Speeches
Speech before the Address by the President of Indonesia
10 February 2020
Mr Speaker, today we welcome the President of the Republic of Indonesia, His Excellency Joko Widodo. President Widodo, it is an honour and a privilege to have you here amongst us as a true friend. Selamat datang! And, President Widodo, we are welcoming not only you and your delegation at this time in this country, because at present we welcome 40 members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, including military engineers and medical staff, who are currently assisting with bushfire relief and recovery in New South Wales, and today they're working on floods. We thank you, Mr President, we thank the people of Indonesia and we thank the Republic of Indonesia. Like a true friend, as you are, you have lent a great hand, and we are a grateful nation.
President Widodo, you join us here in the home of our democracy as the leader of our most important neighbour and as a dear, dear friend. Shortly after becoming Prime Minister—on my first overseas visit, in fact—I found myself at a school in Bogul, surrounded by young Indonesian students, brimming with promise—singing, in fact. So, I decided to tell them a story, as we often do we when visit our schools. I told them the story of a man I was on my way to meet that day; a man who had come from modest and humble beginnings; a man who had worked hard to put himself through university, who'd studied forestry and then set up a business and did what others thought he couldn't or perhaps shouldn't; a man who, as we say here in Australia, had a go. And then I asked the students, 'Do you know who I'm talking about?' and they didn't know, so I pointed across the room to a photo that hung on the wall, and it was your portrait. It was your story I told, which they knew as Bapak Jokowi. It was a story that showed we can make our own futures, and that is as true in Indonesia as it is here in this country. 'He's like you,' I told the students.
President Widodo, you have many admirers here in this chamber and that fill the galleries here today. We have watched and seen your great leadership in your country and throughout the region, and we know it and we trust it. Thanks to your leadership, Indonesia today is an even more dynamic and more successful country, to the great benefit of your people. Your commitment to deepening our two nations' partnership and strengthening our shared region in the Indo-Pacific is honoured here today. And I like to think we are countries that can cheer each other on. We can cheer on our successes together and, as Australia has appreciated in recent months, stand together in the so-many difficult times, as Australia will always with Indonesia, as you face other difficult times.
Many years ago, it was another generation of Australian leaders who championed and supported Indonesian independence—so much so that President Sukarno asked Australia to represent Indonesia in the UN discussions—a generation that dreamed and hoped for what we could achieve together. Our countries are living out that hope today. Of course, as our modern relationship has matured, there have been many times when we haven't agreed. That's only normal in the relationships between friends, where you have to deal with a multitude of challenges. But respect underpins the trust that we have formed.
Our countries work hard to understand where there are differences, rather than focus on them. We listen to each other, we learn from each other and, importantly, we are honest with each other. In doing so, we have discovered, as Prime Minister Menzies said during his first visit to Indonesia in 1959, that we have 10 times as much in common as we have in difference. And that is ever so today. Today, Australia and Indonesia have built the trust that underpins only the truest of friendships. Trust allows us to work through the differences that neighbours sometimes face. For Australia, we see Indonesia's success as something to be celebrated. We count Indonesia amongst our most important partners and it has now become, indeed, a convention that the first visit of any Prime Minister is to Jakarta.
There are many challenges in the Indo-Pacific region: the strategic competition, maintaining international rules and norms and a resurgence of terrorism and violent extremism, all of which we must face together because these are not challenges any of us can face alone. We need partners. We need our friends. As the Indonesian saying goes: berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing—heavy when shouldered alone, light if carried together.
Australia and Indonesia understand this well and we have worked together closely over many years on defence and counterterrorism issues; on maritime security, combatting smugglers and illegal fishing along our maritime border. Together, Australia and Indonesia are motivated by our shared concerns for our region and our shared vision for an open, prosperous Indo-Pacific underpinned by strong institutions, rules and norms. By continuing to work together, we can build the region's resilience and make our people safer and our economy stronger. Our ambitious comprehensive strategic partnership, which was finalised 18 months ago, gives us a framework for even closer ties. We now have a plan of action to take the next steps in our relationship. From trade and investment to defence, counterterrorism, maritime security, ocean sustainability and education, to name only some, and even today we add energy and the future of fuel sources for our nations to this long list. But that is only where our ambition begins. We know there is more to be done, especially on the economic front.
Indonesia is one of Australia's nearest northern neighbours, a growing trillion-dollar economy and the fourth most populous nation, but only our 13th-largest trading partner. Australia is Indonesia's 13th-largest too. There is enormous untapped potential for both nations, which we have recognised, and we are determined to unlock this through the IA-CEPA. And I want to acknowledge today the presence of former Prime Minister Mr Malcolm Turnbull, who did so much work to bring this to reality. Once in force, this modern, transformative agreement will do more than make trade easier; it will open the door to new economic opportunities and forge more partnerships between our businesses, farmers, investors, tech entrepreneurs, researchers and scientists.
One area where IA-CEPA can facilitate closer economic engagement is, of course, in education. Our educational connections already run deep, with 16,000 young Indonesian leaders studying in Australia every year, and I am delighted that the first university in the world to establish a branch campus in Indonesia will be Australia's Monash University. Monash Indonesia—what a combination, those two names!—will contribute powerfully to Indonesia's economic, social and technological development. It will deliver master's, PhD and professional training programs, and partner with Indonesia's leading national, private and Islamic universities to establish deep research links with Indonesian businesses. Our countries, economies and people are being drawn closer. That is something we have encouraged, with the New Colombo Plan, the BRIDGE program and interfaith exchanges also, something I know that President Widodo and I are both keen to promote.
Mr President, this 'black summer' the Australian and Indonesia people have suffered traumatic climatic events, with bushfires here in Australia and floods in Indonesia. Fire and flood—nature can be so indiscriminate. Sixty-one people died in new-year floods that hit Jakarta and the West Java and Banten provinces, with the most ferocious rain resulting in flash flooding and landslides. Despite their own struggles and amidst their own suffering, Indonesians remembered Australia and reached out to us also, kindness upon kindness. In Bali—a place that has become, for Australians, a home away from home—there were dozens of fundraisers to assist our fire efforts. For two days, 1,250 local taxi drivers from the Blue Bird Group made donations from every taxi trip booked in Bali. In Makassar, a group of Indonesians who had attended Australian universities raised funds for the Red Cross. In their words, 'We felt we had to do something to help.' And last week, in Surabaya, a six-year-old girl organised a school fundraiser; she wanted to help our koalas.
We're seeing the same generosity from the Indonesian community here in Australia too. In Darwin, a food bazaar event was organised by the local community group and supported by the Indonesian consulate. There was bakso, tahu isi and bakwan—and I apologise for my pronunciation—all on offer. One of the men behind the event, Dominic Witono, said that what he and his community had raised wasn't the biggest sum. But to that I would say: it was the bigness of his heart that mattered. These actions, and so many more, speak of the wonderful Indonesian character. These acts of kindness make me confident about Australia and Indonesia's future, President Widodo, as does your presence here today and your friendship. On behalf of this parliament and the Australian people, I welcome you again, and we look forward to your address. Terima kasih. Thank you, my friend.
Remarks, Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Republic of Indonesia
10 February 2020
Can I thank you again for visiting Australia, this your first visit to Canberra, but not your first visit to Australia, but it is the second time you’ve come and brought rain. We do appreciate that very much, and Mr President, Your Excellency, can I thank you once again for the incredibly generous good wishes and practical support that the people of Indonesia and the government of Indonesia has provided to Australia during this very difficult Black Summer of our fires, and your own personal messages of support and those of your Ministers but also the practical support in the operations here is very gratefully received and we accept as an expression of the closeness and the fondness of the relationship that we have and as I have privately I also thanked you for your very kind words and condolence that you offered my father.
It has been, I think, a very good opportunity for us to meet together at this time. Australia and Indonesia as we conclude the ratification of the IA-CEPA, which was the first, the very first item of business after I became Prime Minister following on from my predecessor, and I visited Indonesia, almost two years ago now, and it has been processed since then through our parliaments and I want to thank you for your leadership following your re-election - I congratulate you again on that - it has been able to be so successfully taken through your parliament prior to your arrival here and we appreciate that and we now have a road map, we now have a plan, to see the economic relationship really escalate. That will create great opportunities for both Australia and Indonesia in the next decade and beyond. We look forward to the movement and flow of capital, people, investment and trade. And that only further deepening the bonds between our two nations.
I also thank you greatly for the tremendous security partnership that we have, that only goes from strength to strength, the cooperation between governments on these issues, and our defence forces and what has now become quite a long standing relationship on these issues. We both understand very clearly the great opportunities that exist within the Indo-Pacific region. And I want to commend you on your leadership within the Indo-Pacific region and particularly within ASEAN by championing the Indo-Pacific concept. This is a construct that Indonesia has led, has defined, and has attracted great support, not only from the nations of ASEAN, but more broadly including Australia, and we look forward to continuing to work with you very closely as we pursue this vision of the Indo-Pacific both in its economic opportunities, in its strategic opportunities to support peace and stability in our region, but also, as we discussed last night, the significant environmental challenges that we wish to pursue and to show leadership on together, from everything from technology to how we manage the oceans, of which Australia and Indonesia have a keen interest in. A nation of one very big island, and another nation of many, many islands. And so this is an issue that is close to both of our hearts.
And so I might conclude on, on those matters. But simply by saying that you join us today in Canberra - a purpose built capital for Australia - and your vision of the same, in Kalimantan [inaudible] is truly inspiring. It has special meaning to me because as I mentioned to you yesterday, my grandfather, that was the last place he was serving, in the Second [inaudible] regiment during the Second World War. And that's where he saw out the last days of the Second World War. So it's a well-chosen place. And I'll look forward to visiting there for several reasons, but I wish you all the best with that project and I hope while you are here in Canberra that there may be a few ideas, but maybe not as many roundabouts. As I'm sure the Foreign Minister, when she spent time here many years ago understands. But thank you again, Mr. President. It’s a great privilege to have you here with us as a great friend of Australia.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
6 February 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning everyone. The Liberals and Nationals have always enjoyed a wonderful relationship. Indeed it’s been the Coalition of Liberals and Nationals that has formed the governments that have been able to deliver for Australians to provide that stability, to keep our economy strong, to keep the focus on national security, to keep our borders secure. But most importantly, the heart of the relationship between the Liberals and the Nationals is our deep passion and conviction for supporting the needs of rural and regional Australians and our belief in the future of rural and regional Australia. And at its heart, that's what the Coalition is about. That's why we have come together so willingly over such a long period of time. Nationals celebrating their centenary and of course, the Liberal Party well advanced in our 75th year. And that partnership between the two parties will continue to provide the stability. It will continue to provide the leadership. It will continue to provide the focus on the issues of such great concern to rural and regional Australians. And we know that now people in rural and regional Australia for some time, with the drought extending over many years, with the calamity of the devastating floods in north Queensland this time last year, the bushfires. The impacts indeed even of this virus as it impacts on rural and regional communities and the response we need on the ground to that and the measures that we are taking, all of these issues highlight, again, the importance of the wonderful relationship and coalition that we have between the Liberals and Nationals in government, in government.
Now, I've accepted the recommendations of the leader of the Nationals following their meeting earlier this week, and I want to run through and announce those arrangements to you. In doing that, I want to stress two points. What I'm about to announce to you underlines two points. The first one I've already made, and that is ensuring a continuity of our focus on the recovery operations and the rebuilding operations that are necessary in response to the terrible disasters that rural and regional Australians face in terms of bushfire, in terms of drought, in terms of flood and maintaining that solid focus and especially the commitments we've made in the agricultural sector to our 2030 plan and keeping the strength, the focus there. The second one is maintaining and I'd say elevating our commitment to veterans in Australia. I won't go over again what I announced yesterday but there has been such great progress, but so much more to do when it comes to the care and well-being of our veterans. And we're going to keep the focus on that and we're going to keep the continuity on that. And the Minister there has been doing an outstanding job.
So let me run through, obviously, the leader of the Nationals will continue on in his current portfolios, and that will also include a very big focus on the water grid and ensuring that Australia has the water infrastructure it needs for a resilient future. David Littleproud will continue to serve in cabinet, he will take on the portfolios of Minister for Agriculture, and that will combine with his other portfolios of drought and emergency management. The issue of natural disasters is one that encompasses all portfolios of government and obviously as Minister for Emergency Management that will have particular responsibilities for him. But when it comes to dealing with natural disasters and our broader resilience to the environment and the climate we're living in, as I outlined at the Press Club last week, I believe this goes across every single portfolio of government. Darren Chester will be entering Cabinet, but he will continue to do the wonderful and outstanding job he's been doing as Minister for Veterans Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel. I'm advised that this is the first time Veteran Affairs has been back in Cabinet since the late Ben Humphreys in 1993. And I think that sends a strong message about our commitment to veterans in this government. Keith Pitt will take on the role and enter Cabinet as Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, highlighting again the importance of all of those portfolio matters and their presence around the Cabinet table. Mark Coulton will continue to serve as a Minister, as Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government. Andrew Gee will come into the Ministry as Minister for Regional Education, Decentralisation and Minister assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment. Michelle Landry will continue to serve as an Assistant Minister for Children and Families and will also serve as Assistant Minister for Northern Australia. And you won't find a stronger champion than Michelle Landry other than Keith Pitt, for northern Australia, when it comes to ensuring the needs of northern Australia are addressed. And Kevin Hogan will come into the assistant ministry where he will be the Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister.
Can I congratulate all of those Ministers and particularly those who are entering Cabinet. I look forward to working with them all. Can I also think and put on record my thanks to Bridget McKenzie, as I did here on the weekend, for the great work that she did for rural and regional Australians in particular when it comes to the drought. And can I also thank Matt Canavan for his service to our Cabinet, as you know, Matt elected to leave the cabinet, and I want to thank him for the great work he has done in the resources portfolio and the northern Australian portfolio and I appreciate the way he engaged on those issues so passionately for that time of service.
I'll hand you over to the leader of the Nationals and Deputy Prime Minister.
THE HON. MICHAEL MCCORMACK MP, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Prime Minister. And and I too acknowledge the work and the role, particularly for regional Australians, that both Bridget and Matthew have done, thank them for their service to the nation, thank them for their service, particularly to regional Australians. But these new portfolio positions represent experience. They represent new talent. And I know that for those who've been elevated, Keith Pitt will do an outstanding job. Keith Pitt's focus since he entered Parliament has been on making sure that there are skills and jobs, particularly for young Australians. And I know how passionate he is about Queensland. I know how passionate he is about regional Australia. And as a former, former technical engineer, he has the depth of knowledge, he has the experience to do the job required in resources, in water, and certainly for northern Australia. And I'm delighted that Michelle Landry is going to assist him in those efforts for northern Australia. We are the first government has had a Minister for northern Australia. And we've promoted, we've pushed, we know the exciting potential that northern Australia has for our country. And I'm very, very delighted too that Kevin Hogan has been elevated into the Ministry. Sure and stable government. And certainly after the summer that we've had and we still endure, these positions are going to be so crucial to help with the bushfire recovery and relief efforts, to help with addressing all the issues that are involving regional Australia, which has had such an impact against it this summer. Delighted that David Littleproud is going to be the Agriculture Minister. He's had experience of this before. He knows, he knows full well about our 2030 plan. He knows the impacts that the summer has had on our regional areas and particularly our farmers, our small businesses. He has a good relationship, of course, with the National Farmers Federation and Fiona Simpson, I'm sure, is delighted at this appointment. And and, of course, continuing with the drought measures that he has taken, with the emergency management. He has been largely with Andrew Colvin, one of the one of the faces out there, putting his arm around supporting our regional communities, which have been so badly affected by the fires. Darren Chester, I know he's done so much important work for Mallacoota for the East Gippsland area through the fires this summer. But whilst he was doing that, whilst he was encouraging and supporting and making sure that there was the necessary assistance given for his fire affected Gippsland community, he was also making sure that our veterans were never, ever forgotten. And and certainly yesterday, with the measures that we announced with a virtually a standing ongoing royal commission into, into our veterans with, with the appointments made yesterday and the decisions announced yesterday. This is going to be so important for Veterans Affairs as a former Veterans Affairs Minister myself. I know how important these people are to our community and I know how important it is for him to be serving and continuing to provide that continuity, but now in Cabinet, now in Cabinet, around the cabinet table, ensuring that the important decisions are taken and made there. And I congratulate too Mark and Andrew G. For their ongoing advocacy for regional Australia, of course. Michelle Landry, doing a grand and outstanding job with families and children couldn't be an import- more important thing to do. But she's adding, of course the northern Australia position with that. I know she'll serve our needs and wants and expectations there, as I say again. It's a, it's a blend of experience, of course, with new talent and I'm looking forward to getting those members sworn in this afternoon. Very, very exciting. Onwards and upwards from here.
PRIME MINISTER: So just on that, there'll be a swearing in this afternoon, this evening, about 5.30 out at Government House and those arrangements you’ll be made aware of. Mark.
JOURNALIST: You’ve invested a lot of faith in Keith Pitt, that's a pretty big portfolio for an entry into Cabinet but he’s also a well known supporter of nuclear energy, as resources minister, won't that increase pressure on the government to change its policy on nukes?
PRIME MINISTER: Keith has been involved in an important inquiry that was undertaken by the House Committee on Energy. The findings of that report were released over the break. What we're always looking for, Mark, into the future is what those alternative fuel sources will be. The arrangements around nuclear are well known and the government's policy has been clear there about the need for there to be bipartisanship, to be able to move forward. But nothing will ever stop us from looking over the horizon. I mean, the work we're doing on hydrogen, for example, I met a very senior business level delegation from Japan yesterday, who I met with their Chamber of Commerce and the investment we're making in partnership both commercially and the government levels in the development of hydrogen as an energy source, incredibly important. So into the future, we're going to have to be looking at all, all opportunities to ensure our energy future. But the policy on nuclear is very clearly set.
JOURNALIST: Keith Pitt will now be running water resources and mining, where there's often huge tensions, isn’t he going to face a lot of conflicts of interest in having to deal with two completely opposed issues at the same time, is the mining industry potentially just going to win out here?
PRIME MINISTER: No because the authorities the Minister has when it comes to water resources, that will be advised by a separate department. Now that remains where it sits and that will continue and the Minister will acquit himself across those responsibilities. I mean, we all have difficult matters that we must arbitrate on. And I have no doubt that Keith will be able to ensure that he can manage those interests.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Keith is very capable. Keith is very, very capable and has the ability to, yes, advocate for a position very, very strongly. But Keith, as I say, has a wide range of experience. He's been in business, a technical engineer, qualified. I know I've got every confidence that he'll do a great job in this.
JOURNALIST: Mr McCormack, some of your colleagues are upset at this idea of a two third majority rule in the Nats party room for a spill, why do you think the rule is necessary? Isn't that just about shoring up your leadership for the rest of this parliament?
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's a matter for the party and the party's management as to whether this goes forward. The, both of the other major parties have a similar sort of rule in place. The fact is, we want to make sure that the member who brought this up and raised it wants to end the speculation about the leadership. And I think that's probably an important thing.
JOURNALIST: PM on the coronavirus, we know it’s affecting the live fish exports, now it's affecting tourism, higher education,
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: What's your view of the affect it's going to have on the economy?
PRIME MINISTER: You will be aware that the Treasurer has written out to the state and territory Premiers and Chief Ministers and that the Treasury Secretary is undertaking some rather extensive work on economic scenarios around this. The challenge here, I mean, undoubtedly it'll have a significant impact. And the Governor of the Reserve Bank, as you know, has made some comments on that, has referred to previous events and, for example, I mean, what we saw previously was SARs emerge, I think was an 11 per cent fall in international tourism visitation in one quarter, backed up by 16 per cent increase in the next quarter. But to suggest that Australia's economic engagement with China today is what it was then would not be right. So that's why we took none of these decisions lightly and because we knew it would obviously have these impacts. We also need to be clear that the full extent of the virus and how much further it will spread, the success of containment measures in other jurisdictions, that is not known. And that's why I think a scenario analysis is really important and that's being done.
That's being done now. But clearly, the global effect of all of this, let alone the domestic, will combine, I think, to put a real weight on the economy. I've always been upfront with Australians. I've always said that we are facing global uncertainty and challenges and this event proves the uncertainty because it was not known. But that's why we've always focused as a government on resilience of our finances. And the fact, as I said in the House yesterday, that we've been able to face this, the bushfires, the drought and all of this, and to go in it with a level of financial confidence and an ability to make decisions that can deploy this support so extensively, I think is a matter of assurance for Australia. So, yes, there will be an economic hit because of the Coronavirus, just as there will be as a result of the bushfires. But there will also be a recovery and there will be a recovery to the bushfires with the extensive works that will be undertaken with rebuilding and equally you can expect down the track. When? Hard to know because there are so many unknowns about the duration of this virus and you would have heard from Dr. Murphy that they've been preparing a lot of work for the government on what the various scenarios are at a global level and how that might impact domestically. So a lot of work to be done, but we're being very transparent about that with state and territories and we intend to be also with the Australian people. But we expect a hit particularly in this quarter on the Coronavirus and how much more it extends beyond that really does depend on how this virus continues to play out at a global level. Phil?
JOURNALIST: Last week at the Press Club you outlined a transition towards cleaner, reliable energy and said we couldn’t (inaudible) our coal assets any longer and be there for too much longer.
PRIME MINISTER: We couldn't just rely on it.
JOURNALIST: We need to transition from using gas as the transition fuel. How do you reconcile that with calls from Matt Canavan and Barnaby Joyce and others that we need to build coal fired power around the country? Do you think they missed your message last week?
PRIME MINISTER: The Government's policy is what we took to the last election and that's what saw our members returned right across the country. Whether it was from north Queensland to northern Tasmania. And that position is a common sense position. It's a common sense position that recognises that the reliability of our energy system, our electricity system, depends on those stations. And that's why those assets will be (inaudible) for as long as possible. And you'll know that in the arrangement that we came to with the New South Wales Government just the other week, it just didn't deliver another 70 petajoules a year of gas, it also required the removal of obstacles that would see the resource get to the Mount Piper coal fired power plant as well. Why? Because that's necessary to meet the dual objectives of reliability in the system, which keeps power prices down, but also enables you to move over time to what the market is clearly already recognising and acting upon. So our policy is a commonsense one. It gets the balance right. It understands the need for the maintenance and sweating of those assets which are providing reliability to the system and where those types of assets in the future can be developed in the way that would be required under the environmental standards, then that's not ruled out either. So it's common sense. It's a common sense, well balanced policy. And I think that embraces everybody, not just in the Liberal Party room, but right across the Coalition.
JOURNALIST: Just on coal fired power stations, are you talking about retrofitting existing coal fired power stations to reduce emissions when you say adapt to environmental standards?
PRIME MINISTER: We work with all the energy companies because we know that we don't want to force people's power prices up and we don't want to see a loss of capacity out of the system that is unnecessary. And so we take all of these decisions in the national interest.
JOURNALIST: So government funds could be used to do that?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, that's your speculation. That's not what I've said. That's not what I've said.
JOURNALIST: I'm asking you.
PRIME MINISTER: That's not what I've said.
JOURNALIST: Just very briefly on coronavirus, could the Inpex Workers Village in the Northern Territory, it could house thousands, it’s currently being unused. Could that be a place where evacuees could eventually be taken if necessary?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the plan is to take those from the second flight and I can advise that the New Zealand flight, those who came under that arrangement with New Zealand, those Australians have now been transferred to Christmas Island and they're going through those processes now.
The decision to go to a second flight based on the advice that that would be accommodated at Christmas Island, and that's the plan we are working to. But it is also true to say right from our initial decision on the first flight that Defence and other options would be considered for overflow facilities if they were required. And that sort of contingency planning you would expect the Government to do. See, right from the start, what the Government has sought to do when it comes to Coronavirus has to be ahead of the decisions that need to be made and that was demonstrated. Our border ban was actually, other than Singapore, the first to be actually enacted. The one in the United States didn't come in place for about another 24 hours or even more. So we have been acting well in advance of the World Health Organization. In fact, our Chief Medical Officer was calling for the decision of the WHO more than a week before, and we were acting on his advice. And so that advice tells you that this virus is moving quickly and to give Australians the assurance I believe they deserve then we have to be always moving to prepare contingency plans for what could happen next and those would only be enacted if those scenarios presented. But we are doing rather extensive scenario assessments and coming up with plans to deal with those assessments.
JOURNALIST: Have you heard from the states about expanding the terms of reference for the bushfire royal commission and what exactly will it look into and is six months an adequate time period for reporting?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I gave a commitment when I first flagged that we'd be holding a royal commission and I'd be taking a proposal through Cabinet that an important step in that process was to consult with the states and territories about the terms of that Royal Commission. And so I have provided that detailed terms of reference to them to provide comment back within about a fortnight period. There are no surprises in that terms of reference. I went into some detail at the Press Club last week about the issues that I believe it should address and the terms of reference follows the outline of what I provided last week and indeed what I provided in earlier interviews, including with David Speers some weeks ago.
I've made it very clear that what I'm looking to understand is at what point can the Commonwealth seek to take the initiative and to be able to directly involve and engage its resources, its decisions, its authorities and its capabilities, whether that be the defence forces or otherwise, in circumstances of what would constitute a national emergency. That's important. I've also said that that Royal Commission needs to look at the preparedness and resilience in relation to these bushfire events and that means an understanding that needs to be done in a hotter, longer and drier summer and the impacts of climate change on that are acknowledged and understood. And so that means that we need to have a discussion not just about emissions reduction, which happens in the broad, but if you're talking about climate resilience, then hazard reduction is as important, if not more, for the direct safety of people affected by these fires than emissions reduction. The longer-term adaptation measures are also important.
I'm not going to allow a confined, narrow debate when it comes to understanding what it means to live in the climate we're going to live in. It's not just about emissions reduction. That's important, but it's also about resilience and it's also about adaptation and our government is going to address all of these as we are. And the other matter which I have discussed in the terms of reference and also as with the recommended Commissioner, is the need to look quickly at all the recommendations of previous Royal Commissions and inquiries and to look at how they have been enacted. I think that's something that the public really does want to know the answer to. There's already been a lot of work done on that front, and I'm sure that that can be done quite readily. I also want it to be done promptly to ensure that we can have this in place as we go into the next bushfire season. As you know, these seasons are getting longer. So I don't think the Australian people want us to be flicking about this because we're not and they want a Royal Commission that's just going to get on with the job and focus on the things it needs to focus on and get it done as quickly as possible. And that's why Mark Binskin, I think, is an excellent recommendation to lead this job because as a Chief of our Defence Forces formally, he knows how to get things done. And I have no doubt he'll get things done. Thank you all very much. Thank you very much. Sorry?
JOURNALIST: Are you pleased to see President Trump acquitted in his impeachment trial?
PRIME MINISTER: We have a wonderful relationship with the United States and we have a stable relationship with the United States and that relationship is both at, obviously, the rapport that I've been able to enjoy with the President. But it is both the President's job and my job to make sure that our relationship is always on track and it is. And I have to go to a division. Thank you.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
5 February 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning everyone. I’m sorry we were delayed by the Labor Party pulling stunts in the Parliament. What we’re about is the issues that absolutely matter to the daily lives of Australians.
Too many Australians take their own lives. And one Australian who takes their own life is too many. This is one of our government's most important focuses. A towards zero policy on suicide, preventing suicide, it's why we appointed Christine Morgan, it's why we're taking actions on suicide prevention right across government, it’s a whole of government approach. And we've been able to enlist the support of just so many organizations to achieve that.
Too many veterans take their own lives. And one veteran taking their own life is one too many. 42 veterans took their life in the last set of figures, annually that we have received, but we know many more have since then. Too many Indigenous Australians have taken their own lives. Too many young Australians have taken their own lives. And we need concerted action in all of these areas to ensure that we're doing everything we possibly can to prevent this.
Over the summer, I made a commitment that I would be considering carefully our next steps when it came to suicide prevention for veterans and in our defence forces. There were proposals to have royal commissions and they were being put forward, had already been adopted, adopted by some, but working particularly with Minister Chester and Minister Reynolds and the veterans in particular who make up those who serve in this Parliament, of which Phil Thompson has been such a wonderful advocate. There were many issues to consider. I didn't think a one off review into the past was enough. Because the challenge we have is ongoing each and every single day. A royal commission that looked into those past cases was not enough because sadly, we know there will be more. We needed a solution, we needed a response that was ongoing. If you go to any RSL around the country, you will see the plaque - the price of peace is eternal vigilance. We must be eternally vigilant about the welfare and care of those who've served in uniform. Even more so when they leave their service and they leave the protection and supports that often exist within our defence forces and they go on to the next phase of their life. And let me stress this, those men and women go off to lead successful, vibrant, positive, major contributing lives. Let's not for a second conflate the issue and the tragedy of the terrible outcomes of veteran suicide with the suggestion that veterans are broken. They're not. They're champions. They're heroes. But some struggle, some are in a daily battle and they’re the veterans that we have in mind here in the announcements that we're making today. So I thought we need to do more and Darren thought we needed to do more, so did Linda and so did Phil and all of our team. So we worked steadily over the summer. We listened. I listened to families. I listened to veterans. I listened to the RSLs locally in my own electorate wherever I could bump into someone who would have some insight into this, I listened. And I want to commend Darren Chester for the excellent proposal that he brought forward and was considered by Cabinet on Monday of this week. And in response to that, we can announce, as you would have seen already referred to today, that we are establishing a National Commissioner for Defence and Veterans Suicide Prevention and they'll be empowered with the authorities of royal commissioner-like authorities to compel evidence to be provided. To sit independently, they'll ultimately sit within the Attorney-General's Department. They'll have the ability to call witnesses, compel evidence and have the remedies available to those who won't cooperate. It'll extend out into the private sphere, whether that be associations, whether it's the Defence Department itself, whoever needs to be asked of a matter in relation to one of our veterans who have taken their own lives, they'll be asked those questions by that independent National Commissioner. And that role will go forward into the future. I think that's a wonderful tribute to those who've campaigned on this issue. I spoke to Julie-Ann Finney last night and she told me after I relayed the news to her that she was going to tell her son what had happened. It was a, it was quite a touching moment. And she will, I'm sure, hold us to account on this, like all of those other parents will and all those other veterans will. They certainly will and they should, and we’ll continue to listen carefully as to how we implement this.
The other announcement we have today is that we're establishing a Families Advocate within the Department of Veteran Affairs. This was also the other important lesson I learned listening carefully, these families, our veterans policies focus rightly on our veterans. But we've got to remember the families, too, and we've got to hold their hands to when they're dealing with these issues. And I've heard much about their frustrations and I think this advocate position will be very important in supporting them as they deal in so many ways with the impacts of these issues and how it falls to them. They support their family members in service and we need to support those families who are providing that support.
So I'm pleased to be able to make this decision. I'm pleased that our Government was able to come to this view, and I thank very much Minister Chester and Minister Reynolds for the great work they've done together to ensure that we can show the same commitment and duty to those who have served us, that they have shown to this country. Linda.
SENATOR THE HON. LINDA REYNOLDS CSC, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: Prime Minister, thank you very much. The mental health and wellbeing of all of our serving ADF members and also our veterans is an issue of enduring national importance and as the Prime Minister has said, one of eternal vigilance. These are very comprehensive and carefully calibrated measures that have been developed with a singular focus to find the most effective and enduring way of responding to suicide and the risks of suicide. But I'd also like to sincerely thank the officials of the Department of Defence and DVA for their expertise and their dedication and their passion for developing this policy package over the summer months, because it means now that the Government can quickly put in place all the necessary arrangements for the National Commissioner to get straight down to work. This is the government's priority and it is important for our nation. As the Minister for Defence I warmly welcome these measures. They are important. And I know the CDF and all of the service chiefs embrace and welcome these measures for the welfare of their personnel and for our veterans as they transition, and once they have transitioned into a civilian career.
It is a sad fact that our veterans are amongst more than 3000 Australians who take their own lives every year. This is a tragedy for their families, for their loved ones, and also it's a tragedy for our nation, and knowing that our veterans are at a much higher risk of suicide, we want to ensure that their families are engaged early and also engaged positively in this process. So as the Prime Minister has announced, the Veterans Family Advocate will be a crucial bridge for families and it will put their perspectives at the heart of policy and also at the heart of decision making. This will result in better health outcomes for veterans and also reduce the risk of suicide. Our serving ADF members and our veterans are truly remarkable Australians. As a government, we are committed to their mental health, their wellbeing and their care. It is our duty to do so. We owe them this and we owe them so much more. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Linda. Darren.
THE HON. DARREN CHESTER MP, MINISTER FOR VETERANS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL: Well, thank you, Prime Minister. Can I begin by firstly acknowledging the men and women of the Australian Defence Force and all those who served in uniform and say to them simply, thank you for your service, and to the families who've supported you, thank you for that service as well.
Over these past couple of months, I've had the opportunity to see our Australian Defence Force in action in my own community, as they supported us with the tragic bushfires and right throughout Australia at the moment there are so many serving men and women who are supporting our civilian communities in extraordinary ways and it's a real privilege to see them in action and the work they're doing to help keep people safe. I also want to, Prime Minister, thank the grieving families that you and I have had the opportunity to talk to over the last few months. I want to thank them for their courage, their courage to come forward, to tell their stories on behalf of their sons and daughters whose lives have suddenly been taken. And this in many ways Prime Minister, I think is a victory for them, for their dedication to their sons and daughters. It won’t bring their sons and daughters back, but it will help save lives in the future. This is a complex policy area. We have made major changes as a government in the last few years. We've introduced free mental health care for all veterans and their families. We've introduced a veterans payment for veterans experiencing mental health issues, for the first time we’ve supported the purchase of psychiatric assistance dogs to support our veterans as they make the transition back to their communities, and the Defence Force itself has been heavily involved. And I want to thank the Minister for Defence for this who has been heavily involved in improving the transition arrangements for our serving men and women as they make that sometimes difficult move from military life to civilian life. And I acknowledge and and thank you, Prime Minister, for reflecting on the fact that the vast majority of our serving men and women will transition well, they'll transition well and make an enormous contribution to the Australian community. But for those who have physical or mental health issues, we need to be there to support them. And for me and for you, Prime Minister and the Minister and for Phil beside me, the only acceptable number of deaths from suicide is zero. The only acceptable number for our veterans community is zero.
So I want to thank you, Prime Minister. I want to thank you, Linda. I want to thank our colleagues, Phillip and your mates who we we sat around and talked about this issue many times in Townsville over the last few months. I want to thank the veteran community, I want to thank the departmental staff in particular from many departments who worked together in a very collaborative way to come up with a policy position, which I firmly believe is better than a royal commission. The hard work starts now. We've set the broad framework in place. The hard work starts now. We'll fine-tune with the cooperation, I believe, of the states. And I expect in a bipartisan way with the Labor Party here at the federal level. The hard work begins now on implementation of this policy, which I believe is going to help save lives in our veteran community, and in our defence community.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Darren. Phil.
MR PHILLIP THOMPSON OAM MP, MEMBER FOR HERBERT: Thank you, Prime Minister. It's been an emotional kind of roller coaster for myself and my friends and the family members who have had loved ones who they've lost to suicide. And I know coming in this place with my background, I feel every single suicide on my shoulders and working closely with the Prime Minister and both the Minister for Veterans Affairs and the Minister for Defence and now to just talk openly, freely and frankly about how we feel, how I feel, how the loved ones and spouses and mothers and fathers feel, I think is extremely important. And I know that it's only a small cog in the wheel, but I'd like to to really feel like the voice from Townsville, the voice from Sydney, the voice from Western Australia, Tasmania, and Darwin have all been heard throughout this development and this process. And I know that this is not a political point scoring opportunity. This is every side of politics. It doesn't matter what colour shirt you wear, where you live, coming together to do one thing, and that's lower the high rate of veteran suicide.
Now, suicide and suicide prevention and mental illness is not just a defence issue, veteran issue, it's a societal problem. The veteran community has a very high rate of suicide, and I know that mothers have buried too many of their loved ones. We have buried too many of our brothers and sisters, and this is a step forward in being a part of the solution and the prevention. Now, suicides, we need to be realistic, it is a hard thing to combat and it's a hard thing to fully get rid of. There is no acceptable number. But that's why every day that I will stand here, along with the Prime Minister and other Ministers and the colleagues and the other side of politics to work together to ensure we are always putting people before politics. And I stand here with tears in my eyes, and a heavy heart knowing that this is the right thing to do. This is not a one off thing that will give a report in 18 months or two years. This is something that will be rolling, concurrent and ongoing. And I'll look forward to working with the Commissioner. I look forward to working with the Family Advocate. The family members from around the country, my friends who are constantly calling and texting now, who are very, very pleased. And I’d just like to thank the Prime Minister from the bottom of my heart.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Darren, join me here. Questions on this matter first, please.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will this new Commissioner have the remit to look at broader problems such as veterans’ homelessness, and what do you say to some advocates of- that we've spoken to already who fear that this may not have the punch of a royal commission because standing- processes just don't appear to have the same punch?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the second point, I'd say they are absolutely wrong. This has those powers and it has the powers to look into each and every single case and all the factors that may have been contributing in those cases. And it indeed could include the very other issues that you raised in the first part of your question, whether that went to issues of homelessness, for example, it could go to any number of factors. Because, as Phil said. Someone taking their own life is not a simple matter. It's a complicated matter. Every single life and every single case needs to be understood, to understand the broader implications. And the remit is not just to do that, but to then make recommendations and to report annually on these issues. This will be true 30 years from now as a result of the decision we're taking today, 30 days from now, and it will continue to be there to provide that constant lesson as to how we can do better and better.
JOURNALIST: There’s a suggestion that there are those who’ve served overseas in a different [inaudible], DFAT or [inaudible] agencies, would there be a opportunity to look at similarly if and how they are affected as well if they were going to kind of transition [inaudible] civilian life?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, again, the whole point is here to look at every single case and if people have served in particular areas overseas and that has been factors that the Commissioner has been able determine that was material in these horrible events, then of course, that would get that attention. See-
JOURNALIST: The Commissioner might look at these sorts of...?
PRIME MINISTER: They have remit to look at what has ever contributed. They are able to go and look and see and listen and investigate and compel the answers to ensure they come forward so they can tell us, clearly. And then they can make recommendations about what would be needed. There will never be a forgotten case.
JOURNALIST: You say compel and to listen and investigate, why is that need to compel, what is standing in the way before that there’s that need for these [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is just ensuring that they have the same like-powers of a royal commission.
JOURNALIST: Who will be the new Commissioner?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll be making an announcement of that in due course.
JOURNALIST: PM, would you consider a similar inquiry for Indigenous suicide, we know the rates of that are some of the highest in the world and it’s something you've mentioned previously?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, when it comes to my towards-zero goal on suicide, I am open to every option and I'm listening. And I know that the Minister for Indigenous Australians, he's been up in the Kimberleys and he's been sitting there and he's been talking to communities. When I sat together with the Indigenous peak groups here just the other week, it was one of the many issues we discussed, when it comes to tackling suicide, whether it's of Indigenous Australians, particularly young indigenous Australians, when it comes to middle aged men, which actually is the highest incidence of suicide in Australia. Whether it comes to those who are quite elderly, where we know it occurs, or young people, tragically. We just can't limit ourselves on the policy options available. So my answer to that question is always, I will look at whatever is necessary to see where we can make a difference. But I'm not looking to tick a box. I'm not looking to fill a list. I'm not looking to prove anything. I'm just looking to do whatever we can to prevent the absolute tragedy of suicide in this country wherever we can.
JOURNALIST: This may be a question for Minister Chester, but we've already got the Productivity Commission report into DVA, which described the system as broken, where is the Government's response up to with that and how will that work with the process that was announced today?
MINISTER CHESTER: Yeah thanks, Andrew. The Government is in the process of finalising its response to the Productivity Commission and its recommendations, and that will be part of the Budget considerations this year. But you'd be well aware that there's a lot of reform work already underway within the Department of Veterans Affairs. We've listened to the concerns that have been raised not just by the Productivity Commission, but also through the ex-service community. And there's been a major transformation in DVA over the past three or four years. We've seen an incredible increase in the number of veterans coming forward through things like the new Veterans Lapel Pin and Covenant, which has encouraged more veterans to come forward and register with DVA. So we're seeing more of our veterans who we didn't know before, coming forward and seeking help, which is good. We need to know who these people are. Some of them had left the Defence Force many years ago and had no more contact with Defence or Veterans Affairs until more recent times. So our Department of Veterans Affairs and the digitisation of its records in the transformation of that department has really made contact with many thousands of more veterans in recent times, which I think is delivering good outcomes for our veterans. And the Productivity Commission report will be fully responded to in the matter of next few months.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s the investment in the systems, I mean, I don’t know if people know this, but previously, some years ago, if you left the defence forces, you didn't automatically appear on a file over at the Department of Veterans Affairs. And so there are many veterans in our community with which the Government had no established point of contact. And things like the Veterans Pin and Covenant and so on have been very important in actually bringing veterans in. And so it gives us an opportunity to connect them with services. And I think that's important. And DVA has been doing a great job both in putting forward submissions now for many years, and for them getting very significant investment, whether it's in the systems that they use, which frankly have proved a great frustration in the past to families who've had to deal with those systems. And we've invested in those. But it's not just about the Department of Veterans Affairs. It's the changes that are being made in the Defence Forces as well. And you will not find a stronger advocate, whether it's on the mental health of our defence forces or this towards zero goal on suicide prevention, obviously, than the Minister, but also the Chief of the Defence Forces, who I know has a burning passion on this issue. They want to be preparing those who serve in our defence forces for their post Defence Force life from the day they turn up, on their first day of recruitment. And that's the process you've got to work through. I mean, you would normally serve in the Defence Forces, Phil it’s about eight years I think, on average these days, but many people who join the defence forces, think they'll be in the defence forces for their whole of their life’s career. And that's not the case. And so supporting our defence forces for their post service life right from the outset is very, very important. And this is a big part of what's been happening in recent times.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given Darren Chester’s obvious passion for the subject and the fact that he has been a strong advocate on this front, don't veterans deserve having a consistency of Minister, especially in the months ahead given this process is just starting? And is this a complication to the reshuffle that you have to consider, and why perhaps the reshuffle is going to be announced later than today?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't believe any of those issues are presenting a challenge for the Government.
JOURNALIST: So veterans would be- would be better off with someone else?
PRIME MINISTER: That's not what I said.
JOURNALIST: You didn’t answer the question though Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: I said, I don't think the political issues you've just raised on this matter are going to present a challenge for the Government or for veterans.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister will it cover Border Force, or [inaudible] borders deaths?
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?
JOURNALIST: Will it cover Border Force, or sovereign borders deaths?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there are two issues. There are those who are involved in the defence forces and the Defence Force veterans have been involved in those operations and that deals with those individuals as part of the veteran's remit.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister would you consider including a question on the next census to do with veterans and service?
MINISTER CHESTER: Yeah, thanks, Andrew. We have put forward a proposition for the next census to include a veteran's identifier. In the normal course of business, that's being considered by Treasury. So it's one that the Department and me as Minister has put forward for consideration. There's, as the Prime Minister correctly indicated, one of our challenges is knowing exactly how many veterans there are in Australia. We have contact with more than 280,000 veterans and their families receiving support and benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. But we anticipate there'll be more out there that we could support if they were aware necessarily of the services that were available to them. And we recognise, as I'm sure you recognise, that getting people to seek help and early intervention is the best path forward to achieving their best possible health outcome.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister could I ask on another matter?
PRIME MINISTER: Are journalists, do they have any more questions on the veterans’ suicide issue? You don’t? Ok, yep we’ll go to other matters.
JOURNALIST: Thank you, overnight Boris Johnson has urged other countries to join him in achieving his ambition of carbon neutrality by 2050. You've indicated you're not interested in that if it affects industry adversely. Can you clarify whether you are ruling that out or whether that's something you are in the process of considering?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll give you the same response I gave you at the Press Club just a week ago, and that, I said that that is a matter, the 2050 request that we undertook to look at in our commitment through the PIF process and that's what I intend to do. What I said was, is that I would never make a commitment like that if I couldn't tell the Australian people what it would cost them. And I wouldn't make a commitment like that if I couldn't tell it what it would cost them. And I don't believe the action you need to take in this area is about putting taxes on people, putting their electricity prices up or driving industries out of regional areas. Our government doesn't believe that either. That's what I took to the last election and that's what Australians endorsed, and that's what I'll deliver.
JOURNALIST: On the coronavirus, what’s your message to the Chinese Australian community? There's been some things circulating online that have sort of urged people to stay away from particular suburbs. Can you perhaps tell us whether you've been pleased with how the communities responded to those requests and also your advice to citizens that are in mainland China at the moment that might be concerned about getting out?
PRIME MINISTER: Sure, well thanks Brett. And I made a comment on this earlier today, I think it was on the Today Show. Can I say thank you to the Australian Chinese community. You are magnificent. The way you have supported each other, the way you've acted in such a responsible fashion, on occasions with great provocation, which I've found reprehensible. You are observing and taking so seriously your responsibilities, together with all Australians, to ensure that we've been, so far quite successfully been able to contain the impact of the Coronavirus within Australia. We have 13 confirmed cases, 3 of which have now left hospital, and have gone about their lives. So we've actually seen a net reduction in recent times, of those cases. So I say to the Chinese community in Australia, thank you, thank you, for the way that you've engaged. The whole point of the quite proactive decisions that the government has taken in relation to containing the coronavirus, and we moved so much more before many other countries, was to ensure that Australians could go about their daily lives. And going about your daily lives means going where you'd normally go because Australians are taking the necessary precautions and that includes our Chinese community. So my answer Brett is I want to say thank you to the Australian Chinese community. I want to say particularly thank you to Gladys Liu, who has been a real community leader in getting information to people on this issue and providing them great encouragement and support in her community down there in Box Hill. And I know that's been done by other members. So that's the first point.
In relation to mainland China. First of all, our response to Coronavirus has been to protect the health and wellbeing of Australians here in Australia. We have had one successful uplift for assisted departure out of Wuhan as you know, overnight we've had another I think 35 Australians who have been part of the New Zealand flight. They'll go to Auckland and then be transferred back to Christmas Island. The arrangements at Christmas Island are working well and we are working now on a further flight into Wuhan. And that's, that is the that is the process we're now in.
I would say to those more broadly in mainland China, you're aware that if you're an Australian citizen, if you're an Australian resident, if you're an immediate family member of those which would include a legal guardian or indeed you're a triple 4 visa holder as a New Zealander living in Australia, then you will be able to return to Australia, subject to imposing the 14 days self isolation. Australians in these categories who are in mainland China should not assume that Australia will be in a position to put flights as we have into Wuhan if there are further closures that we see happen in different parts of China. As to the best of my knowledge, before I came out here, I wasn't aware of any other provinces where China has shut its borders in those provinces, that can't be ruled out of course. But that's not a matter for the Australian Government. That's a matter for the Chinese Government. And we're working closely with them. And I would simply say to you that Qantas is, I understand, are running flights until the 9th of February, and they should avail themselves of those opportunities because they should not assume there will be similar operations run as we have into Wuhan.
JOURNALISTS: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, Chris?
JOURNALIST: What did you learn about leadership over the course of this summer?
PRIME MINISTER: Always to listen, always to show up, and always put Australians first.
JOURNALIST: What’s your response to the Chinese ambassador who has criticized what he seemed to think was a lack of consultation or advance notice to the Chinese on the travel ban. He even talked about the need to compensate travellers who couldn't get in. Is there any need to compensate? Is there any mistake made with the Chinese authorities on that front?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I just respectfully disagree. We took this decision swiftly on Saturday. The National Security Committee was convened to consider this matter. It was preceded at midday by a meeting of of all the chief medical officers of the states and territories and the Commonwealth who made a recommendation to us. We convened from memory, I think was about 2 pm on that day. And when we concluded our meeting it was around about 4pm, from memory, I remember standing up then at a media conference about an hour or so after that. During that period of time, the instructions from the National Security Committee was to make contact with the Chinese government and officials, which we sought to do. I understand that occurred about a half an hour before we stood up. That contact wasn't able to be made, although the call was made. And I understand contact was ultimately made when that call was returned about five minutes into my stand-up on the issue. So every best effort was made by the Australian government to contact in good faith. We were moving swiftly in that same time. We were contacting key organisations around the country as well, to inform them, in the tourism industry and the travel industry, transport and of course, the state premiers and chief ministers who I personally contacted, as well as the New Zealand Prime Minister, because we'd been working on a sort of a single border type alignment between the two jurisdictions. So, you know, David, there was a lot of phone calls to make. There was a lot of things to do. And the Chinese government was very high on our list in making those connections and in good faith, we sought to do that. And so I'd have to respectfully disagree.
JOURNALIST: What about the-
PRIME MINISTER: Pardon, I couldn’t hear you?
JOURNALIST: What about the concerns about some of the students who might have been in transit as that ban was announced, that the embassy was concerned that they were put in detention upon arrival, had to be sent back. A lot of this uncertainty and lack of clarity, and that's what they were upset about, especially that treatment and so on. What's your response to those concerns?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's a global virus and we're seeking to contain the virus. And unfortunately, there will be instances where there will be inconveniences for those who would have been in transit and who have been travelling, that's regrettable, but you have to put Australia's national interest first. One of the things that the Education Minister has been doing and he had a major roundtable with the universities the day before yesterday, and they're working again on it today was what what measures could be put in place to support students who'd be coming this year, both with online courses and that's already being actioned. But what other arrangements could be in place by universities, that's still being worked on. We will be reviewing the extension of that travel ban, obviously, before the end of the next week. And if there are any changes that we would want to make to that, then we would do that at that time. But we're just proceeding carefully. We're listening to the advice. We're taking decisions, communicating them clearly so people can get on about their daily lives in Australia. And for those who find themselves isolated or vulnerable elsewhere, particularly in Wuhan, well, we're coming to their aid and we're bringing them home where we can. But this is a significant challenge. It's a global one. It's just not Australia. And we're seeking to plug into what everyone else is doing elsewhere in the world. But my first priority is the safety and health and wellbeing of Australians here, and where we're able to support those Australians overseas then we will do that. Thank you all very much.
Bushfire Condolence Motion
4 February 2020
Mr Speaker, I move that the House:
(1.) acknowledges the devastation across our nation occasioned by the bushfire season including the loss of 33 lives, the destruction of over 3,000 homes, the unimaginable loss of so much wildlife and the devastating impact on regional economies across Australia;
(2.) extends its deepest sympathies to families who have lost loved ones and to those who have suffered injuries or loss;
(3.) places on record its gratitude for the service of David Moresi, Geoffrey Keaton, Andrew O’Dwyer, Samuel McPaul, Bill Slade, Mat Kavanagh, Ian McBeth, Paul Hudson and Rick DeMorgan Jr, firefighters who lost their lives during the fires and extends its deepest condolences to their families;
(4.) recognises the contribution of thousands of volunteer and career fire-fighters and the dedication of emergency services personnel across Australia;
(5.) honours the contribution of more than 6,500 Australian Defence Force personnel, including 3,000 ADF reservists, and the work of Emergency Management Australia throughout the summer;
(6.) recognises the generosity of individuals, families, schools, churches and religious groups, service clubs and businesses from across Australia and elsewhere in the world during the evacuations and following the fires;
(7.) expresses its gratitude to Australia’s friends, allies and neighbours who have provided or offered support;
(8.) recognises the unceasing efforts and close cooperation between state and local governments, demonstrating the strength of our Federation;
(9.) commits itself to learning any lessons from this fire season; and
(10.) pledges the full support of the Australian Parliament to assist affected areas to recover and rebuild.
Mr Speaker, we welcome the families of those who have lost and who are here with us today. In past times, when Australia has been tested by fire, we have given the fires a name based on the name of a day or a locality:
Black Thursday in 1851;
Black Friday in 1939;
Ash Wednesday in 1983;
The Canberra bushfires in 2003;
And Black Saturday in 2009.
Just saying these words brings back such chilling memories.
This year we have faced - and we are still facing - a terrible season of fire.
National in scale.
Fires that reached our highest mountain range, and our longest beaches.
Fires that consumed forests, grasslands and farms, suburbs and villages.
Fires that jumped rivers and highways.
Fires where days became night; and the night sky turned red.
And fires that raged into the heavens as clouds of fire.
With it all, a merciless smoke that lingered across our cities.
Fires that still burn.
And the smoke from burned bushland that left an oppressive tightening in our chests that told us all that all was not right.
This is the black summer of 2019/20 that has proven our national character and our resolve.
A national trauma, best described by Indigenous leaders who love our land so much as a grief for the victims; a heartache for our wildlife; and broken heart for the scarring of our land.
These fires are yet to end and danger is still before us in many, many places. But today we gather to mourn, honour, reflect and begin to learn from the black summer that continues and to give thanks for the selflessness, courage and sacrifice and generosity that met these fires time and again and continue to.
Many of the stories of our black summer we will never know. Some will become known and others have already been taken to our hearts as Australians.
Across Australia we witnessed unparalleled fire-fighting and relief efforts.
Thousands upon thousands have stood together to fight fires and protect communities.
While our hearts are heavy for the loss of 33 people, and the destruction of over 3,000 homes, we know our emergency services and our ADF personnel, our fire-fighters have undertaken a mighty effort to save so many more homes, so many more communities.
Along with the loss and at times, seeming failure, there has been perseverance, courage and a willingness to give all to prevail.
None has given more than the nine firefighters we lost.
I extend again my welcome to the many family members of our lost firefighters who are with us today
I also welcome the Ambassador of the United States, Ambassador Culvahouse who stands here in the stead of the three American families who also gave and lost so much.
Every one of these firefighters was loved - all were brave and had lives that meant so much to those around them.
At the funeral of Geoffrey Keaton there was a coffee mug.
A mug no different than most of the Dads here I am sure have seen at some time. It was a mug that was placed on Geoff’s coffin and it had the words “Daddy, I love you to the moon and back”.
Geoff’s son Harvey was 19 months old when he lost his father.
Geoff’s fiance Jess held their son as they mourned his loss together with his family.
Geoff died alongside his fellow volunteer Andrew O’Dwyer from the Horsley Park Brigade, an amazing group of people, fighting the Green Wattle Creek Fire.
Geoff and Andrew were mates, together with their Captain Darren who has honoured them so many times now.
Some even referred to them as brothers, with their children born days apart.
Andrew’s daughter Charlotte, almost two, was also at his funeral. Jenny and I joined them. Innocently unaware of her horrible and terrible loss. Charlotte was wearing a little white dress. She had pigtails that only her mother Melissa could have lovingly made and on top of those pigtails she put on her father’s white firefighting helmet.
Like Geoff, Andrew loved what he did, with the Brigade Captain Darren Nation saying his love of the fire brigade “was as thick as the blood that ran through his veins”.
Like Geoff and Jess, Andrew and Melissa shared a life together of such promise that is so sadly now a memory.
We lost David Moresi fighting a fire in East Gippsland. He was a husband, a father and a grandfather. He had been supervising the creation of vital firebreaks and died in a vehicle roll-over.
He was a bushman who loved to shoot, fish and hunt. He had planned on Boxing Day to travel to the Philippines to help build a school there. He’d already supported the building of schools in Thailand.
And we lost Sam McPaul. He was just 28.
The world at his feet.
Married to Megan for just a year and a half.
Expecting their first child.
The son of a loving single mum, Chris, for whom Sam was her entire world.
There will come a day when that young boy or girl will imagine what their father was like and will ask questions. When that day comes, we want that precious child to know that their Dad was even better than they could have ever imagined. He was the best of us.
Mat Kavanagh was also a young father. Two children - six year old Ruben and four year old Kate. A devoted husband.
Loved his fly fishing and had been a member of Forest Fire Management Victoria for ten years. On the day of the accident, he’d been extinguishing unattended campfires.
His older brother Mike said his family had lost “the most special person in the world”.
Bill Slade was just as loved. His wife Carol, daughter Stephanie and son Ethan know how much he was loved.
Bill had worked in land and fire management for 40 years, and was about to retire.
It was said there was no one more experienced and no one as fit as well.
Bill even fought the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983.
He was described as “a true gentleman with the kindest and gentlest of souls”.
I spoke with Ethan and Stephanie and they could not have been more proud, but also as devastated by their loss.
When we thought we couldn’t hurt anymore we lost three men who had travelled half a world to protect us.
We honour our American friends. We have no greater friend than the United States. Captain Ian McBeth, First Officer Paul Hudson, and Flight Engineer, Rick A DeMorgan Jr who were lost to us when their C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed near Peak View.
Captain McBeth, who was an experienced firefighting pilot, is survived by his wife and three children. He had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was a member of the Montana Air National Guard. His daughter, training to be a pilot herself, said she wanted everyone to know “he was just a wonderful person”.
First Officer Hudson had served in the Marine Corps for 20 years including as a C-130 pilot. He is from Buckeye Arizona and survived by his wife Noreen. Across Arizona they lowered flags in his honour.
And Flight Engineer DeMorgan had served in the US Air Force with 18 years as a flight engineer on the C-130. It was said his passion was “flying and his children”.
Mr Speaker, on Australia Day I announced that the National Emergency Medal would be declared for the black summer of 2019-20 for these fires.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service and Forest Fire Management Victoria have advised that, once the bushfire response is complete and eligibility criteria for the Medal has been set, all nine of these firefighters who have lost their lives will be nominated to be posthumously awarded the National Emergency Medal.
In addition, the government has reconsidered the criteria of eligibility for the National Medal.
This is Australia’s most awarded civilian medal with more than 237,000 medals awarded since its inception. It recognises the long and diligent service by members of eligible Australian government and community organisations that risk their lives or safety to protect and assist the community. It is awarded after 15 years’ of service.
It has not been awarded posthumously to long-term members of eligible organisations who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
I am also pleased to announce that Her Majesty has agreed to amend the regulations for the National Medal to be awarded posthumously.
The change will allow the National Medal to be awarded to those who died in the service of their duty - and who would have reached 15 years service if not for their death.
This amendment will be retrospective to the creation of the medal in 1975 meaning that others who have died in the service of others will now be eligible.
Mr Speaker, we have witnessed the most remarkable actions through these fires, by our volunteers and our defence forces in recent months.
Tens and thousands of volunteers - all of them doing things that were extraordinary. Although they would consider themselves ordinary.
Joined by 6,500 Defence Force personnel including 3,000 reservists who were compulsorily called out.
So much of it is difficult and dangerous work.
Ordinary people, extraordinary actions.
One NSW firey, Alex Newcombe, from up near Blackheath, returned to the fireground just 12 weeks after a kidney transplant.
His doctors weren’t pleased. But as Alex said, “that’s just what we do. We get stuck in”.
His kidney donor was none other than his wife Kate - a fellow firefighter in the same brigade.
Alex has been a volunteer for 20 years.
On 21 December his truck was overrun by flames.
The truck had run out of water meaning it couldn’t activate the sprinkler system.
After all he’d been through, it was touch and go.
He drove his crew to safety.
That’s the story of the summer: remarkable Australians standing by each other. Struggling, persevering, taking the wins where they could find them.
And it wasn’t just firefighters.
Behind our fire crews have been caterers, logistics officers, radio operators, fire control centres and a support apparatus that did not sleep.
And our communities were backed up by volunteers at evacuation centres, service groups such as the CWA, Rotary and Lions and wildlife groups such as Wires.
And the charities, the Salvos and St. Vinnies and so many more.
Some of it was organised, some of it not.
Together, these efforts resulted in the most tremendous outpouring of generosity our country has seen.
Big businesses, small businesses, superstars, mums, dads, all giving what they could.
That was the wonder of this summer, tens of thousands of volunteers fighting fires then joined by 25 million of their countrymen and women supporting them.
Trusting each other.
Backing each other.
Twenty five million acts of kindness - all of them reminding us about the country we love.
More than money, it spoke of our resolve.
A reminder that what unites us as Australians is always more enduring and lasting than what divides us.
And with every action, a reminder of who we are.
Like the owners of the Indian Restaurant in Gippsland I referred to on Australia Day, who cooked thousands of free meals of curry and rice.
The chemist at Malua Bay who despite their own home burning down and not having an electronic payments system, kept the pharmacy open to get the medicines through.
The businesses, including up in Yeppoon, who saw a survivor and took no payment for clothes or meals.
The wildlife volunteers - one who even gave the shirt off her own back - looking for koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats to tend and protect.
The men from the Islamic community in Auburn who drove six hours to Willawarrin with 30 kilograms of sausages to cook a BBQ for a devastated community. That’s faith.
The convoys of trucks that took supplies through to communities that needed them - an ‘army of angels’ that loaded 150 trucks of supplies and got them to Buchan and Omeo.
The tradies who knocked on doors and at no charge climbed on roofs and cleared the gutters of local homes.
The families who opened up their own homes to strangers.
And the children: Cake stalls, lemonade stalls, giving away their pocket money and their Christmas money. The kids of this country give us every reason to hope.
The generosity of the rest of the world was also so humbling.
70 nations offered us assistance.
Over 300 firefighters sent from the United States, Canada, and to New Zealand to whom we are so grateful.
We also had offers of assistance from the UAE, which is greatly appreciated.
Military assistance from New Zealand, the United States, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, Japan, our wonderful family in PNG and Fiji.
When the 54 engineers from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces arrived in Melbourne, they placed their hands over their heart and they sung a hymn “angels watching over me”, and they have been, to us.
Our Pacific family has been so incredibly generous.
Our neighbours, such as Vanuatu, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands have given generously, from not much, reminding me of the widow’s might, to our bushfire relief.
In PNG’s second largest city, of Lae, the young people began a wheelbarrow push - collecting donations and giving them to our consulate.
Having stepped up for our Pacific family, we are now being so blessed by seeing our closest neighbours step up for us. We are so grateful to our Pacific family.
The actions of every level of government have been exemplary and I pay tribute to our Premiers, to their agencies and local governments who have all been doing exceptional work and I acknowledge Commissioner Fitzsimmons who is here today, amazing job Shane.
In our own ranks, I want to acknowledge those wonderful workers the electorate staff, the members here - not just the members that sit on this side, all members in this and the other place, and their teams who have worked under extraordinary pressure.
As members of this place we are all so proud of our colleagues and what they’ve done during this time, and those who serve with them.
Across government there have been tremendous efforts.
And I want to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of Emergency Management Australia and its Director General, Rob Cameron, who is here with us today.
I also pay tribute to the contribution of our Australian Defence Forces.
6,500 personnel have been providing that support in the field, at sea, in the air, and from Defence bases in the fire-affected communities going back to September of last year and continue out there today.
That includes these reservists. The first compulsory call-out of reserves in our history for these purposes.
The compulsory call-out will end this Friday.
The ADF taskforces, led by Major General Jake Ellwood, as he’s known, have been undertaking vital on-the-ground tasks - like delivering emergency food and water, evacuating stranded people, re-opening roads, restoring services, clearing debris, building fences, and burying dead animals.
This reflects the transition of ADF support from assisting to save lives and properties to relief and recovery operations.
Their sheer presence just presented such encouragement and boosted morale, when Australians so devastated could look up and see them there and they knew they were supported.
They will continue to provide that support wherever it’s needed, for as long as it’s needed, with the full-time forces and those now volunteer reservists.
The recovery operations require a whole-of-government response.
And that is why have established the National Bushfire Recovery Agency under the leadership of former AFP Commissioner, Andrew Colvin.
It is overseeing a National Bushfire Recovery Fund which will support all recovery efforts across Australia over the next two years, and for as long as it takes.
We have allocated an initial and additional $2 billion to fund this agency to ensure families, farmers, business owners and communities hit by these fires get the support they need as they recover, working closely with our colleagues in state and territory Governments.
Already, the Government has made major commitments providing funding for clean-up operations, tourism support, wildlife recovery, local government assistance, small business reconstruction, primary producers, farmers, graziers, and families as well as vital mental health support.
In addition to that, over $100 million already provided in emergency payments.
However, today is not the day to speak in detail of these initiatives, today is the day for memorial and commemoration.
We know that recovery takes time - and we are all here for the long haul.
Mr Speaker, following a natural disaster of this magnitude, we must also heed the lessons.
These fires have been fueled by one of the worst droughts on record, changing in our climate and a build up in fuel amongst other factors.
Our summers are getting longer, drier and hotter, that’s what climate change does, and that requires a new responsiveness, resilience and a re-invigorated focus on adaptation.
Today, I have written to the Premiers and Chief Minister to seek their feedback on the draft terms of reference for a Royal Commission, that I have flagged now for several weeks. Along the terms that I’ve outlined in public.
The Royal Commission will be led by former Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin AC, and it will shine a light on what needs to be done to make our country safer and our communities more resilient.
We owe it to those we have lost, we owe it to those who have fought these fires, we owe it to our children and to the land itself to learn from the lessons that are necessary.
Mr Speaker, over a century ago, Henry Lawson wrote a poem about a bushfire in a place called Dingo Scrub.
“It is daylight again, and the fire is past,
and the black scrub silent and grim,
Except for the blaze of an old dead tree,
or the crash of a falling limb”.
In his reminiscence, Lawson writes about three men who “wipe away tears of smoke” and put themselves in harm’s way to save a family.
When the fire has passed he writes of the men: “When they’re wanted again in Dingo Scrubs, they’ll be there to do the work”.
That’s what we’ll all do - here in this House and across Australia: to do the work.
To do the work of recovery to build back better. To do the work of learning. To do the work of repairing shattered hearts, broken communities.
That is what we owe our country. That is what we owe each other.
Australians are overcomers.
Despite the scale of this disaster and the tragedies - Australia is not and will never be overwhelmed.
As we face the challenges that remain active.
As we confront and face the devastating drought compounded in so many places by these fires.
As we confront and contain the challenge of the virus indeed that threatens the world.
Australians will not be overwhelmed. We will overcome as our anthem encourages us - with courage all, let us proclaim Advance Australia Fair.
So I conclude in memorial, I conclude in thanks, I conclude in honour to those we have lost and the deepest of our sympathies and condolences to you and we just simply hope and pray, that as we’ve gathered here today to acknowledge your great loss, and the heroes you have lost, that this will make your journey just that little bit easier.
Address, Last Post Ceremony - Australian War Memorial, ACT
3 February 2020
PRIME MINISTER: To the Acting Director of the Australian War Memorial, Major General Brian Dawson, to Vice Admiral David Johnston, representing the Chief of the Defence Force, the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan, the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Richard Burr.
All members of the Australian Defence Force and all the veterans who are represented here today.
To the Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese. Can I particularly acknowledge the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, and the Shadow Minister Linda Burney.
Colleagues, Australians all.
Let me begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people and paying my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Can I also acknowledge the servicemen and servicewomen, the veterans, their families and descendants who are here this afternoon.
Can I join also in the acknowledgement on those, even as we speak and we see the smoke on the hills beyond Parliament House, all those who are serving out there today as volunteers in every capacity.
From fighting fires to supporting those who are fighting them.
We’re gathered here in our nation’s most sacred place.
Here we can feel the soul of our country like no other and hear the voices from our past that provided for today and our future.
This place is a memorial to the fallen; a landmark of courage, perseverance and sacrifice.
A physical pledge to never forget.
Generations of Australians have come here to remember, to learn, and to remind ourselves of the sacrifices made by those who have served and who serve to this day.
And it is fitting to start our Parliamentary year that members from the House of Representatives and the Senate come here to remember, to come together, and to draw strength.
To heed the lessons so as not to repeat them in the future, of past issues.
And to remind ourselves of our duty to our country and those we serve.
Here, at this Last Post, we hear every day one story that symbolises that duty.
One story at the going down of the sun.
One story that stands for the more than 102,000 stories written on these walls about us.
This evening, we will hear the story of Corporal Harry Thorpe.
An Indigenous man who gave everything for our country. For his country.
A bullet in the leg at Pozières.
A bullet in the shoulder at Bullecourt.
A final and fatal bullet in the stomach at Lihons Wood.
Later, you will hear of his courage.
So let me speak, not of his courage - but of his faith and his faith in us.
Corporal Thorpe was one of around 1,100 Indigenous Australians who volunteered to serve in the First World War.
It’s easy to love a country that loves you; much harder if you haven’t been loved in return.
The Australia of that time all but denied the existence of our Indigenous peoples.
The Indigenous men who enlisted weren’t counted even as Australians.
They didn’t have the right to vote.
They weren’t counted in the census.
Their very presence in the Army was the result of recruiters turning a blind eye to the letter of the law that required ‘European origin or descent’.
This was more than just equality denied.
It was a denial of respect and human decency also.
Worse, if an Indigenous soldier returned from War, they were denied access to soldier settlement schemes and often, war pensions as well.
All too often, the RSL was shut to them on every day but ANZAC Day.
In serving, our Indigenous soldiers chose to believe in a better Australia than the one they lived in and fought for.
This story of belief and faith in us, and what we could be as a nation and a people echoed into the Second World War, where some 4,000 Indigenous Australians served in Europe and North Africa
They fought in New Guinea.
They suffered in Changi.
And they defended the Top End from Japan.
And then we witnessed their service in Malaya, Korea, Borneo and Vietnam.
In East Timor and the Solomons. In Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
For too long, these stories were glossed over and they were forgotten.
Now, we honour as we always should have, our Indigenous Service Personnel more richly.
It’s been said that in the First World War, our Indigenous Soldiers were anonymous because their courage, bravery and valentry was overlooked.
Fortunately, the bravery of Corporal Thorpe was not overlooked.
He was recognised with the Military Medal.
The citation said, “his splendid example… inspired those under him”.
And it inspires us to this day.
Corporal Thorpe didn’t just inspire his men.
He inspires today a Prime Minister, a Leader of the Opposition, the parliamentarians who gather here and those who stand around this wonderful memorial.
He showed us what he believed we would become.
He showed us what we could be.
And he reminds us that while faith in this land may, at times, be difficult. It can disappoint.
But we owe it to him and to his Indigenous brothers and sisters past and to this day and into the future.
To all who have worn the uniform and to all who will.
To keep striving for the accepting, kind and decent Australia that they saw, that he fought for, and he ultimately died for.
That is why we gather today.
It is a great honour to respect him today.
And it is why we draw strength from the words as we go into the other place on the other side of the lake: Lest We Forget.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
2 February 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everybody. The good news is that the Qantas flight is on its way to Wuhan and I want to thank everybody for their cooperation, particularly the Chinese Government as we continue to move forward with that important programme. And just while we’re on those issues, I also advise, the New Zealand Government and our border officials, that as a result of the decisions that have been made in New Zealand, we will also be extending the same exemptions for triple 4 visa holders who are resident in Australia and they'll be treated as Australian residents. As you know, there are many New Zealanders who live in Australia under triple 4 visas. And so the same exemptions that apply to other Australians, residents will apply to triple 4 visa holders. It's a matter that the Prime Minister Ardern and I have been discussing over the course of the past day, as a result of our decision I'm pleased that following their decision, we have an alignment of the various border arrangements that are in place.
But the reason for calling this press conference is that late last night I received the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet's report in relation to the Auditor-General's report and other matters that have been referred to him as just over two- just two and a bit weeks ago. Earlier today, I convened the Governance Committee of Cabinet to review the findings of his report and he reported to us. I then asked the leader of the Nationals and the Deputy Prime Minister to raise the matters contained in that report with Senator McKenzie. And she was also briefed by the Secretary on the report as well. In that report there are two key issues, I'll be following the same practice in relation to- on these matters regarding reports of this nature from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, as has been done by previous Prime Ministers, ie. they’re documents of Cabinet. But I note the following, the guidelines in relation to the matter of the Auditor-General's report clearly and publicly identified the Minister as having final approval authority and the right to consider other factors. This discretion was not constrained in any by way by the guidelines. While there may be differing views about the fairness of the process, the Minister used the discretion she was afforded, accordingly, the Secretary concludes, I do not believe there is a basis for you to find that the Minister had breached standards in that respect. He goes on to note, that he did not find evidence that this process was unduly influenced by reference to marginal or targeted electorates. And he notes the data indicates that applications from marginal or targeted seats were approved by the Minister at a statistically similar ratio of 32 per cent compared to the number of applications from other electorates at 36 per cent. And he said, I find no basis for the suggestion that political considerations were prime- were the primary determining factor.
On the other matter, which was raised in relation to a conflict of interest the Secretary concluded that the timing is such that the potential conflict should have been clear, this is in relation to the gun club membership, to the Minister by failing to put appropriate arrangements in place to avoid the potential for conflict, such as asking another Minister to make any decisions relating to organisations of which she was a member. The Minister had failed to do that, and the Secretary found that this was in breach of the ministerial standards. There are also a number of other matters relating to another organisation, but that one in particular dealt with a conflict of interest for an actual recip- applicant who had received the grant.
On the basis of that and that is the conflict of interest and the failure to disclose, the Minister has tendered her resignation to me this afternoon, and I want to say a couple of things about that. Minister McKenzie has shown a great respect for the statement of standards. She has honoured those, that statement of standards in the decision that she has taken today by offering her resignation to me this afternoon. I want to thank Bridget McKenzie for the outstanding job she has done in serving, both in my Cabinet and my predecessor's Cabinet. I particularly want to thank Bridget for the amazing work she has done for regional Australia and the incredible application she has shown and dedication to Australians in rural and regional areas who have been doing- who've been doing it tough through drought. She has been a drought champion for these farming and rural communities around the country. And this is federal Cabinet there are standards that must be upheld and she understands that and so do I. But I don't think that that in any way takes away from the outstanding work that she has done as a Minister, both in my government and in my predecessor's government. And I want to thank her very much for her hard work, for her discipline, for her dedication, but particularly Bridget, to all of those out there who I know, you extended that helping hand and that warm embrace and that practical effort through the discharging of your responsibilities to ensure that those rural and regional Australians were being heard and they were being supported through some of the toughest times of their lives. You have been an absolute champion in their cause. So I say thank you. I also thank her for her role, not just as a Minister but I thank her for her role in Cabinet and the many contributions she's made over quite a period of time. And I also want to thank her for the important role that she has played as part of our leadership group.
But standards, as I say, are about accountability and they are about, even in tough circumstances like this, where the Minister obviously did not stand to realise any pecuniary or any direct personal benefit, the standards require a disclosure of interests and in particular, one where there invites a conflict of interest for a program they might be overseeing. On the other matters that relate to this issue, the Secretary also has made some observations and they support the decisions the Government has made, and that is to adopt the recommendations of the Auditor-General's report. But in particular, in relation to recommendation 4 and that is the recommendation that the Australian Government amend the Commonwealth grants rules and guidelines to require that the advising decision making reporting requirements, applying to situations where a Minister approves grant funding be extended to apply to corporate Commonwealth entities such as Sport Australia, which wasn't the case. And as a result, afforded the discretion in the process that was followed by the Minister. It was in the design of this process that those those arrangements were set up. And to close that gap, and to ensure that there is appropriate documentation and appropriate transparency about the reasons for decisions where they may differ from recommendations that are made by agencies that are assessing these applications and that process would be in place in any future such programs.
There was also a matter that was raised in relation to the legality of the the action and decisions taken in the authority for the Minister. And I referred that matter to the Attorney-General. And I note that his advice is obviously confined to the general legal issue raised by the Auditor-General concerning the Minister's involvement in the program, which he notes, which has been left somewhat unresolved in the Auditor-General's report. You'll note that a question mark was raised about directions that the Auditor-General suggested was the what needed to be in place. Specifically, he refers to the finding in the report that in the absence of a Section 11 declaration, there was no legal authority evident to the ANAO under which the Minister was able to approve the CSIG program grants to be paid from the money of Sports Australia. Having consulted with the AGS and in the preparation of this advice, he considers that the Auditor-General's assumption arising out of his apparent interpretation of Section 11 of the Australian Sports Commission Act is, as he notes with respect, not correct. So these are the outstanding matters from this process and these are the decisions that I've taken as Prime Minister and have taken together with my colleagues. I want to thank the Deputy Prime Minister for working closely with me through this process. We have worked through this process each step of the way from the initiation of the referral of the matter to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary through to the reception of that report today. And I want to thank him for working through these issues in the professional way that he has.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister notwithstanding the fact that she’s fallen on her sword because of the conflict of interest, do you concede that the very nature of the program, or the fact that it was so politically charged even in its election, albeit with your your caveat that these sorts of programs do need to have a whole lot more scrutiny applied to them before millions of dollars is spent in such a way?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I've just relayed to you is the adoption of recommendation 4, which is exactly what that recommends, and the Government is-
JOURNALIST: In plain language what does it mean Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: What that means is that where Ministers have discretion to make decisions and where they move away for whatever reason, from what those recommendations might be, that there is a process of accountability and transparency and documentation about the reasons for that.
JOURNALIST: Where is Mr McCormack?
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?
JOURNALIST: Where is Mr McCormack?
PRIME MINISTER: On his way to Canberra.
JOURNALIST: Sorry?
PRIME MINISTER: He's on his way to Canberra.
JOURNALIST: Who will now be serving as agriculture Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: The Deputy Prime Minister will be appointed as acting agriculture Minister until I receive further advice from the Deputy Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST: You said there was 2 conflicts of interest? One was I think the golf, the the the target club-
PRIME MINISTER: Yep. The Wangaratta- Wangaratta Clay Target Club, that was the one that involved a membership that the Minister had and hadn't disclosed, and the funding decision had been made in favour of that organisation. And the other one related to the Field & Game Australia and they related to a disclosure that came later, to membership of Field & Game Australia and there had been grants awarded to the Northern Territory part of that association and the Warrnambool part of that association, neither of which the Minister had any membership of those specific clubs but the Minister was a member of the broader association of which those branches would have formed a composite part.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if the primary determining factor wasn't electorates and it wasn't merit, which is what the Auditor-General found, what was the primary determining factor for where this money was spent?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't accept the characterisation either of the Auditor-General's report, what I've said- what what the Secretary has been asked to do here is assess the Auditor-General's report and consider the fairness elements of that. And he's made a very clear finding which said that the Minister actually did not take as a primary consideration those factors, those political factors, so he’s actually rejected that as a position.
JOURNALIST: No but I accept that, so on that on premise Prime Minister, if marginality of seats wasn't a factor and the Auditor-General says that merit wasn't a factor, then what was the Minister's factor in awarding this funding?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the primary purposes of the program, which were also more generally set out by the guidelines, but she was also seeking to ensure that there was a broad application of this program right across the country, right across as many places as possible. And that has also been noted by the Secretary.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the very last seats that were picked under this program were all either Coalition seats or Coalition target seats. Capricornia, Indi, Lyons among them. How on earth can you say that this is not a politically compromised program from, given that's the way it ended?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's that's your commentary, Andrew. What I'm doing is-
JOURNALIST: That is the Auditor-General’s commentary.
PRIME MINISTER: What I’m- what I've cited back to you is the Secretary's response to that. And when he went to the actual statistics, what he found was there was no material difference between those that were marginal electorates and those that were not. And that that's just a simple statement of fact.
JOURNALIST: Will you do anything differently before the next election with programs of this kind? Do you take any lessons out of the controversy over this?
PRIME MINISTER: That’s what- that's why I said we're adopting recommendation 4, because the primary issue here, if you read carefully the Auditor-General's report as I have and if you- I have read obviously, through the Cabinet process, the report of the Secretary, the issue here is ensuring that the broader guidelines that would apply if this were being done in concert with a department as opposed to an organization like Sports Australia, would have had a different process. And so what we are agreeing to do, this is the constructive part of what has been a very difficult exercise in recent weeks, is to ensure that those rules will apply. That's what they're there to do. There was, under this program as it was designed initially there was a broad array of discretion that was provided and that is what the Minister exercised. And there were no rules broken in that context and as the Auditor-General found, unlike as had occurred in previous previous Labor administrations, there were no ineligible projects that were funded under this scheme. None.
JOURNALIST: But is the Minister’s discretion part of the problem here, that when you get decisions made by Ministers rather than by independent officials who are not swayed by political factors, that you'll always get a distorted outcomes in some kind of, is it better to remove a Minister from that process?
PRIME MINISTER: The issue here, because I've actually experienced this the other way where I've say had this process applied, where I- where so many important local, charitable groups that were supporting people through emergency cash assistance and things had their funding cut by actually quite, quite difficult decisions that were made by departments that were unaware of many of the issues and the impacts this would have on the ground. As I said at the Press Club last week, there is a- and it was in response to your question, Michelle, there is a partnership here that works between the public service and Ministers, Ministers, parliamentarians are elected. What has been identified here through this process has been a lack of transparency and a lack of detail on the processes used by the Minister in exercising discretion. That's what's been identified. And what the Secretary has made very clear is that she's exercised that discretion. And in his view, that has not been done with the political considerations that others have suggested. Now, what you need to do to remedy that is you need direct- implement recommendation 4 of the Auditor-General's report. You've got to make sure that those rules about the transparency of that process, which applies in many, many other grants programs, many, and that should be applied to programs like this. That's the lesson. That's the lesson that I think we need to learn. That's the lesson I intend to put in place. We need to fix up that part of the system. The legal issue, the Auditor- the Attorney-General has addressed and the Minister in relation to the conflict of interests that had today has honoured that lesson process higher than anyone by honouring the Ministerial Standards, which are the ultimate safeguards on those things.
JOURNALIST: Will you use this as a broader opportunity for a reshuffle, or will it just be replacing Senator McKenzie in Cabinet and that would be down to Michael McCormack’s decision?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm very, very, very pleased about the performance of the Ministers who serve around the Cabinet table. And I think they're doing an outstanding job. And what the country needs right now is for us to get and keep focussed on the issues that are most important to them. As you know, as I've addressed you in this room on I don’t know how many occasions over the last month, we're dealing with bushfires. We're dealing with drought. We're dealing with coronavirus. We're dealing with very serious economic challenges. And I intend to keep my focus stable and focussed on the jobs they're doing right now.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Prime Minister, despite Mr. Gaetjens finding there's no political considerations, it’s a firmly entrenched view out in society that there was. And you've just- Senator McKenzie has been dismissed on one hand- sorry resigned on one grant, do you think the public’s going to buy this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is a matter for others to commentate on. What I'm telling the public is the Minister has tendered her resignation. While I'm telling the public is the process where deficiencies have been identified in transparency and documentation, then that is going to be remedied. That's been acknowledged. It's acknowledged by me as Prime Minister. And the processes will be improved to ensure that as the rules apply in other areas, they'll apply in these areas, too. And as the Treasurer indicated this morning and I indicated at the Press Club last week, we will consider how this program might be able to provide further assistance, out in the community, in the sporting community as we prepare for the next Budget.
JOURNALIST: Putting aside the Ministerial resignations that occurred during your ascension to the leadership of the Liberal Party, this is now 3 Nationals Ministers on a trot- on the trot that have had to resign, Andrew Broad, Barnaby Joyce, and now Bridget McKenzie. Is it time for the Nationals to get their house in order?
PRIME MINISTER: I have a very solid Coalition as leader of the Liberal Party with the National Party. What has happened today brings to at least, the close of a chapter for Minister McKenzie in terms of her service in her current role. And we appreciate the great service that she's provided. But yet matters you're talking about are matters for the National Party, and the Coalition- our Coalition with the National Party remains very strong. And I think it's evidenced by the way the Deputy Prime Minister and I worked professionally and I think with a sense of fairness to all of those involved, to not to, not to respond to the latest tweet or out- or call or other thing like this. We just did the work, got people to look at the facts, present us with the facts, provide the opportunity for people to respond to those facts and then make a decision. And that's where we are today. That is the stable, calm, careful way to deal with issues like this, not to run around trying to react to everybody and every report and every news release. It's just simply to get to the facts, make a call and then get on with the job.
JOURNALISTS: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Michelle, you haven’t had a chance,
JOURNALIST: On those facts. There's a huge gap between the Auditor-General's report and the Gaetjens report on the central substance of this matter. Can you either release the Gaetjens report or give us more detail of Mr Gaetjens’ reasoning on this argument that he's presenting that there weren't political decisions because this is flying in the face of the independent Auditor-General?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what- I'll treat this report the same way that every, Prime Ministers have treated these reports in the past and there are many, many instances of that, which I'm sure you'll be very familiar with, but I referred to the statistics myself earlier that he was citing, and that was a statistic, a statistically similar ratio of grant approvals by the Minister for marginal and targeted seats of 32 per cent compared with the number of applications for other electorates, which is 36 per cent. So look, the data has been looked at from various perspectives. The Auditor-General has has looked at it from that perspective. These results are based on all 3 rounds put together and there is a suggestion that certainly the Minister was aware that she may be successful for getting further rounds of funding to support the program, which would have played into her consideration. So what the Secretary has done has looked at the grants awarded in their entirety, and in their entirety he has concluded, not I, he has concluded that that particular point that is made in the Auditor-General's point, he couldn't find the evidence for. So that's-
JOURNALIST: That’s all what he said?
PRIME MINISTER: But the point is here and for the public and for people listening at home and watching at home, what matters is where there are problems, they get fixed. And that's what I've pledged to do today, where there accountabilities to standards that need to be upheld, that's also been done today by Minister McKenzie, and where there are things we need to get on with now. Well, that's what we need to do and that's certainly what I intend to do. Thank you all very much.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] you will release the Gaetjens report?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
Press Conference - Sydney, NSW
1 February 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, thank you for coming together. Of course I’m joined by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Our Government is taking every step necessary to keep Australians safe. And we're taking further action in relation to coronavirus today which I’m going to run through with you and the Foreign Minister will make further comments on the actions that we're taking.
I want to assure Australians that we're doing everything that we can and through these actions to protect Australia, for what is an escalating threat and a constantly changing situation. Earlier today, the Australian Health Protection Principals Committee, which is the chief medical officers of all the states and territories and the Commonwealth, met. They met on the advice of the Communicable Diseases Network Australia, and they considered the changes in the epidemiology of coronavirus in China. They noted the increasing, but still relatively small number of cases in provinces outside Hubei Province and the now resulting risk posed from travellers from all of mainland China. They agreed to the following: to expand the case definition for the novel coronavirus infection from today, the 1st of February 2020 to apply to people from all of mainland China. It's essentially addressing the issue of human to human transmission of the coronavirus outside Hubei Province across the rest of mainland China. They recommended that DFAT now increase travel advice to level four, which is do not travel to all of mainland China. And the Australian government is putting that in place now. As of today, all travellers arriving out of mainland China, not just Hubei province, as has been the case up until now, being asked and required to self isolate for a period of 14 days from the time they leave mainland China, and that finally to substantially reduce the volume of travellers coming from mainland China they recommend additional border measures be implemented to deny entry to Australia for people who have left or transited through mainland China from the 1st of February today, with the exception of Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family, and aircrews who have been using appropriate personal protective equipment. And this applies to also to passengers transiting in Australia unless they are Australian citizens, permanent residents or their immediate families. I convened a meeting of the National Security Committee this afternoon to receive that advice and that recommendation. And the National Security Committee has adopted all of those recommendations. What that means is the travel advice is changing. What that means is that if you come from mainland China at any time after the 1st of February. Then you will be required to isolate for a period of 14 days. And for anyone other than Australians- citizens, Australian residents, dependents, legal guardians or spouses, then you will not be permitted entry into Australia. And the arrangements have been put in place through our border authorities to ensure that that can be actioned. In addition to that, there will be advanced screening and reception arrangements put into place at the major airports to facilitate, identifying and providing this information and ensuring the appropriate precautions are being put in place. There’s a half a million masks that will be provided to those airports to support those who are coming off these flights, as well as those who are interacting with those coming from those flights, there will also be thermometers which are being provided to those airports and we’re working with those airport authorities now to ensure that we can put those arrangements in place. That means there will be flights who will be arriving in the morning, the National Security Committee, with the support of the chief medical officer, has given discretion to the Border Force commissioner to deal with those flights in the morning. As they- it was his advice that they consider that that immediate threat is low. But we need to get these arrangements in place as soon as possible. So from the 1st of February, that's the effective date that we’ll be seeking to determine whether someone has been in mainland China as opposed to more broadly in the Hubei province.
So these are further steps that we are taking, up until today it has not been the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, and our medical experts that this has been necessary. This is a matter that was even considered yesterday at the National Security Committee. And the advice yesterday was that these measures did not need to be put in place. Their advice today is that it should. And our action today is to put them in place. And we moved quickly today to ensure that they are able to meet, the recommendations could be made, and the National Security Committee convened this afternoon to make these important decisions and then task the various agencies to implement those decisions. I had the opportunity to speak to all the Premiers and Chief Ministers on this matter. I've also been in quite regular contact with the Prime Minister of New Zealand as we operate- often operate quite common border arrangements and and we're seeking to ensure that they’re aligned and I’ll leave it to the New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern to make any further announcements about what they will be doing. I'm going to hand over to the Foreign Minister who's been working closely on this issue and particularly in relation to the operation for assisted departures out of Wuhan.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. On advice, as the Prime Minister has said, from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, we are raising our travel advice to Australians for the whole of mainland China to level four, which is do not travel. Other countries, including like-minded partners of Australia, are taking similar steps, as those which have been outlined by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee. We are, of course, advising the nature of these decisions to our neighbours in the Pacific and to China themselves.
Australians in China should continue to follow the advice of local authorities. For those who wish to make inquiries concerning these matters, our consular and crisis centre is operating fully. The DFAT consular emergency line is 1300 555 135, for Australians who are concerned about family overseas, that is a number to call from Australia. For people calling from abroad, the number is +61 2 6261 3305.
We are continuing the planning and the arrangements for the assisted departure of Australians from Wuhan. We expect that process to be finalized and finally agreed soon and we are proceeding on that basis. We've approached this assisted departure operation very carefully with an absolute priority on the health and the safety of all Australians, here at home and overseas. And again, I would like to register my thanks to the Chinese authorities for their cooperation on this operation in exceedingly difficult circumstances. Also, our diplomatic and our consular teams have been working around the clock in response to this health crisis, and I acknowledge and thank them for their work. Prime Minister, thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Before I go to questions. Again, I want to ensure Australians we are taking the necessary precautions, we are in fact, operating with an abundance of caution in these circumstances. So Australians can go about their daily lives with confidence. We are acting here in advance of many countries in terms of when similar type of arrangements are being put in place. We are doing this so you can get about your daily lives in a normal way. The facilities, the support that is available in Australia to contain what we are seeing is the best in the world, and that will continue to be in place for the protection of Australians. So these actions have been taken with an abundance of caution. So Australians can remain calm and be able to get on with their daily lives and their daily business and we will encourage them to do just that. Happy to take your questions.
JOURNALIST: Would you consider suspending all incoming flights, like, not just for nationals- but in general, will you be able to stop- Will you consider stopping all flights from mainland China arriving?
PRIME MINISTER: That that is not the advice to us at the moment from medical professionals. This enables Australians to be able to return and go through that process of self isolation. Many Australians would be in mainland China at any one point in time and this provides them with the opportunity to return to Australia. So no it has not been the advice for us to move to that level of action. But what I should stress is that the National Security Committee, we have met four times this week, to consider this very matter and we are reviewing this regularly and taking the advice that is coming through, whether it’s from the World Health Organization, like minded countries. What we're learning out of China and our engagements for the Chinese authorities and and from our own medical professionals here in Australia. And we'll continue to do that. We will monitor it extremely closely and take all the actions that are necessary.
JOURNALIST: Sorry so Prime Minister did you say that only Australian citizens are allowed to fly back from China?
PRIME MINISTER: That's right. Australian citizens, Australian residents, dependents, legal guardians and spouses.
JOURNALIST: Is this a new announcement? Is this new from now?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes. Yes.
JOURNALIST: What impact do you- expecting on tourism? Obviously, we've been hit by the fires. What economic impact are you seeing from this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, our first priority is the health and well-being and welfare of Australians. And so when it comes to their health and welfare then that comes first, obviously, as we are going to see and as other countries will see, as we saw with viruses of this nature in the past, we could expect that to have an impact, obviously, on tourist arrivals for obvious reasons. And the broader economic impacts of that, that is not our first concern at the moment, but we are very mindful of it. We have also tasked the Education Minister particularly to work with the tertiary sector to identify additional measures and precautions that will see the least disruption possible to this year for international students. And that can mean the delaying the commencement of courses, the providing of courses online in the initial phases, the delaying of orientation weeks, many universities already putting those arrangements in place now and the Education Minister Dan Tehan is going to be working with them. I should stress this arrangement we're putting in place, we’re putting in place for the next two weeks that will be constantly reviewed. And obviously if a- the decision and an announcement will be made about what happens post that period.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you tell us what will happen to those people who were already in the air prior to this announcement being made? Non-citizens of Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well in a few hours they will- many will board a plane. And that’s why with the support of the Chief Medical Officer, we have provided the discretion to the Border Force commissioner to be able to deal with those cases as they present, there will be enhanced screening facilities for those flights tomorrow. The risk at this point, starting from the 1st of February, is low as they've described it, but their expectation is that it will rise in the days and weeks ahead. And so for that reason, tomorrow, the Chief Medical Officer in his discussion with us was comfortable with those arrangements being at the discretion of the Border Force commissioner in the morning and their officers. And and but within 24 hours, our advice is that they'll be able to step up those processes throughout the international channels far more effectively.
PRIME MINISTER: Has China agreed to allow Qantas to carry out the evacuation of Australian citizens from Wuhan yet?
PRIME MINISTER: Well in relation to the assisted departure I’ll refer that to Marise.
MINISTER PAYNE: As I said, we expect the process, the agreement and the process to be finalized very soon and we are proceeding on that basis.
JOURNALIST: It's been a controversial decision to put Australian citizens on Christmas Island, how confident are both of you that this is the right decision?
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely confident. And I don't agree it's a controversial decision. I agree it's the right decision. We have those facilities in place to support people over that two week period, which can, I think, give Australians the greatest level of confidence about the quarantine that we've been able to establish, we're taking, and there's been a high level of interest and registration of interest in the assisted departure. And I think Australians would support that. But they also want to be assured that the quarantine arrangements where we’re taking people from the most affected part of China, which where this virus began and where the human to human contact has been the most prolific, that we are taking the most serious precautions, in putting the quarantine arrangements in place. And we are able to stand up those facilities to do that. We are able to separate and provide the assurances that I believe are necessary for the community on Christmas Island and that will in turn enable for their safe return to Australia after the appropriate quarantine period.
JOURNALIST: And there are other measures that Professor Murphy suggested, new measures to contain the spread of the virus?
PRIME MINISTER: We have implemented everything they’ve recommended.
JOURNALIST: Can you tell us roughly how many- this might be a question for the for the Foreign Minister? How many Australians are in Wuhan and will they be brought to Darwin first and then Christmas Island, or is there any rough plans you can share with us?
PRIME MINISTER: There is a significant number of Australians in Wuhan and their families and dependents, particularly with regard to the Lunar New Year travels and also those who live there over longer periods of time. We are working closely with all those who have registered through the emergency consular line to identify those in particular who wish to seek to be part of the assisted departure. That is an ongoing process because it involves contacting people individually and then determining their status effectively around being Australian citizens and so on. That is something that my consular team have literally been working on day and night, and that continues. The arrangements for the flight continue to be made I'm not going to go into any further details in relation to those, they are matters that we are working through with Qantas.
JOURNALIST: If foreign nationals arrives, say on the flights in the next couple of hours, or say tomorrow morning, will they be kept in quarantine and then sent back, because Qantas has announced that they won't- they’ll be suspending their direct flights to mainland China-
PRIME MINISTER: On the 9th.
JOURNALIST: Yeah, so what will the arrangements be, say, after that if this is in place for two weeks? How will it practically work in terms of returning?
PRIME MINISTER: Well for those who have come to Australia as a foreign national, they would have already been asked prior to departure, let's say they're coming through a third port- through a third country. They would be asked on check in whether they had been in mainland China, since the 1st of February. If they do not honestly answer that question, but subsequently it is revealed on the on the journey to Australia or when they present at the airport, then they would be placed in an alternative place of detention for a quarantine period.
JOURNALIST: Have there been any discussions about-
PRIME MINISTER: But as I said, in the morning, given the low level of risk as advised by the Chief Medical Officer, the Border Force commissioner will have discretion as to handle the arrangements in the morning.
JOURNALIST: Have there been any discussions about how this news will go down in China? Is there any sort of diplomatic issues that the Government has to consider here, or is it just simply a case of controlling [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, our first responsibility is Australians and in Australia's national interest. And that means the health of the Australians and their well-being. That's what's driving our decisions. But I'll ask the Foreign Minister to add to this answer. Obviously, we appreciate the challenges that the Chinese government are facing at the moment. It has been a serious issue. And we thank them for the engagement that we've had.
MINISTER PAYNE: Indeed, Prime Minister, we've been working very constructively with China right throughout this entire crisis in terms of the decisions that they have had to make in managing their own internal arrangements. And we've seen, as you know, significant travel restrictions are placed in China internally. They have also made announcements in the last few days around international travel advice for their own citizens in their own country. So that work goes on both here in Australia, between between my department and between the embassy here and also in China, led by our ambassador, Graham Fletcher, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other authorities there, particularly the health authorities. We also have a significant priority to to look after, as well as our Australian citizens, our Australian citizen staff who are on the ground in a number of posts throughout China. Beijing, just for starters. So that is, of course, also something of which we are very conscious. But I am very grateful for the constructive approach that the Chinese authorities and the embassy here in Canberra has taken to our engagement on these issues. It is a very difficult time. There is absolutely no question of that. A very difficult time for China, for its citizens, for Australians who are currently in China or have family in China, and indeed, for the international community, a significant period of disruption. We are very conscious of that and endeavouring to work as constructively as we can.
JOURNALIST: Many Australians will probably be asking because flights have been coming in from China over the past few days. Hundreds of people have been arriving. Where are those people now? Are you monitoring them? Is there any message that has gone out to those people?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m glad you asked that question because the advice of all the chief medical officers, that people who have been in mainland China prior to today, are not presenting that risk. That's their advice. That the risk is beginning to escalate from now. And so the issue of someone being- you’ve got to remember the size of the Chinese population and the number of cases outside of Hubei as a proportion of that population is very, very low. And for many places the concentration, even often the places they may have been in mainland China- and the clear advice from all of the medical officers has been that prior to now, in January, because we have asked every day about that risk and the spread from outside of Hubei into mainland China. They have said that has not presented a risk. And that's why they have not recommended the action that they have recommended today.
JOURNALIST: The World Health Organization has said that people shouldn’t be closing borders to China, why has- why has Australia done so?
PRIME MINISTER: Because our medical advice is it’s in the interest of Australians to do so.
JOURNALIST: There's also reports over the last few days about racism towards members of the Asian community because of this outbreak. What's your response to that? And do you think that these communities need to be better supported?
PRIME MINISTER: I think all communities should be supported and I think- that's why I sought to say to Australians that it is important to remain calm about this. We have the best medical facilities and the best preparations and best way of managing and containing this of arguably anywhere in the world. And that's what we’re seeing. We have a handful of cases in Australia and in fact, we have two cases that we confirmed where people have now been discharged. We have had no fatalities in relation to this virus in Australia. And we're a big country. And we have many ways of being able to contain the effect of this so I think it's important that people just exercise common sense, that people go about their business in the normal way, and that they listen to the appropriate health advice. And that, as always, we respect each other. We support each other. And we do the right thing by each other. That's certainly what the government is doing to ensure that we keep Australians safe and to keep Australians safe we've also got to keep each other calm. Thanks very much.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister have you heard from- about Bridget McKenzie- report?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
29 January 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning everyone. I’m of course joined by Dr Brendan Murphy the Chief Medical Officer, the Minister for Health, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Before I begin on the serious matters we are addressing today regarding the coronavirus and further actions the Government has taken today after the National Security Committee met again earlier today, of course, we met on Monday, we'll be meeting again on Friday as this is a serious and evolving situation, the fires overnight here in Canberra are a reminder again that we're a long way from the end of this bushfire season and while we are presented with many challenges at the moment as a country, whether it's the fires which were on the outskirts of this city last night, whether it was the drought where I was yesterday out in western New South Wales and addressing the very pressing issues there, or even still as we're dealing with the issues up in North Queensland and the recovery from the floods, and of course dealing with these serious matters of the coronavirus, there are many issues that we're very focused on at the moment and the National Security Committee has had a long agenda of matters to address. Also I might just say that there'll be an opportunity to take questions obviously on these matters about the announcements today. If you have questions on other matters I'd ask that you leave them to the National Press Club address, we can obviously deal with those other matters then.
The steps we're announcing today are a number- let me just run through them. As I said this is a serious and evolving situation. I want to start by thanking Dr Murphy and all of our medical advice team working through the Minister for Health and all of our team at DFAT for the constant and consistent advice they're providing to us on this very serious situation. I want to thank all the state health authorities and state health Ministers as well who have been working closely with Greg Hunt and of course the CMO to ensure that all of our response to this and particularly our clinical response on the ground continues to be proving highly effective in containing the impacts of this coronavirus. The steps we're taking today are being taken on the basis of the medical advice that we are receiving. That is, firstly, and Dr Murphy will go into more detail on this, we're releasing 1 million masks from the stockpile through the PHN network and also that would include going to pharmacists, bushfire responses have depleted some of those stocks in various places around the country and that process is being undertaken today.
The travel advice has been upgraded to reconsider all travel to China, the entire nation. There is a package of information following the decision we took on Monday which is going out to all tourist accommodation and tourist industry-related operators to ensure that there is advice in language for those where they're staying in commercial accommodation, but also where else they might be as they're moving around the country so they can have access to the information they need. A key part of our armoury in dealing with this coronavirus issue is information and having the right information and ensuring people are going to the right source of information and making decisions based on that accurate information. And I would encourage all Australians to focus on getting that information from the trusted sources which are directly from public health authorities.
On Monday evening, there was a information session held in Beijing for diplomatic missions where a range of issues were discussed. I want to thank the Chinese Government for the very transparent way they have been dealing with not just the Australian Government, but with all of those missions and we greatly appreciate it, the opportunity to attend that session on Monday evening. Following that session, we have taken a decision this morning to prepare a plan for an operation to provide some assisted departures for isolated and vulnerable Australians in Wuhan and the Hubei province. This will be done subject obviously to working closely and with the authority and approval of the Chinese Government and we thank them again for the way they have been working with other nations and we're working in the same arrangements that is being - also been extended to those countries but I stress there is rather a limited window here and we are moving very, very swiftly to ensure we can put this plan together and put the operation together. I stress that this will be done on a last in, first out basis. What that means is we're working with the community that has been identified there and the Foreign Minister can go into more detail about this. For those who have been there who do not have an established support infrastructure in where they're living, they would have been shorter term travellers to that area, they would not have been living there for many years and we're particularly focused on the more vulnerable components of that population. That's young people, particularly infants, and those who are elderly and that would be our priority in any operation we're able to put in place.
Those assisted with their departure, and those arrangements will be done on the normal commercial terms that are done for assisted departures in these circumstances, we will be standing up Christmas Island as a quarantine area. They will be transported to Christmas Island where they'll - where we will also be putting in place the AUSMAT team who will be travelling there to support the medical support and that will be supplemented as is necessary by other defence support which can assist and other support that is provided through the medical system to ensure proper treatment facilities are there. I also want to stress that for Christmas Island, we will be ensuring there will be support provided directly to the Christmas Island community completely separate and quarantined from the support that is being provided in the quarantine zone. The quarantine declaration will be made by the Government to give effect to those arrangements. The Defence Force have been tasked to identify overflow facilities where that may be necessary and also to provide whatever logistical and other support is necessary to support the operations on Christmas Island. Anyone who under this plan are transported to Christmas Island would be there, we envisage, for up to 14 days which is the advised period of quarantine for the patient of this virus. But that will be subject to the medical advice we receive, and that will obviously be a condition of those who are - who would seek to take part in this arrangement.
I want to stress that there is - we cannot give a guarantee that this operation is able to succeed and I also want to stress very clearly that we may not be in a position if we're able to do this on one occasion, to do it on another occasion. We have already, as I announced yesterday, moved our consular officials out of Shanghai. They are en route now and on their way to Wuhan to provide us with a presence on the ground to coordinate what we're doing here. There are many complications and many issues that we're going to have to overcome. I note that the United States has been able to provide assisted departures already, but I stress that has only been for their consular staff and families. A broader assisted departure for the United States citizens in that area at this stage has not been undertaken. So what we're proposing here is something different, as you know we do not have a consulate presence in Wuhan. We do not have large numbers of Australian staff who are present in Wuhan. So that is not an issue we're dealing with. But we are dealing with a number of Australians who have been there and we have to go through the process of identifying those who are most vulnerable and who are most isolated and where it is possible, I want to thank Qantas because they have offered their assistance in being the commercial operator that we can use to undertake this operation and I want to thank everyone at Qantas as always for stepping up when Australia needs you and we thank them very much for that process.
I'm going to hand over now to the Chief Medical Officer. He's going to give a more general overview of what's occurring today. I'll then ask Greg Hunt to speak on what he's been doing domestically to work with the state and territory Ministers- governments and the practises they have in place and then, of course, Marise Payne, as Foreign Minister, can update you on our plans and our operations. I should also stress - this operation we’ll be doing in partnership with the New Zealand Government. I spoke again to Prime Minister Ardern today. I spoke to her last night so this is very much an ANZ operation and we'll be working closely with them and also we will seek to work with other - of the Pacific family in our region where possible, to provide what support we can, but my first priority right now is the safety of Australians, the safety of Australians here in Australia to ensure that we are doing everything consistent with the advice and acting with an abundance of caution to protect their wellbeing, but also for those Australians who have found themselves isolated and vulnerable as a result of this crisis that we're also extending some support to them. Brendan.
DR. BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, Prime Minister. So just recently we received data from China suggesting there are now over 6,000 confirmed cases and 132 deaths. Nearly all of those deaths remain in that Hubei province which is the epicentre of this outbreak, but as we have said before, there are increasing but still small numbers of cases in other provinces of China and on that basis, we recommended to the Department of Foreign Affairs last night that they upgrade their travel advisory for the whole of China to reconsider your need to travel.
There have been 84 exported cases to other countries. In Australia, the official numbers of cases remains at 5, but we do expect a very small number of additional cases to be reported in the near future. But I stress that we have tested a large number of Australians with a relevant travel history and relevant symptoms and the great majority of those have been negative. All of the 5 cases in Australia are in a stable condition. The World Health Organization has now estimated that only about 20% of people with this condition have a severe disease. So we do want to emphasise that the majority of people have a mild disease and still most of the deaths are in people who are older and have - and the Chinese are reporting them to have comorbidity. So there's a significant group of people with mild disease and we still believe that there are people in China with mild disease who remain underreported.
So we think the Australian community needs to be reassured that we are well prepared. Our efforts are based around trying to identify any people who are in this country, they're [inaudible] to be already here because the Chinese authorities have stopped transport or any exit from the Hubei province which remains by far the major centre of this condition. The Prime Minister mentioned masks. The masks are for patients who with the relevant travel history and symptoms and their doctors who are assessing them, we're not recommending that the general Australian public wear masks or take protection. We have only 5 confirmed cases in Australia. There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission in Australia. The Australian public should go about their business, reassured that the risk to them is extremely low. We are well prepared, if more cases come, we're well prepared in our state and territory health services to isolate people as necessary and manage them.
I do want to- just finally before I hand over to Minister Hunt mention media reports overnight of two cases in Japan, in Germany, where there is a suggestion that contrary to all of the previous expert advice that some people may have transmitted the virus just before they became symptomatic, whereas normally the advice has been with these viruses that you need to be symptomatic to be infectious. We're convening an urgent meeting of all of our expert groups this afternoon to reconsider whether our medical advice should be changed and look at the veracity of those cases. So that's an active issue that we're exploring. So I'll hand over to Minister Hunt.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Thanks very much to Dr Murphy. The Government has been following the medical advice and in particular once Dr Murphy triggered the human coronavirus with pandemic potential decision under the Biosecurity Act, those actions which had been in preparation were extended and expanded and expedited. In particular action has been taken within our airport system and our port system to ensure that there are warnings, protections, advice and that if any symptoms are identified, that action is taken to assess the individuals. We are assessing on a daily basis the expert advice. Dr Murphy has been leading those discussions with states and territories and equally he will be convening today the communicable disease network of Australia which is the expert advisory panel in addition to the state chief health officers who work closely with them and their advice has been consistent and has been acted upon. For example, yesterday they advised that the travel advisory should be updated and that was done by the Government immediately.
In terms of additional actions going forward, as the Prime Minister said, we'll be supporting the public and GPs through the allocation of up to 1 million masks for general practices, for those patients and health workers where there is a case that somebody is coming forward and identifying that they may have been in contact or they may have symptoms. And following again the advice of Dr Murphy and the experts, they'll be distributed through the primary health networks to general practices that seek or need them and if more are required, more will be provided. We have now a supply of 21.5 million masks, 12.5 million P2 masks and 9 million surgical masks which are on the advice, the appropriate masks for this particular type of action and that's in response to the medical advice and our work with the medical providers themselves - the RACGP and the AMA and the ACRRM.
Further to that we're also ensuring that there will be an AUSMAT, Australian medical assistance team, that will support the bringing of people to Christmas Island subject to all of the work that the Foreign Minister is doing in relation to that process of assisted departure and that is a second domestic mobilisation of this extraordinary resource that Australia has previously that has been deployed overseas and was deployed during the bushfire emergencies and has already been mobilised. We prepared them on a contingency basis and we notified them this morning following the decisions of the national security committee.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Greg, and I’ll ask Marise to [inaudible].
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thank you very much, PM, Dr Murphy and Minister Hunt. Can I start by reminding Australians that we have upgraded our travel advice, our travel advice in relation to China is to reconsider your need to travel to China and in relation to Hubei province, it is do not travel to Hubei province.
As the Prime Minister has said, our embassy in Beijing will now be seeking formal approval from the Chinese Government to assist the departure of Australians in accordance with the requirements that were provided to diplomatic missions in the briefing in Beijing on Monday. We are positioning a consular team from Shanghai to be able to support any action that we take, that will include setting up a temporary consular office in Wuhan to work with local authorities to help give effect to our plans to bring about an assisted departure.
We understand from calls to the DFAT consular emergency line that we have now just over 600 Australians currently registered in Hubei province for either advice or assistance. We will be talking further with each of them as the Prime Minister has said, our focus in this proposed assisted departure is on supporting isolated and vulnerable Australian citizens. We are endeavouring to make further contact with people who have given us their details. We do note that it is sometimes difficult given the phone circumstances in China to make that follow-up contact and so if those Australians or their families have not spoken with our consular officials in the past 24 hours, then I would encourage them to make contact again on the DFAT emergency number which is, in Australia 1300 555 135, and internationally +61 2 6261 3305.
I do want to indicate that we absolutely understand what a stressful time this is for those families that are impacted by the circumstances in Wuhan and Hubei province. We are encouraging people to make contact with family and friends to stay in touch with travel providers and, of course, to contact their insurers where appropriate. And also to continue to follow the health precautions which are available on our Smart Traveller website. In China, as I indicated on Monday, Australians should avoid major gatherings. They should stay away from crowded areas and they should follow strict hygiene precautions. As the Prime Minister and the Health Minister have indicated, there is still significant work to do to bring about this process, most particularly our consultations with Chinese authorities but we are doing all that we can and having extensive discussions to ensure that we can help Australians in Wuhan as soon as possible.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Marise, and I’ll ask Brendan to join me again. We have time for a few questions?
JOURNALIST: Can you give us a sense of the numbers involved here? How many people do you think you might be able to evacuate, how many of our New Zealand and Pacific neighbours might we be able to help and what are the circumstances for dual citizens?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I would take a number of those points. The Foreign Minister indicated we have 600 people who are registered in that area but there are many other issues that have to be worked through, and you have highlighted quite a few of those. At this stage we are in the planning phase. When we have further information on what the capability of that operation is, then we will obviously advise people. At this stage, we are simply saying that we are putting plans in place, we’re working with the Chinese government to put this in place, we’re working with the New Zealand government, and as you know I have spoken to the Prime Minister Ardern just today about how they would be participating in this obviously with consular support and working with our consular teams as part of that process. They obviously have a much smaller number of people that are impacted than Australia, so I welcome the fact that they want to combine their resources with ours to address this, and similarly we understand the work that we can do to help our Pacific family as well. But my primary focus is on the welfare of Australians and those Australians here in Australia and ensuring we are protecting them and their health and safety and well-being, but also those Australians who are in Hubei province in Wuhan, who are isolated and vulnerable. It is a process of identifying those who are isolated and vulnerable. There are some people who will be in Hubei province, who have been there for some time and effectively have been living there for some period of time. We are talking about people who are there not in those circumstances, those who don't have support structures in that place, those who are particularly vulnerable because they might have young children or they may be elderly. There are also issues around passports that people have travelled on, which is a matter that is noted by the Chinese government as well and we will have to work in with the rules and arrangements that have been put in place not just for Australia but other countries as well.
JOURNALIST: How long ‘til you expect Beijing to grant permission for these assisted departures? When could we see that first Qantas jet arrived in Hubei?
MINISTER PAYNE: I think we must be prepared to be patient as this process is undertaken. Australia is not the only country seeking diplomatic support and clearances for these activities-
JOURNALIST: So we haven’t got permission yet?
MINISTER PAYNE: We are seeking permission from the Chinese authorities as I indicated-
JOURNALIST: But they haven’t given us permission yet?
MINISTER PAYNE: -in my opening remarks. We will do that through our post in Beijing and also working with the local authorities in Wuhan through the consular team that will arrive there imminently from Shanghai.
PRIME MINISTER: Just to address Greg's point, we made a decision this morning to put this plan in place and to seek those authorities. We are respectfully now going through that process. It has been my intention to come here today with Ministers to let the Australian people know the decisions we have taken and what we are doing. There is quite a process to work through, and the relationship and working support we have had with the Chinese government to date on this matter has been very strong, and so-
JOURNALIST: But given other countries have received permission haven’t we been slow off the mark?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: How long would people be quarantined on Christmas Island for? 14 days? Or how long?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, our expectation is 14 days.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] quarantine measures like attending schools is completely at odds with what some states are saying. Who are parents supposed to trust and listen to when it comes to those measures?
PRIME MINISTER: Well let me say a couple of things. My kids went back to school this week as many other kids have and I understand the issues and concerns that parents would have being one of them myself. And that is why it is important to take the advice, and I think the Chief Medical Officer today has set out the situation very soundly and that is why it is important to seek out the information directly from the source-
JOURNALIST: Whose advice? The states or the government?
PRIME MINISTER: What I don't agree with in the question as it was presented is- what the New South Wales has done has been consistent with the advice, it has gone beyond that advice and as a parent in New South Wales, I don't have any issue with that and an abundance of caution. We have also been undertaking our actions with an abundance of caution. And we will continue to do that. And what other measures are necessary, then we will take them. That is why we are reviewing this on a daily basis and states within their own province and own school systems will make their decisions. And I support them doing that. They are seeking the advice from the Chief Medical Officer, working with the medical professionals and they are making decisions and I support them in those decisions and the decisions that were taken in New South Wales were not inconsistent with the advice that is out there. It went beyond the advice, and for that, that is a judgement they are entitled to make.
JOURNALIST: The White House is considering suspending flights to and from China, will Australia look at doing the same?
PRIME MINISTER: At this stage we are acting on the medical advice to us that is not suggesting that as an action for Australia. We should stress that all countries will find themselves in different situations in terms of how this virus and how this outbreak may impact on them, as the Chief Medical Officer has said. We have five confirmed cases. Obviously we expect that there can be more as there is more testing, but the response from our state health authorities and the treatment capability that is there is strong, and so we will continue to make decisions. I mean, the Chinese government themselves have now put restrictions in saying to reconsider the need for travel outside of China. We have upgraded our travel advice for people to reconsider their need to travel to China, and that would equally apply to people in China who are Australian, and the reasons for them being there. And so I think that advice is all very clear. But what I want to stress to all Australians is this is an issue we are dealing with constantly on the basis of the best advice that we have available, that we are making decisions every single day, and we will continue to take decisions to protect Australians, their safety, their well-being, whether here or where they may be in a position of vulnerability overseas. We’ve got time for one more?
JOURNALIST: What is your latest advice from your economic advisers on the potential economic impact on Australia such as tourism, exports to China as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Well John, of course we share a concern, particularly in the wake of the bushfire crisis, an emergency that will have an impact on our tourism industry and related things, and that is obviously of concern to us. But to be honest, right now, my focus is on people's health and their well-being. And these issues will be addressed in time when a clearer picture emerges. These are not things that are confined obviously to Australia, and their broader impact, and they will be assessed as we particularly lead in to the next budget and that is the appropriate time I think for that reconciliation to take place. But right now, our focus, my focus, is on Australian’s health and well-being, and protecting their safety. Thank you very much.
Address, National Press Club
29 January 2020
Thank you very much Sabra, and thank you for all attending here today. I am particularly conscious, particularly in this city, where we have had this most recent, again, reminder of the terrible bushfire season we have had with the bushfires coming so close as they did last evening. And I extend all of my sincere empathies to those particularly around the capital today on what has been a difficult night.
Can I also acknowledge the many colleagues I have here today, too many to mention. It’s wonderful to see you all but particularly it’s wonderful to have my wife Jenny here and it’s great to see you here, love.
Can I begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, their elders past, present, and particularly the future, those who are emerging.
To any veterans here today, and to our servicemen and women around the country, let me again say to you on behalf of a very grateful nation: ‘Thank you for your service’.
For the families who have lost loved ones through this terrible bushfire season, your sorrow hangs heavy on our nation’s heart.
And that heart is extended also to all those who now face the daunting task of rebuilding homes, livelihoods, businesses and local communities. We’ll be with you for the long haul.
Many Australians – as well as our loyal friends from overseas who are standing here with us – remain on those front-lines today, some 75 or so fires burning around the country today.
Our brave firefighters. Our emergency services workers. Our volunteers.
Our soldiers and reservists, our carers and mental health specialists, local community leaders and public servants, as well as the networks of civil society engaged in all manner of very practical, helpful, loving tasks – from delivering food to rescuing and supporting recovering wildlife.
Amidst this devastation, it has been humbling to see Australia at its best.
In recounting the stories of their selflessness, as I did on Australia Day, my message was very simple.
This is the greatness of Australia. This is the strength of Australia.
This is why as a people we always overcome and prevail.
Australia is strong but we must become even stronger.
We live in a world of increasing global uncertainty, which the current Coronavirus outbreak only serves to reinforce, which I have already addressed earlier today so I won’t be speaking on that topic in great detail today, but if you wish we can deal with those matters on further questions afterwards.
Strategic competition, technological change, a recasting of the global economy, pressures on global financial systems and escalating environmental challenges.
And at home, a growing and ageing population, a stubborn and devastating drought in a vast continent of increasing environmental extremes, an economy that is making the leap to the next phase of our prosperity, and any leap carries risks and challenges and a society where too many Australians take their own lives, symptomatic in so many ways of the pressures and corrosive forces present in so much of modern day life.
This year, our Government, we will continue to build an even stronger Australia.
By keeping our economy strong to guarantee the essentials, those services that Australians rely on, like the delivery of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and lifting our investment in aged care.
By keeping Australians safe, whether from strategic threats, keeping our borders secure, safeguarding their health and well-being, or protecting us from terrorist attacks and the impact of natural disasters.
And by keeping Australians together. Our most precious asset - as families, as individuals, as communities and as a nation. Respectful and tolerant of each other, our differences, committed to each other as stewards and custodians of our collective future.
These were the priorities I set out when I became Prime Minister. They remain lock-firm my priorities today and going forward.
Sound economic management puts you in a position to deal with long-term challenges and as well as dealing with crises when they hit.
While we don’t yet know the impact on economic activity of the bushfires let alone Coronavirus, nonetheless, the Government was quick to commit an additional $2 billion to support communities and individuals who have felt the impact. Initial and additional to the recovery assistance that goes on as normal course of events.
This includes not only emergency relief and grants for farmers and small businesses in affected areas, but importantly $76 million in practical assistance to support our tourism industry.
Our ability to do this is not straightforward and didn’t happen by accident. Our ability to do this without putting up taxes or levies as has occurred in the past and while retaining our AAA credit rating and our path to surplus, is the dividend of our Government’s enduring commitment to fiscal discipline. That’s what it’s about. That’s why we’ve been so obsessed. Because when the bad times hit and the crisis come, you must be prepared. And we have gone into this crisis in that way.
So while the response to the bushfire crisis is significant in scale, we have done it in a way that remains consistent with our medium term fiscal outlook, as the Treasurer has been reassuring people.
And while placing the priority, though, on the human cost rather than the fiscal cost. That’s been our focus.
The Budget position for 2019-20 will be updated in May and it will take into account, as usual, under the keen eye and stewardship of the Finance Minister and the Treasurer, it will take into account the additional expenditure that we’ve outlined since the mid-year statement, as well as the broader economic impacts of these disasters as best as they are known at that time.
Importantly, we’re not just focused on the immediate response, something I was quick to reassure people in the areas that I have toured and visited.
We are working with state and local governments, with businesses, the not-for-profit sector to develop and deliver locally-driven Economic Recovery Plans. Like rebuilding the livelihoods of orchardists in Batlow, where I was with the Deputy Prime Minister just the other day.
I want to particularly commend Minister Littleproud on the great work he has done leading our effort in response to the bushfire crisis and I particularly also recognise Andrew Colvin, called back into service, who is doing a tremendous job and we thank you, Andrew, for your commitment to our nation.
Now, aiding this effort are positive signs, though, in our economy going into 2020 that the fundamentals of our economy are strong and in good shape.
Key global risks have eased following the ‘phase one deal’ between the US and China and the reduced uncertainty over Brexit, although the effect of the recent Coronavirus outbreak does remain uncertain.
Domestically, we have seen encouraging recent data that shows that the underlying resilience and strength of the economy is there. Retail sales figures for November were the strongest in two years and the housing market continues to stabilise, which underpins confidence.
The labour market is also performing well, continues to, with over 260,000 jobs added in 2019. More than half of these were full-time, while our unemployment rate remains at a low of 5.1 per cent.
More than 1.5 million jobs have now been created since our Government was first elected.
And the number of unemployed persons, importantly, is lower today in Australia than it was at the last election, the election before that in 2016 and the election before that in 2013.
This year we will continue to roll out the economic plan that has delivered those dividends:
maintaining our disciplined approach to financial management
keeping taxes low, with tax cuts for small and medium-sized businesses and continued tax relief for around 10 million Australians
delivering on our record investment in transport infrastructure, including the over $2 billion that we announced we brought forward over the next 18 months
expanding access to new export markets for Australia, with a special focus on the UK post-Brexit and the European Union, where the Finance Minister has just returned from overseas where he has been pressing that case
busting regulatory congestion that is holding up business investment
reducing unnecessary bureaucracy in our industrial relations system, while working to pass the Ensuring Integrity and Proper use of Worker Benefits laws, and
building on our $585 million Skills Package through Minister Cash that we announced last year and the creation of new bodies such as the National Skills Commission. It is a priority for us this year.
Skills reform will be a priority for COAG discussions in March and beyond and I want to thank the states and territories, premiers and chief ministers, for their commitment to that agenda.
Our $50 million commitment to TAFE Revitalisation will deliver infrastructure projects, refurbish facilities, and purchase specialist training equipment. That has now being authorised.
The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) is being reformed to improve its governance, accountability and engagement with the sector.
And we’re making it easier for many VET students to access courses by increasing the size of loans available for around one-quarter of all eligible courses. That was signed off last week and I will expand further on all of these issues and the economic plan on other occasions.
A strong and resilient nation, though, can only take action with a strong economy. And in particular to protect the safety and security of its citizens.
As we look into this year, our Government will remain steadfast in defending our independence and our sovereignty as a nation.
We will not stand for foreign interference or allow our borders to be compromised. We will do everything possible to protect Australians from terrorists as we have done so vigilantly under Peter’s leadership at Home Affairs. Australians can be kept safer by an economy that is strong.
And we will counter the evil ideologies that underpin those terrorist attacks from whichever evil ideology it stems from.
And we will stand with our allies and partners in support of an open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, with ASEAN at its core.
We will work to preserve a balance in our region that keeps the skies and sea lanes open, upholds international law, and reinforces the independence and sovereignty and indeed our success of our neighbours.
This is essential to our own prosperity and security.
As part of our Step-up, we will continue to strengthen our commitment to our Pacific family, who themselves have opened their hearts to us in a very touching was during this most recent bushfire crisis.
These bonds have never been stronger between Australia and our Pacific family.
We will continue to invest in our intelligence, security, diplomatic and other border protection agencies that keep us all safe each and every day.
This year our Government will also achieve that through realising our goal to restore the defence budget back to 2 per cent of GDP – a commitment we made back in 2013 and will be realised this year when the Treasurer hands down this year’s Budget.
However, this summer has reminded us that our national security is also about our preparedness, responsiveness and resilience to natural disasters and the environment we will live in today, over the next decade and well beyond.
Given the significance of these events and the issues that they have raised in recent times, this is where I would like to spend the majority of my focus today.
It has long been the case that state and territory governments have primary responsibility for protecting life, property and the environment within their borders. They perform most of the functions essential for emergency management and community safety and they do a great job.
This includes maintaining the agencies that provide emergency services – police, fire, ambulance and medical services.
This should remain the case. The incredible skill and bravery of our state fire services has saved so many lives over this summer, so many homes and I am full of admiration for all of their efforts and their leadership.
To date, the role of the Commonwealth has been limited in responding to natural disasters has been limited to responding to requests for assistance from state governments. They judge the time and form of support needed in making that request.
But I must say, the scale of the bushfires this season – not least their simultaneous reach across many borders – has demonstrated to me the limits of these arrangements.
As you know, I took the initiative for the first time ever as a Prime Minister to change the Defence Force posture from ‘respond to request’ to one of ‘move forward and integrate’ and to issue a compulsory call out of our Defence reservists in response to a domestic natural disaster.
I thank the states for their cooperation with this decision and stress again that it was not made because of any questioning of state efforts or preparedness.
In practical terms, this meant our defence forces were no longer waiting for specific requests for assistance, but they mobilised and moved forward into disaster affected areas at their own initiative, integrating wherever possible with local authorities to render the assistance where they could.
And the demonstration of the practical difference between ‘respond to request’ and ‘move forward and integrate’ is this - in just a few short weeks our defence deployment escalated from under 900 to more than 6,500. That made a big difference.
This constituted one of the largest domestic ADF operations in our history, with more than 13 fixed wing aircraft, 20 rotary wing platforms and three naval vessels all supporting that effort.
The ADF effort, the defence effort, multiplied and it amplified the effectiveness of state disaster response agencies, not supplant them, and it has played a critical role in getting fast and effective disaster relief where it is needed most.
These decisions though, I stress, were not taken lightly and they were not rushed into.
As I’ve said before, I have been very conscious of testing the limits of constitutionally defined roles and responsibilities during this bushfire season.
But I believe there is now a clear community expectation that the Commonwealth should have the ability to respond in times of national emergency and disasters, particularly through deployment of our defence forces in circumstances where the life and property of Australians has been assessed to be under threat at that scale.
I note that this was not something contemplated or recommended to the Commonwealth Government before this bushfire season, nor was it requested by any state or territory government.
After this fire season and before the next one, this is an area where we will need to get some clarity and we need to make some decisions, make some calls on this, including changing the law where and if it is necessary.
I therefore flag the following as issues to be considered in the wake of these events:
The legal framework that would allow the Commonwealth to declare a national state of emergency, currently doesn’t exist, - with clear authorities and appropriate safeguards for Commonwealth action on its own initiative, including the deployment of our defence forces;
The legal interface with the states and territories on responsibilities when it comes to preparation for, and response to, natural disasters and emergencies of national scale;
And an enhancement of a national accountability framework for natural disaster risk management, resilience and preparedness. This should include the setting of targets and transparent reporting on key actions, with enhanced national standards where necessary. We’ve got to be comparing apples with apples, we’ve got to be using the same methodologies.
An enhanced, and more proactive role for our defence force in response to domestic natural disasters will have implications for our force structure, for it’s capability, development, its command, its deployment and the training of our defence forces. So I don’t put this forward lightly.
There is no doubt we have learnt lessons from past fires and other natural disasters.
One of those has been the evacuation procedures that we’ve learnt from previous fires which I know has saved countless lives. But too often, the findings from these enquiries get forgotten. They get de-prioritised over time. One of the key tasks of a Royal Commission will be to audit the implementation of previous recommendations, drawing on the work that has already been done in this area. So they can get about that fairly quickly, it won’t have to take them too long.
And as the years pass, though we note that the bush grows back and fuel loads increase, people move in, in still larger numbers to live in fire-prone areas and dangerous fires occur again in a cycle which we must break.
We must continue to learn from this fire season so we are better prepared for the next one because there of course will be one. Whether that be the deployment of the defence forces, local hazard reduction, access to resources such as aerial firefighting equipment, consistency of disaster recovery arrangements or resilience in the face of a changing climate. And we must learn, as I discussed only last week, from the Indigenous Australians and their ancient practices and how to improve our resilience to these threats. They know more about this than we ever could and they stand ready to work closely with us.
But we must also look further ahead and prepare for and adapt to the environment and the climate we are going to be living in, and acknowledging what that is.
This summer is the latest chapter in the often harsh realities of living in this amazing continent.
Building our national resilience means building our ability to resist, absorb, accommodate, recover and transform in the face of such events – and this includes the effects of longer, hotter, drier summers.
Practical action on mitigation through reduced emissions needs to go hand-in-hand with practical action on climate resilience and adaptation.
Locally, when it comes to practical safety of people living in bushfire zones, hazard reduction is even more important than emissions reduction.
We need to seriously engage with issues like how we manage native vegetation, how we allow land-owners to clear asset protection zones on their property, where they’re stymied. Where we allow structures to be built and how, the materials and standards they are built to, and where and when hazard reduction burns, or other hazard reduction practices are carried out. All these considerations have a direct impact on the safety of Australians living in this climate, and in this bush environment.
That is why I have said it is important that we have greater transparency and accountability nationally about action being taken to reduce these risks and manage these going forward in a changing climate.
All of this is the climate action we need now.
Building dams, developing new crop varieties, improving planning for natural disasters is climate action now.
The science tells us the effects of emissions already in the atmosphere will continue to be felt in coming decades, even under the most ambitious global emissions reduction scenarios.
Mitigation and adaptation both contribute to resilience – mitigation reduces the risk; adaptation is how we prepare for the climate risk we cannot reduce.
We know our farmers are on the front line of resilience, I saw it first hand when I was with them only yesterday, continuing to battle this devastating drought in the face of more frequent and severe droughts they have led the world in the development of drought resistant crops.
That’s climate action now.
The $5 billion Future Drought Fund will support practical, resilience building measures, including small-scale water infrastructure and improved information on local climate variability, sustainable stock management, soil and water regeneration and the like.
Climate action now.
Our Drought Resilience Funding Plan, the framework to guide funding decisions for projects and activities, is expected to be tabled in Parliament by March of this year.
The National Water Grid will guide investment in new dams and distribution networks, and ensure a comprehensive, integrated plan to help drought-proof our water supply for farmers and regional communities.
The new Emergency Response Fund will provide up to $200 million each year to support not only immediate response activities, but also recovery and preparedness for future disasters.
The Reef 2050 Plan, backed-up by $1.9 billion in Commonwealth funding, is also among initiatives we are taking to build future climate resilience.
Climate action now.
We also have a track record of investing in the technology of resilience, science of resilience through agencies such as the Bureau of Meteorology, the CSIRO and the Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC.
And moving forward, I am asking the CSIRO, supported by an expert advisory panel chaired by our Chief Scientist who is here today and doing an amazing job, Dr Alan Finkel, to bring forward recommendations to Australian Governments, all of us, on the further practical resilience measures, including buildings, public infrastructure, industries such as agriculture, and protecting our natural assets.
I will be discussing resilience measures with the states and territories at COAG in March, and I know they’re looking forward to that discussion including to ensure the Commonwealth Government’s investment through the National Bushfire Recovery Agency will be in assets that are built to last, built to resist, built to survive longer, hotter, drier summers. Building back better for the future.
Now we also acknowledge the need to take action to reduce global emissions, to mitigate the risk of climate change. It’s not in dispute.
Of course we know that Australia, on its own, cannot control the world’s climate, as Australia accounts for just 1.3 per cent of global emissions. We also know that no fire event can be attributed to the actions of any one country on emissions reduction.
But Australia must play its part and we are playing our part. Taking action is agreed.
Our action though, is a balanced and responsible emissions reduction plan to reduce emissions by 26 per cent through to 2030 that we took to the Australian people at the last election.
Our target is comparable to countries like Japan, New Zealand and Canada – especially when account is taken of such factors as our geography, our population density, growth and economic and comparative advantage.
It’s a target higher than every other major economy in Asia.
A target that will see our emissions per capita fall by half. Half.
Our 2030 target is set, and we intend to meet it and we intend to beat it.
Just as we previously beat our Kyoto 1, and Kyoto 2 targets, when all the critics said we wouldn’t. And are saying so again about 2030.
And if legitimate carry over credits are not necessary, then even better. However, let’s not forget on this point, it was the Labor Government that made carry over credits a condition of their signing up to the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. So I’m not copping lectures from that lot.
And we will do this consistent with the commitment we gave to the Australian people:
without a carbon tax that will slow our economy,
without driving up electricity prices, which I note by the way are down 3 and a half per cent today on the latest inflation figures, particularly, and without shifting jobs and without sending emissions offshore, and
without leaving behind Australians, so often ignored, so often left out, particularly in regional areas, who are working in sectors such as agriculture and mining and some appear to accept as casualties of this process. I don’t, and neither does my government.
One of the major vehicles for driving this agenda forward will be bilateral agreements on energy and emissions reductions with each state and territory, and that will begin with New South Wales, and I’ll have more to say about that soon.
But these agreements will focus on keeping energy prices affordable, improving the reliability of the electricity grid and driving down emissions while we do so, and I commend Angus Taylor for the great work he’s been doing in this area.
Central to this agenda is getting access to our domestic gas supplies. We need to get the gas from under our feet. There is no credible energy transition plan for an economy like Australia in particular, that does not involve the greater use of gas as an important transition fuel.
There are plenty of other medium to longer term alternative fuel arrangements and prospects, but they will not be commercially scalable and available for at least a decade, is our advice.
Gas has a critical role to play as a backstop to our record investment in renewable energy generation. It helps ensure we can keep the lights on when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining.
Sweating our existing coal fired power generation assets will only take us so far.
Gas can help us bridge the gap while our investments in batteries, hydrogen and pumped hydro energy storage bring these technologies to economic parity with traditional energy sources.
So right now, we’ve got to get the gas.
Our focus is also squarely on harnessing the power of new technology and allowing natural markets to operate, together with the desire and ingenuity of Australians to reduce emissions while keeping the economy strong.
Technology is key to driving down costs and identifying new economic opportunities for Australia, particularly for technologies providing storage and back-up to the electricity, industry and transport sectors.
This includes our $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation driving down the cost of our renewables, our $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund to catalyse investment in battery and pumped hydro energy storage, our $500 million hydrogen strategy to position us as a key player in the emerging hydrogen economy, which is a key issue of bilateral discussion with our friends in Japan, and our soon-to-be-released electric vehicle strategy to support the modernisation of our transport fleet.
This is all climate change action now.
In the waste sector, Australia’s emissions have already fallen by 25 per cent since 2000.
We are world leaders in renewable energy. More than 2.2 million Australian’s have rooftop solar panels - the highest uptake in the world.
And 2019 saw a record amount of renewable capacity installed, 24 per cent above the previous record set in 2018 - and electricity generated from renewables is forecast to grow again by a further 26 per cent this year. This year.
Based on Bloomberg’s New Energy Finance data, in 2019 Australia’s per capita investment in renewables- sorry Mathias- was more than triple the per capita investment of countries like Germany, France, and Denmark.
SENATOR THE HON. MATHIAS CORMANN, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: I’ve been making that point all week!
PRIME MINISTER: He’s been making that point in Europe all week, Mathias says, and he’s right to do so. He’s right to do so. We’ve got a great record here. We’re achieving great things in this country when it comes to renewable technologies and renewable energy. And I won’t stand by and see others talk this down for some other purpose or agenda. We’re doing the right thing here, and we’re going to keep doing it.
To guide Australia’s future technology investments, the Government will next month release for consultation a new technology roadmap charting the way forward in areas such as:
Hydrogen,
Solar and batteries,
Transmission and networks,
Large-scale energy storage, and
Carbon capture and storage.
So our climate action agenda is a practical one, it goes beyond targets and summits and it’s driven by technology, not taxation.
This is important as there are real weaknesses in the current global action frameworks on emissions reduction.
Current frameworks and agreements globally, actually endorse massive increases in emissions from some of the world’s largest and growing economies.
So understandably this tests the patience of people in countries like Australia, particularly in regional areas, who ask the question why do their jobs have to be exported and their incomes exported to other countries, while global emissions under those arrangements are allowed to rise for so many.
These contradictions and limitations need to be acknowledged.
The atmosphere doesn’t care where emissions come from. Emissions do not have accents.
The only thing that matters is the cumulative impact of all countries’ emissions.
You will also not reduce the number of coal-fired power stations in the world today by forcing the shut down of Australian coal mines and the Australian jobs that go with them.
Other countries will just buy the coal from somewhere else - often poorer quality with greater environmental and climate impacts.
And you won’t get emissions down in large developing countries through arbitrary target setting. Quite rightly, they’re getting people out of poverty.
The pathway to making meaningful impacts on global emissions reductions with these countries is through partnering with them on technological development. Making it scalable, making it commercial, making it achievable.
You know, it is worth noting that the United States has achieved higher rates of emissions reduction than many of the nations that are signatories to the Paris agreement.
Between 2005 and 2017 US emissions fell by about 13 per cent, that’s just a click over what we have achieved which is 12.8 per cent by the way. This compares to about 2.4 per cent for Canada, 4.3 per cent for Japan. US firms are already building in climate risk and managing for it, just as they are here in Australia. The US has also substantially reduced their emissions in a large part because they have opened up their gas resources. That’s why they’re using less coal.
Our economies will adjust. The market signals are already there. We have to give them the room to adjust and not cut off response options, like in gas exploration and development, that help them move forward.
The answer is not more taxes and increased global bureaucracy, but practical change, driven by science and technology, that allows companies and economies to develop and commercialise new technologies that are accessible, affordable and scalable the world over.
That’s how you will get emissions down. By solving problems like affordable and scalable energy storage, as Angus reminds me constantly. By developing cost-effective carbon sequestration. By developing and switching to viable alternative fuels. You don’t do it on a bit of paper, you do it by changing what you do and how you do it.
This is where we are focusing our practical efforts.
If we get this right as I believe we will, we will be well on our way to lower cost, more reliable and lower emissions energy.
Isn’t that what it’s supposed to be about?
There are many other issues we will address this year, and no doubt more will emerge and challenge us as the year proceeds.
But as the year unfolds, I want to say this to my fellow Australians, it is important to understand not just what we are doing as a government, but why we are doing it. And why we take the action we believe is necessary to secure Australia’s future as we promised. And the answer is because we believe that it will make Australia more resilient to the challenges we know we will face.
We know it will make Australia even stronger.
Thank you for your attention. Thank you.
Remarks, Drought Advisory Board Meeting
28 January 2020
I’m looking forward to getting the report Shane but I want to thank everybody for coming together on this first meeting.
The great success that we've had through the recovery agency up in North Queensland, I think speaks for itself in the way that the agency has been able to move so quickly to give people, not only the support that they need but the hope that they need to move forward and we’ve seen that up in North Queensland. And this initiative is really about taking the lessons from that process and ensuring that we’re applying them more broadly with all the issues we’re moving on in the drought. It's also important to acknowledge today that while our hearts remain heavy around the bushfires, we have never forgotten what's happening out in rural and regional Australia when it comes to the drought. Nor have we forgotten what happened a year ago up in North Queensland with the floods and these disasters have hit so many places and remain front and centre on our focus as a Government. And what you’re seeing here with this agency headed up by Shane and his wonderful team of people who know what they're doing and know what they’re talking about, that will ensure that will continue to roll out the support and see the recovery of our great country in the way we expect to see it happen and our response to these disasters.
So thank you very much.
Address, National Flag Raising and Citizenship Ceremony
26 January 2020
Welcome everyone. Your Excellencies, Governor-General, Mrs Hurley, Danielle Roach and your wonderful team at the Australia Day Council, to our Australians of the Year, you are magnificent, thank you so much, to Ministers who are here with us today, parliamentary colleagues and importantly, Australians all.
But especially to you, Aunty Tina, and to the Ngunnawal people. I start today by acknowledging you, our first Australians and pay my respects to elders past, present and importantly emerging, which is the future.
And I also acknowledge on this very important day all who have served or are serving our nation today day in our defence forces, wherever you are. Our veterans as well and simply and say, on behalf of a grateful nation, thank you for your service.
And on this day, Australia Day, we acknowledge all those who have gone before us, from ancient times to modern. We stand here today because of their sacrifice, their learnings, their stories, their efforts, their trials.
My great great aunt Dame Mary Gilmore I though put it best in her verse ‘Heritage’ where she wrote;
Not of ourselves are we free/ Not of ourselves are we strong/ The fruit is never the tree/ Nor the singer the song
The strength we give is the strength we make/ and the strength we give is the strength we take/ Given us down from the long gone years/ cleansed in the salt of others tears
The fruit is never the tree/ Nor the singer the song/ Not of ourselves are we free/ Not of ourselves are we strong.
In this season, we've been reminded anew that Australia’s story has always been one of achievement but also one of pain, effort, prosperity and struggle, and it is the story of a people from ancient times until now, overcoming the many challenges and learning the important lessons that come from living in this great continent.
This summer as we stand in trial, Australians have rallied to each other.
This Australia Day we honour and especially celebrate our wonderful volunteers. Our firefighters - especially those who never returned home from the fire grounds.
Our emergency services and forestry workers. The members of our Defence Force, including the 3,000 reservists who answered the call.
Our community, church and wildlife groups and the many young people involved. Those who set up evacuation centres, distributed supplies, and tended to the needs of our animals.
And the generous support of an amazing nation – our school kids donating their pocket money.
Through it all, the work has not been easy. The homes lost, the lives lost, the businesses destroyed.
But there are remarkable stories.
The Captain of the Wingello Brigade, Mark Wilson described the night fire swept through Wingello in early January.
The crews moved from house to house and in his words, it was “run, run, run”.
He said near night’s end, he felt like “we were losing”.
But when the sun rose, he realised their efforts and those of other brigades had saved the town.
14 houses, yes, were lost that night in Wingello - painful for a small town, excruciating for the families - but 80 homes were saved. The General Store was saved as well.
That’s the story of this summer. It’s the story of our today.
A story of perseverance and struggle and overcoming.
A story of pain and loss and seeming failure at times and yet at the same time, a story of courage, perseverance, and a willingness to fight until the sun rises.
It’s a story that prevails, of everyone playing their part.
Many more stories will never be known, but all of which will remind us, those who know them, what it means to be Australian.
Raj Gupta, a pharmacist in Malua Bay kept the pharmacy open, even without a payment system, right throughout the worst of the bushfires – even though he’d lost his own home in the blaze.
He wanted to make sure the medicines got through.
In Gippsland, a local Indian restaurant have been cooking thousands of free meals of curry and rice for bushfire victims.
The owners said they’re simply following the Sikh way of life, and also “just doing what other Australians are doing today.”
In Yeppoon, the local Big W manager refused to take any money from customers who’d lost their homes and only had the clothes on their backs.
In Bega, a supermarket trolley attendant offered his own home to parents and kids sheltering overnight in the underground car-park, and countless others opened up their homes as well.
And on Kangaroo Island, teenagers gathered frightened and injured koalas into their car, mirroring so many other efforts protecting our wildlife.
Eight indigenous men from Bourke and Brewarrina in western New South Wales, chosen by their Elders to care for their country. They’ve been protecting sacred sites, caring for kin, and fighting fires.
An all-Indigenous firefighting crew, matched this effort, the Gunaikurnai women, the all-Indigenous, all-female firefighting crew of the Lake Tyers Brigade, fighting to protect family, community and sacred land.
That’s the spirit of our nation on display.
Fighting fires, caring for people, tending animals, helping others, not counting the cost.
Our volunteers understand that the best lives stem from making a contribution, rather than taking one.
As my late father John taught me through his own life’s example, life is about what you contribute not what you accumulate.
We have so many liberties and as Australians, they are only exceeded by our individual responsibilities to make Australia even stronger.
The spirit of the volunteer understands that our nation’s greatness lies not in the great buildings behind me here, but in the strength and vitality of the thousands of local communities that together make up our incredible nation.
A sum greater than its parts.
And all of these communities are dependent on the strength of the families and individuals that make up them up.
These bonds are not found in the compulsion of governments, but the autonomy, self-expression and sovereignty of local people.
That is what our volunteer spirit serves - our communities, and the families and individuals they comprise.
They serve us all. That is why I’m so pleased to announce on this special day that Australia’s brave fire, police, ambulance and emergency services volunteers and workers, along with Defence Force personnel and reservists and overseas personnel who came to our aid, will be eligible to receive a medal in recognition of their service and sacrifice during the current bushfire season.
The National Emergency Medal will honour the selflessness, courage and sacrifice that we have all witnessed this summer.
Ladies and gentlemen, our national identity which we celebrate today is not a negative or exclusive tribalism.
Rather, it is the positive identity that comes from living a life as a good citizen and who thinks and believes in something greater than their own self.
This is the greatness of Australia. This is the strength of Australia.
This is our secret. This is why, as Australians, we prevail.
Because of that, our instinct as Australians has always been to look over the horizon.
To look to the hope that is there, that we know is there.
It is why we are hopeful even during difficult times.
And we are so because of the example of those, as I said, who have come before and those who are there today - who dream big, work hard, and think of others rather than themselves.
And because of them, we have been granted to us this amazing country that we claim today as Australians as our own.
The best place on earth.
Happy Australia Day!
Remarks, Australian of the Year Recipients Morning Tea
25 January 2020
Well, g’day everyone. Welcome to the Lodge, and I particularly want to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people. I'd like to acknowledge elders past and present and pay my respect to them and in particular, those who are emerging. And can I acknowledge all other Aboriginal peoples from right around the country because many have gathered here today and it's so wonderful to have you here at this residence.
Can I also acknowledge those who have served us in our defence forces and indeed serve us today and simply say to you as we approach Australia Day tomorrow thank you for your service. And as I'm sure you would agree, you would also want me to acknowledge all of those who are out there today right around the country, volunteering and supporting communities as they fight fires and they support those who fight fires on this, another difficult day as we have had so many over this very terrible summer, a devastating summer.
On behalf of Jenny and I, can I welcome you all. Can I particularly also welcome Danielle Roach, who's done such a wonderful job and in bringing you all together and the wonderful program you lead, Danielle, you do an absolutely amazing job and we are so pleased with the work you do around these important awards and Australia Day. To Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, our first ever Indigenous Indigenous Australians Minister, it's wonderful to have you here with us today, Ken, and thank you for the great work that you do to my Assistant Minister, Ben Morton, who's been very involved with all of this process. Great job, Ben. And can I thank also Carly Brand for the work that you've done around bringing everybody together for these 60th Australians of the Year awards, which is a very important milestone.
As I said, Australia has had a tough summer and it's not over yet. So our gathering this year is tinged with sadness as well as congratulations to those who have gathered here today to recognise your tremendous service to our country. And that service, I think, speaks of the resolve that in the short time that I've had this morning to speak to quite a number of you, that resolve which has driven your dedicated service. We have lost 32 lives, 3,000 homes and more. So much of our wildlife and so much of our landscape. But the resolve to stand by each other and to stick with each other in these times and in the months that will be ahead and always we will rebuild and we will come to terms with what was lost. It was around a year ago that I stood with some of those who are here today up in North Queensland in the devastating floods that wiped away a generation of work of those who run properties up there right across North Queensland and built up an enormous heritage. And they are rebuilding. They are rebuilding. And those who have been so affected by these terrible fires, they will rebuild also and Australians will stand with them as they do that.
We've seen Australia's character again in these times and it is strong. We have seen what makes Australians great and we've also seen in that greatness the love that Australians have for each other, their country. It's in that spirit that I welcome you today with Jenny, because our Australian of the Year Awards are a celebration of our country's character. It's when we come together to tell the stories of who we are, particularly at this time that we discover again a fresh and encourage ourselves about the wonderful character and stories of Australia.
He's a few stories that some of you are very familiar with. In New South Wales, Professor and orthopaedic surgeon, Munjed Al Muderis, seven times now he's taken teams to his former homeland to help the victims of a conflict that he fled, paid out of his own pocket. And he has also educated other surgeons in complex, vital procedures.
There's Victoria's Archie Roach, known to most Australians, I'm sure, whose music has captivated us for decades with messages of love, reconciliation and healing. He's been a true advocate for our First Australians, our First Nations people.
There is Rachel Downie from Queensland. How good is Queensland, Rachel? Rachel channelled - this is so true of so many of the stories that I read about Australian service - channelled the grief she felt after losing one of her students to suicide in 2009 to create and self-fund Stymie. For those who don't know, Stymie is an anonymous harm reporting tool for students and in 2018, schools receive more than 40,000 notifications nationwide.
Over in the West, Annie Fogarty is also involved in education. In her case, she spent the last two decades together with her husband, Brett, leading the Fogarty Foundation and investing in education programs and teachers and by extension, the communities. What's more, Annie's EDvance program has helped students from lower socioeconomic communities get more support and better results.
And across the border in South Australia, Dr James Muecke has been a pioneer for blindness prevention. After starting his medical career in Kenya, James has done some incredible work here in Australia and worldwide, particularly through the Sight For All organisation he co-founded. James’s work not only treats blindness, but also helps tackle poverty and disadvantage.
Our nominee from Tassie, Dr Jess Melvin Thomas is an internationally renowned marine and Arctic and climate scientist. Now with the CSIRO, Jess is focused on sustainability and bridging the gap between complex research and decision making. And beyond that, though, she's a flag bearer for women in STEM and a co-founder of Homeward Bound, a project that saw an all-female group travelled to Antarctica as part of a leadership journey in 2016.
And here in the ACT, Katrina Fanning, who I was with just earlier in the week as the meeting of Indigenous Peak Groups came together, where she is a leader in working on Indigenous issues. But she also is a woman's rugby league pioneer, another subject close to my heart, opening one of our great codes to women, not just here in the ACT, but by extension all throughout the country. And she's done that for a quarter of a century. A proud Wiradjuri woman for indigenous women.
And finally, there's Geoff Thompson, Geoffrey Thompson from our top end. Geoffrey is an ex-RAAF flying doctor and he's seen a lot in his time. Back in 1974, he oversaw RAAF’s efforts to evacuate Darwin following the devastation of Cyclone Tracy, despite losing his own home. And he stands here with us today. In later years, he'd use his own plane to travel to remote Indigenous communities to offer general medical clinics and as a sports medicine specialist, Geoffrey has been the chief medical officer for the Paralympic athletes since 2008.
Some good stories, some great yarns. Well done to all of you, to Munjed, to Archie, to Annie, James, Jess and Katrina. Thank you on behalf of a grateful nation. And of course, we are joined by the many other 23 nominees, our local heroes, our senior Australians, our young Australians. Like our country, you are a diverse group - researchers, educators, advocates, volunteers, fundraisers, sportspeople, environmentalists. You've looked out for others.
Earlier in the week, my father passed. He loved Australia. And he would love you all because you've been building the country he loved. You've helped make Australia a better place. You've made us proud. You would have made him proud. And I know the family members and loved ones who are here with you today are as proud.
Right now is a difficult time for Australia and we draw strength from you, from your example, from your courage, from your compassion. We draw strength from those amazing volunteers who are out there today, selflessly serving. Their courage, their generosity. How good is Australia?
So on behalf of Jenny and I and all Australians, I say thank you and I say congratulations. I hope you enjoy this day together. Despite the background of what we meet together in today here in our nation's capital, it is a very special time for you and your families and all those who have worked with you and supported you.
So take that time to just reflect and understand how you've made our country better. Thank you.
Remarks, Traditional Water Blessing Ceremony
25 January 2020
Well, thank you so much, especially to you Aunty Agnes. Thank you for welcoming my family and to Ken and to Ben and to his family as well. Can I particularly start by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people and I acknowledge their elders past and present and emerging as well, which we are so excited about. The emerging young Indigenous leaders that are there that I have met all around the country and I think fill you with hope and I think fill the nation with hope about how they see the future and how they see a future together. And it is wonderful to provide that acknowledgement here today.
This gathering, that we are having for the second time, I am very appreciative, because it is an opportunity for my family and those who have joined us to stop and reflect as we go into an important day tomorrow. And to reflect on the many centuries and thousands of years of ancient Indigenous culture which is so inseparable from the land and it was always be inseparable from the land. And so in coming here today, what I am seeking to do with my family and my ministers and their families is to seek to try and connect with that and it has been wonderful to experience it this year in a different way again and to connect with the language that is so much a part of how that culture sits and connects with, understands and helps us interpret the land of this wonderful continent in which we live.
In recent weeks and months, we have once again learnt how ferocious this land can be and earlier this week, I met with the coalition of Indigenous Peaks. We spoke about many issues that are important to closing the gap and closing the gap, as Ken and I speak of, not from the perspective of where government sits and sees where the gap is but trying to understand the gap from the perspective of Indigenous Australians and how you see the gap and what the gap is and how we work together to close that gap. Not from governments telling others how the gap should be closed but how we can close the gap together and the most important gap to close is the one that you see and that connects and brings Australians all together in the way that we must.
But particularly over the course of these fires, we have been reminded of the wonderful care that Indigenous Australians have for the land. Whether it be the wonderful group that Ken wrote about earlier this week the Indigenous female bushfire brigade in East Gippsland that turned out for the, I think, eight or nine of those who have been charged up in Brewarrina and Bourke as custodians of the land, not only to protect as firefighters but the cultural places and this is something that has been done for thousands and thousands of years. And this week we stopped and we thought about the fires and how for Indigenous Australians this brings another element to the great crisis and disaster that we’ve lived through over these many months and we understand that when the land suffers like this, Indigenous Australians understand that at a level the rest of us can only try and understand.
So that’s what today is about. Today is about us trying to understand together. To listen, to learn, to expose our understanding to things that we need to know more about. And so it is a simple gathering today, it’s not a large one, it’s not intended to be. But it’s meant to be personal. Because the only way that we can continue, I think, to come together is if we engage these issues in that way - in good faith, in good spirit, as fellow Australians who love each other and love the land on which we live. And if we can get an inkling of the understanding that the Indigenous Australians have for our land and how we can care for it in the future, whether it’s how we face and deal with disasters or how we care for it more generally, then all Australians will be much better for it.
So I want to thank you again for welcoming us here today and the wonderful spirit in which you have received us. It is very touching. Can I also thank you for your very kind regards regarding the sorry business of my father. It is a difficult time for our family but Indigenous Australians know better than any how to comfort each other in times like this. So thank you so much, it is greatly appreciated.
Australian of the Year Awards
25 January 2020
Thank you very much. It's wonderful to be here. Earlier today I was with the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners of this land to show my respects, along with Jenny and my family, and to reflect on 60,000 years and more of Indigenous custodianship of this wonderful land. And so I want to begin tonight by acknowledging all of our Indigenous peoples. They have cared for this land before anyone else. I pay our respects to them all and I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people in particular, elders past and present and the future. I also acknowledge our veterans and our serving men and women of our defence forces and I say thank you for your service.
Normally at this event, we look to our nominees as reminders of lives of service over self, generosity over selfishness and a willingness to show courage in the face of adversity. But tonight we need no reminder. Because beyond these walls to the south, to the north, to the east and the west of our great continent, thousands of volunteers are fighting fires and reminding us what it means to be a citizen of this great nation. They, like the nominees here tonight, are demonstrating to us that our national story is one of great achievements, but also of pain, of effort, sweat. There is prosperity and there is struggle and it is a story of a people grappling with the most tenacious yet most beautiful continent on earth.
Through this long summer we have seen the unquenchable spirit of Australians. Australians rallying to each other, be they family, friends or indeed strangers. A summer of countless good deeds, great sacrifice and yes, terrible loss. Some known, some not known, but all profound. Thousands of firefighters, including those who will never return home. 3,000 army reservists who took up the call, packed their kit and left their homes. Communities, church groups, service groups who man shelters, make meals, lend a hand. Vets, wildlife workers who tended our gorgeous wildlife. And the kids of this country who gave away their pocket money to help the fireys.
These are the acts that touched us as a nation. The pharmacist in Malua Bay who stayed open so people could continue to get their scripts despite losing his own home. The Army of Angels truck convoy made up of farmers, mechanics, tree loppers, beekeepers, delivering essential supplies across Victoria. The all-Indigenous, all-female firefighting crew at East Gippsland. It wasn't the first time. They previously fought the Black Saturday bushfires all those years ago. And one of their vehicles is a piece of artwork that's simply called ‘Working Together’. That is a motto for our times.
These are the stories of who we are, of what makes Australians Australian. And that is also what we celebrate tonight as we gather to honour and to name our Australian of the Year and the many other recognitions tonight. But I'm sure, having met with them today, that all of our nominees would agree with me tonight to share that time with all of those who have so selflessly served during this past year.
So tonight I say to all the heroes, not just to the bushfires, but the floods of a year ago and our terrible drought that has ravaged our country - you are all Australians of the year. Once again, this year's nominees embody a good and generous and courageous group of people who I have had the privilege to meet. You've explored new ideas, you've broken new ground, you've inspired, you’ve led and you've lived out the best of Australia's values.
So just let me congratulate you on behalf of Jenny and I and to thank everyone nominated tonight and their family and their friends whose support they have received over so many years. You've done tremendous work. You've helped make Australia an even better place and we're so proud of you all. Thank you for everything you've done for Australia.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
23 January 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you ladies and gentlemen, I’m joined here by the Chief Medical Officer Dr Brendan Murphy and of course the- the chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell. There are a number of updates that I want to provide and they'll be providing further details in each of their areas and I will make some other points about the assistance and support being provided to charities in relation to the bushfire crisis.
And of course, I've just come from a meeting with the Coalition of Indigenous Peak Bodies, led by Pat Turner. And I want to thank Pat and all of those who were able to join me there for what has been a very important meeting as to how we're continuing to work together to close the gap. The big change that has been occurring in policy and outcomes that we're working to, for indigenous Australians is they are now looking at this gap from the perspective of indigenous Australians, not from the perspective of governments, but listening to indigenous Australians about those gaps, where they are, how wide they are, and the policies and the responses that are needed from the perspective of indigenous Australians and the coalition of indigenous peak groups has been invaluable in their partnership with us to go about that work. And that work will go forward to the Council of Australian Governments. We are working with indigenous Australians all across the country, but it was a very productive meeting and there were particular initiatives about data collection, but also in the area of early childhood education. There were discussions around issues of housing. It was a very comprehensive meeting. And again, I want to thank Pat Turner for her tremendous leadership in the way we have been completely turning around, the way we are approaching this issue of closing the gap and ensuring that we're doing it from the perspective of indigenous Australians, from their view, how they're looking at those gaps and how we can overcome them.
But moving on, let me make some important points today about the coronavirus. Now, I know that Australians will have concerns around this issue and particularly those who may have elderly parents and those others who are more susceptible to these types of things. And I just want to provide you with some assurances about the information we have available to us now. And Dr. Murphy will take you through some of the more specific issues about the nation's preparedness, both at a commonwealth and a state level. This is a rapidly evolving matter, and we're obviously taking advice from the World Health Organisation. But after consulting other government agencies in the states and territories, the Department of Health is undertaking evidence based, proportionate, additional measures. The national incident response room where I visited yesterday has been stood up within the Department of Health and has been activated in response to this outbreak. A human coronavirus with pandemic potential was added as a listed human disease under the Biosecurity Act of 2015, enabling the use of enhanced border measures. Flight MU 749 from Wuhan has landed in Sydney Airport this morning. All passengers on this flight have been greeted by biosecurity and health officials and receive information about the virus on arrival. And if they have symptoms of an infectious disease, they will be assessed by NSW Health. Additional information will be displayed at all major international airports. And you saw some of that yesterday when I was with the CMO, and at all major international ports around Australia with instructions on what to do if travellers have symptoms or if symptoms develop. DFAT has updated the Smart Traveller travel advisory for Wuhan. So let me be clear, it's for Wuhan, not China as a whole. But just for Wuhan, to reconsider your need to travel to Wuhan. That was updated this morning after receiving further advice overnight. The Department of Health is also preparing updated advice for doctors and other health professionals in Australia and we’ll be providing advice on the Department of Health website and to peak organisations for circulation. The Department of Health does not currently recommend mass screening of passengers at airports, including thermal scanning, due to the limited evidence of effectiveness of those measures. And I'm sure Dr Murphy can add to that. There are over 10 million protective masks in the national medicine stockpile and there have been no confirmed cases, I'm advised, of the virus in Australia. So the Government has moved quickly. The Department of Health, the Chief Medical Officer working closely with states and territories to ensure the necessary precautions are being put in place. The scale and level of of risk on the coronavirus is something that I'll allow the CMO to speak to directly. But it's, I think it's important that we continue to get good information. We go about our normal course of business. But just being aware of those risks and to the extent that they are there and you're in a situation where you might be more in a risk profile than others, then appropriate precautions are taken and the treatment services are available.
Going to move to the other matters. And then I'll ask both the CMO and General Campbell to respond further. And then you can, they can take questions along with myself. The other thing we’re announcing today is that on the 7th of February, that will be 28 days of continuous compulsory service for reservists. When we called out the reservists on a compulsory call out earlier this month, they were advised that they would be deployed for those 28 days of continuous service and beyond that as required. I want to thank all the reservists and their employers for their rapid response. We went from some 890 deployed people through the Defence Forces back in December to over six and a half thousand in a matter of weeks. And that has been an extraordinary exercise conducted by our defence force. And I think General Campbell and General Ellwood and all the team that have been working so closely on this. It is making such a big impact on the ground. I saw it first hand again yesterday when I was at Batlow and at Tumbarumba inspecting the medical unit that was there, but also seeing the work that was being done on road clearances and support for agricultural producers in those areas. It has been an outstanding effort that I think has not just had a practical impact, but really lifted the morale of communities that have been so devastated in the wake of those bushfires.
As a result of decisions we've taken today, we're going to now move into the next phase of Operation Bushfire Assist, and that would mean the compulsory call out provisions will terminate on the 7th of February and that those recommendations will be made to the Governor-General. The compulsory call out of reservists is a power that should be used sparingly and in a limited fashion. And we are treating this call out in exactly that way. The power remains to further call out into the future should that need arise. But it's important that we use it in a very limited way, and that's exactly what we've done. Now, I want to stress absolutely that this does not mean in any way, shape or form that you're going to see any, any significant change at all in the level of the Defence Force deployment to support the recovery effort with these bushfires. We're just simply moving into a non compulsory call out phase for reservists. Many, many reservists, thousands of reservists will continue to provide ongoing support in their roles on a voluntary capacity as part of the operations they're already involved in. And the General Campbell will be able to take you through how that will continue on into the future. We know that this risk, that these fires and the recovery effort, which requires the deployment of Defence Force, will be needed for months and months to come. And that's what the Defence Force have been planning for. They've begun the consultation in communities as to their ongoing role. And I saw this on the ground yesterday. As you see local contractors starting to come in and doing the work, which involves road clearing. And that means the defence forces can move on to the next task. And we can see that local effort now start coming in as communities rebuild themselves. This is important for the revival of these local economies as well. The recovery process is very important in actually supporting the local economies. And so where the defence forces have been urgently needed, they have been there. They have been clearing past. They have been dropping fodder as they continue to do today. In particular, the run that was done from W.A., a tremendously generous effort from our friends and fellow Australians in Western Australia that has now made its way to the East coast. And that's being assisted with its deployment by the defence forces over the next few days. So this is a new phase of the deployment, but the intensity of effort and the response to need at the direction of of the of the defence forces remains in place. We are here for the long term. We are here for the recovery. The Defence Force will be here, day in, day out supporting that effort.
Now, another matter which I know has attracted a lot of attention, indeed was raised in the roundtable we had both with the charities last week, as well as with the national peak organisations on Friday that I convened here in Canberra. And today, the National Bushfire Recovery Agency is having further engagement with those charitable groups. It is very important that the funds that have been raised by charitable groups through the generosity of Australians obviously get to people as quickly as it possibly can. We are working with the state governments to assist the charities to do just that. They were very clear in the meeting I had with them last week that they want to honour the trust that has been put in them. These are the charitable organisations that Australians have always had deep trust and respect for. The Salvation Army, the Red Cross, St Vincent de Paul. These are trusted, respected, good-hearted organisations that have proved themselves in so many disasters, and that's why we rely on them. This disaster is of a very large scale and we are working with them to support them, to ensure that they can get more support out to the places where it's needed. What has been worked on as a response of the work the roundtable we had last week is the Commonwealth has been building a database capability which would enable charitable groups to access that, to know all of those we've been able to support in these communities. Now, that's around about 50,000 people and about $60 million that has already come out from the Commonwealth to go to those individuals into those communities. The state government in New South Wales in particular is also working as part of this process to support the charitable groups to get that support to where it's needed. There is a constant process of communication to identify priority needs through the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, but also with the state governments. So our message is very clear. We want to encourage the charities to get that support to where it's needed as quickly as possible and the Commonwealth and the state governments are working together to give them every assistance we can to help them with that important task. But I know that we are very appreciative of all the work they do, of the volunteers they themselves have within their own ranks that are in recovery centres, that are in communities, that are there to help people in a time of need. And so it's about working together to help them do the job that they do so ably.
Can I just move to one last point, because I imagine it is an issue that some of you have noted, and that's on the issue of the labour force data today. I'm very pleased to say that the unemployment rate has come down to 5.1 per cent. We welcome that and I can say that unemployment now is lower than it was at the 2019 election, the 2016 election and the 2013 election. And over 1.5 million jobs have been created over the course of the last six years since we first came to office. So I welcome those figures. I also welcome those figures as they relate to youth unemployment. Keeping our economy strong is the basis to ensure that as a government, we can continue to provide the support and essential services that Australians need, whether that's the National Disability Insurance Scheme, whether it's the support for mental health and our towards zero goal on suicide or indeed the unprecedented response we're making to these national disasters and other challenges that we face as a nation today. With that, I'm going to ask Dr Murphy to provide some comments on the Coronavirus and I'll ask the CDF, the Chief of the Defence Force, to do the same on his areas and then we'll take some questions on that. And I'm sure there are other things you'd like to raise with me as well.
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, Prime Minister. Just a little bit of extra information on top of what the Prime Minister has said. The Chinese authorities have now confirmed that there are 571 cases of confirmed coronavirus infections and 17 deaths. Those data are not surprising. We know that over the last week we're getting a significant feed of data as the Chinese authorities get on top of some of the historical and retrospective data. This is what we expected to happen. The other developments are that the Chinese authorities have now stopped transport out of Wuhan city, including after the flight today to Sydney, there'll be no more flights from Wuhan city we're being advised, nor will there be other transport out of Wuhan to other parts of China. So that threat of direct flights from China after today's flight, which the Prime Minister said was met by biosecurity officers, New South Wales health officials and I'm pleased to report just on the way in that no ill passengers were found on that flight. So we still, of course, there'll be people who've been in Wuhan city in the last few weeks or month when the disease has been circulation, who could come to Australia from other cities or other ports. So we continue to provide enhanced advice at every port of entry, both airline and sea and others. There have been no reported confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Australia as yet. There will be on a regular basis people who might be suspected that the state and territory health authorities will investigate. If we do find a case, we are extremely well prepared. Every one of our state public health departments has a designated isolation facility and clearly established protocols to get people to those facilities. The tests are being sped up at the moment. It's still taking one or two days to get a confirmatory test. We're getting much more rapid tests on the hand. And at the moment, as I said, there are no confirmed cases. So we are watching this development. The World Health Organisation had a meeting last night and they haven't yet declared this a public health emergency of international concern. But they are meeting again in the next 24 hours to reconsider that position. We are meeting again with all of the state and territory health officers this afternoon and tomorrow to discuss, make sure that we have good information, good shared information. We are well-prepared and are keeping a very close eye on this, so I'll leave it at that. Thank you, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. General Campbell?
GENERAL ANGUS J. CAMPBELL, AO, DSC, CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE: Thanks, Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister has said, we are seeking through the Minister of Defence, Senator Linda Reynolds, to the Governor-General, the revocation of the call out order effective on the 7th of February. I anticipate personnel in the reserve who have been serving under continuous full-time service will start to transition from that service on and from the 1st of February. I anticipate that those personnel will typically have served for 28 days of continuous full-time service. As the Prime Minister also noted, this is in no way either the end of reserve contributions to the ADF’s Operation Bushfire Assist, nor indeed to the ADF’s continued efforts. All those who have been participating through a call out mechanism are invited to consider if their circumstances allow a call for volunteers to continue to serve as reserve members within Operation Bushfire Assist. And indeed, that invitation is extended more widely to all members of the reserve across Australia whose circumstances might allow them to continue to serve in Operation Bushfire Assist or to start their service of Operation Bushfire Assist in a voluntary basis. The Australian Defence Force is working through our joint task forces in New South Wales, in Victoria, and in South Australia, Tasmania in close cooperation, in complement and under the direction of state and territory authorities to ensure that effort in relief and early recovery is focused where communities require it. We will continue to be doing that and we will be engaging with communities to understand when rightly we lift off in specific roles or specific locations because of the return of commercial or local capabilities or because tasks have been completed and it is now better to wait our efforts elsewhere. I want to emphasise to you all, please, that you should see this as an appropriate transition in the form of service being invited of our reserve component, not a change to the effort being offered by the Australian Defence Force to assist in this time of national bushfire concern. We are also, at any point, well able across the Force, to lift the rate of effort or to redirect that rate of effort as the bushfire season continues to unfold and we come to see whether more substantial and catastrophic circumstances re-emerge or not. And that will continue to be the case throughout the next coming months. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, General. Questions both to Dr Murphy and General Campbell as well as I on the matters that I've announced. Jen?
JOURNALIST: General Campbell, there is an emergency situation unfolding right now near Canberra Airport with the fire situation reaching Queanbeyan. Is the Defence Force currently assisting with firefighting efforts down there?
GENERAL ANGUS J. CAMPBELL, AO, DSC, CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE: The Defence Force is both assisting to a degree and looking to whether that needs to be reinforced. Those fires have, as you know, just emerged in the last couple of hours. I have people who are both involved as persons who need to be moved from areas and office buildings that are potentially in danger and also those persons who are part of the bushfire assist effort,. An unfolding situation.
JOURNALIST: And aircraft?
GENERAL ANGUS J. CAMPBELL, AO, DSC, CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE: Our aircraft are available wherever that need might be required.
JOURNALIST: General, have you worked out at all how much the extra effort of the military contribution to bushfire assistance is going to cost in terms of the paying of reservists, the deployment of assets and things like that?
GENERAL ANGUS J. CAMPBELL, AO, DSC, CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE: We're working to understand those figures. But this what the Defence Force is for, to help Australia.
JOURNALIST: Are you going to need an additional appropriation for your operations budget?
GENERAL ANGUS J. CAMPBELL, AO, DSC, CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE: I think that's an interesting question, perhaps for another time.
PRIME MINISTER: The Finance Minister and the Defence Minister are working through those issues but I should stress that the support we've provided through the Australian Defence Force and I should say in addition to that category A, B and C assistance in the disaster recovery payments and the disaster recovery allowance, that is all being funded from within the Budget and I should stress without a levy. There was no need for us to apply a levy because of the way we’ve managed the nation's finances and on top of that, you've got the $2 billion recovery fund and the deployment of that I've gone into some detail about over the last week.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned trust with charities. How can Australians and people from around the world who have donated to the Red Cross for fire only to be told that it could be used for cyclone or flood response down the track trust charities and will you commit to reviewing how that money is handled when it’s coming in such big volumes in very specific incidents like the fires?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, I’m not going get ahead of the issue here in this sense. We're working with the charities for them to fulfil their obligations and to those who have made donations and how they can best get them the support that they have to those families, to those people where they need it. That's, that's my focus at the moment. I want to help them do the job they're doing and in every way we can assist them to do that and there's been an enormous amount of work done over the last week to give them that the technology tools, the database, the information, to be able to direct them to people who need that assistance. And I know the New South Wales State Government in particular is working on proposals to assist them with that. See, right now, I just want to get the support to where it needs to go and all of the charitable groups are part of that effort and they have conveyed to me personally in the meetings we've had their commitment to maintain the trust. And so it's for them to follow through on that and I'll be looking for from the charitable organisations as they work with the Commonwealth Government, as they work with the state governments, to be able to give us clear indications about how they're getting that support to people, because we need to coordinate with them as well. It's as much an operational issue as it is a trust issue because it's all about getting help to people who need it.
JOURNALIST: Just on Wuhan. There are still outbound flights from Sydney travelling to Wuhan. Are there any concerns that we're sending people potentially into areas where the infectious disease occurring? And secondly, the incubation period for the illness takes some time.
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Correct.
JOURNALIST: Might we be receiving people who are, in fact, ill that we don't know about?
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: It is always possible that we could have or received people, there could be people incubating the virus on that plane today. That's always a possibility in any disease of this nature. That's why our response at the borders has been as much about detecting people on the flight, but is also telling them that if they become unwell in the next week or so, in the next couple of weeks, to contact their doctor and tell them that they've come from Wuhan. That is the most important thing. We're providing that information to every doctor in the country today, all the health facilities. The biggest challenge is finding people who may have come during an incubation period and developed the disease. If they do, it's not a big issue. We, as I said, we've got really good systems to quickly isolate, test and quarantine people.
PRIME MINISTER: Doctor, you might want to, as you've advised me before, the risk of this virus and how that compares to some more serious strains that we've seen in the past.
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Sure. So at the moment, whilst the evidence is still evolving and we don't have a complete picture, there are clearly a number of mild cases of this condition. We believe that there are likely to be more than the 571 confirmed cases because we believe they're are mild cases that haven't been diagnosed. So whilst there is a mortality, not a high mortality, a mortality of 17 people so far, they've likely in many of them have been people with existing chronic diseases or comorbidities and so the early evidence at this stage would suggest that it's not as severe a disease as SARS or MERS. But we don't have the final picture yet and we're watching it closely. But there are clearly mild cases.
JOURNALIST: And just on the outbound flights issue?
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Well, the city of Wuhan is now trying to ban all transport in and out. So I think that will be solved, too. I think the Chinese authorities are really trying to isolate that city. That's a developing issue at the moment.
PRIME MINISTER: And that's why we changed the travel advisory today, based on that advice overnight.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] communicate directly to you that they are…
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: No, we haven't had formal communication. Our communications so far is that the Chinese authorities are locking down the city and trying to stop all traffic out and in. That's what we’ve heard so far. But that needs to be confirmed.
JOURNALIST: People can still travel to Wuhan, there are still flights available, but the city is trying to…?
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: The city has stopped... my advice is that the city, the Chinese authorities, have stopped all flights leaving Wuhan. I have don't have up to date advice on what they're doing with incoming passengers, but we are advised that they are trying to cut down all traffic in and out.
PRIME MINISTER: I wouldn't be suggesting people travel there. That's what the travel advice means.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, did you meet with Michael McCormack and…
PRIME MINISTER: Before we move to those other issues, while we've got the CMO and the General here let's deal with those issues. But I'm happy to come to those. Any other questions?
JOURNALIST: Yeah a question to the General. HMAS Adelaide is leaving the New South Wales coast today. I believe there is still sort of fire danger in the area today of extreme heat. Is there any particular reason why it services are no longer required?
GENERAL ANGUS J. CAMPBELL, AO, DSC, CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE: It's heading back to port in Sydney. But as you'll appreciate with our naval assets, all of which are on very short notice to move, it can be redirected at any time and indeed, we'll be maintaining amphibious sea capability to support the bushfires as might be required throughout the bushfire season. Right now, it's not seen as being as well utilised as other elements of our contribution through road and air capability. So that's why and I want you to think of this as a very dynamic operation. We move our assets to get the best effects in particular circumstances and as circumstances change, we change the way we're employing our Force. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Is there a test for the virus yet?
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: There is a test for the virus. At the moment the test is a two-faced test. It's an early test for pan Coronavirus to say it's that type of virus and then the labs are sequencing the DNA. So that takes a couple of days, but within days we'll have a specific one step test that will be done in less than a day and our labs across the country are developing that. But there is a test at the moment and we're getting a quicker one.
PRIME MINISTER: And I think there was one more to General Campbell?
JOURNALIST: General, the reservists who do want to stay on in a volunteer capacity, are their jobs still protected?
GENERAL ANGUS J. CAMPBELL, AO, DSC, CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE: They would have to engage with their employer. So those provisions, both of compelled service and protection of employment, change in a voluntary setting. So each would engage with their employers to understand their arrangements. And could I say that Australian businesses, employers all over the country have been extraordinarily supportive of the call out. And also of voluntary service of our reserve, not just for the bushfires, but for many, many years. I deeply appreciate it. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister-
PRIME MINISTER: Ok thank you very much, General. Thank you, Dr Murphy. Yep?
JOURNALIST: How does the jobs and unemployment rate change the debate around stimulus for the economy?
PRIME MINISTER: It's always our job, and it's always our focus to continue to strengthen the Australian economy. Before the end of last year, you were aware that I'd been working closely with the states to bring forward about $4 billion dollars worth of infrastructure expenditure. And I was pleased that we were able to get that moving and that, that will now be rolling out, particularly over the balance of the course of this financial year. These are important projects. They were projects that were already part of the Government's program. And to be able to get the moving is something we're pleased to be able to do, similarly the very significant investment we're making in bushfire recovery, that will also have a positive impact on the ground, but it obviously displaces the many negative aspects. And you would have seen the reports in relation to the lower visitation now expected in the tourism industry. So there's a lot of swings and roundabouts in all of this. The Australian economy continues to grow in the face of significant international and domestic challenges. And so our plan, which is to ensure that we continue to engage international markets, that we continue to invest in our skills performance, that we invest in our infrastructure, that we operate under low taxing environments. All of this is designed to ensure a stronger economy, because without it, you can't get unemployment down and you can't put yourself in a position to be able to fund the sort of recovery assistance we're putting in place in relation to the bushfire crisis, as well as to keep investing in the important projects we have in essential services like disabilities and mental health.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister I understand you had dinner at the Lodge last night with some of your colleagues. Was Bridget McKenzie's future discussed? And was she present at that dinner?
PRIME MINISTER: No, she wasn't there. I mean, I dine with the Treasurer and the Deputy Prime Minister regularly. You'd expect me to.
JOURNALIST: Does Senator McKenzie need to resign?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, as you would have seen in the statement that was issued yesterday afternoon, last Friday, I referred the matter of the Auditor General's report to the Secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet to consider any matters there that were relevant to the statement of ministerial standards. Yesterday, there were further matters relating to disclosure that were reported, and I immediately referred those matters also for the consideration by the Secretary. That process is important, has been put in place on many of these occasions simply to ensure that there's a consistency of application and assessment in relation to these issues, and it's the right thing to do for me to seek advice on those matters. And I'm awaiting that advice and I'll wait for that report.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister could you advise whether Senator McKenzie declared on her personal register of interest that is held by your office that she held a membership in the [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well again, there’s a process in place to look at all of those matters and we’ll report on those matters once the Secretary is in a position to.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] spoken to?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I haven't. I haven't. I've allowed him to do it independently. And so I'm not putting any pressure on him one way or the other. I mean, he needs to do his job. That's why he's there. And I have confidence and trust in his abilities. And he will, I'm sure, get under this task as he has now since last Friday. In a, in a timely way. But he needs to assess it thoroughly and follow proper process.
JOURNALIST: If that assessment finds that she wasn't in breach of the Ministerial Standards, would you expect her to resign, given she's a Nationals Minister? You aren’t in a position to sack her are you?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me make two points. First of all, the reference of this matter last Friday to the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet was done with the full knowledge and acknowledgement of the Deputy Prime Minister. I also advised the Minister at that time, the referral yesterday of those other matters was done in concert with the Deputy Prime Minister, and he was fully aware of those matters at that time. And we have worked closely together on these issues as you would expect us to within a coalition. But I'm not going to prejudice the outcome of that report. I think that would be unfair to that process and to the Secretary. I'll let him do his job and then I will look at that advice and take whatever action is necessary.
JOURNALIST: Do you stand by the contention that you and your ministers have been making over the last week that she's done nothing wrong, that no rules have been broken?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they were quoting the auditor general's report.
JOURNALIST: Why does Bridget McKenzie still have a job, given how scathing that auditor general’s report was?
PRIME MINISTER: Well this is why these matters have been referred to the Secretary. And I'm following that process. I said at the time, as you'll recall, that I took these matters very seriously. I took the auditor general's report very seriously and we are acting on the recommendations of that report. And as to how that report and his findings reflected in any way on the statement of ministerial guidelines and indeed what were a very different set of matters, very, very, very different set of matters which were reported on yesterday, which was new information. Then it was important that they were similarly referred. And so I'll await that advice.
JOURNALIST: Will the investigation known to these matters look into any interactions between your office and the Minister's office?
PRIME MINISTER: This is a report on the statement of ministerial guidelines and the matters I’ve referred to them. But there are no issues there.
JOURNALIST: What role did your office have in administering those grants, in deciding where they went?
PRIME MINISTER: Prime Minister's, and my office will refer matters that are put forward to us, advocacy for various programs from local constituents and members. That is the normal course of events. The matter and the program was administered by the Minister and Sports Australia, not the Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST: Why did it take until yesterday for you to say that Senator McKenzie had been referred to Mr. Gaetjens when I think on Monday you were happy to mention that you have referred it to Christian Porter, the Attorney-General?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that was in response to a question. And what I referred to yesterday was in response to inquiries from the media.
JOURNALIST: There was reports this morning that one club was given $8,000 dollars through this program. There's no- that club has been placed into liquidation and no one knows where the money went. Sports Australia is trying to claw that back, are you concerned about the operation of this grants program if things like this are occurring?
PRIME MINISTER: What I'm pleased about is that hundreds of sporting bodies all across the country who put forward eligible projects were able to get support for those projects and that they have a government that cares about the sporting infrastructure and communities. Because I've got two daughters. I don't want them changing in the car, or out the back of the shed. I want them to have access to sporting facilities in our community like the boys do. And sporting infrastructure is central to the functioning of Australian communities. That's where people come together and that sporting infrastructure engages participation of people of all ages to ensure that they can live healthy lifestyles and be functional and part of their communities. And this program was designed to support that infrastructure, that enables them to do the wonderful work that they do. The auditor general's report has been completed. The Government is following up and actioning the recommendations of the auditor general's report, and any of the other matters that you've raised. I have referred, properly, to the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet for review in relation to the statement of ministerial guidelines. And I will await for him to complete that process properly. But if you’ll excuse me now, I have some family matters I have to attend to.
Thank you very much.
Remarks, Indigenous Peak Bodies Roundtable
23 January 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Welcome everyone. We’re just still waiting on Anne, I think Anne might have been delayed this morning, I know she’s been very active in dealing with matters particularly out in the Adelaide Hills and on Kangaroo Island and I hope we will see her shortly.
But to you, Pat, and to everyone, thank you for co-chairing this today, Pat, and the Ministers and my team who are here today. It's wonderful to be having the opportunity to do that, this get together this week. I will say a bit more about that in a second, as I know you will, Pat. But first of all, can I ask Cindy and Katrina to provide the acknowledgement of country.
CINDY BERWICK, PRESIDENT OF THE NSW ABORIGINAL EDUCATION CONSULTATION GROUP: Thank you. Prime Minister. I'd like to acknowledge that we are on the land of the Ngunnawal people, seven clans made up the Ngunnawal nation and I’d like to acknowledge my ancestral homelands of the Woolobaloah clan in the Yass area just over the border. My father was born on the Pudman Creek Aboriginal Reserve and my great grandmother is buried over there in the Yass cemetery.
So I'd like to say, Yirradhu marang. Yuwin-dhu Cindy Berwick Ngunnawal yinaa ngay yuranha mulunma Sydney. Dhalang yarra Wiradjuri gulbarra miyagan-dhi. Ngunnawal mayiny -ngan.gu ngurambang-ga nginha ngan.girra dhurinya gayi yindyamarra.
[Translation: Good morning. Name I Cindy Berwick Ngunnawal woman but grew up in the inner city of Sydney. Today I speak Wiradjuri acknowledging my kinship ties. I’d like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people and pay my respects.]
KATRINA FANNING, CHAIRPERSON OF THE ACT ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ELECTED BODY: I too would like to pass on my respects to the Ngunnawal people on whose land we gather today. It’s important for us to acknowledge that this place has always been a gathering place for the meeting of clans and discussing significant business. So it’s important that we take the time this morning to continue that protocol on such a significant gathering of people.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much. I also acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, elders past and present and of course, emerging and in the future. Because so much of what we're discussing today is the future that we all, I know, are committed to and share a vision for.
I have a very simple goal and I suspect we all share it. And that I want Indigenous boys and girls to grow up with the same opportunities in life as every other Australian. At least. At least. And we have such a huge job, which has been the task of governments for many years, and I think today is another step in that process. Pat, I want to thank you for your partnership in all of this. It was over a year ago when we met and closing the gap is so important. But we also, I think, need to look at this task, as Ken has often reminded me, about the progress we are making as well. It's not about addressing a negative as much as it is about gaining a positive into the future. It's a process of hope that we're seeking to address here and I want to thank Ken for the way he has led us within the Government about our thinking about these issues and the unique perspective that he's brought to our Cabinet in his historical appointment. He's shown enormous insight to all of us in helping us to understand the challenges that we face.
So as we go forward today, it is about partnerships and there are many partnerships with Indigenous communities all around the country. Those partnerships, probably more important than anything, exist at that local level on the ground, with people working together on the ground in communities for the future of their communities and everything builds from that. And those who have gathered around here, at the table today, come from those Indigenous communities, are involved in local communities as well as national responsibilities. And our approach as a Government really is to build that partnership from the ground up with Indigenous Australians all around the country. And of course, the national peaks represent an important partner as well in being a partner especially in service delivery in so many important areas and the big shift that has taken place in the last year or so is we’ve also taken through the COAG process - and Pat, you've been such a champion, I appreciate your support in this - is to turn this issue around. Closing the gap isn't about what the government says it's going to tell the country to do, from the top down, and tell people what the gap is. Now, this is a gap that we all acknowledge and that we all define together and Indigenous communities define and Indigenous communities define the priorities. And then we work together to close the gap in where you see it, not from where we see it, as a government. So understanding what that gap is from Indigenous communities is terribly important to my government and today is a really important opportunity to work it out, that process through more thoroughly and how in the partnerships we have with the peak organisations which are service deliveries. But there are many others, there are PHNs and other service providers that exist in different places which also have an enormous role to play, which I know you understand, Pat, and you support. But our partnership with the peaks is also very important in driving this process.
So I want to thank you for coming together today. But more importantly, in the spirit of which it's done and I look forward to what I believe will be some very useful discussions today in how we are taking this forward.
PAT TURNER, CEO OF THE NATIONAL ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY CONTROLLED HEALTH ORGANISATION: Thank you, Prime Minister. Thank you Katrina and Cindy for your acknowledgements of country. Thank you, Prime Minister, for your welcome and for the invitation to meet today. It is an historic day. Never have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies from across the country come together in this way, to bring their collective expertise, experiences, and deep understanding of the needs of our people to the task of closing the gap. And never have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, through their elected community representatives, had a formal agreement with governments on how we can work together to close the gap.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to change the lived experience of too many of our people who are doing it tough. We know that over many years, our people have lost faith in the closing the gap policy. It wasn't delivering the changes needed and year after year, failure was reported and people disengaged. Governments too lost faith, seemingly contented with the reported failures.
There was no longer any ownership for closing the gap. The coalition of peaks are rising to the challenge. We acknowledge the Prime Minister's leadership in bringing the Council of Australian Governments to the collective task. Since September last year, with formal engagements led by the coalition of peaks, nearly 4,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have now had their say on what is needed to close the gap. Today, the coalition of peaks brings those voices to the Cabinet table.
Thank you again, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you Pat, as I ask the media [inaudible], and Pat and all the peaks in working to the task in responding to the national bushfire crisis that we’ve had. We sat in this very room last week together, and I thought that the piece you had out there today, Ken, spoke volumes about the fire service, the Indigenous female fire service, in Victoria. It was a beautiful story about just the effort that is being required across the nation in response to the bushfire crisis and how Indigenous Australians, like all Australians, have been at one in responding to this terrible challenge. And we know, as you reminded us last week, Pat, the quite specific impact on Indigenous communities, particularly in remote parts of especially New South Wales and Victoria, who have been impacted by this crisis. And we thank you for the great work you’re doing with us and with the state governments in particular to progress their needs.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
20 January 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm, of course, joined by the Treasurer and the Minister for Small Business and I’m also pleased to welcome the head of the Business Council Australia as well as the head of COSBOA. Big business, small business, working together, supporting each other. And the announcements we're making today, which have already been reported in today's press, go to one of the most significant areas we've been working on as part of our response to the national bushfire crisis. We've seen it envelop so much of the country over the course of the past week and more, we've been working closely with the business community to identify the priority needs they have, to rebuild local economies from the ground up. And we want to thank all of those who've been such an important part of that consultation. I want to thank Michaelia Cash for the work that she's done with the Treasurer, working with the state governments to ensure we can get these most immediate areas of assistance in place as quickly as possible. But you've got to get the design of it right, and you've got to get it ready to go. And that's what we've been working on over the course of the past week.
The National Bushfire Recovery Fund was set up just over a fortnight ago. In the course of the last fortnight, we have made commitments now well over half a billion dollars with the overwhelming majority of that to be spent before the 30th of June this year. That is an enormous investment in the response and recovery efforts that we're putting onto the ground, to assist these local economies recover. That began with our investments in local councils, some $60 million dollars investment in those local councils to ensure that they can meet those most immediate needs, well over a week ago. That was followed up by investments in mental health support of some $76 million dollars, $50 million dollars going in to support the recovery of wildlife. There was another $100 million dollars which was just announced over the weekend, which is going to the cleanup costs contribution of the Commonwealth to ensure that all private residential and commercial sites in the bushfire affected areas will have their cleanup costs paid for by the Commonwealth and state governments so that those who have been affected in those areas can build from that clean slate, whether that's with their existing level insurance, and if they're under insured, then that means their insurance is going to go that little bit further. This was something that was done after Black Saturday, and that was something that was shared 50/50 between the federal government, the state government. And we're pleased, very pleased to have that same arrangement in place. And the offer is also on the table for South Australia and other states, should they wish to take that up.
Payments have been going out the door. And tonight, over 20,000 children aged under 16 will have that additional $400 dollar payment. As I said, we'll be rolling out from today. That will be happening over the course of this week. Over $50 million dollars worth of disaster recovery payments have already been made and to over 40,000 Australians in these affected areas. Now, just to give you an idea of the scale of that, work has been done by Emergency Management Australia, that in New South Wales and Victoria alone, the population in those areas of the country that have been directly impacted by what are described as the burn scars of this natural disaster, they have estimated that population at the last census of in the vicinity of around 65,000 people. So when you think about the number of people that have received those payments, we've been getting the money to where it needs to be.
Another important part of what we've been doing is trying to get greater alignment between what our charitable sector is doing, what the Commonwealth government is doing and what the state governments are doing. There has been an enormous outpouring of generosity, whether it's to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul and many other charitable groups, wildlife groups in particular. And those groups have told me very clearly that they intend to honour the trust that's been put in put in them in handing that money over to be put to the best use available. And we're working together with the state governments to ensure that everybody in those charities, particularly the major ones, has access to find out who needs the support most so we can get that support to them, whether that's an emerging need, which is in accommodation in a lot of these areas that was identified late last week. And the roundtables we're undertaking as we move on, as several weeks from those most horrific fire days with people moving back into communities. And we've got quite a number of people going back into Mallacoota with the airlift of- being done by the defence force, of people returning to that community and ensuring that their accommodation needs can be met. So this is a comprehensive response.
On the weekend, we also announced the $76 million dollars for the tourism response. Now, this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, I would say the biggest challenge the tourism industry has had in living memory. You'd have to go back to things like the collapse of Ansett and the airline pilot strike of many, many years ago to get somewhere even close to what we've seen happen as a result of the broader impact on bookings, not just in the bushfire affected areas, but right across the country. And so the response of $76 million dollars, $45 million directly and in promotions and advertising, teaming up with industry to get people moving around the country again, direct support into little communities like Narooma, where there's going to be an oyster festival that comes up in a few months time, that $10 million dollars we're putting into those local tourism associations is designed to support exactly those types of events. When we heard of the Narooma Oyster Festival from the Deputy Prime Minister just last week, it was important in crafting our response that we knew that those types of events would get the support from what we're doing. I tell you this because I'm trying to communicate that we are going to a very granular level of detail in delivering this support on the ground where it's needed to be done. Now, today, the small business package, which I'll ask the Treasurer to go into more detail on, and the Small Business Minister, as well as Tim Reed from the Business Council and Peter Strong from COSBOA, has one key objective, and that is to understand that the biggest crisis that those small businesses face right now is their cash flow. And we need to try and remove every burden from their cash flow right now so they can get to that first step. The first step is the hardest when responding to the crisis, to get yourself up off the mat, to actually be able to look forward and say, my business has a future. My town has a future. And what these payments and what these supports are designed to do is to help small business get to that first step to see that they can get to the other side of this. And the Commonwealth government, the state governments, the big businesses, large businesses, local economies and communities are going to work together to rebuild their local economies. And for that to happen, the local businesses have to rebuild. So there's bigger grants, there's big loans with zero interest to be paid over the first two years. There's tax concessions and arrangements which will take the pressure off their cash flow. And we think this will have a significant impact.
This is initial and it's additional. It's not the last word we're going to have on this. There are many other things that we will be considering. But what's important right now is getting this support out the door. This support will be assessed and administered by state governments, as is always the case for these types of payments, as is the case for the $75,000 dollar payment from for farmers, graziers and primary producers. And this will further add to the reboot of the local economies. So with that, I'll hand over to the Treasurer and the Minister for Small Business.
THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Thank you, Prime Minister.
Small businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy, and nowhere is that more apparent than in regional communities. The cafe, the butcher, the baker, the sport shop, the corner shop, indeed, the mechanic. They're all integral to not only the economic activity and employment in these small regional communities, but they're also critical to the social fabric of these communities. And last week, the Prime Minister, the Minister for Small Business, and I sat down at a roundtable with representatives of the small business community, and we heard firsthand from them about their needs in the wake of these bushfires. We heard from small businesses who couldn't afford to keep their staff on, who had mounting bills to creditors for stock that they never sold. That had mounting bills and interest payments for new equipment that they had bought, for customers that never arrived. So, as the Prime Minister said, our priority is to ensure that these businesses remain viable and sustainable and can continue to be part of these communities well beyond the recovery period and well into the future. So today's package comprises a number of measures. There's a grant of up to $50,000 dollars for those businesses that have been damaged by the bushfires. And this will enable these small businesses to get back on their feet. There are loans of up to $500,000 dollars, both for those businesses that have been directly impacted, but also those that have been indirectly impacted. And this money will help go to meeting their wages bill or leasing a new premises, helping to pay their creditors and helping to replenish the stock that may have been damaged in these fires.
These loans will, as the Prime Minister said, be for up to 10 years in duration, the first two years are interest free. Thereafter, the interest rate will be at half the 10 year Commonwealth bond rate, which is at 0.8 per cent. This is of substantial benefit to these businesses with their working capital, but also to rebuild their businesses after the damage that they may have sustained in these bushfires. A third component relates to the tax measures that the commissioner for Taxation is implementing. We've been in discussions with the ATO and for small businesses their quarterly BAS payments for the December quarter will now be due on May 28th. This is a number of months later than would have otherwise been the case, and this builds on earlier announcements by the ATO that will also assist households get through this difficult period.
There's also going to be a small business hotline that will be established by the government and will be up and running by the end of this week. This hotline in the first instance will provide a portal, an opportunity for people to get direction as to the various government loans and grants that are on offer and this was something that was raised in the roundtable last week. There will also be 10 trained financial counsellors who will be able to assist these small businesses with some of the economic decisions that they need to take to remain viable. This is a comprehensive package. It's part of, as the Prime Minister said, a range of initiatives that we have announced with more than half a billion dollars already committed by the Commonwealth over and above what is already available to people for disaster recovery payments and allowances in categories A, B and C. This will make a real difference on the ground because not only have homes been lost, but also small businesses have been lost and we want them to continue to employ people, to continue to be viable well into the future.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Josh. Michaelia?
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS: Prime Minister, Treasurer, this package responds directly to the feedback the government has been receiving from small businesses in the fire impacted areas, but also more broadly in the greater areas. I'm really pleased that today we're also joined by Tim Reed from the BCA. Tim's going to address exactly what big businesses are doing to help small businesses in need. But also Peter Strong from COSBOA who can talk directly to the feedback that he's receiving from the ground. In terms of the feedback that the government has been receiving we've been in talks now with small businesses, affected small businesses, for many, many weeks. We also, as you know, had the small business roundtable last week. We had over 70 representatives from small businesses across Australia. In fact, the desire was so great to participate in the conference that we had almost 30 people from disaster affected areas phoning in so they could give us their feedback. The package that we are presenting today responds directly to small businesses and what they have told us they need. As the Prime Minister said, the most important thing the government can do for small businesses in these communities is to get them back on their feet.
Small businesses are the lifeblood of the Australian economy, but in particular when it comes to small communities, they are well and truly the lifeblood of these small communities. So as a government, we need to ensure that they have the capacity to get back onto their feet so that they can continue in business and supporting these communities. And that's why we have the grant relief available to small businesses in the disaster affected areas. And then, of course, more broadly, the feedback in relation to those businesses who may not be in the disaster declared areas, but have been impacted by the fires and in particular in relation to loss of income. This is where we're directly responding to their needs with the concessional loans of up to half a million dollars, but also having the ability to get that financial assistance that is really acute to small businesses. We're going to also be providing those financial counsellors that the Treasurer referred to. And just in relation to the tax relief, we were told by small businesses on the ground they just need some breathing space and that's why we're now deferring the payment or the lodgement of the income tax return and the BAS statement until the 28th of May this year, we're going to give them that breathing space that they tell us they require. But also what we're putting in place is local economic recovery plans.
So we'll get those small businesses back on their feet. But then, as the Prime Minister has said, we are going to work with those communities on the ground so that they can build back better. And certainly the feedback that we have received on the ground from the fire affected communities is that they are going to embrace the opportunities presented by the local economic recovery plans to well and truly build back better. So it's small and family business, the lifeblood of the Australian economy, but really exemplified in terms of the lifeblood of rural and regional communities, Prime Minister.
Thanks, Michaelia. Can I ask Tim and Peter now to join me. Thank you, Tim. I'll throw to Tim first and first, can I just say thank you to the Business Council, Tim, and the large businesses, which I know have been doing a lot over the last few weeks in particular to take some of that burden off your small business partners and really appreciate the strong cooperation we have from BCA.
TIM REED, PRESIDENT OF THE BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA: Thank you, Prime Minister, and thank you everyone for joining us today. Perhaps before commenting on the initiatives that big business has been undertaking, I would just like to take a moment to recognise everybody who's been involved in terms of frontline response to this crisis. It is, you know, doesn't go past any of us, the people who are out there every day putting their lives on the line and those that are supporting them, many of whom are employees of many members of the BCA. And I'd just like to, on behalf of businesses big and small, thank them for all the efforts they have been putting in. The Prime Minister absolutely hit the nail on the head. Very quickly, past the emergency response, there is going to be a cashflow crisis that many businesses that are operating in this area are going to face. And that isn't something that government is just thinking about, it's very much something that big businesses are thinking about.
Business big and small, thrive together. There is an ecosystem at play here and when one part of that ecosystem is weakened, all parts of that ecosystem are weakened. And so through our members, we've been working on multiple initiatives to try and make sure that big business is responding. Firstly, working with members to make sure that they are waiving or deferring debts and payments wherever possible. Whether it's a power bill, whether it's a phone bill, whether it's a software subscription, right across our membership, we've been looking at clients who are in the impacted areas and what we can do to alleviate the pressure on cash leaving their businesses. Of equal importance, however, is, of course, cash coming into their business. And in that sense, we have multiple members and are encouraging not just our members, but businesses right across the nation who owe money to a business in an impacted region, not to wait until it's necessarily due, but to pay it as soon as possible, because those funds coming in right now are going to be critical to businesses, as the Treasurer said, making payroll in the coming weeks.
We are also encouraging all members and businesses across the nation to look at how they can get in and support economic activity in these local regions. That means holding sales conferences. It means holding management offsites. It means getting in there and actually making sure that the cash registers in these local businesses are turning over and turning over as quickly as possible. Post the immediate cashflow need, however, there is going to be an ongoing commitment that business across the nation have to rebuilding these communities. Communities only thrive when their local economy is thriving. If there aren't jobs in these local communities, if there aren't businesses that are operating there, then what we've seen in the past when these disasters happen is the community just frays and shrinks. That's not what we want. We want these communities to be built, rebuilt. We want them to be rebuilt bigger and stronger than what they are today. And the BCA is very much committed and our members are very much committed to ensuring that is the case. To achieve that, Sir Peter Cosgrove has volunteered his time to head up an initiative that we're calling the Community Rebuilding Initiative and this is aimed at matching needs that specific businesses have in those local communities to things that our members can supply. It might be right now that that is simply providing jobs to people who have lost jobs because a local business has shut down. And Sir Peter is going to be setting up mechanisms so that our members can do the best to make sure that we create those employment opportunities. It may also be that it is a supply of a certain specific need, whether it be temporary facilities, whether it be certain goods or stock that they can't get because there was inventory that was lost through the bushfires. Again, we're providing a direct line from small business in these local communities into our members who will be able to respond to that quickly and meaningfully.
Finally, we're also fundraising and those funds are going to be able to be targeted at helping business, which many of the relief agencies under the Charities Act are not able to do, but also to rebuilding the local community halls in these areas, because we know that often they become a focal point for the local community. And in doing so, we'll be creating employment in these local, local areas. So let me just say again, Prime Minister, we appreciate the challenge that has been put out to many small businesses in these regions. Big business tends to have a geographic footprint that means we're not as geographically focussed in the performance of our business. And that does mean that there is an opportunity for us to step up and to make sure that we are here side by side with the relief agencies, with governments, local, state and federal, making sure that we're doing our part to to rebuild these communities.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Tim. Peter?
PETER STRONG, CEO OF THE COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS AUSTRALIA: Thank you very much, And congratulations Prime Minister, last week was extraordinary. The roundtable, the gravitas, the history that was there, of course, becomes meaningless unless something happens in the announcement today, is very welcome. Half a million dollar loans. We know not every business wants half a million dollars, but they can have it if they want it. I think they've got to jump through a few hoops, they've got to make sure that they follow the rules, there’s no drama is there. That is very welcome. We were hoping to get $20,000 dollar grants and we've got $50,000 dollars. So you can't complain about that. We know it's complicated. The states are the ones that are responsible to take this out and take it out to the communities. And this is very difficult. You're going- each community is different from each other. We know that, you've listened to people, you know yourself, as does the Treasurer. Communities are different. They're full of different people. And this is a response that will get down to that level. And let me say to the BCA, I got a phone call from the BCA out of the blue saying, ‘Peter, we're going out, we're telling our members to pay their bills and pay them now’. So it wasn't something we requested, it was something that was thought up from big business, greatly appreciated and greatly appreciated what's happening there. We do know that big business and small business have a few barneys, and we do, our competition policy… a couple of things like that. Well it’s happened, I know, but most things we don't- we need them and they need us. And the relationship is at times feisty. The consumer wants it to be like that to get good prices and services. But we work together and we cooperate. We've signed an MOU doing that. So, so important that people know we do disagree, and we're going to publicly do that. And we do agree and we publicly do that. This crisis is a moment when we have to do that. We have to come together. The government is certainly facilitating that. And we will get out there and talk to our members and make sure our members understand what's going on. I know Michaelia’s office has already received, I think 7 or 8 phone calls today from business people saying, where do I get this loan? And that's coming through Parliament House. So the sooner we set that up, the better. And I've got to say, the other good thing is we are continuing to talk and we have to do that because the local economic development part of this is the key. The best thing you can do for a worker is open the business. To do that, we need to come together and congratulations to the government and big business for doing that.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Peter. I'm happy to answer questions.
JOURNALIST: There’s a lot of money being spent on the bushfire recovery, which the Prime Minister has said take precedence over the surplus. And we know the bushfires are going to be hampering the economy, but is it fair to say it's unlikely that you will deliver a surplus in May?
TREASURER: Well, the overall economic impact could be varied. We do know that obviously those communities have been absolutely devastated and that has impacted on everything from tourism to to household consumption. And the full economic impact will- is yet to be seen. But we also know that the Australian economy is very resilient. We've withstood comprehensive and damaging drought. We've seen the trade tensions between the US and China play out. We've also seen the uncertainty generated by Brexit. And I'm pleased that a few of those issues look much more positive this year than they did last year. But our focus is not on the surplus per say, our focus-
JOURNALIST: - but you’ve outlined some challenges, do you think it's likely you will deliver a surplus or you won’t?
TREASURER: Look, I'm not in a position to give a firm answer to that question because the full economic impact is still uncertain. But what I want to say-
JOURNALIST: -If you don’t deliver a surplus, and you said you don’t know whether you will, isn’t that breaking a core election promise given you went to the last election with the back in black, saying you’re back in black, you went to the last Budget saying you were back in black when you weren’t, if you’re not back in black?
TREASURER: Greg, let me just make one clear point. What we went to the Australian people, was with a commitment to live within our means. Now the Budget is back in balance for the first time in eleven years. What the Australian people know is that when you are responsible economic managers, you have the financial flexibility to respond to crises and economic shocks whenever they may occur. This is one, this is a time when the Australian people know that their government is there to spend on the things that they need most. And the announcements the Prime Minister has already outlined are the most comprehensive and the most immediate of a federal government financially to a crisis such as this. And that's why responsible economic management is so important.
JOURNALIST: Could we take the easier question, could you give us, Treasurer, an overall figure for this financial year? This financial year, of the commitments that the government has made so far? An overall budgetary figure that is.
TREASURER: It's $500 million. So- it’s $500 million. As we said, we said this at the last press conference that we foresaw that $2 billion dollars, which was our initial and our additional contribution to this national bushfire recovery fund, would have an allocation of half a million dollars in 19/20- half a billion dollars in 19/20, 500 million in 19/20. Now, obviously, some of these programs are demand driven. So it's above that. It will be, it will be above that. And then the rest of the allocation will be over 20/21 and 21/22.
JOURNALIST: And the announcements of the last couple of days have added to that?
TREASURER: Well, of course, they’re added-
JOURNALIST: They’re within that $500 million envelope?
TREASURER: No Michelle, well in terms of that, they are under that half a billion dollars in terms of 19/20. But that number will continue to go up as a result of additional announcements that we are making, as the Prime Minister also indicated-
JOURNALIST: So the $500 million is a minimum?
TREASURER: 500- the way the numbers are playing out right now, $500 million dollars is probably going to- an estimate and probably lower than what will actually go out the door. But as you would understand, these are demand driven programs. And I want to make this very clear. You've got the $2 billion dollars for the bushfire recovery fund. And the Prime Minister pointed to a number of announcements that are within that fund for example, the wildlife initiative, the mental health initiative, the tourism initiative, the primary producer grants up to $75,000 dollars, the grants that we've announced today, and loans. But on top of that, you have commitments under categories A, B and C where we continue to see money go out the door, as a result of our commitments to a comprehensive disaster recovery response.
JOURNALIST: Mr Reed, would you like to see the government do more- would big business, like to see the government do more to tackle climate change?
TIM REED, PRESIDENT OF THE BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA: Let me take the question on the Budget first, and then I'll certainly be happy to speak about climate change, because I think it is an important debate that is being had here. If you look back in December, the BCA put out our Budget submission. And in that we said that unless exceptional circumstances arise, we believe that the Budget should be back in a surplus, for 8 years the BCA have been calling for the Budget to be returned to surplus, but even in that document we said, other than in exceptional circumstances, I don't think there's any doubt that we are now in exceptional circumstances. I think if you look at the package that the government announced today for small business, it is absolutely the right thing to do. Many small businesses in these regions make 100 per cent of their profits between Christmas and Easter. Now, you cannot understand the fear that will be going through those people's hearts and minds at the moment as they are standing there looking at the rest of the year, where money goes out of their business, where they have this one moment, this one season each year where money comes in. And so, you know, from the BCA’s perspective, let me make this just very clear on the Budget. We believe that a Budget in surplus is important because we believe it gives the nation the opportunity to respond to circumstances like this when they arise. And we do believe that these are exceptional circumstances. And while we would love to see the Budget in surplus, we would not like to see it in surplus at the expense of these local communities. So I just-
JOURNALIST: What about- I'm sorry, what about climate change? Would big business like to see the government do more?
TIM REED, PRESIDENT OF THE BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA: So climate change is a large and and vexed issue across our community. And I think you've seen that and you've seen it in recent days. The BCA has a very well stated climate change policy which says we believe that Australia as a nation should be driving to meeting our obligations under the Paris Accord, of reducing emissions from the 2005 level by 26 to 28 per cent by 2030. We are, in the BCA at the moment, going back and having a look at the policy around how that is achieved, what are the mechanisms that should be encouraged to make sure that we do hit that obligation. Because the science moves forward at quite a rapid rate. And so I don't want to pre-empt what is going to be done by the work in that committee, which will be done over the next few months. But let me be very clear. We believe that the nation made an undertaking under the Paris Accord, and we believe that undertaking should be met.
PRIME MINISTER: Tom? Tom, and then Jen.
JOURNALIST: Do you regret saying on AM this morning that the New South Wales environment Minister didn't know what he was talking about when it came to climate change?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't. What I said is, he didn’t know what he was talking about in relation to what was going on in the federal Cabinet. That's what I actually said. So I think I’ve answered the question. Jen?
JOURNALIST: Do you endorse your ministers running parallel grants programs and spending taxpayers money for their own political gain?
PRIME MINISTER: I endorse ministers running programs that change local communities for the better by ensuring they have the sports infrastructure they need to ensure that young girls and teenage girls don't have to change in their car or out the back of the shed and that they have the facilities in their local community sports grounds and that's what that program was designed to do. I take the Auditor-General's report, as I said earlier today, very seriously, and we're acting on the recommendations of that report and to address the issues that it's raised.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this morning you didn't rule out you or your office having any role in the approval or allocation of those sports grants. Will you do that now?
PRIME MINISTER: I think you've misrepresented what I've said this morning. What I've said is that the Prime Minister's office has always relayed on representations made to it by its Members. That has been what every Prime Minister has always done in relation to any program. The Minister was the one making the decisions on those grants programs.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] being targeted at marginal seats then?
PRIME MINISTER: I just simply said what the process was.
JOURNALIST: Are you considering adopting a net zero emissions by 2050 policy?
PRIME MINISTER: You'll be aware that in the Pacific Island Forum we made a commitment to review that issue over the course of this year and that will certainly be done. But I'll tell you what I won’t do. I would never commit to something like that if I didn't know what was going to cost Australians. And what troubles me is that there are plenty of people at the moment who will go out and make a glib promise about that and they can't look Australians in the eye and tell them what it'll mean for their electricity prices, what it will mean for their jobs, whether it's in north Queensland or in Western Australia or in the Hunter Valley. Now, if I'm going to answer that question, I'll answer it and be able to tell you what I think the impacts would be in those places. So that is not the government's position at the moment. That is not the government's position. I said I would- I gave an undertaking at the Pacific Island Forum that that would be a matter of the government review this year and that's what the government will do.
What I notice is the Labor Party are going around saying they're going to commit to this and just like at the election campaign, when they were talking about 45 per cent emissions reduction targets and they couldn't tell people, what did it mean, what did it cost? Here they are again, doing exactly the same thing, going for all the big statements about what their commitments are and not able to tell Australians what that will mean to them. I'll tell you what I'm going to do - we're going to meet and beat our emissions reduction targets, which are set, as Tim just mentioned, at that 26 per cent level. And I'm going do it without increasing people's taxes with a carbon tax. I'm going to do it without pushing up their electricity prices. And I'm going to do it without wiping out important sectors of our economy upon which this nation depends, and particularly in regional communities, for their very living. That's the policy I took to the election. That's what I'm going to continue to do. That's the faith I am going to keep with the people of Australia to get emissions down and to keep our economy growing strongly for the future.
JOURNALIST: The states have made similar commitments to net zero emissions by 2050. Are those glib promises, including in those Liberal states?
PRIME MINISTER: That’s for you to work out and you should ask them that question. We’ve got two guests here on small business and I’m happy to address all these other issues as you know I always am. But if there are any questions to Peter and Tim I’m sure they’re happy to take them. Otherwise I might excuse them. Are there any questions to Tim?
JOURNALIST: You talk about the ecosystem and how important is the business to be part of the ecosystem. Could big business be a better part of the ecosystem by paying more tax?
TIM REED, PRESIDENT OF THE BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA: So big business pays a significant amount of tax in this nation already. I think one of the things that we've got to understand is when big business makes investment decisions, they are investment decisions that are made after the tax consequences of them. And what we believe at the BCA is that Australia needs to have a competitive tax regime to attract global investment. Big businesses are able to invest and choose where they invest and it's very important that Australia continue to have a competitive tax regime. If you look at the 28 going on 29 years of unprecedented economic growth that Australia has had, for the majority of that time, our tax rate has been towards the middle of the OECD. We do not believe that Australia needs to be a low tax environment because we think there are other great reasons for businesses to set up and to invest in Australia. But we do get concerned when the corporate tax rate gets too far away from the OECD average. And so our very clear policy is that every single business should pay all of the tax that is due. We believe that businesses that are part of the local community have an obligation to pay tax in the local community. But we do get concerned when the company tax rate goes too far away from the OECD average. We've been very clear on that policy for a number of years and continue to maintain it.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I thank Tim and Peter.
PETER STRONG, CEO OF THE COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS AUSTRALIA: I'll make one more, please, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Please, Peter, by all means.
PETER STRONG, CEO OF THE COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS AUSTRALIA: We’ve just got to remember that people out there, hundreds of thousands of people out there that need the benefit from these packages. So out there, they won't care about these things. They may when they come out of the crisis they're in. But we've got to get to them with all the support. We've got to get to them with the information, with the mental health support, so important. And this is going to continue for some time. So I think it's good to focus on big picture issues, but it's what the people out there are focussing on is their lives at this moment.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Peter. Good commonsense advice.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said you’re looking at legal issues associated with the sports grants program. Would that potentially look like a retrospective change to the law to justify those grants? Is that even possible?
PRIME MINISTER: No. What I'm simply saying is that the report raised a number of issues in those areas, and I've asked the Attorney to look at them.
JOURNALIST: Would you change the law to justify them?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to ask the Attorney to have a look at them and then he'll come back and give some advice about the matters that are raised in the report.
JOURNALIST: Bridget McKenzie routinely overruled her own government... her own government department’s advice about these and selectively chose sporting grants in electorates that you were targeting in the election. Do you not see anything wrong with that?
PRIME MINISTER: The Minister took decisions which actually increased the number of Labor held seats that actually received grants. The Minister took decisions which the Auditor-General has confirmed were to ensure that only eligible projects received funding and that no rules were broken. Now, this is in stark contrast to what Catherine King did and what Ros Kelly did, where they were found to have actually made payments and grants to ineligible projects. So there is no complementarity between those two circumstances. The Auditor-General's report is a very serious report. We take it seriously. We're acting on the recommendations. And what the Minister did was to actually ensure that more Labor seats actually received funding under the grants program than they would have otherwise done under the recommendations and the advice that was provided by Sports Australia. Now, I stress that Sports Australia cut the cheques and authorised then those payments based on the decisions that were taken, which were done in accordance with the rules.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, did the Cabinet discuss a possible Royal Commission and what was the progress made towards that if it did?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we had a very lengthy Cabinet meeting, it was our first face to face meeting this year. We'd had one which included a phone hook up last week, obviously, to address some of those more immediate issues around the bushfire crisis that the government has been responding to. We canvassed a whole range of issues this morning, Michelle. You know, it's not my habit to go into the details of Cabinet discussions in any detail. But as I said in the interview with David Speers over a week ago, that I would be taking forward a proposal. I am working that through with Cabinet colleagues and particularly with the Attorney-General. And I said I would do this in consultation closely with the states, in particular the premiers in the most affected states. And that's exactly what I'm doing. But let me be very clear about where the focus is and this isn't the urgent priority, because as Peter said before, the urgent priority is the implementation of these grants and these many other programs that we're putting in place now. And frankly, that's the focus the states have too. So we are not spending an enormous amount of time on this issue at the moment.
But in broad terms, what we're interested in finding out is where is the crossover point where we were able to move to a position in January of this year where we instructed the defence forces to actually move and integrate as opposed to respond to requests. What that meant was that in December, we had 890 Defence Force personnel directly involved, boots on the ground, in responding to the bushfire crisis in December. After we made the decision in early January to initiate, to move on our own initiative and to move and integrate with that bushfire response, which included the first compulsory call out of the reservists in relation to a bushfire crisis that I understand from the advice of the Chief of the Defence Force, Australia has ever done. That figure is now over 6,500. So that is a completely different level and scale of operations in terms of the Commonwealth involvement. What we need to understand is what the best way to handle those issues in the future is.
JOURNALIST: Do you need a Royal Commision for that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, given that we have taken the current deployment to the absolute extremes of constitutionality, Michelle, then I think if you were to consider the establishment of emergency powers, emergency powers for Commonwealth action that would most likely in all cases require state referrals of powers, then I think a Royal Commission would very much assist that case if that is indeed was what they recommended. I think that would be very helpful.
JOURNALIST: Couldn't you do that just through COAG negotiations?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think the case would need to be made for such a change, Michelle, and there have been many organisations, including the Greens, which have called for a Royal Commission into all of this. And they've gone a bit quiet on that since some I seem to agree with them. But a Royal Commission would be very focused on what that federal-state interaction should be in the future and I think that would be very helpful for the states to have that looked at as much as it would be for us. But as I also said, it has to deal with the other practical issues of preparing for Australia, which is hotter, which is drier and for longer in these seasons. And the resilience and response we need and everything from hazard reduction and vegetation management, control burns, particularly using potentially Indigenous practices more than we do in the current arrangements, land clearing laws, all of these things. I think Australians coming out of this bushfire crisis as we go into the next season will want to know how they can be safer facing the next season and safer facing the next season, I think, goes to all of those issues which I've just outlined. So we will proceed in a timely way. We will consult with the states and territories, in particular, the states most impacted. And I've already had a number of discussions with Premier Andrews and Premier Berejiklian about this. They've been very constructive. We're working closely together. And I think that will mean that by the time we go into next season once again, because it was true this year, once again, every season we face, we face more prepared than the last one. And you only have to go back to those horrible events of over a decade ago with the Black Saturday fires. The lessons learned from those fires have saved lives in these fires. I've seen that. I've seen it with the practices and the technology and the procedures that have been put in place, particularly at a state level, and that has saved lives and we need to keep saving lives for the way we prepare in the future.
JOURNALIST: Mr Frydenberg, Matt Kean has said that Cabinet ministers have approached you and said they're concerned about the government's approach on climate change and you need to do more. Is he right?
THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: He's wrong. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much.
Remarks, Small Business Roundtable, Australian Parliament House
14 January 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Can I, first of all, thank all of you for coming today at relatively short notice. Can I particularly thank those who are on the call today because you are in the fire-affected communities as we speak and can I thank you for the incredible jobs you are doing on the ground during a very difficult period. There is a lot of anxiety, understandably, there are a lot of questions I think people have, and I think the people sitting around the table today, as well as those who are on the call, are in a position, I think, to work through many of those answers as to how we ensure that Australia responds to this bushfire crisis as it is extended across so many state borders in a way that is consistent with the great spirit of our country. We are a country of overcomers, we are a country of great spirit and nobody, I think, demonstrates that tremendous spirit and passion and enthusiasm than the small business owners and operators of this country. They have a passion which is extraordinary but it is a passion that I know would have been under extreme threat and extreme challenge as we work through these terrible circumstances on the ground and it’s important that you are able to know that the Federal Government, state governments, local governments, large businesses from around the country, whether they be large retailers or banks or others, are all working together to look at everything that can be done to ensure that our small business communities in these local economies are able to rebuild and restore and be able to move forward.
I’m joined today by the Treasurer, he is going to run through a couple of things and he will be followed, I understand, by Coordinator Colvin who is leading the Recovery Agency. I want to thank the state authorities who are here with us today as well. This has been a partnership with state governments right from the start of these fires back in September in Queensland and I want to assure everybody that whether you’re in one of those communities that has been most recently impacted in south east Victoria or south east New South Wales or you’re up on the north coast or mid coast of New South Wales or you’re at Scenic Rim in Queensland or you’re over in Kangaroo Island where more than half of Kangaroo Island has been burnt, or in the Adelaide Hills or even parts of Western Australia which have also been affected or indeed on the eastern coast of Tasmania. This is a bushfire season that has touched all of the country and the measures that we have been working on and we want to consult today, we are in the middle of a fairly extensive small business package. I have just, with the Agriculture Minister, announced our agriculture package which is payments of $75,000 to primary producers, to farmers and graziers, which is consistent with the response that we provided up in the North Queensland floods and that is also ensuring a level playing field too with what is being provided on the ground in each of the states and territories under the Category A to C assistance. Much of that Category A to C assistance is already rolling out but the Category D assistance, which is fully funded by the Federal Government, is what the Treasurer and I and the Minister for Small Business and Coordinator Colvin and David Littleproud, the Minister, are working together on at the moment as there has been a lot of consultation with the sector. I want to thank those representing the sector that have been doing that with us, as well as our state counterparts as well. So with that I again want to thank you for your strength, I want to thank you for your commitment. Most of all, I want to thank you for your hope and for your optimism because that is something that small business people have in large doses and we want to fill that hope tank up again for small business. We want them to be able to see the bright future that enabled them to first commit to starting a small business in the first place in these wonderful parts of our country and we want them to be able to rekindle that enthusiasm again and see how they can get through this and we’ll get through it together. So thank you very much and I appreciate you all spending the time today. Josh.
THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Well, thanks Prime Minister, thanks Michaelia. Small business is the engine room of the Australian economy and nowhere is that more clear than in local regional communities. The Morrison Government’s response to this natural disaster has been comprehensive and immediate with the establishment of the National Bushfire Recovery Agency. The initial and let me emphasise additional $2 billion we have already committed, as well as the comprehensive call out of Defence Force Reservists and personnel. Some of the money is already making its way into people’s pockets. We’ve already provided over $40 million to state governments to provide to local governments. There have been around 36,000 people who already have received more than $40 million in direct payments. The Prime Minister has made a major announcement about mental health support and yesterday about supporting wildlife and the support we’ve announced today for primary producers and as the Prime Minister has indicated, we’re working through a small business package.
Our focus is on a local-led recovery and an economic recovery of these communities, bearing in mind that a lot of small businesses have been directly affected but there are also small businesses that have been indirectly affected. So we’re here today to listen, to hear about some of the challenges that small businesses are facing, to hear about your needs and to talk about how we can work together to help small businesses get back on their feet and therefore ensuring that those communities get back on their feet.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
14 January 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. While we are facing more benign weather conditions in the short term, this morning, I received briefings from the Bureau of Meteorology, which set out that over the medium term out to the end of April Australia will continue to be experiencing warmer and drier conditions. I make this point that despite the fact that we are seeing some welcome and more relieving conditions in the foreseeable future over the next few days, and at this point, I have not- been advised to me the next spike day, as we've seen in previous times, that's not to say one won't present itself, but it is to stress again that our focus is very much on not only the significant recovery plans that are being put in place, and we'll be announcing more of those today after the National Security Committee in its expanded form met today with ERC, but to stress that there are still many more months of response and directly confronting these fires as they continue, whether they're smouldering in places where they've had some welcome rain or are active in still many cases around the country.
And so we also have seen in Victoria today, as those in Melbourne in particular, will have been noticing, the same sort of haze and smog that others have experienced, particularly up in Sydney, earlier in this fire season and has been experienced here in the capital. This is also a reminder, I think, to Australians of the ongoing bushfire crisis, even though weather conditions for right now and over the next few days are going to provide further opportunities for both firefighters and for response efforts to roll in to the various communities that are receiving this support. Yesterday, I was able to advise the Premier of Victoria of further supports that we're putting in place in Victoria, and they'll be duly announced between our respective ministers about the various requests that they've been making. That means that is bringing it more into line with Category C assistance, as is already in place in New South Wales. That's supporting issues such as community recovery, as well as enabling us to then better define what our Category D support is. Why is that relevant? The category D support as I said when I announced the $2 billion dollar recovery fund, category D support is provided completely and funded absolutely by the Commonwealth Government out of that recovery fund, and that recovery fund, as you know, has already supported the payments to local governments. It has already supported the mental health plan that I announced here with the Health Minister, it has already supported the wildlife recovery program that we’ve announced. And we'll be making some more announcements from that plan today.
I'm also very pleased and appreciative of the revision to the travel advice by the US administration for that being scaled back to Level 1 again, as I indicated to you two days ago, I had the opportunity to raise this at very senior levels of the administration, and I particularly thank the US administration, obviously the President, but also, Vice President Pence and also Secretary Pompeo for their kind attention and urgent attention to those issues, and we very much appreciate that being revised, and that will be, I think, a welcome encouragement to our tourist industry and not just in the bushfire affected areas, because these things affect the tourist industry more broadly and obviously the discussions I had with the US administration was to point out the broad nature and the large scale nature of our continent and the fact that obviously you can still go swimming on the reef and you could still be visiting Kakadu and you could still be visiting Uluru and over in Western Australia and down at Cradle Mountain and as I was able to say, and the south coast of New South Wales is open again as well, and so I very much thank the United States administration for moving so quickly to address the concerns I raised and other officials raised with them in recent times.
The Defence focus at present, is focussed on a number of issues. Firstly, they are working on firebreaks that are related to the Dunn's Road Fire, fodder distribution, bridge damage assessment. I also commend them on the great work they did with those who are finally able with air support to be able to make their way out of Mallacoota, some 66 vehicles were able to make their way out of Mallacoota. So that would have included people with caravans, things like this who had remained in Mallacoota, that they didn't want to leave those vehicles and they stayed there for that period of time and didn't participate in the evacuation, but 66 of those vehicles were able to make it through with Defence Force support. They were also very active in animal burial, carcase disposal, which also presents very real health issues. That has particularly been their focus on Kangaroo Island, where the stock losses from our reports have been the most dramatic, particularly in terms of the size of KI and the number of agricultural producers, primary producers, farmers on KI, and we now have more than half of KI that has been affected by these fires, and our presence there is very, very strong. The Defence Force have also been supporting the protection of important economic assets such as forestry assets, and that's why they're very significant, their work doing around the firebreak in relating to the Dunn's road fire is so important to protect those forestry assets which are going to provide livelihoods for that part of the country in the forestry industry into the future. So we welcome their great support there.
In good news, the Tour Down Under in South Australia is going ahead from the 16th to the 26th. That's a strong message, I think, to the world that Australia's tourist industry is very much open for business and the greatest experiences in the world are always on offer here in Australia and whether it's in South Australia or anywhere else and I commend the organisers and the defence force are actually assisting to ensure that event can go ahead as planned and we welcome that decision.
I also welcomed the fact that Standard and Poor's, I think it was yesterday, issued their statement which reinforced the point that I've made to you on other occasions, that it is because we've been able to put Australia in a strong financial position and that means we're able to respond to this crisis without any threat to the broader fiscal position of the government and as you know, that means we're able to respond significantly in the way as we have outlined these announcements without impairing the budget at a structural level. That is what you can do when you place financial management as a priority in the way you exercise government. When you do that, you build your financial resilience so you can respond in times of crisis as we are doing now without the need for taxes or levies or things like this, which have a broader impact on the economy and we are avoiding those outcomes.
I want to move to some announcements now, later today I should stress I'll be meeting, we've got a small business roundtable that is coming together and we'll be consulting with them on a small business package that we've been working on now for about the past week or so in consultation with that roundtable will be important today. The expanded National Security Committee today considered a first pass on those proposals and we look forward to having more to say on that as we get to the end of this week, and we want to talk through some of those issues with that small business roundtable today. The Deputy Prime Minister and the Health Minister have already held hook-ups and roundtables with stakeholders in transport and health sectors and Minister Robert will be similarly speaking with disability groups this afternoon. Tomorrow, roundtables have been organised with key environmental groups hosted by Minister Ley. Broad science community was hosted by Minister Andrews. The education sector hosted by Minister Tehan and the financial services sector hosted by the Treasurer, along with Michael Sukkar and Senator Hume that's happening tomorrow. On Thursday, the Treasurer and Assistant Minister for Charity, Senator Seselja, will meet with charities and key not for profit stakeholders. Minister McKenzie will be talking with the agricultural sector and taking them through the announcement I'll take you through in a second. Minister Birmingham is bringing together the tourism sector on Friday after attending the funeral for Sam McPaul. I'll be bringing together peak bodies to ensure our bushfire relief, response and recovery effort is strong and coordinated across the country, and that will provide an important opportunity to both brief all of those organisations and get their feedback and response.
Today, we have agreed an important package to support our farmers, to support our graziers, to support our primary producers. And that package is delivering significant support under Category D. That was provided in response also to the North Queensland floods, where you know, that devastated graziers and farmers right across those parts of north Queensland where their entire herds were decimated. Those grants of up to $75,000 dollars proved an absolute lifetime to those agricultural communities and importantly to the farmers to whom they were provided. We will be providing those $75,000 dollar grants, up to $75,000 dollars to farmers and primary producers in the affected areas to enable them to deal with the immediate needs that they have where they have been impacted by this fire event, and so where they've had that impact when that can be everything from sheds and fences, or it could be equipment. It could be the solar panels that actually power their pumping facilities on their dams or anything of this nature. These, or carcase disposal where they've been engaged in that, the need to employ veterinarians and things of that nature. This is crucial, rebuilding immediate recovery support that is absolutely critical to enable these primary producers, these farmers, these graziers to be able to get through this first hurdle, to get over this first hump so they can be able to put themselves into a position to be able to start planning for their future. It's this $75,000 dollar support we estimate, and assign some $100 million dollars out of the recovery fund to support this. This is an estimate. It is not a cap. This will be a demand driven program. If more is needed under the demand, then more will simply be paid without the need for any further decision. This will be a demand driven program. The primary producer, the farmer, the grazier does not have to have their principal place of residence affected by this in order to have access to this funding support. It includes the support that is provided already at Category C, but there are some tighter access conditions that are applied to that category C funding. For example, what we will be doing is exempting any off farm income in the same way that we have exempted off-farm income of up to 100 thousand dollars per person when it comes to the assessment of the farm household allowance. We will be exempting that off farm income up to that amount per person to ensure that those farmers whose properties have been affected are able to get access to this important assistance. And I think that will be a a real shot in the arm. Those farmers and those properties, primary producers that I've visited, I know this is what they need right now, and these payments will be made by the state governments, they'll be making those assessments. The Minister has been already in contact with the states this morning and I’ll allow her to take you through that process, but we want it to be as simple as possible because we need to get this cash into the hands of these producers so that they can get on with the jobs that they urgently need doing.
I would stress that these payments will also provide welcome economic injection into these rural communities. I mean, I know Tim's been down there in southern New South Wales and he's seen this on the ground as well and to see more money, more cash moving through these communities, fences getting done, contractors getting the opportunity for jobs, supporting the local economy. This will be very important for those small businesses in those towns as well, to see people coming into their towns doing this work and really putting some important oompf into the local economy by getting these payments out. This is what we also saw up in North Queensland in the response we did there. This will be supported by 60 rural financial counsellors in addition to those that are already on the ground at a cost of some $15 million dollars. What we don't want to see is support that is being provided for drought, redirected to support to respond to the bushfires. That's why what I'm talking about today is initial and additional and that means that we will continue to roll out the work we're doing on drought response in all of these communities. Those particularly who are not affected by bushfires should know that the drought support for you remains a very important priority of the government. But for those communities who have been hit by both, then they know that there'll be additional support that is coming through in these measures. So they're the announcements that we have today to come out of this recovery fund. The recovery continues, but the fires also continue and we're dealing with both of those conjointly and I'll ask the minister to go into further detail.
SENATOR THE HON. BRIDGET MCKENZIE, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE: Well, thank you Prime Minister. We've all seen the images, we've heard the stories and many of you have been in these communities who have been battling bushfires in some instances in the north coast of New South Wales and southern Queensland for a long time. Some are entering that recovery phase and I know north New South Wales is part of that, but as we've seen post New Year’s Eve, the devastation, of the impact of the bushfires on agriculture, on primary producers, on our fishers, on our foresters and in our regional communities has been significant and it is continuing today. Right now, today, there are farmers and volunteer firefighters fighting fires, building containment lines right now while we have some respite in the conditions, but farmers, foresters and fishers, 19,000 enterprises across bushfire affected communities are often the first responders to these crises as well and so there is a level of exhaustion in these communities as they return home from their fighting the fires, saving their neighbours property, often as in the case of Walwa, a very tiny little community in north east Victoria, they saved the town. The local CFA brigade saved the town, only to return home to see stock losses, fences down in some cases, in some regions, their own homes burnt. One dairy farmer I know returned home to see his whole future herd, all his heifers that he'd had off on another block disappear while he was fighting someone else's fire, protecting them and so as we've all travelled to these communities and we've talked to locals, our state farming organisations, we've heard stories right across agriculture. It's not just livestock losses. It's oyster sheds on the Clyde River. It's what's going to happen to those type of enterprises once the charcoal and ash after a good rain ends up in our waterways. It's our Batlow apple farmers. It's the wine industry in the Adelaide Hills, and it's our sheep and beef producers more broadly and our dairy industry.
So each commodity group has very, very different pinch points in a recovery, but right now, across them all, the things we're hearing on the ground is access. Get me back to my property yesterday. I want to check on the stock. I want to see what damage is done. I need to get home to my home and start the rebuild phase, and so there has been, I guess, a real effort in those communities that are fire affected to get the ADF on the ground, to get the killed trees down, so that farmers can have safe access back to their properties. That's been number one. Then it's been water and fodder and you will have seen great stories of Farmers Federation in Victoria and, you know, the ADF, community groups, hay drives, fodder drives and the like, getting farmer helping farmer right across these bushfire communities. We had a great season in the south west of Victoria, that hay is going east to East Gippsland and that's a great testament to our communities and the drive of our farmers to support each other.
And third- fourthly, it's about re-fencing now. Once you get the water and follow the herds, okay, it's about re-fencing, making sure you protect them and the disposal of dead livestock and we've seen those actions happening right over the last 10 days and they will continue. It's been incredibly heartening to see the generosity. So whilst there's been stories of loss and heartache, there's also been, I think, incredible stories of hope and of strength and of community and I think we need to really draw on that. I've been very, very proud of Australians over this period of time in how we've worked together to support each other. We need to get our farmers back to business, to growing food. It's what they want to do. It's actually what they like to do. They like to grow grapes for wine. They like to breed cattle for meat, you name it. They just want to grow food. So we need to get them back to their normal way of life as soon as possible, and that's exactly what the $75,000 dollar grants are all about. It's about cleaning up the property as soon as possible, about having two days of excavation, clearing, clearing trees, as the PM says, getting that essential critical infrastructure to get the farm up and running in the immediate time. Future measures obviously, this is the initial phase. This is what we've been hearing is absolutely needed on the ground. Cash payments to hire local contractors to get the job done so we can get back to producing food. We've heard stories of dairy farmers, you know, fighting a fire only to get home, the herd safe, the heifers are gone. Next year's herds gone. But milking cows are still there and they've had to milk twice a day, every day now for the last 10 days to keep supply up and I just want to give a brief shout out to the dairy processors. I'm sorry I've beaten you off in the recent recent times, but they have hand on heart, been doing a magnificent job supporting their milk suppliers through these tough times and making sure the milk cheques still get there, despite in often cases where we can't get the tankers through, picking up of that supply.
So our announcement obviously being assessed by state governments. The eligibility criteria will be incredibly simple because our goal is actually to get cash on the ground to the farmers so they can actually get on with the rebuilding. Officials are in contact. We're working with state governments right now on guidelines and eligibility criteria and assessment criteria. We're wanting to this to be a consistent application, obviously, across all bushfire affected regions and I guess it's part of our first step in our bushfire recovery, obviously next, it'll be rebuilding and I'm meeting with farming organisations, commodity chairs, food supply chain. Often we're seeing flow on effects from not just the farm gate, but into regional communities with a lack of supply into the processing sector. Transport sector will be affected, so they'll be coming to Canberra on Thursday so that we can start that broader discussion and an ongoing discussion over the next two years about how we assist agriculture and food supply in this country to rebuild and to build a more resilient future going forward, which I'm also excited to take part in once we get this initial piece out of the way. And as the PM touched on, the angels of the drought, the rural financial counsellors, we're going to roll out another 60 into bushfire affected communities to help farmers assess what financial assistance they're actually eligible for but also, I think as we move into a rebuilding phase to really do that on farm business planning, what does my business need to look like going forward? Are there any opportunities that have come out of this current crisis that I can actually take advantage of for my farming business going forward?
I could go to actual commodity groups in terms of the different impacts, because I have had the opportunity, obviously, to head into New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia yesterday but I might leave that to questions but we're here for the long haul. Our primary producers know that. Our regional communities know that. We've made that very, very clear. And today is a first step in what's going to be a long journey. Our farmers want to get back growing food and we need them to get back growing food. So we are with them all the way.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Bridget. Questions?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just with the assistance for the farmers. We're hearing stories of farmers who are having to ask for more bullets to put down livestock.
PRIME MINISTER: Ask for more?
JOURNALIST: ask for more bullets to put down the injured livestock as a result of what we've seen over the last week, given what we've seen with the drought, how cruel is that? And on dairy farmers, is it now up to the supermarkets to start looking at increasing the prices to try and pass on some more of that to those affected farmers?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’ll deal with the first one, I mean, part of the role of the ADF has been, as well as the recovery agency, has been working closely with local farming communities to provide, if necessary, any assistance when it comes to stock disposal and that includes not just the destruction of stock in some circumstances, but I'm not advised of any cases where the Defence Force have been required to do that, but they've certainly been available do that if necessary but those issues have been, have been dealt with by local farmers themselves and other local community members have supported them in that task. Then the focus particularly on Kangaroo Island has been the burial of that stock. I know that when we were dealing with the terrible events in North Queensland, the destruction and disposal of stock is an awful business. It is not just the economic toll, but it's the emotional toll that this puts on farmers and often farmers will dispose of each other's stock sometimes, particularly when it comes to the destruction of stock, because it can be a pretty tough thing for farmers to do but they do do it and they've been working through that process and they've had support available from both state agencies and Commonwealth, in performing that task, but look, the flow on impacts of the disaster when it comes through the agricultural commodities and prices, whether it's for milk or anything else like that. I mean, that will be assessed in the days and weeks ahead and, but I'll ask Bridget to speak to that, but we can't hide from the fact that we've had an enormous shock to our farming community and that will obviously have flow-on effects along the supply chain. Bridget?
SENATOR THE HON. BRIDGET MCKENZIE, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE: Thanks, PM. State agencies, agricultural agencies are out there assessing on farm right now, not just the animal welfare of stock that are still alive, but also assisting farmers to dispose of and euthanise stock that need to. We've offered over 100 Commonwealth vets to that task and would encourage state governments to actually take advantage of that offer, because that's part of the recovery process, is really dealing with the animal welfare issues on-farm post bushfire as quickly as possible. When I was up in Batlow, just to your point, farmers actually cleaned up after the horrific fires on Friday, Saturday, cleaned up Sunday, all the livestock there because they wanted to bring their kids home and didn't want their kids to see what the bushfires had done to their family’s herd. So, yes, farmers are doing it tough. We have the support structures there to assist them. In terms of prices for food, you might have seen reporting that supermarkets are letting the Australian public know that they'll have to pay more for their red meat. Yes, you will. That they'll have to pay more for their fruit and vegetables because of the bushfires and the drought. Yes, you will. Well, then the supermarkets also need to let the Australian public know that because of the bushfires and the drought, you will have to pay more for your milk. Now, processors are doing the right thing by farmers, by actually paying milk cheques when in many cases they're not getting the product and therefore that's having an impact on their business. Well, it's up to the supermarkets to not just talk about being the fresh food people, but get on with supporting in a very real and tangible way because farmers don't grow food for free. It's a business. I know we like to get all a bit romantic about it, but the reality is it is a business. They need to make a living and that means we need to pay the cost of producing the food and through tough times such as we're experiencing now, drought and bushfire are severely impacting input costs about farmers and now our processes in the supply chain so the other end of the supply chain needs to stump up.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned that your Ministers are going to be meeting with charities later this week. How do you propose all the donations get disbursed?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, obviously, the charities will be accountable for how they disperse the donations that they've received and the purposes they set out for attracting those donations and state governments and the Commonwealth have quite an exhaustive list of all the various organisations that people can go and support and the meeting later this week, I think will be an important opportunity to try and align a bit of effort to ensure those charities are well briefed on what the immediate needs are. Can I stress again something I've said earlier, sending food, sending clothes, sending goods is not what these communities need. If anything, that actually negatively impacts the local businesses that are selling food in these communities. The local IGAs or other grocery retailers or others on the ground, those bringing in those goods for free, just undermine the capacity of those local small businesses to actually survive as well going through this difficult period. So I would encourage everyone, and Australians have been just so monumentally generous and I think that's been all done in tremendous good faith and I know the charities and not for profit organisations are similarly acting in that good faith. So I think later this week is an important opportunity to align that and to make sure the effort is getting where it needs to get as quickly as possible. The distribution mechanisms that these charities have, whether it's St Vincent de Paul or the Red Cross or the Salvos or others who I've seen out there in so many different places, they're in a very good position, I think, to understand the most immediate needs. And they're very good organisations to deal with the immediate post-impact in these communities and the relief that they provide and what is then needed post that is the recovery and the rebuilding and that's where the governments themselves, Commonwealth, federal, state and local governments are playing the lead role. Tim?
JOURNALIST: Can I just ask how many farmers you believe are in drought, in fire-affected areas in our country, how many there are? Also, you've spoken more positively today about the Budget withstanding the impact of the fires, notwithstanding the fact that you've talked about billions in assistance. How damaged is the $5 billion budget surplus in your estimate as we stand?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll deal with that issue and Bridget can talk through the number of farmers and graziers, primary producers we anticipate are affected. My answer is the same, Tim. These issues will be reconciled when the Budget is brought down in May to assess the overall impact of where expenditure has come to on these issues between now and then. We've made a big commitment. As you know, we've put in a half a billion dollars, which we expect to go out under all of these programs between now and the 30th of June of this year and you will know that is obviously an amount that's not the same as the projected surplus at this time. But the projected surplus at this time is also conditioned by the consumption in the economy and where that's expected to flow over the course of the rest of the year and those assessments will be made at that time. I've made it really clear that my focus is on delivering the recovery and the support and what is needed now and paying the price and the costs that are needed to be met here and now and over the next, at least, the next two years and the impact on that Budget will be very clear. What I've referred to, I mean, I wasn't referring to something I'd said, Tim. I was referring to something that S&P have said and S&P have said that they do not see a negative impact on the structural strength of Australia's financial position and our Budget as a result of the support we're providing to this crisis and I welcome that acknowledgement by S&P and I believe I think Moody's has said something very similar and that says that when you manage a Budget well, it means that your government can actually respond to the crisis without taxing you more, without dragging on the economy anywhere else, because you want your economy to continue to be able to grow in these circumstances because that's what supports the ongoing effort and rebuilding effort in the affected communities and when you look at the map, as we have on every occasion when we meet as a National Security Committee and we look at the scarred areas, there are vast, obviously portions of the country that have not been affected by these bushfires and it's important that those parts of our economy also continue to go forward and perform strongly to support the rest of the country, but Bridget, on the other matter.
SENATOR THE HON. BRIDGET MCKENZIE, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE: Thanks, PM. Well, 19000 primary producers, farmers, fishers and foresters are within the bushfire-impacted areas. Now, whilst what the PM says is correct, the localised impact will be significant, particularly if you think of timber towns - Eden, Tumut, Tumbarumba, etc. East Gippsland, a significant forestry employment region severely impacted when their primary source of product has disappeared. I was talking to a private forester in northern New South Wales who was impacted prior to Christmas and of the 25,000 hectares of plantation they had, 20,000 hectares disappeared like that overnight. So there will be significant regional impacts, Tim, depending on the different commodity. So you look at the Adelaide Hills, a third of their wine vines gone. Do we know the extent of smoke damage? No. We've got to invest in some research there to the harvest and the vintage this year but nor do we know how we're going to assess the vascular damage to the actual vines, that may take a couple of years to actually work out the loss of production over time. So depending on the commodity and the region, individual farmers will be severely impact and potentially regional economy significantly, whilst not impacting the overall budget position.
PRIME MINISTER: It is a practical thing. On Kangaroo Island at the moment, the Defence Forces are actually assisting with a garlic harvest to get it out of the ground. They need that help. I mean, that's the sort of level of practicality this federal response is extending to.
SENATOR THE HON. BRIDGET MCKENZIE, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE: And I think it's the level of practicality regional Australians expect.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you spoke about speaking to the US, encouraging their citizens to still travel here. What other countries have you spoken to or do you plan to speak to the leaders or the government of any other countries to encourage them to do the same?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, it's typically been a topic that has come up in most of the discussions I've had with other leaders and that has been to just explain what the impact has been and there is a bit of a false perception overseas that the entire continent has been affected and that's obviously not true and so those calls which I've taken and they've been on behalf of those countries to extend their sympathies and support and in many cases very practical offers of support which have been taken up but it's also been a good opportunity for me to inform them of what the true nature of this is and where it is impacted, but that's why I think it's just fantastic that the cycle race is going on in South Australia. I think that's tremendous. I mean, that has been a very important event for the South Australian tourism industry for many, many years and the fact that they're just getting on with it, I think all of those things just go to the story that we're seeking to tell. Now, I can tell you that Tourism Australia and through our embassies and high commissions around the world, they are actively involved in providing briefings to those governments about the situation in Australia so there is no misinformed decisions but again, I very much appreciate the decision taken by the United States. That's one that particularly needed my intervention and I was very happy to do that. That's the job, and I thank the United States for their very prompt response to my request.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you get all the states to sign up to a Royal Commission or will you have to scale back your ambition given Western Australia's opposition and separate inquiries in Victoria and New South Wales?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me just deal with the issue of inquiries and Royal Commissions more broadly. First of all, in the discussions I've had with Premiers and as I've already relayed to you in other forums, it has always been our understanding that states would be undertaking their own reviews. I knew that in Victoria, it was something that Dan and I discussed the other day. In Victoria there is actually a statutory requirement for one to be done in response to bushfires after Black Saturday. So that's understood, and the same will happen in New South Wales and I've made that reference. So anything I've said in this area has not been to replace or otherwise be instead of any of the normal reviews that you would expect to be undertaken at a state level. So any suggestion that these two are in somehow are in conflict is just completely false and because this is the very thing I've been discussing with Premiers. The ambit and scope of what the Federal Government will look to pursue is to look at all the areas that I outlined on Sunday in the interview that I had with David Speers, as well as in the press conference that followed and that, first of all, deals with the preparation and response to these terrible fire events as they've extended across many state borders. Secondly, to look at the whole issue of resilience and thirdly, adaptation going forward in the recognition of longer, hotter, drier seasons, which is not in contest, that is an established and acknowledged fact and has been by the government for quite a long period of time and was the basis for the disaster risk framework process that we'd set in place in the 2019-20 Budget and is ongoing. So our process in order to address questions around, for example, how federal assistance, how federal involvement is triggered, particularly federal support that is triggered proactively, not at the request of state governments as has occurred in all previous disasters. What is different with this disaster and what we put in place last Saturday week was not responding to a request, but to initiate and to actually go forward, and so I think it's important that we have a very clear understanding in relation to future events that there is an established understanding of what the threshold point is and what powers and what authorities, and yesterday I was... sorry, the day before, I was talking about what a federal state of emergency or national disaster, what that would entail. What powers it would create. What payments it would trigger. What authorities would be established. Now, to understand how that should occur, you obviously have to have a good understanding about what the state effort has produced in these fires and this is why I've been at pains to stress this. The preparation and response to these fires by our state governments has been simply extraordinary. The loss of life is devastating, but for those of you who have been out there, you will know, having seen the charred remains of the landscape, that so many more lives could have been lost and the fact they haven't been goes to the preparation and response that has been put in place and supported, of course, by the Federal Government under all the standing arrangements that we've had and that point, I think, extends also to the loss of property. While the property losses well over 2,000 now have been significant, in the absence of the work and the response that has been put in place, coordinated nationally, delivered by state authorities, has been exemplary and there would have been many, many more, arguably thousands more properties and homes that would have been lost in the course of this crisis. So what needs to be understood in any review is what is the overall capacity of that state response and at what point and in what set of events would that trigger moving from the response setting of the Federal Government to a proactive setting? Now, I've noticed some of the commentary, particularly that has been made by the Labor Party, regarding the call out of our ADF. It's simply false what they are saying. What we have done has been a compulsory call out of up to 3,000 Defence Force reservists that required the signature and approval of the Governor-General of Australia. Now, the advice I've received from the Chief of the Defence Force is that has not occurred before in response to any disaster. Now, I was pretty clear about that on Sunday, and I think it's disappointing that some would seek to try and twist that into something other than what it is. Now, that's been backed up, of course, by the recovery agency and the $2 billion and all the other things I've referred to, but what has been different about our response in the last week and a half has been that the Commonwealth has been acting on its own initiative to go into these areas. It's being done in what I'd call a cooperative environment, but we haven't waited to be asked and that was the key change that was made last Saturday week from the way that previous disasters have been dealt with. Now, that point about when that is actioned and the most common thing that has been put to me is should that have been done sooner? Well, as I said, the state of disaster had only been declared a day or two before that in Victoria, which hadn't been in place before that and I think there'd be reasonable positions, I have no doubt, put by Western Australia that the Commonwealth is proactive on its own initiative involvement by Defence Forces and Commonwealth agencies is quite a significant step to take and states have all always, I think, been very affirmative about their ability to deal with these crises within their own state borders and I think that has been the history of that performance. That said, clearly, based on the community expression that I've heard, they are looking for a more proactive, direct involvement of the Federal Government that doesn't just respond to requests for assistance, as has happened in previous ADF arrangements. Of course, the ADF has been involved in previous disasters. They've done so at the request and of course, reservists were involved. Reservists were involved before we had a compulsory call out. That's the ordinary course of ADF activities, but on this occasion, we had to go to the Governor-General to get him to sign off on this deployment and this compulsory call out. That has never been done before and those who suggest this wasn't quite an unprecedented step either haven't got the faintest idea what they're talking about or I fear they're seeking to play politics at the most unfortunate of times.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there’s a senior business figure Paul Bassat who says that these fires are a Port Arthur moment in terms of action on climate change. Do you accept that parallel? Do you think it's a reasonable parallel in terms of what it means for future climate change policy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, I find it difficult to make comparisons between different horrific events and Port Arthur is one that remains a deep scar in our community's psyche even all these years later, and I'm sure those who lost lost loved ones in that horrific event would never be too pleased about it being drawn up, I suppose, but I don't like to make comparisons between these sorts of things. I think they're very different events and out of respect for those who have been affected by those events, I won't make any further comment on that. What I am saying, though, is that on this occasion, the necessity of the government taking the action that we have, the unprecedented action that we have taken, and I must say, since we have done that, it has greatly amplified, I think the capability of what the state agencies have been doing on the ground. I think it's worked really, really well and I think it has really helped what they are doing and it's been tremendous to meet those Reservists out there able to be providing assistance in their own country. This is why they join up as Reservists. This is why they like to serve and they've been so pleased to be out there and supporting their own countrymen and women as they've gone through this disaster. I've set out what I think we need to do in terms of the future and that has been very much ensuring that we continue to meet and beat the emissions reduction targets that we've set. I've said, though, I think more significantly that resilience and adaptation need an even greater focus. People have said it's not just about emissions reduction, it's about hazard reduction. That's true. Hazard reduction is climate resilience and ensuring that you're able to successfully pursue those programs is very important. So climate resilience, climate adaptation, the fact that over the next 10 years, it's a fact that we've got longer, hotter, drier summers means we have to prepare practically as we have been and need to do so more in the future. That is where can you build, that is how you manage native vegetation, that is, as I said in an editorial I published last year as these fires were raging, listening to Indigenous Australians about their traditional practices. It is all of these things. There is no single answer. It is all of the above and the reviews that we will take in due course, I think we'll get to those answers and give very practical instructions on how we can be more resilient and more adapted and better placed in the years ahead.
JOURNALIST: Is the focus on resilience and adaption perhaps an admission that the emissions reduction challenge has been lost, that we won't be able to bring down and avoid unavoidable climate change and that we have to get used to it?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I wouldn't put it like that. What I'd say is Australia's emissions reductions performance, particularly as we speak of it now, 2020, meeting and beating our target by 411 million tonnes, I think speaks to the achievements that we've made. I think the fact that we've been experiencing record investment in renewable technologies in Australia far above and beyond, particularly on a per capita basis, than I see some of the media commentators in other countries seem to have overlooked or are not aware of our performance in these areas. What we've been doing in that area is being part of the global effort and Australia has been carrying its weight. In fact, we’ve been over performing in comparison to many other similar countries, particularly in relation to 2020. And I believe the same will be true in 2030 as we continue to take opportunities, particularly with the technologies that are available to meet and beat our 2030 targets. What that is a simple statement of is that the longer, drier and warmer seasons that we're seeing are a reality and so while you take your actions as part of a global effort on emissions reduction, the practical thing that actually can most keep you safe during the next fire or the next flood or the next cyclone are the things that most benefit people here and now. As I think all of you have acknowledged, the emissions reduction activity of any one country anywhere in the world is not going to specifically stop or start one fire event but what the climate resilience and adaptation work can do within a country can very much directly ensure that Australians are better protected against what this reality is in the future. So my response on these things is always a very practical one. I said when I became Prime Minister, one of my core responsibilities was to keep Australians safe and the response that we are providing right now, whether it's the $75,000 payments we're making to support farmers and graziers get back on their feet. Whether it's the significant investment, over $70 million in supporting people's mental health to heal the scars of first responders or young kids who have been experiencing even if it's just the haze and the smoke that they've never seen before, or it's the recovery effort we've provided to the wildlife, which Josh and Sussan announced yesterday, or the many other measures which we will continue to announce. That's what we do now but we must build our resilience for the future, and that must be done on the science and the practical realities of the things we can do right here to make a difference and we'll have more to say about those matters in the next few days but right now, I have a Small Business Roundtable I have to attend to. Thank you all very much for your attention.