth Integrity Commission will be an enlarged ALEIC and that side, the law enforcement division, will have additional jurisdiction over the following bodies; the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, the Australian Tax Office and the entirety of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. The point being, that the very, very substantive powers that ACI has are appropriately tailored to the fact that it is investigating the investigators. But when you look across the public sector, there are a range of bodies, whilst not necessarily traditionally viewed as law enforcement bodies, that have many of the attributes of law enforcement bodies. The powers of the ATO to investigate, for instance, are very, very serious. So having that organisation and other quasi law enforcement organisations brought into the jurisdiction of a Law Enforcement Integrity Division, which will be better equipped and better resourced, but operate to the same jurisdictional standards and with the same powers is one half of this organisation.
The other half of the organisation will be the Public Sector Integrity Division. That will cover the rest of the public sector, including all departments, agencies, their staff, parliamentarians and their staff, staff of federal judicial officers, as well as Commonwealth service providers and recipients of Commonwealth funds. So that is to say, organisations like the NDIS, organisations that contract with the government. That is obviously, as you'll see from process maps that we’re able to provide to you, a very large number of people where there will be coverage. The Public Integrity Division will investigate allegations of criminal conduct and corruption in the public sector. It will not investigate non-criminal misconduct.
The way in which the Public Sector Integrity Commission half of this organisation will work is to investigate, pursuant to existing known standards of criminal offences in our Crimes Act and Criminal Codes, that relate to corruption. An important part of this process will be that we will update and modernise those offences, include new offences and create a new division in Chapter 7 of the Crimes Act, so that all of the offences - which we might broadly describe as corruption offences that apply to the public sector - are in one place, are well known, have high visibility and have been refined and improved for modern purposes. So, for instance, we are intending to create a new offence of “aggravated corruption by a public sector official,” which would in effect be repeated offending of other types of corruption than exist in the Criminal Code. We would also create a new “failure to report corruption” offence. We would also look at an aggravated offence which involved “corruption and corruption offending pursuant to known offences by senior members of the public service”.
The Public Sector Integrity Division of this new organisation will have slightly different powers to the law enforcement side of the organisation, noting that they are investigating different types of behavior in different types of organisations at varying degrees of severity. There is an enormous amount of detail that will have in a written form available to you and I would just leave and end this part of the presentation by noting that the detail that you have in front of you, I think, indicates a sober, cautious, detailed process which asks two questions; “Is such a body able to make integrity better, rather than worse at the Commonwealth level,” and; “How does that body operate inside an already relatively well-functioning structure?”
I would just ask you to look at the detail that you're being provided with today and compare it to Labor's approach; which is a press release which they say was the result of 12 months’ work and consultation that tells no-one in this room anything, of any detail, about what it is that they would propose.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Christian and to re-enforce that point, both of these announcements that we’ve made today, that are central to our functioning as a successful democracy, have been the product of a long process of careful consideration. There's substantive detail for you now.
So happy to take questions, can we deal with religious freedom and then we'll deal with the integrity commission and then we can deal with the other issues, just to make sure we're staying in the same subject areas.
JOURNALIST: On religious freedom Prime Minister, if these changes are so important as you have said, why has your Government sat on the Ruddock report for seven months and why are not proposing to take any legislative action until after the election?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, wrong on both counts. First of all, I have been Prime Minister for four months, just under that in fact, and so I can only take responsibility for my actions when it comes to dealing with this and we’ve been taking this process, this report, through our process as a Cabinet, considering it carefully to make the announcement we have today. These are serious issues and we have had a full and frank conversation as a Cabinet, as a team, to come to the decision we have today. We will seek to legislate these matters, particularly in relation to firstly the tidy-up issues and also a Religious Discrimination Act, if we're in a position to do so and gain the support for it, very happy to.
Let's take one at a time, there's a lot of people here.
JOURNALIST: Just on that as well, is the a reason you're not looking to legislate until after the election? Is it because you see this issue as a distraction leading into the election when your main issues are -
PRIME MINISTER: I am looking to legislate before the election.
JOURNALIST: Okay.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m looking to legislate before the election, I'd happily deal with it. Whether it's the issue of discrimination against gay students and the reasonable rules on teaching according to faith, I was happy to have that in the Parliament last sitting fortnight. Bill Shorten wouldn't agree. He wouldn't agree to give his own members a conscience vote on the issue or agree to the legislation. I'm happy for us to advance a Religious Discrimination Act and also to deal with the other legislative matters before the next election. I would hope that they would have the support of the Labor Party to support not just religious freedoms, but also multiculturalism in Australia.
JOURNALIST: Is there any evidence that the religious of freedoms that you're seeking to protect has been denied by any school?
PRIME MINISTER: By any school? What I’ve seen, let me answer more broadly as well in terms of schools. For those who think that Australians of religious faith don't feel that the walls have been closing in on them for a while, they're clearly not talking to many people in religious communities or multicultural communities in Australia. I remember a conversation I had with one such community in Western Sydney and they said they left where they came from, to come to Australia because of religious persecution in the countries they were living in, only now - they feel - to be potentially facing the same sort of limitations to how they practice their religion in this country. That made me incredibly sad; that one of the great liberties Australia has always been known for - at perception and indeed in their mind in fact - is being curtailed. I don't think that's something I should allow to stand.
JOURNALIST: Do you have any examples of that?
PRIME MINISTER: I have many, but I mean that has been the experience relayed to me by people in these communities all around the country, as it has been relayed to Philip Ruddock in the process of consultation he went through. What I do also know is that there's not one religious school that I'm aware of who would seek to expel any child on the basis of their sexuality. Nor is there any threat of that occurring to my knowledge, but I still agree that should we be able to agree and have that matter dealt with in the Parliament in the process I have described and I'd be happy to do so.
So religious freedom, I mean, why in this country should it be - as Christian said - illegal for someone to turn someone away because of a disability, or their gender, or their sexual identity, but it's okay to turn someone away because of their religion? I mean, how can we allow to stand in Australia? That shouldn't be happening here.
JOURNALIST: If you’re seeking to legislate this before the next election, do you believe that this could be a vote-winner for you?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't care, it's the right thing to do.
JOURNALIST: You say these protections are about the people who don't seek to impose their religious beliefs on others, the ones who don’t. What about those who might seek to impose their religious views on others, even those within their own community and their own families, are there protections against those who would seek - ?
PRIME MINISTER: It's protection for people for what they believe or choose not to believe, Hugh. The point I'm trying to make is that the vast majority of Australians who go about their religious faith, do so in a very peaceful way. Their faith means a lot to them and their religious practice means a lot to them. And they feel that the walls are closing in on them a bit and I want to make sure they don't feel like that and they can get about their lives, their faith and their religion - or the reverse of that if they choose that. I mean it's a free country, it's a free society. People should be able to proclaim what they believe and discuss it in an open forum, like on any other issue. It shouldn't be a taboo topic in Australia.
We're a free society, you can talk about whatever you like. But what I am saying is there is a mainstream majority of Australians for whom religion is an important part of their life and they want to just be able to get on with it and live their lives in accordance with that and not have the Government start telling them where and when they can go, what they can say and how they should raise their children, how their kids should be educated. They just want to be able to choose the life they’ve chosen that's what I'm standing up for.
I think people know what I believe on this. I have been very consistent on this issue for over a decade in public life. This is not a new issue for me, it's an issue of long-standing conviction. It’s not about any one religion. I have always understood that anyone's religious belief in this country is only as protected as another person's religious belief.
ATTORNEY GENERAL: Could I just add to that. Legally what discrimination legislation does, is offer protection “from”; from the harsh or unfair treatment of another person or body against the individual based on their attribute, their race or their sex, or in this case their religion. In terms of examples, I mean, that example I gave of someone being turned away from a room that they were invited to because of their religion, happened here in this state. It happened here.
PRIME MINISTER: It happened in Parliament House.
ATTORNEY GENERAL: We’ve got examples of Baptist care organisations in Queensland, in their management, putting a view to their staff about what the result of the plebiscite on same-sex marriage should be or how people should view marriage, just in the same way Qantas did to its’ staff. Yet that Baptist care organisation’s executives are brought into proceedings at law in Queensland. There are examples of people having Facebook conversations with their work colleagues where they put a view in favour of traditional marriage being sacked and having to run unfair dismissal cases against their employer. So this offers those people the same protection that they would have, if that discrimination had occurred based on their race, or their sex, or their gender.
JOURNALIST: PM, if a Muslim woman goes into a bank now or a courtroom with a full face niqab or a Muslim refuses to stand for the anthem or refuses to stand for a magistrate or a judge, that is now protected under your proposal?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: All discrimination legislation defines the attribute, then sets out the things that can't be done to the person because of their attribute. Then we'll set out a variety of exemptions. Of course the reason why we will have a draft exposed, is to stress-test that set of staged statutory proposals. But in the sort of circumstances you're talking about, there are always limits and exemptions. I would think it would be very much the case that a judge would still have the ability to call a person into contempt in a court if that person did not obey a lawful direction of a judge.
JOURNALIST: On gay students, you pledged to action on that issue this year. You are the Government, you control the House of Representatives and you haven't attempted to legislate?
PRIME MINISTER: I have.
JOURNALIST: Well you could have brought the legislation up -
PRIME MINISTER: I have attempted to legislate and Bill Shorten refused to give a conscience vote to his members to do it. He refused to support the legislation. So I have attempted to legislate. I said it wanted to do it in a bipartisan way, I said I wanted to do it in good faith. The Labor Party played politics with it. They broke that commitment, they broke the way which I said would be a fair way deal with it. I don’t want to play politics with this issue. I'm happy to have the Parliament to decide it and I couldn't tell you what the numbers would be ultimately, on how that bill would go. But I'm quite happy to let all of my members, as their leader, vote their conscience on this issue. The question for Bill Shorten is, why is he not prepared to do it? Why is he prepared to whip the votes of members in his own Party, in his own caucus, to force them potentially to go against their conscience on these issues? I'm not going to do that to my members.
So I reject absolutely the idea that I have not sought to follow through on the commitment I have made. I absolutely followed through on that.
JOURNALIST: Then why not put legislation through the Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER: I already answered your question.
JOURNALIST: A slight detour, on the confessional seal, you want a unified approach from the states on that. Are you satisfied that, where the states are headed in terms of a priest being forced to, you know, give up information they’ve learned from the confession?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: That's gone to the council of attorneys-general. As you know it's largely a state issue, because it's an interface with state criminal law. The ACT have the laws entirely as you described. The Northern Territory has also, or is just about to legislate. It appears to me that process is moving forward, albeit not incredibly swiftly, but it is moving forward.
JOURNALIST: When will the review be completed?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: The second half of next year is our anticipated timeframe.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, another matter. There is a lot of concern being expressed about suppression [inaudible]. Can you reassure the Australian people that the criminal justice system is doing what it should be doing at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll refer you to the Attorney General.
ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, suppression orders are a matter for the courts. I don't have detailed knowledge - not having been sitting in that court at the time - as to what the basis and the reasons for that suppression orders were so I'm just not qualified to give you that answer.
JOURNALIST: The Ruddock Report didn’t recommend creating a religious freedom Commissioner, so why has the government decided to do that?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: The view that we took is that if you take this seriously, that when you have a piece of discrimination legislation, that it is wise and very useful to have someone in the Human Rights Commission who is for all intents and purposes responsible for the conduct of Australian affairs and for the consideration of matters pursuant to that legislation. So it seemed to us to be a logical connection to the commitment to actually legislating this area.
PRIME MINISTER: We’ve had a good run around this park for this one, we'll move to the Integrity Commission.
JOURNALIST: No, on the Integrity Commission, if I may. Couple of questions, will [inaudible] where this will capture, just to be clear, does it capture elected officials and will it act retrospectively, so a perciveid corrupt action was happening today, might be captured by a Commission that is not legislated until the future?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: It will not operate retrospectively. If we might offer a view from the Government - retrospective criminal law is probably the most serious and unwarranted thing that any government anywhere, in any democracy can do. So we're not doing that here.
But in answer to the first part of your question, it would cover elected officials, so parliamentarians, ministers. The way in which the body would operate is that you'll see with the multiagency framework that there are already a whole range of institutions that deal with different parts of the public service. So for instance, an organisation that this Government created, the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority looks into expenses and issues in respect to parliamentarians. If that body for instance, in the course of one of its’ inquiries, found something that it considered might constitute criminal corruption, they would refer that matter to this new body, who would take over the investigation of that matter. So this is a system of referral inside the multiagency framework that presently exists.
JOURNALIST: What protection will whistleblowers and journalists receive under the Integrity Commission?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, there's been some steps forward recently on the whistleblower issues in federal politics. Obviously in the drafting process here and we'll consult heavily, that is an issue as with Parliamentary and legal privilege, that final detailed drafting needs to be landed on.
But we want to do three things with each of those issues; not abrogate legal or parliamentary privilege and ensure that there's sufficient protection for whistleblowers. But that's part of the detailed drafting process.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask on an unrelated issue?
PRIME MINISTER: On the commission?
JOURNALIST: No.
PRIME MINISTER: Let's stay with commission, I'm happy to come back to it.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned a “kangaroo court” can you expressly state whether you think the NSW ICAC is a kangaroo court?
PRIME MINISTER: All I can say both as a resident of New South Wales and having watched this over a long period of time, there's a litany, a litany of cases there, which didn't come close to best practice. The way that it has been used here in New South Wales, as a tool to pursue any number of different issues, the rules that sit around access to information, puts information into the public - and frankly on occasions acting outside its own rules, it would seem - how it's released information, it has been the lesson in what not to do.
ATTORNEY GENERAL: I might just add to that, this body is one of referral from existing multiagency approaches. It is not a body that will conduct public hearings and it will not write reports where it makes findings of corruption on a piece of paper against an individual. It is an investigative body with serious investigative tools, that is well-resourced, specialised and the peak body for building briefs against people who have acted corruptly and moving those briefs to the DPP. The reason for that, if I might just give you these words from Brett Walker SC, he said: "We should no longer be told that an individual has engaged in corrupt conduct, let alone that he or she has been found to have done so because their conduct involved the commission of a criminal offence. No other agency briefing a prosecutor or committing a charged person for trial simply informs the community that the person in question is a criminal. That would be a very serious kind of misinformation in a society still attached to the notion of a fair trial before conviction." So this is not a show-trial body.
JOURNALIST: So it will effectively operate in secret? How is that open justice, justice being seen to be done?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: An investigative body necessarily investigates in a non-public way which is very different from operating in secret. But where is justice done in circumstances where someone is investigated by a body pursuant to rules of evidence which no one here would accept are orthodox and then simply makes a finding against that person? For instance, in many matters here in New South Wales, it’s had those findings overturned by the High Court.
JOURNALIST: Will the evidence that is gleaned from the inquiry be able to be used in a court of law against that person?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yes, I mean the purpose is to be able build a brief to establish criminality beyond reasonable doubt.
JOURNALIST: Because in ICAC, you don’t need, you’re not allowed to use that evidence?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is going to be bound by the rules of evidence so that you are building briefs. Our view is, the best way to combat corruption is to undercover it, investigate it and prosecute it.
JOURNALIST: I know you said you have been working on this since January, but you will be accused of only acting on it now because of the pressure from the crossbench. How do you respond to that?
PRIME MINISTER: The way I respond to that, I don’t think those accusations are being made impartially. I mean we have been working on it since January, they're just the facts. Australians can probably see from the detail of our response today that this has not been done in a hurry. This has been done after long and careful consideration. I really want to commend the Attorney Christian Porter, for the extraordinary work he has done here and his Department as well, that have pulled this together.
This is a very complex issue. It's a very serious issue. You can't deal with it in a press release which you pretend is the result of a year's worth of work. If that's the best the Labor Party can come up with a year's worth of work, well, I think that says a lot about how they consider this serious issue. I mean, what you got here is a serious response from a serious government.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask, just a quick response, if I can. Overnight, quietly, Cardinal George Pell has resigned from the Vatican, his career there now appears to be at an end. Would you make a comment about that career both here in Australia and in the Vatican?
PRIME MINISTER: No I wouldn't. Thank you.
Opening Remarks, COAG - Adelaide
12 December 2018
PRIME MINISTER: Can I start by first of all acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and acknowledge elders past, present and future. Welcome Gladys, good to see you. Can I also thank Steven Marshall, Premier of South Australia, for hosting us here in the wonderful state of South Australia. It was great to be with Steven earlier this morning for our announcement in relation to the Space Agency. So congratulations on that. Can I also congratulate Dan on his re-election as Premier, a very significant win and congratulations to you and your Government and the swearing-in of your ministry, looking forward to working with you, as I am with everyone, as always, as we work through a pretty packed agenda today.
Our agenda today covers the full, I think, spectrum of issues of most concern to Australians. Whether it's on how we manage population, how we support small business, how we deal with domestic violence. Also moving on from the work which was done at the Drought Summit - and I particularly thank all the Premiers and Chief Ministers who I know at a busy time for you came along to the Drought Summit which was very significant and that work has been rolling on since then through Major General Day and Minister Littleproud and we have an important item on the drought today and I appreciate all the work that's gone into that. And of course the usual topics around health and education.
But also, in the second half of today, focusing on the issues of national security and that national security, I think, spans the full spectrum of whether it's keeping in the first part of our agenda items today - our kids safe, whether it’s online from bullying, or keeping Australians protected and safe from terrorism, and that is the full span of our duties to keep Australians safe. I want to thank the all Premiers and Chief Ministers for the strong resolve there has been for excellent working relationships between the Commonwealth and the state and territory governments on these issues. We may have our differences on many things, which has been part of the Federation since Barton and Deakin got together. But that said, when it comes to national security, the working relationship, not only at a political level but amongst our agencies. Whether dealing with the Bourke Street terrorist incident recently in Victoria or working with the Queensland Government when it came responding to recent bushfires - I'm looking for Anastasia, here she is - more recently, our agencies work extremely well together and as we particularly approach what will be, I think, a very challenging bushfire season ahead, there will be a need for continued close planning and preparations which I know is occurring. So with all of that, I propose we get on with it and thank the media for their attendance.
Joint Press Conference, COAG
12 December 2018
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you for joining us. What we are going to do to start off this press conference following the COAG meeting today is we’ve agreed to a revised National Drought Agreement following on from the Drought Summit held a few months ago. So I am now going to sign the National Drought Agreement and I will pass it to my colleagues. I thank them for their support, particularly at the Drought Summit itself and the follow up action which has been put in train.
I don't think we will sit here in silence. I will make some, as I understand is the custom, opening remarks, and then pass to Andrew Barr and then to colleagues to make some comments following today’s meeting. What I'm pleased to report today is the meeting of COAG was able to make progress on all items on our agenda today. I want to thank Premiers and Chief Ministers for the good-faith way they have come to Adelaide. I want to thank of course Premier Steven Marshall for hosting us in Adelaide, it has been on great display, Steven, and it’s been tremendous to be here and part of the very exciting things that are happening in South Australia. Particularly happening here in Adelaide following our announcement earlier today.
I also want to thank... thank them for their constructive contributions on all the issues that we were able to deal with today. There has been a very big focus at this meeting on keeping Australians safe. And I think a shared message we want to send to all Australians regardless of where you are in Australia, that be absolutely assured, that at a Commonwealth, state and local level, all agencies of government will do everything we can to keep Australians safe. That is whether keeping children safe online, keeping Australians safe from the threat of terrorism, keeping Australians safe in the face of major physical hazards, such as bushfires and floods, all things of that nature. That we are all working extremely well together, we have the opportunity to be briefed on a whole raft of national security issues today, and there was a very strong and common resolve, and an appreciation I think, from all of us of the working relationship that has developed over many years in addressing these issues.
On particular matters of cyber security, on organised crime, on foreign interference, the public safety mobile broadband network - we were able to make progress on all of these issues, agreeing new principles and working protocols to ensure the best management of those issues. But on top of that, most importantly I want to thank all members for their contribution as we move forward to the fourth round of the domestic violence initiatives and program, I want to thank Libby Lloyd, and Maria Hagias who joined us today and provided us their update on the work that is continually needed, in all of our jurisdictions, to keep women and children and all those affected by domestic family violence safe. And we were able to agree new ways forward, and as we go into next year’s Commonwealth Budget, we will be looking for what more we can do, certainly not taking a step back as we go into the forward chapter of our cooperation on addressing domestic violence.
On cyberbullying as well I want to thank Premier Palaszczuk for leading the work there and we have agreed today that it is important for victims of cyberbullying there is an ability to have the right to be forgotten online. We need to make sure that as we do this that we do not provide a loophole for those who might be engaged in all sorts of nefarious activity, that our agencies would want to pursue. But we want to ensure that doesn’t just apply to young people, as Premier McGowan made the point, they have the right to be forgotten and they do not have to live their lives with the issues of things that have happened online to them, with bullying, are there for all-time. We already have through the e-Safety Commissioner, a number of measures which address that already. This will take that to a new level. So I thank again Premier Palaszczuk for that work.
Those were the issues we were able to address on national security and keeping Australians safe. But we were also able to make, I think, important progress on the issue of population management. I want to thank Premier Berejiklian for suggesting that this be put on the COAG agenda, we agreed this should be a standing item on the COAG agenda. And the Council of Federal Financial Relations, also known as the Treasurers meeting, will take the workforce role of reporting to leaders on how we are working together to better manage population growth between the states and territories and the Commonwealth. We agreed to work towards the establishment of a population management national framework, which would seek greater sharing of information to inform annual migration programs, infrastructure programs, investment in services, in hospitals and schools, greater data sharing, better identification of skills needs and across the country. And all of that is designed to protect the quality of life that Australians have, to grow our economy and ensure we get the growth where we need to have that growth. In some states that is an absolute priority, but in our larger cities we are able to better manage that growth, deal with congestion issues, and to protect the quality of life of residents who live in those cities as well.
On drought, as I have just noted, we have just signed the new intergovernmental agreement which follows on from the work of the National Drought Summit. Also great news today for small business. We have all agreed that we should move towards 20 day payment terms for small businesses. Already a number of jurisdictions have moved to that, it will happen on the 1st of July next year and each of the jurisdictions will be reporting at what date they will move to the target of a 20 day payment timeframe for small business. This will keep money moving in our economy and I think it will be an example to large businesses in particular - do not use small businesses as a bank. They should be paid on time and they should be paid promptly. 20 days should be the maximum, not the standard. There is the technological capabilities to address that in shorter time frames and I would encourage all businesses to be using the digital financing arrangements and accounting arrangements which will enable more prompt payment.
We had a very good discussion on early childhood education. The Commonwealth has the current universal access agreement in place to the end of 2019, and we will continue to address onward arrangements for that through the normal budgetary cycle. But I think there was a very shared agreement by all jurisdictions of the incredibly important role for early childhood education plays, particularly for addressing children with disadvantage, and that disadvantage could come in many forms. It could be economic, it can be physical, it could be geographical. We share the view and Commonwealth shares the view it is an important intervention that can really change our young people’s lives.
On health, I made the announcement this morning there will be 1.25 billion dollars of additional investments that will be spent through the states and territories from the Commonwealth in addition to the hospitals agreement that we already have before the states and territories, for which the majority have signed. That agreement will deal with cancer treatment, it will deal with drug rehabilitation, it will also deal with mental health, and access to clinical trials. And so we welcome the states and the territories to deploy that additional investment and that’s $1.25 billion that we’ll see over the next four years over the Budget cycle.
And finally, and I think we would all agree, easily the most importantly and actually the most importantly, we’re very pleased to issue the statement today on the Closing the Gap refresh. I want to thank very much the Indigenous peak groups for their close cooperation and partnership on working together to ensure that the Closing the Gap goals that we are setting we are not imposing, but we are developing together in partnership with Indigenous communities. That these are goals that are equally owned and therefore we’re equally responsible for. And I want to thank again those Indigenous groups and particularly there are people here with strong support and participation in that process. Obviously we will continue that consultation but I think that we have made a step forward.
So across a whole range of issues today, important I think to the lives of all Australians. From keeping them safe, keeping them together. Whether it’s dealing with the issues of social cohesion or dealing with the very significant economic issues around population management and getting small business on the front foot, making our economy stronger, we’ve made great progress today and I thank my colleagues from the way they have engaged in those outcomes and I’m happy to pass on to them each for comment, starting with the Chief Minister of the ACT Mr Barr.
ANDREW BARR, CHIEF MINISTER OF THE ACT: Thank you Prime Minister and thank you Premier Marshall for hosting us today in Adelaide. Can I begin with an observation that today’s agenda wasn’t particularly controversial at the areas the Prime Minister has highlighted in his remarks. We have seen reasonably strong progress in advancing the agenda in each one of those areas and speaking on behalf of all states and territories as chair of the Council of Australian Federation we are pleased there has been focus on a number of these items.
I would particularly like to comment on the population policy question. This is one that is very significant for our nation and one that the approach the Prime Minister is taking could perhaps be described as modelled on the Canadian federation model, we collectively think is a good approach. Although there are differences amongst the states and territories in relation to where population should be distributed around the country, there is a strong view that there's a good role for the states and territories to play. So we welcome that.
From an ACT perspective, I want to make a clear statement of values that we think it is very important that Australia maintain a strong migration program. This is very significant for the social, cultural and economic development of our nation and for many jurisdictions around the country. There is a need for increased population to drive economic activity, but also to diversify the social and cultural base. In the national capital we will always be a proud refugee welcome zone and we will always be a jurisdiction that welcomes and values new migrants and international students for the role they play in our community.
We think it's very important that as we manage future population growth that there is a strong focus on infrastructure investment and that we work closely with the Commonwealth and between jurisdictions to ensure that we can build the infrastructure ahead of time for the anticipated population increases that are coming and will be driven both by natural increase, by internal migration within Australia and by a strong migration program. And a practical example of that - and I want to acknowledge the New South Wales Premier here - is the importance of growth of regional cities within New South Wales and the Canberra-Sydney rail line is a very practical example of a transport infrastructure project that would assist in taking pressure off Sydney, would support the growth of the broader Canberra region and is one that we very strongly support.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Andrew. Premier of New South Wales, Premier Berejiklian.
GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN, PREMIER OF NSW: Thank you, Prime Minister. It's fair to say it was a very comprehensive agenda and a lot of goodwill in the room and I think we have made good progress on key issues affecting all of our citizens across the nation. And in particular I did want to thank the Prime Minister and all of my state and territory leaders for their support in advancing the development of a holistic population policy for the nation and that it will be a standing item on future COAG meetings. And I that's important for all of us to have a greater say in those issues because at the end of the day it's when the states have good input into what our needs are, into the process and proper planning can happen. So I do want to thank the Prime Minister for extending that important initiative.
In addition to the other issues around security, cyberbullying, all issues affecting our citizens. The progress made today was quite outstanding in terms of the number of issues that were covered. And I think that all of our citizens in each of our jurisdictions will feel well served by the agenda and the conclusions we've reached today from a very comprehensive agenda.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Gladys. Premier Andrews?
DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: Thanks Prime Minister. Can I thank both you and Steven for what's been a productive meeting here in Adelaide. I just want to highlight a couple of points. Firstly, I think today we've agreed on the clearest link ever between a proper population policy and a proper conversation and agreements about the infrastructure that we need. We've agreed today in the clearest terms perhaps ever between state, territory and the national government that infrastructure and managing population growth are essentially the same issue. Not too far away from that we're on the journey I think to a similar agreement about hospitals and schools and some of the other basic services. That's really important and we're pleased to be part of that process and we'll provide as much information and as much coordinating material as we can towards better outcomes.
On family violence, which has been a priority for our government and indeed I think for everybody sitting at this table for a long time now, I want to thank the Prime Minister, particularly to matters that I had raised a couple of years ago, which had not been looked upon favourably. The Prime Minister has agreed to have a look at, particularly through the Medical Benefits Schedule Review, potentially a pathway for women and children to have a more discreet avenue in order to get the care and support from their GP that they need. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to advance that.
In terms of Closing the Gap, I think we have kind of got off course a little bit but now there is a really meaningful opportunity for a partnership the likes of which we've not seen before. Where we actually let Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians lead the discussion, determine the outcome, own the outcome. And I think we'll see much better results because of that. That self-determination is what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs is all about or at least should be and I want to thank the Prime Minister for having got that back on course where there was every prospect that we would not be able to move forward in such a productive way.
Finally, can I just indicate to you that I took the opportunity on behalf of all Victorians to thank the Director General of ASIO, the AFP, all of our partners. We've had some terrible incidents, both tragedies but also some other incidents that have been foiled in recent times in my capital city and we very much value the partnership, the sharing of information, the arrangements, the architecture that we have in place with all of our partners. They in every way are all about keeping Victorians safe. So it's been a very productive meeting and I've been very pleased to be part of it.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Premier Andrews. Premier Palaszczuk.
ANASTASIA PALASZCZUK, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: Thank you, and from the outset I wanted to and did officially thank all of the Premiers and First Ministers for the outstanding cooperation from all states and territories during the unprecedented fires that we had in Queensland. And I echo that and of course we'll reciprocate any help that's needed in the future in other states. So thank you for that.
Once again, a very productive and I really thank the Prime Minister and all of the Premiers and First Ministers for due consideration about combating cyberbullying. I think that's a really important issue with families especially impacting on young children out there across our nation. And the right to be forgotten is something that we do need to investigate and we have agreed to do further week into that. So I think from a point of view that families who have children that are experiencing really bad forms of cyberbullying, whether it's at home or at school, that right to be forgotten is going to be very important and we will be following that up.
Then of course there was issues around health and education. I think Queensland shares New South Wales' views that we will continue to negotiate especially around education but in relation to health, we still do believe that we are owed some back pay and we'll make sure that our families do get that. And then finally I just wanted to say thank you very much to everyone for agreeing to have the next COAG meeting in Queensland.
PRIME MINISTER: In July.
ANASTASIA PALASZCZUK, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Premier Palaszczuk. Can I go to Premier McGowan.
MARK MCGOWAN, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thanks, Prime Minister. And can I welcome you and Premier Marshall to your first of these events. And whilst you might not realise it, you're very fortunate that at this first one of yours it's the first one in a long time the GST issue has not…
PRIME MINISTER: I got that sorted before I came.
[Laughter]
MARK MCGOWAN, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: …has not been mentioned. Has not been mentioned. And my good friend here the Premier of Tasmania has been very warm and congratulatory towards Western Australia on our success. So, look, the principle discussion was around population. Obviously each state is different. We had a presentation from one of Australia's premier demographers who pointed out some of the growth in various cities and states and how uneven it's been due to a range of factors. He also pointed out that Sydney and Melbourne in some point in the future, in 2050 or thereabouts, are predicted to hit 8 million people. So obviously there's a need for careful consideration of our nation's population growth and calibrating it to ensure that each state's needs are taken care of.
Obviously in a West Australian context we've had some issues with the economy being very strong and then not so strong and the population moving up and down accordingly. And so therefore the way forward to ensure that each state has its opportunity for input and our individual circumstances being taken into account to a greater degree is great. And obviously making sure that infrastructure spend and service delivery spend, in particular from the Commonwealth's work in conjunction with that is very important. And so I pointed out the fact that we're going to have Infrastructure WA put in place relatively soon. And working in conjunction with Infrastructure Australia to make sure there's proper provision of infrastructure in Western Australia.
The discussion around domestic violence was very important and the most important thing for me is once again domestic violence, women and children in particular, is elevated to a national issue and continues to be nationally focused. And I think that's probably a change on what was the case a decade or two decades ago. So continuing discussion and emphasis on all governments at all levels, working on that issue cooperatively, is very important.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Premier McGowan. To our host, Premier Marshall.
STEVEN MARSHALL, PREMIER OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Thank you very much. I don't know what's gone on at these COAG meetings before but I’ve certainly enjoyed today. It started with the signing of our City Deal in Adelaide and the announcement by the Prime Minister that South Australia won the bid to host the National Space Agency here in Adelaide, followed by the privilege and the pleasure to host COAG in Adelaide today. It's been a full agenda, as the other speakers have made very clear.
Can I thank the Prime Minister for the very significant increase in federal health funding which was announced today at COAG. That is very welcome. I echo the thoughts of the other members regarding the domestic and family violence prevention agenda item. We were very pleased to co-host the summit in Adelaide in October, with the Commonwealth. And we received the statement from that summit today which will inform the fourth action plan. So we're looking forward to that.
And I too would like to just lend my support to the population arrangements that are being considered at COAG. I think it's very clear now that we have a very different approach to issues regarding population state by state. There is no cookie cutter approach. And I think what we can do now is all work collaboratively towards a good strategy, a positive strategy, which is going to ensure that we get population growth exactly where it's needed in Australia going forward.
Can I also say that last night was an opportunity for the Chief Ministers, the Premiers and the Prime Minister to get together. I was very pleased to present all of those in attendance with a quality pair of South Australia's RM Williams boots. So I'm really looking forward to getting up to Queensland next year. We might get a celebratory pair of COAG thongs from the Queensland Premier or maybe something else. Who knows? But it's been fantastic. It's a surprise. Looking forward to it already.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Steven Marshall. To the veteran, Premier Hodgman.
WILL HODGMAN, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: Prime Minister, thank you. Colleagues, delighted to be in Australia's second most picturesque capital city. And to be part of what was undoubtedly one of the most cooperative and collaborative COAG meetings that I've been at. And I've been to a few. This was one where I think Australians can be confident that we spent all of our time talking about how we can improve the lives of our citizens and the prospects of our states, territories and those who have elected us into office.
And we touched on some really important areas that go to supporting those most vulnerable in our community. Whether it be women and children fleeing family violence, our Indigenous communities, drought affected communities, including in Tasmania. Today was very much a positive example of governments coming together to talk about positive outcomes and how we can improve the lives of those who put us into office. As Tasmania's economy, the fastest growing economy in the country continues to expand, there's a demand in our state for sustained population growth. And I'll be calling on Tasmanians to do their bit but also for us to work collaboratively with the Commonwealth so that we can find the skills base needed to support that strong economic growth in our island state.
There's a lot to be looked forward to in the health space and I look forward to our colleagues, ensuring that we're on a sustainable funding pathway for our health system as we see increased demand and pressures in our health system. It's a critical issue for our state. And a lot of very positive announcements today to make our communities even safer. No state or territory is immune from the threat of terror, or behaviours in our communities that affect our citizens. So to collaborate efficiently and effectively to strengthen and protect our communities was another important outcome. So Prime Minister, congratulations on a very efficiently run COAG meeting. A lot achieved, and I look forward to us all being back at our next COAG meeting next year.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Premier Hodgman. Chief Minister Gunner.
MICHAEL GUNNER, CHIEF MINISTER OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY: Thank you, Prime Minister. There were a number of issues on the COAG agenda today that were important to the Northern Territory. I think the best way to sum it up is that in recent times we've had some excellent wins, working in partnership with the Australian Government. We've had some productive conversations today and there is more to be done.
First to population. We want more people to call the Northern Territory home. To speak as a champion of the north, for the top of WA, all the Northern Territory and the top of Queensland, we produce half the nation's exports from 5 per cent of the population. More people equals more jobs. This goes to having a vision for this nation, to having a better, stronger, more resilient diversified economy. This is good for all of us. We know the Prime Minister recognises this. We produced our population plan earlier this year and thanked the Prime Minister for his support. This week we saw the second addition of our migration agreement that goes to providing more people to the Northern Territory. This is good stuff. But we need to do more and I look forward to working with the Prime Minister on that.
On Closing the Gap, we have to do this in partnership. We know that. We can't close the gap unless we do it in partnership with Aboriginal people. I thank the Prime Minister for his work over the last few days to bring that agenda back on track. I do believe, as the Prime Minister and Premier Andrews said, that we have a moment now, an opportunity, to really deliver this with Aboriginal people but we've got to do it with Aboriginal people by listening to Aboriginal people. We can't afford to have this go off the rails again. I think the wording of what we're doing so far on Closing the Gap is good but we have to talk funding at some stage. I know the Northern Territory, maintaining our current level of services, is not going to be enough to close the gap. The Prime Minister has recognised this. We've had some excellent conversations with the Prime Minister, starting from when he was Treasurer. We have our remote housing agreement, for example. The Australian Government has put in $550 million over five years to match our $550 million. We're in negotiation now to see whether it's delivered by us or by them but it's a good win for remote housing. But there is still more to be done. We had the $60 million Barkly regional deal done this week. I thank the Prime Minister for that. So I know there's recognition from the Australian Government about what is needed to be done to close that gap and that's some of the work that still needs to be carried out. So I thank the Prime Minister for what's been a very good COAG but as always there's more work ahead of us.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Chief Minister Gunner. And finally, from the Australian Local Government Association.
MAYOR DAVID O’LAUGHLIN, PRESIDENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION: Thank you Prime Minister, and thank you all for a cooperative COAG meeting and in particular the commitment across all jurisdictions to early childhood education and care. Notwithstanding the jurisdictional responsibilities are still to be finally settled, there's a commitment to honour that area of work that needs to be done. Local governments are particularly sensitive in regional locations to the funding around this issue because often our councils are the only provider of childhood education and care and preschool, given the private sector is not active in many regional cities and towns. So we’re very conscious about that so funding can keep going forward.
Closing the Gap is an important issue for many of our communities. We have some councils that are entirely comprised of Indigenous members and others that represent majority Indigenous communities. They'll be very interested in the commitment to consultation in this latest agreement. But they'll be looking for economic benefits. Every one of those activities in Closing the Gap will involve employing people, specialists, who will want to be part of that. They will want to see economic benefits flow to their own communities and not just people coming out of metro areas to service them, whatever their needs might be.
In terms of population, there's no doubt it seems every Australian has an opinion on population. Be it pressures on infill, be it something being built next door to them in a metro area, be it fringe areas of the city being developed and farmland being consumed, be it those fringe suburbs being developed but the jobs are nowhere near them or regional towns and cities that don't have the pressures of infill but they have all the infrastructure there, the road, health and sporting infrastructure but their populations are declining and they are in desperate need of more people. We would really welcome this national discussion around population levels, around how the interplay with integration will impact on that, how the distribution across Australia is different to many other places and varying needs of even suburb to suburb across this great country. Very pleased that councils will have the opportunity to participate in that debate through the Australian Local Government Association.
And just finally on the commitment to ending, eliminating or certainly reducing domestic violence, we’re very committed at the local government level to this cause as well, and we do see that gender equality is a huge need to fill across Australia. We’re very committed to making sure that our young women and young girls can engage in sporting activities. We’re committed with the Commonwealth with their local sporting infrastructure [inaudible] to build change rooms for girls and women in emerging sports. In fact, women are doing incredibly well worldwide in what used to be the domain only of blokes. They're immense heroes to our young women and young family women as well. In terms of gender equity, I just wanted to note that in 1919 was when Susan Grace Benny was elected to the office of council in Brighton, a southern coastal suburb here in Adelaide. She was the first woman elected to any level of office in the country. It marks 100 years next year. Despite our best efforts in local government, we are still at only 35 per cent female representation in local government. So I just think we just have to speed this up somehow. I don't know how. But 100 years to get to 35 per cent doesn't look good for us getting to 50 per cent. I’m committed, as is the sector, to improving that election by election, state by state, territory by territory. And finally, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. Thank you for your patience.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, thank you very much. I know colleagues have some planes to catch but happy to take some questions before we depart.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, apart from managing the skilled migrant intake, do you have any idea of the sorts of what the states and territories want in terms of a number of migrants? Is that higher or lower [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, one of the things that we identified today is the need to have better, ideally real-time, assessment of skills needs and that those skills needs in each of the jurisdictions are forward looking. One of the challenges of the skills list is it can be a bit of a rear-view mirror looking at what the skills needs are. And Premier Berejiklian I think made this point very well today, that this is an area where we need greater input from the states and territories. And not just at a state-wide level. We need to know how many more engineers you need in Whyalla. Or Newcastle. Not just in New South Wales or South Australia. This needs to be a lot more micro than it is. That is beyond what the Commonwealth is in a position to be able to do. And so working closely with the states and territories to better define what they are going forward because the jurisdictions represented here have a plan for how they want to grow their state. In South Australia they have a huge vision about how they want to grow their defence and space industries. That's going to require particular people to achieve that. And so we want to work closely with them to make sure that happens.
In terms of overall numbers, what was very clear from Professor McDonald's presentation today is that the population story is a very complex one. And what we need to understand as a Commonwealth is how the population movements will impact on each and every state. And that's why from the end of January, we will be getting additional information coming from the states and territories about carrying capacity, skills needs, things of that nature. Now I've already remarked that on a permanent level that I would expect to see the numbers fall more at a cap to where about they're running currently, which is around 30,000 less than the current target of 190,000. I haven't seen any information to date that would really change that.
But we need to remember what Professor McDonald did some years ago for the Immigration Department. He focused today on net overseas migration. Net overseas migration is the combined impact of permanent migration and temporary migration. And two-thirds of that inflow is in the temporary space, not in the permanent migration space. And he's recommended that for- to maintain per capita GDP growth, that you would need a net overseas migration rate of somewhere between about 160,000 to about 210,000. Now currently we're on the upper end or just above that. And so you can maintain that per capita GDP growth if you remain in that sort of a sweet spot. And so I think that was very useful work that was done by Professor McDonald all those years ago and I haven't seen anything since then that I think would contradict that as a safe range.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just picking up on those comments, so therefore do you support lowering the annual immigration target to say, 160,000 or thereabouts?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm waiting to see the work that is done and the input we get from the states. In the address I gave, the Bradfield address I gave in Sydney, I think I left a pretty good hint that where it's currently running, which is well below the cap, may well be where we end up.
JOURNALIST: Are you saying you want more skilled migrants than perhaps [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: What I'm saying is the current permanent intake is running at about that. That's where it's running now. We've been running below the cap for a number of years.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Professor McDonald hasn't made a recommendation about what the intake should be and nor have I asked him to.
JOURNALIST: But he did say that migration levels should remain the same.
PRIME MINISTER: Well he's entitled to his view.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: We'll listen to all views as we frame the migration intake for next year and that's the process I've invited the states and territories to participate in at a level that I don't believe they've ever been invited to participate in before. I think that's the point of what we've agreed here today. There has been, I think, a disconnect between the setting of these intakes and the planning and population work which is done at a state and territory level. This is the connection I'm seeking to make and I'm just so pleased that my colleagues sitting around the table have agreed that's absolutely necessary.
JOURNALIST: Premier Andrews, what was your reaction to when the Government’s population expert said, “Infrastructure is a better solution to migration problems than cutting the immigration rate?”
DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: I think that building new infrastructure is always a good thing to do. As the Premier, as the recently re-elected leader of the nation's fastest growing state, with the biggest infrastructure agenda we've ever seen, of course I would agree with that. I think that we don't want to be looking at a smaller Victoria or a smaller Australia but we do have to look at investing in the things that make the biggest difference - road and rail, hospitals and schools. And today I think there was a real sense of agreement that all of those things have to be considered as one set of issues. You can't really separate any of those. They're all part of the same challenge. That was what I took out of the very detailed presentation and the lengthy discussion we had.
JOURNALIST: Premier Palaszczuk, what was your reaction to the [inaudible]?
ANASTASIA PALASZCZUK, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: I think he made some really good points about how more migration can go out to regional centres and we have a decentralised state. But he also said if the current birth rate of 1.8 births per family continues and with the retirement of the baby boomer generation, we do need to get skills not just from Australia but elsewhere. So it has to be maintained, if not increased. That's what I got out of the presentation.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister...
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, one at a time. Over here.
JOURNALIST: How long are you expecting this process to take? Because as lots of states come back with their new targets, there will be more work required.
PRIME MINISTER: This is an ongoing item on the COAG agenda. I mean, population management is a core task of all the governments you see represented here, including local government. And so this will be an ongoing issue and the next decision that has to be made, at least in terms of immigration, is what the annual intake cap will be for the 2019-20 year. And that decision is taken in the Budget every year. That's always been the case. So what I've sought from the states and territories is input and framing the intake and that cap for the next year.
JOURNALIST: Premier Marshall [inaudible]
STEVEN MARSHALL, PREMIER OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA: It's fundamental to our growth agenda as a state. We've been becoming a smaller and smaller influence on the federation. We lose a seat at the upcoming election. That's completely unsatisfactory as far as the new government is concerned. We want to grow our population. We want to switch off the tap of young people leaving our state every single year and to other jurisdictions. That's a big part of it. More international students. But we also want targeted skilled migration to fill skills gaps that exist. Those skill gaps are really driving a hand brake on our productive capacity as a state and they need to be addressed. We really welcome this grown up, sensible, collaborative discussion and we look forward to having our data into the Commonwealth as a matter of emergency.
JOURNALIST: Premier Berejiklian, how do you get international students to regional NSW? Is there any concern that [inaudible]?
GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN, PREMIER OF NSW: Certainly, that was one of the five or six points I raised in terms of the things we need to look at into the future. I think there is enormous potential for us to grow our regional communities through encouraging students. We never want to be in a position to suggest that there's certain locations only that people can go to study. Imagine having incentives for students to study in our regional communities and actually grow our regional communities and have university towns. I think that’s a very positive possibility. But that is something that requires Commonwealth and state cooperation given the overlap between university policy and also state policy, which is precisely why I think today's discussion on population policy has been so critical. And in all of the conversations we've had, whether it's infrastructure, whether it’s regional growth, whether it's projections, each of us have certain unique circumstances to our state. We've never actually taken a holistic view of how we manage this across the nation. That's why I'm quite excited by the fact we can have now input into the skills we need and also have forward projections from the Commonwealth with a 3 or 5 year timeframe potentially with what things are looking at so we can plan. And also the greater acceptance that we need to align our infrastructure spend. In New South Wales we'll be spending nearly $90 billion in four years which is huge infrastructure alone. It's unprecedented anywhere in the nation. But we’re still only playing catch-up and that’s why I feel so strongly about this issue because this is where I think all of us can support each other in terms of our own ambitions for our state.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: The decision is always taken in the Budget. So the decision will be in the Budget as is always the case. That's why we're keen to have that input coming in from the end of January. As you know we’ve brought the Budget forward because of the electoral timetable for next year. So that is why we're seeking that information a little more urgently. And so we look forward to getting that done. But look, it's an ongoing- population management is the day job of everybody who sits at this table across all the various things we've got to deal with. I suppose now that we've been able to demonstrate we can solve big problems like the GST, we can probably seek to work together to solve another big problem like how we manage population.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Mr Barr reflected on the fact that this was a non-controversial COAG agenda. Does that [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: It was an outcome. We had a very good meeting and people were constructive and we got a lot done. Which I think should be the agenda for every COAG meeting. It’ll certainly be my task…
JOURNALIST: But no controversial issues...
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’d say health, early childhood education, Closing the Gap, national security, drought, population management. I would say these are pretty big issues and we all got around them today. I started the meeting off by saying let's get it done and we did.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: We still have two remaining but we'll continue to work on those in both education and health.
JOURNALIST: What’s the crux of the new drought agreement?
PRIME MINISTER: It largely does a number of things. It tries to focus incentives more on drought resilience and so where we're trying to in water infrastructure and things of that nature, longer-term drought planning, it provides for greater accountability and information sharing about what we're learning around drought and reporting up through our officials so we can better coordinate our drought planning. These were the things that came out of the Drought Summit. There were many other programs, like the $5 billion drought fund and the on-farm rebates which some states have and some states don't, but the Commonwealth has stepped up in those. And I am pleased to say that we now have over 80 of those councils that have now applied and are very well advanced in their applications for the one million per shire in drought affected areas in those shires and local government areas. I'm very pleased and thankful to all those areas for really stepping up in getting that program running. I think this is going to make a very big difference to those communities. Particularly as they're coming into Christmas and they'll be able to see those projects rolling out. Some of them already are and I think that's a very welcome boost. As I know Gladys would know for drought affected communities, as would Anastasia n Queensland, but as we know the drought is also impacting into Victoria. And into South Australia. And getting it in front of the issue on drought, as you know, was one of my most, if not the most, important priority when I came into the role of Prime Minister. And to see this sort of followed through in this, securing that agreement today, I'm very pleased and thankful to my colleagues. But the work continues out there where I know communities going into Christmas will be doing it tough this Christmas. But I think they'll be encouraged that their governments have responded. Their communities have responded. And those communities far away from them also have stepped up to help them as well. I want to thank them for that. Last one.
JOURNALIST: When will the details of the Israeli embassy decision be made public?
PRIME MINISTER: When I announce them. When I announce them. So thank you, all. Merry Christmas. Have a happy and safe New Year.
Address, GFG Alliance
10 December 2018
PRIME MINISTER: It’s great to be here in Whyalla - a city with a great future.
[Applause]
It’s tremendous to be here with my good friend Steven Marshall. Can I acknowledge the leaders of the Opposition who are here today, particularly Bill Shorten who is here federally. To Senator Anne Ruston, to my good friend Rowan Ramsey, the federal member. Can I also acknowledge Councillor Claire McLaughlin, your Mayor, and of course Sanjeev Gupta and Mengxing Zhang. It’s wonderful to be here with you all. I'll have a little bit more to say about Sanjeev in a few more minutes. But I also must acknowledge another very special guest in today’s crowd - Santa Claus here. There he is. Santa, say hello, there he is. Thanks for coming, Santa.
As I said, Whyalla is a city with a future. And it was 55 years ago another Prime Minister came to Whyalla. It was Bob Menzies, and he was here at an old-style public meeting, it may as well have been here in this very park. And someone called out to him, "Have you got any shares in this enterprise?" And he turned to them and said, "I've got shares in Australians Unlimited." The same is true today. When I’m asked if the Commonwealth has shares or interest in what's happening here in Whyalla or indeed throughout regional Australia and our economy I say, absolutely, we do. Because the stronger economy that we've been building for the last five years isn't just about a stronger economy in the triangle of Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. It is about a stronger economy that we want to reach into every singing part of this country. That means right here in Whyalla.
That's why several years ago when Arrium was in deep difficulty, we were happy to step up and provide the support which led ultimately to Sanjeev's company coming and making the investment that they did. Which I note they did without any asks or without any guarantees. But ensuring that we got to that point, that we put in place the contracts for the rail service and ensuring that we delivered the regional jobs program and not too far from here as well, investing in the regional economy. Our work as a national Government is to ensure that Australia is efficient, that we are productive, that we are competitive, that we can mix it and Whyalla certainly can.
Bob Menzies' vision of Australia Unlimited with its economy continues to be realised here today. There are parts of this country that have great natural advantages, proximity to markets, particularly our Asian markets and large populations. Here in Whyalla there is proximity to the resources. But you're also supported by other things I believe. That is lower taxes to ensure that we have energy policies that support the investments that need to be made here. Good sound [inaudible] policies. Ensuring we have great relations in our workplaces. That we don't have conflict in our workplaces but we have harmony, people working together for the common enterprise and ensuring we have laws to support that. More than in any other part of Australia this will make a difference I believe.
That's why we're all here to talk about Whyalla today. The viability of what we do here depends on all other parts of our economy working together and supporting the investments that are being made here. Almost 1.2 million jobs created in the last five years, 100,000 just in the last 12 months for young people, and we've seen that here as well. Like Menzies said, we are a shareholder here of what's happening. The future of Whyalla is jobs, it's investment, it's families, it’s stronger communities that are supported by a stronger economy. By a State Government that is turning this state around. I particularly want to acknowledge Premier Marshall for the inspired confidence that we're seeing now again in the South Australian economy. South Australia now has the highest level of business confidence in eight years. This is the turnaround state in South Australia, and this is the comeback city of Australia, when we're talking about Whyalla. And I've got a keen interest in comebacks. I've got a keen interest in the turnaround story that we're seeing here in South Australia. Just like you believe, I believe that our economy will continue to underwrite communities in regional Australia, including here in Whyalla all around the country.
Here in Whyalla with Sanjeev Gupta and CFG we know of another leader who knows how to turn things around. He's done it before as we know in other parts of the world. He and I had a long conversation a few weeks back and he told me that story of how you rebuild, of how you bring people together, of how you set out the vision for the future, and that's what he's doing here in Whyalla and with his investments. He has the tool kit to do it. He hadn't come here asking for anything but at the same time we'll work closely with them as put forward their plans and their proposals, working closely with the Marshall Government to ensure that we can realise the opportunities here in Whyalla. He brings an entrepreneurial spirit. He's defied the critics and he's backed himself with his own cash and his own credibility to come here and make this work. And so what he announces here today, significant transformation of the steelworks, some $600 million which will make it vastly more efficient and competitive secure the roughly 2,500 jobs that rely on that investment, and a potential new nextgen mega steel plant.
This is big stuff. But you have got to start from where we are right now, putting those building blocks in place of turning around the profitability of the plant, of getting the workforce and the management working together, as I know you have, and the sacrifices and commitments you've made to make this work. Everybody pulling together to make this work. A steel plant producing with state of the art technologies that include the best environmental safeguards. Sure, there are still plenty of hurdles to clear and they're big ones. They're big ones. But this is the comeback city of the Australian economy and this is the turnaround state of South Australia. I every have confidence, with the continued support of Rowan Ramsay here, as your local member, who has been a champion for ensuring that the Commonwealth Government has been playing its part in every single element of what's been happening here, will be able to see this through.
It's a win for Whyalla. It's a win for South Australia. And it's a win for Australia. And a stronger economy for Australia. A stronger economy that guarantees and then delivers the essential services that is you rely on. Whether it's the upgrade of the school, whether it's the support of the hospital or yesterday, when I was able to announce $110 million to ensure that Medicare services are available for Australians some 30,000 every year, with eating disorders, something that I know is the worry of every single Australian parent.
We can do that because of a stronger economy. And what you're doing here, Sanjeev, what you're doing here, Whyalla, is making our economy stronger, so we can make Australia stronger, and make Australia the great country it is and always has been. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Butterfly Foundation
9 December 2018
CHRISTINE MORGAN, CEO BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION: I would define as probably the most momentous day for eating disorders.
I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we stand – the Cammeraygal People – and pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and future. Butterfly’s board members, represented today by Professor Susan Paxton and Catherine Happ, and I welcome our distinguished guests: our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison; Minister for Health, Greg Hunt; Doctor Sarah Maguire; Doctor Teresa Anderson, who is the CEO of the Sydney LHD and – sorry, Sarah is the Director of InsideOut Institute; Jana Pittman, ambassador for InsideOut; Lucy Brogden, who is the Chair of the National Mental Health Commission; Trent Zimmerman and Andrew Wallace; and those of you who have walked this journey with us.
I acknowledge each person with us today who has a lived experience of an eating disorder. Fiona and Judy; we remember in particular, Tess and Alana, and we have the reality of Tess with us today. We lost them to these terrible illnesses, but their beauty and their passion for every aspect of life has embedded in us an absolute commitment to fight. Bronny, Maddie, Jana, Fiona, Cath, Kelly – we think of those who are still fighting and those who have recovered. And we just know that we can’t give up at any point in time. Recover is possible and it’s the right of anyone with an eating disorder to recover, however torturous the journey. Paul and Mary, we hold onto memories of dark days and dark nights that drove us to look overseas for a new way of treatment, and which inspired us to push the frontiers here in Australia.
Before I invite our Prime Minister to speak, I would like to pay tribute to a special man. He’s someone with a very big engine between his ears, he thinks in terms of solving problems. However, he also has a big heart and he’s gifted with the ability to hear the voice of those in need. Without his willingness to listen the voice of lived experience and his commitment to eating disorders and finding a way forward, we would not be here today. He is passionate, he is tenacious, and he is a game-changer. Minister Hunt, thank you for listening.
[Applause]
I would now like to invite our Prime Minister Scott Morrison to address us.
[Applause]
PRIME MINISTER: Well Christine, thank you very much for the privilege of being here today with you and can I echo what you’ve just said about Greg. And can I welcome everyone who’s here today, but particularly those of you who have the lived experience of this.
Today is a very important day. For many it will be difficult because a reminder of any of these things is hard, and I was just looking at the photo of Tessa, the first time I’ve seen a photo. And I’ve just met Fiona and we’ve just spoken and, as a dad, as a fellow Australian human being, these stories are just so hard. That I’ve never met a braver mum – there are a few other brave mums here. I’ve never met braver people than those I’ve met this morning, who are living with this and fighting it defiantly. And as a result, what other response can we provide when you look into this issue, as Greg has, but to respond as I am announcing we are today. Listening to Jana’s story as we sat in the other room – we all know her in very different capacity, and we’ve all been very proud of her in that capacity. But in this capacity I’m most proud of Jana. Most proud of your struggle and your fight and your defiance and your success and the example that you’re showing to other Australians, particularly given your role.
And to Kelly, who I’ve had – where are you Kelly? They’re over here. We had a good chance to chat today – he’s also a dad, too – and to share our stories and his, and his fight. And again, a braver, more courageous group of Australians you won’t find. And to Butterfly Foundation and Butterfly House, here in particular, which has been the angel in the midst for them, that has come to them and provided that connection for them. That’s been tremendous. We’ve talked a lot today about what we’re announcing. We’ve also talked a lot about what more is needed into the future. I particularly want to make mention of Andrew Wallace, who’s here today, whose own family – Andrew is a Member from the Sunshine Coast up in Queensland – and he and his wife and their family have also lived through this experience.
And so this is something that I think touches all Australians in one way, shape or another. Whether you’ve had a direct experience or through a friend or through family or whatever the experience might be, you know it’s important. And one of the things we have to do is raise the level of awareness about this and the understanding that it is real. It’s real. And whether you’re a clinician or whether you’re a sporting coach, or whether you’re a mum or a dad or a friend or whatever, we need to understand that it’s real. And the best way I can do that and Greg can do that, as Health Minister, he started us on this journey some time ago. Well over a year ago. And those in this room have been going on a journey for a lot longer. And that’s why, today, we are announcing that $111 million will be applied to ensure that this is a Medicare item, this is a Medicare–scheduled item, to ensure 60 different procedures, both dietetic and psychological, are included in the system. And that’s going to help, we estimate, around 30,000 Australians a year, every single year, which is, Christine said, that is a game-changer.
But, it is just part of the game. There is so much more that we will need to do and I’m very conscious of the respite support needed for parents as well, and the family support. The bravest of families are those who deal with this, and regrettably and sadly, there is the tragedy of losing a family member. But there is also the tragedy of families just being broken apart under the pressure, and Australia is stronger when our families are stronger, Australians are stronger when our kids are stronger, and Australians are stronger when we’re reaching out and helping each and every one of those Australians deal with the things that they’re dealing with – through no fault of their own. These things, just they come, they hit you, and the resilience and the strength of Australians to respond to these as families, as communities, as friends, as institutions like we’re in here at Butterfly, is truly inspirational. And so, we’re pleased to do our bit. We’re pleased to step up and do our part, and I’m so pleased that Greg, who’s an outstanding Health Minister, has seized on this and listened and made it happen, working with all of those who provide care in this area.
And so well done, Greg, but more importantly to everyone who is here and everyone who will benefit in the future: we wish you well and we want to do everything that we can to help you be – you’re already strong – but to let your strength carry you through what is a very difficult time for you. And so, we’re very pleased to make this announcement today, we look forward to its implementation, working through with all the various groups that will be involved. We look forward to listening more about how those treatments are progressing and how that’s going and what the response is, and what more needs to be done. Because whatever more needs to be done, will be done. That’s our commitment. That’s what we’re going to do: keep listening, keep acting, keep hearing.
So, on that note, I think I’m now handing over to Greg, who can go into a lot more of the detail. But well done, mate.
[Applause]
THE HON GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Thanks very much to Scott, and I say Scott, because first and foremost today you’re a dad. And today is a day about mums and dads, sons and daughters, friends and family.
To my colleagues, Trent and Andrew, who have been such advocates in this space. To Christine, to you; to Susan from Butterfly; to Lucy from the National Mental Health Commission and the Chair; and then Doctor Sarah Maguire. But especially, to all of those who’ve been on the journey. To Fiona – you’ll tell your story soon – but when you told me it had the impact. To Kelly and to Cath and to Fiona, the other Fiona Wright, who’s also here; and to everybody. Today is about saving lives and protecting lives. Today is about real hope for people with eating disorders. This is the day where Australia says: we hear, we get it and it will never be the same again. And so, this journey has had so many different people involved in it, people who have talked and spoken, who have been affected. My own staff from day one said: this is our chance. It’s something that had affected our office, our staff, so many people that I’ve known. But more than a million Australians have some form of eating disorder – anorexia, bulimia, purging – and we believe that the number might be even higher, and the research will give us better and stronger advice on that front. Yes, we’ve made important steps so far. We’ve supported what happens with ED Helpline, with an additional $1.5 million.
We’ve supported the National Eating Disorders Working Coalition with over $2.5 million, and we’ve supported the trials on the Sunshine Coast, both of the first residential facility, as well as the precursor to this program, with almost $5 million. But following the advice of the group led by Susan – Professor Paxton – the Australian Government, as Scott has announced, will create the first ever dedicated Medicare service for people battling eating disorders. Yes, it’s $111 million, but it’s not the money. It’s the hope and the service and the recognition and the support – that’s what matters. And, just talking with Jana before, her journey and how she had to suffer in silence. What we hope now is that people will not only have the services, but they’ll have the space to seek that support. They’ll know that the country believes, and we are sorry that for so many people they had had to suffer in silence. But now we offer this support on a scale unprecedented.
We’re also providing $4 million to the InsideOut Institute for their work through the University of Sydney in research and translating that to better treatment and better diagnosis. It’s immensely important work, Sarah. And then, finally, I’m both delighted but a bit guilty, I have to say Susan, in announcing that the new CEO of the National Mental Health Commission will be Christine Morgan from the Butterfly Foundation.
[Applause]
I’m a little sorry, Susan, because we’ve poached the best and the brightest. Blame Lucy – she helped head hunt Christine. But what this will do is it means that the CEO of the National Mental Health Commission will have the best possible understanding of eating disorders – a condition which has the highest mortality rate amongst all of the mental health conditions – and her task will be to bring this group and others together to translate what we’ve done here, to turn this into a ten-year national strategic plan for managing and treating and diagnosing eating disorders.
Thank you to everybody for being here today. I particularly want to thank Scott, who helped make the funds available, both as Treasurer, and helped make sure, as Prime Minister, that this came to fruition as early as it has.
[Applause]
CHRISTINE MORGAN, CEO BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION: Thank you, Minister.
It truly is a ground-breaking day. I’m not going to cry …
[Laughter]
… I don’t cry, much. And congratulations to our wonderful colleagues at InsideOut Institute for doing… for receiving something that’s really going to shift things also. Sitting alongside Professor Tracey Wade, who is representative on Million Minds, and I think: let’s combine the power of research to really hit this. We were saying to the Prime Minister and to the Ministers, who have heard this from me many times before, but when you look at this illness and the fact that there’s definitely that genetic vulnerability there, we know that significant shifts in nutrition, that significant shifts in weight loss changes the brain, and when the brain is changed, those neural pathways are changed. It is not a simple matter to move out of it. And the longer it goes on for the more hardwired the brain becomes and the more treatment we need.
So, to bring together, today, in Medicare – which is the foundational piece of Australia’s public health system – a dedicated number for eating disorders, just to validate, to validate is so much to be able to say not only: oh, no, it’s not an illness; yes, it’s an illness and it’s an illness that needs its own treatment. The secondly, and I find this absolutely ground breaking, is we have said for a long time – and this is an evidence base that we’ve been working on through the National Eating Disorders Collaboration – and I want to press the pause button and say: Professor Phillipa Hay, you have led us in the NEDC since 2009 and step by step by step we’ve been building that evidence base. Tracey’s been alongside and along with Susan and others. And we know, we know, that you need to integrate medicine with psychological, psychotherapeutic and with the food. And you can’t- eating disorders isn’t about the food, but you know what? You can’t do it without the food. So Gabby, President of ANZAED, dietician – you’ve been able to lead the charge to get dietetics right at the core front of what we need. And that is amazing.
So we now actually have – it’s like a plait and how strong it is when it’s a plait – that you bring those three together. Somebody can go to a primary health physician and they will say: eating disorder, there’s a pathway, there’s a pathway. And then, then to know that it’s not only the evidence-based modalities of treatment but it’s the evidence-based dosage. So, no longer do we have those heartbreaking stories of Australians who have stopped treatment after the ten sessions, or those who didn’t even find a dietician because their GP didn’t really stop to think: maybe if I call this a complex illness and look under the lid of a chronic complex case I might pluck out from Allied Health five dietetics; that’s not exactly an open way. That person can now get evidence-based dosages – forty psychotherapeutic, 20 dietetic, with a GP or a paediatrician along the way.
Now, there’s a very special person in this room – I’m naming a lot of people, I know – but there is, and I have to, I have to, because the only reason we have got this here today is because of the collective work of everybody right across the sector. And I think that’s an incredible learning I’ve had over the last ten years, is that the collective voice of individuals – and really stopping and having our own – well I call them discussions, debates, some of those things we’ve pounded out between us – but it’s meant that at the time those of us who have gone down to see Greg in Canberra have been able to say: we know we’re carrying the sector behind it. The reason we actually were able, whilst this lengthy process – lengthy? Gosh, of Medicare. Lengthy – and I’m saying that with an inflection in my voice – because when I first heard that a clinical working group was being put together, the Department said to me: oh this takes about two to three years. And when we first went to see Professor Robinson when he received that letter from Greg in May 2017 to say: you’ve got to look at this, obviously it’s going to take years.
And, no, didn’t take years. But, but, you wouldn’t want anything less than this. Due process has meant that that working group has had to meet overtime in order to formulate the evidence base that could go up to the Minister so that he could put this in place. You can’t truncate that too much, but we have such a committed Minister that, June this year, he said: okay, let’s take that model. And he heard the fact that the model was based on very broad consultation right across the sector. We had over 300 health professions contribute by way of the survey. We had over 700 people with the lived experience talk about the cost of eating disorders. We had an expert advisory group led by Susan that actually walked through it, and we consulted with anybody and everybody. So we knew that model was what was needed.
And so we had a Minister that was committed to actually trial it up on the Sunshine Coast and actually say: how difficult is this going to be to put in place? And let’s evaluate it. We’re evaluating it with the Thompson Institute, but also with Tracey at Flinders University, to actually bring that together and to get that research going. Now, at this point I do press the pause button again because there is a person in this room who, without her skill, her ability to hear a complexity of detail, crunch it down into something, make sense of it, come out with a model, come out with standards, we actually wouldn’t have that substance to work with. So, Leslie, I am paying you full tribute. You have translated the complexity into something that we can then take and implement. So, thank you, on behalf of so many.
[Applause]
And I also want to acknowledge that in the room today – and I think this is wonderful – we have Belinda Caldwell here, who’s representing families, representing the capacity of F.E.A.S.T, and Ethra, you’re representing Families. And we have two other really special colleagues – and I think this is not uninteresting that their names have now become very similar – we have Belinda Challis from Eating Disorders Queensland and Jennifer Beveridge from Eating Disorders Vitoria. And I’m just going to put something on the table here, Minister and Prime Minister. We talk about the challenges of COAG at many different levels. I think actually in this room we might have the beginnings of a little COAG model that actually works.
[Laughter]
So let’s do it for eating disorders, shall we? So, to each and every person in this room – and I am really sorry if I have missed out anybody – but so many people have contributed to this. And actually, sorry, one thing I have forgotten to say just in that space of the states, and I want to pay enormous tribute to this, because we now look at her in her national role with InsideOut. But Sarah Maguire absolutely has led the charge in New South Wales at a state level, and the work that she has done, along with Teresa, in the state level and implementing the New South Wales plan is, I think, showing the way. So, I know we now see you in your national role, and fantastic to have you there, but what you’ve done for the state is incredible. So on behalf of so many – on behalf of so many – can I congratulate each and every one of you. But I come back to saying that the single most important voice has been the voice of the lived experience, and over those ten years, particularly on those days when it’s been particularly difficult to get going, often it’s the day I will receive a phone call from someone. I’ll have an opportunity to stop and talk, and for each and every person whose allowed me, trusted me, enough to hear your voice and allowed me to walk alongside you with a little bit of the struggle, can I say that that actually has made all the difference in the world.
There’s a long way to go, but boy, I think the planets have realigned. I think, today, it is a seismic shift. On behalf of all of us, thank you, Minister, and thank you, Prime Minister. And I would now like to call on my colleague Sarah to come and speak to us.
[Applause]
DR SARAH MAGUIRE, DIRECTOR INSIDEOUT INSTITUTE: Thank you so much, Christine, and congratulations.
What joy. I’ve been working with families and with people with this illness for so many years, and my overwhelming feeling today is one of joy. That they have been seen, that they have been heard and they have had a Government that has made them a national priority. Prime Minister Morrison, Minister Hunt, Christine, distinguished guests, Jana, our ambassador, Andrew, Trent, this is a historic turning point for people with eating disorders, their families and loved ones in this country. The tragedy and devastation of an eating disorder on a young person’s life and that of their family is often immeasurable, and when they encounter a health system that is under-resourced and unresponsive, their desperation is magnified. Isolation and years of struggle follow. This landmark enhancement to treatment and research will begin the much-needed reversal of this situation nationally. We applaud and thank Prime Minister Morrison and Minister Hunt. We will always remember that it was you that turned the tide.
We are all aware that for too long there has been chronic underinvestment in clinical care, research and translation in eating disorders, despite the unacceptable mortality rates and the personal cost to those who live with it. Today is a huge leap forward. Million Minds marked the first time that eating disorders has been listed at the national level as a priority for competitive research funding – a long time coming. Together, today, with the announcement of funding to support InsideOut as a national research and translation centre, and the much-needed reform of Medicare, we are finally on the right path. Christine, Susan and the team at Butterfly have advocated tirelessly for these changes and we are very proud to share this moment with them.
It was an honour to serve on the Eating Disorder Working Group, along with other people in this room, who were also on it and made those recommendations – Bronny Carroll, Phillipa Hay and others – and we are just honoured and very grateful that the Government heard those recommendations and so swiftly acted.
Minister Hunt has been our first consistent ear and champion in Canberra. He has made it his business to leave treatment and research for eating disorders substantially better than he found it, and he and Prime Minister Morrison have certainly done that. At InsideOut, we are very fortunate to enjoy the backing of Sydney Local Health District, led by the inspirational Teresa Anderson, and the University of Sydney. In particular, the team at the Charles Perkins Centre, led by Professor Steve Simpson, where our Institute is housed. This partnership between the health system and university allows for the Institute to genuinely work at the nexus between research and clinical care. We really are driven to improve what the clinician delivers, and therefore what the patient and family receive. And that is the yardstick by which we measure ourselves. If we have not changed what the patient receives then we have changed nothing.
Today is a great day of change for patients and for families. The Government have now created the framework for appropriate doses of community care to be delivered to people with these illnesses. And now, it is our job at InsideOut, with the money that the Government have given us, to translate evidence-based practise into care to ensure that those NBS items are informed by the best evidence, the best new treatments, and that clinicians delivering those rebated sessions are trained and equipped to deliver evidence-base care, resulting in the best outcomes and recovery rates. And InsideOut is committed to doing this, along with our partner organisations in every state. I agree with Christine, we need to build a national coalition. We need to work as a group to ensure that evidence is translated into practise in every location.
We are proud to be identified – beyond proud – to be identified and funded as the bridge between research and clinical care, driving innovation, developing better treatments, and driving those treatments into everyday practise. Through our research stream, our suite of evidence-based workforce training programs, and with this funding to develop strategy structures and novel mechanisms to ensure translation, we will improve outcomes for people with this illness and reduce unnecessary deaths. There is much work to be done but today is one of gratitude and celebration.
On behalf of the people and families that we serve, we thank you sincerely.
[Applause]
CHRISTINE MORGAN, CEO BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION: Thank you, Sarah. And now I guess this is probably the most important part of our time today, which is to hear from those with the lived experience. And I hold on here and I take my hat – which I’m not wearing – off to our wonderful founder, Claire Middleton, who set up Butterfly with a vision of representing the voice of the lived experience. So, first cab off the rank for that I think, Jana. We have never had somebody with a public profile who has been prepared to represent this illness. And In fact, I remember it was one of the things that the Minister asked me back in May 2017 was: where are your public faces? And the stigma that has gone with this illness for so long, the misunderstanding that people have about it and the fact you can’t judge it by physical appearance, have been just such barrier. And I think you’ve just broken through that barrier for us, so please come up and join us.
[Applause]
JANA PITTMAN: Thank you, everyone, and thank you to the Prime Minister, Minister Hunt, the Butterfly Foundation and InsideOut Institute, which I am a very proud ambassador for. And you are right, and I have to say my heart is going at 100 million miles an hour and I’m fighting back the tears, because I am extremely nervous to be talking about my experience on such a public forum, but I am such a public figure, and you’ll hear the slight movement in my voice. But I thought I might actually take you back on a journey with me in 2007 so that you can actually experience what it felt like at the time for one of the episodes I actually went for. So here we go.
In 2007, the World Championships in Paris, and in front of 80,000 screaming fans, there I was in the green and gold tracksuit. I had just won the World Title. Our Aussie anthem is playing in the background. Our little flag’s way above everybody else. We were literally on top of the world when it comes to track and field in sport. It was the second time I had won a world title like this. In fact, it was only seven months after I had had my beautiful little boy, so I should have been in the most incredible place you could be. It was actually only 12 months before the Beijing Olympic Games and I was odds on favourite to win. But very few would know how I’d spent the night before and the many nights prior to that – pinching my waist and not knowing if I was going to be good enough to win, because I was so afraid of the outcome, so afraid of being too fat, so sure I wasn’t disciplined enough to deserve the medal that would soon hang around my neck.
I remember standing vividly, looking in the mirror critiquing everything that I saw and being so ashamed with guilt and anguish and self-loathing that I wasn’t prepared to race. And it took a lot of effort to get my coach to give me that confidence to run the next day, afraid to take my tracksuit off, that I’d be judged for the body that was behind the Australian flag. In fact, it got to a point that night that I was so overwhelmed by fear and anxiety and the self-loathing that I went: oh stuff it, who cares? I went down to the dining room and ate everything I could get my hands on, everything. All the desserts, all the food you could possibly think of. And then it set in – the guilt, the fear, the shame, and I spent at least an hour or two hugging the toilet bowl trying to rid myself of that pain and guilt. But no one would know, would they? Because the following day I stood up in front and represented my country, won that gold medal and became the world champion. And that’s all we saw – the press conferences, just like this, champagning down on us for how wonderful we are as Australians.
So I hid that guilty secret for years and years and years. Thirteen years of bulimia, of my parents going through that agony with me. And it took me a long time until I actually sought treatment, because I was so afraid of what people would say. I was already labelled drama-Jana, let’s be honest, and what would have this done: if I had of come out and admitted that I was a failure on this point? But that’s the point: I wasn’t a failure. I still achieved through it all and I’m now open to talking about this message and sharing it with young girls and boys around Australia so they do not have to go through the same experience I did.
This can affect anyone. It doesn’t matter how successful or how great you are. I’m one year away from becoming a doctor, and every day I still get plagued with that little voice. I can hand-on-heart say I haven’t had an episode like that for a number of years now, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t call on Sarah occasionally and say: oh my god, I need a little bit of a chat on the side, and she’s just decided she’s coming over after this conversation then talking to me for an hour, I can guarantee it.
[Laughter]
But sadly, it’s too common in sport – where our bodies are on show regularly – and dancing and in any types of environment where someone may comment on your body and that might be that tiny trigger. It’s also been in my family, so the genetic component is really strong. And I have two beautiful little daughters who I watch with an eye. And in fact, Sarah and I were just talking – my son made the first comment a few weeks ago, saying he feels fat and out of shape, and I’m thinking: oh my goodness, we’ve got to protect everyone in this country. But with over 1 million people suffering on so many different levels it might be, to my extent, it might be to someone who’s just having a little bit of a negative voice in their head; we have to help everyone so that it doesn’t escalate out of control, because some, as we will hear soon, do take their life.
And something that with this new, incredible budget that you’re bringing out, will make a real difference and stop that from happening. So now, almost as a doctor, I’ve seen how effective good medicine and psychological treatment can make an enormous difference in people’s lives. But you have to be able to afford it and have access to it and believe in the system. And that’s what you, the Prime Minister and Minister Hunt and the Government, are now doing. You’re helping legitimise, destigmatise and give hope to millions. It will do this by giving the much needed funding for Medicare, but also continue the research that InsideOut Institute is doing, both into research around the disorder, but also in translating that into actually good medical practice.
I am so, so lucky to be out the other end. Don’t get me wrong, as I said, there are still a few days where I have a few mishaps, but with good help, patience and education my future feels very, very free. The meaningful steps taken today will not just trickle down to patients; they’re going to cascade, so that families don’t have to go through what you did. On behalf of all the people who have suffered this, I want to say thank you. Thank you for believing in us and making a difference, and you’ll see how incredible this gift will be. Thank you.
[Applause]
CHRISTINE MORGAN, CEO BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION: What an ambassador. Thank you. Thank you.
And now for another story. And, Fiona, as we go into your story, I’m also going to just mention again, Judy, who lost Alana. And one of the fights that we had – and boy, you were a warrior woman with this one, Judy – was she fought through the Coroner’s Court to make sure that for the first time ever the death certificate would mention the cause of death as being anorexia nervosa. It’s not on the death certificates because what’s on the death certificate is the physical cause – whatever that may be. And, Judy, that was a game-changer too. Really sad, but I guess it showed that out of horrible things, you showed me you can pluck something. And another real warrior woman – another real warrior woman – is Fiona.
Fiona, actually, I am still going to own the fact that you were the inspiration that got us to Minister Hunt. You were behind our MAYDAYS 2017, and MAYDAYS 2017 is when we got into Minister Hunt’s office. So, you began a journey with us and you said to me: I have to someone turn Tessa’s life around into something that can be heard. So, how about coming and telling us?
[Applause]
FIONA RYAN: I don’t want to talk to you today as politicians and important guests and members of the press. I just want to talk to you as parents and family members. I’m not an expert about eating disorders, I’m just a parent with a painful story, so I’m going to tell it to you.
If you’re a parent you know that you’d do anything for your kids – go to hell and back, as they say – and that’s where I’ve been for the last ten years. It all started when Tess developed an eating disorder when she was eleven. She’d just started going to school… getting ready to go to high school and she wanted to get fitter and healthier, and I thought that was a good thing. We can all do with a bit more exercise and a bit less junk food, so I supported her, and it wasn’t until a few months later at Easter time that I started knowing that things were getting out of hand. She was becoming obsessed with what she ate and how much she exercised, and I knew then that something was wrong. My husband and I started to look for help but we couldn’t find anything that would cut off this disease before it got started.
The next months were filled with fighting to find somebody to help us. We heard things like: just go home and tell her to eat. Oh wow, I wish I’d thought of that.
[Laughter]
Or, give her a few chocolate bars and a milkshake and she’ll be fine. A number of people made it very clear that they thought I was an overly anxious mother and that Tess was just a naughty girl, a manipulative teenager. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each week, things were getting worse. She was eating less and exercising more and we couldn’t stop her. And I know many of you will be thinking: for God’s sake, woman, just stand up and be parent and make her eat. And I know you’re thinking that because many people told me that. But it’s not that easy. We tried everything we could to make her eat. We sat with her, encouraged her, enticed her with her favourite foods, stopped her from going to the gym, playing sport, gave her consequences when she did the wrong thing. None of it made any difference. We offered rewards for her when she did the right thing and punishments when she didn’t, but nothing worked. All she wanted to do was lose weight. Nothing else mattered.
She fell away from her beautiful friends and isolated herself. She became secretive and depressed. She went from being a sensitive, sweet, kind young girl to being anxious, agitated and aggressive. Within months, she was eating almost nothing and I was beside myself with worry, but she didn’t look emaciated so very few people thought there was anything wrong with her. In the end, I took her to my local hospital and in an emotional meltdown I told my story. The doctors were very sympathetic but said there was nothing they could do until she was critically ill – come back then – and go home. I refused and I stood in the emergency department crying for five hours until somebody found Tess a bed and a paediatrician to work with us. By the time we got Tess’s illness recognised, she was so severely ill that none of the intervention strategies worked. They were impossible to implement and totally ineffective.
Our lives for the next five years were the stuff of nightmares. There were times when Tess would not eat anything, not a crumb, not even a sip of water would pass her lips. We would be discharged from hospital, go home and spend hours and hours trying to convince her to just have the smallest morsels of food and water, without any luck. Within 36 hours, we’d be back in emergency with a dehydrated and critically ill child. Once we were told not to leave the table until she ate something, so we sat there for ten hours encouraging, cajoling and threatening, but with no result. And after a few hours’ sleep and another ten hours at the table we were again driving back to the hospital.
There were times when Tess was compulsively exercising, and to make sure this didn’t happen she was not allowed to go anywhere without Bruce or I. We had to follow her around the house. I spent weeks sitting on the floor in our hallway so that she could move from room to room and still be seen. I stood in the bathroom when she showered, I made her keep the toilet door open when she went there, and I even slept in the bed next to her to make sure she was not waking up in the middle of the night to exercise. When Tess started to eat it was excruciating. Something inside her was telling her she didn’t deserve to eat, so every bite was mental anguish. She understood all the rational arguments that she needed to eat, but she was terrified. She had to eat six times a day – breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, supper. She would dread each meal and regret each bite. It might take an hour to support her through the meal and then we would be up to preparing for the next one. Every day was hour upon hour of food and anxiety and argument, and it was our whole family’s life.
No one but Bruce or I could help her eat. No regular person would think to check her pockets and sleeves for pieces that she spat out if you glanced away from her. No one would imagine you might have to make sure she scraped down her bowl for every crumb of muesli, or to look under her tongue for that last piece of toast. So for five years, we juggled life so we could be there for every meal. We took long service leave, carer’s leave, leave without pay, we went part time in our workplaces and we went into debt to make sure we did what we needed to keep her alive. We got a mental health plan for Tess and for her ten visits to the psychologist were finished before the beginning of term one. So we paid for the other 42 visits a year ourselves. Because her illness created all kinds of physical problems we visited dieticians and physios and felt like it was an endless round of doctors and medicos and bills and worry. You can’t truly understand what living with an eating disorder is like until it comes to your house and the snippets that I’ve shared with you today just brush the surface of our experience. But I want you to understand that our family often felt like we fought on two fronts. We fought an eating disorder and we fought the system in order to get recognition, support and treatment that Tess needed.
I think I need to build up.
Tess spent almost 200 days in hospital. She tried family-based treatment, day clinics and outpatients, and in the end we were all drowning – Tess, her twin brother, her sister, my husband and I – we were all going under. Tess was trying hard to get well. She fought bravely every day but the disease was too much for her and for us as a family to manage on our own. We were physically, emotionally and financially exhausted. And finally, at the age of 17, my beautiful Tess took her life. I know that Tess felt guilty that her illness had affected our family to such an extent. I know that she worried about her twin and how our family was coping. I know she felt like a burden on us. I don’t know if the changes of which have been announced here today could have saved Tess, but I do know that being able to get help from Medicare would have meant more than just financial support to my family. It would have shown us that we weren’t fighting alone, that people recognised and understood how devastating eating disorders are and were willing to support us as we struggled to keep our daughter alive.
There’s still a long way to go in the treatment of eating disorders. We need more education for doctors and hospital staff so they understand the complexities of these issues. We need treatment options and respite care for families and we need a mental health and physical health system that is going to work together to provide the best quality care. But the steps which we’ve announced today take us closer to a future where no family needs to feel like they’re fighting alone.
On behalf of all the homes where eating disorders exist, I say thank you to the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt. To the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and to all those people who fought to get eating disorders recognised and supported, thank you.
[Applause]
CHRISTINE MORGAN, CEO BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION: There are no words, there are no words. I know your deep faith and you were given the strength to speak today, and thank you that you were and that you did. And I think at this point I’m just going to through it back to our Prime Minister and Minister to take questions.
[Laughter]
All yours, guys.
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I’m happy to take questions but after what we’ve just heard, I hope Australians heard it too and I’m sure they have, Fiona, for Tess. And we’re just so pleased that we can recognise eating disorders and the illness and the family-breaking curse that it can be. And we’re going to fight it, we’re all going to fight it, and you’ve incredible courage today. I think you’ve taken up that fight on all of those who have suffered’s behalf. So, happy to take questions, but I would like to do, though, if it’s okay with the media – can we just take questions, please, on these issues? And I will do a press conference, don’t worry, outside on other things. But right here and now, particularly with Christine here and InsideOut here and everyone else here, if there are questions you’d like to put about the initiatives we announced today I’d be very happy to take them.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this is a question about [inaudible]. Are there any plans to increase the rebateble sessions for mental health…
THE HON GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: So, these initiatives have come out of the experts in eating disorders and also the Medicare taskforce. I have said to Professor Bruce Robinson that as they assess other mental health items, if they believe that more needs to be done, they just recommend it and we’ll do it.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] there’s an item number for eating disorders to help with this whole issue of reporting statistics. So, cause of death?
THE HON GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Yes well, I think it’s a very important part of this is, first and foremost, it’s treatment, but it’s also about recognition and acknowledging, exactly as Scott said earlier. And that will help with the collection of greater detail. We think that the figure of over a million may be an underrepresentation and we need more evidence. Part of Sarah’s job, part of Tracey’s job with the Million Minds mental health research mission is to get to the heart of the true extent of the challenge.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I just stress again, this is not capped. The estimate of 30,000 is just an estimate of 30,000. If it’s more than that, well, it’s more than that. And it’s all supported, it’s all funded.
Well, it only remains for me to thank you, Christine, for hosting us all here today and also to commend you on your appointment as Chief Executive to the Mental Health Commission, and Lucy, thank you for the great work that you do there, and such a good hire too.
[Laughter]
We’re very pleased about that, so I want to… on our behalf, thank you for your kind words of appreciation, but look, this is why we do this job. This is why we do this job. This is why, as a Government, we work hard to put ourselves in a position where we can do this. This is what it’s for. This is why we want the Budget to be strong. This is why we want the economy strong, so we can do this. This is what it’s about for us.
CHRISTINE MORGAN, CEO BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION: Thanks you.
THE HON GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Thank you.
[Applause]
CHRISTINE MORGAN, CEO BUTTERFLY FOUNDATION: Thank you, and can I invite everybody out to the courtyard for some refreshments? Some chats - exactly, Judy, just to relax a bit. So, thank you. Let’s go out the front. Thanks.
2018 Valedictory
6 December 2018
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister) (15:44): Well, ho, ho, ho, Mr Speaker! It has been quite a year for all of us—for every single member of this House and the other place. All of us have the opportunity to serve here because of the great love and affection that comes from our families, and when we leave this place we will go and be with them. We will have the opportunity to spend the most joyous time of the year with them and be with our families for Christmas and New Year's and share stories, experiences of the year and our reflections, but, most of all, just hold each other in our arms. It will give us an extra opportunity, as we go into next year, to remember those fond times that we have had over the Christmas break.
I particularly want to be mindful of those who will not have such a merry Christmas and those who will be under great stress and strain, because I must reflect on the fact that the issue this year that I believe was most penetrating, most humbling and most significant was the day we stood in this place and offered the national apology to the victims of sexual abuse. It was a day that I think the Leader of the Opposition and I will certainly never forget, and I hope it's a day that those who suffered that abuse will also never forget. It can't change what happened. As they go through their Christmas and holiday period, there won't be the same warm smiles for many of them. There will be the same confusion. There'll be the same sense of hurt and damage and things that they will never feel they can get over.
So I would suggest that, as we go off to our break and spend our time with our families once again, we think of them and think of what they're going through over these periods, because we know that, at Christmas and holiday periods, for those of us who are blessed—as I have been with Jen and the girls and a wonderful family—this is the most joyous time of the year. For others it's a time of terrible isolation, a reminder of the things that really make life so hard for them. That's why I'm so thankful for the services, like Lifeline and others, who will be there for them and who will be turning out and volunteering on Christmas Day all around the country and serving Christmas cheer to others.
Christmas is a religious season. It is a reminder of our Lord who came into this place and brought new hope but, most of all, a message of love. In that message of love, there are so many Australians who take the opportunity—and God bless them for doing it—to go out there and extend that love and care to their fellow Australians and try to ease what might otherwise be an even more difficult day. So we thank those volunteers who will be doing that this Christmas, and we thank them for doing it each and every day of the year. We hope that, through their comfort, they will bring some measure of joy to others over the Christmas period.
I also thank all of those of our Defence Force who will be serving far away from this place—and, indeed, here in our own country—and will be away from their families. They might be at sea. They might be serving in Afghanistan or other places in peacekeeping missions around the world. We are mindful of the service and the sacrifice that they are making on our behalf, and we send them our best. We will always seek to do our best for them in this place and at every opportunity we have.
We think of those who are serving as volunteers on our beaches, in the rural fire services and those out there caring for our community over the holiday season. With the fires still burning up in Queensland, thankfully, their intensity has diminished. Just during question time I received advice that there are fires burning in South Australia right now. The warnings have not escalated to a high level at this point, but it's just a reminder.
As I've said in this place, we are going into one of the most difficult fire seasons for many, many years. So, as we go around the many Christmas events and other things we will have in our electorates and communities over the next few weeks, all of us will have the opportunity to remind fellow Australians to have those conversations as communities and families and at the street parties to say: how will we work together; what will we do? Make sure that the first conversation you have about evacuation or responding to an emergency is not when it's happening for real and you have to make those choices. I would encourage all of us to be out there carrying that message to everyone over this Christmas season. Whether it's our police officers, our firefighters, our nurses, our doctors or others who will be out there providing care, we thank them all for their service over the course of the last 12 months. They are called to do what they do in their vocations, as we do here, and we thank them for the great work they do.
I extend to the Leader of the Opposition, his family and his wife, Chloe, all the best for the Christmas period. I hope they have a great break. I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his personal kindnesses to Jenny and me. And I thank Chloe for her kindnesses to Jenny; they are able to take refuge in each other's company on occasion when we are attending various events. We appreciate them and we wish them all the best. And I extend that to all the members of the opposition and, of course, all the members of my own wonderful team on this side of the House. I also extend it to the Leader of the National Party and to the Treasurer, as well as to Senator McKenzie, the Deputy Leader of the National Party in the other place. To the Leader of the House—what would we do without the Leader of the House! He completely embodies a sense of Christmas cheer and is an adornment to the House—I wish you and your family all the best for Christmas.
To the leadership in the Senate—Senator Cormann and Senator Birmingham—and to Senator Wong and the team in the Senate, I wish you all the best for your year. I thank very much the Chief Government Whip and the deputy whips. Well done, whips, for working so well together with the whips from the opposition and ensuring we get about our business and work through the important work of the parliament. I thank the Clerk of the House, David Elder, and all of your team—the deputy clerk, Claressa Surtees, and the clerk assistants. I thank the Serjeant-at-Arms, James Catchpole, and his team for the work they do.
I thank the House Parliamentary Liaison Officer, Anne Dowd, and her colleagues Luke Bulow and Tim Moore. From my own department, I thank Secretary Parkinson and all of his team—as I'm sure my colleagues in the executive would want to thank all of their department secretaries and all of those who work principally here and in and around Canberra. As a result of the policies of our government, a lot of them are working outside of Canberra these days, which is a good thing. I wish all of them the best for Christmas and I hope they can enjoy their time off so they can return refreshed for what will be a very busy year next year.
I also thank all of our staff. We had the opportunity last night as a coalition to thank all of our staff for their great work. I thank the attendants of this place. I thank the Federal Police and the security and support staff who look after us all and keep us safe. In my own office we have three cleaners—Lucia, Anna and Maria—who would be known to most people around this building because they've been here a very long time. Anna and Maria are sisters, and they have worked in the PMO since Prime Minister Hawke. They are loud and joyous and wonderful, and there is bipartisan agreement that we love them very much.
Ms Plibersek interjecting—
Mr Morrison: I've got to note the interjection from the member for Sydney. Seriously, can you leave it alone when I'm trying to thank them? It's the valedictories, for goodness sake! Just put it aside for five minutes.
Ms Plibersek interjecting—
The Speaker: The Deputy Leader of the Opposition!
Mr Morrison: I was just about to say, Mr Speaker, that earlier this week they lost their mother. I know we would all like to send our love and prayers to two sisters who have become part of the soul of this building. To them we extend our condolences, and our thoughts are with them at a difficult time.
I want to pay tribute also to Laura Gillies, who is the executive assistant to the Serjeant-at-Arms. Laura is about to retire. She has worked for the Department of the House of Representatives for over 33 years. She joined the service of the parliament in Old Parliament House when Bob Hawke was Prime Minister. She has seen everything in this building—and she has seen a lot over the last 10 years! On behalf of the government, I thank you for your service to Australia.
Christmas is a very joyous time, and we know it can be tough for many others. Those who it will be particularly tough for—as it has been for many years now, particularly in Queensland—are the communities that have been affected by drought. Whether up in Quilpie—and the Tullys—or anywhere else across the country, I think one of the most generous things we've seen from fellow Australians this year is the way that they, whether they're schoolchildren or seniors groups, have reached out and wanted to help our rural and regional communities, our farmers. And it is not just the farms but the communities, the shops, those who work in the schools. For all of those communities, Australians reached out and had their back this year. We're very pleased to be doing many things to help and support them at this time, but we pray that they'll have a wonderful Christmas, and I'll certainly continue to pray for rain for them. I suspect that would be a great Christmas prayer, as people go about their Christmas Day, that day of religious celebration. I think it would be a wonderful thing for the nation to join and pray for rain.
Mr Speaker, may I wish you also a wonderful Christmas, and your lovely family. We'll look forward to working together again next year as part of your parliamentary family you preside over—
An honourable member: With great distinction!
Mr Morrison: Yes, with great distinction and—
Mr Frydenberg: Great poise.
Mr Morrison: Great poise—yes, thank you, Treasurer—but also a great sense of spirit and a sense of humour, which I'm sure is well received by those who look in on these broadcasts. You very much are in control of this House, Mr Speaker, and we commend you for the way that you've done that, with great integrity. You really do bring a great authority to this House, and the House is incredibly well served by you. So, to all colleagues, I again extend my best wishes, from Jenny and I and our family, and may God bless you and yours.
The speaker: I thank the Prime Minister. The Leader of the Opposition on indulgence.
Press Conference with the Attorney General
5 December 2018
Prime Minister, Attorney-General
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks for coming together everyone, I’m joined by the Attorney General. Several months ago I said that I wanted to deal with the issue of discrimination against children in schools and I do. I’ve been seeking to do just that ever since I said that. In dealing with that issue, when I wrote to the Leader of the Opposition just over a month ago, I said I wanted to do it in a bipartisan way. I said I didn't want this to become a political football, which meant we needed to work through some very sensitive issues and there are very sensitive issues that surround this discussion. There is the very real issue of discrimination, against anyone, but particularly children. There are also the very real and principled and conscience issues that relate to issues of religious freedom. That religions can be religious, that they can teach their own faith, that religious schools can be religious schools.
So we have been seeking to address that. I put forward amendments through the Attorney, who met with his counterpart, they were rejected. So we put another set of amendments when the Parliament was last sitting and we heard nothing back from the Labor Party, until last week when the Shadow Attorney-General appeared in the media. That was disappointing, as you've heard me say, because I was hopeful we would be able to reach a resolution and deal with it in a bipartisan way which, as I said, I think would send the appropriate message; that we all agree that there should be no discrimination against children.
Remember the fact that there can be, is a result of the laws that the Labor Party introduced when they were in government. They put these laws in place and so the amendments that would be needed would be to Labor's laws, that allow such discrimination.
It's disappointing that we have been unable to reach agreement between the parties, but I'm prepared to give it one more go. Yesterday, I wrote, again, to the Leader of the Opposition and put forward a proposal that did three things; the complete removal of the ability to discriminate against students based on gender or sexual orientation or relationship status or pregnancy. Secondly, a clarification that in deciding whether a school rule - a reasonable school rule, that's reasonable - the Human Rights Commission and courts should take into account the religious nature of the school and whether the school considered the best interests of the child. And three, a clarification that nothing in the Act prevents a religious school teaching in accordance with their own religious beliefs. That is an amendment - that third one - that was actually supported as a second reading amendment by the Labor Party in the Senate.
These should be uncontentious principles; the removal of discrimination and the upholding of religious freedom.
I'm prepared to move that Bill in the House today, that Bill, which does those three things. It would require a 76 vote majority. I'll suspend standing orders to bring that vote on. If the Labor Party and Bill Shorten are prepared to back this Bill, we will vote for it today and we will get this done. They're the three things it does.
Now, so far, the Labor Party have not been prepared to agree to those three principles together. If they can't agree to do that, I'll make him another offer; I'm prepared to have this dealt with as a conscience issue in my Party. If he's prepared to do the same thing, then where the parties have been unable to agree, let's take the parties out of it Bill. Let's let the elected members of the House of Representatives just decide. I'll move this Bill as the member for Cook, not as the Prime Minister and I'll participate in the debate, just like anyone else and I'll vote my conscience in that debate.
But I actually think there's a better way first. This is a good Bill, it actually does what I think Australians would expect us to do; look after kids for who they are, but also ensure that in this country, religious freedom still means something.
So I hope that they will accept that offer and at the very least that if they're not prepared to accept this Bill as a Party, that they should let their Members decide. Because I know, you all know, that there are Members of the Labor Party who would happily support these principles. Their leader should let them decide it, in the same way that I as the leader of the Liberal Party am prepared to let my party decide it; individually, as conscience voting members.
Now, the Attorney is here to take any questions that you have on the process that he's been engaged in or on the specific details of this Bill. But I just say, I meant it when I said it. I want to resolve this, but it's got to be done reasonably and fairly. It's got to take into account all the serious issues that are there and I think that's a pretty fair statement of them. I think we should just get on with it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister does your position on having a conscience vote here as a principle, extend to other areas of religious freedom, discrimination? Is this the approach you would like to take?
PRIME MINISTER: I take these matters one at a time, David. On this issue that we have in this Bill, what could be more a matter of conscience than this? I mean really, I think that's fair enough. I think the parties could decide it, but if they can't, then let's just let every Member of the House, every Member of the House vote their conscience?
JOURNALIST: But doesn’t the same principle of conscience apply to teachers and staff in schools, as it does to children? Children grow up to be teachers and staff.
PRIME MINISTER: This is a Bill. If it's a conscience Bill, this can go into the House and people can vote their conscience, its very simple. I said I would deal with the issue of children in schools, that's what I said I would deal with, that was the commitment I made. That's what I'm following through on.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said before that there are Members of the Labor Party that you believe would support this proposition in a conscience vote. Is the corollary of that there are Members of the Government who may not support the Government's position?
PRIME MINISTER: If there's a conscience vote, it's a conscience vote and I'm happy for that to be the case. But I'm offering it as a bipartisan deal, on a conscience vote. I think Members should vote their conscience on this. I don't think that they should, on something as fundamental as what someone believes as a matter of religious faith, that that should be whipped against them, against their will.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you still intend to respond to the Ruddock review with a proposal for a Religious Discrimination Act by the end of the year? Further to David Speers’ question, are you setting a precedent for a Religious Discrimination Act to be a conscience vote in the Parliament as well?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't think I am and our response to the Ruddock report will be done before the end of the year.
JOURNALIST: There have been some complaints Prime Minister, from Labor, that moves by the Centre Alliance could actually make this more -
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I couldn't quite hear you over the noise.
JOURNALIST: We've heard from Labor this morning that moves by the Centre Alliance could actually see some of these religious discriminations wound up and actually be more draconian. Have you seen that, is it something you're concerned about?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I'm interested in this Bill, that's the Bill I'm putting forward. That's the Bill that I’m supporting, that's what I'm proposing. It solves the problem and I propose we get on with it. One at a time.
JOURNALIST: On the third step of that Bill I think you said nothing stops schools teaching in accordance with their faith. Can you give us an example of what it would allow, that third leg and what it would prevent?
PRIME MINISTER: Well all religions have their teachings, they’re based on their religious texts and they should be able to teach those texts in accordance with established religion. That's all it means.
JOURNALIST: Can you spell it out, what sort of practices for example?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, come along to Church with me on Sunday and you'll be able to hear.
[Laughter]
Or go to the mosque on a Friday night or go to the synagogue on a Saturday, go to the Buddhist temple, go wherever you like. People, you know, they're allowed to teach their religious texts. They're allowed to teach their religious faith and why would we want to curtail that in a free country like Australia? Why would you want to do that?
JOURNALIST: Does that override the other two elements of this latest version, a third provision for the ability to teach in accordance with faith? Does that override the other measures to deal with discrimination?
PRIME MINISTER: On discrimination, discrimination is against a person for who they are, taking an action - and Christian might want to comment on this - on who they are. No Australian frankly, because of their sexual identity or their sexuality, their faith, their race, their ethnicity, should be discriminated against - that's my view - because of who they are. But it's not unreasonable that if you go along to a synagogue or a temple, or you go to a church or a mosque, that someone would actually teach what that religion teaches.
JOURNALIST: It’s where those two rights come into conflict Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: I don't see how they do, I don't see how they do. Because take, for example, a reasonable rule in a school which says you go to chapel on Tuesday morning. That applies to the child whether they are gay or not gay. It has no bearing on their identity or their sexuality whatsoever, it's a general rule which is applied equally to everybody, it doesn't discriminate.
JOURNALIST: How about if they’re teaching that it’s not okay to be gay?
PRIME MINISTER: They would have to establish how they’re linking that to their religious teaching, I mean the religion I follow teaches love.
JOURNALIST: Do you accept that some religions do want to teach that?
PRIME MINISTER: These would be matters - and Christian may want to comment - that sets a reasonable test that would be established here in the law. Those decisions would be handed to courts to determine these issues, which I think is reasonable and I think is fair. I mean we have the rule of law in this country and it should prevail both in the courts and in the Parliament.
JOURNALIST: But it's your Bill, you're a legislator. You've got it there, it's got "Bill" written on it and your name. So what's your view?
PRIME MINISTER: On what?
JOURNALIST: Well, should any religion be able to teach in their schools, that it's not alright to be gay?
PRIME MINISTER: My understanding of my faith and other religious teachings goes to people's behaviour, not who they are -
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] that it's not okay to live a gay life, is that right then, to have a gay relationship?
PRIME MINISTER: No, look these are matters would be dealt with by courts in specific circumstances so I'm not getting drawn into that debate. As they are now, these issues are settled in courts and Christian may want to elaborate and comment.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, isn’t this the point, you'd be aware of what it says in Leviticus, so certainly there are provisions in the Bible which do talk about relations between men and other men -
PRIME MINISTER: There’s two testaments, not just one. Religious teaching takes into account all of those and the overwhelming message of the religion that I follow is one of love and I believe love and peace is the underlying principle of all religions. That's why they've had such a positive role in the development of civil society over centuries. But Christian may want to comment on the specifics.
THE HON CHRISTIAN PORTER MP, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The three changes are very simple. They work together in concert. The third of them that you’ve focused on is a clarification that nothing in the Act would prevent a religious school teaching in accordance with their own religious beliefs.
The first point I’d make that that is an amendment that Labor has already agreed to. They have already agreed to that amendment. It is, in actual fact, a status quo amendment. Religions all across Australia teach in their congregations, in their churches, in their synagogues, obviously in accordance with those religious beliefs. Those beliefs vary quite markedly from religion to religion, from church to church and from place to place.
At the moment, the state of the law is that if someone believes they've been unfairly treated or there's some speech that should be unlawful or that there's some discrimination complaints being able to be made, all this does is clarify that status quo, given there is a very significant rebalancing in the Act that's going on by the removal entirely of section 38.3 which is the first part of this bill, which would be complete removal of any ability to discriminate against any student based on their gender, their sexual orientation, their relationship status or pregnancy.
So the third of these changes is a status quo change which the Labor Party have already agreed to by adoption of the amendment at the second reading stage.
JOURNALIST: But isn't the point of legislating here trying to clear up whether it's okay for a religious school to teach that it's not okay to be gay?
PRIME MINISTER: Let me give you a less controversial example okay? In some churches according to some religious faiths, they believe in Tithing. They actually believe that you would tithe a percentage of your income to support the church you go to. Now in other Christian churches, they don't teach that. It should be okay to teach those sorts of things in your school, if that's the religious practice of your school. People might say, well, you're discriminating against people who don't want to do that. Well, no. I don't think so. It's a common religious teaching that can find its’ root in a religious text and it's reasonable for it to be taught.
So, look, I've got to go and do the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, but let me just finish where I started today; I want to get this sorted, I believe we can. This is a very simple Bill that will achieve it. I would be happy to introduce it with the support of the Labor Party today, to suspend standing orders and get on with it.
If they're not prepared to support this Bill, fair enough, that's been their position until now. Let's just have a conscience vote for everybody and let's just get it decided so we can all go back home at the end of the sitting period having this matter determined once and for all.
JOURNALIST: PM, just [inaudible] we've now gone from “who can be in schools”, to “the teaching of religions” that we’re on a collision course between the secular world and the religious world and this is part of that slope?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what better way to resolve such a tension than let every single Member of this House of Representatives vote their conscience and sort it out?
Thanks very much.
Address, Official Opening of the Howard Library
4 December 2018
Prime Minister: Well thank you very much. I cannot think of too many greater honours for a Liberal Prime Minister, frankly, to be here today to open this library with Mr Howard. I still feel like I have to call you that.
[Laughter]
And I know you’ve been generous over a long period of time in inviting me to be a lot more informal.
Today I’m not going to, I’m going to be very formal, because this is a very important occasion.
So to the Honourable John Howard, to Mrs Howard, and the entire Howard family who is here today - particularly the latest addition, only six weeks old.
To the Speaker, my good friend Tony Smith, Rector of UNSW Michael Frater, Daryl Karp the Director of the Museum of Australian Democracy, David Fricker the Director-General of the National Archives. Members of the Parliamentary Team, past and present who are here today.
Of course Phillip Ruddock here today. Colleagues past and present.
I love going back to the places which form your experience. You go back to your old school, where you went to university, the beaches you swam at as a kid, the places that framed who you are.
And you reflect on the memories of those places and the lessons that you learnt.
John Howard loves this building.
It was in this building that he gave his maiden speech to Parliament.
It was in this building that he attended his first Cabinet meeting in the Fraser Cabinet.
It was in this building that he attended his first Partyroom meeting.
It was in this building that he delivered his Budgets, and his replies to Budgets, the first of them.
It was in this building that the political crucible that formed who I would argue to be our greatest Prime Minister of this country and only with the exception, I’m sure he would agree, because as a Party’s founder we always refer to the great Sir Robert Menzies.
But in modern opinion, and in the modern Liberal Party, we have always very much looked to John Howard and this was the crucible in which his political character and who he became as a great Prime Minister was formed.
It was a crucible formed here dominated by Sir Robert Menzies, the founder of our party, who dominated this place for so long, where so much of the history of our modern Federation has played out.
And in this building, you can still hear those stories of all those years. The Lyons - Joseph and Enid.
Of course Sir Robert. Chifley and his pipe. Curtin. A great constitutional crisis – Fraser, Whitlam.
And in this very hall, the flag-draped coffins of prime ministers lay in state.
This is a very special place in our country’s history.
For 61 years, this building was the home of our democracy - from Prime Ministers Stanley Bruce to Bob Hawke.
In 1988, I understand John Howard didn’t really want to move from this Parliament House he liked it so much, he preferred the intimacy of this chamber.
But when he left here, he had still not risen to the office of Prime Minister.
As an Opposition Leader packing 14 years of memories and paper into boxes - he would not have necessarily imagined what was before him.
But he knew what would always guide him.
It was a time when the very future of the Liberal Party was being questioned, and the usual premature eulogies were being offered about the then John Howard, as he was known when we were leaving this building.
But through the tumult, Lazarus emerged, with that triple bypass. Cannier, sturdier and even more resilient.
I must admit while John Howard has laid claim to the biblical Lazarus, I prefer to take my inspiration from Peter: “Upon this rock, I will build my broad church”.
[Laughter]
Which he did, as a leader of our great Party. A broad church which he has always respected and always honoured.
As we know, the man who never quite subdued this building would subdue the one up the hill. And boy did he.
Within weeks of becoming Prime Minister he would be tested, as Prime Ministers always are, by events well beyond their control, with a massacre at Port Arthur.
And along with the Opposition and the States, and Tim Fischer, who I know he always acknowledges so keenly in those events, he’d deliver comprehensive gun control laws that to this day are the envy of the world.
A truly magnificent achievement in a moment when leadership called on him and his response was loud and clear.
He’d be tested at home, of course, with family illnesses. Family has always been at the bedrock of the Howard belief.
There would be other days of testing.
September 11, as he stood in the very city that was under attack with our greatest ally. Not once, but twice in Bali as well. Timor. Iraq. Afghanistan. Our borders, protecting them, together with Phillip and the other Ministers all those years ago.
Through it all, John Howard never found wanting.
Keeping us safe and secure at home, keeping us prosperous in a dynamic and changing world.
Paying off the debt, balancing the Budget, delivering surplus after surplus with Peter Costello. The AAA credit rating. The tax system transformed, taxes cut in 2000, 2003 and 2007. That’s the legacy. Real wages increased by over 21 per cent. 2.1 million jobs were created, unemployment falling from 8 per cent to 4.1 per cent.
There were the major investments in health, in education and the welfare safety net which was designed to provide a hand up, not a hand out. Our great belief that the best form of welfare is a job was inspired by Prime Minister Howard.
And incrementally, he transformed workplace relations passionately and patiently over his entire parliamentary service, reflecting a modernising Australia, a more flexible Australia, a dynamic workplace.
He left office as the darks clouds of the GFC were forming, but it was the ‘Howard inheritance’ that protected Australia from the ravages of a worldwide recession.
The strength of prudential controls, the buffers that were built in good times.
Another biblical analogy - Joseph putting the stalls into the silos to prepare for the years that would follow. That is the Howard legacy.
And that inheritance continues. This Government is seeking to emulate the achievements of that government.
Budget repair, jobs growth, a strong economy. Our country is strong and we are committed to make it even stronger.
Coalition Governments, as inspired by the Howard Government, keeping our country prosperous, keeping Australians safe, keeping Australians together.
Throughout his Government, John Howard was steadfastly supported by a fiercely loyal and loving family.
In 2007, John Howard completed his innings after 11 and a half years as Prime Minister. In the modern political era, that is truly inspiring, and I’m sure at times exhausting.
But warriors see no shame in fighting to the end. He left nothing on the field, nothing. As Menzies said back in Albury, you fight for what you stand for ‘until the bell rings’. And that has always been the Howard ethos.
Ladies and gentlemen, beyond a land, beyond traditions, a nation is a shared story, a shared history.
A history that defines its beliefs and characteristics.
Our prime ministers, the choices they make, are part of our history. So it’s a delight today to open this Library.
It is not the first repository of prime ministerial papers and decisions. Australia’s first prime ministerial library was the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library at Curtin University in Perth, established in 1998. And we have many significant prime ministerial collections, institutes and centres too, right across our nation. The Whitlam Institute at Western Sydney University and the Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at the University of South Australia. And of course, the Robert Menzies and Malcolm Fraser Collections at the University of Melbourne.
And so with this Library, with my alma mater the University of New South Wales in a partnership with the National Archives of Australia, this will allow researchers and the public to reflect on such a significant prime ministership.
All of these collections are far more than repositories of old speeches, furniture, pamphlets, maps, handwritten notes. I remember one day when I went to see Mr Howard in his office in Sydney and the collection was all on the table in the boardroom and he was delayed and I spent a bit of time reading over a few old Budgets. I was Treasurer at the time. And now all those documents are here for others to enjoy in the same way I was able to on that occasion.
When we read these documents, when we see these objects, we will remember and we will re-imagine. We extend our national understanding of civic life and most importantly, we see that no government was perfect.
We see that mistakes are always made, but the lessons are always to be learned.
So what are the lessons of John Howard? John Winston Howard. Resilience. Perseverance. Conviction, more than anything else. And I might add, courtesy and respect.
Laurie Oakes, I think, said it once, I’m not sure if he was trying to be kind or not, you never always knew. He said, “Mr Howard has made every conceivable mistake an Australian Prime Minister can make. But he only made them once.”
Because he would always learn and he would always grow and he would always build and he would always move forward. That’s why he is the example to modern Liberals and indeed Prime Ministers. We can only dare to walk in shoes so large, but we will with his great inspiration.
So Mr Howard, I thank you for your friendship and advice over a long period of time, and to Mrs Howard as well. You’ve really been a blessing.
But most of all I thank you both for your lifetime of service to Australia which continues enthusiastically and passionately.
It is right that your records now reside in this building that you loved so much, and that is a landmark to our country’s great democracy.
It is an honour and delight to be here today for this purpose.
I’m reminded of another text which basically says, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
It is an honour and a delight to open the Howard Library. Thank you.
Press Conference with the Treasurer
3 December 2018
PRIME MINISTER: Before we get into the events of this evening, can I just say again that we continue to stand with all of those in Queensland as while we’re here, they continue to deal with heartbreaking conditions and fire. We maintain a close watch in what is occurring there and we continue to provide them with every assistance possible. The Deputy Prime Minister toured the region, as you know, on the weekend and he’s been able to update me today after my return from the G20 in Argentina. We’ll continue to take those reports.
But to the events of this evening. Australians have the very reasonable expectation that when they elect a government, when they elect a Prime Minister, then they should be the ones that determine if that Prime Minister is to not continue in that office. Tonight our Party made an historic decision, it is the biggest change to how our Party deals with these issues, in 74 years. We understand, our entire Party, the frustration and the disappointment that Australians have felt when governments and prime ministers that they have elected under their authority, under their power, has been taken from them with the actions of politicians here in Canberra. We’ve seen it on both sides of politics and the Liberal Party has done it also as you all know. We understand that frustration, we understand that disappointment, we acknowledgment it and we take responsibility for it.
Tonight the Liberal Party in acknowledging this, has made a decision. That decision is that an elected Liberal Party leader who goes to the election, wins that election and becomes Prime Minister, they will remain Prime Minister for that full parliamentary term. They will not be able to be removed from that office. The only safeguard that is put in place is the very high bar of a special majority; that for that rule to be changed, it would require a two thirds majority of the parliamentary Party. Now in my experience around this place, such a majority is rarely if ever achieved when it comes to these matters. What this is doing is, the parliamentary Liberal Party acknowledging that it’s own conduct over this period of time needs to be changed. It needs to be changed by that Party limiting itself. Of course the Liberal Party remains sovereign in how it makes these decisions and it has elected tonight, it has determined tonight that it has listened to the Australian people. It is willingly and enthusiastically putting this constraint to return the power of these decisions about who is Prime Minister in this country, to the Australian people.
As I said, this is the biggest change to how our Party deals with these matters since Robert Menzies first established the Party 74 years ago. The scale of that change I think reflects absolutely the deep reflection of our Party on these events and our deep commitment to giving the power to the Australian people. So, when you go to the next election and I lead the Party to the next election together with Josh, if you elect the Liberal Party, I will be the Prime Minister, I will remain as Prime Minister. I’ll continue to serve as Prime Minister, implementing our plans for the stronger economy that Australians rely on for the essential services that they need. That has been our record as a Government over the last five years; delivering a stronger economy that is guaranteeing those services. We are making great progress and we have got a strong plan that will ensure that we can protect the standard of living that Australians have today. But even more than that, that we can ensure they can realise the opportunities that they want, for them, their businesses, their families, their communities over the next decade. The economy that they live in, the stronger economy that they will live in over the next decade. The stronger communities that we want them to live in over the next decade, the stronger country, nation – safe and secure – that they and their families want to live in over the next decade.
So that’s what we’re offering. This is the team, this team elected is the team that will continue to govern Australia, that’s the choice and I want to thank my colleagues tonight for the strong trust and faith that they have put in us to take this forward and to have it resolved in the timely manner that it was done this evening.
I’ll ask Josh to make some comments as the Deputy and then we’re happy to take some questions.
THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Thanks Prime Minister. The changes in Australian Prime Ministers over the last decade has diminished the Parliament and it’s representatives in the eyes of the public. The Liberal Party has listened to the Australian people and the Liberal parliamentary party has responded tonight. The Prime Minister we take to the next election will be our Liberal Prime Minister after the next election. The Prime Minister received very strong support from the colleagues tonight and the issue was discussed fully. There were a number of constructive contributions and we have agreed on a way ahead. Our focus is on the Australian people, continuing to deliver them good government and the services that they need and deserve.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister it was John Howard who said that leadership was the gift of the Party Room. Doesn’t this actually undermine that gift, by potentially entrenching a leader that the Party Room doesn’t want?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I discussed this proposal with John Howard directly and we’ve been working on this for a little while. Let me just outline the process to you. The leadership team of the Liberal Party tasked the Party Whips to consider this matter and bring forward a proposal that could be considered by the Liberal ministry – which occurred this evening. Then, that went forward to the Party Room in that process, as they went through that, I’ve consulted with the former Prime Minister. I’ve always shared his view that the leadership of the Liberal Party is the gift of the parliamentary Party, that has always been our principle since we were first established, so therefore the parliamentary party is sovereign and that’s why it’s been the parliamentary Party that has voluntarily and enthusiastically said; “We are going to put this rule in place, we are going to put this condition in place.” So they’ve done that out of their own authority and that’s why it respects the principle that Mr Howard had always pursued and that I’ve always pursued. As a result I’ve been pleased to have the support for this measure.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister two questions if I may, at what point did you come to the conclusion that the rules must be changed and also, can you confirm that Tony Abbott in the Party Room tonight supported this and called it “atonement”?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I can confirm that the former Prime Minister did support this measure and I had the opportunity to discuss it with him and the former deputy leader as well, before it was taken to the Party Room tonight. I think it was important to show that respect to former leaders that continue to serve in our parliamentary Party and I did just that. Tony and I, I’m very grateful for his strong support tonight.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: This is a matter that I have always had a view now for some months that would need to be addressed and certainly need to be addressed before the Parliament rose at the end of the year. James - just to help you before you lose your voice from all the shouting.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this could conceivably, as I understand it, lead the country to a situation in which we have a Prime Minister that is supported by only 35 per cent of the Liberal Party Room and 65 per cent want them to go?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s two thirds, which is -
JOURNALIST: Yeah just under. Is that wise?
PRIME MINISTER: What this is doing is putting the power of the decision of who elects Prime Minister’s back in the hands of the Australian people.
JOURNALIST: But were a Prime Minister to lose by - well, were a Prime Minister not to have the majority of the Party room behind them? On what basis can we - ?
PRIME MINISTER: I think Australians will very much support the fact that the Liberal Party recognises that they’re the ones who should be in charge and -
JOURNALIST: That remains to be seen though.
PRIME MINISTER: That our focus will be on them. Look, it does remain to be seen, James. That’s why we’re being very clear to the Australian people tonight, that we have listened to them and we have acted consistent with what they expect our behaviour to be. And we have taken the decision to put these constraints in.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, could rule this be overturned by a simple majority?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: Why not?
PRIME MINISTER: It requires a two-thirds majority.
JOURNALIST: To overturn the rule?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes that’s right.
JOURNALIST: Does this apply to you know or only if you win the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: It only applies to leaders who successfully contest an election.
JOURNALIST: Will you stand down if you lose the election?
PRIME MINISTER: After every election, then the Party always elects its’ leader.
JOURNALIST: Does this rule apply to opposition leaders?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: So it only applies if you’re the Prime Minister. What is the rule if you are opposition leader?
PRIME MINISTER: The same rules apply as exist currently and there’s a reason for this. See, this is what we’re seeking to do here. We respect the fact - and I think this has been the great anguish of the Australian people, as they’ve seen this happen in both the Labor Party and the Liberal Party where they have seen these changes – and they’re sick of it and we’re sick of it and it has to stop. That’s why we’ve put this rule in place; if they elect a Prime Minister by electing a Government then they should have every reasonable expectation that that’s what should remain.
JOURNALIST: Did you push for a 75 per cent rule?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I did not.
JOURNALIST: Does this apply to the Deputy, by the way?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you saying that it was the wrong thing to do to get rid of Malcolm Turnbull, are you saying, or are you happy to benefit from this rule?
PRIME MINISTER: What I am saying is the Liberal Party has listened to the Australian people about it’s behaviour on this issue over a long period of time. This has happened on too many occasions, that’s the reflection of the Liberal Party. We’re listening to the Australian people and we’re siding with their judgement.
JOURNALIST: Was it a mistake to get rid of Malcolm Turnbull?
PRIME MINISTER: Everyone just settle down, it’s late in the evening. I don’t know what you guys have been up to. You’re very spirited.
TREASURER: They are spirited, it’s beer o’clock.
JOURNALIST: You said you discussed the matter with former Prime Ministers, did that include Malcolm Turnbull?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve only consulted members of the parliamentary Liberal Party -
JOURNALIST: What was the percentage of vote tonight?
PRIME MINISTER: This was carried by consensus, that’s the way our Liberal Party Room works.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Can everyone stop shouting?
JOURNALIST: You previously said that regulating for culture is never effective when you were asked about this leadership change rule. So what has changed since when you said that?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve reflected deeply on the wishes of the Australian people and what we’ve got here is form following function; that is that the cultural change that we’re achieving as the leadership of this Party, is being reflected in the conventions that we will now follow going forward.
What this is … see we could come here and we could say; “We are a united Party,” and we are, and we are. But this is a demonstration of that, this is a practical demonstration of it to the Australian people, that we mean it. That we’re fair dinkum about it. That’s why the Party has made this change. This was not the proposal of one individual.
JOURNALIST: Why did you consult with John Howard but not Malcolm Turnbull?
PRIME MINISTER: Because John Howard has been a longstanding, if you like, governor of the conventions of what occurs in the Liberal Party. He is also the longest-serving leader of the Liberal Party and frankly there is no one living today who has greater experience of the Liberal Party as a leader than John Howard. So I don’t have any reservations about acknowledging his special status.
JOURNALIST: Did you agree to a March 2 election, which today Malcolm Turnbull said you had agreed to, a March 2 election under his Prime Ministership? Is that right?
PRIME MINISTER: The calling of an election is a matter for the Prime Minister and that is solely within their domain. So that is a matter for the Prime Minister of the time.
JOURNALIST: You said you supported a March 2 date though? Is that correct or is he lying?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m not going to go into private conversations other than to say it’s the prerogative of the Prime Minister to call the election date. They consult with many people and what position they may take from time to time will depend of the political circumstances at the time and those political circumstances changed dramatically.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask you Prime Minister, two questions; firstly, did anyone speak against this motion in the Party Room and secondly, if these rules were in place in August, you would not be Prime Minister. Why can the Australian people take you seriously when you say that you are changing the rules when if these rules are in place, Malcolm Turnbull would still be Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: What we’re doing, what we’re addressing, is what we believe has been a weakness in the way that these issues have been conducted.
We’ve addressed it and we’ve fixed it.
See, this is my record in Australian politics; if I see a problem, I seek to fix it. As leader, I was elected to address issues and to ensure we can carry forward our Party to a successful election next year and between now and then, a lot of things are going to take place. There will be more policies announced. There will be a Budget that the Treasurer will hand down that will be in surplus, the first time that’s happened in more than a decade. I look forward to seeing that Budget handed down, because it will demonstrate very clearly to the Australian people what they would put at risk, what they would put at risk; the strength of our economy that Medicare depends on, that affordable medicines depend on. The strength of our Budget that comes from that strong economy, they would put all of that at risk with a Labor Party who are proven failures when it comes to managing the economy and managing a Budget.
Now, it’s important that Australians understand full well that where they have been frustrated with us, we have listened and we have acted. That is what our Party has done tonight.
JOURNALIST: Were there any arguments put against the proposal and what were they?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’d say that the Party Room discussion tonight was basically that everyone was prepared to support the will of the Party Room tonight -
JOURNALIST: And the arguments against though?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s a matter for the Party Room. But I can say the response to this was overwhelmingly supportive.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, whose proposal was this? Was this your proposal?
PRIME MINISTER: As I outlined before, the proposal came forward from the Party Whips, this was not a proposal that came forward from me as the Party leader. I put in place, with the leadership team, a process to have this resolved that could have the whole Party –
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: That process involved the leadership team, then the Party Whips who recommended two thirds.
JOURNALIST: So there was no discussion of 75 per cent?
PRIME MINISTER: There was a discussion of a range of thresholds and the Party Room settled and I called it at two thirds and that was the recommendation originally from the Whips.
JOURNALIST: Is this an endorsement of Labor’s leadership rules?
PRIME MINISTER: No, theirs only requires a 50 per cent change, to change their rules. So this says that if you elect a Liberal Prime Minister, there is a strong guarantee from the Liberal Party tonight that you can be assured that a Liberal Prime Minister will stay in office. The Labor Party only needs a 50 per cent plus one change.
JOURNALIST: Why did Julie Bishop come late? Was she told?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes she was.
Remarks, G20 Summit - Buenos Aires
30 November 2018
PRIME MINISTER: G’day everyone, it’s good to be here in Buenos Aires. This is my third visit to Buenos Aires as part of the G20, this year of course in my new capacity for the leaders meetings. I just want to assure Australians thought that in the air on the way here, we’ve been kept up to date on the very significant threats that have been emerging up in Queensland with the bushfires. We know that there are a number of the fire warnings that have been downgraded but we’re in for some pretty heavy weather on the weekend, some very extreme weather on the weekend. I just continue to counsel all Australians in the affected areas to be listening to the warnings and acting on the advice and taking care and looking after each other. I continue to thank all those who have been fighting those fires - around 119 as I understand - and whilst some of those warnings have gone down, we’ll be watching those circumstances very, very carefully. So while I’m here of course the Deputy Prime Minister is in Australia and of course the Treasurer will be there also.
In terms of arriving here at Buenos Aires, I come here as Australians always do to any meeting, we always come optimistically. With the issues to be addressed, they’re obviously trade, very central to that. Australia has always been a successful trading nation and that’s how we’ll continue to ensure the prosperity for our own people. But it’s not just for our people; all of the G20 nations have benefitted so significantly by their exchanges in trade with each other and we all want to see that continue. So I’m optimistic about the way that particularly the major economies here will hopefully be able to make some progress. I believe that both China and the United States are very keen to see a more open trading environment around the world, and more trade all across the world and particularly between their two nations. We all benefit from that. I think this will be a good opportunity over the course of the next two days to re-assert our commitment to these principles of trade and encourage all of the nations here to get on with that job. Because it’s what drags people out of poverty, it’s what gives people choice in life and that will be our focus, as it always is, at these important events.
Thanks very much.
Statement On Indulgence - Natural Disasters
29 November 2018
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister) (14:00): I rise on indulgence to update the House on the storms and the bushfires. The storms were in New South Wales, of course, and the bushfires are in Queensland.
As we know, Sydney and other parts of New South Wales are mopping up after a major storm—one of the worst in Sydney's memory. The storm system that moved across greater Sydney yesterday brought about 200 millimetres of rain, more than one month's average in a single day, as well as damaging winds, hail, severe thunderstorms and hazardous surf. Roads were closed due to flash flooding, fallen trees and landslides, and in Western Sydney a number of vehicles were trapped in floodwaters. There were blackouts and school closures as well. In total, 18 floodwater rescues took place, with the New South Wales SES receiving 2,063 requests for assistance. The Central Coast, and I know that the member for Robertson would be concerned here, and the south coast region, so the same for the member for Gilmore, were also hit by this system.
Three deaths have been attributed to the storms. This is a terrible tragedy. One of those deaths was an SES volunteer who was responding to the storms—out there helping others when he lost his life. He was a volunteer with a young family. It is truly heartbreaking and our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time for them. Nine people have also been injured, including two police officers—again, selflessly serving and out there for all of us.
I have spoken with Premier Berejiklian and conveyed the Commonwealth's willingness to assist as and when is needed. There has been no formal request for assistance from New South Wales at this time, and I want to commend the New South Wales State Emergency Services and other authorities for the tremendous work they've done in supporting their citizens.
While these events have unfolded in New South Wales, Queenslanders have been facing challenges of a very different kind. Major bushfires are burning—more than 105 active bushfires and grassfires—and extreme conditions are expected to continue in the northern and eastern parts of the state over the next seven days. The Bureau of Meteorology has assessed that the current conditions are easing, which is welcome. However, they remain concerned, as winds are set to increase this afternoon.
As well, forecasts are for severe to extreme heatwave conditions from Cooktown to Gladstone and extending into Central and north-western Queensland over the next seven days. Emergency warnings are current for fires burning at Deepwater and seven watch-and-act fires are burning across the state, and also one advanced fire. I should also say that there is an emergency warning at Captain Creek.
Evacuation centres are open at Rockhampton Showgrounds, the Central Queensland University at Rockhampton, Miriam Vale, Gladstone and Sarina. To those Australians in these areas, or who face similar warnings in the days ahead, I simply say this: please take the advice you are given. You can rebuild a home, but you cannot rebuild a lost family. It's now time to listen, to stay calm and to put those you love first.
I commend the response of Queensland authorities. That tremendous response is being bolstered by support from around the country—New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria and Western Australia. Tasmania is also in the process of sending assistance. Their contribution is being coordinated out of the State Disaster Coordination Centre in Brisbane.
I can report that I have continued to keep in contact with Premier Palaszczuk and that the Commonwealth disaster assistance plan has been activated. This is the formal mechanism which creates an open channel between the Queensland state government and the Commonwealth for Queensland to seek assistance in any range of areas from the Commonwealth.
The ADF are providing support, as required, and stand ready to respond to any request that is put to them, according to their capabilities, from the Queensland government. That includes, currently, the refuelling of firefighting aircraft out of Amberley. In the last 24 hours we have responded to a call for such assistance, from the Queensland government to help the Gladstone local government area, and this is what we will continue to do in the days and in the months ahead.
Earlier today the Deputy Prime Minister and I, with the Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, attended the Crisis Coordination Centre here in Canberra, where we were further briefed on both of these situations. Our emergency services around Australia are doing tremendous work. Our state governments are doing a tremendous job, whether in Queensland or in New South Wales. I commend Premier Palaszczuk and Premier Berejiklian on the work of both of their governments.
The members for Capricornia and Flynn are not here today; they are with their communities in Queensland, as is Senator Canavan. They attended the local disaster management meeting in Rockhampton overnight. They are a vital conduit between the Commonwealth and these communities. I know there are other members here in the chamber who represent these communities, like the member for Leichhardt, the member for Wide Bay and other members. They, I know, will be keen to get back to their communities. Everyone is lending a hand and stepping up. Mates are helping mates. They're stepping up, they're reaching out and they're helping and comforting those in need. That's the Australian way.
I conclude with these remarks. This is going to be a tough summer ahead for all of us. This is the brief and the warning we've already seen from Emergency Management Australia. There is currently material being prepared by Emergency Management Australia that will be available to all members which will assist them in working with their communities to ensure that they can provide any role they can in supporting their communities to prepare for the summer season ahead of us. It may well be that more homes will come under threat, and we pray they will not be lost; that more hectares could be ravaged, and we pray that that won't happen; and that more lives could be affected, and we'll pray and do everything we can within our power to ensure that that does not occur. To those affected already: on behalf of this parliament, I offer our thoughts, our prayers and the support of 25 million people who will stand with you for as long as it takes.