Speeches
Remarks, Joint Party Room
28 May 2019
Parliament House, Canberra
Well, welcome back everyone!
[Applause]
Welcome back, thank you all. Thank you all very much. Thank you colleagues. It's wonderful to be back here and you know who we have to thank for this; that is the Australian people.
[Applause]
They are the reason. They are the reason that we have the opportunity and the great privilege to serve them each and every day. It was our focus each and every day, that was solely on them. This was a victory, as I said on election night, not for the Liberal Party, not for the National Party, not for myself or Michael or Josh or Bridget; it was a victory for those Australians who just go out there and work hard every day and make this country the amazing country it is. So thank you to Australians once again.
[Applause]
I’ll have a bit to say in a minute, but I've got some welcomes. I've got some welcomes to give to our Joint Party Room here today, people who are joining us and who were chosen by those quiet Australians all around the country, to come be part of this Parliament.
[Applause]
Can I start by welcoming Bridget Archer the Member for Bass, Gavin Pearce the Member for Braddon, Phil Thompson the Member for Herbert, Melissa McIntosh the Member for Lindsay, Terry Young the Member for Longman, Dave Sharma the Member for Wentworth, good on you Dave. We very much hope ‘Sarah Richards, the Member for Macquarie’. We also welcome Angie Bell, the Member for Moncrieff, Julian Simmonds, the Member for Ryan from the great state of Queensland. Fiona Martin the Member for Reid. Gladys Liu from Chisolm, how good is Gladys Liu? Katie Allen, the Member for Higgins, congratulations Katie. Celia Hammond the Member for Curtin, Vince Connelly the Member for Stirling. Pat Conoghan the Member for Cowper. Anne Webster, the Member for Mallee, good on you Anne. Joining us, joining us in this Party Room formally from the 1st of July will be Sam McMahon, Senator for the Northern Territory, Claire Chandler, Senator for Tasmania. From New South Wales, Holly Hughes Andrew Bragg and Perin Davey. Matt O’Sullivan, Senator for Western Australia, Paul Scarr and Susan McDonald from Queensland, Gerard Rennick also. Alex Antic, Senator for South Australia and David Van, Senator for Victoria. Let’s give them a big welcome. James Stevens, the Member for Sturt there, there are just so many James, so many.
[Applause]
Thank you all colleagues. Well as I said, this was a victory for the Australian people. It is our job to govern humbly for this nation. To have them very much at the centre of our thoughts, each and every day. Because as a Government, as we know, when we focus on the Australian people, then that makes our Government stronger. It brings our Government together. It always must and that's where our focus must be. As I said just before the election; we must burn for the Australian people, every single day that we have this privilege of serving them in this Party Room and as a Government. That requires us to not only have that spirit of humility in the way we go about our business and respect for the Australian people and the great institutions of this Parliament, but it's about ensuring that we get and do the obvious things that need to be done. That we do the little things well, as well as doing the big things well. That we focus on fixing the problems that need to be fixed. That we focus on ensuring that we’re delivering on those commitments that we have made and those commitments were outlined in that fantastic Budget delivered by Josh Frydenberg.
[Applause]
Back in the black, back in the black. Delivering on those commitments and ensuring they roll out. It must ensure that we focus on the strength of our economy.
Now this was a key issue at this election and I think we were able very much to be able to convey that without a strong economy then all else is in vain. You can't tackle climate change without a strong economy. You can't ensure record hospital funding without a strong economy. You can't combat youth suicide like we're going to, without a strong economy. You can't fund the NDIS as we do without a strong economy. The strong economy is what we must continue our focus on delivering; the jobs and jobs and jobs of Australians. By focusing on that, we provide the opportunity to deliver on all of the essential services that Australians rely on and to keep Australians safe and secure.
It's also about ensuring that as we go forward over this next term that we think very much about those Australians and their aspirations. This was this was a victory for Australians who just want to work hard and get ahead. This was a victory for those who put in that effort. They study hard when they're at school, or when they're in training, doing their vocational ed or apprenticeship, or at university, or wherever they are. They work hard in starting their small businesses, they work hard on the land, they work hard wherever they are, planning for the future and delivering for the future. By keeping our focus on them as we engage the issues and challenges which our nation faces - which are significant, whether it's in the economy or national security or in the environment or elsewhere - if we keep our focus on them we will always stay true to the values that we hold dear as Liberals and Nationals in this Party Room.
There are a number of thanks I want to make and I want to start with the first one to Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
[Applause]
As Liberals and Nationals we govern together. We govern together in a partnership which extends back 75 years and it has never been stronger than it is today. That will continue to be the bedrock of our Government as we go forward. I want to thank you Michael and all our Nationals colleagues for the amazing work they did - particularly up there in North Queensland, but not just in North Queensland. It was great work on the New South Wales Mid North Coast as well and particularly seeing Pat here coming in and some great new people coming into the Nats ranks. It's tremendous to see you here.
I want to thank of course my Deputy Josh Frydenberg who has done a tremendous job.
[Applause]
I want to thank Mathias Cormann for his leadership of our Senate team. He's done a tremendous job and his work up there in CCHQ.
[Applause]
I also want to thank the tremendous work that has been done by our party organizations, in the Liberal Party's case led by Nick Greiner and Andrew Hirst, a tremendous job in running the CCHQ. Working well together with Ben Hindmarsh and Larry Anthony. I want to thank our party organisations and all of our volunteers and supporters all around the country, who believed very much in what this election was about and believe very much in the ability for us to be here today and to ensure that we can secure Australia's future so Australians can simply plan for theirs with greater confidence, which is really what we're all about.
So the task before us is very clear. There are those who have sat in this Party Room and have been for many years - like Ian Macdonald, who will be standing down at the end of June, and Wacka Williams and Barry O'Sullivan, and Jim is still in the count so we'll see how that goes. But I want to thank all of those members who've served in this Party Room and I want to thank Tony Abbott for his service to our Party and to our nation, who is no longer sitting in this Party Room for the first time in a very long time. As well as to Sarah Henderson and Chris Crewther who are no longer here and we thank them for their tremendous service to our country and to Luke Hartsuyker as well, who retired and the many others who retired at the last election.
But here we are; a fresh team. A team that is hungry, a team that is committed, a team that is united in the in the way we were able to fight on this campaign, to do one very simple thing; that is to ensure Australians will be at the centre of our gaze. We will govern with humility, we will govern with compassion. We will govern with strength and we will govern for all Australians.
Thank you very much.
Speech Sydney
18 May 2019
Sydney, NSW
Thank you, friends! Thank you, friends! Can I just start by saying that as you know, a little while ago, Mr Shorten contacted me and I thank him, I thank him very much for the spirit in which he made that call and I thank him very much for his kind remarks to me and to Jenny and to our family. I would like to wish him and Chloe and his family all the best and God's blessing.
I have always believed in miracles! I'm standing with the three biggest miracles in my life here tonight - and tonight we've been delivered another one.
How good is Australia? And how good are Australians?
This is, this is the best country in the world in which to live. It is those Australians that we have been working for, for the last five and a half years since we came to Government, under Tony Abbott's leadership back in 2013. It has been those Australians who have worked hard every day, they have their dreams, they have their aspirations; to get a job, to get an apprenticeship, to start a business, to meet someone amazing. To start a family, to buy a home, to work hard and provide the best you can for your kids. To save your retirement and to ensure that when you're in your retirement, that you can enjoy it because you've worked hard for it.
These are the quiet Australians who have won a great victory tonight.
Thank you. Because it's always been about them. It's always been for those of you watching this at home tonight, for me and for my Government, for all of my team; it's all about you.
Tonight is not about me and it's not about even the Liberal Party. Tonight is about every single Australian who depends on their Government to put them first.
So friends, that is exactly what we’re going to do. Our Government will come together after this night and we will get back to work, just as Gladys Berejiklian got back to work here in New South Wales, just a few months ago. That is our task and that my undertaking to Australians from one end of the country to the other; I said that I was going to burn for you - and I am, every single day.
So let me talk about some of our other miracles tonight. Melissa McIntosh out there in Lindsay. Phil Thompson up there in Townsville, in Herbert. Bridget Archer down there in Bass. The big unit Gav Pearce, down there in Braddon. Terry Young up there in Longman in Brisbane, Sarah Richards, we're bringing back Macquarie!
But in saying that, can I also say thank you to some great service and I hope will continue to be service, at least in a number of these cases. Can I start off by saying thank you to Tony Abbott for your service to this country. To Sarah Henderson and Chris Crewther and Warren Mundine who are still in there and we've still got votes to count - and they're not stepping back - can I thank them very much for the hard campaign that they have fought.
To all of those in the seats that we held going into this campaign, who had to work hard to ensure that as a result of their incredible efforts, they were able to be returned tonight, can I particularly thank Jason Wood, Michael Sukkar, David Coleman down in Banks, Lucy Wicks up there in Robertson.
Pretty much, the whole state of Queensland! How good is Queensland? I never thought I'd hear that in this room in New South Wales, this close to Origin I can tell you. Particularly to Bert Van Manen, Peter Dutton, to Trevor Evans, Luke Howard, Michelle Landry, good old Ken O'Dowd, Warren Entsch up there, right up the top. All of our Queensland members, I want to thank you.
We have some great new members coming in as well, Dr Katie Allen she’s down there in Higgins, Dr Fiona Martin is here with us in Reid, Professor Celia Hammond over there in the west coming in Curtin, Pat Conaghan up there in Cowper and Angie Bell up there on the Gold Coast.
I want to thank all of my candidates, all of my members, all of you who have worked so hard to get them where we’ve been able to come to tonight on behalf of all of those Australians that we work for and we serve, and we do it humbly and we do it in great appreciation.
I particularly want to thank a number of people who have been instrumental in tonight's result. I want to start, I want to start by thanking Gladys Berejiklian, Steven Marshall, the Premier of South South Australia and Will Hodgman, the Premier of Tasmania. They have led by example in their great victories and they've shown us the way at the federal level. They have worked so hard for us all around the country and to Gladys, particularly here in my home state - thank you so much.
And campaigning without drawing a breath, the great John Howard and Jeanette Howard.
I of course want to thank all of my leadership team who have served so well and so loyally. To Michael McCormack and all of our team at the Nationals - to the Big Mac as I like to call him - Michael McCormack and to Bridget McKenzie, thank you all of those in Nationals, thank so much for the great job you’ve done in supporting us. We’re a tremendous Coalition and we will be as we reform our Government after tonight.
I also want to thank Josh Frydenberg, my Deputy and to Amy and the kids. Josh is a great mate and he has been a tremendous Treasurer, a great Deputy Leader as well down there in Melbourne, Josh, we've held the whole team together. We thank you and I thank you very much. It was a pretty good Budget too, back in surplus, next year!
Of course to Mathias Cormann, who has been our Minister-in-residence up in Queensland and to Simon Birmingham, who has been our campaign spokesperson. But another person I particularly want to thank tonight is Greg Hunt. Greg Hunt is an outstanding Health Minister and he stood up there in Flinders and it's great to have you back mate. There's a lot of people to thank, but Andrew Hirst, our Federal Director, Hirsty and of course to Nick Greiner who is a great son of New South Wales, our Federal President, together with Andrew Burnes our Federal Treasurer. I thank him very much and all the state directors around the country, they have run an outstanding campaign. They have set a new mark, a new model, a new way for us to campaign as a Liberal and National team and this has really set an entirely new benchmark. Hirsty, I want to thank you for your leadership at our CHQ.
To my own team, my own staff, can I thank ‘the Kunk’, John Kunkel, my Chief of Staff. Can I thank Yaron Finkelstein, my PPS. Andrew Carswell leading the media team and can I also send a long thank you over the Nullarbor over to Benny Morton, who has been with me every step of the way and to all of my colleagues.
It remains only to thank those who have been so, so close to me all of my life, Marion and John Morrison are here tonight, my parents and my brother, Alan and his wife Susie. My mother-in-law Beth is here. They're just over here on my left. Garry and Michele, you all got to know Garry, amazing fellow. It’s great to have you all here and Jenny’s family, especially Rob. And my brother Alan, who I mentioned, I mentioned Alan. We shared a room together in university, you've probably heard me tell that story about 20 times.
But to the dearest of my family who are with me here tonight, to my beautiful miracle girls, Abbey and Lily, thank you. To the woman I fell in love with in my teens - and it's never let up - now Australia has fallen in love with her; Jenny Morrison!
So friends, we've got a lot of work to do. We've got a lot of work to do and we're going to get back to work. We're going to get back to work for the Australians that we know go to work every day, who face those struggles and trials, every day.
They're looking for a fair go and they're having a go and they're going to get a go from our Government.
Every single day, they are who we'll have right in front of us as we put in place and continue the policies which we know will keep our economy strong, to guarantee the essentials that Australians rely on. That will keep Australians safe and secure and most importantly, most importantly, that will keep Australians together.
We are an amazing country of amazing people. God bless Australia!
Speech, Launceston Chamber of Commerce
10 April 2019
Launceston, Tasmania
Well thank you very much Tim and thank you all for coming here today. Can I start by acknowledging the traditional owners and elders past, present and emerging. Can I also take the opportunity to acknowledge any servicemen and women who are here in the room today and any veterans - Gavin is here - I want to thank you for your service. What you do for our nation is something that we’ll be forever in your debt for. Can I acknowledge my very good friend who is here with us today Greg Hunt, our Health Minister, an absolutely fine Health Minister and Greg and I have been working together for many, many years. It’s a partnership I enjoy thoroughly, because we both share a passion for the topic I'm going to be talking about today; that is if you produce a strong economy, you manage your Budget well, then you can invest in changing the lives of Australians by guaranteeing funding for the essential services they rely on. We've been in that partnership for years now, formerly as a Treasurer and as Health Minister and now as Prime Minister, ensuring that we're driving the economy forward to enable Greg to be doing the extraordinary job he's been doing, guaranteeing these vital health services all around the country. To our new parliamentary colleagues, Senator Wendy Askew it's great to be here with you today and last night as well and to Bridget Archer our Liberal candidate right here in Bass, we were together yesterday and last night down at Sporties. Johnsy if you’re watching mate, you smashed me in pool last night, I had no chance against you. It was wonderful to be sharing a bit of the time up last night at the Launceston Aquatic Center where I saw the South Esk swimming club and all of the young kids, members in squad training - they were awarded the Best National Swimming Club in the country in 2015, right here at Launie. That's tremendous.
So it's been good to spend a bit of time here Bridget, in this wonderful electorate of Bass and to Gavin Pearce who is here, our candidate for Braddon and Jess Whelan who was also here today, our candidate for Lyons and Tanya Denison and Clare Chandler our Senate candidates here in Tasmania. Part of a great Senate team which is being led here in Tasmania. To Albert Van Zetten, the Mayor of Launceston and of course Tim Holder thank you for having us here today and for your comments about the positivity that is here in the north of Tasmania, the positivity that is here in Launceston.
I've been coming here for a long time and I can't recall a time frankly, when there has been such an air of expectation about what's happening here in Launceston. It's a credit to the local business community with whom I'm pleased to be sharing the morning today. The air of expectation, the investment, seeing the vision - and I agree Tim, the regional deal here in Launceston and in northern Tasmania has provided I think, a real catalyst, it has actually demonstrated that when we all work together local, state, federal government, the business community, well, stuff happens. And stuff is happening here in Launceston, stuff is happening here in northern Tasmania.
The partnership between the Hodgman Government and my Government is actually forging the way ahead and businesses can see that. They're backing it in through their own investments.
Unemployment has fallen from 8.2 to 6.5 per cent here in Tasmania. In the last year of the Labor government, 1,000 people left Tasmania. In the most recent figures 6,000 people came here. That's why I call Tasmania the turnaround state. What the Hodgman Government has done, working together with our Government federally has been to chart out, I think, the right path, which everyone is getting on and they all know is heading in the right direction, to where we all want to go.
Jobs for our kids. Education and health services for our families and our communities. Support for those with disabilities. Support for those who are in aged care facilities. Taking the dividend of a strong economy and investing it back into stronger communities. A visitation record of 1.3 million visitors here to Tasmania, an all-time record.
You know many years ago when I was involved in the tourism industry, that was the total number of international visitors that came to Australia, to Australia. Now that's how many we have come to Tasmania. It’s a credit to Tasmania, but I think it's a recognition of the strong growth that we've seen in our tourist industries. Here in northern Tasmania, whether it's the tourist industry or whether it's the forestry industry, whether it's the civil construction industry, whether it's the medical instruments or medical technology industries, whether it's the new, bright, shiny industries or it's the traditional ones which we know carry the load in terms of keeping people in work and supporting people's incomes, we are supporting all industries across Australia to go forward.
The NBN is now 99 percent complete here in Tasmania. When we came to government it was barely off the drawing board, now it’s 99 percent complete.
Forty seven mobile blackspot stations, $2.7 billion invested already in roads across Tasmania. Of course the Midland Highway $400 million, the Tasmanian Roads Package again another $400 million. The Bridgewater Bridge replacement, all big projects for Tasmania that benefit the entire Tasmanian economy, as the tentacles of these big civil construction investments reach out into the supply chain across Tasmania and create that activity that generates jobs.
On our Defence industry plan, I can never go past Penguin Composites which I've visited and which Gavin will know all about there - up in Penguin, one of my favourite places - a business that started out making kayaks, out of just the sheer passion of the owner and there's some pretty good kayaking around that way – and is now making the bonnets of armored vehicles for our Defence forces. That's been done in Penguin here in northern Tasmania. So at the cutting-edge of chemical technologies, through to the traditional industries that have always been the mainstay of northern Tasmania, it's an exciting story. There's $313 million for roads over the next decade in Tasmania that we've announced in the Budget. $130 million to the Hobart to Sorrell Corridor, $80 million for the Birralee Main Road, Murchison Highway, Old Surrey Road and Massey green Drive and Strahan Road. This is right across Tasmania, as I say, reaching out and supporting the economy all around the state.
And of course Battery the Nation. Now pardon the pun, but this does light me up, 100 per cent. I know it lights Will up as well, every time Will and I get together and we talk about Battery the Nation, we can just see its potential and we're just so anxious to get to the next stage. So the Tassie Government is investing in the Battery of the Nation side of the project, we're working on the Marinus Link side of the project with $56 million already committed to get through the planning stages and hook the Australian mainland up to the great opportunities that are here through the hydro vision that was born here in Tasmania, so many decades ago.
It's a tremendous Tasmanian story, the hydro projects here in Tasmania and to know now, that the foresight of those who were there generations ago, will now be able to be solving significantly the energy challenges of the Australian nation going forward. All born out of their vision and Battery of the Nation is a project with similar vision that Will has been leading and we are absolute joined-at-the hip partners to. 3,800 direct and indirect jobs alone, in terms of how we're proceeding with the Marinus Link project and yesterday I announced with Gavin, the $17 million Tasmanian Skills package, which is ensuring that Tasmania can be upgrading the skills of those who are already working in the sector or others coming in, to be able to fulfil this vision. As you say we've got the challenges of getting the workers into these big projects. I mean as we've been rolling out our infrastructure program now over many years, we are now - it's a good problem to have I suppose - that such is the level of investment that we're making in public infrastructure all around the country, that we're beginning to hit our head on the ceiling in terms of the capacity and the time that we have to actually get these projects done.
But I can tell you, when $80 billion dollars was taken out of the Australian economy on the other side of the mining investment boom, well, we stepped right up. We stepped right in and that is why we're now in our 28th year of consecutive economic growth. Because we had a plan. We had a plan to deal with it, a plan to deal with it nationally and also a plan to deal with it locally.
The City Deal in Launceston $260 million to UTAS to relocate its main campus. $19.4 million to rejuvenate the historic CBD here and $95 million for the health of the Tamar Estuary. Investing in services that Tasmanians can rely on, $6.5 billion more for Tasmanian schools over the next decade, a per-student funding increase of 60.6 per cent to 2029.
Let no one tell you, let no one to lie to you, that our Government has not been investing in the essential services that Tasmanians rely on. We have, they’re the facts, they are the figures.
A strong economy, we believe, is built on the efforts and hard work of Australians. It is built on the hard work and investment and entrepreneurship of small and family businesses. Which is by and large the Tasmanian economy, overwhelming so, more so than probably any part of the country when you think about it, as a state. That's why we've done what we have, on reducing taxes, extending the instant asset write-off. Investing in things like the Defence industry and other major programmes and infrastructure and so on, to continue to drive the economy forward.
But you know, the economy is not a certificate you put on your wall and say; “Oh, how clever are we as a nation, we're in 28 years of growth”. That's wonderful, but what does it mean? Why do we do it? And why do I talk about the economy so often as I move around the country?
Because this is the best country in the world to live, but our future depends on ensuring that we keep our economy strong. Why? That’s what pays for hospitals, that’s what pays for Medicare. That's what pays for affordable medicines. That's what pays for the City Deal. That's what pays the way and guarantees the funding, not higher taxes.
Higher taxes just slow the economy down.
Over the last six months or so I've taken up, to keep myself somewhat fit, swimming laps. Now if anyone said to me; “You know, you’d go a lot faster if you put a weight belt on,” what do you think I’d say to them? It's hard enough. But that's what $200 billion of higher taxes will do to our economy. It will slow us down. It'll slow you down.
Whether it's the policies which say, to pay someone else more, you've got to sack someone else to do it - which is the policy of the Labor Party. I don't think any Australian wants to get paid more in this country, as a result of their workmate having to get sacked. I don't think that's a fair policy. I don't think that's an Australian policy. I think that is a scorched earth policy, not seeing the vision of the growth of the Australian economy. That we can run one as has been run here in northern Tasmania, which lifts everybody up. Where everybody can do better and that's why our tax policies are designed to ensure everybody can keep more of what they earn. That we don't try and penalize some, push some down, in order to pretend to be raising others up.
Our values, our beliefs are all about seeing the entire economy go forward. That's why it's great to be here. It's great to be here and seeing the optimism and the positivity here in northern Tasmania. It's exciting, it's energizing and that's what we want to see continue.
We can't turn back now. It has taken us 12 years to get the economy back to where it was when John Howard and Peter Costello left office and Labor took over. It has taken us 12 years.
You vote Labor once, you pay for it for a decade.
It's taken us more than 10 years to get employment as a share of the working age population in this country back and above the levels that were achieved back in 2007. It's taken us over 10 years to achieve that.
We are on the right track and I can tell you, here in northern Tasmania you’re on the right track. So we want to keep that going. Why? Because I want to invest in health services around this country. I want to improve the lives of Tasmanians, Australians all, as they seek and get access to the services that a modern, sophisticated, generous society can provide. Already, funding for Tasmanian public hospitals is up from $425 million a year, to $525 million. There are record bulk-billing rates in Tasmania and here in Bass alone, since we came to office, bulk-billing rates are up here, the number of people receiving bulk-billing services has increased by 4.8 per cent, almost 5 per cent. 73 per cent bulk-billed services here in the electorate of Bass. 404,654 bulk-billed services here in Bass. That 76,748 more than when we came to office. Not surprising, we’ve increased the funding for Medicare by 27 per cent since we came to Government. I remember at the last election - particularly here in Tasmania - the Labor Party lied to the people of Tasmania. They said we're going to sell Medicare. It was a preposterous lie.
We strengthened it. Under our Government, because of a strong economy and strong Budget management, with a Budget that goes back into surplus next year for the first time in 12 years - that's how you strengthen Medicare.
You don't raise taxes. You invest in it and you run a strong economy.
Today, I'm pleased to announce that we're investing $91.9 million to strengthen the health system here in Tasmania. That includes $20 million for hospital services and infrastructure, cutting the elective surgery waiting lists. An extra 6,000 surgeries and endoscopies to be provided here in Tasmania. $34.7 million for elective surgery and TazReach primary care support to reduce the time Tasmanian patients wait for elective surgery and support Tasmanians in rural and regional locations, particularly with outreach specialist services, through the TazReach program. Upgrades to the birthing suite at Launceston Hospital – yes, population growth by more homegrown Tasmanians and more Tasmanians coming home - and more Australians from the mainland deciding to make Tasmania their home.
I met a young couple last night over at Sporties and they were telling me they’re working in the civil construction industry here in Launceston. They moved here from Melbourne. So Tasmanians are coming home. Tasmanians are staying and more Australians are choosing to become Tasmanians. I think that's exciting.
A second linear accelerator machine at Burnie for breast cancer patients which will save them $1500 for MRIs and PET scans. $4.4 million for cancer infrastructure, more MRI units with Medicare-subsidized scans for cancer, stroke and heart conditions. Greg and I will talk more about this today when we make these announcements again. Two extra diagnostic mammography units, one in Hobart and one here in Launceston. No more waiting to know whether it's benign, or cancerous.
We've all sat through I suspect, either with a friend or a family member or God forbid even yourself and you've been waiting, and you've been waiting, and it's soul destroying. This investment will remove that wait, that's the practical side of this. Yes it's money and yes it's machines, but what are we investing in? Removing that anxiety and heartache that comes from not getting access to those services as quickly as you need. $24 million dollars for mental health here in Tasmania and that includes an adult mental health center here in Launceston. A centre to treat eating disorders - I know of no parent for whom eating disorders is not one of their worst nightmares, it scares the hell out of me as a parent, scares the absolute hell out of me. We all have to keep investing in the health of our children and the mental health and well-being of our children from the earliest of ages and that's why as proud that in this Budget $461 million - Greg and I are on our mission an absolute mission to tackle youth suicide and youth mental health challenges in this country - $461 million, the biggest package we've ever seen to combat youth suicide. There's no community in this country that is not affected by this. Whether it's up in Grafton with Dr Pat McGorry when not long after Greg became Health Minister there had been a youth suicide cluster. Just that phrase. Everyone in the community was at a loss and Greg and Dr McGorry - who I know well and Greg knows well - went up there and we put a Headspace in. And there has not been, to our knowledge, a further case since that occurred.
So - 30 new Headspace centres are going in around the country, as a result of $461 million we're investing in youth mental health. It’s going to make a big difference. This is going to save young people's lives, young people's lives.
$7 million for drug and alcohol support, funding for a 10 bed facility in Burnie and an eight bed residential accommodation service in Circular Head. $12.4 million for Preventative Health Research at the University of Tasmania. $92 million investing in the health care - and you know who made it happen? You did, you did.
This is why I love small and family businesses; you love what you do. You wouldn't do it if you didn't want to. You'd go work for someone else. You know, you take a wage but when you run a small business you know, you don't take a wage. You get paid last and you pay your employees first and what's left over, is what's there for you and your family. So you do it because you love it. There are so many small family businesses that are tremendously successful and we celebrate them, as we should. But when I talk to small family businesses and I ask them about their businesses and what they love about it, they often talk to me about the weddings that being to for their staff. Or the christenings, or the way they talk about that young apprentice they took on and what they're doing now, running their own show as a carpenter or something like that.
It's the role that the business, particularly in regional communities, has in enriching the life of their fellow Australians.
Your success is the country's success.
The Government is a shareholder in your business, I don’t know if you think about it like that. The better you do, the better we do. That's why we want you to succeed. That's why we've cut small and family business taxes. That's why we're cutting taxes for all Australians, because we want Australians to keep more of what they earn. Because the better they do, the better we all do. And when that happens I can come here and say; “$92 million dollars for health services here in Tasmania”. You've made this happen, we are the Government, we're channeling it we're setting the right priorities. We're getting the direction right and creating the atmosphere for you succeed and the environment for you to succeed. But the reason we can do this, is because of the strong economy you’re building and that we are building together.
That's what is at stake at this next election.
You will not build a stronger economy with higher taxes.
You will not build a stronger economy, where the harder you work, the more you get punished with tax.
You will not build a stronger economy if you try to tie up businesses with reckless emissions targets, things that drive up the price of everything.
You won't get a stronger economy from that and that means you won't get stronger health services.
Our health plan works across four key areas; access to these medical services - and I've talked about bulk-billing and regional access in the plan today - medicines and treatments, our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the physical and mental health of our country. Affordable medicines is one of our greatest achievements I think, as a Government, with over 2,000 affordable medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme which take courses of treatment – so $9 billion for example, on 130 specific cancer drugs - courses that cost hundreds of thousands and I have met the sufferers who have paid that to get access to these medicines - who now can access it for $40.50 or $6.50 for a concession holder. I think there's no greater statement of the strength of our community, our society, our nation and our economy, when we can say we can do that.
Our Government has continued to invest and list all of the medicines recommended and that didn't happen under the previous government. Why? Because they ran out of money.
If you can't manage your Budget you can't manage the health system, as Greg so often says. You can have all the virtue and good intentions you like, but if the wallet is empty you can't pay for anything.
That's why economic management and budget management is so critical. You get that. You’re business people and that's how we run the Budget; like you would. Making sure you get your costs under control. Making sure your revenue streams are sustainable. You can't have sustainable revenue streams as a Government, if you're taxing the economy out of existence. That's why we’ve kept taxes under control as much as we’ve kept expenditure under control.
In hospitals will increase the investment, in research and capability the work of the Medical Research Future Fund is changing the landscape for health care and treatment in this country. It’s something that has been another great achievement $20 billion dollars in that fund $500 million over 10 years for the Australian Genomic mission. $164 million in the Budget for clinical trials for rare cancers, rare disease and unmet needs. $80 million where I was with Greg at the Peter MacCallum Centre of Excellence on cellular immunotherapy. When I was there with Greg, I met a couple from Tassie, getting treatment right there in that facility. It's a facility for all Australians. $100 million dollars for the comprehensive Children's Cancer Centre in Sydney and a ten year medical research plan which backs Australia's 23,000 medical researchers, creating jobs and ensuring we can quickly take life-saving discoveries from the laboratory to the hospital,, to your family to save their lives, to improve the quality of their lives, to change their lives.
It is all about a strong economy at the end of the day.
That’s not a message from an economist, it's a message from patients who need health care. The best script I can write as Prime Minister to secure the health care of Australians, is a budget surplus. The best script that I can write as Prime Minister to guarantee life-saving medicines are available and affordable, is to continue to back you and small and family businesses all around the country, so our economy continues to support these incredibly important services that all Australians rely on.
So when the Labor Party or commentators say; “this election is about health”, sure, sure, yeah it is, but only a stronger economy is going to deliver that.
That's really what is at the heart of what I'm trying to say today. We have the plans to continue to invest in the health care of Tasmanians, in the north of Tasmania and right across the country, in remote Indigenous communities, to our biggest cities. The way we will do that is not through higher taxes as Josh said in the Budget fairly regularly. Yeah he did, because our plan is to grow the economy without increasing taxes, because we know by increasing taxes you slow the economy down and that puts everything else at risk.
So here in northern Tasmania we're positive, we're excited. It's not just of the Battery of the Nation that will charge up the rest of the country coming out of Tasmania, it's the entrepreneurial spirit and go-getting nature of Tasmanians, which they're really starting to see. The rest of Australia is starting to notice it, whether it's in the performance of the housing market or performance of the economy, the great leadership that Will has been providing right here in Tasmania and we're a great partnership.
We've come so far. You've come so far. Now is not the time to turn back. Now is the time to keep on with that plan that will continue to deliver the economy that you rely on, your community relies on, the country relies on.
I want to thank all of you for your hard work, investment and effort that is driving our country forward.
Thank you very much.
Condolence - Les Carlyon
2 April 2019
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister) (14:35): Mr Speaker, I rise on indulgence—indeed, in response to your own suggestion—to acknowledge the passing of Les Carlyon. Les Carlyon was a master of words. He helped Australians understand ourselves and our national story. On Gallipoli, the Great War, on the track and on the events of the day, he knew what to say. There seemed to be nothing—no person, no street scene, no world event, no horror, no joy—that he couldn't capture. Of the great horse trainer Bart Cummings, Les wrote that his eyebrows 'were a creeper in search of a trellis'. Perhaps he could have said that about one other holder of the office I now hold—and I am sure he wouldn't mind the reference! On political correctness, he said that it was 'to look at the world through a keyhole not a big bay window'.
He had words when words would fail most of us. This was never truer than when he turned his mind to chronicling some of the most turbulent and tragic events in Australia's history—the story of our First World War experiences at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. These were indeed epic works. Without them, today's Australians could never fully understand the horrors and lessons of the Great War and the sacrifice of 60,000 Australians made real for a whole new generation of Australians and generations to come. In those tomes, he never lost sight of the people who were at the centre of them. In The Great War he contemplated those hundreds of thousands of young men and said, 'We never really saw them.' So Les helped us to see them—and to know them as well.
Les died last month after a long illness, which apparently wasn't his preferred way to go. He used to say that he'd like to go by falling off a horse. He didn't get that wish. But he may have gotten the next best thing: he had his send-off at Flemington, a place that Les loved.
On behalf of this parliament, I offer our sympathy to Denise, Les's beloved wife as well as editor and researcher of his great works—a wonderful partnership in Australia's interest. And our sympathies go to his children, Richard, Patrick and Kate, and the wider Carlyon family. His pen may be down, his voice may now be silenced in this world, but his words will always stay with us. Australia has lost a fine son.
Condolence - John Herron
2 April 2019
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister) (14:25): I move:
That the House record its deep regret at the death, on 25 February 2019, of the Honourable Dr John Joseph Herron AO, a former Minister and Senator for the State of Queensland from 1990 to 2002, place on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service, and tender its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.
Dr John Herron was a surgeon, a parliamentarian and a true humanitarian. John Herron was a man of faith and a man of great compassion. The Bible speaks of those who repair the ruins, and those restorers are called 'the repairers of the breach'. Repairing the breaches—that's what he did in this place, that's what he did throughout his life, and that's what he especially did in Rwanda.
John Herron's kindness was legendary around this place. It was to John Herron, the doctor-turned-senator, that so many MPs and senators turned in the most difficult moments of their lives. He supported Labor MP Con Sciacca through the devastating loss of his 19-year-old son to cancer, and they went on to work together to support other families facing similar tragedies. When Cheryl Kernot lost her house in an arson attack in 1991, it was John Herron who reached out. Of course, John had understood what to say and do because he had watched his own house burn to the ground in 1967, leaving his family with literally just the clothes on their backs. He didn't let this place change his very essence. He was always a doctor, a father, a Catholic, a Queenslander—always trying to be authentic all the time in his life. It's why he was trusted by all in this place.
John Herron's greatest achievements, though, I don't believe were in this building, though those achievements are many and deserving of honour; they were on another continent, in Africa, in Rwanda. It was during 1994, while driving, that Senator Herron heard on the radio that Care Australia was looking for doctors to volunteer in Rwanda, a nation ravaged by one of the worst genocides in modern history—a million dead in a genocide against the Tutsi people. Rather than, as he put it, sitting around in opposition in the Senate doing nothing, he made the life-changing decision to spend the next two months in Rwanda. He saw the unimaginable, the unspeakable. He saw man's inhumanity to others. He saw murder. He saw genocide. He saw hell itself as best it can be replicated in this world. He spoke of seeing the bodies of thousands of people machine-gunned in a sports field and trucks gathering the bodies. There was cholera and dysentery. There were thousands of orphans, children as young as three, numbed by what they had seen. He experienced abject terror when child soldiers aimed their AK-47s at him.
John Herron came back to Australia a changed man, traumatised indeed by what he had witnessed. He would go on to become a fierce advocate for the establishment of the International Criminal Court. But he also suffered what he then called a nervous breakdown, crying at night and weeping for no reason. Indeed, it was PTSD. The doctor who had given so much to others paid a high price himself for his compassion.
John Herron was in many ways an accidental politician. He considered himself apolitical. As he put it: 'I never took any interest in anything outside. I didn't read the newspaper—no politics, nothing.' But, after asking a question of a Labor politician at a meeting and feeling like he got fobbed off, John Herron joined the Liberal Party. He served the party and, in time, the nation with great distinction. He was President of the Liberal Party in Queensland twice. He was a senator for Queensland for 12 years. As Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in the Howard government, he focused on and championed improving the health outcomes for Indigenous Australians.
John's service to Australia did not end when he retired from the Senate in 2002. He served as Australia's Ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See and continued to champion medical causes throughout Australia. One cause he was particularly passionate about was Down syndrome. He was instrumental in establishing Down Syndrome Queensland after his first child, Maryann, was born with that condition. John Herron touched the lives of people across at least two continents. His dedication to serving others, his love for his family and his country, and his enduring compassion for people everywhere serve as an inspiration to us all.
I extend my deepest sympathy to his wife, Jan, and their nine surviving children, as well as their extended family. To John Herron, we simply say: thank you for your service.
Condolence - Christchurch attacks
2 April 2019
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister) (14:01): I move:
That this House:
(1) expresses its condemnation of the terrorist attack on the Al Noor and Linwood Mosques by an Australian citizen in Christchurch on 15 March 2019 that claimed 50 innocent lives as they came to prayer, and our grief for and solidarity with the people of New Zealand who have suffered this terrible and appalling assault on the quiet peace of their nation;
(2) expresses our solidarity with the Muslim community of Christchurch, New Zealand and our own nation at this time of affliction;
(3) honours the courage and presence of first responders, and all who came to help in whatever way they could;
(4) abhors racism and religious intolerance, acknowledges and celebrates the diversity and harmony of our Australian people and our respect for people from all faiths, cultures, ethnicities and nationalities that has made Australia one of the world's most successful immigration nations and multicultural societies; and
(5) reaffirms our commitment as Australians to peace over violence, innocence over evil, understanding over extremism, liberty over fear and love over hate.
New Zealand is family and I welcome the deputy high commissioner, who is here with us today. They are 'fanau', as the Maori say. New Zealanders are more like us than anywhere else in the world. The atrocity in Christchurch was an attack on our family. Unimaginably, it was an attack undertaken by an Australian. We feel shock, we feel grief, we are stunned and shamed that he came from among us and grew up among us. He may be an Australian by birth and by law but his actions and beliefs betray all that is and forever will be Australian, and we denounce it absolutely. Our thoughts and our prayers, our love and support are only with those he attacked. Our Queen, who we share with our Kiwi cousins, once said this of New Zealanders: it is a country characterised by 'a sense of fairness and justice, a willingness to be outward looking and a natural compassion for others'—so true.
Australia has responded in kind. In recent weeks we have seen tens of thousands of acts of kindness. There have been prayers not just in mosques but in churches, synagogues and temples all around our country and in the quiet homes, I'm sure, of Australians. The silver fern shone on our opera house, expressing our solidarity across the ditch. Our flags were lowered, including above us here in this very chamber. Schoolchildren did drawings and wrote letters sharing their sadness. Our Muslim community here reached out, many travelling to New Zealand to assist their brethren and their sisters. At a government-to-government level we have provided every assistance you would expect us to and beyond.
New Zealand, of course, has first-class police, medical staff and first responders, but the scale of what they faced was unimaginable. It would have overwhelmed any city, particularly a city the size of Christchurch, in Australia. Australia has provided that support, and I want to thank all of those agencies at state and federal levels who were so quick to respond—our police, forensic specialists, victim support officers and intelligence analysts—where it was needed. Even now I understand counsellors from the New South Wales ambulance service are there to help the first responders.
Throughout all of this we have stood together. Last Friday, led by the Governor-General, the Leader of the Opposition and I attended the memorial service in Christchurch, joined by Lady Cosgrove, Chloe and Jenny. We were all touched by the service, by the people we met and their resolute determination to answer hate with love. One survivor who I met, Mr Farid Ahmed, who spoke at the service, said probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard someone say under such horrendous circumstances. He didn't speak of revenge, hurt or loss, even though it was his own wife who had been killed by the terrorist whilst she sought to assist him. Instead, he spoke in the great tradition of the Abrahamic faiths of forgiveness and he said he forgives—very powerful words. That's what conquers evil. That's what conquers hate. That beautiful service affirmed what we knew: that understanding will conquer division, that tolerance will always conquer fear and that love will always triumph overall. That powerful ethos reflected what I had seen in Australia when I met with Muslim leaders, including the mufti, the day after the Christchurch atrocity. Naturally there is deep and profound grief, but with grief there must also come reflection and answers. We owe that to all of those afflicted. The terrorist did live amongst us for just 45 days over the past three years. It is quite apparent that he acquired this vile radicalisation as he toured the world on a pilgrimage of hate and intolerance that met in the most tragic events for those victims.
What else must be done to keep people safe? Of course we have asked those questions and have been answering them. How do we stop social media being weaponised by terrorists? We have been responding to that question as well. We must again, as we do right now, reaffirm what we as Australians believe and the society we stand for.
This House knows, and I believe would share—I would hope—our commitment to religious freedom. It starts with the right to worship and to meet safely without fear. It means not looking over your shoulder or hiding who you are as you sit down to pray. It means to live without ridicule, to live without mocking for your beliefs and to live without violence or discrimination. Each day this House meets, it opens with a prayer. Long may that continue. Let our prayers now be for understanding, for restoration and for resolve to defy the hate and to focus on what we share, to understand, appreciate and respect the difference between us all and to perhaps agree more but to always disagree better.
At the heart of all extremism—religious, secular or political—is the inability to tolerate difference, a hatred of difference, and a hatred about the choices of others. We must strive to see the 'us' in our national life and to celebrate it, an Australian 'us' of different faiths, of different ethnicities, of different ages, genders and sexualities, an Australian 'us' that rejects the hate, the blame and contempt that grip too much of modern debate. So we pause today, and we remember and we reflect, and we resolve to renew the bonds between us. Eight centuries ago, the Muslim poet and scholar Rumi said:
We may know who we are or we may not. We may be Muslims, Jews or Christians but until our hearts become the mould for every heart we … see only our differences.
May this be a time when our hearts do mould together and where we remind ourselves of our similarities, for this is the best way we honour the 50 souls no longer with us.
Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Speech
18 March 2019
Southbank, VIC
PRIME MINISTER: Wurundjeri Peoples of the Kulin Nation.
It’s an honour to be here again at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
Last August as Treasurer I spoke about our ‘fair go economy’. I had planned to build on that theme today.
But the acts of terrorism last Friday have caused me to pause, to reflect, and to take the opportunity today to have a different conversation.
The Jewish people know what it’s like to be the victim of hate-speech, to be politically objectified.
They know the evil of race based ideology – the banality of terrorism and that the real enemy is always hatred and intolerance.
It is every citizens responsibility to break cycles of hate whenever and wherever we may see them.
I know the people in this room, and across Australia, have been horrified, devastated and ashamed about what happened in Christchurch, the attack on innocence in a place of worship - a terrorist atrocity committed by an Australian.
New Zealand is family, or whanau as Maori say.
Like family, we occasionally squabble, often tease, but always when threatened or attacked, we’ve got each other’s back.
And like family, the Kiwis are the people most like us in the world.
Even our flags speak of two nations similar but different, with intertwined histories, and futures that will always be shared.
We don’t say it enough: We are proud of our New Zealand cousins. We love them.
Many years ago, our Queen, Her Majesty, said this about the Kiwi character.
New Zealand is characterised by “a sense of fairness and justice; a willingness to be outward-looking; and a natural compassion for others”.
So true.
A country of good people with a good heart.
Here, at home, we express our solidarity.
The Silver Fern shone on our Opera House.
The New Zealand flag flew above our Government House.
Across our country, our own Southern Cross dipped in respect, above our Parliament, atop our harbour bridge.
The Australian Muslim community has offered counsellors and is providing support to the New Zealand Muslim community – along with, I’m sure support from Muslims from countries around the world.
In Christian churches and Jewish synagogues there have been prayers for our Muslim brothers and sisters, bound by our Abrahamic faiths.
And thousands of Australians, of other faiths or no faith have reached across ‘the ditch’ with love, support and prayers.
Naturally, at a government level we are providing New Zealand with every assistance they require and standing up every necessary capability here in Australia to keep our own people safe.
New Zealand has world class police, medical and forensic staff and any assistance we are providing reflects simply the scale of these atrocities.
Rightly, this is a time for grief and it is a time for reflection.
In time, we will have a better idea of how this all happened.
How did this terrorist stay in the shadows, hiding among us in plain sight?
Where and how did his vile radicalisation take place? During the last three years the terrorist spent just 45 days in Australia, travelling extensively overseas.
What laws need to change, what additional actions and precautions need to be taken?
Answers to those questions will come with time, and must.
Such questions are practical and necessary and can be posed and considered without the need for defensiveness or blame.
About a month ago, I spoke at the National Press Club about keeping Australians safe. I spoke about what we are doing in terms of keeping Australians secure: more resources for police and intelligence services; more powers; the 12 tranches of anti-terrorism legislation; our strong border protection policies and our efforts tackling illegal narcotics like ICE; and funding extensive anti-domestic violence programs.
As part of our efforts keeping Australian safe, we have a Safer Communities fund that has provided since 2016 $70 million in local community safety grants for schools, pre-schools, community organisations and local councils.
For some months now we have been working to expand this programme.
Today, I am announcing an acceleration and extension of that program, to provide $55 million in community safety grants - and for priority to be given to religious schools, places of religious worship and religious assembly.
The grants from $50,000 to $1.5 million will provide for safety enhancements such as CCTV cameras, lighting, fencing, bollards, alarms, security systems and public address systems.
When I say I believe in religious freedom - and I am one of its staunchest defenders in Parliament - I know it starts with the right to worship and meet safely without fear. This must be the first freedom we secure, to practice their faith in safety, others should follow.
Religious freedom is not just an inalienable right as free citizens. It is important to the very cohesion of our society. It is for many Australians impossible to separate their faith from their culture.
Now this announcement, along with everything else we have announced over recent years is ‘the how’ of keeping people safe – and we’ll keep investing and working on ‘the how’, because the greatest responsibility of any government is to keep Australians safe.
But today, I want to engage in a broader reflection – about how we see difference in our world, and how we manage it.
I said here in Melbourne last Tuesday, you can’t have a strong economy unless you are secure – and you can’t be truly secure if your social fabric is not strong.
The bonds between us all matter.
The rainforests in North Queensland are older than the Amazon.
Every part of this ecosystem reinforces itself.
It doesn’t grow apart, it grows together.
And so it is with countries and their peoples.
But these ties that bind us are under new pressures and are at risk of breaking.
This is not just happening in Australia – it’s happening in many countries around the world.
If we allow a culture of ‘us and them’, of tribalism, to take hold; if we surrender an individual to be defined not by their own unique worth and contribution but by the tribe they are assigned to, if we yield to the compulsion to pick sides rather than happy coexistence, we will lose what makes diversity work in Australia.
As debate becomes more fierce, the retreat to tribalism is increasingly taking over, and for some, extremism takes hold.
Reading only news that we agree with, interacting with people only we agree with, and having less understanding and grace towards others that we do not even know, making the worst possible assumptions about them and their motives, simply because we disagree with them.
This is true of the left and the right. And even more so from those shouting from the fringes to a mainstream of quiet Australians that just want to get on with their lives.
Hate, blame and contempt are the staples of tribalism, it is consuming modern debate, egged on by an appetite for conflict as entertainment, not so different from the primitive appetites of the colosseum days, with a similar corrosive impact on the fabric of our society.
Contempt, is defined by the philosophers as “the unsullied conviction of the worthlessness of another”.
The worthlessness of another!
That is where mindless tribalism takes us.
It ends in the worst of places. Last week it ended the lives of 50 fellow human beings, including children praying in Christchurch.
I agree with the American author, Arthur Brooks who has recently said, “What we need is not to disagree less, but to disagree better.”
Not disagreeing less, but disagreeing better.
When we disagree better: we engage with respect, rather than questioning each other’s integrity and morality.
Tribalists constantly seek to appropriate legitimate policy issues and public concerns as a tool to promote their separatist and exclusive agendas. To contort and misrepresent disagreement in the worst possible terms.
Immigration is a classic example.
A discussion about the level of annual migrant intake is not a debate about the value or otherwise of multiculturalism or the economic contribution of migration. It must not be appropriated as a proxy debate for racial, religious or ethnic sectarianism.
Just because Australians are frustrated about traffic jams and population pressures encroaching on their quality of life, especially in this city, does not mean they are anti-migrant or racist. To the contrary. Australians respect the positive contribution that migration has made to our country.
For the overwhelming majority of Australians concerned about this issue, this is not and never would be their motivation.
But that is how the tribalists seek to confect it, from both sides.
The worst example being the despicable appropriation of concerns about immigration as a justification for a terrorist atrocity. Such views have rightly been denounced. But equally, so to must the imputation that the motivation for supporting moderated immigration levels is racial hatred.
We cannot allow such legitimate policy debates to be hijacked like this.
Managing our population growth is a practical policy challenge that needs answers. Answers I will continue to outline as we approach the next election, from our congestion busting road and rail investments to ensuring we frame our migration programme to meet the needs of our economy, the capacity of our cities and the opportunities and needs in our regions.
We see a similar trend in relation to the debate on border protection policies.
For me this has always been about ensuring the integrity of our borders because I believe this is essential to a successful immigration programme, a view shared by many migrant communities in Australia, and preventing the horrific impact of the people smugglers trade.
I have never sought to question the compassionate motives of those who hold different views about the best way to manage Australia’s borders. I have rarely had this courtesy extended by those who who hold contrary views to my own.
As Australians we need to stand against the militant and lazy group think that distorts our public debate, stand up for our individualism and seek to think better of each other.
Part of disagreeing better, is to appreciate our differences - or to understand, in the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “the dignity of difference”.
Extremism, or in a different form fundamentalism, is simply an inability to tolerate difference.
It is to feel threatened by others who do not conform to your world view.
And it takes many forms: religious extremism, secular extremism, and political extremism.
Every terrorist attack has at its core a hatred of difference and a hatred about the choices and lives of others.
Prime Minister Ardern grasped the essence of this on Friday – when she said of the New Zealand Muslim community, “they are us”.
This was reflected in my own remarks, an attack one faith is an attack on all. An attack on innocence and peace is an attack on us all who love peace and innocence.
This is a powerful idea. No them but us.
Tribalists always want to separate us, divide us, set one Australian against another.
As Prime Minister I want to continue to bring Australians together, not set them against one another.
I want us to reject the thinking that one person’s gain is another’s loss. This is a doctrine of scarcity that betrays our social and economic prosperity and creates an environment for conflict and division.
I want to remove the demarcation lines between Australians.
I see every Australian as an individual, not part of some tribal group to be traded off against another.
And I believe, not in a tribalism that divides, but in an us that unites.
So let me affirm today what us means:
Indigenous Australians are us.
Immigrant Australians from all nationalities and backgrounds, including Chinese, Lebanese, Greek, Indian, Turkish, Vietnamese, just to name a few, are us.
Muslim Australians are us.
Christian Australians are us.
Jewish Australians are us.
Hindu Australians are us.
Atheist Australians are us.
LGBTIQ Australians are us.
Whoever you vote for - us.
Older Australians are us.
Young Australians are us.
Female Australians are us.
Male Australians are us.
Regional Australians are us.
From the bottom of Tasmania to the tip of Cape York, from Byron to Broome, all 25 million Australians are us.
We belong to each other. We stand with each other. We must love and respect each other more. That’s what we must affirm today to fight the forces that will otherwise weaken our nation.
My friends, in a few weeks time, I will visit the Governor-General and ask for an election to be held.
That election will be hard fought.
In this election I see my challenge as not to convince anyone Australian to join my side, but to convince them that as a result of what we are putting forward, we are on theirs, as individuals, whoever they may be and whatever life’s circumstances they may face.
My case is for an even stronger Australia - prosperous, safe and united.
A strong economy that can deliver the guaranteed funding for the services that Australians rely on, without increasing taxes, that would harm our economy.
We face increased uncertainty in the global economy in the year ahead. This has been true for many years now, and our Government has continued to protect and steward our economy, with records jobs growth, lower taxes, support for small and family businesses, building the infrastructure Australia needs to bust congestion and manage population growth, returning the budget to surplus and maintaining our AAA credit rating.
This strong economic management has enabled us to make more than 2000 life changing medicines affordable by listing on the PBS, deliver record levels of hospitals and schools funding and to achieve the highest level of bulk billing for Medicare in Australia’s history.
Now is not the time for economic experiments, or handing the economic wheel over to those who have been unable to demonstrate an ability to drive. This will make Australia weaker in the decade ahead, and all Australians will pay for it.
As we saw following John Howard, vote Labor once and you pay for it for a decade.
Continued responsible management of our economy will enable us to continue on with our plans to keep Australians safe, with record investments to combat domestic violence, counter terrorism in all its forms, rebuild our defence forces and respond speedily to the natural disasters of flood, drought and fire.
And our fundamental belief that one Australian does not have to fail for another to succeed, of rejecting the politics of conflict and division, we can best continue to bring Australians together, to reinforce the social fabric so important to our economic success and security as a nation.
We will continue to engage in strengthening this social fabric – in finding a bigger place for ‘us’ and a smaller place for the idea of ‘them’.
I will finish with a Maori exhortation to us all in this difficult time, Kia Kaha - stay strong. That is my plan for Australia.
Remarks, Coptic Diocese of Sydney Mass
17 March 2019
Thank you to this wonderful community, which has welcomed Jenny and my two girls our two girls, Abbey and Lily to be here today. A little bit different to the church that we’re used to, just as much noise though -
[Laughter]
At Pentecostal church as there is here in the Coptic Orthodox Church, full of celebration, full of worship, full of family and full of praise. It's truly wonderful to be here with my good friend Bishop Daniel and to also meet the other Bishop Daniel. I don’t know what the collective noun is for a group of Bishop Daniels.
[Laughter]
But whatever it is, it’s great to be here with both of you. I have appreciated the prayers and support of the Coptic community throughout my entire public life and that continues to this day. I’m very grateful for it because those prayers I know, are not just offered up for myself, but for my family as well and for our community. As I know you do also for David Coleman as well and his family, Craig and his family, Tom – who I welcome also, from Sutherland Council – and all of those who are gathered here today.
The purpose of the original invitation was extended to be here today to acknowledge and celebrate 50 years of the Coptic Church here in Australia, when Father Mina came here on Australia Day 50 years ago. I think there's something beautiful about that; greeted a handful of Coptics at the time, full of excitement about what the future would bring for them. And they met - because there was no beautiful Coptic Church like this at that time – so they met in a Salvation Army Hall. And I thought, there is something beautiful about that as well. Because just like where we are today, which was originally built as an Anglican Church and today the iconography and all of the presentation of a beautiful Coptic Church, I think it says a lot about the nature of our multicultural Australia. That whatever foundations we build upon, we built it up to what it is today; which is a tolerant, multicultural, diverse, strong society. Not a godless society, but a society of so many millions of Australians who share a faith and hold a faith.
Faith is a mystery. It’s a mystery to those who hold it and to those who don’t. What do I mean by that? Some think faith and those who hold a faith are about having some set of rules or moral superiority, or they think they’re purer than other people and things like that. But all of us know, those who have a faith, that it's quite the opposite.
A faith is something that you hold to because you understand - I believe - and you acknowledge the humility of the human condition. You understand the fragility of humanity. You understand its weaknesses. You appreciate its beauty, its strengths. But we also understand its susceptibilities and we all have those. Now I have no doubt that who have no such faith can also appreciate these things as well, it's not exclusive. But it is the thing I think, that draws those of faith, to faith. It is a fundamental understanding of our humanity and its fragility. So that draws us as individuals, seeking to understand our own existence, into our relationship in the Christian faith with our God I believe it the same motivation that draws so many others to their faiths.
But the other thing about faith is, it's just not individual understanding of humanity and fragility and weakness, but it is also about community. In Hebrews it says – and the scholars will differ I’m sure, on who the writer of Hebrews was - but I believe this is Paul and so does Bishop Daniel by the way.
[Laughter]
He said; “Forsake not,” in Hebrews, “your meeting together.” And Jesus said; “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with you.”
Faith is also about community and here we are in a community. Because from that community we know we draw strength. This is the wonderful community, it is a strong community, it is a vibrant community. But there’s no community that does not know hardship. There is not a community that does not understand grief. As Bishop Daniels said, it is not uncommon in Egypt for Copts to know the full horror of hate and violence.
It is sad when we hear from Bishop Daniel, that you get used to it. It’s something we could never really get used to, and we hope never to do. But I think that is an honest expression of what is faced by people of religious faith and in particularly the Copts in Egypt. But as we know, I think as we stand here today and we reflect on and remember and pray for and identify with those of another faiths today, those of the Islamic faith, the Cops better than anyone understand I believe, the pain and hurt and the grief that our Muslim brothers and sisters are going through in New Zealand right now and across this nation.
Yesterday I met with the National Imams Council and all I could say to them was to express my profound grief to them, as you have done this morning. As Australians right across this country will be doing; in churches yesterday, in temples, on Friday in prayers in mosques, all understanding our human fragility and how in a moment, innocence can be attacked and lost, by an act of hate.
But you know, when you go back to why Father Mina came here 50 years ago, he came here to preach and to gather together a community of hope. A hope established on this very important point, which is a message to all of those who would choose hate and a life of hate; a life of hate only ends in ruin and suffering. He came here to celebrate, as you and I and all Australians do in the faiths that we pursue, a message of love.
It says; “Do not be troubled by the world, because I have overcome them,” you know that scripture. What is meant by that is that Jesus overcame the hate, with love. That is the message of Abrahamic faiths and I believe many others; a message of love for others.
Now I can assure you and those who would seek to peddle hate and culture hate and ferment hate, in whatever place they are and from whatever motive it comes, that hate will never defeat love, because love is the basis of peace.
[Applause]
That is the victory we declare today over these horrendous and despicable events, in of all places, a place called ‘Christ church’, a place called Christchurch. We stand together, I believe as a world today, in speaking out against that.
So my prayer this morning – I’ll pray again I understand, in a moment – but the one I particularly want to share with you here is the prayers of St. Francis and I’m sure many of you will know it. It is a prayer for a troubled time, which this is.
It says: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Oh divine master, grant that I might not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, and it is in the pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying, that we are born to eternal life.”
That was the prayer of St Francis. I can't think of any better commendation to all of us as to how to respond and I want to thank the Coptic community for the way you have reached out to our Muslim community. That's what about country is all about - the respect for each other, the care and love for each other and as I said, this community knows better than most, as well as any other the hurt that they would be feeling now and out of that, we profess love.
So I thank you very much. Peace be with you.
[Applause]
Remarks, International Women's Day Women in Resources Breakfast
8 March 2019
Perth, WA
... today on International Women’s Day, a very exciting day. I also acknowledge the Noongar people, the elders past, present and emerging. Can I particularly acknowledge indigenous women today and can I acknowledge their bravery, their courage for the way that they have, over generations, over centuries, been there for their families and for their people. Indigenous women are a very special group of people in this country and earlier this week, I had the opportunity to announce the largest ever package of support in relation to domestic violence against women. And a key part of that was supporting Indigenous women in this country. And particularly here amongst the mining industry, I want to acknowledge the mining industry for the great work that they do right across - not just this state - but right across the country in supporting indigenous Australians, both with employment opportunities. But they're a great partner on these important social programs as well. A terrific partner. So I want to acknowledge the mining industry for that.
It's great to be here also amongst the mining industry on this day for a couple of reasons. First of all is because of the great achievements that I think have been achieved here in the minerals industry when it comes to the advancement of women. Now, I have been doing a bit of advancement of women lately myself. And Linda Reynolds is here as evidence and proof of that, joined by Melissa Price and Michaelia Cash. There are now seven women in my Cabinet, which is the highest number of women ever in a Cabinet in Australia's history. The fact that three of them are from Western Australia - three out of the seven - I think speaks volumes about Western Australia.
[Applause]
And so it's great to have them all in my team. They're doing a tremendous job across a range of very difficult and very important portfolios. The other reason is because I understand - my Government understands, Mathias and I understand, and Steve, and Slade, who's here as well, that... you mentioned I had two girls. That's true. And what Jenny and I want for our girls is for them to have all the choices in life that you would hope that they would have. Mathias I know he feels the same way about his family and all of us do. And for them to have those choices, something has to happen. And that is our economy has to be strong. You look around the world, where women face their biggest challenges and struggles - they're in the developing countries of the world. Prosperity brings with it its opportunities, of course it does, for every person. But it particularly brings the ability and the power to be able to increase the standing and opportunities for women around the world. And that's true here in Australia.
And so I applaud the minerals industry for doing two things. One is contributing to Australia's prosperity. Not just here in Western Australia, but all around the country. The mining industry in Australia makes Australia stronger. That's why I support it. I know there are others who don't. I know there are others at the moment who want to attack the mining industry and talk it down, say that it doesn't have a future. That's just dead wrong. When you attack the mining industry, you are attacking Australia's economic future. Whether that's in North Queensland, whether it's here in Western Australia, whether it's in the Northern Territory, it doesn't matter where you are. If you're not a friend of the mining industry in Australia, you're not a friend of prosperity in Australia. And I'm a friend of prosperity in Australia, because I know what it delivers for Australians and I know what it particularly delivers for women in Australia. A more prosperous country is a stronger society where we can invest $328 million in countering and combating domestic violence in this country, where women can start businesses, grow, take opportunity that they're seeking, take ownership of their economic future. The programs like the Esther Foundation I was at yesterday can see young women reclaim their lives, reclaim the things that have been taken from them, by having the support of a generous society, because they raise their funds from a generous community and they're supported by us as well. So, a more prosperous country is good for Australia and it's particularly good for Australian women. And to have a more prosperous country, you've got to have, in this country, a very strong minerals sector. So, that's the other reason I was very keen to be here today.
One of the other female members of my Cabinet, Kelly O'Dwyer, said at the Press Club last year, our Minister for Women, “Gender equality isn't about pitting girls against boys.” See, we're not about setting Australians against each other, trying to push some down to lift others up. That's not in our values. That is an absolutely Liberal value, that you don't push some people down to lift some people up. And that is true about gender equality too. We want to see women rise. But we don't want to see women rise only on the basis of others doing worse. We want everybody to do better, and we want to see the rise of women in this country be accelerated to ensure that their overall pace is maintained. So Kelly said, "It isn't about pitting girls against boys or women against men. It's not about conflict," she said. "It's about recognising that girls and women deserve an equal stake in our economy and our society." And that's what we're achieving and we still have a long way to go. It's a powerful message that we all need to understand.
CME, in its efforts to highlight the achievements of women, particularly through the Women in Resources Awards, is to be something to be absolutely commended. I'm looking forward to meeting some of the nominees today. The Inspiring Girls Initiative, which connects female students with women working in this industry, I think, is a tremendous initiative, showing them the range of opportunities that they can grab if they want a career in mining and energy. And we want to ensure that they have the opportunity to have careers in this industry and in so many others. A job-creating economy will make our families stronger, it will make our communities stronger.
Last year, we released the landmark Women's Economic Security Statement. It's about backing women to boost their skills and employability, start their own businesses, and importantly give women more options to secure their financial independence when they need it, whether they are starting a career, a family, or in retirement. Increased flexibility for paid parental leave. Supporting entrepreneurship opportunities for women, and the STEM program for girls. And allowing catch-up superannuation contributions if returning to work after a break for family reasons. The Women's Economic Security Statement has been the next instalment of our delivering for women across Australia. The record level of female participation in the workforce, the record low in the gender pay gap in Australia, the record number of women going into jobs - more than half of the 1.2 million jobs, well over half, have gone to women. As our economy has grown, women have been going faster in terms of securing those opportunities, which we always want to see them achieve.
Now, Karen Andrews is one of the other female members of our Cabinet, and to the great thrill, I think, of most in this room, she's also an engineer.
[Laughter]
And they're the women we have in our team. From different backgrounds. Great skills. In business, in law, in the community, in the military, right across our team you will find women who have brought great skills and abilities. And we're selecting more, particularly since last August, and we've had 19 women now who have been selected as candidates. And coming into the Senate, Wendy Askew, from Tasmania, will be joining Mathias and the team when we're back in Parliament. She's formally taken up that position now. I'm pleased to see that happen. Of course, we've got further to go, but the women in our party who are achieving particularly out here in the west have been blazing the trail. And I know so many will follow in the trail that they've created for women in our Party. And my commitment as the leader of this Party is to ensure that continues and for it to gain momentum, for it to get stronger. I think that's the record I've demonstrated since taking over the job last year. I only want to see that continue to grow into the future.
So I wish everybody a very happy International Women’s Day and to remind everyone that the great state of Western Australia is a state that has for so long in our country driven out prosperity and we need to ensure that continues in this state and you cannot do that unless you’re prepared to back the mining and resources industry in this country. If you’re not prepared to do that, you’re not prepared to back prosperity in this country. You’re not in a position to be able to support the services that Australian rely on and women rely on. How have we got the highest ever level of bulk billing in Medicare in Australia’s history? Because we’ve got a strong economy. How have we got 2,000 medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for ovarian cancer, breast cancer, all of these incredibly life-destroying illnesses? Because we’ve got a strong economy. And so my plan is to focus on ensuring that we have a strong economy in the future, because I believe that will advance women’s interests here in this country and the program we’ve got to accelerate women’s interest in this country will only see a stronger future for my girls, for all of your girls and all the girls who are here. Happy International Women’s Day.
AFR Business Summit Address
5 March 2019
Sydney, NSW
Thank you very much, it’s a great pleasure to be here. Can I acknowledge the traditional owners, their elders past and present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge any ex-servicemen or women who are with us today and those who are serving still. Could I acknowledge also Simon Birmingham, the Trade Minister who’s here with us this morning, and Simon is here fresh back from signing the Free Trade Agreement up in Indonesia yesterday. It’s wonderful that you’re able to join us this morning, Simon, and of course Peter Costello, a predecessor of my own Treasury portfolio. Ten surpluses, we’re looking forward to adding to that tally in a months’ time when Josh hands down his first budget, which will be a surplus and that’ll be the first time that’s happened in 12 years. It’s a long way back when the country takes a different course and we’ll be able to say that we’ve righted that course when we set up at the budget this year. I also want to acknowledge the support of BHP for this AFR Business Summit.
This year’s Summit has, rightly, put trust at the centre of discussions. Trust is the currency of a strong and prosperous economy. We all have a stake in ensuring high public trust in our economic institutions and it’s no secret that big business, in particular, finds itself under unprecedented scrutiny. The need to restore trust with customers, employees, the suppliers, the wider community is preoccupying boardrooms all across Australia.
As former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has written, high trust societies are richer, they’re happier, not least because trust enables efficient trade and commerce by allowing markets to function better and I think Stephen hit that right on the head when he said that. On the other hand, low levels of trust generate pressure for more laws to regulate business activities and practices. Trust is also the currency of politics, our public discourse and our policy decision-making. The public, rightly, want to assess your record. They want to assess your plans. They want to know what you believe. They want to know about what you seek to do in the future and your basis is or your claims to what you want to achieve. And with the election approaching, Australians are beginning to focus on the choice that is in front of them. They are beginning to focus on the records, the beliefs and the plans of the alternatives and what the means, importantly, for the economy that they will live in for the next decade.
I just want to pause on this point. The next election, just like in 2007, will have a profound impact on the economy that Australians and families and small family businesses all around the country, it will impact on the economy they will live in. The economy is not a theory, it’s something that affects every day of your life. And just one term of a Labor Government can change the economic course and the economy each and every Australian will live in.
So, I welcome this scrutiny. I think it’s time for that scrutiny. Our Government, of course, has been under that scrutiny, as it should. We are the Government. But equally, as you go into an election, it’s important that the alternative plans are put under the same scrutiny and an understanding of what the impacts are for the decade ahead. Labor can do a lot of damage. They only need one term – only one term to really stuff it up. We had two terms we’ve had to fix over the last six years and will have a profound effect on the next decade. So, I welcome this scrutiny because the Coalition does have a strong record – a clear set of beliefs and I welcome it because the Coalition has a strong record, clear beliefs and a comprehensive plan to keep our economy strong, to keep Australians safe, and to continue to bring Australians together. Scrutiny will be important more than ever this year because the stakes are higher than ever, as they always are in every election. The contrast between the economic plan of the Coalition and Labor, as I said, is greater than it has been, I think, in 40 years – in a generation and more.
In the past, there was at least some degree of convergence on our economic direction as a country. There was broad recognition about the modernisation of Australia’s economy resting on some key pillars – balanced budgets, competitive tax rates, low inflation, competition reform, enterprise bargaining, trade, opening it up, playing to our economic strengths including, can I stress, our traditional sectors in agriculture, in resources, in forestry, in mining. Things that we don’t shy away from as a Government, that we understand their critical importance to the future of our economy. We don’t think it’s a good thing when any of these sectors face markets with strong headwinds. We don’t think that’s wonderful like the Labor Party does. The dividend for Australian households from this economic modernisation has been substantial over the last 30 years. Between 1960 and 1991, the Australian economy had six recessions. Since 1991, Australia has enjoyed 27 years of uninterrupted economic growth – this is an extraordinary achievement. It is arguably our most significant national achievement. Half the Australians voting at this election – half, more than half – will never have experienced a recession during their working life. They would never have had to face 18 per cent interest rates as they look for a mortgage, as they started a young family. They would have never had been in a job market where there was a recession and looking for a job or trying to keep their job or looking for their wages. It would have never happened. More than half. So, it’s important that we understand the economy is real and it has real implications for every single Australian and if you make the wrong calls, then that will punish Australians – every household, every business, each and every Australian.
Our real GDP has grown faster than any other advanced economy over that period. Real GDP per capita has risen around 60 per cent since the early 1990s. This compares with an average rise of 44 per cent in the US, Japan, Germany, Canada and the UK. We’ve seen strong income growth across the income distribution sector. In the context of globalisation and rapid technological change, this has been a singular achievement of what I have called ‘the modern Australian compact’. A compact where the tax-transfer system reduces income inequality in Australia by more than 40 per cent, according to the official statistics of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. A compact where the top 10 per cent of taxpayers pay almost half of personal income tax and where the bottom 10 per cent of households by income has achieved the highest income growth of any group since the Global Financial Crisis. These are facts about our economy. This is the truth about what is happening in our economy. Not the myths, not the fairy tales, not the sentimental stories, but the hard facts of what is happening in our economy. A compact where, according to Peter Whiteford from the Australian National University, social security benefits are targeted to the poor more than in any other high-income country today.
We have a good system, we do have a fair system and the facts back that up. Over the past five and a half years and in the wake of a massive fall in mining investment, our Government has worked to sustain economic growth and secure a more diversified economy. Let’s not forget that mining investment boom moved $80 billion out of the Australian economy. To fall off the edge of the mining investment boom was a far more devastating factor impacting our Australian economy than the GFC. And over that period of time, as it impacted incomes significantly, we have been able to ensure the economy has continued to grow and, importantly, we have maintained our AAA credit rating throughout that entire period at a time that it has been under greatest threat.
Speaking of trust, we pledged to create one million jobs five and a half years ago. And we met that target before time, and we exceeded it. More than 1.2 million jobs have been created since 2013 in September. Those jobs were created by businesses – by growing a stronger economy, businesses were able to grow and employ people. In 2013 under Labor, unemployment was at 5.7 per cent and going that way, north. Today, it is 5 per cent, what some call the natural rate, and Australia’s jobs growth is now faster than in all G7 countries. Our employment to population ratio for those aged 15 to 64, the working age population, is at a record 74.2 per cent. This is the best result since records began more than 40 years ago. More people of working age are in work than in any other time in our history and as you can see in the chart, it’s been a long way back.
The female participation rate is at a record high. So too is the participation rate for Australians aged over 65. Welfare dependency is at the lowest level for three decades. More people in work, less people on welfare – that’s what Coalition economic policy delivers. Armed with this record, we have now set ourselves the goal of creating another 1.25 million jobs over the next five years – that’s my jobs pledge to the Australian people. And as you’ve just heard from the record, that is a claim, a pledge that we can make with some credibility. At the same time, we have fixed the budget mess we inherited in 2013 and turned the corner on debt and maintained our AAA credit rating. When we came to office, the budget had a deficit of $47 billion, or a 3 per cent share of the size of our economy.
In 2019-20, the Budget will finally return to surplus. It hasn’t been an easy path, it has been a long road back to both fiscally consolidate while at the same time growing the economy when there had been [inaudible] of mining investment in the country. These are the three things that had to be very carefully managed. Our discipline, fiscally, will ensure these surpluses exceed 1 per cent of GDP over the medium term. Real spending growth under our Government is at the lowest level for half a century – more than 50 years of any Government. The hard work of getting the budget back into surplus though is only the start – we need to restore the balance sheet to where it was prior to the GFC so that we’re well placed to handle whatever the global economy throws at us in the future.
The buffers that were created by the Howard-Costello Government, not just the fiscal ones but the regulatory ones around our banking and financial system, were the critical factors that ensured that we were able to move through the GFC at the time. And we need to get back into that space. The Government is committed to eliminating net debt over the next decade and it will take that long and it will be quite a challenge to achieve. This should now be the focus of our government’s fiscal management and it will be, paying down the debts of the past in order to grow the economy of tomorrow. That is our intergenerational pledge – securing our future by keeping a lid on taxes and restraining expenditure to support confidence right across the economy and, in particular, amongst business.
Obviously, the finishing line of zero net debt is in the distance, but we need to stay the course. In the same way, we will steadfastly work toward getting ourselves back in the balance. We will work steadfastly to achieve this goal also. So, this is not a time to experiment with economic management. We has seen these experiments before under Labor. They don’t end well for anybody. Our proven track record on the economy is one that we’ve worked hard to achieve over the last five and a half years. It honours the legacy of that which we’ve inherited from the Howard-Costello Government. And we’ve maintained it, and we need to maintain this course. Why? Because, as we know, in recent months, the global economy has slowed, the risks have risen, at least compared with those we’ve faced in last 18 months or so.
Both the IMF and World Bank have lowered their global growth forecasts since our mid-year update. The World Bank warns of darkening skies given global financing conditions have tightened, industrial production has moderated and the threat of protectionism remains high. There are a few own goals out there in the global economy. It warns that a simultaneous sharp slowdown in both the United States and China could have severe consequences for the global outlook and these are very obvious points. Meanwhile, domestically, we have seen dwelling prices fall in our major capitals, a correction, with prices down 10.4 per cent in Sydney and 9.1 per cent in Melbourne. The Reserve Bank Governor has been able to put these into context. We have been able to achieve, I think, a soft lending to date in the housing market. It was very over-heated, particularly in the Sydney and Melbourne markets, we know that and the measures and factors that have been in play have ensured that softening. Had it been a hard landing, the implications for our economy we all understand would have been quite dire.
This only underlines why we can’t take Australia’s unbroken run of economic growth for granted. Why we must do more to make our economy even stronger. Why we have taken the hard work of rebuilding the Budget position. Prudent fiscal management has allowed us to turn the Budget around while also I should stress investing record levels in defence, in health, in aged care, in education, all essential services that Australians rely on. Our investments in all of these essential services – 2,000 affordable medicines on the PBS without increasing taxes. The investments that I’ll announce today on domestic violence, important, bi-partisan commitments. The only difference is, I’ll be announcing them without increased taxes.
Education funding at record levels, bulk billing for Medicare at record levels without increasing taxes. I believe the way you control expenditure is actually controlling how much you tax. We should only take from the Australian public, from their efforts, as much as we absolutely need to deliver those essential services that Australians rely on. We shouldn’t have to take more in the event that you can’t manage all your other expenditure, which is what we see the Labor Party do. Why are they going to tax you more? Because they can’t manage the budget, so we’ll just tax them to cover up for all the other wasted expenditure.
That’s why we’re not raising taxes because we’ve kept a tension on the cord across all other levels of spending. This has allowed us to unlock the largest infrastructure pipeline in terms of our economic management and what we’ve invested in. Our $75 billion infrastructure plan is delivering much needed growth and nation-building capacity to all parts of Australia. In many ways, it’s been filling the gap left by the retreat in mining investment. That means less congested roads in our urban areas, so families can spend more time with each other, rather than get stuck in traffic. The new Western Sydney International, I’m pleased to say the Nancy-Bird Walton Airport which we announced yesterday, is breaking a deadlock that has eluded governments for generations, decades upon decades upon decades.
Our $5 billion investment in Tulla Rail in Melbourne will transform and reshape that city. A new Inland rail network for Eastern Australia will enhance the national freight network – creating jobs, reducing supply chain costs and connecting cities and regional Australia to markets faster, safer and more efficiently. Snowy 2.0, MarinusLink and Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation will not only create jobs where we need them but it will firm Australia’s record investment in renewable energy for the future so there won’t be dumping and shedding of renewable energy from the grid and will put downward pressure on electricity prices.
A big part of keeping Australians together is opening up new opportunities in regional Australia – through this better infrastructure, digital connectivity and the like. Our Government is determined that Australia grows together, not apart, and the key to that is the strength of our economy. All these investments are being fully funded as I said without an increase in taxes. The Coalition has embedded Australia into the major economic engines of our region through transformational trade agreements with Japan, Korea, China, and 10 other nations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and we now include Indonesia where Simon has just returned from inking that agreement.
Since the Coalition was elected, the coverage of our free trade agreements has increased from 26 per cent of our total two-way trade to 70 per cent. 26 per cent to 70 per cent – that is a massive opening up of our trade opportunities for small and family businesses in particular around Australia. New export deals have given Australian exporters duty-free or preferential access to an extra 1.8 billion customers in the world’s fastest and largest growing markets. This is the most effective hedge an open trading economy like Australia can adopt against the new protectionist sentiment prevailing around the world. And that I think is where Australia has a story, often going against the grain and ensuring that we’re opening up our opportunities where others might be seeking to close them off.
But there is more to do. As I said, an uncertain global economic outlook means Australia’s economic fortunes will depend even more on the quality of our economic management. We will continue to be an ambitious, pro-growth government, supporting individuals, families and businesses looking to get ahead and prosper. We’re all for that. We don’t think you have to pull some people down to raise other people up. That’s not our view. We believe a stronger economy can raise everybody up and I think that’s one of the key differences between our Government and the Labor Party and what they’re offering for the next election.
We will stay the course with policies that achieve this and we will ensure that those policies, our plan for a stronger economy, is in place. Strong budgets so Governments live within their means. Lower taxes, open trade, backing small businesses, promoting cooperative workplaces based on the rule of law, sensible climate policy alongside reliable, affordable energy supply. Investing in infrastructure, investing in the skills that are necessary, backing all of our industries to be world-class – not just the shiny, bright new ones – they’re fantastic, love them, they’re great, love them, fantastic, Blockchain, high tech, all of them are doing so well – but so is resources, so is agriculture, so is forestry and the jobs that they produce all around the country. It’s an incredibly important part of our economic future.
What we also won’t do is we won’t tax this economy beyond what it can bare. I put in place as Treasurer a tax cap – 23.9 per cent of the economy. This is important. That says that we believe if you go above that, you hold you economy back. It’s a sheet anchor. It holds every Australian back. I urge you to look for a number when the budget comes out and when the Labor Party puts their figures forward. What will be in the share of taxes of the economy under Labor? I can tell you what is was for the last election – it was 25.7 per cent. That meant around $50 billion a year in more tax on the Australian economy – every year, another $50 billion. And whether you’re paying that tax or not, you’re paying because of the impact it has on slowing the economy, the impact it has on slowing wage growth in a country. They have a plan to put $200 billion of extra taxes on Australians and I really don’t think they understand the impact of that on the economy. All the individual measures. It doesn’t understand the power and virtue of aspiration in our society. For our hardest aspiration is some other country, not Australia. That’s what Labor’s Deputy Leader has said as much – that’s what Tanya Plibersek has said.
Labor under Bill Shorten sneers at those who want to get ahead and only promises them a higher tax burden. If you work additional overtime to get ahead, Mr Shorten wants more from you, he wants higher taxes from you. If you buy an investment property to secure your family’s economic future, which so many small and family business owners do, which so many people who live in regional parts of the country do – you know there’s more people who negatively gear investments and have investment properties in the electorate of Capricornia based on Rockhampton than there is in my own electorate of Cook in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire and St George. More people in Rockhampton than in Cronulla. Labor doesn’t get that. They don’t understand the aspiration that would lead someone to make that decision and that sacrifice to invest in their future.
If you buy some shares for your retirement, again, Mr Shorten will have his hand in your pocket through higher capital gains taxes. If you try to build a nest egg to pass on to your kids, again, he’ll have his hand in your pocket. Mr Shorten even wants to ensure that our legislated tax cuts - $144 billion worth over the life of our tax plan will be cut in half. Stripped away. He will reverse the tax cuts that we have legislated from last year’s budget – reverse stages two and three of that plan that will stop over $70 billion worth of tax cuts. Australians being able to keep their own money.
There are many other things that I could tell you about, but I know Phil Coorey’s interested in asking me a few questions. But let me finish on two points. I’ve already made the point about trade and the fact that the Labor Party is baulking again on this Indonesian Trade Agreement I think tells you that when it comes to the economy, their instincts just aren’t there. It’s why the China Free Trade Agreement was never completed under the Labor Party. They never took it forward. They were never able to break through. It’s why we are able to make progress on all of those agreements including the Indonesian one today, there’s a simple reason for that. They’re not in control. They will answer to their masters in the union at the end of the day. That’s why we are looking at an economy under Labor which will see [inaudible] run their businesses, through to moving back to industry-wide bargaining which takes us back to the dark ages of workplace relations in this country.
As I move around the country and I walk in and out of small and family businesses and I ask myself why are they doing so well? It’s because they have such a wonderful relationship between their staff and the managers and owners. There’s a commonality of purpose that exists in these organisations. They’re all working to the same end. I don’t want to set Australians against each other. I don’t want to set workers against bosses. I don’t want to set one group of Australians who have had success in life against those who are aspiring to success in life. I don’t want to set enterprise in this country against anything. What I want to do is ensure that the economy, the economy that Australians live in, that they depend on, that their family’s services will rely on, whether it’s Medicare or hospitals or schools, I want to ensure, and will ensure, that it is the strongest it can possibly be in the circumstances that we are faced with.
So, it will be the most important election in decades. It certainly will. And there is a big choice to make and it’ll impact the next 10 years of your life. Whether you’re a business, whether you’re raising a family, whether you’re in retirement or entering into retirement, whether you’re a young person coming out of university, I was one of those who entered the economy under Labor in the 1990s that went into recession. I am one of those who does know what it’s like to live in an economy that is in recession and I did so as a young person coming out of university and others of my generation who knew what that was like. Why parents struggled with interest rates that today’s generation can only imagine. We can’t go back to that. We must go forward and we have the plan to take Australia there.
Thank you very much.
Remarks, Western Sydney International Airport naming
4 March 2019
Badgerys Creek NSW
Thank you very much, Paul. It’s a great pleasure to be here with Premier Gladys Berejiklian and all of our distinguished guests today but, particularly, the Holman family who are the descendants of Nancy-Bird Walton, who we’re here to honour today. Can I also honour the Traditional Owners, the Darug people, and elders past and present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge and honour any Australian servicemen and women, either current who are serving or those who are veterans as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have some prepared remarks today which I very much want to share with you. Many great Australians have looked out across our desert expanses or mountain wildernesses and felt adventure calling. And today, we celebrate someone who answered that call. A sky-high moment in Australia’s aviation history is happening right here in Western Sydney. It’s with great pride that as a people, we officially name in honour of one of Australia’s greatest pioneering aviators, the Western Sydney International Airport the Western Sydney International Nancy-Bird Walton Airport.
[Applause]
But let me tell you why because that’s what’s really important. Australia’s story is a tremendous one and it is the story of so many amazing women in our country. We think back to the times out this way – Angus will know about this – to Elizabeth Macarthur, the pioneer of Western Sydney well before today’s times. Right through, it is the story of amazing women.
As a young girl in the 1920s, Nancy-Bird would gaze out and dream of flight. At 17, clutching her life’s savings of 200 pounds, she arrived at Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s new flying school at Mascot. She spent long days in training and it paid off. She became the youngest woman in the Commonwealth, not just in Australia but in the Commonwealth, to obtain her commercial license. Leading for Australia and leading for women all around the world. But then, for 400 pounds, she bought a Gipsy Moth and she described it as a rattle trap. And from that point, she was truly free as a bird.
Nancy-Bird once described the joy of flying as utter solitude and utter responsibility. You have time to think, she said, time to see, as she put it, how insignificant the scratches man has made upon the surface of this great world. For her great joy invited great risk and it did demand bravery. Barnstorming affairs and race meets across New South Wales and country areas was a death-defying calling. Think about it – a rickety plane brought to life by the spin of a propeller. Wings so fragile, you could put your foot clean through while hopping in. Weather so hot, a bit like today, it shrank the wood and boiled the fuel. Nancy-Bird’s only instruments of navigation were a compass, a watch and a map. But as much as she loved the sheer adventure of flying, Nancy-Bird had more to offer than a daring do. When Reverend Stanley Drummond asked her in 1935 to form the first Air Ambulance for the Far West Children’s Health Scheme, flying nurses in and out of Bourke, she immediately agreed. She served in the Women’s Air Training Corps throughout the Second World War and later devoted herself to numerous charitable works here and abroad, while raising her two young children – one of whom is with us her today – with her husband Charles.
It is now 10 years since her death and Nancy-Bird Walton lived to the age of 93. She had a gift for leadership and bringing people together. She was utterly charming, as I knew from first-hand experience when I met her on several occasions. So, I’m sure this hero of the Australian skies would be proud that the airport named in her honour will be providing much opportunity and enrichment to the workers and families of Western Sydney.
The Australian Government is investing, as you know, $5.3 billion in this airport plus $2.9 billion in surrounding road works, with the project supporting over 11,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction period and 28,000 full-time jobs within five years of opening, delivering real, long-term benefits to the Western Sydney community. We’re looking at an airport twice the size of Kingsford Smith, which I’m sure Nancy-Bird would have appreciated, with a projected 10 million passengers annually by 2031. And already as you can see around us, it is propelling investment and economic growth in the region. Billions of dollars of road and rail projects have been planned and delivered. The Western Sydney International Nancy-Bird Walton Airport will be an economic game-changer for one of the fastest growing regions in our nation. So how appropriate is it that in the Sydney of 2026, when operations begin, two of Australia’s iconic aviators and pioneers, Nancy-Bird Walton and Charles Kingsford Smith, will be flying side by side here in Sydney.
This project is a project of our government and would not be able to be made possible without the incredible partnership our government has had with the New South Wales Government and I want to commend Gladys Berejiklian as Premier and as a previous Transport Minister and as a Treasurer, in all of these roles, has been so supportive of this project – not just what happens here on site, but what has to happen around this site to ensure the Western Sydney International Nancy-Bird Walton Airport is not just a Western Sydney Airport, which is its primary function, but is an airport for Sydney more broadly and the nation. Gladys has shown tremendous leadership on this project and has been a wonderful and willing partner as we’ve gone about the job of making this a reality.
You want to know what vision looks like? You’re looking at it here at this airport. You’re looking at it right here and it’s taken the teamwork of the Liberal-National Government at both a Commonwealth and a state level to make it a reality. I want to thank very much – I’m sure Michael McCormack would agree as the Deputy Prime Minister – I want to thank Gladys and her team for their wonderful partnership. May it long continue. Gladys Berejiklian, Premier of New South Wales. Thank you.
Press Conference - Sydney, NSW
28 February 2019
Sydney, NSW
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you for coming together this morning. I'm pleased to announce that I'll be recommending to the Governor-General that Ms Ita Buttrose be appointed the next chair of the ABC. The ABC plays an extremely important role in Australian life and has done for generations. It's an important Australian institution and we have seen that time and again and most recently we have seen that in the fires and the floods that have once again ravaged our nation over the summer period. It's the ABC that those who have been stricken by those disasters have turned to in their times of need to get the information and reliable news services that they have needed to cope with these debilitating disasters. But that's not the only role, of course, that the ABC plays. It plays a pervasive role throughout Australian life from our youngest to our oldest. All across the generations. And we have all had our own direct association and wonderful stories that we can tell about the ABC. So when you ask someone to take on the role as chair of the ABC, it needs to be someone you know to be trusted with that important institution. And in asking Ms Buttrose to take on this role, that's exactly who I believe we have been able to find. I'm very appreciative of her willingness to take on this role. Ita, as we know, I hope she doesn't mind me being informal…
ITA BUTTROSE: Not at all.
PRIME MINISTER: …has the strength, the integrity and the fierce independence that she is known for to take stewardship of this important Australian institution. But it is not just her extensive experience in publishing and broadcasting which equips her for this role as we know. As a former Australian of the Year, Ita's experience, whether it comes to her support for causes like Alzheimer's, arthritis, AIDS, the Smith Family, the arts, the environment, these are all issues over her professional roles both in broadcasting and journalism as well as her roles outside of those undertakings, she's demonstrated a passion, a deep knowledge and empathy for very much in line, I think, with the views and the wishes and concerns of Australians. But the other thing that I think really sets Ita apart is this: The reason she has been so successful - in publishing, in broadcasting, is she has always put her viewers, her listeners and her readers first. And you know what? That's what the ABC needs to do too. It's about their viewers, it's about their listeners, it's about their readers, and the services they provide to Australians. And in Ms Buttrose we have someone who has demonstrated throughout her career that the best way to run a broadcasting and publishing organisation is to focus on the people for whom it's for - which is the readers and the viewers, and the listeners to the ABC. Australians trust Ita. I trust Ita. And that's why I have asked her to take on this role and I'm absolutely thrilled that she has accepted our ask to take on that role and I want to congratulate her on her pending appointment obviously subject to the Governor-General and those processes we followed in the normal way. Thank you very much, Ita. I'm going to ask the Minister to make a few comments and then we'll ask Ms Buttrose to make a few.
SENATOR THE HON MITCH FIFIELD, MINISTER FOR COMMUNCATIONS AND THE ARTS: Thank you, Prime Minister. The ABC is an important cultural organisation. It is one of the important underpinnings of media diversity in Australia. It represents a significant Commonwealth contribution to civic journalism. The ABC informs us, it entertains us, it's close to the community particularly in rural and regional Australia and despite some difficulties, this important work has continued. Ita Buttrose is uniquely qualified to chair the ABC. She has worked in every form of media. She has worked as a journalist, she's worked in management, she's worked as an editor. Ita Buttrose is someone that Australians know, she's someone that Australians trust. Ita is the right person to chair the ABC at this time and, Ita, can I wish you well and congratulate you as well.
ITA BUTTROSE: Thank you so much. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Chair-designate?
ITA BUTTROSE: Thank you for those kind words, Prime Minister and Mitch Fifield. I am very honoured to have been asked to chair the ABC. I consider it one of the most important cultural and information organisations in our country and I'm - I'm honoured to be asked to lead it into the future. It is a voice of the Australian people, I think it reflects our identity, it tells our stories, it tells our stories not just here in Australia but to the rest of the world, and I have grown up with the ABC. I'm a devoted listener to the ABC. I start my day with ABC news radio - I don't leave home without it, I’ve got the App on my phone. My father worked at the ABC for a number of years and when he retired, he was assistant general manager. So, I do know the culture at the ABC particularly well and I wish my dad was still alive to see me here today but he's not. So I'm a passionate believer in the independence of the ABC. And I will do everything in my utmost power to make sure it remains that way.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Ita, Let's take some questions on this matter. As usual I know there’ll be other questions on political matters of the day and given the fierce independence of the ABC, I won't impose on the chair-designate to be here for those questions and you might excuse Ita at that point. Yes?
JOURNALIST: Can I just ask Prime Minister why was there spending, why has the government spent money on recruiters and head hunters, if only the government has really gone against their advice with this appointment?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the Labor Party put in place a process when they were in government which was this independent process of the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet appointing a panel. And that panel undertakes that process at complete arm's lengths from the government. I have no involvement in it, the Minister has no involvement in it. They appoint the recruiters who are involved and provide the terms for those recruiters. So, the Labor Party set up a process, we have followed that process, but where I don't believe that process actually meets the requirements, then the government of the day has the ability to make the right appointment and that's what I have done today.
JOURNALIST: Ita, you have worked for Kerry Packer as a boss. You know you'll be working for the Australian public as your boss. Which do you think is the more terrifying prospect?
[Laughter]
ITA BUTTROSE: I don't have a problem with the Australian public. I believe the main shareholders of the ABC are the Australian public. I have always had a very good communication with them and I think through the ABC we'll be able to continue that conversation. The ABC does it very well. It does it much better than the commercial networks.
JOURNALIST: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the ABC at the moment?
ITA BUTTROSE: I think the most important - and in my role as chair, I think my most important role is to restore stability to the management of the organisation, to reassure the staff that life will go on as usual and to reassure the board who has also been through a period of unrest that, you know, it's time to get - it's time to get the ABC functioning again with proper stable management and good frank discussion between the chair and whoever is the managing director. If there's not a close relationship between the chair and the managing director, you cannot make an organisation work efficiently and well.
JOURNALIST: Ita, did you apply for the role when it became available and if not why not?
ITA BUTTROSE: No, I didn't.
JOURNALIST: Why didn't you?
ITA BUTTROSE: Well, I just didn't. Maybe that was a mistake on my part, but I just didn't do it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said on Monday that you knew Ita for years, is this a captain’s pick and can you assure the public that you won't be leaning on that relationship when it comes to matters of editorial and you will go through the formal complaints process?
PRIME MINISTER: That's the process I have always followed by the way. And from time to time I have had my complaints with the editors and I have dealt with them through those processes and I have been able to find some satisfaction in how those processes are followed. It hasn't been uncommon for the ABC to actually issue apologies to me in the past on air, in fact, and so I followed those processes and always will continue to. I respect the independence of the ABC as our Government always has, and in the new chair-designate, I know there will be a fiercely independent chair and who, I think, commands great respect for the Australian people when it comes to the integrity of the journalistic process. And that means getting facts right. It means getting things right and that's why I have great confidence in making this recommendation to the Governor-General. So, you know, we'll continue to follow that Process and I was very pleased to invite Ita to consider this role earlier this year and I'm thrilled that she's taken up the challenge.
JOURNALIST: Ita, do you believe the ABC requires more funding to fulfil its commitments to the Australian people?
ITA BUTTROSE: I haven't been through the accounts yet. I haven't discussed anything with the acting managing director or with the acting chair. And I need to look at those things. I need to look at those figures and see what's what. I'm aware what the current funding is, but, look, let me assure you that if I think there is a need for more funding, I won't be frightened to ask for it.
JOURNALIST: With the acting managing director, one of the key jobs of the chair is to find a CEO who is going to be running it. How does that process go? Does the acting managing director already have the inside track on that or is it generally an open field in your mind?
ITA BUTTROSE: Well it would be an open field. I mean, I know that the acting managing director has applied and his hast is in the ring, but the applications for the managing director role do not close until tomorrow, March 1, yeah, tomorrow. And so, therefore we'll have to look at the acting managing director's credentials in line with all the other people that have applied. I'm assuming there are quite a few.
JOURNALIST: Is there a leaning to keep someone internal given Mr Anderson’s long experience at the ABC?
ITA BUTTROSE: I have not had that discussion with anyone.
JOURNALIST: And Ita, In terms of your digital experience, some people say you haven't been a full time media executive for a while, what’s your knowledge of how the landscape has changed for media companies given Facebook and Google's dominance?
ITA BUTTROSE: Well, I think anyone working in the media knows the impact that digital has had on all our operations in whatever line field, whatever line of media work we're in. And I think it's - I actually think it's improved, opened so many new doors for all of us, things we can now do that we couldn't do before, that the fact that we can have instant communication is something that's really excited me. When I started as a very young journalist, it used to take 40 hours to fly film out from London before we even knew if we had a decent shot. Look at what we can do now. I think I have never been frightened of what technology offers to us in the media. It is the way of the future. We all know that. And the ABC has a part of that and it's already working very hard in this field and I don't intend that it shouldn't keep doing so. We have a right to be there. It is the way of the future and the ABC must have that future.
JOURNALIST: There is a loud view by some of the community that the ABC is a nest of left-wing vipers in terms of its journalism that it doesn't represent - I see nods and smiles from the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm just amused.
JOURNALIST: What is your take on it?
ITA BUTTROSE: 80 per cent of Australian’s say we're unbiased. 80 per cent of Australians say that they trust our news more than they trust any other kind of information. So we must be doing something right. But look, there's always room for improvement.
JOURNALIST: If you had a politician or someone from the Prime Minister's office make contact with you about a journalist or a story or something of that nature, how would you handle an issue like that?
ITA BUTTROSE: I'd listen and I want you to know that, you know, I'm sure - it's not only the ABC that gets complaints from politicians. I have copped plenty of complaints from politicians in previous roles especially when I was editor-in- chief in News Limited.
JOURNALIST: Do you think we need to you do away with the independent panel process, if they are not providing us with the most qualified candidate?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not proposing that. But what I can assure you is that all the processes of the Act have been followed. You asked about the process through cabinet as well. It followed the normal cabinet process. It went to cabinet. It's my responsibility as Prime Minister to put forward a nomination to cabinet which I did and that was enthusiastically supported earlier this week and to work with the Minister for Communications in that process in the department. All of those processes were followed. I think that's the important point. And when you follow all the important processes and you make decisions having followed those processes, which is what we have done, which leaves open where I feel that the recommendations that were made to me, if in my view and the government's view, don't meet the standard or the requirement that we have, then we're at liberty to make a further nomination which we have and we'll be doing that to the Governor-General. We will table our reasons for doing so in the Parliament in the normal process which is required under the Act. So the processes have been followed. That's including the requirements for official consultation with the Leader of the Opposition which was done earlier today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said in your opening remarks that we all have a wonderful story to tell about the ABC. What's the wonderful story you have got to tell about the ABC?
PRIME MINISTER: Behind The News. I remember it as a kid and that's where I started getting my first current affairs reporting from - was Behind The News. And it was a bit different back then than what it is today, but - the fact it's still there, I think is great.
JOURNALIST: Has there been nothing since then?
PRIME MINISTER: No, there has been a lot since then, obviously. I always understand in all the roles that I have had, the importance of, you know, appearing on the flagship interview programs on the ABC. I have never been a stranger to those whether it's the 7.30 or Insiders in the past or most recently AM, all of these. I mean they play an important role. I have always treated those with the respect they have earned and their presenters as well. And I have dealt with many of those presenters and they're always a gruelling and tough interview, I have got to say. And that's as it should be and I think as leaders we - we are in a position to having to put ourselves forward for that as indeed we are here today. So look, there are more, Hugh and we'll have a coffee one day and I'll share more with you. But the one - perhaps the first engagement is always the sweetest and that was Behind The News all those years ago.
JOURNALIST: Ita, do you consider one of the main responsibilities of your role now to rebuild trust from the public after the Michelle Guthrie, Justine Milne situation?
ITA BUTTROSE: I don't - I don't think the public has really lost trust in the ABC. You know, I think the - you know, I think the ABC occupies a very special place in the hearts and minds of Australians. The Michelle Guthrie matter is something else again. It's a management issue. It's being dealt with. It's still in mediation and I'm not sure how that's going to end yet.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have you conveyed or communicated or spoken to Ita about any concerns or thoughts or improvements that could be made to the ABC?
PRIME MINISTER: I can assure you that any conversations I have with the chair-designate on these matters will always remain between the Chair’s designate and indeed the Chair and I. If I have any formal issues that I need to raise with the ABC, then there are appropriate channels for doing that.
JOURNALIST When do you expect the Governor-General to sign off or to give (inaudible) on this?
PRIME MINISTER: That should be in place next week.
JOURNALIST: And when do you intend to start working at the ABC as the Chair?
ITA BUTTROSE: I've already had a text message from the Acting Chair, so I would think not long after I leave here, I will give her a call.
JOURNALIST Ita, what’s the best piece of reporting you have seen?
ITA BUTTROSE: I'm sorry?
JOURNALIST What's the best piece of reporting that you have seen from the ABC recently?
ITA BUTTROSE: Oh there are so many. I'm a big fan of Leigh Sales and the 7.30 report, I think it consistently breaks stories, it gives you views on the world. Four Corners is without doubt the leading investigative program in Australia. ABC news radio consistently breaks stories. ABC News Breakfast, the TV show, is a good little show and its doing lots of great work there, there’s so many parts of the ABC that are breaking news and again, they’re stories we wouldn't get on commercial networks.
JOURNALIST Is the Project Jetstream dead?
ITA BUTTROSE: I have read about it, of course, but I need to have that discussion with the board and the Managing Director and we haven't had that yet, so I can't really comment on it.
PRIME MINISTER: Any more questions on this issue before we move on?
JOURNALIST: Your good friend Kerri-Anne Kennerley, you might be aware she suffered the loss of her husband this morning.
ITA BUTTROSE: Look I did just hear the very sad news that Kerri-Anne’s husband John died. And I am really to sorry to hear it because I liked them very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I also pass on my best wishes to Kerri-Anne as well. We, Ita and I just heard about that before we came here.
ITA BUTTROSE: They were a great couple and she adored him.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. That is a true love story, a love story that shows how lucky we are to have people who we love in our lives and I'm sure Kerri-Anne will be deeply comforted by that relationship over such a long period of time and I'm sure she will get enormous waves of comfort and support from the Australian people. They shared their story openly with the Australian public and they let people into a very private part of their lives and I think the strength and determination, care and compassion that was shown in that relationship was an encouragement to all Australians. We love you, Kerry-Anne and we just hope that these days and weeks ahead are not too arduous, but we know they will be, and you have the love and care of the nation with you. So with that, we might thank Ita again and we will get on to the other matters of the day. Thank you.
ITA BUTTROSE: Thank you very much everybody.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I also thank the acting chair Kirstin Ferguson for the role she’s been performing since taking on the role of acting chair, and she’ll obviously be engaging with the chair-designate as we move through that next phase and after those events of last year that required quite a bit of skill and experience to ensure that the ABC could get back to what they need to focus on, and that, I think, has occurred and I want to thank Kirstin on what she has done, I'm sure Mitch would, too.
SENATOR THE HON MITCH FIFIELD, MINISTER FOR COMMUNCATIONS AND THE ARTS: Yes, I thank Dr Kirstin Ferguson for her work as acting chair. She is a substantive deputy chair and she will continue in that role, but in what has been a difficult time for the ABC, Dr Ferguson has led the organisation well.
PRIME MINISTER: On other matters today, as you know, the last four remaining children who are on Nauru at the regional processing location - of course, they hadn't been in detention for quite a period of time, they were living on Nauru - they have been transferred to the United States and that means there are no longer any children on Nauru at the regional processing location. There were no children on Manus Island, it was the former government that put children on Manus Island in an inexplicable decision to that that in the first instance. That was rectified a long time ago.
And so I am very pleased that were are in a position now to say that has been achieved and the only way you can ensure that children don’t go back on Nauru is to ensure that your border protection regime is not compromised and that you do not allow vessels to legally enter Australia with children on board. And the only way you can do that is maintain the strength of our border protection regime. That’s what our Government is doing and that’s what Bill Shorten and the Labor Party demonstrated they do not have the ability or conviction or determination to do. They will just blow over in a hair’s breadth, whether it’s in the people smugglers or indeed from other sections of the community which would have them undermine our border protection.
JOURNALIST: Is the Government interested in pursuing prosecution in relation to the Jihadi bride that has fled Syria?
PRIME MINISTER: This will be a very complex case and Australia will make decisions consistent with our national security interests. Obviously the issue of the children involved is also a very sensitive one. The children can’t be held responsible for the crimes of their parents. They are in a very dangerous part of the world and Australia is not in a position to offer any safe passage for people who are in that part of the world. And that is very concerning for the fact that there are children involved in this and their parents, Khaled Sharrouf in particular who committed despicable crimes, have placed their children in harm’s way. So look, we will deal with that issue sensitively but we must remember that both parents, including Khaled Sharrouf’s wife, committed crimes being where they were and doing what they were doing.
JOURNALIST: On another matter, there’s a case involving an ATO tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle is processing through. It’s been reported that he faces potentially six life sentences for breaching privacy rules and informational laws that are based around his role formerly in the ATO. Do you have any concerns about the circumstance in which a public servant who has revealed problems with the practices of the tax office faces more time in jail, theoretically, than a mass murderer?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’m not familiar with the circumstances of that case, Hugh, so I can’t really comment.
JOURNALIST: With Cardinal Pell, former Prime Minister John Howard wrote a reference to him at his sentence hearing. Many of his supporters believe his claim that he is innocent of these crimes. What do you think, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Australians, whether they’re former Prime Ministers or not, have every right to express the views that they have. What I have said about this issue is my thoughts remain with all victims of institutional child sexual abuse. Having, as I said yesterday, led the national apology following the Royal Commission – which I must say, Hugh, is one of I think the outstanding achievements of the ABC in the way that they addressed that issue of institutional child sexual abuse – my thoughts are with them. Because all of this will be stirring up all of those most horrific and painful of experiences they endured. And to be honest, that’s what I’m particularly focused on at the moment in my concern for them and how they’re processing all of this. Having met so many of them through the process of the apology, it just… it really just makes my heart terribly sad to know the pain they will be feeling today. It just… they just relive it all, and it’s just horrendous. So to be honest, I’m more concerned about that.
OK, thanks very much.
Climate Solutions
25 February 2019
Well thank you very much for joining us here today. Can I also acknowledge the Boon Wurrung of the Kulin Nation, the land on which we meet. Can I acknowledge elders past and present and emerging.
Can I also take the time to acknowledge all the people who are gathered with us here today. Of course, I want to also acknowledge David Kemp. Doctor Kemp, it’s great to have you here because today we speak of a tradition the Liberal Party’s commitment to doing what is practical and what is right for our environment. And no one better encapsulated that than yourself in that role so many years ago, like so many others.
And of course you are joined by other great environment ministers in Greg Hunt, my good friend, and Josh Frydenberg, who have also taken on those roles. And of course today’s Environment Minister Melissa Price who is with us here today and has been integral to what I’m announcing today. And Melissa, I want to congratulate you on the great work you have been doing on the portfolio as we’ve come to make these important announcements that we are today.
And Angus Taylor is here as well, he has also been a key part of our team as we’ve pulled all of this together and particularly when we’re talking about issues around Snowy 2.0 and the hydro projects in Tasmania.
Can I also acknowledge Jane Hume and James Paterson who are here and can I also particularly acknowledge these powerhouse candidates. We’ve got Gladys Liu.
[Applause]
Of course, Kate Ashmor here in Macnamara.
[Applause]
And a very, very, very special welcome to Doctor Katie Allen.
[Applause]
And congratulations on your selection yesterday.
What this says to me when I look at the calibre of our candidates here with Katie, Kate and Gladys joining the team that you see here before us. A great improvement, a sign-up to where we’re going as a Party, where we’re going as a Government.
And so to have Doctor Allen added to our number yesterday, I think was a further endorsement to that approach. And so it’s great to have you on the team, I look forward to catching up. I know you caught up with Josh last night as well and so you are very, very welcome.
But to the subject of today. It falls to each generation to provide a road map for our nation’s future. This has always been our focus as Liberals and Nationals. David understands that.
And not just a road map, but a detailed plan that sets out how we will pass the prospect of a brighter future onto the next generation of Australians.
Over the past five years, our Government has kept faith with our traditions of what we believe as Liberals and Nationals to address the many tasks that have been set before us when we came to Government five and a half years ago.
Restoring the Budget to balance, from Labor’s years of deficits, to the point where Josh Frydenberg will hand down the first surplus Budget in 12 years. That is a significant turnaround in our nation’s finances.
Reducing taxes so working Australians keep more of what they earn, for them and their families. They have more in their pockets to deal with the rising cost of living.
Securing Australia in an uncertain world. We understand the world as it is, not as we’d like it to be, because we have to deal with it as it is. There is a clarity in how we pursue these issues.
Record defence spending, stronger borders and a comprehensive plan to keep Australians safe. Whether it’s in the classroom for kids, or online with bullying and sexual predators, or so women can walk the streets and not fear the violence that is too often visited upon, particularly in this city here in Melbourne.
Guaranteeing – and fully funding – the essential services we rely on. No one knows this better than Greg Hunt. Record bulk billing for Medicare achieved under our Government.
[Applause]
Do you want a strong Medicare? I do, we all you, you need a stronger economy if you want a strong Medicare. And that’s what we’re delivering and the Pharmaceutical Benefits listings now at 2,000 since we came to Government. Changing and saving people’s lives. Well done Greg, you’ve done an extraordinary job on all of those issues.
Now, across all of those issues, the NDIS, medical care, the infrastructure that supports our quality of life.
This is what we’ve been doing. These are achievements we can be proud of.
And they speak to why we can be trusted when we say we have a plan to make Australia even stronger.
That’s what these credentials are, that what these achievements demonstrate. That the plans we are now putting in place that you can have every confidence that they will be achieved because that is what we have done.
So today, I want to focus on our ongoing plan to address climate change, with practical solutions that reduce carbon emissions, while preserving our economic strength and our living standards.
Because you know, as Liberals and Nationals we don’t believe we have to choose between our environment and our economy. Such an approach I consider is not measured, it’s not balanced, it’s not practical and it’s not helpful.
It pushes debate, when you think it’s an either/or choice between your economy and your environment, if that’s what you think this debate is about, you know where the debate goes? It goes to the extremes, it leads to people making reckless decisions, not balanced ones, that can have very dire consequences for our country and future generations.
So that’s not our approach, it’s not an approach that a sensible Government like ours embraces. And that’s why we haven’t embraced that approach which says you have to choose between your economy and your environment.
We acknowledge and accept the challenge of addressing climate change, let’s be clear about that. Our Government, my Government, acknowledges that we must accept the facts of climate change, address it, and we do so with cool heads, not just impassioned hearts. Because it takes both.
Our approach is to take care of our environment but also take responsibility to ensure we acknowledge, understand and manage the consequences of the decisions that you make to address climate change.
Our actions and plans to address climate change build on our strong traditions and record of achievement as Liberals and Nationals over generations to protect, preserve and value our environment.
Now, no one politician, no one political party, no one government can claim a mortgage on understanding the obvious fact that we only have one planet. Plenty try to, but it’s just a simple truth.
It was the Menzies Government that signed the Antarctic Treaty - protecting this last frontier from mining, weapons testing, and military bases.
It was John Gorton who established the Office of the Environment, and took on the then shibboleth of ‘federal-state relations’ to ban drilling and mining on the Great Barrier Reef. An action far ahead of its time.
It was the McMahon Government that appointed the first Minister for the Environment, Peter Howson, who as Greg reminds me, led our delegation to the inaugural United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment that approved a moratorium on the commercial killing of whales, an international convention to regulate ocean dumping, and the establishment of a World Heritage Trust to help preserve wilderness areas and other science natural landmarks.
This was backed up by the Fraser Government that banned whaling in our waters, Australian waters, declaring the Great Barrier Reef a marine park, banning sand mining on Fraser Island, and making Kakadu and South West Tasmania World Heritage areas.
It was then the Howard Government that established the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target in 2000, which created incentives for investment in renewable energy.
The Howard Government established the Climate Action Partnership between the Australian and United States, initiated collaboration on climate change with Japan, and signed bilateral climate change agreements with China, New Zealand and the European Union.
It was also the Howard Government that established the Natural Heritage Trust, as David remembers very well. The Australian Greenhouse Office, passed the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and increased the green zones in the Barrier Reef Marine Park from 5 per cent to a third, 33 per cent.
And it was the Howard Government, with Malcolm Turnbull as Environment Minister, that first tackled the vexed – and it remains vexed - issue of the Murray Darling Basin and established the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, with bipartisan support I stress, that was carried on by the Rudd and Gillard Labor Governments, and we have carried on indeed as a Government with bipartisanship, it’s foundation for success. You play around with bipartisanship on the Murray Darling Basin and you really do pout all of what can be achieved in these sensitive areas at risk. You don’t play politics with the Murray Darling.
Our direct action initiative when we came to Government, commenced under Tony Abbott with Greg as its architect, enabled us to successfully meet Australia’s Kyoto emissions reduction targets, as promised.
Our Government, also under Tony Abbott, then set and confirmed a new target of 26-28 per cent emissions reductions on 2005 levels by 2030.
We established the Asia-Pacific Rainforest Partnership, knowing that about one billion tonnes of CO2 is released each year in our region as a result of deforestation and land degradation. Now this is nearly double the amount of emissions Australia produces annually from every sector of our economy combined.
We have kept our commitment to support our neighbours, including $300 million to support climate resilience projects in the Pacific.
And under Malcolm Turnbull we invested in the first stage of Snowy 2.0 and through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Renewable Energy Agency, where they made further investments in pumped hydro, battery storage and large-scale wind and solar.
Malcolm Turnbull put pumped hydro, again, back on Australia’s map from where it had been all of those years ago when Snowy was first conceived.
Our commitment and action to conserve our environment is grounded in our understanding of the intergenerational compact.
The obligation we have to future generations.
Our children should not have to pay tomorrow to subsidise the living standards and lifestyle that we enjoy today.
Now, this is as true for our environment as it is for getting the Budget back into surplus, for paying for our health and education services. We shouldn’t be borrowing from future generations to pay for the recurrent services that we today expect.
One of the biggest things that happened in the last couple of years in the Budgets is we stopped borrowing money to pay for recurrent services, be it welfare, hospitals, education, all of those everyday expenses. That stopped under our Government.
Or building indeed the infrastructure we need to support population growth.
Our air, waterways, fisheries, soils, biodiversity, our oceans, our reefs and our lands are all vital parts of the inheritance that we leave for future generations.
We hold them in trust today for those who will come after us. This is not a new concept. Indigenous Australians have been living these principles for tens of thousands of years and we acknowledge that here today.
Reducing our carbon emissions to address the real challenge of climate change requires practical policies. It’s not about armbands, it’s about policies that actually work and do things.
What matters is what works and whether you are achieving what you set out to do.
So what have we set out to achieve? And how have we performed? These are the reasonable benchmarks, in fact the only benchmarks, that you can use to assess.
Australia’s share of the global carbon footprint is 1.3 per cent.
Now that compares to 1.6 per cent in Canada, Germany 1.9, South Korea 1.4.
China at 26 per cent and the USA at 14 per cent are the world’s largest emitters.
So that’s the playing field.
In 2015, we committed to reduce our emissions as I said by 26-28 per cent by 2030, from 2005 levels.
This percentage is higher than countries like Japan and Korea but slightly below Canada and New Zealand.
But when you dig deeper, you can see what the real nature and significance of this commitment is.
Our 2030 target is the equivalent of reducing emissions per capita by around 50 per cent - one of the largest reductions of any G20 economy.
In terms of the emissions intensity of our economy, our effort is even greater - a reduction of around 65 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
In 2015, Australia was the 14th largest emitter. After taking into account all countries' commitments, we are on track to drop to being the 25th largest emitter by 2030.
So our target is no slouch and let no one tell you it is. It’s a fair dinkum commitment, it’s a serious commitment, that requires real effort to achieve. And we are playing our part, we are doing our bit.
But nor is our target reckless, nor is it extreme.
By contrast, Labor is proposing a 45 per cent emissions reduction target.
This requires more than three times the amount of emissions reduction by 2030, compared with our Government’s sensible and achievable target is currently pitched.
Independent modelling released last week by BAEconomics has confirmed that Labor’s reckless emissions reduction target will put, as Angus has said on so many occasions and rightly, a wrecking-ball through the Australian economy. Something the Business Council of Australia have also said in similar terms.
Now the work shows that compared to our Government’s targets, Labor’s 45 per cent reckless target and 50 per cent reckless RET will:
Cost the economy an additional $472 billion. I’m not kidding - $472 billion, almost half a trillion dollars
It’ll slash more than 336,000 jobs,
It’ll cut the average wage from what it would otherwise be by over $9,000 a year. That makes the carbon tax look like a mosquito bite. This thing is a chunk out of people’s living wage.
It’ll increase wholesale electricity prices by more than 58 per cent.
That’s not a sensible target, it’s a reckless target. And it will come at a tremendous cost to Australians.
Sure you can have them, you can have higher targets. But they come at a tremendous cost.
A cost far worse, as I said, than the Carbon Tax Labor said they wouldn’t introduce, and then did and then our Government had to abolish. Which again Greg Hunt led the charge on.
So Labor runs around the country telling industries and businesses about their target and say ‘you’ll be exempted and you’ll be exempted‘. They go up to the aluminium smelter in Boyne Island and say we’ll exempt you and we’ll exempt you. Well, they both can’t be true. It cannot be true because if they were to do all of those things, they would have absolutely no hope of meeting their emissions reductions targets as they’ve set it out.
Their targets depend, in fact they rely on shutting industries and businesses down. You can’t achieve that any other way.
So they’re either lying about the targets they’re setting or they’re are lying about the impact on jobs, especially in heavy industries and the agricultural sector. Either way, you can’t trust Labor when it comes to this issue.
That’s why I say it is important to have balance in your emissions reductions policies – You’ve got to have the cool head as well as the passionate heart – which is our approach.
Based on our performance to date, our target is also achievable.
If you measure the success of policy by whether it achieves the objective you set for it, the success of our policies on climate change policy is clear.
Australia beat our first Kyoto 2012 greenhouse gas reduction target by 128 million tonnes.
After our election in 2013 it was our Government’s job to get Australia back on track to meet our Kyoto 2020 targets.
In November of last year, the United Nations Environment Programme released its annual Emissions Gap reporting which confirmed Australia was on track to meet our 2020 targets.
But this was no small achievement. This didn’t happen by accident, by good luck. It happened because we took important decisions and we took action.
In 2013 we inherited from Labor a 755 million tonne projected deficit on our Kyoto 2020 targets. That was our starting point. We are now expecting to over achieve on that same target by 367 million tonnes. That is a $1.1 billion, sorry 1.1 billion tonne turn around. I’m used to talking about the turnaround we’ve made on deficits – and they usually apply to the budget.
[Laughter]
But I tell you the work that Greg and Josh and Melissa have been doing in this area is just as significant. That’s what we’ve been able to achieve by our budget – when it comes to finances.
Not all other G20 countries can say this. Australia is right out ahead. Canada can’t say it about 2020. They might say they’ve got higher targets but they’re currently not meeting the targets they’ve already set. Indonesia, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, the USA and Germany, they’re not on track to meet targets they’ve previously set – let alone exceed them.
So let’s not talk down what Australia is doing and the heavy lifting that we’ve been doing to achieve those targets and as Melissa was reminding me yesterday, they come to us when we go to these conferences – and ask us how we’re achieving this so well.
So we are in a very small club. A club that has been exceeding our targets under our policies as a Government.
And also I should stress, unlike other countries such as New Zealand and I met with Prime Minister Ardern on Friday who reminded me that they will need to meet their targets by doing business with foreign carbon traders. They will need to do it by spending taxpayer’s money on foreign carbon credits. That’s not what we are proposing today. That’s not what we are going to have to do based on the plan that I’ve set out today.
Our Government has achieved our goals through a combination of successful policy measures.
The Emission Reduction Fund, which was the centrepiece of the direct action initiative, supports farmers, landholders and Indigenous communities to deliver practical projects such as savannah fire management, energy efficiency, capturing methane from local landfills and storing carbon in soils.
So far, the Fund has contracted 193 million tonnes of emissions reduction at an average price of around $12 per tonne. There remains around $226 million uncommitted in that Fund – and that will be used to roll out those options.
The Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET) is set at 33,000 gigawatt hours by 2020. The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) has said the 2020 LRET will be met.
According to the CER, 2018 was a record year for installations of large-scale renewable power stations, Angus has reminded us of on many occasions, with more than 360 power stations representing 3,300 megawatts of capacity completed and beginning generation.
That’s a lot of power.
This comfortably exceeded the record of around 1,000 megawatts that was set in 2017.
Now forgive me for going into such length and into so much detail today so early in the morning but I think this is important to set out the facts when it comes to our action on climate change – and so I pray your indulgence because I’ve got a bit to get through yet. Because there’s a lot we’ve been doing.
The CER has forecast another record (of around 4,300 megawatts) in 2019.
Now the CER has not yet published data for rooftop solar installations in 2018, but has forecast it will be in the order of 1,600 megawatts, which will comfortably break the 1,100 megawatts record set in 2017. One in five Australian households have rooftop solar and this is expected to grow to one in four over the next four years.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) continues to invest in renewable, energy efficiency and low emissions technologies, including energy storage and electric vehicles. It is the largest organisation of its kind in the world today investing in clean energy, with countries lining up, as Melissa reminded me again yesterday, looking to learn from its success.
The CEFC has committed $6.4 billion in finance to over 110 projects across the country and around $3.6 billion remains for future projects.
ARENA provides grant funding to emerging renewable energy and enabling technologies (including energy storage). It supports projects at the research, development and demonstration stage of the innovation cycle.
ARENA has provided over $1.4 billion in grant funding to 441 projects, and around $350 million remains for future projects.
Under the National Energy Productivity Plan, the NEPP as they like to call it. They’ve got as much like for acronyms as the defence industry in the environmental sector. The minimum energy performance standards or energy rating labels apply to 20 residential, commercial and industrial equipment’s and appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines, commercial chillers and industrial motors.
This is all really practical stuff.
These standards are saving households, on average, between $90 and $190 per year on their energy bills. Over 2001-14, they reduced Australia’s emissions by around 29 million tonnes.
So it’s a win win.
The Commercial Buildings Disclosure scheme requires owners or landlords to measure and disclose the energy efficiency of commercial office space to prospective buyers and tenants. By driving improvements in commercial building energy efficiency, the scheme is projected to save owners and tenants almost $100 million on their energy bills over 2010-2019.
The CEFC has provided $170 million in concessional finance towards the construction of energy efficient community housing. This is incredibly important.
On the back of our success in reducing ozone, we have legislated the phase-down of ozone depleting HFCs, the potent greenhouse gas used in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.
Our phase down - 85 per cent by 2036 - is ahead of the global response, yet again, agreed under the Montreal Protocol.
The Australian Government’s carbon neutral certification is also helping businesses voluntarily reduce and offset greenhouse gas emissions.
So that’s a lot, isn’t it? That is a lot.
Our task is to now meet our commitment to reduce our emissions by 26 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
That’s the task now before us.
That is why today I am announcing the Australian Government’s Climate Solutions Package.
It is a comprehensive, fully costed, $3.5 billion plan, over the next decade, to deliver on Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction targets, and to do so in a canter, just as we have on our targets to date.
It is a plan that builds on our success that I have outlined, in comprehensively beating our Kyoto commitments.
As Liberals and Nationals we say what we will do and we just get on and we do it. That’s our form. Whether on this issue, or any issue you care to nominate.
Unlike Labor’s plan, our policies mean we can reduce emissions while growing our economy and keeping electricity prices lower.
In 2008, official estimates suggested we would need to reduce emissions by 3.3 billion tonnes to meet our 2030 target.
Today, as you can see, that task, as a result of the actions we have taken as a government over the last five and a half years combined [inaduble], is now 328 million tonnes to reach a 26 per cent target and it’s falling.
That is an extraordinary turnaround that we’ve been able to preside over.
To help us achieve this task, I’m announcing today a new Climate Solutions Fund, to carry forward the work of the Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund – that’s at the heart of our Direct Action Imitative when we came to government in 2013 – with an additional $2 billion investment over the next ten years.
As I mentioned, the ERF has already secured 193 million tonnes of abatement through 477 projects across Australia. This is the largest ever emissions reduction commitment by Australian businesses and landholders.
Our new Climate Solutions Fund will deliver additional practical climate solutions across the country, and it’s going to do it in partnership with businesses large and small, local communities in particular remote Indigenous communities and farmers.
Floating everybody’s boat.
Agricultural projects will cover activities such as revegetating degraded land and increasing soil carbon to improve farm productivity and resilience. This not only reduces emissions but has clear economic advantages as well, in many cases providing much needed income in farming communities.
The benefits go well beyond abatement. The purpose goes well beyond abatement. The abatement we bank. The benefits of improved productivity in a growing economy, stronger local and regional communities, we bank that to.
Under the existing ERF, soil carbon sequestration projects are being conducted across a number of properties, including right here in Victoria.
We’ve shown what can be achieved working with remote Indigenous communities to reduce the risk of severe bushfires. Late season wildfires produced over 50 per cent more carbon emissions than controlled burning early in the dry season.
On Fish River in the Northern Territory, Indigenous rangers are working with conservation groups to introduce traditional, traditional I underscore, early dry-season burning practices, in the process reducing methane and nitrous oxide emissions released by savannah wildfires.
Other areas of focus under the new Fund include support for local communities to reduce waste and increase recycling rates.
Melissa Price, as Minister for the Environment will work with stakeholders to build greater co-benefits into program design under the Climate Solutions Fund, including biodiversity, water quality, Indigenous employment, recycling and productivity improvements.
It goes well beyond abatement. Melissa will be driving that cause to ensure the multiple dividends that can be achieved from this significant investment.
The Government will also improve the operation of the ERF Safeguard Mechanism, to reduce costs for business and make it fairer and simpler.
The Climate Solutions Fund will deliver an additional 103 million tonnes of greenhouse gas reductions by 2030. This represents almost a third of the amount of reductions needed to meet our target.
The second pillar of our Climate Solutions Package is Australia’s renewable hydro-electricity reserves in the Snowy Mountains and Tasmania. Renewable and reliable.
We will continue the work of turning world class renewable hydro into Australia’s largest batteries.
These reserves are world class. I’ve seen them myself. They already deliver low cost renewable electricity to millions of Australian families and businesses.
We have a once in a generation opportunity to redesign our world class hydro assets into new pumped hydro stations. Pumped hydro can deliver 24/7 round-the-clock renewable and reliable power.
It is used extensively and effectively overseas, but not on a wide scale basis here in Australia. Almost all energy storage capacity in the United States is supplied by pumped hydro; a technology that can be some 50 times less expensive in supplying electricity compared with lithium batteries.
We will shortly make an announcement on our investment in Snowy 2.0, initiated by Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister. Today I want to detail our plan, working with the Tasmanian Government, to deliver additional reliable, zero-emissions electricity generation to mainland Australia.
Our Government will commit $56 million, right now, this year, to fast track the development of a second electricity transmission interconnector – the MarinusLink – to unlock Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation.
The Battery of the Nation is expected to deliver up to 2,500 megawatts of reliable, renewable hydro power to Tasmania and Victoria - including up to 16 gigawatt hours of storage.
Through the MarinusLink, the Battery of the Nation is also expected to reduce national emissions by 25 million tonnes by 2030.
MarinusLink will enable over 400 megawatts of existing – it’s right there, right now – existing dispatchable, reliable generation to be transmitted here into Victoria; power currently unavailable due to limited BassLink interconnector capacity. 400 megawatts is enough to power up to 400,000 homes.
The type of reliable generation was sorely needed during the recent Victoria heatwave when lack of access to reliable baseload power caused major black-outs across this state.
Subject to development of the business case and funding arrangements, we expect the MarinusLink to be able to supply Victorians with electricity from 2025. It will also open up opportunities for intermittent renewables in Northern Tasmania.
The construction of the Marinus Link is expected to generate between 500 and 1000 jobs during construction in Tasmania and between 900 and 1500 jobs in regional Victoria.
Ultimately, MarinusLink and Battery of the Nation mean lower prices, greater energy security particularly for Tasmania, Victoria as well as other mainland states, while helping Australia achieve its 2030 emissions reduction target.
I want to thank Premier Hodgman and Guy Barnett, the Energy Minister in Tasmania for the great work they’ve been doing with Angus and myself and Josh as we’ve been working through the details in recent times.
Premier Hodgman has a great vision for the Battery of the Nation project. We share his vision and we are investing in it as I’ve announced here today.
Now other measures to lower emissions – there are three other parts of our Climate Solutions Package and I’ll touch on them briefly.
The Government will make a substantial investment in helping households and businesses improve energy efficiency to support practical action on emissions while also delivering lower energy bills.
Energy ratings labels on appliances and equipment allow consumers to compare the running costs of different models and the financial savings of buying a more efficient appliance. Giving them the tools they need.
The Australian Government will work with industry and state and territory governments to also expand the Energy Rating Label.
We will also cooperate with other governments and industry to improve energy efficiency standards for both commercial and residential buildings. Through the Climate Solutions Package, we will provide resources, training and tools to help commercial and residential building owners and occupiers reduce their energy use.
Taken together, these measures are expected to reduce emissions by 63 million tonnes by 2030. We will have more to say on the detail of those measures shortly.
The Government is developing a National Electric Vehicle Strategy to ensure the transition to new vehicle technology and infrastructure is carefully planned and managed.
Through that Strategy the Government will investigate mandating an electric vehicle plug type to improve the consistency and interoperability of public charging.
It’s got to be practical. It’s got to be [inaudible]
Our goal is to secure benefits for all Australians in the form of cleaner air, better health, smarter cities, lower transport costs and, of course, lower emissions.
This Strategy is expected to yield up to around 10 million tonnes of abatement. It will build on the work of the COAG Transport and Infrastructure Council, as well as support through ARENA and CEFC.
Finally, we are also committed to continue to work on cleaning and greening our communities through Landcare and other community grants to support local communities taking practical action to reduce emissions, improve air and water quality, protect the environment and make Australians healthier.
I saw that for myself in Gippsland yesterday when I was meeting with local Landcare workers on the ground in dealing the drought there in Gippsland.
There is further impetus coming from technological change and improved efficiency, ensuring Australia is well placed to achieve our targets.
In the 2018 Australian Emissions Projections report, Australia’s task to reach its 2030 target, as I said, has fallen to 328 million tonnes – that included an improvement of 173 million tonnes on the back of technology changes, improved productivity and other sources of abatement.
We’re on the curb. We’re on the path with many of these other things that are happening and that will ensure we were able to reach our targets.
On conservative estimates, more than 100 million tonnes is expected from these ongoing abatement sources, including as a result of investment of unallocated funds in the CEFC, faster uptake of technologies such as improved refrigeration and air conditioning equipment standards and the ERF safeguard mechanism.
So in conclusion.
Our Government will take, and is taking, meaningful, practical, sensible, responsible action on climate change, without damaging our economy or your family budget.
This has always been our pledge. It’s what we said when we were elected in 2013 and we’ve been delivering on it. It’s our record. It remains our commitment.
Our Climate Solutions Package will ensure Australia meets our 2030 emissions reduction target in a canter - a responsible and achievable target - building on our success in comprehensively meeting and beating our Kyoto commitments to date.
We’ve got the record.
By 2030, we will have slashed the emissions intensity of our economy by two-thirds compared with 2005. That’s no slouch of a commitment or achievement- a truly remarkable one given our country’s size, population density, growth profile and economic strengths in agriculture and resources.
We will continue to play our part in meeting the global challenge of climate change in the 21st century – and we can hold our head up high in what we are doing. And we will not, and I will not allow others to talk down what Australia is achieving in this area.
Australians have been working very hard on this issue led by a Government with practical policies and I will not have their efforts talked down and degraded. They are doing a tremendous job – both a passionate heart and a very clear and cool head.
And so we’ll do that without taking a sledgehammer to our economy.
Without putting our electricity market at risk. Without putting pressure upward on electricity prices. Without destroying jobs in our traditional industries and in regional Australia.
This is the responsible and balanced course. Today I have set out how we’re going to meet our targets.
Our targets are sensible and practical. People may disagree with what our targets are. But today I believe I have set out why they are credible, responsible, achievable targets.
I’m yet to see that from the Labor Party. I’m yet to see how they plan to achieve their target which will require three times what you can see there on that chart.
And for them to be honest about the impact on jobs. About the impact on agriculture. On our minerals and resources sector. Our forestry’s sector. All of which support Australian’s livelihood.
Labor are not telling you the truth about their plans. They’re either lying to you about what they are claiming to be wanting to do or they’re lying to you about what the impact of that will be.
I’m being straight up with you. Absolutely straight up. We know what the target it. I’ve set out the way to get there.
Our team will meet that target because we have the plans and commitment in place. And at the end of the day, that’s what matters. Being able to deliver on what you say you are going to do.
Whether it’s on addressing climate change, addressing our economic challenges, addressing our national security challenges. We are saying clearly what we’re going to do – and how we’re able to achieve it which is why you can trust us. To do what we say we are going to do.
And that is why we must stay the course.
Thank you very much for your time.
Press Conference with the Prime Minister of New Zealand
22 February 2019
Auckland, New Zealand
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN MP, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: It’s my pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Morrison to Auckland today, it is great to have you back on Kiwi soil Prime Minister. I’d like to open by acknowledging that today is the eighth anniversary of the second Canterbury Earthquake. 185 lives were lost and one of those was an Australian. We remember that people today are and are reminded of the ongoing grief for their families. When natural disaster strikes, we get by with help from our friends and after the Canterbury Earthquake, Australian support was fast and hugely important to us. 600 Australian emergency service workers assisted with recovery efforts. People in Christchurch will recall the Australian police officers sworn in with New Zealand policing powers, who worked alongside their Kiwi colleagues to reassure locals and support order.
New Zealand has no better friend and no greater ally that Australia. Our economies are amongst the most integrated in the world with significant trade and investment flows. We are stronger together on the international stage. But our relationship transcends the normal dealings of government and like most of our international relationships, Australia is family in every sense of the word. We’ve always had a special bond that continues to benefit both countries and that I believe will only expand given the intertwined nature of our societies.
Today, PM Morrison and I enjoyed a friendly and very useful discussion during our annual leaders meeting. We covered a whole range of issues including the dynamic opportunities from running an ambitious trans-Tasman single economic market agenda, our shared interests in the region and our shared neighborhood in the Pacific. As in any family, it’s inevitable that occasionally we’ll see things differently. Prime Minister Morrison and I discussed some of the areas where we do not have the same starting point and I feel we have a pretty good understanding of each other's perspectives. We did have a very frank discussion about New Zealanders who have made their homes in Australia and how they can be given every opportunity to thrive while living there. We also talked about deportations of New Zealanders. In my view, this issue has become corrosive in our relationship over time. I made it clear that New Zealand has no issue with Australia taking a dim view of newly-arrived noncitizens committing crimes. But equally, the New Zealand people have a dim view of the deportation of people who move to Australia as children and have grown up there, with often little or no lasting connection to here. I’m sure it is a matter that we will continue to discuss. At last year’s meeting, we said we’d look for innovative ways to create a more seamless economic environment and we’ve done a lot since that time. We said New Zealand would match Australia's removal of departure cards and we have done that, making trans-Tasman travel faster and easier. We commissioned work on how to advance the digital economy and maximise opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses. Our Productivity Commissions have delivered a report and we are now looking at how to implement some of those key findings. We announced a city symposium and our respective ministers are hosting this next week in Sydney. We said we would work together to make e-invoicing possible to both our countries. And today we’re announcing the creation of the Australian-New Zealand Invoicing Board and the interoperability framework we will jointly adopt. Implementing e-invoicing across business and government will drive savings of over $30 billion over 10 years across two countries.
I’m sure we’re both looking forward to meeting this afternoon with business leaders to talk about what more we can do and we’ve talked about some of those already. Ideas such as improving SME’s cash flow - we know cash is king when you're a small business – and work towards mutual recognition of digital identity and so on.
I’d like to finish though by saying again how much I've enjoyed the time that we have spent together today Prime Minister Morrison. I'm sure Clarke and Jenny have enjoyed their time together as well, in fact Clarke has already sent me an image of the wonderful gift you have given Neve. Can I say he is a very lucky and a very spoilt child.
[Laughter]
So I thank you for that and I look forward to the next prime ministerial meetings in due course and of course, any opportunity we have to engage in dialogue in the meantime.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Prime Minister, kia ora it's wonderful to be here back in New Zealand for both Jenny and I and I want to thank the Prime Minister and Clarke for the very warm welcome and I’m getting similar reports back from Jenny as well, she's loving being back here today.
I just want to also begin by acknowledging that this is a significant day for all New Zealanders and all of those who were touched by the terrible earthquake eight years ago. It shook New Zealand literally but it should Australians as well in a very different way. The 500 police officers who turned up at a moment’s notice, I think was a great demonstration of the relationship that exists between Australia and New Zealand. It is very much like this; it's hard to see where one finishes and the other starts, between our two countries. It's beyond politics, it's even beyond sport on occasion.
[Laughter]
It's beyond all of these things and that’s why these meetings are so important. That’s why it’s so important to me to be here today. It’s a big year in Australia as we know – elections on, Budgets to prepare, but this is an important relationship as are all of our relationships throughout the Pacific.
It was in the context of reflecting on those very difficult days all those years ago in Christchurch that we reflected on many other disasters that have been occurring lately, and I express my thanks to those brave New Zealand firefighters who have been fighting alongside our firefighters in Tasmania over our summer. Thank you very much. They have very specialist skills to go into the wilderness heritage areas and to be able to fight those fires. We thank them very much to their bravery and their skills. They have made a big difference.
We also discussed today the lessons that we can learn post disaster. Whether it's from eight years ago, whether it's from 10 years ago in the Black Saturday Fires in Victoria, or indeed the lessons that have been put into practice now in Australia in north Queensland, whether it's on the coast of Townsville or inland in northwest Queensland where we are suffering terrible losses to our cattle and livestock industry in that part of the country. But equally down in Victoria where the drought has further encroached into places like Gippsland where they have seen fires. All of these require not just immediately dealing with the event, but the recovery programs that follow and we agreed today that our teams will do further work on how we do the response of the other side of disasters and learn the lessons from those.
A $30 billion boost to our collective economies comes from the initiatives we were talking about today. Whether it's the e-invoicing or the other measures to ensure we totally embrace the economic opportunities from the digital economy, I cannot think of two other national economies more integrated than Australia's and New Zealand's. Our banking system, our financial system, all of these are closely integrated. That means there are bigger opportunities to yield big economic dividends by further cooperation. The measures that we’ve been working on, I think, demonstrate that.
I also want to thank Prime Minister Ardern and her government for their leadership of the Pacific reset programme. It works hand-in-glove with our Pacific ‘step up’ programme. Both of these programs, in my moving around the region and I’m sure also Prime Minister Ardern, have been well received, because the Pacific is family. Whether it’s whanau or whether its vuvale or whatever term is applied; whenever you might be, that’s what it’s about. We want to see a sovereign, independent, strong Pacific with all of those Pacific Island nations and between New Zealand and Australia, they will not find a more friendly family partnership than with both our nations. It’s been good to talk about that.
Finally can I once again thank New Zealand for their participation together with Australia and the other allies, in what we’re doing in the Middle East. In Iraq together, we have trained 42,000 Iraqis to make their country safer and more secure. That has come from those we’ve asked to go and serve in our name and train those who need our help to restore their country. I think that is something Australians and New Zealanders can be very proud of. The work that our men and women who serve in our defence forces have done – and I met them just before Christmas, I met a few of the Kiwis too - the way they work together and the respect they have for each other, just reflects the relationship we’ve spoken of. So thank you very much and happy to participate in the question process.
JOURNALIST: Hi to both prime ministers, Mike Pompeo has said today that the US won’t partner or share information with any countries that do deals with Huawei. [Inaudible] not possible [inaudible] use them and would you discuss taking a united approach to sharing info?
PRIME MINISTER ARDERN: Actually in the nature of our discussions were often prefaced by the fact that we have our own processes and systems. We of course make our own decisions based on our own national interest and based on our own independent foreign policy. I’d say that is the case regardless of whatever the foreign policy or national security matter, would be. Of course, we are close friends and allies. We talk frequently, we are both part of Five Eyes. But ultimately what determines our position on issues around national security, will always be our nationally determined position.
On Huawei, of course you well know that our process is governed by TICSA. We are still in the middle of that process at the moment, the option of mitigation sits with Spark and that is who the GCSB deal directly with. As I’ve always said, we of course are aware of other countries’ positions, but our position is our own.
PRIME MINISTER: I would only concur. We have different processes, but we arrived at similar decisions in our own independent way. In fact it was a decision I took as Treasurer last year, consistent with our own legislation and our own national interests. So we will take those decisions in our own interests and work with those who share an outlook on these matters.
But it’s also important to note that as we discussed today, that I think – and forgive me if I join New Zealand in saying this, but I know you won't disagree - we both welcome China’s economic development. We think that’s a good thing. We want to see that continue, because it’s meant a lot for our economies as well. So we welcome the growth in the Chinese economy. We are heavily integrated. They are Australia's single largest trading partner and our free trade agreement with China has been one of the most significant elements of the expansion of our trading opportunities as a nation in decades. So we welcome the growth, we welcome the strength in their economy and we would only encourage that. But as with all things, every country has to make judgements in their own interests. Both Australia and New Zealand have always done that.
JOURNALIST: Hello Prime Minister, there are no families or women on Manus Island, only single men. Some of them have some serious security issues, as we are finding out about in recent days. Australian Department officials have not denied that New Zealand officials have said; “We don't want to take,” New Zealand does not want to take, “any single men from Manus Island”. What is your position on taking single men from Manus Island? And Prime Minister can I get an update from you as well on the security issues in relation to some of those asylum seekers on Manus Island?
PRIME MINISTER ARDERN: I welcome the question from the Courier Mail and the opportunity to correct the record. We have been utterly consistent. The UNHCR themselves of course in the way they work through with refugees, does place some priority on women and children and of course, that was something that we acknowledged and shared. It was never, however, the case that our offer across Manus and Nauru was solely around women and children. But of course we acknowledge the special need that existed there in the same way that the UNHCR does. That is the first point.
The second point is that of course New Zealand will apply its own rigour around that process, as well. We are simply not benign recipients of individual refugees. We have a role to play in ensuring that our national security is protected at the same time.
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s true - every country has to decide the circumstances in which people come to their country. My only regret is that in the Australian Parliament in the last week, that our ability to do that was compromised by the bill that passed the Parliament. On Manus Island, it is true that the only people who are there, are single males. We are aware that there are quite a number there who, if you would apply the normal character test that applies to all other persons who would seek to come to Australia - whether they are a student, a visitor or anything else - you wouldn't allow them in. That is why we are concerned about what passed the Parliament last week, because it compromises our ability to prevent the transfer of people who would otherwise not pass that test.
But whether it’s, certainly with the United States, where we have an arrangement where more than 450 people have already been transferred to the United States and as you know, the last four children who are on Nauru already have their bags packed, ready to go to the United States. That remaining cohort of people, whether it’s on Nauru or Manus, is about the 1,000 mark, the majority of those that are on Manus Island. The process of engaging with the United States will continue and many are still engaged in that process. But ultimately it is up to the United States who they decide to take and who they don't. They are no more a passive participant in that process than anyone else would be. When it comes to the New Zealand arrangement, it’s something we touch on every time that we are here. The Australian Government has no plans to take up that arrangement whatsoever and that is particularly now more pertinent on the basis of what happened in the Parliament last week. That I think now makes it even more difficult than it was before. We weren't taking it up before, but that would make it even - ee appreciate the offer I should stress, it has been made by successive governments in New Zealand. We appreciate the friendliness of the offer and its’ genuineness, but in terms of Australia's security interests and how we manage our borders, we don't believe it’s consistent with that, particularly now after what happened in Parliament last week.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] Australian coal coming into Chinese ports, does that point to a souring of the relationship with China and could it affect New Zealand and our exports of kiwi fruit, milk powder and meat?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no is the short answer to the question and I think people should be careful about leaping to conclusions about that. This is not the first time that on occasion local ports make decisions about these matters and so there is nothing, no evidence before me or us that would suggest it has those connotations, that it has anything to do with anything more broadly than that.
This happens from time to time. We will just work constructively with our partners in China about those issues. So what we’re engaged in, as indeed New Zealand is, is just pursuing a constructive relationship with China, a very constructive relationship with China. Our coal exports remain our single largest mineral export in Australia. It supports 55,000 jobs in Australia right across our economy. We, our Government, is certainly in favour of being able to continue to engage in our minerals resource industry, to ensure it flourishes. We would certainly think that if there was any weakening in that market, I certainly wouldn't think it was wonderful. I would think it would have a very serious impact on the Australian economy and I would be concerned about it and I would act upon it.
PRIME MINISTER ARDERN: Last year actually, our goods exports went up and in recent times, there has been some discussion around New Zealand's relationship and any knock-on effect for exporters, you’ve had exporters themselves come out and say that from their perspective, it was business as usual. In fact, we undertook our own assessment and when you do a comparison between any issues, regulatory issues with consignments at the border, of which we have many, last year there were only issues with 0.26 per cent of the time, and in January we only saw that 0.29 per cent of the time. So there is nothing to suggest that we are seeing any of those impacts on our exporters beyond what you might expect with just regulatory, administrative issues.
JOURNALIST: Mr Morrison, thanks for the question. Can I ask, you refer to the problem with those five northern ports and Australian coal exports as a regulatory problem, I gather, rather than a political decision.
PRIME MINISTER: There’s nothing to suggest otherwise.
JOURNALIST: Have you sought assurances from the Chinese Government, or has DFAT sought assurances from the Chinese Government that that is the case and if it is a regulatory issue, do you have any explanation as to why it appears that Australian exports have been targeted, but exports from other countries in those ports have not yet been targeted?
PRIME MINISTER: Well no, I can't offer any further comment than what I’ve already said before. These are local decisions that are made and there is nothing before me to suggest or that would be consistent with any of the conclusions that some are drawing. So I think in these circumstances, my approach is always just to remain very practical about these things. We will of course continue to engage with those local ports and those authorities and work through the same regulatory issues that we have worked through in the past. This isn't the first time this has happened, this is not new. It has occurred before and there are any number of issues practically that need to be addressed in these circumstances and that’s what we will do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Morrison, some may not be aware here that in fact you lived in Wellington for a couple of years about 20 years ago. You were the head of the Tourism and Sport office. In that capacity, of course, you developed a slogan; 100 per cent New Zealand pure.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, George Hickton did yes.
JOURNALIST: You were involved in it, as I understand?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, it was a great period of time.
JOURNALIST: I’m just wondering whether that slogan would apply to what the Prime Minister said was a corrosive part of our relationship; that is sending people that are classified as Kiwis in Australia, if they have committed a crime, back to New Zealand, when they’ve had about as much association with New Zealand as Barnaby Joyce did.
PRIME MINISTER: The simple answer is this; Australia has very well defined immigration and citizenship laws and our Government has taken a very strong line when it comes to those who are in Australia who are on visas. Visas are not citizenship. Visas are provided on the basis of people being compliant with those visas and that doesn't include committing crimes. So we take a very strong view about this. It is a view that is not restricted to New Zealand, I should stress. I understand that New Zealand understand that this is not targeted at New Zealand in any way, shape or form. As Immigration Minister, I made many such decisions with people who were deported back to the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. So we do have a very strong view on this. We do maintain very strict rules around our immigration in Australia. It has always been a hallmark of our Government and governments like us. We might not always agree in these meetings, as Prime Minister Ardern has said, but I can tell you that we do always listen and I think that is an important part of the relationship. We will seek to manage these issues sensitively, but at the same time Australia will always be a country, under my Government, which will treat the seriousness of the integrity of our immigration system very, very seriously.
JOURNALIST: So there’s no chance of a relaxation of those particular [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: We will work through individual cases sensitively.
JOURNALIST: Thank you so much, so my question, my first question is to Prime Minister Ardern. What have you learned, if anything, from how Australia handled pressure from China in the current diplomatic issues you are having with Beijing? And to both prime ministers, are you open to Japan and Germany either joining the Five Eyes intelligence alliance or cooperating with them further?
PRIME MINISTER ARDERN: On the second matter, that’s not something I have given individual consideration to and I don’t think it’s something that would be considered at an individual level, but rather as a collective of Five Eyes. On the first matter, you know we’re close friends and allies. There’s no doubt that we observe one another's international diplomacy and issues of national security. So I have made observations around of course, some of the decisions that have been made previously. But I think probably the point that I would like to still place emphasis on, is that none of that changes the nature of our own decision-making, or ultimately our own decisions. They are merely observations.
PRIME MINISTER: I would agree with Prime Minister Ardern's response on the second matter. But I would also say this; we work closely with both countries particularly when it comes to our region and particularly Japan. Prime Minister Ardern and I when we were in Papua New Guinea at the APEC Summit, we were there with the Americans and the Japanese and we were engaged in the most transformational project you could probably manage in PNG; the electrification of the nation of Papua New Guinea. I mean this is a game-changer of human development and opportunity that frankly I haven't seen in my lifetime, to have the opportunity to participate in and Prime Minister Abe is such an excited participant in this. As we continue to work with our family in the Pacific, we see a real opportunity for both countries to draw in the support of our friends and partners all around the world, which can include China, to see the realisation of the opportunity of the Pacific peoples. We feel deeply about this as nations and where we can work with other countries to realise their independence, their future, well, we will be happy leaders of that process.
Remarks, Leaders' Meeting - Auckland
22 February 2019
Auckland, New Zealand
THE RT HON JACINDA ARDERN MP, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Prime Minister Morrison, can I begin by thanking you somewhat unofficially in the middle of our engagement. We’ve just had a fantastic informal lunch, a good chance for us to catch up on some of the issues of the day and a bit of a cricket chat and of course covering off all of the issues we that have shared and mutual interests, which we will do in the course of our next conversation as well.
But it is a great pleasure to welcome you here. I will repeat again what I said at lunch, the fact that you are at an incredibly busy time in your political schedule and have just obviously had a trip also within the Pacific. The fact that you have prioritised New Zealand is significant for us and that’s a shared sentiment. We prioritise our relationship with you, you are a friend unlike any other we have. A friend and an ally, and I want to recognise that and of course the great cooperation we have in many areas which I know will continue.
But welcome and thank you for also bringing your wife Jenny. A lovely time has been had by all.
THE HON SCOTT MORRISON MP, PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you very much Prime Minister, it’s a great thrill to be here. Kia ora. It’s wonderful to be back in New Zealand, a place of great fondness for Jenny and I. She didn’t need much convincing, I can tell you that, in joining me today and I’m sure she is enjoying that.
Can I also join with you, this is a very significant day for New Zealanders, the eighth anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake all those years ago. Australians grieved and shed tears with their Kiwi cousins on that day, along with people I think all around the world. And so for us to be able to meet on that day is a sign of our friendship.
And when it comes to these meetings, it is always families first and we’re family here in the Pacific, particularly between Australia and New Zealand. So we appreciate the cooperation, particularly just in December I was in Taji visiting our troops there and quite a few of your troops too. They’re working so well together with our team there and they have been for some time. I really value that part of our partnership as well. We always turn up in these places together, always have, always will, and we thank them very much for their service.
PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Thank you. We did have a discussion around some of the disasters which we have had.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: And I acknowledge some of the really testing times you have had in that regard, whether drought or fire. But I acknowledge the contribution you made eight years ago alongside us in the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes and of course you lost people too. So thank you for that acknowledgement and we will probably say a little bit more on that later on as well. Thank you, thanks everyone.
Statement On Indulgence - Aus-Israel relationship
19 February 2019
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister) (12:01): On indulgence, I rise to acknowledge the 70th anniversary of Australia's formal diplomatic relationship with the State of Israel and affirm our deep friendship with the people of Israel—and, in doing that, I welcome the ambassador here with us in the chamber today.
Honourable members: Hear, hear!
Mr Morrison: In any long friendship there are moments that matter and moments never forgotten. For Australia and Israel it was in 1947 and it was in the United Nations. There was at that point no nation of Israel. Instead, there were broken and scarred Jewish people scattered around the world in places like Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dachau and Buchenwald. Though they no longer existed as state-sponsored machines of death, they seemed more real than a permanent home for the Jewish people at that time. It was as if darkness and hopelessness had covered the Jewish people as the true extent of the Holocaust became known. Maybe it was for such times that the Book of Joel spoke of young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams—and the age-old dream, in the words of David Ben-Gurion, was 'the redemption of Israel'.
It was in this setting that Australia chaired the 1947 UN committee that voted in favour of dividing the territory of mandate Palestine. On 29 November 1947 at the United Nations General Assembly, Australia joined 32 other nations in successfully voting for the partition plan. Looking back across seven decades it might seem that that was a simple thing to do and an obvious choice to make, but it was neither of those things. Australia made, in the words of Doc Evatt, who was instrumental in this recognition, 'an inevitable and just choice to stand with the Jewish people of the world and their vision for a Jewish state and a place of sanctuary where they would never again, and should never again, face persecution'.
Australia extended official recognition to the State of Israel in January 1949. In May of that same year Australia was proud to preside over the vote which formally admitted Israel as a member of the United Nations. As that new nation formed, the Jewish people arrived, in the words of David Ben-Gurion, 'with the dew of dreams still moist in our hearts'. Our small part, Australia's part, is a legacy of which we are proud and one we hold dear today as we mark this anniversary. In the words of our then Prime Minister: 'The new nation of Israel will be a force of special value in the world community, and its recognition was fair and just'—and so it has proved to be.
Today Israel's light is now a beacon of democracy in the Middle East. Ours is a 70-year-long friendship between two peoples which share a commitment to democracy and the rule of law, have a multicultural character and are committed to science and research, to a free press, to prosperity for our people and to innovation to overcome the challenges of our often hostile natural environments.
My government has resolved to ensure our commitment to Israel remains as firm today and in the future as it indeed was 70 years ago for Australia. That is why our government has acted for Australia to now recognise West Jerusalem, the seat of the Knesset and many institutions of government, as the capital of the State of Israel. We look forward moving our embassy to West Jerusalem when practical in support of and after the final status determination of a two-state solution. And, in the spirit of a two-state solution, we acknowledge the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a future state with its capital in East Jerusalem.
My government is also currently establishing a trade and defence office in West Jerusalem to enhance and support our deepening collaboration on trade, defence industries, investment and innovation. Just as it was 70 years ago, it remains in our national interests to see Israel continue to flourish as a liberal, participatory democracy in the Middle East. And, now as then, Australia continues to strongly support Israel's right to exist within secure and internationally recognised borders.
But my government won't just proclaim these words and sentiments; we will continue to act on them and not step back from or shrink from our commitments. This includes standing by Israel in the face of biased and unfair targeting of Israel in the UN General Assembly. The UN General Assembly is now the place where Israel is bullied and where anti-Semitism is cloaked in the language of human rights. Think about it: a nation of immigrants, with a free press and parliamentary democracy, which is financially prosperous, the source of innovation in the world and a refuge from persecution and genocide, is somehow now the centre of cruelty in the world, according to some in the UN. That is intellectual fraud. Last year, there were 17 UN General Assembly resolutions critical of Israel. This compared with a total of five covering all other countries, including Myanmar, the Syrian Arab Republic, Russia's actions in Crimea and the Ukraine, Iran and North Korea. This year the Human Rights Council passed six motions condemning Israel compared to a total of 14 across the rest of the world.
Last year, 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'd abstained on these resolutions—not anymore and not on my watch.
My government will not turn a blind eye to an anti-Semitic agenda masquerading as defence of human rights in the UN. This is also extended to calling out those who would seek to wipe Israel from the map. Again at my direction, last year, 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-Palestine conflict as an excuse to inflict terror. They should have no friends at the UN. The failure of that resolution to pass with the requisite majority was an indictment, I think, of the UN. Australia condemns Hamas's activities in the strongest possible terms.
Of course, our partnership has always been underpinned by the peoples of our nations. Australia's Jewish community began with those who arrived on the First Fleet. Though they were persecuted in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Australia has been, to quote the words of the member for Berowra, a land, 'almost uniquely in human history, good to the Jewish people'. Though numbering about one-hundredth of our population, Australians of Jewish heritage have made a remarkable contribution to our national life and our story. We are the nation of John Monash, Isaac Isaacs, Sir Zelman Cowen, Governor Linda Dessau, Frank Lowy, Harry Triguboff, Joan Rosanove and thousands more who, in their own way, have all sought to be the light unto the nations, performing the mitzvot, or good deeds, according to the law of Moses.
Australia has been a steadfast and loyal friend to Israel since its very creation, and I can assure this House, the people of Australia and our friends in Israel that the Liberal and National parties will never walk back or shrink from the recognition that Australia now affords Israel and the commitments and support for the State of Israel, whether in the General Assembly of the United Nations or elsewhere.
We know this is about Israel. They are a steadfast and loyal friend. Seventy years on, this parliament restates our commitment to Israel, to its people and to the deep friendship between our nations. We are friends who have always stood with each other, and may that always be the case.
Statement to the House of Representatives - Parliament House, Canberra
18 February 2019
Canberra, ACT
PRIME MINISTER: Mr Speaker, I move that the resolution of the Senate be agreed to.
Mr Speaker, I take the issue of abuse and the neglect of people with a disability very seriously and so does the Government I lead as well. We take it seriously, because abuse and the neglect of our most vulnerable is abhorrent. As we have seen in other areas, institutions who we expect to provide care and support have often failed in providing that care. In the past, all too often we thought abuse or neglect in institutions were isolated occurrences. Instead, we discovered it was systemic failure, as we noted last year in relation to the National Apology.
So we must be vigilant in ensuring the standards of care for people with disabilities are at their absolute highest. That is why our Government is undertaking substantial reform to improve the treatment of people with disability.
We have established a royal commission into abuse and neglect in the aged care sector, including the abuse of young people with disabilities in aged care facilities. We were able to establish this quickly, as the Commonwealth has responsibility for the funding and legislation of aged care. As well, there have been a number of inquiries looking into issues of abuse and neglect of people with a disability, at both a federal and state level. These inquiries have identified many issues relevant to the disability sector and have been incorporated into the NDIS quality and safeguarding framework.
As Members know, the focus of the Government has been on rolling out the National Disability Insurance Scheme, as well as ensuring a new national quality and safeguard system to support people with a disability. As part of that the Government has established new, significant and comprehensive safeguards to prevent abuse and neglected people with a disability under the NDIS.
The Commonwealth provided $209 million to establish the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission , the NDIS Commission, to regulate the delivery of services under the NDIS and protect the rights of people with a disability. The NDIS Commission has a number of critical functions, including registering providers, handling complaints and reportable incidents, enforcing a code of conduct for NDIS providers and worker and national policy setting for consistent worker screening. It also has strong investigation and regulatory powers and can take tough, appropriate action including deregistration, banning orders and civil penalties. The NDIS Commission has extensive powers over both registered and unregistered providers. The NDIS and the associated quality and safeguarding arrangements are still in the process of being rolled out across Australia. The NDIS Commission commenced operations in New South Wales and South Australia on 1 July 2018 and will commence in the ACT, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria on 1 July 2019 and in Western Australia, on 1 July 2020. This means that the Commonwealth currently has very limited jurisdiction in regulation of disability services.
Mr Speaker, on Friday I received correspondence from Senator Steele-John which contained a draft terms of reference for the proposed royal commission into disability services. I thank him for doing so and I appreciate the very concrete and very detailed suggestions that he has been able to provide to us on this issue. They of course will be of assistance as we consider now, this motion and move forward on this matter. I note his terms of reference seeks to look into the experiences - rightly I should stress - of people directly or indirectly affected in institutional, residential or other contexts.
As the Attorney-General noted on the weekend, a royal commission looking into past issues, backwards, into issues around disability care is essentially then a royal commission that would look into state facilities. That at the very least would require consultation and agreement with the states and likely letters patent from the states. We understand this to be true. This should not be a royal commission that only looks at a narrow area of responsibility that has only become part of the Commonwealth's responsibility in recent times. The issues that are relevant here go back over some period of time, certainly back a decade and they principally involve the conduct of state and territory governments in the delivery of disability services. They should, obviously, be considered in any royal commission that was held into this area.
I do note, as I did in Question Time today though, that the establishment of a royal commission was previously discussed through the Council of Australian Government and the COAG Disability Reform Council and at that time, states and territories did not indicate support for a royal commission. So these are hurdles that would have to be addressed.
I want to keep all Australians safe, Mr Speaker and to use whatever powers we have to do so. But this work often requires us to work in partnership with the states and territories and that's what we'll have to address ourselves to, going forward.
Violence, abuse and neglect of people with disability outside service settings such as at home or in the community is mostly covered under state and territory law. So working with the states and territories in this area, both looking at matters in the past as well as looking forward, will be absolutely essential. So I will be seeking further advice from all states and territories to discuss this important matter of establishing a royal commission, as well as consulting directly and extensively with stakeholders about what the precise terms of reference might be and what other royal commissions, in particular the Aged Care Royal Commission, might be able to offer as a way to address these issues.
Now these are the options before the Government. As the House knows, calling a royal commission is a matter for the Executive Government. The House - as has the Senate - has put forward a motion and it won’t be opposed by the Government. It will be supported by the Government. But it will be the Government that then will take that matter into consideration and work through all the necessary issues to be able to do something positively in this area and to act on these issues. That's exactly what we'll do.
We have no interest, Mr Speaker, in making any partisanship of this issue. One of the reasons I decided to establish the Royal Commission into Aged Care, is I believe the Royal Commission into Aged Care would provide a fact base, a new platform to support a further decade of bipartisan in action on aged care, because I was concerned that that bipartisanship was waning. I sincerely hope that that is not the case in relation to the disability care and to be able to go forward with this issue, that is the good faith in which I will engage the issue and seek to lead the issue forward. So, I will report back to the House when I have further advice and able to make announcements as and when the Government is in a position to do so. With that, I move that the resolution of the Senate be agreed to.
Statement - National Security
18 February 2019
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister) (12:00): by leave—Australia's democratic process is our greatest asset, our most critical piece of national infrastructure. Public confidence in the integrity of our democratic processes is an essential element of Australian sovereignty and governance. While we will vigorously argue over many issues in this place, we are all united in our parliament in our commitment to democratic principles.
Members will be aware that the Australian Cyber Security Centre recently identified a malicious intrusion into the Australian Parliament House computer network. During the course of this work, we also became aware that the networks of some political parties—Liberal, Labor and the Nationals—have also been affected. Our security agencies have detected this activity and acted decisively to confront it. They are securing these systems and protecting users. I do not propose to go into the detail of these operational matters, but our cyberexperts believe that a sophisticated state actor is responsible for this malicious activity.
Let me be clear, though: there is no evidence of any electoral interference. We have put in place a number of measures to ensure the integrity of our electoral system. I have instructed the Australian Cyber Security Centre to be ready to provide any political party or electoral body in Australia with immediate support, including making their technical experts available. They have already briefed the electoral commissions and those responsible for cybersecurity for all states and territories. They have also worked with global antivirus companies to ensure Australia's friends and allies have the capacity to detect this malicious activity.
We have acted decisively to protect our national interests. The methods used by malicious actors are constantly evolving, and this incident just reinforces yet again the importance of cybersecurity as a fundamental part of everyone's business. The Australian government will continue to take a proactive and coordinated approach to protecting Australia's sovereignty, economy and national security. That is why the government has invested in cybersecurity, including strengthening the Australian Cyber Security Centre by bringing all of the Australian government's cybersecurity capability together in one place. Our political system and our democracy remain strong and vibrant and are protected. We stand united in the protection of our values and our sovereignty. The government has chosen to be transparent about these matters. This, in itself, is an expression of faith by our government in our democratic system and our determination to defend it.
Disability services
18 February 2019
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister) (15:39): I move:
That the resolution of Senate be agreed to.
I take the issue of abuse and neglect of people with disability very seriously and so does the government I lead. We take it seriously because abuse and neglect of our most vulnerable is abhorrent. As we've seen in other areas, institutions we expect to provide care and support have often failed in providing that care. In the past, all too often we thought abuse or neglect in institutions were isolated occurrences; instead, we discovered it was systemic failure, as we noted last year in relation to the National Apology.
So we must be vigilant in ensuring the standards of care for people with disabilities are at their absolute highest. That is why our government is undertaking substantial reform to improve the treatment of people with disability. We have established a royal commission into abuse and neglect in aged-care facilities, including young people with disabilities in aged-care facilities. We were able to establish this quickly as the Commonwealth has responsibility for the funding and legislation of aged care. As well, there have been a number of inquiries looking into abuse and neglect of people with disability at both federal and state levels. These inquiries have identified many issues relevant to the disability sector and have been incorporated into the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework.
As members know, the focus of the government has been on rolling out the National Disability Insurance Scheme as well as establishing a new national quality and safeguard system to support people with disability. As part of that, the government has established new, significant and comprehensive safeguards to prevent abuse and neglect of people with disability under the NDIS. The Commonwealth provided $209 million to establish the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to regulate the delivery of services under the NDIS and to protect the rights of people with a disability. The NDIS Commission has a number of critical functions, including registering providers, handling complaints and reportable incidents, enforcing a code of conduct for NDIS providers and workers, and national policy settings for consistent worker screening. It also has strong investigation and regulatory powers and can take tough, appropriate action including deregistration, banning orders and civil penalties. The NDIS Commission has extensive powers over both registered and unregistered providers. The NDIS and the associated quality and safeguarding arrangements are still in the process of being rolled out across Australia The NDIS Commission commenced operations in New South Wales and South Australia on 1 July 2018 and will commence in the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria on 1 July 2019 and in Western Australia on 1 July 2020. This means the Commonwealth currently has very limited jurisdiction in regulation of disability services.
On Friday, I received correspondence from Senator Steele-John which contained a draft terms of reference for the proposed royal commission into disability services. I thank him for doing so and I appreciate the very concrete and very detailed suggestions that he has been able to provide to us on this issue. They, of course, will be of assistance as we consider now this motion and move forward on this matter. I note his terms of reference seek to look into the experiences—rightly, I should stress—of people directly or indirectly affected in institutional, residential and other contexts.
As the Attorney-General noted on the weekend, a royal commission looking into past issues, backwards, into disability care is essentially then a royal commission that would look into state facilities and, at the very least, require consultation and agreement with the states and likely letters patent from the states. We understand this to be true. This should not be a royal commission that only looks at the narrow area of responsibility that has only become part of the Commonwealth's responsibility in recent times. The issues that are relevant here go back over some period of time, certainly back a decade. They principally involve the conduct of state and territory governments in the delivery of disability services, and they should, obviously, be considered in any royal commission held into this area.
I do note, though, as I did in question time today, that the establishment of a royal commission was previously discussed through the Council of Australian Governments and the COAG Disability Reform Council and, at that time, states and territories did not indicate support for a royal commission. So these are hurdles that would have to be addressed. I want to keep all Australians safe and to use whatever powers we have to do so. But this work often requires us to work in partnership with the states and territories, and that's what we will have to address ourselves to going forward. Violence, abuse and neglect of people with disability outside service settings, such as at home or in the community, is mostly covered under state and territory law, so working with the states and territories in this area, looking at matters in the past as well as looking forward, will be absolutely essential. I will be seeking further advice from all states and territories to discuss this important matter of establishing a royal commission, as well as consulting directly and extensively with stakeholders about what the precise terms of reference might be and what other royal commissions, in particular the aged-care royal commission, might be able to offer as a way to address these issues.
These are the options before the government. As the House knows, calling a royal commission is a matter for the executive government. The Senate has put forward a motion and it won't be opposed by the government. It will be supported by the government. But it will be the government that then will take that matter into consideration and work through all the necessary issues to be able to do something positively in this area and to act on these issues. That's exactly what we'll do. We have no interest in making any partisanship of this issue. One of the reasons I decided to establish the royal commission into aged care is that I believed the royal commission into aged care would provide a fact base, a new platform, to support a further decade of bipartisanship on action on aged care, because I was concerned that that bipartisanship was waning. I sincerely hope that that is not the case in relation to disability care and that we are able to go forward with this issue. That is the good faith in which I will engage with the issue and seek to lead the issue forward.
I will report back to the House when we have further advice on these matters and make announcements as and when the government is in a position to do so.
Statement to the House of Representatives - Closing the Gap 2019
14 February 2019
Parliament House, Canberra
PRIME MINISTER: Mr Speaker, as we always do in this place, we meet on Ngunnawal land.
We acknowledge and pay our respects to Ngunnawal Elders past, present and those emerging.
I pay my deepest respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here today and right across our land.
I acknowledge our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders who are also the democratically elected representatives of the people:
The Member for Hasluck and Minister for Indigenous Health and Senior Australians and Aged Care, the Honourable Ken Wyatt. The Member for Barton, the Honourable Linda Burney. And Senators Patrick Dodson and Malarndirri McCarthy.
I welcome the co-chairs of the Indigenous Advisory Council Andrea Mason and Roy Ah-See as well as all who have travelled to be here for this occasion, including Warren Mundine.
I also acknowledge the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Scullion.
I also wish to acknowledge the Member for Warringah, both as Special envoy and as someone who has a profound impact on my understanding and appreciation of indigenous Australians and the challenges they face in our country.
I want to acknowledge his long standing compassion, advocacy, commitment and dedication to the first peoples of our nation.
I want Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to have the same opportunities as all other children growing up in Australia.
But this is not true for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia today. It’s never been true. And I don’t know when it will be true. And that is the truth we must confront again today.
I remind myself of this truth each day as I walk into my office, as I have done for many years.
In my office is a photo of a plaque embedded in a rock memorial at a remote outstation in Central Australia that I visited with the Member for Warringah and Senator Scullion many years ago, outside a small school that was attended by Shirley Ngalkin.
When Shirley was away from her community, she was brutally raped and drowned by teenage boys in Hermannsburg in 1998. She was six years old. She would be a young woman now, probably raising her own family, perhaps her own daughters.
On her memorial it says “I am Jesus’ little lamb”, with the prayer that she now rests in His care. I pray that is true, because we certainly failed to provide it. And we still do.
I’d like to tell you that this no longer happens. But we all know it does, even though we are often told we shouldn’t say so, but we should.
Young girls are taking their lives in remote communities, so are young boys. Lives are being consumed in a hopeless dysfunction that seems to defy any sensible response.
While I am not going to pretend today that this situation does not remain in an unforgivable state, I am going to say that we can never rest as a nation until we change this for all time.
And I am here to say that there is hope. That progress is and can further be made.
So that one day we can say that a young indigenous boy or girl growing up in Australia will have the same chances and opportunities in life as any other Australian.
That is what Closing the Gap is all about.
Mr Speaker, in 2008 we began this process of Closing the Gap.
Successive Prime Ministers have reported since on our progress on meeting these national goals.
Born out of the National Apology, Closing the Gap was recognition that words without deeds are fruitless.
The process that began in 2008 was born of good heart.
It recognised that accountability is vital if we are to bring about a change and meaningful progress that has eluded our nation for two centuries.
But I must say, that while guided by the best of intentions, the process reflected something of the hubris of this place.
It did not truly seek to partner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
It believed a top-down approach could achieve the change that was rightly desired. That Canberra could change it all with lofty goals and bureaucratic targets.
It was set up to fail. And has, on its own tests. And today I am calling that out.
This was not a true partnership – not with the states and territories, or with Indigenous peoples themselves.
Yes, there was more funding, programs, workers, and accountability – but this was just another version of what we were already doing, so often unsuccessfully, in different forms, for generations.
So, while there has been incremental and meaningful progress on many fronts – as of 2019 only two of the seven Closing the Gap targets are on track.
What we’re doing has to change and our Government is leading a process to change it.
That is why, two years ago, we embarked on a Closing the Gap refresh – because our efforts were not meeting our worthy ambitions.
Late last year, a Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Bodies made representations to me about Closing the Gap.
They came to me seeking a partnership.
One where we listen, work together and decide together how future policies are developed – especially at a regional and local level.
This is a message I’ve also heard from the Indigenous Advisory Council.
At COAG in December last year, all governments committed to share ownership of, and responsibility for, jointly agreed frameworks, targets and ongoing monitoring of a refreshed Closing the Gap Agenda, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at its heart.
COAG asked that this work be finalised by the middle of this year.
This is a major step toward the genuine and mutually respectful formal partnership between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians that will empower individuals and allow communities to thrive.
Governments fail when accountabilities are unclear. When investment is poorly targeted, When systems aren’t integrated. And when we don’t learn from evidence.
This is why clear accountability will be at the centre of a new approach to Closing the Gap, with states and territories and the Commonwealth Government and Indigenous Australians having clear responsibilities for delivering on targets.
This is also why the progress we jointly make will be subject to regular independent Indigenous-led reviews.
This is about delivering action on the ground.
And this is about giving us all the best chance for success.
Our communities need the jobs and economic growth that makes true aspiration viable – and we need a renewed focus on education so that the next generation of Indigenous men and women will have every opportunity to participate in and contribute to our economic prosperity.
As we commence this refresh of Closing the Gap, it is important to report on what has occurred over the past ten years of reports.
While it is important to acknowledge the gap that exists and the gap that must be closed, we must careful not to take a deficit mentality to our task.
This is a long journey of many steps. We cannot allow the enormity of the task to overwhelm our appreciation for what we are achieving.
If we focus only on the gap and not what is being achieved, we are at risk of losing heart. We may fail to recognise achievements and strengths that can be built upon.
Sure, those achievements are still not enough.
But in this space, every achievement is hard won.
Every child that gets into school and stays in school is a a victory.
Every child born healthy is a victory.
Every parent in every town who gets a job and stays in a job is a victory.
Every woman or child who is kept safe from abuse is a victory.
Every night a family can rest their heads in a home that is clean, safe and not overcrowded is a victory.
This process must claim it’s victories, while being honest about it shortcomings. Because it is the victories upon which success built, and our failings from which lessons are learned.
Over the past ten years the life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians has increased – men born between 2015 to 2017 can expect to live for an additional 4.1 years and women 2.5 years compared to those born 10 years earlier.
This improvement is encouraging. It points to better work being undertaken drawing together the different threads of health: physical, social, emotional and mental.
This progress is the culmination of incremental progress in communities across Australia.
Across Australia there are hundreds of services making a meaningful difference.
In Queensland, the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health provides clinics, eye examinations, dental examinations and support to deal with addictions.
In Central Australia, the Purple House is taking dialysis services to patients - with a mobile dialysis unit, the Purple Truck.
And in communities across Australia it requires sustained effort. It’s intensive and it’s absolutely vital.
However, despite the progress, we are not on track to close the gap on life expectancy by 2031.
Since 2008 Indigenous child mortality rates have fallen by 10 per cent.
The child mortality rate is a rate per 100,000 children, and so with a small population, the rate moves around a lot from year to year.
That means we have to be cautious about any claim of improvement.
While the Indigenous child mortality rate has fallen, the non-Indigenous infant mortality rates have fallen at a greater rate.
While we welcome both falls, the gap has not narrowed.
But there are positive signs – the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers attending antenatal care has risen from 41 per cent in 2010 to 60 per cent in 2016; the maternal smoking rate has decreased from 54 per cent in 2005 to 43 per cent in 2016; and we are seeing significant increases in immunisation rates.
I acknowledge the work being done on the ground that is making meaningful differences.
In Queensland, the Apunipima Cape York Council’s Indigenous health workers, through the One Baby program, are conducting health checks, immunisation and treatments in homes and through clinics.
In the Northern Territory, a team of Aboriginal women is helping young mothers through the nurse-family partnership program - and imparting an understanding of what contributes to good health and wellbeing.
This is work that is extremely targeted and helping families make the best choices when it comes to the health and wellbeing of their young children.
The target to have 95 per cent of Indigenous children in early childhood education by 2025 is on track.
In 2017, 95 per cent of Indigenous children were enrolled in early childhood education.
New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT now have enrolments at the 95 per cent benchmark rate or above.
We should note that attendance rates for Indigenous children were lower in remote areas – particularly Very Remote Areas – up to 16 percentage points lower than the rates for Indigenous children in other areas.
So there is still work to do.
Nevertheless, there is significant progress overall and this should be celebrated – because enrolment and attendance are precursors to improving developmental outcomes ahead of attending school.
Much of this work has been supported by National Partnership Agreements with the States and Territories - ensuring that every child has access to a quality preschool education in the year before school.
Since 2008, there have been improvements in schooling outcomes.
The Commonwealth, working with the States and Territories, through the National School Reform Agreement is bolstering these improvements with $308 billion from 2018 to 2029, with a priority focus on driving improved outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
The biggest improvement over the past decade has been in Year 12 or equivalent attainment.
We have witnessed an almost 18 percentage point jump in the proportion of Indigenous Australians achieving this milestone since 2006.
More Indigenous students are now graduating and moving into employment or further studies.
We can be particularly proud of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island young people who face the additional challenge of living in Very Remote Areas – they have achieved the largest leap in attainment, with rates rising from 23 per cent in 2006 to 43 per cent in 2016.
However, the target to close the gap in school attendance is not on track.
Attendance rates for Indigenous students are at around 82 per cent compared to 93 per cent for non-Indigenous students.
While there is a disproportionate share of Indigenous students below the minimum standards for reading and numeracy, we have made progress over the past decade.
The proportion of Indigenous students at or above minimum standards are 11-13 percentage points higher than in 2008 – for reading in Years 3 and 5 and for numeracy in Years 5 and 9.
This Government understands that one of the keys to transform Indigenous employment rates is to encourage Indigenous businesses to grow.
Indigenous enterprise means Indigenous jobs.
Since the commencement of the Indigenous Procurement Policy three and a half years ago, the Commonwealth has awarded almost 12,000 contracts to over 1,470 businesses.
Those contracts have a total value of over $1.8 billion.
Last financial year, 366 Indigenous businesses won their first Australian Government contract.
The Commonwealth and all portfolios exceeded their three per cent Indigenous Procurement Policy contract target.
To ensure this growth continues, from 1 July this year, we’ll introduce a three per cent target based on value, beginning at one per cent and phased in over eight years.
We’ll also expand the reach of the mandatory minimum requirements for Indigenous participation in major contracts to include additional service categories from 1 July 2020.
It is through the development of small, family and medium sized Indigenous businesses that we will tackle the Indigenous employment gap.
I am aware that many have entered this place with grand plans and lofty promises. All soon forgotten.
As Prime Minister I am not going to add further well intentioned promises to what is a long and disappointing list.
The Closing the Gap initiative seeks to promote action across a broad range of fronts. It must and will continue to.
As Prime Minister I intend to have a more specific focus. To seek to make an impact in just one area that I believe can achieve generational change.
And that’s education.
I want to get kids into school and to stay in school for longer.
Education is the key to skills.
It is the key to jobs.
It is the key to building enterprises – and giving young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians the opportunity to create their futures.
It’s the key to a good life.
If you can’t read, if you can’t write, there is no possible way you can share in the prosperity of Australia.
I am yet to meet a person who says they regret studying.
Because even if we take a different path to our studies, it becomes a foundation on which to build.
As Ian Trust, the Chair of Wunan an Aboriginal Development organisation in the East Kimberley, puts it: “If you want to have things you have never had before, you must be prepared to do things you have never done before. For us, this will mean getting more of our people educated and into a job in order to break the cycle of poverty for our people”.
Education is the foundation: for skills, jobs, health, prosperity, and longevity.
As the Member for Warringah has noted: when Indigenous students finish school and complete a degree – they have much the same employment outcomes as other comparable Australians.
We are seeing good signs from around the country.
The number of Indigenous women enrolling in university education has continued to rise and Indigenous women are graduating in increasing numbers.
For example, only last month, five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women graduated as doctors from the University of Western Australia. This is a tremendous outcome and I congratulate these new doctors.
And last week, on the other side of the continent, in Port Macquarie, the first Indigenous graduate in the University of Newcastle’s Bachelor of Midwifery completed her studies.
While there has been progress, we need to accelerate our efforts, particularly in our work in remote areas.
We must start with incentivising and rewarding teachers in remote communities.
I know you can’t be a teacher in a very remote area without having a deep commitment to teaching and making a difference.
If you are a teacher in a very remote area, what you are doing is more than a job, it’s an expression of love.
We should never take advantage of that great act of love. If anything we should reward it.
That is why the Government will provide incentives to teachers working in Very Remote Areas to help them pay their Higher Education Loans.
For these teachers, their HECS debt will be frozen. From today, teachers working in a Very Remote Area will not have one cent of interest added to their debt whilst they are working in a Very Remote Area.
For teachers, who from today, work for four years in a Very Remote Area, their HECS debt will be scrapped.
As well, the Minister for Education, the Special Envoy, and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs will work closely with a small number of communities to improve attendance rates.
Community by community. School by school.
This could include providing additional school facilities such as community infrastructure or learning centres helping disengaged students return to school. The goal being supporting and addressing school attendance.
We have seen the success of organisations that provide scholarships and mentoring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys and girls.
The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, the Clontarf Foundation, and so many other programs are producing great outcomes and we need to invest in that success – helping indigenous boys and girls choose the futures they aspire to.
The Government will provide an extra $200 million in support over the forward estimates for scholarships, academies and mentoring support.
The Indigenous Youth Education Package will provide further certainty for scholarships, academies and mentoring of Indigenous students.
This is an area which is working, and we are investing in success.
Mr Speaker.
There is change happening in our country: a shared understanding that we have a shared future.
The change is manifesting itself in thousands of small ways, each cascading to create change.
I remember being a boy, just 12, and travelling with my older brother Alan to a property 30 kilometres east of Cloncurry in North West Queensland, that property is under water today.
It was the family property of my late uncle Bill. The grandson of Dame Mary Gilmore who sensed and wrote of the yearning and mourning of Indigenous Australians long before most others.
I remember being in awe of the land – and marvelling at seeing a horizon on land rather than just at sea. I’d never seen that before, I grew up on the coast.
There was a large Indigenous family working on the property.
They were skilled stockmen.
I had had almost no interaction with Aboriginal people in my life – and my first reaction as a young boy – was to withdraw.
We too often withdraw what we do not know or understand.
My uncle sensed my unease. So he helped me to connect, to see, to appreciate and understand.
During the days that followed I came to learn about their deep connection to land and country, and got to know a family that was beautiful, generous and kind.
I fast forward a generation – to the evening before Australia Day this year.
And I took my family to the shores of Lake Burley Griffin to spend time with representatives of the Ngunnawal people.
My girls are just a little younger than Alan and I were when we went on our country trip.
But my children had no apprehension, only enthusiasm – and they already have an understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture that I didn’t have as a child.
And on the shores of our man-made lake, they encountered the same beauty, generosity and kindness that we had a generation before.
That afternoon, all of our faces were painted by our hosts – and we danced – some of us not that well – and we laughed and we listened.
We listened not just to the Elders, but to the very country that is home.
That afternoon, I again saw the great grace of Indigenous Australia.
Despite the dispossession; the loss of identity; the renaming of their lands; the ignominy of our history, including the crimes and the misguided good intentions; there was a good and open-hearted grace.
There was an offered hand where you might not expect any.
The miracle worked in any Apology is not when it is offered, but when it is accepted and that forgiveness takes place. That is when true reconciliation occurs.
In an age of offence, and where the bonds between us are under strain, there is much we can learn from our Indigenous brothers and sisters.
So we draw strength from their grace and renew our efforts to address the gaps in health, education, safety and housing.
We owe it to history, we owe it to the country that we share, to work together and to make the difference that is vital to so many lives.
Mr Speaker, I present the 2019 Closing the Gap Report.