Speeches
Virtual Address, Investiture Ceremony for Ordinary Seaman Edward 'Teddy' Sheean VC
1 December 2020
Prime Minister: On this day 78 years ago, a young man from Tasmania was bound for Timor. A farm labourer who would become a gun loader. An Ordinary Seaman who would do an extraordinary thing. "None of us will ever know what made him do it" said one of the survivors of the HMAS Armidale.
Today, as our country awards its most sacred military honour, we ask ourselves the question asked all those years ago. Why did Edward 'Teddy' Sheean make the choice that he did that day? To help free a motorboat, but decide not to board it. To forsake a possible rescue, climb a listing deck, and strap himself in to fire at enemy aircraft until he slipped beneath the waves.
To say Teddy Sheean gave his life for his country, really doesn't quite capture the fearless grip he had on it until the very end. Everything he did was deliberate, it was determined, to save his shipmates from being strafed in the sea. Why would anyone expect the youngest and most junior sailor on the ship to take the actions that he did? Maybe Teddy yearned to live up to the example of his five older brothers who joined the services before him. Maybe in the cramped confines of the Armidale he felt the same bonds of affection that he felt sharing a home with many of his 14 siblings. Or maybe the lessons of the Sisters of Mercy stayed with him, 'Greater love hath no men than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends'.
Truth be known, the motivations and braveries and intricacies of the human heart are a mystery to us all, and even more so when someone's actions reflect a strength not imagined. Whatever it was that caused Teddy Sheen to act so decisively and determinedly on that afternoon of blue skies and calm seas, we find ourselves being inextricably drawn to it, prompting us to ask ourselves, how can we lead lives as meaningful, as selfless, as courageous as the young life of Teddy Sheehan and the generation he more broadly embodies.
We see in him and we see in them the highest values, sacrifice and stoicism, courage and abiding inner strength.
But there was a great cost. Teddy Sheean never saw the end of the war or the peace he helped secure, when former enemies became lasting friends. He didn't marry his sweetheart Kathleen or enjoy the long life that many of his shipmates did. That was the price of his valour that day.
Though Teddy Sheean's bravery and name has always been known, we all know this honour did not come easy. And it is to the credit of his family and supporters that they lived out the motto of HMAS Sheean - 'Fight on'.
Six decades after Teddy's death, that submarine named in his honour made its first trip to Devonport, not far from where Teddy grew up. It is said that his sister Ivy watched it quietly enter the Mersey, and she said she felt as if Teddy had finally come home.
Today, almost eight decades on from Teddy's brave actions, we know his story grows with the ages. He now takes his place as one of the guiding lights of the country he indeed served to save.
Teddy would have turned 97 this month. His life brings to mind the words of the British officer and poet Thomas Mordaunt - "One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name."
The name, the example, the glorious life of Edward 'Teddy Sheean' VC will always be remembered.
Lest we forget.
Virtual Press Conference
30 November 2020
Prime Minister: The post made today, the repugnant post made today, of an image, a falsified image, of an Australian soldier threatening a young child with a knife. A post made on an official Chinese Government Twitter account, posted by the Director Deputy General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Lijian Zhao, is truly repugnant. It is deeply offensive to every Australian, every Australian who has served in that uniform, every Australian who serves in that uniform today, everyone who has pulled on that uniform and served with Australians overseas from whatever nation, that they have done that. It is utterly outrageous and it cannot be justified on any basis whatsoever.
The Chinese Government should be totally ashamed of this post. It diminishes them in the world’s eyes. I want to make a couple of points about this. Australia is seeking an apology from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Chinese Government, for this outrageous post. We are also seeking its removal immediately and have also contacted Twitter to take it down immediately. It is a false image
and a terrible slur on our great defence forces and the men and women who have served in that uniform for over 100 years.
There are undoubtedly tensions that exist between China and Australia. But this is not how you deal with them. Australia has patiently sought to seek to address the tensions that exist in our relationship in a mature way, in a responsible way, by seeking engagement at both leader and ministerial level to ensure that we can openly discuss what are clear sources of tension in this relationship. Points that Australia feels strongly about, in terms of our own sovereignty and our own independence. The way to deal with those is by engaging directly in discussion and dialogue between ministers and leaders. And despite this terribly offensive post today, I would ask again and call on China to re-engage in that dialogue. This is how countries must deal with each other to ensure that we can deal with any issues in our relationship, consistent with our national interests and respect for each other's sovereignty, not engaging in this sort of deplorable behaviour.
I would hope that this rather awful event hopefully may lead to the type of reset where this dialogue can be restarted, without condition. That we can sit down and start talking sensibly about these issues because this type of behaviour is not on.
Now, it’s not just about Australia, countries around the world are watching this, they are seeing how Australia is seeking to resolve these issues and they are seeing these responses. This impacts not just on the relationship here, but with so many other sovereign nations not only in our own region, but likeminded countries around the world, who have expressed similar sentiments to Australia about many issues. And so it is important that these things end and the dialogue starts.
Finally and most importantly, I am extremely proud of all Australians who pull a uniform on for Australia. I am proud of their service. I am proud of their dedication. I am proud of their loyalty to this country and it’s values.
And those values determine how we deal with difficult issues as a country and difficult issues as those that have arisen in the Inspector General’s report on the ADF. It is a fact that Australia’s transparent and honest way of dealing with this issue is a credit to this nation. And it is a credit to all those who serve this nation in uniform. Where there are alleged events that have taken place that require action, well we have set up the honest and transparent processes for that to take place. That is what a free, democratic, liberal country does. Few countries around the world, I suppose, would have dealt with this in the way that we have. I would hope there’d be many. But in a liberal democracy, this is how you deal with issues such as this. You don’t engage in disinformation and the ugliness that we’ve seen in this post on the Chinese Government Twitter account today.
So I am proud of their service. The alleged actions of a few do not, do not define the tremendous service of the great many, and the processes we’ve set up will uphold that principle. They will uphold the principle of innocent until proven guilty. There will be a fairness in the way that this is addressed. Because those, those are the values that our Defence Force men and women have fought to uphold.
So today is not a day for Australia in any way, to feel wrongly about how we conduct ourselves. Even with this difficult information to deal with, we are dealing with it in the right way. The only thing that has brought shame today, is this appalling post by the Chinese government.
I’m happy to take a couple of questions.
Journalist: Prime Minister I accept and understand what you’re saying about the tweet- Prime Minister Andrew Clennell Sky News, I accept and understand what you are saying regarding the tweet-
Prime Minister: Andrew, you’re just going to have to wait one second because I’m genuinely not getting audio, I can see you’re speaking- normally I could probably hear you from all the way from there, just need to get this turned up-
Journalist: Can you hear me now Prime Minister?
Prime Minister: Not yet, I apologise for the delay, I sincerely do, we thought that was arranged-
Journalist: Okay, I’ll keep talking, you tell me when you can hear. Is there anything? Yep?
Prime Minister: Not yet I’m sorry.
Journalist: Can you hear?
Prime Minister: Go ahead and I’ll see if I can hear Andrew.
Journalist: Okay
Prime Minister: Speak up.
Journalist: Okay. I accept and understand what you are saying about the tweet and how offensive it is, but what is the end game in terms of our relationship with China, there have been a number of announcements around foreign investment laws, cyber security, our unilateral call for an independent review, we’ve been quite strident in relation to the rhetoric on China, what is, that works for you domestically, politically, but what is your hope in terms of the end game of where we end up with China here?
Prime Minister: Well my end game, and my view, is the same today as it was in John Howard’s time, the happy coexistence of two partners under our comprehensive strategic partnership. But one that respects the sovereign interests of both countries. I mean the matters that you’ve referred to are all entirely and rightly within the domain of Australia as a sovereign country, they should cause no offence, that Australia would set its own foreign investment rules, would have its own arrangements in relation to cyber security, and I note that at no time have I ever made any allegations against the Chinese government in relation to cyber security issues. And as for issues of the pandemic, well that was a motion that was supported by over 130 countries and joined with the European Union, not as a unilateral, but one done in concert with the European Union, so Australia will seek to pursue this relationship of mutual benefit. And that has to involve an understanding on Australia being able to conduct itself in accordance with its own sovereignty, its own values, and its own laws. And that is not an unreasonable position for the Australian government, or any other government, whether that be the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, or any other country - to be able to have a relationship that respects those fundamental positions. I sincerely respect them in the terms of the Chinese government, to be able to set rules and laws in their own country, Australians aren’t freely able to invest in China that is understood. But when it comes to our laws, and our rules, and the values that we hold, we’ve always been very clear about them. They are not new positions Andrew. They have been positions that Australia has held for a very long time. These decisions to post what we saw today, and other acts, are decisions of another government, not of Australia.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Andrew Probyn, Prime Minister, Andrew Probyn from the ABC. These sorts of matters often have to be resolved man to man, woman to woman, or woman to man for that- if this is allowed to fester, at what stage will you pick up the phone to speak to President Xi?
Prime Minister: Well we have consistently sought those engagements Andrew. And I don’t know why you would think we hadn’t. This has been a constant process of Australia remaining open and seeking that dialogue, whether it be at Minister to Minister level, or leader to leader level. And that’s why I renew that call today. Australia is available for that. Australia has always been available for that, and Australia has sought to arrange that, and so it really is a matter I think to ensure that even as appalling as these events are today, I think it highlights the need for Australia to do exactly- and China- to do exactly as you’ve discussed, and Australia remains available for that.
Journalist: [inaudible] write to the President directly so that he has to reply?
Prime Minister: Well Michelle, you assume that there hasn’t been such interactions. We’ve constantly sought that engagement. This is not new.
Journalist: Prime Minister, David Crowe here from the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, have you called in the Chinese Ambassador in Canberra to put these concerns directly to the Ambassador to convey them directly to President Xi?
Prime Minister: No, this is being done, both conveyed to the Ambassador here, in China through the process you’ve suggested, through the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and we’ll also be communicating that directly through our Ambassador in China, in Beijing.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Clare from the Daily Telegraph here, since the Brereton report came out, veterans have expressed concern that the entire Defence community will be tarred with the same brush of a few. Clearly this is an extreme example of that where a vague representation of an Australian soldier has been depicted in this horrific way, what more can the Government do to support the rest of the Defence community given the global attention on the very few that potentially committed war crimes, and might that include reconsidering revoking the Meritorious Unit Citation which appears to condemn the entire special forces when they were in Afghanistan?
Prime Minister: Well I’ll leave it to the CDF to make further comments on the last matter that you made, but no decisions have been made on that. And were decisions to made on that, that would only be following a further process and that is where that matter rests right now, as is my understanding. The best thing we can do, is to ensure that we have a fair process, that deals with this both in terms of issues that need to be dealt with within the Defence Force, because as you rightly say- regarding the conduct of a small number and those who were in positions of command that would have been relied upon to ensure that such conduct was not undertaken, but also through the justice process that has been set up with the Special Investigator, and that is how we deal with these issues in Australia. We deal with them according to the rule of law, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and in accordance with the administrative processes that operate within the Defence Force regarding conduct within the Defence Force.
Now those processes are there for a reason. And they are there to protect people, their innocence and their rights, as well as to uphold the standard and integrity of the Australian Defence Force. That is what the government is seeking to do, that is what the Chief of the Defence Force is seeking to do, but it will be a difficult process, and there will be patience necessary. But I would stress again, that the actions of a few, whether in command or those on the ground, do not reflect on the many thousands of others who serve today and who have served before. Our Defence Forces have earned this, they have earned the rights that they now call upon, and they have earned the respect for which we all rightly afford them. And there can be no taking away from that. And that is certainly my view and the Government’s view.
Journalist: Josh Butler from the New Daily. Can I ask you about, you’ve said that you want Twitter to take action on this. On what grounds have you appealed to Twitter and are you confident they would actually take action on this considering that Twitter has consistently decided not to take action against Government accounts in this way in the example of Donald Trump’s tweets, for instance? Would you hope that they will take action on this?
Prime Minister: Well, I certainly would. It is absolute falsehood. It is an absolute outrageous and disgusting slur and it wouldn’t be the first time that social media have censored posts. In this case, I would think that in the interests of decency, they should take it down.
Journalist: Samantha Maiden from news.com. Can you just clarify in relation to Clare’s question, the process. You’re saying the decision on the meritorious citation is a matter for the CDF. The Defence Department have put out a statement over the weekend saying it is a matter for government. Now, when they say government, do they mean it is a matter for the Governor-General? Do they mean it is a matter for you? And is there any conflict of interest in the Governor-General making a decision on this, given he himself, obviously, held a leadership role in the Defence Force during that period?
Prime Minister: Well, as always, Governor-Generals take advice from their Prime Ministers and in addition to that, I would simply note the oversight panel that was appointed by the Minister to oversee the action being taken by the CDF and the ADF in relation to actioning the recommendations that have come out of this report. And that is the process that we established to reconcile, I think, the issues that you have raised, Samantha. I think that is the way that these matters are able to be addressed and I would hope that there would be no real difference, at the end of the day, and that the difficulties that you have touched upon wouldn’t arise. And what I am saying is that that process is not completed yet and so the issues that have been raised are not ones that are current.
Journalist: Phil Coorey from the AFR. Just a week ago you gave a speech on China and the Chinese Foreign Ministry. It was relatively positive, it sort of had some positive comments in there. It was probably the first favourable comments we had heard from China for quite a while. This has happened a week later. What, in your view, has caused this shift from the same department of government? What do you put it down to?
Prime Minister: Well, I don’t put it down to anything. I don’t make the same assumptions about the connectedness of all of these responses, Phil, would be my first one. Whether it was that or any other responses we have seen in the past week. I think that would be over-assuming. Secondly, I would simply note what I said in my speech last week. It was not extraordinary. I have consistently, as both a Member of Parliament, a Minister and a Prime Minister and Treasurer, consistently said that Australia has not followed a policy of economic containment of China. I have consistently said that China’s economic development has been a positive for Australia and for China, pulling more people out of poverty than in the history of the world. I think these are positive things. Australia has played a role in that. That is why a positive relationship between China and Australia is so possible, even given the changes that have occurred over the last 10 years. I can assure you, Australia has remained the same. It is possible, it is in our mutual interest to achieve it and Australia will continue to pursue that, consistent with our own sovereign national interests. Now, I don’t think any Australian would expect us to make any compromises on those national interests. Of course they wouldn’t and nor should they and nor should they expect the government to do so. But there is mutual benefit in us being able to work through these issues in a way that can see those mutual benefits continue. That is in both of our interests to do that. What is not in our interests is for this type of conduct to go ahead. This sort of conduct is not conducive to any relationship and that is why I think it is so important in our mutual interests that this egregious act be dealt with in the way that I have suggested.
But with that, we are going to have to set up the system for the first Question Time by these methods and I hope the audio works better in Question Time than it has in the one I have had with you this afternoon. Thank you all very much.
Virtual Address, NSW State Council
29 November 2020
The Hon. Philip Ruddock, NSW State President: Ladies and gentlemen, we are now in a position to welcome the Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Scott Morrison to address the meeting. Scott, you are welcome. We greatly admire what you and your team have been doing and look forward to hearing from you.
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much, Philip, and I join you here from iso in Canberra after a very successful meeting with one of Australia’s greatest friends and partners in so many things in Japan. It was quite a privilege to go to Japan and reflect on the fact it was a Menzies government all those years ago that put in place that commerce agreement in the late 50s, of course, followed by so many other great advances in our relationships within the region, but one that is often forgotten. That is one that started, in particular, out of the great work of the Menzies government and all of the Liberal governments that followed. So in many ways, I believed and felt as if I was continuing what is a very strong Liberal tradition, one Philip, that you're very familiar with. And so the price of that in the short term is 14 days here at The Lodge and being able to engage with so many of the other commitments that we've had, whether that's at APEC or the East Asia Summit and the G20 and many other bilaterals that we've had over that period of time. And next week, that will include, of course, joining the Parliament for the first time in Question Time remotely. So we do live in different times, but very enabled times too, which is a positive because it means I can join you all this morning.
This morning, I'm joining you from Ngunnawal country. So I acknowledge their elders past, present and future. I also acknowledge, as I always love to do, the amazing work and service of our serving men and women and our veterans. And I particularly want to acknowledge them at this very difficult time and thank them for their service and we respect their service. That respect has been earned in the most arduous and demanding of circumstances. And for that reason we, particularly at this time, recognise them and their wonderful service to our country and to any veterans or servicemen and women who are joining us here on this link up and in the meeting I particularly thank you also, as I especially acknowledge the many veterans who serve in our parliaments around the country.
Can I also obviously acknowledge you, Philip and Chris Stone and the great work you do in stewarding our great party in New South Wales and a very happy 75th birthday to all of us as we gather for this State Council in these unusual circumstances. I also acknowledge my colleague Gladys Berejiklian, Premier of New South Wales, who has always been a great colleague as we've worked closely together over many, many, many years in different roles that Gladys and I have shared and have formed a great friendship and a good working relationship as well to boot, particularly when we served as treasurers and now as Prime Minister and Premier. And she's been an invaluable support and contributor when it comes to the National Cabinet process we've been engaged in. But I'll return to that.
To all my fellow Liberals, to the members and the volunteers and the supporters. Thank you so much for maintaining your belief in our great cause and our great movement and how we believe things should be done in this country. And right now, in particular in New South Wales and federally, we have an opportunity that we've been able to execute now for a period of time, which we believe is making New South Wales stronger and is making Australia stronger because of the Liberal values and principles that we hold. And to that end, I thank all of my colleagues, whether in the Cabinet or more broadly in the federal parliament, and particularly at this time I want to acknowledge our next most senior member of our federal team in the federal parliament from New South Wales, and that's the Foreign Minister, Marise Payne. These are challenging times, I'll also return to that. But Marise's steadfastness, her consistency, her professionalism, her incredible work ethic has secured many achievements for Australia in this and her previous roles. But working closely with our consular team, with our diplomatic officials, other agencies of government, the return of Doctor Kylie Moore-Gilbert this week was a moment of pure joy. It was one of the really good days. And Marise's efforts in leading that effort to secure Kylie's release and see her come home to Australia is just absolutely tremendous. My other colleagues, of course, I welcome and I thank them for all of their great contributions, too many to name or single out at this time. But they are all doing an absolutely fantastic job, keeping our country safe, keeping our country together and keeping our economy and our country more broadly strong at a time of great challenge.
Can I as well as acknowledging the Party's history, I also at this time want to acknowledge, as I'm sure you have today, Philip, acknowledge again the sad passing of former premier and former federal finance minister John Fahey. John was an extraordinary fellow, and it was a great personal and professional, I must say also, privilege to be able to join with Colleen and her family at John's Memorial Service at St. Mary's. It was a very moving ceremony, a very moving service, which reflected on John's deep faith, his great conviction and his passions and his sense of service. Values that we all share and we saw exhibited in John. And we are thankful for John's life and we are thankful for his service and we are thankful for his leadership. And it's appropriate for us all to mark our great respect for John and Colleen as well and thinking of her and her terrible loss. They were an incredible partnership. You know, serving in politics in whatever role you have, whether as a volunteer, whether as an office bearer, indeed as a member of parliament or indeed a minister or prime minister or a premier, wherever you're doing it, you need the love and support of those around you and John certainly had that from Colleen. And she shares in all of his significant achievements and I'm sure all Liberals across New South Wales would acknowledge that.
Can I also recognise the outstanding work of our now retired federal president, Nick Greiner. Not only did he do an outstanding job for New South Wales as a very successful premier, but Nick backed up in his service by taking on the role of federal president at a very important time for our Party. And that led, of course, to supporting and doing a great role in our most recent federal election victory. Nick has now retired from that position and has been succeeded by John Olsen. Once again, Nick, I've had the opportunity to say this in many forums, but thank you very much for your great service to our federal party, of course, coming from New South Wales.
We have been going through a great storm this year, friends, a great storm. And our response has been one that has taken the notice of the world. Just to put this year in perspective. Firstly, the human scale of the loss. The human scale of the loss of COVID-19 around the world is arguably without precedent when we think of the sheer scale of lives lost as a result of a global pandemic. In terms of volume, obviously the Spanish Flu of 100 years ago as a proportion of global population, well, the mathematicians can make the comparisons. But whichever way you look at it, the sheer human cost and scale of that cost has been absolutely devastating all around the world. Here in Australia, we have avoided the worst of those impacts and I'll touch on that in just a moment. When I reflect particularly on this, I think about the situation in the UK where around 55,000 lives have been lost. That is more than were lost during the Blitz during the Second World War. That is a very sobering figure. Now, of course, the causes were very different and the devastation inflicted more broadly through the Blitz and the destruction and the other non-fatal casualties were extreme and those circumstances were very different. But we do have to take into account the context here. Our relative success here in Australia sometimes shields us from the sheer scale of the devastation that has occurred elsewhere around the world and perhaps can cause us not to fully appreciate the strength of Australia's response in these circumstances.
But it hasn't just been on the health side, on the physical human toll. It has been on the economic side. And to put this in context, in terms of previous economic hits. During the global financial crisis, world growth fell by 0.1 per cent, 0.1. This year, the OECD expects global growth to fall by4.5 per cent. The economic crisis we have been dealing with was 45 times worse than the global financial crisis and one of the reasons that is the case is because this recession globally has reached literally every corner of the Earth. The GFC had far more devastating effects and was more focused on the North Atlantic. Here and all around the world, COVID has had its brutal impact. But here in Australia, because of the measures, because of the resilience, because of the effectiveness of the actions taken principally in the economic area by the federal government, but ably supported by the New South Wales government and the other state and territory governments as well, I should hasten to add, there has been a very bipartisan effort at a state and federal level to ensure together as leaders of governments, Gladys and I working together. But with all the other premiers, of course, there's been disagreements here and that's only natural. It's the Federation.
But at the end of the day, you must assess the effectiveness of these things by their outcome. And the outcomes in terms of cushioning the blow, where we have seen in particular falls in GDP in the UK of almost 20 per cent and here in Australia that was limited to less than half of that. When you look at the debt situation that we currently face, where we are sitting in a position which is still the envy of the rest of the world. Net debt as a share of the economy will peak at half of what it is in the United Kingdom, a third of what it is in the US and a quarter of what it is in Japan. So even though, yes, we've taken on quite a load and necessarily so, what was the alternative other than to see Australian lives and livelihoods crushed? There is a time for government to act in these ways, but that time is quite specific and it has clear start and end points. And this is where I think Liberal governments understand that. That being a Liberal and having an economically conservative view about how we deal with the country's fiscal challenges is about understanding the necessity of action, but also the limits of that action and how you have to both gear in and gear out of these rather unusual periods of time. And I think Australians have responded well to that. None of us likes the fact that we have had to take on now such a heavy load. But it is necessarily so and I think Australians have heavily supported us in that, which means we will seek their support as we then put that load on a sustainable footing and so that it can be carried by a stronger economy into the future.
I also want to note that it's been the twin managing of these challenges that has been successful. The economic and the health going together. Certainly, there are countries that have done mildly, arguably better than Australia when it comes to health, but that is actually a very contestable space. Indeed, New Zealand has had a very strong health response to the crisis, there's no question of that. But their economy, their economy fell by 12 per cent in the June quarter, almost twice what happened in Australia. So balancing these economic and health interests with great success, I think has been the mark of Australia's response. It has been a response led by the federal government, of course, but one done in total partnership and synchronisation with the state governments and in particular New South Wales, who have understood and I want to pay credit to New South Wales and to Gladys in particular, and to Dom Perrottet and to Brad Hazzard and to all of the New South Wales team. They, more than any other, I feel, have understood that you have to work your way through this crisis. And I mean that.
Keeping people at work, the health issues and the health challenges in New South Wales have been greater than any other state or territory, greater. No doubt about that. The major single point of entry into Australia, the key point of vulnerability for the virus to come into Australia through Sydney. And so the risks of outbreaks in Sydney, the risks of New South Wales going the way of all of so many other countries in the world and the great cities of the world, whether it be New York or whether it be Paris or whether it be right across the world in other great cities. That risk was greatest in Sydney, it was greatest in New South Wales. And so in proportion to the significance of the challenge, so has been the response in New South Wales, steadfastly building up the resources and the capabilities to respond and to stay on top of every challenge that came their way. Sure, like with every other state and territory and federally, there were things that had to be learnt along the way. There was no rule book or guidebook here for Gladys or I or anyone else. We had to make our way through together and that involved a constant stream of communication. It involved learning from mistakes where they were made quickly and making sure that only made our response more strong in the months that followed, where the challenges became even more intense. And so to you, Gladys, and all of your team. I want to say thank you. Thank you very much. Not just for what you've achieved. Because if New South Wales had fallen like other states, particularly Victoria had, then that would have been a blow to our national standing, our national wellbeing, our national economy. That was frankly unimaginable. And so New South Wales held that position at the most important front line there was for our nation and for our economy. And that remains the case now as Gladys and I fully understand, and that's why we are so supportive of the efforts they're taking and balancing again, keeping New South Wales open safely so it can remain safely open, not just for the people of New South Wales, but for the entire country.
Our response, you know well more broadly, it ranged from the outset of putting in place the international border controls which remain to this day through the building up of our health system, some $18.5 billion invested by the federal government to shore up everything from our mental health supports to respiratory clinics and supporting with personal protective equipment. And there is a long list, and I won't delay the meeting with running through that list. But it was a great national effort and a great national undertaking. And the same work was being done and matched with significant expenditure by the state government as well in particularly building up that ICU capacity early on in the period which required an industrial effort and innovation which pulled together not just health ministers and premiers, but I know many others as well. It also meant understanding what the challenges may be different in regional areas, and shoring that up as well. And the work that has being done by Commissioner Fuller in coordinating effectively that emergency response for the New South Wales government working with the Premier and the Deputy Premier, I think has been an exemplar for all other states and territories to follow. As I said, New South Wales is and has been and continues to be the gold standard when it comes to how this crisis has been managed at both a health and economic level.
Our economic response in supporting New South Wales, almost $20 billion provided to businesses in New South Wales on JobKeeper, some 350,000 businesses in New South Wales. $9.5 billion in cash flow boost to some 280,000 small businesses. 740,000, just under that, accessing early release of superannuation. It's their money. They needed it and they needed it right then and now to ensure that they could lean on their own resources, as well as those provided by the Commonwealth government and the state government to ensure that they could see their way through and put themselves in a position of resilience. You know, we've protected the homes of some half a million Australians, it has been estimated by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. Half a million Australians still have their homes today because of the economic interventions we undertook. Some 700,000 Australians never lost their job because of the economic interventions that we put in place as a government. And on top of that, we've now seen 75 per cent of the jobs that were lost as we move to the pit of that point of the pandemic recession, they have now been recovered. The effective unemployment rate, which is different to the measured unemployment rate, which is usually quoted, that has fallen from its peak of around 15 per cent at the worst part of the crisis. That takes into account people who had to walk away from the job market, whose hours were reduced to zero. It takes all of that into account and we had around 15 per cent of our labour force and more that were out of work. That has now halved to 7.4 per cent in the space of these months that have followed that pandemic.
That is the evidence of a strong set of economic and health policies that has seen Australia pull through. The coronavirus supplement has been a necessary temporary measure. But along with JobKeeper and the many other things that we've done that has to gear out as it has geared up and what we have seen as we've gone through that well considered, thought through staged process of that support changing is we've seen businesses graduate. We've seen them and as I've met them around the country and in New South Wales, proud of the fact that they no longer need that support. Businesses don't go into business to be supported by the government. They go into business to support themselves. That is one of the great entrepreneurial values of Australians. That's why they do it. They don't want to be dependent on someone else for a job. They want to make their own way. They want to make their own future. They want to realise their own opportunities. It is not the mindset of Australians who run businesses, set up their businesses and work with them tirelessly, with their families and take on risks and do all of these things. They don't do it to be dependent on the government. They do it to be self-reliant. And that's why they are the great heroes of our economic recovery and our economic success that will continue to come in the future.
So we look forward to next year with great optimism because of the hope that has been built through our efforts over the course of this past year. Optimism is something I feel very strongly about. I am a naturally optimistic person. That is my disposition. But hope is something better, hope is something different, hope is something that is built on an achievement. It is built not just on the aspiration that things might go well, but a confidence and a knowledge that is rooted in the assurance of the way we plan to get to where we want to get to. And a key part of that plan and the qualities that we have as a nation has delivered a programme of vaccines for next year, which is exceeding our expectations. We are invested heavily in four vaccines, all of which are progressing extremely well. This basket of vaccines, the Novavax, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and of course, the University of Queensland vaccine. The UQ and AstraZeneca to be produced in Australia in an historic agreement will also see our vaccine production capability in Australia greatly enhanced, one of the legacies of this COVID period. They are all testing well. They still have to pass the final tests of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the TGA, because we need a safe vaccine, not just a vaccine, and we are working to achieve that. And the Health Minister and I and Professor Brendan Murphy, who heads up our expert medical panel that is advising us on vaccines, are very confident about where this is heading. They should roll out in the first quarter of next year and roll out over the course of the year. At our last meeting of National Cabinet, we agreed the national policy on vaccines and we are now working through the more micro strategy of the rollout plan and so there is still time for that work to come together. But I want to assure you and all Australians that that work is going exceedingly well and is setting up a 2021 which will be very different from 2020, which I think will be a great relief for all of us. A year when we acted to save lives and to save livelihoods, those twin goals, driving all of our directions, bringing Australians together in an unprecedented way, has enabled us to get to where we are now.
So once again, Australia and Australians have proven their resilience this year. We have proven it. I said at the outset from the Prime Minister's courtyard that we like to think we're a strong people. But this year that will be tested and Australians have passed that test. And I'm sure Gladys would join with me in our gratefulness, the big thanks that we have to offer for the outcomes of this year is indeed to the people of Australia and to the people of New South Wales. Their patience, their tolerance, their care for each other, their understanding, their adaptability, their strength in dealing with difficult circumstances has been extraordinary and I think has been guided by that same spirit that existed in previous generations of Australians and those from New South Wales. So this will be something that won't be just required for a short time. Because as we emerge from the pandemic and the comeback has well and truly started and we are making our way once again, next year will prove to be even stronger. But I want to say that that does not mean that the world will present fewer challenges in the future. Of course, it will continue to present great challenges for Australia. There are great uncertainties out there and we are resilient people. And we need to be to meet those challenges that are ahead and are even present now so we can secure our opportunities and we can secure our future.
The world is and remains an uncertain place. Since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, this has been an exception, I think, to this rule. A new era of stability and certainty, sadly, has not been the product of that time. There has been a pause, a relative pause in the level of uncertainty that is experienced at a global level and that has brought about a great prosperity and has brought about a great connectivity in the world. But we are now seeing and have seen for some time now the return to the uncertainties that Australia has always had to deal with. Global competition and tensions we see again. Strains on our rules-based order around the world. All of this requires the careful engagement of Australia, consistent with our values and our national interests. But this is not new for Australia. There's nothing new about this. Australians have dealt with these things before. We have dealt with the economic shocks of global oil crises. Indeed, Australia has dealt with in the early 70s and it took some time with the establishment of the European Common Market, which massively disrupted Australia's trading outlook and the markets upon which Australia relied upon for our future. But Australia adapted. Australia got better at what we were doing, and we were able to create new opportunities and we were able to move forward.
We've dealt with the booms and busts of resource cycles and commodity cycles. That has been a part of Australia's history since John MacArthur and Elizabeth MacArthur started running sheep out in south western Sydney and other places. This has always been part of Australia's experience, to manage the cycles in which our economy moves, some states more than others. We are no stranger to that. We are no stranger to the need to adapt to these things and should never feel in a way that these things can overwhelm us. They don't. They never have. And I have great confidence that they never will. We have dealt with Cold War tensions in the past for protracted periods. This was one of the great successes, particularly I think, of the Menzies governments and those that followed. A careful and deliberate positive engagement with the world, building up new friendships like the one I mentioned with Japan, but maintaining incredibly strong alliances. It was the Menzies government that signed ANZUS that we will celebrate the 70th anniversary next year. I would suggest probably the greatest achievement of that government and one that I think we as Liberals can rightly understand our place in that great relationship between the United States and Australia. It was a Liberal prime minister and a Democratic president that signed that arrangement. It will be a Liberal prime minister and Democratic president next year which will mark that anniversary. That relationship with the United States goes beyond politics. It is deep, it is enduring, and it is based on a common set of values about our societies and that is what sustains it and it will continue to be sustained into the future.
We have dealt also with regional conflicts as a country, whether it be Vietnam or other places. These things have caused great upheaval to our country. But at the same time, through all of these challenges, Australians have remained resilient. We have remained true to who we are. We have remained true to our values. And together we have always been able to come through and find our path. So for us as a government in supporting the resilience of Australians during what are difficult times and will continue to be in the international setting beyond this pandemic, our plan is to continue in accordance with these values and principles that have made Australia so resilient and strong. We will remain an outward-looking, open and trading sovereign economy in the world. We have moved our country from a position where 26 per cent of our two way trade was covered by agreements to facilitate that trade around the world to 70 per cent. That has opened up the path for diversification that Australia has never known before. Most recently, the conclusion of the agreement of the IA-CEPA as it is known with Indonesia, the digital agreement with Singapore. Just the other week we concluded our participation in what is effectively a new regional economic community through the RCEP agreement. We continue with the work and I have met just in recent days with the European Union over our free trade agreement with Europe, as well as are moving quickly with a new agreement with the UK as it pulls out of the European Union. There has not been a government more committed to opening up and developing myriad trade opportunities than the government that was elected in 2013 and continues to serve strongly to this day. And I acknowledge the trade ministers, particularly Andrew Robb, who did so much of that groundbreaking work. But that follows through to Steven Ciobo and Simon Birmingham, all of whom have continued down the consistent path that was set out under the Abbott government when we began in 2013. We have provided those pathways. Those pathways have proved to be more important now than perhaps we first understood when we went down that path together as we sat around that cabinet table and I remember it vividly in 2013, knowing that this is where our future lay to continue to broaden and deepen the nature of trading relationships that we have around the world.
We will continue to leverage and build on our strengths. Our energy strengths, our advanced manufacturing strengths, the skills and ingenuity of our people. Programmes like JobTrainer, the technology roadmap for developing new energy technologies. The manufacturing strategy that was in the Budget, some $1.5 billion built on an economic platform of productivity. This has been well received and it's timely and I commend the ministers for their work in this area and the support that it's received. We will continue to pursue policies that provide equality of opportunity and reward for effort. The fair go for those who have a go. That's what I promised at the last election. And through lower taxes, support for small business, increased training opportunities, some 30,000 new university places that will be available next year. We are living up to that promise. Providing the support and opportunity that is needed for all Australians to achieve their potential where they're prepared to step up and seek to realise their potential.
We will continue to do all we can, all we can, to ensure that our economy is match fit and competitive in what is a competitive trading world. And our productivity reforms which were outlined in the Budget, many of which I've already mentioned around energy and manufacturing and skills training, our infrastructure programme, working with the states. All of this is designed to ensure that Australia is match fit. Our digital transformation strategy, some $800 million announced in the Budget to lift our economy into the digital world so we can compete as strongly and better, hopefully, than any other nation when it comes to enablement digitally. And then, of course, that we will care for those, we will care for each other as a country through the guarantee of essential services that we all rely on that are made possible by a strong economy and the hard work of Australians and that we’ll care for our country. Whether that's in our absolute commitment to ensure that we can achieve net zero emissions as soon as possible, but not through higher taxes, but through smart technology and innovation that sees us achieve what is a worthy aspiration, a worthy goal, but not at the cost of our industries, not at the cost of jobs. This is not a cost that has to be paid to achieve those things. We can do it smarter than that. And that's what we're seeking to do, working with partners around the world. Or it's indeed the landmark work we've done on recycling technology and recycling efforts, the removal of plastics from our oceans and all of these important environmental objectives, which Sussan Ley is leading so well and making our country more resilient to the great environmental challenges that we have. The Black Summer bushfires only underscored these things. Australia is no stranger to bushfires, but as the Royal Commission demonstrated, the risks that present are locked in and we need to continue to build our resilience, not just to ward off against great natural disasters, but we're very familiar with those in this country. And we will continue to work hard together with the states to build our resilience and our recovery capacity in response to those events when they inevitably occur.
So, friends, we do all this by upholding our values, never trading them away, making sure that they always light our path for the way forward to ensure that Australia remains the resilient and successful country. Seeking to make our own way, having our friends, having our partners, but seeking to make our own way as an independent, sovereign nation, based on those liberal democratic market-based values that have secured our success for a very, very long time and will into the future. As Prime Minister and my government, we are custodians of that and we do that consistent with the Liberal Party's values, which are so rooted in that notion of resilience and respect for our institutions and respect for the values that are served so well by our defence forces and are exhibited so well by our small business people who go out there and try and make Australia a stronger place every single day.
So I thank you for your shared commitment to these things. I appreciate your patience as I've run through what are some very important issues today and be confident that the faith that you have placed in our government and the people who run it is respected, is appreciated, and we won't let you down. Thank you very much for your kind attention.
Australia UAE Business Council Launch
26 November 2020
Prime Minister: Well thank you very much Christopher, and my apologies to all of those who are assembled there, we have had a very lengthy Cabinet meeting today and I’ve literally just walked out of that and we’ve just concluded there. And I thank you for your patience, as we prepare for this last sitting fortnight there, as Christopher will well recall, there is a lot of business to get through at this end of the year and in preparations for those last sitting, that next sitting fortnight which begins next week there are some very urgent issues we had to attend to and there’s no shortage of things going on in our world today. Which you will all be as familiar with as I am.
So good evening, everyone and I’m really delighted to be with you, even though it is virtually.
I wish I could have been there with you personally, that was my original intention when my good friend Christopher invited me to be part of this, I, it was straight away I think Christopher, I agreed to do it because I understand the importance of this relationship and I’m very pleased to be able to be here.
Even if it is from, as we call it, ISO, ISO has become known this year as the Australian dictionary word of the year apparently. And so I think that says quite a lot about 2020 that such a word would define a whole year here in Australia.
Can I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners on the land where I’m meeting tonight, where I am in Canberra are the Ngunnawal people, and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
Can I also acknowledge as is my custom any members of the Australian defence force personnel or indeed veterans importantly who have joined us today, as Christopher just said, there are many who have served in our defence forces in the Emirates, and just simply say to them, particularly at this time, particularly at this time, thank you on behalf of a grateful nation for your outstanding service for our country.
Can I of course acknowledge your co-chairs His Excellency Badr Al-Olama, and of course, someone who I know would love to be known as His Excellency, Christopher Pyne, but we’ll just know him as the Honourable Christopher Pyne, and indeed he is, who together are the driving force behind this new Australia UAE Business Council.
I also recognise the presence of His Excellency Abdullarh Al Subousi - the UAE Ambassador to Australia.
There’s a saying that, when trouble strikes, you find out who your true friends really are. Christopher and I know that very well. And trouble has certainly struck this year, and through it all, the United Arab Emirates has shown itself to be a true friend of Australia.
When the bushfires were raging over the Black Summer, we were so grateful for the UAE’s support.
A message of solidarity was projected onto the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
And there was practical support as well, even a fundraising appeal, fittingly called ‘mates help mates’.
All making a difference. But the message it sent, even more special.
Of course, this year hasn’t got any easier. COVID-19 has been a calamity for the world, a global health crisis, and a global economic crisis. I described COVID-19 as being akin to an economic meteor hitting the global economy.
Yet in these most trying of times, Australia and the UAE have responded well.
We’ve successfully limited the spread of the virus, and we have strengthened our economies to respond and absorb that shock. To cushion the blow.
Still, the human and economic toll has been severe, and the way back will be hard. So we do need to keep working together, more closely than we ever have before. And I know the Australia-UAE Business Council will play a central role in this collaboration and partnership.
This is the first-ever business council between our nations, it’s hard to believe really given the strength of relationship and the commerce that occurs. And it’s very timely.
Of course, Australia and the UAE already have a strong economic relationship that’s not news. And we do so in part, because we get each other, we understand each other, and importantly we trust each other.
We believe in open markets and the need to provide conditions for business to succeed. We believe in a business-led recovery of our economies both here in Australia and in the UAE, and around the world.
We share a spirit of optimism and hope, and an enviable capacity for innovation.
And we know that trade is key to our future prosperity.
None of us gets rich selling things to ourselves. One in five Australian jobs relies on trade, and the UAE is our largest Middle East trading partner.
Our businesses export high-quality goods and services, supporting the Emirates’ most prized industries.
You sell premium cuts of Australian meat in your fine hotels and restaurants. Which is what’s demanded by your guests.
Our construction experts helped create the wondrous theme parks of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
And remarkable Australian technology keeps the windows of the towering Burj Khalifa clean and shiny.
Today, there are over 350 Australian companies operating in the UAE, everything from steel trading to banking, freight services, marine manufacturing, and many more.
Likewise, we welcome Emirati investment in Australia.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority — one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, has invested in our ports, our motorways and our energy grids.
And other UAE-based firms have entered our agribusiness, tourism, health and aged care sectors.
Just last month, two Abu Dhabi-based companies, Masdar and Tribe, signed up to a new energy‑from‑waste project at the Maryvale paper mill in Victoria.
The project will divert some 325,000 tonnes of waste from landfill and reuse it to generate steam and electricity. How good’s that?
And it’s expected to create 500 jobs. Even better.
These examples represent just the beginning of our partnership.
Next year is the Golden Jubilee of the UAE a great moment in history with World Expo coming to Dubai.
Like so much, it has been impacted by COVID. But I’m sure it can be a road marker for the world, a marker of hope in the road to recovery.
I’m pleased that Australian businesses are making major contributions to the Expo itself.
I believe one of the opportunities before us is in agribusiness.
We share similar climates, so we can learn from each other about managing water scarcity and growing food sustainably. Sharing the latest innovations in aquaculture, urban farming and hydroponics.
We can also do more when it comes to the digital economy, the real gamechanger. COVID accelerated everything, with artificial intelligence, fintech, cloud computing and e-commerce all creating huge opportunities.
As technologically-advanced economies, we’re well-placed to collaborate here.
We are also seeing shared opportunities in education, with the University of Wollongong, Murdoch University and Curtin University already setting up campuses in Dubai.
But again, we can do so much more.
I want our educational institutions to give young Emiratis, and students across the Gulf region, opportunities to gain experience in the Indo-Pacific region. A region which will define the world in the decades ahead.
And our educational institutions can help provide a steady stream of trained professionals for the UAE’s thriving knowledge-based economy.
Aerospace, a relatively new industry for Australia and the UAE, is another area of massive potential.
Our nations have bold ambitions, and we’re committed to working together to achieve them.
Early last year, the Australian Space Agency signed an agreement with its Emirati counterpart, which is driving cooperation in communications, robotics, technology and space medicine.
We are like-minded partners as we look to grow our national space economies.
Australia has a goal to triple the size of our space sector by 2030, and partnership with the UAE will be important for us to achieve this.
And the UAE is a shining example for Australia, breaking new ground globally, having launched a mission to Mars in July, and sending its first astronaut into space in September.
These are truly historic achievements.
And it’s not just me who’s excited about it as the Prime Minister, as the National Space Agency - the Australian Space Agency is based in Adelaide, in Christopher’s home city. And, Premier Marshall, you will not find a more excitable person, and passionate person when it comes to the development of the space industry in Australia than Premier Marshall. Only Trekkies I think have a more enthusiastic passion for space than Premier Marshall, he has really taken this up in a big way. And he’s a huge part of the partnership which is making our space agency work.
Australia is working hard to make sure our businesses can take advantage of all these opportunities.
And we are working to eliminate the barriers.
We’re deregulating cross-border exchange with a Simplified Trade System reform agenda.
We want to get rid of the unnecessary costs that are holding back our 56,000 exporters, and 387,000 importers, many of which are doing business with the UAE and the wider Gulf region.
As part of our JobMaker Plan, we’re starting a comprehensive overhaul of trade-related regulations.
We’re also starting work on a Digital Verification Platform, to move towards paperless trade internationally, and, in the longer term, a Trade Single Window to enable importers and exporters to tick off any regulatory requirements in just one go.
COVID-19 has played havoc with international freight routes.
So we’ve also taken steps to help our agricultural and fisheries exporters move their produce into key overseas markets.
The Budget which we handed down last month provided more than $317 million to extend the temporary International Freight Assistance Mechanism until the middle of next year.
This is helping to restore global supply chains and keep international freight routes and flights operating.
I’m pleased that Emirates and Etihad are both supporting this initiative, helping to send fresh Australian produce, like meat, seafood, fruit and vegetables, to Emirati consumers.
Now in conclusion, of course, we’ve still got a lot to do to get through all of this.
But when trouble strikes, mates help mates, as UAE has demonstrated to Australia over the course of this year. And so many others.
That’s what we’ve done this year, and now is the time to take our partnership to the next level.
I believe our relationship is full of possibility, and our people and businesses are eager to do the best they can, and make the most of it.
I’m very confident that the Australia-UAE Business Council will open doors in the years ahead and I’m very pleased to be with you to launch this new great venture, and I congratulate all of you for being a part of it as we’ve kicked it off today. And look forward to its great success in the future.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
Congratulations on this new venture.
Virtual Press Conference
26 November 2020
Prime Minister: I'm very pleased to be joining Foreign Minister Marise Payne in this virtual format to make the most exciting confirmation that Doctor Kylie Moore-Gilbert is coming home. This is a great day for Australia and it is obviously a wonderful day for Kylie and her family. Obviously, her family have asked, as has Kylie, that we respect their privacy as Kylie returns home and makes what will be a very significant adjustment. This has been a consular case that we have been working on now for two years and I particularly want to commend Foreign Minister Marise Payne and all of her team, both within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ambassador on the ground and her team, but also many other agencies and their officials who have supported this incredibly important task. Australians will find themselves in places of great difficulty and I can think of few greater places of difficulty then an Iranian prison with a sentence over you of 10 years for a conviction that Australia has always rejected and, of course, Doctor Kylie Moore-Gilbert has always rejected. These arrangements in seeking to secure the release of Australians are very difficult to work through and they are very complex and for the reasons are protecting the safety of all other Australians who potentially can find themselves in difficult situations, the Australian Government’s practice, regardless of what side of politics we are from, has always been to deal with those issues with the greatest deal of discretion. But what is true is that Kylie Moore-Gilbert is coming home. She was facing another eight years in an Iranian prison, wrongfully imprisoned there and wrongfully convicted, and it is incredibly essential that we did the work that was done to secure her release and see her coming home.
Now, I'm sure there are many issues that are raised by these events and I'm going to hand over in a minute to Foreign Minister Marise Payne to speak further on this matter. But what I do want to say is that I'm just so thankful, as I know that Kylie Moore-Gilbert is, to all of those who assisted her release. She is an extraordinarily intelligent, strong and courageous woman. She is an amazing Australian who has gone through an ordeal that we can only imagine, and it will be a tough transition for her, as it has been for others in similar experiences in the past. I know she will get tremendous support from her friends and family and she will, of course, get tremendous support from the Australian Government, both in her return home, as well as the counselling and other support and debriefing and health support that she will need as she makes that transition. Both Marise and I spoke to Kylie earlier today and we were in touch with each other, Marise and I, last night when we first got the news. There have been a few false starts on this in the past ,but we have got there now. Particularly over the course of the last few days, we saw how these events were unfolding and we kept up the hope, we kept up the prayers too and as I said on morning television this morning, I have always believed in miracles and I'm just so thankful for this one as well to see Kylie coming home. She seems to be, in our own conversations, in quite good spirits, but I imagine there is a lot of processing of this to go through yet and as she returns home to Australia and adjusts to life here again.
So, finally to you Kylie, you are amazing. Your strength and your courage is an example to all Australians in what has been an enormously difficult year at home but compared to what you have been going through, well, that is a whole another experience entirely. So I am going to handover to Marise now and to you, Marise, congratulations on how you have led this effort, for your passion and commitment to this. It just couldn't have been greater. Your determination to see this happen today is a great testimony to the great work that you do as our Minister of Foreign Affairs. Marise.
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. I am extremely pleased that Doctor Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been released from her unjustified detention in Iran and is safely on her way home. Doctor Moore-Gilbert will soon be able to resume her life with her family and her work colleagues and this is cause for great relief and also great joy today. I have spoken, as the Prime Minister said, to Doctor Moore-Gilbert on the phone this morning. She is healthy and she is in good spirits. On her return, she will enter quarantine, but she will not be alone and she is well supported. I am not able to disclose the location of her quarantine, nor any other private details. We would all understand that Doctor Moore-Gilbert has adjustments to make, some plans to consider, so this will be a period of privacy and one expects, decompression. Doctor Moore-Gilbert and her family have, as the Prime Minister said, asked for privacy at this time.
Her release has been an absolute priority for the Government over more than the last two years. We have consistently rejected the grounds on which the government of Iran arrested and detained Doctor Moore-Gilbert and we continue to do so. These are points I made strongly to Foreign Minister Zarif during multiple meetings on this issue. Of course, every case of this nature is considered individually and the best strategy is carefully considered each and every time and indeed reviewed through that period. We draw on experience, we draw on the professional judgement of DFAT and other officers. Doctor Moore-Gilbert's family agreed with the Government's advice that the best outcome was likely through diplomatic channels. Our officials followed that strategy with professionalism, with diligence, with commitment, and with great care to secure her safe release and return.
I also want to acknowledge Doctor Moore-Gilbert's faith, her steadfast endurance and her resilience. I want to thank her family. I want to thank her family for the trust, the confidence they have shown towards our diplomatic and consular officers. I also thank her employer, Melbourne University, and her academic colleagues for their support and cooperation. I also, especially, thank this morning Australia's diplomats for their assistance to me and to the Government in securing Doctor Moore-Gilbert's release. The Australian people can be absolutely assured that their diplomatic corps has served us all with utmost professionalism and discretion. This has been a long process. Their commitment and their focus has endured every step of the way. As long as I have been engaged on this, they have been engaged on this. This outcome demonstrates, for me, and I think to Australia, the value of professional, determined, discrete work of officials in resolving complex and sensitive consular cases.
As I said, I am very relieved to know that Doctor Moore-Gilbert is safely out of detention and will be returning to Australia and I've very much look forward to hearing the news of her reunion with her family. Thanks, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: OK, let's go to questions. If I could get the vision of the press conference back and I’m going to have to rely on, we might just go around the room, I think is probably easiest, unless you have agreed on some order. So let's take those questions and I will respond and then pass over to Marise as appropriate.
Journalist: Thanks, Prime Minister. Andrew Tillett from the Financial Review. Kylie Moore-Gilbert is not an isolated case. There were two Australians last October that were released in similar circumstances of effectively a prisoner swap. What is your message for the Iranian regime about this hostage diplomacy that they engage in, and is it just unsafe for Australians to travel to Iran when the COVID-19 travel restrictions are ended?
Prime Minister: Australia's warnings about travel to Iran have been consistent, about the risks that present to Australians who are travelling in that area. And you are absolutely right, we did have earlier cases, we were also able to successfully arrange for their release as well, as we have in this case with Doctor Moore-Gilbert. Now, we don't confirm or make any comment on any of the suggestions that surround her release or the others. That practice is there for good reason and that is because Australia works through diplomatic channels to resolve many issues of this nature, so it would not be in Australia's interests or for the safety of other Australians who from time to time may find themselves in this situation. To acknowledge or confirm in any way, shape or form, so you can draw no conclusion from those arrangements. That is how we are able to best work to secure people's release. But our message to the Iranian government is the same one that I wrote to the President about and the Foreign Minister has raised directly with the Iranian Foreign Minister and that is the detention of Australians for no reason that can be substantiated is just not on. It’s not lawful, it is not recognised by Australia and we won't accept it and we will do everything to ensure we can, in Australia's interest, to secure the release of people who have been falsely detained. Marise, did you want to add anything to that?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women: Prime Minister, I would remind everybody that our travel advice on Iran is very clear. Firstly, we advise; do not travel to Iran and particularly at this point in time due to the COVID-19 outbreak. That is common across our formal travel advice. But we also add that the security situation remains volatile and there is a high risk that you could be arbitrarily detained or arrested. We are very careful with the application of our travel advice and those warnings are there for good reason.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Chris Uhlmann from Nine News. You would both be aware about how this is being reported in Iran. It says an Iranian businessmen and two Iranian citizens who were detained abroad on baseless charges were exchanged for a dual national spy. I know you can't speak directly to this case, but don't prisoner exchanges encourage rogue states to take hostages?
Prime Minister: Again, I will give the same answer I just gave to the previous question, and the Australian government doesn't acknowledge or confirm any such arrangements, regarding any release of any other persons in any other places. If other people have been released in other places, they are the decisions of the sovereign governments in those places. There are no people who have been held in Australia who have been released and so what is important is that Australians are obviously careful in places where they travel to and comply with the travel advice that has been offered by the Australian Government. But we live in an uncertain world and we live in a world where there are regimes that don't act in relation to people's liberties and rights and with the freedoms that we enjoy here in Australia and that is just a sad reality of the world which we live in. And Australia has to deal in that world, we have to take actions in that world to secure the safety of Australians and we will always seek to do that in a professional way. But I can assure you, we don't do it in a way that compromises Australia's national interest, Australia’s national security or the safety of Australians.
Journalist: Mark Riley from the Seven Network, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Working on a bit of a theme here, but the US President-elect Joe Biden’s talking about reviving the Iran nuclear deal. In doing that, I'm wondering first whether we agree with that, and secondly, as part of that, could it not be a condition applied by the US that Iran stops this practice of state sanctioned hostage taking for ransom and starts to act responsibly in the international community to have sanctions eased?
Prime Minister: The JCPOA, you will recall, we looked at as a Government. We are not a party to that agreement but we did look at that agreement and we expressed support for that agreement and undertook that review and continued in that position. But in doing so, we have not been uncritical about the effectiveness of that arrangement, and have said openly that we believe there are improvements that can be made to it. So to that extent, Mark, we would welcome any improvements that would lead to the more lawful behaviour of states like Iran, whether it's on those issues that you’ve just mentioned or more broadly in relation to other activities that Australia obviously does not accept. And so I think there are always opportunities to improve these arrangements. That arrangement has come under a lot of criticism but I think the balance of judgement on that, and Marise will add to this, has been that it is better to have it than not to have it. But it could certainly be a lot better and more effective than it is. Marise?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women: Prime Minister, I think that covers most of the issues. Of course, not being a party to the JCPOA means that others will be engaging in those negotiations and those issues. But we have been consistently clear that we encourage compliance with the provisions of the JCPOA itself. We have been clear in urging Iran to remain within the bounds of the plan of action, which includes workable provisions that deal with disputes and disagreements, so there are mechanisms in that instance. But in terms of rejoining, from the United States' perspective and as the Prime Minister said, there may well be opportunities to consider other issues such as the one you have raised.
Journalist: Tamsin Rose from the Herald Sun here. There are lots of other Australians in prisons overseas, including Melbourne man Karm Gilespie who is currently an China facing the death penalty. Do you have an update on his case and could the same strategies that we used to get this release today be used to get him back home?
Prime Minister: I will ask Marise to give an update on Mr Gilespie’s case, but let me just say more broadly that Australians find themselves in situations for a range of different reasons. And whether they be on criminal matters or they be on political charges, effectively, or espionage charges or things of that nature, so I would say and it has been our experience, that every case is unique and you deal with the circumstances of each case on its merits and seek to find a pathway to resolution as best as you possibly can, and that is what we do in each case. Now, it is impossible for the Australian Government to give any guarantees on these cases about resolution. That is why it is with joy that we welcome the fact that Kylie is on her way home, because there are no guarantees in this situation, nor is there in the case that you have mentioned. But we will continue to apply ourselves assiduously to this and I will ask the Minister to comment further.
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women: Thank you, Prime Minister. It is absolutely the case that every sensitive consular case is different and the facts and the circumstances of each case really guide us and are part of our planning and how each is handled. It is literally a case-by-case strategy. In relation to Mr Gilespie, his matter is still in part of a legal process within China. We continue to seek consular access to him to ensure that we can provide that consular support and, of course, to seek to ensure that he has access to lawyers as well. To be very clear, Australia in all cases, at all times, absolutely opposes the application of the death penalty. That most certainly holds in relation to the cases that you have raised and any other case, in fact. There are many Australians around the world who find themselves in detention for a vast range of reasons. At any one time, Australian consular officials can be dealing with over 200 cases of people in prison globally, and those reasons are as vast as you might imagine. Some are the sorts of circumstances we have seen Doctor Moore-Gilbert deal with. Others, where charges have been made in relation to drugs issues. Others where domestic criminal laws in the countries in which Australians find themselves have been breached and they are dealing with appropriate legal processes there. Every single one of them is a difficult case in its own way. Every single one of them takes considerable consular time to engage on and to provide support for, and we take all of them very, very seriously.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Andrew Probyn from the ABC. You would have noticed that Kylie Moore-Gilbert made a statement outside Evin Prison talking about the Zionist regime, according to one translation. Would you be worried if the making of such statements was a condition of her release and, secondly, and perhaps this is for Senator Payne, have we expressed our thanks to the government of Thailand for their assistance in this matter?
Prime Minister: On the second point you have raised, you are making assumptions, Andrew, that the government does not confirm. So that would be wrong for us to make any comment on that matter, one way or the other. So I think that rests at that point. In relation to the debriefing of Doctor Kylie Moore-Gilbert, that will be done when she returns and goes through quarantine and receives the health support that will be necessary for her to make this difficult adjustment and we will work through these issues, I’m sure, in due course, Marise?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women: Thank you Prime Minister, I think that covers off those issues.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Pablo Vinales, SBS news. Can I just ask you on stranded Australians, some of them have told the COVID committee this morning that at the current rate it is going to take seven years get some of those 36,000 stranded Australians back home. You said you want them home by Christmas. What needs to change for that to happen? Are you still confident that will happen and to Minister Payne, can you assure those Australians that you are doing everything possible to get them home by Christmas?
Prime Minister: A couple of things. Of course we want to see Australians get home and we are very aware, as we have been all year. Over 400,000 Australians have returned home over the course of this pandemic coming back into Australia. When I made the statement, I was making reference to the 26,800 I think it was, Marise, the numbers that we currently had registered at that time seeking to come home. That was in the mid to late September, about 35,000 have arrived back in Australia by now. And there will be more who will arrive home in Australia by the end of the year. So in relation to the commitment I made at the time, I think we have been making good progress against that.
Obviously, the ability to get people home to Australia depends on the available quarantine capacity here in Australia. As you know, the state governments have requested to have caps on the number of Australians and number of arrivals who can come back into Australia, particularly in this time where quarantine is under pressure and that is the greatest risk of transmission of the virus into Australia. So we understand that. I appreciate, particularly in New South Wales, who have carried the lion's share of the load of people coming back to Australia every week, about 3,000. But on top of that, we have had increase in the caps out of Perth and out of Queensland and I thank them for their cooperation. Tasmania also is doing its bit and South Australia, they will return to taking people back on Monday and we welcome that and in Victoria, they will commence again on the 7th of December and there will be about 1,120 who will be coming in, I think it is, a week out of there, and Victoria obviously will be able to take a lot more but they are coming back into the process gently to ensure that their quarantine systems are not breached.
This is why I made it clear to states and territories and particularly those that were saying they would like to bring international students in and that they wanted to have a share of their international arrivals to be dedicated to students. We simply cannot do that because our priority is to get Australians home. I will ask Marise to go through the many flights and we have got some happening even as we speak. The setting up of the facilities up there in the Northern Territory, and the number of flights, I think there are almost 70 flights, assisted flights, that the Australian Government has been involved in getting Australians home this year. Should almost be about 40,000 specifically have been directly facilitated through that process, over the course of this year. So I can assure you, Australia is moving everything we possibly can to get as many Australians home. But there are obviously understandable constraints to that because of the caps on quarantine capacity. We provided Defence Force support for that, the AUSMAT teams have also provided support for that and it is not just the physical space in hotels but it is also then the police resources that need to be dedicated for those tasks and ADF resources that have been made available, as well as medical support provided by the state governments. So there are constraints. But so far, there are just under 27,000 we wanted to get home. 35,000 have already come home but more and more Australians are looking to get home. We’re also, through Services Australia, directly contacting all of those who have registered with our missions overseas to get updated status on their situation. Many of those have recently told us, well no, we can come back next year. But many are saying no, our situation has become more vulnerable and urgent and they have been prioritised in the way we deal with those sensitive cases. But Marise?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. Pablo, I can absolutely assure you we are doing everything we can through the consular crisis division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. As the Prime Minister said, currently with the support of Services Australia to do everything we can to return as many Australians as possible, as soon as possible. That includes having run 24-hour consular teams for months and months now. Using very significant DFAT resources to do that, connecting with and contacting as many of those Australians who are overseas as we can to determine the best support we can provide them to determine how we can assist with access to flights, which in the context of the current international aviation environment, is of course challenging in itself. Then, of course, to determine if they need support in place and we have announced and are administering a hardship program through DFAT, which has so far distributed about $9 million to over 1,700 applicants that can assist in covering the cost of accommodation, of subsistence and of flights. We have been organising facilitated commercial flights from Europe and India during the last month or so, seven of those have arrived in Darwin and Perth, carrying over 1,000 passengers. They obviously have to be staggered through the quarantine and the caps process as well. But there are more to follow over the coming weeks from both New Delhi and London and other locations. We have a flight arriving in Canberra today, for example, which will fly from Singapore, bringing an extra 120 passengers going into hotel quarantine in the ACT, which is my understanding that is the first time the ACT has participated in the quarantine process for returning Australians. So, it is a complex process. We are contacting all of those Australians, family by family, to determine the best processes for them to work with them on that. As the Prime Minister said, some are keener than ever to return because of their family circumstances. Others are changing their positions and views. We will work with all of them on that and our role is in providing that support. What effect the consular officials who are doing this work, both in Canberra but also at countless posts around the world where they have been working on helping Australians who have been impacted by COVID-19 since March and April this year. It has been an enormous undertaking. We have seen 426,000 Australians returned from overseas since the Government first recommended that people reconsider the need to travel overseas on March 13. Many of those have been supported and assisted by the consular officials at DFAT.
Journalist: Daniel Hurst from Guardian Australia. Prime Minister, you have not acknowledged any linkages and he said release of prisoners as a matter for those sovereign states. So let me put this another way. Why should these Australian people not be concerned or have any security concerns about the release of at least two Iranian men in Thailand who are convicted of terrorism charges and given that those men were part of an attempt to assassinate Israeli diplomats in Bangkok, have there been any consultations with the government of Israel about this matter and have any concerns been expressed by the government of Israel to Australia about the release of these men?
Prime Minister: I will leave it to the Foreign Minister, whether she has received any information from Israel on that matter. I'm not aware of any that has come to Australia in my capacity. My answer is the same as to what I said to you, where another sovereign state has made a decision about the release of prisoners, that is a matter for them. Again, as Australia manages these sensitive issues, the reason we do it so sensitively and ensuring that Australia's, the safety of Australians and Australia’s national interest are not compromised. They are clear guardrails for Australia in how we manage these matters and this is important for other Australians who can find themselves in difficult situations. I do understand the interest. I do understand the reasons why, rightly, these questions will be raised. I totally understand that and I know the Foreign Minister would as well. Equally, in our responsibilities, we need to keep Australians safe in a whole manner of very complex and difficult arrangements and that is the reason why we are so discreet about the handling of these matters because it can put other Australians at risk. Potentially in the future. So, it would not be responsible for us, I believe, to engage in that level of detail. Marise, did you have anything to add on Israel?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women: No, Prime Minister, I'm not going to comment on diplomatic discussions with other governments in the context of the return of Doctor Moore-Gilbert. What I will say is my absolute focus in this entire process for such a long time has always been to endeavour to secure the release of Doctor Moore-Gilbert and to protect the rights, freedoms, safety of all citizens and to consistently act in Australia's interests. I can absolutely assure you that is the premise from which we start every day.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Sarah Ison from the West Australian. Just turning to the Chinese relationship, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday that Australia was solely to blame for the current rift, that Australia has caused difficulties in the bilateral relations and urged Australia to face up to problems and correct mistakes. What problems could they be speaking about and what mistakes have been made? Senator Payne, is it to do with the international inquiry you called into the origins of COVID-19, could this be classed as the mistake they refer to?
Prime Minister: Well, the other day the Chinese Embassy here in Australia outlined a list of 14 points and those 14 points go to the way that Australia makes its own laws in its own interests. That it engages on issues of global concern, consistent with Australia's values about transparency and human rights and issues of that nature and it also goes to the fact that Australia has a free press and a democratically elected Parliament of members who can freely speak their minds. I mean, these are fundamental sovereign interests of Australia. And so I can assure Australians that all of our views on those issues remain and are absolute. The other evening I gave a presentation to the Policy Exchange where I outlined I think fairly clearly what Australia's ambitions are here. We acknowledge, of course, the great economic success of China. I mean, no country in the world has pulled more people out of poverty than China has. That is a remarkable modern achievement of which they should be rightly proud and of which Australia has played a key role in. Not unlike the dramatic transformation of Japan during the post-war period. And indeed of the war-torn countries of Europe, who were able to reconstruct and rebuild on the basis of free market trading principles that make them the strong nations they are today. That said, that is why we want to have a happy coexistence, a good positive relationship under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, one that is mutually beneficial. So the relationship between Australia and China is not one way. It is not just Australia who benefits. China greatly benefits. We greatly participated in their economic success. There is a wonderful people-to-people relationship between Australia and China and we share a passionate, deep and abiding interest in the success of south-eastern Asian nations pulling their nations and their people out of poverty. Particularly some nations that are newly developing, like in Myanmar and places like that, so we share those objectives for the region and want to work together on those things. That interest sits alongside our interest in maintaining the healthy and wonderful alliance we have with our friends, the United States, and we will make our decisions based on our interest. They will not be determined by countries outside of Australia. It is in our interest to seek to manage each of these relationships to the best possible way we can because that is what is in our national interest. I think Australia’s position has been clear and consistent. Both Prime Minister Howard and indeed the former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer made it pretty clear after my presentation the other night. Australia's position has not changed. The policies are the same. And they continue to be worked out and the actions we have taken consistent with those positions. So I think there has been a very clear and very consistent position from Australia and we would happily welcome a dialogue again, at a leader level and at a ministerial level. Australia has always been open to that and remain open to it now.
Journalist: Anthony Galloway from the Sydney Morning Herald. This is probably one for the Foreign Minister. But now that Doctor Moore-Gilbert is coming home and is safe, are you able to confirm any more details about what were Iran's actual baseless allegations? Are you able to confirm that central to the allegations were an alleged connection to Israel?
Prime Minister: Marise? Well, it seems like we might have had a technical problem with the Foreign Minister’s feed into the media conference. And, again, on these issues, they are not really things that we are going to get drawn into at this point. I mean, there were the issues that were publicly reported at the time. The bottom line is, is they were false. They were false allegations. She was not being detained for any, in our view, any legally appropriate reason. It was appropriate that she be released because she had done nothing wrong and she should not have been detained the way that she was. So that is why we couldn't be happier that this period has ended. But, Marise, do we have you back? If not, we might go to the next question.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Chloe Bouras from Network Ten. Just on another matter, bushfire season is upon us again. The Bureau of Meteorology is about to give its outlook for bushfires. Has the Federal Government implemented or actioned any of the recommendations that were made by the Royal Commission and if so, which ones?
Prime Minister: Well, the Royal Commission brought down a range of overarching governance-type arrangements and we will continue to work through the implementation of that and you have our response to that. We released that a week and a half ago. Much of the operational preparations have been ongoing now for some time. I mean, I had the National Cabinet briefed on the Bureau of Meteorology's forecast for the upcoming disaster season. That doesn't only deal with bushfires, but particularly because of the risk with La Nina, the risk particularly on the east coast is around flooding and cyclone events. That is one of the reasons we had to redeploy ADF to ensure they were preparing for any role they may need to play in the upcoming season, regardless of what type of a disaster may befall us.
In the west, the risk was greater on issues like bushfires, as they were in the north and so we have been working with state governments in readiness for those events as well. In terms of the firefighting fleet, aerial fleet, the planes, the same process with the additional financial support of the Commonwealth continues. It is the fire chiefs who make the recommendations about what they need and that is what has been provided and we will continue to take their advice. That was an area of difference between the Royal Commission and both the state and territory governments and the Commonwealth, that the system they had of the fire chiefs from the state whose have operational responsibilities making the recommendations about how their state fleets need to be supplemented with additional resources. That is why we put the additional funding in for and made that permanent to ensure they can reliably access those resources. So the work continues, as it does every year. There have been many learnings from last year's bushfire season. Some are longer-term changes. A big part of the change that was recommended to the Royal Commission is that we have to look more on the recovery side of things and on the climate resilience side of things. It is very important, of course, that we reduce our emissions and Australia is, and successfully, and meeting our commitments and our targets and in fact we are exceeding them. But on top of that, dealing with climate change is also about building climate resilience for locked-in impacts and regardless of what happens in the missions in the next 10 or 20 years, the existing impacts that are locked in to the system rely increased effort on climate resilience. Not just here in Australia too, by the way, but Pacific countries and that is where a big part of our support effort, some half a billion dollars, goes into that assistance.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Josh Butler from The New Daily. Thank you for sticking around until the end. On hotel quarantine, South Australia and Victoria both this week announced they are strengthening their systems. New rules around restrictions on workers and medical guidelines. The Chief Medical Officer said last week that hotel quarantine was Australia’s major risk of reintroducing COVID to the country. Especially considering more Australians are coming home now and the surge in cases overseas, do you believe the broader system of hotel quarantine would be strengthened in other states? And just a quick related one to follow up on Pablo’s earlier question, is that goal of getting all Australians home by Christmas a bit too difficult?
Prime Minister: Well, let me deal with that one first. The goal was to deal with the caseload that we had back in September and that was around 26,700 people. And we’ve already got 35,000 home. So we are well on the track to deal with the scale of demand that we had at the time. In fact, we have exceeded it in many respects with the number of people that have come back. There have been more who have joined that queue and so having effectively, really achieved the scale of movement that we were hoping to achieve over this time, there are more people who want to come and we just need to get as many people home as quickly as we possibly can using the methods that the Foreign Minister has indicated. Now, the biggest constraint on that is the scale of quarantine resources that are available for people to come back and it is logical that the area of greatest risk of COVID coming into Australia is from those returning Australians. Now, that was the case back in March. It is true today and the quarantine system, which was introduced in late March, has been incredibly successful. Yes, there have been a number of outbreaks that are caused from quarantine, but when you think of hundreds of thousands of people who have come back through this system over the many months, that is why your back-up system of tracing and isolating and testing are so important. There is no one solve to this. All of these things work together. That has been the consistent advice provided to National Cabinet and that is why, whether it is was Jane Holton's review of the quarantine system that I think has informed many of the changes that you are seeing and the assessment that she did across all of the state and territory jurisdictions and gave them a pretty good score, I have got to say. But there is always room for improvement and that report was released publicly. That has been provided to the states, so they can make further improvements in their quarantine arrangements. But on top of that, Dr Finkel and his report that I released after National Cabinet - where the recommendations of that report were adopted by all members, all premiers and chief ministers - that also goes to the further strengthening of our tracing system. We did see that in place and working in South Australia. I mean, 4,000 people were identified and isolated in the space of less than 48 hours. The tracing system swarmed and kicked in very quickly in South Australia and they were able to avoid a much more serious situation. I can appreciate that people were concerned about the level of lockdown that occurred, based on the information they had at the time, but the fact that it could be removed so quickly and that outbreak contained so fast and the isolation testing and tracing that was done shows the significant improvement, I think, in the systems that are there. When you look at Australia compared to the rest of the world, well, frankly, there is no comparison. Australia is in a handful of countries that stand out, not just for how we’ve suppressed the virus, but how we have mediated, mitigated I should say, the economic impact on Australia. I mean, Australia's economy has withstood this better than almost any other advanced economy in the world. That is a great credit to the perseverance and the determination of Australians to see through one of the most difficult years in their lived experience. But, Marise, did you want to add anything further to that or on the other matter before we lost you?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women: No, Prime Minister, I think that is very clear in terms of the returning Australians and the endeavours that we are making to assist wherever possible through the airlines, through the worker's consular and crisis team, through so many other ways at posts and ultimately to have as many Australians back in Australia before Christmas as we can.
Prime Minister: Thank you, everyone. I appreciate you joining us for this virtual media conference and the key thing is Kylie is coming home. How good is that?
Our Watch Virtual Forum
25 November 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you very much and it’s good to join you this morning, and I am speaking to you from ISO here at the Lodge, which is a bit extraordinary but we have all been getting used to that this year. As some of you may well be as you are joining us today.
Can I also acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, on whose land we meet where I am, and to pay my respect to their elders, past and present. And I also, given the nature of this event - can I specifically acknowledge all of our indigenous women leaders around the country who do such an amazing job, you know when I talk to those who are involved in programmes on the ground, they talk about how important it is to engage with female leaders in communities, and to sit and to listen.
And it doesn’t matter whether I’m talking to people working out of the Federal Police, people who are working in homelessness, people who are working in health, and I’ve got to say when I used to work in New Zealand many years ago, it was the same there. In engaging with Indigenous health, Maori there and other Pacific cultures. [Inaudible] to engage and understand the challenges [inaudible]. Have an amazing bravery and an amazing [inaudible] and a protective character which is truly inspiring.
Can I also acknowledge, as I always like to, all the serving men and women who serve in our Defence Force and particularly at this time dealing as a country with some very difficult, hard news and I want to thank all veterans and all Defence Force personnel for their service [inaudible].
I also acknowledge our parliamentary colleagues who are joining us here and fellow leaders with us today - and particularly acknowledge the Co-convenors of the Friendship Group - Senator Waters, Dr Aly and Dr Martin. Thank you.
We come together on this day [inaudible]. There are some issues which we will [inaudible] with hammer and tong, but on this issue, and I’ve been around this place for a while now. There is agreement across the divide. There is a sense of frustration and anguish across the divide. There is no dispute and no lesser level of conviction across any area of policy in this country when it comes to dealing with this issue.
Natasha, I want to thank you once again, we’ve been working with each other for a while on this, back from when I was Social Services Minister in particular many years ago. And I thank you for your introduction today and the issues that you’ve raised. And I particularly want to congratulate you on your appointment to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. So congratulations [inaudible].
You know, we all come to this with different perspectives. I grew up as the son of a police officer, and you know, when you grow up as the son of a police officer, you don't grow up with any illusions about true nature of the society in which you live. They know. My father was a good cop, and he was a good man and he saw the worst of society and he would see it every day, particularly when he was a younger officer. He worked the beat like anyone else when he was a young officer. And that was back in the 60s, not today. And we all know that while there are terrible, awful, atrocious things that continue to happen today, spare a thought for 30, 40 years ago when it was even more silent than it is today. And they would see this, and they would live with this. Good men and women who were aware of what was happening.
So I grew up in an environment where I was not disabused with any sort of fairy tale view about the absence of violence in our society, the absence of the things that we know that we are still dealing with today. I thank him for not, and sparing me the grisly detail a young boy, but I could see how he carried these things over the course of his working life and his mates who dealt with similar things.
So I come to this with no illusions about the reality and the honesty of the situation and how we have to confront it. But I also come to it with the legacy of so many others who have served in my role and served in so many other roles, including the brave women who have entered our parliament. And are here joining with us today from all sides of politics.
But this year we had the passing of two amazing women who did so much. And I'm talking about of course Senator Susan Ryan and Dame Margaret Guilfoyle. Dame Margaret was the first woman to hold a Cabinet portfolio and she said this of her ethos, equal participation of women in the parliament and the whole community of life can only lead us to a better understanding of humanity and the fulfilment of aspirations that we would have for a civilised society. Dame Margaret’s point was clear, we can't separate how our country treats women from what our country actually is. And I share that view. Susan Ryan expressed the same sentiments, she she demonstrated the same passion. She also fought to claim ground, on behalf of my daughters I thank them both.
That they will inherit a world and a country that is better than the one that my mother, when she started work and the idea that someone would be working, wasn't necessary, at a time when one mother, she had my brother and I, they couldn't understand why she would then go back to work. And when we lost my father earlier this year, a lot of these stories came back and we discussed them as family. And I could see quite a bit of the change that is taking place, but so much of the change that is still to be achieved, which is why we come together today.
This year has been a hard year for all Australians. With COVID-19 and the stresses and strains and anxiety that it has placed on people. And we, of course, and this was one of our greatest concerns at the outset of the pandemic, the Premiers and chief ministers myself alike, all through the federation that we knew that the virus, and shutting down communities and keeping people in homes where we know home is not always safe for a lot of women in this country.
That was one of the hardest decisions we had to make because we knew that there would be circumstances that potentially would potentially put women at great risk. And when you talk about hard decisions about containing the virus, that can pretty much destroy your country. And also at the same time, trying to protect women and children in vulnerable situations. This was one of the toughest decisions. And then we, and we agonised over them, and the only response was to do what we did, but at the same time ensure we doubled down as much as we possibly could on the services that would be necessary to support vulnerable people in these situations.
And this was a joint effort, it was no one single issue. It was a shared commitment and concern that we were acting on and state and federal governments working together to do whatever we can. There were no lines when it came to how we were going to protect women and children in vulnerable areas during the pandemic. There were no spats between the feds and the states. It was ‘We’ve just got to get this done.’ And I want to thank all the premiers and chief ministers and the health ministers. I know Greg Hunt will join me on that and Marise Payne in thanking them for the work we've done together.
But all too often, and that has continued to be the case over the course of this year, we have seen these behaviours that persist and seek to silence, control women in so many cases. In this country, we know that one woman is murdered by her current or former partner every nine days and that one in four women experience physical or sexual violence. One in four. You know these figures, we all know this because we say these figures and they cause us to shrink when we hear them. But this year, when Hannah Clarke was murdered and her three young children, I think for so many Australians, these weren’t numbers. A beautiful, young, strong woman, a mother and her three children killed in the most violent way I can imagine. You just can't get it out of your head. And when I attended the funeral and I looked at those beautiful faces of Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey and I looked at Hannah putting her arms around her children, well, it was hard to cope. And I hope this stays with me, and I'm absolutely certain it will. And others as we seek to deal with this issue. Because we do focus rightly on the prevalence of this issue and the statistics and that's an all important part of the evidence-based policy, as you rightly say, Natasha, that needs to drive our decision making. Of course, it has to drive our decision making and how we apply funds, where we do it and where we understand the problem will be the greatest and the contributing factors to be most prevalent. We need to understand all of that. But we also can never lose sight of just the sheer emotional scarring, torment, torture. And that also has to drive us. That's also what has to sustain us, and I can assure you, it sustains my commitment to this and the members of my government and I believe every single member of parliament and opposition and wherever you sit.
How many times have we all heard the news report and said to ourselves, not again. And we know that has to change. It’s violence caused by a twisted view of masculinity that thinks masculinity means control. It’s about control, it's about power. We know that to be the case. Healthy masculinity is not threatened by equality in the workplace, at home or anywhere else. Healthy humanity is not threatened by these. Whether it's people of different backgrounds or sexuality or colour or views, healthy humanity is not affected by these things and healthy masculinity is not either when it comes to issues of women. And to the credit of all sides of politics in the states and territories as well, the journey on this for Australia is well and truly on. We've been tackling the systemic challenge since 2013. We have committed more than a billion dollars to programmes and activities that seek to tackle violence against women and their children. We pick up from the work that was done by the Rudd-Gillard governments and the packages that were put in place and those responses. This is a continuation of that work with equal passion.
And this here, in the early days of the pandemic, we did put in place, as Fiona said, $150 million for the COVID-19 domestic and family violence support package, providing needed support for crisis accommodation, frontline services and intervention programmes. We did put additional funding for the 1800RESPECT counselling services. When I was a social services minister, I visited those places and the calls were made and the calls were taken. In September, we announced our Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Programme, which provides 58 safe emergency accommodation in remote regional and metropolitan areas, and the government is still considering a number of those proposals now having dealt with the others. We're proud to fund Our Watch to the tune of $21 million from 2019-2022 to support vital preventative activities.
But alongside the vital programmes must come a fundamental change in attitudes to Australian lives. There has, of course, been progress, but not nearly enough and the evidence tells us that attitudes which justified or condone gender inequality are a driver of violence against women. To prevent violence and inequality, we have to challenge those beliefs, to call it out, and behaviours that excuse justify or condone it. And this year, as part of this International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Our Watch is focusing on sexism and disrespect towards women that happens online. Because more and more, we live our lives in this space, and particularly over the course of this past year during the pandemic. Australia has led the world with an e-safety commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant, who does an amazing job. She's awesome. To help protect us all women, kids in particular as well. She is a champion. I'm glad Julie Inman-Grant is out there protecting my kids online and I'm glad she's protecting Jenny, I’m glad she's protecting all the women on this call today and elsewhere in the country. And she's there to stop the trolling, the abuse, the vile attacks on dating apps, the unwanted sharing of private images, and, yes, the everyday sniping on Twitter that all seeks to silence women politicians, women journalists, women academics and commentators, just like those who tried to silence Dame Margaret and Susan Ryan long ago as well.
So there is, friends, still so much to do. Attitude change, behavioural change, continue to renew support services that support women. I want to assure you that my Government is committed to that work and all the members of the House. Now, as many of you know, the current national plan will end in 2022. We've already begun work on the next one, just like we did last time, picking up on the work done by previous governments. The preeminent human yearning in all of us, men and women alike, is to be safe. And for too many women we know that fundamentally is not being met. That's why keeping Australian’s safe is the first priority of our Government, because it's the foundation of a civilised society.
So on this International Day of Eliminating Violence Against Women, I recommit and rededicate my and our efforts to keep women and their children safe. I really want to thank Our Watch for all your efforts and I look forward to seeing the outcomes of today's meeting. I thank you very much for your kind attention.
APS200 Virtual Forum
25 November 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much, Phil. And and to Peter as well and to all of those who are joining us here today. These are very extraordinary times. And to be joining you in this way from isolation here in The Lodge is certainly unique, but it's great that we can continue to connect up. The government doesn't skip a beat as we continue on, regardless of these rather extraordinary circumstances.
Can I also acknowledge the Ngunnawal people and their elders past, present, and emerging. And as you know, I always like to acknowledge our veterans and our serving men and women, particularly at this time, as we're dealing with some very difficult issues, which we're all very aware of. We owe them a great debt and we thank them on behalf of a grateful nation for their service. But to all of you, thank you for your service to our country. Last year, I addressed the leadership of the APS, at the event at the Great Hall, and I said I wanted the APS to be professional, capable, flexible, technology enabled and citizen focussed, and open also to outsiders and diverse points of view, both within and without. And I believe this year has been a year of great delivery for our Australian public service, in spades. On behalf of the government, I want to thank all of you who have served so well and say thank you.
This year, the Australian Public Service and the entire public sector stepped up, and Australians needed you to, I needed you to, I said last year that more than advice, implementation and execution was key. It remains my view, in 2020 we witnessed strong implementation and execution by the APS during the most difficult crisis we've faced in certainly in my lifetime and in many generations. Silos fell. They dissolved, real substantive and fast collaboration occurred. You should all be enormously proud of what we've accomplished this year. We faced twin national crises in real time, a health crisis and an economic one, to save lives and to save livelihoods. There was no rulebook. There was no set of procedures for the broader actions that were undertaken by our public service, certainly when it related to our pandemic plan that was implemented. But the broader activity of the public service and what I saw occur, you've written that book now about how it should be done, through your actions. Decisions that once might have seemed absolutely impossible, like closing the national borders, quarantining Australians - including a Prime Minister - closing pubs, gyms, schools, theatres, weddings and funerals limited, a very difficult decision, shutting up places of worship. All these were made in a matter of days, difficult decisions made decisively, but also based on clear medical advice.
Thousands of members of the APS were redeployed. Within 24 hours, hundreds were seconded to Services Australia answering calls. We even had a Service Australia call centre operating out of Parliament House. All up, processing hundreds of thousands of claims in weeks. We saw functions and apparatus like the National Cabinet and the National COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission quickly and supported almost instantaneously. We witnessed incredible action in the earliest days of hearing of COVID-19 in Wuhan. DFAT staff drove 12 hours from Beijing to Wuhan to coordinate getting Australians out. And our consular staff around the world have been working tirelessly since. We all shared a goal this year, the executive, the parliament, the bureaucracy, and that was to save lives and to save livelihoods, and be COVIDSafe ourselves. And that's still our goal.
This year we've tragically lost 907 Australians to this virus. Our performance though as we all know has been very strong, but we can't bring those Australians back. But it's worth remembering that the mortality rate around the world has been more than 4 times greater than ours. And in the US and the UK and many European countries, it's been 20 times greater. Ours has been an $18.5 billion dollar health response. Every part of our medical response has been like an interlocking piece of the jigsaw. The national medical stockpile dispensed over 82 million masks, the purchase of thousands of ventilators, the deployment of emergency resources, a pathology ramp up some 700,000 COVID tests, 150 pop up COVID clinics, the absorption of the private hospital system into our COVID response, mobilising over 30,000 hospital beds and 105,000 skilled workers for our national response. Decisions about elective surgeries, accessing a wider pool of medical professionals, rolling out telehealth. A 10 year reform rolled out in 10 days with 38 million telehealth services provided so far.
The dramatic expansion of mental health funding and support further expanded during the Melbourne lockdown. Targeted support for indigenous communities, dozens and dozens of critical health decisions working hand in glove with the states and territories and of course, the incredible work that continues to ensure Australians can access a safe and effective vaccine in 2021.
There have been massive decisions on the economic front as well. You delivered JobKeeper. The biggest financial lifeline in our nation's history. This happened in weeks. $100 billion dollars, in fact, a bit more than that. 3.5 million jobs supported, 700,000 jobs saved. Now, I've been around this place for a while and many of you watching on have been around even longer. I find it hard to think of any single act by a Commonwealth government that has had a bigger impact on more lives in this country than JobKeeper. It has been a defining, game changing moment in our nation's history. It was the product of Ministers, particularly the Treasurer, working together with myself as Prime Minister, the then Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, working together with Treasury officials, led in particular by Steven and Jenny, to produce an extraordinary programme. I'm proud of many things during my time as both Prime Minister and in other Ministerial roles, but I'm going to be hard pressed to think of something that has had a more transformational impact and we couldn't have done it without you.
There were major supports for households and businesses, pandemic leave, JobSeeker changes, cash flow support for small and medium sized businesses, keeping a country going through a pandemic, over $500 billion dollars support in total, representing over 25 per cent of our GDP when combined with the monetary measures of the Reserve Bank, major decisions on visas, tenancies, childcare, aged care and so much more. Done professionally, done carefully and done quickly. Proving what I said last year, meeting the standards of high quality implementation and execution, you helped keep this country's head above water while so many other countries were plunging. You know, when you decided to join the public service, I suspect it was to be of great service to our country in moments just like this. This year, you've realised that vision for yourself, and I hope you feel incredibly proud of your service.
Now, we're expected to have one of the lowest falls in GDP across the advanced economies in 2020 across every area of government, people adapted and responded in areas most don't know about. And perhaps we'll never know. The National Measurement Institute, which if you didn't know, measures things by the way, ramped up its efforts to take testing masks, people and instruments and tests for labs and frontline staff. The engineers in the ADF who'd already demonstrated their great skills on so many occasions during the bushfires and the drought, rebuilt and refitted mask machines in the Med-Con factory in Shepparton as a result of that, that factory now has an output capacity of 200 million masks per year. All part of a tremendous effort by the ADF in 2020.
I said in the Parliament at the start of this pandemic that this year we would find out as Australians how strong we really are. And I can happily report to you that the quality, depth, skill and commitment of our public service met that test. It is strong. It really is, and I'm very proud of it.
This year, our country has witnessed the Australian public service at its very best. This virus we know is a common enemy all around the world. And like an enemy, when it engages, it seeks to disrupt our plans. But you have met that disruption head on. And now I'm going to ask for something from you once again, and that is more next year.
We are rebuilding what we've lost. We are reclaiming the jobs, the investment, the exports, the businesses and the hopes of millions of Australians that were crushed this year. And they're rebuilding. We are now, and as we go into next year, we are in the comeback phase. We are in the recovery and rebuilding phase. And you have as critical role to play in that, as you have had in the phase we've gone through this year as we've cushioned that blow and carried Australians through and ensured that we can get to the next stage.
To put it in perspective, the amount of support in particular we have given in our support of Victoria in this year alone, over about $35 billion dollars, that's more than a third of their total Budget this year. That is extraordinary.
And going forward, the recovery and rebuilding the plan for achieving that is our JobMaker plan, creating the settings for Australians to make decisions with confidence. Starting a business, getting training, building a home, having a family, even going on a local holiday. Our Government is about a business led recovery. We want businesses to drive this recovery. Now, that doesn't mean that there's no role for government. Quite the opposite. But what we have to be clear about is that we are enabling, through our policies, through the work that you're doing, a business led recovery. Because that's what is sustainable. Governments can't carry countries forever in our economy. Our economy will be driven by businesses. And so our policies and our implementation must be about spurring those businesses on to make those decisions, to plan for their future with confidence, and to move forward. There has been an important time for government and for government to step up, but we are very clear that it was temporary, that it was targeted, that it was proportionate, and it used the existing distribution channels to ensure that it didn't fail and it hasn't. Government has done and is doing the essential job that it had to do in the midst of the crisis. But we must graduate from that phase and allow business led recovery to take us forward into the future. 2021 is about ensuring our country recovers from the worst economic shock in our lifetime and businesses will carry that forward and we're already on our way. Major decisions on manufacturing, on skills, on energy, on cutting red tape, reducing the cost of business through deregulation. And of course, the Budget, which is our blueprint, our recovery plan from the COVID-19 recession. We're looking ahead to 2021. We'll need to keep our foot on that accelerator.
This year is coming to a close, but we all know the crisis is not yet over. We need to keep bringing Australians also home. Thousands more are still stuck overseas, wanting to get home to lives and loved ones here. And I want to thank those, whether they be in the Department of Home Affairs or the Department of Transport, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Those over at Services Australia who are also assisting in this effort, contacting people overseas. This is what I'm talking about, how all of these agencies have worked together in the past year. Let that be your take out from this. You know, a lot is said about this town, in particular, and I know we have federal Commonwealth public servants all around the country. But a lot's been said about it in the past, about how it only looks inward at itself and it doesn't connect with the rest of the country. Well, I think the Australian Public Service has done a lot this year to disprove that. And what it's also disproved to itself is that everyone doesn't have to stay in their silos for this to work. You've demonstrated how when you come together, you achieve great things. So that's got to be our take out. Let's take that as the learning and the legacy from what has been a very, very difficult year. That coming together does work. It does get better outcomes. It does increase the productivity and the outcome delivery of our public service for all Australians.
So we need to stay vigilant. We need to stay the course. And whether it's on our COVIDSafe behaviours and social distancing and hygiene to prevent second or third waves of this disease from taking hold or maintaining the course and supporting the business led recovery. Next year we’ll be delivering that COVID-19 vaccine. We've got a strategy that puts Australia at the front of the queue for a safe and effective vaccine. Whether it's one we bring here or one we develop here, and our elderly, health and aged care workers and other vulnerable people will be the first to get it. In a year of recovery and rebuilding, we will be asking for fresh thinking and new ideas and delivering for Australians just like this past year. My message to every member of the APS is that you demonstrated this year that together you are stronger, more effective and more capable than I think perhaps you imagined as well. So let's step out in that in 2021. And I need you fresh in 2021 as well. So use the Christmas break to recharge.
Just in finishing, let me make two points. Recently I set up the Policy Implementation Committee of Cabinet. You all know that the Expenditure Review Committee and the National Security Committee are the big subcommittees of Cabinet which drive a lot of the Government's agenda. The establishment of the new Policy Implementation Committee sits at equal status with both of those Cabinet subcommittees. And what they're designed to do is to ensure that we stay on track for delivering what we have developed and sought to put in place through our budgets. How we deliver is, frankly, more important than even the planning phase. It's the execution, as I said last year, that is most important. This Policy Implementation Committee of the Cabinet provides a venue, a channel for accountability of performance against what we've set out to do. And I can tell you honestly, the inspiration for it for me was in the major changes we made to Closing the Gap this year. And I want to thank particularly the team that worked on that and Ray and everyone there. Because working together with the Indigenous leaders, what we came up with was a set of metrics, not about just what we wanted to achieve. Whether it's reducing the mortality rate for infants in Australia from Indigenous communities or the school attendance rates or any of these things. But it set out what the things were we had to track well on to achieve that goal. It actually set out a clear pathway and a set of metrics and a dashboard that said if you want to achieve this and if we want to know we're tracking towards achieving this, then right now we know we need to be achieving this. And that's how the Policy Implementation Committee, that's how I want it to work.
One of the things I need to be looking at right now as Prime Minister and the other ministers is to know that we're going to hit this mark in two years time, ten years time, indeed 20 years time when we think of long term defence procurements. It's fine to talk about the absolute outcome metrics. But there are metrics we need to satisfy every single day to know we're on track. Now, you are the professionals about knowing what those are. That's where your skill and your expertise comes into being. And that's just not the role of central agencies. It is the responsibility of every department for you to be supporting your ministers so they can know how we're tracking against what we as a Government have committed to do. I take delivery and my commitments very seriously to the Australian people. That is a bond you have as a Prime Minister with the community, and I'm relying on you to help us ensure that we can deliver on those commitments and knowing what we need to do each and every day.
Final point I wanted to make was a personal reflection, but it's far broader than that. I'm sure Phil would join with me in welcoming the nomination of Professor Brendan Murphy, as the Australian of the Year from the ACT. Brendan is a very humble guy. You all know that. And he has possibly the worst jokes in the public service, I suspect, having had to endure many of them over our many meetings. He's a wonderful man and he's a great Australian. I'm so proud of you, Brendan, that you've been nominated. But the thing about this is when I tease Brendan constantly about his notoriety, is I know that he accepts this nomination not for himself personally. I know that he feels he's accepting it on behalf of all of you. He represents the tip of the spear in so many respects, supported by Paul Kelly and so many others who have worked so hard over, particularly in the health area this year. He is the tip of the spear of the entire public service effort during COVID-19. In so many ways, he's been the face of the public service. And I know every time, as it's been also true with Paul, we've stepped out there and particularly in those early days of the pandemic and we faced the nation and we said it's going to be okay, we're going to get through this. Of course, they look to a Prime Minister for that. But to be flanked by one of you, by a member, a professional member of our public service, that's said the same thing. I think that said a lot about the partnership that you and I have in our commitment to serving the Australian people. So congratulations, Brendan. You're up in a pretty good field, I've got to say, with Shane Fitzsimmons and many others, but I appreciate the way and the humble way in which you received that order on behalf of everyone here in the Australian public service. And I wish you all the best and I look forward to more of those jokes, I suppose.
Thanks, everyone.
PHIL GAETJENS, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET: Thanks, Prime Minister.
UK Policy Exchange Virtual Address
23 November 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much and I’m pleased to join you from Canberra this evening. I want to start, as is our custom, by acknowledging the traditional owners here of this land the Ngunnawal people and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
And as is my custom, I also acknowledge any Australian defence force personnel or veterans who have joined us today, and say on behalf of a very grateful nation, thank you for your service.
I would also like to extend the same gratitude to any participants in today’s discussion and those watching on who may have served in the British or other allied defence forces and I extend our thanks to you also.
I also want to thank my good friend Prime Minister Boris Johnson for our great relationship and I look forward to being able to see him in person again. We spent the weekend at the G20 Summit virtually.
Boris is known for his many enthusiasms, too many to review in my time tonight.
But one striking characteristic is, I think, his unshakeable belief in the British people.
He has great ambitions - global ambitions - for Britain. He is rightly proud of Britain’s contributions to the world, making it a better and a safer place. From the resilient institutions of Westminster democracy and our justice system, to the defiant and resolute role played in defending those freedoms, at great cost.
We remain true partners in these great endeavours, Australia and the United Kingdom, and many more.
We welcome, in particular, the transformational defence and security agenda Prime Minister Johnson announced last week which we will partner with, as we implement our own Defence Strategic Update we announced earlier this year.
We commend his ambitious new economic plans - including for engagement in the Indo-Pacific through direct bilateral trade ties, as well as including through the UK-Australia FTA and potentially joining in on the TPP-11.
We also share his ambitions for the G7, and appreciate his invitation for Australia to attend again next year. To align the interests of the world’s great like-minded liberal market democracies, to preserve and promote the primacy of private sector, business-led growth to drive the global economic recovery out of this pandemic recession, and to ensure that the liberal worldview of economic and political freedoms continue to underpin global peace and stability, as they have done successfully since the Second World War.
We are also pleased to partner with the United Kingdom on our shared task to create a pathway to net zero emissions driven by practical, scalable and commercially viable technologies, not economy destroying taxes.
Boris and I share an ambition to chart a course on emissions reduction, consistent with our values and priorities as leaders of Governments from Liberal/Conservative traditions.
We are also already working on a similar partnership with Germany, Japan, Singapore and Korea.
As I said to the G20 this week, effective action in this area is no longer about if or when, but importantly how.
Our focus on technology reflects our firm belief that targets must go hand in hand with practical action and a clear pathway to their achievement, or they risk becoming only symbolic.
It is why my Government has launched a Technology Roadmap to drive our efforts of reaching net zero emissions as soon as possible.
I also noted at the G20 that emissions, they don’t have accents, they don’t have languages or nationalities.
To achieve global reductions in emissions, we must also have technology-led practical solutions for developing countries that will not impede their development.
If developing nations believe the global climate change agenda is likely to make their nations less competitive and lower their living standards of their peoples, well their response will be obvious and straightforward. They will simply turn away.
So we look forward to working with the UK to make COP26 a major step forward in dealing with the
challenge of climate change.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great delight and indeed a humbling honour to be with Policy Exchange and to accept this very kind inaugural Grotius Prize.
I want to particularly thank the Chairman of Policy Exchange, Dean Godson and of course the Chairman, the great Australian Alexander Downer, for the invitation to speak with you today.
Few Australians, if any, are as well versed in the practical realities of modern statecraft as Alexander, our nation’s longest serving Foreign Minister from 1996 to 2007 and our former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
It is nearly now 400 years since Hugo Grotius published The Rights of War and Peace.
Grotius wrote most of the book while imprisoned in the Loevestein Castle, in the south of the then United Provinces, now known as The Netherlands.
Given that I join you today from quarantine isolation, having recently returned from Japan, I hope my own isolation will be nearly as productive.
The backdrop to Grotius’ work was the Thirty Years War, a catastrophic political and sectarian conflict in which nearly a quarter of the population of Central Europe died from combat, disease or starvation.
Grotius’ work, one reviewer noted, was “a triumph of intelligence over irrational impulses and barbarous propensities.”
The late Hedley Bull, the eminent Australian international relations scholar, wrote that Grotius gave us the idea of international society: the notion that states and rulers are bound by rules and form a society or community with one another, of however rudimentary a kind.
Grotius advanced the idea of a community of nations built around common understanding of international law.
An example was his view that the oceans are international territory which all nations are free to use for trade.
Shortly after his death, the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 established the notion of international community composed of individual, sovereign nation-states, on the platform Grotius had laid down.
This development should not be underestimated.
Nation-states mattered then and they matter now.
The task is not to subjugate their interests through international activity, but to channel them wherever possible into mutual benefit, either individually or collectively.
For this purpose, nation-states are the building blocks of an international order and community, established for their welfare and to protect against the Hobbesian nightmare.
So we, as nation-states, are not simply boats being tossed around in an angry sea.
We are all participants, with agency and purpose.
We can shape our destiny, individually and collectively.
We can make our world more Grotian and less Hobbesian.
And that is the key point I want to draw out today, this evening here in Australia.
Why the collective efforts of like-minded nation-states can make a difference.
Why our alliances and structures of collective security are so important.
Why groupings and institutions like the G7, the WTO and the OECD matter in a turbulent world and indeed the G20.
Why it is critical that like-minded liberal democracies work together in common cause.
To maintain the peace and security, to keep our economies open, to tackle common challenges, consistent with liberal, market-based principles, whether that be COVID-19 or climate change.
International institutions are most effective when they are driven by, and responsive to, accountable to, the society of sovereign states that forms them.
Their task, those institutions, is to align interests and achieve an order through consensual participation.
Their only authority is that afforded to them by sovereign states.
This is especially true for liberal democratic states, where no authority can ever rise higher than the people who elect their own governments.
As I said in a speech to the Aspen Institute in August, well-functioning international institutions are a symptom of an international society, not the cause.
The challenge is to ensure that sovereign nations, working in concert, create deeper habits of co-operation on economic, security and global environmental issues, while exhibiting a natural preference for rules-based solutions.
Freely submitting to such rules because it is in their broader national interest to do so.
This is a world where there is no need to build global spheres of influence in order to secure economic opportunity or exert influence, previously only secured by great militaries.
Our international institutions can now provide this access.
Where states willingly honour the rules-based order, both in letter and spirit, importantly, by their actions. This removes any necessity of containment. This is desirable, as containment only serves as a negative energy in the global system, reducing the sum of the whole in which we all benefit.
Now this means in an age of institutions we can reduce and remove such constraints, whether in trade, health, technology, education or the many other areas of progress and facilitate cooperation.
This is the pragmatic compromise demanded for success in our international order.
So what does that mean for us at the end of 2020, a truly remarkable year, and not for good reason.
We are confronted by a range of formidable challenges.
After a ‘unipolar moment’ lasting just two or three decades, a new era of geopolitical competition is underway.
It is a form of geopolitical contest though, that different to the Cold War.
The world is not divided into two blocs, each with their own economic realm.
One world, our world I should say, is one shaped by decades of growing economic interdependence.
At its peak during the Cold War, trade between the two major superpowers was around $2 billion per year.
Today, the value of bilateral trade between the US and China is $2 billion per day.
Today, the two biggest powers are the largest or second largest trading partners for most of the world.
This economic interdependence and openness has created unprecedented wealth and prosperity and lifted billions of people out of poverty. Importantly, it facilitated the economic rise of China.
Now that is a good thing for the global economy. It is good for Australia. And, of course, it’s certainly good for the Chinese people. Australia is not and has never been in the economic containment camp on China, no country has pulled more people out of poverty than China. And Australia is pleased to have played our role in the economic emancipation of millions of Chinese through the development of the Chinese economy.
In our newly globalised economy, the real time interaction of geopolitical, economic, technological, information and ideological dynamics is creating new dilemmas in our international relations, arguably even more complex than those during the Cold War.
Most significant is the challenge of dealing with the complexities of new tensions between the world's largest economic and military powers, the United States and China.
The global competition between China and the United States presents new challenges, especially for nation-states in the Indo-Pacific.
Like other sovereign nations in the Indo-Pacific, our preference in Australia is not to be forced into any binary choices.
Our present challenge in the Indo-Pacific though is a foretaste for so many others around the world, including the United Kingdom and Europe.
Australia desires an open, transparent and mutually beneficial relationship with China as our largest trading partner, where there are strong people-to-people ties, complementary economies and a shared interest especially in regional development and wellbeing, particularly in the emerging economies of Southeast Asia.
Equally we are absolutely committed to our enduring alliance with the United States, anchored in our shared worldview, liberal democratic values and market-based economic model.
And at all times, we must be true to our values and the protection of our own sovereignty.
These are our Australian national interests.
Pursuing these interests in the midst of strategic competition between the United States and China is not straightforward.
It is made more complex by the assumptions sometimes cast on Australia’s actions.
Our actions are wrongly seen and interpreted by some only through the lens of the strategic competition between China and the United States. It’s as if Australia does not have its own unique interests or it’s own views as an independent sovereign state. This is just false. And worse it needlessly deteriorates relationships.
If we are to avoid a new era of polarisation, then in the decades ahead, then in the decades ahead, there must be a more nuanced appreciation of individual states’ interests in how they deal with the major powers. Stark choices are in no-one’s interests.
Greater latitude will be required from the world’s largest powers to accommodate the individual interests of their partners and allies. We all need a bit more room to move.
Our international institutions also have an important role to play as circuit breakers. To provide the space and frameworks for meaningful and positive interaction to be maintained, as a bulwark against any emerging divide.
All of this is further complicated again, by having to deal with the stresses and strains that COVID has brought to global politics.
The global recession was not caused by structural weaknesses in our global economy.
The world has been hit by an economic meteor in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic and the failings of our global public health system to provide an effective warning and an integrated response.
For this reason, I support a global pandemic treaty as proposed at the G20, to ensure we are better prepared next time.
But nor is the pandemic recession the product of the failure of world capitalism or liberal, free market-based values.
It is actually these values that have provided the platform for the greatest period of peace and prosperity the world has ever known, and has underpinned the very global institutions that has helped sustain it.
It is these values that must now drive our economic recovery out of the pandemic recession.
These same values are also the best way for us to pursue greater economic inclusion and poverty alleviation as a result, the empowerment of women, environmental sustainability, climate resilience, as well as continuing to combat transnational crime and extremism, terrorism in all its forms.
We don’t need to ‘reset’ our economic agenda, we just need to get on with it.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a moment for concerted leadership and action by like-minded liberal democracies.
For inspiration, there is no finer example than the Atlantic Charter, signed by US President Franklin Roosevelt and UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill on the deck of the USS Augusta anchored in Placentia Bay off the southeast coast of Newfoundland in August 1941.
Eight common principles.
Just 347 words.
Commitments to the “right of all peoples to choose their form of government.”
To the “fullest collaboration in the economic field.”
That “their countries seek no aggrandisement, territorial or other.”
And respect for the ability “to traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance.”
Principles that resonate so strongly with us today.
The Atlantic Charter galvanised and arguably laid the framework for many of the norms, rules and international institutions that have guided interactions between democratic nations in the post-World War II era.
To achieve our common goals, we must strengthen and reinforce existing networks and build new habits of cooperation and partnerships.
The institutions we need to bind our shared interests, they already exist.
The World Trade Organisation.
The G7 and the emergence of the G7-plus, and I look forward to that UK stewardship of the G7 in 2021.
Then there is the Five-Eyes arrangement, the contribution of which has never been more important and consequential.
One of the most promising recent developments is how quickly the co-operation among Five-Eyes nations has extended beyond its traditional security to the economic realm.
In the Indo-Pacific, many other nations are stepping up.
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting, being the first leader to meet with Japan’s new Prime Minister, Suga Yoshihide, in Tokyo – the first of what I hope will be many such meetings.
Australia and Japan are Special Strategic Partners committed to fundamental shared values, and to an Indo-Pacific that is free, open, inclusive and resilient.
And I agree with Yoshi - as he invited me to call him, that way - when he said:
“In the Indo-Pacific region, the security and defence cooperation between Japan and Australia, having the will and capacity to contribute to regional stability, are becoming increasingly important.”
So together we announced in-principle agreement on a Reciprocal Access Agreement for our Defence Forces, a landmark treaty that will facilitate even closer co-operation on defence and security between our two liberal democracies.
We also reinforced our commitment to the Quad, where we join with our US and Indian friends in supporting a strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific, underpinned by agreed rules and norms.
Under Prime Minister Modi, India’s contribution to regional peace and stability has never been more influential, while its economic weight has never been more consequential.
But there are some notable gaps to fill.
In recent years, two large regional trade agreements have been forged in the Indo-Pacific, including the 11-nation TPP in 2017 and the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, just a few days ago.
Unfortunately, two of the most important economies in our region – the United States and India – have decided not to join the TPP or RCEP respectively.
Of course, we respect those decisions. But they both remain welcome to join. Our response is straightforward.
Working with our partners, we plan to make the TPP such a powerful force, a compelling force for open trade and investment that the US and, in the future, India and others will join without reservation. And that also includes the United Kingdom.
Interestingly, President Xi Jinping has also now expressed at the APEC gathering on the weekend, an interest in China’s possible participation in the TPP.
The critical thing about the TPP is that it developed WTO-plus disciplines in key areas of intellectual property, digital commerce and state-owned enterprises.
These are some of the areas where the WTO has frankly fallen short.
As a former director of the OECD wrote recently:
The TPP has the potential to be the best mechanism for a solution to the biggest global trade problems.
The OECD also has a critical role to play in support of open trade and market-based principles.
The world will not recover from the COVID-19 recession if we trade and invest less or relinquish hard-won lessons on market-led wealth creation.
The world’s 38 open market democracies that comprise the OECD have a responsibility to lead the way.
Australia takes this challenge so seriously and values the OECD so highly that we have unusually nominated one of our own for the job of the Secretary-General, former Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann, to replace Angel Gurria when he steps down as Secretary-General of the OECD next year.
Now, Mathias is a compelling package.
I worked together with him for seven years, around the Cabinet table. and many years before that.
A German-speaking Belgian native, who studied in French and Flemish, Mathias emigrated to Australia at the age of 24 to become, in time, Australia’s longest serving Finance Minister.
It’s a great Australian story.
And he brings a unique perspective that can bridge Asia, the Americas and Europe in this outstanding liberal market based economic institution.
Now closer to home, Australia welcomes the UK’s acknowledgement of the strategic significance of the Indo-Pacific region and a renewed interest in their own involvement.
In 1941, Europe was certainly in the cockpit of history.
Now, in the 21st century, the Indo-Pacific will shape the destiny of the world.
It is a point made well in the timely publication by Policy Exchange’s Indo-Pacific Commission, A Very British Tilt: Towards a new UK Strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, published I understand today.
The report notes that “the time is right for Britain to shift the weight of its strategic policy toward the Indo-Pacific as it reviews its role in the world.”
I couldn't agree more and have conveyed the same to Boris.
And I endorse the report’s vision for “a reinvigorated community of free and independent nations with a single overriding goal”, namely: reinforce a sustainable rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific that is resilient but adaptable to the great power realities of the 21st Century.
So what does success look like?
I find it hard to improve on the goal once articulated by former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.
A strategic balance of power that favours freedom.
A judicious balance of the Hobbesian, Kantian and Grotian traditions.
American leadership will always be indispensable in pursuit of that goal.
And the commitment of the incoming Biden Administration to multilateral and regional institutions is critically important. He’s relayed that to me in our first conversation.
For decades, American leadership has been essential to the success of collective efforts in support of peace, security and open markets.
And US alliance arrangements - whether with European nations and others through NATO or the bilateral alliances with Indo-Pacific nations - including ANZUS with Australia, will remain the bedrock of our security.
US weight and convening power is vital to preserving the rules, norms and standards of our international community, including in the Indo-Pacific.
European engagement will also be critical.
We need an outward-looking Europe that recognises that its interests extend beyond the Occidental.
We welcome the United Kingdom’s aspiration to engage more actively in the Indo Pacific.
Both in the pursuit of peace and security and economic prosperity.
The Johnson Government’s response to the Integrated Review is an exemplar for others to follow.
It recognises, as Boris Johnson put it, that we all depend on the world’s oxygen pipes remaining open - shipping lanes, a functioning internet, safe aircorridors, undersea cables and tranquillity in distant straits.
The UK’s commitment is also demonstrable through its pursuit of new trade agreements, most recently with Japan, soon with Australia and the United States and, in the foreseeable future, with the Trans Pacific Partnership.
So in conclusion, it was in April 1973, then US Secretary of State Kissinger gave a speech in New York making the case for a new Atlantic Charter, more than 30 years after the one drafted by Churchill and Roosevelt.
He was worried about the impact of Cold War détente on the unity of Western nations.
He feared complacency and drift. And the corrosive impact of petty disputes.
The nature of our challenge today is maybe different in many respects.
But the importance of unity and shared purpose amongst like-minded sovereign nations has not diminished.
The UK and Australia have an important role to play here.
More than 400 years ago, Grotius dreamt of a new framework for inter-state relationships.
We can take from his analysis the encouragement that our path is not fixed.
Free nations, liberal democracies, we have a fundamental role to play in securing peace and stability, fostering commerce and trade, and solving the global challenges we cannot solve ourselves.
We have done it before. We can do it again.
We have a rich history of co-operation to draw on. We must all play our part.
Thank you for your very kind attention.
Virtual Press Conference
21 November 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Well welcome everyone, and particularly welcome to Premier Andrews. It’s good to have you join us in this way Dan and I appreciate you making these arrangements given the isolation that I’m now in day 3, all going well. It was good to see you also earlier this week when I was able to get down to Melbourne and talk over many many issues.
And the reason we are here together today is because of a very important issue that the Premier and I have been working together on as have our Ministers, for a protracted period of time. And of course earlier this year, as COVID-19 hit and frankly just before it, in fact the night before I think it was Dan, before we had the COAG meeting out in Western Sydney, these were the very issues we had been discussing together. But since that time there has been quite a lot that has occurred. And that has meant that these important announcements about the Melbourne airport rail link and the and the first phase of the Geelong faster rail projects, we have taken some further time to ensure the issues around the route and private sector proposals and other matters were able to be progressed and resolved, to bring us to the point where we're at today.
Both of us, I'm sure, would like to have been in the position to be making this announcement many, many months ago. But I commend you Dan and your team for the way that we've all been able to work together to get Victoria up and standing again, and which means that we can get on with things. And the Premier and I have always had a very strong relationship, particularly when it comes to delivering infrastructure and world class infrastructure in Victoria. And these projects, I think, are shining examples of that.
Today, we’re, you already will know, that we've both committed $5 billion dollars to deliver the Melbourne airport rail link, also that we've committed $2 billion dollars to realise the first stage of faster rail between Geelong and Melbourne. These are vital projects that both connect a growing part of Victoria and Geelong, but also one of the key national projects connecting Melbourne Airport to Melbourne's CBD itself and to do so in a way that will reduce travel times for that important connection to less than 30 minutes.
Now, none of that is new because we've made those announcements before to work together to those ends. And the 11,000 jobs that are created by these projects combined. What is important is we've been able to settle on that route. And I thank all of the team in Victoria for the way they've worked through what are incredibly difficult issues where you do have to balance up, how it's built, how much it costs, the best way to deliver on the objectives that we have, with all of these projects, whether it's the faster rail in Geelong where we would both agree, we'd like to shave even more time off that journey. But you have to get on with, what you can deliver on the ground. And we're both very committed to doing that and working together to ensure that projects meet both of our objectives and the significant financial commitments that we're making in partnership on this programme.
So slashing travel times, busting congestion, opening up the opportunities that are there, particularly in Victoria, in linking both a growing and thriving part of Victoria to the CBD, as well as, of course, the long overdue link between the Melbourne CBD and the airport. These are the sorts of projects which combine together through our investment some $14 billion worth, are the types of projects which will drive our economy nationally and at a state level over the next decade and then set up further opportunities beyond that.
We often talk of productivity and what it means to see higher wages in the future. Well, critical infrastructure that makes our cities work better for the, for its residents and its citizens is exactly how you achieve that. And these are the big flagship projects that we both feel very passionately about.
So, again, Dan, thank you again for the partnership. Looking forward to getting on with it. The intention is that we get this underway in 2022 and there's still a lot of work to go between now and then. But it's great to reach this next stage and I'll hand it over to the Premier.
Thank you, Dan.
THE HON DAN ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: Thank you very much PM and at the outset, can I say on behalf of all Victorians, thank you for the partnership, that is how we get more things done and we can get them done faster.
Today's all about building the transport system that Victorians voted for and creating the jobs that Victorians need, whether it be the airport rail link, which in many regard- in many ways perhaps should have been built decades and decades ago, but has fallen to us to get on and get this done. And because we're equal partners, because we're working together very closely, we'll be able to deliver the jobs and that direct link, that heavy rail direct link that has never, ever been there. In terms of Geelong, faster rail. This is a really exciting project and I'm really pleased to be able to confirm that in our Budget next Tuesday, we will match the $2 billion dollars billion that your government has put forward. So it'll be $4 dollars billion, an equal partnership so that we can get the travel time from Geelong into Melbourne down to 50 minutes. That's a 15 minute travel time saving by building new track and the route is 8 K’s shorter. So it's about more trains more often and more people getting from Geelong to Melbourne and Melbourne to Geelong much faster than they otherwise would.
In terms of the airport rail link. And just as you and I both noted many, many times, and I think many Victorians have noted, this has been talked about for decades. The fact that it's going to become a reality because of our partnership is is a proud moment and a very important moment, because what we've done is we're going to build this in a uniquely Victorian way, connecting the airport via the Metro Tunnel, a project that is transformational, fully a year ahead of schedule, taking people where they where they want to want to go, those new metro tunnel stations in the heart of the city where people work or people live, and of course, because this connects directly out the busiest train line, the Cranbourne Packenham line direct to the airport, that's the busiest train line to get from home to the Melbourne airport without having to change a train. Every other metropolitan line will only have to do one change and they'll find themselves at the airport. This is really, really important for jobs, for productivity, for congestion on our roads and fundamentally doing the things that we said we would do. That's what Victorians want. That's what Victorians deserve. And I'm very grateful and very pleased to have such a strong partnership between my government and yours. That's how you get things done.
Just in terms of the Geelong faster rail project, if you'd spent $2 billion on your own or if we had spent $2 billion on our own, there's no way that we would deliver this sort of outcome. Because it's a four billion dollar shared effort, and a true partnership. We can create the jobs and we can deal with one of the fastest growing regional cities anywhere in the nation. And we can also provide for that inner western and even outer western corridor on the western edge of our city, one of the fastest growing parts of our country as well. So this is a really important day, exactly what people voted for. In fact, more than that and exactly what we need right now and into the into the future. So I think there's been a technical briefing already this morning I think PM, but I think it's probably best if we if we go to questions now and I'll do my best to answer any of those technical questions that people might have.
PRIME MINISTER: OK, well, let's do that. I understand we're going to start with the press room down in Victoria first.
JOURNALIST: Premier Reid Butler from Nine News here, the Sky Bus takes 22 minutes and this service will take half an hour and be completed in 10 years. Could it be faster, do you think?
PREMIER ANDREWS: I think it's about making sure that you're taking people where they want to want to go, and the fact of the matter is that very few journeys start and end at Southern Cross Station. That is to say, very few people want to begin or end their journey down at Southern Cross Station and then have to get a tram or another train to where they want to ultimately go, because this connects the airport to the metro tunnel all of that, so whether it's the park fill precinct for the cancer centre, the Royal Children's Hospital, University of Melbourne, all the way down into the centre of the CBD, all the way down to the shrine at Anzac Station and that st kilda road precinct. This is this is the best of both worlds. You're getting to the centre of Melbourne, quicker. You're using a service that simply isn't available now and you're getting where you want to want to go rather than everybody having to hub through Southern Cross Station. We don't think that's the best outcome. 30 minutes is still a very a very, I think, a very, very efficient service. And of course, it's giving people an option they don't have at the moment. Some people might continue to use a Sky Bus type service. Some people might still drive their own vehicle and use long term and short term parking. Some people might get a cab, but many people, many, many people will now be able to use a rail option that's been talked about for decades, but it will be delivered because of the partnership between our government and the Commonwealth.
PRIME MINISTER: And let's not forget the international travellers, too. And they will be coming back. They will be coming back and hopefully we'll see that next year. But those international travellers have an expectation of world class cities that such infrastructure would be in place. And it's exciting that that will now be realised for Melbourne.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] from Seven news, just wondering how long you anticipate the Geelong rail will take to complete?
PREMIER ANDREWS: Yeah it’s a little bit, I’ll start and the PM might want to add to this. Obviously, we're going to have construction underway in 2023. And this is in some respects, a simpler project than Melbourne Airport, because it'll be done above above ground, but it has to be done right. So it's just a little bit longer for us to be able to put an end date on this. But we'll certainly be underway in 2023 and you'll see various milestones throughout ‘21, ‘22 will be out to market and we'll be within the ground, as it were, in terms of 2023. So it's simpler, the Metro Tunnel or Melbourne Airport rail, but it'll be done as fast as we can possibly do it. And it'll mean instead of taking 70 minutes to get from Geelong to the city, you'll be there in 50. That is a really significant travel time saving and one that I think will see more and more people on the train, not on that very busy Geelong road. And it'll allow us because we're building brand new track, and separating the services will be able to run more trains, which means more people can get where they want to go and get there faster. And of course, 2,800 jobs is a really good outcome, too.
PRIME MINISTER: I'd agree with that. And simply add that one of the issues we were dealing with before we went into COVID-19, when we would discuss the schedule of projects in Victoria, not just rail but road and others, was I think we Were at the Monash upgrade announcement Dan and getting our head on the ceiling in terms of the capacity and the capability on so many of these projects. Well, that's a very strong sign of the incredibly ambitious infrastructure programme we have. And it's not just the regional rail projects down into Geelong, of course, but there's the $320 million for the Shepparton rail line upgrade. There's the $208 million for stage two of the Warrnambool Rail line upgrade. There's $292 million for the Barwon Heads Road. And so there's a lot of projects going on, both federally supported and state initiated and state only. This is a lot of work that's got to get undertaken over the next decade, but that will underpin the economic recovery out of COVID-19 and then sustain it. And delivering the workforce for that is also a big thing that the Premier and I also spent a lot of time focussing on.
JOURNALIST: Timna Jacks here from The Age. This is a question for the PM and the Premier. Both of you had indicated in the past that dedicated airport rail tracks would be needed between the city and Sunshine. You had $7 billion dollars on the table from a private consortium to build it. The upgrade would have delivered really fast airport rail services and Geelong Services. Why did you not go with that option?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll leave that one to you Dan, because you guys did the work with the private proponent.
PREMIER ANDREWS: Well Timna, we've had a team of transport experts and finance experts working through the market led proposal that had come forward to us. And we're very grateful to the private sector for coming to us with innovative ideas. But you've got to work through these things in a really painstaking way. You've got to work through methodically. And the fact of the matter is that what we're putting forward, what the Prime Minister and I have agreed to build, will be will be built at less cost to the taxpayer. I think greater value, it'll be done much faster. And it allows us to take people where they want to go. Those five metro stations at the busiest train line so you can be in Packenham and get to the airport without having to change trains. That just makes sense. The other thing, too, that, this is $10 dollars billion. That's not a small project by any stretch. But the difference in the cost to the Australian and Victorian taxpayers is, well, more than $7 billion dollars. So you can have money on the table. But if the overall project cost is indeed more than that, then they’re the very fine judgements that we've had to make. I'm not being critical of that part of the private sector for coming forward. We're very grateful to them and I would be very confident that we can continue to work with that particular group. We thank them for all that they do. And I think there will be many, many opportunities for us to work with them. But you just got to work through these things in a very a very careful, a very methodical way. And when your transport experts and your finance experts are saying we think we can make better use of existing, that is to say, the soon to be completed Metro Tunnel connect people where they want to go, do it quicker and have better value for taxpayers. That's pretty hard to say no to. That's why we've said yes. And that's why we're going to get this thing done and we'll be in the ground underway by the end of 2022.
JOURNALIST: Premier Alex from Channel 10 here, obviously, Victoria needs these jobs immediately. How many of those jobs will be actually starting in the coming months?
PREMIER ANDREWS: Well, I think Alex it's important to acknowledge that this is one project, the Budget that will be delivered on Tuesday will have many more projects, both large and small. Some of those begin almost immediately. For instance, the $5.3 billion in social housing that I announced last Sunday, the first contracts, the first tenders, sorry, will be out to market in just a couple of weeks time. So we'll be employing people literally within weeks. Some projects to take a little bit longer. But it’s both employment and stimulus right now, but it's also about sending a message to that part of the market, large and small construction companies that they can they can establish themselves, they can invest with confidence that there's a pipeline of work. And confidence is everything in terms of economic activity and building that that's sentiment that this is a place where things are happening. This is a place where things are getting built. This is a place to invest. I don't think we can overstate just how important that that is so, look, this is a mix. Some things from very small school upgrades. They employed people literally within weeks of the of the funding being made available. Other projects take a little bit longer, but these jobs are very important and confidence in this market arguably has never been more important. You've got to give them an order book. And that's what we've always done. And this just adds to it. And yes, it creates some some pressure to find the right the right staff to find enough companies. That's why the partnership the prime minister and I have on skills and particularly TAFE and training. That's why that's so, so important also.
PRIME MINISTER: The other point I'd make, the National Cabinet, when looking at the economic recovery from COVID-19, has been working quite hard to try and coordinate, align our economic support activities. The state governments and territory governments are the ones who build the infrastructure. We obviously support those projects through our funding arrangements. And so getting the scheduling of that all right, I think is pretty critical. And I'd agree with the Premier that there are projects and investments that both governments are making, which impact right now. But then there are the longer term investments which build for the future. And our response to COVID-19 is both. It is about the here and now, but it is about tomorrow and the future. And that's why I would welcome, particularly the announcement the Premier's made about the social housing investment in Victoria. That is something state governments do, welcome that, that what we do is support through the first time loan deposit scheme and in particular the Home Builder programme, which has seen tens of thousands of homes built as well. So when you combine these things together, which is what we're seeking to do through this cooperation, then you're delivering jobs now and into the future.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] And my question is probably mostly for the premier but the Prime Minister, might want to say something as well, with the Geelong project that's budgeted for about $4 billion dollars. Could you explain why that's $4 billion dollars, which is a much more simple project compared to the airport rail, which is about $10 billion dollars, and do labour shortages, labour costs and material cost contribute to any of sort of the pressures around this?
PREMIER ANDREWS: Oh look they’re certainly different projects and whilst you might say that the Geelong faster rail project is simpler than airport rail, or metro tunnel, it's not simple by any means. So we've gone through this and and worked very hard to get as close to the done a lot of work to to get that number, that $4 billion dollar number. That is our estimate. We've got to go through a detailed planning process, got to go through detailed design. Of course, we have to go to the market and see what what what bids we get back. It's not a simple project, but it's a critically important one. Those travel time savings will really change the personal experience and the productive experience for so, so many people. This is not just a faster service. It means because we're separating the tracks and building a new piece of track, we'll be able to run more services. So that's more and more people. Instead of cramming people into less train services to get from Melbourne to Geelong and vice versa, we'll be able to run more trains more often and they get there faster. This is an absolutely fantastic project. It isn't simple. It's simpler than some, but it's by no means simple and it has to be done right. And that's what we've done, a power of work to get us to this stage that we can both commit the $2 dollars billion each, but there'll be many more milestones, lots more planning. And and when we when we get to all those points will be more than happy to share some of that work with you. I don't think labour shortages are a contributing factor at this stage. We think we can get this done, but we'll, for instance, will come back to you with when we think it can be finished. It's a little bit uncertain at the moment. That's not a bad thing. It just means we've got more work to do. Let's do that work rather than guessing it, guessing at things.
JOURNALIST: Premier Reid again from 9 news, just a quick question on the Australian Open, there's reports this morning saying that it could be pushed back a week or even into March or April. What is that a possibility that the event will be postponed?
PREMIER ANDREWS: Well, look, I think there's been lots of reports about Australian Open tennis. I would simply say to you that we're working very closely with our TA, their in turn working very closely with their global partners, their broadcast partners, sponsors. This is not a simple issue. What was very important yesterday was to confirm that from the 7th of next month, we can have flights return to Melbourne, our Hotel Quarantine System reset will be set up at that point. This will, this is not a simple thing, though, to have many hundreds indeed potentially well, more than a thousand athletes and others who support them, media being here for a very important event that has to be done safely has to be done right. I'm very confident that we'll have we will have we'll have an Aussie Open in the early part of next year. The exact timing of it, the exact arrangements we put in place, they’re not settled yet. As soon as they are settled I’ll be more than happy to share with you. But I wouldn't read too much into some of the reports there’s a lot of people doing a lot of talking about these things at the moment while they are talking, we're getting on and doing the work so that we can have one of our most significant major events, not just for our state, but indeed for our whole nation, happen as close to normal, as normal as anything can be COVID normal as possible.
PRIME MINISTER: OK, well, we might now take it to Canberra if there's any questions on the projects that you wanted to raise, particularly with the Premier while he's still with us, if there isn't questions on that from Canberra. I'm sure for many bureaus that will be covered off by your Victorian colleagues.
If there isn't, I might thank the Premier very much for joining in what is a rather unorthodox moment, but in COVID Australia, a far more normal one these days. So thank you very much, Dan, and thank you for the partnership. And we look forward to picking up where we left off before COVID really hit Australia. And there's so much more to do on so many other projects and and I wish all Victorians well with the Budget coming out and of course, and getting people back into work and seeing Victoria, can I also particularly thank you for the work that's being done to get the international arrivals happening again. Over a thousand people coming in a week, that will greatly assist us in getting Australians home. And we'll look at that again after about 4 weeks and see how we go from there. But we appreciate that getting back on well, in the context of today's statement on the rails, again, that's tremendous. And the more Australians we can get home before Christmas, the better. So thank you very much. And have a good weekend, mate.
PREMIER ANDREWS: Terrific. Thanks very much. PM.
PRIME MINISTER: Okay we’ll go to Canberra.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Andrew Green from the ABC, if I can take you to the Brereton Enquiry this week,
PRIME MINISTER: Sure.
JOURNALIST: Have you had time to reflect on why none of these rumours or allegations had been picked up earlier by the ADF command? Do you think that they were, had their eye off the ball in terms of these allegations? And can you give us an update on the compensation that Australia may be paying victims of some of these atrocities?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think on the latter point, there is nothing for me to comment on on that matter. That is not a matter that's currently being considered by the government at this stage. My first reflections on this, though, I must say, of course, like all other Australians, the contents of that report are disturbing and distressing. I said that over a week ago when I was with you in the very room you're in now. And I warned Australians that it would be hard news to hear. But my reactions to that were the same as they were when I was last with you there. And that is to say that we need to ensure that the seriousness of the contents of this report are dealt with under the Australian justice system, by Australians in accordance with our laws. And that's why we are moving quickly to set up the office of the special investigator and ensure that that is put in place so it can take carriage of those issues forward in a proper process with the presumption of innocence, obviously, which is so essential to how we deal with this matter, our justice system, our rules, our laws, and doing that appropriately. The other element that I've been most anxious about is ensuring that all our serving men and women who put on a uniform, all those who've served, in no way feel reflected upon by the actions, alleged, of a number, a small number within our defence forces. And it's important that we provide all our men and women in our services and our veterans with absolute support, they have earned the respect which we rightly provide to them and should. And our support for veterans is incredibly important at this time. And I would remind veterans who may be listening to this that you're aware of the many services that are there to support you. The other issues that you raise, they're very good questions and they're matters that the government, of course, will have to work through as part of the process of absorbing what is an exhaustive report. And they're legitimate questions and they're matters that we, of course, we will work through with the Defence Forces for the most important reason that these things don't happen again, these things cannot happen again. And we're very, very committed to work, not just with the defence forces, but across the government to ensure that governments can know about these things and can take actions when they should. But ultimately, these are matters that the Defence Force will be addressing through the CDF and the oversight panel that has been established. We will keep that process on the track that it needs to be on and that there's appropriate accountability there. And I think the issues that you raise will come up in that process as well.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Kerrie Yaxley here from the Nine Network, the CDF said yesterday that this to a degree puts fuel into the can of extremists. Do you share that view? And are you concerned about reprisals against Australians?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we took all the necessary precautions. As I largely indicated when I first briefed the media on this and the process that we're setting up, we ensured that between that time on the receipt of the report and the announcement of the findings of the report, that we engaged a lot with our overseas partners. I in particular spoke to President Ghani and let him know about how seriously we're taking these matters and the processes we'd put in place under our justice system to ensure that they were dealt with properly. And he was very appreciative, both the courtesy of that call, but the actions that the government has taken to deal with this extremely seriously. So, look, there are always risks out there, and it's always important that Australia stays on the front foot to get ahead of those risks. And I can assure you that in our handling of this report that those types of issues were carefully considered and preparations as necessary were taken.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Chloe Bouras from Channel 10, the recommendations in the report also outline granting immunity for some of those involved in these alleged unlawful killings so that essentially they can dob in their superiors. Is that something that the government would support? And how do you think the Australian public would react to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the thing about a justice process is you must let it run its course and those that you've charged with running that justice process, the office of the special investigator, they're the ones who need to conduct those enquiries and and make the judgements about how they deal with witnesses and and and what, if any, arrangements they put in place for those witnesses. They are their judgements, it is not appropriate for the government to involve itself in the course of that independent investigation. In that case, any more than it is with any other investigation that the AFP might undertake. And so it would not be appropriate for the government to be making commentary on those matters. It's appropriate for the office of the special investigator to be able to deal with those issues in accordance with their expertise and Australia's justice system, and the rule of law.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Jennifer Duke from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, there's been some reports around this morning about Ben Roberts-Smith. Do you think that he should lose his Victoria Cross? And also, in terms of Kerry Stokes, is it appropriate that the chairman of the Australian War Memorial is bankrolling some of the legal defence of those involved in alleged war crimes?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, in relation to any individual, the government, i.e. the Ministers, myself, we have only received a redacted version of the report. So in relation to any individuals, the government is in no position to offer commentary on what is in that report, as it may or may not relate to individuals. And that is intentional because the justice system is what has to deal with this issue. Not, you know, we don't want this process dealt with as a media trial or anything else like that. And it's important that the justice system deals with these very serious issues and in relation to any individuals, then the government would be making no comment on those matters. And I'm not aware of anyone else being in a position to do that either, other than the office of the special investigator and the judgements that they would make about any particular matters that are contained in that report. In relation to others who may choose, for whatever reason, to provide support to anyone in their legal defences. Well, it's a free country and it's a matter for them about how they choose to provide support. That is not uncommon in this country. And these matters are extremely serious but let's not forget, these are Australian citizens who will be going through an Australian justice process. And they deserve all the rights that sit with that process regarding how they should be dealt with. And that certainly would not preclude anyone who may wish to assist them with their defence. And I'm puzzled as to why there might be a suggestion that there should be such a restriction, especially applied to one individual as opposed to anyone else in the justice system.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Josh Butler from the New Daily, on a different topic on robodebt, 400,000 people had money wrongfully taken or claimed from them. Amongst them would be some of the most vulnerable people in Australian society. You're paying the money back. But considering the mental anguish, distress, some families have linked even suicides to this process, would you consider extra meaningful compensation for these people, for these victims of robodebt? And if not, why not?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've done is we've acted on the knowledge that income averaging as a way of raising a debt and let's be very clear here, that is what this is about. And that practise has been engaged in by governments on both sides of politics for a very long time. And income averaging is, has been found not to be a way of raising a debt that can be relied upon. And the government has changed its practice. And we've addressed the situation by ensuring that all of those payments and debts that have been raised in that way are no longer valid. So over $700 million has already been paid out of what we estimate to be around $1.2 billion. And I think Australians would think that would be the right thing to do, to ensure that if a debt was raised improperly on that method that had been in place for a long time, then that would be addressed. And that's what we've done. And as for any other processes that are underway, well I’ll allow those to complete their course. But when it comes to the individuals, I mean, the reason that we provide social services support in the community is because we want to have, we have one of the greatest safety nets of any country in the world. And we should be very proud of that. But we also need systems to ensure that where the safety net is taken advantage of, then governments need to have processes in place to ensure that if there are overpayments or there are debts that they're dealt with. Now, that is not, that has been a common practise by all governments. And that's exactly what we and previous governments have sought to do and where it's found that any one way of raising those debts is inappropriate, then we'll make the changes as we have. And I've made other comments on this in the parliament, which I'd refer you to.
JOURNALIST: The government settled this case though, that surely means that you've accepted there's some degree of wrongness here. These people don't deserve extra compensation for? You would have heard the stories of of people linking this to suicide, to self-harm, to mental anguish, distress over many years. These people don't deserve extra compensation?
PRIME MINISTER: We're resolving the issue by ensuring that the money is paid and $1.2 billion. Now, in many cases, they are debts which may not have actually even been called in, but have been cancelled. And in other cases, payments have been made swiftly and to ensure that those funds can get paid to people as quickly as possible. And let's not forget that $700 million dollars has been paid at the same time that Services Australia has been dealing with the unprecedented demand of getting people support through JobSeeker in particular, but the many other payments through the worst recession Australia has seen since the Great Depression. And so I really want to commend Services Australia for the way they've been able to move so promptly to get $700 million dollars paid out to people. And but the total amount, we expect to be around $1.2 billion.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Kerrie Yaxley again from Nine. I just want to ask you about APEC, the joint statement, can we read that as a positive shift, the fact that there is one in the relationship between the US and China?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think, I welcome the fact that for the first time in a couple of years, obviously last year in Chile, they weren't able to hold the APEC meeting for reasons, domestic reasons at the time. In PNG I was there and it was a very difficult meeting and they were unable to come to a conclusion on the draft of that text. And so it was good that last night, in the early hours of the morning, I think we finished up at about 2:30am this morning, Australian time, even worse for the Kiwis it was 4:30am in the morning for them. But it was a very positive meeting. And people are very focussed on vaccines and the affordable early access of safe vaccines, not just in developed countries, but in developing countries, we were very focussed on that last night and on the recovery that would, that trade will play such an important role in going forward. I mean, since the Bogor Declaration was made 25 years ago, we've seen the average amount of tariffs on goods traded in the region fall from 14 per cent, I think down to 5. That's a pretty big- that's a pretty big drop. And I think it says a lot about the success of APEC and that will be important, we had the Malaysian Putrajaya declaration last night, which I think really in many ways refreshed that commitment for APEC to focus on keeping trade doors open. And of course, part of that is making sure we all individually seek to engage with each other, to deal with any issues as they arise, which is a point I made last night.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Andrew Green from the ABC. Is General Campbell the right person to lead this process, given he was in a position of command that failed to uncover some of the allegations we saw in the Brereton report?
PRIME MINISTER: I have no doubts about the integrity of General Campbell. I've worked with him closely over many years, and I thought Australians could see for themselves as he dealt with probably the hardest day for the Defence Forces in a very, very, very long time, and he dealt with it with a lot of integrity, a lot of honesty, I think, a lot of compassion and a lot of dignity. And so, yes, I have great confidence in General Campbell. And I think I think many, if not most, if not all Australians do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Jennifer Duke from the Sydney Morning Herald again. Are you concerned about the treatment of whistleblowers that you've sort of heard about through the war crimes process?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it's very important that those issues are addressed appropriately. And again, it's the Office of the Special Investigator, I think will have a critical role there. But when it moves beyond the role of the special investigator, the Attorney-General's Department and others, I think have important roles to play there. I think there's been a lot of courage shown by those who have come forward through this process. That would not have been easy. And I think what that reflects is a deep respect for the values of the ADF and what and the aspirational nature of that. And our Defence Force people more than any, want to hold themselves to a high standard. That is their code, and that's why we respect them so much. And so we will continue to work, I think, closely through our departments and with the Office of the Special Investigator and the ADF itself to ensure that this process is one that Australians can be proud of. You know, this is a terrible, terribly disturbing, distressing report. But the thing about Australia is, is we'll deal to it and we'll deal to it under our law, under our systems, under our justice. And I think that says something about Australia and our defence forces that this is what we do with news like this. We deal with it and it's hard. It's terribly hard. And I particularly feel for all of those who have been harbouring and dealing with these issues for many years. And I think of our veterans on this most of all and the things that they must be carrying. And the thing I don't want to happen is every time they go out into the community, every time that they might be at a remembrance service or something like that, I want Australians to look at them in the eye the same way they used to with nothing more than respect and thanks, because that is exactly what they deserve.
Thanks, everyone, appreciate your time today.
Virtual Address - Business Council of Australia AGM
19 November 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you very much Tim for those very kind words.
And can I say, a more extraordinary summary of the year we’ve just had and what’s involved, I don’t think I’ve heard. So thank you very much for that and I join with you in thanking all of those many other leaders, all those many other hard working people whether they have been leading businesses or running small and medium sized enterprises, working in public departments, in health or even of course in places like Services Australia processing people’s payments.
It has been an extraordinary year since we last met. And that was an excellent I think, run-down of what it’s been and it took me back I’ve got to say on more than one occasion.
I’m very pleased to hear about the announcement on Rappville by the way, it was around about, a little earlier last year, I was in Rappville and I stood under the shade cloth of the school in that community that had been devastated and the fact that you haven’t forgotten them, we haven’t forgotten them, I really want to commend you for that. That shows the initiative that you set about, Sir Peter was very practical, very grass-roots based and I’m, along with the many other communities, KI and the rest of it. But I’ve got to say I was rapt to hear about Rappville. So thank you very much.
Well g’day from iso, day one. Named, I'm told, by the Australian National Dictionary Centre earlier this year as the 2020 word of the year. I suspect there are a few other words that have been mentioned over the course of the year with great frequency, but iso seems to be the one that they've landed on.
So it's great to join you, Tim and Jennifer and all the members of the BCA. Albeit in these rather different and strange circumstances.
Can I join you in acknowledging where I am, of the Ngunnawal people, elders past, present and the future.
And particularly today, can I acknowledge all serving members of the Australian Defence Force and our veterans and simply say to them, thank you for your service from a very grateful nation. They have earned the respect with which they are held by all the Australian people.
But you’re right Tim, this year has tested us, our families, our communities, our businesses, our governments, our public institutions, like few that we can recall, certainly in my lifetime and for many generations. Let me say at the outset just how incredibly proud I am of our country and how it has performed.
Everyone has played their part, as you've said, business in particular, large and small, right across the country, banks, utilities, companies, airlines, miners, supermarkets, local small businesses, who have adapted to challenges and demands of restrictions in particular operating in a COVIDSafe manner, the adaptation, the innovation all on display.
Today Australia is one of just a handful of countries leading the world in both our health and economic response to the pandemic, as you rightly say Tim, saving lives, saving livelihoods. I’ve got to say, it was the East Asia Summit on the weekend. I heard one of the leaders use that exact phrase and I was encouraged by it. I must have used it so often.
Recent outbreaks across the UK and Europe and India and the US just reminds us the risks are there. The virus hasn't gone anywhere and that we must remain vigilant in our fight against the virus, that is so essential to maintaining the positive economic recovery.
Rapid response. You're right, on the economic front, the government did recognise that we needed to act fast and purposefully. The longer the economy, we knew, spent in recession, the slower and harder it would be to restore the economy to full employment once COVID-19 was under control by whatever means. Our economic support packages, they did provide timely assistance to affected workers and gave them great encouragement, to businesses and the broader community, 700,000 jobs we know we’ve saved according to Treasury estimates, the doors of tens of thousands of businesses kept open. And today we know, 648,500 Australians have now returned to work since May. And there are positive signs that customers, consumers and businesses are gaining greater confidence in the recovery, as we've seen week after week, as confidence surveys continue to improve and return to pre-COVID levels.
Recent positive news on the prospects of an effective vaccine are also encouraging, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Phil said earlier this week, the stimulus that is already in the system, the general strength of the private sector balance sheets, credit to those chief executives and boards, and the significant government support for firms to invest and employ. They provide the conditions for a rapid rebound.
With one very important condition though, which we all know - that we continue to manage the virus effectively. It has a habit of reminding us about this all too frequently. Even then, though, we still face the big challenges you’ve flagged, to support the transition to a private sector led growth and to get Australians back into jobs for the long term.
Appropriately, our government has done a lot of the initial heavy lifting to support the economy during this crisis. JobKeeper, JobSeeker, JobTrainer, business cash flow boost, HomeBuilder, our direct support for the aviation sector, the tourism and entertainment sector, the business events sector, there has been much of this. 26 percent of our economy, including the significant monetary interventions undertaken by the Reserve Bank, have been put in place to ensure Australia gets through this.
We even made payments to keep the animals fed and cared for in zoos. That's how practical the federal government support came down. But we must not lose sight of a critical fact. Only a private sector led recovery, a business led recovery can be sustainable and drive the necessary growth for the future.
Our government passionately believes this, a business recovery, that claims new ground - that's essential. Managing the virus and delivering strong policy responses on both the demand and supply sides, that will build confidence and is. Encouraging consumers to draw on their savings, providing an environment for businesses to invest now and fostering the transition to that business led growth.
The government's 2020-2021 Budget did just this, significant tax relief by bringing forward stage two of the personal income tax plan that delivers tax cuts to more than 11 million taxpayers backdated to the 1st of July this year. The extension of the instant asset write off, an instant expensing measure now, which will allow 99 per cent of businesses to write off the value of assets they purchase, and one that I'm very, very passionate about- the temporary loss carry back for companies with a turnover of up to $5 billion, lowering the costs of business investment and providing targeted cash flow boost for business, able to utilise COVID losses now. And I call them COVID losses because these losses were not achieved through any fault of these businesses. COVID hit our economy. And we believe it's very important that those businesses that have had good years coming in, can access the tax they paid to get them through it, not have to wait years in order to realise and use those losses in the future when their profitability returns.
Very much, we are a shareholder in the Australian economy and we've acted like a responsible shareholder. Understanding that your prosperity is the country's prosperity.
Treasury estimates these measures will create around 100,000 jobs by the end of 21-22 and increase GDP by around $6 billion in 2021 and $19 billion in 2021-2022. Now we're also supporting businesses that take on young jobseekers through the JobMaker hiring credit. This provides businesses, as you know, the incentives to take on young jobseekers with a credit of $200 dollars a week for each additional employee they hire aged 16 to 29 years old and $100 hundred a week for those between 30 to 35 who are eligible as well. Now we know that in recessions, it's younger people for whom the scarring on the labour market is the most damaging and the hardest to recover from. So this isn't about excluding others. It's about prioritising some to ensure that the worst effects that we know from recessions aren't realised in this recession, as we go through this recession.
We need businesses to seize those opportunities to invest, grow and create new jobs and to drive that recovery and claim new ground. So I want to turn now to some of those areas of policy that I know of considerable interest to the BCA. And in many respects, we discussed this time last year and through the course of this year as we dealt with the impact of the pandemic.
At the start of the pandemic, the government was quick to identify the rigidity of Australia's industrial relations system as a barrier to overcoming the jobs challenge confronting us. It couldn't be business as usual. Put simply, the system could not deliver the flexibility that COVID not just required, but demanded. Something as simple as requiring staff to work from home did not fit comfortably with many modern awards, let alone those that aren’t so modern.
Business couldn’t reduce someone’s hours or change someone’s duties, even when the sole point of that change was actually just to keep them in a job and the business afloat. And through the JobKeeper legislation, we amended the Fair Work Act twice on a temporary basis so that businesses could make these simple but necessary changes. These provisions played an important role in allowing businesses to survive and keep people in jobs, and without them, many would have had to let staff go or close the doors.
I also want to join with you, Tim, in thanking the ACTU. They came to the table. I remember contacting Sally, asking her around, we had a cup of tea and we talked about what we hoped to achieve, now we didn't make big promises to each other. We just promised to get around a table and do the best that we could. And I agree with you. I think she's been able to bring the ACTU some distance and hopefully more, let's see. Let's just see. But I do appreciate the fact that she stepped up and as a result, that brought with it, ultimately the support of the Opposition when we came to pass those measures through the parliament, for which I'm also appreciative.
Now, at the same time, I was determined to take the opportunity COVID presented to go further, not just in dealing with those immediate needs. In June, I announced the establishment of five industrial relations working groups to look at problem areas within the IR system in order to reduce barriers to job creation. Now, the BCA was a key member of the Enterprise Agreement Working Group and has provided valuable input into the four other groups on greenfields agreements, award complexity, compliance and enforcement, and casual and temporary workers. This is a big effort that you put in. This was a significant investment.
As I said when I launched this process our goal is to try and build as much consensus as possible around our reforms. I said our approach will not and has not been and will not be driven by ideology wars, it will be pragmatic, it will be balanced, it will be realistic in scope, and it will be achievable.
For too long, industrial relations in Australia has been seen as a zero sum game, a battleground with massive effort and political capital spent beating chests trying to secure ultimately, what only end up to be often very marginal changes. Years later massive effort and capital are then spent on trying to reverse that very reform under a different government. Now we've got to get a lot smarter about this. And that was the approach that I hoped to start back there earlier this year, to get changes and to make them stick. And I think the process we've been embarked on, will, can deliver that and will deliver that.
I'm pleased to say a lot of the work has been done now behind the scenes in the past few months, and the working groups spent more than 120 hours in negotiations spanning some 35 meetings, which formally concluded at the end of September, a big effort for which I'm very grateful. Attorney-General Christian Porter has done an extraordinary job, just like the Treasurer in his very quick and very timely and well considered response in driving our reforms on the economic supports through the pandemic.
Consultation with stakeholders has been significant on a package of legislative reforms. Now it remains our intention to introduce an omnibus bill in the Parliament by the end of this year. The Cabinet will consider that very shortly. It will be a reform package that moves employers and workers forward, and one that complements our JobMaker plan by helping businesses have the confidence to hire and get people back to work and also massively reducing red tape.
In the case of enterprise bargaining, I know particularly important to the BCA, we know there are not enough agreements delivering productivity improvements for business and higher wages for employees. Agreement making is becoming bogged down in detailed, overly prescriptive procedural requirements that make the process just too difficult to undertake. And agreements just simply don't happen. They're just too difficult to get approved, both employers and unions have recognised that this system needs fixing through this process. And the government has identified various issues that need to be addressed and will be. The test for approval of agreements should focus on substance rather than technicalities. Agreements should be assessed on actual foreseeable circumstances, not far fetched hypotheticals dreamed up in wherever they happen to dream these things up, and the Fair Work Commission assessment of them should take place quickly, quickly within set time frames where there is agreement from the actual employees and employers involved to be able to get on with it.
Key protections like the better off overall test will continue to be an important part of the framework. However, our goal is to ensure it will be applied in a practical and sensible way so that the approval process does not discourage bargaining, which is what is happening now. And that must change. As we saw with the JobKeeper flexibilities, reform is possible when the benefits to all sides are clearly understood, when they’re worked up as far as possible together, where there are appropriate safeguards and protections and that they are included to prevent reforms being abused.
Now, I don't expect our reforms will lead to people having parades in the streets or the opposite for that matter, I don't expect there to be universal agreement from the union movement. Businesses won’t see their version of industrial utopia for some either. But it will be genuine in its attempt to fix real practical problems in a way that provides shared benefits. The reforms will be significant enough, I believe, to shift that needle for employers and workers so they can move forward to get more people back to work, done in a way that doesn't repeat the tired ideological battles of the past, and one that provides certainty for everyone involved. This is the same approach we've taken throughout the COVID pandemic - solve the problem, work the issue, work with others pragmatically finding the right balance so we can, as you reminded us again tonight Tim, save lives and save livelihoods. It is my mantra. It's true.
Alongside improving the flexibility of our labour market, our success is getting Australians back in to work also by helping them to reset the skills environment in which we operate. How well the skills of our workforce match the needs of our business. That's the test. We all know that Australia needs high quality and responsive skilled system. Jennifer's been an advocate for this over a very long time and that, one that provides skilled workers, businesses need the skilled- sorry provides the skilled workers businesses need, that supports those out of work to gain the skills that are in demand.
Now, again, our Budget extended wage support to employers taking on a new apprentice or trainee with an additional $1.2 billion to deliver 100,000 new apprenticeships, now importantly we made that programme available to businesses of all sizes, including large businesses who have the confidence and capacity to take on new apprentices in uncertain times. And just last month, BHP announced it was investing in 2,500 new apprenticeships and traineeships over the next five years, as well as partnering with the government to deliver a further 1,000 advance apprenticeships and short courses in regional areas. When I got this news, John Kunkel would tell you, I lit up like a Christmas tree. I thought it was fantastic. These employment and training opportunities reflect confidence in Australia's prospects, but they also create hope, real hope, particularly for younger people embarking on their careers, which is particularly hard for them in an environment like this. By keeping apprentices in training and boosting new commencements, we're maintaining the pipeline of skilled workers that our economy depends on.
Results, they are encouraging, the number of apprentices and trainees and training contracts has recovered to be above where it was in March, and it is rising. On the job apprenticeship training is also one part of the story. It's also critical to ensure there are good off the job training options to support upskilling and reskilling for jobseekers and school leavers. That's why we partnered with the states and territories through the National Cabinet to establish the $1 billion dollar JobTrainer fund, that fund is providing over 300,000 training places that are free or low cost in areas of identified skills needed.
Now if you want to know, there’s a lot been said about the National Cabinet, how we set rules for whether people can go to barre classes or not, and a whole bunch more important things as well, I suppose, but that was a good process and we did work together. But the JobSeeker agreement - we were able to bring together in a matter of weeks, and bring together not just the funding to support the more than 300,000 places, but we're able to do it with a commitment to further reforms beyond the current year. Of all the things National Cabinet has done, and I'm proud of so much of the work we've done together, state leaders and the Commonwealth, that one said to me, we need to deal with the problem now and we need to build for the future. And that gives me a lot of confidence going into next year with all the many other challenges that the National Cabinet has to deal with, things like mental health reform, aged care and the like.
The National Skills Commission under Adam Boyton, known well to the BCA is playing an indispensable role in identifying those skill needs, we’re now all benefiting from the, Adam’s rich data driven insights, as you have previously done - on the labour market trends and skills developments, including through his expert briefings to both the federal Cabinet and the National Cabinet. A good example of that was the creation of the Resilient Occupations Index, where the National Skills Commission has mapped expected demand for over 300 occupation types and analysed whether COVID-19 has led to any major changes in future demands. And this in turn has provided the evidence base, a big missing piece for the design and rollout of the JobTrainer fund, including an agreed course list and prices.
All states and territories have signed up, and free or low fee training is available right now in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, with other states due to roll out very soon. So a young person coming out of a tough final year at school in these states, in New South Wales for example, and wanting to become a mechanic and to do a Cert. 3 in engineering for free. An older Australian out of work in South Australia and looking to switch careers because of COVID could take up a free or low cost Cert. 4 in cybersecurity, ageing support, or mental health. And you don't need to spend 2 to 3 years studying if you don't need to. Around two thirds of the JobTrainer places is expected to be in short courses.
For those looking to up skill, there will be skill set courses available in fields like digital imaging, coding and business administration. Courses like these can be completed in weeks, not months, and be relevant beyond our focus on boosting training places in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are determined to lift the standard of the VET system through the longer term reform I referred to. All states participating in JobTrainer have signed up to what is a very ambitious heads of agreement on skills reform, committing to immediate reforms to rationalise national VET qualifications, and introducing improved industry- industry engagement arrangements.
Minister Cash is working with her state counterparts on these reforms as a priority. Through the National Cabinet, the Commonwealth and all states and territories have agreed to work towards a new national skills agreement by August of 2021. Priority for the new agreement includes a new funding model that improves the national consistency of subsidies and is linked with efficient pricing and the skills needed by employers.
I've always said that this is a system that my government would be prepared to invest more in, I wasn’t going to throw money at an old broken system that people weren’t prepared to fix. But through the National Cabinet, through Michaelia’s excellent work with her ministers. I'm seeing that willingness to make those changes, we’ve got a long way to go yet. We get there, then it's worth investing more in for all of us.
Now likewise, we need our higher education sector and our research institutions to support our recovery. This year, we turned to our scientists and researchers more than ever, I've seen more white coats than I have in a very long time, and it's been great to get their input. On Monday in Melbourne, I visited CSL Seqirus, where production of the AstraZeneca vaccine has begun. Tremendously exciting. Some of our best minds directing all their talent and ingenuity to creating something that will allow us to resume a form of normal life again.
I saw the same bright, amazing people up at the University of Queensland as well, working on their molecular clamp vaccine. And that's just in the vaccines area. Science and research is not just helping us fight COVID-19. It is at the heart of helping our economy grow back stronger.
Now, for this to happen, businesses and researchers do need to come together. This has been a real failing in Australia. The reality is Australia is a laggard when it comes to business collaboration with higher education and research institutions. And you are both at fault, as is the government. This means we aren’t capturing the full benefits of our world class science and research. We aren’t capitalising on it enough to improve lives, to grow our wealth or to create jobs. The Government understands this and we understand what we need to do.
The importance of our world class science and research community and the role it can play is vital to claiming that new ground on the other side of COVID-19. That's why, recognising what we needed to do the Budget injected over a billion dollars into university research. And I commend Dan Tehan for the great work he's done there to ensure the ongoing capability and excellence of our research workforce. And over $450 million for the CSIRO to support the important science and research work they are doing. So we're investing. We want to provide a platform and a pathway for our talented researchers to partner with you, with businesses all around the country and to apply their intellectual firepower as research entrepreneurs, research entrepreneurs. That's what we want to see. That's why we committed $5.8 million in the budget for a scoping study to examine options for a new scheme to accelerate commercialisation on priority university research and the advice of our business and university leaders will be critical in scaling up our ambition and getting this right.
The Minister for Education, Dan Tehan, has formed an expert panel as part of this scoping study made up of several BCA members, including senior representatives from BHP, Cochlear, Macquarie and Siemens. Jeff Connelly from Siemens has kindly agreed to be the chair. And I thank him very much. I urge all of you to be involved in this exercise in advance of next year's Budget. We do need your ideas as much as we need the ideas of the scientists, your leadership and your dollars to bring out more of our R&D spend to commercial advantage.
Now, let me finally touch on two other signature elements of the government's economic plan, our energy and manufacturing strategies. We are resetting Australia's East Coast gas market unlocking additional gas to drive recovery and developing a world leading Australian gas hub to support higher wage jobs, including in manufacturing. We are putting downward pressure on energy prices while developing the backbone of a reliable, reliable, lower emissions national electricity market.
We are investing more than $250 million to accelerate all priority transmission projects identified in the AEMO Integrated Systems Plan. These interconnectors will create jobs and integrate our world leading levels of renewable energy generation into the grid.
Australia is in the midst of that renewable energy boom, per person Australia's investing in renewable energy 10 times faster than the global average and 4 times faster per capita than in Europe, China, Japan or the United States.
We are committed to the Paris Agreement and our international targets. Our policies have us on track to meet our 2030 target of 26 per cent below 2005 levels. We intend to not just meet our commitments but to beat them. We see them as a floor for our ambition, not a ceiling.
As a country, when we make a promise, we keep it. And we have delivered in spades on our Kyoto era targets, beating them by around 430 million tonnes, that’s around 80 per cent of Australia's annual national emissions.
Because we've delivered, we have the option of using these credits towards our next commitment period. This is the so-called carryover. It's much like getting ahead on your mortgage repayments. I've also said we will only use that carryover, though, to the extent that is required. Let me be very clear. My ambition, my government's ambition is that we will not need them. And we are working to this as our goal, consistent with our record of over delivering in these areas. And I am confident that our policies will get this job done.
Now, I hope to have more to say about this before the end of the year as we update our emissions projections that will take into account new policies and measures. Looking beyond 2030 we want to reach net zero emissions as quickly as possible and to achieve this through technology, not higher taxes either directly through government sanctioned electricity prices or as a result of a carbon tax. Higher electricity prices is not the policy certainty I'm looking to provide. And I won't make a commitment on behalf of the Australian people unless I can tell them how we will achieve it and what this will cost. In this respect in relation to these commitments. Australia truly does stand out.
We are actively working through those considerations right now, including how our practical technology based approach can get us there. Our technology investment roadmap which will guide an expected $18 billion in government investment to 2030 and a further $50 billion dollars in co-investment, will drive reductions in the decades after 2030. Getting these technologies right will avoid around 250 million tonnes of emissions each year by 2040.
Affordable and reliable energy is a cornerstone of the government's plan for revitalised manufacturing in Australia. Coming out of COVID-19, it forms part of the productivity platform necessary for any successful industry policy. Lower taxes, simpler industrial relations, world class training and skills development, less red tape, enabling digital transformation. That's that's step one of having a manufacturing plan in this country and we’ve made it step one as part of our plan, but our $1.5 billion manufacturing plan set down in the Budget is also about setting priorities in areas of genuine competitive advantage, resources technology and critical minerals processing, food and beverage, medical products, recycling and clean energy, defence and space.
We’ve nominated them. They are the priorities. We will also work to improve supply chain resilience in securing sovereign capability in areas of national interest. And just this past week, we announced a $1 billion dollar investment matched by $800 million from CSL Seqirus for a new world class vaccine and antivenom manufacturing facility in Melbourne.
Again, we are keen to have the closest possible partnership with industry in the development and implementation of our manufacturing strategy. Minister Karen Andrews has been driving this from the day after the last election and indeed before. Working very closely with key industry stakeholders in each priority area to co-design the road maps that now need to be developed. And that will set out clear goals and performance metrics over the next 2, 5 and 10 years. She's doing an outstanding job.
So friends, this year has challenged us, as Tim reminded us, like no other in living memory. But with challenge comes greater opportunity. And I want Australians to look to 2021 with hope, with aspiration, with confidence in their selves and in a country they can be just so proud of by what we've been able to achieve this year in the most difficult of circumstances.
We have one of the best records of any country in the world for managing the health and economic impacts of COVID-19.
That has required enormous effort by so many people. And I particularly want to thank Greg Hunt as our Minister for Health. Greg, working together with his team at the Department of Health, Brendan Murphy and Paul Kelly have been an extraordinary group of people to ensure that we could lead on the health response that has enabled us to lead on the economic response with the Treasurer and so many others, including Mathias Cormann, who has now retired from the parliament.
Our task now is to complete the transition to a business led economic recovery in a COVIDSafe way. And I know you share that ambition. With 8 out of 10 jobs in the private sector. We need businesses back out there employing people, investing and claiming that new ground.
Our Australian team has rallied this year. And so far we have risen to that challenge and now we need to push on and win on the other side. Thank you so much for what is, I'm sure your very patient attention during this format.
Thank you.
Remarks - Tokyo, Japan
17 November 2020
Prime Minister Suga [delivered via translator]: My heartfelt compliments to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. I have the honour to greet Prime Minister Morrison as my first guest to meet in person in Japan, [inaudible].
Japan and Australia are special strategic partners, sharing fundamental values, such as the commitment to freedom, democracy, human rights, rule of law and others, as well as a strategic interest of all of our countries to work together to realise that a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
In the Indo-Pacific region, the security and defence cooperation between Japan and Australia, having the will and capacity to contribute to regional stability are becoming increasingly important.
Under this banner I hereby announce that on this occasion we have reached an agreement in principle on our Reciprocal Access Agreement that we have been closing, that elevates from Security and Defence cooperation to a new level.
The Reciprocal Access Agreement firmly underpins the determination of both Japan and Australia to contribute to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region.
We have just signed the Japan Australia Leaders’ meeting statement, further reinforcement of financial co-operations in the areas of security, defence cooperation, economy, and others are enshrined in this statement and indeed I wish to strengthen Japan-Australia collaboration even further.
In the area of the economy we welcome the signing of RCEP and I concur that the collaboration between our two countries [inaudible]. But furthermore to continue our cooperation in steady [inaudible] and expansion of the TPP.
Later tonight at dinner, where we plan to exchange views on others as well, on the respective issues in the region such as dealing with North Korea including the abduction issues, also South China Sea and other matters. I wish to confirm our close collaboration with Prime Minister Morrison.
I look forward to further revitalisation of active engagement of our people at broader levels by collaboration opportunities including next year’s Olympic and Paralympic games and other opportunities.
Thank you very much Prime Minister Morrison.
PRIME MINISTER MORRISON: Thank you Prime Minister, it is a great honour and privilege to be joining you here in Tokyo and to be your first visitor as a nation’s leader, here to both congratulate you on your ascension to the Prime Ministership, but I particularly want to thank you for your very warm welcome today.
Prime Minister, in any relationship first impressions really count and I can assure you the first impressions of us both today I think are very, extremely positive. And I look forward to a very important and very fruitful partnership between us in the years ahead.
Australia and Japan are Indo-Pacific nations. But more than that, we share a very unique view on the Indo-Pacific. We share a great alliance with the United States, we also share a significant and most significant trading relationship with China, and very strong and positive relationships with all the countries, the nation states of the Indo-Pacific. And believe passionately in each of their sovereignty.
So today, our special strategic partnership became even stronger, in particular because today we've taken a significant step forward in Japan and Australia, reaching an in principle agreement on a landmark Defence treaty, the Reciprocal Access Agreement.
We respect and appreciate that the only other nation that Japan has entered into such an agreement, which we have now reached in principle agreement on, is the United States some 60 years ago. And so we respect and appreciate the special trust that you placed in us in getting to this important point of our agreement today.
But there was more to discuss than that arrangement today. We have discussed our cooperation in science, technology, on working together for a lower emissions, and zero emissions future, our hydrogen energy supply chain pilot project that will see the first shipment of hydrogen to Japan in March of next year, working together off the base of Australia's lower emissions technology roadmap, working together on the many trade agreements of which we form a partner together, in particular the TPP, as well as the RCEP agreement that was concluded on the weekend.
As well as working together to reform the World Trade Organisation, working together on the WHO to address the global pandemic that has caused so much suffering and so much economic loss around the world, and in particular working with nations in our own region, be it in the Pacific island states of the Southwest Pacific or the ASEAN nations. When we work together, as we are with many others, in ensuring that the vaccines that can be delivered across all of these countries, hopefully over the course of 2021, to return the world to a greater state of normal than we have known now for some time.
So I look forward to our conversation at dinner this evening in a relaxed atmosphere amongst friends, and I also look forward to in a few months’ time making a presentation to you Prime Minister, as a Sydney-sider, that’s where the Olympics were hosted in the year 2000, we look forward with great enthusiasm to the wonderful Tokyo Olympics that will be held next year. And I present to you, I look forward to presenting, these medals, Gold and Silver, Bronze Medals of the Sydney Olympics to you and to the people of Japan and with you all the very best for the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Remarks - Parkville, VIC
16 November 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you very much Pat and it’s great to be here at these headquarters, at the premises which I’ve had something to do with over the years. But no one has driven this agenda like you, and I want to thank you in particular for being so available to me and to Greg and so many of my Ministers and other advisers. When Pat McGorry’s calling, you pick up the phone, I can assure you of that, to speak about these issues because he will be telling you about what is happening on the ground with patients and with others in distress and he always has very practical suggestions. We get to the practical element very, very quickly. So Pat, I want to thank you for your leadership throughout this crisis and I am sure that is shared by the Premier here in Victoria, Premiers in other states and territories as well and the magnificent work that is done.
To Christine Morgan my national suicide prevention adviser, and Ruth Vine our deputy Chief Medical Officer. Ruth and I have spoken on many occasions over the course of this last six or seven months, but this is the first opportunity we have actually been able to be in the same room together. I want to thank Ruth and Christine for the tremendous work they have been doing over the course particularly of this year in not just responding to the crisis, but also the foundational work that has been done in terms of how we deal with what happens after this crisis.
And I think we all understand in this room in particular, the legacy that we will have to live through as a result of the scarring impacts of this crisis on Australians all around the country. We understand that and that is why we are doing the things that we are doing.
To the acting Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, who is here with us as well today, thank you, Paul. Paul of course is very focused today on the other challenges we have in relation to the pandemic, particularly in South Australia and he's been working on those issues and we have been meeting on those earlier today and has been meeting with the AHPPC, the medical expert panel earlier today, to address those issues. So I know you will have to get away quickly, Paul. But I thank you for being here as well.
And of course to Greg Hunt, my Minister for Health, but a great Victorian, and someone who - he I together working in a partnership that has been very important when it comes to the national response to the pandemic. But, there are many other areas of passion that Greg and I share when it comes to the Health portfolio. The PBS is one that we have shared, both as Treasurer and now as Prime Minister. But also in the area of mental health. And I remember, in particular, not long after becoming Prime Minister, I spoke to Greg on the phone one day and we were looking forward to the next Budget. I said, Greg, we just have to do more in this area, let's get to work. And Greg hasn't stopped since that time, whether it is drawing Christine into our team of very high-level advisers and working through these issues and engaging the sector and particularly through people like Pat. Greg I want to thank you for your leadership in this area, and your input and carrying that along with the many other burdens.
To the team from the productivity commission here, Innes Willox is here representing industry and that is a very good understanding that this is first and foremost a health issue, but health issues have very significant and serious economic consequences as well. And if there has ever been a year to understand that, it is the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Our nation's health is as linked to our nation as prosperity as any other thing and we need no reminder about that going through this year.
That is something that I believe our Indigenous Australians have always understood. And I want to acknowledge and pay respect to the Wurundjeri people and the Kulin nation as the original and ongoing owners and custodians of this land.
I also want to acknowledge Australia's mental health workers. Every day you reflect the very best of our humanity to others. I want to acknowledge all of those Australians who live with mental illness. Those who have lived experience of suicide, their loved ones and their communities. Their carers. In particular, I acknowledge the many veterans who struggle with mental health challenges, who carry a burden because of their service that we must always remember and a debt that we owe to them that we will never be able to fully repay. I thank all of our serving members of our defence forces as well and honour them.
Mental health issues and suicide do not discriminate. It doesn't matter where you live, what you do for a living. 1 in 5 Australians will experience a mental health illness every year and half of us will be diagnosed during our lifetime.
In 2018, 2.4 million Australians aged 18 and over experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress. Now that was in 2018. Now this is before COVID-19 which we know had a significant impact on mental health and wellbeing, not least so here in Melbourne and in Victoria.
In just the last four weeks, Lifeline, Kids Helpline, Beyond Blue together answered over 112,000 contacts for help, around a quarter higher than the same time in 2019.
65,000 Australians, 65,000 Australians attempt suicide each year.
Just let that figure sink in.
We know that last year 3,300 Australians died by suicide.
So that is 9 Australians each and every day.
On average, every suicide impacts around another 135 people.
Men and boys account for three quarters of all suicides, and our highest rates of suicide are among men over 85, men in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
But there is also an increase in self-harm and suicide amongst women and girls. I can tell you as a father of two daughters, this is something that terrifies me.
Most confronting and heartbreaking is that suicide is the leading cause of death amongst our young people.
As we know, Indigenous communities bar the scars acutely. Last year, 195 Indigenous Australians were lost to suicide. I know Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt understands this only too well.
Indigenous Australians die by suicide at double the non-indigenous rate.
And of course, as I mentioned, our veterans are also vulnerable. From 2001 to 2018, 465 Australians who had served over the previous 17 years died by suicide.
Phil Thompson, a colleague of Greg's and mine, has been to too many of those funerals. It is an experience that I can't pretend to imagine.
And I applaud all of those veterans in the way they stand by each other and deal with this.
Today, I want to speak to you about the road ahead, though. I want to talk to you about where we are going on mental health and suicide prevention.
Of course it is a big challenge. The figures I have just shared with you are quite overwhelming. If you dwell on them for too long.
They are intended to confront us and so they should - brutal truths should have that effect. But our response shouldn't be to fall victim to them, but to chart a better way forward and a road out.
I want to affirm the government's commitment today to providing Australians with the mental health support they need, particularly in these challenging times.
In my first Budget, as I reflected before as Prime Minister, this included an additional $740 million over 7 years to improve access to mental health service and to combat the tragedy of suicide.
This included our $509 million youth mental health and suicide prevention package, the largest in Australian history, which is growing the national HeadSpace network to 153 centres around the country by 2021. That's right, next year. While reducing wait lists and boosting funding for youth psychosis and eating disorder services.
Now both HeadSpace and the early youth psychosis services I have just mentioned, they are the brainchild as we all know of Professor Pat McGorry who is with us here today. I want to acknowledge Pat's enormous contribution, developing and scaling-up early intervention and youth mental health services. And Pat knows, because he equally acknowledges it, that when HeadSpace was set up under the Howard government and particularly with Christopher Pyne, who was the Assistant Minister for Health at the time, of the many things that we have done as Coalition governments, both present and in the past. I can think of few more important than the services that we have established in the community for assisting young people with their mental health through HeadSpace. And again, I thank you, Pat.
Today, I am releasing the Productivity Commission's report into mental health. Now, this is the most comprehensive report of its kind in our history in Australia. And I have got the executive summary here because I can’t carry the other two volumes that sit with this report. It is well worth the read for all of us who care about the mental health of our fellow Australians.
It examines the interaction and effectiveness and outcomes of policies, systems and programs across all jurisdictions and I'll talk more about that. As well as assessing the economic and social impacts of what we are doing right now.
The commissioning of the report was one of my earlier decisions as Treasurer. Followed through, of course by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, and I want to acknowledge Professor Stephen King and Ms Julie Abramson and Professor Harvey Whiteford commissioners on the PC’s Mental Health Inquiry.
Last year, I appointed Christine Morgan, who is here with us, on the Minister for Health’s very strong recommendation. It took many of all of half a second to agree, as Australia’s first National Suicide Prevention Adviser, seeking new direction on how we can prevent the loss of so many Australians each year and today I am releasing her suicide prevention interim advice. There will be further volumes coming I know in the final and, again, these reports given the events of 2020 could not be more timely.
When we set out on this path, nobody could have foreseen a global pandemic impact every facet of our way of life. Separation from family members, the loss of jobs and businesses. The disruption to our community and social networks.
Devastating, for some the loss of a loved one. And being constrained and restricted from being able to process that loss through the normal human interactions we would have at that time.
Understandably, that couldn’t take place, but it doesn't take away the pain or the lost opportunity that is presented by how we deal with grief in attending the funeral of a loved one. You can't replace that. And so, that has made that experience so much more difficult than it always is.
COVID-19 has exposed a new vulnerability to a range of known mental illnesses. A substantial year on year increase in child and youth contacts for eating disorders, with hospital admissions up 40% in most states.
For others, the pandemic has triggered mental health, mental ill-health for the first time.
We know the pandemic is taking an immense toll on business owners. I was with business owners here in Melbourne this morning. In late September, around 54% of small business owners and managers reported being concerned for their personal health and wellbeing. And those I spoke to this morning talked about their concern for their staff's personal mental health and wellbeing.
And as a Government, we've held nothing back in our response. Since the onset of the pandemic, we've invested more than $500 million in additional mental health and suicide prevention services. Switching on telehealth for all Australians, and making more mental health services subject to the Medicare rebate. Setting up a new Beyond Blue COVID-19 wellbeing service and getting extra resources into Lifeline and into Kid's HelpLine and other support services.
Establishing 15 pop-up Head to Head mental health clinics across locked down Victoria. Doubling the amount of medicare funded psychological services from 10 to 20, under better access. And ensuring better culturally appropriate help for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and people from cultural and linguistically diverse groups.
I would especially like to acknowledge as I already have, both Dr Ruth Vine and Ms Pam Anders for their support in establishing the Victorian mental health clinics during Victoria's lockdown.
With investments made this year, the Commonwealth's health portfolio expenditure on mental health is expected to reach a record high of some $5.7 billion in 2021. Those seeking the additional support, I can assure you, have been pushing on an open door right from the outset, and I believe that's been their felt and lived experience as well in dealing with our Government, and I'm sure with state governments as well.
A key focus has been on prevention and early intervention. And today, I announce a further down payment on prevention and early intervention, for young people in particular. We will extend the early psychosis youth services program for a further year to June 2022 with funding of some $53 million to support that work.
We will extend the National Mental Health Initiative, called Be You, delivered by Beyond Blue, for a further two years with funding of $46 million. 70% of schools are participating in Be You nationally, and in that context, I also acknowledge the announcement on the weekend by the New South Wales State Government and the work they're doing on putting mental health nurses and supports into public schools, into schools around New South Wales. States are doing their share as well.
And thirdly- fourthly, I should say - extending the important work of emerging minds for a further 2 years with funding of $16 million.
These investments build on the $45.7 million expansion of the individual placement and support program of the 2020-21 Budget to assist vulnerable young people with mental illness to participate in the workforce. A clear message from our advice is that we need to, must look at the whole person and these reports say the same thing. And take into account their whole life circumstances in our approach to mental health services.
Counselling alone isn't going to alleviate distress. Not if you're about to lose your house, your job, your relationship. Looking at the whole person means working with the states and territories in the community and business sectors to reduce the risks of loans defaulting, home evictions and even, of course, going without food. Investing in financial counselling, food relief, domestic violence services and family support programs - all essential. We need to keep this going. We need to keep the dialogue going. But, we're well under way.
With more Australians experiencing mental health challenges, we are in the dialogue about it more as a nation, together. More Australians know, now, it's OK not to feel OK. And to talk about that, and to raise it.
It’s okay to talk about it.
It's a good thing to seek help and others will encourage you in that. We've been helping each other now I think more than every, certainly in my lifetime.
Connecting in new and different ways. It's a reminder of the untapped force of the human spirit. Our compassion and love for one another. The family and friends and our fellow Australians.
Mateship isn't just something that is talked about as a form of identity that we like to celebrate, it has a very practical relevance for every single Australian, because it goes to our deep affection for one another, and that's what we're enlisting to deal with this great challenge.
Collectively, as Australians we must set ourselves the goal of making COVID-19 an inflection point, on a path to a new and better mental health system. Both the Productivity Commission's final report on mental health and Christine Morgan's interim advice on suicide prevention offer very detailed and sober reflections based on excellent research on where we are as a country, and more importantly, what needs to be done.
Christine's advice is particularly compelling. It's data-rich, but importantly, it draws, and I commend you to read that first report in particular. Read them all, but I must admit, I was really sat down on reading the first report. Because it draws on the voices and experiences of almost 2,000 people who have lived with this in their own experience and amongst others.
This is a process that has listened hard and the listening is not easy. Among them are those who survived suicide attempts or lived with suicidal thoughts, and those bereaved by suicide, who I think often believe, don't think their voices are heard. That their experiences are shut out of the policy process. Not so, in what Christine has done in bringing forward her report and the extensive listening and narrating of their stories back to Government.
The Productivity Commission report also offers detailed data on the basis for reforms. So I like how these two come together. They support each other. Evidence that is absolutely critical. And I've often said, the economy is about people. And the Productivity Commission has framed it in a similar way in addressing this issue. They’ve said, it's not necessary to quantify the cost of mental illness and suicide to understand the damage that they impose on the lives of individuals and the community as a whole.
That's true. We don't need convincing of that. We know it's a big problem. But quantifying these costs, they say, helps to identify where reform efforts should be focused. And that's very, very wise.
So how much does mental ill-health cost? What's the update? The answer is at least $200 billion a year. That's more than a tenth of the size of Australia's entire economic production in 2019. It's around $550 to $600 million each and every day. When you add up the impacts on work, as Innes would know, on health and life expectancy, that's what you get. And as the report says, these costs are borne by those people with poor mental health and the people who care for them. And by governments, employers, insurers and the wider community, it's the cost that doesn't discriminate. It falls right across-the-board. The cost of lost opportunity, lower living standards.
You know, when young people disengage from education. When those with mental illness and their carers have reduced hours of work or cannot work or are less productive at work. It's also the social and emotional costs of suffering, exclusion and in worse cases, premature death.
Both reports shine a very bright light on the existing challenges and, as I said, it's not easy reading. But despite our efforts, people are still falling through the cracks at different points. Too often, mental health services aren't looking beyond the symptoms to work out what help a person needs to recover and remain well.
There is a sense in which the mental health system has been tacked on to the physical health system and when you think about it, it's obvious that we can't use the same template for a national mental health system as we use for a physical health system. If you have a broken bone or cancer or other physical problems, Australians seek help from within our universal health system but we tend not to react the same way when we're experiencing mental illness or risk of suicide.
Yet both, obviously, life-threatening. As serious as cancer. Many suffer in silence. Many never reach out. Even for those who do reach out, the health system isn't always as helpful as it could be and it's rarely the whole solution.
Now, I don't think that that is because people don't care. I don't think that it is because the system doesn't want to provide every support it can or governments, likewise. But we're not getting there yet. Both reports tell us that the mental health system needs to look beyond the symptoms to work out what help a person needs to recover and remain well. Because multiple factors, biological, environmental and social, affect mental health and wellbeing.
Another clear finding from the report says that too many Australians are treated too late or, sadly, not at all. Up to half of those who die by suicide have not interacted with the mental health system in the months leading up to their deaths.
And finally, the system is too complex and uncoordinated. Our mental health system fails too often because it is too complicated to navigate. And that system is despite the incredible care and efforts of mental health professionals. People who need help and their families are left to try and find and coordinate their own care without clear guidance about what is available, affordable and appropriate. And this happens at a point in their lives when they are most vulnerable and they will be finding it most difficult to try to access the services. The services that are there. Well intentioned, well supported, well funded. But difficult to access.
Both reports are emphatic. We need new approaches. Together they set out three directions for changing reform.
First, we must take an investment lens when it comes to a person's mental health and wellbeing. That means our first line of defence in preventing mental health and suicide is, as Pat McGorry has often reminded me when it comes to young people, is having a strong economy and communities and a strong safety net. Housing, employment, psychosocial services that support people to engage in the community can be as or more important than healthcare alone.
Both reports are adamant one of the most important protective factors is a job. Now, I don't need to establish the Government's credentials in terms of how keen we are on creating jobs, and of course, that has an enormous benefit to the Australian economy and people's livelihoods. But a key plank in promoting mental health and wellbeing is getting Australians into work and back into work, particularly right now. Because there's strong evidence that not having a job, even for a short time, can impact your mental health in a very negative way. It is a significant disruptive life event that can trigger many mental health episodes.
People receiving unemployment benefits are three times as likely to have anxiety or depression as wage earners are. This is not only as a result of financial hardship, but often associated with limited social support, loneliness and a decreased sense of personal control and achievement.
The second line of defence is addressing stigma once and for all. I believe we are making progress on this. So different from what it was a generation ago. So people can reach out for support when they need it, and we can't wait for risk factors to eventuate or for warning signs to escalate. 75 per cent of adults with mental illness first experienced mental ill-health before the age of 25.
To identify the early warning signs, we all need to play a role at various levels. We need to go beyond Government. We need to go far beyond the health system, and we need a whole of economy approach, whole of community approach, partnerships between all levels of Government, sectors, organisations. All of us are involved in this.
And we also need to harness the power of our business and community organisations to ensure people remain socially connected and feel supported. Participants at the PC's business round table, and I want to thank them for their participation and the business community's prioritising of this issue. It's not new, they have long done that. And they suggested there that mental health in the workplace should be elevated from the HR department to the boardroom and that's good advice. That's a powerful endorsement of the approach we need, but also about leadership in the corporate sector when it comes to dealing with mental health issues right across our economy.
Secondly, this must be comprehensive and compassionate and provide the right care at the right time. This involves a range of supports for easier to access support and low intensity services for those needing help every now and then, right through to coordinated community support for those with moderate to complex needs. That means filling gaps in the system,particularly for those with mild and moderate needs in what's called in the report, in the Productivity Commission report, the missing middle, who are not sick enough for hospital care, but do require more care and support than provided by the GP.
A comprehensive system would also harness the power of technology. But when we think about this missing middle, this is the grey zone between federal and state governments. Both of which I can assure you, as we often speak of these matters, as you would expect us to around the National Cabinet table. And indeed last Friday, when we said the National Federation Reform Council's priority on the next agenda would be this issue.
There is a grey zone. At a federal level, we deal with that primary care. At a state level, they deal with hospitals. But in between, both in prevention and dealing with those who may have had suicide attempts on the other side of hospital, there is a role for both in community-based mental health care. And we have to get that partnership right between the states and the Commonwealth, and I am looking forward to having a discussion later on today with Premier Andrews, who I know is very passionate about this topic. He and I may not agree on everything, but I can tell you that we agree on this very, very firmly. And I think together with other Premiers, who I do know are very committed to seeing that we can get the right set of arrangements in that we can get it right.
And that will include through the digital area. We've begun through digital service platforms and telehealth, as well as expanding access to NDIS rebates. What's recommended here in the report itself, and we've already taken action on those - extending out telehealth and mental health for two years. And obviously, understanding its longer term value.
A comprehensive system needs a skilled, comprehensive workforce. So central to every single health challenge we have in this country, whether it's mental health, whether it’s aged care, whether it’s disability support. Building up our care workforce, and in particular, our mental health workforce, will be vital to how successful we are. We must build a workforce inside and beyond the health system from peer workers, community workers. And as well, of course, our clinical workforce. It must be compassionate and it must take a recovery-based approach.
Compassion means going to where people are, rather than waiting for them to present. Why I'm so thrilled to see how Headspace is trying to get their services out in the community, not waiting for people to come in, Pat, a chat we've had many times, particularly with those who work within Headspace.
And third, we must build a system centered on the experience of those with mental ill-health and their carers. In the Productivity Commission's words, the mental health system is plagued by a bewildering array of unpredictable gateways to care. We must value the input of people who have lived that, who understand it better than the politicians, better than the policy makers and administrators and the bureaucracies that do this. You want to know how to fix it - then the people who have had to live with it have got a pretty good idea about how we can help them navigate a system that has become complex.
The lived experience of mental illness at all stages of planning, commissioning and reviewing services should be paramount in our thinking. Focused on the outcomes and views of these individuals who receive those services. It's about empowering people to make decisions for themselves and their loved ones, and this is important - never leaving them alone to do the heavy lifting or feeling alone.
So what's at stake if we don't implement these reforms? According to the Productivity Commission, 84,000 quality adjusted life years lost, and about $18 billion. According to Christine Morgan, more lives lost, more lives impacted. Recently, the National Cabinet agreed to establish a health reform committee - one of only six. National Cabinet has been cleaning house when it comes to a lot of the committees and councils and things that can drag down our Federation and distract it and slow it down.
So we're going to focus on six key areas reporting to National Cabinet. This is one of them - a Health Reform Committee whose first priority is to deliver a new agreement on mental health and suicide prevention by November 2021. That's this time next year. And if we can get there sooner, we will. The agreement matters because it will clarify that grey that I was talking about between the states and federal in the most important areas of where mental services have been found to be ambiguous or missing.
Over recent years, there has been great bipartisan support around Australia to improve the system and there have been many reports and inquiries. The Royal Commission, of course, here importantly in Victoria and there's tremendous good will. But that framework isn't there and we need to put it in place, agreed by the Commonwealth, states and territories. We all have responsibility here that we'll all have to get our cheque books out, too. Australians don't care who is responsible for delivering mental health care services. They care about them being delivered. They don't care about whose particular part of the job it is in their role to prevent suicide. They simply, rightly, want suicides prevented.
So, that's how it will be. People focused, coordinated, comprehensive and compassionate. This agreement will be at the heart of delivering just that. The Health Reform Committee will be led by my good friend and Federal Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, who is, as I said before, a passionate advocate for mental health reform. I know Greg and all the state and territory ministers will leave no stone unturned to deliver the first ever agreement under the auspices of the National Cabinet in this area, to ensure that whole of Government and lived experience input.
We need the Health Reform Committee to be supported also by a small strategic advisory group which brings together the views of experts, and importantly, Australians with lived experience of mental health, ill-health and the business sector.
So today, the National Mental Health Commission also launches a suite of resources for our workplaces. Practical guidance on how to be a mentally healthy workplace in COVID. These resources have been developed with a mentally healthy workplace alliance, a group of dedicated organisations representing the needs of workplaces across Australia. These resources will help sole traders, small businesses and medium and large organisations right across Australia.
So as we strive for these better days ahead, I commit my Government to a number of principles that will guide our way and governments around the country to honour them as well, as I have no doubt that they will. Moving towards preventative and proactive support for all Australians, starting with infants and families.
We will not wait for risk factors to eventuate or warning signs to escalate, but offer the right intervention as early as possible. It will support Australians where they live, where they learn and where they work. There will be more front doors into support. If you knock, we need someone to hear you and for someone to open that door and for someone to help. And proactive help for people who can't knock on that door or ask for it.
This also means better identifying points of transition or disconnection, where our mental health and suicide prevention efforts are most needed. It will require health systems to better integrate with schools, businesses, civil society organisations, non-health sectors where people at risk or in distress are most likely to be identified early.
To provide that triple A care - appropriate, affordable and accessible. No matter where you are on the mental health spectrum, or how persist your suicidal thoughts are, support must be there to meet your needs and this means timely proactive care that treats the person as just that - a person. Not a case, not a number. Not even an experience, but as a fellow human being.
We will build a system of comprehensive coordinated and compassionate care. That must be our goal, bringing together clinical care and social supports in the community and understanding how they connect, particularly for Australians with complex needs. And this means holistic care based on the needs of the person, their carers and their family, and we'll commit to a system that is consumer, person-driven, carer driven. This means facilitating power and choice, recruiting people into support networks into the individual's recovery journey and listening when something isn't working.
Of course, we must be driven by evidence, by the data, enhancing our understanding of what is happening in our communities. Understanding what works and why it works, and using this information to arrive at further decision making. We'll build a system that is scalable. The pandemic has shown that we need a system that is adaptable and scalable, up and down as needed.
Given the breadth of our ambition, mental health will be a feature of the budget not just next year, not the one that we just had and the one before that, but it will be a feature for many years to come under the governments that I lead.
This is a reform agenda for all Australians. Those who are currently receiving or requiring support for their mental health, their carers, their families, their colleagues, their mates. And those who might be well right now, but may, one day, like so many will, seek help for themselves or someone they know.
We all have a part to play as individuals, as families and communities. As businesses, non-profits, governments, and ensuring Australians get the support they need. And as one submission to the Productivity Commission said, those of us with mental illness need much more than weekly therapy to bring back the health and stability. We need support and companionship. Help connecting to communities. Help with friendships. Support to study and to work.
So, in conclusion - my Government will be carefully considering all of these reports but with a view to action. Reinforcing the actions we're already taking. Better coordinating and linking together the actions we've already taken. Those of state governments as well. Developing a comprehensive report to the Productivity Commission's report by the May 2021 Budget and other measures earlier if possible.
This will be informed by public consultation as well as other key reports and especially the advice of Christine Morgan’s final report due next month. Of course, he Victorian Royal Commission on mental health and the work of Gayaa Dhuwi on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide prevention, the National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, and the findings of the independent taskforce on the mental health workforce.
No shortage of source material for us to use to transform our system which is mammoth and it will be a long-term undertaking. But we will make the progress. It’s not just about money and resources. It’s about the way we pout it all together, ensuring how this health apparatus interacts and supports how we support each other.
It will also require some good doses of humility and some good faith as we engage with each other, acknowledging where weaknesses have been and where vulnerabilities may continue to present. Because we must all be prepared to call those out and acknowledge them and learn from each other to understand the complexities of our humanities and strive to support each other much better.
No government, no not-for-profit, institution or mental health professional has all the answers to this. None of us can pretend to. But I am an optimist. I am always one who votes for hope. By working together, we can make tremendous progress so that Australians suffering from mental ill-health will have more better days and fewer bad ones.
That’s always our goal, whether in treatment or therapy or as a nation. Thank you so much for your very patient attention. Thank you.
Resources available at the below links:
PC report on mental health: https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/mental-health/report
NSPA interim advice: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-national-suicide-prevention-adviser
NMHC workplace resources: NMHC workplace resources: https://www.Health.gov.au/mentally-healthy-workplace
Opening Remarks, ASEAN Australia Virtual Summit
14 November 2020
Prime Minister: Well thank you very much, Prime Minister Phúc, and thank you to your Excellencies and Your Majesty for the opportunity for Australia to join with you today, our ASEAN friends. So many friends who I see on the screen before me today. And I extend our warmest regards and kindest wishes to you all and what is a very difficult time, I know, throughout our region.
Congratulations also Prime Minister Phúc on this first virtual ASEAN Australian summit. Indeed, I'm sure we would have all preferred to be there with you in Vietnam as I was last year. But I congratulate you in such a difficult year of being able to bring together the summit in this way and our appreciation to you and and all of those who have assisted with this outcome.
I want to commend Vietnam and ASEAN for leading a strong response to COVID-19 in the spirit of a cohesive and responsive ASEAN. COVID has changed much, as we know. But ASEAN remains united as always and Australia's commitment to a region of sovereign, independent states, resilient to coercion, remains absolutely steadfast.
We are more than your neighbour, as your first dialogue partner we are also your partner in the great recovery that is now occurring. ASEAN’s centrality is at the core of Australia's vision for the Indo-Pacific. We strongly support, as I've said on many occasions to you, the ASEAN outlook for the Indo-Pacific and we remain committed to working with the region and helping the region recover from COVID-19.
In Australia we understand that your prosperity is our prosperity. It matters to us and we're very committed to it.
Under our partnerships recovery policy. We are turning this into real action once again. Australia recently committed some $500 million dollars over three years to support access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for South-East Asia and the Pacific. Equitable access to safe, effective and affordable vaccines for COVID-19 will be the central factor in our collective recovery.
The support that this provides, gives us all, and particularly throughout the region, new choices based on health and science and the best health and science, and reflects our shared stake in your recovery.
As part of this package we will also contribute $21 million dollars to the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases, which was launched last Thursday.
And I want to outline some new initiatives to support ASEAN’s economic recovery as well. Again, in the spirit of a cohesive and responsive ASEAN and our partnership with you.
The first initiative is $70 million for Resilience and Recovery in Southeast Asia. The package is in line with ASEAN’s priorities. Your priorities, maritime, connectivity, sustainable development and economic cooperation.
The second, even more targeted, is a $232 million dollar package for the Mekong, focussed on the environment, infrastructure, cyber and critical technologies, and scholarships. A prosperous and resilient Mekong is an important part, as I know all members of ASEAN know, a strong ASEAN.
As a longstanding supporter of the initiative for ASEAN integration Australia has been working with you to close the development gap. These announcements come on top of the $83 million dollars in assistance to ASEAN my Foreign Minister announced earlier this year, including the $1 million dollars for the ASEAN COVID-19 response fund. And on top of our $1 billion dollar annual development assistance for South East Asia.
It goes to what Australia brings to ASEAN, a constructive approach, options, balance and deep friendship. This is what we do as neighbours and as strategic partners. And I look forward to hearing from all of you today, particularly as you've dealt with the many challenges of COVID-19. And I commend all leaders who are joining us today for your leadership in each of your own countries. It has been a very difficult year for all of us, but here in our region we are doing all we can for the betterment of our peoples.
Thank you so much for your attention.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
13 November 2020
Prime Minister: Good afternoon, I’m joined by Professor Kelly as usual and I’m also joined by our Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel. Today’s meeting of National Cabinet the 31st this year occured on a day where once again, no deaths, there was no community transmission occurring in Australia and there were seven international cases and as Doctor Finkel reminds me and as Professor Kelly when you are identifying and securing these cases when in quarantine on return of Australians back to Australia, that is a sign of the system working and we welcome that. It has been another positive and very practical meeting of the National Cabinet. There will be a statement issued later that will go into much more detail but we note the key items that were discussed today and I will ask both Professor Kelly as is your usual to run through the key items from an epidemiological point of view and was briefed in the National Cabinet today but I will also ask Doctor Finkel to speak on one of the key matters that was dealt with today and that was the national contact tracing review, which we received today from Doctor Finkel and I want to thank Doctor Finkel as well as Leigh Jasper, our digital technology and delivery expert, a very successful professional in that area commercially and Doctor Tarun Weeramanthri, a public health expert and for many years and was the WA Chief Medical Officer. The three of them have worked together to do an exhaustive review of the contact tracing system in each state and territory and making recommendations and observing the improvements that have been made there and there's a set of recommendations all of which have been adopted by the National Cabinet today to take forward. So I thank Dr Finkel for that and he can take you through those recommendations in more detail.
Also today, the national vaccination policy of the Commonwealth was endorsed by the National Cabinet today, not just noted they were keen to endorse it as well and it's another sign that together as a country, we are working to prepare ourselves to be able to disseminate and administer those vaccines all around the country when they're ready and when they have passed the necessary TGA approvals to ensure that they are safe. Once we have cleared those important benchmarks, then we must be in a position to be able to disseminate and administer those all around the country and of course, that requires the usual support of states and territories and how that's done and Professor Kelly who is the Deputy Chair of the advisory group to the Commonwealth on our national vaccination policy and strategy will be able to update you on that policy and that will also be released today together with this with this document as well. The framework for national reopening when we met last time, we were able to adopt that in principle but we had two jurisdictions that were still in caretaker mode. So the plan that I outlined at our last meeting and that we spoke of here after the last meeting has now been agreed with the one exception of Western Australia, which I've already flagged. That is a plan to have Australia open by Christmas, with the exception of Western Australia. It also is a plan that importantly imbeds public health metrics in ensuring that when Australia opens safely that it remains open safely and that's incredibly important. The things that need to happen and importantly the work of Dr Finkel's contact tracing review which also identifies additional metrics that are needed to make sure that we are always aware that we are staying on track and have the protections in place to keep Australia open.
Other matters dealt with today of course, is getting Australians home. This remains a very, very significant challenge and while we will see some 25,000 odd Australians returned to Australia since I first spoke of this some some weeks ago, if not months the number of Australians coming onto that list as you know has been growing every day, every week, including the number of vulnerable Australians. We're getting vulnerable Australians home. We're getting thousands of Australians home. We’ve today increased 150 additional places coming out of Queensland. We thank them for that. We have additional capacity, as I announced last week when I was in Tasmania and we've got additional capacity we were signed up to in ACT and the Northern Territory but the challenge is still greater than the capacity to receive people back into quarantine. Now obviously Australia is going to maintain its quarantine arrangements for people returning overseas. National Cabinet and the Commonwealth Government is very committed to that. This has been one of Australia's great successes and as I was discussing yesterday with President-elect Biden was one of the reasons why Australia has been so successful as we've put these strong measures in place and I should have mentioned that a copy of this national contact tracing review, as a result of discussion I had with President Biden yesterday, I'll be forwarding to their team because it tells the story of why Australia is being successful and will continue to be successful. We will of course, copy that to the US administration as well but given President-elect Biden's interest in this issue and the people he's bringing together there, he was very keen to know what we were doing and I'm sure while not able to get on a plane and go there, Dr Finkel and his colleagues would be available to assist whoever, wherever they are in whatever country to learn from Australia's experience.
But in terms of getting Australians home there's greater flexibility that will be applied to the caps. The caps have been done on a daily basis and that would mean on some occasions a cap might be fully utilised on any given day. So by doing them over a week, that means we can get greater utilisation of the caps which will increase our ability to get more Australians home and wherever possible we are looking for additional capacity. I'll be meeting with the Victorian Premier when I go to Melbourne next week and there will be the opportunity for us to talk about that. I know they're progressing on those issues and he gave us a bit of an update on that this morning but they're not yet in a position to make an announcement yet, but that's because they're preparing to be able to do it and we welcome that from Victoria and when Victorian opens up to receive those flights again that will help us get many more Australians back and the figures I talked to you about before of around about the mid 20,000, 25,000, that wasn't assuming a Victorian participation. So that will add we believe to our capability to get more Australians home. But the challenges we have in getting Australians home means that the ability to move and take international students back at this time through quarantine arrangements does not present itself. It's Australians coming home first. That is the Commonwealth policy. That is our policy and that is the policy that is also being followed by the National Cabinet. We need to use every available space that we have in quarantine and it's not just simply a matter of are there rooms in hotels to do it. There is also the police support that is needed to properly run quarantine and the health support that is needed in addition to that. So it is a function of all of these and the quarantine system has been working effectively and we want it to keep working effectively. What we're seeing around the world which Professor Kelly will speak to is heartbreaking. I had another meeting with the European leaders this week, which is that group I've been meeting with for many many months and the situation there is very serious, as it is in the United States and that means here in Australia we need to continue to be careful and we will be. So sadly that will delay any ability to be bringing international students to Australia soon because we must use every available place to get Australians home.
Just finally, the natural disaster arrangements that were subject to the Royal Commission I tabled with my colleagues today the Commonwealth's response to that Royal Commission. Minister Littleproud he'll be standing up on that separately this afternoon. Our response will be released on that today. What was important in the discussion we had today though was there are very good practical operating arrangements between the states and territories and the Commonwealth when it comes to dealing on the ground with these natural disasters. Whether it's combating the fires or dealing with the cyclones or the floods, there are very good operating arrangements and the Royal Commission points to how they can be improved and particularly around some of the governance issues that sit above that but the last thing we want to do as Premiers, Chief Ministers and Prime Minister is interrupt operational arrangements that are working well in how people are moved between jurisdictions, how equipment is shared, how the equipment that is needed is identified by fire chiefs that is what we respond to and we'll continue to do that. But there I'll leave it to Minister Littleproud to deal with the many other aspects of that later today.
And the National Federation Reform Council will meet on the 11th of December and my suggestion, and it was warmly received, a key focus of that meeting will be on mental health. We will have the Productivity Commission report out at that time. We will also have the national suicide prevention adviser's report available and out at that time. There is the interim report of the Royal Commission in Victoria and we all agree that particularly after a year where Australians have been so tested and our mental health systems and support have been boosted at a state and territory level and at a Commonwealth level at unprecedented levels, then it really is about how we maintain our effective supports and improve them into the future. That will be addressed along with the other items that are standing items on its agenda, women's safety, Indigenous Closing the Gap measures and other measures will be added to the agenda as necessary between now and then. So with that, I'll pass you on to Professor Kelly and then I'll pass you on to Dr Finkel.
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chielf Medical Officer: Thank you, PM. So, as the PM has mentioned, another excellent day for Australia, no deaths and no locally acquired cases. So we do have seven overseas acquired cases, five in the NT. That's related to the recent arrivals on those assisted flights from the UK and from India that are- and people are currently in quarantine in Howard Springs and then one each in New South Wales and Queensland, again in quarantine. And as the PM mentioned, this is a sign of success for our measures there.
In terms of the total numbers since the start of the epidemic in January, 27,698 with 907 deaths. The current situation in Australia, we have, over the last week 77 active cases, 22 in hospital and no one, not a single person in intensive care. So over the past week, we've had 58 cases in Australia across Australia, of which 56 are overseas arrivals in quarantine. So only two cases in the entire week. I just need to really stress the contrast of that with most other countries in the world. If we take the UK, for example, just in the past week, they've had 157,000 people have been diagnosed and they have now over 50,000 people have died from this virus. In the US in the last week, 731,000 cases. They have 65,000 people in hospital. Their hospitals are overstretched as is the case in many other countries around the world. It really just reinforces the importance of keeping our borders secure.
The other element that the PM mentioned was the vaccine policy. So that will be released publicly today. And so, we, Professor Murphy actually gave an update in relation to that to the premiers. So we now have our advance purchase agreements for four different types of vaccine, 134 million doses. Plus, they are signing up to the COVAX initiative, which would guarantee 50 per cent of our population will be covered through that process. So we have many possible vaccines available. The question remains about their stage three trials. Are they effective? Are they safe? We had very good information on the Pfizer vaccine, which we are signed up to, this week, and we expect other advice from those trials in coming days for the other vaccine. So the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will be and is currently being manufactured in Australia, as soon as that has regulatory approval, it will be available. The Novavax vaccine and the Pfizer vaccines will come from overseas, but they are guaranteed to get some supplies there. The University of Queensland vaccine, Minister Hunt’s been up there today talking about that. And they've made major advances as well. But they will be later in the year when we get those available. The key question is, will they protect against transmission or severe disease or both? And that will be the fundamental driver of the prioritisation of the vaccine to various parts of the population. And that's outlined in general terms in the policy. But it will be absolutely the medical advice from the ATAGI group, our advisory group on immunisation, which advises the Minister for Health on these matters. And that will be what guides the prioritisation. The general principles there, though, those that are caring for vulnerable people, vulnerable people themselves, and those at highest risk of transmission will be the ones on the priority list. At the national level in the Australian Department of- Government Department of Health, we are forming a vaccine division which will be driving this from the Commonwealth point of view. But the states and territories, of course, will be involved and engaged very much on the distribution and logistics of the vaccination programme, as they always are. So we're not duplicating there.
The final point was made very clearly by the PM, as he's done previously, is that this vaccine will be free for all and, all Australians for anyone who wants to take that vaccine.
I'll pass it over to the chief scientist now to talk about his excellent report.
Dr Alan Finkel, Chief Scientist: Thank you, Paul, and thank you, Prime Minister. So, as the Prime Minister said, we've just submitted to National Cabinet today the National Contact Tracing and Outbreak Management Review that was commissioned two months ago. I can tell you it was a very thorough review, even though time was short, we had the opportunity to visit personally the majority of the jurisdictions, the states and territories, and the others we did by video and we were warmly welcomed. And the states shared all the details of their public health and contact tracing and outbreak management systems. And I do extend my thanks to all the people we met in all the states and territories. We consulted with experts. We had an opportunity to go back into a second round with all the states and territories and the Commonwealth, of course, the Commonwealth Department of Health. And I'm therefore confident that our report has had the opportunity to cover all of the issues.
Speaking of confidence, the - perhaps the overriding conclusion from our report is that there is good reason to be confident in the contact tracing and outbreak management systems in Australia. But as was pointed out to me again and again and again, that is the second line of defence. Critically important is the preventative measures which start from the responsibility of the individual through hygiene practises and staying home if unwell, through physical distancing and other measures at a more macroscopic level, such as limiting appropriately access to high risk facilities such as aged care facilities. One of the things that we saw and encouraged through our report is a process of continuous improvement. The COVID-19 disease, the underlying virus is difficult to understand and it has caused havoc, as you know, around the world. And so we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. And the states and territories and the Commonwealth do recognise that. How do you know, in the absence of cases in the field, how do you know that the systems in place are capable of performing if and when there is a problem in terms of outbreaks? Well, you have to do desktop simulations. You have to do functional simulations. The states and territories and the Commonwealth understand that. And we've recommended ways that they can do that even more and more efficiently. We also recommended some simpler and I would say tighter, metrics that will enable the public and the other states and territories to evaluate the performance of each state and territory. And they're listed in the in the review, of course.
Going forward a couple of things to keep in mind. One is that we've recommended that there be a means of digitally exchanging information between the states and territories, because you must keep in mind that under the Constitution, each state and territory is responsible for public health in their borders and they do it and do it very, very well. But as we go to a more mobile society and a fully active economy, they need to be confident that they can share information about people who are travelling from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. At the moment the problem is not manifest. We don't have a serious issue, but we need to be preparing. So we've recommended a very light touch digital exchange mechanism that will respect all of the legislative and privacy requirements to enable states and territories to talk, to swap contact tracing information with each other and access contact tracing information from government agency databases. The second thing to keep in mind going forward is the importance of learning from each other. And one of the things that I would draw your attention to in this report is the listing of what we call the characteristics of an optimal contact tracing and outbreak management system, which is not a checklist that the states have to go through one by one and check themselves again. But it is a list that we've recommended that each state and territory evaluate themselves on from time to time.
I'm confident what's there at the moment, Australia is doing well. We can't be complacent, if we do undertake the recommendations in this report, which was adopted by the National Cabinet today I guess the way I would like to put it is we will go from good to great. Thank you.
Prime Minister: Thank you very much Alan. I'm happy to take questions. Let's stay on National Cabinet first. And I'm sure you’ll want to go to other matters.
Journalist: The issue with the international students. When do you anticipate they may be able to go back - come back into the country? We had the situation, I think, where there were plans for the pilots that’s-
Prime Minister: The pilots will still go ahead. Because they’re being done above caps.
Journalist: Okay. And when do you think that the international students will be able to come back? And given that the universities are particularly reliant on international students as a source of income? Are you going to have to revisit maybe providing support to universities if there is a sort of a delay in coming back?
Prime Minister: Well, there's been significant support provided to the universities, the $1 billion dollar additional and on research funding included, as well as the guarantee of their funding as we set out in the Budget. But that said, I mean, this is a question of priorities and our priorities must be to look after Australian citizens and residents first. Now, because of the deteriorating situation in other parts of the world, we have, we are seeing more Australians than ever, even than a couple of months ago seeking to come back. More Australians who may be finishing off work contracts or studies or or other arrangements they've had over the course of the year are now registering and looking to come back. And so they are difficult choices. Of course, we would like to see so many parts of our economy return to normal, but we must ensure that we put Australians first in that task, it is constrained by the amount of quarantine that exists at a state and territory level. And that's a fact that we have to contend with and where we can expand that we are. But if there's a suggestion - I'm not saying you're making that suggestion, that somehow the quarantine can be waived in order to get through this. Well, that is not an option that either the Commonwealth or indeed the premiers and chief ministers are prepared to contemplate because of the inherent risks are there. I wish it were not so, but it is so. And that means it's very difficult to say when we'll be in a position for more of those students to come in the future. Now, many of them are already here, we know that. But for those who would be seeking to come back, well, there is a queue and Australians are in the front of the queue.
Journalist: Given this, do you have any strategy to try and retain this market in the longer term, for example, to work nationally with universities, to promote online courses, to give some approximate date when you think that we will be back in more full operation?
Prime Minister: The short answer to that is yes. And that strategy has been working out this year on the very things that you've just suggested, that's already happening. And the education minister is continuing to work with states and territories and the university sector to get plans in place for when they can be activated. The frustration at the moment is, we'd hoped to be further ahead on this now. But the fact is there are many Australians in vulnerable situations and they're seeking to get home and that that must take priority. And I'm sure I'm sure the university sector would understand that. But, yes, we have those strategies, including the visa-. We will do everything that we need to do and in order to ensure that we can maintain the viability of those operations. But at the end of the day, our universities are there to ensure that they're providing quality university education to Australians and where there's the opportunity to do that for international students as part of that business model, that's fine. But we're guaranteeing their funding. So Australian students continue to get additional places at universities, 30,000 additional places next year, 30,000 additional places in universities next year for Australian students to be able to go and take up that opportunity. And I think that's fantastic. And that's particularly the case in regional areas.
Journalist: on the vaccination programme. There will be a lot of people who'll be reluctant to be vaccinated. There's a lot of anti vaccination material circulating on the Internet. I'm just wondering what measures the government might have in mind to regulate that, if any, what sort of encouragement you would give people to be vaccinated and what sort of restrictions there might be for people who don't vaccinate?
Prime Minister: Well, I'll ask Professor Kelly to speak more to the vaccination strategy. But as you know, it won't be a mandatory vaccination that is not the government's policy and has never been the government's policy. And there is a lot of misinformation that's out there. Yeah. You know, you don't go to Dr Google, you go to the doctor when it comes to these things and seek medical advice from your GP or your other medically trained professionals who are there and available to assist you, and so that that doesn't change. And, of course, we would encourage people to take up the opportunity, but they will make their own choices and we will be seeking to provide the necessary assurances about the safety of the vaccine. That's why it has to pass the TGA standards. There are no shortcuts here. There are no lower benchmarks that apply to this vaccine. It's a very important vaccine for the country and for everybody's health. But we will be applying the legal requirements that are there for people's protection.
But Professor Kelly, did you want to add to that?
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chielf Medical Officer: Thanks, PM So firstly, we are an excellent immunisation nation. Most people agree with immunisation being an important component of our preventive strategy for ensuring the health of the nation. So this is not the first time we've had an immunisation programme. We roll out new immunisation programmes often. But I would say this has particular challenges as to the newness of it and so forth. And so we're very aware that there will be people that are not wanting to have this vaccination, or to spread information which is not true. So we have, as part of the strategy, a very strong component of communication that's already starting putting out information about the types of vaccines, their advantages and so forth. As the PM said, absolutely there are no shortcuts to this. It's going fast. That's true. But all of the processes for regulation will be there, all of the systems to make sure that we have, we're certain about safety. And if anything happened, that would be we would know about it and be able to deal with it quickly. And people will be very much encouraged. And I'm sure there'll be a lot of people that will be queuing up for this vaccine through next year.
Journalist: Is there growing frustration about the stand off between New South Wales and Queensland and the fact that the relationship between those two premiers appears to have really broken down now. Do you think there's a role for yourself to kind of broker some sort of deal between them? Or are you hands off and just leaving it to them?
Prime Minister: Well, I have an agreement with both of them that we will be open by Christmas. That's what the National Cabinet has brought them to. Now, the timing of that is has always been up to the individual premiers within their jurisdictions. The federation is still the federation. That hasn't changed, the Constitution, is still the Constitution. They both joined the meeting today very productively and very positively. So, you know, sometimes these disagreements, I suppose, and what are written up as conflicts are maybe a little more dramatised than the reality actually is.
Journalist: Just on the, you mentioned that you're going to pass on a copy of the National Contact Tracing Review to the Biden team, on a day where the-
Prime Minister: And the U.S. current administration.
Journalist: On a date where the US has recorded 150,000 new cases in a day. Do you think that the Trump administration can also take a leaf out of that book as well? And are you hopeful that the situation in the US will improve under a new approach from Biden?
Prime Minister: Well, look, I wouldn't comment on that other than to say that we are sharing our learnings both with the administration and the incoming administration. The reason for that is I was invited to do so by President-Elect Biden yesterday, in our conversation he was very interested in Australia's success. And it's obviously the top of his priority list as as he's been saying himself. And I wish him all the best. I wish President Trump all the best in dealing with what is just an awful an awful situation there. But, you know, the situation in Europe is the same. The situation in Europe is just terrible. I mean, the number of deaths, 50,000 didn’t you say Paul in the United Kingdom, I mean, the death toll from the Blitz was less. I mean, that is- that puts some perspective on what's occurring. Now of course, the Blitz had many, many, many, many thousands, tens of thousands who were injured and maimed and that was obviously a calamity during war time of extraordinary proportions. But when you think about that and the population at the time was much lower than it is today. But, you know, the situation that is happening overseas, we can't ignore. And the comparison to what's happening here in Australia by the great work that's being done right around the country is a tremendous credit to this country and it's being noticed around the world. I mean, how we do things here - the question just on immunisation, Paul's absolutely right. No one does this better than us. No one does it better than us. We're really good at this stuff. And Australians can take some confidence about that I think.
Journalist: Prime Minister on state borders, just on state borders, obviously WA is set to reopen to most states tomorrow. But the health minister has said they'll slap restrictions back up, hard border right back up should the risks come back, have you encouraged them not to be so hasty, especially with potentially some of the sharing of contact tracing, digital information that might not be necessary? What's your response to this kind of position?
Prime Minister: I was pleased, and Dr Finkel you might want to comment on this because you spent a lot of time looking at the West Australian situation and the former chief WA health officer was on your panel. But what today's said and what Dr Finkel’s report demonstrates and the work is that Australia's system is good, it's strong, and we can have confidence in it. That doesn't mean there aren't risks. I mean, there is no world without risks. Of course there are risks, you can't manage to zero risk. And that's not the National Cabinet’s policy. It is, it is suppression. And the systems that support a suppression strategy are contact tracing, are testing, are the COVIDSafe behaviours and in particular the registration systems, whether it's the COVIDSafe app or indeed the other technologies which are becoming so much more commonplace and need to become ubiquitous. I mean, here in the ACT and New South Wales, the whole process for registration with quick population of your registration, using the codes and so on, this is becoming quite normal for people. And I notice young people are used to it very, very quickly. When I was in Tassie the other day, doing the same thing, as Jenny and I went out to a restaurant and we did it. And then we went for quiet little drink afterwards at a pub and did it as well. This becomes normal, but these systems must become ubiquitous across the country, whether it's in Western Australia or in Tasmania and in particularly in states that are opening up. This is even more important. New South Wales is battle hardened on this. They've been doing this for some time now. And so their confidence, I think, is rightly strong. But in other states opening up, I'd encourage them to push through like New South Wales did, because the target is, the task is, to reopen safely and then to stay safely open by staying safely open you are giving confidence to businesses, to people in jobs, to people that make decisions about their future and what they're going to do. Stop, start, stop, start does not provide that. So I have no doubt that that would be the intention of the Western Australian government to actually to open safely and to stay safely open, because that's what's in the national interest and that's what's in Western Australia's interests. But Professor Finkel?
Dr Alan Finkel, Chief Scientist: So Prime Minister, I would add that the states will open their borders if they're confident in the other states and their own ability to deal with any outbreaks or cases that occur. As we travelled and we looked at the systems, we saw fabulous evidence of well established, enduring public health systems in many of the states and territories and progress towards that in the ones that started a little bit behind at the beginning of the year. The other thing that has been impressive to note is the way the states have converged on consistent public health advice to the citizenry in terms of their personal actions and behaviours, the things that they're responsible for, and also the covid safety plans that are now required of every single enterprise, whether it's a government workplace or university or an aged care facility or a sports venue, it takes time to bring these kinds of things on board and to learn from experience and know what will be effective. But they've been through that and the preventative measures in place are effective and I think really quite well communicated to the citizenry. And the third thing is perhaps still evolving, but it's doing well. And that's the increased use of technology, because if numbers are high, when numbers are low, everything's easy. But if numbers are high, there's a finite workforce to deal with the numbers that are there. Every state and territory has been thinking about where it will get its surge workforce by training other members of public- of public servants from other departments or seconding people from other agencies. But ultimately, the efficiency of every single one of those people can be significantly multiplied by having technology to support them. Technology starts, starts from the moment that you go to have a sample, a specimen collected. That information can be and is increasingly digitised. So there's efficiency all the way through from taking the sample through the pathology lab to informing the patients who had a sample taken, a test done through to informing the health departments of those positive test results, the allocation of those positive cases to a case interview officer can be done digitally so that never again should a case interview fall through the cracks, etc., etc., etc., so the combination of those three things - public health expertise, good preventative health measures in place that are well communicated and the increasing use of technology, I think, should give states, whether it's the leadership or the population, confidence that Australia certainly in comparison to the rest of the world, but also in an absolute sense, is in a good place, not perfect, but a good place, somewhere I'm certainly happy to be.
Journalist: [Inaudible]...obviously overseas and the devastating figures that you've drawn attention to, doesn't logic suggest that we're not going to get international students back in Australia in large numbers until we've got a vaccine? To Professor Murphy- Sorry, Professor Kelly, I'm sorry. Forgive me if I'm wrong about this, but the Pfizer vaccine, I gather, has to be stored at very, you've got to freeze it basically or keep it at very low temperatures. Right. If that's the model vaccine that ends up being rolled out first, do we have the infrastructure in the country in order to roll that out? To Dr. Finkel, you've said in your contact tracing review, which we've only just got so I haven’t read it, but you've referred to digitisation to refer data between states. Does that require legislative change, given the constitutional arrangements? And what exactly are you talking about in terms of transferring information? Sorry.
Prime Minister: Well, why don't you gentlemen start?
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chielf Medical Officer: Some of the- of the last first.
Dr Alan Finkel, Chief Scientist: Okay we’ll start with the last one, so the mechanism we recommended, which we've just called the data exchange, is a very light touch, but highly efficient approach. So all it does is open up a communication pathway between the digital system in one state or territory and the digital system in another, and also, where appropriate, a Commonwealth government databases just for contact tracing information. So the recommendation is that a request goes out for some contact tracing information. It gets responded to, but the data never gets stored in the data exchange. So there's no need to reconcile two disparate databases. There's no large target for cyber attack. So it's intrinsically and certainly if done properly, should be very, very secure. No, it's unlikely to require legislative changes. But until the final design is done, it's not clear. But we've certainly recommended that it be built consistent with the legislative requirements at the state, territory and Commonwealth levels for privacy.
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chielf Medical Officer: So just to add to that and the concept is to start with a pilot programme between New South Wales, Victoria, and ACT. They're the ones that have expressed a particular interest in this and we will be working with them from the commonwealth level on the data exchange. Just on the vaccine. So the Pfizer vaccine, you are correct. It's a type of vaccine known as messenger RNA vaccine, at the moment - it's a brand new technology at the moment for stability. It needs to be kept at minus 80, which is dry ice, essentially. So that is a challenge. It's one of the many challenges in relation to this vaccine rollout, but it's only one of the four types of vaccine that four vaccines that we've signed up to, if it's the first, Pfizer as part of their agreement with us, is that they guarantee that they will deal with the distribution issues from the place of manufacture to the place of immunisation. So that's that's part of the contract.
Prime Minister: And on the other matter. No, I don't know if night follows day in that way, Katharine. I mean, the key constraint at the moment in people coming in is the capacity of quarantine. If there are ways we can boost that, then that's great. And that's what we're working on at the moment. But the rush of those additional seeking to come back is obviously exhausted that resource, and that's why we keep adding to it. But I've got to say, the fact that we no longer have New Zealanders coming through that process, that's freed up some additional capacity. Equally as domestic borders go down, then we won't have Australians from each other's states sitting in hotel quarantine and that will enable more Australians to come home and that will be helpful without accessing one additional room and having or one additional police officer or health worker to be able to support that capacity. So as Australia opens, we will get more. All we said today was as right now as we're looking towards Christmas, I can't give a commitment to the states that we'd be in a position to allow any broader entry of international students at this time. But we'll look at it again in several weeks. And I hope if we're able to establish some additional capacity and how things may change in terms of those seeking to come back, it's understandable that many are looking to get back before the end of the year around Christmas and so on. But we'll keep a close eye on it and we'll keep working closely with the sector.
Journalist: Prime Minister, on your three step opening plan, you said earlier that it's the timing of each of the steps and that measures is up to each Premier in their own jurisdiction. Business has said that it can be, it's quite confusing the sort of piecemeal manner. Was there any discussion or commitment to, I guess doing a kind of report card, something that's combined that shows what all the states are doing when? And just on the international arrivals. Can you give us an update on the net figures? How many people on the list now? How many have actually come back of that 26,500 from a couple of months ago?
Prime Minister: To be honest, it changes very regularly and I'd be happy to distribute those accurate numbers through my office about the number as we have it right now and I suspect it will be different again tomorrow. I would note though, that over the course of this pandemic more than 400,000 Australians have come back from overseas. 400,000 that's a lot and I'd add that we have already, since the 13th of March, helped over 30,800 Australian citizens and permanent residents return home directly and that includes over 10,000 on 358 flights of which 67 were directly facilitated by the Government and we have many additional flights now that we're doing now. So this has been an ongoing process for many, many, many months and we've been getting through it as best as we can. I can tell you the figure I have here is that we there's some 35,600 still registered abroad who've indicated an interest in returning to Australia and now it’s more than, it's around about 10,000 more than we were talking about and that includes people already having got back out of that caseload and so it is a cup that keeps filling up every time we get someone home and so that will continue to be a challenge. I think I missed the second part of your question.
Journalist: The first part was around the reopening plan, is there any…
Prime Minister: We do have a system across all the states and territories, and I can understand the need for that. I mean, it's a big exercise to get seven states and territories to agree to get this done by Christmas all of it and the states are always very adamant, extremely adamant about the decisions that they take, which of what happens within their jurisdictions and that's the Constitution, and that's how the system works and so the Commonwealth obviously has no ability to change that timetable through I suppose the force of national interest we've been able to get to the agreement that we have and I welcome that. But we're moving quickly as I said, the many jurisdictions now have announced and more will, I know, when they're opening up to Victoria. We've got Victoria opening up as well and people moving around and accepting international flights, which is not too far away. So there is a frustrating patience that is necessary as we move through this but when you compare that to the uncertainty of those in other places this is the best place to be in the world.
Don’t worry, I won’t leave you out, I’ll come here.
Journalist: A number of your state and territory counterparts want to see the practical action on the Natural Disaster Royal Commission extend to carbon emissions policy of commitment to net zero by 2050. What's your reaction to them? What's your message to them? And very separately, you are planning to travel to Papua New Guinea. We're seeing media reports that there is a political challenge on the Prime Minister. If he is ousted, will you still go there?
Prime Minister: Well, I'm not going to speculate on those events, but it's my intention to be with Prime Minister Marape next Wednesday as planned and I'll be heading up to Japan, obviously, before that for the important meeting with Prime Minister Suga and we have the ASEAN meetings virtually over the course of this weekend and Dr Finkel may want to comment on this as well. One of the key findings or conclusions of the Royal Commission was that the locked in impacts of climate change already that are there largely set an elevated risk for the next 20 years and the report actually says that regardless of what might happen in terms of emissions reduction that is a known quantity and as a result, a key part of dealing with climate change in this country is dealing with the resilience to what is already there and that is a big part of what the Royal Commission recommends and I've been advocating some of you may recall from my first speech at the National Press Club at the start of this year, I said this agenda has to be about resilience as well. Of course it's about emissions reduction. Of course it is. No argument about that from the Government, but it also must be to protect Australians and keep them safe. It is about resilience measures and that's what our response will certainly address and in subsequent announcements that we will make, that is what in some respects the National Bushfire Recovery Fund in part is addressing. Our commitment is we would like to achieve the outcome you've indicated as soon as we can, but we will get there with a technology roadmap which achieves that result, not through taxation. See, if you can't get there by technology, you get there by taxes and we are not going to get there by taxes. If other countries choose to get there by taxes, that's a matter for them but Australia will set our response and we’ll meet our commitments based on our national interests and the policies we set here in Australia and that's why our technology roadmap is so important because if we're talking about reducing global emissions, not just Australia's emissions or indeed other developing countries emissions, then we must have technology in developing countries implemented, affordable, scalable, commercial that will transform their economies as they grow because all the increase in emissions is going to occur in developing countries. That is what is going to continue to see emissions rise into the future. Developed countries, we’re reducing our emissions. We are signatories to Paris and we will meet those commitments as we have been to Kyoto and we've had great success there and we believe we'll have great success in the future and so I've been really clear with Australians and that unless I can tell you what it's going to cost you, unless I can set out that plan for how it's going to be achieved then I think we are leaving Australia in a position that is vulnerable to a situation that would see higher costs imposed on Australian families when I believe that the path to it is in better technology and that has been a view that we've developed, closely informed by the work of the Chief Scientist. So I'll invite him to make comment.
Dr Alan Finkel, Chief Scientist: So earlier this year at the National Press Club Prime Minister, you did talk about the impact of climate and the need to have resilient responses, as well as the long term mitigation and you asked the CSIRO to do a report specifically on climate and disaster resilience, working with an expert advisory panel chaired by myself and we did that and submitted it mid-year and it became one of the significant inputs to the Royal Commission, which has been presented to National Cabinet today and there are many, many things that we can do to improve our resilience but the first is to acknowledge that this is a serious problem there that has to be dealt with. The first four words, the first sentence in the Terms of Reference from the Prime Minister to the expert advisory panel and the CSIRO was ‘Australia's climate is changing’. You have to acknowledge that and then work hard to deal with adapting to the problems that are there but at the same time, we absolutely have to be doing our piece to mitigate, to avoid emissions, to reduce emissions into the future and there are many things that are actually underway. You know, if you go back a longer time there's the renewable energy target, which drove a pretty good amount of solar and wind at large scale into the market. There is the integrated system plan that AEMO is operating with at the moment, which actually came out of the review that I chaired back in 2017 and that imposes sensible connection requirements on large scale solar and wind so that they don't destabilise the grid and through the integrated system plan allowing long distance interconnectors to bring electrons from where they generated to where you need them. We can now bring in solar and wind electricity at a much faster rate than we could have contemplated. The Government adopted the National Hydrogen Strategy last year and that is actually recognised around the world as a thoughtful and significant approach to realising the potential of hydrogen to contribute to emissions reduction. And the low emissions technology statement that the Prime Minister just mentioned, which was released in September this year is actually outlining how one can use technology to overcome the problems that are fundamentally wrought by the technology that we've been using increasingly for the last 200 years and those technologies, the purpose of the low emissions technology strategy, is to see how Government intervention and encouragement and signalling can lead to the most rapid decrease in price of those low and zero emissions technologies so that ultimately they will replace the higher emissions incumbent. They cover hydrogen again but also batteries and pumped hydro to help to firm up more and more solar and wind. They look at zero emissions steel as a future export potential for Australia. They look at Low emissions aluminium as a major export potential for Australia and then the Low Emissions Technology Statement recognises that it doesn't matter what you do, there will be sources of emissions that you can't zero out and you have to offset that by some kind of geosequestration or by sequestration and that's also covered in the Low Emissions Technology Statement. So I think that there are several things in place at the moment that are moving us in the right direction.
Journalist: Scientifically would you like to see Dr Finkel, therefore, net zero by 2050 from a scientific perspective?
Dr Alan Finkel, Chief Scientist: I would like to see us proceed towards net zero as fast as we can do so with economic efficiency and I think that the measures that I just mentioned to you are the kinds of things that you would be putting in place if you were trying to move as quickly as possible towards net zero.
Journalist: Prime Minister, what progress has been made in standing up alternatives to hotel quarantine like on campus or at home quarantine? And how far off of those alternatives?
Prime Minister: Well, Paul might want to comment on that as well. These matters have been looked at by the AHPPC, they were discussed again today and they are not considered options that we can safely take on.
Paul?
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chielf Medical Officer: So there are some pilots in relation to, to on farm quarantine for example, for the seasonal workers that have come from very low risk countries in Queensland for example that's that's one that's ongoing at the moment. So there are some bespoke arrangements currently operating in the states, they've made those decisions to to to try those pilots. But in terms - I think your question really goes to, is there large scale alternatives to hotel quarantine and the answer is no and I think the reason has been outlined already about how dangerous the rest of the world is and how important our border arrangements are.
Prime Minister: We've taken a good look at it and those options aren't presenting and we'll keep looking but I'm not going to raise an expectation that you could expect to see them.
Journalist: You’re ruling them out. They're not safe enough. You're ruling them out. They're not safe enough.
Prime Minister: Calm down. That's not what we're doing. We're going to keep looking at what the options are as we always have and if we can find viable options then we'll implement them but we haven't been able to find any viable options that are safe at this time.
Journalist: Was there any preliminary discussions today about next year opening up international travel from low virus countries such as Singapore, Japan, parts of China, Taiwan that you sort of flagged earlier in the week?
Prime Minister: Well, we have a greenlight process with New Zealand. We have a process where we're investigating other countries that could potentially be considered low risk and Paul might want to comment on that but the decision then for that to translate into some new access we have not made that decision at this point and we’re, I couldn't say we would be in that position before the end of the year, we would obviously like to be if that were possible but we're not going to compromise on the safety side. So what is important at the moment is that we're doing the proper assessments and we are working with those countries. That's one of the things I'm looking forward to speaking to Prime Minister Suga about when we're up there, it’s something I’ll indeed no doubt, talk to Prime Minister Marape about next week as well but we want to be able to work out well what are the what are the assessments? What do they look like? What sort of assurances would you need? And they're the sort of things you want to work out country to country and you also need to do that upfront with the states and territories because ultimately they are responsible for public health within their jurisdictions and of course we would consult them. It's a Commonwealth decision which is respected by the states and territories, but we'd prefer to do that on the way in, in getting their views about that and how that can work. It's working well with New Zealand at the moment. There may be small small countries where there are zero cases and very low risk where that at the margin can be achieved but I think, again, the point you made Paul, in terms of scaled change that is not in our immediate future that that's a reality of of a COVID world that at the moment as we see overseas is is incredibly dangerous. Paul, did you want to add anything to that?
Journalist: I just, PM we were last time requested, the National Cabinet requested the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, the AHPPC to do further work on this and we have done looking at very at a general way of looking at risk of different countries and then a very detailed country risk assessment for specific countries of interest so the ones that have been mentioned are the ones that are of interest. So it's those that those ones we have close ties with a couple of which the PM is visiting next week but also the Pacific where you know they've had a very different experience of the pandemic to other countries around the world. So it remains in our sights and so we're not ruling anything out into the into the far future but at the moment, the decision is the the the world is red, which means 14 days hotel quarantine unless they are very specifically detailed as green in which case these alternatives might be available.
Prime Minister: Thank you Professor Kelly. I might have to leave it there. Just on that issue?
Journalist: On contact tracing report.
Prime Minister: Sure, sure.
Journalist: Did it actually identify deficiencies specifically in the Victorian system of contact tracing and do you believe they've been fixed since?
Dr Alan Finkel, Chief Scientist: So the contact tracing review is not the result of a enquiry it's not a scorecard it's truly looking at the characteristics shared across the states. I can tell you that the Victorian system is really working quite well now. It's obviously, was under incredible stress and not working well three four months ago, but it's actually dramatically improved.
Prime Minister: Thanks everyone, thank you.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
12 November 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone. There’s a number of things I’d like to get through this morning and in particular the reason that the Defence Minister joins me here today to deal with the receipt of the IGADF report.
But before I do that, I can let you know that I had a very, very warm call with President-elect Biden this morning, and we both made very clear our strong commitment to strengthening our alliance, which will celebrate 70 years next year. This is a relationship that he understands very deeply, based on his broad experience over a long period of time, and the United States, and his engagement of course as Vice President and his many other roles and I was also - had the opportunity to personally extend that invitation for him and Dr Biden to join us next year as part of the celebration of those, the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS relationship. Something we both reflected upon was, first entered into by a Liberal Prime Minister and a Democratic President. So this is a relationship, as I said on the weekend, that has been stewarded by many Prime Ministers, by many Presidents, from many perspectives, but what has also remained very clear and very true and was evidenced in the discussion we had today, that it is one that is bigger than both of us and important to all of us, not just here in Australia and in the United States but in our own region and more broadly around the rest of the world and we understand those responsibilities. We agreed that there was no more critical time for both this alliance between ourselves and the United States but more broadly the working together especially of like-minded countries and values that we hold and share working together to promote peace and stability of course in the Indo-Pacific region and more broadly through the many multilateral institutions and agencies that exist, whether they be on trade, in the United Nations or others. The Quad, the G7, the OECD, the G20, these also are very important in the forums that we work together. Within the United States and of course here in Australia of course we respect the transition process that is underway, at least informally. When that formally commences, that is of course a matter for the US Administration and we will continue to work closely with the US Administration respecting those protocols in the months ahead because there remain many issues on hand that we are dealing with the United States administration. We also discussed the many global challenges of course. Whether they be COVID-19, which is very much clearly top of his agenda in addressing the situation there, as well of course the economic impacts of that. The President-elect was very interested in Australia's success here and what Australia could contribute from our lessons and our learnings and the way we have managed the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic dimensions of that as well. We’ve discussed, as I already indicated, security and the environmental challenges that Australia and the United States can work together on, particularly in the areas of emissions reducing technologies.
I can also advise today that next week I will travel to Tokyo and I will meet with the new Prime Minister of Japan Prime Minister Suga and I am honoured to be the first foreign leader to visit Japan to meet the new Prime Minister, following his appointment. I will also be visiting Port Moresby as I, on the return to Australia.
Our relationship with Japan over the past few years has really gone from strength to strength. They are an important partner on so many issues within our region. We are special strategic partners, we work closely together on trade, security, defence as the Minister knows, technology issues and indeed our present involvement in the Malabar exercise is a very good demonstration of that. We will play an important role in our economic recovery from COVID-19 and discuss many of, ways that we can further deepen our trade ties that is worth some $86 billion, including the Japan-Australia economic partnership Agreement and on the return as I said, I will be meeting with my very dear friend Prime Minister Marape as we will continue to discuss the work we are doing together to support them on COVID-19 and in particular how we can assist them through our vaccine program and the many other partnerships we have in place with them to address their challenges, in dealing with not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but of course the economic recession that flows from that. Now, I'll be strictly following, as you would expect, the many health advice, and quarantine requirements when I run to Australia. I will go into isolation for 14 days as well as those who are accompanying me and what will be a first, I anticipate for the Australian Parliament, joining Question Time by video link. So that will be a first and I can only look forward to that, as I am sure all of you will also.
But, to the also, and very serious and significant matters that draws us to this press conference today and I appreciate your patience, I am going to call on it again.
As Prime Minister, and I know the Minister for Defence joins me in this, all members of our Government, all members of our Parliament I am so extremely thankful to every Australian who chooses to put on our uniform to serve under our flag to protect our freedoms to uphold our values and to protect our interests. That is a choice Australians make to serve. I respect that choice and I am deeply grateful for it and their service. Our Defence Forces have a proud history one we remembered again yesterday. Our serving men and women are deserving of the respect and admiration in which they are held by the Australian people and not just here but our allies and partners around the world. They have earned it. They have demonstrated it and I can say this because serving men and women in our Defence Forces both past and present share the expectations and aspirations of the Australian people for our Defence Forces and how they engage in their conduct. That means when you have such standards and respect such standards that from time to time this requires us to deal with honest and brutal truths, where expectations and standards may not have been met.
Now, this has been the case regarding some very serious issues that were raised regarding conduct by some members of Australia's special operations task group in Afghanistan. It is our Australian way to deal with these issues with a deep respect for justice and the rule of law, but also one that seeks to illuminate the truth but also seeks to understand it because that is what must drive our response. To ensure that indeed justice is truly served but also in understanding and illuminating the conduct of those who may have acted in ways that do not accord with the high standards expected of our ADF and those expectations as I say are no less held by the serving men and women of our ADF and their veterans community past and present. That we not just seek to illuminate that truth that we understand it and not for those who are just specifically involved in such conduct but those who had responsibility for the environment in which those Australians served the context of that service the rules and the culture that were relevant in understanding that conduct. All of this is relevant and if you are serious about illuminating the truth here and dealing with its consequences, then you must take that broader view as a Government and I have no doubt the CDF and the Defence Force will do the same. Such conduct must be held accountable in our justice system by Australians in accordance with our justice system and the Australian rule of law, but responsibility must also be taken by leadership to ensure the lessons are learned and these events are never repeated.
So as is right the Chief of the Defence Force General Campbell in 2016 initiated the Inspector- Generals of the ADF to conduct an inquiry at arm's length from the Defence Forces and the Government to determine whether there was any substance to the allegations made in relevance to the task group. Those inquiries have now been completed as that part of the process and the CDF is considering findings and will release the details of that next week while the Government makes preparations to deal with the release of the report. This will be difficult and hard news for Australians I can assure you to hear. Covering conducting over the course of what has been three Governments, over more than a decade. Our responsibility is to ensure now that we deal with this in a way that accords with our Australian standards of justice that respects the rule of law that provides the relevant checks and balances through this process that upholds our values and standards and the respect that we have for our Defence Forces that they have earned and deserve, that we protect the vulnerable whether serving currently or who are in our veterans community who have no part in this who have no involvement here and who must be assured by all of us as Australians by ensuring the integrity and robustness of a response and a process that is consistent with the values that they hold and cause them to choose to pull on that uniform. For those in our veterans community for whom this may be a very difficult time there are supports available and one of the instructions that the Minister and I and the Minister for Veterans Affairs have given to our agencies is to ensure that those processes are in place to assist them.
So today I announce the following response. Given the likely allegations of serious and possibly criminal misconduct the matters raised in the inquiry must be assessed, investigated and where allegations are substantiated, prosecuted in court. To undertake this role, the Government is establishing the Office of the Special Investigator, the Office of the Special Investigator will address the criminal matters made in the Inspector-General's report and investigate those allegations, gather evidence and where appropriate refer briefs to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration. There is a significant number of incidents or issues to be investigated further and that investigation will be inherently complex. The investigation will require cooperation with international agencies and the evaluation of large amounts of material. The Special Investigator will be an eminent person with experience in the justice system and international law. The office will be established within the Department of Home Affairs and staffed with experienced investigators, legal counsel and other support personnel. It will include investigators from the Australian Federal Police and state and territory Police Forces with the requisite experience and skills. It will leverage the Australian Federal Police investigative capability and powers. The office of the Special Investigator is expected to be fully stood up next year if not sooner and the Office of the Special Investigator will remain in place for as long as is necessary to resolve matters arising from the Inspector-General's inquiry. Establishing the Office of the Special Investigator will enable the Australian Federal Police also to remain focused on keeping Australians safe and secure through its primary focus on fighting serious organised crime, terrorists and foreign interference. This will be a non-statutory body so there is no requirement for legislation to put this in place they will act in effect under the powers of the Federal Police Commissioner.
But there is another task beyond the justice task and I will ask the Minister to speak to that in just a moment. The Government will also establish a separate and independent oversight panel comprising three eminent Australians whose expertise and experience will provide oversight and assurance relating to the defence response to the inquiry relating to cultural organisational and leadership change. The oversight panel will report directly to the Minister for Defence on the implementation of the inquiry's recommendations and their consideration of any wider implications and actions in response to the inquiry and I thank the Minister for her recommendation of the establishment of this oversight panel which will enable her also to ensure that the matters that require to be addressed within the ADF are in fact being done so and while at the same time preserving the integrity of the justice process that we have set in place and keeps Government Ministers directly at arm's length from both of those processes. The Oversight Panel will be comprised of Dr Vivienne Thom AO, a former Inspector-General of intelligence and security, Robert Cornall AO a former Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department, and Professor Rufus Black, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania and a noted ethicist. Ultimately the Oversight Panel will be the Government's and the public's independent body to ensure that Defence is making the changes recommended by the inquiry to help ensure that we can address any underlying issues. Its role will be a central part of ensuring ongoing confidence in our Defence Force.
I can also advise that the Opposition has been briefed on these arrangements today this morning. They also have been involved in briefings leading up to this more broadly on other matters and I would invite the Minister for Defence to make some remarks.
SENATOR THE HON. LINDA REYNOLDS CSC, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: Thank you very much Prime Minister and good afternoon. It has been widely known that over the past four years the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force has been inquiring into the conduct of Australia’s Special Operations task group in Afghanistan. In particular rumours and allegations relating to possible breaches of the law of armed conflict over the period 2005 to 2016. As the Prime Minister has said, in 2016 these matters were referred to the Inspector-General of the ADF by the now CDF General Angus Campbell. The Afghanistan inquiry was conducted at arm’s length from both the ADF chain of command and from Government's. This was to ensure the independence and the integrity of the process. The inquiry was also conducted in private as it involved matters both of operational security and of potential harm to the reputations of individuals. The Inspector-General has now completed the Afghanistan inquiry. The inquiry report was delivered to the Chief of Defence Force last Friday. General Campbell has provided me with an initial briefing on the report. He's also advised me that he is now considering the very detailed findings and the many recommendations contained in the report. Can I just say this the CDF must have the time the necessary time to give the report his serious consideration. Once he has gone through this process he has indicated his intention to speak publicly on the report and I believe we must, we must provide the CDF with this opportunity. Therefore at this stage, I will not be making any comment on the substance of the inquiry report itself.
The Australian Government is taking all of the necessary steps to ensure that there are the appropriate mechanisms in place to deal with these most serious of matters. In addition to the measure that the Prime Minister has outlined in relation to the inquiry, I have established the Afghanistan, it is called the Afghanistan Inquiry Implementation Oversight Panel. This panel will provide oversight of the Defence response to the inquiry. It will also provide assurance to the Government and to me as Minister and also to all Australians that this report is being implemented as all Australians would expect it to be. Accountability, accountability will be the cornerstone of Defence's response to this inquiry ahe Oversight Panel will report directly to me on Defence's implementation of the inquiry recommendations but importantly it will also consider and also report on any wider implications and actions in response to the inquiry findings. As the PM has said, I have appointed three eminent Australians to this Oversight Panel and between them, they have all of the requisite expertise and experience in complex and sensitive legal matters, in forensic review, in organisational scrutiny and reform, in ethics and in policy development. To lead the panel, Dr Vivienne Thom AO will be leading that panel of work. The Terms of Reference for the inquiry itself have been released and will be publicly available today.
Can I say I have absolutely no doubt, no doubt whatsoever that this is likely to be a very difficult and a very distressing time for those impacted by this report. Particularly so for those who are vulnerable and those who are at risk. This Government is absolutely committed to ensuring that current and former serving ADF members and of course their family members, any of them who are impacted by this inquiry have access to the right support. This includes a very comprehensive package of legal, psychological, medical, pastoral care and social work support and I strongly encourage all current and former serving ADF members and their families to please reach out and seek the support that you need.
These are extremely serious matters and the measures that the Prime Minister and I have outlined today means that this Government is taking all of the necessary steps to ensure that these matters are addressed and that they are comprehensively and very transparently implemented.
So thank you Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Minister. Can I thank the Minister for Home Affairs and the Attorney-General for their assistance.
Phil?
JOURNALIST: We have had a 4-year investigative inquiry now we will have an investigation into the findings. How long realistically until we may see a prosecution and is there any statute of limitations that were applied on any potential offences in terms of the time they were committed?
PRIME MINISTER: The first point for me to make Phil is that continuation of a process not a new process as would occur in any such report it would in ordinary practice be handed on to the AFP to prepare a brief of evidence to make available to the DPP. Now in this case, this is no normal set of circumstances and the expertise scale of this that is necessary to properly fulfil that function that the AFP would normally provide here does not exist and as the Minister for Home Affairs has submitted through this process would significantly overwhelm the AFP in their many other very important works that they have to do. So it is necessary to build that capability. It sits under the AFP’s commission and continues that process. So I wouldn't want there to be a perception and I know you are not suggesting this, that this is some new investigation. The report does not provide a brief of evidence. That was not necessarily its purpose and so this is the next step and it will go for an indeterminate amount of time. A key task of the Special Investigator will really be to triage I think the many issues that are raised in the report. Now, I can assure you, neither the Minister or I are privy to the unredacted version of this report when it comes to the names and identification of individuals. That is important I think for the separation of our roles from this process and the integrity of that process but Phil, the short answer is, it is an indeterminate period of time and it will take as long as it takes to progress through what will be very complicated legal issues and so we must prepare ourselves for what will continue to be a long and arduous journey.
Chris?
JOURNALIST: Statute of Limitations?
PRIME MINISTER: I will come back to you on that specifically but to the extent that anything, we will have to abide by the normal laws that sit around those matters unless the minister has anything to add to that?
SENATOR THE HON. LINDA REYNOLDS CSC, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: It’ll be subject to, given it is such a wide period of time, that will be one of the things that the special investigator will take into consideration.
JOURNALIST: You seem to think that the process will be Australian justice. Does this mitigate against the possibility that some of our soldiers could be called before the International Criminal Court?
PRIME MINISTER: We believe so, yes. That is the important advice we have taken on this. We need to deal with this as Australians according to our own laws, through our own justice processes and we will and I think that will say a lot about Australia. Of course, this report will be difficult news and all of our partners must be assured and those around the world who rightly hold the Australian Defence Forces in high regard, I believe by the process we are outlining to you today shows why that is the case, that in Australia we deal with this stuff and we deal with it honestly, but in accordance through the rule of law and by following the justice practices and principles that makes Australia what it is.
JOURNALIST: Are there any concerns within Government that any of the evidence that has been related may not be admissible given the nature in which it was compelled from witnesses and are you confident that the current Chief of Defence and current Chief of Army have declared any potential conflict of interests given their time that is covered in this report?
PRIME MINISTER: The short answers to both requests are yes and yes. There are, there is evidence that is contained in the report that obviously has been gathered under different circumstances and those are the very reasons why a Special Investigator working under the AFP's powers must be appointed to resolve those issues and that is why it is not a simple matter of just taking this report and then dropping it down to the DPP. That is not possible and so, that is what I mean when I refer to the very complex issues that have to be addressed here by the Special Investigator and indeed the Director General sits above that and makes sure the entire operation runs and I will ask the Minister to comment also more specifically on the CDF but that is, I am confident about that and I would expect if there are any issues that arose they would be raised directly and immediately with me and or the Minister.
SENATOR THE HON. LINDA REYNOLDS CSC, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: Thank you, Prime Minister. I share the Prime Minister's confidence in the CDF and Defence's senior leadership. But one of the reasons why I did recommend and we are now establishing the Oversight Panel is to ensure that any matters that relate to culture and any matters that might be found in a report as I have said, emerge during the course of the implementation are considered not only by the CDF but also considered externally. So that is exactly the purpose so that we have accountability and transparency that sits out of the ADF chain of command and outside of Government.
JOURNALIST: Just on cultural issues are you willing to have senior leaders in the ADF sacked over or if it emerges they looked the other way or knew what was going on and allowed it to flourish?
PRIME MINISTER: As I said in my opening remarks, it is not just the specific conduct of individuals that relate to acts that are covered in this report. It is the environment, it is the context, it is the rules, it is the culture and the command that sat around those things and if we want to deal with the truth of this, we have to deal with the truth of that and I know there would be some concern in the veterans community and I know there would be some concern within those serving members of the ADF that this process may only just focus on those specifically involved and I want to assure them that both the CDF, the Minister and myself are very, very keen to ensure to really understand and learn from this, then those matters can't be ignored and they need to be understood and they need to be addressed. Now, when it comes to the who is serving and where they are serving, that is a matter for the CDF and that is a matter that ultimately is then oversighted by the panel led by Vivienne Thom that the Minister has appointed. I think that provides the appropriate check and balance here I think in keeping that on the right keel but I would add this and this is what I am also very keen to stress, there is some disturbing conduct here but we cannot then take that and apply it to everyone who has pulled on a uniform and if we did that, that would be grossly unjust, grossly unjust. I know that wouldn't be the view of people here or in Government or anywhere else. We all share a deep respect for our Defence Forces, but we also share a deep respect for justice. It is about managing those two issues to the high standards I think we place on them in Australia.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you have any concerns for the safety and well-being of our serving personnel overseas currently and also embassy staff? And Minister, how often do you expect to be hearing from this Oversight Panel?
PRIME MINISTER: Why don't you deal with that one first, Linda?
SENATOR THE HON. LINDA REYNOLDS CSC, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: In relation to the oversight panel, I will get an official report every quarter from them and I will be reporting regularly to the Parliament on their reports to me. If I need more, then I will obviously ask them to do more. I will be in regular contact with the Oversight Panel and can I just stress, nothing will be out of bounds for this inquiry. There are many lessons no doubt to be learnt at many levels and so this inquiry this panel will be absolutely looking at all of them.
PRIME MINISTER: Just to answer the other part of the question. I don't want to overstate them but it is an appropriate thing for the Government to take appropriate precautions about and that is why today I am announcing the process and there is a period of time, both for the CDF to continue to consider the report himself, but we also have been engaged and have begun the process with state and territory governments as well as ensuring the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the many services that they support are in a position to deal with the response when, sorry, the report when it is released next week.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how many soldiers are there accusations against when you talk about it? Does it involve all members of the ADF, can we get a sense of that are you shocked by what you see in the report and just in relation to the Joe Biden phone call, are you surprised…
PRIME MINISTER: I will come back to that. I will try to remember till we get to that, but yes.
JOURNALIST: I was just saying, are you surprised that Donald Trump hasn't conceded yet?
PRIME MINISTER: I won't go to those issues. In terms of the other matters that you have raised, I think they are best addressed by the CDF when he releases the report next week and he can go to those matters. This is his report and it is for him to release it and speak to its contents. So I will allow him to do that. But in terms of what the Government has been briefed on, I think you can tell from the seriousness and the gravity in the way we are responding to this that you can get a clear sense of how seriously the Government is taking this Andrew. This is going to be very difficult for Australians. It is going to be very difficult for our serving community and our veterans community. It is going to be difficult for all of us but what we are seeking to do as a Government I think what we have to do as a country, is to absorb this in a way that enables us to uphold the integrity of our justice system and uphold the integrity of our Defence Forces. We rely vitally on both of these institutions absolutely vitally our safety, our security depends upon it and that is why you are hearing the response from us today as you have heard it. Michelle?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this has been a matter of debate obviously now for years. What has already been done to improve the culture in the relevant part of the Defence Force and also there has been some suggestion that maybe it would be a positive move to disband the SAS and reorganise things. Can you rule that out or do you think that has any merit?
PRIME MINISTER: I will allow the Minister obviously to deal with the progress that has been made there. I would simply say this Michelle this will be a long process. This is the next stage and I am not about to pre-empt or prejudge any actions in any way, shape or form that the CDF would think is appropriate in responding to the report. That is his job and he knows this. We have worked together for some time. He knows what his job is, we know what our job is and we expect each other to do both of those. But Minister?
SENATOR THE HON. LINDA REYNOLDS CSC, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: Thank you, Michelle. As I said, this started four years ago with a range of rumours and allegations that were circulating within Defence and so they did start off as rumours and allegations which is why the now CDF referred this through to the IGADF. 39,000 Australians have served in Afghanistan since 2001 and 26,000 of those in uniform and they have done so, with a few exceptions, which the CDF will address when he delivers his comments publicly and also delivers a version of the report that this should in no way undermine the work of a vast majority of those 39,000 Australians. They served with great distinction and 41 Australians lost their lives in that process. Today we have and as Minister I could not be any prouder of the work that our men and women are doing on Operation Bushfire Assist, COVID Assist. We have got 3,000 of our Defence personnel serving overseas at the moment in quite challenging circumstances but it is important Australians maintain confidence in the ADF. So for all the reasons that the Prime Minister has said today, it is critically important that the CDF has time to consider the report, work out what his response to the findings and recommendations will be and to deliver his implementation report but since 2016, since these rumours and allegations emerged there has been a significant and long-standing reform processes in Special Operations Command, and those reforms continue today and after the CDF has ready findings and the recommendations, I am certain he will have more say about what more yet has to be done with our Special Forces Command and their units.
JOURNALIST: Can I just clarify on the report that is being released next week, what is the level of detail you anticipate being released apart from names of individuals, do you accept in order for the country to move on and grapple with this that as much detail as possible about the conduct is released publicly?
PRIME MINISTER: It is quite a voluminous report I can assure you of that but it will be for obvious reasons, a redacted report both to ensure the integrity of the justice process that is flowing from it and also national security issues as are relevant.
JOURNALIST: PM, you obviously were not Prime Minister and the Minister wasn't Minister when decisions were made about these deployments but if you had a chance to reflect on lessons that your predecessors as PM and Ministers might have had? Did we ask too much of our SAS and the Commandos in Afghanistan were there criticisms with the tempo of operations? Were our political leaders in the past making a mistake in sort of, maybe, contributing to this sort of culture that developed and things like that?
PRIME MINISTER: The span of your question I think goes in part to some of the issues that will be covered in the report. Not from a political point of view because the matters contained in the report were never raised is my advice with Government with ministers at the political level. That is my understanding of it. It has certainly been the case save for what has been initiated in my time as both a Cabinet Minister and indeed as Prime Minister but I would say this: anyone we ask, to put on a uniform, we are always asking a tremendous amount of them and particularly those who serve in the most dangerous of situations, and that of course goes to our special operations. And whether that is those that are based over there as part of the Special Air Services Regiment or indeed the 2 Commandos, not far from where my electorate is in southern Sydney, we ask an extraordinary amount of them and we always do. This is why I stand in awe of those who choose to put on a uniform because they do that knowing they will be asked to put themselves in very difficult situations and that is why their service is so extraordinary.
JOURNALIST: On the special investigation, you said the special investigations would be part of a continuing continuation of the process. Does that mean that AFP investigations that have already been underway for a couple of years would be sort of rolled into the new process? And just a second question…
PRIME MINISTER: The short answer to that is I would assume the AFP would resolve how they handle those issues within this new structure.
JOURNALIST: And would you be seeking to strip medals from any soldiers who have been found to commit crimes?
PRIME MINISTER: I will ask the Minister to comment on that.
SENATOR THE HON. LINDA REYNOLDS CSC, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: In relation to any of the findings and recommendations in the Inspector-General's report, the CDF is considering all of those options. There will be many options and many recommendations for his action and it would be my expectation that the CDF would consider each and every one of those recommendations, which may well include what you just said but again, I am going to wait until the CDF has finished his deliberations and there will be many other issues that will emerge that the CDF will have to consider and also possibly how and when he refers these matters to the special investigator.
PRIME MINISTER: The lights are a bit bright. We’ve got two questions up the back.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there has been some criticism of the time this report has taken, four years these further investigations, and the mental health impact has been hard on soldiers, on serving soldiers and veterans. Will these further investigations, will there be any timelines or deadlines for them?
PRIME MINISTER: My answer is the same as the answer I gave to Phil. It is an indeterminate time frame and I simply say I can appreciate that frustration and I can appreciate the anxiety, but these are incredibly complex events involving actions and conduct in another country in a war and that is not a simple process in terms of the evidence gathering, arrangements and there are language difficulties, there are international law issues. This is not a simple matter and it remains not a simple matter and so it will take as long as it needs to take to ensure we deal with our dual objectives here of addressing the justice that is necessary in accordance with our laws and our systems but also ensuring the integrity of our Defence Forces on which we all rely on.
JOURNALIST: In your discussion with Joe Biden include the need to reach net zero emissions by 2050?
PRIME MINISTER: No he didn’t. It wasn’t raised with me during the course of the call but we did discuss I raised with the President-elect the similarity between the President-elect's comments and policies regarding emissions reduction and technologies that are needed to achieve that and we look forward to working on those issues but the specific matter that you raise was not addressed in that call.
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned about the transition of power between from Trump to a Biden Presidency, are you concerned about that and are you also just following up on Andrew’s question, are you surprised he has not conceded yet?
PRIME MINISTER: In answer to your first question, no I am not concerned and we will respect the processes that the United States have. This is not the first transition from one President to another, it happens from time to time and those procedures are well established and the President-elect and I discussed that this morning and that we both have to respect that and there are matters still on foot that we are working with the current administration on and we will continue to do that. So that is quite regular. In relation to the other matter, it is not a matter for Australia. It is not a matter for me to pick up the phone as others were suggesting I do, well here that’s what they were doing, that is not a matter for me that is a matter for the President and we will just work through patiently with the issues we have in Australia's national interests.
JOURNALIST: Thanks PM, Minister, just on- borders are still closed, a lot of Australians might be surprised that you are travelling overseas. Why is it important that you are in Japan, what will be the outcome of that trip, and how will Parliament work with you in isolation, assuming you are at the Lodge for two weeks?
PRIME MINISTER: First of all, I will be one of tens of thousands of Australians who over the course of this pandemic have left Australia this is not unusual, there are many tens of thousands of Australians who have had to travel overseas including indeed the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Foreign Affairs regarding their business activities, many others on compassionate reasons and those figures will be well known to you. And for many, many months now I have engaged in telephone diplomacy on a large number of matters and will be doing so again this weekend with the ASEAN meetings that will be held over the course of this weekend and the East Asia Summit and I’ll be looking forward to participating in those and engaging with my colleagues in the region there. To be the first national leader, I think, to engage in Japan with the new Prime Minister and to have the opportunity to do that is significant for Australia, because Japan is a very special relationship with Australia. It's not just an economic one, it's not just a trade one, it's not just a cultural and social one, importantly, it is a strategic one that we form together with the United States and India a very important quad relationship. We play a very important role together in working in the Southwest Pacific together. And when it comes to the development, and in particular more recently, the COVID-19 assistance which has become provided, issues around vaccine development in South East Asia, work that has been done in the Mekong. Japan and Australia are very important together in providing, I think, a like-minded alignment on these strategic issues within our region. So the opportunity to go there and conclude some very important arrangements in this space is in Australia's national interest. While I am there I will also have the opportunity to discuss economic issues as well and importantly, given I will be going, as you rightly say into 14 days' isolation which I will do here at the Lodge, then I will be able to also importantly visit with Prime Minister Marape, you all know my strong commitment to the relationships within the Pacific and while I’ve spoken to Pacific leaders regularly throughout the course of this crisis, this is an important opportunity to do that face-to-face. It will happen to be, I will actually happen to be in Port Moresby the night of the next State of Origin so I suspect we will take a moment to watch that game together as we like to do. It is part of the social element of our relationship.
Chris?
JOURNALIST: Did the President-Elect raised the possibility of a summit of democracies which is something he has been pushing?
PRIME MINISTER: No, he didn't but we did speak about multilateral engagement and the US is what I believe is their indispensable and important role in those multilateral fora, we did talk about the OECD for example, we spoke about the G7+, where the UK Prime Minister Johnson has invited me to participate in the G7 summit next year, as we would have been in the United States this year were it not for COVID restrictions, and indeed as we have participated when France hosted it last year. So we talked a lot about our involvement in these fora, and in particular, the ones that bring together like-minded, market based democracies and he understands this part of the world extremely well. So I was very pleased to hear his very strong commitment to not only seeing that continue but to see it strengthen in the years ahead. So I may finish where we started and that is, we, he and I will be the next pairing of stewards of this important relationship of this alliance. We understand the responsibilities of that extend well beyond our terms and our specific domestic responsibilities. This is one of the most important relationships we agreed in the world and we will be doing everything in our national interest to ensure that it is maintained in good order.
Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
10 November 2020
Prime Minister: Over the course of this year, our Government has been providing the leadership and the certainty and stability that Australians have needed in one of the toughest years of their lives. We've acted decisively in relation to the global pandemic and the COVID-19 recession that has followed. We've acted effectively and in a timely way to support Australians as they've confronted the challenges that they've had to face in their own communities, in their own homes, in their own families, in their own workplaces. We have been there each step of the way, each and every day. Whether it's the significant programs like JobKeeper, the doubling of JobSeeker to support Australians through, cash flow support for businesses and the many other measures. While that has provided very important practical support to Australians, in addition the $18.5 billion of extra health investments that we've made to support our hospitals, to support respiratory clinics and testing reagents and the PPE requirements, all of this. What it actually has meant to Australians over these many months is that this Government has had your back in the course of the worst pandemic we've seen in a century and with that assurance they've been able to get through each day. It's been tough, no doubt. And mental health and anxiety and pressures on families, economic and otherwise, have been extraordinary, but knowing that each day the Government would be there and provide the support that was necessary and has not held back, I think, has provided in the feedback that I've received from Australians around the country a peace of mind that has been very important during the course of this crisis and, of course, the challenges continue.
This is the third successive day now we've had no community transmission in Australia. That's very welcome but it can't be taken for granted and the challenges of the pandemic and the COVID-19 recession don't just end. They remain challenges for some time yet to come and the approach we've taken up until now is the approach we will continue to take. We will be responsive. We will be targeted. We will be proportionate. We will calibrate the supports that are needed when and where they're needed. The first part of that plan has been to cushion the blow and the blow has been great, but the support that has been provided has cushioned that blow, for individuals, for businesses right throughout Australia. But we cannot allow the lifeline that has been extended to also now hold Australia back as we move into the next phases of recovery. We've always been clear that we would move through various phases and we've announced changes to other elements of the supports that have been put in place by the Government. Those cushioning the blow supports were not only important to those individuals, but they bought Australia time. They bought the states and territories time. As states have had to close down their economies, it has been the Federal Government that has underwritten those measures. They would not have been possible were it not for the underwriting of the Federal Government and I know Premiers and Chief Ministers understand that. We took those decisions together. They understood that we were stepping up in the same time as them stepping up to do the things they needed to do.
But as we go forward, we are seeing confidence return, whether it's on the NAB measures just released today, the ANZ measures showing confidence getting above where it was pre-pandemic or the Westpac figures that were released for last month. Confidence is returning. Australia is safely reopening and it needs to remain safely open. Jobs are returning. Job advertisements have doubled since May on the most recent figures in October and we know that employers are looking for people to come back to work and we need to ensure that we have the right settings in place to support that.
Today, we are announcing the changes to JobSeeker supplements, the COVID Supplement that we introduced at the start of the pandemic, and we will be extending that supplement for the three months after the end of December. We will be changing the rate of that supplement down to $150 for that period, out to the end of three months, and this will come at a cost to taxpayers of some $3.2 billion over that three month period. Not a small measure, a very important measure, to ensure that that support remains. I was very clear that when we made the changes to JobKeeper, we would make a later decision on JobSeeker, taking into account what was happening in the labour market and we would go through that process. That will need to be legislated before the end of the year, so Cabinet has considered it, it has now gone through our party room this morning and legislation will come to place later this week. And I will ask Minister Ruston to take you through the other details, because many other aspects of the COVID supplement and eligibility arrangements will also be maintained over that three month period.
But you know we cannot stay stuck in neutral in this country. We have got to keep moving forward, like the emblems on our national crest, the kangaroo and the emu, they only go forward, and that can be the only plan for Australia. That is what we tell the kids when they come here to Parliament House. That is what Australia is all about and our COVID recovery plan is exactly the same. It's about continually going forward, not taking steps back. And today's announcement to gear through the changes in the JobSeeker payment, as we are doing at the same time with JobKeeper, will see more and more Australians, will see more and more businesses graduate from the economic supports that were so essential over these many months. I will ask Anne to go through the further details and we can take questions on that, and I have no doubt on other matters you would like to raise.
Senator the Hon. Anne Ruston, Minister for Families and Social Services: Thank you very much, Prime Minister, and today we're here to announce the extension of temporary measures, as we see our economy gaining confidence and momentum to start to build. So we are making announcements today not only about the increase in, sorry, the extension of the temporary coronavirus supplement payment but also a number of measures that will be extended from the 1st of January through to the 31st of March. These measures also allow more Australians to be able to get access to payment, as we stand side-by-side with Australians who have been hit by the COVID pandemic but we will continue to monitor the economic conditions to make sure that we strike the right balance between providing elevated levels of support for people who need it but at the same time creating incentives for people to re-engage with the workforce.
The particular measures contained in the extension from the 1stt of January to the 31st of March 2021, as the Prime Minister said, the extension of the coronavirus supplement at a rate of $150 per fortnight. In addition, we will be extending the income free area, which is currently at $300 per fortnight, because we want to encourage Australians to dip their toe back into the jobs market and test their ability to get work, because we know that people who report earnings are twice as likely to actually come off payment in the short term than those that do not report any earnings at all. We will be maintaining the elevated level of the partner taper rate, which means that people whose partners are earning up to $80,000 per year will also still be able to gain access to payment. In addition, the expanded eligibility criteria will cover people who are sole traders, people who are self-employed, those that have been stood down but remain connected to their workplace, people who are in isolation and people who have to care for somebody in isolation. We will also be extending some of the waiting periods to make sure that people have got quick and easy access to payment.
So, as we go forward and as the jobs market starts to open up and as our economy starts to recover from this extraordinary pandemic, we want to encourage all Australians to re-engage with the workforce. Over recent months we have put in place social security measures to support all Australians through this pandemic, but now our focus has to be on supporting Australians back to work.
Prime Minister: Thank you, Anne. Questions on the announcement today?
Journalist: [Inaudible] a decision on the base rate of JobSeeker at the end of March to coincide with the end of this extension?
Prime Minister: We haven't made a final decision on that, Mark. What we are focused on right now are the emergency measures that need to be in place for the pandemic. There are issues that relate to the question you have raised, they are certainly there but right now what matters is the supports that will continue to be provided at these elevated and temporary levels. That is where we have applied the focus. What we have learned throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession is things can change quickly, and we need to be very responsive to the conditions on the ground economically, and otherwise. We are getting a lot of feedback from around the country, and particularly in regional areas, about employers who are just trying to get people to fill jobs. And we know there are many people out there for those jobs and we need to connect them into those jobs. The mutual obligation arrangements have been reintroduced and they will soon again be reintroduced in Victoria as well and an announcement will be made about that at the appropriate time. But I’ve got to tell you those mutual obligation arrangements are also being enforced. There have been close to 260,000 suspensions, and for the 4th August to the 31st of October there have been 242 payment cancellations. So the mutual obligation requirements are there and we are serious about them. But we are also serious about the support we need to provide to Australians, so we will consider those other matters at a later time but right now we are focused on the delivery of the supports that are needed here in the middle of the recession.
Journalist: No decision has been made, does that mean that you could continue the $150 fortnightly supplement indefinitely? And is there recognition that JobSeeker cannot return to the rate of $40 a day?
Prime Minister: My answer is the same as I just gave to Mark. What we are announcing today is what we are doing for three months at a cost of over $3 billion to taxpayers, to extend a higher, an elevated level of support for JobSeeker out until the end of March, that is what we have announced today. I have not speculated on any other questions.
Journalist: [inaudible] Alan Tudge and Christian Porter…
Prime Minister: Before we go on to those other matters, let's stay focused on JobSeeker and the support we’re providing to Australians during the pandemic.
Journalist: But it could be extended beyond March, so which is it?
Prime Minister: What we're doing is what I have announced today. If we make are to make another announcement at another time about other issues, we will do it then.
Any other questions on JobSeeker, the recession, the pandemic? Yep, John?
Journalist: You are saying we will sort of move forward here, just seen a new president elected, there is good news on the vaccine today.
Prime Minister: Yeah there is good news.
Journalist: Do you feel we are at some sort of turning point in the last few days?
Prime Minister: I think we are in another, we have been on a turning point and moving forward again now I think for some time, it is still tough for so many Australians. I remember, I was asked in this courtyard a while back when we were talking about national accounts figures and where the economy was, well we will know about that later in this year in December, prior to the mid-year statement with the National Accounts tell us what happened in the September quarter. But that’s what the numbers will say, the lived experience on the ground I know is still very different for many Australians, and that is why we have been clear about extending the support through JobKeeper and JobSeeker, and that is why the JobMaker hiring credit is in the Budget, that is why instant expensing arrangements are there in the Budget and the loss carry backs for COVID losses to support the recovery of the Australian economy, that’s why HomeBuilder is in place, that’s why JobTrainer, which delivers 340,000 additional training places is there, that is why there are 30,000 additional university placements for next year, that is what Australia needs, that is what the government is providing and so, yes I do believe we are well on the road to recovery, the comeback for Australia has certainly begun and we want to see that accelerate. We are seeing Australia reopen. It was great to be down in Tasmania as it reopened to people from New South Wales on Friday and Saturday and I think we will see that continue, National Cabinet is meeting later this week and we will get a further update on our goal of getting there by Christmas, and I think we are making very good progress on that. You mentioned the vaccine, I don't want to overstate it, but that is welcome news, it is one of four vaccines that Australia is involved in and these results are very promising and I am optimistic and hopeful about next year, about the rollout of those vaccine programs as the Health Minister said yesterday in the House, manufacturing has begun of the AstraZeneca vaccine and that is subject of course to TGA approval and all the necessary health checks and approvals. The vaccines that will be made available to Australians will be done so first and foremost on the basis that they are safe. That they are safe for Australians to take, and that is our commitment to Australians and that is our very robust process.
Journalist: Are you concerned about reports from charities and social organisations, ACOSS, for instance, worried about a rise in issues like poverty, like homelessness like people not being able to afford food, based on a lowering of the JobSeeker rate of the coronavirus supplements.
Prime Minister: This is why we are extending it. This is why we are extending JobSeeker, this is why we are extending JobKeeper, this is why we are getting people into jobs. This is why we have a JobMaker hiring credit. This is why we are doing all of the things we can to get Australians into jobs as we see the number of job advertisements and places become available again. We can’t stay stuck in neutral, we do need to move forward and there is other forms of cash and emergency assistance, and Anne, you might want to comment on those, that is available to people through the normal channels. I mean Australia has a strong social safety net. What we did at the start of the crisis was to strengthen that even further for how strong the blow was that we would have to withstand. But as the economy starts to move back and confidence lifts and jobs come back, we can’t allow our safety net to hold people back. We can't have that. That's not good for them. We want them to be able to bounce back and be able to get back into the jobs that are increasingly becoming available, but Anne did you want to talk about emergency cash assistance?
Senator the Hon. Anne Ruston, Minister for Families and Social Services: Certainly. Through the COVID pandemic we put a number of measures in place including the support package that we have provided, a $200 million package that is over and above the support that we give to emergency relief providers and our food relief providers to support Australians who have found themselves through difficult times through this pandemic. But we have to remember, this is in addition to elevated levels of support that were already in place for these measures, including, significant increase in the amount of funding that was provided to victims of domestic violence during this pandemic. In addition to the unprecedented $340 million that is, that sits behind the Fourth Action plan, an additional $150 million has been provided to domestic violence front-line services to support particularly women and children who found themselves victims of domestic violence during this pandemic. So there are a number of measures that are in place in addition to those that are already in place to support Australians.
Journalist: The recent surge of the virus across the northern hemisphere, what is your view on when the international borders might open again and what plans you are putting in place to try and do that?
Prime Minister: It is a topic that we will discuss again on Friday. Not to the point of a decision on that, but I think to further assessment where things are at. We continue to hold these discussions with countries like Japan, we have had them before with Korea, the Pacific nations of course, New Zealand has already been open for travel into Australia without quarantine arrangements, and I welcome the fact that in Hobart those flights will be able to go there directly. So I think we proceed cautiously. There are countries that are doing obviously far better than what we are seeing of course in Europe and the United States. The situation in Europe and the United States is awful and obviously that presents great risks for people coming in from those parts of the world to Australia, but out of many parts of Asia, particularly in North Asia, places like Taiwan and I would also say parts and provinces of China, Singapore, we, you know, are looking at what alternative arrangements could be had to channel visitors through appropriate quarantine arrangements for low risk countries. That is a process that other countries are doing as well. We are open to that but we have not come to a point of decision on that. I mean we are now three days without any community transmission, that is welcome so, the risk going forward for us, with the pandemic is twofold. That we take the success for granted and fall back into old habits and I would say particularly in those states that are reopening now, and I hope will open more in the future like Queensland, is to ensure the COVID safe plans are in place for businesses and particularly hospitality businesses. I haven't finished yet. And they ensure they are practising them and the QR code registration in premises, that all of this is done very, very tightly and that the social distancing practices and the COVID safe behaviours are enshrined and the necessity to wear masks on public transport all of that, if we lose our commitment to that then we put ourselves at risk. The other risk of course is people coming back from overseas and we have Australians who are still coming back from overseas that we are looking to facilitate through both direct flights and lifting the caps to enable them to come back, the quarantine arrangements and then the outbreak management beyond that, is how we continue to manage this this but I am looking forward to a different environment next year Chris, and we assess this at every meeting about what is possible.
Journalist: Will you launch an investigation into the alleged behaviour of Christian Porter and Alan Tudge? And how do you respond to allegations of a culture of misogyny here in Parliament House?
Prime Minister: Well, I think the issues that have been aired in relation to this matter are very important and when the former Prime Minister made the announcement that there was a need to change the ministerial standards to address this, he had no greater supporter in that than me. And I am pleased he did. And I believe that was a very important step in changing a culture. And that culture you will all know, is not restricted to Government or Opposition, to Labor or Liberal, or frankly the media in this building. It is important that everyone should feel safe in their workplace. That everyone should have proper channels through which they can deal with any issue about which they are uncomfortable. I think that is incredibly important. I think the change in ministerial standards introduced by my predecessor were important. I note that at the time that they were mocked including by many media commentators, I note that they were mocked by the Labor Party, I note that the Labor Party has still not embraced them. They have still not adopted them. I think they are very important. And I ensured after becoming Prime Minister that they were maintained and upheld and they will continue to be and I think that is a good thing. I would hope they would be a permanent feature, not just in the workplace, that happens just in my office, or any other Minister's office, but in your office, in legal firms and accounting firms, in hospitals, in schools, in whatever your business is. That should be a normal standard. I think there are many businesses that have moved in that direction for a long time, and that's great, and I am pleased that under my predecessor those standards were applied to his Cabinet and they apply to mine. And I would hope that they would be applied in many other places to provide that safety, whether it is in this building or anywhere else. But I do take this issue extremely seriously. In terms of the individuals who were the subject of the report last night, those matters were addressed by my predecessor at the time, and they relate to issues that predated that ministerial standard and as a result he dealt with them at that time.
Journalist: [Inaudible] anything further in relation to what was aired by Four Corners last night?
Prime Minister: They relate to circumstances that occurred that were known to the Prime Minister at the time, and they were appointed to the Cabinet and the Ministry and those matters were dealt with then.
Journalist: Does it raise any questions for you about Alan Tudge and Christian Porter and their fitness to hold officers as ministers?
Prime Minister: What it raises to me is that there is considerable cost and hurt and we are all accountable for our own behaviour and we apply standards to ourselves, and should. I am not one that seeks to judge others on these things, and I know that many particularly in the media do not think it is their job either to judge on these things. What is important is there are standards and the standards are adhered to and under my administration, under my government, I take that code very seriously and my ministers are in no doubt about what my expectations are of them, absolutely no doubt, about my expectations, and I expect them to be lived up to. But, you know, when you get past all the other issues around this issue, all I know is there are a number of families that have been broken, and there are some people who are really hurting over this. And I know that the people involved in these issues are working really hard to try and restore what has been terribly lost. And there is no greater thing that breaks my heart than the breakdown of a family. It breaks my heart. And frankly, that's the thing that moves me most and we've all got a job to do to ensure we do everything we can to keep families together and we all have personal responsibilities in that regard.
Journalist: It is the Attorney the right person, is the Attorney-General now the right person to be prosecuting your integrity agenda vis-a-vis the corruption commission and that sort of thing, given this controversy?
Prime Minister: Well, these are matters that were dealt with by the former Prime Minister years ago and so no, I don't hold any issues regarding that matter. I mean, I welcome the great work he has done in pulling this proposal together and working with colleagues. I think that would be quite a leap.
Journalist: Prime Minister, there is clearly a group of women who don’t feel like this matter has been dealt with, which is why we saw the allegations we did, last night. Will you launch any sort of investigation, moving forward, given that these are now Ministers sitting in your Cabinet and have you spoken with either of these Ministers this morning about the allegations or last night?
Prime Minister: I have spoken to both Ministers, I’ve spoken to them, speak to them quite regularly as you would expect including about these matters and in terms of what their conduct is as one of my Ministers, since they have served in my Cabinet, there are no matters before me regarding their conduct while they have served in my Cabinet and indeed I am not aware of any conduct nor was the previous Prime Minister after the introduction of those standards. See, our Government responded by putting in place standards that do not exist in many of your newsrooms. They don't exist. Those sort of standards between employers and employees don’t exist in many workplaces around this country. I tell you what they exist in mine. I have imposed them. They are there and they will be adhered to.
Journalist: Minister Ruston, can I ask you as a woman in the Government your reflections on the culture inside has it gotten better, worse, or no change since the bonk ban era?
Minister Ruston: Well Phil the only thing that I can,
Prime Minister: Sorry, how this ban is referred to I think is quite dismissive of the seriousness of the issue Phil and I would ask media to stop referring to it in that way. We took it very seriously and I think constantly referring to it in that way dismisses the seriousness of this issue, it’s a very serious issue. Thanks, Anne?
Journalist: [Inaudible] What are your impressions?
Minister Ruston: Well Phil, I can only reflect on my own experience since I have been in this place since 2012, and I have to say that I have always felt wholly supported while I have been here and I particularly note that since becoming a member of the Cabinet and a member of the ERC there is nobody who has provided me more support and shown greater respect towards me as an individual than the Prime Minister.
Journalist: [Inaudible] The code of conduct only refers to the behaviour of Ministers with their own staff. Do you think there is any case for expanding that to the behaviour of Ministers with staff, generally, in the building?
Prime Minister: Well, what it goes to, and when it was introduced by the former Prime Minister, and I had a hand in it as well as we discussed it, is dealing with what happens in your workplace and in all of these offices here. In my office and Ministers' offices there is that direct employer - employee relationship that it is seeking to address. It is not what I’d call some sort of moral policeman or code more broadly, what it is about is dealing with genuine workplace issues in a workplace and in a Minister's office, that is the workplace and this is incredibly important and I think it has had a big impact on the understanding of the culture that is expected in Ministerial offices. And since its introduction, I think it has been a very positive thing and I would hope that those who didn't support it at the time would now support it and I think increasingly that is the case. I thought it was a very wise act by the former Prime Minister, a very wise act and I appreciated it very much.
Journalist: The ABC Managing Director yesterday told a Senate hearing that he had been copied in on emails from Federal Government staff members relating to whether this was in the public interest or not. Why did your government raise concern with the ABC about this story?
Prime Minister: Well I am not familiar with the emails you are referring to but all I can say is as I said yesterday, the ABC has to uphold its charter, and I think that is reasonable. I think that’s totally reasonable. I mean the matters that were aired last night it’s for others to form a perception about whether that was done in a way that focused on one side of politics rather than another I won't offer a commentary other than to say it only focused on one side of politics and if anyone who has had any experience around this place thinks that issues in the past are limited to one side of politics well, honestly, you reckon? You really reckon? And so I think it is an important issue for all of the Parliament and it doesn't matter if you work in a Shadow Minister’s office or a Minister's office, I think the same standard should apply. I know it applies in my Ministers’ offices and I think it should apply in the Opposition as well.
Journalist: [Inaudible] ABC charter, you referred to it yesterday as well because you have twice referred to it what is your belief, do you believe that that story reflected the responsibilities of the ABC under its charter and what are you going to do about it?
Prime Minister: What I found interesting and I expect many viewers did also was the dismissal of the idea that there should have been no investigation into anyone other than Government members, Government Ministers. I mean people in this place will know there have been a lot of allegations over time and I really don't want to go into those to be honest because that is not what I am seeking to do. I think there is a standard we have set that should be upheld. I am not one that’s suggesting that there should be some kind of pouring over the coals of every person in this place going back over many many years, I suspect if they did there would be a lot to write about and there’d be a lot to report, but the suggestion that is implied that there were, there are no matters of this nature that are potentially subject to investigation by an independent report outside of the Liberal Party is absurd.
Journalist: Will you rule out any disciplinary action against Christian Porter and Alan Tudge?
Prime Minister: Well what are you suggesting?
Journalist: Are you going to take any disciplinary action against them.
Prime Minister: As Prime Minister they have engaged in no conduct as they have served in my Cabinet that is in breach of the code. I expect them in their behaviour as of all of my Ministers, and myself included, to abide by the code and to live by that code as Ministers, that’s what I expect of them. If there are breaches of that code, that is how you deal with it. I have considered breaches of the code in the past. Not on this matter, I should stress on other matters which you are familiar with.
Journalist: Do you think it passes the pub test? Do you think Australians are looking at Christian Porter and Alan Tudge and think that they should be in the Ministry right now?
Prime Minister: I think Australians understand more about human frailty than perhaps you are giving them credit. You know, family breakdown and individual decisions of people, and there is also no suggestion here of anything unconsensual, I should stress. These things happen in Australia. They happen in people’s lives and people greatly regret them and they do tremendous damage to people’s families and the lives of many others, and I know there would be deep regrets about that. And I think Australians understand human frailty and I think they understand that people who work in this place are just as human as anyone else and are subject to the same vulnerabilities and frailties as anyone. And I think some sensitivity to that, perhaps I have a better opinion of Australians. I think they are far more understanding when it comes to human frailty and their understandings of what happens in their own lives and their own communities. Of course they want standards. That is why the standards are there, that is why the standards were introduced. The action was taken under the former Prime Minister one that I strongly supported and one that I uphold to this day and will continue to in the future.
Thank you all very much.
Statement on Indulgence - US Election
9 November 2020
Prime Minister: On indulgence, Mr Speaker.
The United States of America is a great democracy.
Vibrant, passionate, heartfelt, resolute.
And the people of the United States have spoken again - and electing its 46th President in its 244 years of being a Republic.
I join with other nations and other nations’ leaders Mr Speaker, and say on behalf of the Australian Government and the Australian people, that I congratulate President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris on their election.
Almost 150 million votes cast, possibly more when the final tallies are in.
Remarkable engagement and participation. And we celebrate that as Australians, as a liberal democratic people.
Australians always do take a deep interest in US elections – in part because of their vibrancy and passion, but more so because our history and our futures being so closely intertwined.
The United States is amongst our oldest of Allies and our firmest of friends.
The Australian-US Alliance is a pillar of our nation’s security and the stability of our region.
An alliance we have nurtured over nearly seven decades under the ANZUS alliance.
As President-Elect Biden put it when he visited Australia as Vice President in 2016: "Thank you for having America's back. And we will always have your back.”
He said: “The partnership between Australia and America is at the core of our vision for the region’s future. It’s not what we can do for Australia. It’s what we can do with Australia.”
It’s always been that way, a true partnership.
This is an Alliance built on fundamental shared values: the equal and unalienable rights of all people, the supremacy of the ballot box, the rule of law, freedom of the press, separation of powers, the free flow of commerce and ideas, market based economies, mutual respect.
It’s a relationship that transcends partisan politics.
Since 1918, it is a relationship that has been built upon and strengthened by 24 Australian Prime Ministers and 18 American Presidents. From right across the political divide.
We are all custodians of that relationship, unencumbered by domestic partisanship.
I thank also President Trump, Vice President Pence, Secretaries Pompeo and Mnuchin and Esper– and the entire Trump administration for their deep commitment to this relationship over these past four years. And I thank them for the working relationship that we’ve had and indeed will continue to have as the administration transitions.
We have worked in partnership to strengthen our alliance and to advance shared interests in our region and all around the world.
We have forged new areas of cooperation - in space, critical minerals, frontier technologies, and more.
And this work will go on. And a new chapter will begin on the 20th of January, 2021.
2021 marks 70 years since the signing of the ANZUS Treaty under Prime Minister Menzies and President Truman.
ANZUS is the cornerstone of our security and I look forward to honouring that anniversary at an appropriate point with the President. And I have written to the President-Elect inviting him to be in Australia for the purposes of the celebration of the ANZUS alliance.
President-Elect Biden has been a good friend of Australia over many years.
There is a shared affinity. President-Elect Biden once said this about Australians: “In my view. Australians are defined by their character; by the grit, their integrity, their unyielding resilience.”
Having witnessed the President-Elect’s personal and public journey over many years, I believe we can say the same of him. A man of grit, character, integrity and unyielding resilience.
Australia looks forward to working with him on the many challenges the world faces.
We are still in the midst of a global pandemic – the health, economic and geo-strategic consequences of that are still being played out.
Australia believes in a free and open Indo-Pacific region. We are committed to upholding the rules, the norms and standards of our international community.
We share views on the importance of multilateral institutions and strengthening democracies.
And on the crucial role of open, rules-based trade as the world emerges from the pandemic recession.
And like President-Elect Biden, we are committed to developing new technologies to reduce global emissions as we tackle climate change.
My message at this time is clear: American leadership as always is indispensable to meeting these challenges.
And as I said on the White House South Lawn last year Mr Speaker: Australia looks to the United States, but we don’t leave it to the United States.
And we never have.
We play our part.
We carry our own.
Sir Robert Menzies once said that Australians and Americans “are warmed by the same inner fires” – and we are.
That’s why this relationship has always been bigger than any one of us.
As Prime Minister, and to the President-Elect we share now in that special custodianship of that relationship that has endured so long and been so important for the citizens of both our countries.
And I have absolutely every confidence it will continue to go from strength to strength - as we work again with an old friend of Australia, President-Elect Joe Biden.
Press Conference - Black Mountain, ACT
9 November 2020
Ms Judi Zielke, Chief Operating Officer CSIRO: Prime Minister, good morning, welcome to our facility here at Black Mountain. This is one of CSIRO’s largest facilities around the country. We have 56 sites. So it's wonderful to have you here this morning to join us. Thank you.
Prime Minister: Well thank you very much. Well, it's great to be here with you and all the team here at Black Mountain, and it's particularly good to be here with Cathy Foley. Each year, the Government invests through various programs, science and research, research and development some $10 billion dollars. Indeed here, in the most recent Budget, we ensured that the CSIRO would be able to continue the important work it does by supplementing their funding, by over $400 million out over the forward estimates because they are doing critically important work.
In the recent Budget, we also announced our manufacturing plan and one of the key components of that manufacturing plan it that there is the science and the research and the technology to back it up. Just upstairs we were looking at how that's being put to work when it comes to plastics recycling and the intensive research that is required at the outset to get things to a scalable and commercial level of application. That is what's needed to ensure that we can realise these future advanced manufacturing industries in Australia. And so the work that we do here at the CSIRO and through so many other research institutions around the country, is absolutely joint when it comes to realising Australia's manufacturing strategy, which Minister Andrews has led in both its development and now it's implementation and one of the key people who will be involved in this process going forward to ensure that where we're placing our priorities and how we're understanding the many scientific challenges that Australia must face, is the role of the Chief Scientist.
And that's why I'm pleased to announce today the next Chief Scientist will be Dr Cathy Foley. Cathy has been the Chief Scientist here for the last two and a half years, but she's been with the CSIRO for 36 years. She's a physicist and she has worked in superconducting and a whole range of other programs which have included how to do maps underground, the resources, I'll let her explain that, I won't even attempt to, but this is the sort of level of sophistication and brilliance that we have in this country and I'm very pleased that Cathy is taking on this role. She is an outstanding scientist. She's she's recognised around the world. She's certainly recognised here as well and she will take up also the great work that's been done by Dr. Alan Finkel. Alan has served our country extremely well in this role now over many years and he continues to serve and you’ve seen from the work that he's doing for the National Cabinet around COVID-19 measures, particularly around contact tracing and other projects and so he has been an invaluable support to the Government as we’ve addressed so many of these great scientific challenges and so his work will continue and Cathy will pick up that work and add to it in her own style and we're looking forward to that very, very much, as we do with the challenges ahead.
I'm going to ask Minister Andrews to say a few words and then and then we're going to hear from Cathy, whose, her tendency is for just a few words I’m told that's her preference. But that said, Cathy, congratulations to you. You’ll do an outstanding job and I'm very pleased that Minister Andrews brought forward that recommendation to Cabinet. We're very pleased to accept it and we wish you all the very best in the role.
The Hon. Karen Andrews MP, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology: Thank you. I'm absolutely delighted to welcome Dr Cathy Foley as Australia's next Chief Scientist. Kathy has a particularly distinguished career as an applied physicist, as you heard from the Prime Minister, Dr Foley has worked with CSIRO for about 36 years. So she's had a very distinguished career here in a variety of roles, most recently as CSIRO’s Chief Scientist but she also has done a lot of work with CSIRO in manufacturing. So she brings to the role of Chief Scientist significant technical research, scientific skills in applied physics, but also experience in scaling up operations, particularly in manufacturing. Her role will be to work alongside Government with the implementation of a number of key strategies, including the modern manufacturing strategy, where she will be providing advice to us on opportunities for us to scale up manufacturing here in Australia, of course science and technology are key enablers of industry, and particularly over the last few months, we have seen just how significant science has been as we have worked our way through the COVID crisis. So I look forward to working with Dr Foley and of course, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Dr Finkel for the work that he has done over the last few years and wish him all the best for the future.
Dr Foley?
Dr Cathy Foley, CSIRO Chief Scientist: Well, Prime Minister and Minister, thank you so much this is an extraordinary honour for me not just to be in the role of being Australia's Chief Scientist, but the thing that’s really exciting from my perspective is that it’s a chance to serve the nation in a way which will allow science and technology to be able to assist the Government in addressing the many challenges which we've already seen are confronting us right now. We've seen the science sector come together along with what is in manufacturing and the ways to take science from the lab to make it be used every day and we've seen that the sector coming together to show what value we can add and I hope that I'm going to be in a position to support the Government, to be able to find the best information, the best knowledge from across all the science sector in Australia, and also to see if I can encourage the youth of today to see that science and technology, engineering and maths are really a way forward for them to be able to have careers that are exciting, well-paid, and something which will also contribute to society and so I actually thought as a way to start this off was actually to work with the Prime Minister's daughters and we’ve got some gifts for her, to actually hope that they will start off a journey to become CSIRO scientists in the future.
Prime Minister: My youngest in particular will be very pleased about that, thank you.
Dr. Foley: Fantastic. I think it's really important for us to make sure that our youth realise the importance of science and technology.
Prime Minister: Thank you, thank you very much.
Dr Foley: And it's something which I hope you will enjoy.
Prime Minister: She’ll have a lot of fun with it.
Dr Foley: So thank you. Thank you Prime Minister and Minister, this is for me such a wonderful opportunity. It’s going to be terrifying leaving CSIRO after 36 years but I also know that I can reach into not just CSIRO, but the whole of the science sector to be able to support me. So thank you very much.
Prime Minister: Thank you Cathy. Now we're happy to take questions on this announcement and then move to other issues.
Journalist: Dr Foley, your predecessors have been drawn into controversy in the past over the issue of climate change and, of course, your predecessor has previously been criticised, for suggesting that gas is a safe part of the future solution. Can you just tell us how significant or immediate do you think the threat of climate change is? Do you have a view on gas as part of the solution?
Dr. Foley: So first of all, I think everyone agrees that climate change is something that has to be dealt with and it's something which is not just a single solution, we're going to have to see over a long time a whole range of different things and approaches that have to come together. Alan Finkel, our current Chief Scientist, has identified gas as a transition to being able to deal with the future, and I guess my role is to see how to build on that, to be able to make sure that we've got what's needed into the long term, because it's not as though we can swap things over overnight. You have to actually work towards that and have a really, I guess, methodology, which actually brings together a whole range of different components.
Journalist: Do you have a view on the debate though, remember when the Climate Scientist wrote to..
Dr. Foley: I think everyone has to say that at the moment that debate is, everyone realises that climate is changing, that now we have to deal with it.
Journalist: Prime Minister on that, sorry I’ll re-frame you as well.
Prime Minister: You’re multitasking.
Journalist: That’s right. With the Biden election, does that now mean you've got a target of zero emissions by 2050. Will Australia look at tweaking our approach then over the next little bit in consultation with the US?
Prime Minister: Australia will always set its policies based on Australia's interests, Australia's national interests and the contributions that we're making in these areas as I said yesterday, we would be welcoming the United States back into the Paris Agreement, somewhere we've always been. We are committed both to Paris, we committed prior to that to Kyoto. We meet, we met and beat our Kyoto targets, and we believe we'll do the same when it comes to our Paris commitments as well. So we welcome them coming back in but not only there, I understand that will also extend to organisations like the WHO as well, a place that we also stayed and so we would welcome them back into those arrangements and then there's opportunities potentially around the TPP as well, where the United States has always been welcome to rejoin them. Whether they do that or not, this will be a matter for them but the United States will make their decisions based on their interests and their capabilities and how their economy is structured and we will do the same. There are many countries that have made commitments in this area, but they have also made those commitments with qualifications. For example, in New Zealand, their commitment to 2050 excludes methane. So it basically excludes agriculture and forestry, which are about half their emissions. So countries also have qualifications that deal with export parts of their sector. So it isn't a one size fits all in terms of the commitments that are out there. Our goal is to achieve that as soon as you can, but we'll do it on the basis of a technology roadmap, which Dr Foley will play a very important role in as we go forward and so we have the technology to achieve lower emissions in the future and to you know, you've got to have the plan to get there and I owe it to Australians that if we make such commitments, I have to be able to explain how we get there and what it would cost and what it would mean for things like the 2030 targets that we have, you know our 2030 targets are set and we'll meet them and so I do know that when the Labor Party here in Australia said that we should sign up unconditionally to a 2050 target, well the, having done that as the Labor Party, I think it's incumbent on them to tell the country what does that mean for their 2030 target? I mean, when we went to the election in 2013, seven years out from the 2020 Kyoto commitment, we were very clear about what we were going to do and how we were going to meet that target and when we were elected, we set about that task and we achieved that and we bettered it and so if there is to be an alternate view on this question, then you need to be able to explain well what does it mean for the 2030 target? Labor have walked away from every 2030 target now, our commitment to Paris is even stronger than the Labor Party's because we have a target and we'll meet it and we have a plan to achieve it.
Journalist: Prime Minister, the ABC will be broadcasting a program tonight that's billed as some sort of sex scandal involving senior members of your Government. There are reports this morning that the Government's applied pressure to the ABC via the Managing Director, the News Director, Gaven Morris, and possibly the Board as well. Have you, any members of your Government, or your office been pressuring the ABC to pull that story and why would you do that?
Prime Minister: Well, there's a lot of allegations in there Sam and I'm not sure what they're based on. So I’m not in the habit of responding to allegations people make based on a program that I haven't seen and I don't even know what's in it. So I think that it's a bit difficult for me to respond to a whole bunch of hypotheticals but I'd say this, we would just expect that the ABC always is that they would act in an independent and an unbiased apartisan way. And if they're going to make enquiries, I would think they'd want to do them across the political spectrum and it's really for the ABC under their charter to remain true to that and it's always important the ABC remains true to their charter, and I would expect them to do that.
Journalist: Do you still support the bonk ban, if you want to call it that, that Malcolm Turnbull put in place? What would be the penalty if one of your ministers was found to have been in breach of that?
Prime Minister: Well Sam I more than supported it, I ensured that it continued and you use that term to explain it but it's actually a very important issue. I mean, when the former Prime Minister introduced it, I was one of its strongest supporters and why it's there, is to protect, I think the culture in the Parliament and it's not just on any one side of politics can I tell you, it's important as a cultural change within the Parliament. And certainly the former Prime Minister and I supported it and continued it as Prime Minister to ensure that you have these sorts of standards that they are important to ensure you have the right sort of a workplace. I note that the Labor Party has mocked the ban and hasn't supported it. It wasn't supported by the former Leader of the Opposition and it's not supported by the current Leader of the Opposition. So our standards and that we've set as a Government are very clear. I'm unaware of the matters that you're referring to because I can't know about a program that I haven't seen but that arrangement was put in place on a prospective basis by the former Prime Minister and I have continued it.
Journalist: So I don't want to ask you about a question, a program that you haven't seen. I do want to ask about any pressure that the Government has applied. Are you aware that your office or other members of your Government have contacted the Managing Director of the ABC or the News Director Gaven Morris, to try and pressure them not to run the story? Have you applied pressure?
Prime Minister: Well, the only thing I'm aware of is that the Government always stands up for ensuring that the ABC would act consistent with its charter and I would think all Australians would expect the ABC to act consistent with its charter.
Journalist: How can you determine that they wouldn't be acting consistent if you haven’t seen the program?
Prime Minister: Well Sam you’re making assumptions. You’re making assumptions.
Journalist: I don’t think it’s an assumption, I understand that you have contacted the ABC Managing Director.
Prime Minister: All I'm simply saying is the Government wants the ABC to stand up for it’s charter and act consistent with it’s charter and Australians will make the judgement about whether they do, or they don't. Ok thanks very much.
Journalist: Over the weekend, you welcomed the new President to Australia at some point. Have you spoken to either Donald Trump or Biden directly?
Prime Minister: Not at this point and there are processes for that. And, but we've had those reach outs obviously, to President, sorry President-elect Biden and we'll be working through that in the days ahead.
Journalist: And are you hoping to try and get the United States back in the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
Prime Minister: I addressed that before. I mean that's a matter for them. I think, look it's very early days on many of these issues. It's not clear how a lot of those policies that were announced by the Vice President during the course of the election campaign will be implemented. Obviously, they'll go through their transition period, we’ll be patient and respectful about that process. Of course, we will continue to work with the current Administration. And there are still many issues, very important issues that we're working on with the current Administration. And you can expect us to remain in close contact with them about those matters.
Journalist: And on China, Australian exporters have had difficulty getting their products into China, are there jobs at risk? And what are you doing about trying to get those to remedy that situation?
Prime Minister: We're working through the processes with the Chinese Government to address what they describe as the technical issues that they're raising in regards to those products as they're coming into China. Now there's a process for dealing with that and we're following it, we’re working closely with industry to seek to resolve those technical issues. But at all times, we will do what's in Australia's national interest and we will act consistent with our values. That has always been our position, both now and back under, the time of previous Governments, most notably under John Howard, there's no difference in the policy that we hold today in relation to all of these matters that was pursued by the Howard Government. Times have changed of course, there are new developments, there are new tensions that weren't there well over a decade ago but what hasn't changed is our values and our interests and I can assure Australians that my Government will always put those first.
Thanks very much.
Press Conference - Kirribilli, NSW
8 November 2020
Prime Minister: Good morning everyone. There is no more important, no deeper, no broader, no closer relationship, no relationship more critical to Australia’s strategic interests than the one that we enjoy with the United States. With its government and its people. This relationship is bigger than any one individual and those who have the great privilege to serve in either the offices of the Prime Minister or President are the custodians of that enduring relationship. The United States is one of the world’s greatest democracies, alongside Australia and many others, and democracy is proven, not just in the times of still waters but when the waters can get choppy and, of course, we have seen that in recent times in the United States. But democracy is the process that they have always stood by to resolve such differences and to ensure that they can elect their leader and their leader can engage with the rest of the world, particularly with those countries with whom they share such deep and abiding interests, as we do with the United States.
Of course, there are processes that will still continue in the United States and the institutions that sit around those are important to their democracy and that is important and they will continue. But I join with other nation’s leaders around the world in congratulating President-elect Joe Biden and Doctor Jill Biden, together with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her partner Douglas Emhoff for their election at this recent US election. This is a profound time, not just for the United States, but for our partnership and the world more broadly and I look forward to forging a great partnership in the spirit of the relationships that has always existed between Prime Ministers of Australia and Presidents of the United States. I particularly look forward to this with President Biden because he comes to this relationship with a deep experience and a deep history, a history that has seen him come to Australia before. One that has involved many, many years of experience within the US system and one that deeply understands this part of the world. When he was in Australia, on-board the HMAS Adelaide, he said this, "Thank you for having America's back. And we will always have your back." During the same visit to Australia, he said America and Australia continue to look to one another for mutual support and he described our alliance with the United States as the core of the US's vision for the Indo-Pacific. That was true then and that is true now. President-elect Biden also has a deep understanding, I think, of the national security issues that confront not only the United States but those more broadly across the world, and a deep personal understanding obviously with his late son Beau having served in Iran. But you may not know that President-elect Biden had two uncles who served in New Guinea during the Second World War, one of whom he was killed in New Guinea and another seriously injured. So the relationship goes deep and it is personal and I think that is something that will bring a lot to an understanding of the people to people relationship and the depth and history of the relationship between our two countries.
I hope that he and Doctor Biden will join us here in Australia for the 70th anniversary of ANZUS. ANZUS has been the bedrock of our security foundations in Australia since that alliance was first established and I look forward to inviting the President-elect to join us next year in their formal capacities at that time and for us to be able to celebrate 70 years of peace and stability and security that has been established by this incredible relationship. And so, we look to begin a new chapter in this important relationship. We wish the American people all the very best. We are like minded. We share values. We share an outlook, a peaceful outlook on the world, and on life. A life where families can live together in peace and stability and pursue their own dreams and plan for their own futures with confidence. These are the values that we hold dear as two countries.
But as one chapter opens, of course, another chapter closes. And I want to thank President Trump and Vice President Pence, Secretary Mike Pompeo, Secretary Mnuchin and the many other members of his Cabinet with whom we have had a very, very good working relationship over the years of the Trump Administration and, of course, that will continue through the transition period. President Trump equally showed a great commitment to this part of the world and the relationship between Australia and the United States. This was also true of Vice President Pence, who I remember meeting for the first time in Papua New Guinea and spending some important time with him there as we discussed the challenges, particularly in the Southwest Pacific, and how we could work together and as we have been. Secretary Pompeo has also been a great voice for peace around the world and I thank him for his special relationship with Australia. And Secretary Mnuchin, who I had the opportunity to work with both as Treasurer and as Prime Minister.
This relationship is bigger than all of us and in the time we serve in the roles that we have the privilege to serve in, we share a custodianship of that relationship and I have every confidence because it is based on more than 100 years of successful partnership. That this partnership will only go from strength to strength under the new shared stewardship that President-elect Biden and I will share going into the future. Thank you very much.
Journalist: Prime Minister, with the President-elect so strong on climate change, how will that influence Australia’s commitment to climate change and especially to the net zero by 2030… by 2050?
Prime Minister: Australia's commitment to addressing climate change will continue. We are signatories to the Paris Agreement and that is something we hold fast to and not only held fast to, we have a strong story to tell about our achievement when it comes to commitments on the global stage. Whether it is exceeding both the Kyoto one and the Kyoto two targets and now being able to confidently meet our 2030 commitments and should the United States, which I assume they will under President-elect Biden, join the Paris Agreement, we welcome that. Australia never left, Australia was always there meeting and keeping commitments. I also particularly welcome the comments that were made during the campaign by Vice President Biden, at the time, when he showed a lot of similarity to Australia's views on how technology can be used to address the lower emissions challenge. We want to see global emissions fall and it's not enough for us to meet our commitments. We need to have the transformational technologies that are scalable and affordable for the developing world as well because that is where all the emissions increases are coming from in the decade ahead in the next 20 years. We need to ensure that those economies can successfully and commercially and prosperously transform through these technologies. I believe we will have a very positive discussion about partnerships we can have with the United States about furthering those technological developments that will see a lower emissions future for the world but a stronger economy as well where we don't say goodbye to jobs we don't have to say goodbye to. OK, thank you very much.
Journalist: In the event that President Trump refuses to leave, what circumstances would Australia and other firm allies need to be to ask him to respect the vote of the American people?
Prime Minister: I have great confidence in the institutions of America’s democracy and I have been expressing those consistently. I have taken a similar tone to many others and that is to express patience and respect for the US system. It is in fact, I think, a sentiment President-elect Biden has also expressed. This is a time for those processes to finalise and for us to move on with the important work because there are so many important challenges, whether here in the Indo-Pacific when it comes to world trade, when it comes to dealing with the global pandemic and the global recession that has followed from the pandemic. There is much work for like-minded countries like Australia and the United States to get on with and those processes in the United States will come to their conclusion and the transition will proceed as we always understand it to be. This is not a new process, this is a time honoured process and a time established process and I have confidence it will resolve itself in time.
Journalist: Prime Minister, what is Mr Trump’s legacy...
Prime Minister: Sorry, I couldn't quite hear you over the birds.
Journalist: What is Mr Trump’s legacy in the Indo-Pacific?
Prime Minister: There has been a tremendous commitment by the Trump Administration here in the Indo-Pacific and we have seen, importantly, the Quad come back together again. Together and the Malabar exercise that has been under way recently, I think, is a very good example of that. The bringing together of like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific to work to one simple goal and that is to see the prosperity of all countries and peace within the Indo-Pacific region. Whether that is here or in Indonesia, whether that is in Vietnam, in China, throughout Japan, South Korea, there has been an integration and I think an effort to try and bring people together in that regard and we will continue that work because it's very important for Australia's interests. We want to see all of these countries succeed. When they do succeed we can live together peacefully and prosperously.
Journalist: Prime Minister, it is likely that President-elect Biden would rejoin the Trans Pacific Partnership, perhaps in a more protectionist way than in 2016. What changes would you allow to the TPP if it were to enable the US to rejoin?
Prime Minister: We are one of the many partners in the TPP and we are obviously champions of the TPP and particularly in its resurrection after the Trump Administration's election four years ago. And we are very pleased that we are able to keep the door open for the United States and many others to join as well. Now, the terms of how that would occur is one that would have to be done collectively with the other partners to that relationship. It is true that there are many similarities in the trade outlook of both sides of politics in the United States and I think we have seen that but we would welcome the re-engagement of those trade forms. Because, you know, coming out of the COVID-19 recession, the way out is not to withdraw. The way out is not to fall back in. The way out is to reach out and the way out is to engage in market-based trade, fair trade, under the proper rules through the World Trade Organisation, and that's something we are committed to. We would welcome a commitment to that objective as well. That is going to help the world recover from the COVID-19 global recession and we are very committed to that course and we welcome all other countries doing the same.
Journalist: Are there any changes though that you wouldn’t allow, that are non-negotiables?
Prime Minister: I think it would be very early days to speculate on those matters. I would simply say to the United States, the door has always remained open on the TPP. It is open now. It will be open in the future and you are welcome any time. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
28 October 2020
Prime Minister: Good afternoon, I am joined by the Attorney-General to make announcements about appointments to the High Court. After the Attorney met with the Governor-General this morning in Executive Council and Cabinet considered this matter last night. After an extensive process, which I’ll ask the Attorney-General to talk you through. But first of all, can I say to all of those in Melbourne in particular and across Victoria again congratulations and I hope you enjoy being out and about. I know you have been waiting a long time for that and I would just encourage you to as you open safely, that’s the way to remain safely open into the future. But I am sure it has been quite a day and quite a late night for some down there in Melbourne I completely understand that. And I just encourage everybody to continue as we open up, to do that, conscious of the various other restrictions and other things that remain in place. And we will continue to make strong progress there in the weeks and months ahead as we work towards that Christmas deadline, which the National Cabinet has given strong support to get open by Christmas. Of course with the exception of Western Australia.
Also, can I note today is the national Memorial Day for Fire and Emergency Services and earlier today a memorial service was held here in Canberra and this is I know, a very important day for all Australians, but particularly for those who have lost loved ones through their service to the community. And if you would just indulge me, I would like to just read the names of those 14 people who have lost their lives and remember this morning those 14 responders. Phillip Bell, Ian Long, Robert Panitz, Geoffrey Keaton, and Andrew O'Dwyer, Sam McPaul, Colin Burns, Ian McBeth, Rick DeMorgan Jr, Paul Hudson, Bill Slade, Mathew Kavanagh, David Moresi, and George Baldock. We thank them for the incredible service to our country, some of them came from across the seas to be here at our moment of greatest need, and we remember them and we think of their families who deal with their loss every single day. Earlier this year on Australia Day I actually went to the memorial service, some of you may recall with my daughters on Australia Day, and I encourage those particularly who live in Canberra or those who are visiting Canberra to take a moment and go and visit that memorial. It's a very moving place I think for all Australians.
Can I now move to the issue though that has led to us joining here this morning. This morning the Governor-General accepted the advice of the Government to appoint the Honourable Justice Simon Steward and the Honourable Justice Jacqueline Gleeson as the next Justices of the High Court of Australia, they will fill the vacancies that will arise upon the retirements of the Honourable Justice Geoffrey Nettle AC on 30th November this year, who will be replaced by Justice Simon Steward, and the Honourable Virginia Bell AC, on the 28th February 2021, who will be replaced by Justice Gleeson. I want to thank Justices Nettle and Bell in advance of their upcoming retirements for their many years of judicial service to the Australian people. I will ask the Attorney to speak to both of these appointments and as well as the process we have gone through exhaustively to arrive at this decision on these appointments. The High Court is one of the most important institutions of our democracy. And every Justice appointed to it carries a significant burden to uphold the laws of our land. I congratulate Justices Steward and Gleeson and I wish them all the best for their very important service. Attorney.
The Hon. Christian Porter MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations: Thank you, Prime Minister and I join with the Prime Minister in congratulating the Honourable Justice Simon Steward and the Honourable Justice Jacqueline Gleeson as the next two Justices of the High Court of Australia. I and the Cabinet are incredibly confident that Justice Steward and Justice Gleeson will make very worthy additions to the High Court bench, they are both outstanding judges, they have been outstanding barristers, they are outstanding members of the legal and broader Australian community. Just a very brief summary of the process that leads us to this point. The process has been about six months and starts with a statutory requirement upon myself as Attorney-General to consult with all of the state Attorneys-General, behind the state-based consultation sits a whole range of state-based bar associations and law societies and a range of groups. Those bodies are also consulted with by me on a Commonwealth level as well as heads of jurisdiction across Australia. So it is an exhaustive and extensive process, and the two appointments have emerged from that very long and extensive process with the legal community I think, noting throughout the consultation that both have absolutely impeccable records and skills for the High Court.
Justice Steward will commence on 1 December and replace the Honourable Justice Geoffrey Nettle AC who retires from the court at the end of next month. The appointment of Justice Steward to the High Court continues what has been a remarkable stellar indeed career for one of Australia's leading legal professionals. It was noted when he was brought into the Federal Court that he took silk in 2009 just 10 years out from law school being the first person in his graduating class to do that. He was appointed in 2018 to the Federal Court of Australia where he has demonstrated exemplary judicial skills and achieved wide recognition as a leading expert with speciality areas in taxation and administrative law and I have no doubt that his years of experience both at the bar and on the bench of the Federal Court will provide invaluable skills for his new commission as a Justice of the High Court.
With respect to Justice Gleeson, Justice Gleeson will commence next year on 1 March replacing the Honourable Virginia Bell AC who will retire from the court on 28 February 2021. Justice Gleeson was appointed to the Federal Court in 2014, she is held in obvious and very high regard by all the members of the judiciary and the legal profession. She was appointed to the Federal Court following a diverse legal career both at the bar and as a solicitor. In fact the diversity of Justice Gleeson's expertise across a number of civil jurisdictions in both public and private practice has served the Federal Court incredibly well and will no doubt be a major asset to the High Court going forward. Her appointment to the High Court represents yet another very significant achievement in an already distinguished career. I should note, and it’s not really possible to appoint her Honour Justice Jacqueline Gleeson without noting that she is the eldest daughter of former High Court Chief Justice Murray Gleeson. That places her in a rather unique position. I am told that is a first in common law countries. I might pause very briefly and say I note that because it is notable.
But looking through the CVs of both Justice Steward and Justice Gleeson, their families have played an enormous role. Parents nurturing people, partners and children supporting people through their career and there has been a long history of broad family support for each of these two very fine Judges to have been nurtured to the point where they can provide the sort of skills and impeccable track record that they bring to the public service on the High Court. I’d just like to close by taking the opportunity, of course, to thank the Honourable Justice Nettle and Justice Bell in advance of their upcoming retirements for the remarkable service they have given the Australian people through the High Court.
Prime Minister: Thank you. Let's take questions on the appointments first. I'm happy to move to other issues.
Journalist: Mr Porter, just a question I have asked at all of these for the last 20 something years, in my old state of South Australia it has long been a grievance that state has never had a High Court Justice in 117 years. Was anyone from that state considered as part of this process and is there anyone there in the pipeline in the next few years?
The Hon. Christian Porter MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations: It weighed very heavily on my mind and the mind of Cabinet. And the consultation process we went through starts with a long list and as you will see that list becomes shorter with each iteration. But that is something that has played on Cabinet's mind and there are always people from all over Australia geographically considered in that list. But there are future appointments obviously, but that did play very much on our mind.
Prime Minister: I will also point out and the Attorney made this point to Cabinet last night, this obviously frees up a number of appointments in the Federal Court and that provides the opportunity to create a further pipeline of others who can be considered into the future.
Journalist: Prime Minister first, your initial reaction to the incident at the Doha Airport? We also know that women from other countries were subjected to the examinations. Have you spoken to other world leaders about the investigation and also what is the official message that has been sent to the Qatari government?
Prime Minister: We find this unacceptable. That has been the official message and conveyed very clearly in the investigation because it is unacceptable. I mean, it was appalling. As a father of daughters, I could only shudder at the thought that any woman, Australian or otherwise, would be subjected to that. So I think you can be confident that those messages were conveyed very clearly and at the time and more recently. In addition to that, we expect to see the result of that investigation very soon and that will be shared with us, that has been assured to us by the Qatari Government. So it is important that wherever travellers are travelling, that they are able to do so free of those types of incidents. And we will continue to ensure that we support Australians in all those circumstances both here and when travelling overseas.
Journalist: Prime Minister, why are we waiting for the results of the report before we decide what action to take and what action can you actually take to ensure this never happens again?
Prime Minister: Well, you rightly raise the fact this occurred not in Australia it occurred in Qatar, it occurred in a set of circumstances that were also quite awful. We are talking about the death of a child and that is a very distressing incident as well. But what's important is that the international norms and rules as people move through international airports and move between countries that we are able to do that in a way where certain standards are upheld and so I think it is important, given we have been given the assurances by the Qatari Government that we will be provided with the results of their investigation and I think it's important that we can look at that before making a further response. There is no doubt in the mind of whether its Qatari Airlines or the Government about Australia's strong objections and views about this and I think those views are shared widely, and so we will make a further response. Not our first response a further response once we have the opportunity to see the results of that investigation.
Journalist: Is your advice, that the baby is dead?
Prime Minister: I don't have any further information on that, I can’t confirm either way.
Journalist: Given the seriousness of this situation, would you have expected that the Foreign Minister would have picked up the phone right away to her Qatari counterpart?
Prime Minister: The Australian Government made its views very clear at the time and since as we should have and we have.
Journalist: A short time ago, the Qatari government issued an apology if they caused any distress to the passengers impacted by the search. Even if we do get that report, what more can the Australian women whose rights were so seriously violated actually expect in terms of a further apology or compensation, even legal action, given the diplomatic nature of the event being overseas?
Prime Minister: As I said, we will consider all of these options once we have the opportunity to review the investigation.
Journalist: Prime Minister, thousands of Australians might be going to Qatar for the World Cup in 2022. What assurances will you be seeking from the Qatari Government that it has not only a full and transparent inquiry but that you can get assurances that nothing of the sort ever happens again?
Prime Minister: These are the assurances we are seeking and this is why the investigation is so important and any further response which we would be making in response to that investigation. And it is not just people going to a World Cup. We have 15 per cent of those Australians who are coming home at the moment are coming back on Qatar Airlines. They are actually providing a pretty important role in getting Australians home. So we need to continue to manage both of these issues because I know they are of great significance and importance to Australians all around the country. So we will continue to take a very strident approach on this. We are appalled by what occurred as anyone would not just as an Australian but any traveller would. They should not be subject to these invasive procedures.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Australia’s major trading partners Japan, China, the EU have all moved towards a net zero emissions target. Why is Australia so reluctant to adopt a target and are concerned about our future exports?
Prime Minister: No I am not concerned about our future exports and my discussion with the Prime Minister last night was a very positive one. We speak quite regularly I think this was our fifth conversation this year. They are not all formal discussions some are more formal than others and there are many other informal exchanges between myself and the British Prime Minister on any number of issues. The key focus of our discussion last night was actually on the UK free trade agreement and our commitment to get that moving as quickly as possible. Those processes are already under way and we both committed to continue to play every strong message to our negotiators to get this done and to get it happening as soon as it's able to be done under the arrangements that the UK is currently constricted by and to have an ambitious free trade agreement with the UK. We are not looking for any ordinary agreement here, we are looking for a real ground-setting arrangement here with the UK and I believe that in what the Prime Minister said to me last night. Comprehensive, across-the-board, the sort of thing we have been able to achieve with the United States and other places. That’s what we talked about last night. So I'm not concerned about that. The other point I would make is when I have discussed this with the British Prime Minister before and last night. See, Australia, we’ll set our policies here. We’ll set them. Our policies won’t be set in the United Kingdom, they won't be set in Brussels, they won't be set in any part of the world other than here. Because it's Australian’s jobs, it’s Australia's economy and it’s Australia's recovery from the COVID-19 recession that matters to me and my Cabinet and the decisions we take. I'm very aware of the many views that are held around the world but I tell you what, our policies will be set here in Australia. And no one understands that better than the British Prime Minister, given his recent election on the issue of Brexit. So he totally understands Australia's sovereignty when it comes to making these sovereign decisions about our future. And the commitment I gave to Australians was that the targets we set the plans we make I will explain, I will detail, as I did at the last election and could demonstrate how we would get to our commitments for 2030. I demonstrated how we would already going to exceed the commitments we made for 2020 and what other further commitments that we would make I would only do where I can be very clear with the Australian people about how that would be achieved. One thing the British Prime Minister and I agree on is that achieving emissions reductions shouldn't come at the cost of jobs in Australia or the UK. It shouldn't come at the cost of higher prices for the daily things that our citizens depend on. It's about technology, not taxes, is what we talked about last night. And that's not just important in terms of how we continue to transform our own economies to lower emissions, it's also important about how we achieve the gear change globally in developing countries. See, if the technologies don't exist that make sense for developing countries to adopt and make part of their economies, guess what is going to happen? Emissions are going to go up and up and up. In developed economies, they will come down as ours indeed as I was able to say last night had fallen 14 per cent since 2005. 1 per cent is the fall in New Zealand and 0 per cent is in Canada. Our record on this speaks for itself. We are achieving it and when we make commitments in Australia's interests, then we will meet those commitments as well. But what the Prime Minister and I agreed last night was to form that partnership on technology. To ensure that these technologies won't only work in Australia and in the United Kingdom but they can work in India, that they can work in China, that they can work in Vietnam, that they can work in those countries which will have rapidly rising emissions over the next decade. And that's important. If you want to bring down global emissions and deal with climate change, you don't just have to do it in developed countries, you have got to make sure developing countries have access and are able to take on technologies which we can develop, which sees them have a lower emissions future. Otherwise, you're not really making a lot of progress.
Journalist: You were reported to have told your party room last week that you would go full term. Will you make that commitment here, is there any chance at all of an early election?
Prime Minister: My view hasn't changed Andrew, and as it hadn’t changed when you raised it with me last time. But you’ve been sticking to your line.
Journalist: Under your tax plan in the Budget passed very speedily, people who are earning $90,000 and less will actually have more of their income going to the tax office from July next year than what is happening right now. Are you considering any extra help for those low and middle income earners?
Prime Minister: There have been a number of stimulus measures that we have put in place, as you know, in response to the COVID-19 recession. They have had an impact, whether they have been the $750 payments on two occasions, there are two further payments of $250 coming for those on welfare. There is a stimulus payment injected into the tax changes that were made this year which saw a doubling up of the tax cuts in that one year and that was there as a stimulus measure and I think it has been important to target those measures to low and middle income earners in the course of the recovery. Now, we have lower taxes for all working Australians into the future and those plans are legislated, we brought forward elements of those plans as you know in the Budget. If there is a need for us to consider other stimulus measures as we move forward into next year's Budget or indeed even if that were necessary as we went into the mid-year update and, of course, the Government would consider that I think on every single occasion. From the day I came out here with the Treasurer and we announced firstly, firstly, the doubling of JobSeeker and then the JobKeeper arrangement the single largest income support measure that this country has ever seen which has saved livelihoods and it has saved lives. I mean, one of the most pleasing aspects of when I had the opportunity before Parliament came back to go up to Queensland, the number of Queenslanders that I was able to speak to for whom JobKeeper was the difference between being unemployed and employed, the difference between having hope and having no hope, the difference between their business that they are owned remaining open and having to shut. I mean, JobKeeper was the biggest game changer that has enabled Australia to pull through this COVID-19 recession. We are not out of the woods yet, there is a long way to go and we have demonstrated on every occasion that where the need is there, where we believe that can make a constructive difference then we will make the decisions that are necessary to back Australians in.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you’ve got 34,000 Australians trying to get home. Gladys Berejiklian has raised concerns today that she has taken far too much of the load of hotel quarantine. She is asking Queensland to pay the bill, is she right or is this all getting a bit silly now and when should the international arrivals caps be lifted?
Prime Minister: It is something we raise at every National Cabinet meeting and as I said after the last one just last Friday, we were able to get additional capacity out of Western Australia and Queensland and I appreciate that. We will continue to bring those Australians home through all the channels that we have, including the eight chartered flights and where there is a necessity for more of those that will be done as well. The arrangements that the states go into in terms of the cost of quarantine, they’re matters that the states handle and I will leave that to them. One of the reasons we are examining the different options for quarantine, one of the reasons that we allowed quarantine free travel from New Zealand into Australia was to free up those very places and that has been quite effective. The next big, I think game changer in that area will be for Victoria to open up to international arrivals for people to come back, the Victorian Premier has not given me a commitment on that yet but they are considering those matters now and I hope that won't be too far away, because there are a lot of Victorians who want to come home.
Journalist: Prime Minister, on the SAS war crimes allegations, a former Army Commando has told Sky News that SAS members feel hogtied and are being tried by media allegations about what has gone on in Afghanistan. What commitment can you give about how unredacted this Inspector General report will be when it is finally released and that these SAS soldiers are given an ability to clear their names?
Prime Minister: Look, these reports, of course, I mean, people have been reading those. His comments about the media are for the media to respond to, not the Government to respond to. We don't decide what media reports about these issues. That's on your side of the table. But the reports are troubling and the claims are exactly why this process was set up. Now, the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force is conducting that enquiry to determine whether there is any substance to those rumours and allegations relating to possible breaches of the law of armed conflict by members of the Special Operations Task Force Group in Afghanistan over the period of 2015-16. This is a very serious inquiry. It's done by people who are highly skilled in handling what are very sensitive matters and I have no doubt that they're very aware of the careful way they need to conduct this inquiry. I mean, the Attorney might want to add to this. But the Government, the inquiry, the Defence Forces and the Defence Department are taking this incredibly seriously. And the issues you raise in managing the justice and fairness for those who have had accusations made about them in the public domain and those being published and printed in the media raises those complexities. And it will be managed as best as possibly can using the what are transparent processes, but also very official processes to get to the truth and to deal with the truth. Christian?
The Hon. Christian Porter MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations: Justice Brereton has been dealing with this matter for several years and obviously this matter will proceed in stages. But the next stage is the release by Justice Brereton of his report. Justice Brereton determines when and how, because that is an absolutely arm's length investigation from executive government. So he will make determinations on those matters you've raised. But I think that you can expect to see a very, very detailed and substantive report.
Journalist: Prime Minister, is the recession over?
Prime Minister: We won't know that until December, which is when the national accounts figures for the September quarter will be released. And until then whether technically that's the case or not, I know Australians are still hurting. And so I didn't need the numbers from the national accounts to tell me that JobKeeper was needed. I didn't need that. I knew Australians were hurting. I knew what the impact was on our economy and we acted and swiftly and at a scale this country has never seen before. And so the national accounts will say what they say. But what I know is in the many months ahead, there are businesses that are still not open again. There are people we still need to get back into work. I mean, that's the reality. That's the reality. And I'm focused on policies that deal with the reality of the economic challenges that we have ahead. And as much as we welcome what has occurred in Melbourne overnight, it's still a long road back and there's going to be some deep scars there, economic and people's mental health. And these are going to have to be healed and it's going to take us some time to achieve that. And so I can assure you, I'm in no doubt, the Treasurer is in no doubt, the whole Cabinet is in no doubt of the massive task that we still have in front of us, both on an economic basis and on a health basis and I can tell you one of the first things, and it was an extensive discussion actually, that Prime Minister Johnson and I had last night was about COVID and he went out of his way to congratulate Australians and Australia on the way that Australia has been able to weather this terrible storm. We know what's happened in the UK and, of course what's happening across Europe as he recounted to me as well. I mean he himself has suffered directly, and so he understands just how important the success Australia has means. He knows what it looks like when it doesn't go that way and the hurt and the cost and the pain. Now, in Australia we've been able to avoid the worst of that but that doesn't mean we haven't been hit. We have been hit hard and so we will continue to respond each and every day in the interest of all Australians. I’ve got time for one more because of the bells. John.
Journalist: Prime Minister, on ASIC, do you have confidence in the organisation? And also, it’s stood aside Chairman James Shipton, who you appointed as Treasurer and do you believe there may need to be a broader restructure of the organisation’s operating model, as many in the government and business community believe?
Prime Minister: Well, the appointment, I was Treasurer at the time. The Minister responsible at the time was Kelly O'Dwyer, as you know, and she was in Cabinet at the time, of course, that I had a role in that process, as did the Prime Minister at the time, and indeed as did Cabinet. As we have today and in the recommendations that had been brought forward by the Attorney-General which we support strongly and there's an investigative process underway that is appropriate there and I don't think it's helpful for me to be offering commentary about that while that's underway. I don't think that's fair to those who are involved and I'm pleased that those processes are in place. When issues like this and there are a couple of other issues like this at the moment, people have been stood aside as they should have been. Inquiries are underway as they should be and then the recommendations that come from those inquiries need to be addressed. That's how you deal with these problems. That's how I’ll always deal with these problems. That's how you run a Government. Thank you.