Speeches
Remarks, Ceremonial Welcome
20 September 2019
Washington D.C, United States of America
As I just said to the President, thanks mate.
Mr President, Mrs Trump, honoured guests, distinguished guests, friends one and all, here in this land of liberty. Thank you Mr President and Mrs Trump for the honour you have bestowed on my country here today with this extraordinary welcome.
Jenny and I bring with us, and our delegation, the amity, the thanks and respect of 25 million Australians – for this great country of these United States of America.
Fifty years ago another Australian Prime Minister visited the White House and he said, “there are too many bonds between our two countries for any Australian Prime Minister to feel that he is a stranger.”
So once again as another Prime Minister returns, as a friend, to celebrate with you Mr President one of our oldest and dearest friendships. It is wonderful to be here.
Australians and Americans understand each other like few other peoples, and it is true that you and I have established a very early understanding for which I’m grateful.
No two peoples in the world make better friends easier than ours.
Your respect for Australia, Mr President, your personal encouragement and the example afforded by your passion for what makes America great, makes ours a very easy connection. For a century, as you have recounted, we have done what true friends do - stick by each other.
Ronald Reagan spoke of the “truths and traditions” that define the United States. Australians share these truths and traditions. We see the world through the same lens, from the cornfields of Le Hamel to the jungles of South East Asia and the Pacific to the dust of Tarin Kot and now even, the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, Australians and Americans continue to stand together.
I am reminded of the story of a young American soldier in the First World War calling out to Australian soldiers for help to attend to the wounded and an Australian soldier replied in the notorious blunt language of soldiers which I will censor here. He said, “Sure, Yank, I’ll go. We’re in this…thing together!”
Mr President, Australia may often look – he’s a New Yorker!
Mr President, Australia may often look to the United States but we have never been a country that has been prepared to leave it to the United States. We don’t, that’s not our way. We pull our weight. Like you, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour our found in our willingness to stand for what we believe.
We believe, as Teddy Roosevelt declared, that national strength is found in the ability of citizens to live out their lives with “self restraint, self mastery, common sense, the power of accepting individual responsibility” and the ability to act “in conjunction with others” and with “courage and resolution”.
We believe in the capacity of enterprise and free markets to create wealth and lift all – and for free and fair trade to bring nations closer together.
We believe “that governments derive their power from the consent of the governed” and that the ballot box and democracy is the surest foundation for peace and security.
And we believe in the rule of law and freedom of association.
These beliefs spurred this country to build a mighty canal; stood up to fascism and militarism; rebuild the modern world after winning a great peace; inspired the fascination, wonder and joy of the world’s children through a little mouse who could whistle a tune; who took humanity to the moon and indeed we’re going back again; tore down a wall that separated liberty from oppression and imagined, engineered and built a world that has connected humanity in a way that we now can’t imagine living without.
America reminds the world that it can be done. How great is America?
The world is a better place because of this country living out its moral purpose.
A world not just more secure, but more prosperous as well.
The new economies of the world, lifting hundreds of millions from poverty, do so because they first saw the United States define a century and do that first and then invited and supported them to follow.
Mr President, I know that the leaders of more powerful nations will indeed visit this home known throughout the world and will be welcomed as friends. But you won’t find a more sure and steadfast friend, a better mate, than Australia.
It is a coincidence of history that on the very day Pearl Harbour was attacked, Australia gifted a 99 year lease to the United States to build its embassy on our capital.
And 60 years later, as the President has remarked, on September 11, another Australian Prime Minister John Howard was here in Washington at our embassy – and he invoked our treaty with you – and pledged our country to stand with you against the architects of terror as we do to this day.
When President Reagan welcomed another Australian Prime Minister on this lawn he reminded us “liberty is not an inevitable state and there is no law which guarantees that once achieved it will survive”.
So we pledge ourselves here at this dawn of a second century of mateship, between our nations, to renew and modernise our Alliance for a new century; to continue to be vigilant and strong – and to build the economic strength that our world needs that contributes to the peace and prosperity of all.
Whatever lies ahead in this century, I know that Australia and the United States will go on to meet it with the same courage, the same daring, the same unbreakable bond that has defined the first century of mateship.
Mr President and Mrs Trump, thank you again for welcoming Jen and me here, and here as true friends.
May God bless you, may God bless the good peoples of the Commonwealth of Australia and these United States of America.
Speech, State Dinner
20 September 2019
The Rose Garden, The White House
PRIME MINISTER: Well he got me, Dame Mary, my great, great aunt would be very, very proud.
Mr. President, First Lady Mrs. Trump, thank you so much Mrs. Trump for the amazing night you've created for us here.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends, Jenny and I are truly grateful for this wonderful honour and the hospitality that you Mr. President the First Lady have extended to us and to our country.
As we join you here tonight, in the home, your home, and that of the American Presidency.
This of course was once the home of President Teddy Roosevelt who I've always greatly admired. He was also a New Yorker, he was also unconventional.
He was no captive of the establishment. He was also accomplished. Indeed some might say a maverick. He was his own man. He was a do-er and above all he was inspired by the great character of the American people. There is nothing he believed his nation could not do.
And this is the heart of American greatness. Mr. President, your belief in America and its people echoes this great spirit of that great president.
And it's backed up by your life's experience and the passion and work of your Presidency.
And Mrs. Trump, your kindness, warmth, and quiet grace in the welcome to Jenny and I and especially here tonight has been very special. And as Jen has said, very sweet.
General Washington once said it is infinitely better to have a few good men than many indifferent ones. But the same is true of the friendship of nations.
Australia will never be accused of a indifference in our friendship to the United States.
And tonight Mr. President we are reminded that the United States feels the same way especially under your leadership.
I've noticed tonight the Marines who are on duty tonight, and I thank you for your service. But not just to the United States but to our alliance as well.
In 1943 the US Marine 1st Division was engaged in the first ever large scale U.S. offensive against the Japanese at Guadalcanal. At the same time Australian forces were in New Guinea also locked in the fiercest of some battles against the Japanese.
We both prevailed each doing our bit. Each carrying our own weight.
When the US Marine 1st Division arrived in Melbourne after six months of heavy fighting they were welcomed with a rendition of the Australian fake anthem Waltzing Matilda.
More than 75 years later the first division still plays Waltzing Matilda whenever they ship out.
It's true Mr President, we have been in a lot of battles. But we have also stood together to realise the dividend of peace. Prosperity that comes from our embrace of enterprise and free markets and the rule of law. Our great immigration societies, education, liberal democracy and a commitment to the fulfilment of human potential.
This has been importantly included in our work together to expand the frontiers of science, technologies, and exploration.
To reach into space as we first did together 50 years ago.
When you launched, and we kept Apollo 11 in contact through the honeysuckle project, with earth and we beamed those most famous of images of all time to an enthralled and inspired humanity.
Events that no doubt inspired a young Andy Thomas from Adelaide who's with us here tonight to launch into space on the Endeavour. Almost 30 years later. And now we hope to do this again under the vision of your Presidency, Mr President.
Our generation and our times call this great republic and our great Commonwealth to live up to the calling of young free nations to continually point the way to freedom.
In Australia we are reminded of this friendship by the great spire with the eagle atop that looks out across our nation's capital in Canberra.
And earlier today we gifted a bronze statue of Les 'Bull' Alan, an Australian soldier carrying a wounded Marine off the battlefield on steep slopes in New Guinea in 1943 for is gallantry he was awarded the US Silver Star and the Military Medal whilst fighting alongside US troops.
Mr President we would be honoured if you would permit Australia as a gift to erect a life-sized memorial of this image here in Washington, at a place of your choosing, as a constant reminder of our dedication to our American friends and the bonds we have formed.
But for now ladies and gentlemen please join me in a toast.
To 100 years of mateship, and to 100 more.
To the people of these United States to the President and his magnificent First Lady.
And may God bless America.
Remarks - Arrival at Joint Base Andrews
19 September 2019
Maryland, USA
Here we are the land of the free, the home of the brave.
We just heard there are no two anthems that you'll hear anywhere in the world when played together that talk about freedom and liberty and all the things we hold dear as Australians.
Someone said to me many years ago that if you want to celebrate anniversaries, it's not just a matter of the years rolling by. You've got to invest in those relationships. You've got to take care and you've got to tend them and it is a great honour and privilege that Jenny and I and our delegation come here at the very gracious invitation of President Trump and Mrs. Trump to do something very important.
Firstly, to honour and celebrate 100 years of mateship and I particularly want to pay tribute to Ambassador Hockey and the tremendous work he's done in his tending of that relationship here in this country and that celebrating of that hundred years of mateship.
But it's also about laying the foundation for another hundred years.
And whether it's on our defence relationship, our security relationship, our economic relationship, our partnerships around the world whether in the Middle East or closer to home in the Indo-Pacific, all of these things go together to have one of, I think, the best relationships of any two nations anywhere in the world.
There are many larger, I suppose, more powerful friends than, America has, but they know they do not have a more sure and steadfast friend than Australia.
And so I'm looking forward to spending time with our American friends here over the next few days and celebrating our tremendous relationship.
Thank you very much.
Remarks - Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister Bainimarama
16 September 2019
PRIME MINISTER MORRISON: It's wonderful to welcome you here to Australia as a Guest of Government it is wonderful to stand by your side this morning as we were receiving the Federation Guard and to be able to inspect the guard during those most important places in Australia looking out on the War Memorial. As Prime Minister to be able to welcome you here in this special way and to acknowledge the great friendship that Australia and Fiji has, the great friendship that you and I have built up. It was a great pleasure to be Australia's first Prime Minister to go to Fiji on a bilateral visit which I must admit at the time was a surprise to me that it had taken so long. But as you said and I remember on that night many invitations have been offered and this one has been accepted and I was very pleased to accept it and join you and Mary in Fiji but today to be able to welcome you here and to be with you yesterday, I think has been very special. As part of our Vuvale partnership and the work that we begun when I was in Suva with you and that we will bring to completion today after this meeting as we sign the Vuvale partnership. The thing I love about how we've expressed it, it's a term of intimacy, it's a term of family, and that's very much always been the basis of our relationships. The people to people relationships, the strategic relationships, the economic partnerships, they're not new they go back many many many generations and for whatever other complexities there are in the world today, one certainty is the relationship that exists between the people of Australia and the people of Fiji. And I think that will always endure the, it is just too familiar. It is too close and and it will always be enduring so I want to thank you and all of your delegation a very very large delegation who's been able to come to Australia. I look forward the discussions we’re about to have on many issues and thank you for the discussions that we have just had between us ourselves as leaders. I want to thank you for your leadership in the Pacific. The Pacific is a place that we have great passion about and particularly with yourself as a key leader in the Pacific and standing up for the Pacific and the interests of the Pacific peoples not just the peoples of Fiji. I think has shown tremendous leadership and we want to acknowledge that here as well. So I look forward to those discussions and I I thank you for accepting our invitation to be here on this occasion. It's a very important day, I know, in our relationship but also between our two countries. Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER BAINIMARAMA: Thank you Mr Prime Minister [inaudible] for the hospitality that was extended to myself and my delegation since our arrival. I would also like to thank the man and women of the Australian defence force, our Fijian community in Sydney, the congregation of the Horizon church. Thank you sir. And the coaches and staff of the Fijian rugby team for helping set my visit to Australia off to such a wonderful start. Not that we did- well that they- drew a pitch. But Prime Minister, I look forward to advancing the era of respect and openness that has and must continue to define engagement between our governments. We've already had the chance to speak one on one and talk through some pressing issues ahead of this official bilateral meeting. Neither of us are [inaudible] speaking our minds or struggle with saying exactly what we mean. And I believe we both hold a clear view all of our priorities and a shared understanding of how we can live up to the high aspirations of the Vuvale partnership. In Fiji vuvale, as you may explain, means family and few words resonate more deeply in the hearts of our people. For Fijians the bond that binds families together is a sacred, unbreakable connection. It's about more than being good mates to one another. It's about the vuvale connection demands a level of understanding here, to unprecedented in the allegiance between our governments but which has been long evident in the genuine affinity shared by the Fijian and Australian people. Members of any family are entitled to their disagreements. No one expects that our differences can be resolved quickly or easily. But we must never falter in forging common ground and common ground is what I intend to seek in our discussion on the issues that impact the lives of Fijian Australians and all Pacific people this morning which the Prime Minister's- and I said to you before we came in I was hoping that I'd be at the grounds watching the Fijians kick the Welsh up. Unfortunately for me. But you'll be coming to Fiji at the same time and I hope to be there to reciprocate this wonderful visit that you've hosted for us.
Statement On Indulgence - R U OK? Day
12 September 2019
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister and Minister for the Public Service) (14:00): I rise to acknowledge that today marks R U OK? Day, a national day of action on suicide prevention. R U OK? Day was actually started by friend of mine many years ago, Gav Larkin, who I went to school with. We lost him to illness some years ago, but I'm sure he'd be incredibly pleased with the way that this has taken off over all of these years. It's built around a simple expression of empathy and support for our fellow Australians, which comes naturally to us all. It's all about extending a hand. You never know the difference it could make to somebody in their hour of need.
Most weeks I, like many in this place, receive letters from Australians who all too often recount the tragedy of losing a family member or a friend to suicide. You hear stories from parents who talk about how their young kids in their teens and their early 20s are attending the funerals of their friends. It breaks your heart and you wish you could go back in time—something you might have said; someone you might have reached out to; something you might have noticed. More than half of all Australian adults have had a direct experience of this; that's how many people personally know someone who has died by suicide.
R U OK? Day is a time to restate a commitment which I know is shared across this chamber. It's a clear statement of the government to all Australians everywhere that we are progressing a towards-zero goal, with our commitment to mental health and our suicide prevention plan, which we are pleased to have the support of the entire House for. As important as these services are, it's actually the human connection that in so many instances will make that difference. A conversation can make a difference. It can save a life. The four steps of R U OK? Day, I'm sure Gav would have me say, are: ask, 'Are you okay?'—don't be afraid to ever ask that question—listen to the answer carefully; encourage action; and check in afterwards. Friends and family can make all the difference, but you have to be willing to ask, 'Are you okay?'
Remarks - Prostate Cancer Foundation BBQ
11 September 2019
Canberra, ACT
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you very much for the opportunity to be here once again at this wonderful event. To the Cancer Foundation CEO Jeff Dunn, its Chairman Steve Callister, to the co-chairs of the Parliamentary Friends Warren Entsch and Jason Clare who've been doing this for many years now.
Can I thank you Entschy and Jason for your commitment to this important event each year but also the ongoing campaign and as you could see in what has just been talked about in terms of the nursing for those suffering prostate cancer the message is getting through, the message is getting heard, and the message is being responded to.
Can I also acknowledge Chris Bowen who is here today as the Shadow Health Minister and it is true to say that this is a bipartisan multi-partisan initiative when it comes to issues of this nature.
It's great to see Jim Lloyd here a great friend of obviously the Coalition but Jim is a living reminder - a living reminder, with the underline on living reminder - of the importance of getting the testing in place and getting the awareness levels up. And I want to thank Jim also for the great job he’s doing over a long period of time to raise awareness of these issues.
Most people here, and I can say honestly at this gathering, it is a gathering of people no doubt with strong and loud opinions and this group pipes up on pretty much everything. But one thing that we often don't talk about is our own health.
Blokes, in particular, are very shy about talking about their own health. But that is changing and this initiative today is one of so many that happens in so many parts of the country which is changing that and I think blokes are listening more to those who they owe the great privilege to be loved by. Their families, their friends, their kids who are impressing upon them the need to take their health as seriously as they take the health of all of their family members and all the ones they love so seriously.
And so we gather here today I think in a growing acknowledgement that that message is getting through. And I particularly want to thank the Prostate Cancer Foundation for bringing us together today. One of the most vital steps in tackling any disease is awareness.
Around 19,000 men have been diagnosed with prostate cancer just this year and this risk increases with age. One in seven blokes will be diagnosed during their lifetime. But the good news is that the survival rates are high. 95 per cent will survive to at least five years, and in my own Dad's case, it's been well over a decade. And we give thanks for every single day that Dad is with us.
There are 200,000 men and more living with a diagnosis of prostate cancer. And the diagnosis is not a death sentence if you get on to it early and if you get the right treatment. So getting that testing is so important and it's a lot less uncomfortable than it used to be.
We're all going to learn a lot more about that today and whilst today is about conversations and awareness, I also want everyone to know that the Government is backing more research and more treatments.
Earlier this year we announced $800,000 for research into how prostate cancer spreads and can become resistant to normal treatments and this is important work. And late last year we gave $12 million to establish the Prostate Cancer Research Alliance which is bringing researchers together to stop prostate cancer progressing and improving treatments and life expectancy for men with advanced cancer. So we're doing our bit and there will always be more to do.
But the message today is pretty simple, blokes - don't muck about with your health. If like me, you've hit the big 50 then you’ve absolutely got to get on to it straight away and must be getting on to it much sooner than that.
Go and talk to your doctor. I did that last Friday as part of my usual check-up and did the usual thing in making sure that these issues were totally sussed out. That's what we all should be doing on a regular basis. Go to your doctor, know the risks, get the test. Treat it like your life depends on it. Because it does. And it's important that we appreciate that.
And if you can't do it for yourself, do it for your family, do it for your kids, do it for those who love you. Because you know how much you love them.
And you should understand that they love you just as much, and they want you around for as long as possible.
Thank you very much.
Condolence - Jim Forbes
10 September 2019
Dallas, United States of America
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister and Minister for the Public Service) (14:00): I move:
That the House records its sadness at the passing on 10 August 2019 of the Honourable Dr Alexander James Forbes, CMG, MC, a former minister and member for Barker, and place on record its appreciation for his remarkable public service and tender its sympathy to his family.
Alexander James Forbes was a soldier, a scholar and a statesman. He was the last surviving Liberal minister of the Menzies government and one of our last links to that big-hearted generation of World War II veterans who returned home to serve the citizens of Australia in this parliament. He was born in Hobart in 1923. Jim Forbes was educated at Knox Grammar School in Sydney and St Peter's College in Adelaide. His youth was interrupted, as so many of his generation, by war. After graduating from Duntroon Military College, he enlisted on 15 December 1942, the day before his 19th birthday.
In 1943 he was in Darwin when it was under attack, and on June 1945 Jim Forbes was awarded the Military Cross for his service in the South Pacific. His father was Brigadier Alexander Forbes, who had received the same award in the First World War and his brother, Lieutenant Patrick Forbes, would receive it during the Korean War. This may be the only instance of three members of an Australian family being awarded the Military Cross in three consecutive wars. That is remarkable service from a remarkable family.
On returning home from the war, Jim Forbes left the Army to pursue further study. He completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Adelaide and went to Oxford, where he earned a PhD. It was at Oxford that he married the love of his life, Margaret Blackburn. She is the daughter of one of Australia's most remarkable soldiers, Arthur Blackburn, an Anzac who landed at Gallipoli, a VC recipient and a Second World War prisoner of war. Margaret and Jim had five children and were married 67 years.
Jim Forbes entered this parliament as the member for Barker in 1956. He would be re-elected seven times. He would serve as minister in five different portfolios under five different Prime Ministers. Sir Robert Menzies appointed him Minister for the Army and Minister for the Navy. Menzies's view of Jim Forbes was unequivocal; he described him as a very great man. In this position, Jim Forbes brought the controversial policy of national conscription to cabinet in 1964. This was a decision that will be debated throughout the ages. His argument was that conscription through a lottery was fairer than a voluntary army, where the burdens fell on some groups more than others. What we can say, more than half a century on, is that Jim Forbes never asked a young Australian man to do what he himself and his family had not done.
Later, Jim Forbes would serve in the Holt, McEwen and Gorton governments. However, it was as immigration minister in the McMahon government that Jim Forbes drew the attention and ire of his kids, something that I think none of us in this House ever want to do. Jim's daughter Emma was a teenager at the time and had taken little interest in her father's career. All that changed when he deported British rock star Joe Cocker for possessing marijuana. Emma would later remark:
… can you imagine being a teenager in 1972 and your father has just thrown Joe Cocker out of the country?
Jim Forbes retired from parliament at the 1975 election, but he continued to serve his party and nation. Over the next decade he would serve as a federal president of the Liberal Party and the chairman of the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. He also served on the Council of the National Library, including as its chairman.
But war and politics had taken their toll on this great Australian, and in his retirement Jim realised it was time, in his words, 'to catch up with normal life'—to do the sorts of things that the average person does. So he reconnected with old friends. He played golf and he gardened. He surrounded himself with books and family. He said, at the age of 90, 'I have now arrived at the point where I feel normal.' There is hope for us all! To mark that milestone, there was a family celebration and he was asked to say a few words about his life. On that day, he didn't speak of war or politics, or the honours that he had received. Instead, he simply turned to the woman he loved, raised a glass and said, 'To Margaret'. It's his love that endures.
Jim Forbes lived to the age of 95, and is survived by his much beloved wife, Margaret, and his children Sarah, Emma, Alexander and David, as well as nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. What a marvellous life! We send them our deepest sympathies as we remember the life of an honourable and brave Australian.
Keynote - Master Builders Australia National Leaders' Summit
10 September 2019
Canberra, ACT
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much, Denita. It's great to be here with you and I want to thank you for your leadership when it comes to the thing that matters and creating jobs in this country. I want to talk a bit more about that but can I start off by acknowledging the Ngunawal People and their elders past, present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge any members of our Australian Defence Force or any veterans who are with us here today and simply say thank you for your service. Can I thank the building industry too for the great job they do in employing veterans in this country. You are a key part of the initiatives that we have to ensure that we're getting our veterans into work and you understand their skills, you understand what they have to offer which is just simply outstanding. I want to thank all those in the building construction industry who are giving our veterans a go. I know they are transforming your businesses and doing wonderful things. So thank you very much.
To Denita, to Hedley Davis the President of the Master Builders, and to all of the building and construction leaders who here today. You’re about jobs and that's what I'm about. We do the things that create jobs. I want to thank you for the jobs you do create and that you will create, more importantly, in the future. I want to acknowledge that one of the reasons I'm standing here is because of your contribution to this important national task. And I want to thank you also because the Master Builders is not a shy organisation. It's an organisation that speaks its mind. It's an organisation that speaks clearly and it stands up for the things that they believe in. You have done that when it comes to issues of negative gearing that the Labor Party sought to change at the last election. You've done that, particularly to highlight the terrible impact that could have had on our residential housing markets and the residential building industry. How it would undercut home values, how it would push up rents and it would hit 1.3 million mum and dad investors. The MBA wasn't shy about those things. It wasn't about politics or partisanship or anything of that sort. It was going to have a serious impact on the residential building industry in this country and so you spoke out and you stood up and I know a lot of the flak you copped from it as individual builders in your communities and you got a fair bit of lip, I would have thought, around the place because of the fact that you actually stood up for what you thought would be good policy. I want to thank you for showing that strength. I think it is a real positive thing that there was one organisation in an industry body that was prepared to call these things out and I appreciate that very much.
But that wasn't the only thing. You stood up when it came to Labor's policy to ban and abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Why? Because you know what it would do to your industry. You know what it would do to jobs. You know what it would do to investment. You know what it would do to people who want to work in the industry. It was in your industry's interests to ensure that there is the rule of law on building sites in this country. So you spoke up for it, as I expect you to, and equally, where there are issues that our Government is engaged in, I'm sure if you have different views to us on this you will similarly speak up and as you should. I don’t have any problem with that because I know when the MBA is raising issues, they're raising it from the perspective of their members and that's as it should be on every occasion.
Since the election, we’ve gone further with introduced legislation to give courts more power to deregister law-breaking unions and officials because we believe that sort of lawlessness has no place in the Australian building construction industry. That lawlessness puts up the cost of building hospitals, it puts out the cost of building roads, it actually takes jobs away from Australians looking to work in the building and construction industry. So I'm not surprised that you remain passionate and strident advocates for the rule of law in your industry because that is the industry in which militant unionism has been the most thuggish, has been the most lawless. And you've been at the coalface of that struggle for a long period of time and I thank you for your strength.
On the issue of jobs, 1.2 million Australians work in building and construction. One in 10 workers, the third largest employing industry behind retail and health services and there are trends we can be encouraged about. Construction is projected to record employment growth of 10 per cent over the five years to May 2023 and I'm thrilled about this because our Government is all about jobs. With help from industries like yours, we’ve created 1.4 million jobs since we were first elected six years ago and we made a commitment at the last election to create 1.25 million more new jobs over the next five years. But we will only achieve that with you if you, if your industry is in position to go forward and get things done and employ people and take up new projects. And that will include some 250,000 jobs for young Australians.
Almost three-quarters of Australians today aged between 15 and 64 have a job. It has never been higher than that in Australia's history. This is the biggest job performance of any government at any time in this country. More Australians are in work today, not just in actual numbers because population is higher, but as a proportion of the working-age population than ever before. A lot of things have happened in the last six years, but none put a bigger smile on my face than young people in jobs. Last year, more than 100,000 Australians aged over 55 got a job. So it's not just young Australians getting more work but it’s Australians of all ages getting work, getting jobs. And when someone has a job they have choices, and you're in the business of giving people choices by ensuring they have jobs.
Last week we also received the national accounts for the June quarter and it does show that Australia continues to grow. Now, we want to be growing higher than the level it is today but we're all very aware of the headwinds and the challenges that our economy faces today. Whether it's the global headwinds that we're all very familiar with or it's the domestic ones, particularly in relation to how issues of national disasters and drought has impacted on our national economy. But despite that, we continue to generate jobs as an economy. We continue to grow as an economy. We're in our 29th year of economic growth. I saw it reported the other day when they were talking about the difficult circumstances faced on the other side of the globe where they've had negative quarters of growth. Whether that's in the United Kingdom or Germany or parts of Scandinavia or even closer to home here in Singapore. They look at Australia now as an economy that has remarkably not experienced these things for a very long time and we're intending to keep it that way by having the right policy settings in place.
When we put the Budget together last year it wasn't a surprise to us that these were the challenges that we were facing. When we put the Budget together the previous year and the year before that, Budgets where we have put together packages and plans to reduce taxes, to increase our spending on infrastructure. Most recently to lift our investments in skills. Since the election embarking on a deregulation agenda again in a new wave of initiatives that has been commenced under Assistant Minister Morton working with the Treasurer. Expanding our trade opportunities. All of this was being done because we know and understood the economic challenges Australia is facing. So it wasn't our plan, knowing all that, to put a higher tax burden on the economy. That wasn't happening. It wasn't our plan to take away the rule of law from the building and construction industry or give more power to military unions to undermine the performance of the building and construction industry. That wasn’t our plan but it was certainly our opponent’s plan. When we fashioned this year's Budget it was done to address the circumstances that we indeed now face and we will continue to implement that plan to ensure that our economy remains strong.
But there are other parts of that agenda like the digital economy which I think is really transforming our economy and will have major impacts on productivity into the future and particularly in the building and construction sector. And I know from my experience working around this sector for a very long time, issues of payment security and payment is a big deal. And the cash flow that comes from those issues is the difference between your subbies or indeed your own principal’s industry builders getting through one quarter or not. And so the digitisation of our payments system is a fantastic way to ensure that we can speed up the payment times that occur particularly in your industry. And at the same time improve the integrity of payments within the building and construction industry. This is a major productivity booster. The new payments platform which is already up and running - I'd be encouraging you to get your members on it for no other reason than if you’re on it and the person you’ve got the contract with is on it then there's no excuse for you not to get paid quicker. The Government has moved to 20 day payment terms, encouraging the states to come down to the same level. In New South Wales they're doing the same thing. We want to see payment cycles come down. I want to see the acceleration of cash digital timers within the economy because I know that that can create greater confidence and give greater headroom to businesses to be able to invest, pay their staff and make plans for the future. And I think this is a big, big challenge for us.
Now, in our program you'll be very aware of our big commitments to infrastructure and that infrastructure plan is over $100 billion strong. Almost half of that will be spent in the next four years. Around $10 billion of that will be spent this year. So when it comes to actually bringing forward infrastructure spending in Australia, you had me at hello. Because we're already doing it. We've been doing it now for some years with this program. At the last Budget, we increased it from $75 billion to $100 billion and from the day after the election, pretty much, I've been sitting down with Premiers and making sure that we're working with them to bring these projects on as quickly as we can. Now, of course, we're partners in these projects and we work with state governments in providing them with the resources to get on with those projects. That's why I'm pleased with the relationships that we have, particularly in New South Wales and indeed Victoria. So there's nothing partisan about it. I will work with anyone who wants to build stuff and get on with building stuff. And so the other day we made our announcement regarding the extension of funding for the Monash Freeway. Earlier in that week were out with the New South Wales Government at the Western Sydney International Nancy Bird Walton Airport and some $600 million dollars in works that were going into civil works and earthmoving works for construction of that airport. You're very familiar with all the other infrastructure that sits around that major project.
But it's not just that – there are 30 carparks in Melbourne we’re building and I want to see those built soon and built fast and that's what Alan Tudge is working with the Victorian Government on at the moment about to get as many of those projects happening as soon as we can. A lot of our congestion-busting projects in our metropolitan areas are just like that. But then you go out in the rural parts of the country and we've put a million dollars into every single shire and council that was affected by the drought. Why?
Because we wanted them to spend it on projects like the sort of projects that many members of those subbies or others who work to you are actually involved in to ensure that we kept the skills up and we kept the volume of work occurring in those regional areas.
So there is a very big, there is a very big infrastructure agenda. The tax cuts which we took to the last election, which Labor resisted, fought against, opposed, and then pretended support in the Parliament. Those tax cuts came out in July, and Australians will decide how they spend that money. That's up to them. But we believe people should keep more of what they earn, we believe you should keep more of what you earn, in what you do every day. That's why we've reduced taxes for the vast majority of businesses in this country because we know the money's better off in your hand than being sent here to Canberra or indeed anywhere else. But these projects will create jobs. Western Sydney Airport alone 11,000- and it's just the airport, I'm talking about the aero-tropolis, or the things that sit around that, that’s just 11,000 jobs there and 28,000 jobs ongoing with these projects. The Melbourne Airport rail-link $5 billion, the biggest game changing city building infrastructure project that Melbourne has seen in generations. Now why do I talk about in those terms? I mean not everybody here is involved in rail construction between, for a project like that there’ll be many builders who are involved in civil construction there’ll be builders involved in residential construction, commercial construction. When you have that link going up through sunshine with, what I call the quick-link, how others want to describe it that's up to them.
It’s got to be a quick link. Then those projects transform cities, they open up opportunities for commercial development they actually change the way cities operate. They create new hubs for employment. These projects whether it's Melbourne airport or whether it's Monash freeway. So people will get home sooner and safer, or to work for that matter sooner and safer or the Western Sydney airport or the North-South Link in Adelaide. These projects create opportunities for people to go invest in cities and in regions all around the country.
One of the other things we're working hard on is I want to see more tier two and three contractors in these big projects, and I commend the work that Michael McCormack has been doing working with the inland rail, in breaking these projects up into smaller contract sizes. And I commend the work that Gladys Berejiklian’s done in New South Wales with the Pacific Highway breaking these projects down. And when I last met with Premiers and Chief Ministers we talked about this at some length because there are very practical issues here. We don't have the depth of big head contractors in this country, we are investing a lot of funding in infrastructure at the moment and that has been necessary. I remember when I first spoke to Phil Lowe about these issues many years ago when I was Treasurer we agreed it was important to really invest in the infrastructure pipeline in this country and wherever possible bring it forward. So these discussions are not new. That's why we've been doing it, but making sure that these big projects can spread to other smaller contractors relieves some of the price pressures, some of the cost pressures. Now you still can have materials issues, that's that's just a natural thing particularly in the big metro areas which we have to contend with, but that doesn't mean that tier two and three contractors can't play a bigger role and provide greater competition in the procurement process that the states are involved in. And then again the smaller projects, be they a few million bucks on car park projects and things like this and local parts of our major cities, they're projects equally that I think can make a big difference and we're really excited for how they can be positive. Now two areas where we're particularly focused on at the moment when it comes to productivity that I think really impacts on the building sector.
Is the first one is, is the work we're doing on deregulation and what we did some years ago is we went and basically cleared out the equivalent of the back room in the in the office. a whole bunch of derelict regulation and legislation it was all out there. It mean you couldn't use that room anymore. But the removal of it was necessary.
But we understood that that didn't have the profound impact on reducing costs of regulation that I know business is hungry for. So we've commenced a new process since the election which Ben Morton is leading and he's already met with state and territory planning ministers and building ministers, as has Karen Andrews and she's working through those issues as well.
And what this is about, is looking at particular activities. So what is the regulatory anatomy of, to take one of the industries we're particularly interested in and that is the agribusiness industry, of which building is, the great thing about the building industry is they're pretty much connected to every single part of the economy there is. You’re building- everyone needs stuff built. And that's what you guys do. And when looking at these areas we're going okay. Someone wants to make an investment in building these businesses. What's all the regulation state, federal, local that applies to that entire timeline from the idea, through to shovels in the ground, and then actually completion of the project and looking at the things that cause the biggest delays. So it's not necessarily sometimes about how how much regulation you get rid of, although that's important. It's about which regulations you get rid of because there are some things with just slow the whole thing down.
And you know who knows what those things are? You do. Because you deal with it and it's important we then engage as heavily with the sector through the leader and your state counterparts to ensure that we can start chipping away and making some big differences in this regulation area. Now when I discussed this with Premiers and Chief Ministers they got it they did understand that at a macro level the importance he's had to supporting increasing productivity within their economies. So I look forward to the progress we're making there.
But the other area where I want to make a big difference is skills.
Now you've told us that you've often finding it hard to get the right people when you have a vacancy to fill particularly those of you who are working in the Eastern states. So we're supporting skills development in the construction industry in a number of ways. One of those is a $9.2 million apprentice training alternative delivery pilots program.
And I was pleased to see the Master Builders Australia took part in that and they received $1.84 million to lead one of those pilots which I understand was recently completed, the MBA pilot was focused on training to help young people get apprentice ready and there were hundreds of participants including secondary students and recent school leavers. Almost half of them took up further study for industry employment including apprentices and so on. That's a result and it's potentially life changing for those young people. We're creating 80,000 additional apprentices over the next five years in primary skill shortage areas through a new apprenticeship Initiative program. And we're also looking more broadly at a vocational education system and the Joyce review which is well known, I know, to the media but also to many who work in the sector.
Again an area where we can transform the funds that we invest in vocational skills training in this country actually do the most important thing. Someone gets trained with skills that a business needs in their business. That's what the ruler has to go- that's the ruler you have to put over every reform or change initiative when you look at vocational education training and that's the ruler I put on it. We hear the frustration and the Joyce review actually found this when they went and had a look at it. Young people and their parents frustrated that what they were paying for in training was not giving them skills that actually made them employable, an industry frustrated as- that what they were investing in for skills was not giving them the people that they needed. Now there were lots of trainers that were happy. There was lots of money moving around. There were lots of buildings and institutions that were, you know. But the point is getting someone trained with a skill that someone else needs, and that's the clarity I want to bring to what we plan to do in skills and I think the Joyce review has given us a really good pathway. And again I want to thank the Premiers and Chief Ministers for the early discussions we've had about this. We all know that the current system is not working. There’s a lot of money going into it and people coming and saying you need to invest in more skills. I'd be happy to invest more in skills but I'm not going to invest in dud projects that aren’t working. I'm not going to pour more money into a bottomless pit. That's not taking anyone, anywhere and I would think that industry will say the same.
You're investing in it too, you need people that you know can turn up on the job and add value each and every day. And there's nothing that I know thrills you more and I know this as a local Member of Parliament from southern Sydney in particular in the Shire, when I'm talking to people who’ve been builders, they don’t tell me about what they've built over the course of their career, particularly when you talk to a retired builder down at the football or wherever. They talk about the people they learnt with, the people they employed, the families that they had, the weddings they went to, they talk about the communities they created, and the love for what they did, they wouldn't want to do anything else. And it's tough and it's hard work, and it's got a lot of risk but often times the thing that keeps people in it, is the sense of responsibility that you have to the people you take risks to employ and you want to make sure that they can do well in life. And so our skills system needs to back that up but so does our safety and that's something I know the building industry is very committed to. Safety on the job and the safety that we build. We're taking a leadership role to address some of the extremely concerning building failures and issues we've seen in relation to non-compliant use of combustible cladding, the national construction code restricts the use of combustible cladding on high rise buildings and the states and territories are responsible for enforcing it. But that doesn't mean there isn't a role for the Federal Government. The Minister for Industry Science and Technology, Karen Andrews, has been facilitating cooperation with the states and territories as chair of the building Ministers Forum and in July it was great to see all building ministers agreed to a national approach on implementing the Building Confidence Report and establishing a dedicated team as part of the building, the Australian Building Codes board. See when it comes to solving these sorts of problems, everybody's got to do their job. There's a great temptation on these issues to try and manage upwards.
I'm a believer in the federation, always have been. I think states have important responsibilities and important roles and jobs to do, so does the Commonwealth Government. And so when issues occur that fall within the state domain, well I expect them to do their job and they should expect me to do what is the Commonwealth’s responsibility. But just shifting things between Commonwealth and state because of feeling of frustration because the State Government won't move. That's not the answer. We just have to get state government’s to move in those situations and through this process that's been occurring. And I think we're in a much better position today than we were some months ago in addressing those issues in the industry. But everyone has to take responsibility for their bit and be honest with each other and work together as a team. And that's how I think we continue to take the industry forward. So we're very aware of the pivotal role that you all play in our economy and we want to ensure that that continues.
We want to ensure that we have the right settings in place that enable you to employ people and get on and do what you love doing. I assure you that we will continue to listen carefully, because you do speak with an industry voice, an industry voice that is about your industry's interests not about any political parties interests, it's about your interests. I've always known that from the MBA and I’ve had an association going back well before I ever entered politics, be very forthright in the views that you put forward and you're always prepared to sit down and talk through difficult issues whoever you need to do that with. I want to thank you for your candour in doing that. I want to thank you for the strength that you've shown. But most importantly I want to thank you for the jobs you create. Let's go and create a lot more.
World Suicide Prevention Day Breakfast
10 September 2019
Canberra, ACT
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Nieves, and to all the colleagues that are here today, thank you for being here also.
But can I start by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, and their elders, past, present and emerging.
Can I acknowledge any veterans here today, any serving men and women in our Defence Forces.
I’ll often start a set of remarks by making those acknowledgements but today it’s particularly poignant because we know in both of those communities, in our Indigenous communities, in our veterans communities, that suicide has touched them in a way that is disproportionate really to the rest of the country. And so it is particularly poignant today to acknowledge them here at this important event.
Nieves, thank you for your welcome here today. Can I also thank Julian and Mike for their leadership of this group, we are all here, not from any stripes of politics today, we're all here in one cause as Nieves has said.
And I particularly acknowledge Greg Hunt, my colleague and friend over many years for whom we share a passion in this area. Can I acknowledge Chris Bowen as well and the work that he's doing.
I get a lot of letters. We all do. All parliamentarians do. I probably get a few more than I used do these days.
I got one that was very upsetting recently. Jenny and I went to a wedding of a friend in Western Sydney a few years back, and as is the case I was Treasurer at the time, there's lots of photos, there's lots of selfies. And I had a photo, Jenny and I with a beautiful young family and two kids, and recently I had a letter from the mother in that photo.
The beaming teenage boy in that photo, Luke, had taken his own life in the past year and she'd written to me to tell me about it. When you look at the photo, there's no tell tale sign, there's nothing. A beautiful young boy there with a beautiful family. He was 17.
More than half of all Australian adults personally know someone who has died by suicide and can tell a story like this. This is a curse as I've described it on our society. That reaches into families, it reaches in to communities and it's indiscriminate. And it causes carnage, hurt, pain, loss, for those left behind.
And today we gather together I think in a united purpose to break this curse of suicide on our country to take back the lives that would be touched by this in the future.
It's hard to know of any other more important project that we have than to protect the lives of our people. But it does involve coming together as we are this morning. It does involve doing everything in our power that we can think of to help Australians who are at risk to come out of the shadow of suicide and to be able to see brighter and better days. To have the care and support of family or friends of community of the person sitting next to you on the bus or the train or wherever it is, and to simply be able to extend that hand of support so people know that they are not alone.
R U OK day's coming up soon. R U OK was started many years ago by a friend of mine who we lost to cancer. We went to school together. And that is a very simple Australian act of just extending a hand, and you never know who you might extend that hand to and you never might know the difference that that will make. But what I love about R U OK day is it is just a simple expression of empathy and support for our fellow Australians.
Julian’s right, as a government we have set ourselves a very bold goal, a towards zero goal when it comes to suicide prevention because what other goal could you have?
Zero is the only option that you must work towards as a government. Now that doesn't mean we're unrealistic about the challenges. We are not unrealistic about what the results may well be. But we are determined, and I believe all of the Parliament is determined. When I discuss these matters with the state and territory Premiers and Chief Ministers they are also determined, and it's a topic which can unite us all. So that's why over half a million dollars has been put into youth mental health and suicide prevention.
The largest suicide prevention strategy that a government has undertaken in this country, to strengthen the headspace network, and to focus on Indigenous suicide prevention in particular, and early childhood and parenting support to help build up the resilience and the awareness.
$375 million to expand, improve that headspace network, $34 [million] on the Indigenous programs, Indigenous youth suicide prevention, support for Indigenous Leadership that delivers culturally appropriate trauma informed care. $12 million to support Australian parents and their children in a range of initiatives that help parents recognise when their children are struggling and improving their mental health skills and training in schools. $15 million to create a new national information system to ensure communities and services can respond quickly to areas affected by a high incidence of suicide and self-harm.
And Greg the work that he did with Pat McGorry when there was that suicide cluster up in Northern New South Wales, it just goes to show that with good evidence and good information and people who are prepared to step up and work together and make a difference, then it can, you can you can impact on this area and we must continue to.
20 new headspace sites for rural and regional Australia and new mental health telehealth services funded through the NBS is very important in regional communities, particularly those who are suffering, they're affected by drought presently and there is of course additional resources going into supporting the mental health of Australians living in drought affected communities. Mental health and wellbeing projects funded through our $1.25 million community health and hospitals program, and $22.5 million in youth and Indigenous health research projects as part of our $125 million dollars, million mines mission into mental health research.
More than 3000 Australians took their own lives by their own hand in 2017. It's a leading cause of death of young people, and although we know that's too high, the high number of suicides are in fact amongst middle aged men over, and men aged over 85.
Our plan reflects the broad spectrum upon which this curse impacts on Australia and someone who's leading that charge within our government as a very well respected practitioner in this area is our national suicide prevention advisor Christine Morgan who I believe is here of course today.
She has a big job, and she needs all of our help because it's her job to get all of us to work together and to focus on this goal and working with Nieves and her team and all the commissions and all the community leaders, every sports coach, every school teacher, every one you can find, every parent, to be able to work together to address these terrible, these terrible things that are happening.
Experts at Lifeline, headspace, beyond blue the many professional services all working together to take on this important national goal.
So it is a big job. But it's a job that we can't look the other way from. It's a job that we can't acknowledge needs to be done.
It's a very difficult issue to talk about. It stirs up all sorts of terrible emotions amongst us because the reality of what we're facing.
So I want to thank everybody who’s joined here in this room today and well beyond this room, and to any of those Australians out today who are feeling isolated.
Any Australians who are out there feeling under the pump. Any Australians out there who are struggling with mental health issues.
There is an Australian who will reach out their hand to you.
You are not alone.
And we can be there for you.
And we want to be there for you.
Thank you very for your attention.
Condolence - Tim Fischer
9 September 2019
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister and Minister for the Public Service) (14:01): I move:
That the House record its deep regret at the death, on 22 August 2019, of the Honourable Timothy Andrew Fischer AC, a Member of this House for the Division of Farrer from 1984 to 2001, place on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service, and tender its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.
Timothy Andrew Fischer was Australia all over. He was an Australian original—the boy from Boree Creek. He was loved, he was admired, he was respected, he was revered. He came from humble beginnings in Boree Creek, and at the recent memorial service, which the Leader of the Opposition, I and many in this place had the opportunity to attend, we learnt of his humble family beginnings in a very loving and hardworking family. Coming from such a modest start to become a titan for regional Australia was his greatest achievement. Like Bob Hawke, who we remembered in this chamber just a few short months ago, Tim transcended the political divide probably more than any I could nominate in this place, and that's why I think so many of us in this chamber and those who have been in this chamber have a story. We all have a Tim Fischer story, I suspect.
If you ever wanted to know what it's like to tour with Elvis, go on the Indian Pacific with Tim Fischer for three days! I did, and as you walked up and down the carriages amid so many other railway enthusiasts, there was none greater than Tim Fischer. He would stop, he would sit and he would listen to their stories. Those big hands would shake the hands of his fellow Australians, and people would just line up as they engaged with him because Tim had this amazing ability just to focus all of himself on whoever was opposite him. He made them the centre of the universe. There was no trick to it. There was no performance in it. It was 100 per cent pure Tim, and they got 100 per cent of him when he was in that moment. This is why, Judy, he was so loved—so, so, so loved.
Tim knew this country like few others, and he loved it as much as anyone possibly could. He was the best of us, and he made all those he encountered better, too, by knowing him. Tim lived a life bigger than I suspect he could have imagined as a young boy on the family property. At just 11, Tim left the farm to board at Burke Hall and, then, Xavier College in Melbourne. It was a lonely time, as his brother reminded us, but Tim was always willing to have a go, and by his final year he was made a prefect thanks to his dependability and trustworthiness in reports—characteristics that many in politics would later come to appreciate. He also joined the school paper. It was where I'm sure he got all his insights into and his knowledge of the media and its wiles—a precursor to his habit later in life of writing columns for the local paper and calling into newsrooms around the country to make sure that they had his view of whatever the issue of the day might be.
Educated by the Jesuits, Tim embodied their call to be a man for others. For Tim, it was always for others. When the call came to serve his country in Vietnam, Tim served proudly and courageously. Given the option of going to university or serving instead in a special rural youth service at Holsworthy Barracks, he said, 'No. You either do something properly or nothing at all.' Recognising the opportunity to gain something from his military experience, Tim applied and was one of the few accepted for officer training. After his training, in 1967, Second Lieutenant Tim Fischer was told that if he wanted to go to Vietnam he would have to extend his service by nine months, and, typical of the man we know, he did—not just once but twice.
He returned to the farm humbly and modestly and worked quietly through so much of what he saw in Vietnam. Not long back, Tim again heard the call to serve his country and, at the age of just 24, he entered the New South Wales parliament as both the youngest-ever Country Party MP and the first Vietnam veteran to serve in any Australian parliament. Thirteen and a half years later, he came here to Canberra.
It's easy now, when we remember Tim, to think first of his many quirks and endearing traits: the stoop, the hat, the big hands I've mentioned, his unique cadence and its faint echo of a childhood speech impediment that was never totally mastered. And then there was that singularity, that individuality that set him slightly apart from the rest of the world. Whether it was his famous and insatiable passion for trains, his love of Bhutan—and he remained a passionate adherent to the indicator of national happiness all the way through his life—his trademark Akubra or his command of chess, there was none like him. But to only remember these things about Tim would be to do him a great injustice. He was a deep thinker; a true representative of the bush; a man respected throughout our region; a man of immense political skill, content with his own company but also one of the people. He was a great coalitionist—one of the greatest, I would say—and a formidable leader.
In 1993, when my side of politics lost what was called 'the unlosable election', under Tim's leadership the Nationals actually picked up two seats. And in 1996, together with John Howard, he delivered the coalition one of our greatest-ever victories, increasing Nationals representation yet again. He threw himself into the role of trade minister. He was tireless—a respected negotiator who championed an end to protectionism and who championed a greater engagement with Asia. As trade minister, he built on 20 years of engagement in the region, and during that time he visited every country in the region but Sri Lanka and the Maldives. He did most of it at his own expense prior to coming into the job. What did every visit and interaction teach him? Respect—mutual respect. That was his currency for engagement.
It seemed appropriate that, when I learnt of Tim's death, Jenny and I were on our way to Vietnam for our recent visit. One of the first countries he visited as trade minister and Deputy Prime Minister was Vietnam. During that visit, he didn't just hold bilateral meetings; he tended to his soul as well. He visited an orphanage built by Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Group, and he made a private visit to Long Tan. He made many trips to Vietnam. He said he wanted to 'help speed the healing of the scars of conflict', because he said he could 'foresee a future of peace, co-operation and prosperity for both Australia and Vietnam', and he was right. That is now being realised.
Tim was a man of formidable character. Former deputy John Anderson wrote of how 'magnificently freeing it is to work closely with someone who is essentially honest and transparent', and it was that character that defined his finest hour. After Port Arthur, he put the wellbeing of Australians and what he knew to be right ahead of populist politics. Gun laws were not popular in regional Australia, but he stood shoulder to shoulder with John Howard, and, as John Howard said, 'showed tremendous guts and leadership'. Together, they introduced and passed through this place gun laws for which Australians will be forever grateful to Tim Fischer and to John Howard—and we owe a special debt to Tim Fischer in his finest hour.
That was the campaign, I'm told, that Tim was most proud of. Later, in 1998, he had to face the backlash of the gun laws and the first incarnation of One Nation, and he took it on. He didn't demonise those with a different view. Instead, he just sought to persuade them, and in most cases he did. He was pretty persuasive—relentlessly persuasive. The Nationals lost only two seats at that election, which was a remarkable outcome in the course of the argument he was taking to his home territories.
When Tim left this place to genuinely spend more time with Judy and their two then-young sons, we lost him from the parliament but we did not lose him from national service. He served at Tourism Australia. He served and championed the Royal Flying Doctor Service, as its chairman. He served, with distinction, as our first resident Ambassador to the Holy See, appointed by the Rudd government, working closely with the Vatican on the canonisation of Saint Mary McKillop.
I'm pleased to inform the House that, as some may know, Tim was held in such high regard that His Holiness Pope Francis awarded Tim, in his final days, the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, in recognition of his personal services to the Holy See and for the example he set in his community and country. Tim will also be remembered for his tireless advocacy for one of our greatest soldiers, General Sir John Monash. It is fitting that Tim Fischer's name will now join with that of Monash in a perpetual scholarship to be supported by the government. The Tim Fischer John Monash scholarship will be awarded each year by the General Sir John Monash Foundation to a worthy scholar from a rural or regional background, to follow in his very big footsteps. It is a lasting legacy that pays tribute to Tim's belief in education, service and leadership, but most of all his passion for the future of regional Australia.
In mourning Tim Fischer, we remember a statesman, a mentor, a fierce advocate for the region, for our country and for its people. But we mostly remember a very dear friend. Judy and Harrison and Dominic have lost far more than the rest of us: an adored husband and father. We thank you for sharing Tim with the rest of us, Judy, Harrison and Dominic. Dominic is here today, as is Judy. We thank all of his family. His brother, who is also here today, spoke so beautifully at the memorial service. Thank you for sharing those stories with us. We also thank you for caring for him so wonderfully in those final years.
Tim Fischer made this country a better place. He made many of us better people. Now, may he rest in the arms of a loving God. God bless Tim Fischer.
Remarks, Opening of Bickford’s Aseptic Beverage Line
5 September 2019
Salisbury South, SA
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Steven, and It’s great to be here with you again here in South Australia. We share a passion for what is going on here in the Kotses family.
You look around here, this is what Australia is all about. This is what it’s about.
Can I also acknowledge the Garna people pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
And acknowledge any veterans who are amongst us and any serving men and women in the ADF.
I have to tell you I was pretty thrilled at getting this invitation to come along from the Premier. It came, together with yourself, from Angelo and it read and I quote, ‘We cordially’ – cheeky – ‘…invite the Prime Minister to open a new production line.’ How could I refuse that? Bickford’s is truly a great Australian brand and I think what you're doing here in northern Adelaide is fantastic for our manufacturing sector.
You know, we make things in Australia and you're making things here in South Australia. It's happening right here, right now with everyone who’s here today.
Opening this new production line will create new jobs at this facility, as well as potential future jobs across the supply chain. In administrative jobs, in sales and marketing jobs. It will provide current workers with opportunities to upskill and I know Bickford’s already employs some 450 Australians right across the country.
Whether you were born in Lahore, or you were born in Lonsdale, it doesn’t matter - there are jobs here, and jobs here for Australians who come from all manner of backgrounds. It’s a great example of how the latest technology can be used to make production more efficient and also more environmentally friendly. We’re going 100 per cent recycling here at Bickford’s. That's exciting. I know the kids will particularly be excited about that commitment and I know Angelo is very committed to that goal.
More importantly though it will mean more of the delicious beverages - and there's been quite a few in my fridge over the years - ends up in the fridges and pantries in homes and great restaurants and cafes all around the world.
I'm told that some 1.1 million Australians buy Bickford’s. 1.1 million drink cordial each month. Now that's an astounding figure - one in every 25 Australians every single month. And that's not accounting for sales of other products like soft drinks, juices and many other things that were in the video that we just saw. And it goes to show how loyal your customers are and how iconic your brand is.
The new production line is another step forward. I understand it's the only one of its kind in the region, giving Bickford’s a real competitive advantage. Supermarkets in Jakarta, in Tokyo, in Seoul and elsewhere in Asia are overflowing with people wanting to buy high quality - I stress that again. That's the future of Australian manufacturing. High-quality products. And I understand Bickford’s has invested $20 million to establish this new line and in this plant. I'm sure that it will be well spent and it's been well considered, as we've walked through the production line and we see how you do things.
This funding was delivered with the support of the Australian Government. We put $2.5 million into this project. Why do we do that? Because we believe in what's happening here. Why have I come here today? Because I believe in what the Kotses family is doing. I believe in the employees who are here and the hard work you put into what we do and the standards that you set for yourself and the way you work together and you live the values that are put up on the wall here in the plant. We believe in it and if you believe in it, you invest in it, and that's what we're doing here in South Australia, and we will continue to do that through these programs.
This program that has invested $2.5 million is part of the Advanced Manufacturing Fund and the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund. This is all set up to help manufacturers adopt new technology and develop high value products. And there are many other initiatives to boost research and support SMEs all around the country.
But today's opening of Bickford’s new production line is a signal to other manufacturers in Adelaide, in South Australia, that this is a great place to invest and grow. So I do hope it instils broader confidence in the strength of local manufacturing. Bickford’s has a long-standing reputation for quality and reliability and you're combining this with a focus on the future with new technology and new markets.
There'll be millions more people, whether they're here or Vietnam or anywhere else, who will continue to enjoy your products for many years to come. But what I know will never change here, as I've had the opportunity and the great privilege to meet people on the line this morning and to chat to Angelo and his family, is the values that underpin what you do here. The commitment and the loyalty and the values and the commitment to excellence and a commitment to your community to this business being a success. That's what will ultimately turn around South Australia. And that's what I know the Premier is backing in as well. They're backing South Australians and the judgment they're making, backing Australians and the judgment they’re making.
The Australian economy is growing and I'll tell you why it's growing. It's because of you and what's happening in places like this all around the country. That's our future.
We're an optimistic lot, Australians. We are a very optimistic lot. We believe in what we can do in the future. There are plenty of people out there they want to talk things down and get grumpy and mopey and all the rest of it. But I’ll tell you what, that doesn't grow a state and it doesn't grow a country and when you turn up to work every day and when I turn up to work every day, we think about the positive future that Australia has, that South Australia has and Adelaide has. And I really want to thank the Kotses family for leading by example. I want you to put your hands together for the Kotses family.
A great family business. A great Australian family. A family that tells the story of Australia, who came and saw the opportunities here a generation ago. And raising new generations that are before us yet, sharing the prosperity but mainly in the hard work that generated that prosperity.
It's a great Australian story and there are so many more chapters to be written and you'll be writing them all.
We're pleased to be a part of it. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here today.
Remarks, Opening of the Nancy-Bird Walton Western Sydney Airport Experience Centre
2 September 2019
Luddenham, NSW
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you very much Paul and it's wonderful to be here on this very important day.
Can I also acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Darug people and their elders past, present and emerging. And thank you Melissa for your welcome to country here today. And thank you to the young Indigenous singers, singing in the voice and the language of the Eora people.
Down where I'm from down in the Shire [inaudible]. And for as long as I can remember our kids have been singing the national anthem in Dharawal and my children learned to do that at the local public school where they went and it's wonderful to hear the national anthem in Indigenous language. So it's been a tremendous I think, way I think to mark that respect for Indigenous people here today. Thank you very much for that opportunity.
We were singing “in history's page let every stage Advance Australia Fair”. Well that's what we're doing today. And I'm joined here for that very important occasion by the Deputy Prime Minister of course Michael McCormack, to my ministerial colleagues Mathias Cormann and of course Alan Tudge the Minister for congestion busting and many other things, and Stuart Ayres it's always great to be with you here. The New South Wales Government is a tremendous partnership but it's more important to be here with Stuart and Melissa McIntosh and Angus Taylor as Members for Western Sydney.
Every time I come out to this project which has been over a long period of time now it goes back to advocacy back in my tourism days. This project has been so important for Australia's future, for Sydney's future but most importantly Western Sydney's future. And to be here a year ago as we turn the first sod and to be here, not that long ago, earlier this year to name the airport the Nancy Bird-Walton, the Western Sydney Nancy-Bird Walton airport, earlier this year with the Premier, and to be here again today for the opening of this centre and the new works that are going ahead.
This has been a project of great passion for our government first under Tony Abbott and then I acknowledge here that Lucy Turnbull is here today and she's done tremendous work in Sydney more broadly but of course Malcolm was a keen advocate of this project and did a lot to make sure this project is happening here today and I've been pleased to be part of all of that work over the years. What we're talking about here is jobs, jobs and more jobs not just the jobs of the 11,000 that are here on what people are working on at the airport and this next massive phase of moving 25 million cubic meters of Earth. But the jobs that are being brought about by the aero-tropolis itself, this will be the gravity point for Sydney, into the future and the young kids, who raise the flag here today, they’re raising the flag on a [inaudible] here in Western Sydney. For cities to grow and cities to realise their potential.
It's these types of projects that are launching them in to a whole new sphere. And that's why this project has always been so exciting. That's why we have always understood as a government that we had to take the initiative to finally getting this happening. It had been talked about going back to the 60s. And for it to be realised now and through the great work that Paul O'Sullivan and his team have been doing at WSA to ensure we've been able to stay on track and let the contracts and to ensure that the works are proceeding to ensure that all could take place required a determination and a decision making that we have been steadfastly putting in place now for many years. And so the works we can see happening now. This isn't something that's about to happen. This is something that is already happening, and today it's about opening the experience centre which will enable people from all over the world who when they come out here to Western Sydney to see what's happening here. But most importantly for our school kids young children who can come out here and see what's happening in their city in their part of the city and to catch the excitement about what's happening.
I remember when I was younger, when projects were taking place you'd always want to see what was going on. When a little older, when the Sydney Olympics came to this wonderful city and the excitement that spread across the city and here we are seeing something at a whole new dimension happening here in Western Sydney. And this experience will enable a whole generation of young Australians of young people from western Sydney to see their future unveiling before their very eyes. It invites the community to come and watch the progress in real time. It invites people to press their faces to the glass and watch as the future unfolds there under this wide blue sky and it invites them to see that it is their future. They'll see a dozen years hence an airport twice the size of Kingsford Smith, plane journeys that crisscross the globe a bustling aero-tropolis hosting 10 million passengers every year and above all they'll see a landmark that brings jobs investment and dollars and lasting benefits to their city and connects them to the rest of the world. And that's the vision that inspires and propels this project, and has from day one.
So I want to thank everyone who's been involved. I want to thank all of those who will be involved. And we just look forward to what this project continues to offer not just all of us here in Western Sydney today or across this wonderful city of Sydney but right across the country. This is a project of great national significance. This is going to be a boon for the Australian economy not just the Western Sydney economy or the Sydney economy or the New South Wales economy. It is for the entire nation.
We're a government that is building things, will continue to build things because that's how you build the future of this great country so it gives me great pleasure to now officially open the Western Sydney International Nancy-Bird Walton airport experience centre and to thank all of those who have played such a huge role in ensuring that it's been such a great success. Thank you very much for your attention.
Remarks - Maritime Boundary Treaty Ceremony
30 August 2019
Dili, Timor-Leste
Prime Minister Ruak, Minister Pereira, Minister of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Foreign Minister Soares, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It’s an honour for me to be here in Dili, on this day full of meaning for the people of Timor-Leste. On this day, twenty years ago, the people of Timor-Leste voted for freedom. They voted for sovereignty, and democracy. They voted to be reborn as the first new nation of the 21st century. And because of that day, as Chief Negotiator, His Excellency Xanana Gusmao once said, “The sun rises every day over a free Timor-Leste.”
Today, you are a proud nation, a young nation, risen from the ashes. One that’s shown the world how to overcome violence with peace, and rebuild what was torn down. So that your land can be renewed and your people can flourish.
In just twenty years you have built a vibrant democracy. You’ve created the institutions that support it, and held the free and peaceful elections that sustain it. You’ve built hospitals and schools and roads. You’ve brought down infant mortality and poverty, and eradicated polio. You’ve sent a team to the Olympic Games four times. You’ve travelled a long road, and I believe even more progress and prosperity lie ahead. I’m very proud that Australia is part of your journey.
Since the days of INTERFET, Australians have worked with you here to promote peace and nurture growth. We are committed to the sovereignty and prosperity of Timor-Leste. And today, we open a new chapter in that partnership. Founded on shared respect, shared interests, and shared values. Strengthened by talking together, working together, and solving problems together. That’s exactly what we’ve done with the new Maritime Boundary Treaty, which comes into force today.
In a region where some boundary disputes remain unresolved, Australia and Timor-Leste have set an example by sitting down, as neighbours, partners, and friends, to finalise a new maritime boundary. We’ve worked through our differences, as friends and partners do, and we’ve led the way in finding a peaceful resolution through the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
In Australia’s parliament, there was a bipartisan effort to pass the domestic legislation for the treaty quickly, so we’d be ready to mark the Treaty’s beginning on this day so full of meaning for you and for us. This boundary doesn’t keep us apart. It brings us together. We’ll continue to work with you, as we have done since 2001, on the security and stability of our region.
As we begin this new chapter today, on behalf of all Australians I say: May the sun rise over a free Timor-Leste in all the days to come.
Thank you.
State Funeral Service - The Hon Tim Fischer AC
29 August 2019
Albury, NSW
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Michael.
Tim wasn't someone given to disappointment, but there were exceptions. He was Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Trade and he was on a visit to India.
He was in New Delhi and his staff had noticed that an interesting meeting had appeared on his schedule. He was to meet with the Indian Minister for Transport. Tim was particularly excited about this day.
He was going to have this meeting on his own - staff were not permitted to go into this special meeting that it would seem that he had personally arranged.
On that day, he went in, sat down with the Minister for Transport. Staff waited patiently outside - it was a rather lengthy meeting - and as he came out, the staff noticed that he had a very glum look on his face. A very frustrated look on his face.
And they said, “What’s up Boss?”
“That man doesn't know his trains!”
It's true. Tim Fischer had a great love of trains, a boyhood fascination that stayed with him for life, and we all have a train story about Tim.
But when I spoke to Judy the other day from Vietnam, she said, “I hope people remember more than Tim than his love of trains.”
And that's what we're doing here today.
It was one of many things we loved about him but Tim was so much more than that.
Today we gather to celebrate the life of Timothy Andrew Fischer AC. We gather with Judy, with Harrison and Dominic to extend to them all of our comfort, all of our love and all of our support and to give thanks for your remarkable husband and father of whom I know you are truly proud.
We gather amongst friends to farewell a dear and true friend. We gather as Australians to honour a veteran, a colleague, and a patriot who served his country faithfully and well.
Tim Fischer was an original. Emphatically made in Australia. He was - and I'm sure Macca wouldn't mind me saying - Australia All Over.
A big man in every sense of the word, as big as the country he loved and served.
His big hat, his big hands, his big frame, his big beliefs and passions, his big view of Australia, and of Australians. He had a big courage, but one he combined with a gentle and forgiving kindness that understood human frailty.
He was a deeply honest man, and he was no stranger to humility.
I heard a preacher say once, “God uses those who care.”
In Tim Fischer, this gave God a lot to work with.
Tim was infectious. For Tim, life was about people.
He had the ability to focus all of his attention on you. He would give himself over completely in his engagement with you - you had his attention, you mattered. He listened and he always remembered.
I was having a beer with Tim once at the Gardeners Inn pub up in Blackheath one night and a fellow came up to him and he said, “You won’t remember me.”
And as I'm sure you know, he remembered his name, he remembered what he talked about and where he met him and it was something like twenty three years previous.
Rule number one - we were just hearing of rules number two and three - of Tim's list of tips for new MPs was to ensure they kept in touch with at least 10 close friends from outside of politics to ensure they kept those friendships alive.
Tim understood the value of people in his life and he never expected anyone else to do what he wouldn't do himself.
In 1986 when a young refugee from Laos devastated by the separation from his family stormed the Immigration Department's office here in Albury it was Tim who walked inside, against all advice, to talk to him, and it was Tim who peacefully resolved the siege hours later.
When his country called, Tim Fischer never failed to answer.
From proudly serving in Vietnam in the Australian Army to his election to both state and federal Parliaments, to his leadership of the great National Party - and I acknowledge Michael McCormack here, the leader of the Nationals today - as Minister for Trade, as Deputy Prime Minister and his many roles post politics.
No one was ever left guessing what Tim believed and what he was passionate about and he always channelled that passion into action.
As acting Prime Minister, he revelled in running the country from Mount Kosciuszko. As Trade Minister, he championed an end to protectionism and greater engagement with Asia.
And because, as much as Tim fought fiercely for the people of his beloved rural and regional Australia, he was big too in his view of Australia's place in the world and he left a great mark upon it.
In the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy in 1996, a truly horrific page in our nation's history, where John Howard who is here today with his wife Janette garnered the strength and mettle to mount swift action with new gun laws, it was as Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Nationals that Tim Fischer shared that resolve.
And for him, this task was arguably even greater. Gun laws were not popular in regional Australia in 1996 and where there was resistance, Tim copped the brunt of it.
He stumped up and he persuaded, together with the Prime Minister, and convinced regional Australians about the need for change.
It wasn't easy.
He stood firm with his Prime Minister, co-committed as Leader of the Nationals, to that great Coalition which we share to this day, unwavering until it was done.
Australians are now safe today because of him.
I'm sure the former Prime Minister Howard would agree they were Tim's laws too, and we are indeed truly grateful.
This was his finest moment among so many, and Australia will always be in his debt.
After leaving Parliament Tim continued to put his country first, answering the call from both governments of all sides of politics.
For Tim, it was always about Australia.
His authenticity, his preparedness to be himself made him who he was.
A tower of strength, a titan of regional Australia, a giant of a human being, a man of deep faith, a devoted and adoring husband and father, a dear and loved friend, the son of a grateful nation.
Tim Fischer was one of a kind.
And the boy from Boree Creek has left us too soon.
May he rest in peace.
As he enters eternity, he will no doubt be greeted with the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
And for those who he has left behind here, we can take comfort in the simple fact that we knew and we loved Tim Fischer.
And we are better for it.
Remarks, State Banquet
23 August 2019
Hanoi, Vietnam
PRIME MINISTER: On behalf of my wife Jenny and I and all of our delegation, can I thank you for the incredibly warm and friendly and kind and generous welcome that you've given to us here in Hanoi in Viet Nam today.
I spoke today about an Australian word - mateship. I want to talk about another Australian phrase and it relates to Madam Thu and my wife Jenny. And I can say, Prime Minister Phuc, that we are punching well above our weight.
[Laughter]
Which means that Madam Thu and Jenny - or Madam Jenny, I should call her - look absolutely beautiful this evening.
[Applause]
But I spoke about mateship. I speak of a new relationship between Australia and Viet Nam, one that goes to a whole new level of amity between our two countries. And one that speaks to the personal relationship that I sincerely believe, and if you permit me to say, that I think Phuc and I now enjoy.
[Applause]
We embraced when we met each other today, and that was a sincere embrace. I think it speaks about the strong foundations we have, to see this relationship in every facet go to a whole new level.
But I must say, Prime Minister, as Jenny and I stood on the balcony of Ho Chi Minh’s house today and reflected on the journey since that time, how two countries with such different cultures, such different languages, such different heritages, can be at a point now where we share such a strong friendship and such a shared outlook about the future. It gives me great hope. It gives me great optimism about the region in which we live and the contribution we can both make to the world in which we both live.
We have come a long way and we still have a long way to travel. But I do look forward to making the journey with you. It will be one based on trust and one based - as someone reminded me today about our relationship - one that should be based on a great care shown to each other.
So the spirit of that great care it is for me now to propose a toast also. I invite you to join me in a toast to the health of Prime Minister Phuc and Madam Thu. To the success and prosperity of the Viet Namese people, to the friendship between and I should say the mateship between our two countries and to the health of you all.
[Applause]
Remarks, Business Breakfast
23 August 2019
Hanoi, Vietnam
On behalf of my delegation, we are all very pleased to be here with all of you today. We embraced as I arrived because we are friends, and Australia and Viet Nam are good friends.
Today marks 25 years since an Australian Prime Minister has come to Viet Nam on a bilateral visit. Much has happened during that time and so it is exciting that today we can reflect on all of those achievements that we have been able to bring about together as two countries, and reflect on the opportunities that we will have in the future, anchored by the strategic partnership that was signed last year by you, Prime Minister Phuc.
Trust, an equal partnership, and a commitment to an independent and sovereign Indo-Pacific. We are here because Viet Nam matters to Australia and you have made it personally very clear that Australia matters to Viet Nam.
My goal today, as we work and our wives enjoy Hanoi, is to find further concrete ways that we can further strengthen our economic and trade partnership together and address the many issues that you and I address on a daily basis to ensure strong, independent, and vibrant Indo-Pacific.
Our goal is to become top-ten trade and investment partners and our strategy will help both countries take advantage of those emerging market opportunities and shared trade commitments we have already entered into. And in particular I thank Viet Nam for its commitment for the CPTPP and we look forward to that being implemented and the benefits of that agreement assisting in developing both countries.
Our economic ministers will soon hold the inaugural Australia-Viet Nam economic partnership meeting in Australia. But today, business leaders from Australia who join me here today will speak to this relationship and their commitments and what they see as the opportunities, and I think that will be the great opportunity of this morning’s breakfast dialogue.
Speech - Australian Chamber of Commerce Viet Nam
23 August 2019
Hanoi, Vietnam
Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you to tonight’s co-hosts: Phil Dowler and the Board of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam.
You are tireless in your promotion of Australia’s business interests in this dynamic economy.
And Dr Vu Tien Loc, President of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
The VCCI works closely with Australia to help develop Viet Nam’s private sector and reduce business regulations.
Two great organisations, both working to make the partnership between Australia and Viet Nam even stronger. Thank you both for hosting dinner this evening.
It is wonderful to be here in this city of one thousand years.
Hanoi speaks of the ebbs and flows of history.
Of powers that have come and gone – and of an enduring people and culture that has provided a constancy to national life.
We have in Australia, over 300,000 people of Viet Namese descent.
Through their diligence, enterprising spirit, and their love of family and community they have enriched our national life.
There is between our peoples a direct and deep understanding beyond Governments and political systems of how to work together.
That in many ways is at the heart of our relationship.
It is the foundation for the trust we are building that will bind us together for a bright future.
Here we are, two different societies; two different political systems; two nations who were once in terrible conflict; but who now work together on so many fronts.
As our countries have changed, we have worked to understand each other better and build a lasting relationship.
That is why I am here.
The relationship we have, the relationship we are building.
A relationship that speaks strongly to the future of our region. Partners for a stable, peaceful, prosperous and independent Indo-Pacific region. A region of sovereign interdependent states, resistant to coercion but open to engagement on the basis of shared interests.
The change we see in the connections between our countries is underpinned by the changes that have been occurring in Australia for many years.
Our Governor in South Australia, Hieu Van Le was born in Viet Nam. He is a deeply loved figure in South Australia.
He has said this: “Only four to five decades ago Australia was the most monocultural country in the world. Today, Australia is the most culturally diverse country in the world”.
What Australia has discovered is that these organic people to people linkages create so much opportunity.
As it is tended, this is a relationship that can only grow.
My message to you today is this: Viet Nam matters to Australia.
And I know that our partnership matters to Viet Nam.
I am here because of how far the relationship has come, and because I see the potential.
My government sees the potential.
Our challenge is to realise that potential. We need ambition and action to turn potential into reality.
This is a great time to be doing business in Viet Nam.
Our commitment to each other, and our shared vision for security and prosperity, has never been stronger.
It was a historic moment when His Excellency Prime Minister Phuc visited Australia last year and we formally elevated our relationship to the level of a Strategic Partnership.
It’s yet another sign of our deepening cooperation.
It makes sense for us to work together.
We share a vision for an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific neighbourhood.
An Indo-Pacific where we respect each other’s sovereignty and independence, because if we allow the sovereignty or independence of any of our neighbours to suffer coercion, then we are all diminished.
And we share a deep interest in the stability and prosperity of our region.
My Government is about expanding opportunity for all of us through building closer connections, right across the board.
The ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Sydney last year exemplified that.
As Australia and the ASEAN nations declared in Sydney, we are partners with a vital stake in a dynamic region that’s undergoing major changes.
It’s more important than ever before that we remain open and connected and maintain a regional focus with a global perspective.
We know that in Southeast Asia we need security and peace to maintain our prosperity.
I’m sure many of you have noticed the developing mutual trust between our countries, particularly in areas like economic development, defence, immigration and law enforcement.
We are working together in a very practical way, building closer connections.
Australia’s support for Viet Nam’s development and growth, which has helped build these strong foundations, has evolved into a genuine economic partnership which is strong and vibrant.
Many of you here tonight represent Australian companies and institutions that embody that partnership – some with long histories here too.
We’ve got ANZ which has been helping Australian companies trade with and invest in Viet Nam since it opened here back in 1993 – one of the first foreign banks to do so.
Allens has been here for more than 20 years and they’re one of the largest and most successful foreign law firms in Viet Nam.
RMIT started here back in 2001 with just 40 students.
Today that number is more than 6000.
It’s great to see RMIT and our vocational education providers helping produce job-ready graduates for Viet Nam’s growing workforce.
And I thank Vice Chancellor Bean for his strong support of tonight’s event.
SunRice has been sourcing rice from Viet Nam for more than a decade, operates a rice mill in the Mekong Delta and has invested in research to develop higher value rice varieties — which means better returns for Viet Namese farmers.
Australian companies are also behind some very large and exciting projects here too.
Linfox is expanding – they’ve opened a huge new warehouse in Bac Ninh – worth more than US$20 million – to service northern Viet Nam.
The world’s largest aluminium hull shipbuilder, Austal, is building high speed catamaran passenger ferries here for export around the world.
Hundreds of local workers at their shipyard in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province are involved in that.
BlueScope Steel is also in that province and they’re investing heavily in local community development there.
You all exemplify Australia’s reputation for quality goods and services in Viet Nam.
So while we may not be Viet Nam’s biggest economic partner, we can be its highest quality economic partner – and that’s thanks to the work that you’re doing.
It’s also thanks to the Viet Namese Government’s efforts to make it easier to do business here, and the Australian business community tells me these efforts are paying dividends.
Viet Nam understands, as Australia does, that the foundation of so much that a country can do starts with a strong economy.
Viet Nam is on a remarkable trajectory of growth - 7.1 per cent last year, and the IMF expects Viet Nam to continue strong growth of 6.5 per cent in 2019.
The short and medium-term growth prospects are positive too.
This is no accident. It’s not a matter of good fortune.
It’s because of hard work and commitment.
It’s because of 30 years of economic reform.
In a time when dark clouds are on the horizon in terms of global trade, it is so good to see countries like Viet Nam supporting and embracing trade liberalisation.
We share a commitment to open trade and investment, and together stand to benefit from the TPP-11.
I want to acknowledge the vital role of Viet Nam to the TPP-11.
When the US withdrew from the TPP, most thought the deal would simply fall over.
It is a great testament to Viet Nam’s commitment to trade liberalisation that it stuck with the TPP even without the US - its biggest trading partner.
Together we created the world’s most consequential trade agreement in two decades.
Viet Nam and Australia also share an ambition to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership this year.
We’re at a sweet spot in our partnership. Viet Nam is rapidly industrialising and developing, and Australia is willing and able to support that growth.
Our two economies are complementary ― I believe we can and will prosper together.
Our exports to Viet Nam are at record levels.
In the first six months of 2019, Australian merchandise exports to Viet Nam increased by 37 per cent compared with the same six months last year.
That’s an impressive jump.
Viet Namese exports to Australia are also growing.
Overall, two-way trade set a new record of $14.6 billion in 2018.
In the years ahead, I’d like to see Australian investment in Viet Nam grow further, and I hope to make some progress on that during my visit this week.
One area of big opportunity is energy.
When Viet Nam starts importing LNG in 2020, Australian gas producers like Woodside, whose CEO, Peter Coleman, is here tonight, have aspirations to be part of that and are working towards making that happen.
And I know Macquarie Group, whose Executive Chairman David Roseman is also here, is interested in investing in Viet Nam’s renewable energy sector, and in particular, partnering with Viet Nam to develop offshore wind projects.
The capacity for Australia and Viet Nam to work even more closely together is enormous.
Our partnership is full of potential.
It’s full of opportunities.
And the people in this room today are the ones who turn those opportunities into reality.
Thank you for your efforts in being part of a thriving, successful economic partnership.
And I’m looking forward to many prosperous years to come.
Statement On Indulgence - First moon landing 50th anniversary
22 July 2019
Mr Morrison: (Cook—Prime Minister and Minister for the Public Service) (14:00): I start by welcoming to the chamber today Ambassador Culvahouse and the many others who have joined us today representing the United States. Today I rise to recognise the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's historic trip to the moon and to honour all who made it possible, including the many Australians who were part of that amazing achievement. Fifty years ago it was said that the heavens became part of man's world, and for one priceless moment all the people of this world were truly one. The achievement of that day lives through the ages. We should never cease to marvel at that achievement nor take it for granted, nor the nation that enabled us to achieve it. The Apollo missions were missions of unparalleled risk and opportunity. As President Kennedy said at Rice University in 1962—and we could almost all say it together—'We choose to go to the moon not because it is easy but because it is hard. That goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills.' And that's indeed what it did, inspiring generations to follow.
The decision to send a person to the moon ultimately involved the efforts and toil of 400,000 men and women for almost a decade. I'm sure many members and many outside of this place have taken the opportunity to watch many of the documentaries that have been airing and to marvel again at the tremendous stories. I took that opportunity with my kids over the weekend. These 400,000 men and women included 700 Australians. Every part of their effort was vital. Every challenge was interconnected with every other part of their mission. Nothing could be left undone, because the consequences of failure were too great. All who worked on the Apollo program carried the burden of Apollo 1, when astronauts Virgil Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were incinerated in the command module.
Australia's involvement in the Apollo missions was through our tracking facilities. NASA located these stations around the world at equidistant points in California, Spain and Australia. Communications to the Apollo missions depended on these tracking stations. As The Canberra Times wrote of the stations at Honeysuckle and Tidbinbilla, 'the road to the moon leads through Tharwa', and it did. The tracking stations formed part of the electromagnetic umbilical cord through which information travelled 186,000 miles per second. In the words of historian and author Andrew Tink, who I understand is in the building today, 'Without the tracking stations, mission control would have been deaf, dumb and blind to astronauts on the moon, and vice versa.'
Under the leadership of Tom Reid, who as many Canberrans would know is the late husband of former senator Margaret Reid, Honeysuckle, Tidbinbilla and Parkes all played their part in a remarkable moment for humanity. It is a remarkable thing that we rarely say that Americans went to the moon, though that is a statement of obvious fact. Rather, to us it wasn't just Americans who went to the moon; it was humankind that went to the moon. That's because the United States, through its actions, embodied the best of us and all of us. Buzz Aldrin said, 'The Apollo missions stand as a symbol of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown.' They remind us that through united, concerted and unrelenting effort we can meet the challenges of our age: cancer, disease, water, climate, race—all things that challenge us.
Fifty years ago our Prime Minister, along with others, was asked to write a message which was inscribed on a disc that was left on the moon's surface. John Gorton wrote:
This is a dramatic fulfilment of man's urge to go 'always a little further'.
May the high courage and the technical genius which made this achievement possible be so used in the future that mankind will live in a universe in which peace, self-expression and the chance of dangerous adventure are available to all.
Fifty years on, that is the lesson of Apollo 11, and the world will forever be grateful.
Speech, Institute of Public Administration
19 August 2019
Parliament House, Canberra
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Martin.
Can I also join you in welcoming my colleagues who are here today, Greg Hunt who is also the Minister assisting me for the public service, to Ben Morton, to Zed Seselja, and to those who may be linking in from other places.
Can I also Martin, place on record my appreciation and that of the Government and all the Governments’ if I can be so bold, to say that you’ve served- for your service, can I thank you for your advice personally, and can I thank you for your dedication to the welfare of the Australian people over an outstanding public service career.
Over almost four decades - we’re having a dinner at the Lodge tonight for Martin and Heather and a number of friends and we can reflect on four decades of stories I’m sure, and that has included more than a decade at the helm of three different Departments, and great Departments of this public service. You’ve been committed to fearless advice, no one can accuse you, not of doing that, to policy reform and making this country a better place.
I wish you and Heather all the very best for the new challenges that lay ahead and we’re a grateful nation thank you very much.
Please thank Martin Parkinson.
I want to also acknowledge all the other Secretaries who are here today, including the incoming Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Phil Gaetjens who tells me his tie is where it’s always been- at home! Not around his neck. There are many things I’m familiar with with Phil, not just that. And congratulations to you Phil and I’m sure you’ll pick that up in the weeks ahead, and I look forward to working with you.
This place, our Parliament House, is on Ngunnawal land. Can I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, their elders past, present, and those importantly, who are emerging, who we want to encourage and who we want to celebrate.
To any servicemen and women who are here today, to any veterans particularly as yesterday we marked the commemoration of Vietnam vets. Can I say to you, simply on behalf of our nation: ‘Thank you for your service’.
And today of all days I want to widen the circle to all who serve the Australian public in the APS; those of you in this room, or across Australia, wherever you happen to be in every state and territory as well as overseas, thank you for what you do for our country and all of your fellow citizens.
More than 240,000 Australians work for the Commonwealth Government in one form or another.
About 80,000 are in the ADF. Add to that another 16,000 or so in the civilian arm of the APS providing for our nation’s defence.
There are thousands more men and women in Home Affairs and our other security agencies, working every day to keep Australians safe through intelligence gathering, securing our borders, counter-terrorism, taking up the fight to those who would seek to do us harm.
One of the greatest achievements of these agencies is 16 thwarted terrorist attacks and that’s something that the heads of those agencies can be very proud to have been able to achieve.
Thousands more are devoted to growing our economy, because we all know everything else stems from that. And ensuring Australians get a fair go in their daily lives, delivering on our infrastructure program, making our industries more competitive, opening up new markets, enforcing our corporate laws.
The list goes on – some 19,000 people in the Tax Office ensuring everyone pays their fair share according to the laws of this country, we think people should pay less tax, but they should all pay the taxes that they should pay. And to share the support of the services- and to provide the support for the services we all need by providing that tax revenue. There’s about 6,000 people administering $85 billion worth in health funding a year; and more than 5,000 people running our legal and integrity systems at the Commonwealth level.
Or the roughly 11,000 Australians in agencies working on cutting edge science, from CSIRO to Geoscience Australia; from the tropical North to Antarctica.
I could go on, but this snapshot tells you we’re a pretty big show it’s complex, it’s extraordinarily diverse in all of its functions.
To meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, it also needs, as it has been, needs to be professional, capable, flexible, technology-enabled, citizen-focused, as Martin was saying, and open to outsiders and diverse viewpoints, both within and without.
And while the upholding of the best traditions of integrity at the same time, accountability and service that have been hallmarks of an apolitical APS for the past 118 years.
Today I want to place six guideposts out there to show the way forward as I see it as Prime Minister and for my Government for the public service, for the evolution of our public service and priorities for the future.
My remarks today are framed by a humble recognition that modern government is hard. Change is ever present. Expectations of the public have never been greater. And just as it is in business, the customer - and in our case, the public - is always right.
To support the Government across multiple, fast-moving policy and implementation challenges, the APS needs to evolve. Nothing new about that. In some cases, conventional wisdom needs to be challenged.
And most importantly, in whatever role you have in the public service, we need to make sure you have a clear line of sight, from wherever you are, whether you’re up in Bamaga, or over in Bunbury, whether you’re here in Belconnen, wherever you sit, whatever you do, if there’s something between you and the people you’re trying to serve, in your view, then we’ve got to deal with that. You need a clear line of sight between what you are doing everyday, every decision you’re making every day, every contribution you’re making every day, straight through to the Australian public. It’s not about impressing your boss or impressing your Minister, or- we’re just people along the way.
That clear line of sight is what I would want every single person who works in the Commonwealth Public Service, whether it’s me, whether its Ben or Stuey, or whoever in Ministerial ranks, Secretaries, or the first year recruit into the public service. A clear line of sight. So I hope therefore my remarks today will give you a better idea, a greater understanding of how the APS can better support the government and through the government, our nation.
Now my first guidepost is one I spoke of when I announced Phil Gaetjens’ appointment.
It goes to the heart of the relationship between the Executive branch and the public service that enables all of us to do a good job. We have to get our relationship right between Ministers and the public service.
Because the best teams are the ones where everyone knows what their job is and they do their job well rather than being in a constant running commentary about the job someone else should be doing. I’ve seen those teams. They lose. The teams where everyone knows what their jobs is, what their role is, and focus on that, those teams win. And we’re going to be a winning team.
My approach as many of you would know and who’ve worked with me in other portfolios, and it’s been my great privilege to have serves as a Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, as a Minister for Social Services, as the Treasurer and of course now as Prime Minister. I have enjoyed wonderful relationships with the public servants that I have worked with at senior and junior levels. And my approach has been based on a simple, straight-forward formula for managing that relationship– respect and expect.
Respect the experience, professionalism and capability that the public service brings to the table, both in terms of policy advice and implementation skills. And then having set the policy direction, expect them to get on and deliver it.
It is also about respecting the fact that responsibility for setting policy, for making those calls and decisions lies with the elected representatives of the people, and expecting Ministers to provide that leadership and direction.
Now this imposes an important responsibility, I think, on Ministers. And I’ve made this very clear to my Ministers. They must be clear in what they are asking of the public service. They must not allow a policy leadership vacuum to be created, and expect the public service to fill it and do effectively the job of Ministers.
One of the worst criticisms I can tell you, in the locker room of politicians, that one politician can make of another, is that they’ve become a captive of their department as a Minister. Now that is not a reflection on the department, not at all, not at all, but indeed on the Minister. It speaks to a Minister not driving their policy agenda. Nature abhors a vacuum just as much here in Canberra as anywhere else. And it will get filled. And I expect my Ministers to be in the center driving policy agendas for their agencies and departments. And so I’ve selected and tasked my Ministers top set and drive the agenda of the Government. I believe the public have a similar expectation of my Ministers as well.
This is very important for how accountability is designed to work in our Westminster democracy.
Ministers are accountable to the Parliament and to the public through our democratic process for the policies of the Government. Now I know you all know this but it bears repeating in the context of this principal, a public servant providing advice in a well prepared brief will and must exercise all due diligence and professional care in its preparation, and be absolutely certain and passionate about what they put in that document. But ultimately it is the Minister who must decide, whether approve or not approve, to provide comment, feedback, as they appreciate, because ultimately it is the Minister who will be held accountable by the public. And that’s how it should be.
Only those who have put their name on a ballot can really understand the significance of that accountability. As much as you might appreciate the Westminster system, until you put your name on a ballot, that changes everything.
So I know that sometimes you may feel frustrated, or go how on earth my brief was so perfect, as I’m sure they all are, at the end of the day our Ministers, I, my colleagues, have got to look constituents in the eye, face the public, look them in the eye, and be responsible for those decisions. And that gives you a very unique perspective.
When I played Rugby, my coach used to describe this difference as the bacon and eggs principle, the chicken is involved, but the pig is absolutely committed to the task. It’ll catch on.
That is why under our system of Government it must be Ministers who set that policy direction.
And it is why, having set that direction, they will have high expectations, as they should, of the public service when it comes to implementation and delivery of the Government’s agenda.
You are our professional partners in this undertaking.
The public service is the indispensable engine room for any successful government in delivering on its commitments to Australians. I mean this most sincerely.
I have always believed that, guided by clear direction from Ministers, the public service is at its best when it is getting on with the job of delivering the services Australians rely on and ensuring Governments can implement the policies they have been elected to deliver for the Australian people.
It’s important not only to establish clear lines of accountability. It is also fundamental to ensure our democracy keeps faith with the Australian people.
That’s what ‘respect and expect’ is all about.
My second guidepost is one I spoke to Secretaries about with the Deputy Prime Minister, in May, even before I had recommended my Ministry to the Governor-General.
You’ll remember President Clinton and his famous lines about “it’s about the economy, stupid” he would say.
Well for us, “It’s about the implementation”. That’s and important guidepost.
We need a step-change on service delivery.
Ensuring services are delivered seamlessly and efficiently, when and where they are needed, this is a key priority, the key priority of my Government.
Just as good business strategy is always about how you execute it, the same is true in Government policy. It’s only ever as good as its implementation. And you are the implementers.
I don’t know how many beautiful strategy documents I’ve seen over my course of life, in public service and in other fields, people can celebrate these strategy documents, they can be incredibly impressive, but I tell you what, the only strategies that are any good are the ones that are implemented and work.
And the ultimate test of a strategy is not how pretty it looks, but how well it’s done.
Good government is about receiving excellent policy advice. But that advice is only as good as the consideration in detail that it gives to implementation and execution.
And this is not an exercise in providing a detached or dispassionate summary of the risks that can be logged in the “told you so” file for future reference in memoirs.
It’s about telling Governments how things can be done, not just the risks of doing them, or saying why they shouldn’t be done. The public service is meant to be an enabler of Government policy not an obstacle.
The Australian people need to be at the centre of APS service delivery. That is the thinking behind Services Australia. This isn’t some fancy re-branding exercise.
It’s a message to the whole of the APS – top-to-bottom – about what matters to people.
It’s about what I call ‘doing the little things well’ – everything from reducing call waiting times and turnaround on correspondence, right through to improving the experience people have as they walk into a Centrelink office or any other government service office around the country.
I want to send a message to everyone who is in the service, in whatever role you have – you can make a difference to the lives of the Australian people.
We all have a job to do and that is to serve them.
I’ve talked about the need for a culture of regulatory congestion busting in our bureaucracy.
That doesn’t mean cutting corners or not meeting regulatory requirements.
But it does mean being relentless in finding ways to help Australians make things happen and reach their goals. Not sitting passively while families and businesses struggle to navigate unnecessary rules and unnecessary regulations.
We need interactions with government to be simpler, more human, and less bureaucratic.
Whether it be in delivering services like the NDIS, or rolling out our ambitious infrastructure program, or removing unnecessary barriers to business investment.
It’s why I have tasked my Assistant Minister Ben Morton with revitalising our regulatory reform and deregulation agenda, with a new Deregulation Taskforce which is being led by the Treasurer, out of Treasury.
A key focus is on working with business to identify and remove unnecessary barriers to investment, with a focus on sectors and activities which have the most to gain.
At the departmental level, Secretaries will need to be proactive in identifying ways to bust congestion in the Commonwealth bureaucracy. And all Ministers will continue to remain responsible for ensuring that regulations in their portfolios are fit-for-purpose.
I also want congestion busted in the public service hierarchy which can block your contribution. You don’t have to be in the SES to have a good idea. Did anyone know that’s true? I saw this in Treasury when I used to do budgets.
I used to love going down to the Treasury building in those weeks before the Budget. People there eating pizza well into the night, working really hard, and taking great pride in their work. I remember one night I sat down and I spoke to one of the officers who was working on one of the statements in the Budget which had to do with good debt and bad debt. And I remember meeting one of- their parent, their father, I forget where it was around the country one day, and he reflected this conversation I’d had with his daughter that night. And he was terribly proud of the work that she was doing. And there she was, crunching away there in the bowels of Treasury, in the middle of a Budget process making a big difference to understanding how we treat debt in this country. And really changing the conversation, taking pride in their work.
It was the same when I would go out to the Social Services when Finn Pratt was the Secretary and I remember talking to that wonderful little team that was working on distribution modelling when we were going through some social services reforms a few years ago, and one of them from- I recall, was actually there on an internship I think at the time or they were recent recruit, and couldn’t believe that in their first year in the service here they were sitting down with a Minister crunching through distribution modelling processes.
More recently I visited DFAT and I particularly want to commend there, Frances on the outstanding job she’s doing as secretary of DFAT and I want to thank the- I went there to thank the officers who had worked in difficult situations regarding getting children out of some of the most unsafe places in the world, who had secured one of our citizen’s safe release out of North Korea and my favourite, I could almost say my favourite part of the public service, I’m spending so much time with them recently, the Office of the Pacific, driving our Step Up initiative. And to say thank you to Ewen and all the team there.
I mean this stuff, I get it, I see it, I appreciate it.
And of course during my time at immigration and border protection, the remarkable and courageous efforts of everyone involved in Operation Sovereign Borders. Many of the most critical initiatives that came out of OSB and some of the most initiative were the product of the contribution of line officers in the public sector, working together in teams and focusing on solutions, not problems. Public service at its best.
And I want to harness that to enable your meaningful impact on the decision making process.
I am concerned, I recently learned that in a survey, just over a quarter of the APS does not really feel they can impact what’s going on. That really does concern me. I want people in the APS to feel they can make a contribution. I don’t want you to feel shut out. You need to feel that you can make a difference. Otherwise why are you here? I make the assumption that you’re here to make a difference and I think that assumption is absolutely correct.
Now to be a bit harsh, I think that result is a failure of public service management to enable that real engagement. We’ve got to work harder on that. This is one of the things I expect to see our public service leaders change in the future.
I want to draw further down into the public service for advice to those doing things on the ground. I want more input from you, more visibly in what’s coming through to me in my office and the offices of my Ministers. I want the gatekeepers who control access to Ministers to ease up a bit and let you in. Let me see what others are thinking.
So don’t be surprised if you find yourself in my office or one of my Minister’s office in the future, wherever you happen to sit. And if you get a call and someone who says they’re the PM, it may not be a prank call.
But after this speech, I suspect there’ll be many such prank calls in the next 24 hours.
My third guidepost is called “look at the scoreboard”.
We must have a strong emphasis on delivering outcomes, with priorities, targets and metrics across all portfolios. That’s not new.
Faced with scarce resources, setting priorities is essential. Setting targets and metrics at the same time helps us stay on track. And this is the point. Sure it provides some necessary accountability when performance measures are in place, for people management but the real purpose is to ensure we are getting done what we set out to do.
There are three basic questions I would ask you all to consider every day at work:
1. What are you trying to do?
2. How do you know you’re on track to get there?
3. What does it look like when you’ve got there?
In other words what does success look like, at the start, along the way and at the end?
This is the information that helps me and my Cabinet be informed to make the decisions and adjustments to policy that keeps us heading in the right direction, and providing you with the clarity you need to get on with your job.
A friend of Stuart Roberts’ and mine, General Jim Molan used to have this great sign, stating that no strategy ever survives contact with the enemy. And you know, things have to be changed along the way. And the only way you know that is based on the data and information that’s coming back. That doesn’t mean that the programme’s failing, it just means that you need to constantly adjust and stay focused on your goal.
I want public servants to know and share in the success of public policy. I want you to feel good about what you do, the contribution you make and the positive difference you can make to the country and its future. Because otherwise, again, what is the point?
If your success is measured solely in career advancement through the seemingly infinite grades of the public service, I don’t think that’s enough. It’s not what I want as a citizen from my public service, let alone as the Prime Minister. And I think the overwhelming majority of public servants feel the same way.
Rather than complicating your life, I would suggest these three questions that I’ve outlined, open the door to a more satisfying APS career for you and a better experience for the Australian public.
My Government will continue to set clear priorities and strong targets for the APS.
I have established with Martin’s great assistance and leadership, a dedicated Priorities and Delivery Unit in PM&C and all Cabinet Ministers are developing their own set of objectives and targets.
This is something we’ve been doing a lot of work on since the election. We’ve made good progress, but there’s a lot more to be done.
Now the fourth guidepost is called, I’m sure you’ll love this one “look beyond the bubble”.
There are many highly organised and well-resourced interests in our democracy. They come to Canberra often. They are on the airwaves, they’re on the news channels. They meet regularly with politicians, advisers and departments to advance the policy ideas and causes on behalf of those who they represent.
Some will be corporate interests. Some will be advocating for more welfare spending or bigger social programs. Many will be looking for a bigger slice of government resources.
Yet the vast majority of Australians will never come to Canberra to lobby government. They won’t stay at the Hyatt. They won’t have lunch at the Ottoman. They won’t kick back at the Chairman’s Lounge at Canberra airport after a day of meetings.
And what these Australians who don’t do those things do every day is work hard. They pay their taxes. They put their kids through school. They look after their families. They give back to their communities and they are the centre of my focus as PM and my Government.
These are your stakeholders, not the myriad of vested and organised interests that parade through this place.
They rely, those Australians I’m speaking of on the services that you deliver, that make their lives just that bit easier and better. And they want value for money for those services, through the taxes that they’re paying.
They expect governments to focus on what matters to them:
- A strong economy that generates more and better jobs and better paid jobs.
- Ensuring Australians are kept safe from threats abroad and at home, it’s a convulsing world at the moment, and we all have a job to keep calm and to provide that reassurance to them
- Making sure services are reliable and responsive to their needs.
I want the APS to have a laser-like focus on serving these quiet Australians. Those who don’t meet here, and you never hear from largely, they’re too busy doing life. Australians who just get on with it, but who often feel their voice gets drowned out by the shoutier ones in the public sphere and parading through this place.
There is strong evidence that the “trust deficit” that has afflicted many Western democracies over recent years stems in part from a perception that politics is very responsive to those at the top and those at the bottom, but not so much to those in the middle.
This will not be the case under my Government.
Middle Australia needs to know that the Government and including the public service, is on their side.
My fifth guidepost and forgive me to all the AFL people in the room, but I’m going to use a Rugby League example, feel free to apply your favourite AFL player of all time- I know the Minister for Health is going to do this, but given I’m a Rugby League fan and my Chief of Staff is, we’re using a Rugby League one from this podium today- it is called the Ray Price principle, those of you who know of the Rugby League legend from Parramatta, Mike Pezzullo will well know about this, he’s known as Mr Perpetual Motion.
Ray was everywhere. His work rate was unmatched. The conditions, his opponents, never fazed him. He could read the play and always stay ahead of the game.
The APS needs to be the same. It needs to evolve and adapt amidst constant change. Old ways of doing things need to be challenged and, if necessary, disrupted.
As you know, David Thodey is leading, and is completing now, finalising now, his major review of the APS and I expect his report to pick up this theme of how the service needs to change so it can respond to new and emerging challenges – economic, social, technological and geo-political.
We need the APS to be an exemplar of innovation and adaptability. More agile and more responsive to the public where they live.
There are many dimensions to this challenge, let me focus on three quickly.
Firstly, we need the public service to be more open to outsiders.
Information has never been more available and expertise in our society has never been more dispersed. Citizens from all walks of life have never had more outlets to express their views – their likes and their dislikes.
To succeed, government needs to tap these insights, and these skills and energy from more points on the compass than those who have only ever worked in the public service.
While some of our brightest minds will want a lifetime career in the federal bureaucracy, many of you here, many Australian’s won’t. And we need to find ways for smart, dedicated Australians to see a stint in the public service as part of their career journey.
And likewise for those who’ve chosen a life as career public servants to see that time outside of the APS in the non-government sector and in the business sector, that that is also an important part of their career journey. And their career choice. Their life choice. The APS system should reinforce and reward these choices. And I’m not confident it currently does.
This is about reinforcing two important values as the Health Minister and Assistant Minister- Minister assisting me for the public service reminded me of just over the weekend.
First the importance of outside and mid-career experienced recruits to informing the understanding of how sectors and the economy operate on the ground.
Second, the career development value for long term public servants of their own experience in the private sector. In the same way as experience in a ministerial office is valued, so should be a private sector secondment.
The APS needs to be world-class at collaborating with external partners on all the challenges we face as a country – everything from grasping the productivity opportunity of the digital economy, to ending the export of waste to using Big Data to dramatically improve service delivery.
The second area where disruption and cultural change are needed is in breaking down the bureaucratic silos and hierarchies that constrain our capacity to fix problems.
We’ve only had this problem in the public service for 118 years.
We need an APS that’s more joined-up internally and flexible in responding to challenges and opportunities.
The model I’m most proud of in recent times, and there are many, is the way the APS responded to assist Australians in North Queensland hit by the devastating floods earlier this year.
It highlighted the way I like to work as well: pulling the right people together, removing obstacles to the delivery of programs, engaging with those most affected on the ground, and demonstrating that the Government can be there for them when they need it most.
This really made a difference. It saved lives, literally, and it saved livelihoods. And it saved a way of life, in Australia that has been there for hundreds of years.
This is the sort of agile and responsive public service, which Shane Stone most recently had the privilege to just lead that small team. That sort of attitude we need to further build across all arms of government as Australia navigates rapid change and a more uncertain world.
It will require departments to become more adept at reallocating resources to fit changing priorities. Not just ask for more. Because Mathias will say no. I know it can be done because I have driven it myself in three different portfolios prior to service as Prime Minister.
The third area of disruption is obviously greater use of digital technology which Minister Robert is very closely involved in.
The digital revolution - with the exponential rise in connectivity, data generation, processing power and personalised service delivery - continues to reshape our jobs, industries and lives on a daily basis.
With our fellow Australians among the most enthusiastic early adopters of technology in the world, harnessing the power of digital technology is not an option for the Australian Government. It’s the future of it.
Government needs to connect instantaneously and seamlessly with Australians to answer questions, provide services, make payments and solve problems. I like how Martin referred to it before, when they engage with the public service they don’t feel like they’re going back in time.
So providing a roadmap for our work on data and digital transformation is important, and that’s what the Digital Transformation Strategy did last year and our goal is to have all government services available digitally by 2025.
This is part of a broader transformation, of challenge that includes tailoring policies and service delivery to individuals and local communities and using data and analytics for better policy and service delivery.
Just as technology opens up new opportunities, it also creates new vulnerabilities. Whether it be working through the ethical and privacy dimensions of the digital revolution or protecting our systems and our national security from malicious cyber activity, the Australian Government cannot be anywhere but on the forefront, on the frontier of that activity.
Now you’ll be pleased to know, I’m getting to the end.
My sixth and final guidepost is “honour the code”.
It’s something that I observed amongst the veteran’s community, and I take, and I’d encourage you to take your lesson from them, and our serving men and women in the ADF. They are bound together by a code, an unbreakable code. That sees them act at the highest levels of integrity under the most extreme levels of pressure. It is that code that keeps them together and where that code fails or where that code breaks, then we know what the consequences of that can be.
It’s about governance and integrity across the service.
I want to reaffirm my Government’s and my personal commitment to an APS that is apolitical, merit based and committed to the highest standards of integrity.
These core elements of the Westminster tradition are as important as they have ever been, not least to securing the trust and legitimacy of democratic government that is needed to implement good policy and to deliver services successfully.
And on the critical relationship between Ministers, their staff and the bureaucracy, let me underscore what I have said directly to all of my Ministers. I expect my Ministers to be demanding. I also expect them and all of their staff to discharge their responsibilities with the highest standards of professionalism and within a values framework of mutual respect. And where that isn’t occurring, there are ways and processes to deal with that.
It’s important we value diversity of course in the public service. This is right in and of itself. It is in keeping with the more diverse, pluralistic society Australia has become over many decades. And it chimes with our national ethos of “live and let live”.
I believe a commitment to diversity should encompass diversity of viewpoints within the APS. There is compelling evidence that this helps teams find answers to complex problems by bringing together people who approach questions from different points of view.
The American academic Jonathan Haidt has made this point powerfully in challenging worrying trends toward conformity in the university sector. And I think his observations are relevant to the future of our public service.
It’s vital that the APS avoid the sort of stale conventional wisdoms and orthodoxies that can infuse all large organisations.
I expect there will be more debate on those issues as I have raised today throughout my address when the Independent Review of the APS, the Thodey Review, is received by the Government formally.
The review will be finalised shortly and I want to thank in particular, David Thodey who I’ve already had an opportunity to meet with, and the review panel for their time and commitment to this exercise. It’s been a big undertaking. And it’s been a fair dinkum effort.
Once the report has been received, I will be asking the Secretaries Board under Phil Gaetjen’s leadership to evaluate the review’s recommendations and to report to Cabinet on relevant issues and findings.
So as we gather here in this Great Hall, I want to remind you of a poignant feature of this house of democracy.
This is one of the few parliamentary buildings in the world where you don’t have to walk up steps to enter it.
Our Parliament isn’t a Parliament over the people or above them, but one that people, that Australians, can freely and easily approach.
I want this to be a metaphor for how Australians see their government. And our government.
Our work is not governing over people, but to humbly govern for people. With a clear line of sight always to those people.
Working with people.
Governing for all Australians.
Delivering for them and never letting anything get in your line of sight between you and the people you have chosen to serve, as much as I have.
It is a privilege to serve the Australian people and I am grateful for the enthusiasm and passion of our public service who share this good, and decent and honourable vocation.
Thank you very much for your attention today, I know I’ve unloaded a lot on your today, but I thought it was really important, at the outset of this term, for me to give you a very clear understanding of where I’m coming from, and where my team’s coming from. And we very much look forward to working with you in the years ahead.
Thank you for your attention.
Remarks, Pacific Skills Portal Launch
14 August 2019
Funafuti, Tuvalu
PRIME MINISTER: I particularly want to thank you Prime Minister Sopoaga for your welcome here to Tuvalu. It’s my first visit to Tuvalu and I’m so pleased that under the circumstances you described I was able to join you here at my first Pacific Island Forum. I’m also very pleased to be here with Minister Hawke, our Minister in the Pacific we appointed after the election. He's been here for several days now and I know he's engaging well with everyone here. To President Baron Waqa, you and I have known each other for many years now and it's great to be here again with you. And I can also acknowledge Prime Minister Sogavare, it's wonderful to be catching up with you as well.
As we come together here at the Pacific Island Forum it's very different, you know, to many of the other forums there are around the world because it is truly a family gathering. And whether we say family as kāiga, or we say it is as whānau or we say it as vuvale, or however we talk about it, that's what it is. And when families come together, they talk about the stuff that matters, that's most important to them. And over the next few days, that's exactly what we'll be doing. We'll be talking about the future of our environment. We'll be talking about the future of our economies. We're going to talk about what is talked about in every single family in the world, how our kids are going to get jobs and what jobs they're going to have in the future and how we're going to make sure that that happens. And that's a particularly big challenge here in the Pacific with such a large youth population and a growing youth population. We want to make sure they have the skills for the jobs that they're going to need.
There’s health challenges - everything from drug-resistant tuberculosis to just simply ensuring that we can deliver health services in remote areas. And as you heard on the video earlier, you know, these are challenges Australia deals with as well, no differently, just in a different context, in a different scale. We're wrestling with the issue of making sure our training is right for our young people and for those who are transitioning much later in life with different jobs. And that the jobs that we want them to go into are there and that they will be there in the future.
Similarly, we're doing what we're doing and delivering health services and education services across what is a very vast continent. The difference between the Pacific and Australia is it's just as big, it's just blue for the islands of the Pacific and for us it’s every colour of the rainbow, from the red dirt brown to the green of our rainforests and the blue of our coasts and oceans and sands.
So we're dealing with different, different contexts but we're dealing with the same challenges and that's why I'm very pleased for us to be supporting the Pacific Skills Partnership. I've seen this in practices I've visited with my colleagues and from the forum whether I've been in Fiji or other places, and I've seen the training that takes place and it's- and I've met the students and they've come from right across the Pacific. And this is making a big difference in their lives and it's making a big difference to the one economy of the Pacific which we want to see continue to grow.
And so in being here to offer some closing remarks on this initiative I particularly want to pay a credit to you, Baron, for your initiation of this very important project and the passion you put into it and all of those who've worked on it since to bring it to today's position, and but also to you Prime Minister for bringing it together here. And so it is now launched and as part of an important program. And Australia as you know has been working on this with you. And we will continue to work with you on this. And that's why I'm pleased to say as part of the Australian Pacific training coalition we'll be putting in another hundred and fifty scholarships this program and that includes 30, 30 right here in Tuvalu.
And so there'll be more opportunities for young people right across the Pacific to go and be part of this very exciting program that is just a small part of what we consider to be, what you know I call the Pacific Step Up. And you’ve got to Step Up, you’ve got to show up. And Australia's going to show up, we're not just going to show up here, we’re going to show up for the hard conversations, the good conversations, the family conversations that we have, and that's very much the spirit in which we're engaging. And I'm looking forward to the next few days, it will be great company. And a lot of important things I think it should achieve. So thank you very much for the opportunity here to participate.