Speeches
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
6 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. Another big step today with the opening of the Tasman. It is six months ago, almost, that Australia opened up to New Zealand and I am very pleased that the New Zealand government has decided that that two way travel will commence Monday fortnight. Prime Minister Ardern called me last night and we had a very positive discussion about this. It is something we have been talking about for some time. This is the first of many more steps to come, I believe, as we get back to a more normal position, not only over the course of this year, but beyond. This is an important first step. Australia and New Zealand have led the way when it comes to managing COVID. We have ensured that both our countries have been, despite dealing with the virus, have not suffered the same types of virus impacts that we have seen in so many other countries around the world. And the fact that we can now combine again will mean jobs, will mean people reunited, it will mean many opportunities as those normal relations are restored between Australia and New Zealand.
So, I very much appreciate the arrangement the New Zealand Government has come to today. We welcome them back as indeed Kiwis will be welcoming Aussies. And all in time for Anzac Day too which is tremendous, to see that occur in the true Anzac spirit of our two nations coming together again. This will mean, importantly, jobs for Australia. We’ve already made major announcements about our travel sector and it is true that the trans-Tasman route is one of the most busy in terms of volume. That means more planes in the air, it means more jobs on the ground and in the air as well for our airlines. It means further support for our travel agents who book many of the international, the first of the international travel that we will see for Australians. And so I am sure that will be welcomed by those in the travel sector and in the aviation sector.
On jobs more broadly, more good news today with wonderful news of 7.4 percent increase in ANZ job ads today. That is 180,542 jobs that are out there right now. That is the highest level in over 12 years and it is further positive news, further good news, that demonstrates the comeback of the Australian economy. When you combine these events together, what we are seeing is Australia continue to move forward and our own part of the world moving forward between Australia and New Zealand, and we can welcome that into the future. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what is the update today in the number of vaccinations that have been done across the country, and why isn’t that information being provided daily as you do with the number of COVID cases?
PRIME MINISTER: The figures I have as of the 5th of April is that 854,983. Of that, there are some 280,943 that have been done through the GP clinics and the GP respiratory clinics and the other federal agencies. That is in addition to those that have been done through age and disability facilities, which is around the 112,830.
Now, I agree with you. I think it is a good idea for us to have even more data transparency on these issues and that is what we will be discussing with the premiers and chief ministers on Friday. I will be taking that to them on Friday to discuss. I think there is an interest and a keen appetite for more regular information. We are providing that weekly information but there is no reason why these figures can't be done on a more regular basis, and we welcome that. So I will talk those issues through with the state premiers and chief ministers on Friday. They have also, I think, indicated that they are keen for more data transparency on these things and I look forward to being able to satisfy that on Friday.
JOURNALIST: What do you say to Australians who are frustrated or disappointed at the slow pace of the rollout?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it is important that when we provide even more information that just before Easter, we hit 79,000 vaccinations in a day. And it is true that at this stage of our rollout, it is actually better than where Germany was, it is better than where New Zealand was, it was better than where South Korea was and Japan was, and so I think there will be some important context in the weeks ahead as we see the significant ramp up of the distribution network. And already, we are around about 1,500 or thereabouts GPs that are in the network at the moment but we are expecting that to grow even more by the end of this week. What this means is that we are getting more points of distribution closer to people in their communities.
I want to stress this point, and that is in the phase we are in currently, we are dealing with Australians who are more vulnerable. And so the best place for those Australians who may be elderly or may have disabilities or are in any of these sorts of groups, is to get that healthcare support of their vaccination through their GP. Their GP knows their medical history, their GP has built up confidence with them over a long period of time, they can talk to them about any questions or issues they might have about the vaccination. So the strategy has always been to use the primary health network to ensure that we can do the bulk of the vaccinations that are done for this important programme. Now, that is no different to any other vaccinations that are done. Our GP network does hundreds of thousands of vaccinations every week at normal times and this is added to that load and they’re doing a tremendous job and more and more are signing up. So in the weeks ahead, I think, you will see that continue to improve. The challenges Australia has had has been a supply problem. It is pure and simple. There was over 3 million doses from overseas that were contracted that never came. And that's obviously resulted in an inability to get 3 million other doses out and distributed through the network. I think it is really important that these points are made very clearly when we are talking about the rollout of the vaccine. Now, as CSL are ramping up their production and their systems are becoming even more efficient as they get into the rhythm of their production systems, there is also the approvals that they must follow once batches are produced. That involves both AstraZeneca internationally, it involves the TGA batch testing as well. I think it is very important that people understand that the fill and finish process doesn't involve the little vial coming off the production line and it go straight to the courier and the GP or the hospital where the states may be administering doses. That is not how it works. The way it works is once the vials are produced, they have to go through an approval process and that it is important because Australians need to be assured of these vaccines and that they are ticking all of the boxes. It is not just a matter of having the vaccine approved initially by the TGA, they have to test the batches as well. That is about Australians’ safety, and I don't intend to rush the process and put people's health at risk. So the capacity to distribute, the capacity to administer, the production of the vaccines, are starting to increase. And as that occurs in the weeks ahead, then we will see ourselves progressively working through what is a very large group of people who are needing to be vaccinated. Rosie?
JOURNALIST: Can you confirm which countries we are looking at announcing travel bubbles with next? And Jacinda Ardern said in her presser that she expected to get about 80 percent of the Australian market back by early 2021 because of today’s announcement. Is it the same arrangement for Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have been getting 100 percent of the New Zealand market because they have been the only ones who have been able to come to Australia for the last six months and we have welcomed that, and I think that will only increase now with Kiwis not having to do their return quarantine at the other end. The New Zealand-Australia travel market is a very high volume market and it works really well for people on both sides of the Tasman. After spending all of that time in New Zealand for the past year, I am sure that so many will be keen to get on a plane and come across to whether it is Queensland, New South Wales, WA, Tasmania, wherever they would like to go. So, look, it is a win-win outcome for the trans-Tasman travel to be open. Both countries benefit from that occurring.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you didn’t answer the question about where you’re looking to next, where can we expect the next travel bubble to be, is it Singapore, and do we…
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no, I can't confirm what they are at this point, we are not in no position to be outlining where the next ones will be. These things are regularly assessed by the Chief Medical Officer and we have looked at places like Singapore and Japan and South Korea and countries like this, but at this stage we are not in a position to move forward on any of those at this point.
JOURNALIST: Janet Yellen says the US will push for G20 Nations to adopt a minimum corporate tax rate. Is this something that…
PRIME MINISTER: I’m happy to move to another topic, but while we are on vaccines, why don't we stay there?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you have comments about the need for particularly vulnerable groups to talk to their GPs, suggest that later down the track as more supply becomes available, mass vaccination centres might be an option for the broad population?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, right now we are dealing with vulnerable populations and that is why we believe, particularly the way we’re doing it at present, provides the most care to those Australians. When we move into the balance of the population, when we’re talking about people in their 30s and their 40s and so on, then there are other options that open up and that is the stage at which in mid-year and beyond we were looking at things like pharmacists being involved in those distribution mechanisms. We were never looking at it at this stage of the rollout. That was never part of the plan and that was always very clear. Working with the states in terms of more high-volume facilities, well, we certainly haven't ruled that out. But the nature of that will depend on where is the best and most effective way we can distribute those vaccines. We will learn a lot from the rollout with the GP network particularly for the next few months and we are already seeing it ramp up considerably. In just two weeks, the GPs vaccinated 280,943 people. It is not a bad effort in their first couple of weeks and they are just getting started. That will continue to rollout as we ramp up the number of GPs that are directly involved in this programme. Ultimately, we are looking to get around 4,000, as I mentioned some weeks ago, and we are making steady progress towards that goal. But working with the states where they have the ability to assist further and as many of them have, I have indicated our willingness to work with New South Wales and we are already working with all the other states and territories on that. I'm pleased they have joined that group and I am sure that is something we can discuss further this weekend. But what is ultimately important is that we do this safely and we do this progressively and the key issue that we need to keep focusing on is the supply of the vaccines. And I can't stress enough again, were it not for our domestic manufacturing production capability of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Australia would not have a vaccination programme. We wouldn't be talking about anyone getting vaccines. And that is why the decision we took to put that in place wasn't just important last August, it is important right now because it is those very vaccines that are coming out of the CSL plant and going through the approval process. They are the vaccines that our vaccination programme depends and relies upon.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you agree though that if you went down the mass vaccination route, more people would be safe right now and vaccinated?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't. Because you are assuming a supply of vaccines that was not there. You are assuming that there were 3 million vaccines that were here, that were not here. I mean, the vaccines that we have available to us are being distributed and they are being administered, and so you are suggesting that they would have been other vaccines that could have been used at a larger scale. Well, the supply of those vaccines were not there, and so your assumption is based on a false premise of supply that was not there.
JOURNALIST: I mean the supply of vaccines we have now, though.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, but those vaccines that we’re producing now are matching the distribution network that we have.
JOURNALIST: How many doses is CSL actually rolling out every week at the moment? The Acting Chief Medical Officer and CSL both can’t say how many doses they’re providing to Government each week.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it varies from week to week. We are still in the early phases so it would be misleading, I think, to give you an average at this point. We know what we are hoping to achieve. But at this point, we are hoping to achieve the figures that have already been realised to some extent and that is around the 800,000 mark. That is achievable and we want to be able to try and keep achieving that, and if we can do better than that, then we will.
JOURNALIST: On the travel bubble, Prime Minister Ardern mentioned that the risk of disruption for people’s travel plans if there is an outbreak, have you sought assurances from the premiers that they will not be hasty to shut their borders to New Zealand if there is an outbreak in Auckland, for instance, as we saw at Christmas when Daniel Andrews gave very short notice to get home to Victoria. Is that threat of disruption perhaps going to impede the flow of two way travel at all?
PRIME MINISTER: It is a standing request that I have of the states to have proportionate responses, but ultimately, they are the ones who make those decisions about how they are the respondent on those specific cases. I was pleased to see that the restrictions that were introduced in Queensland were just as quickly removed, and that is very welcome. I think we all understand, whether it is Prime Minister Ardern or myself, that we are still not living in a COVID free environment, despite the success of both countries, and that from time to time, steps might have to be taken to protect both countries if there is a sizeable outbreak. So I think that is just assumed as part of how we all live with COVID. But where that can be minimised in terms of the size of the area we are talking about, and particularly to quite defined hot spots, that is an approach we have taken to New Zealand in the past when there has been outbreaks in Auckland. So we will continue to follow what I would call a proportionate response, and I would be always encouraging states to follow the same process. And I think, increasingly, that is what we're seeing this year compared to what we saw last year. Chris?
JOURNALIST: Given what we’re seeing with vaccine rollouts here and around the world, what’s your view on the likelihood of any international travel beyond New Zealand this year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I can’t really speculate on it Chris, and I’m not about you. I don’t think that’s fair. We are seeing populations around the world increasingly being vaccinated, but the important piece of information, which I’ve told you all on many occasions, is that while we know, absolutely, that the vaccines that we’re using and that other countries are using are very effective in ensuring against serious disease, and protecting, obviously can’t in all cases, particularly where people have comorbidities, against fatalities. But as more of the world, and particularly more of our own country, is vaccinated, then obviously we can start moving to managing this virus a lot more like other viruses that we deal with in a more standard way. That’s our objective, but we’ll let the evidence lead us on that. And at this point, the evidence is not strong enough to give us a good pointer about when we will arrive at that point.
JOURNALIST: The cohort that you’re now dealing with in terms of vaccinations often visits chemists, these people, and the chemists are saying today that they’re absolutely ready to go. They’re worried about their timetable slipping. Wouldn’t there be a case for bringing them forward in the progress, or is the supply the restraint on doing that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the supply is the major restraint and always has been, whether it’s been the non-delivery of vaccines from overseas, some three million that we were relying upon, and we all are aware of the situation in Europe and other places that has frustrated that supply. They’re circumstances that are outside Australia’s control. What was inside our control was ensuring that we had the capacity to make the vaccine in Australia, and we’ve done that, and that supply is what is supporting the distribution network through our GPs and the states and territories that is in effect now. It was never ever the plan that pharmacists would be involved in the vaccination program at this point, so there has been no slippage, there has been no delay, and the medical advice is it is not the time for pharmacists to be involved at this point. There has always been the plan to involve them at a later point with the more general population, and that is still the plan. And we have arrangements that are in place to achieve that, but right now, the supply is supporting the distribution network we’ve got through the GPs, and the states and territories, and we are seeing that ramp up week after week after week. To give you an example, I mean when we were first starting we had hoped to get, we hoped to get to around 80,000 a week and we were achieving that in the first couple of weeks. In the seven days prior to the Easter break - and obviously over the Easter break there hasn’t been many vaccinations over the course of the last four days, that will ramp up again as this week commences - we got to around 350,000 in a week. Now that is a significant increase in just a matter of weeks and we can continue to expect to see that increase over the weeks ahead as the distribution network expands, more GPs are involved. And I want to stress, it’s important that we get as many GPs involved as possible because that is more points of contact with the public, more points of contact. And they’re receiving anywhere between 50 and 2,000 doses. And so the fact that those doses have been getting out and they’ve been getting in the jabs in the arms, I strongly welcome, and there will be more rollout as they come off the production line and as they go through the necessary approval processes. And that is the phase that we’re dealing with now, and then we get to the next phase and there will be a role for pharmacists, and there is the potential for other ways that we can do that to ensure that we can move the vaccines across the balances of the population as safely and reasonably as possible.
Sam, Sam. I will come back to you, I’ll come back to you, I’ll come back to you, but Sam had her hand up.
JOURNALIST: Originally in January you were hopeful that you could vaccinate four million people by the end of March. That hasn’t happened, we’re at about a quarter I think, about 800,000, and you said partially that’s in relation to exports. But in relation to CSL, in relation to …
PRIME MINISTER: … imports …
JOURNALIST: … imports, sorry. In relation to CSL, they’ve got about 800,000 that are on the ground, and there’s also around two million that are awaiting further checks, and you’ve said that’s important. Given those sort of hold-ups, how many people would you expect to be vaccinated by the end of April?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Sam, a couple of things. There’s not a hold-up. The release of vaccines has always been based on them completing those processes, so the fact that they actually have to get approved by the relevant authorities and do the batch testing is not a hold-up, it’s a necessary part of the process to guarantee Australian safety. So I think to describe that as a hold-up would be, would be incorrect. Secondly, you talked about the four million figure. Well the simple explanation of that is three million - 3.1 million vaccines - that never came to Australia. And so that is the reason. Back in early January we had anticipated we would have those 3.1 million vaccines. Those 3.1 million vaccines were not supplied to Australia, and that explains the difference between the numbers you are referring to, and we made that very clear back in February. So to- and we made it very clear that they were indicative figures that we were working to at that time based on the information that we had. So I think it is important that as the Government puts information out about the program, it will be subject to change from time to time. There will be factors that come into play, such as the disruption of supplies. That can occur, even with domestic production, and we need to work to the supply that we have. And I think that’s only reasonable to consider it in that way, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.
Last, I said we’d, I said I’d come back to Greg, and then…
JOURNALIST: Pharmacists say that they were supposed to get, they were initially supposed to get advice on what clinics would administer doses by March 12. That’s been pushed back to April 12, and they say that their initial advice was they would actually be administering them by May, and that’s been pushed back to June. So, in what ...
PRIME MINISTER: It was always mid-year. We were always working to mid-year. Pharmacists were not coming in until the next phase. And so I welcome their enthusiasm and willingness to want to be involved in this, and when we reach that stage where they were to be involved then they’ll be involved. But you had another question on another matter?
JOURNALIST: Yeah just Janet Yellen. So, she’s pushing for a minimum corporate tax rate for the G20. Is this something you’d consider supporting, and are you concerned Australia has been at the losing end on an international bidding war for lower business tax rates?
PRIME MINISTER: Well in Australia, not only have we reduced the corporate tax rate and it’s on that path to 25 percent for businesses of less than 50 million in turnover, but I’d also add this. In the most recent Budgets we have introduced some of the most effective investment allowances and instant expensive initiatives that has, as well as research and development, taxation concessions, and a whole range of other measures that effectively lowers the corporate tax rate for Australian companies. And so the like-for-like assessment, I think you will find, would see Australia in a lot more competitive position than you would give Australia credit for. And we’re seeing that through the work that is being done currently in Australia’s efforts to attract more companies to Australia, and particularly when you take into account in key sectors, like in the space sector or the technology sector, or the minerals resource processing, or agrifood, or any of these key medical, biomedical industries where our manufacturing strategy is also being supported by grant programs and others to boost that, then Australia’s overall system is proving to be incredibly competitive and a lot more competitive than that analysis would suggest. And Australia does have an opportunity right now, and we are seeking right now to realise that opportunity. Companies from around the world, the best and brightest minds from all around the world, are working out that this is where they want to be. And they want to be here and be part of what’s happening here in Australia. And our success in managing COVID compared to other countries is a great endorsement of what Australia is putting forward to them, so I will have a bit more to say about that in the weeks ahead, but what I can tell you is Australia is leading the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. Today’s job vacancy numbers, they demonstrate that. Our vaccination program continues to upscale and continues to rollout, unlike in many other countries where they have had to move at a great pace, it has been because of the dire situation they are in. Australia is not experiencing the dire, fatal consequences that so many other countries are experiencing, and neither is New Zealand, whose vaccination program is, I’d say, at a lower level than Australia’s is now. It’s not a criticism, it’s just they don’t have access to a domestic vaccine production. Australia does, and that enables us going forward in the weeks and months ahead to scale all that up. So I’m very pleased about those job numbers. I’m very pleased that the Trans-Tasman route is opened up again. It’s another big step in our way back. Thanks very much.
Remarks, Cabinet Women's Taskforce Meeting - Australian Parliament House, ACT
6 April 2021
Prime Minister, Minister for Women
PRIME MINISTER: Welcome to this first Cabinet Taskforce on women’s security and economic security. Women's safety and security are very much, I think, the heart and soul of what the agenda for this group is about and I'm very pleased to be joined by co-chair Senator Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women.
This is a group that is the largest group, combined with the central agencies represented here, the largest group of women who have ever been represented in a Federal Cabinet. This, I think, is a high watermark that I would like to see rise even higher in the future and the calibre and the credibility of the women who sit around this table, combined with the experience of the other members, I think bring the right experience, the right lens, the right focus and the right priorities and importantly, the right values as to how we can address these critical issues.
When I announced the formation of this group, together with Minister Payne, I talked about the importance to focus on equality, on safety, on economic security, on health and well-being. And that is indeed our focus as we gather together in this way to look right across all aspects of how our Government functions.
But let's not also forget the important values that underpin our approach as Liberals and Nationals to our Government. Values of dignity, values of respect, values of family that are so critical to nurture the society in which we all live and we all depend. And family, more than any other, something that should be a place of safety for all Australians, particularly for women.
But we know that's not the case. We know the incidence of violence against women, particularly from intimate partners. We know the dreadful statistics and they are heartbreaking.
Now, this is not to say that over many years and for many governments, that progress hasn’t been made on these fronts. Of course it has. We are in the Fourth National Action Plan of the National Plan to Address Violence Against Women. Over a billion dollars has been invested by our own Government in these successive plans and that is something that is making a real difference. But more difference has to be made.
On the economic front, even as we've come through this pandemic, it was women whose economic opportunities were so significantly impacted when COVID hit. But we're pleased to say now, within a year, the number of women in employment today is higher than it was when the pandemic hit. The gender pay gap is at a record low and we have reached the same heights again and more of female participation in the workforce.
But there is much more to do. And as we gather together here in this place, as we often do as a full Cabinet with a particular focus and lens on our challenges as a country to ensure that women have at least equal opportunity, at least as much safety, at least as much economic security as men in this country.
This is what we hope for, for ourselves, for our families and for our daughters. Marise.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND MINISTER FOR WOMEN: Thank you very much, PM, and good morning, colleagues, and thank you for the opportunity to be here today.
I think this Taskforce is vitally important for the work that we are going to do. Important to accelerate and coordinate our efforts to deliver for Australian women right across this country and I really look forward to working with all of the colleagues here to deliver on the promise of this Taskforce, the commitments that we have made as a Government, the commitments we will make as a Government.
It gives us a good chance to take stock of what we are already doing. Prime Minister, you've referred to the National Plan for the Prevention of Violence against Women and their children. The implementation of the key priorities under the Women's Economic Security Statement, both 2018 and 2020 are already part of that stocktaking.
But this enables us to identify gaps. It also enables us to make decisions on how to fill those gaps through a targeted policy approach across Government that has a real and genuine impact on the issues that we know present the greatest challenges to women and girls in Australia.
Our purpose is to deliver practical, effective outcomes for Australian women in this process. The first priority, to respond to the remaining recommendations of the Respect@Work report, which we know is well underway in the safe hands of the Attorney-General, Minister Cash.
Also this week, Minister Ruston and I will co-chair the Women's Safety Taskforce meeting with all of our state and territory colleagues to discuss the next national plan on ending violence against women and their children.
I think this Taskforce will also help us drive an ambitious Budget programme, Prime Minister, and I'm very grateful for the engagement of the Treasurer and the Finance Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, with you in that process.
What the past two months, though, have underscored for us as a Government and as a nation is the depth of the issues that impact women, particularly in relation to violence and harassment, particularly in relation to workplace issues.
The work that we are doing here must have and will have an impact on addressing those concerns and the work that we already have underway through Prime Minister and Cabinet, through the independent review by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner are integral to that and I look forward to working with all of you to bring those to fruition.
Thanks, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Marise. There has never been a stronger voice for women in an Australian Government ever before. And when I think about the roles, in particular, that are represented around this table, the Attorney, law enforcement, social services, important services to Australians in the areas of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, foreign affairs, again, industrial relations, and in our defence industries and in the environment.
This is a very strong team, Michael and Josh and Simon. This will be an important opportunity today as we frame the next Budget and as we move to the next National Plan. So thank you all very much and appreciate the media's attendance.
Press Conference - Raytheon Australia, Adelaide SA
31 March 2021
MICHAEL WARD, RAYTHEON AUSTRALIA: OK good morning. I’d like to welcome the Prime Minister, the Premier, the Minister for Defence Industry and the Minister for Finance here for the opening of Raytheon Australia’s Centre for Joint Integration. This precinct will form the hub of our integrated air and missile defence industry approach over the next 10 to 20 years. And with that opening, I’d like to hand over to the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much to Raytheon for the welcome here and the ability for us to come and congratulate them on this amazing new facility, and I congratulate the Premier for the wonderful job he's done here in South Australia to make it the defence state and the jobs that have been created here in South Australia as part of our Defence Industry Plan.
Can I also of course welcome Minister Birmingham, not just the Minister for Finance but a passionate South Australian Senator, joined by his colleagues here today, Melissa Price Defence Industry Minister having re-joined Cabinet.
We are bringing forward and 2045 to now, the development of our Sovereign Guided Weapons Enterprise. This was something I flagged last year, when I spoke of the update of our Defence Strategic Plan. This is all about ensuring that we have the capability to do what we need to do to protect and defend Australia’s interests in our part of the world.
This is a billion-dollar initiative to bring this forward, to ensure that we have what we need to do what's right for all Australians, and to do it with the best partners is in the world, our defence industry. We have been working together with now for many years, as we've recovered, rebuilt, restored the investment that we put in every single day to our defence industry and our defence capability to keep Australian safe, to assure that Australians can stand up for our interests, to stand up in our part of the world, to stand up for Liberal democracy and the freedom that so many before us paid the ultimate price, for us to enjoy here today.
And to do that, you’ve got to have the best people, the best companies, the best technology, the best systems and that's what we're seeing built here in our defence industry.
Today I’ll also announce the Defence Industry Roadmap, this is part of our Advanced Manufacturing Strategy and joining together with other sectors, like the medical sector, the minerals technology sector, recycling and other important sectors, food processing and the like, key manufacturing sectors, so we continue to make things here in Australia. Real programs, with real support to build the capability of our small, medium size and larger enterprises so they can participate in the significant work that is being done. And they become a partner of choice, whether it's in the defence industry or so many other sectors.
The plan I launch today is about realising the next phase of development of our defence industry, so it's an important day for Australia on the day that we celebrate the RAAF Centenary, just one of the many great stories of Australia's Defence Forces and I particularly pay credit and tribute to all who have served in our RAAF. And as they come together in Canberra today with the Governor-General to mark this important anniversary, this Centenary, of their service to our nation, so we thank them for that.
I'm going to ask the Premier now to speak, and the Defence Industry Minister and Senator Birmingham to talk about how important this is for South Australia.
But introducing the Premier. He is a partner in this exercise. He is a partner who gets things done. Something significant changed when Premier Marshall became Premier, and that is the South Australian Government stopped arguing with the Federal Government and started working with the Federal Government, and that has paid big dividends for South Australia. We found a Premier we could work with, to get things done, and that wasn't interested in the politics, was only interested in the delivery and together the Premier and I, Premier Marshall and I are getting things done. Both for Australia and for South Australia and I'm so pleased he’s here with me today.
STEVEN MARSHALL MP, PREMIER OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Thanks very much Prime Minister. It's great to have you here in our state. I too would like to acknowledge that today is the Centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force and we thank all the current serving and veteran members of the RAAF for their incredible service to our nation. It's a very special day for everybody involved with the RAAF, we are especially celebrating it here in South Australia, one of two super bases in the nation. Edinburgh is based here in our state.
Can I just say the Prime Minister is 100% right, we have cut out all of the fake fights with Canberra since we came to Government and we have now been the beneficiary of great new platforms and programs for our state, including of course the Australian Space Agency, but today, we are here at Raytheon Australia for the opening of this major new centre for joint integration.
Now, probably people don't know what a centre for joint integration is, I will tell you. It is a fantastic new defence manufacturing and integration capability, based right here in South Australia, a massive $50 million investment from Raytheon Australia which is really showing their great confidence in South Australia, the defence state. I also want to massively acknowledge the vision, the bold vision that the Prime Minister has announced today, to set up a new national guided weapons enterprise for Australia. This is an incredibly important issue for national security.
This Prime Minister, more than any other, has very clearly identified that we need sovereign manufacturing capability in this country. We certainly need sovereign manufacturing capability for guided weapons, and that's what this is about.
I know it is a new national enterprise, yet to be determined, but we are course, as the defence state, going to be putting ourselves forward to get as much of this as possible. We’ve got great skills in South Australia, we’ve got great capability in South Australia, and we got great ambition when it comes to the defence industry, so today, a great day for South Australia, to have the Prime Minister here in our state, talking space, talking defence, celebrating the many thousands and thousands of jobs that we already have in defence industry but most importantly, those thousands of jobs for the next generation of people to deliver our sovereign capability for our nation.
THE HON. MELISSA PRICE MP, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY: Thank you. Wonderful to be here with Premier Marshall and the Prime Minister. Our Government has a very ambitious $270 billion defence capability ambition. But this mission cannot be done by ourselves, and today we are standing in this $50 million new facility of Raytheon, so our Government needs good partners like Raytheon. But it's not just the big end of town. Our government is focused on developing our small and medium enterprises. Those companies who don't even know they are defence-ready yet. So I want to acknowledge and thank Raytheon for the work that they do in supporting and developing our Raytheon for the work that they’ve done, and their contribution with respect to the new Manufacturing Defence Roadmap, which is a very important roadmap, which is very complementary to our sovereign industrial capability program. Our four structure plan acknowledged that our Government was going to invest $1 billion and our missile capability. Today we have announced that we are bringing the work on that very important capability forward and the next step is for us to work with our potential partners. It is a great day for defence capability, an excellent day for South Australia, thank you.
SENATOR THE HON. SIMON BIRMINGHAM, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: This is an incredibly exciting day for all South Australians as we see real outcomes and real job from the record investment in defence industry. This centre for joint integration is so symbolic of what is important about the defence industry and defence investment our Government has been making. The integration element is about big global primes working with small businesses to take them onto the global stage. That's what's going to happen here. Small Australian and South Australian businesses getting the leg up to be able to work with a global prime and secure opportunities not just to contribute to Australia's defence industry, but to contribute into global supply chains, and it is all possible thanks to the integration between Federal Government and State Government working together. Prime Minister Morrison, Premier Marshall, working in partnership in an integrated way to get real outcomes, and on behalf of all South Australia's Federal Liberal MPs, I want to thank the PM, the Premier, the Minister for Defence industry and Minister for Defence for their leadership in making this happen. But above all, Raytheon for their investment, investment facilitated because of the long-term plans and commitments our Government has made. The Defence industry is no longer being fed one minute at a time, they can absolutely plan for the future, invest for the future, and this investment here is about the long-term capability that will deliver long-term jobs for South Australians for decades to come.
PRIME MINISTER: Simon and I will just take questions in a second. But I also want to acknowledge the work that was done by former Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds for getting us to this point here today and the announcements we have been able to make today. Able so want to thank Minister Andrews for the great work she has done as Industry Minister and the work she has done in bringing this roadmap together today to get us to this point. Happy to take questions, why don't we deal with the questions on the matters that we have announced today and then if you wish to move to other matters.
JOURNALIST: That $2 billion, what’s the likelihood of that work ending up in South Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: It's going to go where we’ve got the greatest capability and it's going to go where we can get the job done and that is what Australian taxpayers would expect. There are no special favours or deals here, but we want Australians very much at the heart of what we're doing here and we are developing that capability. And so this is the defence state so I'm sure they were put their best foot forward and I’m sure they’ll do very well.
JOURNALIST: Just on that Prime Minister, from what you’ve seen today, how well-positioned do you think Raytheon is to capitalise?
PRIME MINISTER: I think they are very well positioned but they are one of many and they are a very outstanding organisation, and we're very pleased to see what they have been to establish here. But this is the great advantage that we now have, that Minister Price and I, and now Minister Dutton, in that there are so many companies now establishing and building their capability and many of them are doing it right here in South Australia. Doing it in Queensland too, there are doing it in other states around the country and that is great to see. All Premiers, all states are seeing the great opportunity for jobs, for their people and their states. But I can tell you, I haven't seen anyone more enthusiastic and more action orientated than Premier Marshall in seeking to secure those opportunities.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how exactly do you see manufacturing missiles in current defence projects. Can you unlock the connections there [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they sit in parallel, but as I referred to in my earlier comments, we have augmented what our broader strategic outlook is, and that involved bringing forward the capability for longer-range strike and that's what this capability is about. And that sits in harmony with the other priorities we have, whether it’s naval ship building or elsewhere. We have a coordinated, comprehensive capability plan that is matched to the threats and to the security environment that Australia is facing now and that we are in the future. But I should also stress, that is a capability that meshes together with our alliance partners as well, particularly the United States, but beyond that. The Quad itself began from a humanitarian perspective many, many years ago. It has now risen to a leaders level which is having a far broader reference than that, but it remains the case that the relationship between ourselves, Japan, India and Australia is very much grounded on our joint security interests here. And there are many other partners that add to that, the United Kingdom in particular, an important defence partner of Australia as well. What do we all have in common? Liberal democracy, the values that we share, ensuring that is something that will remain long-established here in this part of the world and elsewhere.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’re obviously back in South Australia
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah! Love being back in South Australia!
JOURNALIST: Has a decision been made about the future of the Collins Class Full-Cycle Docking?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it hasn't.
JOURNALIST: Why not?
PRIME MINISTER: Because there are other matters that we are dealing with at the moment, that matter is not one that needs to be addressed at this point. There are still many years before we are in that position and there are a series of other issues we’re dealing with across the procurements where I am focusing my attention right now.
JOURNALIST: So what’s your message to the people out at [inaudible] sweating on if they’ll have work?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, keep working. They’re doing a great job. They’re doing a great job. What has been achieved here with this Collins Class Full-Cycle Docking has been extraordinary, they’ve demonstrated a great capability here. It’s one that I'd take very seriously and acknowledge.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can we ask you about the vaccine rollout? The number of vaccines they’ve received not [inaudible] have not administered [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: I wouldn't over interpret this. The vaccine schedules for delivery have for 12 weeks have been provided to the states, that’s been the case, I am certainly not making any criticism of that. It’s a big job, we are all doing it, the states and territories are doing it for their frontline workers and hospitals and their quarantine workers. And we are doing it through the GP rollout. Of course, at the outset, when 3 million or so vaccines aren’t able to be delivered to Australia because of the vaccine release out of Europe in particular, that was obviously going to impact the early success. But we are already at over 650,000, I expect by next week we will be into the million, and each week the distribution and the vaccination dosage gets stronger and stronger and stronger. We’re on track for our first dose for everyone by the end of October. In particular, the states and territories are moving through their workforce, as is their part of the responsibility. We are working through the GPs as we move into 1B and the 6 million Australians that are part of that. And so, it’s not a race, it’s not a competition, I am not interested in, you know, this state, or that state. I’m interested in Australians being vaccinated safely, with appropriate care and support given to all of them. Australia has put itself into position to have a manufactured vaccine here in Australia. We’re not relying, like most of the countries in the world, for vaccines to be coming from somewhere else. They’re getting made here in Australia, in Melbourne. I was there last Friday, saw them coming off the line, going into distribution, heading out into the GPs and states around the country. So we are getting on with this, we are getting it done and it will continue to build day after day. Not interested in people who want to play politics with vaccines and distribution and all of that sort of thing, I will leave the politics to those who want to play politics. It's my job to get people vaccinated, and the Premiers’ job to get people vaccinated and that is exactly what we're are doing.
JOURNALIST: Particularly Queensland has accused you of [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that target was explained months ago, that was dispensed with because of the problems we had with vaccines not coming from overseas. That it was dealt with months ago, so that being put up as some constant target is just politics.
JOURNALIST When do you imagine that will reach [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Well we are tracking this, we have got over 800,000 vaccines coming out every week and we are reviewing that on a weekly basis and how that is tracking over time, but the target to get everybody with their first dose by the end of October, that is on track.
JOURNALIST: Queensland has accused you of, or Canberra, of a lack of transparency because of supply issues.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don’t agree with that. They have a 12 week forward projection of dose distribution to all states and territories. The Premier has his, all the other states have theirs. But again, I have no interest in getting involved on the tit-for-tat on vaccines. What Australians want is for people to get vaccinated, Governments to work together. We’ll work with the Queensland Government, the South Australia Government, all the Governments. The National Cabinet is meeting again next week and we’ll I’m sure have a discussion about that. They’ve been receiving the regular updates from Brendan Murphy, Professor Murphy who is part of that process, so I think these issues may be being a bit over interpreted. States and territories, the Commonwealth working closely together to get Australians vaccinated. And as I said, one of the few countries in the world, only about 20 countries in the world can actually produce their vaccines in their own country, and there is only about half a dozen or so who do the AstraZeneca vaccine. So the decision that our Government took, the Federal Government took, to ensure that we had a domestically manufactured vaccine meant that we have a vaccination program. If we hadn't taken that decision, last August, then we would not have a vaccination program today. We wouldn't be talking about the rate of vaccination, we’d be talking about no vaccination, and that was because of the foresight and the wisdom of the decision that we took in the midst of the crisis of the second wave of the virus in Victoria. We were making the decision to ensure that Australians would be getting their vaccines now.
JOURNALIST: Can we get your reaction to Grace Tame's comments that you’ve used this reshuffle is a distraction?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I wouldn't share those views. I respect Grace and I once again congratulate her on her strong advocacy on the issues that have been so, so front of mind, particularly. They’ve always been front of mind for people who have been dealing with these issues over generations. And so, of course, I respect her contribution and I know that Senator Stoker is in particular, keen to work with Grace Tame, as she takes on her new responsibilities. I think everybody has a contribution to make here and we’ll continue to do that in a respectful way, that draws together the experience of women from all walks of life, from all different perspectives. And if anyone disagrees then, as a country you know, there’s nothing wrong with disagreeing with each other but I think we’ve got to find better ways to disagree. And this comes and builds from a culture of respect in this country, which I know and I’m sure Grace would agree, is something we need to continue to build.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on electric cars, 2019 you ridiculed [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: No, that would be an unfair suggestion.
JOURNALIST: Do you stand by those comments?
PRIME MINISTER: I didn't ridicule that technology, that's good technology. We actually have policies to support that technology. What I called into question was the Labor Party policy and their ability to implement it. And I think we're in a similar process today. I mean, the Labor Party getting together, they spent $30 billion in two days. Imagine what they'd be like if they had three years. Again, we see that they don't know how to spend money responsibly. You know, JobKeeper was the biggest single economic intervention this country has ever seen. It was a lifeline to this country, economy, but a lifeline literally to people's lives and livelihoods. It was a bold and brave decision of our Government to do this and put in place this support. But that was only half the decision. When you make big economic decisions like this, then you've got to be prepared to make the decision at the other side, which is at some point it has to be withdrawn. And we've taken that decision. The Labor Party has not supported us in that decision, they think you can spend money forever. They think you can run the Australian economy on taxpayers money forever. You think you can put the Government at the centre of the economy forever. That's not our vision. Our vision is one of economic responsibility, fiscal responsibility that sees our economies led by businesses like the ones we're standing here right now. That's where people's jobs come from the future, they don’t come from the Government spending your money, they come from the Government wisely investing in areas responsibly that ensures that government finances, I'm sure the Minister for Finance would agree, is done responsibly and you just can't, you know, run around spending money recklessly, like the Labor Party seem to have made an art form over the life of the of their time.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: I can’t quite hear you sorry.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there are very clear responsibilities on the vaccination program and the vaccine administration for those frontline health workers is managed by the states and territories. That's the partnership we had. We paid for those as the Federal Government, federal taxpayers you paid for it, to ensure that we secured those doses. That's more than $6 billion dollars that the Federal Government invested in ensuring that the states and territories would have the doses they could administer. But their task was to administer those doses to frontline workers. Now, I'm not making any criticism about this. It's a big project. And we just need to get on with it and get this done. That's exactly what we're doing. We're doing it here in South Australia, doing it all around the country. And I look forward to us meeting those marks next week and ensuring that we progress on, and ensuring that Australia continues to emerge safer and their health protected, but importantly, the jobs that we’re seeing created here by the announcement today are realised, and I thank the Premier of South Australia once again for being here and being such a great partner. Thank you all very much.
Opening Remarks, Australian Space Discovery Centre - Adelaide SA
31 March 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’s a pleasure to be here today to see realised, what the vision has been for the Space Agency here and Australia's space future. I want to thank Megan in particular, and Kathy, and Enrico and of course Premier Marshall for his great vision and leadership in securing this amazing presence here in Lot Fourteen, which is rapidly becoming the centre of all things when it comes to space, and technology, and cyber security and so many other elements. And it's really, I think, taking South Australia into a whole new dimension when it comes to how South Australia is seen not just here around the country but all around the world. As being an absolute centre.
Today is the 100th anniversary of our RAAF, of the Royal Australian Air Force. And their motto is "through struggle to the stars." And what they've been able to achieve over the last century, all of us in Australia are incredibly proud of and we thank all of those who have served in our RAAF. But what we're seeing here, through that same motto, is something equally as exciting and to see the looks on the young people's faces this morning as they were just here absorbing this. I mean, Kathy's here from Questacon, this is a partnership with Questacon. You know when young people come to Canberra and they go through the science exhibits, Cathy knows all about that, their eyes light up and to see them just completely absorbing and engaging about what the possibilities are.
But, you know, it's not just about astronauts and rockets. It's about floods, it's about bushfires, it's about understanding how we manage our own environment. It's about the technology, which is going to create high value jobs whether here in South Australia or elsewhere around the country. But all of that begins with discovery and our own personal discovery and we have young people in there discovering right now. And I can't think of anything more exciting than completely opening up and exciting the mind of a young Australian. And to see the possibilities of what's there in the future. I was talking to one young girl in there before. And I said to her, "imagine what you'll know when you're my age. Imagine what you'll know." And with all the discovery and all the things that are happening and how quickly - and she just had a huge smile. And it's very true, it's very exciting. You cannot help that when you think about particularly this sector, the space sector, which we have highlighted as one of our key sectors for our advanced manufacturing - you can't help but get excited and positive about the future. Sure, we've got heaps of challenges, we've got heaps of problems, but when you experience what we've just done in the last 20 minutes or so and see the hope and the optimism that is there, I couldn't be more proud of the Australian Space Agency, Enrico and Megan. I couldn't be more proud of our science community, Cathy. And how that has contributed to everything that's happening here. But Steven I couldn't be more proud of South Australia also.
On that note, I'm very pleased to declare the Australian Space Discovery Centre, open.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
29 March 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. It is my intention today to advise the Governor-General of a number of proposed changes to my Ministry. To do that I'm joined by the Minister for Women and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Payne. These changes will shake up what needs to be shaken up while maintaining the momentum and the continuity and the stability that Australia needs as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. Those priorities again, the rollout of that vaccine and suppress the virus, the economic recovery that is well underway, with more Australians employed now than there were before the pandemic began, to guarantee those essential services that Australians rely on each and every day, the health services, the disability services, the aged care services, the income support. To stand up for Australia, whether it's against big multinationals or within our own region, to stand up for our interests and ensure we've got what is necessary to back that up. And to continue the important work of caring for our country, as Indigenous Australians have done for centuries and centuries and thousands of years.
There'll be no changes in areas such as Treasury, Finance, Health, Social Services that go to many of those priorities. But what we must do is address the Government's agenda with the changes that we're making and do so I think, with a fresh lens and a fresh lens, in particular to achieving the outcomes, the results that we all want for Australian women across the country. Getting these results for Australian women will be achieved through collaboration. They'll be achieved through listening. They'll be achieved by acting together. They won't be achieved by dividing Australians and setting them apart and having further conflict. It will be achieved by Australians coming together to deal with these very serious and significant issues. The changes I'm announcing today will once again provide the strongest ever female representation in an Australian Government Cabinet. But it's not just about the size of the female contingent in my Cabinet, but it's the skills and the experience, it's the perspective, and it's the collaboration they bring to our nation's most difficult tasks. And that, indeed extends beyond the Cabinet. Women taking up as they must, as they should, as I very much want them to do and as they are so keen to do so, these senior roles and in particular the important portfolios right across the Government. This is about getting the right input. This is about getting the right perspective. It's about getting that lens on the policy challenges that we're facing in the policy development and delivery work that needs to be undertaken and doing so in those key agencies of government that are so important for achieving this change.
These appointments will be further enhanced by the establishment of a new Cabinet Taskforce to drive my Government's agenda and response to these key issues involving women's equality, women's safety, women's economic security, women's health and well-being. This task force will be co-chaired by Minister Payne and I. It will comprise all female members of my Ministry, and there is quite a number. It will also be joined by the portfolio Ministers from what is known as the Central Agency; the Treasurer, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Finance. I'll ask Minister Payne for a bit more about that in a moment once I've run through the changes to the Ministry.
So to those changes. Michaelia Cash will be Australia's next Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations. She has done an outstanding job for our Government. She's a fine Attorney and she's a fine Parliamentarian and I'm looking forward to her leadership in this role and she also holds the position of Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate in recognition of her significant talents. Anne Ruston will join the leadership team of my Government, those 10 ministers who join together on a very regular basis, of which Minister Payne is also a member. Anne Ruston will join that team and she will also have added to her title things that she is predominantly responsible for right now and that is Minister for Women's Safety in Cabinet. Karen Andrews will take on the job of Minister for Home Affairs. Karen has done an outstanding job in her role, particularly bringing together and championing Australia's advanced manufacturing strategy. She is a woman of great talent, of great experience, and great practicality. I first put Karen into the Cabinet because I believed so heavily in her abilities and I'm so pleased with the job that she's done and now she's ready for a new job and I think she's going to do an outstanding job, as someone who once held those portfolio responsibilities, in some respects, you can forgive me by being pretty particular about who I appoint in Home Affairs and she is going to do an outstanding job. Linda Reynolds will remain in Cabinet and will take on the portfolio of Government Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I've been in regular contact with both Linda and her doctor, with her permission, and she has recovered extremely well. And we have discussed her return to work and agreed that a domestic portfolio would be best for her. But she is in good health and I know she will do an outstanding job in this area. She has previously served on the Committee for the NDIS and knows those issues extremely well. She's a very good operational Minister and so taking responsibility for Government Services and the continued rollout of programs I think will fit her skills and talents well. Melissa Price will be returning to Cabinet, so I'll be expanding the Cabinet by one to where it was when Minister Cormann was in the Cabinet and she will retain the portfolio of Defence Industry. The Defence Industry portfolio has previously been in Cabinet and when Minister Pyne held that portfolio, amongst others, and he did an excellent job setting up this procurement program that we're involved in now, and I need a keen set of eyes continuing on those projects, significant as they are for the Australian Government and our defence. And she's been doing an outstanding job in the outer ministry in this area and I'm pleased that I'm able to bring her back into Cabinet in that role.
Those five ministers will join, of course, Minister Payne and Minister Ley, who will continue on in their roles as Foreign Affairs, Minister for Women and Sussan Ley as Minister for the Environment. And as you know, Minister Ley also has the House duty responsibilities for Minister for Women. Jane Hume will take on the additional portfolio in the outer Ministry of Women's Economic Security, and Amanda Stoker will take on the additional role of, she's currently Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General, she will add to that Assistant Minister to the Minister for Industrial Relations, as well as Assistant Minister to the Minister for Women. Minister Payne will effectively become the leader of that group of women. She is effectively amongst her female colleagues, the prime Minister for Women, holding the prime, ministerial responsibilities in this area as the Minister for Women. It is her job to bring together this great talent and experience across not just the female members of my Cabinet team and the outer Ministry and Executive, but to draw also in the important contributions, especially in areas such as health and services and aged care and other key important roles that go so much to women's well-being in this country.
The other changes, Peter Dutton who has done an extraordinary job as Minister for Home Affairs. He was the first Minister for Home Affairs in a very, very long time. He succeeded me in the portfolio of Immigration and Border Protection many years ago and he has carried on that great work. The boats have stopped. He kept them stopped and he has moved in so many other areas of that portfolio. But I know the one that Peter has been most passionate about, as a former law enforcement officer himself, he has done extraordinary work to protect children from sexual violence in this country. And he hasn't just done it here. He's sat aside Attorney-Generals of other countries, particularly in the United States and in the United Kingdom and other places, to work together to crack down on the sexual paedophile rings that exist all around the world. His leadership in that area has been extraordinary and his passion has also been immensely impressive. So he leaves that portfolio after some very long years of service and I want to thank Peter very much for the hard road he has had in that portfolio, I have some knowledge and understanding of it. He will take on the job of Minister for Defence and he will also take on the job of Leader of the Government in the House. Stuart Robert, Minister Robert will take on the job of a critical area for the Government's economic strategy. I've mentioned three particular areas that our economic recovery depends on. One is workforce. We have a massive challenge in this country to get the workforce this country needs to do the things we want to do, whether it's build naval ships, whether it's to ensure we have the aged care and disability care workforce we need, that we have the number of mental health professionals, whether they be as psychiatrists or counsellors or nurses, the rural workforce we need, the systems engineers we need for our defence procurements. We have an enormous workforce challenge, whether it's in our rural and regional areas or the particular areas we need in advanced sciences and other areas to support our manufacturing industries. Workforce is a big piece of our economic puzzle that we must get firmly in place. That combined with Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Minister Robert will take those portfolios on with a great deal of experience, having run his own business as well, including as an employment business, he knows full well how to pull a team together and create a workforce to do the job. So as Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, he will be a key participant in the Government's economic recovery strategy. Christian Porter will take on a new portfolio for Industry, Science and Technology. I've spoken to this about Minister Porter over the course of these last few weeks when he's been on mental health leave. This fully addresses all the issues that relate to the advice received from the Solicitor-General, as well as the advice received from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet regarding the Ministerial guidelines. He's a very capable Minister, and I'm sure he'll apply his considerable talents to that portfolio to the best of his abilities. And so with that, I will ask Minister Payne to speak further.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. I want to acknowledge the importance of the focus that the Prime Minister brings in these Ministry arrangements, the lens that the Prime Minister has been very clear that he wants applied across Government. I think your words Prime Minister, were to have the right lens on the challenges in key agencies and bringing together a taskforce which comprises the former senior members of the Government, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance, adds and includes all of the women represented across the Ministry, is a very powerful way to do that. It puts addressing these issues at the centre of Government and that is absolutely the focus that this brings. I think the increase, I also welcome the increase of the number of women in Cabinet again to see it back to its highest level. The only Government that can say that is this Government. And it is with great pleasure that I welcome Melissa Price back to the Cabinet table.
What the engagement of the Ministers that the Prime Minister has outlined in the arrangements today gives us, is a Minister in the Treasury portfolio who has a capacity to direct and focus on women's economic security. The Minister for Social Services, who has so many of the programs in relation to women's safety and in relation to the prevention of violence against women and their children in her portfolio, with that express and implicit responsibility stated clearly in, in her role. I have not seen a Cabinet put together in this way to address these key issues. Through our Women's Economic Security Statement, the work that we have been doing in recent years since the first of those in 2018, we have had a strong focus on economic security, on women's safety and on leadership. This puts that focus at the heart of Government and around every single Cabinet table discussion whenever the Cabinet meets and across the broader Ministry. We know that the last few weeks have been extraordinarily challenging, confronting and difficult for so many people in this country, but none more than those women who have had to deal with or address assault or harassment or inappropriate behaviour in their workplaces, in their communities, in their social life, in their families across Australia. And bringing a gender equality lens if you like, to the whole of Ministry approach enables us to really focus in on those issues right across Government in a way that I have never seen before. I think it's very powerful. I think it's a very important and strong message to the Australian community and one which I am very pleased to work on with the Prime Minister and with my other senior colleagues. Thanks, Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in relation to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, she's obviously been criticised for those comments where she referred to Britney Higgins as a lying cow. Today, we've seen an Adelaide radio broadcaster who was sacked for suggesting that women who get drunk are in some way are to blame for what happens to them. The criticism has been there were no consequences for Linda Reynolds. Do you see this move as in any way a demotion or consequence, or do you see it in different terms?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the comment that Linda made was extraordinarily out of character. I mean, people in this place who know Linda Reynolds would have been as shocked by her comment as much as that it was she who was making it. It was an intemperate remark made at the wrong time for all the wrong reasons and she has completely apologised for that, sincerely. That apology has been accepted and the issue has been resolved and so that's where that matter rests. And so it is now a matter for the Government getting on with that job and for Linda to be able to take up new responsibilities. She was previously serving in the, as the Minister for Defence. It's a very senior role within the Government. She has stepped aside from that role and is taking on a new role within the Government and I think that reflects where she is best able to serve the Government.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Sarah Henderson has said this morning who said she doesn't feel comfortable being in the same partyroom as Andrew Laming, given his inappropriate behaviour towards women. How can you justify having him or keeping him in your partyroom, given you've said that it's up to you to get your house in order first?
PRIME MINISTER: Getting the house in order means me explaining very clearly to Andrew that his behaviour was unacceptable and that his behaviour needs to change and that he needs to seek support and help to change his behaviour, and that is exactly what he is doing at his own expense in terms of the support that he's seeking through the services that he will now access. See, what we need to do here is change behaviour. So when he returns that he will be I think, in a better position, I think, to give that assurance to other colleagues and anyone else. He was elected at the last election. He is, he has done something quite significant. He has said he is not seeking re-election. That is not a small thing to do, to walk away from a career in politics that he has served his community now for many, many years. So he's taken that on the chin and he's reflected on his own actions and he is not putting himself forward for re-election and re-nomination by the Liberal Party. And he's reflected on the conversation he and I had over the course of the weekend and I'm pleased that he is taking that instruction to get that support, to change his behaviour, and I believe we will see him return better for that experience and better able, I think, to provide his colleagues with the assurances that they are seeking and that they legitimately seek. But let's not forget what our goal is here. Our goal across all of these issues is to change behaviour. Andrew has said he wants to change his behaviour, so we intend him to support him to do just that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've called Senator Payne the prime Minister for Women, but aren't you the women's Prime Minister? Are you not fit to do the job of Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: I think you may have misunderstood the point I was trying to make. Of course I’m the Prime Minister. What I'm saying is that in this case, the Minister for Women is the Minister that is primarily responsible for drawing together the many different women who have been given Ministerial responsibilities for women. I mean, if I had not made that comment, I may have been accused of having too many ministers for women and what was Marise Payne doing? Well, that would also have not been the case. What I'm simply saying is I've given Marise a leadership responsibility amongst the women in our Cabinet and across our Ministry to pull it all together in the same way that I do across all areas of the Government. So, I think to be fair that characterisation I don't think reflects what I was saying.
JOURNALIST: PM, you said in your opening remarks about getting the right lens on things with these changes. Your October Budget was criticised in some quarters for being blind towards women. Can we expect a sort of different emphasis in the forthcoming Budget to be more mindful of the concerns of women?
PRIME MINISTER: I'd say a couple of things, and I'm sure Marise would like to add, I'm sure having been responsible for the many things that she brought forward into that Budget. First and foremost, what we have seen as a result of that economic recovery plan and that Budget is see women get back into jobs. I mean, women were the most exposed and at risk during the COVID period for a whole range of reasons. First of all, there was the economic security and the loss of jobs which we saw, and more women have made up those jobs returning to our economy than men. In addition to that, women were also more at risk, whether it was from domestic violence, harassment or many other things. We put an additional $150 million just in our COVID response to support and protect women against violence during that period. And that has been somewhat successful, working together with states and territories as well. Our Budget was very much focused, I think on delivering outcomes for women and there were specific initiatives in the Women's Economic Security package that the Minister brought forward into that Budget. And as we go into this Budget, I think we will be working hard to explain right across the country just how much all of the initiatives of our Budget deliver positive outcomes for women, whether that be their equality, their economic security, their safety and also their well-being, whether in health or other areas. But Marise?
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: Thank you. What we've seen in February of this year is women's workforce participation increased to 61.4 percent. In February of 2020, it was at 61.2 percent. The economic response, the Budget response of last October was about making sure those jobs were protected, those connections were kept with employers and that people were able to come back into the workforce. The gender pay gap, similarly, although this will be a varying figure because of the changes in employment rates, but the gender pay gap itself, as at November 2020, now again at 13.4 percent. That represents the largest narrowing of the gender pay gap since we have been making that statistical analysis. And we know from the work that the Workplace Gender Equality Agency is doing that there's more to do in that regard. But it is absolutely the right path, the right trajectory. The Women's Economic Security statement of 2018 set the groundwork, if you like, for this Government's approach to these issues. But in 2020, we brought an absolute COVID-19 response focus to that about addressing those key issues of workforce participation, of gender pay gap and of women's safety through the initiatives in that Women's Economic Security statement across the diverse cohort that represents Australian women in the workforce in particular. So I know that with the Minister for Women's Economic Security in the Treasury portfolio, with the opportunity to bring together this taskforce, which has sitting around the table the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance, no matter who those people are in this in this conversation, those portfolios drive so much of our response. That will enable us to ensure that we continue to do that and that we grow it and that we bring that gender equality lens to those discussions at the highest levels of Government, in the centre of Government.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’ve assigned a number of these women's issues to various women in your Ministry. What role then do you see for the other men in your Ministry? It seems from the outset that you're making the issue of dealing with women's issues very much the responsibility of women. And if I can as well as, Minister Payne, what would you see is a barometer of success for the taskforce that you'll be leading? What would you hope would be markers that you could achieve in its first five, six months or year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, I wouldn't share that perspective. It's every single member of the Cabinet’s job to work hard for every single Australian, be they men or women, be they Indigenous or non-Indigenous, be they able bodied or living with a disability, whether they be a senior or they be a youth. It is the job of every Minister in my Government and every member of the Executive, indeed every member of Parliament, to ensure that they are working for all Australians and indeed the taskforce that has been established, four of the members, myself, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Transport and, of course, the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance. Now, all of us, obviously, from the central agencies, as happened to be male Ministers, but we work right across Government. That means a whole of Government approach to ensuring that we're drawing this in. And the taskforce will work like many of our Cabinet sub-committees work. Where there are issues dealing with health and aged care, the Health and Aged Care Minister will be brought into the room to discuss those issues in particular. When we're talking about jobs, employment, workforce issues, small business, women are the proud owners and pioneers of small business in this country, always have been. The Minister will be brought in to specifically deal with those issues, the Minister for Defence and other Ministers specifically drawn in to deal with those issues. What I'm seeking to do is ensuring that I have such a strong voice of women in my Cabinet that I want to bring that together in this way to really help drive this agenda and make sure that they are the dominant voice when it comes to driving that agenda.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: So I agree with the, I agree with the Prime Minister – I agree with the Prime Minister in relation to the taskforce. If you made the mistake of thinking that it was only about the women around the Cabinet table in the Ministry table participating, then you would be missing that very large chunk that the Prime Minister has just referred to about the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer of Australia, the Finance Minister, being present at every single one of those discussions. That is about the most whole of Government response you could ever hope to achieve. It's about putting these issues at the centre of Government, in terms of, of the many policy areas that, that we would be addressing. And the Prime Minister is also absolutely right when he says, and he has been very clear to his&; Ministers, that whether you are the Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention or whether you are the Minister for Agriculture, there is a role in each single one of those portfolios, in every single one of those portfolios to make sure that that focus around the priority, the issues that concern women in that policy area are dealt with and addressed. And I think this taskforce will make that much more impactful in a way that we have not previously seen in a Government in this country ever, ever. And so that is a pretty strong message, I think. In terms of outcomes, obviously, colleagues, your colleagues have referred to to the Budget, but we also have our own agenda, the development of the next National Plan to Prevent Violence against Women and their Children. The Women's Safety Ministers Council meets next week on that and the development of the summit, which is part of that plan and was part of the the remit, if you like, for the Women's Safety Minister's Taskforce under the National Federation Reform Council, we announced that summit when we announced the taskforce itself. Obviously we will be providing a response to the Respect@Work inquiry, we'll be dealing with these issues of economic security and safety, making sure that those who want to make contributions to the review that Kate Jenkins is undertaking in this place are able to do that. And we are able to do that in a way that delivers on these priority issues for women and people here, but also across Australia.
JOURNALIST Senator Payne, as the new prime Minister for Women, do you concede that you have not done enough as Minister for Women? And do you pledge to be more visible from here on? And Prime Minister, I just want to talk to you about, ask you about one of the blokes in your Cabinet, Stuart Robert. He resigns from Turnbull Ministry for breaching Ministerial Code in 2018. Accepts 100,000 Rolex watches from a Chinese billionaire, gives a parliamentary speech written by a property developer, repays $38,000 for home internet and says 'my bad' when he incorrectly blames a cyber attack for Centrelink going down last year. How does this bloke get more responsibility in your reshuffle?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't know whether you knew this Andrew, but the reason that millions were able to get access and support through both particularly for the JobSeeker payment over the course of the pandemic, was a direct result of that Minister's ability to scale up and put in place one of the most significant responses we've ever seen from a social security agency in this country in our history. He's been appointed to this job because he's done an outstanding job in the one that he's been doing. And, you know, when someone does a good job like that, then they show that they can take on responsibility, they can get things done for Australians. So for all of those who could get through to those lines, for those who are calling right now on the floods, you know over 50 million people sorry, $50 million was paid out to flood victims last week. That happened because of what Stuart Robert was able to put in place at Services Australia. It was a phenomenal achievement. People can now, when they ring, you be paid within, within half an hour. That was first established during the bushfires when he did exactly the same thing. So when people have had to rely on him for services, rely on him for payments, rely on him to ensure that they could get up the next morning, know that that money would be in their bank account because that's what he was responsible for, then he has delivered for them. And that's why, that's why he's in my Cabinet, because he can be relied upon to deliver the services that Australians indeed rely on.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: Thank you, Prime Minister. I think, Andrew, the focus that we have had, in particularly the last year, during COVID on economic security, on women's safety, on leadership has been manifested in a number of ways. But the one that I have found particularly valuable is the opportunity to engage with Australian women from hundreds and hundreds of different walks of life right across the country in a number of ways. First of all, the opportunity to initiate a series of national and regional roundtables, which are small groups, 20, 30, 40, 50 people, where over more than 30 hours of, of engagement, we have been able to focus on the issues that have been brought to those tables around safety, around economic security and right around the country. I absolutely acknowledge I didn't physically make it to Western Australia or to, to the Northern Territory during that process. But that is, that is a task for coming months. And as well as that in particular, the work that we are able to do with key community based organisations. So before International Women's Day, for example, the opportunity to participate in the UN Women Australia keynote addresses, Prime Minister here in Canberra with us, perhaps some of you were at that, I'm not sure. But more importantly for me, at least, the over thousand person event in Sydney live streamed, I think, on Channel Seven at the time, where I made very, very clear that my personal view, my own experience in this role over many years meant that after what we had seen occur in this building and what we had heard, described and alleged, the only way to address and to, to respond as a Parliament to these issues and to this challenge was to own the problems, was to own the failings and ultimately to own the solution. And that is what we have been working as a Government to do, whether it is through initiating the independent review of this workplace and so many facets of it by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins. Whether it is the review that Stephanie Foster is doing that will provide the sort of structure and support that this workplace obviously needs for its staff and for those who spend their working lives here and then countless others on top of that. So those focuses on leadership, on economic security, on women's safety are what have driven our Government and driven me in my role. And I look forward to growing that with the support of Senator Stoker, of Senator Hume, of Senator Ruston in those specific roles. But really importantly, a taskforce of Government that focuses on these issues and includes the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister of Finance, the core of the central agencies that comes to the table and helps to plan the budget, plans the budget, helps to drive the policy development across Government is fundamental to that taskforce. It wouldn't work without them. And that's why the Prime Minister has resolved to include them today. I look forward to co-chairing that with the Prime Minister and to making sure that it enables us to address so many of the issues which have been raised in recent weeks.
JOURNALIST You said today that you've made this structural change because you feel as though there was a perspective that was lacking. So could you be clear about what that perspective was that you feel was lacking? And also why was it lacking? Because you've got good women standing beside you, like Marise Payne. Was it a matter of women not talking or was it a matter of the leadership group not listening? And also, if I may, just on your task list of what you want to achieve, Senator Payne, does that include leading a national discussion about criminal justice reform, given how women fare in, in instances where they report sexual assault?
PRIME MINISTER In response to the question, I wouldn't see it in the lens that you have. I would, I would put it more this way, that I think what we're doing here enhances what we're doing before. I think what we're doing here, as when I first became Prime Minister, we did have at that stage the highest number of women ever appointed to a Cabinet. And, and that has now been restored. And I'm very pleased about that. I've always wanted to ensure there is a strong voice of women in my Government. And there has been. I think what we're announcing today goes further than that. I think it sets a new benchmark. It sets a new, a new ambition for our Government to ensure that we infiltrate all aspects of Government. I mean, the big change here is this. Previous Governments, previous Cabinets have had a Minister for Women who was expected to cover every single issue that relates to challenges confronting women in the Government. I don't think that from experience is a very constructive way to get outcomes and results for women. The whole Government needs that. And so what I've done here is not just have one. I've got many in fact, every single member of the Cabinet, as others have pointed out. But in particular, I have very capable women serving in some very important portfolios. Home Affairs. Home Affairs. Big law enforcement portfolio of Government. The Attorney-General. Another big, important portfolio. Indeed already the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Environment. Within Treasury, another of the big institutions of Government. Ensuring that my female Ministers aren't just in Cabinet, but they got their hands on the levers of Government in some critical portfolios directly and are part of a Government that is completely focussed on ensuring that we understand how we need to deliver for women across the country. So that's probably how I’d put it Katharine, I don't know if I'd describe it as a previous deficiency. I'd say previously when there were six women in my Cabinet, that was also a pretty high mark compared to previous Governments. And to go back to seven, I'm really pleased about that. And I know that there are more that can come in the future and, and those women are coming through our ranks now. Jane Hume is very new to the Ministry, but she's got off to a tremendous start. She's an excellent Treasury Minister. Amanda Stoker has only just joined the Assistant Ministry together with Nola Marino amongst the Liberals. And with Michelle, who has served as the National Minister for some time. And she is already hard at work, working with myself and, and Michaelia Cash and our response to Respect@Work. As I told the Parliament last week, I've taken personal responsibility for ensuring we bring that together. And we had an excellent discussion in Cabinet about this just last week. And there will be more. And I'm looking forward to outlining that response before the Budget. Marise.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: And on criminal justice, we obviously know that reporting and going through the difficult process of pursuing criminal justice in these matters is very difficult. And the numbers are very low for those who have been impacted, who choose to do so. I'm very conscious of that. And although there have been some reforms, I think it is an area in which we can do more work. I look forward to engaging with Michaelia Cash as the Attorney-General on that. I know having spoken to organisations like Women's Legal Services Queensland or Domestic Violence New South Wales, that they are issues they put firmly on the table and they are also issues which are on the table for the women's safety Ministers. And I think it's part of the development of the next action plan and part of that summit process, which is embedded in that, they will have to be canvassed very seriously. And although most of the levers in criminal law, at state and territory level, not all of them, but many of them, we will be endeavouring to bring those jurisdictions with us in that conversation to make sure that we can address those concerns and remove the barriers that exist to, I think the phrase that we hear is often I didn't think I would be taken seriously. Well, that's not what our criminal justice system is here to do. Our criminal justice system is here to take victims of crime, whatever it is, seriously, and I think that there is more work to be done in that area. I look forward to being part of it.
PRIME MINISTER: Time for three more. We'll go one, two ,three.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the back of Andrew's question regarding the performance of you, Marise Payne, is that criticism that juggling Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Women is a pretty big ask. Why not just assign one portfolio? And secondly, on Christian Porter, it's a pretty big demotion from the chief lawmaker of the country. Do you expect him to stay on in that capacity beyond the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: I certainly expect him to continue to serve in my Cabinet, both now and after the next election. But we both, all of us, have something we have to do before that occurs and that is we have to present ourselves for election. So that is ultimately in others hands. But absolutely, he's a, he's been an outstanding Minister. He's a person of great capability, demonstrated both at the state Parliament before coming here from Western Australia and what he's been able to achieve since he has been here. He's focussing on this new portfolio challenge that he has, as well as on his local electorate over in Pearce, which I know he's keen to do. One of the great challenges of being the Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations and Leader of the Government in the House is that brings you across the Nullarbor a bit more often than you otherwise would. And so this will give him that opportunity to focus both on his portfolio, where he'll bring considerable expertise, as well as on his local electorate in Pearce. In relation to what I, I should probably call the primary Minister for Women, it's just to ensure that no one gets too carried away with puns for later. That's what this is about. What I'm trying to bring together is a team of Ministers and that Marise Payne as Minister for Women, can bring all that together as a leader of that portfolio team. I mean, the Treasurer brings together a portfolio of Ministers right across the Cabinet when we pull together a budget. And I chair the ERC, he is the deputy chair. This is a taskforce approach where quite, what is not regular is for us to be co-chairing. That goes to the I think the important lens that I want placed across these issues. And so that is usual for Government. And so I recognise that as Minister for Foreign Affairs, that is a very demanding job, a very demanding job. And Marise Payne does it exceptionally well. But what I want from her in this portfolio is her leadership and her insight and her ability to bring people together to get these outcomes. The work on economic, economic security, that will be done by Jane Hume. The work in women's safety as now will be done by Anne. A lot of work will be done in the Attorney-General's Department and the Minister for Industrial Relations Department, ably assisted by Amanda Stoker. So there is a lot of people working on this. And I have no doubt that Karen Andrews will bring much in terms of the law enforcement issues. There are Attorneys-General around the country, which I think need to address the very issue that Marise Payne was just mentioning and indeed the New South Wales Attorney-General, I think has, has put forward some very good, some very good suggestions. What I like about this is people are focussed on it and then moving on to the things you need to do. And so what I've done today is I've put in place a structure in my Government that I know can deliver the next set of responses and the broader term policy that will get the outcomes that I know women are hankering for. Demanding, in fact, and rightfully so. But you've got to get your structures in place in a way that you think can best deliver for that. And that's what we're doing today. It's another step. There are many more to come. And I look forward to making further announcements on that. So I'm going to go Chris and then Riles and then I'm going to have to tie it up because both of us have a meeting we have to get to.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Nine News has suffered a massive cyber attack. What advice do you have on that? Nine News has suffered a massive cyber attack. What advice do you have on that or what, what message does that send to other Australian businesses? And staying in the online world, some of the worst abuse we see nowadays is against women online. Can the Federal Government do anything by passing laws about that that might kerb that? So Nine News first if you don't mind.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look on Nine. They need to work with ASD and our cyber security team as all corporates that are impacted by these cyber attacks. You will recall some time ago I stood in the Blue Room and I announced what had been a very serious set of attacks against both Australian companies and other agencies and our cyber security team, through ASD, do a tremendous job in working with State Governments and Territory Governments, but as well as major corporates, including, as I know, they'll be working with Nine right now to ensure that they can put in place the protections that they need, to have their systems restored and to have them restored safely. We regrettably live in a world where this happens. We can't be naive about it. And we have built a tremendous capability here at a federal level to provide support to companies all around the country, be they very large ones like Nine or small and medium sized businesses, and it's important that all of our economy are very mindful of the need for cyber security defences. I mean, that is also an area where Jane Hume is working to ensure that when we, as we, digitise our economy, that cyber security is a key platform upon which that is all built. In relation to the second matter regarding social media, I said this on the weekend. We're living in a society in which respect is degrading. And if we want to see more respect in our community, we've all got to practise it more. When I stood here and announced the Royal Commission on Aged Care, I talked about the need to establish a culture of respect for older Australians. Same is true for women. The same is true for people with disabilities. The same is true for people, Indigenous Australians. But it's got to draw out of a well of respect in our society, which I fear is sadly depleting. People, saying that they disrespect each other, I don't respect that person or whatever it happens to be. We've got to build the respect again. And one of the key, degraders of respect in our country is social media. Sure, it has some positive purposes. I don't discount that. Of course it does. But it can be a very dangerous tool in disrespectful hands. And we've seen that with the trolling and abuse and harassment, particularly of women. I pay tribute to Erin Molan again for the great campaign she's led. And we've backed in with changes we've already made in this area. But our Government is probably, our Government no, our Government has stood up to the big tech companies on this like no other Government in the world. And we have taken on the fights with them that no others would and others have followed us, whether it's on terrorist or inciting content or indeed now ensuring that news media organisations actually can get a fair deal to ensure that you can all do the job that you do, and fine job that you do in a democracy like Australia, we've been protecting our democracy by standing up to those big tech companies. But I can tell you a big part of my response to this will be ongoing work in the area of eSafety and on social media. And, you know, people write things down without any consideration of the hurt and torment that it means to other people. This is happening with young people, you know, they're not even in their teens. And some of them are writing this and it gets worse and it gets worse and they become desensitised to it. And they stop writing it then and they just say it. And this becomes how Australians potentially talk to each other in the future. Australia, we've got to fix this and we've got to take some responsibility about how we are behaving toward each other online and directly. Love one another was a good piece of advice given many years ago around about Easter time and. Yes, please.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: So firstly, on the cyber issue, wearing one of my hats at the moment as Acting Defence Minister, obviously ASD and the Australian Cyber Security Centre are very focused on working with corporate Australia to make sure that corporate Australia is protecting itself, those eight steps that the ACSC sets down. This is a salutary reminder that nobody is immune and that they are very important steps for corporates to take to protect themselves. They are a threshold basic engagement, I think. And so raising that question today is, is a very important one. On social media can I just say a couple of things. The Prime Minister's referred to the role of the eSafety Commissioner that we have here in Australia. And I think Julie Inman Grant, who holds that position, is an exceptional operator. She is constructive and accessible and clear about steps that people can take to protect themselves online. I think she does a very good job at that. We've worked closely with our colleagues internationally on disinformation, for example, which is all perpetrated overwhelmingly through social media, particularly in relation to, to the pandemic. We're dealing with vaccine scepticism, particularly in the Pacific at the moment, PNG as well. And again, all perpetrated through social media. But I have said to the Prime Minister more than once that I think the words of Sacha Baron Cohen last year in his very, very powerful speech on this issue are timely reminders for all of us. I think the problem with social media is it is much less social good these days and much more social harm. And where we've tried, sorry where we have seen in the past, things in our societies which are dangerous, which are harmful to society, we have overwhelmingly taken steps to put provisions in place to protect people from that harm, whether it is drugs, whether it is drink driving, whether it is dangerous driving, whether it is swimming without knowing how to swim, that basic. But we haven't yet been able to grapple with this in relation to social media. And I think it is very much a task for this decade.
JOURNALIST: Senator Payne, as prime Minister for Women what do you think about Andrew Laming sticking around until the next election, especially given his inappropriate behaviour? Do you think that's good enough?
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: I think the Prime Minister's phrase was primary rather than prime, but Mr Laming has taken a very serious step to leave this job, leave this role at the next election. I wouldn't think for a moment that that is a step anyone in these roles takes lightly. He has been here for some years now. His behaviour is clearly inappropriate. He has taken steps to address that. The steps that the Prime Minister outlined, that is the minimum that he should do. And he is doing that and then he has indicated he will not be returning to this place. That's a clear indication that he knows his ongoing role here is, is not appropriate. And I just say to my colleagues across Parliaments across the world that we have a responsibility in the way we engage with the public, the way we engage with constituents, the way, frankly, we engage with each other. And if nothing else, the last few months has taught us the importance of that and the importance of doing that respectfully.
JOURNALIST: I think people would agree with the Minister for Women that what he's done is the minimum and there's much more that could be done. He's one of those people you just spoke about who writes horrible things online, abusing his own constituents, taking photographs of women's underwear in public. Can you see that people see a double standard here, that in other workplaces in Australia, someone who was found to have done these things would have been sacked on the spot, not had the luxury of choosing your own time in a year, pick up another 210,000 dollars from the taxpayer along the way. And why shouldn't people just see this as a cynical move on your part? Because if you stand up today, you use that podium, that microphone, and say, as Prime Minister, I don't want this bloke in the Liberal Party, I don't want him in the Parliament, he'd be out. I know that it's a question for the Party, but if you were to say that today, there, now, he'd be gone. But he's not going to be. In any other workplace in Australia he would be. So isn't the reality that you can't afford to lose Andrew Laming because he's a number and if you lose his number, you lose control of the House of Reps.
PRIME MINISTER: He's not running again, Mark. He's not putting himself forward for re-election within the Liberal Party, he is committed to undertake the behavioural change he needs to undertake. And that's what he needs to do and he needs to come back with a completely different attitude and a completely different behaviour. He was elected to this place by the people in his electorate. That's who he was elected by and he was elected to serve here for three years. Mark, he was elected to serve here for three years in this Parliamentary term and that's what he intends to do and continue to serve the people in his electorate and I'm following the very same approach that other Governments have followed in the past. Thanks very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
23 March 2021
Prime Minister: Good morning everyone. I wanted to do two things this morning. I want to address again the rather disturbing and continuing serious situation with the floods occurring across the eastern seaboard of Australia and the further reports I’ve received from Emergency Management today. And I wanted to address, following that, the rather disgusting and shocking reports that were brought to my attention last night in those reports.
First of all, though, let me address the very serious situation that is being confronted by Australians in New South Wales but also in South East Queensland and increasingly in other states. I’m advised that the rain and flood situation does remain dynamic and extremely complex. This is a complex weather event and becoming more complex. 100mm of rain is forecast across saturated catchments today. Flood and severe weather warnings have been issued across the country, extending from South East Queensland to the Victorian border. A trough on the east coast has merged with a trough extending from the Kimberleys to the east coast, causing heavy rain and inland flooding. This is moving to being not just a coastal event. Severe weather, high winds, damaging surf and heavy rain is forecast for the east coast today and the system is causing heavy rain from Batemans Bay to the Victorian border as this storm moves south. The system is expected to ease by late Wednesday but the floodwaters remain persistent for sometime. Western New South Wales, north-eastern South Australia, south-western Queensland and east and west Australia have been affected by inland flooding. Brisbane and the Gold Coast have been impacted by heavy rain and that is causing flash flooding.
In terms of the response, 1,700 SES volunteers are responding to this event, supported by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service and Fire and Rescue Services. 18,000 people have been impacted by evacuation orders. 16 evacuation orders for 24 locations. 20 further evacuation warnings with 18 evacuation centres operating. I do note that particularly those evacuation centres in the Sydney metropolitan area have not been used to the extent that New South Wales authorities thought they may. People have largely gone to be supported by people in their own homes and the evacuation process in New South Wales and support for those individuals has been working extremely well, and I commend both those who are directly impacted and those who are helping them in their time of need and the excellent planning that has been done by New South Wales authorities. I spoke to the Premier again this morning following my updates from Emergency Management Australia today. As difficult as this issue is, people are remaining calm. We need to see them continuing to follow the instructions that are out there. If it is flooded, forget it. Don’t go out for a surf. I say that to people including in my own electorate when I had reports of people going out there yesterday. Don’t do it. You are putting not only yourself at risk but you are putting those who would have to come to your assistance at risk also and we urge you to follow the instructions of the local authorities on all of these matters.
Rainfall is expected to be worse along the south coast, as I said earlier, with isolated falls of 300mm possible. Rain and associated flooding will begin to cover a wider area of central New South Wales. Initial moderate warnings for catchments near Bathurst and Dubbo. At this point, I don't have advice that we are looking at an inland event that were similar to what occurred in North Queensland which destroyed the North Queensland livestock industry which has taken us the last two years to recover from. But we are watching that very closely. The potential for major flooding in the Murray Darling Basin catchment is anticipated and major flooding may continue in the Hawkesbury and Nepean until Friday due to forecast rainfall and Western Sydney remains the area of greatest concern. Warragamba Dam is expected to spill over for another seven days at least. Telco impact assessments have not been completed in all areas but several hundred homes have been flooded, roads damaged, livestock and wildlife lost, telecommunications and power outages across the flooded areas have been reported. Telcos and power companies are standing by to re-establish power and communications. New South Wales have requested assistance for two search and rescue helicopters and that has already been activated from the ADF and right now they are assisting with evacuations from Colo to RAAF at Richmond. A request for assistance has also been put in by the New South Wales Government and is currently being assessed and planned for by Defence which would see somewhere between 500 and 1,000 ADF personnel deployed and engineering support to assist with the clean-up. The Premier and I discussed this this morning. I am expecting a CAT-C request to come through today which will be actioned immediately and the Premier and I will be working on that clean-up effort. We want this clean-up effort to be done swiftly and effectively to try and get these communities back on their feet as quickly as we possibly can.
No lives, thankfully, to this point have been lost and we pray that will continue to be the situation and we still have no persons reported missing as well. So amongst all of this terrible tragedy and loss that is there, thankfully we have not seen that as yet. Resilience NSW is planning for cleanup and early recovery operations when floodwaters recede, and I am advised that 9,000 insurance claims have been received to date, and are on standby to start assessments, that is when the insurance industry, when they can get access to the flooded areas. Services Australia processed 2,579 claims up to 8.00pm last night for financial support, and already $3.5 million has gone out the door. There are a further more than 1,000 claims that are being worked on right now. If you are in one of those areas and you acquire that assistance, those are $1000 payments for eligible adults, $400 payments for eligible children, you can get access to that on 180 22 66. That number again, 180 22 66. Your claim will be processed on the phone, there will not be a need to fill out all these forms at that point and go through all those administrative processes, just as we did during the bushfires. You will get access to that as soon as possible. Services Australia have surged their support in their call centres and other places to ensure they can meet the demand that comes through.
We have very competent agencies in our states. They do an excellent job in these situations. Where they need additional support, it will come, and it will flow quickly, but I want Australians to feel confident, particularly those in the affected areas, that the state agencies and authorities who are tasked with these responsibilities are very, very good at their job. They are world-class. You have the world's best out there looking after you today, and they will continue to be supported by the world’s best federal agencies to ensure that you're getting every assistance that is needed. I will be meeting with the Defence planners today and Emergency Management later this morning to run over the plans for the deployment of those supporting cleanup operations, so we are in a position to give a swift response to the New South Wales Government as we possibly can.
Now to the other rather disturbing events of those further reports last night. I am shocked and I am disgusted. It is shameful. It is just absolutely shameful. I was completely stunned, as I have been on more than one occasion over the course of this last month. All of this has been shocking, it has been disgraceful. It has been a month of such reports. Indeed, reports involving the conduct of staff and of Coalition Government members and ministers, but as you know, reports of equally disgraceful and despicable activities anonymised of those working in other parties. We must get this house in order. We must put the politics aside of these things and we must recognise this problem, acknowledge it, and we must fix it. This has been a very traumatic month. It began with Brittany Higgins and her revelations of what took place in this very building. I remember that day very well, I was equally shocked and stunned at receiving that news also. These events have triggered, right across this building, and indeed right across the country, women who have put up with this rubbish and this crap for their entire lives, as their mothers did, as their grandmothers did. It has been going on, we have been talking about it in this place for a month, they have been living with it for their entire lives. And the women listening to me today know that to be true.
So as much as it has been a topic of discussion here, and around the country specifically in relation to these disgraceful acts, it is something that has been the lived experience of Australian women for a very long time, and I welcome the spotlight that has now been placed on this. I acknowledge that many have not liked or appreciated some of my own personal responses to this over the course of the last month, and I accept that. Whether that was seeking to openly share how I try and deal with such traumatic events, people mightn’t like the fact that I discuss these with my family. They are the closest people in my world to me. That is how I deal with things, I always have. I have grown up in a loving and supportive family, and I discuss these things with my family and those who are closest to me. No offence was intended by me saying that I discuss these issues with my wife. Equally, that is in no way an indication that these events had not already dramatically affected me already at that point. Equally, I accept that many were unhappy with the language that I used on the day of the protests. No offence was intended by that either. I could have chosen different words. I have already explained those matters in the House.
But what I am even more concerned about, even more importantly, I acknowledge that many Australians, especially women, believe that I have not heard them, and that greatly distresses me. I have been doing a lot of listening over this past month, but not for the first time, now is not the time for me to run over whether as a Minister for Immigration or a Treasurer or a Minister for Social Services, the keen interest I have shown in these issues. I'm not going to do that today. But particularly on these issues over the last month, I have been listening carefully. I have had many colleagues, I have had many friends and others that I have regular contact with, talk with me openly about the issues and the traumatic things that they have had to deal with over their lifetimes and members of their family. Let me tell you what I have heard. Women are too afraid to call out bad behaviour for fear of losing a job or being intimidated in the workplace. That is not OK, and it is not their fault, it is the environment we have allowed to be created. Women who are afraid to walk to their car from the train, and they carry their keys in their hand like a knife for fear of being attacked. That is not OK. That is not acceptable that in this country, a country as great as Australia, women walk daily in that fear. I have heard that women are overlooked, talked over, by men, whether it is in boardrooms, meetingrooms, staff rooms, in media conferences, in cabinets, or anywhere else. Overlooked and treated like they have nothing valuable to contribute. I have heard about being marginalised, women being intimidated, women being belittled, women being diminished, and women being objectified. That is not OK. I have heard that women, when offered a job, take the salary offered because they do not feel they can ask for more, whereas the blokes do and they get it. That is not OK. Whether this is unconscious deafness and blindness, or whether it is wilful malevolence, that is behind all of this, it must be acknowledged, it must be called out, and it must stop. That is all our job. It is my job, it is my Minister’s jobs, it is my Members and Senators jobs, it is your job. This is not something that is of a scale that any government can simply change, it is something we must change as a society because we know it happens all over this country. But for me and my house, the House I work in here, then we must take responsibility. It is our problem here, it is our responsibility here, and I'm committed to dealing with that. We must do better in this place, all of us, and in our country we must do better.
Now, forgive me the indulgence, forgive me this indulgence. I want women to have at least the same opportunities and the same voice and the same safety as men in this country. I have the deepest of vested interests. Criticise me if you like, for speaking about my daughters, but they are the centre of my life. My wife is the centre of my life. My mother, my widowed mother, is the centre of my life. They motivate me every day on this issue. They have motivated me my entire life, they have taught me the values and the faith that sustains me every single day in this job, which is why I am here. I owe them everything. And to them, I say to you girls, I will not let you down. To the many other women who are in this place, who have shared their stories with me, I thank you for your feedback, your honesty, your support, your counsel, and your courage. I know there are plenty of women who work in this building today, whether they be Members or Senators or Ministers, shadow ministers, staff, journalists, who say why should I bother? Why should I bother? Why shouldn’t I just walk away? There has never been a more important time for women to stand in this place. I want to see more women in this place. I have done many things to get more women in this place and I intend to do more. I have put more women in my Cabinet than any other Prime Minister ever has before, and I look forward to doing more. I need women to stand with me as we go about this, as we stand together, I need them to stand in this place, I need them to stand right where they are, I need them to continue to blaze the trail right here this place. I admire their courage and I call on it. Questions?
Journalist: You say it’s your responsibility, that you’re responsible for the culture in this place and you’re committed to dealing with it. What concrete measures are you actually going to take to try and address these problems?
Prime Minister: A couple of measures. First of all, you are aware of the changes we’ve already introduced for the direct counselling support that is available, and I suspect particularly for women in this building. I’m pleased to know that that support service is already being used by women in this place, and men in this place, it is also being used by those who are seeking support for how they deal with these issues, and I think that has been a very useful service that has been put in place and the additional resources and support. In addition to that, of course the Jenkins review, Kate Jenkins will be speaking in my party room this morning, and I am looking forward to the multi-party outcomes that come from that process. But I am not waiting for the report to come back. I have asked for the Deputy Secretary Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to come back for me. She is still working on that report and she has asked for some further time on the report to get it right, and that would be, in particular, putting in place a more robust and independent complaints mechanism for staff and members and senators to be able to have access to, to ensure that we can deal with that more fully. I am speaking to all Coalition staff later today. Good people come and work in this building, you all know that. There are some people who have done some despicable things in this place. These things are just so foreign to me that I can hardly process them, as I am sure I would hope that most people would be in a similar situation. And most people who come to work in this place, I want to assure Australians, do not come here and behave in that way. But there are people who do and that needs to be addressed, and if people have information on that conduct then I implore them to come forward as that is the only way that I can deal with those issues. But it is not just a responsibility for me. I am the leader of the Liberal Party and I'm the Prime Minister of the country and leader of the Government, but we have many people in this building who have responsibility for how this place operates. Whether it is the leaders of other parties, and whether it is those who are presiding officers over these chambers in this place, the many others who support in senior roles the staff around this building, and indeed in the gallery, yourselves, and the leadership within your own organisations have responsibilities here in terms of how things occur in this place as well. We all work in this building, we all have those responsibilities. I am taking mine and I call on others to take theirs.
Journalist: One of the things that would make women feel a lot safer right now would be if you could make it compulsory for harassment…
Prime Minister: I couldn’t quite hear over the cameras, I’m sorry.
Journalist: ...compulsory harassment and misconduct training for all office staff and MPs in this building, that is something you can do right now, will you commit to that? And do commit to a zero tolerance policy with regards to any of the other individuals involved in the report last night that they will be sacked if they are identified?
Prime Minister: On the latter point I think we have already demonstrated our resolve on that issue and you can expect us to follow through on it in exactly the same way. That sort of behaviour has no place here, it has absolutely no place there. It is disgusting. In terms of the other recommendation, that is one that I entirely expect the Deputy Secretary to come forward with. So I'm not expecting that to take much longer but I would like to act on all of those recommendations and I anticipate that is one such recommendation that will come forward in that report and one that I would strongly support.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you say you want more women in this place. This morning Karen Andrews said that she thinks the Liberal Party should seriously consider quotas. Is that something you would consider now and if not why?
Prime Minister: My colleagues know that I have been open to that conversation for some time.
Journalist: Prime Minister, two things. There will be women listening to your comments this morning wondering why it took you a month to get to their lived reality that they started with on the day where Brittany Higgins came forward. Can you explain why it took you a month to get to this position? And another thing, just following on from the 4 Corners report last night, the security guard who was interviewed on camera said there was no security breach in relation to the staffer who was alleged to have committed the sexual assault on Brittany Higgins. Now, the Government says that staffer was terminated for a security breach. What was the security breach?
Prime Minister: I’m happy to take you through that. On the other issue, Katharine, this has been a terribly difficult month. I was shocked and appalled when I learnt of the situation involving Brittany Higgins. And I have been shocked and appalled by all of the other matters that have come forward since. But as the month has progressed and as I have engaged with so many women, what has become the issue, and rightly, is that this is not just about the terrible things that have happened to one woman in this place. We moved immediately to start addressing issues around that particular case but this is far bigger than that and I think that is the voice that has arisen over the course of this past month. This was a shout about what is happening across Australia, not just the specific events. If we were to just continue to focus on the events that happen in this place - and we will, and must, as I said - there is something much bigger here that has been illuminated, thankfully, by these rather traumatic reports that have gone right across the spectrum here. We are all human beings, Katharine, and what I have sought to do today is just be very honest with people. Please don't think that these events haven't created great turmoil for me over the course of the past month. At the same time, as the Prime Minister, when I am dealing with many other issues at the same time, also very significant, whether it is floods or vaccines or COVID pandemics, international issues, Australians also expect me to be focusing on those as well. So that is my honest answer. It is processed, I have heard, I have listened and I will have a lot more to say about this in the next month about further action. But today is not a day for me to list out a list of further actions. I’ve listed some in response to direct questions. Today, Australian women in particular, but Australians more broadly because it is not just Australian women who have identified this over the past month, Australians need to know that this place has heard them and that I have heard them and I want to assure you that I have. Sorry, on the other matter. I did see that interview last night. Obviously the security guard in question doesn't have the full information about this case and other contributing incidents that preceded this case. Senator Reynolds has previously confirmed to the Senate there was a security breach involving unauthorised access to her office and I have been advised this followed an earlier security breach by the male staff member that related to the handling of classified documents in what is clearly a highly sensitive portfolio area. Consequently, this was considered serious misconduct in relation to the statements of standards for ministerial staff. So in other words, he had some form when it came to the security issues regarding that office and this was the final straw. Obviously, the security guard in question would not have been familiar with those aspects. We are dealing with an office that had and was dealing with quite sensitive material. It was the Defence Industry Minister’s office at the time and so there was some prior issues here and this final event was the one that triggered his dismissal.
Journalist: Prime Minister, if you're the boss at a business and there had been an alleged rape on your watch and this incident we heard about last night on your watch, your job would probably be in a bit of jeopardy, wouldn't it? Doesn't it look like you have lost control of your ministerial staff?
Prime Minister: I will let you editorialise as you like, Andrew, but if anyone in this room wants to offer up the standards in their own workplaces by comparison I would invite you to do so.
Journalist: Well, they’re better than these I would suggest, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Let me take you up on that. Let me take you up on that. Right now, you would be aware that in your own organisation that there is a person who has had a complaint made against them for harassment of a woman in a women's toilet and that matter is being pursued by your own HR department.
Journalist: I am not aware of it.
Prime Minister: You are not aware of it. So let's not all of us who sit in glass houses here start getting into that.
Journalist: [Inaudible]
Prime Minister: What I am suggesting to you is that there are serious issues here that no one individual can be overwatch on every single inch of this place every second of the day and I don't think any Australian has that reasonable expectation. As far as I'm aware, the incident that was reported last night occurred long before I was Prime Minister of this place. So it is not a matter that occurred while I was even Prime Minister. That goes to a long-standing culture of despicable behaviour in this place. So that is not something that I could be directly held accountable even when I wasn't in the role. What I am held accountable is what I do now and that is what I am outlining to you today. So you are free to make your criticisms and to stand on that pedestal but be careful.
Journalist: You said in your opening remarks on this subject about the forces that have been at work here over the past month and the sort of surge amongst women in Australia and all of these issues raised by this. Does it change your thinking on your handling of the allegations against Mr Porter in terms of the there will be no inquiry as to his fitness to remain in the ministry? Or are you still of the view that the way you’re handling that is correct?
Prime Minister: As I indicated, I was getting advice from the Solicitor-General. I have received that advice and I am now taking advice through the Department regarding how that sits with the ministerial standards and I will be making further decisions on that matter and I will alert you to those when they are made.
Journalist: Do you think that your so-called star chamber needs to improve its vetting of potential staff? And secondly, have you responded to Russell Broadbent's suggestion of a gathering of representatives of women's organisations nationally, and if you haven't, what is your thinking?
Prime Minister: On the latter, such a process is already under way. As we go forward to the next National Action Plan, it is already part of that National Action Plan, and the process for developing it to bring forward such a summit or gathering or whatever term you would like to use. So that is already an initiative that is in train and being pursued by the Minister for Women and I am looking forward to that. So I will have more to say about that in the weeks ahead. So that is another area of activity that is already happening and what I have noted in the course of this past month, there have been many excellent suggestions. Some have already been implemented and more will be and I welcome them. I particularly welcome them from people as experienced as Russell is in this place and I have a great deal of respect for. Just remind me on the other point, Michelle?
Journalist: The star chamber.
Prime Minister: This is a process in which people might not be aware of this process but when it comes to appointment of people in ministerial offices, there is a minister and a group of other senior staff involved in vetting the applications, not unlike what you would see in a HR department or something like that for important appointments across any corporate. So that is just using that similar process to what occurs in other workplaces. I think it is a helpful process and in particular I would want to be sure that when they meet and they consider these things, these very serious matters that have arisen over the course of the past month, would continue to be included in how they assess these things. I am aware that as that group has operated in the past, it has acted to ensure that where there have been concerns about this in the past that those concerns are followed through when considering these appointments. So I see it, Michelle, I think as a positive contribution to the process to provide further protection.
Journalist: Did the staff member in last night’s report receive termination payments and or references from your Government?
Prime Minister: I would have to refer you to the Minister on that one. But they have been terminated. For one termination. I am still not aware of who the other individuals are and we have taken steps to reach out to the person who allegedly knows who these individuals are and we are very keen to hear from them.
Journalist: Prime Minister, on that the whistleblower claims that the sacked staffer would be able to shed a great deal of light on the other staffers, including those currently in the building as well as the allegations around sex workers being let into the building. Will any effort be made to reach out to the sacked staffer to see if he is willing to go into some detail about that? And just another one, if I can, is it accurate that before the last election, you were genuinely interested in the concept of quotas, going back to that question? Was it something you contemplated as a way to try to increase the number of women in your ranks, not just in your ministry, and if so or even if not, is it time to look at that?
Prime Minister: On the second point, I will give you the same answer. My colleagues know well that I am very open to these questions. I have had some frustrations about trying to get women preselected and running for the Liberal Party to come into this place. I have had those frustrations for many years going back to the times when I was a state director where I actively sought to recruit female candidates, whether it was for state or Federal Parliament. I remember one who got preselected during my time and she has gone on to do a pretty amazing job leading the state of New South Wales right now at a time of a crisis. There are many others that I have sought to encourage into this place and I was greatly supported by an amazing female president in the Liberal Party NSW, Christine McDiven, who went on to become federal president, who I know of no greater champion for women in the Liberal Party at an organisational level than Chris. She blazed a trail and I am looking for others in the organisation, Danielle Blain over in Western Australia I know is doing an amazing job to do the same thing. I want to give them every support I can. But I am making it pretty clear that when it comes that issue, I don't hold the same reservations that others do. Why? And I think many Liberals have been coming to this view over time. We tried it the other way and it isn't getting us the results we would like to see so I would like to see us do better on that front. On the other issue, yes of course, we will seek to gain as much information about that matter by those who know about it, as much as possible. I would ask given the sensitivity of this issue, and I know you understand this, Peter, that these are very traumatic events and we have people at the moment you are on a close watch for their own personal safety and so I would just simply ask for people to be aware of that. You all have your normal protocols for how you report these things and how you include in your stories the appropriate call numbers and things like that. So I am not making a criticism, I want to be clear about that, but I would just ask people that it is a very sensitive time here in this building. This place has seen events, before my time, under pressure, Mark, you will remember them, as will others experienced in the gallery, Michelle, and others, Chris. Let's just be careful in the weeks ahead. We are going to deal with this but we want to make sure we do things as carefully and sensitively as we can.
Journalist: The statements you have made today, Prime Minister, is this the speech you should have given in front of the women who rallied in front of Parliament last Monday?
Prime Minister: I believe I provided the opportunity to meet with those who had come on that day. I applaud, as I said on the day, it was right to come and right to do that and I was right to provide the opportunity to meet with me. It is not my habit, as you know, to go out to rallies and things like that that come to Parliament House. In the course of my programme, I am very happy to provide an opportunity for people to come in that way and come and meet with me. I have met with numerous groups. On that very day I was meeting with people in the entertainment sector who were happy to meet with me and talk about the issues. I have been very open about those sorts of things. What I am saying and I have said it before today, I acknowledge that there have been people who haven't been happy with how I have responded in every single way to this over the course of the last month. I acknowledge that absolutely. I am setting about to put that right. Those issues that people have had concerns about, they occurred in good faith, in the best of faith. But you learn a lot from all of that.
Journalist: Prime Minister, can I ask you about your comments last week about Phil Gaetjens…
Journalist: If I can just finish my question, Andrew. In terms of the concrete steps that you can take, you have said you might introduce quotas, which is fascinating and there is a lot of focus on women in this building. But what about women outside this building in regional Australia, in outer suburban areas, would you give any consideration to putting more money into rape crisis centres so women get the counselling they need, are you interested in the idea of more consent education in schools, what concrete steps are you rolling around in your head?
Prime Minister: All of the above, and more, and if you go across the fourth national action plan and as Social Services Minister I had responsibility for earlier national action plans, and they include all of these things. Is important to remember that these action plans are done together with the states and territories and many of the services delivered are also delivered by the states. So this is something we genuinely have to do together, and we have been doing together. Today I am not going through a shopping list of the additional measures particularly that will be needed to provide further protection for women against violence, against them and their children. But we will be, as we have in the past, over $1 billion committed, almost half of that in the last year or so, much of that going into during the COVID period when we were very worried about the increase in the incidence of domestic violence that would occur during the COVID period. Again, we put in additional resources, hundreds of millions, to support particularly women and families in those difficult times. So there has been no hesitation on that, Sam, and there will not be going forward. But I would urge that the path we have to go down is one that we have to go down together. This is not an issue that should be the subject of partisan contest, it really shouldn’t. That will slow us down, that will not get the outcomes that I want to see, and I'm sure every member of this Parliament wants to see, and I think it is time to get focused on those things, Sam, deal with the issues in our House here. Outside of this House, there are plenty of other houses that need to be fixed up, and I'm sure Australians will take proper responsibility for those. But this issue goes far beyond what happens here, but I acknowledge what is happening here and the need for us to deal with things that are happening here.
Journalist: Prime Minister, I just want to pick up on what you said to Andrew before. How is it that you did not know about the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in Linda Reynolds office, yet you know about some incident that has happened in the media or among journalists, and have aired that publicly despite the maybe being against the wishes of the victim, we don’t know?
Prime Minister: That was brought to my attention late last night, and the issue of Brittany Higgins was only brought to my attention on 15 February as I have said. The suggestion was made by a member of the press gallery that things like this do not happen in the media and I think that would be unfair.
Journalist: Prime Minister, can I ask you about the comments that you made about Phil Gaetjens report yesterday. Do you concede that you misled Parliament by omission when you said you had not received an update when in fact, you had more than received an update, you had received an email through the PMO, he had spoken to you personally about the fact that he was putting his inquiry on ice, and what efforts have you made personally to work out what five or six of your members of staff actually knew?
Prime Minister: Two things, first of all, you have mischaracterised what I said in the House, and that is why I don’t agree with your assessment. I said that I hadn’t been updated on when I had received the report, and I hadn’t been updated when I had received the report, and I said subsequently…
Journalist: But you had been.
Prime Minister: No I had not. There was no finishing date provided to me by the Secretary, because he could not provide me with one. I was asked in the House about when I would receive it, and that is what I responded to. I also made it clear that it was the Secretary that was undertaking this at arms length, it is the Secretary that is undertaking that at arms length, and I know that there were further interviews being conducted even at that point. What he was referring to is that he was not in a position to finalise the report, and provided to me, based on the advice that he had received from the Commissioner of Federal Police which was also clarified yesterday. So what I would ask is that these statements not be mischaracterised. I expect my political opponents to do that, that is politics, that is part and parcel of this process. I will deal with those matters as I have appropriately in the House, but no, I don’t accept that, that is a mischaracterisation of what has occurred, and so I don’t accept that. Finally, Chris.
Journalist: PM, you started by talking about your daughters. After the last month, what would you tell them about a life in the public service, what pitch would you make to any young girl in Australia about why they would want to be in federal politics?
Prime Minister: Because they want things to be better, and they have something to contribute to that. I believe in my girls, I believe in all the women of Australia. Thank you very much.
Statement On Indulgence - Australian Parliament House ACT
22 March 2021
Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, On Indulgence.
Australia is being tested once again. The East Coast, predominantly New South Wales but I stress also in South-East Queensland, has faced an extraordinary deluge over recent days.
In many places, rains are expected for at least the next 24 to 48 hours, but I fear worse.
In South-East Queensland, there has been intense rainfall with more than 300 SES requests for assistance over the 24 hours to this morning, with crews working through the night.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for western and southern Queensland from this afternoon, which could extend to the Southeast Coast tomorrow morning.
A number of flood warnings remain in place for parts of the state also.
Some parts of NSW are experiencing the worst flooding in over 50 years and worse.
From Penrith to north of Port Macquarie, evacuation orders are in place for 28 areas, with a further 16 areas issued with an evacuation warning.
In the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley, there has been record rainfall.
On Saturday, 500GL of water was released from Warragamba Dam.
That is, to put it in perspective, that is the equivalent of releasing the capacity of an entire Sydney Harbour in 24 hours.
This water flowed into the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers, causing the Hawkesbury to rise to levels not seen since 1961.
Major flood warnings are now current for the Colo River, Hastings River, Hawkesbury River, Macleay River, and the Wollombi Brook.
In Northern NSW, there are 35 communities isolated.
Those communities include Taree, Bellingen, Wingham, Harrington and Laurieton.
Across NSW, 1,400 SES first responders have conducted over 700 flood rescues and responded to over 7,500 requests for assistance.
This is very difficult and dangerous work.
I wish to acknowledge and pay tribute and say thank you on behalf of all of us here in this place, Mr Speaker, for the extraordinary efforts of our volunteers and the emergency services in responding to these terrible events.
And there is serious risk still ahead.
Heavy rainfall is likely to continue up much of the eastern half of New South Wales and into southern Queensland today and tomorrow.
Heavy falls will also develop over northern and central inland parts of New South Wales tomorrow, bringing the risk of flash and significant river flooding to several additional catchments.
A different low-pressure system is also expected to form off the southern New South Wales coast, bringing rainfall there also.
Thankfully, the current forecast has conditions easing state-wide from early Wednesday but we will watch and see.
Mr Speaker, I want to assure residents in all storm and flood affected areas that all parts of government are working closely together.
Premier Berejiklian and I, in particular, have been in regular contact over the weekend and indeed again today.
Yesterday, the Director-General of Emergency Management Australia activated COMDISPLAN in anticipation of NSW requesting Australian Government non-financial assistance.
We are expecting a formal request from NSW for ADF support today is our expectation. We understand this is likely to be for recovery support and clean-up operations, including personnel, vehicles and machinery. The Premier and I were discussing that over the weekend.
We’ve also been just advised now in discussions on the potential for heavy-lift aerial support but this is also still to be scoped. This has been advised to Defence and we will be following this up throughout the course of this day. But at this point, no formal requests have been made.
The ADF is readying itself for this task that still lays ahead, particularly in the recovery phase. It is working closely with NSW Emergency Services to co-ordinate potential areas for assistance.
The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment and Disaster Recovery Allowance has been activated to support those who have been affected, suffered significant losses or serious injury, whose income has been affected.
The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment provides non-means tested, I stress that, non-means tested payments of $1000 for eligible adults and $400 for eligible children.
In affected communities, Services Australia are deploying to provide on-the-ground assistance.
As well, the Services Australia Disaster Assistance phone lines are open from 8:00am until 8:00pm. The number is 180 22 66 and further details are available at the www.disasterassist.gov.au website.
Mr Speaker, payments for disaster recovery assistance were initiated yesterday by Services Australia - 34 local government areas are now eligible for the payments.
But I suspect there will be more and we stand ready to do more, to provide whatever additional support is needed, in partnership with the New South Wales and Queensland Governments as necessary.
This is an ongoing situation that is evolving and is extremely dangerous.
We are meeting regularly to be updated on the events and to direct our response. We are grateful at this point that no lives have been lost so far, but weakened foundations for buildings, for roads, and trees, they all create risk, as do downed power lines and rising water levels.
So we ask all Australians in these affected areas to please use caution.
Check in on your neighbours and those who you know that are alone.
Please heed the advice of authorities. Where there are orders to evacuate, please follow them.
As is appropriate at this time, many Members are supporting their communities and are not here in this place.
I know the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Emergency Management, the Minister for Government Services and other ministers are also reaching out and working closely with members, mayors, other agencies, and communities ensuring they receive every support.
This will be a very difficult week for hundreds of thousands of Australians, if not more, as we face the immediacy of the floods, and there will be many difficult months ahead as the clean-up and recovery from this natural disaster gets underway.
We have very competent agencies in our state governments. They are very good at dealing with these types of emergencies. They are doing a tremendous job right now and the Australian Government is standing together with them in ensuring that they can be delivering in these most urgent of times.
But above all, we rely as we have now for a long time, on Australians themselves. They have shown as we can together that we can get through these things when we work together.
And that is what we’ll do in the hours, days, weeks and months ahead, responding to this disaster like those before it and then rebuilding and recovering afterwards.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
18 March 2021
Prime Minister: Good afternoon. It is one year today since the Governor-General authorised the Biosecurity Emergency Declaration in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been an extraordinary year in Australia's fightback in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. While it has been an absolutely terrible year, a year of uncertainty, of hardship, of terrible loss here in Australia, but frankly all around the world and in so many parts of the world that loss still runs on, it accelerates, it devastates. But while all of that is true, in Australia we have seen one of the most remarkable performances of Australians in our Australian economy that we have seen. In less than 12 months from when the recession began, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are now more jobs in the Australian economy than there were before the pandemic. That is something that is truly remarkable and is a great credit to every Australian who hung in there, every Australian business who kept people in jobs, everyone who played a role in ensuring that we did everything that we possibly could to see that Australia continues to come through this COVID-19 pandemic and recession in the best way we possibly can. More jobs now than when the recession began.
For us as a Government, together with the Treasurer and our entire team, it’s always been ultimately about jobs for us when we come and form governments. We want to see more Australians in work because we know when an Australian has a job, it is good for their wellbeing. It is good for their hope. They can plan for their future. They are in control when they are in a job. That is why we want to see so many Australians in jobs and, indeed before the pandemic, 1.5 million jobs had been created since we first came to government. And those jobs are now restored. They are restored. There is still a long way to go. Unemployment has fallen to 5.8 percent. 876,400 jobs have been recreated in our economy since the start of that recession. 88,700 in net terms in February have been created, all of them full-time. 84 per cent of the jobs in this February figures for women. But we aren't there yet. There are more hours still needed. There is still a lot more to do, particularly for young people and even though the youth unemployment rate has pleasingly fallen, there is still a distance to travel. The pacing of our supports into the economy are proved again to have been wise. We brought it in when it was most needed and we didn't hold back. We kept it in as the crisis went through its most virulent period. But as we got to the other side, as it began to emerge as companies were getting back on their feet towards the end of September, we started to gear down those supports and the jobs increased. We geared down the supports again at the end of December and the jobs increased. So as we go into this next phase, we go in with a strong run up. We go in with a very strong jobs run up into the next phase of Australia's comeback and Australia’s recovery. Our plan is working, Treasurer. We need to stick to the plan. Treasurer.
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: Thank you, Prime Minister. The strength and resilience of the Australian economy is on display again today. An unemployment rate at 5.8 per cent. 88,700 new jobs. A participation rate which remains around a record high. What is particularly pleasing in these numbers is that of that 88,700 jobs, all of them were full-time. More than 80 percent went to women and more than 40 percent went to young people. New South Wales and its economy has led the charge. 42,000 jobs being created in New South Wales over the month and their unemployment rate falling to 5.6 percent, the equal lowest of any state in the country. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. But months from here will continue to be challenging because we are still in the midst of a global pandemic and the greatest economic shock since the Great Depression. There are sectors, there are regions across the country that continue to do it tough, but these numbers are encouraging and these numbers give Australians confidence about their economic future.
Journalist: [Inaudible] these numbers change the strategy around fiscal repair and the timing around that fiscal repair and, indeed, how do these rapid recovering job numbers also provide an argument for greater liberalisation in the labour market?
Prime Minister: Well, first of all, we want to keep creating jobs and right now we have been seeking to do that in the Parliament. And there are those in this Parliament, led by the Labor Party, who want to stop us from creating more jobs by frustrating our plan. But we will keep creating the jobs, despite the Opposition, despite the blockages that are put in the way, whether it is in the Senate or elsewhere. We will keep pressing forward, as we have done over this last year, as we in fact all have always done as a government. We will press ahead and see the jobs created and we will deal with the challenges as they present. But those changes are important, but there are those in this place who don't want to create jobs as passionately as we do in the Government.
In relation to the fiscal issues, the Treasurer will comment, but we need to be cautious, even with these numbers. Of course, they are very pleasing. They are incredibly encouraging. They say to Australians, ‘Well done on the hard work. You are getting the job done by getting Australians into jobs.’ That is what Australians are achieving. We need to see that continue. The Budget will be in May. We will be addressing those issues in May. We have many, many challenges that go beyond that pandemic and I have outlined those on other occasions, but the Treasurer may wish to add further to that.
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: Thanks, Prime Minister. As you know, we laid out a new fiscal strategy ahead of last year’s Budget and had two phases to that strategy and the second phase referred to the fact that the unemployment rate needs to be comfortably below 6 percent. 5.8 percent is not comfortably below 6 percent. The other point I would make is that the unemployment rate in February of last year was 5.1 percent. So that was where it was pre-pandemic and we know that JobKeeper is coming off at the end of March and it will be bumpy. It will be challenging and the economy will continue to go through the transition. But just as JobKeeper ends, the Morrison Government’s economic supports continue and that is extremely important because it is like the $1.2 billion tourism and aviation package that we announced the other day, as well as the hiring credit, the infrastructure supports, the tax cuts. There is a whole host of government economic support measures that are going to continue to create jobs.
Journalist: What will removing JobKeeper do to these numbers and is it the right time to do it? Would you consider extending it?
Prime Minister: JobKeeper must come to an end. It has done its job. The job is now taken up of the many other measures that the Government has put in place. The Treasurer has just referred to them. The instant expensing issues, which is driving increased investment, the HomeBuilder programme which is seeing jobs in the residential building sector now extended out over the next two years, the tax cuts that are putting money in the pockets of Australians, the $2,000, the most recent of those payments getting to those through the welfare system in just the last couple of weeks, the continued rollout of our infrastructure programme. All of these things continue to drive the economy forward, just as so many were driving the economy forward before we came into this pandemic. As I said, at each stage of our gear change on JobKeeper, we have seen the economy continue to move forward. Now, we are going into that final phase when it comes to JobKeeper and that is why I am pleased we are going into it with a strong run-up. Kieran?
Journalist: The survey suggests that there was a fifth of the JobKeeper money was going to companies with rising profits at the end of last year, the second half. Would you like to see some of those companies or all of those companies with the rising profits pay a bit of it back?
Prime Minister: I have always said that is a matter for those companies and many have and I commend them for doing so. But let's not forget what JobKeeper was doing. I mean, I would rather have profitable companies than non-profitable companies. A profitable company is putting people in work. A profitable company is putting investment into the economy. Those resources find their way into the economy. That is what JobKeeper was doing. It is the single largest economic policy that any government in our history has ever put into the system and it has saved Australian jobs. It has saved the Australian economy. I am absolutely certain that JobKeeper has saved lives in this country. And so it has been a tremendously successful programme but even tremendously successful programmes must gear into the next phase and that is where we are heading now. Chris?
Journalist: Prime Minister and Treasurer, is it your expectation or your advice that unemployment will rise after JobKeeper is withdrawn?
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: I can refer you to the RBA board minutes for their monetary policy meeting in March which only came out a couple of days ago and they said the end of the JobKeeper programme was seen as "unlikely to result in a sustained increase in the unemployment rate". And Chris, I point you to both the MYEFO forecast about unemployment, which came down even after JobKeeper ended and the more recent forecast that came from the RBA who were predicting by year’s end we would have a 6 percent unemployment rate, bearing in mind that before today it was at 6.4 although it was revised down to 6.3. So it is the trajectory we have been focused on and, as you know, Treasury advised the Government last year when they did a review of the JobKeeper programme and they said it had some particular characteristics in the programme that, as the economy strengthened, would lead, if the JobKeeper programme was kept in place, would lead to adverse outcomes, particularly hampering mobility of labour across the economy.
Prime Minister: That is a very important point that the Treasurer is making. If these programmes go beyond what have been their effective period, can actually start to hold the economy back. It can create problems in the mobility of the labour force. We have got tens of thousands of jobs in the latest job vacancy data coming through. We are seeing job vacancies continuing to rise. As the Deputy Prime Minister will tell you if you give him half a second, more than 50,000 jobs in regional Australia are out there. There are jobs out there being created every day and we will keep creating those jobs and that is what people can look forward to going forward that in the position where they may be in a business if they don't find themselves in the same job at the conclusion of JobKeeper, then this economy is creating jobs for them to move into. David?
Journalist: Is the Senate going to pass all of your IR reform? Most of it is being blocked in the Senate. How important is that IR bill? Is it so important that you need to take it back to Parliament and fight for it again and is it so important that you would take it to the next election?
Prime Minister: Well, look, it is still being dealt with in the Senate now. So I think we will just wait to see the outcome of that process. I’ve always have gone into this process on these changes on the basis that I thought they could play an important role in assisting the recovery in Australia. I believe they would and I do believe we do need them now. But there are many in the Senate, and the Labor Party in particular, who don't share my passion for creating jobs and the Treasurer's. So they are working against the Government as we are seeking to create jobs. But I am a practical person, too. That means if this Senate is saying they don't wish to support those measures, then we will have to consider that in terms of how we go forward because I will send them other things to approve. I will send them other job-making initiatives they can support. If those don't want to support these job-making initiatives, then that is on them. If they don't want to create jobs as much as the Government does, then they need to answer to that.
Journalist: Has Christian Porter as Industrial Relations Minister, has he done enough to explain to the crossbench why these IR changes are important?
Prime Minister: Christian Porter was working on these matters in countless hours of consultations with employers and unions. You know, as I said back at the Press Club last year, we will give this a go. We will bring everybody together. We will get them around the table. We will seek to come up with a sensible package of changes in this area and that is what we did in good faith. I think it demonstrates that still in this country, even when you do that, even when you engage in good faith, the obstructionism that we are seeing in the Senate and from the Labor Party seeks to overcome that good faith. I think that reflects badly on those who haven't sought to support that process. We have engaged in this in good faith. We have put forward sensible, modest measures that we think can make a real difference. Now, the crossbench and the Senate and others, if they want to reject that and the Labor Party in particular, well, that is a matter for them. But it won't deter us from seeking to create more jobs. This Government has a strong record of job creation and we achieve it because we work in partnership with businesses, with employees, right across the country because they are the heroes of these job numbers. It is people who have gone out to get those jobs and it is the Australians in businesses who have created those jobs that has produced this incredibly encouraging result for Australia at this difficult time. Clare?
Journalist: The Government is introducing legislation today to protect the Kate Jenkins review from the Archives Act and the FOI Act. Are you confident that will be enough for staff to feel comfortable to come forward to that review and on one of the other reviews that is currently under way, the internal departmental one about who knew what with regard to the allegations Brittany Higgins has made, when can we expect that to be completed and made public?
Prime Minister: I addressed the second question in the House yesterday and I have nothing further to add to what I said in the House yesterday on that. On the other matter, I certainly hope it does. That is what we’ve agreed as an Opposition and as a Government. We agree that is a measure that should hopefully provide that comfort and provide that security for people to do that. That’s what is agreed between the parties and we both have the same objective here and I hope we will be able to deal with that fairly expeditiously today and give people that confidence.
Journalist: Prime Minister, last night a male staffer lost his job over a vile slur he made against a woman. Yet the Defence Minister is still in your Cabinet for a similarly vile slur she made against Brittany Higgins, the alleged rape survivor. How do you choose what language is a fireable offence and what is not?
Prime Minister: The particularly vile language that was expressed by that staffer, not on one occasion it is my understanding, and this only recently came to our attention. We dealt with this over the past couple of days as I think you would expect us to. Greg?
Journalist: [Inaudible] said yesterday, While the voice to government legislation should be drafted, he says that should be set aside and should not be passed through the Parliament until constitutional recognition is achieved. In other words, the constitutionally enshrined voice. Are you willing to consider going to a referendum to enshrine a voice into the Constitution or do you rule that out?
Prime Minister: We already have. It has never has been the Government’s policy to have that process enshrined in the Constitution. That never has been the Government's policy. I think that is pretty clear. It is not the Government's policy.
Journalist: Do you still think it is a third chamber to Parliament, effectively?
Prime Minister: It is not the government's policy, Greg. It has never been the Government's policy. There is no change to the government's policy. What we are proceeding with is the co-design process that we set up that is seeking the best possible way to have that voice to government and I've had numerous meetings myself on this matter and the Minister for Indigenous Australians is progressing that. On the other issue of constitutional recognition, more broadly, then there is still no clear consensus proposal at this stage, which would suggest mainstream support in the Indigenous community or elsewhere. So we are focused on pursuing the co-design process, on the voice to government and in addition to that, we are getting on with the very important job of closing the gap. Closing the gap to make a real practical difference for Indigenous Australians living across this country, to ensure that we get more Indigenous children in school, to ensure that we deal with the very serious issues of health impacts on Indigenous Australians, right across the country to get more Indigenous Australians in jobs and, importantly, to ensure that Indigenous Australians, particularly women Indigenous Australians, can be safe in their communities. That is the change that I particularly want to see that is going to make a big difference in the lives of Indigenous Australians across this country. Michelle?
Journalist: Treasurer, we have heard about the 50,000-plus regional vacancies for a long time and it has been repeated again today. What practically can you do about this? Your scheme to relocate people has not been successful. Do you need to look at new visa arrangements for people already here or what other initiatives have you in mind to attack this?
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: There are definitely labour force issues and workforce issues around the country. The fact that the JobSeeker payment is tapering down and that we have moved to a $50 a fortnight permanent increase, but it was higher as an elevated level, Michelle, obviously during the pandemic. Now we also have put in increased mutual obligations and I think the combination of that, together with the end of JobKeeper, will see more labour mobility across the economy. With respect to visas and the Prime Minister referenced this in the context of his AFR business speech recently, we are going to be looking to obviously at the first opportunity bring the skills into the country that we can and there is a great opportunity for Australia to do that.
Journalist: There are people already here who could have visa arrangements changed, though.
Prime Minister: It’s true. They are the sort of things that we can look at and we are looking at that with a pretty open book, Michelle. It is important that we do because I think one thing that has been demonstrated during the pandemic, you know, I have been working on this issue for a very long time and we have tried any number of things to try and deal with those regional skill shortages and labour force shortages across the country and it breaks my heart that fruit is getting ploughed back into the ground now. It breaks my heart and I can only imagine what it means for those producers in those communities. We have seen that there are jobs, even when high rates of unemployment were in place during the pandemic, that Australians have not gone and done those jobs. That is a challenge which is holding the rest of the economy back and so it is not only impacting on those producers directly, but it is impacting on the broader working of the economy and is holding back job creation for Australians in so many other parts of the economy. So that is an important discussion that we are going to have to have, filling those jobs to support regional communities, which means that the services in those rural communities become more entrenched and sustainable in those communities. You get people in jobs in regional towns, then you keep your schools, you keep your health staff, you keep your nurses and this is a big, big challenge that we have and the Deputy Prime Minister and I and the Treasurer and the Immigration Minister are very focused on.
Journalist: The vaccine rollout is seeing significant challenges. Are you frustrated by them and will it improve?
Prime Minister: We are going to hit 250,000, jab 250,000 Australians this week. In fact, I suspect that will occur in about the next 24 hours. Last week, I was telling you that we had reached 100,000. The vaccination programme continues to accelerate. We said when I stood here in this very courtyard with the Health Minister and other health advisers at the time, whether it be Professor Skerritt or Professor Murphy or Professor Kelly. We said we hoped to start the vaccination programme in mid to late February. Well, we did. We said that we hoped we would be able to get to about 80,000 vaccinations a week in the early phases and we have. We said that we would hope to be getting by the end of March to the position where we would be getting major rolls off the line of the CSL vaccines out of Melbourne and we will. We said we would be doing it through various phases and that process is already under way and that we would be enlisting thousands of doctors around the country in that effort and we have. We will continue to communicate as clearly as we can with Australians.
I am pleased that so many Australians want to be part of this vaccination programme. The surge in interest yesterday was extraordinary and that just says to me that Australians understand how important this vaccination programme is. We will continue to roll it out. But the thing I always stress when it comes to the vaccination programme is this; were it not for the fact that our Government took the strategic decision last August to not rely on international supply of vaccines, then Australia would not have a vaccination programme now. It is because of the foresight of the decision that the Government took to do that and to put in place the plan and it is a big project, it is a tough project, it is on a national scale unprecedented and we continue to step forward every single day. I appreciate the patience of Australians as we do that, but I also appreciate their enthusiasm and I appreciate their support and today they can hear this news about how Australia is coming back from the COVID-19 pandemic. These jobs numbers are a real shot in the arm and that will only boost us as we go into the next phase, as we get to the end of this month and Australia will continue to lead the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recession it created. Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
17 March 2021
Prime Minister: Good morning, everyone. I'm joined by Minister Payne and Minister Seselja, the Minister for the Pacific, and of course the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Kelly. I'll just, in advance, I don't have leave for the Parliament this morning so if the bells ring then you'll, of course, excuse me if I have to depart.
Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have always been extremely concerned for our Pacific family, for our neighbours, and over the course of this last year, the Pacific community has done such an extraordinary job to substantively keep their islands free of COVID-19. But we've known that that challenge was always going to be too great for Papua New Guinea as time went on. And that, indeed, is proving to be the case now. Now, I've become in contact with Prime Minister Marape very consistently over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and particularly in recent days and the events we're seeing there are of great concern, great concern for them and the challenges that they now face. But I want to assure the people of Papua New Guinea and my dear friend James Marape that Australians as always will stand with them as they meet this challenge and support them in every way that we possibly can.
Now, it is also true that the escalation of issues with the virus in Papua New Guinea presents very real risks to Australia as well. This is a matter that we've been regularly addressing at National Cabinet and particularly between Premier Palaszczuk and I, as we've been very conscious of the risks that are present there. That has included, on medical advice, as well as advice from the Australian Border Force, increasing our activities in the Torres Strait. It has also included moving forward through the Queensland Department of Health to already commence vaccinations in the Torres Strait Islands to ensure that we're boosting protection for that very vulnerable part of Australia and the impact on northern Australia. We've already taken action to ensure there is pre-departure testing of people coming out of Papua New Guinea into Australia at 96 hours and in addition to that, we recently suspended flights, charter flights, Ok Tedi Mine where there has been a high incidence of those working in that mine testing positive.
But we now need to do more and we will do more. On the basis of medical advice and the on the basis of discussions I've had with Prime Minister Marape over the last few days and with the Premier of Queensland, we are taking the following actions to support the initiatives in Papua New Guinea and also to protect Australians from the spread of the virus from Papua New Guinea to Australia, and in particular, protect Queenslanders. Queenslanders, particularly in North Queensland, are most at risk from this. We've been very conscious of that and these measures are decided very much with them in mind. Starting at midnight tonight, we will further reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission from PNG to Australia by suspending passenger flights from Papua New Guinea into Cairns. We will do that for a fortnight and reassess the situation over the next fortnight. Freight, though, I stress, will continue, and be supported to ensure that necessary supplies are able to get from Cairns to Papua New Guinea. We’ll be suspending all charter flights from Papua New Guinea to Australia, with limited exemptions for medevac and other critical flights. We'll be reducing the passenger caps by one-quarter from flights from Port Moresby to Brisbane, effective at midnight tonight. We'll be suspending all outbound travel exemptions by Australians to Papua New Guinea, except for essential and critical workers, including humanitarian and medevac-related activity. This will include no general FIFO work. You FI or you FO. If you're there, you stay. If you're here, you stay. We cannot risk more people going into those areas and then coming back to Australia. We will work with PNG also over the course of the next fortnight to move as quickly as we can to move from a 96-hour pre-departure screening to a 24-hour pre-departure screening. We will also be beefing up the medical support we're providing by gifting essential PPE to PNG. That includes 1 million surgical masks, 200,000 P295 respirator masks, 100,000 gowns, 100,000 goggles, 100,000 pairs of gloves, 100,000 bottles of sanitiser, 20,000 face shields and 200 non-invasive ventilators.
Our Government will also be moving immediately to gift 8,000 doses of our COVID-19 vaccine stocks from our domestic stocks to support the vaccination of front front-line health workers in PNG from next week. With the support of the PNG government, we're making a formal request to AstraZeneca and the European authorities to access one million doses of our contracted supplies of AstraZeneca not for Australia, but for PNG, a developing country in desperate need of these vaccines. We've contracted them. We've paid for them and we want to see those vaccines come here so we can support our nearest neighbour, PNG, to deal with their urgent needs in our region and we'll be seeking the support of the European Union and AstraZeneca to achieve that as soon as possible.
With the agreement of PNG government, we are deploying a critical-planning AUSMAT team to PNG next week to establish and prepare plans for COVID health care needs in PNG and set the grounds for further deployment of a clinical health care team in coming weeks. We'll also be seeking assistance, pursuant to the Quad meeting we had last week, from our Quad partners to provide assistance, technical and otherwise, with the rollout of this program. In the Torres Strait Islands, we will continue as a matter of urgency to support the efforts of the Queensland Health department in the vaccination of the Torres Strait and we'll be increasing the visibility of the presence of the Border Force in managing that border. But importantly, after I think very good discussions with the Queensland Premier last night and I thank her for her cooperation as we worked out the details of and also in cooperation with the PNG government to support a vaccine rollout in PNG's western province with a focus on supporting vaccinations in what is known as the treaty villages. They're the villages that are literally just on the other side of the Torres Strait. And those treaty villages act as a single community effectively with the communities of the Torres Strait Island. There is much movement back and forward in that part of the world and we want to extend the protection net of the vaccinations that are going across the Torres Strait Island into those treaty villages. In addition to that, I've said to Prime Minister Marape that we're keen to support in the provision of supplies and other necessities into those villages which would prevent and remove the need for them to travel to other parts of Papua New Guinea where the COVID virus is more present than it currently is in those treaty villages. So that work in the vaccinations would be undertaken by the Queensland Government in the same way that they're currently doing that in the Torres Strait Islanders' communities. The other vaccines and programs in Port Moresby and other parts of the country, Daru and so on, would be part of the vaccination plan that I have already referred to. In addition, this builds on the $80 million contribution that we have made to the COVAX facility for advance market commitment for developing countries. The COVAX facility has indicated it will deliver some 588,000 vaccines for PNG by June. And since the beginning of this pandemic, we've already provided well over $60 million in assistance to PNG to respond to this crisis.
They're our family. They're our friends. They're our neighbours. They're our partners. They have always stood with us and we will always stand with them. This is in Australia's interests and it is in our region's interests and it's incumbent on us as Australians both in securing the health of our own citizens but equally of our PNG family who are so dear to us. I'll ask Professor Kelly to explain more of the medical situation and the Foreign Minister to speak to the foreign affairs issue.
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Thanks, PM. So as the PM has outlined, our near neighbour in Papua New Guinea is extremely close to the northern part of Australia. So from Saibai Island you can actually see the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, where the treaty villages are. So it's very close. That first step of rolling out the vaccine in the Torres Strait to anyone in the Torres Strait, including our ADF workers and others who are up there, is a very important component of this. Just in terms of the medical rationale for this, of course it's the right thing to do, as the PM mentioned, but it's also in Australia's interest to work with Papua New Guinea in this time. Over the last couple of weeks, very rapidly the situation has changed in Papua New Guinea. We’ve seen of the cases that have been diagnosed in PNG, half of them have been diagnosed in the last couple of weeks from the beginning of the pandemic. Recognising that they did not have the resources for mass testing like we have in Australia, and so any number you see out of Papua New Guinea in terms of cases and even deaths will be a major underestimate. So there is a big outbreak of COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea. We know this from the places that are able to be dong testing. The PM has mentioned the Ok Tedi Mine, they’ve done mass testing there and almost half the samples are positive. They are finding the same when people are being admitted into hospital in Port Moresby, half of women who are coming in due to pregnancy are positive. We’re seeing a large number of healthcare workers on the front lines in Papua New Guinea now coming down with COVID-19. These are all signs that there is a major epidemic in the community.
So that’s what’s happening in PNG. We are concerned about that because an uncontrolled pandemic is how variants of concern come to light. That would be not only a major problem for PNG but also for us and the region, if there was a PNG strain to develop, for example. We don't have any indication of that at the moment. The genomics analysis we've done does not show a variant of concern but it is important for us to assist to get that outbreak under control. More proximately, we've seen an increase in the last couple of weeks of people coming from PNG into Queensland. In Queensland they have a policy of putting all positive cases into hospital. They've doubled the number of people in hospital from overseas arrivals in Queensland just in the last 10 days. So that is the pressure that's going onto the Queensland Health system and that's why these things make sense to do. There are now, so since 15 March, there have been 32 cases from PNG imported into Australia, into Queensland and 13 are currently being managed in hospitals in Queensland. So these are the reasons why this has been my advice to the Prime Minister to make these decisions, to support on the ground assist to turn off the top, if you like, in terms of cases coming from PNG and all of that assistance will give, it's not only the right thing to do but it will also protect Australia.
Prime Minister: Thank you. Minister Payne?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affair and Women: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. Thank you very much, Dr Kelly. I want to reinforce the Prime Minister's observations about the focus we have had since the onset of the pandemic on our close partnerships, our work with our Pacific family on their priorities in terms of COVID-19 response. Firstly, the pivoting of our development assistance programme in partnerships for recovery. Importantly, our bilateral COVID-19 response plans and most recently our vaccine commitments in relation to Pacific and of course South-East Asia. With the Papua New Guinea government in addressing these issues, we've been engaging regularly and in depth with senior leaders. The Prime Minister, with his counterpart, Prime Minister Marape. I've been speaking with the Health Minister Jetta Wong, both personally and regularly by message in terms of updates on their response actions and that engagement has taken place across the Australian Government as well. Our High Commission in Port Moresby is participating in Papua New Guinea's COVID-19 technical working group and attending meetings at the most senior levels with the High Commissioner and his senior Counsel staff. Our Indo-Pacific centre for health security is coordinating our health security response in the region, including with Papua New Guinea.
I really want to emphasise that the work we are doing and the work we're announcing today is in partnership with Papua New Guinea, based on their priorities and their needs and we have identified those four very immediate measures that the Prime Minister has spoken about in terms of the vaccine response and a number of other supplies - tents, PPE and the AUSMAT team. The AUSMAT team which will be in country on Monday next week, we expect will also do the ground work for the clinical response team, which will follow then. The 8,000 doses of vaccines that we have referred to this morning will fill a critical gap in advance of Papua New Guinea's receipt of its vaccines from the COVAX facility. They are expected in Papua New Guinea in April and then further doses in May. So this gap for front-line workers will be absolutely essential for those people to be able to continue to do the job that they are doing. We are also providing Papua New Guinea through the vaccine program we have announced $144 million to support their PNG vaccine program and its rollout.
The Prime Minister has referred to the Torres Strait. We're obviously dealing with close family and cultural connections between those traditional inhabitants of the villages within the Torres Strait protected zone and therefore paying particular attention to the needs of those treaty villages. I want to acknowledge our colleague Warren Entsch, the Member for Leichhardt, who has been fundamental in engaging with communities in the region, engaging with leadership in the region, and being very clear about their concerns and their needs. I also want to again acknowledge the Queensland Health system for their undertaking and their engagement with us on addressing these issues in the Torres Strait. This will need to be a shared vaccination effort.
These measures that we’re announcing today fit well with a carefully coordinated approach that we are take being other partners, first and foremost in this case our partners in the Papua New Guinea government. But also other international partners, including recently the Quad leaders meeting undertaking on vaccines from last Saturday with Australia, India, Japan and the United States. Under the agreement that was made at the Quad leaders meeting, our four democracies have set out a very ambitious but very practical and positive agenda on COVID-19 vaccines. That includes an increased $100 million contribution from Australia on top of the over $500 million contribution we announced last year and as the Prime Minister referred to, our support for the COVAX facility. In Papua New Guinea, that will mean working with Japan, with India and with the United States in relation to what support we can provide together. Whether that is technical support, whether that is work through UNICEF, who is one of our key partners in the delivery of vaccines in the region, those conversations have started and we will continue those through the centre for regional health security and other officials with our Quad partners. Thanks, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Thank you. Can I also echo my thanks to Warren Entsch. He's been a champion for people of the Torres Strait, not just on the Australian side of the border but right across the western province.
Journalist: Prime Minister, does PNG have enough doctors and nurses to deal with this crisis? Have they requested Australia’s help in supplying some frontline health workers or is the risk just considered too great?
Prime Minister: Well, the capacity to manage COVID-19 in a developing country is starkly different to what it is in an advanced country like Australia. I think that's an understood starting point. One of the key reasons we are setting up the advance planning team next week is to assess and triage what the potential needs are to support Papua New Guinea in any further questions it might make. It's an important point, Mark, that I think you stress - this is Papua New Guinea's initiative. This is their response and we are seeking to support them with the priorities that they're setting out and so by having that team up there next week, I think that will greatly assist in framing what those additional needs are.
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affair and Women: Prime Minister, if I can also say, mark, there's also about more than half a dozen other actions, specific actions which will be laid out in our media statement that we're working on on the ground in Port Moresby with the Papua New Guinea authorities there. We supplied 200,000 face masks for the period of the Somare state services and funeral burial period. We're working with the WHO on expanding warehouse capacity so we have storage facilities for that PPE and we can streamline its distribution. We are supplying hospital tent facilities outside Port Moresby General Hospital for safe triaging and referral and transfer of patients so there's a better throughput there. Supporting St John's Papua New Guinea and the National Capital District Provincial Health Authority to establish one of their aquatic centres as an isolation facility for mild to moderate caseless that has an up to 120 bed capacity. We're also funding support for the reopening of the Rita Flynn testing and isolation facility which will relieve pressure on Port Moresby General Hospital and also the St John's Ambulance COVID-19 operations in Port Moresby. This includes patient transport, COVID-19 testing and PPE distribution. Supporting their COVID-19 national control centre which Prime Minister Marape visited himself this week and the High Commissioner is closely engaged with. With their information management, their risk communications, their quarantine management and health financing and making sure that we're supporting surveillance, testing and clinical care capacity in Port Moresby and the provinces with known outbreaks, so not just Port Moresby and, of course, testing of samples in Australia. That sample testing is something we've been doing right through the pandemic.
Journalist: Are there going to be qualified people?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affair and Women: So the PNG health system is supported in its own capacity, obviously. The AUSMAT team will be part of that analysis and they will do a critical needs analysis when they arrive next week. There are also a significant number of NGOs, including ISOS, including the WHO, who have presence on the ground and have medical professionals on the ground as well.
Prime Minister: There will be a clinical team that will be following as well and that's what the advance team will be preparing for.
Journalist: There's something like 10 million people in Papua New Guinea. We've heard Professor Kelly talking about the possibility of mutations and PNG strains coming out of there. I think there's a million COVAX jabs coming. How is this going to be enough?
Prime Minister: This is a significant challenge, there is no doubt about that and we're seeing these challenges experienced in many developing countries within our region. So our response is twofold. One is to provide as much support in partnership, whether it's the Quad or other partners in the region. The second is to ensure that we're protecting Australia's borders, and we’re protecting access into Australia to prevent any transmission from these areas into Australia and in particular into Queensland. So I think the forward deployment of vaccinations, particularly into the treaty villages, which is a key point of interaction, I think, will be a very achievable and very practical way of addressing that immediate need to effectively provide, and extend the ring of containment beyond the Torres Strait Islands on our side of the border into those more sensitive parts of the Western Province. But there is no doubt that as time goes on, we will be increasing further support into Papua New Guinea and we will be doing that in partnership with them. But our expectations are realistic in working with any developing country. We're seeing this in many developing countries around the world. I've said consistently going back to the G20 last year when we first discussed these matters, that we need to be mindful of the severe limitations of developing countries in addressing this virus. We’re seeing it in Africa and we’re seeing it in other parts of the world and we need to ensure that we get vaccines to these places. That’s why I'll be appealing to the European Union to let the vaccines go that we have contracted for, so we can get that help to Papua New Guinea and every other vaccine we can get out of Europe, that's where I'll send it. I'll send it straight there and to our other partners in the Pacific to ensure we're doing everything we possibly can. But we need their help to do it. We need them to lift the block.
Journalist: Prime Minister, PNG is coming out of a period of mourning for their late Prime Minister Michael Somare. How much have the ceremonial arrangements affected the timing of this response? And secondly, PNG shares a land border with Papua, which obviously has strong transport links to the islands of Indonesia, and very a populous country to our near north. How do you assess the implications for Indonesia of this outbreak and for the ongoing security implications for Australia should there be a new outbreak in Indonesia?
Prime Minister: Well, the burial of Sir Michael, which was taking place yesterday, I actually spoke to James as he was accompanying Sir Michael's body to the site, and so you can understand that this comes at a time of deep mourning and grief for the people of Papua New Guinea. But this action is not in any way connected to that action. That is a terribly sad event all of its own. But it is incidental to the support because we have been working on this now for some days and we've been seeing the escalation in the case numbers. Now, in terms of the cooperation between Indonesian and Papua New Guinean authorities, this has been a topic over the past year. That has been a subject of conversations I've had with President Widodo. Indonesia has its own challenges when it comes to addressing COVID in their own country and I have no doubt that they'll be observing this very closely and working closely with the Papua New Guinean government. I mean, the terrain along that border is not like you can compare to, say, the Western Australia border with South Australia. The geography is a little different. But that's why we, in looking at particularly the issues in the Western Province, say, from Australia's risk, we understand how the Western Province and the Torres Strait act as an effective community and this is why I'm very grateful to Warren Entsch, because he brings that local understanding after 25 years he's been a member of this place and in many cases, he's been the member for the Western Province in our own Parliament. And I think he's done a fantastic job alerting us and the medical authorities to these issues and working closely with us on how we can make this practically work on the ground.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you mentioned there will be an increased awareness campaign about vaccination in the Torres Strait Islands, I think. You talked about awareness as well and perhaps Professor Kelly as well. How concerned are you about increased vaccine hesitancy, perhaps in those communities and in the wider Australian communities, as we're seeing European governments decide to pause rollouts and so on?
Prime Minister: I'll get Professor Kelly to also speak on this. But we've already begun vaccinations in the Torres Strait and Saibai Island yesterday, I think it was. That's going very well. We are aware that in Papua New Guinea that there's hesitancy in that community for a range of reasons and we'll seek to support the Papua New Guinean government in addressing those issues. In terms of the AstraZeneca vaccines, Professor Kelly and Professor Skerritt have been very clear about the Australian medical experts' view about that and we're pleased that today, there will be 1,000 GPs signing up. 1,000 GPs signing up to be in the next phase of this rollout of AstraZeneca across Australia. So critical, so critical for Australia's success this year in protecting the health of Australians across the country. Paul?
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So of course we're always concerned about vaccine hesitancy but as I said very strongly yesterday and I'm not alone in saying this, I have no concern about the AstraZeneca and specifically the blood clot issue that's emerged in Europe. Overnight, the European Medical Agency head said the same thing as the WHO and the UK regulator, the TGA here in Australia, myself and many other experts in these matters, that we should look at the background rate of issues as we roll out mass vaccination programs like this. Things will happen because they happen. It doesn't mean that they're related to the vaccine. In terms of the Torres Strait specifically, my understanding is the update is strong. They understand the threat so they are getting vaccinated.
Prime Minister: Chris?
Journalist: Prime Minister, I’m just going to ask on another matter, what's your response to Nicolle Flint's speech last night?
Prime Minister: Look, I'd like to stay on PNG matters to be honest but given I've got to go in a couple of minutes because I have an international call that I have to attend, I think she's an incredibly brave woman. I think she's incredibly brave. I know how brave she was because I was there with her as she endured one of the ugliest campaigns I've ever seen waged against not just a woman but anyone in this country. And her determination to stand up to that in the face of the most vitriolic of abuse, stalking and threats to her own public security was just absolutely appalling. And I just am amazed at the Labor Party and the unions and GetUp just stood by and let that happen. They were aware. They saw it. They were happy to be advantaged by it and I think she's called it out well and I think she's an incredibly strong woman. We're very sad she won't be running again at the next election. But I can understand after having gone through such a traumatic experience that she would form that view. She indicated that to me last year when we were reshuffling the Cabinet and the ministry, and she asked not to be considered at that time. I think she would have been an outstanding member of the Executive, to be honest. Sadly, we won’t have that opportunity. But I think she has blazed a trail for many other women in the Liberal Party to come forward. Phil?
Journalist: Just back on the vaccination thing, if the Europeans don't come to the party on your request to send us the vaccine for which we have paid for, will you be prepared to divert some domestic production to PNG? And how would you respond to the inevitable criticisms about giving vaccines to foreigners ahead of Australia that will come from that?
Prime Minister: Twofold. I expect and would hope to get the cooperation out of Europe for this. We've all said that we need to get vaccines where they're needed. This is not Australia seeking to do this for our own direct benefit, although we've contracted them and you would expect them to be supplied otherwise. But we're not factoring those into the additional supplies into the vaccination programme that Professor Murphy and I outlined to you on Sunday. So this would enable us to direct those supplies into Papua New Guinea and indeed into other parts of the Pacific if needed. Those vaccines and their deployment would therefore, I think, be following through on the very public statements that have been made in the European Union about their commitment to ensure that there is no vaccine protectionism and that vaccines do go to those most in need and that's why we're putting that forward. And on the question of diverting from Australian supplies, those supplies wouldn't be, but we have already, as I outlined on Sunday, indicated that we would be doing that. There was a supply of our own produced vaccines that were already factored into the distribution in the weeks ahead and that will continue. I don't think Australians have a problem with that. I think when we're talking about our own home, which PNG is part of, our own family, our Pacific neighbours, I think Australians understand that that is one of our responsibilities and as an advanced nation that has had such incredible success in managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, I think they would be generous in spirit. I mean, we all know the Kokoda story. They were there for us. We will be there for them. Thank you all very much.
Statement On Indulgence - Australian Parliament House ACT
15 March 2021
Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, I move that this House acknowledge the passing on the 26th of February 2021 of Papua New Guinea Grand chief Sir Michael Somare and place on record its gratitude of his long-standing and respected relationship with Australia and tender its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.
Mr Speaker, I welcome the High Commissioner here with us today.
Sir Michael Somare was a towering figure in the history of Papua New Guinea.
A driving force in the development of Papua New Guinea’s national constitution.
The nation’s first Prime Minister.
The longest serving Prime Minister, holding office for a total of 17 years over four separate terms.
And Papua New Guinea’s longest-serving Member of Parliament, faithfully representing his East Sepik constituency for a remarkable 49 years.
To his fellow countrymen and women, Sir Michael was known simply as “the Grand Chief”.
It was a title that reflected his immense standing and the deep respect in which he was held.
To Australia, Sir Michael was a longstanding and respected friend, indeed family.
Papua New Guinea, our closest neighbour, is family to us.
The ties are deep, forged at Kokoda, Port Moresby, and Milne Bay and remembered at Lae, Rabaul and, of course, Bomana.
And the many kiaps, those young Australians who patrolled and worked with local village communities, walking across their vast and rugged interior.
Because it was once a territory of Australia, indeed as we defended it in the Second World War.
As Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Michael worked with Australian Prime Ministers Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Howard, Rudd and Gillard.
But his connection to the leadership of our country goes as far back as the Gorton Government.
As a young man, Michael Somare championed an independent Papua New Guinea.
And he did so working with Australia. Working together.
It is to the credit of so many Australian and Papua New Guinea leaders in the late 1960s and early 1970s that they came to a shared recognition that sovereignty must rest with the people of Papua New Guinea.
It was right that many years later, Sir Michael along with Sir John Gorton and Gough Whitlam came together received honorary doctorates for their work in delivering independence.
Because on the day when Papua New Guinea became independent, the Australian flag was respectfully lowered. It was not torn down.
One of those who witnessed that significant moment was a future Governor-General of Australia, Michael Jeffery.
In 1975, he was a young soldier in East Sepik.
Later he said, “I well remember the Australian flag being lowered in Wewak for the last time and the beautiful Papua New Guinea flag being raised in its stead.”
He recalled the positive spirit that surrounded independence.
That was, in large part, a credit to Michael Somare.
He was not a man who tore down.
He understood that free nations are built on democratic institutions and on what he called ‘sana’: a word from his own language signifying peace, consensus and inclusion.
Indeed, those were the hallmarks of his public life and are his legacy.
Thanks to his vision, and his commitment to sana, Papua New Guinea’s path to independence was a smooth one.
The foundations of this new nation were laid in peace.
Sir Michael remained a staunch defender of his country’s independence, proudly, but always appreciated Australia’s unstinting commitment to his homeland and Papua New Guinea’s success.
He carried the Olympic torch when it passed through Papua New Guinea on its way to Sydney in 2000.
We can only hope it will pass through Papua New Guinea again if Brisbane 2032 is successful.
He was also, like so many Papua New Guineans, a rugby league fan. And, unlike so many Papua New Guineans when it came to the State of Origin, he was a devoted fan of the Blues. Something I’m sure the Leader of the Opposition and I on at least that matter can concur.
He was a great man of faith, he was a great man of conviction and commitment, and he will be deeply missed by his many friends in Australia.
Highh Commissioner Kali, could you please extend to the Government and people of Papua New Guinea, to your Prime Minister my dear friend James Marape, the sincere condolences of the Government and people of Australia as represented in this people’s House.
Thank you for joining us today and thank you to the members of the diplomatic corps who are also with us today, a sign of Sir Michael’s standing in the world.
During this time, we are thinking also of Lady Veronica, their children and grandchildren, and the entire Somare family.
May they, in this time of grief, know the peace of God.
And may the Grand Chief Rest in Peace as a good and faithful servant.
Opening Remarks, Virtual Quad Leaders' Meeting
13 March 2021
PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON: Thank you very much. Well, thank you, President Biden for this wonderful initiative in bringing us together. My fellow prime ministers, it’s great to see you. Namaste, good morning, konnichiwa, and from Australia, g’day.
As we begin a new day here in Australia it’s not yet dawn, but we join together as Quad leaders of nations to welcome what I think will be will be a new dawn in the Indo-Pacific through our gathering. History teaches us that when nations engage together in a partnership of strategic trust, of common hope and shared values, much can be achieved.
When the world emerged from the Great War and our last global pandemic a century ago, it soon found a great depression and another global conflict, and it unleashed a poverty and a devastation that was unthinkable. As we emerge from this global pandemic, and the global recession, let us together create a different future. It is the Indo-Pacific that will now shape the destiny of our world in the 21st Century.
As four leaders of great liberal democracies in the Indo-Pacific, let our partnership be the enabler of peace, stability and prosperity and to do so inclusively with the many nations of our region. To share in their vision as expressed through ASEAN for an open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific. To respect and support their sovereignty, independence and security by upholding our values and supporting international law and to address the many challenges we face, from COVID to climate change.
Know friends, that Australia, while looking to our friends in all of these tasks, we never leave it to our friends. We’ll do our share of the heavy lifting to lighten the burden for us all.
I’m delighted to now hand over to my good friend Yoshi, Prime Minister Suga.
Keynote Address, AFR Business Summit - Sydney, NSW
9 March 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you all for the opportunity to come and be with you here today. Can I also acknowledge the Gadigal people, the Eora Nation, the elders past and present and future. Can I also acknowledge any veterans here in the room today or members of our defence forces and say thank you for your service. Can I acknowledge my colleague Michaelia Cash, a minister wearing quite a few hats at the moment and she’s doing an outstanding job, and I appreciate her being here with me today. And to a former Parliamentary colleague, even for a brief time, Peter Costello. But he’s better known for being our longest serving Treasurer and, of course, Chairman of the Nine Group and the Future Fund, and it’s good to see Peter, as always.
A year ago I spoke at this very summit and said ‘whatever you thought 2020 was going to be about, think again.’
I said we ‘confronted a new, complex, hydra-headed and rapidly-evolving challenge. COVID-19”.
On that day, a year ago, there were 113,210 cases of COVID-19 globally, across 108 countries, and more than 3,975 lives had been lost.
Already at that time, even a year ago, that number of lives lost exceeded SARS and MERS put together.
Today, there are more than 375,000 additional cases and 20,000 additional deaths occurring every single day around the world.
Now, in recognising we were not immune a year ago, I said that we were taking decisive and timely action to get ahead of this.
The National Incident Response Plan had been activated in mid-January, including standing up the National Incident Response Centre in Canberra. The Chief Medical Officer at the time, Professor Brendan Murphy, was convening daily meetings of the National medical expert panel, the AHPPC.
The National Security Committee of Cabinet was meeting regularly, under my direction, to direct our national response to the pandemic.
The National Coordination Mechanism, within the Department of Home Affairs, had been established to address economic and supply chain issues, particularly in critical medical equipment and supplies. And this would later be joined by the National COVID Coordination Commission to ensure greater private sector involvement led by Nev Power.
We had officially called the pandemic two weeks before the World Health Organisation in Australia and we were one of the first countries to move to close our borders to mainland China.
And by the close of the very week I stood here a year ago, we had announced the first of our three major economic responses and we had formed the National Cabinet.
We were getting ahead of this.
But to stay ahead, I warned, ‘we had to work together and continue to take decisive and timely action’.
‘Our goal’, I said, ‘was to protect the health, the wellbeing and livelihoods of Australians through this global crisis, and to ensure that when the recovery comes, and it will, we are well positioned to bounce back strongly on the other side’. That was the mission.
That is what we did and that is what we continue to do.
It has been a tough 12 months. In fact, it’s been the toughest our country has seen since the Great Depression and the Second World War.
But here we are, leading the world out of the global pandemic and the global recession it caused.
Our health system withstood the pandemic storm.
Our federation and our policy-making institutions adapted to bring about unprecedented cooperation.
Business, the research and scientific and medical community and expertise from all sections of society, finance and so many, came together to support this common purpose in a national effort.
And above all, Australians, in millions of acts of patience, of caring, kindness and responsibility, stood up, looked after each other, did their bit, and succeeded in pulling Australia through.
Australia’s remarkable performance in saving lives - the third lowest mortality rate from the pandemic among G20 nations - is the first point of conversation when I speak with foreign leaders, I’m proud to say.
But we’ve been equally successful in protecting livelihoods, better than almost every other advanced economy in the world today.
The actions of Government have been critical to Australia’s success.
At this summit a year ago, I set out the principles that would guide our Government’s economic response to COVID-19.
Our response would be proportionate, timely, scaleable and targeted.
I said it would be aligned with other policy arms, in particular monetary policy and we had fantastic collaboration with the Reserve Bank.
It would use existing delivery mechanisms, to avoid implementation failures of the past.
It would be temporary and have a clear fiscal exit strategy, and wherever possible it would favour responses that boosted productivity.
They were the principles.
A year on, we have remained faithful to those principles and that strategy.
And that strategy is working.
Emergency policies such as JobKeeper and the COVID supplement for JobSeeker provided the bridge that Australians and the economy needed as we looked into what was an abyss.
This was supported by our emergency cashflow payments for small and medium sized businesses and wage supports to retain apprentices.
Economic stimulus payments of $2,000 individually to Australians in the welfare system were injected. The last $250 payment was made during the past week.
There was our targeted support to the aviation industry to keep planes in the air and ensure our exporters could continue to service their international customers in the bellies of those planes.
We provided grants even to zoos to feed their animals.
Our push for the states to adopt emergency commercial tenancy arrangements for small and medium sized businesses, avoided nationwide evictions and unsustainable tenancy debts.
The Treasurer worked closely with the banks, and I want to pay particular credit to Matt Comyn who is with us here today, and I want to thank him for his leadership during this crisis, to ensure repayment relief to both businesses and households. The Treasurer and the financial community, Josh and that team, worked closely together.
And we gave Australians emergency access to their own money, their own resources, their own savings, their superannuation balances, to help see them though the worst of the crisis.
And this doesn’t include the increased federal expenditure on child care, mental health, critical medical supplies, aged care, state hospitals, a 50/50 deal on COVID related expenditure in state public hospitals and the thousands of defence force personnel who are deployed around the country, just to name a few.
All up the Australian Government, as at the last fiscal update, has committed $267 billion to our COVID-19 response, that is 13.5 per cent the size of our economy, of GDP.
On the direct economic support alone it’s 12.6 per cent, some $251 billion, and this rates as one the most significant COVID responses anywhere in the advanced world.
In Australia it has also been a united effort with the states and territories, who have also significantly added to this economic response, with an additional $122 billion or around 6 per cent of GDP.
But, I think even they would say, it is fair to say that the heavy fiscal lifting has been done by the Commonwealth over this past year.
Australian Government funding for the response has more than doubled the combined investment of all the states and territories put together, and some.
And even when considered as a share of revenue, the federal response eclipses those of each and every state and territory and those combined.
So, it has been federal taxpayers that have underwritten Australia’s COVID response, at every level of Government in this country.
Our Government does not take issue with that – none whatsoever. That was our job, that was our role, that was our responsibility to see Australia through. And so we have.
Thankfully, we are now entering the post emergency phase of the COVID-19 response. We can now switch over to medium and longer term economic policy settings that support private sector, business-led growth in our economy.
Because you simply cannot run the Australian economy on taxpayers’ money forever. It’s not sustainable.
So since October last year, as the economy began gearing up, we have been gearing down JobKeeper and the JobSeeker COVID Supplement.
Both measures will now cease as planned at the end of this month. And that is consistent with the principles that I set out a year ago.
For those who are in need of ongoing income support because of unemployment, this will now be delivered through the newly increased Jobseeker safety net payment. This is the first time Jobseeker has been increased, above indexation, since 1987. Not a small thing.
And we make this transition, and as we do so, it is also reassuring to know that the unprecedented support we have provided to the Australian economy during this past year will continue to support activity once these emergency measures come to an end.
Our $251 billion in direct economic support, while largely delivered in 2020, has a very long tail.
As the chart shows, treasury estimates direct support measures will see expected economic activity 5 per cent higher in the current year and 4.5 per cent higher in 2021-22, compared with no support.
We can see our economy’s remarkable comeback in the latest National Accounts.
The Australian economy grew by 3.1 per cent over the December quarter, led by the private sector – outperforming the G7 and the OECD average.
Household consumption was strong – backed by confident Australian consumers whose incomes have been supported through the crisis, also increasing retail spending.
But it also includes ongoing support, such as the over $50 billion in lower personal taxes for 11.6 million Australians announced in the October Budget.
The rise in private business investment was supported by government investment incentives worth over $30 billion. In particular, our supercharged instant asset write-off, the instant expensing, has encouraged firms to start investing again. And I see it on shops floors all over the country where I visit.
An example of this has been the strong rebound in vehicle purchases - every time you see a tradie driving a new ute, it is further proof that the Australian economy is on the comeback.
But it is not just small businesses that are benefitting. Visy Glass in Western Sydney, out at Emu Plains, a couple of weeks ago announced that they were bringing forward $380 million of capital investment because of the Government’s accelerated depreciation policies and our commitment to recycling as one of the priority sectors under our $1.5 billion advanced manufacturing strategy.
This forms part of a $2 billion commitment by Visy to Australia over the next ten years. That’s a great vote of confidence and a real shot in the arm for the Australian economy.
Residential building approvals and dwelling investment also grew strongly – supported by our Government’s HomeBuilder program which has seen almost 90,000 applications and driven private housing approvals to record levels.
This has all meant more jobs.
The unemployment rate has fallen down from 7.5 per cent in July last year, that’s the measured rate, down to 6.4 per cent in January. That’s 814,000 jobs I’d say recreated since May of 2020.
Even more striking, as I was noting at the time, was the fall in the effective rate of unemployment, that takes into account exits from the labour force and hours that had been reduced to zero.
Now the effective rate of unemployment peaked at around 15 per cent in April last year and it is also now at 6.4 per cent.
By January around 94 per cent of the 1.3 million people who lost their job or were stood down on zero hours in April were now back at work as of January.
As a result our labour force participation rate has already recovered to record highs.
Job ads are now well above pre-pandemic levels, up more than two and a half times from the bottom of the downturn. There are more than 20,000 more job ads per month now than there were pre-pandemic.
Business and consumer confidence has rebounded.
This confidence is critical to further unlocking business and household balance sheets in the months ahead.
In the June National Accounts we saw the household savings rate increase to a record 22 per cent. Australians were understandably taking shelter from the storm. By December this had fallen to 12 per cent, which is still above the peak reached during the GFC.
So just as was the case at the beginning of this crisis, confidence remains key. This is how we can encourage Australians, by boosting that confidence to open their storehouses once again and drive the next phase of our economic comeback, through increased consumption and investment.
So what are the next steps? While there has been significant progress, we know the job is far from done yet.
The impact of the COVID economic shocks will continue to persist for specific sectors beyond the end of JobKeeper. We understand this.
That is certainly true of the international aviation, tourism and travel sectors that will remain severely impacted as long as international borders remain effectively closed, and certainly if arbitrary state border closures continue.
So while it is necessary to draw JobKeeper and the JobSeeker COVID Supplement to a close, we do understand that ongoing targeted measures will be necessary to maintain our aviation and travel sectors, while assisting those regions that are heavily reliant on international tourists by boosting domestic tourism demand in those areas.
We will be saying more about that in coming days.
We also recognise that, while the labour market is strengthening, there are still Australians out there looking for work and who need to upskill.
We have never forgotten those Australians. Never once.
At the outset of the pandemic, Minister Cash and I, we made keeping apprentices in their jobs one of our first priorities. In addition to Jobkeeper, used by so many companies to keep their apprentices in work, our Supporting Apprentices and Trainees Programme has successfully kept over 122,000 apprentices on the tools.
These apprentices would have been the first to go. Such a loss would have been devastating for our economy, as years of training would have been lost and, I suspect, never recovered. By holding onto those apprentices, we have kept them on their career path and we have maintained the emerging skills pool that was building, that will be much needed for our economy in the future.
This was backed in by our JobTrainer programme, creating a $1 billion fund, shared with the states and territories agreed in record time through National Cabinet, to create 320,000 new training places. So, when you combine that with the 30,000 extra university places we put in place this year, this meant school leavers entering a post-recession economy, they had options and a future to look forward to.
But just holding onto existing apprentices, we didn’t think was enough.
Through wage subsidy programs like Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements, our Government is helping employers retain and take on new apprentices and trainees as the economy recovers.
In less than five months, we have already reached the target of 100,000 under this program.
40 per cent of those new apprentices and trainees have gone to small businesses, with the largest take up in the construction, food and beverage, administrative, and repair and maintenance sectors. Around one-fifth of the new apprentices were over the age of 35.
Today, I am pleased to announce that the Government is removing the cap on eligible places and extending the duration of this program support under this program to 12 months from the date the apprentice commences with their employer.
The timeline for eligibility is out to end September this year, and that aligns with the JobMaker Hiring credit initiative announced in the budget.
Now, this will ensure an apprenticeship place is there for any Australian and every business who wants one as our economy recovers.
It is also important to acknowledge that our continued economic recovery is inextricably linked to our ongoing success in combating the virus.
Our $6.5 billion vaccination programme, now underway, marks the start of a new phase of Australia’s comeback from COVID-19.
Now, rather than rushing headlong into this, as many countries were frankly forced to do because of their circumstances, we have worked carefully to put our portfolio of vaccines together, to secure our supplies and prepare our vaccination programme for rollout.
This week we will have vaccinated, we estimate, some 100,000 Australians from our first priority group of frontline health care workers, aged care and disability residents and staff and those working in our quarantine system.
This week Australia is also on track to have received one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, secured notwithstanding tight international supply chains that we’re facing, particularly out of Europe.
We’re still getting the job done, we’re still getting the vaccines in. I particularly want to commend the work that DFAT and the Department of Health has been doing. Minister Payne, but of course, Frances Adamson is here today from DFAT.
Most importantly, Australia is one of the small number of countries to have sovereign domestic vaccine manufacturing capability. CSL will be ready to supply one million doses every week from late March as we move to the next phase of our vaccination rollout.
The scientific evidence from Israel and the UK on vaccine efficacy is very, very encouraging, especially the ability of vaccines to prevent serious and severe illness and transmission. This is good news. In other words, with sufficient vaccination of the population, we can start treating COVID like a bad flu.
And if we can continue to manage new strains of the virus, this changing risk profile will allow for controls to be further relaxed, as we recently discussed at National Cabinet.
But to the future – in July last year, I addressed the National Press Club about our JobMaker plan, setting out our longer term agenda to rebuild the Australian economy post COVID.
Today I want to briefly highlight what I consider to be key priorities of this plan once again.
Our workforce, what I call D&D - data and digital - and ensuring reliable, affordable and lower emissions energy.
Firstly, workforce.
Building the scale, capacity and skills of our workforce, I believe, is the single greatest economic challenge our country faces.
It is why we established JobTrainer and are working closely with the states and territories to develop a new and reformed National Skills Agreement.
We need a VET system, a training system, that’s more responsive to the private sector and its needs for the future. We need a better, more granular understanding of where the jobs of the future will be, and the skills needed to do those jobs.
It is why we established the National Skills Commission under Adam Boyton’s leadership, which is doing fantastic work.
As well as dealing with immediate needs, the Commission is also undertaking detailed long-term analysis of the skills our country needs in the future to inform the significant investment we’re making in our programmes and policies.
For example, Australia will require almost one million direct care workers by 2050 to meet the growing demand for aged care. That’s aged care alone.
This is almost triple the existing aged care workforce and is in addition to the rising demand for care workers in the health and disability sectors.
Now, part of its initial response to the Aged Care Royal Commission, we recently announced that it will be investing $92 million to train an additional 18,000 skilled personal care workers by mid-2023.
But more will be needed to establish a strong longer term pipeline of skilled and professional care workers for our country.
That’s why I have tasked the National Skills Commissioner to undertake a broader, in-depth study into the factors affecting the supply and demand for care workers both in the near-term and out to 2050.
Now that’s just one sector. The Commissioner will finish his report in September this year to inform the Government’s care workforce strategy, but getting a handle on the skills we need is critical to economic policies for the future.
Training and skilling our workforce though is one thing, but the scale of our workforce and getting access to that workforce is proving to be completely another.
The retreat of backpacker, student and seasonal labour from temporary visa holders during COVID has exposed large gaps in our workforce, particularly in the agriculture, tourism and hospitality sectors, and especially in regional Australia.
These workers are also an important workforce source for the care sector, including aged care and nursing, where demand for workers is acute.
Seasonal and Pacific work visa holders alone provide a standing workforce of around 12,000 people a year ready and willing to work. These workers are complemented by tens of thousands of backpackers who would normally be working in regional Australia.
ABARES estimates that the impact of COVID has resulted a workforce shortfall of around 22,000 workers in horticulture alone.
Now, despite targeted measures to incentivise Australian JobSeeker recipients to relocate to where the jobs are – $6,000 to move there and take those jobs – unemployed Australians are simply and regrettably not filling these jobs.
Right now there are 54,000 jobs going in regional Australia.
Michael McCormack, the DPM, will tell you that, if you give him half a second on any day of the week and he’s right. 54,000 jobs are out there right now in regional Australia that they can’t fill.
And every day we hear the stories of employers, especially in regional areas, unable to fill positions. It’s got way past anecdotal.
The knock on effect of critical skills shortages also forces up prices for consumers, increasing the cost of living for Australians in our cities. That’s how it impacts Australians at home right now.
If we can’t get the workers in our regional areas, then the price of your groceries goes up. And so it’s in all of our interests to address this very important issue.
Our responses are twofold.
Firstly, to strengthen the mutual obligation requirements for job seekers receiving the JobSeeker payment. Now, we recently took this action to announce several weeks ago by the Minister - Minister Cash - in tandem with the recent increase in the Jobseeker payment. And that’s a fair exchange. If there is a job available, and you are able to do that job, then it is reasonable for taxpayers to expect that you will take it up, rather than continue to receive benefits. And if you don’t, then payment should be withdrawn. But that won’t be enough to fix this problem. This problem goes pre-pandemic.
We must also re-look at the role the temporary visa holders play in meeting our economy’s workforce requirements, where Australians do not fill these jobs. Of course we want Australians to fill these jobs, of course that is our first priority. But we also need to understand that by looking at this area we need to see that rather than taking Australian’s jobs, we need to instead appreciate how filling critical workforce shortages with temporary visa holders can actually create jobs elsewhere in the economy and, in particular, sustain growth and services in our regional economies, and that Australians get a net benefit. It’s a value add to the equation.
I assure you this issue will not go away when the pandemic ends. It’s a thorny issue for us to deal with and we must.
We must become a world leader in D&D. In just the first 8 weeks of the pandemic, consumer and business digital adoption vaulted five years forward.
Post COVID, we need to keep our foot on that digital accelerator.
Now, this requires Governments to adopt a different mindset to regulation.
Modernising regulation, whether around competition, consumer protection, finance, safety or security – these things shouldn’t be seen as a hand brake on innovation. Through smart regulatory design, working with the sector, the challenge is to open up new economic opportunities in the private sphere, while ensuring the benefits of the digital era deliver broader public goods is our aim.
Now, our Government successfully took on this challenge, most recently, through the news media bargaining code with the Big Tech platforms. Plenty of people said ‘you can’t get that done’. Well, we have.
But it’s not only the regulatory frameworks we need to consider.
Data needs processing, just as oil needs refining.
Data will power much of the transformative technology of the future – artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation and predictive analytics.
Data doesn’t need huge refineries, but it does need smart people and businesses and digital infrastructure.
And that’s why our digital infrastructure program, but also most importantly, our skills agenda is so important.
It’s also why we have progressed so many other initiatives - the regulatory sandbox for FinTech, the Singapore Digital Economy Agreement, the world’s leading Consumer Data Right, the rollout successfully of the NBN, support for 5G, e-invoicing, digital identity, single-touch payroll, the 2020 Cyber Security Strategy and the eSafety Commissioner. We haven’t been still on this issue.
The next instalment of our plan, the Government’s digital strategy, is now being worked on by the new Minister for the Digital Economy, Jane Hume. And we’re looking forward to receiving that later in the year.
Now thirdly and finally – affordable, reliable and lower emissions energy.
The world’s response to climate change is simultaneously reshaping the global economy, global politics and the global energy system.
As Daniel Yergin wrote in his recent book, The New Map, which I highly recommend to you, he said our response to climate change will “bring continuing changes in how energy is produced, transported and consumed; in strategies and investment; in technologies and infrastructure; and in relations between countries.” Very true.
We are preparing. Australia is preparing. The Australian Government is preparing for this new geo-politics of energy and climate change. It’s gone into another gear. We must address the threats and we must realise the opportunities for Australia.
We are committed to doing so in a way that preserves the jobs and livelihoods of communities right across the country, especially in regional Australia, while ensuring Australia is part of the new energy economy. We want both and we can get both. And by backing technology to drive that change, not taxes.
This includes our commitment to investment in energy infrastructure, some $35 billion invested in renewable energy from 2017 to 2020.
Our investment in Snowy 2.0 and supporting development of all major priority electricity interconnectors identified by the Australian Energy Market Operator.
Our gas fired recovery plan, and I acknowledge Andrew Liveris for his part in driving that strategy for the Government, ensures that Australia’s record investments in solar and wind have the firming support needed to drive reliability of energy supply, while also critically supporting the feedstock needs of our manufacturing industries to advise to drive our advanced manufacturing strategy.
Renewable energy, hydrogen production, critical minerals – they’re all part of our agenda and likely to generate significant investment and jobs for regional and remote Australia. A good example is the Asian Renewable Energy Hub in the Pilbara, supporting 3,000 jobs when fully operational – and some 20,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction phase.
Our Technology Roadmap aims to leverage some $70 billion in investment in low emissions technologies over the next decade.
Now, as Bill Gates set out in his new book, Greg Hunt recently joked with me that after I had my vaccination that I was talking about Bill Gates all the time, but anyway, I just read his book. You’ll get it in a second. He sets it out – it’s about driving the nexus between innovation supply and demand. That’s his key point. And that’s what we’re seeking to do.
And we will play our part, not just in Australia, but we’ll do it as part of a global effort.
Australia’s former Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, has been commissioned to lead this work, reporting to Minister Angus Taylor.
And we have set ourselves an ambitious timetable to establish new energy technology partnerships this year with major partners, including the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan. And I acknowledge the ambassador today.
Affordable and reliable energy will continue to be an important focus of my Government as we transition to a low emissions economy and we move towards net zero as soon as possible, and preferably by 2050.
So, ladies and gentlemen, with each passing month, Australia’s comeback and economic recovery from COVID-19 is building and we are leading the world.
We are making our own Australian way through this challenge and I remain confident that we will emerge stronger, safer and more firmly together on the other side. And at the same time, we’re preparing for a world and an economy beyond the pandemic.
Our success though will depend, as always, on the strength, resilience and on the ingenuity and decency of the Australian people.
And on that score I am nothing but filled with confidence for the future.
Remarks, International Women's Day
8 March 2021
Prime Minister: Thank you very much, and I also acknowledge the Indigenous owners of the land on which we meet as well as acknowledging any veterans and members of the Defence Force.
Can I particularly acknowledge Marise Payne, Minister for Women. Minister for quite a few other things at the moment too. But I think to borrow Margaret Thatcher's line that if I have to turn to anybody at times where there are additional jobs to be done, I am very happy to turn to Marise. Marise is one of the foundation stones of our Government, she really is. Having served as the first female Minister for Defence, the second female Minister for Foreign Affairs and now, for a short time, both of those portfolios together, as well as being Minister for Women, a member of our leadership team. And you have to remind me, Marise, because I think the day has passed or is just about to pass, the longest serving woman in the Senate.
So Marise in our Party, there are many amazing women in our Party who have broken ground in politics and some of you here this morning, you have followed the trail that has been left by those who have gone before you and there is none more significant than Marise. That is absolutely true and I say that as a longtime member of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party and that is also true at the national level. And it is great to serve with you here in the many things that we’re doing at the moment.
And to you, Fiona, you’ve got off to an amazing start in your first term. You’ve gained the respect of your colleagues, you’ve gained the respect not only because I think beyond that, across the Parliament, across the Chamber, but most importantly in your community here. That’s obviously why I’m here and we see that constantly. I’m looking forward to the next election campaign here in Reid because it will be a further endorsement, I think, of the work you've been doing on the ground. Many of us know when we enter politics that when you come in as a local member, your first job and always your first job is to make sure you maintain the trust in your local community. And Fiona, you have started on exactly the right foot. I encourage you to keep going that way and I thank you all for the encouragement that you have given to Fiona in her first term.
So they say all politics is local, and that's true, but what's more relevant is all community is local. Community is local. And I want to thank you all for coming together today, because Fiona has told me a little bit about the sort of gathering that's here with us today. Women from all walks of life in the local community, serving their local community, making their families strong and making their community strong. Because, you know, in the Liberal Party, that's how we believe societies, strong societies, are built. From the ground up. If we are not strong in a room like this, in communities like this, whether they be in the inner western suburbs of Sydney or down my way in the Shire or out there in Armidale or up in the Northern Territory. If communities aren’t strong, then the nation can’t be strong. And so to come here today on International Women's Day and to honour leadership amongst women, I think it's quite appropriate that we're doing this in a community setting. Because I see that as the building blocks of how we build the type of community and the type of society we want to have.
Now, over the course of the last year, we have learnt just how important community is. Things that perhaps we thought were important before COVID-19 hit, may be not so much. I think what we've learnt is we've come out and through COVID-19 is family and community. That is the essence of a strong society and that is the essence of a happy and fulfilled life. We've learnt even while having to keep our distance, we've learnt the importance of connection. And people have reached out for that connection, oftentimes through many of the services I’m sure are run and supported by you all here today. It's been done proactively, whether it's been online or whether it's been assisting the elderly neighbour in our street or just ensuring that we're all OK. And this is incredibly important.
And so I hope coming out of COVID-19 that this is not just something that we acknowledge in passing, but something we take as a legacy from this period of time in our country. Because I know it will make us stronger. I know it will make us incredibly strong. And it is true to say that as we’ve come through COVID-19, the burden of that has fallen predominantly on women in this country. Whether economic, whether in the many professions and areas of work that have been called on most, particularly in our health sector, it has been women who are working in predominantly in professional care roles, let alone in voluntary care, incredibly holding families together, holding communities together, and it has particularly been women who have carried the day for the strength of our society in our community.
And so I was happy and very pleased to come here today because this is predominantly where I believe that effort has been put in at a local community level. To ensure that this community has been stronger and has been able to come through and indeed the nation has been able to come through stronger. I have said many times that Australia has had and leads the world in our response to COVID, both in terms of the pandemic and the recession that accompanied it. And we are leading the world on the way out. And of course, the Government has done many, many things that has supported that. Whether it's in JobKeeper or cash flow boost for small businesses, the number of women running their own small businesses through that access. Cash flow supports or even when it came to JobSeeker and the change to the arrangements that enabled sole traders to be able to access these supports. Our view was that if we could hold the infrastructure together, if we could hold this community together, if we could put the supports in place that would help people get from that side to that side, then we knew their resilience would carry. And then after that, as those supports were no longer needed and we graduated from that period, then that confidence and that resilience would then kick up a gear and we’d be able to go onto the next phase of our growth.
And so, 90 percent of the jobs that were lost during the COVID-19 recession have been regained. More than half of those jobs have been women, just over 800,000 jobs have come back over the course of where job losses were and over 400,000 were women. We've seen the gender pay gap under our Government fall to its lowest level ever, ever, 17.3 percent down to 13.3 percent or roughly thereabouts. That is the biggest fall we’ve seen and it continues to fall, and I hope it will continue to fall, and I think the generational changes that are happening in our workplace will see that achieved.
But as we've come out of the recession, what we're seeing, I think, is a resurgence of that entrepreneurial community-based spirit, and that's what I think will take us into these many opportunities that lie ahead for Australia. And we will be at the forefront of that and we want women to be in the forefront. And that's why the Women’s Economic Security Statement, there are copies here that Marise took through this year’s Budget and championed that. It’s all about ensuring that self-starting women who want to start businesses, who want to make a difference to secure their own economic futures can have the opportunity to do that. And what it basically is, is an exercise of doing is going through and trying to remove as many obstacles that are in the way, and there are many obstacles. That is true. We acknowledge those and the more of those we can remove, the more opportunity there will be.
There are a number of other big challenges that go beyond that which I want to touch on very briefly. Fundamentally, I worry about the nature of respect in our society. Respect of women, absolutely, and I said this when I spoke in Parliament House a few weeks ago. In order to have a society that better respects particularly women, but frankly, all Australians, then we need to have a greater culture of respect in our community. We’ve seen it all too often - respect for elders and the elder abuse we see in the aged care the system and things like that. Respect for people with disabilities. Respect for veterans. Respect for parents. Respect for kids. Respect for one another. You don't have to spend more than about 30 seconds on social media to understand how that medium has corroded and denuded respect in our society and our community. And I see that as a real cancer in our community.
Our Government has taken such a strong stand on this, introducing new laws to prevent cyber bullying, whether it's on the internet or elsewhere, laws to target trolls, laws to take on the big tech giants and tell them that they can’t operate in some sort of, you know, Wild West world where there are no laws, no rules. We genuinely see this where children are abused online. Our Government is leading the world when it comes to taking on these issues, because we understand that one of the key things that is eroding our society is how these new technologies are undermining our society and the biggest victims of all of that are women. The objectifying of women, disrespecting women, that all stems from things like that.
So they are important actions that we're taking as the Government to try and change some of the fundamental things that erode respect in our community. I want all Australians to be respected. Of course I want women to be respected, of course I do, because first and foremost, my fellow Australians, that's what it's about. A genuine respect for one another. And I fear that at the heart of this problem, that is something that we're losing sight of. And how do you change that? Marise and I can’t introduce a law which requires people to respect one another. No government can do that. But communities can. Communities can change that. You can change that.
Today, we're launching a campaign, $18 million, the third in a series of campaigns about protecting women from violence. And it focuses on this issue of appropriate respect that needs to be in place and understanding that from a lack of respect, it can end in violence. It doesn’t always. But it always starts there. That’s always where it starts. And so addressing this issue, I think, is really important. And these things can be very, very, very powerful. I remember watching an ad about alcohol and it was about a father who asked his son to go to and get him a beer. You remember that ad? Now, I saw that many, many years ago. I can assure you I have never, ever asked one of my kids to get me - I should go and get my own beer, one, which I do, on most occasions - but the same thing is true. It starts with just those simple things. And I think this latest campaign that we're watching today really does challenge those notions. ‘You're playing like a girl’ and the dad who has yelled that out from the sidelines gets called out, that’s not OK. It's not OK, it’s not OK. And the challenging of these idea, are really important and that's how you can fundamentally change what is happening, in lounge rooms, around kitchen tables, around cafe tables, at the sporting field. That's where it really matters. That's where attitudes are framed. And that's where everybody is enlisted in achieving the change.
Governments should do what they should do. But, you know, as Liberals, I believe this fundamentally. You can't ever contract away a citizen's responsibility to the government. Government has to do their thing, absolutely, and that's why the next national action plan against violence against women, these are the issues that we're putting in place. The housing initiatives, there is a long list of them, the women's economic security and Marise can quote them chapter and verse because she has designed them all. But, fundamentally, what needs to change in the way we interact needs to take place in communities.
I'm very pleased to be here amongst you today. To empower you to keep empowering your community to achieve these changes. I'll do what I can in our Government, everything I can. I am very committed to this. I'll do what I can in my community, I’ll do what I can in my family and around my kitchen table and all of those sorts of things, as each of us need to do. But it isn't just the Government's problem, it's all of our problem and it starts with, I think, really nurturing this notion of respect in our community. And if we can't respect each other on any number of issues, then how can we expect respect to come for one particular group of people in our society. Respect is something that needs to be a big well that we draw from. And we need to fill this well up for all Australians. And I think if we can achieve that, then I think women in Australia can look forward to a better future. If we fail in that task, I am not as confident. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Sydney, NSW
5 March 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone. Well, it's another V Day for Australia - another vaccination day. The AstraZeneca vaccine has been administered in South Australia. It will be rolling out amongst other states over the course of the next few days. The vaccination program is critical, absolutely critical, to the way that Australia continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and, indeed, the COVID-19 recession.
As I said yesterday, Australia is leading the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and out of the COVID-19 recession. We saw that with the national accounts figures that were released earlier this week, which puts Australia in the top group of nations. In fact, of advanced economies, right at the top in terms of how we're coming out of the COVID-19 recession. But, equally as we've known for many months, Australia has also, from a health perspective, been very successful in suppressing the virus here in Australia, particularly when compared to other countries around the world. Australia is in a very unique position, it's a position all Australians have worked hard to achieve, to ensure that we are in the situation we are in today.
National Cabinet has played a key role in all of these achievements, in all of these successes. And National Cabinet met again today, and for what was once again a very constructive meeting. At all times in the National Cabinet, what we've sought to do is to chart the way forward. Of course, we come up against obstacles, we come up against issues that we have to deal with. There's been plenty of surprises too along the way, which have required responses at the time. But at all times what we seek to try and do is ensure we're doing this on as nationally a consistent basis as possible - not always achieved - but we also understand the principles that should drive how we open up. Now, the good news is that we are opening up. We are far more open than we were. We want to stay open, though. That's the key to the confidence and the economic recovery that we're seeing coming out of the COVID-19 recession. And so today it was agreed, on the work that we commenced a month ago, that the Director-Generals of all the Premiers' departments and the Secretaries of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet will continue to do the work to inform National Cabinet on how the risks are changing and the data that is needed to be provided to Premiers and myself, and Chief Ministers, to ensure the decisions we're making about whatever future further opening-up and removing of restrictions is done in a consistent way that looks not just at the health issues that are relevant but, of course, the impacts that are had more widespread on the economy. Now, the reason there is more opportunity to do that now, particularly when it comes to the economy, is because of the improvements we're seeing with the rollout of the vaccine, the improvements we're seeing in terms of the health outcomes right across the country. That gives us further opportunity to give greater certainty and greater confidence to business, and Australians all around the country, so they can return to as much of the normal life as they possibly can.
We also received an update on the vaccination rollout today. And I'm going to ask Professor Murphy, who's joining us today, to give us his update on those programs. You would have already heard today from Minister Hunt about the issues that were raised earlier today. That program is on track. It's a significant program of a scale that we have not seen in this country before. And everybody is working together to ensure that we can deliver those vaccines all around the country. Four distribution plans for the vaccines, the progress that we're making with aged care. The enabling regulation, which is important to support pharmacists to be able to play their role in the vaccination program - all addressed today.
Of course, the Chief Medical Officer has always updated us on the health situation around the country, and some of the current issues. On Pacific workers, we have been able to put in place a pre-travel quarantine pilot. Now, only South Australia at this point has indicated they're keen to join in with that program, but other states are considering it. This is the situation where other countries, such as Vanuatu and Fiji, where they do actually run quarantine programs, that there will be an opportunity to quarantine post-travellers as part of the seasonal worker program. And that is something that's been particularly worked through with the Chief Medical Officer, and I want to thank him and also DFAT for the work they've done working with those jurisdictions.
Today I can also announce that the Commonwealth is entering into an agreement with the Northern Territory Government to further expand our Howard Springs national resilience quarantine facility to 2,000, up from 850. And that will be done over the next few months, and that is an important addition to the capacity of those quarantine facilities, to receive those return chartered flights that Australia has been putting in place now for many, many months. That is where people will quarantine.
The other arrival caps remain as we had them before. I want to thank New South Wales in particular, who are taking more than 3,000 a week. Both Western Australia and Queensland are also now back over a thousand per week, and South Australia at 530. And I'm looking forward soon to a decision from the Victorian Government, once they're in a position to advise us of when they'll be also in a position to take flights again.
So, all in all, a rather routine meeting of the National Cabinet today. Considering the information before us, setting the chart, charting the way forward in terms of how we can keep Australia open and seek to do that on a far more consistent and predictable basis, because that lies at the heart of our economic recovery as well.
So, with that, I'll hand you over to the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Kelly, and then I'll hand you over to Professor Murphy. Thank you.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, PM. So, a couple of slides up on the screen. Maybe go through to the next slide. So, we have a visual representation of where we're at in terms of the epidemic here in Australia. And so we're used to hearing the total numbers since the beginning of the pandemic, when we had our first cases at the end of January last year. So, we're up over 29,000 cases, 909 Australians have lost their lives. But I think it's time now, as we go into 2021, and as the PM has mentioned, looking at the way we chart our way out of this pandemic, both from the health and the economic perspective, that we should start thinking about what's happened this year rather than the whole of the pandemic.
So, since the 1st of January, there's been 600 cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and only 104 of those have been locally acquired. So, the vast majority are overseas cases. In fact, in the last week, of the 60 cases we've had, they've all been overseas-acquired cases, similar to at the very start of the pandemic. We've had less, throughout the whole of this year to date, we've had less than 20 people in hospital. Less than- one or less people in ICU, and zero deaths. Contrast that with the rest of the world, let's go to the next slide, thanks.
There is increasing cases still in many parts of the world. There are some very encouraging signs in some - in Europe and North America, where cases have started to decrease. Hospitalisations have started to decrease. And deaths have started to decrease. But, even so, year to date - so, from 1 January to today - over 33 million cases in the world. And over 765,000 deaths. My sister lives in Italy. They're at the moment having 18,000 cases a day. And around 300 deaths in Italy.
So, of course, we're in an excellent place here in Australia. We continue to look at the rest of the world, particularly the emergence of variants of concern, and also what is happening in the vaccine rollout and what effect that's having on hospitalisations. And Professor Murphy will talk about that shortly. But that's something we need to keep in mind as we go through this year. What is it about the vaccine rollout, when we get to certain levels of vaccination around the country, that we can start to look at our public health baselines and also reactions to outbreaks as they occur - and they may well occur as we go through, particularly into winter. And that's the information that myself and my colleagues on the Australian Health Protection Committee will be giving in to that process that the Prime Minister has outlined already.
So, I'll pass over to Dr Murphy now to talk about the vaccine rollout.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Brendan.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thanks, PM. So, this huge once-in-a-generation logistical challenge of the vaccine rollout is going well. We're just coming to the end of Week 2. We're ramping up. We started carefully and progressively across Australia, as we can do because we are in such a good place, as my colleague has already outlined. We don't have a burning platform. We have time to do this properly and carefully.
Just to remind you, we have two very, very good vaccines. A year ago, we wouldn't have dreamt that we could have two vaccines that are so good. And it's important to emphasise that all of the data, particularly coming out of the UK and other places, is showing that these two vaccines are both equally excellent, particularly in all age groups. So, we know we've got two vaccines, we've got the Pfizer vaccine - which we've now had two weeks of experience with - and we've had our first AstraZeneca vaccinations today. We've got 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca from international sources - that is being rolled out now and will start up in every state next week. And we'll also be starting up vaccinating some aged care workers. But the really, really exciting thing is that in the week beginning the 22nd of March we will start to release the onshore supply of AstraZeneca vaccine. A million doses-plus a week, which gives us the capacity to really ramp up and broadly vaccinate our population as quickly as possible.
The value of having onshore production cannot be underestimated. Every country in the world is depending on international supplies. They're seeing them come slowly. We have been very lucky with Pfizer. They have kept their supply going. But it's relatively small volumes, and that will keep going throughout the rest of this year, and that will be a very valuable vaccine. But we'll get a lot more of the AstraZeneca vaccine. That's the one I'm going to have, and I'm really looking forward to it. Next slide.
This is the sort of reporting that we discussed at National Cabinet today, that we will start to put out, initially weekly and then progressively daily. The data on this slide still have to be verified, but they're pretty indicative of our situation as of the end of the day yesterday. We've seen well over 70,000 vaccinations. 241 residential aged care facilities and disability care facilities have been vaccinated. With well over 20,000 residents. They're protected with their first dose now - that is a fantastic thing. And the states and territories have all been ramping up progressively with their Pfizer clinics. Many of them have nearly completed, or have completed, those quarantine and border workers who are protecting us in the quarantine hubs. They're the people at highest risk because they're the ones who are in contact with the only people in Australia at the moment who have COVID - the returned travellers. Also in phase 1A, as you all know the phases now, we have been vaccinating those front-line healthcare workers, emergency department workers, ICU staff, and the like. With the AstraZeneca doses being rolled out by the states and territories and by the Commonwealth next week, we will be starting to vaccinate a broader range of healthcare workers. And then, in that week beginning 22 March, between 22-29 March, we will start to vaccinate the more vulnerable people in our general population - the older Australians, the over-80s and the over-70s. And that is when we will be rolling out to general practices, progressively over the course of a month we'll be rolling out to over 4,600 general practices in Australia, where people can go to get their vaccines as close to their home as possible.
This is again a huge logistical exercise and I want to pay absolute credit to the medical bodies who have worked with us closely, the states and territories who have worked with us, our logistics providers who will be delivering vaccines to so many sites across the country.
This is a very exciting time. We're on track, we're doing well, and we're going to keep ramping up and get this community vaccinated as soon as we can. Thanks, PM.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Now, because I'm joined by Professors Murphy and Kelly today, I would be grateful if we can deal with matters that relate to their responsibilities and the National Cabinet, then happy to move to other matters. And at that time I will ask Professors Kelly and Murphy to leave us.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you blame the Italian authorities, blocking the supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia? Given obviously what’s just been laid out in terms of how bad the situation is there?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they're certainly responsible for exercising the veto right they had through the EU process about those supplies coming to Australia. But the point about that is that we'd always anticipated that these sorts of problems could arise. And that's why we've done a number of things, the most significant of which is to ensure that we have our own domestically produced vaccine. And we're one of few countries that have done that. That means that has given us sovereignty over our vaccination program, which I think is incredibly important. I mean, I'm in regular contact with European leaders. As Professor Kelly said, in Italy people are dying at the rate of 300 a day. And so I can certainly understand the high level of anxiety that would exist in Italy and in many countries across Europe, as is regularly conveyed to me. And so they have some real difficulties there. They are in an unbridled crisis situation. That is not the situation in Australia. But, nevertheless, we have been able to secure our supplies, and additional supplies for importation, both with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which means we can continue the rollout of our program. So, I want to assure Australians that we've been able to secure those vaccines. This particular shipment was not one we'd counted on for the rollout, and so we will continue unabated.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, did you ask Daniel Andrews to resume hotel quarantine, and do you think Victoria's policy is putting an unfair burden on other states?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I did. And we have regularly made that request and the Premier advised me today that he hopes to soon be able to provide a response to that. He wasn't in a position to be able to do that today. Jane Halton, who did the work at our request for the quarantine review for the National Cabinet, who has recently been in Victoria and observed the practices they have firsthand. And she's given a positive report about that. And so we look forward to Victoria resuming that as soon as possible, because that will obviously add to the ability to bring Australians home. I mean, the second-highest number of Australians on that list are from Victoria, over 10,000 Victorians are wanting to come home. So, I'm sure they would welcome their home state receiving those flights as soon as possible.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: I'll go here, then there.
JOURNALIST: When will we see that increase in capacity at Howard Springs go up?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we anticipate - we're currently at around 850. And there are wet season issues that we're currently dealing with. And so we would expect that to occur around April/May.
JOURNALIST: Is there any reason for the delay, why that's taking between now and April and May?
PRIME MINISTER: It's a ramp-up of workforce - that's a critical issue. But there's also wet season issues as well.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given the Northern Territory are more than willing to double their capacity at that Howard Springs facility, was there any thought given to other states increasing their capacity? Or changing where their locations will be, I know Queensland’s previously spoken about going regional?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no, the hotel quarantine arrangements have always worked most effectively where they're close to the major airports where the flights are coming. And I think this is a very important point. The flights go to where they're designated to go. Australia can't just redirect flights, commercial flights, of airlines to go to other ports where they don't have the ground crew and the other supports that go to supporting the aviation industry. Often times that includes the freight and other things that are in the belly of the plane itself. And so it's not just a matter of a plane flying somewhere else. The Howard Springs facility was set up on the recommendation of Jane Halton's review, and we acted on that recommendation, and that was to support the supplementary quarantine capacity that was needed by our charter flights, which the Australian Government is putting on, where we can direct those things. And so that gives us greater capacity to respond to that. We're happy to look at other issues, but we need firm, costed proposals for that, and I have no such firm, costed proposals.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, earlier this week, in New South Wales, the Health Minister and also the Premier criticised the Federal Government for not releasing data fast enough in relation to the aged care facilities that were getting vaccinated. Are you in talks with New South Wales about increasing that flow of information?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have. I stress, though, this - the aged care vaccinations are run by the Federal Government. They're not run by the state government. But we're happy to share the information about how the federal program is rolling out into those aged care facilities. And today not only did all the states and territories receive a full list of all the facilities that have been visited, but they also received an indicative planning list for next week's as well. So, look, that's part of the flow of information in the early stages of the vaccine rollout. I mean, one of the points that Professor Murphy was just saying, you've seen up there the indicative weekly report that we've provided. We agreed that that should be done on a Monday, with the data to the seven days to the end of the Sunday, of the previous day. And we want to take that to a daily level, ultimately. But at this stage, while the data flows are still being confirmed between the states and the territories and the Commonwealth, then we're confident about that weekly picture. And we hope to move fairly quickly to daily. I think those daily reports will give Australians a lot of confidence about the success of the rollout.
JOURNALIST: The network of 4,600 GPs, is that sufficient? Will you need state health authorities to shoulder some burden of which the Premier here obviously is very keen to offer those services?
PRIME MINISTER: Brendan?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Sure. So, the Premier here is obviously very keen to roll out as many GP practices as possible. We have planned around the 4,600 on the basis of the availability of sufficient dose to be able to give them at least 50 doses a week to deliver. You really can't run a vaccination service with less than that. If we get more vaccine supplies, which we are working with, working with CSL to see whether we can get more production, we still, as the Prime Minister said, are working to get more international supplies, we may well be having additional vaccination sites. And in Phase 2 some community pharmacies will also come on board. But the states and territories are running AstraZeneca vaccination clinics. They'll focus mainly on their healthcare workers, the broader range initially. But they will also provide some community vaccination. It's a partnership between the Commonwealth and the states. We're all in this together.
PRIME MINISTER: And I should stress too, the blocks it moves in, I mean, in the early phases, you're dealing with hotel quarantine workers, and they're working through those. You're dealing with vulnerable people in aged care. Aged care workers. When you get to the balance of the population, which is, you know, people sitting in this room, for example, then there will be, in a completely different phase where others will be involved in that process and can support it. But one of the issues that I've raised is this is not the same as doing flu vaccinations, and there's often a comparison made, I think, in the analysis of this. It's not the same thing. It is a very different exercise. And that's why the Commonwealth has taken such a direct role in this. And the strategy that was formulated for the rollout and agreed last year is the one that we're proceeding with.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have you talked to your EU counterparts about getting that shipment that’s been block released? Or have you had any luck on that front?
PRIME MINISTER: I've had quite a few conversations, as has the Foreign Minister and Health Minister and others in engaging with our EU counterparts on these matters over some time.
JOURNALIST: There’s been a handful of new cases diagnosed in Cairns overnight in hotel quarantine. They've all been linked back to a copper mine in PNG, are you confident with the border situation between PNG and the Torres Strait?
PRIME MINISTER: We discussed this today. And Border Force, in particular, has a very significant presence in that part of Australia. As you'd expect them to. It's actually the closest border we have to land of anywhere around Australia. That particular case, I might ask Professor Kelly to comment on, because he's close to the details of it. But can I assure you, as we were able to do with the Premier today, that our focus on those border controls is very strong.
JOURNALIST: So, there's no plan to up those border measures or change them?
PRIME MINISTER: If that is necessary, then that will be done.
JOURNALIST: Premier Berejiklian-
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I will just go to Brendan.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Just on that matter, so I had a very detailed discussion with Jeannette Young, my counterpart in Queensland, yesterday, about the Torres Strait. It's been a point of concern for quite some time throughout this pandemic, and what's happening in PNG. So, we're of course assisting PNG on the ground through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in terms of the Torres Strait itself that's a partnership with the Queensland Government in relation to vaccination for example, and the ABF presence there, as the Prime Minister has said has been upgraded over time. But that would be a key component of their AstraZeneca rollout to the Torres Strait, and we're working through with the elders of those areas to make sure that happens.
JOURNALIST: On international borders generally, it was Premier Berejiklian's intention to raise that today, in terms of moving to discussions around reopening. Did she do so? And is there any agreement with her position?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's no disagreement amongst any of the Premiers or the Chief Ministers about the closure of international borders and the current arrangements we have for that, which extends out to the end of June. That is a unanimous position. The discussion we had today about how we get open, stay open, is really about how we inform those choices in response to any events that may occur along the way. What I want to see - and I know the New South Wales Premier wants to see - is that we fully realise the capability of our national economy, reconnecting all of our states and territories. And there's been a lot of progress done on that in the last few months. We've seen more of the Commonwealth open up over these last few months, and we want to see that stay that way, and not fall back. And there is every reason to have the confidence of that as the vaccination program continues, as the success right across the country of the quarantine program continues. I mean, even in the very serious cases that you've just mentioned up in, involving the mine, I mean, that's been contained within the quarantine. And that has largely been the experience of Australia throughout the entire pandemic. And when you think about the hundreds of thousands of people who have gone through hotel quarantine, and the very small number of cases that it's failed to contain, that is a success rate that any other country in the world would swap places for in a heartbeat. So, we share that view about wanting to open up. But at this stage, opening up to international arrivals at that scale is not considered safe or wise.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can we ask some questions now on other matters?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm happy to get to those. But I'm going to deal with the issues of the National Cabinet first.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is there any update on the Toowoomba quarantine proposal?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I still don't have one. That's the update I have. I need a detailed, costed proposal that the Commonwealth could consider. There's been a lot of going backwards and forwards, but as yet the Commonwealth doesn't have a costed proposal that we could actually consider.
JOURNALIST: Just on the overseas shipments, we're meant to be getting more than 3 million doses from overseas. Are we still relying on those at all? Or are we completely not needing them?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So, we have those 300,000, which will really take us through at our current rate. We plan to use them until the CSL local production comes. We are still working, and still expect to get those other 3.8 million, and we may yet get more in coming weeks. And if we get some more in coming weeks, we will obviously ramp up the pre-local production release phase of the AstraZeneca. So, we can scale our vaccination program according to what we have at the moment. At the moment, we've deployed 200,000 doses right throughout the country to states and territories, and they're about to stand up clinic next week. If we get more, they can do more. So, it's all scalable and we've got the time to do it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the ripping-up of hotel quarantine invoices by some states - Queensland, Western Australia - what do you make of that in terms of [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: It's a matter for them. That's what I make of that. It's not a matter for the Commonwealth, it's a matter for the states to resolve those matters between themselves.
JOURNALIST: We're all in this together, aren't we?
PRIME MINISTER: If they've got outstanding invoices between states, I'm sure they can work that out. I don’t think they need my help to do that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister just on international borders, is there any update on foreign students? Is that something that we’re any closer to seeing?
PRIME MINISTER: No, there's no change on that front. It would be good if we could get to that point, but at this stage we're not at that point. The opening of international borders, we don't think is wise at this time, and for the period that we've suggested, and that's totally consistent with the medical advice. And we've always been happy to work with the international education sector if they want to put in place supplementary self-funded quarantine arrangements and flight arrangements. That has always been there for the international education industry, the large universities and others to go down that path. They haven't chosen to go down that path. Our focus has remained on the responsibilities we have as a Commonwealth.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, notwithstanding our onshore vaccine capacity, are you worried about vaccine nationalism going forward? And is the incident in Italy overnight an example of vaccine nationalism?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, look, vaccination nationalism or protectionism is a matter that has been regularly raised in international forums that I have been involved with. It's a matter I discussed with Ursula Von der Leyen when I discussed this particular matter. It's fair to say the European Union has seen a large amount of vaccines leave the European Union, so it would be unfair to suggest that they've engaged in a universal practice of that nature. But, obviously, you know, it's important that contracts are honoured. It's important that the vaccines not only reach across Europe and North America, but particularly in the developed world as well. I have been so impressed by the way that the Pacific Islands nations have performed during this pandemic, keeping their citizens safe. Up in Papua New Guinea now, it's a more distressing situation. It has deteriorated somewhat. But, frankly the fact they have been able to maintain the position they have for so long is a great credit to Prime Minister Marape and the work that they've done there. So, yes, it is a real issue. It is a matter that I think particularly advanced countries have to be quite vigilant about, and it's certainly a matter that I've raised very consistently, particularly for access for vaccines to those in the Pacific Islands family, and South-East Asia.
JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy, can you give an outline of what role specifically has it been finalised, what role the military will play in the vaccine rollout, and how many medical professionals or nurses they have on hand to assist in that role?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So, it's a relatively minor role. There's a team of about 60 ADF personnel who are clinically trained, mostly nurses and paramedic-style-trained people. They were standing up teams anyway to vaccinate the Defence Forces, and what we've done is ask them to stand up a bit earlier to help with the aged care rollout, as you've obviously been aware. Aged care rollout has been a bit more complex than we thought, and we need to supplement it, particularly in those parts of the country where sending a contracted team might be difficult. The ADF have the capacity to get anywhere and do anything, so it's a relatively small contribution, it's not taking any health professionals away from any state and territory health service. It's not using Reservists. It's just the Defence Force, as they have done throughout this pandemic, stepping up to help.
PRIME MINISTER: Okay. Well, on that note, thank you, Brendan, and thank you, Paul. Happy to deal with other matters.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, now that the family of the woman in Adelaide that made very serious allegations against the Attorney-General has called for what they described as any inquiry, whether that's a coronial inquest or some form of independent inquiry, will you support them in that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let's be clear. Yesterday, when I responded to this question, I was referring to an inquiry that I was being asked to put in place. The issue as to whether there is a coronial inquiry in South Australia is entirely a matter for the South Australian Coroner. And if they chose to go ahead with that, of course, I would welcome that. But it would be highly inappropriate for me as Prime Minister, or any other politician, to interfere or intervene in a decision that a coroner should properly make about those issues.
JOURNALIST: And if they do hold a coronial inquest in South Australia, do you think that the Attorney-General should be given the opportunity to give evidence in person, sworn evidence, to be able to help put his record on the official agenda and, you know, to defend his own good name?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the coronial inquiry would be into the rather terrible events with the death by suicide of the woman at the centre of the inquest. And if the coroner sought that, then I have no doubt that the Attorney-General would cooperate with any coronial process.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask you a question about the rule of law, which is obviously very important. There's lots of statistics on sex assault that tell us, that say, in New South Wales, 15,000 women will report to the police with an allegation of sexual assault, a handful of those get to court. And 3% of those actually end in conviction. Now, are 97% of those 15,000 women liars or fabulists, or is there something else going on?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's an important question, Sam, and it's one that just doesn't affect Commonwealth jurisdictions. In fact, it is predominantly a responsibility of state jurisdictions for the administration of law and order in relation to criminal matters, particularly criminal matters such as this. But the rule of law is the essential process by which all Australians are subject to. And there is an equality before the law as well. Yesterday, I spoke about the presumption of innocence, the rules of evidence, the process of courts. The equality of the law is also important. You and I face the same law. We're subject to the same processes under that law. There's not one set of processes for one Australian and another set of processes for another. So, we're all subject to that. And those laws need to be administered as effectively and as professionally and competently as possible, and that's what we would hope in all of our jurisdictions. And I have to say in Australia - in Australia - I think our rule of law stands up to the assessment of many other countries. And that's an important thing for us to preserve. And we must preserve it now. We must preserve it now.
JOURNALIST: And in relation to the Defence Minister calling Brittany Higgins - I understand she called Brittany Higgins - perhaps you can explain what she's referring to - a "lying cow", why are there no consequences ever for your Ministers? If you can get away with saying that without any consequences, is there anything that you would ask a Minister to resign over? And she said in a statement today that "our lawyers are looking after it". Are taxpayers paying for her lawyers? Are taxpayers going to fund any potential recompense to Brittany Higgins?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll come back to you on the latter matter. But in relation to the former, Minister Reynolds has offered an apology, as she should and as I said yesterday. And I didn't find that acceptable, the comments that were made within her office at that time. They weren't public statements, of course. These were comments made in a, not in a public space - that doesn't excuse them.
JOURNALIST: But they were about Brittany Higgins weren’t they?
PRIME MINISTER: And it was relating- as I referred in my answers yesterday, Sam, you'll be familiar with those - about what they related to.
JOURNALIST: So was she talking about Brittany Higgins or someone else?
PRIME MINISTER: She was not talking about the allegations of sexual assault, no, she wasn't talking about that.
JOURNALIST: But she was talking about Brittany Higgins?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I've already addressed that matter, Sam.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister can you guarantee that Linda Reynolds will still be the Defence Minister when you call the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: Linda Reynolds is returning. She's currently on leave and will return to her duties when her leave is finished.
JOURNALIST: Will she still be the Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: She maintains my confidence.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on that, I guess you've made comparisons between the, you know, what happens in Parliament and what happens in the private sector. If someone in the private sector called a former employee a "lying cow", they would be fired?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you must have worked in a lot of different places to me in the private sector. I don't know how that comment would…
JOURNALIST: To Sam's point...
PRIME MINISTER: I mean I can only reflect on some of the things I hear about media rooms and the way they talk about people in those places. And if that were the case, you'd have to clear the whole place, I suspect.
JOURNALIST: But to Sam's point, what would someone need to do to get...?
PRIME MINISTER: This was a comment made not in a public place. This was a comment made during a period which was very traumatic and very stressful. The Minister deeply regrets saying these things and has offered an apology, as she should.
JOURNALIST: Does it concern you, then, that there's leaks coming out of the Defence Minister's office?
PRIME MINISTER: No. I think on this matter it was a very traumatic week. These events are very unfortunate. And the Minister has apologised, as she should.
JOURNALIST: Have you asked the Minister to apologise to Brittany Higgins?
PRIME MINISTER: I think she understood from my comments yesterday and my discussions yesterday that I did not support those comments in any way, shape or form. And I'm pleased that she's taken her decision to apologise.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you ruled out an independent inquiry into historic sexual assault allegations against Christian Porter. But how can you move on as a leader and a Government when these allegations remain untested and unresolved? Don't you need a circuit breaker?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't accept this proposition that any Australian should be subject to a rule of law that is different to anyone else. There is the presumption of innocence. I believe in the presumption of innocence. That process, as the police have said, has concluded. And given that process has concluded, the presumption of innocence stands. And so we should be able to move on from that. There is no alternative process. There is no alternative rule of law that should apply to one Australian and not to another. And the suggestion that there should be, I think, can go to undermining the very principles of the rule of law in this country. We are governed by that rule, not the rule of the mob or anybody else.
JOURNALIST: On foreign policy, there's reports in the United States that President Biden has called for a meeting of leaders of the Quad. Have you received that invite? How important is that alliance, given the circumstances globally at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER: This is one of the first things President Biden and I discussed when we spoke some weeks ago. And I spoke to Vice-President Harris just this past week. The Quad is very central to the United States and our thinking about the region, and looking at the Indo-Pacific also through the prism of our ASEAN partners and their vision of the Indo-Pacific. So, yes, the Quad is very central, I think, to our ongoing arrangements. The President and indeed, the Secretary of State, have made clear that their re-engagement in multilateral organisations, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, is key to building stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific. We share that view. We encourage that view. And we strongly welcome that view. And so I am looking forward to that first gathering of the Quad leaders. It will be the first ever such gathering. I have already had bilateral discussions about this with Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga, the Prime Minister of Japan, and of course the Prime Minister of India. And of course we’re looking forward to those discussions and follow-up face-to-face meetings as well. This will become a feature of Indo-Pacific engagement. But it's not going to be a big bureaucracy with a big secretariat and those sorts of things. It will be four leaders, four countries, working together constructively for the peace, prosperity and stability of the Indo-Pacific, which is good for everyone in the Indo-Pacific. It's particularly good for our ASEAN friends, and those throughout the South-West Pacific, to ensure that they can continue with their own sovereignty and their own certainty for their own futures.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how confident are you that Christian Porter and Linda Reynolds will return from sick leave into your Cabinet?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm very confident. Thank you.
Press Conference - Tomago, NSW
4 March 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Mark, it’s great to be here today, it’s great to be back in the Hunter. It’s tremendous to be here of course with Minister Andrews, and Senator Hughes and I want to thank them for the work they’re doing here on the ground.
Australia is leading the world out of the global COVID-19 recession. That’s what yesterday’s National Accounts confirmed once again. Growth of 3.1 per cent, over the course of the year, through the year only down 1.1. Now if I’d said that a year ago, the idea that the Australian economy would be down 1.1 per cent through the year that would have been absolutely devastating news and indeed the impact of that is certainly been felt here in Australia, that’s why we’ve provided such unprecedented support. But when you compare the impact of the economic shock of COVID-19 across the world and more importantly how we’re coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, then this is something that Australians have achieved in a remarkable way.
As a federal government, as a Commonwealth government, we've been very pleased to play our role in that comeback. It's certainly on. And as we move through the gears again, as we gear up the economy and we get into the next phase, it's an exciting time for Australia. Our economic recovery plan is not just about providing the immediate support - as we have over these many difficult months. It's also about the rebuilding that is going on now and the building for the future. Which is what you're seeing right here. In the Hunter, they're building the future on this site with lithium-ion batteries. When I think of all the regions of our country, it's very hard to consider a region that will benefit more from the economic policies we're putting in place than the Hunter. When I reflect on my last few visits here to the Hunter,
firstly, the gas-fired recovery and how we need to address the energy needs of this important sector - then to be here for the Joint Strike Fighters' maintenance program occurring over at Williamtown, and the defence industry that is being built here and expanded here in the Hunter. And to be back here again today to launch the Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing Plan Pathway, the priority roadmap for our manufacturing strategy, once again we find here in the Hunter those investors, those partners, whether they're in the CSIRO, the University of Newcastle, coming together to make the reality of manufacturing here in Australia for the future - just not for the present.
I've been here before looking at the skills development that is being done and the training that is occurring here under the programs we're putting in place, providing the workers for the places that we're standing on right now. As Mark was saying to us, when I asked him before - Why here, Mark? He talked about the skills. He talked about the university. He talked about the CSIRO. He talked about the partnerships. He talked about the opportunities. And here they are in the Hunter. And that's tremendously exciting to see that our manufacturing strategy that we set out in last year's budget - some $1.3 billion specifically going into these partnership grants that driven by these roadmaps developed up together with industry, will see critical areas like critical minerals processing, making the batteries that will power the world's economy into the future. And it's not a new issue for us. For some time now, our government has been working closely, whether it's been the United States or Japan or other parts of the world through our partnerships, about how we can fill in the supply chains around critical minerals and rare earths. It has been a keen topic of our national-level discussions. It is a sovereign and strategic priority for Australia to ensure that we are hard-wired into this supply chain around the world. And a supply chain that Australia and our partners can rely on. Because these rare earths and critical minerals is what literally pulls together the technology that we will be relying on into the future.
So, preserving the industrial base that has been so successful here in the Hunter, but also giving it a future through these types of initiatives. I'm going to ask Karen Andrews to make a few comments on that strategy in a second. But there are a couple of other matters I'm sure you understand that I need to address.
First of those is the AstraZeneca vaccine, as you know, has arrived in Australia. The Minister for Health announced that a few days ago. I can now tell you that the batch testing for the AstraZeneca vaccine that has arrived has been completed and it’s being distributed to the states and I understand that the first of those vaccines will be administered in South Australia tomorrow. That's welcome news. The next phase of the receipt of those vaccines that we were able to secure from overseas, supporting this first phase of this rollout of the vaccine rollout across the country. Let's not forget, though, that 50 million doses of the
AstraZeneca vaccine will be made right here in Australia, in Melbourne. And we took the decision to have the sovereign capability to do that because we did not want to be, over the course of our vaccination program in Australia, overly reliant or dependent on supply chains from somewhere else. So we did it here. We built it here. And we are one of the few countries in the world that have that capability. And so, while these initial doses of AstraZeneca that have come in from overseas have been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and now batch-tested, will be rolled out. And that commences from tomorrow. What will follow that is, ultimately, the approval of the manufacturing process here in Australia for the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will launch the next very significant phase of the home-grown vaccination of Australians for COVID-19.
Now the third point I need to address today is the press conference, statements made by the Attorney-General, Christian Porter, yesterday. These are harrowing events. And for the family of the woman at the centre of these issues, as the Attorney-General commenced his remarks yesterday, my heart can only break for anyone who has lost a child, and the issues surrounding that and the way that this matter is now being addressed in the public domain. This must be a harrowing time for her friends and for her family. And I don't want to do anything that would seek to add any further, any further difficulty for them. Christian Porter, the Attorney-General, has made it very clear in his statement yesterday that he has rejected absolutely the allegations that have been made. That is the same rejection that he made to me last week. In this country, there is a lot at stake. If you don't go too far from here, you will find countries where the rule of law does not apply. And you will be aware of the terrible things that can happen in a country where the rule of law is not upheld and is not supported, in whatever the circumstances. The rule of law is essential for liberal democracies. And we weaken it at our great peril. And it can be hard at times. And I understand, particularly under these circumstances, it can be hard to understand just how important that principle is in how we deal with these, the most sensitive and the most traumatic and the most personal of issues. But we must reflect on that principle, because it is that principle that undergirds our democracy itself. The presumption of innocence. The investigation of allegations involving criminal activity by competent and authorised bodies. That is, the police. And to act in accordance with the decision of those bodies and, indeed, the courts that deal with any allegations that are taken forward for prosecution. That is our rule of law. It is something that every single citizen of this country depends upon - and that is the principle upon which I seek to support, to ensure the good governance of our country. And so, as traumatic as these events are, that principle must continue to guide us, and it will certainly continue to guide me and my government as we deal with these very sensitive issues.
On related matters, I can tell you that, earlier this week, we put in place new arms-length arrangements for additional support to be provided to people who work in the parliament. That is a counselling process and service that is available to people who find themselves in the situation needing that. That is a major change to the way this service was previously delivered by the Department of Finance. We've put those arrangements in place now. There are other inquiries when we’re, that I hope we'll be able to finalise with the opposition and other parties - the terms of inquiry on the other matter. I don't think we're too far away from that but I did not want to wait for those additional and more effective support services to be put in place as soon as possible, and they have been operating now for several days.
So I'm going to hand over to Karen now, if you could give us just that patience. I'm sure you'll want to return to those issues, and I'm happy to address them. But I'd ask, that at first, we deal with the announcement we've made today, and then I'll ask Mark and his team and they'll stand aside and then I'm happy to deal with the other matters. But, Karen?
THE HON. KAREN ANDREWS MP, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Thank you, Prime Minister. And we are here today to release the National Manufacturing Roadmap for Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing, and to announce that funding for that program is now open. Now the Prime Minister announced a $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy in October last year. Some key parts of that were naming National Manufacturing Priorities for Australia. This is the first time that this has been named, ever, by a government. What we have determined are that there are some priorities for manufacturing here in Australia where we have comparative or competitive strengths. So, so far, we have released the roadmaps and opened funding for space, and also for medical products. So, today is the opening of funding for resources technology and critical minerals processing.
Now there are two streams of funding that are open for that today. The first one deals with the commercialisation of good ideas. Now this is not funding to come up with the good idea - this is funding it to commercialise that good idea. And that's exactly what we have seen here today with Energy Renaissance. They have worked very closely with the university, they've worked very closely with CSIRO, they're now at the stage that their product is commercialised, it's ready to be manufactured, and to be manufactured at scale right here in the Hunter. The second stream that is open today is the stream that will enable and support our businesses to be able to enter international supply chains. So, to become part of global supply chains for other countries right around the world.
In terms of resources technology and, specifically, critical minerals, Australia has a very long history of being a resource-rich nation where we have done extraordinarily well at digging that product out of the ground. The path that has been missed is the value-add. So, whilst we are very good at digging the product out of the ground, we ship it overseas, it's processed overseas in many instances, and we pay an extraordinary amount of money to purchase that material back in a different form, here in Australia. As a government, we want to change that we want to do more of the value-add here in Australia. Resources technology is an area where we are already world-leading, but there are significant opportunities for us to expand that even more. To look at how we can recover more of our material from waste that exists. With critical minerals, we have an abundance of critical minerals here in Australia. We have incredible stores of lithium. At the moment, we aren't processing that to any great extent here in Australia. But we want to make sure that, through our critical minerals processing roadmap, that we are setting a pathway where Australia can recover the maximum amount of lithium, and that we can then look at how we can value-add to that and, specifically, looking at how we can build the battery industry right here in Australia.
So this is an enormous opportunity. The grant funding is open for the first round for four weeks. There's already been a high level of interest in this. There are three more priority areas to go. And we will be releasing those over the next few weeks. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: So questions, if you have them, on the manufacturing initiative today, or the Hunter, for that matter?
JOURNALIST: Prime minister, [inaudible] Port of Newcastle later on, [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: I want to ensure that the Newcastle Port can deliver all the services that this region needs for it to be successful. There are some processes currently underway. That are addressing those issues. The Treasurer announced those a little while back. I know they've been well received here. And I want to see those followed through. But let me be very clear about the outcome I want to see. Whether it's the port here in Newcastle or the port up in Townsville or wherever ports may be, I want to be able to, in Gladstone, I want these ports to be able to service the regions as fully and as competitively as is possible. That's what I want to see. I want to see the Port of Newcastle working for the Hunter, and I'll be working to that end.
JOURNALIST: Does that mean you'll be imposing a federal solution to the ACCC action against New South Wales ports, or will you be cooperating with the New South Wales government on that?
PRIME MINISTER: It means that I'm going to allow the process, obviously, that the Treasurer has instigated, to continue its process. And I would hope that it would achieve an outcome similar to what I've just outlined. But that's a matter for them - it's not for me to intervene in that process. But I'm just telling you, as a Prime Minister, and to the people of the Hunter, I know what's needed here. And that's a Port of Newcastle that works for the Hunter. Because when that happens, the Hunter's able to do more for Australia.
JOURNALIST: Does that mean you're committing the government to resolve the issue around the compensations paid to New South Wales ports?
PRIME MINISTER: It means the objective that I've set out.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] gas plant [inaudible] BAE, what’s your vision for the Hunter in 10-12 years time [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm standing on it. I want to see more of this. What I'm excited about when I come up here to the Hunter - I meant what I said. All the things we're doing. Whether it's in skills training, whether it's in energy, whether it's in supporting manufacturing, whether it's expanding our trade markets. I really can't nominate a region that would benefit more than the Hunter from all of these things. In so many ways, the Hunter is the model case. And I want to - if it works in the Hunter, I know it's going to work for Australia. And that's why I'm coming back so often. Because I'm seeing it work. I'm seeing the collaboration between universities, science agencies, investors. I'm seeing the passion, I'm seeing the commitment. And I'm just keen to ensure that I'm working with the Hunter to remove any obstacles that could be in their way, because I can assure you, a policy problem solved here in the Hunter means it's going to be a policy problem solved elsewhere in Australia. Because these are the regions that I particularly want to see go ahead into the future. And so, whether it's making lithium batteries or continuing to make aluminium, or the processing works that will occur here, or the training or the science exploration, the medical products - all of this, I want to see it happen. And I know if it's happening in the Hunter, I know it's happening in Australia.
JOURNALIST: Three times in six months do you, you're in the Paterson electorate again. Do you support Brooke Vitnell as a Liberal candidate in this election?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I will allow the party members to make those decisions. And I'm sure they'll make a very good decision.
JOURNALIST: No captains pick on that one?
PRIME MINISTER: I will allow the party to make their call.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Lex Greensill’s supply chain finance company is teetering on the brink of insolvency and has applied for protection under Australian law, he says there are 7,000 jobs at risk. Some here, in Newcastle, some in Whyalla, are you being briefed on this?
PRIME MINISTER: It's not a matter I can comment on today. No.
JOURNALIST: Have you had any contact with them?
PRIME MINISTER: It's not a matter I can comment on today, but I'm happy to follow up the matter after, through my office.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you’re here to talk [inaudible] resources [inaudible] jobs, [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: We're the first government to actually go to the step that so many others haven't over a long period of time in getting to the settlement that we have. And we're going to continue working through that process and delivering on those commitments, and many other commitments we've made on those issues. There is also continues to be an enormous amount of scientific work that is being done around this, which we committed to undertake. So we're just going to continue to commit and follow through on what we've said we'd do.
JOURNALIST: Matt Kean [inaudible] New South Wales government [inaudible] two days ago, dissatisfied [inaudible] do you think the government, the Commonwealth government should do more?
PRIME MINISTER: I think we should honour the commitments we've made, and continue to follow the process that we've been engaged in over a long period of time. And we will continue to honour the responsibilities that we have here as a federal government, as we have been doing.
JOURNALIST: Will that [inaudible] around the place?
PRIME MINISTER: I've made my comment.
JOURNALIST: How concerned are you about warnings from Kerry Schott that these coal fired power stations will be gone by 2030?
PRIME MINISTER: I think that's highly unlikely, for a number of reasons. The first of all - I mean, those that don't have a life that go beyond 2030, they're positions that are known. And so I don't think she's necessarily just referring to that. But I've been in Japan recently, I've been to many places where the demand for what Australia produces continues. And that will be the case for some considerable time into the future. Some considerable time into the future. The rate at which coal-fired plants are being built in China and other parts of the world - I mean, that's a reality. And so I think Australia's contracts and Australia's participation in that trade - if it wasn't Australia, it'd be another country that was doing that. That wouldn't change any emissions outcome, but it would mean the removal of jobs in Australia. And so I've never seen that as a particularly smart thing to do. So, look - the world, over time, is moving to a different energy economy. That's true. People here in the Hunter understand that, as they do down in the Illawarra and other parts of Australia. But that transition is taking place over quite a period of time. And the government is working hard to ensure that we both maintain the industrial base - particularly of regions like the Hunter - while, at the same time, fostering and investing in the transition in the future. That's what we're seeing right here today. That's what we're seeing right here today. And that's why I'm so pleased to be coming back so often - because I see the real world of that change that takes place over decades done in a way here which I think is really, at the end of the day, concerned about the livelihoods of people who depend on these industries.
JOURNALIST: The UK Energy Minister told Matt Kean she'd like to see more ambition from the Australian Federal Government on emissions reduction. Do you think, going to Glasgow, you need to bring a stronger commitment?
PRIME MINISTER: I've outlined that our commitment is to get to net zero as soon as possible and preferably by 2050. And I’ve also said that that shouldn't be done at the expense of regional Australia and ask regional Australia to carry that burden on behalf of others who are in, you know, northern Sydney, in metropolitan areas of northern Sydney, or in southern Sydney for that matter, or anywhere else. I'm very conscious of the change that is going to take place over many decades, and Australia is playing its part. I mean, we have reduced our emissions by 19 per cent since 2005. You'll be aware that, in New Zealand and Canada, that figure was 0 to 1 per cent. So that's what's being achieved in Australia. We have the highest rate of household solar anywhere in the world. In the world. So, Australia is making gains here which are often unappreciated. We're very committed to being part of the future energy economy, but I'm not going to sell out regional Australia to do that. I'm going to ensure that we get there through technology - not higher taxes. Not higher taxes. Technology is the way to get to where we need to get to. And the technology that is going to be built right here, by Mark - right here - is how you get there. If you want to get to that goal, then you need to be doing what we're doing right here. Backing in manufacturing industries that actually are part of that future energy economy while, at the same time, finding lasting solutions to support the livelihoods of those who are engaged in heavy industry. That's what I'm going to be doing this year.
JOURNALIST: Do you support the extension of the petroleum exploration licence of the coast of New South Wales?
PRIME MINISTER: We're talking about the one down on the...
JOURNALIST: Between Port Stevens and Sydney?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, yeah. No.
JOURNALIST: You don't support the extension?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, we're looking at climate change and all sorts of things here. You're talking about more resources. Will those resources be taken out of the earth in a way that protects our environment and saves vulnerable species?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course, yeah.
JOURNALIST: We've got Brandy Hill Quarry that’s endangering koalas and other things happening here in the Hunter that have residents concerned. We have a vulnerable population of dingoes at Tea Gardens Hawks Nest. I just wanted to know what the government's position is on that?
PRIME MINISTER: If, I read recently a book, a friend of mine sent me a book by David Attenborough. I don't know if you've read it. I'd encourage people to read it - I think it's a very interesting read. And he makes a very important point. As serious as issues around climate change and these things are, he points out that, at the end of the day, what actually supports the planet is ensuring that we maintain and support biodiversity. That is his fundamental point. And there are a range of things you need to do to address biodiversity. That's why we have the EPBC Act. That's why the Department of Environment puts in place the initiatives and regulations that sit around, whether it's mining operations or many other types of activities, to support biodiversity. That's the purpose. Biodiversity is essential for life on this planet. That is absolutely true. It's been the case forever. And our policies are designed to try and support that biodiversity - but do so in a way that ensures that we support the livelihoods of Australians around the country and to support the transition of our economy, which will continue to occur, but do so in a way that protects and supports the very heavy industries that we've had in our regions for a long time. And those heavy industries will continue to adjust and change over time. Everyone who works in them understands that. It's not all changing tomorrow morning. But it is an evolving process, it’s a gradual process, which is moving at a pace which supports the livelihoods and the economy of regions like the Hunter but, at the same time, meets our overall objectives which are environmental, as well as economic and, in particular, supports biodiversity.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I ask - have you spoken to the Attorney General since his press conference yesterday?
PRIME MINISTER: Okay, I'm happy to move to those. I just want to check that... I'm very happy to move to them… I-
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I just clarify the response that you gave regarding PEP11, Keith Pitt is currently considering an application to extend the offshore gas exploration license between Port Stephens and Sydney, are you saying that you don’t support the extension of that license?
PRIME MINISTER: I am. Pretty clearly.
JOURNALIST: That will make some of our tourist operators very happy.
PRIME MINISTER: It's going to make me very happy. I think that's the right decision.
JOURNALIST: Will you be pushing Keith Pitt to make this decision soon?
PRIME MINISTER: It's a matter the government's working through, but I'm happy to answer the question - you asked me what my view is. I've told you fairly plainly. I tend to be a fairly plain-speaking person.
Okay, why don't we move to those other issues? Thank you very much, Mark. It's great to be here with you today and congratulations on everything you and your team are doing. I'm looking forward to be back here in October. That's it. Good on you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if I could ask, have you spoken with the Attorney-General since his press conference yesterday? And are you still confident he can continue as AG once he is back?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I have, and yes, I am. I spoke to the Attorney yesterday and I'm pleased that he's taking some time to get support to deal with what has obviously been a very traumatic series of events, as you'd appreciate. He's getting that support, as well as the support of his colleagues, as he takes that time. I'm looking forward to him returning to his duties once that period of leave is completed.
JOURNALIST: Did you believe his account of events that he said yesterday?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, my judgement is based on the report of the police. That's the point I was making before. They are the competent and authorised authorities to make the judgements about any such allegations. And they have made their conclusions. And that's - as people have said in similar occasions in the past - that's where the matter rests.
JOURNALIST: So you’re ruling out an inquiry, independent inquiry?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course. Because the police have dealt with this matter and given us their understanding of these issues and their status and, as has been the case on other occasions, that's where the rule of law completes its process.
JOURNALIST: There have been some criticisms of the national broadcaster's coverage of this scandal. Do you have any concerns about the way it's been covered?
PRIME MINISTER: That is not my concern. That's not my issue. My issue here has been to try and deal with what has been a very traumatic series and sensitive series of issues now going over several weeks, but particularly this one. And my concern is for those directly impacted, particularly the family and the close friends who I'm sure - and there are- you've seen the reports about the different views there - and also others who have had allegations made of them and their mental health situation, which is in good shape. But it's important that people under any of these sort of stresses take the opportunity now to ensure that they can take the space and be in a position that they can return to their duties as soon as possible.
JOURNALIST: It does appear that he might be considering retirement, do you think that he will come back after his leave?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I do. And no, there's been no suggestion of that whatsoever. He is quite, he is looking forward to coming back and to resuming his duties. We, you know we have a lot to do, and we are doing it. It's demonstrated by what we're doing here today. There are many sensitive and difficult issues we're dealing with as a government. I began this week revealing to the country the Royal Commission into Aged Care's findings and their report. Whether it's that - just this week, we have had the royal commission in Victoria into mental health, I’m looking very much forward as the Premier and I have been discussing now for many months, how we can work together to put in place a better state-federal model in dealing with mental health. There is the significant issues of managing our energy economy, of getting our manufacturing sector going, of rolling out our infrastructure programme, of most significantly rolling out the COVID vaccine and keeping Australians healthy and safe as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and restoring the jobs. I mean, our government is getting on with a lot of very, very important tasks for the Australian people. These matters are very serious. And we have addressed those matters in accordance with the rule of law, and we hope with sensitivity and respect for those who have been most traumatically affected by these events.
JOURNALIST: Have you had a chance to read that dossier yet Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the dossier was provided directly to the Federal Police. On the Wednesday evening when I spoke to the Attorney-General, we had not received the dossier at that time. We were aware that such an anonymously provided set of documents had been provided to other members - in particular, Celia Hammond, as well as Senator Wong and Senator Hanson-Young. Now at that time, I had not received - my office had not received - those documents. But we were aware of the contents of those documents, because I contacted both - well, had a discussion with Celia Hammond, and she advised me of its contents and that she'd provided them to the Federal Police. So I spoke to the Federal Police Commissioner, and we had a discussion about the contents of that material, and he advised me of the process that they were following, and then I spoke to the Attorney-General about these matters, and he rejected the allegations very specifically - very clearly, I should say. I received it in the office - not I personally - it came to my office on Friday afternoon. I was in Sydney. It came to Canberra. And so I instructed that the materials immediately be sent to the Federal Police, which they were.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] allegations?
PRIME MINISTER: I have to make my decisions based on the process followed by the police. See, there is no other alternative for a Prime Minister than the rule of law. There's not another process. There is the rule of law. And the people who are competent to deal with these, to assess allegations of this nature and advise as to whether there is further action to be taken - ie, perhaps to move to try and form a brief of evidence - they didn't form that view or, indeed, if there's a brief of evidence prepared, that should be put to a prosecutor - it didn't even come to that stage. But that is the process. And when that process runs its course, as the New South Wales Police has said it has, then the government must rely on the rule of law.
JOURNALIST: Given the circumstances, though, surely an inquiry will clear the air, we’ve got it would seem almost impossible for police to prosecute this or bring this to a court under the circumstances, surely an independent inquiry would resolve some of the issues though?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that, because I don't agree with the precedent or the prima facie case for there being such a process. Because that would say that our rule of law and our police are not competent to deal with these issues. And they are competent to deal with these issues. They have reviewed the materials, and they've formed their assessment. There is not some other process. There is not the mob process. There is not the tribe-has-spoken process. That's not how we run the rule of law in Australia. We run the rule of law based on police. On courts. On judicial systems. On rules of evidence. On presumption of innocence. That's how liberal democracies function. And we have to be very careful - very careful - even in traumatic and sensitive issues like this, that we don't fundamentally undermine that principle. Because upon that, our entire system is built.
JOURNALIST: How careful has your Defence Minister been describing, reportedly describing, an alleged victim here as a lying cow?
PRIME MINISTER: I spoke to Minister Reynolds this morning about this matter. A couple of points I'd like to make. First, she has already spoken to her staff and apologised for those comments. So she knows those comments to have been inappropriate and wrong. The second point I make - and I share her view, obviously, about that. The second point, though, is they were made in her private office in a stressful week. And they weren't made in a public place. And nor were they intended for that, that doesn't excuse it, not for a second. And she made the appropriate apologies to her staff and rectified that. The third one I want to be very clear about is she was not making those comments, as she said to me this morning, in relation to the allegation of sexual assault. She was not saying that about that, at all. Her comments, she said to me, related to the further commentary about levels of support provided, and her frustrations about how she felt that they were doing everything they believed in their power to provide support, clearly, over a period of time there was a very different view about that. And we've acknowledged that, and that's why we're addressing the issues the way that we are.
JOURNALIST: But either way, it's an extremely insensitive comment to make given the circumstances. Should she resign over those comments?
PRIME MINISTER: She has deeply regretted them. She made them in a private office. She immediately apologised. Well soon after, I should say. These-
JOURNALIST: She only apologised when it came out in the media.
PRIME MINISTER: That's actually not true. That's actually not true.
JOURNALIST: So who'd she apologise to?
PRIME MINISTER: She apologised to the staff about making what were inappropriate comments, long before it became public. And what is - I would just simply say to people - you know, it's been a very traumatic several weeks for many people. People directly involved by these events who are our primary concern. But equally, there have been others who have been drawn into this. They're human beings. They say things that sometimes they deeply regret. I'm sure that all of you have found yourself, at a time of frustration, perhaps saying things you regret. And I would simply ask you, given the comment was made in a private place, that you offer the same generosity to how you’d perceive something you might have said, and perhaps apply the same standard to Linda Reynolds who, at the time, was under significant stress. She deeply regrets it. They were offensive remarks. She should never have made them. I don't condone them. But what matters is that we continue to address the substance of the issues here, as we are. I'm looking forward to the process which is being set up to get underway. I'm pleased that we’ve already been able to put in more support at arm's length for staff members or, indeed, members and senators who find themselves in a position where they need that counselling and support. It's done through the same organisation that also provides the 1800RESPECT service in Australia. So, that's a good initiative. We've taken action on that. But, of course, I understand the significant interest in these issues. They're very important. We're dealing with them. But at the end of the day, we have to deal with them in accordance with the fundamental principles upon which this country operates. We are a liberal democracy. At this time, I see liberal democracy under threat in so many places around the world. And so I'm going to stand up for liberal democracy each and every occasion, and I think we all, as Australian citizens, have an obligation to do that. Thanks very much, everyone.
Press Conference - Kirribilli, NSW
1 March 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone. I’m here to release the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, I'm being joined by Minister Hunt and Minister Colbeck. This is the first of many volumes.
I have spent the last few days poring over this. It's personal. The care of those we love is personal. Minister Hunt and I know this, as so many Australians do. We've both had parents who have been through the system. Their experiences were positive experiences, certainly in my case. And I'm forever grateful for the support and care my father received. My father spent his last moments in an aged care facility. I visited him there on many occasions, as we did as a family. You cannot separate the personal element of this, whether in discharging your responsibilities as a Prime Minister, a Minister, an aged care provider, a regulator, a carer, a worker, a cleaner, people who deliver the meals. We are all part of a system that is supposed to be providing the best quality care we can for older Australians, particularly as they age. And despite what I think are the best efforts and intentions of many governments over many years, which has been acknowledged by the Royal Commission, despite the fact we're spending double almost what we were seven years ago, we've tripled the number of in home aged care places, we're adding 1,200 a week at the moment. Many changes on quality commissioners and standards and all of this.
When I became Prime Minister, I received many briefings, as you'd expect me to, and across a range of issues and when we were addressing this issue and the assurances I sought about the quality of care being provided to older Australians in our system, I couldn't get the answer that I wanted to know and would have liked to have heard but it was impossible to hear that because it wasn't the case. No-one could give that assurance to me. And so I decided to ask one of the hard questions and that hard question was asked in the form of establishing a Royal Commission. Because I wanted to know what the quality and standard of care was being provided to my fellow Australians.
And so we called that Royal Commission and I warned the country we should brace for impact and be prepared for what would follow and it has been a harrowing process. The stories, the accounts, the evidence that has been brought together over these several years now are all set out in the Royal Commission and Australians as they read them they’ll feel the same way I did, I'm sure. And the Royal Commission has now, I think, set out a very important roadmap which I think will establish generational change in this country when it comes to aged care. It's the inquiry we needed to have. It's well considered. It's honest. It's positive. It's compassionate. It's comprehensive. It's candid. It's passionate and it's ambitious. All the things I would hope it would be when I called it. And that it could provide me and my ministers and my Government and indeed the parliament with what we needed to know in order to bring about this generational change that is needed. And I say generational change because the Royal Commission itself notes that we have been doing things in the system this way for about 25 to 30 years. Under the same constraints, under the same set of assumptions, there have been changes and there's been improvements. That's all true. Of course it is. But largely we've been operating in the same paradigm and what the Royal Commissioners - and I thank them earnestly for their work and all of those involved working in the commission, bringing this together - what they've said is the basic paradigm needs to change. And I agree. We need to make generational change so that the individualised needs and that needs-based care is developed that respects the dignity of the individual Australian.
The values, the rights, the needs. This is what must drive the system of the individual. And there was something very potent that Commissioner Briggs spoke of. Life is to be lived every single second, every single minute. It is precious. This is something I have believed my entire life, life is precious. You don't wait it out. And the fact that Australians feel they are waiting out their life, it's impossible to put into words how you respond to that. So generational change is needed.
I thank the commissioners because they're honest because they know there are no easy fixes. In fact they themselves couldn't agree on some fairly significant issues. So they've honestly provided their different perspectives on that and I welcome that and we will consider those perspectives.
This will take time. It will take quite considerable time to achieve the scale of change that we want to and need to. The commission itself sets out a 5-year timeframe for the measures that are set out in their report. And we must also take care in how we do this.
The commission itself highlights the great risks that come to people and individuals who are vulnerable and frail because of the training and availability of care workers. Because of the governance systems that are in place that oversee the delivery of that care. In many cases the quality of providers that are providing that care and the compliance too and the standards that are set and the information that's available to help those standards be upheld. So as we would seek to try and address the many urgent and short-term priorities that are set out in the Royal Commission, we also must exercise care at the same time. We cannot just take people off the streets and put them into people's homes and ask them to start caring for people. That would be irresponsible. If someone is going to go into someone's home or go into the room that they're living in in a residential aged care facility, we cannot compromise on the standards that should be there for those workers to be able to provide that support. And so we will seek to address the significant workforce issues and the standards issues and the quality issues and the governance issues. The new act and all of these things that are set out in these recommendations.
As we both frame our response and then implement our response, we must be careful because we are dealing with the needs of people who can be very vulnerable and very frail. So we must take care to do that and do that in a responsible way. Today I'm going to ask Minister Hunt to set out the initial - that's just today - the initial response we're putting in place to deal with a number of matters that we had anticipated having been working through this process now. A total sum $450 million immediately in initiatives that we'll be proceeding with. But there will be more and it will be comprehensive and addressed throughout the Budget process. I've made that very clear on numerous occasions. I didn't ask this question on the basis of not being prepared to deal with the answer. I was serious when I asked it because I wanted to know, they've told me and now I'm committed to dealing with the issues that are raised in this report together with my Government team and it will tell all of us. It will test my Government, it’ll the Budget and it’ll test the Parliament. It will test the way in which we are prepared to deal with this issue. As a once in a generation opportunity to actually change it for a new generation. That's the test for all of us. And I look forward to working with anyone, all parties, who are prepared to work with us to put in place the right response to this report and what needs to back it up.
Over the last two years also, while we called the Royal Commission, we haven't been idle. As we've waited for the Commission to do its excellent work, Minister Colbeck has been engaged in putting in place many initiatives and he can also speak to what they are. They were never intended to be the solution to- within its current paradigm. And that will continue but the work that now we have the opportunity to do - and I like to see this as an opportunity - we have this opportunity with this report to make that generational change and I look forward to working with all those who are going to work with me to achieve that.
And particularly on that I note I ask Minister Hunt to come speak to these matters. Thank you.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much to the Prime Minister and to Richard. As a son of a father who spent his final months in aged care, let me start by thanking all of our carers, our nurses, the cleaners and the cooks, the doctors, the pharmacists, the volunteers, the providers that have been taking care of our loved ones. They do a great job. They do a great job. But I also know from this report and from our work in these roles, that there are great challenges, two huge trends. The ageing society which is part of the Western World. More older Australians. And at the same time, the legitimate expectation of better, stronger, deeper care. Those two things come together. Our society and our task on our watch.
And that means that we have two fundamental duties. One is to help shape the national culture of respect for our elders. We have much to learn from some parts of the world. The concept of the elder. Somebody who has given to that society and that community but who deserves respect and care and dignity. And, secondly, to help provide at the national level, that fundamental care structure. And that's where we go from here. We know that there are 1.3 million people within the aged care system in Australia. Home support, home care, residential aged care. And this monumental report, 8 volumes, 148 recommendations, monumental in scope, two years in construction, over 10,000 submissions, 640 witnesses, sets out some fundamental choices. And, yes, there are some alternative approaches that have been presented by the commissioners. But the central vision is of a nation where we value our elders, where we respect them, we provide care and we provide dignity. And we respond to their individual needs. That's the critical thing. We respond to their individual needs.
So it includes, as the Prime Minister said, a 5-year plan, a 5-year roadmap, ambitious, challenging, but achievable. And there are five pillars to the way in which we'll respond to this in terms of home care, quality and safety, services and sustainabilities, workforce and governance. And I'll come to those in a moment.
Just before doing that, in protecting our Australians it is important to note that today there have been zero cases of community transmission for COVID around the country. That's 31 days this year and no lives lost in 2021. An almost unthinkable collective national achievement. In terms of the rollout, we have now passed 10,070 seniors as of last night who were vaccinated in residential aged care facilities, our most frail, roughly the same number as New South Wales and almost 3 times greater than almost any other state. Facilities, over 130 facilities, and another 20 to be done at least today which will take us to well over 150 facilities and nationally over 33,700 Australians who were vaccinated but with the numbers to significantly step up during the course of this week.
So then that brings me to our initial, as the Prime Minister said, response, with the full response to the 148 recommendations to come during the course of the Budget process. Firstly, in terms of home care, we will immediately act on transparency of fees and commence an audit program of over 500 facilities per year. And providers, that's a very important part of protecting our elders against any abuse. At the same time, we'll be implementing a new quality control system within home care.
Secondly, in terms of residential care, quality and safety. We will commence a process of 1,500 extra audits of facilities per year under the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner. But we will also put in place under that Commission regulation to ensure further protection against chemical and physical restraint. We will appoint a new senior restraint leader within the commission and we will extend the pharmacy program within the commission and under the department to 2025.
In terms of residential aged care, services and sustainability, our third pillar. We will, exactly as the commissioners have recommended, immediately extend the viability supplement, the 30 per cent uplift to the 30th of June as an interim measure whilst we prepare our response to the Budget. But the Prime Minister has indicated that this is an immediate measure today but there will be a long-term solution set out in the Budget. That's the equivalent of $760 per metropolitan resident and $1,145 per rural and remote resident. We will also put in place a targeted fund to support providers facing stress.
Fourth. In terms of our fourth pillar, workforce, with regards to skills, we will make available immediately for 18,000 places to supplement those which have already been brought in for new home care and residential care workers to be trained because if we can lift those numbers, we lift the places that we offer. And that is a critical step forward. And then finally in terms of governance. We have accepted the Royal Commission's request to respond in full by the 31st of May. We will begin a governance training and funding program for, we expect, 3,700 senior leaders across boards and senior executives.
We will put in place a new Aged Care Act. And that will be a significant process but it's based on a simple concept of respect for the individual. Instead of being about providers, instead of it being about money, it's about respect for the individual needs and that is the fundamental generational transformation.
And so I'll finish where I started. As a son who has watched this process, as a son who watched his father pass just days before we came into government, I want to thank all of those who have been involved in the commission, in particular our Commissioners Pagone, Briggs, and of course Commissioner Tracey who passed during the course of it. To thank our carers and our nurses, our doctors, our cooks and our cleaners and everybody involved in taking care of our older Australians, our time is now.
PRIME MINISTER: Richard? Richard is just going to say one or two things and then I’ll get to questions.
SENATOR THE HON RICHARD COLBECK, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE SERVICES: Thanks, PM. Thanks, Greg. Can I just start by thanking Commissioners Pagone, Briggs and Tracey for their work over the last couple of years in the preparation of this important report. As both the Prime Minister and Greg have said, it is a once in a generation opportunity to create real change in the way that aged care is provided in this country.
Can I also thank all of those who've submitted to the Royal Commission, particularly the families and the residents who have told us their stories. The Prime Minister said when the commission was called that we were going to hear some really, really hard things, and we have and, unfortunately, we continue to do that, which is what really drives me in wanting to fundamentally reform the way that we deliver aged care in this country. The thing that being in this portfolio has done, the thing that being in the process of the Royal Commission has done is, from my point of view, is to make me fundamentally question the whole way that we deliver aged care in this whole country and go back to first step fundamentals in looking at what we should be doing if we're building a new system. It is the stories and sitting down with family and loved ones and listening to them, usually in tears, talking about the loss of dignity that their family member has suffered as a part of living within the system which is driving my ambition with respect to this reform process.
So thank you to all of those families, A) who have submitted to the Royal Commission, but to those who have sat down opposite me at the desk to talk about it. I said when we received the interim report that the report would put us all on notice, and it did. It put the Government on notice, it put the aged care sector on notice and it put the Australian community on notice. It talked about the fact there has been a lot of cans kicked down the road in aged care for 20 years by successive governments and the attitude of the community more generally to senior Australians isn't what we want it to be. I think we now stand in a situation where we have the opportunity to change all of those things. Both the Prime Minister and Greg have reflected on that.
It's now our role to engage with the sector and Australians to commence that reform process. Minister Hunt has indicated that we've made a number of initial response measures today just in the same way that we've responded to the interim report and, particularly, the COVID report to improve the way that the system operates, and each of those responses has had an eye towards where we might go in the design of the final system. It needed to do that. The concept of continuing what's been described by the Royal Commission as an "ad hoc" approach needs to stop. We need to look at a fundamental reform of the system.
But we have continued to do the things that we've needed to do to increase the capacity of the system but also its delivery. Since ScoMo became Prime Minister we've invested $5.5 billion in over 83,000 new Home Care packages. As he said a moment ago, we are currently offering new Home Care packages to Australians at the rate of 1,200 per week out to the end of this financial year. We've put in place new quality standards, a new aged care charter of rights, we've improved medication management, we've put in place measures to reduce the number of people under the age of 65 in residential aged care, that is bearing fruit. It is making a difference and we'll continue to work in that area.
We've asked for infection control leads in every aged care facility. We've established the Workforce Industry Council and can I say I'm really delighted at the progress they've made particularly since May when their new CEO Louise came onboard. We've invested $185 million over 10 years in dementia research, and that’s off the back of $200 million that we invested when we came to Government in 2013.
And we've continued to invest in improvements to the My Aged Care website so it is easier for senior Australians and their families to navigate their way through the system. And of course last year, during COVID, we invested $1.8 billion into the COVID response. And we will have new regulations to manage restraint by the 1st of July, because we put in place a process to review the new regulations that came into force just two years ago. Those recommendations are back with us. But we also put a sunset clause into those new regulations which means that we have to have new regulations in place by the 1st of July so we continue our work as both the Prime Minister and Greg have said to reform and improve the system.
And this Royal Commission report that's been under way for more than two years now gives us, I think, a great imprimatur to do that but the opportunity, as the Prime Minister and Greg have said, to create generational change for the way that senior Australians receive aged care.
Thanks.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this report says that one-in-three Australians in residential aged care have substandard facilities. It says that 13 to 18% of people in aged care have been assaulted, and it says the current aged care system and its weak and ineffective regulatory arrangements did not arise by accident. The move to ritualistic regulation is a natural consequence of the Government's desire to restrain expenditure in aged care. In essence, having not provided enough funding for good quality care, the regulatory arrangements could only pay lip service to the requirement that the care that was provided was of high quality, now you've been Prime Minister and Treasurer for five years or so. Do you agree this is a national disgrace and do you accept any share of responsibility over that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course I do Andrew. I’ve been Prime Minister for two years and prior to that, I was Treasurer for three. I’ve been in this Cabinet since we were first elected and so our Government will take our share of the responsibility like all governments over the last 25 to 30 years, which is what the Royal Commission - that very quote that you've just referred to - was referring to governments over the last 25 years. That has been the prism, the framework in which our aged care sector has been funded and run. And while, as well-intentioned as everybody who may have served in governments, in cabinets, or in policy advice systems, or run health aged care facilities or provided support in whatever they could, despite those best intentions, those are the outcomes, Andrew. That's why I asked the question, because I could not get the assurance that the answer would be any different to that. And so, I honestly asked the question. You now have the answer. I now have the answer. And the road map that it sets out to dealing with that fundamentally seeks a shift from a constrained system that focuses on funding to providers to a needs-based system that puts the person at the centre. That is the change-
JOURNALIST: Well, how much money is required?
PRIME MINISTER: No government has done that. No government has done that in the last 30 years. And that is what the Royal Commission has found. And, as a result, it requires some very significant change to how these arrangements are put in place, everything from governments and data, and standards, to training, to the resource that is made available and how we support that within our community. This is a challenge to all of us. So, yes, the findings of this commission work is as shocking as I feared it would be and, frankly, expected it to be. But knowing that, I still called it and, knowing that, I'm standing here before you today saying we propose to deal with it. Now, that's going to be a difficult task because over my time we've increased funding from $13 billion to $24 billion. In my own time as Prime Minister, over $5 billion of extra funding into Home Care. In the time of our Government, everything from charters of Rights to Aged Care Quality Standards and commissioners, and cops on the beat, and specialist service outreach, and all of these things have been done, yet still - yet still - these outcomes are still not being achieved.
JOURNALIST: How much money is required, Prime Minister, and why only one volume released today? Aren't there eight?
PRIME MINISTER: There are eight. And all eight are being released.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Of course we’ll release all eight.
JOURNALIST: How much money is required?
PRIME MINISTER: This is, the answer to that question is not known at this point, Andrew. And the Royal Commission doesn't know what the answer as yet. And what the Royal Commission has found is that is an assessment that has never been undertaken based on a needs-based model.
JOURNALIST: Given that, Prime Minister, [inaudible] required to fix it?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm absolutely committed to taking this report and addressing the issues that are raised in this report and to finding the best way for us to achieve that. That's what we have to do. It won't be easy. And as I said it’s going to test everything from our Budget to everything else. But, you know, in this country we have a needs-based system of healthcare. In this country we don't have a needs-based system of aged care. No government has done that ever - ever - and the result of that is what we read in this report today. That's why I say that generational change is now required. When I became Prime Minister, there were a range of arguments as to why Royal Commissions hadn't been pursued before. I didn't accept them. And I called one. So here we are, ready to go.
JOURNALIST: Does it concern you that some of the recommendations [inaudible] argued are pretty basic recommendations. Does that concern you?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course it concerns me. Of course it does. That's why it fuels my passion for the response.
JOURNALIST: The fact that the commissioners have slightly different recommendations-
PRIME MINISTER: Yep.
JOURNALIST: How are you going to commit to addressing the recommendations? How do you avoid that pick and choose approach, you know?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we will exercise our considered judgement. We will work with the sector. The fact that the commissioners have come to different views I think highlights the complexity of this problem. See I, this is my trust of the Australian people. Our issues that we have to deal with are very complex and difficult in government. I don't think Australians think this is easy to fix. If it was, then someone would have done it a long time ago. I can tell you, plenty of people have tried in the past and they haven't succeeded. And they've done with the best of intentions. So I'm not standing here today, making judgements about my predecessors I'm not making judgements about previous governments. I'm simply saying that we are where we are right now and I think Australians understand how complicated this because a lot of them have had to deal with it. They've had to deal with the DAT payments and the RADs and all of these things and try and make choices that the fact there isn't star rating processes on quality, things like that, and they've had to sit down in family meetings like I've had and try to understand how the system works and how you can get the best support and care for your family member or someone you're providing care to. So I think they get that this is really complicated. I think Australians get that we have difficult tasks that we have and knotty problems that we have to deal with. I think they get that and so now, through this report, that I commissioned effectively on their behalf, they now expect us rightly to go and address what's here and to fashion our response and come back with how we can put it into place.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what's your number one priority to improve quality and safety for older Australians both at home and in aged care facilities?
PRIME MINISTER: There's one thing that I think pretty much sums up the whole approach and that is the person to whom you're seeking to provide care has to be at the centre. That's the nub of this. That their dignity, that their care, that their respect for them as a human being and a fellow Australian has to sit at the centre. Now, that's not a glib statement. That's a statement with great policy power behind it. And that's the sort of thing that should be enshrined in the Act, as the Royal Commission has recommended. That's what should be guiding every director on every governance board of an aged care facility in the country and every other service provider. That's what should be governing every policy official in the country, whether they're working in pricing of these through a pricing authority or a quality care cop on the beat, or, indeed, people working in our offices dealing with the challenges of these issues every day. Putting that Australian at the centre is the fundamental change to this system. Now, you might think, "Well, why hasn't that always been the case?" Fair question. But I can tell you the way the system has been designed, this Royal Commission demonstrates that that's not how it's worked and that's what we need to change.
JOURNALTIST: Did you know about the claim of the historical rape...
PRIME MINISTER: I'm dealing with aged care right now. Happy to deal with other issues but let's talk aged care.
JOURNALIST: This report was delivered last Friday. You gave us half-an-hour to attend a press conference. You tabled the report while we were here. How can we ask questions to know what's relevant in the report without knowing what's in it?
PRIME MINISTER: There will be plenty of opportunities to ask many questions. This isn’t the only day I’ll be standing before you on this. Today I’m here telling Australia we have released the Royal Commission. We commissioned it.
JOURNALIST: That's a spin tactic isn't it, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: No, with great respect, this report is not about the media. This report is about Australians and their care. I am releasing the Royal Commission report. There are 8 volumes, 8 volumes and I would encourage you to digest all of them. And on occasion, after occasion, after occasion, I have no doubt that you will quiz me on every element of it. You will ask me every appropriate question and I’ll be happy to answer them. Today is the day for us telling Australia that it is released. There'll be plenty of other opportunities.
JOURNALIST: This is a major social reform and you've stopped us from actually looking at the report. Is that because you've got two Commissioners who disagree on the reforms and the way forward?
PRIME MINISTER: No. I don't understand the question.
JOURNALIST: The Commissioners are split on a number of fundamental reforms.
PRIME MINISTER: Because it is a complicated issue.
JOURNALIST: So which of the reports and recommendations would you take onboard?
PRIME MINISTER: That's what we'll consider and include that in our response.
JOURNALIST: Isn't it a problem that you've got a Royal Commission blueprint [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: No I think it's a problem that people think this is so simple. We can't be glib about these issues and that they're simple to do with. I'm not surprised they are. I'm not surprised that people with that level of experience who have poured over this, heart and soul, for years, and then still in coming to understand what the way forward is there'll be difference of views. That does not surprise me. And I don't think it surprises Australians who've had to deal with this system either. These are knotty problems, they're hard to solve.
JOURNALIST: Does it concern you that after two years they can't come up with a figure as what you need to spend as you've just characterised it. I haven't read the whole report.
PRIME MINISTER: No, it’s a heavy read. There is much more for me still to pour through. It's eight volumes. There is a lot further to go as we delve into this. Again, Andrew, it doesn't surprise me because this is a hard issue. And I think we're being unrealistic to think that everybody is going to come to one point of agreement on the way forward. If it was that simple, then governments would have done this years ago. It's not that simple. Things have changed. Even in the time that we've been undertaking this Royal Commission, in the time as my time as Prime Minister and, indeed, Treasurer, where aged care services will be, I believe, provided in the future, substantively, overwhelmingly, particularly over time, will not be in facilities. They'll be in people's homes. And there will be a range of supports that are provided. Not unlike how you see individual care packages developed for people under the NDIS, and that people will get tailored, individualised care plans for them and the supports they need. The Royal Commission talks of everything from allied health to dental and oral care and all of these issues, including community supports, and engagement in activities outside of their home and how that form parts of their package. The technology, I've seen this, particularly when I've gone into disability accommodation homes and I've seen the revolution that is taking place for people living with disabilities so they can live as functionally as they possibly can and have as many choices as the rest of us. That can transform the delivery of aged care, and Commissioner Briggs in particular makes that point on many occasions. That's how I see aged care evolving into the future. Individualised, tailored, using every bit of technology, with a more qualified and more experienced workforce that is larger than it is today - much larger than it is today because, frankly, it has to be. Because if it's not, they cannot provide the care that a needs-based system demands.
JOURNALIST: The Commissioners disagree on two fundamental issues - funding and regulation. We already know that the Government supports what Commissioner Briggs is suggesting…
PRIME MINISTER: How do you know that?
JOURNALIST: Because the Government has already responded to the Royal Commission in a...
PRIME MINISTER: I'm sorry, the Government has made no decisions on the findings on this report. So it is simply incorrect for you to suggest that.
JOURNALIST: The Department of Health and the regulator put a submission in…
PRIME MINISTER: I'm the Prime Minister. This is my Minister. Our Cabinet will decide our response to this Royal Commission, OK? So we've released it. I think I’ve answered your question, thank you.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, after reading the documents sent to you regarding the allegations against one of your cabinet ministers, what was your reaction?
PRIME MINISTER: Have we finished with the aged care questions?
JOURNALIST: No we haven't finished with the aged care questions.
PRIME MINISTER: OK let's keep going if there are aged care questions.
JOURNALIST: I'm asking about the 100,000 [inaudible] for the Home Care packages. Only 57,000 have been released.
PRIME MINISTER: We're releasing aged care for Home Care places at a rate of 1200 a week. I said over $5.5 billion additional funding has been put into those places and that is some 85,000 additional places. I want to ensure that we continue to work through to get those in home aged care packages to people as quickly and as safely as possible. We have to be careful that in delivering those in home aged care places that we do it at a pace where that sector can deliver those places. If we are providings places that are going to be delivered by care workers that don't have the requisite training or skills then I think that could be very dangerous. And so we will work at the pace where we can deliver those in home aged care places to people as quickly and as safely as we possibly can, which is exactly what we've been seeking to do over these past few years in particular.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, better safety and higher quality [inaudible] providers have estimated about $20 billion extra funding per year will be needed. How much can the Government afford and how much are you willing to pay?
PRIME MINISTER: These are very very early questions, and the answers to those questions will be worked through with the Government as we develop our response. We will do that very carefully and we will do it with the support of all the full offices of the Government in particular the Treasury and the Department of Finance, and the various mechanisms, there are mechanisms that are highlighted in this report itself and we'll consider pulling together our comprehensive and well considered response but today I am not giving you our response. We have announced a series of measures $450 million in total that deals with many of the significant issues highlighted in the Royal Commission but this is an initial announcement to correspond with the release of the report. Our comprehensive response will come in the course of the Budget.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the providers are obviously at the centre of aged care and the report highlights practices before providers. Given that, do you expect some providers will be forced out of Australia's market if you completely implement the recommendations?
PRIME MINISTER: Aged care is about the people receiving the care. That's what it's about. That's all that it is about. And I want care providers - care providers who provide quality care, and who can do that, and to do it well and to do it consistently and with the trust of the people they're providing it to, and the consistency. And that's who should be in the aged care system.
JOURNALIST: Do you believe that there should be mandatory qualifications for aged care workers Do you think they need [inaudible] qualification?
PRIME MINISTER: I've seen that recommendation. There are a number of recommendations, for example, the suggestion of carers' leave, which I must admit I'm quite attracted to, I’ve mentioned that, in the same way that maternity and paternity leave are provided. But in relation to the qualifications I want to be confident that the range of tasks being provided are ones that are appropriately qualified. The suggestion here, of course you're referring to people with nursing, nursing ATARs, things like that to have cert 3 qualifications are there, then of course they should be there. There are other - other services that are provided as part of the aged care system, which may not require that.
JOURNALIST: You mean the personal care workers who make up 70 per cent of the workforce?
PRIME MINISTER: Not necessarily. No, I don't mean that necessarily at all. What I want to be sure of is that the people who are providing care and the services they're providing as part of that. That they're properly trained and qualified to do that. That's why I've read carefully those recommendations and will be considering them and giving them the appropriate weight that I think they genuinely deserve.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on another issue.
PRIME MINISTER: I think we're still on aged care.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, after reading the document sent to you about the allegations made against one of your Cabinet…
PRIME MINISTER: I'm still on aged care. Unless there's other aged care questions I’m happy to go-
JOURNALIST: Can you give us some kind of commitment that you will implement the 138 findings in the Royal Commission, and if not, why?
PRIME MINISTER: For a start, some of the recommendations are completely conflicting with each other. So that obviously doesn't enable me to give you that answer because some of the recommendations are completely different to each other and they set out the reasons for that. And so the Government will have to obviously work through that and consider it. What I've committed to today and the ministers have committed to today, is in direct request by the Commissioners that we do this by the middle of May, I think it was, that we do just that. The issues raised in this Royal Commission must be addressed and the fundamental issue is the generational paradigm shift that needs to take place in the way that we deliver aged care services in this country. Individually, individualised, needs-based, dignity care and respect. That's what we need to do. That's what I'm committed to doing.
JOURNALIST: How can the Australian public...
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry. I couldn’t quite hear you.
JOURNALIST: Are you convinced that the commission's report will provide a good blueprint going forward for aged care reform?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes. Yes, I am. Because it is so comprehensive. The time taken to deal with all of this won't be short. There'll be immediate-term priorities that we'll need to move on. There'll be short-term,
there will be mid-term, there will be long-term because we're seeking to ensure that, over the generation, there is that generational shift. That's what we're seeking to achieve. Yes.
JOURNALIST: But you have two sets of recommendations from the Commissioners, they disagree with each other fundamentally. So you're going to have to decide whether recommendations you take onboard and go ahead with, aren't you?
PRIME MINISTER: Correct. That's why we're the Government.
JOURNALIST: That's why also you'll probably going to go with Lynelle Briggs, because she has already explained and the Government has also submitted, is the way forward that they want.
PRIME MINISTER: When we provide our response, that's our response. When we provide our response to all these recommendations we will address those issues.
JOURNALIST: So is this going to be another situation, isn't it, we've had 20 reports in 20 years. Now we have a Royal Commission report which was supposed to sort all of this out, we'd have a clear blueprint.
Now you've got two conflicting reports about the way forward. Isn't this going to paralyse the Government once again.
PRIME MINISTER: No. Government is complex, the world is complex, it is a complex set of issues which have given rise to those outcome which is the Royal Commission have identified in the report that I've asked them to do. I think it is glib to suggest that the fact that two very experienced Australians, in conducting their Commission, can come to some different views on how to deal with this problem is extraordinary. It's not. It's real. As Prime Minister I’ve got, I think it's the contrary, isn't it...I think it just highlights how complex this is.
JOURNALIST: It's less than ideal, isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER: It's real, Andrew, and I have to deal with what's real. I have got to deal with the real situation in aged care. When I asked the question, through the Royal Commission, I didn't centre a preset notion of how they would come back and what they would say but I am pleased that they have been as honest and candid and comprehensive, and compassionate, and fulsome in their responses they've been and they've been as up-front about it, including where they have differences. I think Australians are big enough to deal with this complexity. I know my Government is. And that's what we'll be doing. So…
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, last year you rejected the accusation that the Morrison Government didn't have a COVID plan for aged care. But one of the recommendations in the report is for your Government to establish a national plan for aged care and COVID. So, what happened? Did you have a plan or not?
PRIME MINISTER: Greg?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: I'll deal with that. In fact, we had six stages, the first of the elements was in February.
JOURNALIST: But why the recommendation to establish...
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: I think you'll find that that was in the interim report. There were six stages to what we..
JOURNALIST: COVID happened after the interim report.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: No, no, no, this is the COVID interim report.OK. To give some history, there has been an interim report, there has been a COVID report or a COVID interim report and there's been a final report and we've responded on the day of release on each occasion because we wanted to show respect to that report and to consider with immediate action. We set out and, indeed, Professor Murphy, in evidence to the Commission, set out the six stages of the plan and then we subsequently put out a further element. So that was very clearly set out, I think, by Professor Murphy including, of course, the extraordinary work which was done by the AHPPC, by the medical advisers in laying this out in February, in March, in April, and in three subsequent iterations.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, JobKeeper costs $100 billion and that's the biggest program ever. If you're in a position where you're going to have to give aged care up to $20 billion a year from now on in, it's a pretty big hole, isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER: What I'd say is that the fiscal elements of our response to this package have not been framed yet, they haven't. So I'm not going to make any assumptions about the figures that you've quoted. I know, I've seen plenty of figures out there, Andrew...
JOURNALIST: Do you think that's outlandish?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to wait to see the figures that Treasury and Finance provide in terms of our response and that always comes through the disciplined process of the Budget. I've sat around...
JOURNALIST: Isn't the disciplined process the reason we have this problem? I mean, that's what I've just read from the report.
PRIME MINISTER: No, that…
JOURNALIST: Of course there has to be a process…
PRIME MINISTER: You've just thrown some numbers at me and I'm saying I haven't got any official numbers from Treasury or Finance yet and they're the figures I'll focus on when we make our response.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, after reading...
PRIME MINISTER: Hang on. I know it is a public of topic of public discussion. We are releasing a report into aged care with one in three people have been found to have received substandard care and that deeply distresses me. And the point has been raised that I don't want to answer questions about aged care. I am answering questions on it. And I think we should answer the questions about aged care. I will get to the issue. I'm here, I’m not going anywhere. I'm happy to address them. It is another important issue, I acknowledge that but aged care has our focus just for this moment.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the person being at the centre of care can actually be problematic. For instance, sometimes it could be used to justify excessive force or the use of antipsychotics. We have seen that alot in aged care. How will you ensure that this idea of person centred-care isn’t used to justify excessive force being used on a person?
PRIME MINISTER: I wouldn't agree with your proposition. I just wouldn't link those two statements together. That's not certainly what's being suggested to me either through the commission or the other advice I’ve received. I would say quite the opposite. I would say that putting the individual at the centre and their wellbeing and their ability to live every second of their life would suggest against the inappropriate use of chemical restraints I would say. The Royal Commission has been very, very vigorous in their recommendations on chemical restraints and we've already taken action on those which I know commissioners have already welcomed.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister it is problematic when someone can’t make a decision for themselves?
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll come back to that, I’m happy to do, sorry?
JOURNALIST: What's your response to the fact that the Royal Commission has said that the Government has failed aged care, the aged care sector during the pandemic?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't, I don't believe that's the case. And we've set out our reasons for that. And the performance for our aged care system when you look at it internationally during the course of this pandemic has been one of the world stand-outs. So that is the Government's view. But to come back to the question that was asked in relation to people being able to make individual choices, one of the reasons I think we've been able to make a lot of progress in the National Disability Insurance Scheme is the advocate's role that is played in this process. One of the I think very good, recommendations in this report is a similar network of pathfinders, if you like, through the aged care system, quite a large network of them, that is there to assist people and their carers and others to make decisions in the best interests of the individual that they love and care for. I think that's a very useful recommendation. We've seen that work very well in the NDIS. I've got to tell you, that there are a lot of parallels in how we can make the aged care system work with how we've made the NDIS work. We've come up to a scale of some 450,000 or thereabouts people now on the NDIS and there’s been a lot of lessons learnt in how we’ve got that point, and one of the key things has been about the individualised care plans, that have been put in place to support [inaudible] had to develop those plans and then to consistently build the workforce and the accountability about the delivery of those plans. So my point about that is this is possible. We are already doing it in another part of our service delivery for those living with disabilities. So this can be achieved. But we've got to get the settings right for how we do that in aged care. That's quite, I've got to say, for the sector, quite a transformation from where they have been up until this point. It is quite a transformation for how the government system has worked up until this point. That's why the settings through a new Act need to be fundamentally reset for the generation of change we're looking for.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said that person-centred care is the way forward. That's your new policy. That's been the policy for the past 10 years in aged care.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no it hasn't.
JOURNALIST: It hasn't?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm sorry. The Royal Commission has just found that that's not true.
JOURNALIST: Well, they may not be delivering person-centred care but that has actually been the policy…
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it hasn't been effective and that is what the Royal Commission has said. It has said that the Act hasn't put, that the system hasn't put the individual at the centre, and I agree with them.
JOURNALIST: The extra funds required, how much do you think will be user pays and how much from the taxpayer?
PRIME MINISTER: These are not matters we're not in a position to respond to yet, Andrew. As I said our response will be developed and prepared as part of the Budget process.
JOURNALIST: One of the biggest problems has been the [inaudible] of the regulator, [inaudible] Tony Pagone wants an independent watchdog away from Government, and Lynelle Briggs wants to stick with the Government regulator. Considering it is so [inaudible] and has [inaudible] What is your opinion? Are you going to stick with Lynelle Briggs recommendation or [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the answer is the same. And that is, that is a matter we will consider as we pull together our comprehensive response to the whole Royal Commission report and we haven't concluded on that matter as we've just received the report. So I think to suggest that we would have quickly formed a view about that in a matter of days I don’t think is realistic.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] because it's in the Department of Health's submission to the Royal Commission.
PRIME MINISTER: The Department of Health is not the Minister. It is not the Prime Minister. It is not the Cabinet. It is a Government department that has expressed views to the Royal Commission along the way. Government policy is set by the Government,
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: It is the view of the department. I receive advice from departments quite often and have over the course of my ministerial career which I haven't agreed with. That doesn't make it government policy. It becomes government policy when Cabinet agree it. You've been a journalist for some time. You'd know that.
JOURNALIST: So you're not opposed to an independent watchdog away from [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m open to the recommendations that have been put forward in the Royal Commission and we are going to carefully consider them all and exercise our judgement about the best way to go forward on all of these things, consistent with the principle of individual-based, needs-based care for older Australians.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, part of the recommendations that the commissioners actually agree on is the need to introduce a levy [inaudible] aged care, [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: They do.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] Will you commit to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we'll consider those things. You know our gin to. In fact as Treasurer I once sought to increase the Medicare levy by half a per cent to provide support to the National Disability Insurance Scheme and I wasn't supported in that by the Labor Party, or the Greens for that matter. So that's something that I've seen in other contexts that the parliament hasn't supported before. So you'd forgive me for being a little wary at this point.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have you asked the Cabinet Minister who is accused of, or the subject of allegations aired by the ABC, of rape allegations, have you asked him if he denies those allegations?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I have and he absolutely does. Categorically.
JOURNALIST: When did that occur?
PRIME MINISTER: That occurred last week, last week I became aware of a set of documents that had been circulated to, I think four individuals. I was told that I was one of those individuals. At the time my office or I hadn't received those materials but I was aware that at least one of those members had. And they informed me that they had relayed that to the Federal Police through the AFP Liaison Officer. I had some discussions that night, I still hadn't received our copy until late Friday afternoon. And consistent with the actions as the others who received those materials, we forwarded those on through my office to the AFP as well. They were, as I understand it, they were identical materials. I had a discussion with the Commissioner last week, about these matters, and I also has a discussion with the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the Deputy Secretary, about these issues and I had a discussion with the individual, as I said, who absolutely rejects these allegations. And so after having spoken to the commissioner and to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of my Department at this stage, there are no matters that require my immediate attention.
JOURNALIST: Do you believe him? Do you believe the allegation to be false?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is a matter for the police. See, I'm not the Commissioner of Police,
JOURNALIST: That's not the point, though, is it?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm sorry, it is actually. It is. Allegations of criminal conduct should be dealt with by competent and authorised agencies, and that,
JOURNALIST: You must believe him otherwise you wouldn't-
PRIME MINISTER: Andrew, give me the courtesy of actually answering you. It is the police, in a country where you're governed by the rule of law, that determine the veracity of any allegations of this nature. It is the police. My office, I, do not have the people or others who are trained or competent or authorised to invest matters of this nature. The police are the ones who do that. And the police have had this matter referred to them. The individual involved here has vigorously rejected these allegations. And so, it's a matter for the police. And in my discussions with the Commissioner, there were nothing immediate that he considered that was necessary for me to take any action on.
JOURNALIST: But, Prime Minister, you would know that without this complainant alive, the police cannot conduct an investigation. So what actions are you going to take as the Prime Minister to send a message that you are looking into this situation?
PRIME MINISTER: By referring it to the Federal Police, which is exactly what I and the other three persons who received this information did. Now it is with the Federal Police. There are other jurisdictions that potentially could be involved here. And the Federal Police Commissioner will advise me of the status of those things when he is in a position to do so.
JOURNALIST: When you were sent those documents, and you read through them what was your reaction?
PRIME MINISTER: To send it to the Federal Police to ensure that I understood in a country where the rule of law applies that they could be properly assessed.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] Sorry can I just clarify, you haven’t actually read through these documents yourself, given the seriousness of these allegations, why haven’t you read [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm aware of the contents of them. I've been briefed on the contents of them. And it was appropriate, as the Commissioner himself advised all of us in the Parliament, to refer any allegations to the proper authorities. That is the way, in our country, under the rule of law things like this are dealt with. And it is important to ensure that we uphold that. That is the way our society operates. Now, these are very distressing issues that have been raised, and as there are other issues that have been raised in relation to other members and other cases. But the proper place for that to be dealt is by the authorities, which are the police. That's how our country operates. That system protects all Australians.
JOURNALIST: So you won’t be ordering an inquiry on this?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not the police force. I have given it to the police to investigate.
JOURNALIST: A question for the Health Minister if possible, on the COVID, on the vaccine,
JOURNALIST: Sorry to finish this off-
JOURNALIST: It’s a difficult situation for you though,
JOURNALIST: When, when did you first hear about the letter last week?
PRIME MINISTER: Wednesday, evening.
JOURNALIST: Wednesday. And you spoke with the minister [Inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Wednesday evening.
JOURNALIST: And AFP Commissioner?
PRIME MINISTER: Wednesday evening.
JOURNALIST: And had you heard about these claims at all before last week?
PRIME MINISTER: No, not really of any substance, no.
JOURNALIST: What had you heard if not of substance?
PRIME MINISTER: Only rumours of an ABC investigative journalist making some inquiries. That's all I'd heard. I didn't know the substance of them.
JOURNALIST: Did you know who it was about when you heard those rumours or when you heard vaguely about [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: I tend to not pay attention to rumours.
JOURNALIST: Was the rumour of alleged rape [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I wasn't aware of the substance of it and as a result not in really a position to pursue it. When I was put in a position to pursue it, I did.
JOURNALIST: Sorry, Prime Minister, this was the trigger for the Reece Kershaw letter, presumably? [Inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: I spoke to the Commissioner that night and I think it's important that these events of the last fortnight or so I think have triggered a lot of very strong feelings and views, and experiences that people may have had and I discussed this with the Commissioner. And he and I agreed that it was important that people understand that where these things arise, there is a proper process for dealing with these things and that proper process is what he outlined in that letter and that process is not new. That process was the standing process. So there was no change in the process. But given that these issues had the potential to be raised in many ways, potentially because of, you know, of how this can occur in situations like this, the Commissioner believed that it was important, as did I, that people understand that when dealing with such sensitive matters, that they need to be dealt with in the proper way, which is to refer them to the proper authorities, which is the police. Now, in addition to that, it's also important that there is appropriate support that is provided to people who could find themselves in this situation and are making or passing on information that they may have received from a third party. In this case, it was anonymised. I had no idea who sent that information to me. So anonymous documents being sent around to people, that should go to the police and they should provide me and others who need to be aware of these things with what they believe the veracity of those things to be. But the advice that was provided to members was to remind them all of the way that sensitive matters like this should be dealt with and I think that's entirely appropriate.
JOURNALIST: When you said you were aware of rumours before last Wednesday and you mentioned there was an ABC journalist involved, was this around - did you become aware of those rumours around the same time as that Four Corners Canberra bubble story? Is that when you became aware of it?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, but I had no idea what or who it was about.
JOURNALIST: So that was the timeframe,
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] the info that you became aware of around that time?
PRIME MINISTER: That there were journalists asking questions about a member.
JOURNALIST: In relation to what we now know is this matter?
PRIME MINISTER: I didn't know that was the matter.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] When you actually spoke to him on Wednesday night, did he say that he knows the woman involved and what,
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to go into the conversation. Simply to tell you I was asked, did I raise it? Yes, I did. And he vigorously and completely denied the allegations. So that means there is a proper process now for it to follow.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, did you say before that the system protects all Australians but, clearly, it doesn't given the Government's [inaudible] to these allegations of sexual assault. More obviously needs to be done [inaudible] in the system Does the ministerial code of conduct go far enough?
PRIME MINISTER: I believe the ministerial code of conduct in these cases sets itself out pretty clearly. And that’s what I’m acting in accordance with.
JOURNALIST: But is it clear? We're talking about multiple allegations here.
PRIME MINISTER: Well you know- some of you are from the Canberra gallery, others aren't. But we can't have a system in this country where allegations are simply presented, and I'm not suggesting this in this case, but we can't have a situation where the mere making of an allegation and that being publicised through the media is grounds for, you know, governments to stand people down simply on the basis of that. I mean, we have a rule of law in this country and it's appropriate that these things were referred to the Federal Police. They have been. They're the people who are competent and authorised to deal with issues of this sensitivity and this seriousness. And that is what our Government has done. That is what I have done. That's what Senator Wong has done, that’s what Senator Hanson-Young has done and that’s what Celia Hammond has done. And I think that’s that’s the appropriate response.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] Do you believe it is acceptable for this Cabinet Minister to remain in his position while he has the matter hanging over his head?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it’s appropriate for the matter to be dealt with by the Federal Police and the Federal Police to advise me of the nature of this, which they're doing. At this stage, the commissioner has raised no issue with me, and the Department Secretary was present for that call as well. That would cause me to take action under the ministerial code. That's where we are, right now. And, you know, I'm aware of other allegations, and, you know, I think similar - similar principles apply. We've got to be careful to ensure that we still follow the rule of law in this country. Yep, last question here?
JOURNALIST: The person against whom the...
PRIME MINISTER: I think there's a vaccines question as well? Is there a vaccines question? Yeah, okay.
JOURNALIST: The person against whom the alleged assault took place died by suicide last year.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: And there might be a South Australian coronial inquest into that matter. Should the Commonwealth step in to expedite that inquest, expedite another inquest, or have another investigation just to try and get to the bottom of that person's sad death and any connection to the [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: I would take any advice on that from the commissioner, with whom I've discussed the matter, or the Secretary of my Department, and I haven't received any advice or even a suggestion to that end. There are a series of formal processes here that may or may not take place. It's not for me as Prime Minister to seek to interfere or intervene in those processes.
But we've got a question on vaccines? And then,
JOURNALIST: Health Minister, we have had another day where [inaudible] vaccines have been expected but haven't arrived again. Are you still in a place where you still have confidence in delivering the vaccines to aged care facilities and what's been done to improve that situation?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: What we've seen is a scale-up, in particular. We took action - there was one particular firm last week, but just to provide the information, as I mentioned earlier, the Commonwealth, as of last night, had overseen 10,000 of 14,000 doses that were made available, provided, about 72 per cent, 134 facilities. We're expecting approximately 20 today, which will take it well over 150. New South Wales is doing a great job. They've administered a similar number of vaccines. I spoke with and had a very constructive conversation with Gladys Berejiklian today, the Premier. They've delivered about 10,000, 339 or 74 per cent of their doses. Victoria has delivered about 3,862, or 30 per cent of their doses. Queensland, 2,030 or 32 per cent of the doses that they've received. Other states and territories have done very well. Tasmania, essentially, delivered 100 per cent of their first week doses and has been the leader in the pack. But everyone is working together. It's being scaled-up. I'd be happy to take any details of the particular facility, because this morning, we do, as we do every morning, check all facilities that are scheduled, have they been notified, all facilities that are scheduled, are they due to receive anything, is there any facility that's not? So I'd have to check the specific details. But as I said to Gladys Berejiklian today, New South Wales had been provided with information over the weekend and when you put it together, they'll be receiving 80,000 dozes of Pfizer and AstraZeneca over the course of the next nine days. So 14,000 of those are due to arrive today. And the balance over the course of the next week with the arrival of AstraZeneca and additional Pfizer. So the country is scaling up. It is over 33,000 now. Soon enough it'll be over 100,000 then it’ll be over a million and then it’ll be over two million. And every day, this goes to all the things that Anne was raising, it is about protecting all Australians but in particular protecting our older Australians. I know you've been passionate about this and I want to thank you. So that's it from us on,
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] 75% of people who died of COVID were aged care residents. Yet the Government has decided not to make it mandatory for aged care workers to get the vaccine. Why is that?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: This was not a Government decision this was a decision of the medical advisers, the chief health officers of Australia who make up the AHPPC, we’ve always followed medical advice on vaccinations, we won’t be departing from that and these are people that have played an incredibly important role. We deeply respect their role. And so if they were to provide alternative advice, then the states have all committed to following that with what are called public health orders. But we will follow the advice of the medical advisers. It's kept us safe. We’ve today received the report of the Royal Commission and that's now about making sure that we keep our older Australians safe.
Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Penrith, NSW
26 February 2021
Melissa McIntosh, Federal Member for Lindsay: Hello everyone, welcome to Penrith and what a great news story this is. Prime Minister, to Minister Andrews, Minister Payne, and Anthony Pratt, I’m so proud that we are backing manufacturing in Western Sydney, and in my community and now we’ve got Visy coming in to Penrith. And that is great news. Anthony and I had a conversation about how much we both want to back Australian manufacturing and I’m really really pleased that Anthony and Visy is in Western Sydney, more local jobs, and we are getting manufacturing back in Australia.
Anthony, would you like to say a few words? Thank you very much.
Anthony Pratt, Executive Chairman of Visy Industries: Welcome Prime Minister, it’s an honour to have you at Visy Glass Penrith. The Prime Minister through his great economic leadership has initiated a renaissance in Australian manufacturing. Which means more skilled jobs and higher wages. The coronavirus has reinforce manufacturing self sufficiency. Visy applauds the Prime Minister’s six sector manufacturing focus, including our two sectors, recycling and clean energy, and food and beverage manufacturing. Spurred on by this, Visy is proud to have made the biggest Australian manufacturing acquisition of 2020, a $1 billion deal to make glass bottles. Today we are pledging to invest and additional $2 billion over the next 10 years which will create thousands of new green collar, well paying manufacturing jobs, and bring our total investment value in Australia to $11 billion dollars. Now, $380 million of that investment has been brought forward over the next 18 months because of the government's accelerated depreciation policy. It'll be spent increasing the recycled content of glass bottles in Australia from 30 percent to 70 percent, including offering councils a glass recycling bin. It will also be reducing landfills by building another clean energy plant in Victoria that runs on paper mill rejects, converting also our Brisbane paper mill to running on paper mill projects that were previously going to landfill, a drum pulper in Victoria to use waste paper, previously going to landfill, and doubling our one hundred percent recycled plastics factory in New South Wales, as well as water recycling projects to reduce water usage at our recycled paper mills by 40 percent. These initiatives will not only reduce landfills but also increase the recycled content of our customer's packaging, which we call remanufactured right here in Australia. So thank you again, Prime Minister, for your great leadership. Thank you.
Prime Minister: Well, thank you, Anthony. And to all the wonderful Visy team here in western Sydney and indeed right around the country. On Sunday, I joined Jane Malysiak, one of Australia's many migrants who have come to this country, to get a shot in the arm, to give us the boost to come out of the covid-19 pandemic. I'm now joined by Anthony Pratt, one of Australia's great migrant families, and he's given us a shot in the arm when it comes to Australia's comeback, economic comeback from the covid-19 recovery. Anthony and and Visy are a great Australian company, and it's on display around us here. Their vote of confidence in western Sydney, their vote of confidence in Australia gives us the great confidence, I think, to continue the economic recovery that is underway in Australia. It is born of both his vision for Australia and how he sees his company's role in the future of this country, as they always have. But as he said, it's also born of the policy settings we've put in place as a government to encourage exactly this type of a commitment and exactly this type of investment. We just saw yesterday that the non mining investment figures that we saw coming back in the December quarter shows a turnaround. We saw an almost 5 per cent increase in new investment in plant and equipment. I was with the Advanced Manufacturing Taskforce out here in western Sydney that Melissa has brought together, out here in western Sydney to translate our modern manufacturing strategy on the ground here in western Sydney. And Visy’s announcement today, through Anthony just totally backs this in. It backs in the jobs, it backs in the technology, it backs in the investment, it backs in Australia. And for that Anthony, I'm truly grateful for your belief in where we're going as a country. The other thing it does, though, is it connects with our government's absolute commitment to boost our circular economy industries here in Australia, our recycling industries here in Australia. We are very serious about this. And to see Visy, who is a world leader in the circular economy here and particularly in the United States as well. And as we learned today, when you use recycled glass, it reduces the amount of energy you need in the process to make those jars and those bottles by one third. So it's not only great for the circular economy, it's also great for reducing emissions.
So what we see here today is just so many things coming together. Our belief in western Sydney. The jobs that are going to come from the economic comeback from the COVID-19 recession, what we see is the policies of the government working to deliver the investment on the ground, to see the investment in new plant and equipment, which wins contracts and create jobs. And it sees the investments going into industries that are reducing emissions and making Australia a cleaner and more environmentally sustainable place. That's quite a package, and that is all being brought together. And it's happening here in Australia, we’ve been making things in Australia for a very long time. And we're making them now and we're going to keep making them in the future. We're making them here in western Sydney on this very site for a very long time. We are going to keep making them here in western Sydney as a result of the policies we've put in place.
So it's very exciting to be here. I'm joined by Karen Andrews, the Minister for Industry. She'll speak in a moment. And she has been leading our Modern Manufacturing Strategy.
But before I do that, I want to make a comment on another very important issue, and that is the passing of Sir Michael Somare, the first Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. He has been over the course of his amazing life, the champion of the sovereignty and independence of the people of Papua New Guinea. I consider the people of Papua New Guinea our family, always have. I have been in contact this morning with Prime Minister Marape, James, my very good friend, and passed on to him and to Lady Veronica, our deepest condolences and sympathies for the Papua New Guinean people. There will be great mourning across Papua New Guinea, from the lowlands to the highlands, to the villages, to the cities. Sir Michael was an extraordinary man of his generation. He was the light of his generation, which has lighted up the path for Papua New Guineans today and into the future. And so I just want to honour him in his passing and reaffirm Australia's great friendship- more than friendship, our family relationship with the people of Papua New Guinea.
I'm going to ask Karen to say a few words and then we're very happy to take questions.
The Hon. Karen Andrews MP, Minister for Industry, Science, and Technology: Thank you, Prime Minister. And of course, my deepest sympathies to the people of Papua New Guinea.
Anthony Pratt gets manufacturing. He would not be investing billions of dollars here if he did not see a future in Aussie manufacturing. Scott Morrison gets manufacturing, the Morrison government gets manufacturing. And that's why we are well underway, delivering the modern manufacturing strategy, which names six key priority areas, Visy is leading in two of those areas. Firstly, recycling and clean energy and of course, the work that they do with food and beverage manufacturing of the packaging. So with the opening of these rounds, what we are doing as a government is driving investment in manufacturing here in Australia. That is going to be underpinned by the work that we are doing across the significant economic pillars of industrial relations, of tax, and particularly what we are doing with driving energy prices down. This is really the start of the manufacturing recovery here in Australia. Congratulations to Visy. I thank you so much for your commitment. This means so much to us here in Australia, and I'm sure it means a lot for the workers here of Visy. Thank you.
Prime Minister: So, as usual, if we could address, while we are here today, I'm happy to take questions on that. And I'm sure Anthony's happy to take questions on Visy's role here. And then I'm happy to take questions on other matters.
Journalist: Prime Minister, on this investment, it's only as good as the jobs it creates. Underemployment is still a bit of a sore point for some people. Some million people are underemployed. Want more hours? Is that something your government is concerned about in the COVID bounce back?
Prime Minister: Absolutely. And that's why our policies are in place to address just that. We're seeing underemployment falling. We're seeing unemployment falling. We're seeing the number of people on JobKeeper in this quarter alone, people coming off JobKeeper, again, far more than we’d anticipated. We saw that in the last quarter as well. You know, we're seeing apprentices in work. We have almost 60,000 apprentices here in New South Wales right now who are in those jobs right now because of the apprenticeship subsidies we have put in place during the COVID-19 recession, 58,000 thereabouts here in New South Wales right now. We met some apprentices here today, but they are specifically supported; they are in small businesses, they are medium sized businesses. When we went into the covid-19 pandemic, one of the first initiatives we took economically was to say we've got to support those apprentices because they would have been the first to go and all the training and all the hard work all the commitment, you know their parents encouraging them to get a trade and go and take that decision. And we want to see more Australians do that. And I hope those who may be considering a trade and going into an apprenticeship take a message from that, that our government believes in you taking on that apprenticeship and sticking at that apprenticeship. And why at the greatest risk to apprentices being driven out of the workforce, we stepped up and made sure that apprentices could stay in jobs. And as the recovery has begun, we're getting new apprentices into jobs. So I understand from Visy that their investments here, we're talking thousands of jobs. We're talking thousands of jobs here. How many? Well, it's you know, that is going to continue to be driven by the effective outpouring of that investment and the bringing forward of some over $350 million. That's right, isn't it Anthony, over $350 million. And that involves about $100 million specifically right here in this very plant, as I understand it. So that is what's going to get people back into work. That's what's going to keep apprentices in work and that's what's going to get more hours.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Visy are one of Australia's largest private companies. They've got the confidence to invest $2 billion dollars. What about smaller businesses, though? Are they looking to invest long term in the context of border closures, which can shut things down at the drop of a hat?
Prime Minister: Well, what I was excited about today with Melissa McIntosh, the member for Lindsay is she has brought together an advanced manufacturing taskforce to translate what Karen and I are doing at a national level. She's making sure it's delivering here on a local level. Just like she is on Dunheved Road and Mulgoa Road and the extra MRI machines out here in western Sydney, which I know Marise Payne’s thrilled about as well as a resident of western Sydney and Patron Senator for a long time. So she's delivering on the ground for those local, small and medium sized businesses here as part of this strategy. And, you know, whether I'm here in western Sydney or I'm up in north Queensland or out in outback Queensland or anywhere else in the country, down in Victoria, I'm walking into shop floor after shop floor. And what I'm seeing is new equipment. And that's what those CAPEX figures from yesterday was demonstrating, that, this is small and medium sized businesses. I walk in and the first thing they say to me is, let me show you this new whizz bang bit of kit we've got here on the floor and I'll go over there. And there's lots of buttons and there's lot there's lasers in there. There's all sorts of things. I don't know what it means or how it works, but they do and it's massively improving their productivity. So, yes, I'm excited that we're seeing small and medium sized and large businesses like Visy invest more. And that's great for the economy. But it also has a long term benefit because it means those businesses are more able, they've got better kit, they've got up to date care. And the accelerated depreciation, the tax incentives for investment are working. Our plan for economic recovery is working.
Journalist: Prime Minister, what can you tell us about a situation with vials of Pfizer going to an aged care home, St Vincent's aged care home in Werribee, in Victoria? Has there been some kind of stuff up? What details do you know about it?
Prime Minister: Well we are 4 days, today's day five of a nine-month rollout of vaccination. I can tell you that over 90 aged care facilities have now been supported through those vaccinations. I can tell you that some 23,000 Australians already, as at the end of day four, have been able to receive those vaccinations. And in the early days where there are logistical difficulties, where there is anything of that nature, and indeed with the cases of the increased doses that were applied up in Queensland, I'm very pleased to hear that both of those individuals are well and one has actually returned to their facility I understand today. But where issues arise, they are quickly dealt with, they're identified, they’re worked through. You'd expect that with any vaccination programme of this scale. And so where things don't go completely to plan, they're quickly addressed, as you've seen happen this this week. And that's why it's so important that where things of this nature occur, it's important that I provide that reassurance that these things are addressed. And I think for all leaders to do the same thing. The vaccination programme could not be more important to Australia's future. And as we continue to roll it out, where there are things that are learnt in the early phases, they will be applied to ensure the most important thing, and that is the safety of Australians and the safety of this vaccine.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you must know you must know from your own experience, you’ve had family members in nursing homes and many people here have and to get cancelled on at the last minute. We've seen more cases of it today in Sydney and Victoria and Brisbane, that’s very anxiety inducing for our frail Australians?
Prime Minister: As I said, over 90 aged care facilities have already had the vaccination,
Journalist: Out of 240.
Prime Minister: And there'll be more. And the Health Minister will update on when we get to those numbers. We're in day four of a nine month programme, and each day as that rolls out, it'll continue to improve. We said it would start slow and it would get to a pace and a scale, and that's exactly where we're heading. So I would say to those families to not be anxious about that, that in the early phases, if there are logistical issues that arise with the programme, they'll be quickly addressed and then they'll soon be followed up and the vaccinations will arrive. And over the course of a number of days if necessary, if it takes that long, then that'll be rectified. People are working hard to deliver this on the ground. This is mobilising quite a national effort. It's mobilising a state and territory effort as well. And that's why I'm absolutely confident that as we go from day to day, the lessons of each day will only make the system better, more improved. But at all times, at all times, safety is the paramount issue.
Journalist: [inaudible] in relation to Kate Jenkins the sexual harassment commissioner, [inaudible]?
Prime Minister: You’re talking about the Respect at Work?
Journalist: Yep.
Prime Minister: Respect at Work, do you want to address that Marise?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. The Sex Discrimination Commissioner's report, Respect at Work, is a groundbreaking piece of work, in the Women's Economic Security Statement, which was released in October last year. We began the implementation process of a number of those recommendations, particularly including the establishment of the Respect at Work Council, which will be chaired by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner herself. The recommendations across I think there are 55 of them across a broad range of areas cover government, they cover business, they cover industry. They cover state and territory authorities and a number of regulatory agencies, both Commonwealth and state and territory. The Attorney General who has responsibility for the implementation of the report, is working through that process. Amanda Stoker has now taken on responsibility for, as the newly appointed assistant minister for the bringing together of all of those bodies in the recommendations as they've set out in the respect at work report. And we look forward to making the government response as soon as possible.
Journalist: [inaudible]?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Well, I think the Women's Economic Security Statement actually covers 9 of those recommendations, and they are the ones which the Commonwealth was able to respond to in the context of the Budget and the WESS itself. The rest, as I say, are very multilayered. This is a whole of Australia workplace issue. We don't need to be reminded, but we have been reminded very, very acutely in the last two weeks of the importance of the work that has been done by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner. An unsafe workplace is unsafe for everyone. Nobody should have to work in that environment. And we are very focussed on bringing those recommendations together and implementing them through the government reporting process.
Journalist: Prime Minister, has Phil Gaetjens spoken to your office about his report? Has he given you any indication of when it’s going to be finalised, whether you're going to share those results?
Prime Minister: I can give you the same answer I gave to the house yesterday, it was the same questions. No, I don't have a firm timing on when that report, I expect it to be provided to me at the earliest possible opportunity. And and, yes, he has been making engagements with my office to follow up those matters. And when I receive that report, I can report further.
Journalist: Pfizer’s given some updated, sorry, Pfizer’s given some updated information on cold storage for their, for their vials, have you spoken to them or are you across those details will it make them,
Prime Minister: Yeah I am, look this is this is potentially exciting news. There's been an approval from Pfizer for cold storage, which, as we know, has to be under the prior approval of I think sub-71 degrees. And as part of our contract with Pfizer, that included dealing with the cold chain logistics for the delivery of those doses. Now, they're saying that can now be done at a refrigerated temperature. As I understand it. Now, our approval to use the Pfizer vaccine in Australia is not based on federal approvals in the United States or in Europe or anywhere else. It's provided by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration. Now, I'm aware today the Minister for Health has been in contact with Professor Skerritt about that matter. And, of course, the TGA will consider that at the earliest possible opportunity, and has asked Pfizer to bring forward what has been provided on that so they can consider it. And in doing so, I'd remind you, because it goes to my earlier comments. I remember Professor Skerritt saying that having approved a vaccine, he said, the work has just begun. It hasn't concluded. And what we're learning with the vaccine and the vaccination rollout is there are always things to add. There are always things to learn from. And there is new science. There are new findings. We're already seeing whether out of the United Kingdom or Europe or Israel or the United States, we're seeing some very, very positive results, which is improving our level of confidence, not reducing it. And so that's why just focussing on the day to day tasks of the vaccination is what my government is focussed on. It's what the state governments are focussed on. It's what the health and medical industry is focussed on, to just continue to do it safely. And every piece of new information we can gain to improve that is very, very welcome. But I just want to assure Australians that the doses of vaccine that are provided in Australia are done on the basis of Australia's medical experts approving those vaccines and not just their chemistry, but their manufacturing as well and how that is done. And so Professor Skerritt is the same head of the TGA that approves those vaccines, that approves the vaccines that we take our children to. And we trust them to provide those vaccines.
Journalist: Prime Minister, the Australian government believes that it won this round with the tech giants vs the Australian government, and is the legislation really worth it now that we’ve got deals being struck outside the media code, and what industry is next now that media is out of the way? To make these tech giants as you say, pay their fair share?
Prime Minister: Well, you know, Australia under my government always stands up for itself. We always do that. We have a great and strong belief in Australia's sovereignty and where we think, where we think that is being compromised or under challenge, then I can assure you my government will always step up. Now, in this case, it's been an issue we've been involved in for some time, whether it's getting them to pay more tax, their fair share of their tax, whether it's ensuring that the rules that exist in the digital world are as strong as those that exist in the physical world. And that's everything from a safety ensuring that our vulnerable Australians, particularly children, are not exposed to violent and sexual content, ensuring that terrorist incitement content is dealt with. We have led the charge on all of these issues, as we indeed have with the big global tech giants when it comes to not paying Australian news services, what they should be paid to support our independent media sector. The code was critical to ensuring that the arrangements that have now been struck between the global tech giants and those media companies so Australians can have a free media, that was essential for that. But, you know, my answer to the broader question is what I want in the digital world is I want the rules there, the safety there, the protections that are, there that exist in the real world. I want that to exist in the digital world. Global tech giants, you know they're changing the world. But we can't let them run the world. You know, people in free societies like Australia who go to ballot boxes and who go and they vote, that's who should run the world. The people and citizens of the nations of the world, not big global tech giants. They produce amazing technology that does amazing things. We've seen the impact of technology here in this very place, and it's exciting. But at the end of the day, all of these things must be accountable to sovereign elected governments, which means that at the end of the day, Australians should be in charge.
Journalist: The final report of the Aged Care Royal Commission has been officially handed down. I don't know if you've had time to be briefed on it yet, but have you or what do you expect?
Prime Minister: Well, I called the Royal Commission into aged care as one of my first acts as Prime Minister because I was deeply distressed at many of the things that had been reported to me. And having been a member of Parliament for some time and worked in my own local community, aware of the great challenges that were facing that sector. I said at the time of calling the Royal Commission that above all, we needed to establish a culture of respect for older Australians in both how we provide care and how they lived through that portion of their lives, because fundamentally many problems can stem from a lack of that respect. So I called the Royal Commission knowing full well that it would be, it would be candid that it would provide very raw advice to governments and to all Australians and to state governments as well. All of us where we have responsibilities. But obviously the federal government has the primary responsibility here. So I did that because I wanted to know and so I expect to receive a copy of that report today, and I will spend the weekend working through that carefully, and I will be together with the Health Minister and the Aged Care Services Minister providing an interim response soon after. And, of course, the substantive response, which I have pledged on behalf of my government, that will come as part of the Budget process this year. Its timing, I think, is well placed to ensure that we can incorporate that in our response in this year's budget. But I will say, as the Royal Commission has gone on, the government has not sat idle. When I came to the job of Prime Minister, we were investing an extra $1 billion dollars every single year in aged care, and we're now investing an additional billion and a half dollars every year in aged care services and out over the forward estimates we have tripled the number of in-home aged care places. And in fact, right now the number of in-home aged care places has been extended from our most recent announcement in December, is rolling out at an extra 1,200 a week. 1,200 a week. The aged care quality commission oversight, ensuring that people are safe and protected, that their rights are respected, that they are respected. That is why I called the Royal Commission. This Royal Commission, I think, will identify serious, serious and disturbing issues that are a product of decades, decades. And it's important that I think the government is then supported by the parliament right across all parties. And we get on with the things that we need to do to address the recommendations that are put to government. So I look forward to hopefully a bipartisan, a multi partisan approach to us addressing those issues. And this issue is about our family members. It's about individual Australians and the way we deal with this it has to be beyond politics. We have to focus on getting the solutions right. Having called the Royal Commission, I'm committed to addressing the many issues that I'm sure will be raised in it. Anyway, thank you all very much. Good to be with you.
Address, International Women’s Day Parliamentary Breakfast Australian Parliament House, ACT
25 February 2021
Prime Minister: Thank you very much, Janelle, and thank you also to Debra. Can I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people and can I acknowledge you, Aunty Violet, and thank you for your very warm welcome to the country today. And challenge accepted, I was just trying to check what round Sharks and Rabbitohs meet. I know it’s not the first one, we’ve got the Dragons that is only two and a half weeks away. Looking forward to that. But hopefully you’ll be there on some other occasion. We’re all looking forward to that. But thank you for your welcome, on every occasion you are always so warm and provide the right settings. So thank you for that.
I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, both past, present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge any veterans in the room today, particularly our serving members of the Defence Force and particularly the women in the Defence Force and the amazing job they do all around the world for us and here at home. I have no doubt the CDF is very aware of, as is the Minister for Defence.
Can I acknowledge, of course, my many colleagues here today, too many to mention by name. But of course, can I acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition, can I acknowledge the Deputy Prime Minister, the leader of the Greens. But can I particularly acknowledge Marise Payne, my dear friend, Minister for Women. She is in other ministerial portfolios, but particularly in this respect I acknowledge her today. Can I acknowledge Penny Wong, can I knowledge Larissa Waters. But the many other colleagues who join us here each and every year for this event.
This event we normally gather and I would normally like to speak of the many things that Janelle has already made reference to, which we can, of course, be very pleased about. But, of course, the events of the last couple of weeks I think provide me with a great opportunity this morning to share with you some of my own reflections.
This has been a very traumatic few weeks for the people who work in this place, but even more traumatic, obviously, for those who are the subject of those issues. So I just wanted to share with you my own personal thoughts about the very issue that brings us here together today, and that is women.
The three points I want to make to you today are about respect, protect and reflect, but even more traumatic, obviously, for those who are the subject of those issues. So, I just wanted to share with you my own personal thoughts about the very issue that brings us here together today. And that is women.
The three points I want to make to you today are about respect, protect and reflect.
My hope is that we will live in a society where we can truly say that women are respected. That is what we are trying to achieve, because from the disrespect of women or failure to respect women, all the other challenges flow. Violence, discrimination, deprivation, abuse, assault, lack of recognition, not hearing. It all starts with the failure of respect for women.
Now, I believe if we want to create a culture of respect for women, it must draw from a deeper wellspring in our society and our community of respect for one another. In this place, we deal with so many of the consequences that start with a lack of respect. Respect for the elderly. Respect for Australians who live with the disability. Respect for Indigenous Australians. Respect for elders. Respect for youth. Respect for one another. Respect is where changing the culture, whether it be of this building and all of us who work here, or outside of this building where we deal with the many consequences which stem from a lack of respect in the first place. Respect is where it must start.
Specifically, it stems from respect for shared humanity. A respect for the aspirations, the protection, the safety, the opportunity of each and every Australian. Particularly in relation to respect for women. Respect for the contribution. Respect for the recognition. Respect for the understanding that has brought the experience, the world view, the community view, the household view. Respect for the opportunity. Respect for the choices and agency. Respect.
So it's my hope and commitment that particularly as we move forward, whether dealing with the very traumatic and difficult issues that this place has been openly discussing these last few weeks, or indeed, the important work we have to do in addressing this culture of respect and that is in the formation of the next national action plan in relation to violence against women.
And what I love saying about that is it is the next one. It's not the first one. The first one started under the previous government under Prime Minister Gillard. And that work has been respected and continues, and it's not just the work of our Government or our Parliament, it is the work of every government in this country. It is a national plan which is shared right across our great commonwealth. And at the heart of that must be fostering a culture of respect for women.
Now, I said protect. And I know many in this room would rightly say to me, that protect, what are we protecting against? Well, I can tell you what we're not protecting against. We don't need to protect against the vulnerability of women. That's not the issue. We need to protect against those who would disrespect women. That's where the perpetrators are. That's what we have to protect against, it's not about - thank you - it is about understanding that vulnerability is not the issue here, or arguably, not even present. That is not the problem. That is not the issue. The problem is the lack of respect and the actions that are perpetrated against women, whoever they may be perpetrated by. Whoever.
And so protecting must be a key part of our actions if we are to respect women and protect against the consequences of disrespect. Now, that protection must take many forms. For the safety, for the safe shelter and housing, for the support that is necessary, for the equality of opportunity. I could speak of the Women's Economic Security Statement. I could speak of 1800Respect. I could talk of the Safe Houses programme. I don't intend to, only to mention them in passing because the protections that need to be in place are about bridging that gap that currently exists. And that should be the aim of the protections we put in place, whether it is the support for women, in particular, who may be victims of sexual assault and how they can speak up and take those matters forward and the support that is wrapped around them, or in any other set of circumstances in the workplace. Reducing the gender pay gap, creating the opportunities for women to forge forward in areas and industries where sometimes they don't have that opportunity, oftentimes. Protecting against that.
But it's also about ensuring that our rule of law and the way we administer the rule of law in this country is respected and protected as well, because there is no greater defence for the liberties and safety of every single Australian than the fact that we live in a country that is governed by the rule of law. And you only need to go not too far from this country, not too far to see when the rule of law does not operate in a country and it is not respected and its processes and those who are authorised and have the authority and the experience and the ability and the training to deal with these sorts of issues. Where that isn’t present, those who suffer most are women.
We must in this country understand that one of the key protections for women against the disrespect of women in this country is the rule of law. There is no substitute for it. There is no alternative justice system. There is no alternative law enforcement system. There is only one, and we must redouble our efforts to make sure it is as effective as possible.
In conclusion, let me talk about reflect. I've been reflecting a lot on this, as we all have, I think, in the last couple of weeks and for much longer periods. I reflect on the examples of women and in this last year, there have been many women, most, not least of all my own members of my own Cabinet, so many of them here today who I acknowledge, including Linda, who was not with us today, who would love to be with us today. And I want to thank all of those members of this place, from all sides of politics, who I know have reached out to Linda, particularly in these last 24 hours. I spoke to her last night and she is very appreciative of the support she's had from across the Parliament.
But I think of Kathryn Campbell. Secretary of the Department, of Anne’s Department. In the middle of the pandemic, as we saw the lines of those stricken by unemployment and desperate about their future, I turned to Kathryn Campbell, of course, through Anne and Stuart Robert, about how we were going to get the support to those Australians who needed it. And Kathryn, one of the finest public officials in our public service, was up to the task and she did an amazing job in completely reinventing and developing our systems at rapid speed to ensure that we could get that support.
Jenny Wilkinson, another Deputy Secretary at Treasury, one of the key designers of JobKeeper. I turned, Josh and I turned to Jenny and sought her advice and it was outstanding and she was recognised in the honours list this year.
I turned, of course, soon after I became Prime Minister to Christine Morgan, who has advised me over these many months on how we can do more to prevent death by suicide in this country. And she's been a constant source of expertise and strength and insight and understanding.
I turned to Caroline Edwards, the Associate Secretary of the Department of Health, and for much of that time during the early phase of the pandemic, the Secretary of the Department of Health. And I've often spoken to you about Professor Murphy or Professor Kelly. But I can tell you, Caroline Edwards has been an absolute champion of the work that has been done to ensure that Australia has one of the best records in the world on the health response in the pandemic. And all of the women, Rosemary who is here, of course, Frances is here. Strong women who know what they’re doing and making an enormous contribution to this country.
I reflect on Leila Abdallah, whose gracious act of forgiveness at a time when her children were stripped from her from an act of terrible violence and her capacity to process that and express forgiveness.
I think about a dear friend of mine who I celebrated her 50th birthday very recently and one of her greatest achievements, I have no doubt, together with her husband, they have raised their amazing son to respect women.
I reflect on that because, as difficult as the issues that we’re dealing with, the progress is occurring. We become despondent because of our failures. But let's not forget the progress and those who are leading it.
Let's not forget that during the middle of the pandemic where we surged support into organisations like Lifeline, but particularly 1800Respect. That the work of protecting against domestic violence continued in the middle of that, done by amazing people.
Let’s not forget the amazing work, particularly of women serving in the front lines of our health systems, our emergency services systems, and thank them and reflect on the fact that we are a nation that is blessed by strong women over our history.
And finally, I reflect on my own responsibilities, as each of us in this place must. I can comment, others can comment on what each of our responsibilities should be, but the best contemplation is when we reflect on our own responsibilities and we consider what we, each of us can do, to make Australia a better place to live. A place where women can truly grow and feel respected.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
23 February 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Welcome, everyone. I am joined by Minister Ruston and Minister Cash. I want to assure all Australians that I can tell you, nothing will distract me or my Government from my pledge to them to save lives and save livelihoods. I pledged when I became Prime Minister that I would keep our economy strong. I said I would keep Australians safe and I said I would keep Australians together. I think if there's one thing that Australians have learnt about me and my Government is we're a pretty focused bunch. We know what our job is and we are very focused on that and I will remain forever focused on that. Because I know Australians, as I said to my party room today, they rely on me, they rely on our ministers and they rely on us to remain focused on them at all times. That is why, I believe, that over the course of this most difficult past year, it has been the focus of that attention on the Australian people that has enabled to connect with their great spirit of resilience. That is the platform upon which Australia has been one of the most successful countries in the world in dealing with this crisis, both in terms of saving lives but also in saving livelihoods. We have always remained focused on the task at hand and that continues today, like any other day and will continue into the future.
At the start of the pandemic, when we were addressing both the health issues and the economic issues, what was very clear to the Government was that the sheer shock, the economic shock, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was that the social safety net that we had would soon become overwhelmed by the level of demand that would be placed upon that. And even with the increased estimates of what we thought that demand would be, we saw it very quickly become very clear, that the Government's income support measures would need to be further enhanced. And so we came up with what has been, I think, and I think many others think, has been one of the key economic policies in its design that have protected Australian livelihoods and lives over the course of this past year. It was the combination of an enhanced social safety net, which was the COVID supplement, which was our first initiative, to ensure that we strengthened the safety net upon which Australians would rely on. And then there was JobKeeper. JobKeeper, which effectively nationalised private sector payrolls to deliver a system of income support to a degree this country has never seen before in its history and did so in a fair way, with the same payments to everybody that were affected. A very Australian way. And the combination of JobKeeper, together with JobSeeker supplement, ensured that Australians had the confidence and the certainty to move through what would have been the most uncertain period of their lives for most of them. Perhaps not Jane Malysiak, I suspect she has seen some more uncertain times in her life and that generation has. But for most of us, the most uncertain time in our lives. Those two measures came together to provide that emergency support. Now, we said it had to be targeted, we said it had to be time-limited and there needed to be a clear path for how we would pursue this once the emergency situation had receded. At the end of next month, we will be in a position where JobKeeper expires and we will be in a position where, under the legislation, the JobSeeker COVID supplement also expires. The Government has been working steadfastly as to the arrangements that will be in place after that point in time.
Now, on Sunday I said we had moved into a new chapter with the commencement of the vaccination programme. I said that that would change how Australia was dealing with the pandemic. That is as true for the economic supports and other measures that have been in place as emergency measures, as it is indeed true for the many responses put in place on restrictions and things of that nature, and that will continue to change over the course of the year. But Sunday was a change day. Sunday was a day that Australia confidently moved into the next phase of how we fight this pandemic and we battle to secure the livelihoods and lives of Australians. And so, as we come into that next chapter, and by the end of next month, we will be well into that, as tens of thousands, if not greater, will have been vaccinated by that point, and the National Cabinet will have met again. That we believed it was important that we show faith once again in our social safety net. What I mean by that is we are now confident that at the end of next month that our social safety net can once again be able to provide the support it needs to Australians, as we come out of the COVID-19 recession, for that social safety net to be there for them if they find themselves without work. But we've also formed the view that that base level of support that exists within our social safety net needs to be adjusted for the long term. So we are moving from short-term emergency measures to long-term arrangements now that people can rely on, should they find themselves out of work. Now, we've still got a long way to go, we understand that, and that's why the Treasurer and I on another occasion will be making further announcements about what we will be doing in other parts of the economy. But the truth is the JobMaker Hiring Credit, that's in place, the tax cuts, they're in place, the instant expensing arrangements, they’re in place, the bring forwards of infrastructure projects, they're in place.
The economic recovery plan continues to rollout but we change gears. And with that change of gears, what we are doing now is we are re-basing the JobSeeker payment to ensure that the long-term arrangements now are there for people to rely on should they find themselves out of work and to get the support they need when they're out of work and that will lead to an increase of $50 per fortnight in that base payment. But as I'm sure Anne will set out to you, that is of course not the only payment that people receive when they're on JobSeeker. There's Commonwealth rent assistance, there's energy supplements. There's a range of other payments which increases the amount someone will receive on a fortnightly basis by more than $150 extra per fortnight because of those additional supports. That’s our social safety net. We are now moving. I said every day would become more normal, moving back to a normal safety net arrangement is part of that normalising process but we're ensuring that it is set at a base we believe is appropriate going forward. Now, that puts the JobSeeker payment at 41.2 percent of the national minimum wage, which is commensurate with what it was during the time of the Howard government. It is true that this is one of the single - it is the single largest increase in the JobSeeker payment since the mid-'80s, year-on-year, that is true. But I think the more relevant feature to focus on is what it is as a percentage of the minimum wage. And this brings up from 37.5 percent up to 41.2 percent. That is commensurate with where it sat during the period of the Howard government.
Social security payments, welfare support, when people need it, is something we strongly believe in. And at a cost of $9 billion over the forward estimates, including the costs between now and the end of this year, that is a contract with Australians and Australian taxpayers. Australian taxpayers believe in this system, I believe in this system, and they know it is important for people who really need it. Particularly now, many people who may go on this payment who have never been on it before in the months ahead, as there has been over the course of last year, and what's important is the mutual obligation that we all have, one to one another, in how our social safety net works. Every person we get in a job, they're better off and the country is better off. So that remains our objective. If you're on JobSeeker, we'll work night and day to get you off it and into a job. We've already seen 93 percent of the jobs back into our economy. This is great progress but there is so much more to do. Every person we get off JobSeeker on to a job, that not only puts their household budget in a better position so they can have greater control over own lives, that also supports the Australian people’s budget, as expressed through the Australian Government’s Budget. It moves somebody from receiving taxpayer support to being a taxpayer and that was the big game-changer that actually enabled us to bring the Budget back into balance prior to this pandemic.
So with those rather lengthy introductory comments, I appreciate your patience, I will ask Anne to take you through those changes, and for Michaelia. There are mutual obligations requirements here that were put into this arrangement which are simply designed to one thing - to help people get back into work.
SENATOR THE HON. ANNE RUSTON, MINISTER FOR FAMILIES AND SOCIAL SERVICES: Thank you very much, PM. The package of measures that we are going to announce today are clearly about getting the balance right. We need to support people while they're looking for work, we need to create the incentives so they want to look for work. And we also have to remain a disincentive so they’re not disincentivised to work. But what we need to do is we need to ensure that we have a system that is fair and sustainable for the people who need it and the taxpayers who pay for it. As the Prime Minister said, this is the single biggest increase in unemployment benefits since 1986 with a $50 per fortnight increase. But in addition to that, we're also increasing the income-free area to $150 per fortnight for those people who are on JobKeeper and Youth Allowance other, as opposed to those people who are on a student payment or who already have a higher income-free area. What it does is create a greater incentive for people to put their toe in the water and test the job market because we know that people who report earnings are twice as likely to transition off payment than those who don’t report any earnings. As I say, the Prime Minister said, it comes at a $9 billion price tag.
We also will be extending a couple of temporary supports over the next three months, one of which is the ordinary waiting period. Currently, the ordinary waiting period is waived so that people who come on to payment don't have to wait for one week before they receive payment. In recognition that we need to make the smoothest transition on the 31st March to 1st April, that waiver will remain in place until 30th June. In addition to that, we will also maintain the accessibility to payment for people who are in isolation, because they have COVID or because they're caring for somebody who has COVID. This means 1.95 million Australians who are currently on working-age payments will receive an increase of $50 per fortnight as of the 1st of April. This is single parents, this is young people, this is students as well as JobKeepers. Just some statistics - that means 240,000 single parents with a child under the age of eight will receive a payment of $850.20 per fortnight. There will be a further 220,000 people who are over the age of 60 or who have a caring responsibility for a child over the age of eight, who will receive a JobSeeker rate of $676.30, including the energy supplement. When you consider there are a further 290,000 Australians on JobSeeker payment who also receive Commonwealth rent assistance, they will now receive $768.80 per fortnight. As I said, we want to make sure that people who are on payments experience firsthand the benefits of being on work by incentivising them to get back into the workforce. Certainly, there can be no doubt that this is the single-largest extension or measure that we put in place for those 1.95 million Australians who currently are on working age payments. We have made sure that in doing this, we have balanced their support, incentive to work and making sure we have a sustainable welfare system into the future so that not only today but into the future we will have a system that can continue to support people who need it. We will continue to make sure that our welfare system is targeted and comprehensive, with a range of supports that recognise the individual needs of Australians who need our support at this time. Thank you.
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS: Thank you, Prime Minister, and thank you, Minister Ruston. Today, the package we bring before you also entails a strengthening of mutual obligation requirements. As the Prime Minister has said, the best form of welfare is a job. And our commitment as a Government is to do everything that we can to get people who are on welfare to get into a job. As such, we're reinstating mutual obligation requirements but we're also strengthening them. Last year, as a result of COVID-19, we did have to put a pause on our mutual obligation requirements. But now, in 2021 and in particular with 93 percent of the jobs lost during COVID returning to the economy and with our focus on our post-pandemic economy, it's time to reinstate mutual obligation. What does that actually entail? In the first instance, there will be a requirement for job seekers to attend face-to-face appointments with their providers. They currently do not have to do that, as a result of COVID-19. We're also going to increase the number of job searches a job seeker does per month. As a result of COVID, they were reduced to eight. We will progressively move that to 15 job searches a month and then, as of 1st July, 20 job searches a month, which is what it was before the pandemic hit. We will also, after six months of being on welfare, require people to enter into an intensive training stage. In other words, we're going to give them the best chance they can to do a short course to enhance their skills or to do some work experience. If they then do remain on welfare, that will give them an even better chance of getting a job. So this will now occur at six months. You often hear, though, employers saying, "Joe applied for a job. He was qualified for the job", or she, "and they said no." What we will be doing for employers is introducing an employer reporting line. So that if someone does apply for a job, they're offered the job and they're qualified for the job but they say no, the employer will now be able to contact my Department and report that person as failing to accept suitable employment. This will then mean that my Department can follow up with that person or alternatively, Jobactive can follow up with that person to ascertain exactly why they said no to a suitable job. In the event that they do not have a valid reason, they will be breached for that. We will, at the same time though, be increasing the number of audits we do of our job providers. We need to ensure that our job providers are following up on our job seekers and ensure they are doing the right thing. Remember, this is all about getting people off welfare and into work. We currently undertake around 4 percent of the caseload by way of audit. We will be increasing that to 10 percent of the caseload. We will also require all job seekers in stream a digital to now prior to being able to get their welfare payment to fill out their career profile. Currently, they don't have to do that. That type of information is instrumental in ensuring that we can properly match you, your skills and your career profile to a job in demand. This is all about acknowledging that, if I am receiving welfare, I have obligations to do everything I can to get into a job. But this is also the Government's commitment to all Australians. The best form of welfare is a job, and we will do everything that we can to move people from welfare into work.
PRIME MINISTER: So our social safety net is a social contract. It is a contract between the Government and Australians but it is also a contract between Australians, and what you've heard just announced today is about getting the balance of that right.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, even the best plans need a stable Government to implement it. Is your government stable, what assurances have you sought on received from Craig Kelly? And what is your plan with the Speaker of the House of Reps?
PRIME MINISTER: There are no changes that are required as a result of the announcement you've heard earlier today and you've heard that directly from the Member for Hughes. The government will continue to function, as it has successfully. And as the government has led Australia through the worst situation we've seen since the Second World War, we will continue to do so undistracted and we'll be able to do so with the support of the Parliament from the very undertakings that the member for Hughes has indicated himself, publicly.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what does it say about your authority over your party room when you lose one of your own members to the crossbench, and this is an individual who owes you? You saved his pre-selection?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, in relation to the member for Hughes, to Craig, we had a discussion a couple of weeks ago as you'll be aware. I set out some very clear standards and he made some commitments that I expected to be followed through on. He no longer felt that he could meet those commitments, but I can tell you, my standards don't change.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when did Craig Kelly tell you he was going to quit the Liberal Party? Did he seek any guarantee about his pre-selection from you, is there anything he asked you to do that you would not offer him?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I learned of it at the same time as he announced it to the party room.
JOURNALIST: Had you lost confidence in Mr Kelly, his ability to be a Liberal MP given his freelancing and also his ability to win pre-selection for the Liberal Party, for Hughes?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the matter of his pre-selection is a matter for him in the Liberal Party but that is no longer an issue because he has resigned from the Liberal Party. But I say what I just said to you before, I set out very clear expectations on a range of matters that I expected Craig to follow through on. He'd given me a number of commitments in relation to that. He no longer felt that he could meet those commitments and, as a result, he's made his decision today and by his own explanation, he has said that his actions were slowing the government down and he believed the best way for him to proceed was to remove himself from the party room and provide the otherwise support to the government so it could continue to function as it so successfully has, which he says is something that he remains committed to. So I would expect him to conduct himself in that way.
JOURNALIST: You're down to 75 on the floor now. So you've lost your working majority, Kelly, Mr Kelly has promised you or guaranteed you know, supply and confidence but what about your legislative agenda going forward? Is it going to make you rethink plans? And something like the energy bill which you’re not sure what’s going on with it at the moment, you now need a crossbencher for every vote effectively if you're opposed by Labor. Are you going to have to rethink the next 12 months?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: No?
PRIME MINISTER: No. I mean,
JOURNALIST: Branaby Joyce has already been seen down in the office with Craig Kelly. Do you have any expectation that Craig Kelly will actually join the Nationals? And given that he has defied your requests as you described in various ways in relation to various alternative COVID cures, do you have any concerns that he's just going to end up with the National Party room?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't, but that's really a matter for others.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, a senior member in Mr Kelly's office, a staff member rather, has - is under police investigation amid allegations of inappropriate work conduct. There is actually an AVO taken out against that staff member. Would you expect that that staff member no longer be employed as a member of the government, and did that have any - are you concerned that Mr Kelly chose to keep that staff member onboard while those investigations took place?
PRIME MINISTER: I have long expressed to Mr Kelly my concerns about that staff member and he has long understood what my expectations were about how he would deal with that matter.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said at the start of this press conference, "nothing will distract me or my Government from my pledge to save lives and save livelihoods". Are sexual assault allegations a distraction for your government and will you commit to setting up a dedicated support line for staff who work for the government and opposition to report sexual assault?
PRIME MINISTER: No, they're not a distraction. I do not consider those a distraction. I consider those a very important issue. So I wouldn't accept that suggestion for a second. They're important issues and we are addressing them, and the process that we're engaged in, in a multiparty way, which Minister Birmingham is leading that process now and I look forward to that process being settled very, very soon. I don't want to pre-empt the recommendations of that inquiry but I already moved this week to ensure there is additional counselling support that is available to staff right now. I think one of the things we've learned is that both the awareness of support services and, indeed the delivery of those support services, is coming under a lot of scrutiny. Today, Celia updated the party room on the processes I'd asked her to engage in. She has recommended to me, together with Anne Webster from the Nationals, that that process be consolidated into this broader multiparty process. And I agree with that and our leadership agreed with that today. So I think that will mean that that process is the single process for dealing and allowing staff and others, former staff and others, to engage with the process finally agreed between all the parties. So I consider it a serious issue, I consider it a significant issue. It is something we have to deal with and I am dealing with but it also won't be at the expense of what Australians expect me to deal with each and every day. So the two will be done.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what's the timeframe that you’re considering for this independent inquiry that Simon Birmingham is setting up? Are you going to commit to making public the findings before an election is called? And will there be an interim report so that staff know that progress is being made on this issue.
PRIME MINISTER: Well most of the answers to those questions are what is being discussed amongst the party leaders together with Simon now. So I can't really preempt what they will agree and what they will put forward, but it would be my expectation that certainly any report of that body would be made public. That would be my expectation. And I, when it would be completed by, I would hope they could proceed as quickly as possible but as thoroughly as possible. And I would hope that to be a reasonable timeframe and I would expect that to be well in advance of the next election. So that would be my hope and expectation. I suspect that view would be shared by the other party leaders representing the many parties that are in our parliament.
JOURNALIST: A follow-up on that question, PM. What about the Phil Gaetjens' review into your own office - will that be made public? If not, why not?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven't said it won't. I've simply said that I'm waiting for Phil to provide that report and I'll give further advice on that once I receive it.
JOURNALIST: On the matter of Brittany Higgins and her alleged rape. Can you explain why the alleged perpetrator's employment was terminated, apparently before the Government knew that an alleged rape had taken place, and if you tell us it’s because of a security breach, can you explain what was the security breach?
PRIME MINISTER: It was because of a security breach. That was the reason for it. As I understand it, it related to the entry into those premises.
JOURNALIST: After hours?
PRIME MINISTER: That's my understanding, but that's a matter of public record.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on today's announcement, welfare advocates seem to be saying that they think it's not enough. Can you explain how and why you reached the conclusion that this amount was enough?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, and Anne, you may wish to comment on this as well. 41.2% of the national minimum wage, which puts us back in the realm of where we had been previously. The indexation had been different to other payments and, as a result, it had fallen down to 37.5%. We had obviously taken advice about the level of the payment and this puts it back, comfortably, within the middle of the range that had previously been in place. Now I have no doubt that whatever rate you set the payment, there will always be suggestions by some that it should be more. There'll be some who will suggest it should be less. That's why a government has to exercise judgement in getting that balance right. But not just in the setting of the payment but also the conditions that sit around the provisions of that payment and that are seeking to support people not to have to rely on that payment and to be able to get them back into work. So they were the matters we considered as a government and took advice obviously. But ultimately governments make these decisions. And where we’ve made a decision, even though it has come at a considerable expense to taxpayers, some $9 billion, the final estimate will be confirmed in the Budget later this year, taking into account all factors and the updated forecasts that you’d expect in a Budget. But what I do know is this, is every person we get back into a job means that will be a lesser cost to the taxpayer. And that's why the mutual obligation arrangement is so important.
But I’ll ask Anne if she would like to comment further?
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] they’re seeing it at $4 a day which doesn’t seem like very much?
SENATOR THE HON. ANNE RUSTON, MINISTER FOR FAMILIES AND SOCIAL SERVICES: Well look, back to your primary question around the process, the comprehensive process that we've been through, and clearly as I said in my statement we had to balance out three very strong interests that we had to balance. One, obviously, is to make sure that we provide support to people who find themselves out of work. We needed to make sure that we created a system and improved a system so that the incentives to take up work were there, and the disincentives were removed. That's very much part of the package that Minister Cash has put forward. But we also need to make sure that not just that it is a fair system but it is a sustainable system because we have to look after the people that need the system, but we also have to understand that it is paid for by taxpayers and it needs to be sustainable into the future. We certainly have drawn on the experience that we've seen over the last 12 months. We've had elevated levels of payment to people who are on unemployment benefits, recognising that back in March and April, the jobs market closed and the support was needed. But as the economy is recovering, as the jobs market is improving, certainly, we need to make sure that we have got the right incentives for people to go back to work. But our comprehensive and targeted welfare system has not changed. People who need additional assistance because of their circumstances, people who are renting who get Commonwealth rent assistance, people who have children who get support through the family tax benefit system, but there are a myriad of other supplements and allowances that are paid to people that recognise the range of individual circumstances. And all of these factors have been considered in coming up with the rate along with the other indicators that the Prime Minister has outlined in his response.
PRIME MINISTER: Hang on a sec, just to illustrate the point that you're making, a single person on the JobSeeker payment, inclusive of the increase anticipated because of indexation in March, will now see their payment increase, the base payment increase from $570.80 to $620.80 cents. That's inclusive of the indexation. It actually goes from $565.70 to $620.80. On top of that, if they're receiving Commonwealth rent assistance, that payment would increase to $760.40. And on top of that, the average value of standalone supplements - the energy supplement and so on - is an additional $13.03. So the suggestion that anyone who was on JobSeeker is simply on that payment alone and there aren't additional supports that are provided is not correct. There are additional supplements as you can see there, to the tune of some $150 in addition to that base rate, which would be a common experience of most people who would be on that payment.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have you outlined the expectations you expected of Mr Kelly's behaviour to stay in the Government, when you spoke to him a few weeks ago?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I was speaking to him at that time about his support for the government's position on health matters and I've consistently outlined to him the matter in relation to the staff member that was referred to in an earlier question.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will the extra spending on JobSeeker simply be absorbed into larger Budget deficits and does the Minister expect there'll be savings from the tighter mutual obligation requirements?
PRIME MINISTER: In answer to the first question and Anne can address the other matters, at present that goes directly on to the Budget bottom line and that is where it would be absorbed. And-
JOURNALIST: So there'll be no savings?
PRIME MINISTER: Well no, I'm saying I'll let Anne address those issues.
SENATOR THE HON. ANNE RUSTON, MINISTER FOR FAMILIES AND SOCIAL SERVICES: Well, clearly, the main objective of making sure - of all of the programs that this government has been putting forward have been focused on jobs. And of course, by getting somebody off welfare and into a job, there clearly is a saving, not only a saving because their lives are better because they're no longer relying on welfare but they're in the jobs market and they're paying tax. But there is no savings provisions considered in this particular package. But, clearly, we hope that it works well enough that we do have significant savings in the process of doing it.
JOURNALIST: Senator Cash, could I ask a question in relation to Brittany Higgins? So in October 2019, the Defence Minister Linda Reynolds called your Chief of Staff to alert him to a media enquiry regarding and incident that had happened in that office. What did the Defence Minister tell your Chief of Staff? He then spoke to you and then you then spoke to Brittany where you were very supportive and hugged her and told her you would look after her. If you maintain you didn't know it was a sexual assault, what did you think you were talking about?
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS: Well, that is exactly what the Defence Minister said to my Chief of Staff. There was merely a media enquiry. I then spoke to my Chief of Staff and Brittany together. Brittany was actually concerned about the media enquiry and that she was a media adviser and she was going to have people enquiring about her. She was very concerned that she was going to become a story. It was actually about her job and nothing more. I have absolutely not and I have made my position very clear in the Senate.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm sorry, I have an international call I have to make. Thanks, everyone.
Press Conference - Castle Hill, NSW
21 February 2021
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Well welcome everybody to the Castle Hill Medical Centre, it's a privilege to be joined here by Australians such as Jane, and John, Brett, and Mila and of course, the Prime Minister, The Chief Medical Officer of Australia, Professor Paul Kelly, the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer of Australia, Professor Alison McMillan, and the Member for Mitchell, Alex Hawke.
Today marks the commencement of Australia's National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme. It's an important step for Australia. Australians have stood shoulder to shoulder over the course of the last year, and now they are putting their shoulders to the job. They are making themselves available. And over the course of this week, we hope to see over 60,000 vaccinations, 240 different aged care centres, 190 towns, and suburbs around the country from Alice Springs to Albany, to Altona Meadows and so many others. But we have, in order to provide confidence, we had a group of Australians that represent our disability residents and workers, our aged care residents and workers, our frontline border protection workers. And of course, on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer in order to provide confidence, the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nurse and the Prime Minister of Australia.
With that I am delighted to introduce the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you Greg, and Alison and Paul, Alex. Of course, to you Greg and the wonderful team at the Department of Health who have done just such an extraordinary job in preparing for what is the biggest vaccination effort our country has ever undertaken.
This is an historic day for Australia. Jane Malysiak has seen many historic days in Australia over the course of her more than 80 years of life. She grew up in Poland in the Depression, she went through to the Second World War. She came to Australia. She built a wonderful life and is still living it gloriously today. And to have her here today and so many others who have joined us both in the front line of those who we know are most vulnerable, and in the front line who protect them. Whether it’s those working in quarantine on our border force or those working with the aged, the aged care facilities and home care, or those working with disability care and indeed those vulnerable Australians as well.
What we’re demonstrating today is our priorities on those Australians. What we're demonstrating today is our confidence. I am supremely confident in the expert process that has been led to get us to this day. So from tomorrow, tens of thousands of Australians over the course of the next week will confidently come forward from those key priority groups that have been defined to ensure that we move into this next phase of how we've been preparing and dealing with COVID-19.
I said at the outset we were going to make our Australian way through this pandemic. And the Australian way has proved to be when you look around the world, one of the most effective there is. And the reason for that, in my view, has consistently been the strength and resilience of the Australian people, the expertise that they've had available to them under the stewardship of Professor Kelly and Professor Murphy and so many others around the country has been exemplary. But it has been the response and the responsibility of Australians each and every day through this pandemic that has seen our Australian way through. And I say to my fellow Australians, now, the next step of that journey begins.
And so I call on my fellow Australians and I have by my own example today, joined by the Chief Nurse, and the Chief Medical Officer of our country, together with those Australians who are in the top priority of this vaccination programme, to say to you, Australians, it’s safe, it's important. Join us on this Australian path that sees come out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The information is there for you to assess, for you to respond to. We've gone to great lengths with our scientific and medical community to ensure that the things you want to know about, that information is there for you. You're right to ask those questions. And that's why we have worked hard to ensure that you have that information. That our GPs are aware and that you can have those conversations. But what matters is that we all get through this together and we get through this together, Greg talked about putting the shoulders to the job, well today I put my shoulder to the jab, and that's what I'm asking Australians to do in joining me and all of their fellow fellow Australians, as we continue on the successful path we’re been on.
I’m going to ask Paul and then Alison to say a few words then happy to take questions.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you PM. As has been mentioned, I'm here in solidarity with the people that are really on the front lines, and are the priority groups for this vaccine today. So we've seen members of the Defence Forces and the ADF right at the frontline of our border controls, and in our quarantine system, we've seen people from aged care, disability and residential care and their carers. These are the frontline workers that we need to and want to protect as quickly as possible, because they're the ones most likely to be exposed to the virus. And most importantly, those people in our aged care facilities, residential aged care facilities and residential disability facilities, who are the most vulnerable Australians in terms of COVID-19. So I'm here in solidarity. I'm not asking for anyone to do something that I'm not prepared to do myself. We have a remarkable thing now with two fully registered vaccines in Australia. This is the first that was available. And so the plan was always that the Prime Minister, myself and Professor McMillan would be the first to get that first vaccine. I can absolutely guarantee that if that first vaccine had been AstraZeneca, I would have had that one. And in fact, the Minister for Health and Professor Brendan Murphy will be receiving that vaccine as soon as it's available, very soon. So this is an important step in the journey. It is not the last step. There are many steps to go, but absolutely, I encourage all Australians when your turn comes, as some of us have been privileged enough to do today, to take that opportunity to line up and get those vaccines and that's going to protect you and your families and the whole of Australia.
PROFESSOR ALISON MCMILLAN, CHIEF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY OFFICER: Prime Minister, Minister, Alex, Paul, thank you for the opportunity to join you here, to show our solidarity, and our confidence in this vaccine, to reassure you it doesn’t hurt, I won’t say the terminology, but it really doesn’t hurt at all. This is such an important day for Australia, but it's a particularly focus obviously, on our health care workers they are the people who are part of 1A who will be starting to get this vaccine tomorrow. And I want to encourage all of them to have confidence in this and to get the vaccine along with aged care workers and, of course, the aged care residents, but also those who really are at the front line. I'm going to Howard Springs tomorrow to work with the team to look at how we can expand that facility, enormously successful facility. And this will help me as I feel that I go there and those that are working there that that additional protection. So, again, please, all Australians, this is the next step for us all, protecting those that are the most vulnerable and keeping safe our health care workers who look after us. So I encourage everyone to when your opportunity comes to get the vaccine. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Alison, happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: PM, why did you feel you had to bring the programme forward a day to do this today?
PRIME MINISTER: This is a curtain raiser. That's how I describe it. I mean tens of thousands of people will be coming in tomorrow and I wanted them to know as they went to bed tonight that we have been able to demonstrate our confidence in the health and safety of this vaccination to let them know that it's good to go. And I was very happy to send that message today with my colleagues here, but also with those Australians who we wanted to demonstrate were the priority groups for this vaccination over the coming weeks and months. And so people could understand what the priorities would be that it is important we all do this, but most importantly, that it is safe.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how concerned are you about vaccine hesitancy and why do you think some Australians are worried?
PRIME MINISTER: This is the biggest vaccination programme we've seen and it's in the middle of a pandemic, a global pandemic that none of us have seen unless, you know, we’re centenarians. And as a result, I appreciate and understand that people have questions. I appreciate the scale of what's going on here and that Australians would rightly want to know more information. So I'm not surprised by that. I think that's, I think that's quite [inaudible]. And that's why we are seeking to approach that in a very calm way, but most importantly in a very informed way, this whole process has been developed and it's being run and is been signed off by the best medical experts in the world, and they are Australian. And so for that reason, I would encourage people to join with us, as I said before, but also to answer the questions, have the questions answered that they want to ask. I think that's completely understandable. You know, I think as time goes on and as people see the benefits, as we're already starting to see in other countries, that have gone down this path, that I would expect to see confidence continue to lift. We have one of the highest rates of vaccinations in the world more generally when it comes to other vaccines. And so Australia's got good form on this. And that's why I say all the way through the pandemic, that Australians have shown the ways themselves. I think in their very co-operative, patient and responsible approach to how they’ve responded to the pandemic themselves.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your health minister this morning has said that on his watch the department won't be advertising on Facebook because of what's happened in the last couple of days, but when it comes to the vaccine. Do you think that it is worthwhile for the health department to advertise about the vaccine and the safety of the vaccine on social media or are you comfortable that people are well enough aware of the vaccine that you don't need to do that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll ask Greg to add to this, but we'll be using all the communication mechanisms and tools to reach people. And that's what I anticipate, we’ll be putting an enormous effort behind this communications campaign. And I want to particularly thank Alison, and many others who have been involved, Professor Skerritt, and others who have played such an important role of reassuring Australians, and they will continue to do that. But Greg did you want to add?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Yeah. So and we'll continue to provide information, what we wouldn’t be doing in the immediate future is doing additional paid advertising. So, of course, these are social media outlets, which have a general capacity to post but then on top of that as all of you would know far better than me, there’s the capacity to do paid advertising which is not [inaudible] for now.
JOURNALIST: So you’ll post about the vaccine but you won't use paid advertising to boost that information?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Correct.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is there any update on when we can expect the first shipment of AstraZeneca to arrive from overseas?
PRIME MINISTER: When we have more information on that then we will be providing it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you’ve been quite consistent about the vaccine being voluntary in the community in some elements, there is a bit more of a sense that it should be mandatory. The actions of some Premiers in closing borders and things, are you going to discourage Premiers and employers and that kind of thing to not to make it mandatory for people to take up?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Australian way is for this to be non-mandatory. That's the Australian way, but there are already precedents that when it comes for where there are public health reasons, or where any vaccination such as flu vaccines for people working in aged care facilities or those working in ICU wards, that's a fairly normal process. And health workers in particular are familiar with that. And if that were the case, that that would be the basis of a public health order put in place by a state jurisdiction. Now we've already had this discussion amongst the Premiers at the National Cabinet and indeed our health ministers have also discussed it, as has the Chief Medical Officer with the chief health officers. And at this point, their advice from the medical expert panel is that is not anticipated. But as with everything, you watch the information, you take the advice, you see how it progresses and you make sensible decisions. Now, if there are genuine health reasons that medical experts would advise that, then state jurisdictions would consider, what I'm pleased about, because I appreciate the Premiers working with, not just on this issue, but on the broader vaccination approach. And, of course, the broader management of the pandemic, it's important that we have consistency on those public health orders that relate to things like that. And that's what the AHPPC is working to do, that's what the premiers and health ministers are working to do.
JOURNALIST: What does this mean for the timetable for opening up state and international borders. And when can Australians expect life to resume and return to normal?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s a little too early to say, I’d say on a number of those things I note today- I understand and I'm happy to be corrected if I haven’t got this information correct but my understanding is the Queensland Chief Health Officer today has made some comments about this as one of those states that has often used those tools. I welcome her suggestion today that what we are commencing can certainly reduce the need for those types of responses in the future. And I believe that is that's where people want to get to at a state level. That's certainly where I want to get to. And that's why I asked the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister Cabinet to present back to the National Cabinet on how this changes, how we manage the risk of COVID going forward. Today is the beginning of a big game changer. There's no doubt about that. And it's successful rollout will only further reduce the risk. And when you reduce the risk, then obviously you do not need more blunt and extreme measures in order to deal with COVID. I mean while we still don't know and Paul, you might want to comment on this. We still don't know absolutely based on the medical evidence about the impact on transmissibility. What we do know, but I've got to say, signs are looking good, what we do know is that this deals with serious disease and, you’ll know, a year ago, it was about this time last year a little soon after actually, that our biggest fear as we faced the pandemic a year ago with those horrific scenes that we have seeing occur in Europe and in other parts of the world, you know, that led to mass graves in New York, things like this. We were looking at that type of abyss. And what this vaccine does is removes that risk of that serious and widespread and sort of cataclysmic spread of disease with those results. Now, there are many other viruses that are in our community. We all know that. And we don't have the sort of responses we've had to COVID to those. COVID are far more aggressive, and we're seeing increasingly more aggressive strains. But if you reduce, remove the level of serious risk of serious illness that you can begin to start managing this like you would any other virus in the community. But Paul did you want to add to that?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I think I think you've summarised it well PM, that key point is about severe disease. And we know that both the AstraZeneca and the Pfizer vaccine which I now have had, that will protect me. This is new evidence coming all the time from the real world experience from countries that have been vaccinating now for a couple of months. In the case of Pfizer and a little bit shorter in terms of AstraZeneca in the U.K., for example, that real world experience is absolutely confirming that decreases in hospitalisations and decreases in deaths, decreases in serious diseases. These are really important findings and early advice out of Israel seems to be suggesting, that there is also a decrease in the viral load or the amount of virus that people are carrying after if they become infected after vaccination. That's leading us towards an idea about and about how useful this is to stop the transmission. But these are early days and so preliminary information is useful. But I would wait to see the confirmation.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've brought forward several, you've launched several reviews into what was brought forward by Brittany Higgins, what would you
PRIME MINISTER: I’m very happy to deal with those issues but given we've still got Professor Kelly and Alison with us,
JOURNALIST: When’s the average punter going to be able to get the jab?
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?
JOURNALIST: Just the average Joe, when are they going to be able to get the jab?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there were, there were a lot of average Joes, and Jills who work in aged care and disability care and who have disabilities or live in aged care facilities or work on border force and in hotel quarantine. They are the priorities. I’ll let Greg go through the next couple of steps. But this is about getting through the whole population. We said we’d get there by October and that’s, we’re on track.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: So there are five phases all up, phase 1A is the phase which commences today about aged care and disability care residents and staff, our frontline border protection and quarantine workers and our frontline health care workers. Phase 1B will involve our over 80’s, our over 70’s, immunocompromised, indigenous Australians over 55, and emergency service workers. Phase 2 will involve the over 60, the over 50s, critical workers, and indigenous Australians under 55. Phase 2B, they will then be the general balance of the population. We recognise that there will be people who catch up because of life circumstances or increased confidence. And then subject to clinical trials the third phase would involve children. But there are global clinical trials and we won't make any predictions on the outcome of them.
JOURNALIST: PM Premier Berejiklian has said that it’s her Government’s intention that everyone working in hotel quarantine gets the jab in the next coming weeks, indicating that people who choose not to get it might not get any more shifts in the hotel quarantine system. Do you think that that's the correct approach that people who don't choose to get this jab should not be working in hotel quarantine? And perhaps Professor Kelly can I get your epidemiological [inaudible] please.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’ll throw to Paul. The priorities for people working in hotel quarantine are obvious and it’s stated in our strategy, that's exactly what we wish to achieve, and that's what the Premiers are seeking to achieve. I'm very confident that that isn’t going to be a problem, and the Premier is too, see I'm quite confident about how Australians respond sensibly to these things. And I believe, having spoken to some of those who are working in those very facilities at the moment they’re all just saying let's go, let's get on with it. So I'm not going to jump to those next levels, because I think that's frankly something that we need to ponder at this moment, because I believe, I believe they will respond very cooperatively because they are working on the front line of it. And so I'd be surprised if that proved to be the type of issue that you've highlighted. Paul?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you PM. So I'd encourage anyone that's in that priority group as an absolute priority, get a booking and get going with the vaccination. Like the PM I very much trust the Australians, that most people will take this vaccine once it becomes available. We have extraordinarily high immunisation rates in Australia, extraordinarily high. 95 per cent in some cases even more in aboriginal communities. So people take up that opportunity, we know that and recognise the issues that are coming to the fore about hesitancy, but I'm sure once we get started, that will dissolve, that will dissolve on our front lines straight away. We need it to dissolve in relation to aged care and disability care residents because they are the most vulnerable and we just need to get them protected before [inaudible].
JOURNALIST: Professor Kelly, can I ask, there are some concerns within the multicultural communities that they're kind of being left out of the consultation programme, we’ve been speaking to quite a lot of them, they want to know how can we make sure misinformation isn't getting into these communities? So what information are we giving in language and culturally appropriate to these groups?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So I'll let the minister add shortly about what he’s been doing and we have the Minister [inaudible] here also, so look we've done a lot of work with the with many of linguistically diverse communities and hopefully those communities around Australia. We had specific briefings last week with the media that goes to that, we're talking to the elders of many communities and leaders of the community's we have very strong support, for example, from the Muslim community through their imams, and so those things are really important. We've learnt a lot of lessons along the way in this pandemic how important that is. And so we’re, no one never gets left behind here. We will be countering every message which is discouraging people and replacing those with encouragement.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Look at very briefly, we've not only had widespread engagement with multicultural Australia, we are doing advertising in over 30 languages, we've been working with SBS, which has been fantastic. We are doing fact sheets in over 60 languages. Professor Kelly mentioned the Islamic community issued a statement of support for many members of their community as possible to take up vaccination, and others are doing it. We are also empowering local communities across cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds to design and develop their own grassroots campaigns and outreach campaigns. And, briefly, Alex Hawke is the minister for multicultural affairs to make some comments.
THE HON. ALEX HAWKE MP, MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP, MIGRANT SERVICES AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS: Thanks, Greg. And just add to what Paul Kelly said there, I think multicultural communities are also embracing the concept of vaccination as the wider community is, and from the government's perspective, we have a series of consultations, roundtables with community leaders, faith leaders, some of which have been mentioned today. There's so much diversity in the Australian community. We thought about translations in about 60 languages, there’s communications would be in every single one of those languages. There’s video communications. We're working with the Multicultural Council of Australia as well to ensure that every part of the vaccination message is delivered to every community in Australia. And here we are at the cusp of western Sydney, there’s diversity all around us in these communities. And we're finding great support from all those community leaders, from those faith leaders, from every part of the multicultural community in Australia for the vaccination rollout. And the government will keep working with them as issues are identified. And what we're seeing so far is the great support from those community leaders, from those faith leaders they are speaking with their communities every day, every week. And the message is getting through.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Prime Minister, on Brittany Higgins if we may now?
PRIME MINISTER: Are we finished with [inaudible] health?
JOURNALIST: What do you think is the first thing that's going to go back to normal? And what is the last going to get back to normal once we get going on the scale of this vaccine?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Greg you might like to comment on that and I’ll allow you to do that. Every day that goes past from here gets more normal. Every day. And that's what we've started today. And that's what's exciting about today. The exact path will in many ways illuminate itself as we work through these issues. But the thing I've got to tell you that I'm most pleased about today is that I now know as this vaccination rolls out, and particularly because it focuses on the most vulnerable in our community. That the greatest fear that I have as Prime Minister in facing this pandemic, this vaccination addresses, and that is serious disease and the sort of widespread fatalities that we saw overseas. That is what I'm most pleased about that, that element of this pandemic because of this vaccination, that we move further away from that every single day. That's a big change. That is a massive change. And that will lead to others. Greg?
THE HON GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Sure, so I think the first thing that changes is confidence and that's the first thing and today is about confidence and hope and protection above all else, and yes that will lead to shops and schools being progressively more and more open and other activities around the country and in the later stages of course, in a world where there are between 300 and 400 thousand cases a day engagement with the outside world, is something which happens perhaps on a more staggered basis. But what changes today is confidence goes up.
JOURNALIST: Just in relation to that issue, on Brittany Higgins,
PRIME MINISTER: Okay, I'm very happy to answer the question, but I do know there's a lot of health questions and, but if we are finished with the health questions I’m going to excuse Alison and Paul. That's my key point.
JOURNALIST: Can you give people reassurance that those Australia will choose not to get this, that there won't be a mandatory- no one will be forced to get it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s a non-mandatory vaccine. The only issues that can arise in relation to that are public health orders issued by the state and territory governments. Which is currently the case with the flu vaccines and many other types of vaccines. So that would be exactly the same process that chief health officers and chief medical officers would assess for particular applications based on the health advice, but that just relates to the performance of an occupation. There's no mandatory compulsion on anyone in this country to have it, but I do know Australians from how they responded already to this pandemic and they have been a source of strength for the results that we've achieved, the Australian way that we have embarked on we will continue and it steps up a whole nother gear as of tomorrow.
Okay, thanks. Thanks Alison. Thank you very much, Paul. Happy to take other questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you've launched 4 reviews in response to the allegations that have been brought forward by Brittany Higgins, what do you ultimately hope comes from those reviews?
PRIME MINISTER: I hope they will give us what we need to change the culture not just today, but longer term. And I hope that it will ensure that the systems and processes that we’ve relied on here will create and provide greater support to anyone who would find themselves a victim of those types of events in the future. It's a fairly straightforward expectation. I want the culture to be better. I want the system to be better for the sake of particularly those who were impacted directly by these things, but also for those who are in a position of seeking to help and support people in that situation. That's what I want to know. I want to honestly know and if we need two, if we need four, we will get what we need to ensure we find out that information. There are many good ideas and suggestions that are already coming forward. There are changes that have already been made in recent years, and I think this will really help us do that.
JOURNALIST: But three of those reviews are being conducted by your Department and your staff, and that's hardly independent or at arms length?
PRIME MINISTER: None are being conducted by my staff. My Department is involved in that. There's also the process, Celia Hammond is involved in which is a Party process, and then of course there is the multi-party parliamentary process, that Minister Birmingham is working through with the other party leaders, and we hope to make further announcements there, if we believe there's a need for further things then we’ll be taking that advice, particularly from my Secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet. So we're keen to know how to make it better.
JOURNALIST: Jennifer Westacott from the Business Council of Australia was saying today that the, there's a pervasive culture of discourtesy, disrespect and bullying in Parliament House. What do you say to her claims?
PRIME MINISTER: I think the culture needs to change and it needs to continually improve, but I've got to say, if any workplace, thinks that this is just confined to the parliament, they are kidding themselves, seriously, they’re kidding themselves, we've got our issues to deal with as a Parliament, and we're saying we do.
JOURNALIST: So she needs to look at her businesses that she supports?
PRIME MINISTER: You can make your own comments. All I'm simply saying is we need to deal with what's happening in our house and everybody needs to deal with what's happening in theirs.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Samantha Maiden says that she went to your office, the PMO on the Friday to raise questions about Brittany and what she had said. You say you didn't find out about it until the Monday the 15th. So are we to believe that your office did not inform you of this for 48 hours?
PRIME MINISTER: Correct.
JOURNALIST: And is there, why? Why on earth did that happen?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve expressed my view to my staff about that very candidly on Monday.
JOURNALIST: Are they being reprimanded? I mean, it's a very serious allegation that isn't being brought to the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: And you can be assured that they know exactly my views about that.
JOURNALIST: PM your Health Minister again this morning
PRIME MINISTER: But, you know, it's not about how I feel. It's always about the person who's at the centre of this, and that's why we have to do these things. That's what it's about.
JOURNALIST: In relation to support for people who make, Brittany and others like her who make, raise complaints like this. Minister Hunt appeared to back an independent body to deal with complaints, of this nature this morning, calling for an external structure to make sure people have confidence in coming forward. Do you agree that we need an external body to deal with complaints of this nature?
PRIME MINISTER: I've already said I think there’s merit in that. But I think that is for the process that we’ve put in place to actually consider those things and to make recommendations that can then be accepted and we can go forward. I really don't want to prejudge a lot of this. I said a few days ago, last Tuesday in fact, that what we need to do is ensure that people are able, in these circumstances, to feel they can raise these issues, even though people are saying, you can, they need to feel that they can and to do so in a discrete and a private way and so they can get the support they need. And that's what I want to see happen. But the other thing, we must deal with this issue, it's a very important and serious issue. I can assure you I and my Government are going to take it very seriously. But as a Government, we've also got to focus on the many other things that we're here today to do. Australians are relying on me and my team to protect their livelihoods, to protect their lives, to maintain the health of the country, to make sure we roll out this vaccination programme, that we get Australians back into work, and that we remain very focused on the things that are impacting them every single day of their lives where they are. I can assure you we will deal with this other matter which is very serious, but I can assure you, it won't take away from us dealing with what I know Australians need us to do. Our come back from the covid-19 pandemic is underway. And today, we have just taken another massive step forward down that the Australian path. Thank you all very much.