Speeches
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
3 June 2021
Prime Minister: Thank you, everyone. I'm joined by the Treasurer and the Minister for Emergency Management, to make some announcements regarding support for locations defined as a Commonwealth hotspot that are impacted by state public health order decisions that extend for more than seven days.
We don't have to fear this virus. We haven't got where we are till now by fearing this virus. The success Australia has had compared to so many other countries around the world, both from a health perspective and from an economic perspective, has been achieved because we worked together. Australians have been resilient, they've gone about the things that have been asked of them time and again that can be very demanding and come at great personal cost. And they haven't done that out of fear, they've done that out of determination and resilience and out of strength and their good character. And that's what we as a government continue to rely on and draw upon as we continue to make our way, our Australian way, through this COVID-19 pandemic, which as we know, continues to rage and it continues to seek out opportunities here in Australia to spread. But it is not something we fear, it is something we fight. It is something we address and we do it safely, we do it effectively, we do it collaboratively and we do it together and that is why we have had so much success to date. But the challenges keep coming, as we have seen and Victoria, as we saw indeed earlier this year, whether it was in the Northern Beaches of Sydney or south-western Sydney, up in Brisbane, over in Perth, and now again here in Victoria. And we know that Victoria, more than anywhere, has suffered greater than any other part of the country. That is a simple fact. And they are going through that even again now.
What is important, is that we ensure that the decisions that are made are commensurate with the risks that are faced to avoid any unnecessary hardship on Australians and that there is a balance of those risks assessed so that the harm we seek to prevent is not exceeded by the harm that is imposed by the various measures that could be put in place. And that is a decision that governments honestly have to make. We respect those decisions. Commonwealth, State Government, Territory Governments, all have got to make those calls. Doing it on the basis of the best possible advice and the judgement of those who are making them. The Commonwealth doesn't seek to intervene in those decisions of those of the state but as we have demonstrated over the course of this pandemic we have stood strongly with the Australian people to support them through this. JobKeeper, JobSeeker COVID supplement, cash-flow bonus, all of these things, have played such a huge role in Australia get into where we are now, that our economy is bigger today than it was during the pandemic and there are more people employed than there were before the pandemic. So we have always understood the role of the Commonwealth.
And what we are proposing to do in this situation, in fact what will be done in this situation, is we will be putting in place a national framework for circumstances where there are lockdowns imposed by state, public or health orders in areas that are defined as a Commonwealth hotspot by the Chief Medical Officer. Those arrangements will provide support for periods of time where the lockdown has been greater than seven days. So the first seven days, they are matters entirely for state and territory governments, as they wish to provide support. If a lockdown, as a result of a state public health order continues in an area that is also defined by the Chief Medical Officer of the Commonwealth, then we will be providing support for payments for those affected in those affected areas. Now that could be a particular suburb, defined by postcodes. It could be an entire metropolitan area as is indeed the case in the Melbourne metropolitan area right now. Or even more broadly, if the Chief Medical Officer was of the view that a hotspot encompassed an entire state jurisdiction. So the Commonwealth's decision to provide that support will be based on the medical advice received by the Chief Medical Officer of the Commonwealth, which is only reasonable, given that the Commonwealth has no part in the decisions made by state governments when they are coming to their view as to how they might impose their restrictions. Now, clearly, the Chief Medical Officer works closely with the Chief Health Officer of every state and territory jurisdiction and is in a position to fully understand the basis of decisions made at a state and territory level, and that can assist and inform their decision, and it is indeed the case that the greater Melbourne metropolitan area is a Commonwealth hotspot and is expected to be so over the next seven days for the extended period that is being announced by the Victorian Acting Premier.
So, what we will be putting in place is what we are calling the temporary COVID disaster payment. The temporary COVID disaster payment is made on a week by week basis. It is using the disaster recovery payment framework, which I will ask the Minister for Emergency Management to go into more detail on. That will be a payment of $500 for those who would ordinarily work more than 20 hours in a week and $325 for those who would work less than 20 hours a week. It will be available to a person who is an Australian resident, or holder of a visa class permitted to work in Australia. The person is 17-years old. The period occurs from the date of activation for an area which has been locked down for more than seven days. I should stress, this is a similar arrangement that exists in New Zealand where their payments for this type of support kick in after seven days, not before. The person resides or works, resides or works, in the area defined as a Commonwealth determined hotspot, the person was immediately prior to the state health order and Commonwealth determined hotspot, engaged in paid employment and is unable to attend work and therefore unable to earn an income as a result of state health restrictions.
Now, you'll be aware that we already have a pandemic leave payment for people who are required to isolate for a 14-day period. And that could be because they are a close contact, testing or any other number of reasons determined by the State Government. The person self-declares that they would normally have worked in the relevant period. The person self-declares a loss of income for the relevant period. The person will not be required to use annual leave, and must have insufficient other appropriate leave entitlements, including special pandemic sick leave and have exhausted those entitlements. So you don't have to get into your annual leave, but if your employer is already providing you leave for these types of purposes, than it is reasonable that people would use those in these circumstances. The person self-declares that they have liquid assets of less than $10,000. Remember, we are talking about somebody getting through the next week, who would ordinarily be in an economic situation where every dollar counts. Where those have independent means of supporting themselves for a week then I think they would agree that reaching out for Commonwealth taxpayer funded assistance is not something they would consider reasonable for such a short period of time. The person must not be receiving an income support payment or pandemic payment. So, if you are already receiving support from the Social Security system, on JobSeeker, remember we have relaxed the rules around JobSeeker, you're getting your support through that channel. If you want support through this channel, then this channel is not available to you. And the person must accept and acknowledge that they meet the above criteria with the possibility of retrospective compliance activity, as you would expect as we apply in all of these circumstances. The financial arrangements for this, I discussed with the Acting Premier last night and the Treasurer has discussed with the Treasurer in Victoria.
Victorians just want to know that they are getting help next week. That is what matters and they will be able to do this from Tuesday, in making an application online with Services Australia and there will also be a number they can contact and there will be further information provided about that. They want to know they will get that support and if you meet that criteria you will get that support next week and you will get that payment next week. It will be provided into your bank account as all of these payments ordinarily are. Who is paying for it and how that is being worked out. Well, there are two options and I will be discussing these with National Cabinet tomorrow. Costs should be shared. Presently the Victorian Government is doing that directly and 100 per cent with the business support they are providing. What I put to the Acting Premier last night was that we should split 50-50 both payments. Go 50-50 on household and go 50-50 on business. Alternatively, the states can agree that in these circumstances they will always provide the business support and we will always provide the household support. Either way, we will work it out. And at National Cabinet tomorrow, we will have a good discussion about it. What matters is that businesses get the support they need and households get the support they need and the politicians don't need to have a discussion in public about how that is going to get done. They just need to know it is going to get done, they’re going to get that support and we just need to get on with it to ensure they have the confidence about moving forward into the next week. Now I would hope, and I know that the Treasurer as a Victorian would certainly hope, that these restrictions go for as limited a time as possible and be lifted as soon as possible. The Emergency Management Minister would also know as a regional representative that we are pleased that restrictions are being lifted on regional Victoria. But there are still very strong restrictions in Greater Melbourne. In fact, the kids won't be going to school next week up until Year 11. That is going to be tough on families, tough on people working from home. That is going to be tough on essential workers who still need to go to food processing jobs and health jobs and nursing and aged care and all of those health support. That is going be tough, and so of course I'm sure the Acting Premier agrees that we need to get to a position where we can lift these restrictions as soon as possible.
Now, where a Commonwealth hotspot is no longer applied, then the payment ceases, which is reasonable and I discussed that with the Acting Premier last night and he had no objections to that and it's understood. We will work through those details with the Acting Premier, as will the Treasurer, but what is important to understand in the same way that as we step up when it comes to floods, when it comes to cyclones or when it comes to bushfires or any of these other areas and payments are made through this channel, this is where this temporary COVID disaster payment is made. Just before I hand over to the Treasurer, I am pleased to report that 141,000 vaccinations took place in that last 24-hour period. That takes us and continues to keep us over 700,000 doses over seven days and that is a third of those over 50 and half of those over 70 who have had that at least first dose of the vaccination. This is welcome news and I want to thank Victorians once again for going out, getting tested. Going out and getting vaccinated. Thank you, thank you. Resilience, strength, character, determination. That is what beats a virus, never fear. Josh.
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. These are very difficult days for more than 6 million of my fellow Victorians. Kids out of school, families apart and of course businesses that have been closed. It is a painful reminder that the pandemic has not ended but neither has the support from the Morrison Government. The Morrison Government has already delivered more than $45 billion to Victorian families and businesses. This is around three times the amount that has been provided at a state level and more on a per capita basis than has been provided to any other state. Now, the Budget delivered just over two weeks ago assumed there would be more outbreaks and indeed lockdowns. That is why we kept the foot on the accelerator with $41 billion of further COVID-related support. And that support continues to roll out. And that support has helped see the Australian economy, as the Prime Minister referred to, recover so strongly, where we have seen yesterday in the national account numbers, Australia outperform the rest of the world. Now in Victoria, the economy and Victorians are remarkably resilient. Unemployment reached a high of 7.4 per cent last year but came down to 5.5 per cent just recently in April. This fourth lockdown has hit Victorians very hard and that is why the payment the Prime Minister has announced is so important. It is going to support Victorians at a time that they need that support. We will all get to the other side of this crisis and the Morrison Government will help Victorians and Australians do exactly that.
The Hon. David Littleproud MP, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management: Thanks PM, thanks Josh. Today the Australian Government takes its next step in standing shoulder to shoulder with those impacted by this insidious virus. We are using the disaster payment mechanism because of its agility and speed to be able to provide dignity and respect to those who have been impacted. This is a long-held mechanism that has been proven through natural disasters, and abates any need for having to bring any legislation through Centrelink. So therefore we can build on their relationships, the partnerships that we have with the states, but be able to do this with speed and agility to those who need it most. To that extent, we'll be working with Services Australia to make sure that [inaudible] those people impacted that are in the defined Commonwealth hotspot will be able to contact Centrelink and to be able to make their application. This is a well worn path. Unfortunately, we know very well over the last couple of years from the disasters that we have faced as a nation. But, as a nation we have come through each and everyone of them but this is another step we will have to take and there will probably be more. But what we're trying to do is provide that speed and agility that is required to make sure that nobody is left behind, and obviously we'll be working with the states to make sure that this partnership is national. And that is something I think as a nation should be that in times of tough episodes in a nation's history, we have all come together and we have made sure that we work together. This is the opportunity the Federal Government has seen as we see this virus evolve and our response is evolving, and so Centrelink is ready to go and they will have their people ready to move on Tuesday morning, so that these dollars can hit people's accounts as quickly as possible. Obviously, Centrelink is making sure that they have the resources. We would have liked to be in a day or so earlier but there are some upgrades taking place over the weekend that were already in place to be scheduled. And so therefore it has actually been delayed a day or so. People can be rest assured that the money will be in their account as it was during the fires, floods, cyclones and bushfires.
Journalist: Can we get a reminder of what the Commonwealth hotspot definition is and will you talk to the States about this tomorrow? Is it a take it or leave it deal [inaudible] given James Merlino didn’t sound too happy a little while ago?
Prime Minister: I will refer you to the official definition of the Commonwealth hotspot, the number of cases average over a number of days - i think it’s 10 per average (sic) day over three days off the top of my head. On the other matter, look, I think this is a very sensible and fair proposal. I’ve already had the opportunity to discuss this with other premiers who consider either approach as a reasonable way to deal with this. It was our hope, and I'm sure it was every Premier and Chief Minister's hope that having lockdowns for a period of greater than seven days is not something any of us would like to see. As a result, being able to deal with a few days, as has been the case for those post the end of JobKeeper where those other states and territories made no request of the Commonwealth. They dealt with those in Queensland and Western Australia. And in this case I think this is a fair way of doing it and it's using a very practical mechanism to get the job done. And whether we do it by sharing both costs of both payments or a portion each payment, one to the state and one to the Commonwealth, I think they’re practical ways of doing it and they don't need to be issues of controversy or conflict. I think we can sort it out.
Journalist: The statewide lockdown is statewide at the moment, but your position is that the hotspot definition, so I presume that wouldn’t include areas like Mildura which the Treasurer has mentioned before, is an area in lockdown but has no cases. So are we going to see differences of opinion between Canberra and states about whether an entire state should qualify for the emergency payment?
Prime Minister: Regional Victoria isn't being locked out post seven days. Regional Victoria is not going into a second seven days. Metropolitan Melbourne is. So there is an alignment in the defined areas between what the state is doing. I see nothing wrong with there being the Commonwealth where we are making the payments, we have no part in the decisions made by state governments and they can choose to do as they remind me regularly what they like to do, when they like to do and for how long they like to do it. Where it comes to federal taxpayers money in place, we will be relying on the medical advice of the Chief Medical Officer. Rosie?
Journalist: Isn't today’s announcement an admission that the Federal Government is at least partly responsible for the lockdown in Victoria?
Prime Minister: No, not at all. It's an admission that the Commonwealth responds to disasters. That is what it is an admission of. The Commonwealth responds to disasters, whether they are floods, fires, things that are beyond the control of individuals and they are suffering loss and they need help. It is an admission that the Commonwealth Government understands that and is prepared to do what is necessary to support those Australians who need our help.
Journalist: You say that resilience, strength, determination and character are what is required to beat this virus but isn't it the case that only path out of the situation is the vaccine, and given James Merlino has said the vaccine rollout is woefully slow, and Allen Cheng saying they are running short of the Pfizer vaccine and the rest of the world is starting to travel between their countries because of their vaccination rate, what more is the Government doing to expedite the vaccine rollout?
Prime Minister: I'm pleased that when we brought National Cabinet together back in April, when we had weekly vaccination rates of 320-330,000 a week and we put in place a plan together to address those challenges, that has now seen that rise in the space of one month to over 700,000 a week, and that has been a very significant scaling up and we've done that together with states and and I appreciate the work states and territories have done. On not one occasion has the Acting Premier raised the issue of doses of vaccines with me, I've had several discussions and the only time it was raised was when we provided the additional 130,000 and he then assured me of that point that they had no further requirement or no further ask and he hasn't made one since then. They get around 71,000 Pfizer per week and as they understand on the most recent information that was released on Monday, I'm sure some of those have been used since Monday, but someone 180,000 doses available right there in Victoria as we speak, but if there are issues that need to be addressed there then we are happy to address them. As we said, 130,000 will be made available immediately to support those requests. We are working closely with the Victorian Government. That’s I think what people want to see.
Journalist: Three linked cases today in Melbourne, like, not many cases. Is your personal view that maybe they don't need to lockdown for another seven days or is that the view of the Commonwealth CMO?
Prime Minister: The Commonwealth CMO has confirmed to me that that hotspot arrangement will be in place, he expects for the next seven days.
Journalist: Prime Minister, I note that [inaudible] starts tomorrow at National Cabinet, the attribution of costs. But do you have an estimation about how much these disaster payments will actually cost over the next six months?
Prime Minister: Certainly not the latter, because we have no way of knowing what likely lockdowns might occur over that period. I hope there are none, that is my hope. I hope we are able to move through any challenges that may present, that is often what occurs in New South Wales, there will be some cases and they will get on top of it fairly quickly and a lockdown hasn't proved necessary. And in other states they have had different experiences, that is just a summary of an observation of history. It is our hope and expectation that lockdowns would be unnecessary in many, many cases and that they won't occur. The Budget itself though, as the Treasurer has confirmed on many occasions, expects that this will happen from time to time. In relation to this payment, no we don't have an estimate of what this one might cost over the course of the next week. That's the same as when we are faced with any other disaster payment, isn't it David? We don't ask that question when it comes to helping people who are in immediate need and we don't do it in a cyclone, we don't do it in a fire, we don't do it in a flood, we make those disaster payments available and we seek to do that as quickly as we possibly can, and that's the model we are using to provide this support on this occasion because we think that best reflects the circumstances that Victorians have found themselves in, through no fault of their own and as a result they will receive that support in the same way.
Journalist: Sort of a linked question, what is the best estimate of the six million that you talked of, Treasurer, who would be benefiting from this, and if the CMO, I'm just wondering, what is the guesstimate there, given that a lot of people will still be working from home and if the CMO were to change his view on a hotspot during that week and people go back to work, do they still get the payment or is it always on a week to week basis?
Prime Minister: It’s done in advance. So, people will go online next Tuesday, there will be a 1800 number as well but the most effective way to do it is online and for most people that would be the most convenient way to do it. That payment will be made. It will be paid for that seven days from this Friday forward over that seven day period, and if things go beyond that, then a further payment would have to be initiated in that process, done again in some form, but it is not our expectation that those restrictions would be in place beyond that next seven day period. I don't believe it is remotely the expectation of the Victorian Government that that should be in place and the Acting Premier and I discussed last night, that would not be something that they would welcome, not something that they would be hoping would occur and I would share his view about that. I want to see kids get back to school, I want to see people being able to go back to work and to do that safely and those case numbers, as you say Andrew, have come down and that is much better than the alternative, I can assure you, and that's great. That's great. So let's hope that continues and people can get back to work and importantly kids can get back to school, but on the other point, Treasurer?
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: Well Andrew, it is a demand driven program as the Prime Minister has said. For every 100,000 people that will be $50 million per week. It is the estimate, there is around a half million casuals in the metropolitan Melbourne area and obviously bearing in mind that this relates to the Commonwealth definition of a hotspot, so Treasury and Finance are working the numbers through, but as the Prime Minister has indicated, it is a demand driven program as other emergency payments are.
Journalist: Picking up on what you said about available doses across the state, there has been a huge spike in people taking up the vaccine in Victoria but that hasn't really been reflected in other states where there is that availability. Are you concerned that a motivator like a lockdown seems to be the only thing driving people en masse to these vaccine sites? Is it time for something else the government can do to get people to access what is already available in other states before they get to a lockdown?
Prime Minister: We will continue to promote it, we will continue to work with GPs around the country, we will continue to work with state and territory governments and continue to urge all Australians who are eligible for receiving the vaccine at this time to go forward and do so. There are many points of access where they can do that and we would be strongly encouraging them to do that, and we certainly hope that they take that up. I would say though, Clare, that even prior to this, we had already seen the weekly vaccination numbers rising very steadily and that was in response to a series of decisions we took about bringing forward over 50s. We have now supplemented that with work on those who are getting it between the ages of 40 and 50. There has been the opening of those additional sites. In fact, the Victorian Government, I was only commending them when I was down there, when they were opening up a further one that will increase in the rollout. Of course that was always going to go out over the course of this year and it will continue to hasten as the year progresses and particularly as those Pfizer doses start rolling in and much greater numbers in the second half of this year.
Journalist: The liquid assets test, will that apply to just those individuals assets or will that be household assets?
Prime Minister: Individual, which is the case for social security.
Journalist: Should Dr Cheng be surprised that there was a shortage of Pfizer, he was so [inaudible] AstraZeneca can be handed out to over 50s and would you catch a football that was kicked into a crowd by a Victorian?
Prime Minister: Well, I would attempt to. Josh would be better style at catching, I think, because he plays that code and not badly, I understand. But yes I certainly would and I'd be happy to handball it back too, but on the other matter, I can't speak to his state of surprise or otherwise.
Journalist: Prime Minister, when are you going to bring the chemists in? Because for many people, the chemists are a much more easier access point than a doctor, and secondly, are you satisfied now that the rollout arrangements for aged care are adequate?
Prime Minister: On the first matter, it was in the second half of the year that I'm advised that we had been preparing to include pharmacists in that arrangement, and that is still our understanding, and we will continue to monitor those arrangements, but I think when we are able to bring in that tier of points of access, that will be very useful. That is not part of the rollout at this point but it was always intended to be part of the rollout at a later point. We have 4,000 GPs, mass vaccination centres that are there, so there's plenty of points of access for vaccination.
With aged care, are you talking about residential aged care facilities? In the case of Victoria, every single one of them that are the Commonwealth's responsibilities have been provided those first dose opportunities. With the residents, at the meeting of National Cabinet some six weeks ago, this was discussed, and that's why we created the additional points of access for workers such as aged care workers which most states and territories have been doing since that time and I welcome the fact that Queensland is now doing that as well and that greatly assists. The issue often comes up about whether aged care workers should be mandated to take the vaccine, as in many states, not Victoria, I understand, on the flu vaccine where it is not mandated either, whether that should be the case. That has been put to the medical expert panel on another occasion most recently and my understanding is their advice does not support that recommendation and that that is something that I think Premiers, Chief Ministers and I, will need to consider when we meet together on Friday. We've always listened carefully to that medical advice. I know that in Western Australia, Lanai will know this, that Premier McGowan, when there were challenges in getting quarantine workers vaccinated and that occurred in other states, he introduced a public health order there quite swiftly to ensure that that could be done. Premiers can introduce public-health orders any day of the week to do that, and they would be relying on the advice of their Chief Health Officer to do that. They could do that unilaterally, independently if they so wished. They don’t have to rely or wait on any decision of the National Cabinet. Although it has been our discussion as a National Cabinet, but wherever possible, you would try to make things of that nature as nationally consistent as possible. So the challenge with aged care workers is the same for many important workers in the community, and we need to continue to encourage those. But the most important is the ring of protection that is provided around the aged care residents themselves. They have always been our top priority, that’s why they have always been part of the program that was involved in inreach services to ensure that we were able to get through those as our first priority and that has by and large been achieved, and particularly in Victoria, there will always be difficult cases towards the end of any program of this size and there is any number of reasons why, on occasion, a centre may not have had their first dose offered on a particular day. That can range from everything from flu vaccines to gastro situations that we have had in particular facilities, that is very specific, that is very granular and you just work those issues.
But to conclude, you just have to keep working the problem. Just got to keep focused on supporting Victorians and Australians in a nationally consistent way. We don't have to fear this virus, we just have to keep beating it. And we have been beating it and we will keep beating it and Australians will keep beating it when their governments continue to work together as the Commonwealth with the states and territories all the way around the country and focusing on what Australians need, whether they are businesses or trying to keep their employees in work, whether it's employees who are trying to keep in jobs, families ensuring they can support their families and get kids to school, and people supporting elderly residents, elderly parents or others in their family or those with disabilities, remote Indigenous communities. Royal Flying Doctor Service out there, some 80,000 Australians benefited by the work that they are doing. We have just got to keep working the issue, working together, working collaboratively and keep Australians safe, save lives and save livelihoods. Thank you.
Remarks, Minerals Council of Australia Parliamentary Dinner
3 June 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Helen. To the Ngunnawal people, can I acknowledge them here tonight, their elders past and present and, of course, for the future. Can I particularly acknowledge the extraordinary work done by the resources sector in partnership with the Indigenous people, all around the country. Tremendous opportunities that are being afforded with decent jobs, a real future, transforming remote, and particularly Indigenous, communities all around the country.
Can I acknowledge any veterans, who are with us tonight, so many veterans who work across our resources industry. When I was up on the Pilbara recently and I was staying on site overnight, the significant number of veterans who find a break-in point in the resources sector, where their training, their skills, their experience, their values, their code, I know is appreciated by the resources sector. Greatly appreciated, and valued, by the resources sector. So to any veterans that are here, or serving members of our defence forces, can I simply say on behalf of a grateful nation, as I always do, thank you for your service.
To Helen Coonan, Chair of the Minerals Council, it’s great to see you again Helen and thank you for your leadership. Can I extend the same thank you to all the directors of the Minerals Council of Australia.
To Ambassadors and High Commissioners, members of the diplomatic community here tonight. Our partners in the resources sector all around the world. Particularly, who I saw on the way in, the Ambassador to Japan, great to see you here, I’m looking forward to seeing Prime Minister Suga very, very soon. And the tremendous relationship we enjoy with Japan.
To Ms Tania Constable, the CEO of the Minerals Council, to my many colleagues who are here tonight, I’m not going to call the roll, but I’m certainly going to acknowledge the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who is here with us this evening. Michael, thank you for your support not just in the resources sector, but for regional Australia, you’re a great, passionate advocate for regional Australia wherever you are. Keith Pitt. If you’re going to get stuck in a lift on a mining site, he’s the guy you want to be with. We had that experience some time back up in north-western Queensland. I’m glad he knew how to get us out of that lift, and to all of those who helped us on that day, thank you. Keith and I get to many of these places together and Keith gets to so many more. As the Minister for Resources you want to have someone who has his background as an electrical engineer, understands the industry so incredibly well, incredibly well. And thanks for your passion Keith, you really do a great job. I know it is appreciated, certainly by the sector.
Chris Bowen is here this evening, I acknowledge him – the Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy. To the many other Ministers, Senators, and colleagues who are joining us here tonight – and Ian Macfarlane, my old mate. We used to have dinner pretty regularly together when he served in this place, the CEO of the Queensland Resources Council. Can I also acknowledge Tina Arena, that was a nice surprise. No finer talent in this country. I am a self-appointed patron of the Tina Arena appreciation society. Not just in this place but anywhere else. We enjoyed the concert on Saturday night, Jenny and I, Tina, and I heard she may be singing again so I’d like to thank her very much for having me here tonight. I’ll say a few words before she joins us again.
I don’t need to tell you how important the resources sector is. I don’t need to tell myself how important the resources sector is. The Government doesn’t need to be reminded, we know, we get it. We’ve always got it. It’s in our DNA. Today’s National Accounts backed it up again. Mining investment contributing to the recovery. Just like all sectors I note today. Consider National Accounts that showed not only are there more jobs today in the Australian economy than there were before the pandemic, but the Australian economy is bigger today than it was before the pandemic. This is an extraordinary contribution that has been made by the Australian people, this is an Australian-led recovery. What we saw in the household sector, what we saw in dwelling investment, but particularly what we saw in business investment. The supports that we have put in the Australian economy, over the course of the past 18 months, and particularly the past 12 months, as we’ve moved through the pandemic in Australia has saved lives and livelihoods, arguably better than almost any other country in the world today. Our economic supports to save livelihoods was all about ensuring that we could restore a business-led economy. Our plans are not designed to put government at the centre of the economy. Our plans are not about government being at the centre of the economy. Our plans were always about ensuring that businesses, as they have led our economy to great prosperity in the past, will continue to lead our economy to great prosperity in the future for the benefit of all Australians.
And so as the Government stepped in as was necessary and as the second pandemic Budget indicates, we continue to lean in. Our objective though is quite different, as to what some might seek. And that is that we would continue to see business strengthen and as business strengthens, it relies less and less and less on the taxpayer. With initiatives such as the instant expensing initiative and so many others that invest in business investment across this country, we are seeing business stand tall on its feet again. We’re seeing the Australian economy stand tall on its feet again. But this was in no small part due to the extraordinary work done by our resources sector over the course of the past 12 to 18 months. It was a great privilege for Melissa Price and I, in her electorate, to be in the Pilbara, and to stand there with mine workers and say thank you. Thank you for being on site, thank you for being on the job. Thank you for persisting through the difficulties of being separated from family, often because of border closures. People who haven’t seen their families, if they lived in other states, for a long period of time. But they stayed on the tools. And because they stayed on the tools, the Australian economy has seen its way through to this great point where we can say on the basis of the National Accounts that our economy is bigger today than it was before the pandemic hit. Now they can’t say that in the United Kingdom, the United States, or so many other advanced economies around the world. They can’t say it, it hasn’t happened there. But it has happened here. And a key part of that has been the contribution of the resources sector over the course of this past 18 months. Now we intend for that to continue. We intend for that to continue.
And our plan to support that is pretty straightforward. Firstly get the fundamentals right. Lower taxes, only the regulation that’s necessary, affordable energy, the skills you need to do the job. These fundamentals set resources companies up for success and ensure that they are competitive. It’s no small thing to do what the resources sector does and every, every inch you can take, every inch you can take in improving the performance of that site. Prices change, they’re high, they’re low, they come, they go. But the basis of the success of any resources operation is how they work, and how hard they work to ensure it costs as little and to produce as much as they possibly can. That is what the resources sector can achieve better when they’re not being loaded up with higher taxes as some would like to do and have in the past. Or hold them back through legislation or regulation that cripples investment and stymies investment, the fundamentals have got to be right for the resources sector to perform. To strengthen our access to markets in an uncertain world. To support diversification, both in markets and sector strength, that is the second tier of what we are doing. The third is to drive more value add here in Australia, including capitalising on our resource base to support new industries as we lower global emissions.
This is about future proofing the industry in a world of strategic uncertainty and sweeping economic and technological change, including what we know is a far-reaching transition in the global energy economy, or what I call new energy. It’s real. It’s going to have a significant impact on the operations of all Australian businesses both now and in the future. We are preparing Australia to be, not just able to survive in that economy, but to thrive in it. And to be successful in that economy.
This plan is being pursued on many fronts. $20 million in this Budget for the Global Resources Strategy to diversify exports and find new markets. Unlocking and accelerating development through the Strategic Basin Plans. Which all of my members in my Government support, I can assure you. Ensuring the sector has the workers and skills it needs through the National Resources Workforce Strategy which was announced in February 2021. $124.5 million to expand the Exploring for the Future Program to drive investment by providing industry with data about potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources. $100 million in this Budget to expand the Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive Scheme. And this builds on taking a proactive approach in last year’s Budget through our modern manufacturing scheme. And through assistance from the export finance Australia, and working with partner nations on off-take agreements, particularly on the modern manufacturing strategy, the resources sector, is a key sector that we've highlighted as an area of strategic importance. It's one of our six key sectors, where we are focusing on channelling our efforts of support. Now particularly in these latter areas, Lynas has been leading the way. But there have been many other projects that have taken shape. The Albermarle lithium project at Kemerton. The Iluka rare earths project at Eneabba. And many others like the Arafura project in the Northern Territory and the ASM project in Dubbo.
Now, I want Australia to show the world how resource manufacturing and heavy industries can work in a low emissions and indeed a net zero economy when it comes to emissions. I call this the Frank Sinatra approach. We're going to do it our way in Australia, the Australian way. If we can do it in the Pilbara, if we can do it there, we can do it anywhere, as Frank used to sing about New York. And this is the approach we have to take, Australia is going to lead the world in low emissions production in the resources sector. And the very sector, the very sector, that many far from here might suggest, might suggest that is a reason why Australia, they would allege, is not making the commitments that are necessary. Quite the reverse will be proof. In the resources sector, you will demonstrate, as you already are, how Australia will be successful in the new energy economy in adapting in new technologies, in new fuels, in new methods, in new partnerships, in new supply-chains. You will demonstrate, in fact, the resources sector, in my view, will be the pin-up industry in this country for how Australia will be not just making commitments as many will want to do, but importantly are meeting those commitments and beating those commitments. Australia has already reduced emissions by over 20 per cent on 2005 levels. Over 20 per cent. That's a fact. That is something that you have helped achieve. And the commitments that we’ve made out to 2030, you will help us meet. And more than help us meet it, I think you will showcase how Australia is beating them. And so the very industry that many have sought to use to try and talk Australia down when it comes to these issues, is the very industry that will prove Australia is a leader when it comes to new energy, that Australia is a leader in job generation and job creation. The Australian way, which says we can make these commitments and not forsake our heavy industries, not forsake our mining industries. And most importantly, not forsake the people of regional Australia, who others would seek to have us ignore for the sake of pursuing those commitments. We believe both can be achieved and will be achieved, because I have great confidence in the skills and capacity of the resources sector to achieve that. We want to produce amongst the cheapest green hydrogen in the world by 2030 and 2050.
The Budget included $275 million in additional funding for clean hydrogen export hubs. Hydrogen hubs could be located in areas facing transitional pressures and nearby transmission assets making them prospective sites for alternative energy-related uses. Examples of projects include: the Alinta-Fortescue Chichester Solar Gas Hybrid project, which will displace 100 million litres of diesel generation annually from the Pilbara. The Rio Tinto Gudai-Darri solar plant, which will reduce Rio Tinto's annual CO2 emissions by about 90,000 tonnes, and create 2,000 construction jobs and 600 operational jobs. Aurizon is investing some $50 million in low carbon technologies, including battery and hydrogen power for its trains. Kirkland Lake Gold is investing $100 million in technology centres to reduce its carbon footprint. Methane capture at Anglo American’s metallurgical coal operations is generating 140MW of electricity, powering 90,000 homes and reducing emissions by 5 Mt of CO2-e per annum (that’s 1 per cent of total emissions in Australia). Glencore’s carbon transport and storage project will show how carbon capture can work on an industrial scale. The Budget has $265 million to support the development of CCS technology. No nervousness or defensiveness from my Government when it comes to carbon capture and storage. We don't need to [inaudible] at all. I'm a huge supporter of these efforts because they demonstrate a very practical Australian approach.
The types of projects I've said to you, are the Australian way. We will make our path to net zero. But, we will set it. We will not have it determined by others. We will do it in accordance with Australia's national interest and the interests of Australian jobs and the young people of this country who know they could have a future in the very industry represented here tonight all around the country. That is the path that we're setting. We will set it together with the Australian people and the industries that employ people all around this country. And we will not put those industries at risk or those jobs at risk to pursue it, because we know that that is not necessary. It just requires the application of the approach that focuses on championing technology, which has always transformed industries and has always transformed economies.
The Budget backs this up, with solid initiatives. It provides some $565 million for low emissions international partnerships. In just the next couple of weeks, I'll be meeting with the G7 leaders and others, including President Moon of South Korea. And these are the issues that I'll be discussing with them, amongst many others. And I'll be able to talk about what Fortescue is doing in seeking to change how they operate and partner with those who are looking to make steel in different ways all around the world, and all around this country, and so many other innovations that I have already referred to. Because I will be demonstrating that Australia is making its path and we are getting results and we're going to continue to do that into the future. But there are things also that can put this at risk. Practical things. We're a practical government. And we know that the EPBC Act needs reform and we currently have those reforms before the Parliament. Reforms that pose a simple question. Does Labor want your projects to go ahead or be held back by unnecessary red tape? That's the question we're putting to the Opposition in the Parliament.
Now, when we brought together these reforms, and I acknowledge Minister Sussan Ley who is with us here tonight, who brought those reforms together. No one is debating about reducing the environmental standards that apply. The industry is not debating it either. They're just simply saying "they're the standards, why does it have to take so long?" Uphold the standards, apply the standards, ensure they are followed. And that is our government's view. Absolutely, our government's view. The proposals we're seeking to have legislated aren't about changing the standards one way or the other, they're ensuring that decisions get made faster and consistent with those standards. When I took this to the National Cabinet, all states agreed that this was an important reform. Labor, Liberal states, Chief Ministers, Premiers from all the states and territories said this was an important regulatory reform which should pass the Parliament. But Labor is standing in the way when it comes to that legislation. It's important that legislation passes. It's important that those who are seeking to invest in this country, invest in a country which now because of the various tax incentives and other arrangements we put in place that means tax on new investment in this country, it’s not 30 per cent, it's not 25 per cent, it is 21 per cent, according to the work done by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. But you can create incentives, you can [inaudible] and you can put it in your boardroom. But when you have to start engaging with a process that is long winded and costs you money and costs Australian jobs, well, that's not OK. And our proposals are designed to change that.
So if people want to stand at this platform and tell you they're for the resources industry, they need to vote for this Bill. And if they don't vote for this Bill, you can't believe them. You can't believe them. They can give as fine-as speeches as you like here, but if they don't support this Bill that actually brings forward investment decisions that means jobs in the resources sector, that uphold the environmental standards then they don’t really support it. They do not support resources.
We are also focused on changes to the ARENA arrangements, to ensure that we can provide support for energy efficiency projects, carbon capture technologies, including backstop technologies like direct air capture, clean hydrogen projects to reduce emissions in aluminium cement and steel, soil carbon technologies. And we want ARENA to be able to do that. And those projects are all incredibly important to the resources sector. If you're for the resources sector, you'll support those changes. If you're not for the resources sector, you'll vote against them. The Labor Party is going to vote against them and they're terribly riven within their own ranks when it comes to those issues. On our side of politics, in my government, we're all for it. We're all for it. Because we want to see these investments take place and these technologies emerge and we want to see Australia be competitive in the new energy economy.
Gas basins - we're focused on unlocking those new gas basins. Beetaloo basin, in particular, for example is one of the world's largest undeveloped onshore gas resources. We're for it. Absolutely for it. We understand the important role gas will play, particularly over the next 30 years and more. We're all for it. But not everybody in this place is for it. If you're for the resources sector, you're for it. If you don't, you're against it. Our greenfield agreements. We sought to have those greenfield arrangements legislated through the Parliament. We'd like to see them still legislated through the Parliament. They're important for investment, they’re important for jobs, they're important for the resources sector. We're for it. We've always been for it. Our opponents in this place are against it.
You may say, "why has he come along and been so partisan and talked about these issues?" I'm talking about the policies, I'm talking about the things that make a difference in your business. The policies my Government is seeking to put in place to ensure that [inaudible, you can earn more for Australia, in the same way that you have over the last 18 months, which has seen this country and our economy perform better than almost any other advanced economy in the world. You did that. Australians all across this country did that. We enabled them to do it. We did our part and you did your part. This Parliament needs to do its part to ensure that you can keep doing it. The sorts of changes I've talked to you about tonight, these important legislation, on regulation, on new energy technologies, on greenfield sites developed, on gas basins being opened up. This is all critical to Australia's economic future. And we will fight for this. And we will continue to pursue this. Because we believe in your sector. That is the test, if you're for the resources sector and regional jobs in this country. If you're opposed to those things, you are seeking to have no part in the future of regional Australia and industries that support it.
A lot to get done. You're doing it. We greatly appreciate the partnership we have with the sector all across the country. But mostly, as I conclude, I'm just incredibly grateful. Incredibly grateful for what you have done over the course of these last 18 months. For those working on site, for those working back at the head office, for those seeking the additional finance, for those keeping the show on the road. For every single one of those days, you are a partner in the great result we saw today for Australia, in our economy being stronger than it was before the pandemic because of your efforts and there are more Australians in work today than there were before the pandemic because of your efforts. Thank you very much for your contribution to Australia.
Press Conference - Queenstown, New Zealand
31 May 2021
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Kia ora koutou katoa. Nga mihi nui kia koutou and welcome Prime Minister Morrison and welcome to all of you, including our guests from the Australian gallery. You've just seen that we've exchanged jerseys as we look to celebrate New Zealand and Australia's successful bid to host, co-host the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, which is one of the largest sporting events on the planet and I know PM Morrison and I were both very actively engaged in that bid and it's a delight to have that prospect of hosting together on the horizon.
I also want to just acknowledge the significance, as we've done throughout this visit, of our ability to speak face to face, to be here in person, and neither of us take that for granted. And as I mentioned last night, that's not to say we haven't been in close contact. In fact, over the last, you know, 15 months or so, our contact has only increased and that has been, I believe, certainly to New Zealand's benefit and I'd like to think to Australia's also, as we've shared our learnings, information and work collaboratively as we navigate COVID-19.
The COVID challenge that we all face is writ large at the moment and I did want to acknowledge the people of Victoria and just say everyone in New Zealand is thinking of you at this time. We've had our fair share of challenges and we understand what it's like when you, when you reach another hurdle, but we have absolute faith it's a hurdle that you will come out the other side of and we look forward to welcoming you back on our shores again soon.
The trans-Tasman relationship, as we've said many times, is New Zealand's most important. We are family and the pandemic has underscored that in, in many ways. You've seen the scenes of people being reunited but there's also been the cooperation during COVID. The fact that we have worked as collaboratively as we could around the disrupted supply chains that we have experienced, we've seen the value of a highly integrated economies between us, and we continue, we will endeavour to continue to work together on the challenges that we face.
We've had a wide-ranging discussion today across a varied agenda, which is somewhat captured by I think a 10-page leaders statement, so you will have seen the diversity of the agenda. We discussed everything from climate change, to trade and security issues, to our commitment to see the rollout of the vaccine in the Pacific and really checking in that we between ourselves felt like we had the breadth of coverage to ensure that we were supporting our Pacific neighbours in that rollout. We talked about managing our borders and the work that we can do collaboratively together as we write the rulebook for that next phase and look, when it's safe to do so, to reconnect with the world. We talked about our single economic market agenda, including our work on digital trade in the circular economy, and also the opportunities that exist to see intangible outcomes for APEC. Whilst that won't be a face to face meeting, I have invited PM Morrison to join me face to face in New Zealand for those virtual meetings if he so chooses.
We also discussed Australia's deportation policy and opportunities for people who move across the Tasman to access a pathway to citizenship - a concern and an opportunity that we have highlighted consistently for a number of years. As with any family, we will have our disagreements from time to time, but those disagreements are still undertaken in the spirit of openness and ultimately friendship. We are much bigger than our differences and the last year has taught us that. I note Scott that following your visit we have Dame Patsy Reddy our Governor-General visiting, and then myself in July, very much looking forward to visiting to be able to pick up again a number of exchanges across tourism and trade and to demonstrating our ongoing commitment to our relationship. Hand over to you now.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you Prime Minister, and kia ora. It is a great privilege to be able to come here together, as leaders of two countries that share an incredible history. And to come from lands which have an ancient Indigenous history as well, and we can learn so much of that as we chart our way through what are largely uncharted waters, I think, for both Australia and New Zealand. And as the Prime Minister has said, we think particularly of those going through great stress and trial, even now, whether it is back home in Australia in Victoria as we face our most recent challenge with the outbreak there, or indeed, not far, not too far from here in Christchurch and the the floods that are present. Australia is no stranger to floods or fires or cyclones, or indeed even mouse plagues. We have, as both countries, endured a large amount of challenge over the course, particularly of these last few years, and the relationship the Prime Minister and I, Jacinda and I, have had over that period of time has been incredibly helpful for us to work through these many issues.
And we have been on a journey as two countries, not just from the beaches of Gallipoli but the way through COVID as well, and it has been that constant dialogue, that very honest and open dialogue that we have been able to share. I remember one occasion, I remember you called, we were working through the TGA approval of the vaccine at the time. And I was out outback near Quilpie, and so wherever I happen to be in Australia or Jacinda happens to be in New Zealand we are always within close reach to be able to address the many issues we're facing together. Because we have pursued a very uniquely Anzac path, I think, through COVID-19, and we will continue to do that. And we had much sharing of those issues. But we also must continue to pursue a very Anzac path through the many other challenges we face, whether it's to regional security, the many other, the many other pressures that are placed on both of our countries to secure our way, to secure our prosperity and the jobs and the safety that we want for all of our peoples.
Today we, as the Prime Minister has said, we've committed further to the work we're doing in the Pacific, to provide not only the vaccines in our own countries, but, of course, to support the vaccination programme, whether it's in Fiji or whether it's in Tonga or many other places. We are covering the challenge that exists there. And as well for Australia, up in Timor Leste as well.
The supply chain dialogue I think is very important and goes to the closer economic relationship on our economies. As we're coming through COVID, the Australia and New Zealand economy is fused together more today than I suspect it has been over my lifetime. With our borders affected and largely closed, effectively closed, it is of the Australian and New Zealand economy which is sustaining each other. And so the opening up of the travel arrangements between Australia and New Zealand is good for both countries, as we always knew it would be. But in our discussions today, and with other business leaders, they are pursuing even more opportunities, I think, to see greater and more effective outcomes, while the rest of the world is closed off to us at this time. I think we will increase our appreciation of the economic ties that we have between Australia and New Zealand.
It is true that we are making changes to the pathway to permanent residency, reducing the five-year arrangement to prove on the income test down to three years, and also providing the leniency around the proof of that test around the impact of COVID, and that is welcome. And we will support New Zealand in their stewardship of APEC, which will come at a very important time when it comes to pursuing a free and open Indo-Pacific, one that is sovereign and one that is resilient. And trade is a key part of that agenda. As the world opens up again, and it's still too soon to say when that might occur, as we discussed that at length today, what will be important is the multilateral arrangements we provide to trading economies, trading countries like Australia and New Zealand to be successful when that occurs, and for us to continue to pursue that success, even now while our borders are closed.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Thank you, Prime Minister Morrison. We're now going to open the floor for questions. I believe that those have already been registered. I've been given the list, so you'll forgive me, we're narrowing down the [inaudible] job to myself today. So, starting off we have Newshub.
JOURNALIST: Hi, Prime Minister Morrison, [inaudible] from Newshub. You've said Australia's sovereignty is not for sale when it comes to China. Do you believe New Zealand sold its sovereignty to China, and is that jeopardising our relationship with Australia and our other Five Eyes partners?
PRIME MINISTER: No, is my short answer. Australia and New Zealand are trading nations. But we, neither of us would ever trade our sovereignty or trade our values. We have stood side by side to defend and protect and promote these values. So not just on the beaches of Gallipoli, but in Afghanistan and in so many other places around the world. This is a commitment that we share and that we honour, and that will always be our approach.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: I have SBS.
JOURNALIST: Thank you, Prime Minister. Pablo Vinales, SBS News. Prime Minister Morrison yesterday flagged the possibility of the Pacific bubble expanding into countries like Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and the Solomon Islands. What would be the requirement for this to happen in terms of vaccination rates, and those countries their capacity to deal with the potential for outbreaks, and do either of you have a timeframe?
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Both Australia and New Zealand share an enthusiasm for, where it is safe to do so, exploring additional options for expanding the trans-Tasman bubble. However, we both acknowledge that we want to maintain the freedoms we have. That means maintaining the very high bar, that between ourselves we have said we don't want to jeopardise the freedom that we have within our own countries to move about freely and to protect the health of our citizens. So in this early phase while we still do not have widespread vaccination in either the Pacific, our own countries, or indeed even broadly across the international community, we would need to satisfy ourselves that there wasn't the risk of COVID entering into our community. So there is a high bar. There are Pacific countries where that would potentially be an option. Some of them are not exploring it at present, but we keep that option open and available and it's most likely to be with our Pacific neighbours that we'll next look to.
PRIME MINISTER: I agree with that. Pacific nations play important roles within both of our economies, particularly when it comes to seasonal labour and things of that nature. And so where we have opportunities to pursue at least that, at least that in a safe way and with appropriate quarantine arrangements, I think they're the early steps that can be made in that area, and Vanuatu is such a country that has been raising that with Australia. But you've got to do it safely, and not just safely for Australia. We are very mindful that across the Pacific, where COVID has had and will continue to have the potential to cause terrible devastation in those communities, and by and large, they have done incredibly well. But we are very aware of the health risks for our Pacific family, as much as we are in Australia and New Zealand.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: TVNZ.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Morrison, [inaudible] from TVNZ. What's the latest on Suhayra Aden and is it appropriate for you to export your problem to New Zealand when we're supposed to be mates?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Suhayra's not an Australian citizen. But we have spoken today about her children and the pathway that they have eligibility for in Australia and to stand ready to address those issues. On the broader issue, which is one often raised when I come to New Zealand or indeed when we meet in Australia. Australia's rules, laws regarding criminal acts by those who commit them in Australia, in violation of our laws when they're not citizens, are deported on the conclusion of their sentence. Now, that's not a law that applies specifically to New Zealand or any other country. It is a universal position of Australian law. Australia is, together with New Zealand, some of the most, I would argue, the most successful immigration countries anywhere in the world. And one of the reasons you are able to achieve that is that you're very clear that when people come to your country that they have to abide by our laws.
JOURNALIST: Was it appropriate though to revoke her citizenship?
PRIME MINISTER: It is our law, and we believe it was.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: We, of course, reiterate our ongoing view on the issue of the cancellation of citizenship, on issues of deportation. Prime Minister Morrison and I have had these exchanges before. He's very clear on New Zealand's view.
I've come to The Daily Telegraph.
JOURNALIST: Clare Armstrong from The Daily Telegraph. Prime Minister Ardern, your recent positioning on China has alarmed Australia and western allies. Are you worried your country's Five Eyes membership could be downgraded? And Mr Morrison, China says New Zealand is more wise and sober in its dealings with Beijing than Australia, but doesn't Australia and Five Eyes need friends who will stick with us?
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: So, the short answer to your question would be no. And in fact, you know, at no point in our discussions today was, did I detect any difference in our relative positions on the importance of maintaining a very strong and principled perspective on issues around trade, on issues around human rights. And you'll see that Australia and New Zealand have broadly been positioned in exactly the same place on these issues consistently. So I really push back on any suggestion that we are not taking a strong stance on these incredibly important issues. When it comes to the matter of Five Eyes, we remain a committed member, that is not in question, not in doubt.
PRIME MINISTER: I concur with the Prime Minister. I think as great partners, friends, allies and indeed family, there will be those far from here who would seek to divide us. And they will not succeed, because as we've stood resolutely together for the values and principles that Australians and New Zealanders have stood for, and indeed fought for, that will continue to be the case. So partnering successfully as we've always done, whether it's in the Five Eyes in particular or more broadly in our great cooperation. Most significantly, whether it's in the OECD or the multilateral fora, the World Trade Organisation or indeed the work that we've done through the World Health Organisation, where we share very strong views. And so we will continue to work together in that way. And I have no doubt there will be those who would seek to undermine Australia and New Zealand's security by seeking to create points of difference which are not there.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: I've got Radio New Zealand.
JOURNALIST: Kia ora, Jane [inaudible], Radio New Zealand. Prime Minister Morrison, what's your assessment of the possibility of armed conflict between Australia and China, particularly in flashpoints like Taiwan or the South China Sea? And if that did eventuate, would you expect New Zealand to back Australia as a traditional Five Eyes ally? And who are you talking about when you are saying there are those who seek to divide New Zealand and Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Let me make a couple of points. The first one is the world is being characterised by increased strategic competition between the United States and China. That is a self-evident fact. But I would say that our shared view would be that such strategic competition doesn't need to lead to increased likelihood of conflict or other pressures, whether they be coercion of any nature or interference. That is not necessary. What we both pursue through the many ways we work together is a free and open Indo-Pacific. Where countries can trade, sovereign, resilient, and to go about what they wish to pursue in their national interests for the benefit of their people. A peaceful Indo-Pacific. So that's what our objective is. That's what our goal is. And whether it's cooperating ourselves, and particularly through the ANZUS Alliance, which is obviously guiding all ultimate decisions that are made in the context of that alliance. What we're also pursuing through the many other fora that we're working in – the United Nations and elsewhere – it's all about achieving that goal. Of course, the world is uncertain. Of course, the world has risks of conflict and tension. Our efforts are designed to mitigate that, to calibrate against that and to ensure that we're working together for a more peaceful Indo-Pacific where we acknowledge the realities of strategic competition, but do not accept as any foregone conclusion where that competition may lead to.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] and my other question, who are you talking about when you say others are seeking to divide us?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, well there are many others, people are always trying to divide Australia and New Zealand all over the place, but they will not succeed. And as I said, the ANZUS Alliance arrangements are fairly clear.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: We've got Nine News.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Ardern, Fiona Willan from Nine News.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Kia ora.
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned that New Zealand relies too heavily on Australia and others for defence and intelligence sharing. And is that why you appear to be cosying up to China? And Prime Minister Morrison would you say that's a fair description of the situation?
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: If I had the ability, I would ask for some examples or evidence of the claim that you've made, but you've already heard me speak directly and strongly to refute the assertion that we are doing anything other than maintaining a very principled position on human rights issues, on trade issues as they relate to China. And in fact, I think you'll find very little difference in many of the messages that we've been sending relative to Australia. So that would be my first point.
On the question of whether or not we rely on others. You know, in our view and my very strong view, we carry responsibility for ourselves to ensure adequate investment in our defence forces and equally, that we carry our weight as a member of the intelligence and security community. Having said that, we have always operated at a regional level where we support one another. There will be parts of the Pacific for whom we will be, for instance, better placed to engage in search and rescue, to engage in fisheries monitoring, to engage in monitoring trade sanctions than Australia, and vice versa. We work together, but I reject the suggestion that we don't carry and deliver on our behalf and towards the international community.
PRIME MINISTER: I share the Prime Minister's views. Australia and New Zealand obviously have different capabilities in these areas and we have different programs, but we have interoperability, which is, I think, incredibly important. Because that interoperability has been on display in so many theatres of conflict and peacekeeping and emergency response all around the world, and particularly in our own region. You'd be aware that Australia is continuing to increase our investments in these areas with our capability, we see these very much in our national interests. And we believe that Australia, acting in this way, also provides great stability and support for the region as well. And I know that's welcomed. And so interoperability, we each have different jobs to do, we each have different capabilities that we bring. It's our job as prime ministers to ensure that that comes together in the best way possible for the security of our own nations and our national interests, but also in the broader family role that we have across the Pacific.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: We've got Newstalk.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] for Newstalk ZB. I'm just wondering, the United States is bringing pressure on not just the Australians, but on others to join in an inquiry to find out the source of COVID, whether it came from a laboratory in Wuhan or an animal base. Will you go along with that enquiry? This is for both of you. And just a follow up to you Prime Minister Morrison, your recent trip to Melbourne. [inaudible] exposed, but did you, how seriously did you think before coming to New Zealand about being in Melbourne so recently.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Might start on the WHO and the enquiries that are being undertaken there. I think it was very clear from the outset, from the perspective of the international community that was really tranche one. That was the beginning of some of that investigatory work in which we all will benefit from understanding the origin of this current pandemic. We have, of course, long supported and continue to do so, the work that the WHO is doing to investigate the origin of the pandemic. And it was also a given that there would be a second tranche. We'd be concerned at any suggestion that we weren't able to complete that work, because as an international community, how are we going to protect ourselves from a further outbreak in the future if we don't understand what happened in the first place? So, yes, absolutely. We'll continue to work with others in encouraging and supporting the WHO to complete the mission that we are all very reliant on.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I start by acknowledging the work of former Prime Minister Helen Clark. As one of the countries that were there at the outset with the investigation that was led by the former Prime Minister, we were very pleased when she was appointed to that role. That gave us a lot of confidence that this was an exercise to the best of her ability and in the circumstances that she was dealing with, that she would not hold back in seeking to get the truth of what has occurred here. Now, there's clearly a lot more work to do. And I would share the view put forward by the United States. It's important that we understand this for public health. This has nothing to do with global politics. This has nothing to do with anything other than ensuring that the global pandemic, which has caused such havoc around the world, stealing lives and livelihoods, that we understand how this occurred so we can do everything we possibly can to ensure that that does not happen again. So many of the conversations we as leaders have, both with each other, but with many leaders around the world is, yes, we need to deal with what's happening in this pandemic, but what are the lessons from this pandemic for what is likely to be another and in what form it might come? And so that's why this process is so important and why it should not be impeded and why it should be so transparent. To ensure, we owe it to people all over the world to ensure that this is understood in the best way. So I do want to pass on our thanks to Helen for the work she has done and the other members of the panel there were Australians also involved at the officials level in that process. And I think this is a question that the world needs answered for their own safety and their own protection in the future.
On the other matter, of course, I complied with all the requirements of the New Zealand government regarding my travel to New Zealand as all Australian should and as all New Zealanders should when they come to Australia. It is a big challenge for the Victorian people at the moment, but they're coming through it strongly as I had no doubt they would. And we are working to ensure we open Victoria as soon as possible, so Victorians, Australians in Victoria can go about their lives again as the rest of the country has, and indeed as New Zealanders are here.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: 10 News.
JOURNALIST: Chloe Bouras from Network 10.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Kia ora, Chloe.
JOURNALIST: Australia deports Kiwi criminals. Should we accept back an Australian criminal, the Christchurch terrorist? Mr Morrison, you've previously said that you're open to discussion, Ms Ardern, have you put in that request and do you think that fair given Australia's policy?
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Well of course, one thing I'd say is that our view sometimes Australia deports Australian criminals. The issue though of the Christchurch terrorist. What we've always said is that so much about the future there and those future decisions really needs to come from the guidance of the community. And whilst we haven't undergone any formal consultation on the future imprisonment or where the terrorist will see out the end of his days in prison, certainly some of the informal feedback has been a desire for the terrorist to remain in New Zealand. And I understand that, there's something about the proximity and ensuring that the sentence that was handed down is served. But I do want to acknowledge just the open dialogue that I've had with Prime Minister Morrison on this question. There's never been any issue with me being able to raise the issue generally. But at this stage, I'm certainly not detecting at this stage any desire or strong desire from the community for there to be a change
PRIME MINISTER: That would be our view also. We are deeply sensitive to the New Zealand people, particularly the community and the families that are affected that I have met with and, of course, the Prime Minister has. And we want to respect their wishes and their interests, and we're always open to those dialogues should they wish to come forward. But at this point, that is not the plan.
JOURNALIST: Do you accept our Prime Minister's premise that you deport Australian criminals?
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Look, we won't get into ad libbing there Barry, just because it's not fair on everyone else. But just to conclude, Prime Minister Morrison is under no doubt on my views on these matters.
PRIME MINISTER: And likewise.
THE RT HON. JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: All right everyone, thank you so much for joining us today. Safe travels to those of you who have travelled today. Unfortunately I'll be bidding Prime Minister Morrison farewell here so I can make my way to some of the floods affecting New Zealand. But thank you again, PM Morrison.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, great to be here. Thank you everyone.
Remarks, Bilateral Meeting with Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand
31 May 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Prime Minister. Kia ora. It's very good to be here in person and to have these discussions in person. We've had, we've had many many over the phone over this past year and a half, and when we last met it was in Sydney for, for our Annual Leaders Dialogue. So I'm pleased that, that our Annual Leaders Dialogue has not lost its pace and to be able to meet face to face again. It demonstrates exactly what you've said.
People often ask us, is this a partnership, it's far more than a partnership. It is a family relationship between Australia and New Zealand. We have some very serious times that we're dealing with, not just from the health point of view but obviously from a regional security point of view and Australia and New Zealand take a very prominent role in the Pacific, and I thank you for the relationship we've had working on particularly those issues in the Pacific.
It is true that Australia and New Zealand has done very well in the course of COVID. But as you can see in Victoria now, those challenges persist. And equally in Fiji, they are dealing with the challenges, and Papua New Guinea, they are dealing with challenges. We're supporting all of our Pacific family through our vaccine dose delivery into those regions and supporting them in their vaccinations.
But the broader issue of the Indo-Pacific and a free and open Indo-Pacific is something Australia and New Zealand feels very strongly about. And working with our like-minded partners all around the world, the United States and the United Kingdom, and as we're discussing across Europe, Japan and India, all of us have a big stake in ensuring a world that favours freedom and a free and open Indo-Pacific. And so we greatly appreciate the partnership we have to achieve those outcomes.
So with those issues all on the table today, we should, we should move on and get on with it. I really appreciate the direct personal relationship and dialogue we've had and, and that will only continue because we have common challenges, there are common threats, and that has always I think eclipsed everything when it comes to the strength of the working family relationship. Thank you very much.
Remarks, Business Reception - Queenstown, New Zealand
30 May 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. I'm going to follow the same practice that you have. Jacinda, it’s wonderful to be with you and Clarke. Jenny and I are very pleased to be back here in Queenstown. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou, katoa, kia ora, g’day.
It’s great to be here because it's always great to be amongst family. And can I acknowledge Ngāi Tahu. Can I acknowledge also the Ngunnawal people, which is the land I have just come from here today. As we were just remarking and what was a very moving welcome by Ngāi Tahu, Jenny and I, earlier this afternoon. It was truly wonderful. And we both share an Indigenous heritage in each of our lands, different as it is, but spiritual, informative, ancient and I think a guiding light to both nations as we continue to find a path through, as the Prime Minister has just said, in a world that has no rule book, it would seem, and particularly when it comes to the pandemic. And so I acknowledge the Ngāi Tahu and their elders past and present, as is our custom in Australia to acknowledge our elders past and present and our Indigenous peoples, and importantly, the future, importantly, the future.
Many years ago, as Jim will recall, and I knew Jim many years ago when I was here in New Zealand twenty years ago. It’s great to see you again. The work that Ngāi Tahu have done on the South Island of New Zealand, building up the tourism businesses, whether it’s whale watch and my great old mate Wally Stone and others. Sir Tipene O'Regan, a real great elder who’s done so much for New Zealand and for his people. But building those businesses, getting young people employed, from Ngāi Tahu. It was inspirational to me when I was here at the time and saw how it worked and I went back home to Australia and I must say my experience working with Maori across New Zealand all those years ago has greatly informed how I have sought to engage with Indigenous Australians as well, and we’re seeing success there too. And I think it's a very simple [inaudible]. So I want to thank, I want to thank Ngāi Tahu very much for their leadership role amongst Indigenous peoples, not just here in New Zealand but I think all around the world.
Can I thank also the team that has been pulling together the work of the business dialogue, Greg Lowe and Ann Sherry. Ann’s been doing this for many years, and thank you very much. Can I also acknowledge Patricia Forsythe, our High Commissioner here to New Zealand, and of course Dame Annette King, who's been a great interlocutor in Australia. When Jacinda and I could only speak over WhatsApp on the phone and Annette was always there, as I’m sure Patricia has been for you as well, for Jacinda and the New Zealand Government as well, and thank you for the great work that you've all been doing. I understand her Worship Steve Chadwick, Mayor of Rotorua, is also here, and that’s wonderful that we’re joined as well.
Look, I didn’t want to say too much tonight, but I do want to acknowledge exactly what Jacinda has. While we face the pandemic, and have been over these last 18 months, even now we're reminded that there are things that are occurring that keep our focus, whether it's the floods here in around Christchurch and Ashburton - as I remarked to a group, which is where my grandfather was born, many years ago - or indeed what we're seeing in Victoria as we take on the latest challenge in the pandemic, because there is always the next challenge the next day in this pandemic. And what I believe Australia and New Zealand has been able to achieve in these last 18 months is quite extraordinary on a global scale. And I think it's a testament to the peoples of New Zealand and Australia. It's an Anzac path that we’ve chartered through this pandemic. We have gone our own way in this part of the world and we've demonstrated, I think, people's great resilience, which has been our form over a very long period of time. And we've been able to both save lives and save livelihoods. We find ourselves in a situation with the relative strength of our economies to the rest of the world and indeed the, our health strength when it comes to COVID, which stands out amongst the nations of the world. And I know Jacinda and I, when we speak to foreign leaders, they remark constantly about how Australia and New Zealand has been able to chart its way through.
But one thing we know is it's not over yet. And for towns like Queenstown, which is not unlike - although the temperature is a little different - Cairns, both towns that have been heavily reliant and have been built on world renowned tourism industries. And I know it has been the tourism industries more than most that have had to, have had to suffer the most through this pandemic, because whilst even we might be able to ensure that our domestic tourism industries can move forward, and that's great, that's tremendous, but so much of the international businesses support places like this, and as you saw the lines at Fergburger get shorter and shorter over the course of the pandemic - it’s the Fergburger index, [inaudible] international tourism industry, which tourism operators will know well - yet you persisted, yet you persisted.
So I’m, as Jim was telling me, when the bubble opened up, where we were able to achieve that just before Anzac Day, and, and they were high fiving Jim in the streets because this was opening up again. That's tremendous because we have a shared prosperity, Australia and New Zealand. That's what the closer economic relationship has always been about. It's about a shared prosperity. And that shared prosperity, I think, is realised through what we've been able to achieve both through COVID and now opening up. And let's just see how much further that can go. But for now, we can't be complacent. For now we need to focus on the work ahead, not just the human biosecurity but indeed the animal biosecurity as well, that’s an important part of our discussions, ensuring our prosperity, but also keeping Australians and New Zealanders safe during this time.
So Jacinda and Clarke, thank you so much for having us here in your home country and we look forward to the discussions over the next day and we look forward to returning again on another occasion. Last time we were here Jenny jumped off the bridge. She's the more adventurous, she's the bungee jumper in our family. She’s probably going to be the only one, I suspect. That was on a happier day at another time when COVID wasn’t occurring and we were here many years ago with some friends. But here, over these next 24 hours, there is much work to do, isn't there Ann and Greg, and we will get about that over the next 24 hours. And I want to thank you all for your attendance here tonight and look forward to having a chat with some of you where we get the opportunity. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
27 May 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm joined by the Health and Aged Care Minister and President of the AMA Dr Khorshid, who was here to be with the Health Minister and Aged Care Minister on another announcement today, and I appreciate you joining us today Dr, given the other matters that have been escalating over these last few days.
Once again we're faced with the challenge in our ongoing battle against COVID. A challenge and a battle that we've faced many, many times, and on each occasion, together we have overcome. There are no certainties, there are no guarantees in a global pandemic, and against a virus, an insidious virus such as this. Our defence has always been the steadfast resilience of the Australian people, working together, putting in place the best possible set of protections and systems that has seen Australia been able to come through and protect lives and livelihoods like few other countries in the world today. But that, of itself, provides no guarantee or certainty about the way that the virus will continue to seek to strike anywhere around the country, as it has again on this occasion.
The next seven days in Victoria will be very challenging, and of course we are very mindful of the distress and the difficulty that this will impose upon people right across Victoria as a result of what has been described, rightly I think, by the Acting Premier as a circuit breaking lockdown, a circuit breaking lockdown. And a lockdown for seven days that hopefully won't go as long as that, as the Acting Premier indicated to me today when we spoke earlier this morning. They'll be reviewing this regularly and the progress that they're making, and I thank him for that engagement we've had over these last few days as we've been working through these issues. This is important though not just for across Victoria but also important nationally, and we'll demonstrate, I believe again, how well Australia deals not only with the day to day issues, but when challenges come, how we respond to those challenges together, work through it together, get it done, and make sure that we can move to reopen Victoria as soon as possible.
Right now the AHPPC, the medical expert panel, is meeting, as you'd expect them to, and that's why Professor Kelly is not here with us today, and he will stand up later this afternoon, after that meeting, and can provide you with further updates. Right now every support is being provided to the Victorian Government that they have sought, and that has not only included the additional vaccines, which the Health Minister indicated yesterday. We have 218 ADF personnel who are in Victoria, Victoria, continuing to provide support under operation COVID Assist, and I've made it very clear to the Premier that any other additional support that he requires that he will receive, and he has indicated to me that he's seeking nothing further from the Commonwealth at this time.
I want to commend the Victorian Government and the Acting Premier for their efforts over recent days, in particular, and I especially want to thank the contact tracers in Victoria for the very difficult job that they are engaged in. With so many different points of contact that we have here, being able to work through that information and the many thousands of contacts that they're working through, I think they're doing a tremendous job and I commend them for the job that they are doing, remembering that there are many rings of containment to deal and protect Australia, deal with the virus and to protect Australians from the virus. There is of course our international borders, there is of course the work that is done enforcing those public health orders in the states through the quarantine system or otherwise at Howard Springs, and then there is of course the contact tracing regime that has been so effectively used, not just now in Victoria but in other states that have confronted these exact same challenges, and Australians have been able to come through.
So, once again, we will come through, and no matter what our success has been to date, that is no guarantee or certainty against a very challenging virus that continues to test not only here in Australia but all around the world. I particularly want to thank the 40,411 Victorians who yesterday got tested in a record day. I also want to thank the 30,426 Victorians who got vaccinated yesterday. As the Acting Premier said yesterday, and again today, there are ample vaccines for those who will come forward and receive those vaccines in Victoria, and our simple message to you, to them is, is to please come forward and do that. Their restrictions allow Victorians to go forward and get those vaccinations, whether it's through the GP networks that are present, or otherwise through the state facilities that have been established. What we need to do now is what we've done on every occasion, we just need to focus on working the problem, working the issue, and working together. That's how we've come through on every occasion. That's the way the Commonwealth Government, my Government is addressing this, together with the Health Minister and our officials and experts here, and that is the nature of my engagement with the Acting Premier James Merlino, working closely with him, cooperatively, productively, together to ensure we deal with this latest challenge and to work to ensure that we get Victoria opened up again as soon as possible. Greg.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much Prime Minister, and to Dr Omar Khorshid, the head of the AMA. Today is a difficult day for all Victorians and we recognise that these are highly regrettable but necessary restrictions under the current circumstances. We've been through this before, we'll get through this again. And our task is to support, as we do with each and every state, every time there is a challenge in one of the jurisdictions, to support Victorians now. And on that front, as the Prime Minister has said, the Commonwealth is chairing the AHPPC or the medical expert panel. We've provided the manifests for over 2,260 flights out of Victoria in recent days, asymptomatic testing has been triggered, 130,000 additional doses have been allocated for Victoria, with the first 20,000 of those being provided today, in addition to the 71,000 Pfizer doses that are due for delivery tomorrow. The Victorian Aged Care Response Centre has been stood up, and contact tracing through the National Incident Centre has also been offered.
As the Prime Minister mentioned, yesterday was a record day for vaccinations. It's simply a sign that Australians are coming forward and we thank them for that - 111,388 Australians came forward to be vaccinated yesterday, and all up that's 3.9 million Australians who've been vaccinated so far. So that rollout is accelerating, as supply has allowed. We have so far been able to provide 666,000 doses to Victoria. We note the comments of the Premier yesterday that there are significant supplies within Victoria, and that's just to the Victorian Government, and 853,000 vaccines to primary care sites. Yesterday, just over 30,000 Victorians were vaccinated. In coming days, there are more supplies which will be provided.
And then, lastly, I want to acknowledge two things, and this was actually why Omar was joining us today, we've already opened up additional doses - we acknowledge that we have tripled doses for small general practices, doubled doses for medium-size general practices, and earlier this week we added more doses again to those that have had high utilisation rates. Today we're announcing that we are opening up expressions of interest for up to 900 additional general practices to participate in the rollout around Australia, and I think that's a very important sign. As supply comes on board, we'll be opening up to the national immunisation practices which have not been within the current accredited group, and I think that that will give them more opportunity in more places for more Australians to be vaccinated. And we're also announcing $2.6 million for doctors' mental health and for health professionals' mental health. Our doctors and our nurses and our allied health professionals, Omar, have been the frontline. They've worked relentless hours, they've saved lives and they've protected lives, and on this difficult day it's worth recalling that around the world there've been 557,000 cases and an agonising 12,900 lives lost. But for our doctors and nurses, Australia could have been a very different place, but their stresses have been great, their pressures have been ongoing, and their needs have been silent in so many ways and it's our privilege to be able to support our medical professionals. Omar.
DR. OMAR KHORSHID, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT: Thank you Minister and thank you Prime Minister. Firstly, I'd just like to say that the thoughts of the AMA and of course the whole medical profession in this country are with Victorians as they face this challenge. We know they've done it before and we're confident that Victoria will succeed again. I only have one thing really to add to what's been said by the Prime Minister and the Minister on COVID, and that is around vaccines. Now we know that Australians, many Australians are concerned about the vaccination programme. They've been waiting, they've been wondering, you know, is it right for me? Can I wait a little longer? Will there be a bit more data that tells me whether this is a good decision for me or not, and I think the events of the last few days have demonstrated that COVID is a real and present threat to all of us, all the time, despite our excellent arrangements at the borders, despite our great track record with COVID, this is a threat, particularly to vulnerable Australians, and it's pleasing that over half of the over 70s in the country have now had their first vaccination. That will improve their safety significantly. But for the rest of us, this is a wake-up call, it's a reminder that COVID is real, it is here now, and the best thing that you can do as an Australian, not just for your own health but the health of the people around you, is to go and get your vaccine as soon as it's available to you.
Can I just make one more comment, if I could, just about the very, the very generous announcement just then by the Minister on a significant investment to doctors' mental health. Around $1 million of that will enable the AMA through its DRS4DRS health service, to support those frontline doctors who have been at the frontline of our response to COVID, and of course, work in a very difficult circumstances, even without a pandemic present. It will allow us to bring the standard of mental health support to medical practitioners up to the same level around the country, and it's something for which the AMA is very grateful to the Government for that support. There's additional support for us to continue our psychology telehealth service, which has been funded so far by Government, and the continuation of that funding is also a very significant step and we are very thankful for that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is it your view that if the vaccine rollout had been implemented more swiftly Victoria wouldn't be in the situation it faces now and wouldn't have had to have gone into a lockdown?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's hard to reconcile that with the international experience. When you look at countries around the world, which had far worse COVID experiences and of course entered into their vaccination programme in emergency measures, well before Australia, whether that's in Canada, whether it's in France, particularly now what we're seeing in Singapore, then it's hard to marry that with the international experience, but what is important is exactly what Dr Khorshid was just saying, and I have said and the Health Minister has said, and that this is another, a further reminder, I think, to Australians about the importance of getting vaccinated. I'm pleased that we are now over, well over 100,000 now who were vaccinated yesterday, and we want to see that continue. I am pleased that, particularly in Victoria, more than half of those aged over 70 have been vaccinated, but also right around the country. As I indicated we'd be able to achieve would be over, around about four million by the end of this week we expect, but there's still a long way to go. It's important though that we understand that there are many rings of containment here that need to operate. One of those rings of containment is in effect right now, with the work being done by contact tracers. And what we've all learnt through the course of COVID is there is no single one measure that provides any guarantee or certainty here, it requires all of these measures working together, but more importantly it requires governments to work together, patiently and cooperatively, and for Australians to work together to ensure we overcome this latest challenge, because in the COVID world the challenges will come. We've always been very upfront about that. No system is absolutely foolproof, and that means that when challenges like this come from time to time, you address them, you address them together, you address them calmly, patiently, understanding of the difficulties that this clearly is going to impose on Victorians over the course of the next seven days, and seek to minimise that disruption and that dislocation as much as possible. Phil.
JOURNALIST: On that, on that issue, notwithstanding what Minister Hunt's just announced, do, given vaccination now seems to be the only way out of this, the road out of this, is there a need to turbocharge the programme? And did you, were you premature in taking National Cabinet off that war footing that you put it on a couple of weeks ago?
PRIME MINISTER: No, because we put the measures in place which brought all of those things forward, which states were keen to do and we were keen to support them to do as well. And so, you know, bringing forward the over 50s, which we have done, bringing forward the greater state based vaccination clinics, which was particularly done in Victoria. When I was in Victoria last week they were opening a further one of those, and I commended the Victorian State Government for doing that as of other state governments move to do this. The challenges that the Health Minister in Victoria and indeed the Acting Premier noted about the programme to date related to the supply issues out of Europe, and the advisory groups, ATAGI's advice, regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine. They are the reasons that were identified by the Victorian Government, and they're right to identify those. So, you know, there are ample doses there in Victoria and indeed in parts right around the country for people to go and get their vaccination and we would encourage them to do just that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, 29 nursing homes in Victoria are unvaccinated. Considering that nearly 700 aged care residents died in the state during Victoria's second wave, has your Government been as proactive as possible to try and protect this vulnerable population? And can you guarantee that there will be no COVID related deaths this time around?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll start and then pass you. Well, we will do everything we can to protect the lives and livelihoods of Australians, and we've lost 910 souls to COVID already during the course of this pandemic. Now, of course that is not anything near what we've seen in so many other countries. You've heard me mention it many times - had we had the same experience here, then we'd be talking about numbers in the thousands, in fact over 30,000. But we do everything we can to ensure that we protect the life of every Australian because every life here is important, and the Health Minister can update you actually on the matters that you've raised.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: So 97 per cent of residential aged care facilities, both around Australia and in Victoria, have been vaccinated so far, which is an extraordinary effort by all of those that have been doing it. 582 out of 598 facilities in Victoria have been vaccinated, so that's significantly advanced on yesterday again. Seven further today and the remaining nine tomorrow. And so what we are doing is making sure, as we have been, with a 97 per cent rate of facilities having been vaccinated around the country, we've rolled that out and we've provided those protections, and all 16 of the facilities within the city of Whittlesea, I am advised, have had both doses.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you commended the Victorian Government earlier and you said then that the Victorian Government talked about the ATAGI advice and, you know, vaccine hesitancy and all the rest. But they also seemed to indicate the Federal Government could have gone faster on vaccines, James Merlino, and Brett Sutton said pointedly in that press conference that hotel quarantine, hotels in cities weren't the right place to quarantine people. How do you react to those comments?
PRIME MINISTER: Well firstly, we're working closely with the Victorian Government, so my sole purpose is to work with them to address the challenges that Victorians are facing right now, and in the private conversations I've had with the Acting Premier that I know is his intention in working with me, and indeed the excellent relationship between the Health Minister in Victoria and Greg Hunt here federally. So I want to assure Victorians that the Victorian and Federal Government are just working hand in glove here to get this job done to focus. The only thing that matters to us is their health, their safety, their jobs and protecting them and getting them through over these next few days ahead. We are working with the Victorian Government. They have put forward, as I've said, a few weeks ago I think a very useful proposal. I discussed this yesterday with James Merlino. We are highly favourable towards this. We think it can be done actually quicker, that's one of the things we're working through with them now. I think one of the really useful elements of this proposal is that it adds to the capacity - it's not in place of hotel quarantine, that's not what the Victorian Government is proposing, they're proposing this to be there in addition. And I also want to commend the Victorian Government for keeping the repatriation flights going and not reducing their caps to ensure the flights can also keep coming as we're seeking to bring Australians home, even in the midst of the challenges they're facing over the next seven days. So I would describe it as a highly cooperative arrangement focusing on the problems ahead of us and working together to address them.
JOURNALIST: What's your response to the border closures of WA and South Australia? Do you still think that contact tracing are not … What's your response to the border closures being enforced by WA and South Australia against Victorian travellers? Do you still think that contract tracing rather than those border closures are the way to go, or what's your response?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they're matters for state premiers to make in accordance with their own public health orders, and that has always been the case and there's no change there. Straight after speaking to Acting Premier Merlino this morning I spoke to Premier Berejiklian and I spoke to Premier Marshall as well as the, as the border states. And, as you know, where there is essential work that's being done by Victorians who need to go into another state, they're allowed to do that and return and they're not impacted by that. And my understanding, well certainly from Premier Berejiklian, is that that will be enabled also from the NSW border side, and so there will be no need for those border bubble arrangements because people would, where they have to be able to move, and they're moving in accordance with those lockdown arrangements that have been - I haven't finished my answer - where they're acting in accordance with those arrangements that have been put in place by Victoria, that won't create any impediment on the New South Wales border side, and Premier Marshall has given me similar assurances, but they already have arrangements that enable people for those types of essential employments to be able to move across those borders so, for those purposes. But, you know, at the end of the day, this is a federation, the states have their authorities and their powers and they will make decisions as they see them in the best interest and the health interest of their state and territory.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, for several weeks now Pfizer have delivered 350,000 doses, AstraZeneca more than a million. Even if you took half of those aside for second doses, the rollout has not hit those kinds of levels, even with 111,000 a day on average that is not the equivalent of half those doses. What is the hold up, who, is it hesitancy, is it the ability of GPs to rollout, and can you commit to being more open with the forward planning of when those doses are going to arrive so that communities and businesses can understand when they might expect enough supply in the system to be able to plan for things like a lockdown?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, just before Greg answers, I mean I can only quote to you back the Victorian Health Minister today: 'We've got very good certainty for the next foreseeable period when it comes to those doses,' and they are getting very, very accurate and very regular information on the supply of those doses to the state governments, which is very important because obviously they are a partner in the vaccination programme. But, Greg.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Sure. So, thanks very much to Clare. Firstly, just to give you the facts in terms of the inventories. In Victoria as we speak we have delivered 666,000 doses to the Victorian Government. I understand the administered figure as of last night was 398,000. And this is why the Premier yesterday made his point that they had significant supplies. Equally, we've provided over 853,000 doses to primary care in Victoria. Then in terms of the weekly arrivals, weekly arrivals, we've now, we're now receiving approximately a million doses of AstraZeneca. I've previously indicated in what will be week 17 of the rollout they'll be doing line maintenance which has an impact on the weeks 17 and 18, so we've provisioned for contingency. This week, in terms of the supply, approximately one million, almost one million doses will be in transit, for the course of this week for next week. And that means that we have 2.7 million in contingency, which allows for both second doses but also the fact that there'll be a rundown in contingency in coming weeks. Forward plan for Pfizer, approximately 350,000 doses a week are arriving at the moment. They boosted it up for this month, next month is approximately 300,000 doses, and then over the July, August September quarter we will have the equivalent of 600,000 a week. Those specific weekly amounts have not yet been confirmed, so it's a quarterly figure. Then that again is replicated in the last quarter of the year with an additional 20 million on top of that.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned again today the need to work together closely with the premiers, which you mentioned on April 12 when you put National Cabinet on that operational footing or war footing, as Phil said, to meet twice a week. Since then it met one week, twice, and has met four times, not 12, in the past six weeks. What's happened to National Cabinet?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, at the last meeting we all agreed that there was not the need to continue that sort of tempo. We met first twice a week, then we went to once a week, and they believe we agreed that we could then return to our usual schedule, and we'll meet again at the end of, on Friday week, and if we need to meet sooner than that then we will. We talk to each other quite regularly, particularly here this is a matter that requires the Victorian Government and the Commonwealth Government to be working closely together. But we got through so much in that first week, Mark, we were able to bring that plan together so quickly and then focus on implementing it in the weekly meetings afterwards, that that was doing the job. I mean, we don't hold meetings for the sake of it. We hold meetings to get things done. We were getting things done and we continue to get things done together.
JOURNALIST: Would it be useful though having premiers talking together about the border closures and what's happening in Victoria and whether it's necessary to close borders?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what occurs is the AHPPC, the medical expert panel, they are meeting now, and they're the chief health officers of all the states and territories, and they're working through that medical advice, and that is what is being relayed back to the premiers. But the premiers have long had a position which is, come as no surprise to anyone here, that they retain full autonomy about what they do in terms of border closures. They are solely decisions for those state premiers and chief ministers. There is no authority at a Commonwealth level to take them down any different path, and so we work together, we work off the same information base through the medical expert panel, and then they all make decisions that they believe are in the best health interests and economic interests of their state or territory.
JOURNALIST: Will this outbreak shock people, Australians out of a sense of complacency with COVID-19, and is the Government planning to speed up, to ramp up an ad campaign because of what seems like a real palpable sense of hesitancy in Victoria, around the country?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I am pleased that the numbers each week have been growing and growing and growing. It wasn't that long ago we were talking about weekly vaccinations of around 350,000, now we're talking about well over 500,000, and that will continue to build, and in the weeks and months ahead, and particularly when that's supported by the additional supplies that are coming through from Pfizer, which is, you know, the next big jump that we will be able to see in seeing those vaccination rates elevate in the weeks and months ahead as we move towards the end of this year. There is no doubt though, as I've moved around the country, that while it is wonderful and enviable around the world that Australians can live like we are living here in this country, notwithstanding the very significant difficulties Victorians will face over the course of the next seven days, that that way of living can of course lead to some hesitancy when it comes to coming forward on those vaccines. These events, I think, will set out, I think, very clearly that this is an insidious virus, it hasn't gone anywhere, it's not giving up, it continues to attack wherever it can and wherever it will, and it continues to be as dangerous and I would argue even more dangerous today than it was a year ago, because what we are seeing now is as the virus has ravaged the developed world, it is now ravaging the developing world. And with that and the multitude of cases that we can continue to expect to see in places, as we already see in India, and as you know we took some very strong decisions on India to protect Australians, and we will continue to see this occurring in the developing world. This week I've spoken with the Prime Minister of Vietnam. We had this very conversation in supporting them with additional vaccines over the course of the second half of this year. I was speaking to the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands yesterday and the support we're giving them, to them on vaccines, as well as the Prime Minister, once again, of Papua New Guinea. This virus will continue to see different strains emerge, and it means that we will continue to combat this. So our urge, urgings to all Australians - it doesn't, whether you're in Victoria, Western Australia, up in far north Queensland, I'm sure Dr Khorshid would agree, our simple message to you is: the vaccines are there, make a booking, talk to your doctor, please get vaccinated. Thanks very much, everyone.
Remarks, Ravenswood Child and Family Centre
22 May 2021
Prime Minister: Thank you very much, Bridget. It's great to be here. Can I acknowledge the Indigenous owners of the land and the elders past, present and future. As always, any people who have served in our Defence Forces, thank you for your service. But particularly, I want to thank Bernadette and Brave for the tremendous work that you do.
And it's great to be here in Ravenswood with Bridget. This is Bridget's community. This is where you grew up. And this is, I know, a very special place for you to be here in Ravenswood, before at the neighbourhood centre just down the road not too long ago. And I always love coming here with Bridget because I just see the passion for her community and the strength of her community. And it's on display here Bernadette, when we're standing here in front of the Centre and we see the strength and the resilience which is being built into people's lives here.
You'll often hear me talk about essential services and when I say that people often think I'm just referring to hospitals and schools, aged care facilities, and of course I am. But the community facilities and the supports that are available across our country, I think is a great testament to the character of our nation. But they're only made possible because of the amazing people who come and create these incredible spaces. Sure, the buildings and other things are supported by governments and as they should be, whether they are local, state or federal. But the one thing that none of us can do is create Bernadettes and the many other great people who work here and provide support. Volunteers and in particular, the wonderful community, people who come along here to receive that support and get the encouragement that they need to be able to go and do the best they possibly can, not just for themselves and their own futures, we’ve met many of the mums here this morning, but especially for their kids. And there is nothing, I think, more encouraging and more inspiring than seeing the pure determination of parents to do the best they possibly can for their kids, whatever circumstances they find themselves in and how that lights up their life and how that inspires them. And I think that's what you’ve really tapped into. And you know a lot about that, Bernadette. So I also want to thank Wendy Askew. Senator Askew, she’s going to become a grandmother this year, she tells me. So she's been rehearsing those skills for later in the year with the kids here today.
It's wonderful to celebrate the work, the foundational values of Brave Foundation - inspire, support and encourage our community to dream - that’s the first one. Empower, champion and resource individual potential. Connect, establish and strengthen collaborative relationships. Include embracing diversity and combating prejudice. And innovate, find and make a way. When I think of those values, they are clearly being lived out here by Brave. But I've got to tell you, I think they’ve been lived out by Bridget Archer. I'm so proud to have Bridget as part of our team, because what Bridget brings to our team is an appreciation and an understanding of whether it's communities like Ravenswood or many others. And that enables me and my senior team to have a good appreciation of just how important services like this are in supporting community, building community and building up individual lives and families and to make them stronger. Because at the end of the day, our country is only as great as every individual Australian, every individual community across our country, each and every family across our community. That's where Australia's strength is. It's in the individuals and the families of the communities. And this space, this organisation is filling that space massively in making Australia a stronger place.
One of 60 organisations around the country, Brave is one of those that are receiving grants amounting to some $40 million as part of the Women's Leadership and Development Program. And as part of that, Brave Foundation will receive $6 million as part of what we've put in the Budget this year. And so we're very hopeful and very confident that that will be put to enormously good use across Brave Foundation. The grant will support the work that you do, particularly for young mums and in many cases for young fathers as well, and to navigate their way through school during and after the birth of their child.
I was remarking also that an important part of our mental health package, $2.3 billion program that is in our Budget this year, is particularly focusing on families. Young families in particular, after they’ve have kids, because we also know that that can be a key point of massive anxiety and stress and pressure for Australians and can be the trigger point for many mental health challenges that families can have. The mental health program that is in this Budget has a heavy focus on early intervention to ensure that people can go through those periods of their life. Of course, there’s great stress, of course there’s great anxiety, because it's quite normal for them to be under stress in those circumstances. We've had young kids, regardless of what their circumstances are, you love them. You love them more than you can say. But they can try you, on a daily basis. But that's the stuff of life, which is fantastic.
So it's great that the support is being provided here to enable people to get the help they need to go through those times and to come out stronger and to be able to have the opportunity. Because sometimes in situations where families might be created, parents may not be able to always have the opportunity to pursue their own education and skills opportunities and things like that. These programs are helping people realise that, while managing the very difficult challenges they have in raising a family.
In Tasmania, the Women's Leadership and Development Program grants are also supporting Relationships Australia Tasmania. There is some $1.2 million to work with women who have experienced psychological, social and generational barriers to employment. And the funding is also going to Big Heart. There is $200,000 there to support disadvantaged young women aged between 13 and 20 to build new pathways to science, technology, engineering and maths education, STEM and careers. In other parts of the country, we’re supporting programs that help women into non-traditional trades and helping them to reach leadership roles in their careers and help break down substantial barriers due to systematic disadvantage.
So these programs we're very excited about, they form a big part of our Budget. They're enabled by the work we’re more broadly doing to ensure that Australia comes through this pandemic as strong as we possibly can and continue to emerge from this. We’ve still got a long way to go, but while we've got to combat these sort of broader issues of viruses and things like that, the day to day challenges haven't changed. The struggles that families will face, whether it's here in Ravenswood or anywhere else, they're there, whether there's a pandemic or not. The challenges are there, whether the economic conditions are great or the economic conditions are not so great. And there can be nothing more precious than ensuring that our kids get off to the best possible start in life and that we can support parents also through those very difficult and challenging times.
So, very pleased Bernadette to join you this morning and thank you for the great work that Brave is doing across the country. And we really do feel quite privileged to be able to come along here this morning to do our bit, because we know you always do yours. Thank you.
Remarks and Q&A, Burnie Budget Lunch
21 May 2021
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much, Josh, and thank you also to you, Gav, and I acknowledge Richard who’s, he's here with us today. Of course, we also have Ian Jones from Business North-West. It's great to be here with you, Mr President. Of course, Steve Kons, the Mayor of Burnie and Gina Gunn, the General Manager of CPA Australia Tasmania Divisional Council. I also acknowledge the Palawa people, elders past and present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge any veterans or serving men and women who are here with us and I appreciate the acknowledgement that's already been made today, but particularly in acknowledging Gav and his great service to our country over around 20 years, and now he's putting that to work for the people of Braddon. According to Betty, he's doing a pretty good job so I'm pretty happy about that. And there are so many people like Betty who I've met over the course of not just this last week, as Josh and I have travelled the country and talked to Australians and listened to Australians about the Budget that we handed down, he handed down last week, but there are so many of those Australians who over the course of these last 18 months in particular, but a lot longer than that, have just been getting on with it, facing the challenges that they face, each and every day. They don't talk too much about it that often, but when they get the chance and they can get your ear for that short period of time, they'll have a chat with you and they'll tell you how they're going, and they'll tell you that it's been tough but they'll also tell you that we're making it through. That's a bit about what I want to talk about today.
Some of you will remember that song from the 1980s ‘Once in a Lifetime’ –
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
I can certainly claim the last one, but the song goes on to say, ‘Well... how did I get here?’ And then it says, ‘Letting the days go by.’ Some of you may know the song by David Byrne. But that's not how we got here. What Josh has just spoken of and where Australia is today and where we could have been today was no accident. We didn't get to where we are right now as a country just by letting the days go by. If we'd let the days go by, then indeed we may have seen, as Josh said, some 30,000 souls lost during the course of this pandemic. If we just let the days go by, then what happens up here in north-west Tasmania around about a year ago? Well, that wouldn't have ended the way that ended, and we could have seen the entire state riddled with COVID were it not for the strong leadership shown by Peter Gutwein at that time, supported by Gav and the whole team here, working together - health professionals, public officials, members of the Government - all working together to ensure the support was there. It has not been the policy of our Government to just let the days go by, because if you let anything else go, you can let plenty of other things go by as well - jobs, opportunities, the wellbeing of people in our country.
The reason we can say today that Australians are living - whether here in Tasmania, in the north-west of Tasmania, or anywhere else in the world - so different to almost every other part of the world at the moment, I want to tell you what the secret ingredient has been. As Josh and I, together with Michael McCormack and the rest of the Cabinet, supported by our Government team, confronted and looked into what was the abyss just over a year ago, we knew there was one thing that we could count on. We didn't know what the pandemic was going to look like. We didn't know how the virus would seek to wreak its havoc around the world, although we had a fairly good understanding of what its fury would be. We had to rely on one thing and that one thing was you. Every single Australian. We made the assumption, and it was a good one, that the Australian people were strong, they were resilient, they were practical, they’d work hard, they’d look after each other, they'd do everything within their power, everything they could do to ensure that they could secure their future, their community, their family, their business, their employees, their customers. And it was a good assumption because that is what has seen Australia through to this very point. Not letting the days go by, but Australians doing what Australians do, particularly those quiet ones who just get on with it, doing what Australians do when they encounter adversity. Now, this was not a revelation to them, or to Josh, because, as Governments, we are here at a state level, but at a Federal level together, but at a Federal level we had seen the calamity of drought, the calamity of bushfires, the calamity of floods, as it struck the nation and we saw the character of the nation prove time and time and time again as to how Australians respond to a challenge like we've seen with the COVID pandemic. So, this was a good assumption, and it was an assumption well made and it was an assumption borne of experience.
So, what was our job, knowing that Australians would do theirs? Our job was to back you. Our job was to ensure that we gave you, as Gav said, the confidence to get up tomorrow and face that next day of challenges, not knowing what that would mean. I know small businesses, large businesses, community organisations all around the country at that time woke up the next morning totally unsure about what the day would bring, only that they would have to confront it and that they would have to make decisions, often difficult ones, to ensure that Australia came through. So, we set about it, and we carefully put it together in accordance with a series of very important principles about how we would provide this support to the country. This was not Government being the answer, friends. This was not Government being the answer, and Government is still not the answer. Australians are the answer - Australian businesses, Australian employees working together, family leaders, community leaders, getting through each and every day. So, we designed a series of supports, JobKeeper being the most significant.
And JobKeeper, you know, is a uniquely Australian innovation, uniquely Australian. And I would argue strongly, and I know Josh and Gavin would agree with me and so would Richard, it's a uniquely Liberal-National innovation. Because this is how it works. We knew that with the demand on income support that would come from what we knew Treasury were telling us, Josh, that they thought unemployment would rise to 15 per cent, we would see millions of people out of work and we knew that the income support system through the welfare system would not be able to cope with that level of demand, and that was becoming very clear as we moved through those early phases and those lines grew. So, we said we need to come up with something even bigger and better, so we came up with a unique partnership. We said to the employers of this country, ‘Do you want to keep your employees, as many as of them as possible?’ They said, ‘Absolutely.’ Good. We can build on that. We said to the banks of this country, ‘Will you back them in, because we want those employers to go to the banks and borrow their next payroll, the whole lot and we need you to loan them money?’ and the banks said, ‘Yes’, because they knew they knew you, they knew your business, they knew the shock that was on your business was not something caused by you. This was an economic and viral meteor that hit this country. They knew your business was sound and they knew your track record and how hard you worked and so they extended that loan to you. It wasn't a loan from the Government. You went and applied for it and you had to be accountable for it and what we did was back that in. And we said, ‘We'll square that off at the end of each month.’ An important partnership.
See, Government helped, enabled, backed it in, but the first person that had to do something to save those jobs was you as an employer. You had to decide, ‘I need my staff, I'm going to stand by my staff, I'm going to stand by my employees, I'm going to keep my business going and I'm going to fight this and I'm going to make sure we get to the other side,’ and that's what you did. You took the first step and, as a result, 3.8 million Australians were supported by that programme, 3.8 million people were supported by that programme.
Now, the other thing we did to make it uniquely Australian was there was people were saying to Josh and I at the time, they were saying, ‘You need to adopt this program that has been done by other countries.’ Now, we said no to that and I'll tell you why. One, they thought taxpayer income support should be given to people proportional to their income, so if you lose your job and you earn, you know, a higher amount of money, you should get more taxpayer support than someone else over here who's lost their job or their hours reduced to zero, and they should get less. That's not how we do things here in Australia. That's not how we do things here in Australia. We're all in this together. We were not going to give some level of higher income support to some people and lower to others. Everybody was in the same boat. The virus hit businesses right across our economy and hit jobs right across our economy and we were going to say, ‘No, we're going to do this the Australian way,’ and this provided a fairness in the way the JobKeeper was designed by our Government, because that was an important value of our country. I said at the start of the pandemic, ‘We're going to do this the Australian way. We're not going to carbon copy what's being done in other parts of the world that have different systems. We're going to do it our way and we're going to get through.’
And the other thing we did with JobKeeper, which is a very Liberal-National thing, we said, ‘We're going to have to borrow heavily to do this,’ and we did, and without it, we know what would have happened. But we said, ‘If you're going to make the hard decision to commit to that, you also have to make the hard decision to get out of it when you have to get out of it.’ And we did that too. When we set it up, we said it was going to start and it's going to stop. This support was going to be there while it was needed, but not beyond that, because we know as a Government, we know as a Liberal-National Government, as a Coalition Government, we know that if you leave those sorts of supports in when they're no longer needed, they hold the economy back. They take away that important enterprise-led incentive. They take away what drives a business-led economy. See, we wanted a business-led economy on the other side of the pandemic. We didn't want a Government-led economy. There are others who want that - not us. We want a business-led economy with the dynamism of a business-led economy. So JobKeeper was designed to be there when you needed it most to do what you needed to do, and Josh and I moved around the country, and I'm sure it was true here too Gavin, as you moved around the businesses here, the smile on the faces of people when they graduated from JobKeeper. See, so many Australians when they're faced with great crisis, whether they've been struck by floods - I was over in Western Australia where they were struck by cyclones; in New South Wales at the moment the mice plague, devastating rural communities - so many Australians when they face that adversity, they find it incredibly hard to accept the help and the support because they're proud people. They're self-made people. They're the ones usually helping other people and now they need help, and they find that very difficult to do. And as a Government, we've tried to lean in to ensure that people have taken that support when they need it, but the look on people's faces when they no longer needed it was also great. The pride of graduating out of JobKeeper - and then we, as a Government, graduated the nation out of JobKeeper. When it came off at the end of March and we committed to that, and others wanted us to keep extending it, the Labor Party wanted to keep going and going and going - no, we've got confidence in Australians, the same confidence we showed when we put it in place in the first instance. This value, this assumption Australians can get themselves through, and when they need support, we'll provide it, and when they can get on their own feet, they will want to walk and run on their own feet. And that's what JobKeeper did. They were the values that underpinned it. That was the purpose of it, and look where we are now. The cashflow support, the additional supplements that we provided for COVID, you know, since JobKeeper finished – Josh will correct me if I get the numbers slightly off - 120,000, is that right?
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: 132,000.
Prime Minister: It’s 132,000, even better. 132,000 Australians have come off welfare support since the end of March and the unemployment rate has fallen from 5.7 per cent to 5.5 per cent. Now, we had confidence in Australians that that could be achieved. Others didn't. Others thought you'd need to extend this forever and put businesses on the taxpayers’ dollar forever. That was not our view. That was not our view, and I think what's been borne out by the experience is that judgement and that belief in individual Australians, rather than Government as the answer, has proved effective.
Now, another part of what we've done now as we go into this next phase, because in this Budget, which is all about securing Australia's recovery, there's another important assumption, and it's one that we've been making for a long time as a Government. And that is, you keeping more of your hard-earned money is better than the Government taking more of your hard-earned money. Does anyone else agree with that? I think a lot of people agree with that. Small business taxes are down to 25 per cent on 1 July this year. Australians are paying less tax this year than they were last year. They'll pay less tax next year too under the programmes that we have to ensure that we keep taxes low in this country. You keeping more of what you earn whether you're a business or you're an individual or a family. We think that's the right way to back Australians in for them to ensure that we secure this recovery. See, it's the same plan, the same plan that has got us through the pandemic to this point is the same plan that will keep us going out of this pandemic and into what still remains a very uncertain future, but it all rests on the same assumption and it's you, and that's why we believe in lower taxes, and that's why our Budget has lower taxes. So you can keep more of what you earn to reinvest it in your businesses, reinvest it in the people who work in your business, the instant expenses initiatives, the tax loss carry-back, a very important initiative. All of those businesses in this room, if you had a loss during your COVID year, no fault of yours, demand basically vanished overnight, and you may have had a loss in your business that year. Now, under normal tax arrangements, you would have to wait several years as you rafted yourself out of that difficult situation to when you were able to make profits again that you could actually offset that loss against that earned profit income. Not under the plan we put in place. Under our plan, you can offset those losses that you have incurred in COVID against tax you already paid, tax you already paid on the profits that you were making before you went into COVID.
Now, why have we done that? You might say, like Betty, you might think we're good people, and I'd like to think we are, but there is real purpose in why we're doing this, because we know if we can get that money back into your pocket and give your business right now, you will buy that piece of equipment, you will take on that apprentice, you will take on that trainee, you will seek out that new market, you will develop that new product, you will do what you do. And that's our method and that's what's in this Budget. This Budget is designed to keep inspiring, we hope, but certainly encouraging businesses to go and do what they do best - to go and invest what they've earned to build their businesses and put their people in better and better and better jobs. And at the end of the day, as the Treasurer knows, that's how you, ultimately, restore a Budget.
We're often asked, well, the pandemic has put a huge hit on the Government balance sheet and that's true. It has. But I can tell you just like it's better to be here than pretty much anywhere else in the world when it comes to living with a global pandemic or when it comes to the level of employment in this country, which has been restored to its pre-pandemic levels, it's also true that even on these major issues of debt, we are at half of the levels of debt that you see in the UK and the United States, and a third of what you see in economies like Japan. That's no accident either. That's because we went into this crisis with a balanced Budget. We went into this crisis having done hard work over six, seven years to ensure that Australia was in a position that we could deal with it. And so that's what we've been doing.
But I'll tell you how we're going to fix it going forward, and that's just by growing the economy. It's a very simple equation. If someone is in a job then they're paying tax, and under us, less. If someone isn't in a job, they are receiving the payment from a taxpayer, and that's how you turn your Budget around. You get more people off welfare and into work. You get more businesses investing, creating jobs. A growing economy can support a stronger Budget and when you've got that Budget strong, then you can invest, as Richard knows, in important services, as we are committing to because we have a plan for that stronger economy. See, a strong economy is great, people in jobs, people earning more, communities with more money in those communities moving around to support the businesses is a positive cycle, but the purpose of a strong economy from a Government such as ours is that the resources that are raised from that we can invest to make living standards even better, and that's by having an aged care system where people can age in this country with dignity and respect.
I want to commend Richard for the great job he's done in the reform and policy work that's expressed in this Budget, with a $17.7 billion - we've never seen a package this big for aged care, have we, Richard? This is the biggest package to address the problems in aged care that we've been dealing with for 30 years. And as a Government we have really stepped up to address those challenges and there's a lot of work to do. It's a five-year plan backed in by this investment to achieve that, but it's also in mental health. We've got $2.3 billion invested to support the mental health of Australians that came under such stress during the COVID pandemic. Support for veterans, support for disabilities, an increase even in the JobSeeker payment - the first time that's happened almost in living memory, to support those for whom life is still tough and who are still finding their way back into jobs.
So, friends, I want to thank you for having me here today. I could have given you a list of infrastructure projects that we're building here in the north-west. I can, if you like. But I'm going to leave that to Gav to do on many other occasions, because our infrastructure spending, our investments in job training, in apprentices and traineeships here, to all the programmes that are outlined in this Budget - I commend you to have a good look at it, because what you'll find in there is one message and one message only: We are backing you. We are backing your spirit, we are backing your enterprise, we are backing your hard work. We see you as the answer, not the Government, and that's what we'll always see from a Liberal-National Government. Thank you so much for your attention.
Q&A
Host: Thank you, Prime Minister. We're now going to launch straight into our Q&A and we've received a number of questions after our request out to our ticket holders a couple of days ago, and the first question, can I ask people to come over to this microphone and ask their question, Dr Andrew Clarke.
Question: My name is Dr Andrew Clarke. I'm the Chairman of the North-West Veterans Welfare Board and I'd just like to thank the Prime Minister and the Treasurer on behalf of the Tasmanian veteran community for the Budget which will spend $5 million on veteran welfare hubs in Tasmania. I'd also like to say a big thank you to Gav publicly for his tireless work in this area in the background and without so, his constant ...
Gavin Pearce MP, Member for Braddon: … Throwing my toys out of the cot ...
Question: … of the right areas, I don't think we would have got a good result. So, Prime Minister, can you provide an update of where we are regarding the Royal Commission into veteran suicide and what measures you're taking as a Government in the meantime to support veterans in our region?
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much for the question and thank you for the work you’re doing here in veterans also and that wellbeing centre, a very important part of the network of wellbeing centres around the country. I've got to tell you we've got quite a group of veterans and ex-service people who are part of our Coalition, of which Gav is one of them, but there are many more, aren't there, and that is a tremendous [indistinct], that is a tremendous resource for Josh and I to be able to draw on their experience and their networks of understanding the veterans community and the many anxieties and pressures and daily struggles that they have, but it's also a way of understanding just how well many veterans also do. We've got to be very careful and what we try and do - and Darren Chester, the Minister, refers to this often - yes, we absolutely need to reach out to those veterans who are doing it tough and provide them with the support. That is really the very least we could do to honour their service, but at the same time we need to celebrate the great work that veterans do in our community, the leadership they provide, the businesses they run and the great work they do as employees. Every employer is well served if they take on a veteran in their ranks. I'm certainly well served in having one in mine and many more. So, I would urge you, because that is one of the many programmes that we do support, which is the Veterans Employment Program, getting veterans into work and dealing with the issues that might be preventing them from getting into work. The [indistinct] about half a billion dollars in this Budget, which is all designed to try and keep improving turnaround and service times for veterans to get customised support and help that they need to deal with the challenges that they face.
We've been working hard over many years through various ministers who have really put a lot of effort into this, going back to Dan Tehan and others, and that is reducing the core waiting times for veterans when they're needing that help. We've extended additional support into the medical help provided - free mental health care for veterans no matter how long they served, where they served, whether they served overseas or not - all there. Increasing the payments that are available for particular types of therapy used to support veterans. When it comes to the Royal Commission on mental health, that will work alongside, I think, the many initiatives we have already taken when it comes to supporting mental health of veterans and their wellbeing, and it will also work alongside another initiative that we're pursuing to have in place even right now and we have been now for some time, and that is that we have a permanent Commissioner that is looking into every single terrible occasion where regrettably a veteran may die by suicide.
See, Royal Commissions are great and we are finalising those Terms of Reference now. The Minister is consulting on those Terms of Reference and they will be finalised and then we'll announce those next month and then that will lead to what will be, we anticipate, about a two-year process. But as that process goes on, and I believe that will have a positive impact for many who I think will welcome the opportunity to go and share with the Commissioner their experience, their story, because every veteran's journey has been different, and to recognise that in how the Royal Commission addresses it and highlights the needs that will flow from that will be very important. But alongside that, I want to ensure that beyond the Royal Commission that we have a permanent capability that actually deals with issues raised by the Commissioner, that deals with every single terrible event that can occur with a veteran’s death by suicide now. The Royal Commission is looking into what happens, of what happened in the past, but we need to be in the present and we need to be in the future to ensure that we are learning and addressing every single time this occurs.
So, all of this goes together. The Royal Commission will soon be underway. I would hope the permanent Commissioner will be established through the Parliament, and then the ongoing programs that have been done by the Department for Veterans’ Affairs. We're actually putting more people into the Department of Veterans’ Affairs so there can be a continuity of connection between the veteran support that they're seeking so we can achieve a higher level of veterans dealing with more than a single point of contact. So, these are the challenges. They're difficult challenges, but they're ones that we're very committed to because there are few, if any, members of our community for whom we owe more.
Host: [Inaudible]
Question: Treasurer, the recent Budget had several significant policies related to women’s health and women’s economic situation. Would you like to elaborate on those a little bit further for us on the importance of those policies please?
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: Well thanks Jenny, there was a special women’s statement within the Budget, you would have to go back more than a decade to find a document of significant length and substance here than that. In terms of women’s economic security, one of the big initiatives was the changes to child care. We announced $1.7 billion of additional funding which focuses on families where they have more than one child in child care and providing an additional support for the families. So if the parent wants to choose to work an extra fourth or fifth day, then they’ll be able to do so. We’ve also made some changes around superannuation to boost retirement savings of women, because the retirement savings of women on average are lower than men. And we have put in place some additional places for women to get into what is called science and technology, engineering and mathematics courses, and to support women going into non-traditional roles. And, for example, I was in the Central Coast of NSW recently, Terrigal, I met an electrician who introduced me to his first female apprentice electrician that was taken under our Government’s 50 per cent wage subsidy. So that was women’s economic security issues. On women’s health initiatives, there’s a significant number of new drugs that were listed on the PBS, including drugs for breast cancer, more treatment and awareness for breast cancer, and a range of other support initiatives on women’s health. Women’s safety has been a big focus for our Government, domestic violence is a scourge on society and we put in place in this Budget extra funding that will provide safe places for women, extra funding that will provide legal assistance for women, extra funding for counselling, as well as financial assistance. So if a woman is fleeing a domestic violence situation [indistinct], they can receive actual grants from the Government which will help them with accommodation, will help them with other emergency needs. There’s quite a comprehensive series of measures, to enhance women’s safety, enhance women’s health and enhance women’s economic security.
Host: Our next question is from Chad Smith, [indistinct] Christian School.
Question: Good afternoon [indistinct]. Good afternoon, Prime Minister. Good afternoon, Treasurer. Being a Principal at Devonport Christian School, It’s our hope that we can prepare the next generation of learners and people who can hopefully all become your employees in the future. My question relates to STEM and lessons and subjects, learning especially in the area of robotics and coding are absolutely crucial for our students and their future. How is the Government prioritising this? And what initiatives are you putting in place to support or you could say could support our response to prioritising STEM?
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: He can pull rank on this one. Look, again, this comes back to our desire to get more people into STEM, but including more women, because the jobs of today and tomorrow are going to be around the digital economy. And the Prime Minister gave a speech which I’ll commend you to read before the Budget about our digital transformation strategy. More than a billion dollars for various initiatives. I think one of the big take outs of COVID, or one of the ways the economy will change as a result of this pandemic and permanently, is the acceleration in the take up of technology. You’ve probably all discovered the Zoom meeting, some of you for the first time. That’s going to replace people hopping on a plane and going to another state for a board meeting or another meeting. People are now shopping a lot more online. I visited Australia’s largest global retailer, Cotton On recently. They’ve seen an explosion in the amount of online sales, so what are they doing? They’re investing in their distribution centres. And then, of course, more people are going to probably work from home permanently on the other side of this, of this [inaudible], because everyone has gotten used to working from home in a digitally enabled way. So, technology has accelerated rapidly through this crisis and it’s going to be here to stay, and so we need to prepare young people and older Australians, we need to prepare them to be digitally enabled and digitally capable, and it starts with science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And you know, Gav was in the Australian Defence Force, he probably doesn’t talk about the things he was doing there, but one of the things he was working on was cyber threats and those technology threats. And whatever they were when he was in ADF, they are a lot greater threat today. So we are going to need many more Australians, men and women who are going to understand science and technology, engineering and mathematics, so we can fulfil these roles across the economy. And that’s why we have invested millions of dollars in this Budget to actually do those sort of things and those sort of courses.
Host: Thank you, Treasurer. We hope you have time for one more question, and it is a man of very few words and it is definitely for the Prime Minister. Mr Collins, could you ask your question please?
Question: Thanks Ian, and thanks to the Prime Minister and the Treasurer for coming today. On behalf of the community - as you are all aware, this is a marginal electorate and every election we get peppered with lots of money, but the question that comes out of this electorate is - we haven’t had someone in Cabinet from the House of Representatives for a long, long time. Can we get commitment today that we will get one in the near future?
Prime Minister: I should be able to see the handwriting on that question, because it sounds suspiciously like Gav’s. Look, I have the great privilege to lead an amazing group of people, and Josh as my deputy I know he would agree. We have brought such great talent, and to have Gav joining our team at the last election, together with Bridget Archer just not far from here over in Bass, and I would very much like to see more Tasmanians [indistinct] in the House of Representatives from Tasmania, and that makes it, you know, I’m spoilt for choice in putting my Cabinet together and putting the Ministry together. John Howard used to have a very good rule about first time MPs, and that was that they needed to very much focus on their first responsibility, and that is as the local member. And Gav has been doing a tremendous job there, and as has Bridget. And so, when people keep working hard, and people keep doing great jobs, that, that only further push their names forward when opportunities present. And so I think, I really do think that they’re doing a great job and it’s great to have that increased representation from Tasmania back in our Government, particularly after the last election. Very much look forward to seeing that expanded. Jonno Duniam was doing a great job and he’s joined our executive most recently, and I think he’s doing a terrific job in the portfolios and the opportunities he’s been given, but the harder you work the luckier you get, that’s, I think, a good rule whether it’s in politics or wherever else, and so you know, I would agree with you when it comes to Gavin’s talent, but it’s not just his talent, it’s his experience. Richard, I see there, he’s been in my Ministry from day one after I became Prime Minister. He’s taken on some of the hardest jobs, particularly in aged care, we’ve seen. I greatly appreciate the work he’s done. So we get great input from our Tasmanian members, not just in our executive, but as we sit together in our Party Room or boardroom. The experience Gav brings is, not just of course his great experience in the military and from a Defence Force perspective, or indeed his farming experience and his understanding of agriculture issues. I’ll tell you why people really rate Gav, up in Canberra, amongst our colleagues. He’s a big man, but his heart even bigger. And I think Betty got that right. Gav has a massive heart, and it’s very obvious to everyone that when you’re sitting opposite Gav there is a beating heart on the opposite side of the table. And it is very much focused on your welfare, and what you’re trying to achieve. He’s a very humble man, so just as well you had this [indistinct] through today, because he wouldn’t do it himself, it’s not his nature. He just focuses on the job at hand and what’s ahead of him, and so I’m very grateful to have so many people in the team like that.
Host: Prime Minister and Treasurer, thank you very much for your time today.
Remarks, Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple - Carrum Downs, VIC
19 May 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very, very much. Thank you very, very much. Well, can I also say thank you, and can I start by acknowledging the Indigenous owners of this land on which we gather today, the Bunurong people. To veterans of Australia from our Defence Forces and thank you for your service, to any serving men and women who are here with us today.
Can I say and acknowledge, say thank you to and acknowledge the priests of the Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple. The welcome we received as we went through the Temple is something I'll never forget, and it's been tremendous to be welcomed in such a way. To the President of the Temple, Rangarajan, it’s wonderful to be received by you here today. To Secretary Ratnam, thank you also for all of the work that has been put together to bring us all together in this wonderful way at this magnificent Temple and community facility which is here.
Can I also acknowledge Hindu, Sikh, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayali and Indian and Sri Lankan community and temple leaders from all around Victoria who are here today, and the leaders of the other faiths who have joined us here as well. It’s special to have you joining us.
To my Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs Jason Wood who has been such a tremendous friend and supporter of communities right across the country, not just here in Victoria. He's doing an outstanding job. I know how passionate he is about this. It’s why I gave him this job. This is his dream job. [Inaudible].
And to you, David, as well, it’s great for you to be joining us here.
So Namaste, Namaskarom, Vanakkam, Sat Sri Akaal. Friends, it is great to be with you today. It’s, it is with great honour that I join you here. This is the most successful multicultural immigration country in the world today. There's no doubt about that. And that has been achieved by the many millions of people who’ve come from all over the world, all different faiths, many different beliefs, many different ethnic backgrounds, language groups, and here we all are here in this wonderful country, Australia.
When I talk about multiculturalism in Australia I often talk about it in the, as if in the context of masala. And you’ll think about a masala, a wonderful masala and how it brings together all the different spices and the smells and the colours. And they all come together, the different tastes, the bitter and the sweet, and then it makes something as you taste it, and you smell, and the aroma is something wonderful. And then you mix it in with your onions, and your chillies and your garlic, and I'm looking forward to the cooking. And it creates something absolutely magnificent. And this is, I think, a wonderful metaphor of what multiculturalism is in this country. And in particular, I think what the Hindu community and Sikh communities and so many other communities of faith bring to this country.
This has been a very difficult time for Australians over the last 18 months, but not just here as we know, all around the world. And, you know, when things are difficult, when peoples patience are tested, and when they’re suffering hardship and going through great difficulty, particularly when you have so many family and friends who are in other places, a long way from where you are. It's tough. And in those times, you don't look to governments, you look to each other. You look to your community, you look to your faith, and it has been your faith and it has been your community, it has been your friendships that have sustained you so magnificently over the course of this last 18 months.
And to you Mr President, I thank you for your leadership of the Hindu community, but I'm sure you would agree with me that it’s each and every member of that community that makes it so incredibly special, and that they bring something to it, and the way that communities, faith communities like your own, have reached out and supported each other and that people have been able to find comfort and reassurance in their faith as they’ve gone through such difficult times.
The tragedy that we see in particular in India, at the moment, and throughout the developing world, is so hard. It is so hard to see occurring. And for so many of our family and friends caught up in what is a terrible humanitarian tragedy, all I can say is that Australia will continue to do all we can to provide support to our friends, not just in India, but in other places where we know that we can provide some support. Our consular staff are providing support right now to roughly 11,000 Australians who are registered to return to Australia, including 970 who we know are particularly vulnerable. But over the course of the pandemic, more than 20,000 Australians we’ve been able to bring home from India, 20,000. And that has included almost 40 facilitated flights to bring Australians who have been in India back home to safety here.
But we know it's not just the Australian citizens and residents and direct family members that you have concerns for. I know that your concerns go far broader than that, and they go to the Indian people more broadly. And that is why that Australia has continued to provide support. We’ve now had our second assistance flight that has gone to India, carrying oxygen concentrators and ventilators and personal protection equipment and all of these supports. And as I’ve spoken to other leaders around the world, as well, they have equally, they have equally been wanting to provide that support.
I spoke to Prime Minister Modi just a few weeks ago, just over, just over a week or so ago. And he spoke to me in appreciation of both the prayers and support that is coming from the community here in Australia. He knows the community here in Australia very well and he speaks fondly of it every time that he and I speak together. And he knows that there’s such wonderful support coming back to the Indian nation from right here, whether in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland or wherever the community is gathered together.
So we do have great friends here. We will continue to provide that friendship to India and all of those countries that continue to be affected so terribly by what is happening in COVID around the world. But for now, it's for me just simply to say thank you. Thank you for the great support that you’ve provided to one another. Thank you for the love and care that you’ve extended, not only to your own family members, but community members of what is such an integral part of the Hindu faith and so many of the other faiths is you welcome people in, and on those special days and providing that hospitality and that warm welcome, and it doesn't matter whether it is Diwali or Holi or the end of Ramadan or Easter, or whatever it happens to be.
People of faith in this country draw great strength from that faith, and I think it's so important that it is such a protected and safe part of Australian life. Faith and Australian life go firmly together. And as Prime Minister this is something that is very dear to me. So the fact that you can come together and be here safely is very important to me. But it’s also very important to me that you keep doing it, because from that are the bonds of community that continues to carry Australia through what has been a very difficult time. Thank you so much.
Remarks, Recognition of Business Excellence - Paddington, QLD
18 May 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Trevor. Can I start by just acknowledging the Indigenous owners of the land on which we meet, elders past, present and future.
Can I acknowledge any veterans that are here with us, and serving men and women from our Defence Forces.
Of course, can I acknowledge my colleagues, James and Trevor, great to be with both of you. Great to be in Queensland these last few days, I'll be very, very sad to leave, which is not too far away, but going down to the cooler climes. It's been great being up here, in Gladstone and across Brisbane over these last few days, and looking forward to coming back.
Karen, can I commend you for your great community leadership here on display. It's a rowdy bunch. But, it's great to see and I want to talk about that a bit more in just a second.
Carl, to the whole Broncos team that are here today, Darren and everybody else, Christine. I can only echo what Trevor said.
Everyone knows I love my footy, but footy is only part of it. Whether it was the programs which Trevor has spoken about here through the Broncos and what's happening here with the academy. You go up to North Queensland and see what the Cowboys did during the floods.
Sport is about community, at the end of the day. And the sporting clubs are about community. They're about reinforcing the bonds of community. And I really commend you, Carl, on the way that you've led the Broncos in that way. We're both down the wrong end of the table at the moment, the Sharks and the Broncos, but that's going to turn around over the course of the season, I have no doubt. We'll surprise them all over the rest of the season.
So, look friends, I just want to say one thing. It's pretty simple.
Thank you.
That's what I wanted to come here and say to you today.
And Karen's said very kind things about the role that our government has played over the course of these past, very difficult last 12 to 18 months.
It's two years today, in fact, since we at the last election were returned. And none of us could have foreseen what we have gone through, particularly over these last 12 to 18 months but even before then. The drought continued to rage, particularly affected up here in Queensland. We had the floods that were still devastating the northern part of this state and more floods to come, as we've seen in other parts of the country. The bushfires to come. A mouse plague that has also impacted significant parts of the country. Cyclones have ripped the roofs off houses over in Western Australia. And, of course, the pandemic has raged.
At the start of the pandemic, I remember standing in the courtyard fully aware of looking into what was an abyss at the time, in terms of what the pandemic would mean for this country. And I said – we like to think we're a strong people in this country. We're about to find out just how strong we are.
Now, I never doubted there'd be anything other than the affirmative answer to that question. And so while, yes, as a Government, we have done the things that you've said. Yes, we had to, and we did, respond quickly when it came to the JobKeeper, the supplement for COVID to the JobSeeker program, the cash flow boost, the HomeBuilder program, the mental health supports that we put in at record levels. Now, some $311 billion of support that we've put in to both health and economic supports into Australia, to ensure we save lives and we save livelihoods.
But I'll tell you what the secret was. What actually made sure that today in this country, we have avoided what so many other countries have befallen. That, for example, includes that had we gone down the same terrible path that others had to endure, the same average fatality rate in countries just like ours, 30,000 more Australians would have perished in this country.
Together we avoided that. We prevented that.
And we have more people in work today than there were before the COVID pandemic hit. And there are very few, if any, advanced economies in the world today that could say that.
But I'll tell you how it happened.
The policies that we put in place, through the process that Trevor articulated, listening hard, not rushing to failure, thinking carefully about what we needed to do.
Very clear principles – they were about backing Australians.
You were the secret ingredient that ensured Australians got through.
See, we didn't think Government was the answer. We believed you were the answer.
Businesses had to stay together and intact. Because we knew there’d be another side.
Employees needed to stay in the businesses as much as possible. We knew we had to train kids who were coming out of school at the end of last year and wondering, what is my future? So over 300,000 training places were established. 30,000 additional places in universities. All of this was based on understanding that Australians would work together to get through.
And what we had to do was just back them in.
Community groups would rally and support each other. People would check on their neighbours and their friends. Small businesses and their employees, in particular, would understand that things were going to be a bit rough for a while, but we all had to stick together. And JobKeeper and the many other programs helped that happen over the course of that period of time.
And so we are where we are today because Australians actually are strong, are resilient, have persevered and have been supported, as you rightly would have expected us to do in these extraordinary circumstances. And all of those programs have worked.
So where to from here? We’ve got to keep doing what’s working. We’ve got to keep sticking together. We’ve got to keep ensuring that particularly small and family businesses continue to support their communities, in the way that you’re able to. Because I know you love what you’re doing. You love what you do. Of course, you’d like to turn a profit and from 1 July, you only pay 25 cents in the dollar on tax, which is another good tax change. Lower taxes - good idea, don’t you think? [inaudible] Particularly now in the midst of all this, but you do it because you love it. You love your customers, you love what you're doing, you love what your business is about, it's not just a business for commercial purposes, it's a way of life. And it’s a way of life you’ve chosen because you’re passionate about it.
And so I'm just so pleased that the Australian economy has come through so intact and in a way that now can really go forward. And so this year, as we release this year's Budget, securing Australia's recovery is all about ensuring that we can keep you guys working. Keep going further and we’ll make sure that Australia not only stays where we are right now, relative to the rest of the world. We will keep building from here. And I can tell you the secret ingredient will be exactly the same, which is you.
So thank you very much for all of your efforts, everything, your patience, your perseverance, some sleepless nights on many, many occasions. And thank you for pulling through and staying together so strongly as a community.
Remarks, Visit to River City Labs - Fortitude Valley QLD
18 May 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much for that introduction. It's very exciting to be here with Assistant Minister Stoker in particular, but with all of you and to launch this very exciting program. And can I also acknowledge the Indigenous owners of the land and their elders, past, present and future and can I acknowledge any veterans who are present with us as well.
The work that we did, found in the research undertaken in developing this program, that 40 percent of young women are inspired to start a business having seen another woman do it. And that shouldn't be terribly surprising. Doing the sorts of things that you’re doing here is not easy and it takes courage. It takes a high level of confidence to be able to put yourself out there. And say I got this idea. I think it’s a great idea but I’m not sure everyone else will think it’s a great idea. And how am I going to convince other people to come and back this idea and invest their funds and their resources in realising this. Because we know you can't do anything necessarily on your own. You have to work with others. And I think what's great about places like these is they provide those skills, they provide that encouragement. They provide that shared experience as people come through pretty much all the same fears, concerns, excitements and opportunities all at once. And when you have mentors as well that can seek to guide you and encourage you down that path, who have done it before and provide you with that example, well, I think it's a time honoured formula and that produces a tremendous success. And so to kick-start a program which will enable you to compete for that, amongst others, $60,000 or thereabouts, which is a program which I think will greatly encourage five successful entrepreneurs will share a portion of $60,000 seed capital funding to help their businesses come to life as result of this program. And that's something worth having a go at. And, of course, that of itself is not going to see that idea of itself realised. But I think the opportunity for that recognition is incredibly important.
We've already seen through the first enterprising girls program, which was for girls under 18, 12-18, [inaudible], move into the next program. $5 million in this most recent Budget, which is backing in women with skills in this area but more importantly, passion and ideas and the energy levels I think to actually realise what they see as their vision. We all to aspire to different things, we all have vision for different things. Earlier today, I was talking to people buying their first homes and that was their vision and that was their dream. And they were realising it and that was fantastic. You’re pursuing your own vision, your own dreams, when it comes to realising that tech start-up or that tech innovation. And it can have many motivations. Of course, there's the commercial motivation, but in my experience, I've got to tell you, working with people in the tech sector, people are more excited about what this thing can do and how it can change lives, change livelihoods, change how the world works. Whether it's ensuring that we have a cleaner, greener future. Or whether it’s releasing the potential of people or massively reducing the amount of effort it requires to do something and relieving the stress burden on families or enabling small businesses or agricultural producers to get through tough times and particularly we’ve seen that through drought. And I think, Queensland in particular is a place where the ag tech sector is so important.
In the Budget this year, we put in $1.2 billion to support the digital transformation of our economy and ensure that we are one of the leading digital economies in the world by 2030. Now we're already making, I think, tremendous progress in this space, one of the first countries in the world to introduce the consumer data [inaudible], establishing the open banking system 24/7, a new payments platform which enables so much technology to take place. What we’re seeing in the ag tech sector is revolutionary and world-changing. This investment focuses on things like artificial intelligence, ensuring that the Government interface, so when you’re working in reg-tech, that those tools can be used to ensure that compliance with important standards doesn't become an impediment to people actually going forward and doing business that they’re going to do. Now that comes on top of $800 million that we put in the Budget just last October. So, I can assure you that the digital transformation of our economy is one of the biggest challenges we've got for our economy to continue its recovery.
Three areas I’m focused on and one is workforce. The skills, the abilities, the training that are necessary and those skills to bring from overseas too. There’s no doubt about that, importing the knowledge and some of the best talent from around the world. We have the global talent programme at the moment, where Peter Verwer who heads up that programme for the Government, is seeking to secure and hire basically, some of the best and brightest minds and tech companies around the world today that sit and plan with our six big areas of focus of our modern manufacturing initiative. They seek to bring them out here and put them in our universities and create these ecosystems across our economy. Workforce, so important. Digital transformation of our economy, also so important. And at the end of the day, also energy, affordable, reliable and low emissions energy. These are the challenges, that I think are most important in driving our economy and jobs. And we want all Australians to be equally benefiting in the opportunities that are there and I think the Enterprising Women programme does that. It gets you on the platform, it gets you in the space, it gets you the opportunity and once I think, you get that fair go to have a go, then I think you’ll take it from there and that's what this programme is all about.
So can I congratulate all of you for what you’re doing. I’m pleased this is going to have the boost I think it’s designed to give you and I look forward to seeing wonderful things coming out of Queensland and out of the Enterprising Women program more broadly. Thank you.
Address and Q&A, Federal Budget Lunch Sydney, NSW
14 May 2021
Prime Minister: Thank you very much Angus, thank you very much for that very generous introduction. I can only return the compliment, Angus. I’m greatly served by a wonderful Cabinet of which Angus is a very important part. Our gas-fired recovery, technology not taxes to reduce our emissions, the agenda of investment, the agenda of technology that we will see achieved in this country over the next 10 years and beyond is very much a result of Angus’ incredibly hard work.
Can I also acknowledge, before I commence, all my other colleagues here, but I particularly want to acknowledge David Coleman who’s with us here today. You would have noted in the Budget the very significant announcements that we have made on mental health, and David, together with myself and Greg Hunt as Health Minister, were the architect of those, and I know it’s something both he and I have a deep passion about, and this was certainly I think a wonderful piece of work, David. And I want to commend you and acknowledge you here in our hometown together. So it’s great to have you here with me as well. To all of my other colleagues who are here.
Can I acknowledge first and foremost though the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and elders past, present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge any veterans who are with us, any Defence Force personnel, indeed, who are with us, and simply say to you thank you. Thank you for your service to our country.
Can I also acknowledge not only my colleagues who are here today and my state colleagues, Damien, as well, but can I acknowledge of course Philip Ruddock and Chris Stone who steer our division so ably, and not just from a federal point of view but I’m sure Damien would agree from a state point of view as well, and we greatly appreciate the work of all our party members and of the New South Wales division, which is my home division, and it’s very nice to be home, Philip, amongst friends and amongst our divisional supporters. And I thank you all for being here today in your support for what we’re doing.
I said this during the course of the week in Budget. To so many of our supporters and friends who were there, you assist our agency. You have enabled us to be successful politically, which means that we can do the things that we know are so necessary for the nation's future, and in joining us in this way, you were part of that. You were part of what we’re doing. You’re enabling what we’re doing, and I want to thank you very much on behalf of all of my team, the New South Wales division in particular, but my broader team right across the country for the great support that we receive.
It’s been about a year, in fact a bit more than that, since COVID crashed into the globe, and the virus today and the pandemic we face today continues to rage. In fact, it’s worse now than it was at this time last year. And we live in a world that is increasingly uncertain, and I want to echo what Angus has just said. We have to deal with the times we’re in. We have to deal with the world as it is, not as we’d necessarily like it to be. And I think that is the practical nature of Liberal National Governments, and always has been. Whether it was the Menzies Government originally that was dealing with the rebuilding process after the Second World War, or as the prosperity period that was enabled under the Howard Government, we are dealing with the pandemic times, and having to take the decisions consistent with liberal values that enable us to take this country through. And I want to talk a bit today about those values and how they apply to the decisions that we’ve made and the decisions we are making as part of Australia’s recovery plan.
Right now, here in Australia, we are living like few countries are in the world today. The average fatality rate in the OECD countries - so I’m talking about the countries that have similar health systems, similar advanced economies - the average fatality rate in OECD countries is 1,314 per million. In Australia, that figure is 35.7. Now, what that means is, had Australia experienced the same rate of fatality from COVID as countries like us all around the world, there would have been more than 30,000 more fatalities here in this country. That’s what together as Australians we have worked together to avoid, wherein so many other countries around the world they could not, and it swept over them. And it overwhelmed them. And it wreaked great havoc and great devastation. But not here, not here.
And equally, as you can see on the chart, which sets out - that top right-hand corner - that’s where you want to be. Where your economy is finding its way through strongly through the pandemic and you’ve minimised, as far as possible, the health impacts of the pandemic. So there we sit, amongst a handful of countries in the world today that have been able to find their way through the complete uncertainty that we faced.
I’ve mentioned it many times when I stood with the Treasurer or the Health Minister or so many others in the Prime Minister's courtyard in Canberra. And I said, "We are staring into the abyss,” and we indeed were. The uncertainty has been of like no other time I’ve certainly experienced, and for so many others. Those who are more senior to me will remember those awful times of the Great Depression and the Second World War, but for most Australians today, these are things we read about in the history books, they’re not things we lived through. But we’re living through these times.
And so when I look at that and the employment record that Angus referred to, where there are 13.1 million people in work today - and you might flick that forward to the next slide - 13.1 million people employed in Australia today. There were 13 million employed before we went into the pandemic. More people in work today than there were before the pandemic hit. And as you can see from the chart there, once again, no other advanced economy of that scale can lay claim to being in that position right now. So we are indeed fortunate. Anyone who’s of my age will remember the song by Talking Heads, David Byrne, wrote ‘Once in a Lifetime.’ And he talks about you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack - you don’t have to sing along, I’m not going to sing it - beautiful house, beautiful wife, I can certainly [inaudible] on there. And he brings it all together and says, “Well, how did I get here?” And the song goes on to say that in the days go by, but that's not what has happened here with Australia. We haven’t arrived at this point right now because we just let the days go by. No. We took action. We were active, we leant forward. We looked at the challenges and we practically set about getting this right, and as right as we possibly could.
Now, that doesn't mean we've got everything right. Sometimes there's that expectation. Certainly, certainly by my critics, certainly by our political opponents. But on every occasion we have sought to act in accordance with a set of principles, and from the outset we set them out. And I remember doing it in March of last year, not far from here. And we said we'd be targeted, we'd be proportionate, we'd be practical, we’d have a road in and a road out, when, on terms of major spending initiatives and things of that nature. And we’d use things that we know work, not things that we would trial and experiment with. And we followed those principles, and here we are today.
Our policy responses were, have also been about not putting government the centre or seeing government as the solution. That's what our opponents see. Our response, our solutions were designed to do one thing and that was to enable every Australian to do what they needed to do to get Australia through this crisis. Keep someone in work. To be in work. And so our policy responses were all geared towards backing Australians in, not seeing government as the answer but seeing Australians as the answer, and our government has that in common with the Howard Government, has it in common with the Menzies Government. This is what Liberal National Governments have always backed in the individual enterprise and initiative and determination and resilience of individual Australians, their families and their communities. Government is not the answer. Government is the enabler. And at a time like this where monetary policy is spent and, regrettably, borders have to remain closed and we don't have population growth and immigration, then in those circumstances, in those times, a responsible Government will act in the way that we have.
I want to talk about two programmes, in particular, to demonstrate this. The JobKeeper programme. This was a uniquely Australian programme. I had no interest in the programmes which were being pushed upon us by our opponents - untested, untried systems that didn't exist in this country and we were urged to be adopting them. But we took our time, but we moved at the same time with great haste and we developed a programme of income support that was uniquely Australian. Very practical, we were using existing channels - the Australian taxation [inaudible] - and we knew it would work. We weren’t going to try and come up with something new. That's when you get overpriced school halls or people's houses burn down when you put batts in their roof. That's not what we did. We paused. We looked at the experience and we came up with things that would work, because we know they already worked. So we used the existing distribution channels, and fair, too. Some of us said we should have had an income support system which was handed out as a percentage of your total income. And I said, “We’re not doing that. That’s not the Australian way.” If you're getting taxpayer support, then your need is the same as everyone else's. You're not entitled to a higher level of need than someone else because you've lost your job and someone else next to you has lost your job, or you're reduced to zero hours. You're in the same boat, and we’re going to give you the same support.
And so we took the decision to do this in a fair way and a practical way, and we did it in a way that was also proportionate to the challenge. And we did it in partnership. JobKeeper would not have worked were it not for the strong confidence of Australia's employers and their employees to trust their employers, and the financial relationship they had with their banks. Because we basically said this - you want to keep your employees? Employers said yes, yes I do. Employees, do you want to still be with the business? Yes we do. Okay, this is what can happen. We need you to go to your bank, we need you to go and borrow next month’s payroll and we'll sort you out on the other side. And for employers, we know that means that's, that's a big thing for you to take on. But we'll back you in. And for employees, yes, you may not have the hours you had before and, yes, you may not have the income you had before, but this is going to see you through. And they said, yep, we’re in for that. And we went and changed a number of industrial relations laws, which gave us the flexibility so they can all work together and work this through. That's the liberal way. That's the Coalition way. This wasn’t Government being the answer, making you come along to a Government office to get a Government cheque. This was done in partnership and this was unique.
But importantly on JobKeeper, and this is what's important about how we're doing these things, we knew we had to start and we knew we had to stop. And there were plenty of people, particularly our political opponents, who would say, “No, don’t step, don't step it down. Keep it in. Keep it going forever.” And that's what they would have done. And while we carry a massive debt now, which we don’t deny, had we followed the advice of those who said if you had to you couldn't turn this off, it would have been far worse and it would still be billing even now. And it would have taken resource that we couldn't put then into the programmes we are now investing in in this most recent Budget. So you know, you know when to get in and you know when to get out. And we held firm to that decision and I think that said a lot about the way that we seek to manage Budgets and work with others.
Now here's another one, and that's called HomeBuilder. The residential building industry was facing falling off a cliff in September of last year. So earlier in that year we put the programme together, which would have seen $25,000 to support Australians who wanted to build their own home. The programme was so successful that now some $2.7 billion has been invested in this programme, which is leveraging some $39 billion worth of construction activity in our residential building sector.
And our opponents backed us, they said it won’t work. It did. Big time. Years of pipeline of work to our construction industry, and the flow on effects of that when the home is built and you buy your fridge and you get your carpet and you buy your car. [Inaudible]. The multiplier effects of that and the confidence that builds - $2.7 billion investment, $39 billion outcome advised by the Master Builders, more than 100,000 homes have been built because of that programme.
Now we backed that in, of course, by backing Australians’ decision to want to go and invest that and to go and be that - a first homeowner, a homeowner, a home builder. We put $25,000 down. They put down the other $300,000, $350,000, $400,000. We leveraged their decision, their enterprise, their costs. We didn't [inaudible] it, we unleashed it by making this investment. And one of the things, and I know John Alexander who’s passionate about people owning their own home, constantly invoking to us as leaders the Menzies ambition of home ownership, which I think our party can speak so strongly to. We have now the highest level of first homebuyers in March in 11 years, as a result of this programme, the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, the First Home Super Saver Programme, and one third of all owner occupied lands in the March quarter were for first homebuyers. We haven’t seen that in quite a while. I know it’s still hard, very hard to buy your first home, it’s really hard, it’s really hard to save for that deposit, very difficult. But more Australians are achieving that at the moment than we’ve seen in a very long time because of the programmes we put in place.
But it's not just in that private housing market. The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, which I established, we established when I was Treasurer, that organisation in just three years has directly, through its activities, seen 2,700 new affordable housing dwellings financed through that programme and refinancing some 6,500 more affordable homes. Working with the community housing sector, directly in partnership with them, with the [inaudible] model and the [inaudible] National Housing Infrastructure Fund, which it does enabling infrastructure to ensure that other housing developments can proceed, and supported, this is just in three years, more than 4,400 new dwellings across the country.
Again, not Government just being it, working with community organisations, with partnerships who are also putting equity and their own effort into these things to realise it. We’re enabling, we’re leveraging. We're not replacing. We’re not saying, “Sit down, we’ll do it.” We’ll say, “We’ll stand next to you and then we’ll do it together.” That's the Liberal National way.
Now we saw an alternative to this last night where the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Labor Party, said he’s going to build 30,000 homes. But this is the math. This is the Albo-nomics maths. A plan for housing, when you compare it to HomeBuilder, that will spend four times as much and get two thirds less houses. It’s what it is. Four times as much and two thirds less. And you wonder why they always want to increase taxes, because the gap between that, that's how they [inaudible]. Now they said though, “Oh, no, we’re going to pay for it by the dividends out of the, out of the Future Fund.” Now, I think Peter Costello’s a pretty amazing individual, and I think he does an amazing job of the Future Fund, but in order to meet those targets the Future Fund has to double the rate of return, double the rate of return on a fund that could draw down, as opposed to the existing fund where all [inaudible] is reinvested.
The maths don’t just add up. The sentiment is genuine, I’m sure, no doubt. It’s a sentiment we share, ensuring that Australians can get affordable homes. But when it comes down to it, you need people who know how to make things happen, and whether it's HomeBuilder or the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation or the many other initiatives we’ve put in place, we're getting this done. And I think that highlights how we're going about these tasks. So our policies, our responses to leverage the efforts of Australians sets out how we need to keep going about this. We need to keep doing what works. We need to go even further, because that's what's required to secure Australia's recovery.
And this Budget is a plan to secure Australia's recovery. And what that should tell you is that we know it can be lost. We know we can lose the gains. We know we live in circumstances, as we've seen in so many other countries, Europe going into a double-dip recession. We know that everything Australians have worked so hard for over the last 18 months and the big decisions that have had to be made. The great gains can be lost with the wrong approach. They can be lost if we don't hold our nerve. They can be lost if we don't maintain the direction that we've set ourselves in these many months, going to where we are now.
So our economic recovery plan, and I'm not going to go through every one of these points, you’ll be pleased to know. You can read all about it in the Budget, but that plan - lower taxes, a highly skilled workforce, reliable, secure and affordable energy, cheap by technology not taxes, a transformative digital agenda, which I spoke of a few weeks ago, understanding the future of the digital economy and how that's going to drive Australia's success in the future - $1.2 billion in this year's Budget. It was $800 million in last year's Budget. Two billion dollars in the space of seven months committed to Australia's digital transformation. Easing the regulatory burden, cutting the red tape for businesses, record infrastructure investment, our rolling $110 billion dollar plan, prioritising the dynamic industries of the future. Our Modern Manufacturing Initiative, only launched last October, as those roadmaps are now out and the funds are now available for application. These are critical sectors which are so important to Australia's future. This Budget sets out once again further investment to make things here in Australia and keep making things here in Australia and making smart things here in Australia.
But so fundamental to this plan is lower taxes, as Angus said. We are the party of lower taxes and in this Budget we set that out again. We went to the last election fighting on the basis that Australians should keep more of what they earn. We made that commitment and we legislated that after the Budget, after the election, I should say, and those lower taxes, that principle which says a dollar in your pocket is better than a dollar in the Government’s pocket. You're more likely to turn that into ten dollars than the Government is, I can assure you, and that's why I want it in your pocket. Because in your pocket, you’ll invest it. In your pocket, you'll look after a family. In your pocket, you'll build a home. In your pocket, you'll make a difference with it. And that's what lower taxes mean. And that's why when some say, “Oh, but now we need to increase taxes because of the great weight of the things that are needed to be done by governments.” I say, “No, this is the worst time.” And as I saw those recommendations come in before the Budget and people saying, “Oh you need to raise taxes to do this or raise taxes to do that.” No. The Australian economy is recovering, is, is strong. And stronger than almost anywhere else in the world. But it is not immune to bad policy and bad policy is higher taxes when you're seeking to recover and grow your economy and build it for the future again.
Now, there are many measures in there, of course, the extension of the LMITO - the low and middle income tax offset - which will be a further stimulus measure in the economy, as it has been this year. So it will be next year. It's a stimulus measure, unapologetically. But the temporary full expensing provisions that are in there for business, which are seeking to drive investment, are incredibly important. It will cover some $320 billion of investment. It supports 99 per cent of businesses and the 11 and a half million Australians who work. And the spending on machinery and equipment, already now this is its fastest rate of increase in seven years from the tax incentives we're already providing for investment right now.
Now, you will know that the Australian corporate tax rate has been 30 cents in the dollar for a very long time. For the first time now for those businesses under $50 million, from the first of July, that will fall to 25 per cent, and that is welcome. But that's not all, because across so many areas of the tax system where we provide support, particularly for firms and businesses that are investing, firms that are investing in technology and research and development and so many other areas, there are myriad tax incentives that play into an even more advantaged tax position for businesses who are looking to invest and to grow and to employ.
Now, in this Budget there was new arrangements for digital gaming [inaudible], for medical and biotech companies with the new patent box initiative, which I think is incredibly exciting for innovation and technology in those sectors, and look forward to how we can bring that into the clean energy sector and rolling it out in those areas. And we're seeing an enormous investment take place, I think, in those areas now, and that will only increase into the future. But when you take into account all of these various incentives, work done for, under the global talent programme, which is led by Peter Verwer, he’s had some work done with [inaudible] and they’ve worked [inaudible], shows that the effective tax rate in Australia right now, because of all the measures that we've put in as a Government, the effective tax rate for new investment in this country is 21 per cent, not 30, not 25, 21 per cent. Now that’s [inaudible]. And I’m not putting those taxes up because I need that tax rate to be at that competitive level to attract the best and brightest, investment in the firms, lift our productivity as we go out around the world, through this initiative.
You can see it in the step down chart, which I won’t take you through, but whether it's a biotech company, a small capital [inaudible], when you, when you throw in the supports on R&D, and amortization and depreciation and instant expensing, when you throw them in on top of that, what we're doing in the Modern Manufacturing Initiative and the other supports that are there, and now with the patent box. I mean, for some [inaudible] we will see, particularly in the biotech, research, innovation sectors, an effective tax rate for new investment of somewhere between 10 and 15 per cent. Now, that’s competitive, that’s a reason to move your business here and now, and you can move your business into a country that has one of the most successful records on both the economy and health of any country in the world. And that's what we mean by the [inaudible] programs are doing, even as we speak.
It's an exciting new programme which was initiated by our Government. It's focussed on attracting high value modern enterprise and exceptionally talented individuals - 30 per cent, 30 per cent of our attraction so far in the digital, digitech sector. A quarter are researchers and entrepreneurs in health and life sciences. That includes a global expert in SARS-CoV-2 and research into Hep B. Twenty per cent is in pioneers, particularly in research and clean energy.
So friends and supporters, thank you for being here today. The Budget is a plan to secure Australia's recovery, and it's the right plan, ground deep in Liberal and National values that have served the nation on so many occasions in the past, whether it was the challenges of the Menzies time or the Howard time or indeed our time now. These values will guide us, and it says that it's Government supporting the initiative and enterprise and determination of individual Australians, enabling, standing with them, not seeking to replace them, hold them back, or tell them the Government knows better.
Government can do good things, but I tell you what, the Australian people can do better. And that's what we want to leverage, and that's what our Government is about. Business-led growth - eight out of 10 employees are in the private sector, and that's where the further job growth is going to come from. And it's not going to come from the Government getting in the way of that. It's going to [inaudible], it’s going to come from Government enabling that, to backing it, to support it. So you can do the many challenges that you have.
So we will keep going on that path. We will ensure that through this Budget we will stay on top of COVID-19, we will ensure that we continue to create jobs and build our economy for the future, guarantee those essential services that Australians rely on, whether that be in aged care, mental health in particular, which received such treatment in the Budget, or protecting women's safety, and indeed to ensure that we make sure Australia is resilient and secure in a very uncertain world. And I think with all of that together, this Budget, I think, meets the challenges of the times, consistent with the Liberal and Nationals values that we hold dear. Thank you very much for your attention.
Q&A
Question: Prime Minister, thank you for your good management, your good Government and your great leadership. We live in very uncertain times and I think we all expect and need to be kept safe. However, Australia is a very successful, diverse, multicultural society, and there are many Australians with linkages right around the world. What would you say to those Australians as to when the borders may open and when families could be reunited?
Prime Minister: Well, thanks, [inaudible]. And in particular, right now, we are readying the planes, those Qantas planes, they're on their way over to India as we speak, very shortly. And they're taking with them the next round of emergency supplies of oxygen concentrators, of respirators, and the many other forms of medical support and assistance we’re providing to India. And they will bring back Australians - Australian residents, citizens and close family members - and they will be bringing them back to Howard Springs at the National Resilience Facility, quarantine facility, that we have there in partnership with the Northern Territory Government. That is going to happen this weekend because of the very strong action and decisive action we took several weeks ago. That pause has done its job. The number of cases that we had up in Howard Springs at that time was over 50. It's now down to four. [Inaudible]. And also around the country we saw the number of those, of active cases in quarantine, fall from 292 to 171. So the system’s ready to respond. Had we not undertaken that pause, then I think we would have put ourselves in a position where that just wouldn't have been possible, not just for a couple of weeks, but months and months and months. But importantly we can now do it and do it safely, and we can do it consistently and sustainably. And I'm pleased that we're going to be able to do that. And these are the challenges [inaudible] we’re going to have to keep working with, over the course of the many months ahead. Your borders just don’t one day open up and, it's not that binary. It's, it's a step by step process. The Health Minister and I have talked about it, whether it's green lane opportunities, which we already have with New Zealand. I've already mentioned that the next country we’d love to do that with is Singapore. We already have a process where we're engaged with our health officials and expert health advisers to understand, with the states and territory, whether we can be in a position where we're, where you’re vaccinated in Australia, that you would be able to travel and return and have an alternative form of, of quarantine, preferably in your home, and for a more restricted period. Now, that still has to be worked through. The health has to be right. We don’t want to let this thing back in. Once it’s in you can’t get it out. And with the new variants and new strains, they’re going to be with us for some time. Many other countries in the world, it’s too late for them to try and achieve what Australia’s achieved. They can’t get to where we are. And so they’ll make their decisions. But here in Australia we’ll make the decisions which, which are right for this country. And that means ensuring that, particularly internally within Australia, we can keep, while our borders are open, internally as much movement, as much activity as we possibly can. And I believe over the course of this year we will see an even more proportionate response, I think, to the challenges that come our way with the inevitable breakouts that you will have from time to time. As all states, none better here than New South Wales have dealt with so, so successfully. So that will see us, I think, then move to others in the critical workers area, where we will be able to, I think, make more progress there. Last time I was up in the Northern Territory a few weeks ago, I was talking to the Northern Territory Chief Minister about a project he asked us to work with him on there in relation to workforce entry into Australia and we're working with him on that. I noticed that was something that was the centre of the Leader of the Opposition was mentioning yesterday. But the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory had already engaged me on that some weeks ago. So we'll continue to work on those programmes with the states and territories and be very practical. But we've got to be very careful here to understand that as much as we'd like the world to be different, it's not. The pandemic rages more today than it did a year ago. And sadly having ravaged the developed world, it is now ravaging the developing world. And that brings with it a whole series of new challenges, new variants, new strains. I was talking to Prime Minister Modi just, just last week, and he is dealing with a challenge which is hard for us to conceive in this country. And so we’ll give them every support. But it's important that when we bring people home, we bring them home safely. And we'll continue to do that and we’ll work with the states on other capacities that we think we can build together. But we are in it together, and I'm sure we will continue to maintain the success of what we've already spoken about today. But I [inaudible].
Question: Yes, look, thank you so much for that, Prime Minister, and what a fabulous and very generous Budget it is. And, and as you say, it's certainly a Budget for the times. And one of the things that I think, and this was kind of an underlying theme for your, of your, of your speech, was that we have to have confidence in where we are now and where we’re going to. And unfortunately, often, confidence is undermined by misinformation. And so I just would wonder if you could kind of share with us where, where the vaccination programme really is, and what the, where it's been and where we're headed to.
Prime Minister: Well, look, thanks for that question. And I've just got to look it up because I get my daily updates from the vaccination programme. And today’s vaccination update shows that there were 85,874 people who were vaccinated yesterday. That brings us now to a total of 2.98 million people have been vaccinated across the country. That means by about now, I think, we’ve already crossed the three million mark, in terms of the vaccinations we were expected to happen today. We thought we'd reach that mark by the end of this week, and we certainly have. And what we are seeing is the vaccination programme, despite having some early challenges with accessing supplies, particularly the AstraZeneca supplies from Europe in those early phases, and much is said about four million and one million, basically there were three million doses that didn’t turn up. That's what happens in a pandemic. And while others might want to make political advantage out of that, we’ve just got to deal with the reality of this. And then after that, of course, we had the TGA advice on AstraZeneca, which was not something that had been contemplated. And that, of course, led to some initial hesitancy. And now the AstraZeneca vaccine will only be used for those aged after 50. We got together with the National Cabinet, I brought them back together and got them back on that COVID operation tempo, and we worked through that programme. We brought forward over 50s vaccinations to just, that started right across the board last Monday week, and on next Monday will be available through all GP clinics that are providing vaccinations right around the country. Our GPs are doing an amazing job, by the way. They’re the ones administering, they’re the overwhelming portion of vaccine doses that have been delivered in this country. But we're now running well over 400,000 a week. We will see that number I think continue to increase, as extra doses are going into the GP clinics next week. And we'll have a bigger population with [inaudible] to, to go to those GP clinics for the over 50s. And then we will move into the next phase, which deals with those who are under 50, and the additional Pfizer doses that we were able to secure, that was an additional 20 million, that was due for the fourth quarter of this year. We're working hard on how we can bring that forward and then, Greg Hunt’s doing a good job on that. There was also the additional mRNA vaccines that we were able to secure this week, and that was for both this year, some 10,000 doses, and that also involved 15,000 additional doses that deal the boosters. So that's to deal with the variant strains next year, and things of that nature. We’re already thinking about not just the doses we're hoping people can have this year, but the doses people are going to need to have next year, because we're not seeing this as something that is ending any time soon. And so we’re still seeking to stay ahead of that, at the same time while supporting, particularly our regional neighbours. I was speaking this week to both the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and the Prime Minister for Fiji. Fiji is having a particular challenge right now but Frank’s, I think, all over that, and I think they’ll do a great job sorting that out. But we've got tens of thousands of doses which are going into those countries to support their vaccination programmes. And that's also an important part of what we're doing. So after some initial challenges which related to medical reasons and supply reasons, this happens, we will continue to have other shocks, I imagine, and other variables. That's why we're cautious about when we’re saying things will get done by. It will happen as quickly as possible, and we greatly value the work that’s been done by the states and territories, particularly here in New South Wales and the clinics that are being set up here in New South Wales. And with the support of Brad and Gladys, I think that's working extremely well. And we'll see those rates of vaccination further increase as the year goes on. And I believe we’ll, I think the assumption that it's likely we’ll get there by the end of this year, I think that’s a reasonable assumption. But at the moment, it's still just an assumption. And there's a lot that has to happen between now and then, just like we had early on in the programme, I suspect there'll be a few other things that will come our way, and we'll deal with it then just as the way we have already.
Question: Thank you, Prime Minister. [Inaudible]. My question concerns the Middle East and last night on Chris Kenny the former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that he believed that the [inaudible] is precipitated to counter the success of the Abraham [inaudible]. I'm not going to put you in the difficult position of asking whether you agree, but what I would like to ask is whether you believe that the momentum that Abraham beholds is now over, because of the, of what's going on in the Middle East?
Prime Minister: Well, thanks for the question. It's obviously a deeply sensitive topic and it's one that both personally and our Government is deeply concerned by the terrible and escalating violence that we're seeing in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. And, as always, we'd urge all those involved to exercise restraint, to restore calm, and so people can live peacefully and to avoid any unilateral actions that might destabilise peace. That said, that said, Israel unquestionably has the right to defend itself and its people. Unquestionably. And, equally, Palestinians need to be able to live safely. As a Government, we believe in the two-state solution. It seems now in politics here in Australia that is no longer a bipartisan view, and I think that's disappointing. That is certainly our Government's view, and we stand strongly and always have with the nation of Israel, with its many challenges over many, many, many years. Indiscriminate attacks with want and disregard for civilian casualties perpetuate the cycle of violence and bloodshed. The protection of civilians remains paramount, and it's just very important that I think we continue to be mindful of the human beings who are in positions of great danger and uncertainty and fear. The world is not like we'd like it to be. It is as it is. And within that I think we have to recognise the [inaudible] rights of nations like Israel, and the right to defend themselves. But also our shared obligation to ensure that all can live peacefully in the region, including in [Palestinian territories]. Thank you.
Multicultural Press Conference
12 May 2021
Prime Minister: Welcome everybody. I'm glad you've been able to join us. Last night's budget was a very important time in Australia's history as the world confronts the worst global pandemic we've seen in a century, a pandemic that is worse today and more threatening today than it even was a year ago.
As we look around the world, we see the terrible impacts and toll that it is taking in so many countries. But yet here in Australia, we are living life like few countries are, and our economies is strong like few economies are, including developed economies around the world at this point right now, we have more Australians in work today than we did indeed have before the pandemic began. There are virtually no advanced economies, developed economies around the world that find themselves in that position today.
In addition to that, we continue to have success in fighting the pandemic, protecting Australian lives and protecting the health of Australians. If the OECD average of the fatality rates that we've seen across those countries had been realised here in Australia, some 30,000 additional Australians would have perished during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic to date.
So Australia can stand here today on the basis of some extraordinary achievements by Australians working together, doing what they needed to do, supported by very effective government policies, governments working together to keep Australians safe, but to keep our economy together and performing at one of the most difficult times we've faced or indeed any country has faced since the Second World War and the Great Depression.
So the budget is a plan for securing Australia's recovery. We don't take that recovery for granted. We know that that recovery will be built on ensuring we keep doing the things that are working, that we remain diligent and that we remain focused on, especially driving employment, driving unemployment down, driving employment up, getting Australians into work, because that increases their means and ability to be able to deal with the impacts of the epidemic here in this country.
So I'm happy to take some questions Rosa, and we'll go from there.
Rosa Stathis: Thanks PM, the first question is from Suzan Horani from Radio 2Moro, please go ahead Suzan.
Suzan Horani: Good morning, Prime Minister. How will this budget help small business employ more Australians? You've been talking about infrastructure, but how does it help small businesses.
Prime Minister: Well small businesses for a start, the tax rate is now 25 per cent, 25 per cent used to be 30 per cent when we came to government. And so we've reduced the tax burden on small businesses. In addition to that, we're engaged in a more than 400 million dollar program to cut red tape for businesses and the compliance costs that involve everything from putting an additional person on or if they're working in the agricultural sector and many of the regulations and other things they have to work to get their products to market. Now, on top of that, we've also got the increased investments in our digital economy and digital transformation plan that's supporting small businesses in particular to realise the opportunities of the digital economy and to ensure that Australia is one of the top 10 digital economies in the world by 2030. On top of that importantly, we've got further extension of major tax incentives for investment in this country. TheCOVID period against the tax that you've previously paid, previously paid prior to the pandemic when your business was performing much better. Now, that gives you cash flow right now, right here, right now. And then we double down on that by putting in place the instant expensing initiative and keeping that going out into the future. And what that means is you can take that cash from tax you've already paid before rather than having to wait some years for those losses to be realised in your annual tax returns, you can then ensure that you've got that money now and you can invest that back into your business as you're seeking to take advantage of the opportunities that are there for Australian companies as we speak. Now, in addition to that, their is support for small and medium sized businesses in particular to take on new apprentices and trainees with the wage subsidies that are in place. Small and medium sized businesses have been champions of taking on young Australians in particular, and those of the apprenticeships and traineeships, 170,000 of those supported throughout this Budget. So whether it's the tax system, whether it's the training system, whether it's the, the support we're providing in cutting red tape and supporting small businesses into the digital economy, all of this is designed to continue to back them in. And that comes on the back as we know, over the last 18 months, where JobKeeper saved those businesses. There would not be those small businesses here today were it not for the interventions that were undertaken to support small and medium sized businesses through the first waves of the pandemic here in Australia. So I'm pleased they're here. It was our intent to ensure that they would still be here, and it's my intent to ensure they're getting even stronger in the years ahead through particularly the tax incentives and regulation reduction and red tape reduction and costs of compliance that can hold them back and to see them also realise the opportunities of the digital economy.
Suzan Horani: Thank you so much, Prime Minister. Hoping for another opportunity sometime soon.
Prime Minister: Thank you.
Rosa Stathis: The next question is from Fred Zheng from Melbourne Today. Please go ahead Fred.
Fred Zhang: Good morning Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Good morning Fred.
Fred Zhang: Thank you for all your efforts of keeping Australians safe. We'll have noticed the winemaker's receive a considerable amount of tax relief in the coming budget. And this is an industry that suffered a lot from our relationship with China. My question is, what about other industries suffering loss from this relationship for example, meat export, fishing and agriculture export.
Prime Minister: Well, we've already diversifying our markets and while we want to have a very positive trading relationship with China and work closely with China and, and ensure that the region as a whole continues to go forward with its prosperity we are very, very open and supportive of such a relationship indeed that's the spirit in which the China Australia free trade agreement was put together. And we want to see that continue to be realised. And so there is there is no obstacle from Australia's perspective in realising that going forward. And and we hope to to see that realised into the future. But we've already seen whether it's barley or many other sectors we've seen through the support of of our trade agencies working together with the sector. We're already seeing the diversification take place. We're already seeing new markets being found and a key part of that, particularly in the agricultural sector, is the work that is being done through biosecurity. Now, why is that important? Because Australian produce is clean. Australian produce is the best in the world and our biosecurity and border protections, which keep out things like African swine flu and various other things that are ravaging many other countries. The quality of our exports depend very much on the health of our biosecurity regime, and there's additional investments in this budget. But there's also work being done and additional support for agricultural offices, scientific officers and others to ensure that we can gain the market access and ensure we're complying with other countries regulations to ensure that we can get our products into those markets. So right across the board, we have always pursued a policy of trade diversification. We have not put all our eggs in one basket when it comes to our trade. And indeed, right now we're seeking to finalise a trade agreement with the United Kingdom, still working hard this year to seek to finalise an agreement with the EU. These are very important markets, particularly for our agricultural sector. And I was just a beef week up in Rockhampton and people were raising with me the issues that they wanted me to focus on were those agreements, understanding that some markets from time to time will they will have their peaks and they will have their cycles. And it's always been a good policy I think for Australian exporters to to have a a good basket of trading partners that they're engaged with to ensure that the I think the ongoing security of their production and their businesses
Fred Zheng: Thank you, Prime Minister. Thank you.
Rosa Stathis: Prime Minister the next question is from Argyro Vourdoumpa from The Greek Herald. Please go ahead Argyro.
Argyro Vourdoumpa: [Inaudible] here today, after their Budget night, that a considerable amount of money of this year's Budget will be spent to support women. How will this budget specifically, is specifically supporting the well-being of women from migrant communities, who were hit hard by job and income losses Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Well look, I thank you for that question. And you're indeed right. The Budget does take significant steps to improve both women's security, their physical security and safety, as well as it does their economic security. And regardless of what your background is, tax cuts of childcare support and these measures provide support for people of all backgrounds in Australia, obviously doesn't discriminate. A particular area we focus in on, on the safety of women has been support for women from in migrant communities and migrant backgrounds and refugee backgrounds who can be exposed to violence and economic coercion from partners here in Australia and providing additional support for them to be able to be kept safe and protected more in those circumstances. This is something I've been aware of for a very long time, and we've taken a lot of measures to try and address those issues more fully. And we have again in this budget to provide that support for particularly migrant women in terms of their physical safety in the community. But more broadly than that, I think one of the great things about Australia's migrant communities is that they're the most entrepreneurial and they're the ones starting businesses and women in migrant communities, even more so. And so all the measures I was talking about for small business before in particular, I think go very much to the heart of the opportunity for women in the Budget. But it's also about developing the entrepreneurial skills of women, which I think will be of great value to particularly migrant women in this country, because we know when people come to this country, they come to make a contribution and not take one. And that means they're looking for opportunities to be able to develop their skills and opportunities in the entrepreneurship and established businesses and become networked into the Australian economy in the Australian community. And that's what that's what these programs are there to support. So migrant women are small business women. Migrant women are working in the care sector and we've got additional support going into the care sector to ensure that we can meet the big challenges we have, both with the aged care reforms that were announced in this budget, as well as supporting the needs that we know are present in the National Disability Insurance Scheme. And a very significant portion of our of our labour force that goes to support those care sectors actually comes from migrant communities and particularly comes from women. And so ensuring that they can get the training that they need to continue to be able to work in that sector and do what I know what they want to do and that is provide the best possible care they can to those who are in their care. Now, this is especially true for aged care in migrant communities themselves. As we know, when people age and they suffer from dementia, there is a need to ensure that we have people working in our aged care facilities who have language skills for those particular migrant communities. When one suffers from dementia, you often revert to your first language, and that can make someone feel even more isolated there’re in an aged care facility, there’re speaking and no one can understand what they're saying. I can only imagine the sense of isolation you would feel in that circumstance. So our aged care reforms are about getting the right workforce for the right places. And Australia's migrant communities are going to play an increasing role in meeting the care needs of the Australian community.
Argyro Vourdoumpa: Thank you, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Thank you.
Rosa Stathis: The next question is from Neeraj Nanda from the Fiji Times. Go ahead Neeraj.
Neeraj Nanda: Hello. Hello, Prime Minister. How are you today?
Prime Minister: I'm very well. All my best to my dear friends in Fiji.
Neeraj Nanda: I'm not in Fiji. I'm in Melbourne.
Prime Minister: You're in Melbourne but you're writing for the Fiji Times.
Neeraj Nanda: No, no, no South Asia Times.
Prime Minister: I'm sorry I heard that wrong anyway.
Neeraj Nanda: OK, Prime Minister, my question is, I'm sure because I haven't read all the Budget papers at all. I just read the media release. There is provision for to help other countries hit by the pandemic. And you have helped India with the first consignment between New Delhi and welcomed over there. My question is, India has been pressing for one very important thing along with hundred other countries, as to who will work for the vaccine patent. Yes, so can you enlighten us on that. What is Australia's view on that?
Prime Minister: We are leading into this. And I said that Narendra Modi last Friday when we spoke and to speak about the serious challenges that India obviously currently facing with the pandemic right across India, which is a heartbreaking story. But our thoughts and support are with the people of India right across the country, not just those Australians and Australian residents and their immediate families who are caught up in this. But, but Indians more broadly, and we are there, as you've said, with whatever support we can continue to provide from oxygen concentrators and respirators and other medical equipment, we are there and will continue to provide that support. But on the issue of the patent, I made it clear to the Prime Minister that this was something that Australia was disposed towards. In my address to the United Nations General Assembly about a year ago, I made it clear that during the course of this epidemic that whoever finds the vaccine needs to be able to share it with the rest of the world. And that remains my view. So I understand that process has been worked through, through the WHO. There are many countries that have to get on board with this. But as I indicated to the Prime Minister, this is something that Australia has as a deep level of sympathy for.
Neeraj Nanda: Thank you.
Prime Minister: And, and I commend Prime Minister Modi for the, for the for the leadership stand he's taken in in pursuing this.
Neeraj Nanda: Thank you, Mr Prime Minister.
Rosa Stathis: Prime Minister the next question is from Cecil Huang from 1688 Media Group. Go ahead Cecil.
Cecil Huang: Good morning, Prime Minister. In terms of a broad economic prospect, what impact would the tension between Australia and China have on Australia's economy and how do you think this tension can be resolved?
Prime Minister: Well, China remains a most important trading partner with Australia. But what I'd stress is, is that this is good for China and this is good for Australia. There's a mutual interest here. This is not a one way street. This is not a relationship that only benefits Australia and I think it would be a mistake to characterise it that way. And so it's in both of our interests to maintain, I think a healthy and positive trading relationship. And I believe that's possible. And Australia is fully committed towards that. We obviously would like to see the, the disruptions to our trade, in particular products and commodities. We would like to see that come to an end. Of course we would. These are decisions that are not taken by Australia and we're seeking to work with the processes that are established to address those, those disruptions that have have arised, arisen I should say. But Australia will also we have you know, we are a very broad trading base. Overwhelmingly, our two way trade is covered by agreements not unlike those that we have with China. And so we will just continue to engage, be open to that engagement, be available for dialogue, to address the issues, I should say that have been raised by the Chinese government. We enjoy a very positive people to people relationship with China. I think we enjoy a very positive business-to-business relationship between Australian companies and, and Chinese companies, including state owned enterprises. And so I would like to see the good spirit of that relationship prevail and extend at the political level. And Australia is obviously very keen to support that. But to do so, consistent with who we are as a liberal democracy, consistent as a sovereign nation, consistent in being able to express ourselves and, and to be able to function in the in the region and the world more broadly and to ensure that we run our democracy here free of any interference, that our foreign investment rules are matters for Australia's decision in the national interest, not other countries, and as the same as it is in China. So look I remain optimistic and willing to engage, and I think that's the way to approach it.
Rosa Stathis: Thanks, Prime Minister. The next question is now from Navneet Anand from Fiji Times.
Prime Minister: Now we've got the Fiji Times.
Navneet Anand: It’s the Fiji Times, be with the times. Good morning Prime Minister, my name is Navneet Anand, an Australian citizen with Indian heritage. One thing I wish to say, we all are very, very fortunate to be living in this country Australia, amid the pandemic I think we are the most safe on this earth. Thank you so much.
Prime Minister: Thank you. I've got to say, they're doing a great job in Fiji, too. I'm talking to the Prime Minister I think, later today. And we've stayed in contact over the course of the pandemic. And they're rolling out their vaccination program there and we're, of course, supporting them to do that. And so I think I think Fiji's also done very well.
Navneet Anand: I'm from the Indian heritage born in India and being [inaudible] in Australia my question Prime Minister would be there is a shortage of workers in hospitality sector as we all know, because no more international students have come to this country probably in over a year now and we don't see them to be coming back before July 2022. Do we see any way to get more international students coming in the country, maybe with extra quarantine and different facilities, at least have these workers for the hospitality growth?
Prime Minister: Well, what we've done is we've extended the work rights from 20 hours to 40 hours. And I think that'll be very important for the large numbers of students that have remained in Australia in the numbers as far greater than I think people appreciate that have actually have remained in the country. And that's a very welcome labour force here in the country, but also that they continue to pursue their studies here in Australia. And we've been able to maintain so many of these student numbers through the, the online and digital delivery streams of our education system. Our Government has always been open to the university sector, which has very significant capital reserves and an ability to engage in establishing the types of facilities that could facilitate what you're saying. We've got state governments, particularly New South Wales and South Australia, who I think are very open to working with the sector to achieve that. The suggestion, though, that this will somehow be all done by the Federal Government and subsidised by taxpayers I think is unreasonable. The universities have much to gain from doing this, and I've always encouraged them to come forward and, and put forward proposals that would enable them to be able to see some students come into Australia. And I think that is achievable. It's not all going to happen in one go. It's not going to happen of a switch on, switch off sort of binary way. But we do have state governments in the country who are willing to engage. And I would hope that we would see the students coming back, but not all in one hit, because that could prove to be very risky and we'd want to be confident about the arrangements for their entry. But you know, I think we have a positive disposition towards all of that. It will just take time.
Navneet Anand: As you say, a lot of students are doing their studies online while being in the home countries, but for international students it's not only the formal classroom study that they're looking to. They also want to have some of the international experts are coming to countries like Australia, meeting with people from different countries.
Prime Minister: I agree.
Navneet Anand: Any chance at all, any chance at all to have quarantine facilities for international students itself, maybe in a third country at all.
Prime Minister: In a third country, well look, there's been nothing that's been presented to us in a third country that has in any way been seen to be acceptable by the states and territories from a public health management point of view. In terms of the universities themselves stepping up and being prepared to fund the sort of thing you're talking about. I also haven't seen any great interest from them doing that either, but they have a lot to gain by doing so.
Navneet Anand: Looking forward to it. Thank you so much joining us and thank you.
Rosa Stathis: Prime Minister, we have time for one last question from the Australian Chinese Daily, go ahead Keith.
Prime Minister: Keith. I might have to move on Rosa.
Rosa Stathis: Might have to move on from Keith, sorry about that. I have another tech issue. It’s from Susanna from Korean Today. Unfortunately, she has an issue with her sound, she's submitted her question. Prime Minister she would like to know, according to the ABC report, the Treasurer mentioned that the Budget assumption on this is conservative regarding the border opening. Could you please elaborate more on the border opening.
Prime Minister: Well, it's an assumption it's not a policy. When the Treasury seeks to make estimates for a whole range of things, revenue and so on, and has to make some assumptions. So please don't please do not confuse assumptions with government policies or government forecasts of when things my may or may not occur. That is just a simple transparency of what the budget is assuming. The reopening of international borders is something that is very hard, very, very hard for us to put a sort of finite position on. The pandemic is worse now than it was a year ago. Australia has been successful because we've run a successful border control policy, and I'm not about to put that at risk at a time when COVID is now going to rage through the developing world. And so to secure our recovery in the plan for our recovery that we've set out on last night's budget, it's very important that the international borders and the security of those are maintained for the foreseeable future. Now, I think there will be, as the Health Minister has said, attempts to try and ease some of the restrictions that occur around our borders. For example, if vaccinated Australians are able to leave the country and return under different quarantine arrangements. That's something we're working on. But at this stage, no state or territory is open to that at this point. Equally, for Australians who are vaccinated and returning residents and their close family are returning from places overseas if they have been vaccinated, that they similarly could be, could be able to go through a different channel when it comes, particularly if they're coming from what you'd call a green list country where COVID has had less impact. So I think there are steps that can be taken, but we have to take them one at a time. And the truth and sad truth of the global pandemic is, as it stands today, is it's far worse and I fear it will continue getting worse. And so we need to do everything we can here in this country to ensure we can keep living the way we are, because living the way we are is also good for our economy. And that's why the Budget plan that we released last night is all about securing that recovery in those borders are an essential part of that. If behind secure borders, we can open our own economy up more and more and in critical areas, we've talked about students, but also in other forms of important labour that needs to be brought into the country to support our economy where we can do that safely. Well, we will continue to do that and we'll continue to provide new opportunities for that. We will also ensure that here within the country, those who have come from overseas, who are on various temporary forms of visas, are in a position to do more, work more and support our economy, particularly at a time when we don't have any migration program really operating externally. And population growth, migration growth has always been an important part of Australia's economic story. Our migration has been successful migration in Australia, skills based migration in Australia has been a key reason for our prosperity over generations. Now, we haven't lost sight of that. But the health imperative for the time being says that will be constrained. Then that's why our economic recovery plan focused so much on government leading into the various programs tax cuts and investment incentives that I've spoken to you about today. We have to do that. We have to keep leaning in because of the absence of a migration program effectively and monetary policy have been more, more or less exhausted as an option to support the economy. So we are conscious of how we accommodate, mitigate the impacts of being unable to bring more people into the country and indeed allow Australians to leave. But those international borders, we would like we would like to get to a place where we can have a more liberalised arrangement. But for the foreseeable future right now, that is not on our immediate horizon. What is on our immediate horizon right now is ensuring that we continue to suppress the virus and we ensure that our quarantine system is reliable. And it has an almost impeccable record, ninety nine point ninety nine per cent effectiveness there is not a country in the world that I think can, can talk about those sorts of success rates and then the rings of containment that go beyond that with the testing and tracing regimes. So I appreciate whether it's Australians who have family, particularly parents or others who are overseas. I can understand the difficulty there is in not being able to see them, particularly if you've got young children and you want them to be able to see their family members, you want to see that. I understand that. We all understand that. But the reality is we're living in the worst pandemic in a century, and that means that there are certain things we used to be able to do, which is just simply not sensible or safe to do for a period of time. And that period of time will extend for as long it needs to, to keep Australians safe and to ensure that we can keep our economy moving forward and the recovery that we've all been able to achieve as Australians is not put at risk. Where we are right now is quite extraordinary, but we could lose it all if we do not stick to what is working and we do not stick to the plan that is delivered the environment and the situation we're in now. Migrant communities across the country have done an extraordinary job, CALD communities, an extraordinary job. And I thank them all very much, whether it's been faith communities, language communities or others communicating, engaging with people so they understand the services and supports that are available to them. I deeply appreciate, particularly on the vaccination program and encourage you to continue to work with us to ensure we're getting those messages out to encourage vaccination. And we want to keep supporting those countries for whom we have such big Australian populations here. The Indian community foremost amongst those at the moment as we're reaching out to support, but equally in our Pacific communities and our South East Asian communities as well, reaching out through our vaccination program with support, whether it's to Timor Leste or across the Pacific. Anyway, thank you for your attention today. I thank you for your questions. This is an important part of Australia's future. This recovery plan will ensure that we can stay on track. And I greatly appreciate the involvement in the many communities across Australia of people of so many different backgrounds and the contribution they're making to that. Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Sydney, NSW
7 May 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. Earlier today I convened the National Cabinet meeting while I was at Williamtown and I was joined by Professor Kelly, Chief Medical Officer. The National Cabinet has been meeting more regularly over the last month or so to address particularly the issues relating to the rollout of the vaccination program. And it was another very useful meeting today as we received updates, not only on the vaccination program, which Professor Kelly will speak more to, but also in addressing the very serious issues regarding the terrible pandemic breakout in India. I was able to advise, as I indicated earlier in my remarks in Williamtown, that of the National Security Committee decision taken yesterday afternoon, where we noted that the biosecurity order and the pause was successfully reducing the caseload and risk regarding the arrival of persons from India. That the biosecurity order would remain in place, with no change, until its intended completion date of May 15. That the repatriation flights, the facilitated commercial flights we been running for a considerable period of time, that assisted some 19,000, just around 20,000 in fact, people who returned from India already, they would resume on the 15th of May. That first flight is scheduled to leave India on the 15th of May. There will be three flights coming in this month into Darwin. That will be supported by the national resilience centre at Howard Springs in Darwin. That is the facility that was recommended to be established by Jane Halton's review into the quarantine system across the country. That now will have a capacity this month of 2,000 persons, up from 850, and that facility has been supported by the Commonwealth Government to the tune of around half a billion dollars.
I advised that while the pause in direct flights from India would be further reviewed next week, it was likely the Commonwealth Government would not be resuming direct commercial flights from India, and instead invited states and territories to participate in receiving additional repatriation flights, facilitated commercial flights, into their states. And I was very pleased to have the initial response straightaway from New South Wales as well as VIctoria and Queensland, who indicated they would be responding positively to that invitation. South Australia is also considering it very favourably. They have a flight which is due to come in from Malaysia on the 15th of May, I believe it is. We anticipate there will be people onboard that flight who will have already been in Malaysia for a period of a week or two perhaps, and they want to just carefully assess the infection rates that are coming from that flight. But I want to thank South Australia for their consideration. Western Australia will be considering. Of course, into Tasmania, there is not the opportunity for that nor in the ACT.
So I want to thank particularly New South Wales, that previously had been receiving commercial flights, direct commercial flights from India, for their very quick response, together with Victoria and Queensland. So that’s double the amount of repatriation and facilitated commercial flights we will see this month from three to what we anticipate six but those details will be confirmed with those states and territories and those arrangements as we work together on that over the course of the next week. Those charter flights will, of course, be focused on bringing those Australian citizens, residents and families who have been registered with our High Commission and consular offices within India. And it will also be targeted on those 900 most vulnerable of the group. I have asked DFAT to do a review of those registrations of all of those who have been registered in India to ensure they are current and that will assist a proper prioritisation of placing people on those flights. The charters will be undertaken by Australian crews, and they will require rapid antigen testing prior to departure. By arranging these returns to Australia, through what is the most secure channel we can provide for, that will mitigate the risk of potentially higher rates of infections presenting on arrival in Australia and ensure the quarantine system will be able to receive continued repatriation flights in the weeks and months ahead.
Sensitive third country transit points will also be monitored very closely after the 15th of May for the infection rates of those arriving from those transit points. The arrivals and potential actions that we will undertake to mitigate the risk is particularly in Colombo. We will be working closely with the Sri Lankan government and the airlines in Sri Lanka to ensure that we are seeking to put in place rapid testing before uplift on any of those flights into Australia. So we will be working closely with them. I spoke with the Foreign Minister last night and she has already started that process through DFAT to engage with the Sri Lankan government and with the airlines to ensure we can support those flights continuing to come to Australia. I would also note we will be monitoring the flights coming in from other transit points, although in most other cases we are not anticipating, at least our advice is presently, to see significant volumes coming through those other channels.
All of this is about sensibly preventing a third wave of COVID-19 here in Australia, doing that responsibly while at the same time doing everything we can to sustainably bring Australians home from what is currently its most significant hot spot for those travelling into Australia of anywhere in the world right now. The biosecurity order is doing its job. It is doing what we intended it to do. It will run for the term we intended for it to run, and then that will be replaced by arrangements made beyond that point to ensure we can prevent the third wave. I want to thank, in particular, in Australia our Australian community of people who are of Indian descent, the Indian community here in Australia. I thank them for their patience. I want to thank them for the understanding. I want to thank them for the opportunity that we have had over the course of the last week and longer to be able to convey directly to them, to explain the decisions the Government has been taking, and I know there will be welcoming the fact that these repatriation flights will be returning once again. But also that we believe we will be able to do that because of the actions we have taken on a sustainable basis. I know also from the Foreign Minister's engagement with her counterpart in India in London in the last 24 hours, that Australia's support for India at this time is greatly appreciated. And there was a very positive meeting held between Foreign Minister Jaishankar and Foreign Minister Payne while they were both there for the G7 meetings in London. And in addition to that I will be speaking to Prime Minister Modi later today, and I know the support that has already been provided to India directly, whether it is in oxygen concentrator or respirators or PPE equipment, all of these things is being positively received and we intend to provide as much further assistance as we possibly can and I look forward to discussing that with Prime Minister Modi this afternoon.
On the vaccination program, I will leave that largely to Professor Kelly to speak of. But I will just note a couple of encouraging points there. Some 2.5 million doses have now been delivered. Over 80,000 yesterday, more than 10 per cent now of the population aged over 16 has received their first dose, and that’s very welcome. We are also making very positive progress with those Australians aged over 70. As you know, on Monday week, GPs will also be involved in vaccinating those over the age of 50 through their clinics. GPs are now accounting for well over half of the vaccinations done in Australia. Our GPs are doing an absolute Herculean job, not just in administering the vaccine, but I think sitting down with Australians, talking them through the vaccine, giving them the reassurance and comfort they need in taking that vaccination. I want to thank all of our GPs, and particularly want to thank, as we know, there are so many GPs out there of Indian heritage, they are doing a fantastic job. People of Indian descent make up a significant proportion of our health community, of our health workforce. Whether it is doctors and GPs or across the health system and our aged care system. I particularly want to thank them once again for their concern of what is happening in their home country originally, and the devastation we are seeing there, here they are in Australia, doing a magnificent job as Australians. National Cabinet has been meeting regularly, particularly to address the vaccination rollout. We agreed today that having stabilised the rollout, we will move now back to our regular cycle of meetings, which is on a monthly basis, and we will do that and can be more regularly as required. Paul?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, Prime Minister. So first, the good news in Australia again, another zero day, no deaths and no community cases And that includes here where we are in Sydney where there is still that mystery about the two cases that have been reported over the last couple of days, the man and his wife, and there has been plenty of discussion about that. I have full confidence in the disease detectives in New South Wales Health, who have always been the leaders in chasing down these chains of transmission and working out what has indeed happened there. But certainly, important that anyone in Sydney right now who has been asked to get a test, please get a test. If you have been asked to isolate, please do that. If you have even the mildest of symptoms, wherever you are in Australia, but particularly in Sydney over the coming days, do get tested, because that is the way we will find out how this has occurred.
The vaccines, I think, PM, you have touched all of the headlines, but it is important to note that milestone, 2.5 million. It is continuing to go ahead, it is continuing to accelerate, the numbers every day are increasing. Yesterday, over 81,000 doses were given, including over 50,000 in general practices, GP respiratory clinics and the Aboriginal community controlled sector. That key group, the two key groups, if we think about in terms of vulnerability, that we really want to get high amounts of doses and high coverage. The over 70s, now over 30 per cent have had their first dose. So, please, if you are in that age group, make that booking, go to your GP if you have concerns about the vaccine, talk to them about it. But please, the benefit of the vaccine absolutely outweighs any risk, and it is really important, particularly as we have seen with the case in Sydney. This is the time to get that vaccination to protect yourself. In terms of aged care facilities, residents, that is also going extremely well. By the end of the month, the first doses will have been given to every single aged care resident. That is our aim and we are going very well to complete that particular matter.
In terms of how we are going with the issue with India and Australians returning, the PM has mentioned that. I absolutely stand by the advice I gave to the Health Minister this time last week in relation to that. With the data we had in terms of the increasing cases coming from India, where they have had over 2 million cases in the past week and the week leading up to that and this weekend again with thousands of deaths. That contrast between their experience and our experience, and I joined the PM in my heart going out to people in India and those with loved ones in India. But we had to take that into account to protect Australia, using the data we had last week , and it's working. We have seen cases, for example, in Howard Springs decrease from 50 to 21 during that period. That real pressure that was happening in terms of positive cases in our Howard Springs facility has been relieved and will allow us in the coming weeks after the biosecurity determination sunsets on the 15th of May to increase those flights into Howard Springs and bring our Australians home. I’ll leave it there.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Paul.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how quickly do you expect those 900 vulnerable Australians will be repatriated?
PRIME MINISTER: We will work through the details of the manifests for those people who will be able to board on those what I believe will be six flights this month. There will certainly three flights that the Commonwealth has been directly involved in, and that involves those flights into Howard Springs. That is why I am very appreciative of the very quick response we had from the states and territories to also take, I expect, what will be at least three flights there. So these are flights of around about 150 people, and so whether that will be all, because you have family members, I need to stress, of vulnerable persons as well, and it's not our practice to splitting up families as they’re being repatriated back. So those prioritisations will be undertaken by our High Commission and consular officers there. But you don't get 20,000 people back overnight, that has taken us some time to achieve that. And in the same way we have been able to return some 11,000 people back from the UK, that has taken time to work through the processes we have there. And so by making available more of these flights, doing it within the capacity of our system, we have been doing it safely to prevent a third wave here in Australia. But we are doing it sustainably as well. I think people want to know that those flights are still going to be there a month from now, two months from now, and that they can make those arrangements. And that is why we are working hard to ensure we do it in a sustainable way and safe way.
JOURNALIST: Given Australians who have COVID-19 cannot be repatriated, are you comfortable leaving some of those vulnerable people in India?
PRIME MINISTER: Australia is not alone in that requirement that we don't uplift passengers coming into our country who are infected with COVID. That is a clear port of entry requirement. And will be holding the line on that just as we are holding the line when it comes to the biosecurity determination which was put in place rightly and will run until the 15th of May with no changes. So that is what our High Commissioner and consulate team do every single day of the week, all the time, not just during COVID, but any given time. And where there is support that is needed to assist with medevac and private insurance arrangements and other arrangements, our consulate team will do what they do every day, providing as much support to Australians in a distressing situation as they possibly can. I stress also there is the hardship fund we put in place last year, some $30 million of that fund, in fact a bit more than that, has already been disbursed, not just to people who are affected in India but many parts of the world and have found themselves in a position of stress and distress in terms of being able to return to Australia.
JOURNALIST: You’ve spoken obviously about the extra measures the Federal Government is taking when it comes to quarantine. Did any view the state and territory leaders express a desire for the Commonwealth to take a more active role when it comes to quarantine, and what was their general mood around the India travel ban as well?
PRIME MINISTER: It was supported, as I flagged with them last Friday at National Cabinet. I indicated I intended to make recommendations and discuss with the Health Minister. It was ultimately a decision for the Health Minister based on health advice about taking potentially further action under the Biosecurity Act. That was followed through last Friday and it was certainly understood and that has been supported over the course of this week, and again today has been an appropriate measure. There are obviously measures for the Commonwealth and measures that are undertaken by the states and territories and they respect that is the Commonwealth's position, a position they know that has put them in a much stronger place today. They had great concerns about the alarming rise in cases being presented on arrival in Australia and they rightly expected the Commonwealth to take some action to prevent that, which we have done and that has been appreciated. On the broader issue of quarantine capacity, no, it wasn't a topic of discussion today. As you know, there is a proposal for Victoria which I have indicated in numerous press conferences this week in various parts of the country that is something we are closely considering. I think it is a comprehensive proposal that recognises that state and territory governments would be running such facilities, having the workforce and medical capabilities to do that. But we will assess that, and once we have concluded our assessment, we will work something together, with the Victorian government, and we will make our view known.
JOURNALIST: Would you consider another federally run quarantine facility?
PRIME MINISTER: That is not a recommendation at the moment. It was recommended we established one by the Jane Halton review and we did. A capacity of 2,000 people, up in the Northern Territory, originally established by AUSMAT and now in the process of transferring its operations to the Northern Territory government. I had the opportunity to be there last week. It is an incredibly well run facility with a 100 per cent success rate. But when you move around the rest of the country, they have a 99.99 per cent success rate in quarantine facilities, and that is an enviable position for any country in the world. I note from time to time when there are outbreaks, that can cause real concern in the community and I understand. But let's not forget those breaches are a rarity in Australia compared to what we see overseas. And let's not forget, as Professor Kelly was just remarking, it's not just if there is a breach. It's about your other rings of containment that prevent an outbreak. And that is done, in particular, through the testing and contact tracing which, particularly in New South Wales they have taken to an elite level, as I would say also in Queensland and Western Australia has proved similarly up to the task in recent times in tracking and tracing what had to be done. So it is a series of measures that protects the country from an outbreak. And quarantine is one element of that. The border closures are another element of that. Tracing and testing regimes I think are also incredibly important, as well as the many other registration processes to support them. So here in New South Wales the Premier I know has a ready noted, that we do need to see those registrations using the QR codes get back to their match fit levels that we haven't seen in a long time. And I think what we;ve seen both in Western Australia in New South Wales recently, they are on it, they have got it, as they have on so many occasions, but they obviously require continued operation of the population and they’ve been getting it on every occasion. I'm very thankful to Australians for their patience and calm cooperation when these events occur.
JOURNALIST: Is it sustainable to continue this level of hotel quarantine for, say, the next 18 months, as your ministers have indicated today that that may be when international travel is still closed for?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, so far it's proved to be enormously successful. And that's been over one of the most intense periods of demand and stress on the system. And, so we'll continue to assess these as time goes by. I mean, a year ago, when we first put these arrangements in place, remembering National Cabinet agreed, premiers, chief ministers agreed, that the best way to do this was through state public health orders. So they are administering and enforcing their own public health orders, put in place at a state and territory level. We established the National Resilience Facility, with a capacity now of 2,000. And if there is further actions that we need to take then, then we're certainly considering those. But the suggestion that defence facilities can be used and immigration facilities, they have all been assessed before and they have been ruled out as inappropriate. Those facilities are not available to be used. They're not there just sitting idle and otherwise could be being used for that purpose. That is not the case. And so if there were other purpose built facilities that would be necessary, then that would be something the Commonwealth would consider. But we’d need to do that comprehensively, and in a very
detailed way. That's why I welcome the proposal from Victoria, it is a comprehensive proposal. It is detailed. It does give us something, I think, to consider very carefully.
JOURNALIST: Dr Kelly, could we, have you got an indication of the situation in New South Wales, an update for us, on the latest COVID case, and have you heard anything about a potential case in Manly?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So I don't have any details on that. But all I know there was no new cases when the AHPPC met just a few minutes ago, that were reported at that time. But of course they’ll continuing to do a lot of testing and people are coming forward to be tested, which is fantastic. And the more that we see, the chances are we may see some more cases and we certainly need to make that, work out that chain from the person we know arrived on the 24th of April, to our, the Sydneysider and his wife that have become positive without an obvious link there. But clearly it's the same, it’s the same virus.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you all very much. Sorry. Last one.
JOURNALIST: Oh sorry. What can you tell us about this concern about the Marrickville sewage detection? I believe it's higher levels than what we’ve seen previously.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Yeah, so the wastewater testing that’s done in NSW is very reliable and has previously shown when there has been cases. You do need to remember that it's very, very sensitive. So someone who’s returned from overseas, for example, has been in hotel quarantine, positive, but no longer infectious, can still lead to a positive in that wastewater testing. So they'll continue to monitor that, as they've been doing for many months.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you all very much. Thank you.
Address, Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce
6 May 2021
Prime Minister: It is great to be at a function where there are so many people in this country who can come together in the way that Solly has just mentioned. Thank you so much, Solly, for that very warm, welcome and introduction. It is tremendous to be here with so many of you here today.
Can I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Bunurong and Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.
Can I also acknowledge , as I always do, any men and women here who have served our nation in our defence forces and now are veterans, or those who have served us and are continuing in our defence forces and thank you for that service to your country.
Can I thank Leon Kempler, whose energy is inexhaustible and for his great work here as Chairman of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. It is wonderful to be back here amongst so many friends.
Soloman Lew, Solly, you’re a great Australian who has done amazing things for our country and your generosity today is incredibly humbling.
To Ron Gerstenfeld, Israel’s Deputy Head of Mission, to Shai Zarivatch, Israel’s Trade Commissioner.
Of course, to my parliamentary colleagues. I begin with the one who is not here today, because as Sol said, he is there working hard putting the finishing touches on the Budget. Josh Frydenberg, you may know him, you may have come in contact with him at least 100,000 times in the last few years, as I joked at the United Israel Appeal event last week and there will be quite a number of you who are in text communication with him even as I speak. Say hi to him from me, if you’re currently doing that. Josh, you’re doing a wonderful job, mate, and I know you'll be back here next week at the end of next week to be talking about the budget you'll be bringing down.
To Jane Hume, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy. To Stuart Robert, who is the Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business. To Katie Allen, the Member for Higgins, one of our great recruits at that last election, and a team of stunning new members of Parliament to come in, of which Katie stands, I think, very tall.
Before I go much further, though, can I also deal with two important matters of business for the Australia-Israel Chamber. First, in acknowledging Mark Leibler, can I also mark the sad passing of Isi Leibler. I met Isi many years ago in Jerusalem and he was an amazing Australian and he was an amazing world leader of the Jewish community and his loss is a great one, a great one. And we pay our respects to him, Mark, and to the entire Leibler family.
But as I was talking to Mark as we came up, I thought there was something I should put to rest. Not that it should come as a surprise from me and my Government, but in 2009 and 2011, we did not attend the Durban Declaration meetings. We will not be attending them going forward. Our position is unchanged, a position that successive Coalition and Labor governments have reinforced since 2001. We will not associate Australia with one-sided and contentious language that singles out Israel or an event that champions such language. This is entirely consistent with my Government's very strong voting position on UN General Assembly resolutions in the Human Rights Council and elsewhere. We will continue that same approach to Durban for later this year. As I said at the Sydney Institute in December 2018, I do not accept that anti-Semitism, cloaked in the language of human rights, serves any justified purpose nor the cause of peace. Just in case anyone was in any doubt.
Look, it is wonderful to be back here amongst friends at the Chamber. Last time, as Solly said, in 2019 it was also the Monday after the Christchurch terrorist attacks. We were all numb. It was a time to reflect on civility and community and the shared bond between us all. I built on the theme and that address last week at the United Israel Appeal in Sydney. I speak there about human dignity and what flows from that - respect, responsibility, how each and every single Australian, every individual is valuable. Now, these values are all essential foundations for the building of healthy communities.
Today, I want to speak about another foundation for building caring, healthy, confident, enterprising and ambitious communities. It's our economy. Our economy. Because I believe our economy is all about people. Where people live. They live in the economy. The jobs people have that support them and their families, they’re in the economy. The confidence people have, the confidence to buy a home, start a family, invest in a business. The skills people have and the doors those skills open, the incentives people have to work hard and prepare for the future. That is the economy.
Our economy is therefore also about the essential services that people rely on and that's something I've stressed since my days as a Social Services Minister and a Treasurer. Because only by ensuring a strong economy can we guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on. Hospitals, medicines, schools, disability services, aged care, mental health support, infrastructure, the pension and so much more. And not just to fund them now, but to sustainably do it into the future. If you care passionately about those services that I've just spoken of and how important they are to individual Australians and families and communities across this country, then I would encourage you, as I'm sure you already do agree, that we must have an equal passion for the strength of our economy, because that's what enables it.
That's why our Government is so focused on ensuring that all we do can strengthen our economy and you have seen this commitment through our response to the global pandemic, the greatest threat to Australian lives and livelihoods since the Great Depression and the Second World War. Our economic response and the recovery plan we put in place in last year's Budget has placed Australia in a unique situation in the world today. Economic health supports provided by the Commonwealth are more than double the combined investments of all state and territory governments put together and more. Add it up, double it, go further and that equates to the $267 billion in health and economic budget support provided by the Commonwealth as at the last Budget and that has carried us through this crisis in Australia, with complementary actions indeed by states and territories as part of a comprehensive national effort.
JobKeeper, the largest and most successful programme to keep people in jobs in Australian history, income supplements for vulnerable Australians, childcare support, cash flow support for small businesses, targeted packages supporting local government, tourism, travel agents, charities not for profit sector, the arts. We even kept zoos open. The result? Jobs. Jobs, and those jobs are back, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In March 2020, just before the full force of the pandemic hit us, there were 13 million people employed in Australia. 13 million. Within the next two months, around 900,000 Australians lost their job. A year on, the official statistics for March this year shows that there are now 13.1 million Australians employed, some 74,000 more than when the pandemic struck. And that sounds hard to believe, I know, after everything we've seen around the world and we continue to see now. But it's true. It's a fact. More Australians are employed today than before the pandemic hit. Unemployment in March fell to 5.6 per cent.
Now, I'll tell you why that figure really caused some strong reaction in my office the day I heard it, in a very positive way, it is because that is 200,000 jobs more than we were projecting just in the mid-year statement in December. 200,000 more people got a job by that period of time in the first quarter of this year than we genuinely believed would be able to be achieved. There was a smile on my face from one ear to the other. And the reason for that was because Australians were back and jobs. Consumer confidence at a high level, its highest level, in fact, in a decade. This is no reason for complacency and it's not even reason for congratulation. It's a reason for being encouraged and being confident. You know, in March as JobKeeper was concluding, job ads rose to an all-time high.
All this means that our plan is working, friends. Our plan is based on believing, though, in each and every Australian and backing them in to get the country through. This plan is not something that sees government as the answer. This Government's plan believes you are the answer. Our Government's plan believes we've got through what we've gone through over the last 12 to 14 months because we believed in every employer, every employee, every parent, to be able to get their family and their businesses and their employees through. And that's what our policies and plans were designed to achieve. We need to stick to that plan. We cannot put that at risk or go with those who would offer us some other direction. And next Tuesday, Josh, the Treasurer will unveil the next stage of our economic recovery plan for Australia in his third Budget and our third Budget together.
This Budget will be all about securing Australia's economic recovery in a world of continuing uncertainty. And it will be a Budget that continues to be framed by the brutal reality of a raging global pandemic. This virus is raging. Almost 700,000 new infections are being reported every single day. The outbreak in India is an unfolding and awful humanitarian tragedy. According to John Hopkins University worldwide, there were more COVID cases reported last week that in the entirety of the first four months of 2012. Anyone who thinks things just because we can put 100,000 people in the G that this thing is over is wrong. This thing is still on and it's not going away.
As long as the virus is a threat, it remains a threat to the world economy and indeed ours. And as we've done so right from the start of the pandemic, we must in Australia remain ahead of the game. We must stay ahead of this virus and pandemic as much as we possibly can. And that means investing in infrastructure, that it means investing in a better approach to skills. It means keeping taxes low. It means more affordable and reliable and lower emissions energy to support our industries in the new energy economy. It means less red tape. It means building a faster, moving economy that is more responsive to the opportunities in the global economy, because by securing our economic recovery, we can guarantee the essentials that Australians rely on, which is the point. When you're running a government, you care about those services that Australians are depending on you for. Guaranteeing those essentials is something I and my Government are very committed to. And one area where we are doing this is the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The NDIS, as it is known, is a world first, and I pay credit to Prime Minister Gillard for initiating this, that Australians can be rightly proud of. It has been embraced from the outset from both sides of politics. It is based on the guiding principles that people with a disability have the same rights as all other members of Australian society and should be supported to participate in and contribute to social and economic life to the full extent of their ability, or a fair go for those who ever go. I have always been a strong supporter of the NDIS for this very reason. I am because it is about enabling Australians, it's about backing them to be the best they can possibly be.
The NDIS is now supporting some 450,000 Australians. I pay credit to the work that Minister Robert has done in his former portfolio and getting us to that point. More than 50 per cent are receiving support for the very first time in their lives, including 70,000 children aged six and under, and almost 11,000 are receiving support via the early childhood early intervention gateway. I wouldn't be surprised if there are parents here in this room for whom that service is providing support to their children. Now, this is vital work and it's difficult work. And next Tuesday's Budget will show that the Commonwealth's contribution to the National Disability Insurance Scheme will increase by some $13.2 billion between 2021 and 2023-2024.
Now, in its original report on the design of the NDIS, the Productivity Commission forewarned of sustainability pressures, as the scheme matures with wage and cost increases. And at the moment the costs of the NDIS are increasing more than was ever contemplated or expected by those who first framed it. The continuing growth in the number of participants combined with higher cost per participant means participant supports are tracking to exceed the $22 billion annual estimate at full scheme by the Productivity Commission back in 2017. Scheme costs are now estimated to exceed $26 billion next financial year. This is a big scheme. Participant utilisation is now over 70 per cent and it's trending up. Scheme growth beyond earlier forecasts is a cost to the Commonwealth as contributions and growth are fixed for the states and territories on full scheme agreements.
So what that means is when the previous government put the deal together with the states and territories, they got a fixed amount that they were paying into the future. They know what their costs are every year. The Commonwealth, under that agreement, carried all of the risk of the scheme, which means we carry the responsibility to ensure that the scheme is sustainable and can continue to deliver for Australians who need it into the future.
Incorporating the Commonwealth additional contribution in this Budget, this financial year we expect the Commonwealth will meet 55 per cent of the participant support costs nationally and next year, that will increase to 58 per cent. So our share will only go up. The Commonwealth also meets 100 percent of the NDIS's operating costs. Now, while the growth in numbers was masked in the earlier periods because of slower than expected transition of participants from state systems into the federal system, the escalation in costs and in equities in planned funding have been clear for some time. And that's why the NDIA commenced a reform agenda, particularly under Stuart's stewardship some years ago.
Firstly, trialling independent assessments in the first pilot in 2018 and more recently, with the commencement of a number of sustainability actions. The average payment per participant has increased by almost 48 per cent over the three years from 2017 to 2020 and the average plan for individuals' budget has increased by 22 per cent over the same three years. At the same time, the number of participants is expected to reach 530,000 in coming years. So while some of the cost increase is driven by increased participant numbers, good, most though is driven by higher average payments per participant. And the last three years, the average payment participant has grown by 12.5 percent per year, which is well above inflation and 1.5 to 2.5 per cent this year, and the assumptions in the 2017 Productivity Commission review of around 4 per cent a year.
So this has got much larger than the early vision intended. That vision was a good vision. It was a compassionate vision. It was a caring vision. But to remain caring, you've got to make it work and you've got to make it sustainable and you've got to ensure that it can keep delivering. The growth in payments is in part the result of planners not having access to consistent quality information when making their funding decisions, as well as a lack of clarity on what is and what isn't paid for under the National Disability Insurance Scheme. You'll hear plenty of others who will argue that the sky should be the limit but we all know that that is not a realistic objective. To ensure the NDIS is here for generations of Australians to come, I intend to protect it. I intend to sustain it. And I intend to exercise my responsibility to manage those increased cost pressures.
Reasonable and necessary supports obviously come with some boundaries and boundaries to ensure the scheme is affordable. But more importantly so it's fair for all participants, the ones who need it now and the ones who need to know it’s going to be there in the future. The boundaries which protect the rights of individuals and boundaries, which allow flexibility, provide choice and control and the changes through independent assessments and personalised budgets, these are designed to make the NDIS fairer and more sustainable into the future.
We're committed to doing it. We are committed to finding the NDIS as a demand driven scheme. And so you will hear others who say that the cost should be higher, there should be no constraints, but that will only serve to ultimately undermine what has been one of the most important social reforms this country has seen. And it takes a Liberal-National Government to ensure that we can protect this Scheme through the responsible management of that Scheme. Of course, we can only make these commitments off the back of strong economic management. Over $13 billion in additional costs and investments we made in the NDIS because of the estimated changes in demand and the cost of medevac. The way we will meet that cost is ensuring that we have a strong economy.
A strong economy is the best friend the National Disability Insurance Scheme can have. And that is also why today I was pleased to announce in the Budget we will be further laying out plans to drive our economy forward and to secure our economic recovery. We've already announced quite a number of measures. Today I want to share the next phase together with Jane Hume and Stuart Robert of the digital economy strategy, which is critical to our economic success. One of our biggest challenges and opportunities turns on how we respond to digital transformation that is occurring in every sector and every facet of our lives. Productivity Commission Chair Michael Brennan spoke to you in March about these opportunities, and he made a reference to that time in Australian life when we went from candle light, to kerosene, to electricity in a generation.
Every business in Australia is now a digital business. And if you don't think you are, you haven't worked it out but you will and your customers will tell you. The tradesmen or woman who works through Airtasker, the landscaper who finds new business through social media, the farmer who I saw up at Beef Week at Rockhampton this week who keeps track of their herd with electronic tags and drones and the data that feeds back into the algorithms that do the analysis. The local Thai restaurant that sells through Ubereats or Menulog or any one of half a dozen other different food apps. The gym where members book their classes though an app. Every Australian business is a digital business.
This transformation is not merely a national one that needs to happen. It's a global one that is happening. According to Adobe, global e-commerce is closing in $1 trillion (USD) a quarter - up 38 per cent over the past year. According to the World Economic Forum, an estimated 70 per cent of new value created in the economy over the next decade will be based on digitally enabled platforms.
PWC has estimated that increased digitisation by business could add $90 billion to our economy and create up to 250,000 new jobs in the near future. Australia’s place in the world will be defined by how we respond to this now. The next 10 years will determine our success. As Telstra’s Andy Penn has said, “We are on the cusp of potentially the next industrial revolution, supported by the digital economy”.
A pace setter in this space is obviously the nation of Israel. The highest density of start-ups in the world, an ecosystem of innovation, dramatic innovation and investment in R&D, and the highest rate of engineers and scientists anywhere in the world. These drivers have transformed the Israeli economy. The lesson for the digital economy here in Australia is clear, accelerate, peddle down, or you’ll get left behind. That’s why in this year’s Budget will be providing a further $1.2 billion in new funding initiatives as part of our Digital Economy Strategy. That builds on the $800 million we put in the Budget just last October.
In 2019, I established the Digital Technology Taskforce in my Department to start the task of laying out what needs to be done to make Australia a leading digital economy by 2030. In the last Budget, we released the first phase of that plan, setting out how we are working to support the digitisation of Australian businesses. Investing in NBN upgrades, support for 5G, e-invoicing, digital identity, streamlining regulation, growing fintech and regtech. All underpinned by the $1.67 billion Cyber Security Strategy.
In December last year I elevated Senator Jane Hume to be the Minister for the Digital Economy and lead the next phase of our digital plan, which has come together again in this years Budget. This next phase is about strengthening Australian businesses and encouraging new ones to emerge. It’s about driving job creation now and into the future and ensuring simple and secure service delivery and transactions between people, business and Government. It’s about accessing the skilled workers and technology that Australian businesses need to compete and protecting Australians from cyber crime and abuse.
Australia’s Digital Economy Strategy recognises that the Government is an enabler, and that the true drivers of the digital economy will be Australians and Australian businesses. The strategy has three pillars. One, putting in place the foundations to enable the digital economy. Two, building our research and industry capabilities in the emerging technologies. And thirdly, digital growth priorities where we want to see collaboration and strategic investment to drive digital growth, jobs and investment across the economy.
In the time remaining let me just deal with those. The first pillar and the most important is for Government is to build the foundations that enable the digital economy to grow. It’s the digital infrastructure, building a skilled workforce, improving cyber safety and security, supporting digital trade, and putting in place the right systems and regulation. Data needs processing just as oil needs refining. But unlike oil, data doesn’t need huge refineries, it needs smart people and businesses. RMIT and Deloitte have found that 87 per cent of jobs in Australia require digital literacy skills, and Alphabeta estimates that the average Australian worker will need to gain an additional seven new digital skills by 2025 to keep pace with technological change.
That’s why our Digital Economy Strategy includes over $100 million in new investments to build the digital skills the Australian workforce and businesses need. The Budget includes a Digital Skills Cadetship trial to deliver work-based learning opportunities for in demand digital jobs, while also undertaking formal training of three to six months. I acknowledge the Business Council of Australia for their advocacy on this proposal.
We will also work with CSIRO and universities, many of them here today, to invest in scholarships for graduates in Artificial Intelligence and other emerging technologies to build the advanced digital skills needed by Australian industry. And finally, we are improving the quality and availability of cyber security professionals with a $43.8 million investment to expand the Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund.
All of this builds on the major reforms we are pursuing to make our skills system more responsive to the needs of the economy, which Stuart Robert is working on with our states and territories. We’ll be making further investments in the Budget next week in that area. To build the research and industry capability in emerging technologies, I want Australia to be at the forefront of understanding and preparing for all of us to drive future productivity and prosperity. Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Data Analytics, Blockchain, Quantum computing, these are changing our society.
This is the second pillar of our strategy, and is underpinned by a $124 million investment in Artificial Intelligence capability over the next six years. The great potential of AI is not in removing human endeavour. On the contrary, it has the potential to create better jobs, transform industries, improve lives and protect our environment. Here in Melbourne, some of the country’s leading medical research minds are already working with AI to improve breast cancer screening. At Advanced Circular Polymers in the north of the city, they are using AI and robotics to support high quality, innovative plastics recycling at one of the most advanced facilities in the country. CSIRO’s Data61 notes the benefits of AI could be worth up to $22 trillion to the global economy and that’s by 2030.
A key part of our AI plan is to invest in a National Artificial Intelligence Centre led by Data 61. The centre will coordinate Australia’s AI expertise and capabilities, supported by a further four AI and Digital Capability Centres across the country. Together, the centres will help foster collaboration with industry and drive adoption of AI across the economy. We are also making funding available for businesses and researchers to develop AI solutions to problems in our regional areas, and to address national challenges like energy costs and cyber security.
Digital growth priorities, the final pillar of our strategy. That is about ensuring we use digital technology to drive growth. We have identified four priority areas that will be our focus for collaboration and investment. Lifting digital capability and adoption in small and medium Enterprises, the very firms that Solly was talking about before. Supporting industry sectors at the digital frontier, such as manufacturing, mining, agriculture and construction. Building our emerging technology sector and start-ups. Digitising government to deliver simple, secure and trusted services for Australians.
A major new industry opportunity for Australia in the emerging technology sector is digital games development. According to the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, the global video game industry is estimated to be worth $250 billion a year, but Australia earns just $144 million of that. We have the potential to grow a $1 billion industry within the next ten years alone. As part of the Budget, we are establishing a new 30 per cent digital games tax offset to drive investment and growth in the sector, as well as to help attract and build the creative digital skills needed in the economy.
We are also strengthening the Government’s own digital systems. myGov currently has 20 million accounts. It’s a vital portal that most Australians use. We are investing $200 million to make it simpler and more tailored to Australian’s individual needs. The time saved alone from the new functionalities and capabilities will generate benefits worth an estimated $3.6 billion across the economy over the next ten years.
And finally, one of the most important priorities in our driving strategy is digitisation of small and medium sized businesses. There is $12.7 million to expand the Australian Small Business Advisory Service to support 17,000 such businesses with digital advice over the next year. And we are investing $15 million to drive uptake of e-invoicing in the public and private sectors which will help small businesses get paid sooner and save up to $20 per invoice in costs.
Now, I appreciate that at a large lunch of 650 people, this may sound like a bit of a dry topic with some of the detail I have run over with you today. But that is what Governments have to focus on. The details. And that’s what my Government does. We put our head under the hood on this stuff. You might hear just some rhetoric about the digital economy from me but what you’ll hear from me and Jane and Stuart and Josh and Simon Birmingham and other Ministers, is you’ll hear quite specific detail and credible plans that we have spent a considerable time consulting and working on to ensure that they can work.
It is a comprehensive strategy. We’re very serious about it. As serious as the Israeli Government was when they set out this task. We intend to do this and we believe we have a plan to achieve it and that plan is about inspiring you. It is about enabling you and giving you the confidence to go forward and do the things that you know how to.
We have faced much as a country over this past year and we have achieved much as well. Our experts, our public health officials, our public servants, our business leaders, our employers, our employees, all world leading. We must continue to foster that ambitious, outward looking spirit as we face the challenges that are still ahead.
We must bring the same unrelenting focus that we have all had in the past year to building the Australian economy of the next decade. To keep delivering on our plan to secure Australia’s economic recovery. To continue to manage the economic impacts from COVID-19 as successfully as we have. To support the creation of more and better jobs. To guarantee those essentials that Australians rely on like the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and to build a safer, more resilient Australia in a greatly challenging world.
That is what next week’s Budget is all about. Now more than ever we cannot afford to risk the alternatives. We have come so far. We have learned so much. We must keep doing what’s working, and prevent losing what has been gained through so much hard work and effort from so many Australians.
We need to stick to the plan and we will continue to see Australia through this crisis and beyond. Stronger, safer and together.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Address, Townsville Chamber of Commerce - Townsville, QLD
5 May 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much, it’s a very generous introduction. It’s tremendous to be here with everybody today and to the other six people who graduated as economic geographers back in 1989. I’m sure they will appreciate your very sound exposition of what we were doing for those four years at university, back at New South Wales University, all those years ago.
Can I begin today by acknowledging the Bindal and Wulgurukaba people, and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge, particularly here in the garrison town of Townsville, any serving men and women who are with us, as well as any veterans, and of course Phil Thompson being one of many of them, and to say thank you on behalf of a very grateful nation for your service. I also want to salute the men and women who are here today and throughout this great city who are ADF Reservists. We have called on our ADF Reservists so many times through various operations and responding to natural disasters, bushfire assist, COVID assist, flood assist, all of these operations so well led, but on so many occasions it’d involve, and in one case with the bushfires, compulsory call up of Reservists, and they have responded. And I want to thank their employers as well, for the great support that they have given to our Reservists in being able to answer the call of their nation.
It’s always great to be here in Townsville, it’s one of my most favourite places. You might think I say that everywhere I go and it’s pretty much true. Australia is my favourite place, and every corner of it. But I have a particular affection here, so much so people from the Shire like it so much here that Chad Townsend has decided to move to Townsville next year. We’re sorry to lose him but I know he’ll be warmly welcomed up here and I look forward to visiting him up here. He’ll be wearing a different jersey and I do hope that his old jersey will be more successful.
Can I thank the Chamber of Commerce for hosting today, and to give Michael and the, and your leadership here of the Townsville Chamber of Commerce. Can I acknowledge of course Phil Thompson, the Member for Herbert, Senator Susan McDonald. Susan is here somewhere, I’m sure. She’ll give me a wave in a sec. I know she was down at Beef Week as well, at Rocky, as has been Minister David Littleproud and I acknowledge him up here in Queensland, of course. To Joe Buffone, who is here, who heads up Emergency Management Australia. He’s doing an amazing job. Joe was who we sent down into the second wave in Victoria when COVID hit, and he did an extraordinary job there leading up the Aged Care Response Centre under tremendous strain and trial and now Joe is heading up Emergency Management Australia and he’s doing a terrific job. We were out in the floods, out in Western Sydney a few months ago, and it never stops, sadly. To Shane Stone, my dear friend over, over a long time now. It’s great to be here with Shane, anywhere, but I want to thank you Shane for your leadership of the North Queensland Flood Recovery and Drought Agency and the evolution of that agency, together with the National Bushfire Recovery Agency led by Andrew Colvin, it’s the reason why I’m here today to make the announcements I’m making. But I want to thank you Shane for your tremendous leadership, particularly here in North Queensland where I know it has meant so much to so many people.
I want to speak about national resilience today, and I’m speaking at a Chamber of Commerce event because as you’ve said, Michael, prosperity, the economy in Northern Australia is so dependent on our national resilience to disasters. And so I think it is a very relevant economic topic here in the north, and one foundational I think to life here in the north, and that is why I have chosen to be here in northern Australia to make these announcements today.
Resilience always starts with people, with people, families, individuals, communities. In March Jenny and I were visiting the stricken areas of Western Sydney that had been hit by the floods. Joe and I had been up in the chopper not that long before and surveyed, once again those floodwaters as it wrecked havoc across our country.
The scale of that disaster was immense and that day Jenny and I met an amazing family, the Magnisalis family. Nick, 83 and 70 year old Irene. They had built their dream home more than 40 years ago, raised their family there. As they gathered together on that afternoon, it was a Sunday afternoon, they were there with their family. I think they were having Kentucky Fried Chicken, they told me. And then the waters came in and then within hours, a few short hours, their home was underwater and they lost everything.
But the way their whole family gathered together following that event, working day and night on the clean up, demonstrated they had built something far more significant than the bricks and mortar of the home, the gardens that were there, in their wonderful place that they had built together. They had built an amazing family, something that floodwaters couldn’t take away. And I remember saying that to Nick as we stood there together looking at the devastation of his property, and then looking at his family, and said, mate, that’s not something floods can take away. But what you have built in your family and the resilience of your family.
I’ve seen this time and again and so often here in North Queensland when Australians are challenged we see the best in them. It was on full display when the raging floodwaters swallowed North Queensland several years ago. On that occasion I visited Robert and Jacqueline Curley at their property Gipsy Plains outside of Cloncurry in the wake of those devastating February 2019 floods, which took away 2,500 of their cattle in 48 hours. Another 1,500 calves died from frost or exposure. I will never forget the smell of those carcasses. I could smell them from the chopper on the way in. I keep the mask that I was given by the Defence Force on that day [inaudible]. I keep it in my office. I told Jac when I saw them at Beef Week yesterday. I said, I still haven’t washed it, Jacqui, because it reminds me. She goes, you probably, you probably want to give it a wash, after two years. But it reminds me and it’s important for us to be reminded.
And after the election in May of 2019 I came back, and I visited the Curley’s again. And while there is still a massive rebuilding and restocking job ahead of them that will indeed take an entire generation to fully restore and they understand that, it took them a generation to build it, to come back and see their fighting spirit, truly extraordinary. And as I said I saw Jacqui yesterday in Rocky at Beef Week, and there she was smiling with her friends, talking about what they were doing to rebuild.
I was also here in Townsville with Phil as the North Queensland floods hit here in Townsville. Monsoonal rain, flooding rivers sweeping away homes, herds, lives. In addition to the Curleys I met many other families as they were returning to devastated properties. I met the men and women of the RAAF and the Army – the 3rd, 6th, 17th Brigade and the 1st Division who were helping evacuate people and move sandbags, even when their own homes were under water. The Cowboys were out too, North Queensland Cowboys, they were out there. They were out there supporting their community, such an amazing community club.
It was extraordinary. It was humbling, and it always is when you come face to face with the combination of grief and courage and compassion, that blends together in the wake and during a disaster.
Days later, I was at the other end of our country with then Premier Will Hodgman. While Townsville was under water, Tasmania was on fire. Bushfires roared through the Huon, and through more than 210,000 hectares in total, much of it in World Wilderness Heritage Areas. And hard as it was, Australians had experienced regular bushfires before, and we’re no stranger to those extremes.
But then the Black Summer hit, shook our country to its core. Thirty four lives claimed, destroyed over 3,000 homes, burned more than 30 million hectares and killed or displaced nearly three billion animals. It scarred our land, it disfigured our skies and sent a pall of smoke across the country that lingered for months on end.
Former AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin was called back into Australia’s service to head up the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, and I thank Andrew and all of his team for the tremendous job they have done. Shane Stone and his team continued to lead the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency, particularly here in North Queensland, and the work that was being done here by drought-affected communities all across the country, and I again thank you Shane for the leadership of you and your agency.
David Littleproud, the Minister for Emergency Management, also did a herculean job, ensuring there were no gaps in our response. Disaster payments, small business injections, grants and loans, support for primary producers, tourism support, mental health support, back-to-school assistance, rural financial counsellors, local government infrastructure investment, support for local charities and community groups, roads cleared, properties cleared.
That continues today in Kalbarri, in the west of our country, and North Hampton and surrounding districts, after Cyclone Seroja tore through communities in Western Australia’s midwest. I was there recently with Melissa Price. Roofs peeled back like sardine cans, a holiday town known to so many in Perth and across Western Australia.
Kalbarri Boat Hire owner Kat Deadman and her nine-year-old son Lachy came up to me while I was at one of the food support centres. Kat’s business was totally smashed, she’d lost two-thirds of the boats. But her resolve had not been lost and her determination was very much there, as it was in her young son Lachy. The resolve of that little community to want to restore, that’s going on now, and they will make it better, so accurately and admirably summing up the grit and spirit in the heart of every Australian when confronted by these crises. Resilience and resourcefulness.
Our capacity to pull together is quite unique. It’s a truth about Australia, we draw that strength from each other, we draw it from the communities we create, individuals, each and every one of us. We draw it from the communities we create and the communities we sustain together. That’s our strength. But we’ve got to go further.
Longer, hotter, drier summers, more extreme in our weather, we know this isn’t going away. Addressing our collective resilience to natural disasters is a core component of our Government's response to climate change. The severity of these disasters, and in particular the Black Summer bushfires, was the reason I called the Royal Commission with clear terms of reference and called on Mark Binskin, former head of our Defence Forces, to be able to investigate.
We had to ask ourselves if the right institutional support was available? Could we be better prepared? Could our response and recovery be better coordinated? Mark Binskin has given his report of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, and I thank him and all of his team for their work, and it is his report now that leads us to the announcements and the actions that we will now take as a Government.
For most natural disasters, primary responsibility for response and recovery does sit comfortably and ably within the capability and responsibility of states and territories, and they do a tremendous job. This model works very well most of the time, and I commend those state and territory and local government counterparts for working together to help communities in those circumstances. And of course the Commonwealth has also always stood ready to assist with recovery funding. But for those extreme fires, floods and storms, or the events that clearly cross borders and jurisdictions, the Commonwealth does step up and we do play a more prominent role in how recovery is delivered and how risks are mitigated.
And I’ve got to say that is particularly the case in supporting our agricultural communities. I remember standing in the dairy shed along the Manning River on the mid-north New South Wales coast in those recent floods. This is, this went beyond their ability to mitigate what came on that day, and so much of our effort, as Shane’s agency and Andrew’s agency has shown, has not just been restoring the towns but ensuring that we restore the income producing capacity of our regions and our agricultural communities.
The Royal Commission noted no single government or organisation controls all the levers when it comes to disasters. We’d like to think that was different, and I think sometimes in the community there’s an expectation that as a Prime Minister or a Premier, you can wave a wand and all of these things can come to bear quite specifically. No, our federation means we work together on these tasks. And so national coordination and leadership is crucial.
And so, taking this forward today, I am very pleased to announce that we are establishing the National Recovery and Resilience Agency. The Agency will be led by the Hon. Shane Stone and will have locally based staff in communities all around the country. The new agency will oversee a $600 million Preparing Australia Program, which will be in next week’s Budget. The new program will enable the Commonwealth to directly fund projects that mitigate or reduce risk, that minimise the impact of large scale natural disasters like floods, bushfires and cyclones.
These programs will both support the locally identified and locally led risk reduction projects and help address risks outside communities’ control. It will be informed by the Australian Climate Service, given the underlying impact of climate change as a driver of disaster risk. The new Australian Climate Service will draw on the expertise of our best and brightest minds from the Bureau of Meteorology, Geoscience Australia, the CSIRO and the Australian Bureau of Statistics to help the Government to better anticipate, manage and adapt to the risks that a changing climate will bring.
It will help us better prepare for natural disasters well before they occur, by not just looking days ahead but years and decades ahead, and that is critical. When a cyclone is bearing down, communities and businesses here in the north will better know where the strongest winds and worst flooding will be, what roads will be cut and for how long, and who in the community will be most affected. We will better know in advance what the impacts might be on food supplies, water, sewerage, fuel, electricity. It will help us prepare alternative routes and transport methods and backup logistics that can get our community back up and going again much faster.
The National Recovery and Resilience Agency, Emergency Management Australia and the Australian Climate Service will work together to support national decision making in a crisis and beyond. It will help us better target our spending under the Preparing Australia Program. It will also build on the existing five-year $130 million Disaster Risk Reduction Funding Package and the $50 million per annum available from the Emergency Response Fund for risk reduction, preparedness and resilience.
The program will comprise two elements, Preparing Australian Communities and Preparing Australian Homes. The community initiatives will be locally identified and locally risk led, and will help address risks outside communities’ control. In the Home Program we will work with the insurance sector to identify priority activities and projects that will support beneficial reductions in insurance premiums.
The Agency will coordinate and align Australia’s national capability to build on Australia’s natural resilience, and better prepare for natural disasters and recover from all hazards. This will be locally led, it will be locally understood, it will be locally implemented.
The Agency will play a critical role in the recovery phase for severely impacted communities while working to design and revise policies and programs that will limit the impact of future disasters. It will bring together expertise in disaster recovery, working with affected communities and all levels of government, industry and not-for-profit organisations. The Agency will continue working with people and businesses and communities affected by the 2019 North Queensland Monsoon Trough, the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, and the drought. Those programs aren’t changing, they’re going ahead under the coordination and direction of the new Agency.
It will also start the important work of supporting the long-term recovery of communities in NSW and Queensland hit by the March storms and floods. And from 1 July, the Agency will incorporate the disaster risk reduction and recovery functions from the Department of Home Affairs, and its regional network will expand to include Rural Financial Counsellors.
The important role of Emergency Management Australia will continue under Joe’s leadership to guide how the Commonwealth responds initially to disasters. So we’re going to beef up EMA to ensure it has near real time situational awareness of events as they unfold, and give it better tools so we can improve how we manage and respond to national scale disasters. And EMA will work hand in glove with the Agency, as EMA already does with the predecessor agencies.
After the floods hit here in North Queensland I turned to Shane, who I’ve known for many years, and I asked him to come and help, and he didn’t, he didn’t tarry. He was there straightaway. And so as now again that I’m turning to Shane to lead this Agency, to further coordinate our response.
In his evidence to the Royal Commission, Shane said there were three things that we needed to do. First, the nation must have a mandated single Agency to oversee recovery and resilience. Tick. Second, we must be consistent in the way we respond and operate regardless of which government agency is involved. Through this Agency, tick. And third, the approach to recovery must be locally led, locally understood and locally implemented. That is their mandate. Tick. The Agency delivers on all these objectives and so I can think of no one better to take on the role than the person who suggested we go in exactly this path.
The most defining aspect of the way the North Queensland Flood Response and Drought Recovery Agency has operated is I’ve been, I think fundamentally to bring hope, and to deliver it in a timely and effective way. Cut through log jams of congestion around designing grants and loans, as indeed Andrew Colvin’s agency has also, the form filling, monies paid, clearing the way on this. They do not claim to have a mortgage on all the answers and what works, but with their level of cooperation and partnership with local government and agencies here in Queensland like QRA and QRIDA, who I think did a, have done a fantastic job. All of this, working together to find those solutions has been, most significantly, applauded by those who have survived these disasters. The Bushfire Recovery Agency led by Andrew took a very similar approach.
The new single agency will bring together those experience across so many different disasters. We know it takes years, many years, for people to recover from these disasters, long after the coverage has passed, long after the evacuation centres have closed, long after the support officers are there and the cash payments have been made in the middle of the crisis. It takes years. The trauma, the dysfunction and disadvantage manifests itself in so many ways, as Shane has shared with me and his officers, foremost mental health issues, poor school results extending over years, underemployment, domestic violence, marriage breakdown, business collapse, the demise of rural and regional communities. That’s what disasters do and the impact is not just immediate. In fact, the longer term impact can be far more devastating and often far more deadly.
People who have been hit by a disaster or two and are struggling under the heavy weight of prolonged drought, they want to talk to a real person, they want a beating heart on the other side of the table to talk to, someone who understands what they’re going through. And that will be the heart of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency. It will have boots on the ground, and I’d add to that Shane, hearts at the table, through a national network of Recovery Support Officers who come from and live in and work in the communities they are part of helping and restoring.
These Support Officers will make sure people get the information they need and direct them to the help and support that is right there for their situation, connecting them to the support. Our experience has shown that having someone to talk to that understands the issues at a local level and what can be done to address them makes all the difference.
A key task of the Agency will also be to continue to provide advice back to me. Shane has my number and he knows how to use it, I can assure you. And not just to me though, to Minister Littleproud, the Cabinet and all their offices, and the feedback we get directly from the ground. This is what will help us prepare as well for future disasters.
The challenge of rebuilding and recovery, the importance of investing in resilience, that also is a massive task of this Agency. Shane was reminding me last night the Insurance Council of Australia says, as a nation we spend some 97 per cent on the clean up and 3 per cent on mitigation. Think about that. That’s not a good equation. That doesn’t add up. That has to change. And what we’re announcing here today is about changing that equation here in this country. Of course we know living in this country we can never flood, cyclone, drought, fireproof our nation completely, but we can be better prepared and we’ve all got a responsibility.
Many are not prepared. In NSW, 13 per cent of households had no home insurance. In Victoria, it’s eight per cent. In QLD, particularly here in the tropics, the situation is worse and a consequence of high cost of premiums, and so I thank you Michael for your recognition. I want to particularly commend Phil Thompson and Warren Entsch and others who have worked so hard on this. This is an important package, the Northern Australia Insurance Package. The package places a $10 billion guarantee on the reinsurance pool here in the north. Not just here in North Queensland but right across the north, the Top End, Northern Territory, up there in Kununurra, all across northern Western Australia and through the Kimberleys.
This package is important for resilience. It enables businesses and families to live successfully, vibrantly, in the north of our country. It includes the establishment of the reinsurance pool, but also we’ve committed $40 million for the North Queensland Strata Title Resilience Pilot Program. And these measures represent significant Commonwealth action.
Local communities also must seize their responsibilities in these areas and understand the risk. State governments, also local governments. Nothing should be off the table. Betterment is the order of the day.
Engineering strategies and drainage should be front and centre in flood zones. Levee banks, water diversion, dam redesign, as controversial as they might be that warrants a frank and informed conversation. Enforcement of fire reduction strategies must not be negotiable. Reducing the fuel load is not negotiable. Consistent town planning around flood prone areas is long overdue. Cyclone management including storm surges and saltwater intrusion in wetlands demands a consistent and coherent response across state and territory borders. Cyclone shelters in remoter parts of Australia and adequate cyclone proofing building standards should be the order of the day. It’s a pretty long list and we’re all involved in doing it.
We have a generational opportunity I believe to address the many challenges we as Australians face. I’ve gone into too many communities and seen the devastation as Prime Minister. People often say to me, it’s been quite a run for you as Prime Minister. It’s not about me. But whether it’s from standing in the floodwaters at Gipsy Plains at Cloncurry, or most recently in the ripped off roofs of homes in Kalbarri, we’ve seen it too many times and I fear, of course, we will see it again. But we have an opportunity to prepare ourselves better and put in place stronger defences to deal with what’s coming and to ensure that, in particular, that we learn from what has particularly occurred over these, these generations, and particularly in most recent times. That’s what we owe to those who have suffered so much and lost so much, whether it’s through floods or cyclones or droughts, bushfires, COVID. We owe it to all of those who have lost so much that we learn from those terrible sufferings and that we ensure that we seek to mitigate it as much as we possibly can in the future.
Australia has proven in the last year who we are, once again. I firmly believe that Australians have stood up in the past year and a half and, and longer. We have not so much rediscovered our great resilience and strength, we’ve just proved it again, and the world has watched it. They have seen it and I think they look on at Australia and the way that we deal, dealt with all of these challenges and they can do nothing but admire our national character, as indeed we admire the characters of other nations that have dealt with such significant calamities.
We’ve shown as a country we can do it, we will do it, because we know we must do it. We can’t stop a cyclone, we can’t stop a flood or any natural disaster, but we can learn, we can invest, we can prepare, so that when that disaster strikes, we are as ready as we can be. Thank you very much for your attention.
Remarks, HMAS Cairns - Portsmith, QLD
4 May 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you very much, Commander, and it's great to be here with you all. Can I just start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and their elders past, present and future. Many of you will know, I hope, that it's always my practice to also thank any serving men and women who are with us, and that's the crowd today, all of you. So it's wonderful to be here with you today and, and to thank you for your service, and any veterans also who are joining us. Can I also acknowledge my Cabinet colleague, Melissa Price, the Minister for Defence Industry, is doing a terrific job and I'm glad she took the opportunity to be here with me today. This is very important to the Deputy Chief of Navy, it’s, I'm sure it's a great thrill for everyone here to have you on base here at HMAS Cairns. To Warren Entsch as well, who knows this place very, very well and knows the, its importance to the local Cairns community.
It was, it was quite a thrill to go past the Guardian Patrol Boat and to see our Pacific family there as part of a broader service that we're all engaged in here in the Pacific, and to see that they're getting their support right here out of HMAS Cairns and doing their work in their Pacific, in the great blue Pacific, protecting their waters and the operations that they're on to protect their fisheries. But as I look out on all of you, and I thank you for your service, which is so varied across all the various vessels that are, that are serviced out of here and based here. And I thank you for the tremendous work you do.
What our Government wants to do is ensure you're getting even better support for the job that you're doing. And so here we are investing $155 million dollars in redeveloping this base and through the wharf and I’ll let Melissa, she can speak more to that, as I'm sure you probably know it better than anyone. But this is going to be a major revamp of the base here. It's a very important part of our broader defence infrastructure around the country, and particularly up here in northern Australia. That investment will see peak of some 150 jobs on site, which will be a further boost to the local Cairns economy. Your presence alone is a significant boost to the Cairns economy, and, and the role that you all play here in the local community when you're based here I think is incredibly positive.
So it's an exciting period of time, it'll all be done by 2025, I understand, Deputy Chief. And, and we're looking forward that being done as, as efficiently and effectively as possible to give you the base that you need to do the great work you do for your country. And so I want to thank you again for your service. And I want to thank you for taking the decision to put on that uniform and to be part of Australia's Defence Forces, in whatever capacity you're serving, in whatever role and whatever your future holds. I really commend you for the decision to serve. And I, I trust that it's a very rewarding time that you are having as part of your service, and you can look forward to many years ahead of being able to pull on that uniform and serve your nation in the way that you do. So with that, I want to pass on to Melissa, and she can talk a bit more about the project. But again, thank you all for your great work. Thanks for your service.
THE HON. MELISSA PRICE MP, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY: Thank you Prime Minister, and hi everyone. Thanks very much for a very warm Cairns welcome. Our Government has a very ambitious shipbuilding program, as you know, new OPVs, which will be home to you once we have the new wharf, frigates, submarines, new hydrographic vessels. And we do this because we want you to have the best kit that you need to be able to defend our nation. That, ultimately, is why we invest in defence capabilities.
But it's not enough just to have the best bit of gear. And so I just want to acknowledge the Watpac team who's over at the back here and congratulate them for their I think $155 million dollar contract, which is going to enable us to demolish the old wharf, build the new wharf which will enable the OPVs to be homed here. Congratulations to Watpac. They've committed to an 80 per cent local content with their contract within the Cairns and broader region, also a 10 per cent target with respect to Indigenous employment as well. So well done to Watpac, great injection of new jobs, a new bit of economic activity here in Cairns. We all know how Cairns has been doing it so tough because of COVID, so we're just so pleased to be here today. And again, just want to acknowledge the Watpac team because the work's all ahead of them now. Thanks very much.
Address - United Israel Appeal Dinner Randwick NSW
29 April 2021
LINK TO VIDEO: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tbrekig5i45eymq/AADu25K5TLaAFs-AgZkJec9Va?dl=0
Prime Minister: Thank you very much. Please be seated. Shalom. It’s wonderful to be here with you all this evening.
I want to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we gather, the Gadigal and Bidjigal people of the Eora nation.
I want to acknowledge, also Steven has just mentioned, our veterans or any service personnel serving who are with us this evening and say thank you on behalf of our nation for your service.
To Steven and to Judy, your leadership of this amazing Keren Hayesod organisation, the UIA Board of Trustees, world board of trustees, is a testament to the esteem in which you are held globally by the Jewish community. Your leadership here in Australia and your family’s leadership here in Australia is in the pantheon of great contributors to our nation that have built this country and as a nation we are deeply grateful to you and for the wonderful work you are doing now.
To Lance Rosenberg, President of UIA Australia, thank you so much.
Jillian Segal, lovely to see you Jillian, President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. Thank you for your leadership.
To Ambassador Jonathan Peled, the Acting Ambassador of Israel, it is wonderful for you to be here tonight as you always are amongst the community, Your Excellency, and it is wonderful to be joining with you here this evening.
I’m joined by some of my colleagues here tonight. One of them I’m not joined by tonight is the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, you may know him. In fact, I suspect about seven of you are in text communication with him right now and that you didn’t initiate it. Josh is a dear friend and a great colleague and he is doing a tremendous job as he prepares for his next Budget.
But amongst all of that, there has been a passion project for Josh, which I want to acknowledge amongst the community here this evening. And that is the work that he has been doing to provide funding for Holocaust museums. Those we know of already in New South Wales, an outstanding museum and Victoria also. But the $20 million that we worked together to ensure was provided to support the museums in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Queensland and the ACT.
That is important but I’ll tell you what’s more important - that means across the whole country now, Holocaust education will now be taught across the curriculum. No better way to remember than by teaching your children and I want to commend Josh for his leadership.
To Stuart Robert, the Minister for a very long list of things, Employment, Workforce, Skills, and Small and Family Business, another great friend of Israel who is here tonight and you know Stuart very, very well.
Dave Sharma, the Member for Wentworth who is here, a former Ambassador to Israel, known to you incredibly well. Doing a wonderful job in the community.
And Julian Leeser, who is here with us, the Member for Berowra and Joanna, it is wonderful to have you here. I will talk a little bit more about Julian in just a second.
To everyone else who went to Sydney Boys High School who is here, I know there is a lot of you because I went to school with you. It is wonderful to be amongst friends.
Tonight I want to talk about a topic that I know is very dear to you. My father was a big believer in community. He was Mayor of Waverley, he was on the Waverley Council for some 16, 17 years and he taught me a lot about the importance of community. And he learnt it all from you because my father would tell me, if you want to understand community, understand the Jewish community, which he loved passionately and dearly.
And they cared for him at Wolper in some of his last months as my mother was recently cared for there. She is fine, by the way, she just had a back operation. But the care, the community of the Jewish community, has deeply impacted my family and my father taught me that.
And so I want to talk about a topic tonight that is dear to your hearts - community. Community of individuals, we heard it on the video, a nation of individuals.
Now, as some of you may know and as Steven has mentioned, I have been deeply influenced in recent years by the writings of the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Julian is responsible for that, because he has thrust Jonathan Sacks works into the arms of anyone who he can get a book into the hands of, rightly so and I am very grateful that he did.
On one occasion, he said because I was consuming this, that you’d better be careful, you might become Australia’s first Jewish prime minister. And I said, don’t tell Josh.
But his books Lessons in Leadership, Covenant and Conversation, and Morality, his last work, have given me a more textured understanding of Judaism, my own Christian faith and what unites us all as human beings. I shared some of these learnings with my own church community last week at the Gold Coast with Stuart Robert at their national conference.
In his works, Rabbi Sacks wrestles, a bit like Jacob, wrestles with the practical complexities of our modern pluralistic world and finds, through the tenets of his faith, as he did, a pathway to the common good.
At the heart of our Judeo-Christian heritage are two words.
Human dignity.
Everything else flows from this.
Seeing the inherent dignity of all human beings is the foundation of morality. It makes us more capable of love and compassion, of selflessness and forgiveness.
Because if you see the dignity and worth of another person, another human being, the beating heart in front of you, you’re less likely to disrespect them, insult or show contempt or hatred for them, or seek to cancel them, as is becoming the fashion these days.
You’re less likely to be indifferent to their lives, and callous towards their feelings.
Now, those of Jewish faith understand this. As Rabbi Sacks said, “The purpose of Judaism is to honour the image of God in other people.”
Reflecting the Psalmist: people who are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Such a beautiful idea. And one shared by many other faiths, including my own. Appreciating human dignity also fosters our sense of shared humanity.
This means that because we are conscious of our own failings and vulnerabilities, we can be more accepting and understanding of the failings and vulnerabilities of others.
True faith and religion is about confronting your own frailties. It’s about understanding your own and our humanity. The result of that is a humble heart, not a pious or judgemental one.
This has certainly been my experience. It has also been my privilege to appreciate the commonality of this view in deepening my ever connections with so many other faith and religious communities across Australia.
Christians from all denominations. The Eastern Orthodox faiths, Maronites, Catholics, Anglicans, and then of course Judaism, Hinduism, Muslims.
Seeing the dignity in others means we can see others as imperfect people striving to do their best.
And, you know, in a liberal democracy, there is no greater liberal democracy than the ones that are shared here and in Israel. Human dignity is foundational to our freedom.
It restrains government, it restrains our own actions and our own behaviour because we act for others and not ourselves, as you indeed do here this evening. That is the essence of morality.
de Tocqueville agreed. He said, “Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith’. Hayek the economist said the same thing, “Freedom has never worked without deeply ingrained moral beliefs.”
Acting to morally enhance the freedom of others ultimately serves to enhance our own freedom.
So it is no surprise then that Rabbi Sacks concluded in his final work, Morality, “If you lose your own morality, you are in danger of losing your freedom.”
The implication here is very important.
Liberty is not borne of the state but rests with the individual, for whom morality must be a personal responsibility.
In Lessons in Leadership, he quotes distinguished American jurist Judge Learned Hand, to argue this point:
I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, upon courts .. believe me these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women, when it dies there, no constitution, no law can save it.
Freedom therefore rests on us taking personal responsibility for how we treat each other, based on our respect for, and appreciation of, human dignity.
This is not about state power. This is not about market power. This is about morality and personal responsibility.
Now, morality is also then the foundation of true community.
The place where we are valued; where we are unique; where we respect one another and contribute to and share one another’s lives. Where we pledge faithfulness to do together what we cannot achieve alone.
Sacks describes this as the covenant of community.
The determination to step up and play a role and to contribute as you are indeed doing this evening as part of this amazing organisation. Not leaving it to someone else, to another.
That is the moral responsibility and covenant, I would argue, of citizenship. Not to think we can leave it to someone else.
But there are warnings. Where we once understood our rights in terms of our protections from the state, now it seems these rights are increasingly defined by what we expect from the state.
As citizens, we cannot allow what we think we are entitled to, to become more important than what we are responsible for as citizens.
Teddy Roosevelt argued this more than a century ago in his famous ‘Man in the Arena’ speech. But I’m not going to quote the section that is most known. Arguing that going down this path of entitlements of citizenship, as opposed to the responsibilities, is a very dangerous one, and it indeed jeopardises national success in a liberal democracy.
He said, “The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation.”
He said, “In the long run, success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average woman, does his or her duty, first in the ordinary, every-day affairs of life, and next in those great occasional crises [and we know a bit about that] which call for the heroic virtues.”
Now together and individually we are each responsible for building and sustaining community, and we each have something unique to bring. Because community begins with the individual, not the state, not the marketplace. It begins with an appreciation of the unique dignity of each human being. It recognises that each individual has something to offer and that failure to appreciate and realise this, as a community, means our community is poorer and it is weaker.
In short, to realise true community we must first appreciate each individual human being matters. You matter. You, individually.
And in this context I would also argue we must protect against those forces that would undermine that in community, and I don’t just mean, as I’ve recently remarked, the social and moral corrosion caused by the misuse of social media, and the abuse that occurs there. But I would say it also includes the growing tendency to commodify human beings through identity politics.
We must never surrender the truth that the experience and value of every human being is unique and personal. You are more, we are more, individually, more than the things others try to identify us by, you by, in this age of identity politics. You are more than your gender, you are more than your race, you are more than your sexuality, you are more than your ethnicity, you are more than your religion, your language group, your age.
All of these of course contribute to who we may be and the incredible diversity of our society, particularly in this country, and our place in the world. But of themselves they are not the essence of our humanity.
When we reduce ourselves to a collection of attributes, or divide ourselves, even worse, on this basis, we can lose sight of who we actually are as individual human beings - in all our complexity, in all our wholeness and in all our wonder.
We then define each other if we go down that other path by the boxes we tick or don’t tick, rather than our qualities, skills and character. And we fail to see the value that other people hold as individuals, with real agency and responsibility.
Throughout history, we’ve seen what happens when people are defined solely by the group they belong to, or an attribute they have, or an identity they possess. The Jewish community understands that better than any in the world.
So my message is simple: you matter, you make the difference, you make community. And together with family and marriage and the associations of clubs and community groups, faith networks, indeed the organisations we’re here celebrating tonight, and so much more, they are the further building blocks of community on that individual, providing the stability and the sinews of society that bind us one to another.
And upon that moral foundation of community we build our institutions of state. Within that moral context we operate our market place.
To your great credit, this event is an affirmation that morality always starts with individuals seeing the dignity and need in each other and deciding to act. You are demonstrating by your own actions that morality can never be outsourced, because when it is we rob ourselves of that precious agency and we deny the strength and goodwill that comes from building community.
You matter. Community matters. In a democracy, it matters especially. It’s a tremendous source of strength and it’s why foreign actors seek to sow discord online, in many other ways, inflaming angers and hatreds and spreading lies and disinformation.
Of course, the right to disagree peacefully is at the heart of democracy, I’m not referring to that. But democracy is a shared endeavour, and the civility, trust and generosity, they are the currency that mediates our differences.
As I said to the Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne a few years ago, in the aftermath of the Christchurch massacre which broke our hearts and tore our souls, what we need is not to disagree less, in a liberal democracy like Australia, we just need to disagree better.
I’ve been so incredibly heartened to see people from across the country show the best of us as a nation this past year. As Teddy Roosevelt said, those heroic virtues that were called upon at such a time.
Drought, bushfires, floods, cyclones, pandemic - Australians have found ways to support each other and stand with each other. Checking in on each other, keeping jobs there for your employees, volunteering, helping neighbours with their shopping.
Tonight I’ve spoken of Rabbi Sacks and I think his description of community could be well applied, I think, to the best of what we’ve seen in Australia over these past few years.
There’s another Jewish leader who’s also influenced me in recent times, and on this occasion it was Josh Frydenberg thrusting a book into my hand. And I know he’s had a big impact on Josh and I know, I would say everybody in this room. And that’s the Holocaust survivor 101-year-old Eddie Jaku.
Eddie’s book “The Happiest Man on Earth” is a gift to us. I think he’s taking the title of what I might have called my book sometime. But it is a great gift to Australia. He is a great gift to Australia.
The book is a love letter to this country and I thank those of you who have come up to me tonight. As Prime Minister, not me personally, but just representing the Australian nation and saying your thanks to what Australia has meant to you and your family.
Of course Eddie’s story is harrowing but it’s also hopeful. Of life in the Nazi concentration camps. Of surviving Auschwitz, Buchenwald and the Holocaust. And of course losing his family. But never losing his faith in humanity. Finding friendship even amongst the absolute ruins.
And after the end of the War, Eddie found a home here in Australia where he was welcomed with open arms, as so many of you or your family have been.
Many of you know Eddie, because he’s guided tens of thousands of people through the Sydney Jewish Museum. Eddie says of our country, a land where opportunities abound. And it is.
Julian Leeser has made the wonderful point that Australia is one of the few places on earth where Jewish people have not suffered persecution.
We’re not perfect, no country is, but we do have much to be proud of. We are a liberal, free people, one of the oldest continuous democracies on the planet. We have an Indigenous heritage and a rich multicultural character, both adding a brilliance and joy to our national life and character. We seek to be a good neighbour in our family here in the Pacific, and a good citizen in the world, playing our part, doing our share of the heavy lifting, meeting global challenges. We stand as a sovereign and free nation in an increasingly uncertain part of the world. We value and strive to preserve a liberal world order where the strategic balance favours freedom, always.
And we stand by with like-minded friends, such as the Jewish people and the State of Israel, who is a great friend to Australia and we are a true friend of Israel. A country that is sovereign, that is independent and free. A modern state, born anew in an ancient homeland.
Australia is a proud and faithful friend. So friends, continue to stand by each other.
When President Rivlin visited Australia, he described Australia’s Jewish community as the ‘living bridge’ between our two countries and that is indeed what you are.
You have created a bridge that has enriched Australia beyond measure.
Though numbering only about one per cent of our population, Jewish Australians have made a remarkable contribution to our national life and our story.
You have sought to be a light unto the nations, performing the mitzvot or good deeds according to the Law of Moses.
Good citizens, good neighbours and good friends, who understand through their own faith and history and sufferings that life is not what you accumulate but what you give, what you contribute.
People like John Monash, Isaac Isaacs, Sir Zelman and Lady Cowen, Linda Dessau, Susan and Isaac Wakil, and Judy Cassab.
The amazing Sir Frank Lowy.
Isi Leibler, the late Isi Leibler, who we know passed away earlier this month, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family. He was a great blessing to this country.
My dear friends, my deputy leader and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, another great contributor, as is Julian Leeser, making his mark.
So many outstanding Jewish Australians. So many stories of giving back.
That’s what you are doing tonight.
I know Steven is hoping the focus of that is giving. But you will, I know, because that has been your custom. To give and to give back.
In my church, we talk about blessed to be a blessing and that is what you’re doing here tonight. So being among you tonight, I’m deeply honoured to be here, I’m deeply grateful for your contribution to our nation.
I honour you as Australians, and as people of a rich heritage, a great culture and a tremendous faith.
I take to heart the words that you live out: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May all who love this city prosper.”
So I conclude with the words of Eddie Jaku and his blessing to so many:
“May you always have lots of love to share, lots of goodwill to spare, and wonderful friends that care”.
Thank you and God bless you. Shalom.
Remarks, Darwin Tourism Industry Morning Tea - Darwin, NT
29 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER: It’s great to be here and to Sam, it is great to be here with Senator McMahon, Senator for the Northern Territory in our Coalition team, the CLP. It’s great to be here with the Northern Territory tourism family, a family I'm not a stranger to. I was here working with friends in tourism long before I went into politics and back to the days of Tony Mayell and others around here many, many years ago. Some of you, I’m sure, remember.
What I've always admired about the Northern Territory tourism industry is its passion. The seasons, they come, they go, the weather comes and goes, there are shocks, there are issues, of course, like we’ve all had to deal with, but particularly here in remote parts of the country with COVID.
But what has always sustained this sector is everyone absolutely just loves what they do. They're incredibly passionate about it. They're purposeful about it. So many who have come to the Territory to establish businesses in the Territory have done so because that has been their life’s dream, that has been their vision, where they want to be and what they want to do. Particularly around ATE and things like that when I was working at Tourism Australia. The Territorian crew were the most passionate, I think, and the most out there, which always would attract attention from the international buyers and all that sort of things, which is exactly what you want.
Because as you know in the tourism industry, you're providing your services in one of the most amazing parts of the world. But you know that what makes the difference is how you do it and that is when personality and the vibrancy and passion of what you and your staff do. That's where the experience of it comes from. It takes place in just an awesome setting but when your visitors leave, what they take away as you know is what you’ve imparted from person to person, personality and character, passion for the place, and particularly when it comes to respect for Indigenous communities and the timeless land which we have the great blessing to live in, and we acknowledge those custodians, as you do. We do that when we speak as Members of Parliament, I do it as Prime Minister, acknowledging those elders past, present and future. You do it every day in how you run your tourism businesses here in the Northern Territory. You acknowledge that history, that culture, how it is just completely enmeshed in the experience of being in the Territory and I know you appreciate the wonder and spirituality of that as much as your visitors do and that’s what comes across, I think, in why people have such memorable experiences when they do come to the territory.
But there's no doubt, it's been a tough year, one of your toughest, and standing here last year which I was unable to do because we couldn’t come to the Territory and what you were facing I know that there would have been great anxiety. I know that JobKeeper made a big difference here in the Territory. I know the many other supports that the Government put in through cashflow assistance and the many other measures that we put in place. That kept the industry whole, kept it intact, kept people together and kept businesses being able to tick over. It kept the programming, the scheduling and the skills that are all necessary. It kept them all together.
Because the time was going to come and has already arrived, certainly from a domestic point of view when those visitors were going to come back. And what was very important to me and to Josh and to Michael McCormack and Sam and the whole team was that you would be in a position to capitalise when it happened and that when the business started coming back it would need six months to ramp up again, to go and get staff back to try and get lease premises again, get your capital and all the rest of it. We wanted to make sure that that could all remain in place so when the time did come, when people would be travelling again, you’d be able to get back on your feet quite quickly.
And so in graduating from JobKeeper, now seeing the visitation coming through. Just listening to about what occupancies are, bookings are strong going forward, the half price tickets that have seen those 800,000 tickets put out into the marketplace. These have been going extremely well. Over 50,000 I’m aware of directly coming into the Northern Territory. And I was so pleased when I saw that because this is where we wanted it to work in particular. I mean, a long way from a lot of places and it is not a two hour drive from Sydney. Like many places, if you’re going up to the Hunter or down to the South Coast or if you’re down in Melbourne, heading out into the wonderful surrounds there or driving out in the countryside, or in Queensland heading up the Sunshine Coast. In more remote parts of the country for tourism operators, far North Queensland, tropical North Queensland, over at Birubi, parts of Tasmania, it is a lot harder. So the flight access is absolutely critical.
It takes me back to the, I mean, the idea that idea that came from something, many of you might know Ron Murray. Ron has been a friend of mine from my tourism days and I remember when Ron was at Tourism Australia, he said the one thing you’ve got to do, mate, is make sure that air access is good and it’s cheap. If people can get on that plane and come to Australia, then they’ll come, because that is often the barrier. And so that was the thinking that went behind the idea that if we could just get these cheaper flights into the market, that would unleash the pickup that was there and we’d particularly be able to get people into the more remote parts of the country. When often is the case the international side of the business is a much bigger proportion of the business.
So I’ve been pleased to hear today how you’ve been able to absorb that. Now, you’ve got a different set of problems. Problems you’d prefer not to have but much better than the problems we wouldn’t want to have ie no tourists. And so the challenge now is workforce. Backpacker workforce is particularly important in the regional parts of the country, in remote parts of the country and that is certainly the case in the Northern Territory. It’s not just a matter for the hospitality sector, although it is a big issue for the hospitality sector. During the course of the last 24 hours, not surprisingly, when with Sam what we’ve been hearing is that’s true in construction, it’s true in the horticultural sector, in the ag sector, in the fisheries sector. It is a big challenge and the workforce challenge we have right across the country, but particularly more acute here.
So I’ll take a lot of that feedback I’ve had on that. Some great suggestions too, you always get practical suggestions in the Territory and direct ones. They don’t miss. They don’t miss, and nor should they. And so I think that’s been really good, Sam, to get that very candid feedback, positive and appreciative of the support the Commonwealth Government has provided but also, OK, we got through that bit, now we’ve got to get through this bit and that means getting staff in, getting people with skills to come and do this work, how are we going to achieve that. All Territorians want to keep the Territory safe from COVID, they don’t want to see COVID becoming present here in the Territory, like anywhere else in the country. And in Australia, that is one of our big positions and that is that we’re living life here like few countries in the world. Everyone has played a huge role in that.
Let me finish on that point. I want to just thank you. I want to thank all Territorians for that. Yesterday I had the opportunity along with Sam and the Chief Minister to go out and thank all of those workers out at the Howard Springs facility. They have done an amazing job in enabling us to bring Australians home but also protecting the Territory in the way that they’ve done it. Zero breaches, (inaudible), they’ve done a great job out there. But I want to thank Territorians and I want to thank the hospitality industry for just holding it together and that took a lot of character, it took a lot of passion and it took a lot of belief for you just to hold it together and push through what was those very, very difficult months. Now, now you can see much more light and I’m really pleased to see a few smiles on some faces today. But the odd furrowed brow when it comes to getting staff and all of those next challenges which we’ll work together on solving that problem too, just like we worked together on dealing with the other issues.
So thank you all very much for what you’ve been able to achieve for the Territory, for the country and I know that increasingly Australians will be making their way up here to have what is arguably one of the most unique experiences you can get in Australia or anywhere in the world. I say that from my background in the sector. The north of Australia is just unimaginable to so many, particularly from the south, and they should take that opportunity to come and do it whenever they can and particularly in the school holidays coming up, you’ll have to book. It’s pretty chocka up here. But I’m sure they’ll be able to find room one way or another. OK, thanks very much, great to talk to you.
Remarks, Howard Springs Quarantine Facility - Howard Springs, NT
38 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER: It's great to be here with Michael Gunner, the Chief Minister, because it's great to thank the Northern Territory for the amazing job. Michael, that is been done here at Howard Springs. This facility has been running for some time now and we are about to go to a whole new level. But I think what you've all achieved here, Cath and to Len, has been truly extraordinary. I would quite confidently say that I suspect this is the best run quarantine facility for COVID anywhere in the world. And that's happening here in Australia. It's happening here in the Northern Territory. It's happening right here at Howard Springs - I was going to say Humpty Doo. And that is a great credit to your professionalism. It's a great credit to your skill. But I think beyond all of that, it's a great credit to your compassion and your care for your fellow Australians who are going through a very distressing and very anxious time, whether it's dealing, as we were discussing, with mental health issues, concerns about family that are left behind, the stresses they've been dealing with over a long period, the health challenges that they're indeed facing, particularly if they’ve attracted COVID themselves. And so I just want to thank you for the service that you've provided to your country. I'm very proud of what you've achieved and I know you'll keep doing that job for the country. It's incredibly important for us because you're one of the key reasons we can get Australians home and get them home safely. So on behalf of them and all of their families and all Australians, thank you very much.
MICHAEL GUNNER, NORTHERN TERRITORY CHIEF MINISTER: Thank you, Prime Minister. This has been a partnership. I think everybody is here because we genuinely want to make a difference and look after people and it's been over a year. It's extraordinary to go back in time but that first phone call about can we look after Australians stuck in Wuhan? And ever since then, people have been here doing it pretty tough. It's not an easy climate to wear PPE in and you’ve done an extraordinary job. It is gold standard, not just for Australia, but for the world, genuinely led the way. And I've never been prouder to be a Territorian than I have during this pandemic and seeing all of you do everything you've done. We are the safest because you are the best. Thank you all and thank you, Prime Minister, for all your support. This could not happen without the Australian Government getting in behind and making this work. So it is very much genuinely a partnership. Thank you all. Thank you, everyone.